The Liverpool Standard, and General Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1854-11-07 00:00:00

,enticated doubt

to effect s

arrangement

,tic Fund, that

•operly, by the p

e widows and orp'

soldiers and sailbi-s have claims upon the y

idea of charity is an imr

thevlaim

willing few

e operat

cl, where used.

he unwilling many to

s before Sebastol

ardour and insular inexr

is as is consistent w4ith reasonat

;ration of safety: on the part of t

Within the doom

!n Russ

'hire by the allied arms

e only theatre

an exnect

earance, advancing rapidly towards a crisis

accounts represent the distress and suf

the garrison and inhabitants of Sebastop

the 1 c

deadly. The British position on the heights bet
town and the valley of the Tchernaya, as little fa
to an assault, on account of the large space of open ground I eulo

to be tra

versed in any attempt to reach the r

same reason as be

tz secure against an,

on the side of the besieged or on t:

which succours might be expected. Thus so
it is not difficult to understand the motives

'hien in d

RAGLAN to direct his endeavours towards over-

harbour, by the operations of his artillery, instead of
Yoking the carnage inseparable from an attempt
ing the place by storm. The continuous and well-directed
fire has, it is reported on reliable evidence, proved so
effectual and deadly, that everything which could be per-
ceived coating in either harbour had disappeared under
water, and the amount of Russians killed had been so
great that the stench of the carcases had become insup-

I carry-

portable, while pestilence had begun to len
and destructive aid in filling up the cup of misery pre
sented to the unhappy population. In this condition of
affairs, a painful alternative presents itself to the option of
the allied Commander.—That is, whether he should push
the operations to a conclusion by regular assault, so
soon as a practical breach or breaches have been
made in the walls ; or whether a continuance of the
distant work of destruction should be persisted in.
Many considerations lead to preference of one, many
to a selection of the other, of those courses of

its ponce:

action. At first sight, the protracted cannonade and bom-
bardment appear the preferable mode. Filled, as it no
doubt is, with resolute defenders, Sebastopol is in the
best position to resist an assault, and is least fitted to
endure the sufferings incident to a siege and bombard-

went, as every shot and shell discharged against it must
tell upon its walls and crowded inmates. In war, as in

other matters, however, all the advantages are not ranged

on one side. The attacking army is exposed to vicissi-
tudes and hardships scarcely less destructive than those
to which the assailed are subjected. Inclement weather
and the disease induced by exposure to it, accompanied by
fatigue and privation, may prove little if at all less fatal
than the more exciting as well as the more immediately
destructive casualties attending an assault. Added to
this, the evident necessity forced on the allies of maintain-
ing their position in Sebastopol after they have once se-
cured it, and it will be readily apparent that they have an
object in effecting no more destruction on the fortifications
than is barely necessary for securing them an entrance.
To redace the fortress to a heap of ruins, and entirely to
devastate the town, would be alike cruel and impolitic ;
but, as I said last week, our armaments are under com-
mand of leaders who will do their best to avoid unneces-
sary bloodshed, and to secure the greatest advantage from
the expenditure of that which is inevitable.
The literary announcements still continue mere buds
of promise in a grey degree, the chief exceptions being
the "Almanacks," ofWery form and hue, "from grave to
gay, from lively to severe." Every man of literary taste
will rejoice to learn that the world is to be favoured with
an edition of the collected works of the late Professor
WlLSON—dear old "CHRISTOPHER NORTH"—including
his poems and tales, his critical essays and imaginative
sallies; and "though last not least," his immortal Nodes
Ambrosiance, those racy comminglings of mirth and
humour, wit and fancy, beauteous sentiment and sharp
rebuke, which did so much to elevate and establish the
fame of Maga. The work will be superintended by
WILSON'S son-in-law, Professor EEnniEn. Some wag as
droll as he is wicked, and at least as caustic as be is
clever, has put into circulation a rumour that HER
MAJESTY, pleased with his glowing and frequent allusions
to the stars, has conferred on Mr. ALEX. SMITH, poet,
&c., &c., the appointment of Assistant Astronomer-Royal
in Edinburgh! This is too hard a hit for even the
"moonish" madness of the bard of the "Life Drama."
Mr. SMITH'S ambition is to shine "a bright particular
star," not vulgarly to stare these luminaries out of coun-
tenance, by the application of a telescope. Allusion to
the "Modern Athens" reminds me that the magnificent
Grecian Temple, designed by PLAIT-AIR, for the.atcom-
modation of the Royal Scottish Academy and National
Galleries, at Edinburgh, is so far advanced towards com-
pletion, that the portion devoted to the purposes of the
Academy will be ready for the reception of their annual
exhibition, which opens in February.
The London theatres have been doing but little in the
way of novelty. At the St. James's, "The King's Rival"
has been supplanted by a weak successor of exotic growth,
styled " Honour before titles." It is a translation, and
a poor one, from the French; its sentiment is puerile, and
its effect mechanical and trifling. If Mr. DorGLas
JERROLD'S " Heart of Gold" has been denied fairplay on
the stage, his brethren of the broad-sheet seem resolved
it shall have "ample room and verge enough" in the
various sheets of intelligence which they have under
control, and accordingly we have criticisms and extracts,
and extracts and criticisms in connexion with it ad nau-
seam ; how lucky for JERROLD !

THE EMIGRATION DRAIN has not yet quite ceased.
A local paper describes the steamer Mars, on her last
voyage from Waterford to Liverpool, as taking out 150
comfortable-looking persons as emigrants, en route for
America or Australia. " Our peasantry," says the paper
in question, "are in some districts nearly gone, whilst in
others they have entirely disappeared."
ENROLMENT OF THE IRISH MILITIA. -If implicit
faith is to be placed in the scattered accounts which come
from the provinces, the prospects of the enrolment of the
30,000 men required for service in the Irish Militia are
far from encouraging. At the time that the embodiment
of the English force was first submitted to parliament, all
Ireland, " from the Causeway to Cape Clear," was in a
blaze of indignation at the omission by the Home Secre-
tary of any allusion to the calling out of the Irish regi-
ments, as being neither more nor less than a stigma on
the loyalty of the people of this country. As soon, how-
ever, as the alleged imputation becomes worthless by the
order of the Privy Council in Dublin Castle, nothing is to
be heard but doleful complaints and prophecies of the
utter hopelessness of carrying out the requirements of the
government, and of the countless difficulties that must
be surmounted before half the complement demanded by
a great exigency can ba induced to submit to a temporary
inconvenience. Whether those gloomy anticipations may
turn out correct or otherwise, a brief period will suffice to
tell ; but it is to be hoped, for consistency's sake—if from
no better motive—that Irishmen will show that their
frienda had fairly represented them as feeling aggrieved
at being debarred the opportunity of bearing arms in
col?juuctiat with their English fellow-Eulject.i.— Times.