The Sun.
London, England, 1857-10-24 00:00:00

LITERATURE.

The Oxonian in _Norway. By the Rev. Frederick
Metcalfe, M.A., Fellow of Lincoln College,
Oxford. Second Edition, revised. Hurst and
Blackett.
Last year the records of an excursion to the North of Europe formed the subject of tw9 agree-
able books of travel. A second edition being requi-
site, the work is now presented in a more conwse
form, and at a more reasonable price, to those de-
sirous of possessing it. It is a light and lively style that the author has adopted to convey his opinions of the various places of interest. and im-
portance, and this is certainly the best for such a
purpose. There are some additions to this iza-
pression which will increase its att•actioc., and all
who wish to extend their knowledge of Scandinavia,
or amuse their leisure by legendary lore of the land
of the Vikings, will do well to p, ruse these notes
which afford glimpses of characteristic national
traits, a series of lively anecdotes, and a general
summary of events and occurrences which are edi-
fying and entertaining. The book is handsomely
bound, and finished off in a superior style.

History of the Royal Sappers and Miners. By T.
W. ()onolly, Quartermaster of the Royal Engi-
neers. Second Edition. Two Vols. Longmans.
This is the second edition of this handsome and
compendious work, which traces the history of this
useful corps from its formati,m in 1772 to 1856,
when its designation was changed to that of R,,yal
Engineers—thus givin the reader a summary of the
military history of the last 84 years, which embraces
some of the most remarkable exploits of modern
times. Their performances, it is true, aro not
always in the most conspicuous part of the csm-
paign, they have I,•ss to do with " the ratan('
mu-ketry aiid flashing blade" than with "thet
bursting shell, the gateway wrenched asunder,"
but if less brilliant, their services are not less irn-
p9rtant ; and, at the present day, with the siege of
Sebastopol fresh iu our memories, we shall not be
likely to underrate the difficulties of their profes-
siort. The following extracts narrate the circum-
stances of the formation of the corps and of its
change of name—

" Before the year 1772, the works at Gibraltar were
mainly txeouted by civil mechanics from the Continent
and England, who were not engaged for any term of
years, but were hired like ordinary artificers, and could
leave the Rock whenever they felt disposed. Not being,
amenable to prison discipline, they were indolent and
disorderly and wholly regardless of authority. The only
means of punishing them was by reprimand, suspension,
or dismissal, and these means were quite ineffectual
to check irregularities. The dismissal of mechanics
and replacing them by °there was always attended with
considerable inconvenience and expense, and often failed
to secure an equivalent advantage. Consequently, the
works progressed very slowly, imposing much additional
trouble and anxiety upon the officers. Even the better
cites of artificers—locally termed ' guinea men' from
their high wages—who had something at stake iu their
situations, could not be relied upon. It, therefore, be-
came necessary that steps should be taken to put a atop
to the evil, and to secure the services of a sufficient
'amber of steady, obedient mechanics, upon whom de-
pendence could, at all times, be placed, for the proper
execution of the works.
" With this view, Lieutenant-Colonel William Green,
the chief engineer at the fortress, suggested the forma-
ti in of a company of military artificers as the only ex-
pedient. Of the value of this suggestion soma experi•
ence had been derived, from the occasional occupation
on the works, of mechanics belonging to the different
regiments in garrison. Indeed, ever since the taking of
Gibraltar, in 1704, soldiers had so been employed,
particularly artillery men, whose services to the fortress
were always found to be beneficial. There was every
reason, therefore, to expect that, when the department
became entirely military in its character, corresponding
reults on a large scale would en-ne. Besides- whica it
was considered, that the employment of a military com-
pany on the works, organised expres-ly for the pnrpoi.e,
would produce a great saving of expense to the publiC ;
and also, that the men wouli be ready to participate in
,‘ny military operation for • the defence of the pl Are,
either as artificers or soldiers, shoull our relations with
other countries render it desirable.
"Influenced by these considerations, C)lonel Green
submitted t: le suggestion to the Governor and Lieuten-
ant-Governor of Gibraltar. Too well aware themselves
of the disadvantages of the system of eici/ labour in
carrying on the works of the fortress, they were favour-
able to the trial of any exptritnent that promised suc-
cess ; and in recommending the plan to the attention of
the Secretary of State, they . expressed their decided
opinion that many advantages would certainly arise to
the service and the fortress by its adoption. The royal
consent was accordingly given to the measure in a
Warrant, ender the sign mantled, dated 6th March,
1772 ; and thus originated the corps, whose history is
attempted to he traced in the e pages.
" On the 17th October—the secon4 anniversary of
opening the siege—the designation of the Royal Sappers
and Miners was altered by Royal authority, probably a.,
a compliment to the corps for its approved services be-
fore Sebagtopol. The announcement was made in the
London Gazette as follows :
" The Queen has been graciously pleased to direct,
that the corps of Royal Sappers and Miners shall hence-
forward he denominated the corps of Royal Engineers,
and form one body with the existing corps of Royiil
Engineers.'
"Thus is removed that standing misnomer by which
the sappers and their officers, virtually one body, were
ny some ineetnprehensible caprice in the now obsolete
military economy of the ordnance, called by a plurality of
titles. Separated by name from their of6..ers, and thrown
seemingly into a cold unfriendly idaade, the want of a
family patronymic—one title of identity in oosimon—
was keenly felt by the sappers. Sir Charles Pesky was I
the first to moot the question. His representations ran
through a period of forty years. Many otti(r officers,
considering that no sacrifice of exclusiveness should stand
in the way of improving the status of the corps, adopted
his views ; and with the generous assistance of Si- John
Burgoyne and the ready acquiescence of Lord Pasinure
the change was effected—breaking up an anomaly which
it is proudly hoped will interliuk and cohere both officers
and men."

The second edition has hem delayed, we ar) told
in the preface, in expectat:on of this change, is the
author was desirous of completing his work and
bringing the record of the services of the corps
down to the date at which they ceased to bear heir
old name. The first edition, which has been same
time out uf plint, was largely patronised by the
non-commissioLel (Awls and some of the privates
—thus proving the pri le and interest which 6ey
took in their corps and its exploits. The realer
cannot fail to be struck by the wide diffusion of
their labours. Almost every part of the glolie
under British rule, appears to have been visited by
bands of the Sappers and Miners. We find thou
enrolled at Gibraltar' we meet them afterwards at
Fiander4, in the 'Vest Indies, in Turkey, in Kama,
in Egypt, in the Peninsula,-at the Cape, in Canab,
iu Corfu, in S. Helena, with the Arctic Exped-
tiou, at, ached to the Grew lExhib;tion, iu Cen.
Africa, in the Shetland Isl.nds, iu Australia, aid
lastly in the Crimea, where their services were Cal -
spicuous, and where their exploits, under the tine
of Sappers and Miners, came to a conclusion. So
highly important does the author regard their ser-
vices to have been, that he devotes ten chapters f
his second volume ti au account of the siege 3f
Sebastopol. Those. who wish to have a scientific
and technical narrative of its slow progress wtl
therefore be able to trace the proceedings of tte
b-siegers from the commencement to the memor-
able day of September. The following extract
shows some of the difficulties with which they had
to contend.

" Equally dangerous was the double sap forming the
central communication between the two foremo-t pa-
rallels on the left attack. Not without great toil and
watching was it completed. In aspect it bore a wild
crenated outline, as if the miners, in struggling to make
a„direct approach, were so oppressed with difficulties
that, defying the energy and capacity of art, they were
forced to make progress by running into sidings and
notches. The last gabion to• connect the sap with the
par.illel was fixed by corporal Lendrim. The whole way
wee broken up by mining, and the planting of every ga-
bion was attended with immanent risk. Stones blown
from the rock were built into the parapets and compacted
with earth and clay thrown among the blocks from
sacks and bread-bags. So fierce at tunes was the firing
and so clear the moce, that the extension of the trench
throughout an anxious night was confined to the place-
ment of only fo'ir gabions. Some nights the sap was
pushed ahead as mach as ten yards, which was regarded
as an exemplary effort. 'For every three gabions fixed
during the night two were knocked down at daylight by
round shot ;' and not unfrequently one has been struck
from the hands of the sapper essaying to stake it. Such
gaps and such violence sufficiently mat k the trials of the
undertaking and account for its slow and wearying pro-
gress. Up to the close of the siege the sap demanded
the labour and vigilancnof small parties to patch up the
broken revetments and replace the shivered gabions.
Never were there less than two sappers in this zigzag ;
seldom fewer than 20 of the line.
Subjoined is an interesting account of "the blowing
up of the docks:
" Of the nature of the duty which had devclved on the
assailants some idea may be glanced from a considers
tion of the dimensions of the docks. Stretching a line
longitudinally from end to end the mean distance was
205 feet. The width %lig 92 feet; the depth 29 feet.
The floors measured 190 feet long, compressed at the
sides into a width of 40 feet. The reventments at the
top were nearly 7 feet. The French docks were each
188 feet long and 92 feet broad. All the works were
of the most solid kind. The hills out of which they were
hollowed were of clay abounding with rook. They were
then in great part
geological
irt
caoactlo k or hewn out of it at
satrgarteaatfaevnodu.redHathr:i
eavdearpytaptoioinntofwhnearteurathl
x
limestone was abundantly used in the work ; so al of wa,
a material of a softer kind in unexposed situations.
Granite of different colours in heavy blocks was
used in all parts where resistance and impregna
bility were essential. Ia their !massiveness and durabi-
lity both rocks stud basin seemed likely to tire the
patience of old Time himself. The steps—of the heaviest
masonry—cut around the elliptical hollows, forming
thorn, as it wore, into amphitheatres, were !' fit for a

giant's staircase." But what seemed impenetrable If
the wear and tear of ages and innocuous to those irflud
ences which insidiously eat away vitality from the
mightiest fabrics was, in a few short months, torn up by
mines and dashed into ruins as prddigious perhaps as
those of N a trah. Curved iron gates, in:rivalled for size
and strength, and covered with thick iron sheets over-
lapping each other and rivetted like the plates of a levia-
than-boiler, closed the entrances• to the several docks.
They might have Eerved to turn back the sea in some
turbulent strait ; and when it eras required to move a
single pair of them as memoria,;s of Russian greatness
Ana our own energy, it took no less than 140 artillery.
teen under a skilful engineer, Lieutenant-Colonal Bent,
to lift them from their position, not in their entirety, but
rio by rib and sheet by sheet."

A severe storm interrupted their proceedings.
!` The blowing up of the docks wa' controlled by air.
cumstanc,s. It was hope,l to level at a crash the entire
works by a *simultaneous burst of the whole magazines.
Tee intention, hewe•er, was shown to be ab 'rave by
the constant intru-h-sri of water into the m 11113, which
necessitated the hss striking resort to a piecetnetl
demolition. The explosions were numerous, but thr, e
or four large ones were ventured which amply repaid
by their success the risk of the experiments. Several
failures took place, as was natural in an undertaking
so great, from the unavoidable dampness of the powder
and accidents to the agencies of ignition. The quan-
tity of powder used was 49,3841b5. or more than 22
tees! On the 6th February the last explosion took
place, and the memorable docks of Sebastopol were
numbered with the structures of the past."
We are glad to see this record of the courage and
perseverance of British soldiers has met with so
cordial a reception, and the *atne enc9urageinerA
will, no doubt, be accorded to, this new and en-
larged edition. It is necessarily somewhat limited
in its character, for as the author set himself the
taskof writinga chronicle of the deeds and furtu nes
of the Sappers and Miners, any unnecessary intro-
ductiou of other parties, would, we feel, impair its
consistency. He has not given a partial or pre-
judiced account, for the accidents or misconduct of
the Sappers are faithfully recorded when they are of
sufficient importance. One fevure especially de-
serves notice: as the Sappers and Miners have been
always officered by the Royal Engineers, according
to the writer's plan the officers are rarely men-
tioned, as their body posystes its own annals and.
memorials, and consequently there is ample oppor-
tunity for the names and achievements of inferior
grades. Those who recommend promotion for
merit will thus be able to find many cases to en-
force their arguments. We must not omit to men-
tion that the volumes are embelli,led by seventeen
coloured plates, illustrating the various changes in
their uniforms at different epochs.