The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1854-05-30 00:00:00

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FROM OUR LONDON CORRESPONDENT.

MONDAY MORNING

Ittratorms " multiform and mixed" regarding the war
and its progress continue to rattle along, the electric wires
with a speed which has no parallel, and an independence
little less remarkable than their general opposition to
truth, and their unscrupulous contradiction of each other.
The midday despatch brings an intimation of the capture
of Revel and the successful bombardment of Cronstc dt
and, while all is rejoicing, and every thing is stuffed with
martial
glory ; while every cracked flute and barrel-organ
is pouring out the melifiuent strains of " CHARLIE is my
darling," lo the evening's flash suddenly envelopes him
-and his fleet in the fogs and mists of the cold north, and
condemns them all to a worse than useless combat with the
floating bulwarks of " Jack Frost," and his battlements
of " thick-ribbed ice." On shifting the negative pole of
the electric wire from the dread north, we obtain a spark
which instantly blows up the defences of Sebastopol, and
with magic celerity delivers into the hands of dreamy
` DIINDAS all the Black Sea armament of the Russians.-
From this comfortable state of telegraphic belief, we are
suddenly shocked into a. knowledge that the thunders of
our war galleys in the east are chiefly employed in warding
.off the consequences which might befal our squadrons, if
left to combat in ignorance with the blackening vapours,
which, from the earliest ages, have given a character and
bestowed a name upon the forbidding waters of the stormy
Euxine. Every evil, however, is said to have its cure—
each poison to grow in proximity to its antidote. , If the
character of the intelligence communicated by telegraph
be naturally as evanescent as its conveyance is fleet—as
.uncertain and unsatisfactory as its narrative is laconic and
condensed, its misrepresentations are corrected, its arnbi
guities cleared up, its omissions supplied, its meagreness
amplified, and the celerity of its operations all but rivalled
by a class of active, busy, intelligent, and fearless indivi-
duals, who, in the capacity of correspondents for the daily
journals, accompany, watch over, and, in not a few in-
stances, anticipate the fleets and armies, whose operations
they are to chronicle, and whose valour they are to cele-
brate. This corps, and the due discharge of its duties,
occupy an important position in public affairs, and oftener
than once within the last few months have their sayings
and doings engaged the attention of the legislature. On
the faith of their veracity, have members of both Houses
of Parliament impugned the arrangements of the execu-
tive, and on the testimony of ministers of the Crown we
are informed that they are " gentlemen of education and
position." Among the most important camp-followers in
modern warfare is that band of "heroes of the pen," who,
defying danger, and braving the hardships attendant on
sickly clime and an uncertain or scanty commissariat,
are not.

Seeking the bubble reputation,
Even in the cannon's mouth ;
but court only opportunities of recording with celerity
and truth the heroic acts of others. Who, amid the roar
and din of battle—in the tented field or trenched lines—
on the deck of fame, surrounded by the thundering crash
of hostile fleets, are always at their posts plying their
ceaseless vocation with that calm fortitude which pro-
claims the courage of the hero as truly as that can he
evinced by deeds of wildest daring. While our warriors
are dauntlessly wielding their implements of destruction,
" our own correspondents " are equally busy with pen and
tablet, taking careful note of the heady fight, anxious only
that their narrative may be as truthful and complete as
it is lucid and instinct with animation. Of such men any
country may be justly proud; and a press which employs
boasts of, and rewards such an agency of intellectual
culture and moral courage, is an honour to our nation and
our time. The staff of those gentlemen is necessarily
numerous to meet the emergencies of camps and flotillas.
Its members are, indeed, everywhere, and more than re-
alise the fabled vigilence of Argus ; should Sebastopol be
bombarded to-day, or Cronstadt be reduced to obedience
to-morrow, the events, in all their minuteness of detail,
would be laid before an admiring and gratified public
with the celerity of sleepless speed, and with a fidelity and
fulness unknown to any other age or nation. Such
achievements, so effected, constitute one at least of the
elements of our boasted progress of knowledge, and mark
an era in its march such as the future historian will refer
to with bride and satisfaction, as distinctive of the objects
and means of legitimate inquiry in opposition,to a vagrant
and insatiate curiosity.

The debates, in the House of Commons have been im-
portant, in more signifiealons of the term than one. On
Monday evening, the financial policy of Mr. GLADSTONE
underwent a sharp rubbing-up at the hands of Mr. T
BARING, who, in moving that "it is not at present expe-
dient to authcrise any further issue of Exchequer Bonds,
with the engagement of repayment within the next six
years," embraced the opportunity of smartly reviewing
the pretensions of the CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER
to the character of a financier. He made some telling hits,
and provoked the mirth of the House by more than one of
the numerous pictures of incompetency which he drew,
and ingeniously embellished Mr. GLADSTONE'S recommen-
dations with. The honourable gentleman had his laugh,
and all the satisfaction it could afford him,—but his oppo-
nent had the triumph, the CHANCELLOR of the EXCHE-
QUER'S resolution being affirmed by an overwhelming
majority. On Tuesday, Sir W. CLAY, aided by a
heterogeneous mass of Dissenters and Anythingarians,
succeeded in obtaining leave to bring in a bill for the
abolition of Church-rates, without even hinting at
the provision of a substitute. The debate and subse-
quent division on this motion did not a little to faci-
litate the dissolution of the curious mixture called the
liberal party; several of its leaders, headed by Lord
JOHN RUSSELL, taking ground in opposition to the intro-
duction of the bill; while Mr. WILSON, in company with
Lord STANLEY, voted for the motion. Curious surmises
have of late been rife as to the leanings of his lordship,
and it is looked on as a somewhat doubtful indication of
his sound conservatism, to find that he is patronised and
patted on the back by the organs of the liberal party.
Thursday night was set apart for the review parade of the
radical battalions, on the annual motion of Lord Joni;
RUSSELL, for the abolition of the parliamentary oaths.
Every one felt confident that the measure would be suc-
cessful in the Commons; but the division showed a differ-
ent result. Sir F. TRESIGEE, in moving that the bill be
read a second time that day six months, gave a new turn
to the discussion by insinuating that an alleged want of
alacrity on the part of Lord JOHN in bringing on the pro-
posed measure, arose from a difference in opinion upon
the subject between his lordship and Mr. GLADSTONE, the
latter of whom he indirectly charged with an intent to
emancipate Puseyite consciences from the trammels im-
posed by the oath of supremacy. To rebut the insinuated
charge, Mr. GLADSTONE rose with gallant alacrity, but
somehow or other, in what Burma denominates " a decla-
mation mist," he lost the thread of his argument, if it ever
had any, and astonished his friends as well as alarmed
himself, in provoking a perfect storm of cheers from the
dissenting members of the house, by advocating the rights
-of non-conformists to a full participation in parliamentary
privileges, and a further deutukulaCiutt of the of
oaths and tests in general. On a division the amendment
was carried by a majority of four, and the bill was conse-
quently thrown out. Conflicting opinions as to the cause
of this result are loudly uttered in the city, a very general
one being that the author of the measure was in reality
the author of its defeat, and not a few of " his friends in
the city" are, it is said, prepared to pay off the debt he has
thus laid them under, at the next election.
As military matters are at present the subject of general
discussion, it is no cause for surprise to find many details
connected with the clothing and equipments of our
soldiery exciting frequent, and in some instances it may
be uncalled-for remark. Complaint has long been made
in relation to the inconvenient mode in which the accou-
trements of both infantry and cavalry, but particularly of
the former, are disposed of. The disposition of the knap-
sack is held to be particularly obnoxious, the straps by
which it is secured confining and constraining nearly
every motion of the chest, shoulders, and arms ;
serious condemnation is also bestowed on the hard,
heavy, and unyielding covering which, in obedience
to orders, they are necessitated to wear upon their
heads ; and of late attention has been drawn to the in-
jurious effects produced on the men by the stiffness of the
leathern stock. This latter part of the military costume
has fallen into additional disfavour within the last few
days, in consequence of three young soldiers, belonging to
the Guards, fainting while on parade, during a hot day,
the immediate cause of syncope being charged directly
against the suffocating effects of the stock. Of course this
charge is supported by numerous arguments, several of
them more curious than conclusive ; but as it is never too
late to learn, it may be worth while to inquire what are
the benefits conferred by this obnoxious article of military
attire. The only advantage which I have heard insisted
on with any semblance of argument has been the erect-
ness of posture which the stock insures. To. Beet this,
while it is admitted that an erect posture, by throwing the
•weight of the body equally on the supporting limbs, is
unquestionably an advantage—still, like other benefits, it
has its absolute as well as its relative worth—and it is
contended that in the instance undgr consideration the
benefit is purchased at too high a price. This will be
readily conceded, if it can be established that wearing the
robust
stock is apt to induce fainting fits upon men, under
little more than what may be called moderate
is exertion.
,Beyond the advantage of bodily equipoise, little
.aYerred
to be gained except a certain and no doubt desirable uni-
formity of appearance. Soldiers, however, have higher
and more important duties to perform than merely to
look of uniform stature and deportment on parade ; how,
then, does the stock affect them in discharge of these i
duties ? A practical answer may be readilY formed n the
dispositions considered requisite when the highest duty a
soldier can be called on to perform is imminent, and the
history of the Peninsular war affords numerous instances.
I quote almost at random from a memoir of the late Duke
of WELLINGTON, and the occasion is the important one
• of the storming of Ciudad Rodrigo. Here, every dis-
position which natural sagacity, intuitive military skill,
and great experience could suggest was sedulously brought
into operation by the illustrious commander, himself a
rigid disciplinarian, and a stickler for propriety of costume.
In the life referred to I find the following extract :
" A breathless silence prevailed, when our commanding