The Liverpool Standard, and General Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1854-11-14 00:00:00

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OM OUR LONDON CORRESPONDENT.

.opolitan

MONDAY MonsING

li of the

British public, can find no ear nor understanding for

anything but the war. Let domestic incidents or events
present themselves in what shape soever they may, " a dis-
cerning public" at once sees in them, or confers upon them,
some connexion with that all-absorbing topic of general
consideration. So feverishly excitable are they in this
respect, that they first demand incredible intelligence, and
then quarrel with the parties who supply it. Such a state
of matters, however complimentary to our zeal, is by no
means creditable to our philosophy ; and so the plain,
nractical. good sense of JOHN BELL proclaims to him

twenty times every hour, and yet he as often and as per-
tinaciously forgets, or rather repudiates, its teachings,-till,
ashamed of his own incomprehensible and childish credu-
lity, he gets angry first at himself, and then with the
instrument his own impatience has converted from an
agent of intelligence to an organ of deceit and misrepre-
sentation. Thus, by his own uncontrolable appetite for
news, he has been instrumental in investing the innocent
tek

graph with such a character of falsehood and deceit,
that he is quite as unable to believe its truth as he is in-
capable of digesting its romance. The progress of the
war in the Crimea is at present the subject before which
all others " pale their ineffectual fires ;" yet to such an
extent has the manufacture of acceptable news been car-
ried, that no one knows what to believe, what to discredit,
of the many conflicting reports which outstrip the winds
in winging their way to our homes and hearths. The
inconvenience of this' is now literally felt, and all are
equally vehement in condemnation of a system which
each has done his best to create and nurture. With
respect to the war in the Crimea, as in regard to many
other matters of general concernment, the English public
has speculated without information, and formed cal-
culations without data. This has involved us in a
maze of contradictions and absurdities, in attempting
to thread our way out of which we have succeeded only
in reaching a "limbo of vanities," in which the imaginary
and the real are, in a great degree, made to simulate each
other. When an expedition to the Crimea was first sug-
gested, the difficulties were ridiculously overrated. At
first Sebastopol was represented as impregnable, and the
difficulties attendant on a landing anywhere in the Crimea,
if not impossible, were stated to be so beset with dangers
as to render any attempt in that direction an object of the
most foolhardy description, if not a positively criminal
act. In defiance of these preconceived hazards, the expe-
dition was undertaken ; and as anything which savours of
daring meets a ready admiration among our free-breathing
people, the enterprise was lauded and its progress watched
with the most intense and hopeful anxiety. Arrived at
its destination, the army landed without even the sem-
blance of opposition, and then the people began to wonder
at and reprobate their own pusillanimous credulity, which-
had induced them to believe in the capability of anything
to oppose our armaments or dispute our mighty will. The
dangerous delusion thus excited received speedy augmen-
tation. In a brief space after its landing in the Crimea,
the allied force marched into the interior, and by the
exercise of prudence, combined with the most daring
valour and indomitable courage, met, combated, and over-
threw the host of Russians who, advantageously posted to
resist, were scattered like chaff before the wind, by the
superior prowess of their allied antagonists. The sudden-
ness, completeness, and importance of the unexpected
victory gave rise to the most extravagant surmises, fed by
misapprehension and exaggerated by rumour, till amazed
Europe was beguiled into a belief that the supposed invul-
nerable fortress of Sebastopol had fallen into our hands,
as a corollary to the heroism of our soldiers, and the
panic of the Russians, displayed on the natural ram-
parts of the Alma. The delirium of triumph occa-
sioned by the rumour, which proves, in fact, to have been
founded in misconception, but in part to have arisen from
a " gigantic Greek stratagem," lasted for a brief space,
and then gave way to a feeling of disappointment, little
less violent, and not a whit more rational than our pre-
vious elation. It is even yet found difficult to eradicate
the belief in our unreal triumph ; and though weeks have
rolled on, the once stimulated appetite of an expectant
public, unsated by the capture of Sebastopol, refuses to
be satisfied—its members chafe—its organs stutter and
denounce ; soothe and vaticinate ; coax, wheedle, and
recapitulate—give utterance to wise conjectures, and
reason sagely from them—are again betrayed into unwar-
ranted averments, and are once and again reduced to the
necessity of assuming the part of Diuowv DOLEFUL. The
key to all these mysteries and contradictions is to be
found in the exaggerations incident to popular excitement,
which one hour over-rated the difficulties to be encoun-
tered, and the next yet more unduly over-estimated the
value of a partial, though really great success. A
moment's reflection is sufficient to explode the errors aris-
ing from such misapprehensions. The progress of the
Allies in the Crimea has been unprecedentedly fortunate
hitherto. No reverse has, as yet, occurred to check the
course of their enterprise. In point of fact, their extraor-
dinary success has been the only ground of astonishment,
and if they should not become masters of Sebastopol,
even for some time to come, and do not achieve its con-
quest without sacrifices considerably greater than any-
thing they have yet been called on to suffer, it is no more
than was anticipated from the beginning, and would
hardly have given rise to remark, far less to disappoint-
ment and dissatisfaction, but for the unnatural expecta- '
tions awakened by the early rumours. By men of sense
and information the expedition against Sebastopol has
always been looked on as an arduous and a hazardous
one, and if our antagonists had been as skilfully
handled, and possessed of the intrepidity and hardi-
hood for which they have generally received credit,
the despatches of our commander would have- conveyed a
very different tale from that spirit-stirring narrative they
have imparted to us ; and we should have been compelled
to mingle with our songs of victory so dominant a note of
woe as would have greatly marred their harmony, and
almost robbed them of their tone of joy. Such, fortu-
nately, has not been the case. Our expedition—designed
with consummate skill, and so far executed with prudent
intrediity and dauntless resolution and alacrity—has
been successful beyond what our most sanguine expecta-
tions could have led us to anticipate. Shall we now fret
and give way to the impatient impulses of disappointment,
because we are only in the second stage of our operations,
meeting those difficulties which we were prepared to en-
counter and vanquish in their first ? Our armaments
are under the command of veteran heroes, whose re-
cent achievements prove they have in no degree derogated
from the valour and conduct which directed their career
while winning those laurels which sit so becomingly upon
their brows ; and their efforts are nobly seconded by those
who are proud to emulate their worth, and by that emula-
tion to earn a kindred renown. The siege, according to
all, even Russian reports, is making progress in the right
direction—slow, indeed, but still an onward progress ; and
the end of the operations could be safely calculated, had
we the means of securing a continuance of favourable
weather. A serious, because a vitally important element,
in determining the nature of his operations, devolves upon
Lord RAGLAN at the present juncture,—that is, to consider
whether winter may not force, upon him the alternative of
"now or never" in the question of an assault, by inhibiting
him from drawing upon the resources of art when the hills
are enveloped in a shroud of snow, and the earth is bound
in a case of frozen adamant harder than the rock which
has already almost baffled his exertions. The march and
army of the frozen monarch of the north are now more to
be dreaded by the besieging army than the resources of
those under command of General LIPRANDI, who, with
his 30,000 men, and the aid of a surprise, could after all
effect nothing but his own defeat, accompanied no doubt
by a lamentable sacrifice of life on our part.

This surprise is, however, in itself a significant and a
pregnant fact. It speaks trumpet-tongued of want of due
vigilance in some quarter where such remissness can be
little tolerated. It also does more. It forces on us a
comparison of the relative power of the belligerent parties.
This comparison also opens our eyes to the fact that our
army of 25,000, as it landed in the Crimea, has dwindled
to 16,000 men, and that the French now only number
36,000, united only 50,000 men—a force which there

ason for bel

ing the Russians in the

Crimea considerably outnumber. True, the latter are
divided and disheartened, but they are far from being
reduced to such straits as to be despicable. Consideration

of these circumsta

sparities must force them-
and they call loudly

selves upon the authorities at hom

Situated as they

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of the picture, I have not done so from any conviction that
such will be the side most probably presented to view in
course of the present operations; but simply because I
deem it desirable to know the forbidding, as well as the
attractive, view. Ido so, certain that, whatever be the
ultimate result of the expedition, great things have already
been effected by it. The boasted fleet which Russia pos-
sessed in the Black Sea has been annihilated, and with it
has perished the power of Russia in that sea. Almost all
their ships of the line were voluntarily sunk at the en-
trance to the harbour, and now nearly all of their steamers
have been sunk or burned by the fire of the Allies in the
inner harbour. Even the show ship of the Black Sea
fleet, the Holy Apostles, stationed to defend the South
harbour, has been forced to stand away from the fire of
the British guns, and court security in distance, a faithless
source of safety, as it can be reached at long range, and
will speedily be, if it has not already been' sunk or burnt
in company with its once formidable consorts. This, even
although the conquest of Sebastopol did not follow, must
still be considered as a vast result from one brief cam-
paign; conjoined, as there seems no reason to doubt it will
be, with the subjugation of the fortress, the consequences
are far more important than there was the slightest reason

for conjecturing would flow from it.
While reviewing the vicissitudes, and contemplating
even the triumphs of war, strange incidents and unex-
pected visions force themselves on our contemplation. The
least pleasing of these are to be met with in the snapping
of family ties, and the anguish of bereavement. Powerful
although these unquestionably are, it is not less wonderful
to note how readily the stimulus of enterprise and the
thirst for distinction can overcome if not obliterate
them. This remark is fully borne out by the fact, that,
prior to the outbreak of the war, the names of applicants
for commissions in the army entered on the register only
numbered one hundred, and hardly ever exceeded it ; last
week there were twelve hundred names on the list—a fact
worthy of remark by the members, if there still be any, of
the Peace Society.
On Thursday last, His Royal Highness the PRINCE or
WALES completed his thirteenth year, he having been
born on the 9th of November, 1841. The ausßicious
event was celebrated in most places, as well as in the
metropolis, with much delight, and many indications of
rejoicing. "Within the domestic circle of the Royal Family
the day was observed as one of such rejoicing as distin-
guishes similar events in well-regulated families, the joy,
however, in this instance being to some extent enhanced
by the high position of the illustrious parties. His Royal
Highness, the Heir-apparent to the British Throne,
dressed in the Highland costume, and accompanied by
his illustrious brothers and sisters, witnessed the firing
of a feu de joie in the park at Windsor. The town was
brilliantly illuminated in the evening.
A propos of Windsor, something singular, if not also
odd, has occurred between the dear soft-sighing public
and its quondam protégé, Lieutenant PERRY, of court-
martial renown and testimonial notoriety. The young
gentleman has, it would appear, betaken himself to a
study of the amenities of life, as these are to be met with
in such salons of Paris as he is likely to be most readily
admitted to. In his quarters in that gay capital, the
gallant ex-Lientenant has prepared and executed a sur-
prise on the treasurer of the " fund." He has, it seems,
drawn a cheque for £1,500 on the " fund," which was
presented on Saturday se'nnight, at the London and
County Joint Stock Bank; and this day week the MAYOR
or WINDSOR received an intimation from Mr. PERRY,
intimating that he had so drawn, and coolly requesting
that the balance be paid over to his (Mr. PERRY'S) credit,
at the house of a Parisian banker named. The surprise
thus pleasantly played off by Mr. PERRY has produced
quite a " full effect " upon the treasurer to that " fund."
The result of the " effect" will be best understood in the
MAYOR'S own words. "No intimation," says he "of
his intention, nor any other communication had been
made bylklr.PEEirr to the treasurer; consequently his cheque
(sic,) has not been honoured, nor his request to have the
balance paid over to him been complied with. The treasurer
has deposited £2,000 with the Windsor bankers, at interest,
in the joint names of himself and Mr. PERRY, and there
he intends it to remain until a better investment can be
made." Thus far, then, it would seem that Mr. PERRY has
succeeded by his surprise in obtaining "check-mate."
He has done more: the treasurer has announced, by adver-
tisement in the Times, that he will not receive any more
subscriptions, or at least requests that no more may be
sent to him; probably Mr. PERRY himself would not
object to undertake the duty. Unless the public take the
hint thrown out by the treasurer, and send no more sub-
scriptions, something must be done.
Instead of looming in the haze of " foggy November,"
London, last week, was rendered radiant by a perfect flood
of " Moon-shine." On Thursday last, the 9th of Nov,
ever memorable in city annals, the Corporation of the
" Wen," as Cobbett delighted to call it, elected FRANCIS
GRAHAM MooN, Esq., &c., &c., &c., to the civic chair, and,
contrary to the tenor of an often-fulminated threat, there
was a " grand Lord Mayor's show." The day was beau-
tiful—the procession long and gorgeous—the spectators
numerous and delighted. Of course there was much cere-
mony and no end of shouting—banners waved and
trumpets sounded—curs yelped and mongrels barked—
horses plunged and kicked—women shrieked and urchins
yelled, and the full chorus of Cockney triumph
floated loudly and long over the assembled multitude.
Truly we live in perilous times, for not only was the Lord
Mayor's show threatened with extinction this year, as well
as on some previous ones, but, worse than that, an attempt
had been made on the present occasion to suppress the
" feast 1" Thanks to the gastronomic spirit of the court
of Aldermen, and the bibadous resolution of the common
council, such an inroad on our time-honoured institutions
was averted, and the banquet, with its seas of turtle-soup,
mountains of roast beef, avalanches of jelly, oceans of
" rosy wine," and torrents of claret, came off in the Guild-
hall as usual. Conspicuous among the noble and polished
roysterers who graced the civic "high jinks" were most of
the Cabinet Ministers, including the PREMIER, Lord
JOHN RUSSELL, and Viscount PALMERSTON. The first-
named of those distinguished individuals, still harping on
the great European rupture, confessed, like Lucius in the ,
play, that " his thoughts were turned on peace." Lord
Joins was sententious, quaint, quiet, as if taught by un-
lucky experience that " least said is soonest mended."
Lord PALMERSTON blazed away like the " agreable
RATTLE at the Club," and in proposing the health of the
Lady MAYORESS contrived to say "an infinite deal of
nothing" in a style peculiarly his own, wherein badinage
trips in dangerous proximity with rudeness, and non-
chalance rubs shoulders with impertinence. At the same
social board Lord HARDINGE, in returning thanks for the
toast of the " Army and Navy," made a few sensible and
guarded remarks, confining himself chiefly to a recognition
of the bravery of the French and the excellent discipline
and high sense of duty of the English.
In a previous portion of this somewhat discursive com-
munication, I have made allusion to the singularities of
incident and feeling which are brought to light by the
contingencies of war. Not the least singular of those
curious incidents will be found in the persistent if not
consistent alliance which has been struck up between the
peace-preaching apostle of Quakerdom, Jon BRIGHT, and
the war-practising protector of the Greek-fire, the CZAR
of Muscovy. The fire-eating EMMPEROR casts a covetous
glance of his "mild eyes" upon his sick neighbour's pro-
perty, accompanying the glance with an unmistakeable, if
also undeclared clutch at the property. The furtive act
of the royal robber is detected and denounced by the
common friends of both parties, and in steps the peace-
maker with the broadbrim to the rescue of the culprit;
and declares that laws which restrain the strong from
appropriating the pr6Perty of the weak, are none of his
laws, that to uphold them is to abet murder, as his "mild
eyed' friend means to retain possession even at the dag-
ger's point. JOHN BRIGHT, writing with the pen of a
dove's pinion, excuses the carnage occasioned by dastardly
treachery on the part of Russians against his own coun-
trymen at the battle of Alma, by saying—" Russians in
their frenzy or their terror, shooting Englishmen who
would have offered them water to quench their agony of
thirst," will be excused, and the Englishmen condemned
at the "inquisition of blood." I pass over the audacious
blasphemy of such a declaration, feeling sensible that
Quakers sometimes have an irrepressible itch for wielding
divine thunder, and that JOHN BRIGHT, in particular, is
too wise in his own conceit to listen even for a moment
to any one who would venture to doubt his infallibility;
but it cannot be altogether a matter of indifference to the
community that such a man should have any share in the
making of its laws. If children of our own soil—mem-
bers of our own legislature, can be found harbouring such
views, and not blushing to give them utterance, can we
wonder that men who acknowledge no connexion with us,
although dwelling and realising wealth under the pro-
tection of our laws, should so far forget the obligations
they owe us as to rejoice at the reported triumphs of our
enemies ?

The Patriotic Fund is being worked out in a national
and really noble form, in so far as the collection of money
is concerned; all portions and every denomination of the
community vieing with each other in pouring in contri-
butions to the general fund, the metropolis properly taking
the lead with a large amount. Your own good town, I
am proud to see, is not behind in the good work ;
Glasgow, Manchester, and other large towns are also fol-
lowing the example i_ the counties likewise are up and
doing, while congregations, clubs, and other denomina-
tional knots are cheerfully contributing their exertions
and their coin in furtherance of the patriotic bounty.
While such generous and self-sacrificing efforts are being
so largely made to raise a fund worthy of the country and
the occasion, it is painful to see mistaken views of duty
interfering to divert the generous stream from reaching
the objects really intended to be nurtured by it, All the
world is now acquainted with the fact that relief has been
refused to the widows and orphans of two soldiers who
have perished in the campaign, on the ground of some
technical objection to their claim. In the case of one,
widow GODWIN, the claim for herself and children has
been refused, not because she was not legally married and
her children illegitimate—not because her husband has
not died in the campaign,—all these matters are freely
admitted—but because her husband was a bad husband,
an unnatural father, and a perjured man ! He swore.
when he enlisted, that he was a single man, and it subse-
quently turned out that he so enlisted and so swore
falsely, with the express purpose of getting rid of his wife
and abandoning his helpless offspring. Can it be believed
that the administrators of the Patriotic Fund feel them-
selves justified, far less called on to act as executors of his
malignity, in carrying out his detestable inhumanity
beyond the grave ? In such a case as his, most justly
would reparation to his family have been ordered out of
his goods and fortune, if he had had any. As he fell in

a claim on its gratitude for those he left behind him, which
he could no more 'divest them of by perjury than he could
break the marriage bond by the he implied in its commis-
sion. The contributors to the Patriotic Fund never
meant, and never will consent, to act as agents of the
vindictiveness of cruel husbands and heartless fathers.

Succour to the orphan and widow of the soldier has been
the broad and benevolent intention of the contributors to
that fund.; they had no desire to visit the sins of the
fathers on their wronged and deserted children, and it is
no part ,of their intention that the relief of claimants shall