The Liverpool Standard, and General Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1854-11-21 00:00:00

as if he had been treading on eggs

Not a few shrewd-

enough observers declare themselves unable to trace
much resemblance between the ministerial promises
made and the projects carried out; and they call
painfully to memory that the preparations for commenc-
ing the war, although costly in the extreine, were more
calculated to make a show of power than to produce effect
by their efficacy. They, upon review, remember that two
splendid naval armaments were fitted out and despatched
one to the Baltic, and the other to the Mediterranean,
where they respectively effected nothing during the whole
summer, or, at all events, nothing in any degree commen-
surate with their magnitude and cost, or such as to reflect
credit on the national renown. They do not cease, even
amidst the rejoicings which have followed partial, though
dearly-earned and glorious victories, to recollect that, while
our fleets were manoeuvring in profitless displays, varied
now and then by the mystery of total inaction, our soldiers
were cooped up in an unwholesome camp, plenteous tar-
gets for the shafts of disease, which thinned their ranks
while it enervated and dispirited the survivors. Such in-
dividuals cannot bring themselves to forget, even if they
would, that the invasion of the Crimea, the point on
which the credit of the campaign rests, was delayed till

public impatience became too powerful fcr further re-
straint ; and that it was not undertaken till ample time
had been allowed the enemy to take means for concen-
trating his forces in that peninsula, and increasing the de-
fences of his stronghold. Still further, the painful con-
viction forces itself upon the public mind, that, from the
conjoined co-operation of these causes, the operations,
brilliant though they have been, were protracted or
delayed to a period of the year at which the inclemencies
of the season offer more formidable barriers to military
achievements than the efforts of opposing armies—when
those achievements are in no small danger of being
rendered abortive by the wasted energies of a gallant army

worn out in preliminary warfare, while labouring to crown
with victory the glorious exertions of an arduous campaign.
One ministerial act connected with the war meets with gene-
ral approbation, and that is the General Order addressed
by command of HER MAJESTY to the army in the Crimea,
acknowledging the gallant services by which it achieved
so glorious a victory on the heights of Alma. This im-
portant document having been transmitted to the head-
quarters of the army was there, published, and has been
thence returned—an interesting manifestation of public
gratitude to our gallant countrymen. It is, in most re-
spects, a judiciously drawn up expression of general, as it
is also of individual, feeling, and states in forcible lan-
guage the national approbation.

The war, its progress, and its probable results, are
themes on which every tongue is forward to dilate. It
forms the subject of remark in public and in private—in
clubs and at street corners; and is discussed with an
earnestness which throws every other topic into the shade.
If the recondite features of policy, and the tortuous mys-
teries of state-craft, are valuable increments in the debates
which ensue among the members of the former, from the
latter we receive many shrewd observations as to the
general bearings of the question, and no small amount of
insight into the actual state of public feeling on the im-
portant subject. Among both classes the speakers are
loud in admiration of the noble daring and unconquerable
bravery which have enabled mere handfuls of men to
achieve feats which would be considered honourable to
armies. In each class of speakers to whom we may
listen, the remarks are more expressive than complimen-
tary when they contrast the sayings with the doings of
the Ministry in relation to the war. Each class, in its
own way, remarks upon the pretended amplitude of pre-
paration which it was said had been made, and indignantly
demand to know where the indications of that preparation
are to be found ? In answer they recall to memory how
Ministers prated about their reluctance to enter upon a
war, but having, as they said, entered upon it, how fully
they were resolved that it should be prosecuted with
vigour. How they talked about our magnificent arma-
ments by sea and land, and, eventually, when they re-
solved, in obedience to popular demand, to adventure
an invasion of the Crimea, how we were talked to
death by the full bray of Coalition oratory as to the
splendour and power of our Eastern fleet and army.
That army entrusted to the command of able officers
under their guidance effected a landing, and speedily
achieved a victory so glorious as entirely to outstrip
expectation, and to add yet another wreath to the national
laurels. At this unexpected and gratifying turn of events
—for which small thanks only were due to the home
authorities—the shouts of Ministerial laudation rent the
air, the topics of their jubilations being their own fore-
sight and magnanimity which they sounded at every
banquet where a Minister was privileged to edge in his
visage, or was permitted to wag his tongue. " See," said
they, " the victory we have achieved ! Sebastopol is in-
vested—besieged—bombarded—and will speedily be ours!"
In thus apportioning to themselves the merits and fruits
of an unachieved conquest, they committed an act which
is never forgotten or excused among the unsophisticated
ranks of our common-sense practical countrymen. They,
to use a homely phrase, were discovered "counting their
chickens before they were hatched." From time to time
these glib-tongued Ministers told the nation of the nume-
rous successes by which our gallant troops sustained the
honour of British valour—but they never reflected that
even victories are costly of life ; and they entirely omitted
to furnish the supplies of men necessary to fill up the gaps
occasioned by the ravages of disease and the vindictive
efforts of a baffled enemy. True, a succession of achieve-
ments, unsurpassed in ancient, and scarcely paralleled in
modern times, had followed the efforts, but could hardly
be said to have crowned the valour of our arms ; yet,
like PYRRHUS of old, we were constrained to admit
that victories were costly ; and with him we have also
almost been tempted to exclaim, " One more such
victory and lam undone." At tkis conjuncture came the
ministerial hurry-scurry of undeliberated resolutions—
reinforcements were to be despatched in whatever con-
dition they were found—transports to be procured,
wherever, however, and at whatever cost they could be
obtained—then more enterprises undertaken at a moment's
notice, for which ample time might have been easily
secured; and channels of commerce were interfered with,
which, under a better system of operations, might have
been left undisturbed. "With such a course of action

forced upon their observation, is it singular that the
general voice condemns the judgment and utters sus-

and has been carried on by the home authorities ; and,

while recording this condemnatory opinion, the fart is not
forgotten that a new department of the executive has been
lv for the conduct of this war.

time exclusively in censuring the imbecility

g the mala fide spirit in which the war has
ted. They 1

m with indignation

id every delay

That, while we have been
than doubtful policy of

of his time in pour-

?A6.114k t

That Austria, by forbid

Lt Osmanlies across

sthmus

forcernents

leagured gal

'etain possession of

he can march his rein

to the

gl Aust

neutrality, we have been prevented from

;'Sebastopol, or, at all events, that we have
been prevented from cutting off its supplies ; and, seeing
all this, it will not be slow in exacting a definite answer
from those who are responsible as to why a neutrality so
detrimental to Britain, so beneficial to Russia, is permitted
to exist.

The state of matters at Sebastopol, although furnishing
abundant reason-for anxiety, affords no ground for despair,
and scarcely any for apprehension. Three severe battles,
if not four, have been fought in its immediate vicinity,
the object of each being to drive the besieging armies
from their position. In all of the three the Russians have
been defeated with immense loss, and in each the prestige
of the British name has been nobly maintained, indeed
elevated. Henceforth, when the moral influence of devoted
heroism is figured by reference to the illustrious dead, th e
valiant warriors of our light cavalry brigade, who fought,
conquered, and perished on the plains of Balaklava, will
take rank with the immortal defenders of Thermopylae,
and its survivors with the victors of Marathon and
Leuctra. The intrepid, dreadful bravery of our country-
men, on the occasion referred to, transcends all praise,
passes comprehension, and almost exceeds belief. Foiled
in repeated efforts to drive the British from their
position, the enemy had taken up ground, about a
mile and a-half from our front, when an order
was conveyed to the General of the Cavalry com-
manding the Light Division to advance rapidly, and pre-
vent the enemy from carrying off the guns captured from
the Turks. Under the circumstances of the ~field, this
order, if attempted to be carried out, was plainly a death-
warrant. The cavalry, infantry, and artillery of the
Russians were somewhere about 20,000 strong, and
in position at a mile and a-half off ; and from this
force, so placed, the Light Division, numbering few
more than 600 sabres, was ordered to rescue the cap-
tured guns. The order is said to have been a mistake, or
to have been misunderstood, and it was questioned, no
wonder, and explained, "There are the enemy, and there
are the guns, sir, before them; it is your duty to take
them." The division was marshalled in two lines, led by
Lord CARDIGAN, and in execution of that duty they went
to do and die. On go the two small lines, in all the pomp
and panoply of war, to swift and sure destruction ; at first
they move into a steady trot, a gallop takes its place, and
anon the pace acquires the sweep and majesty of the
charge, shot and shell, in the meantime, flying among and
thinning their ranks, the gaps in which are rapidly filled
up. They advanced unchecked until they came within
range of the murderous fire of the batteries, and still
onward till they reached the guns, sabred the gunners,
and encountered overwhelming masses of cavalry and
infantry. For a few seconds swords, lances, and plumes
are tossed upon the tide of battle, and then is to be seen a
scanty handful of men clearing their way through the
throng of the enemy. While thus engaged and mingled
in the heady and deadly fight, the Russian gunners,
regaining possession of their guns, poured a murderous
fire of grape and canister on the mass of struggling men
and horses, slaughtering indiscriminately friends and foes,
an act unparalleled for savage atrocity in ancient or in
modern annals. As in this unequal combat the enemy
must have been at least as five to one of our devoted coun-
trymen, the passive slaves of Russian savages who com-
manded those guns must have considered it valuable
service to take the chance of killing five of their brethren
in arms for one Englishman. Out of this ruthless carnage,
marvellous to say, a hundred and fifty of the six hundred
contrived to fight their way back into their original posi-
tion. Well did a French officer who beheld this frightful
contest exclaim, " e'est magnifique, mais ce n'est pas la
guerre." The French press has almost exhausted their
vocabulary of panegyric in reference to the sustained
bravery evinced by our troops on that occasion. It is also
stated that the EMPEROR, on reading an account of the
heroism of the British cavalry, in the encounter at Balak-
lava, exclaimed, " Voila des braves. S'ils etaient a moi
chaque soldat revenant de ce combat recevrait la
medaille."

Another severe battle took place between the Allies
besieging Sebastopol, and a large body of Russians, on the
sth of the present month. The details of this battle have
not yet been published, but enough is known to show that
it also has been a desperate affair, but, like that at Balak-
lava, terminating in favour of the Allies, and still further
demonstrating the vast superiority of morale possessed by
the Allied troops over the Russian hordes. The battle
lasted from dawn till past noon, and the conflict was an
exceedingly sanguinary one, in which the Allies lost in
killed and wounded 3,800 men, while the enemy lost
upwards of 8,000. In the encounter the English had
three generals killed, including General Sir GEORGE
CATHCART, G.C.B. This gallant officer was son of the
celebrated Earl of CATHCART, and brother to the present
Earl, who greatly distinguished himself at Waterloo, as

did also the deceased general, who, as aide-de-camp to
the great Duke on that memorable occasion, gave the
order to the Guards to charge. The general had just
returned from the Cape of Good Hope, where, as successor
to Sir HARRY Sum', he had finished a long and harrass-
ing war. Previous to his return from the Cape, he
received the appointment of Adjutant-General, and bad
little more than reached the British shores, when duty
called him to the East, whence he was destined never to
return. These repeated defeats of the Russians must,
without doubt, have tended greatly to disspirit them, and,
as yet, they have not been able to effect any relief to the
besieged, and as reinforcements for the Allies had begun
to arrive, and large numbers are known to be on the way,
every reason exists for anticipating that our efforts will
be crowned with success. Still, the question forces itself
on every thinking individual, how comes it that, when
reinforcements are urgently needed, they are only about
to be sent ?

Your readers may remember that, some time ago, Mr.
SAUNDERS, Consul-general in London for the United
States, presented a long, questionable, and quasi-official
letter to the Swiss Federation, reflecting on the conduct
of that government in its treatment of the European poli-
tical refugees, and counselling the Federation to take
steps for spreading democratic and republican opinions.
The letter excited some attention at the time ;—it has
been formally disavowed by the Cabinet of Washington,
which denies that any powers to interfere in such a matter
were conferred upon Mr. SA.IINDERS ; it also expresses
disapproval of his proceedings.
On Wednesday last Mr. DISRAELI, having been put in
nomination as successor to the Earl of EGLINTON, as Lord
Rector of the University of Glasgow, was defeated by the
Duke of ARGYLE, whose supporters carried his election by
a majority of nearly two to one. The wonder is, not that
Mr. DISRAELI was defeated in such a contest, but that he
got any votes at all, the influence of Inverary Castle being
nearly omnipotent at Glasgow, three-fourths of the
university students in which, in all probability, rejoice in
the family patronymic of CAMPBELL, the remaining fourth
being less or more connected with that clan.
Every now and then a dispute, if not a quarrel, is ori-
ginated between the representatives of the British Museum
on the one hand and the plenipotentiaries of the book-
trade on the other, relative to the privilege of receiving
presentation copies of all published works from the latter
by the former. The dispute has lasted many years, and
assumed various forms, as well as changing combatants; in
each instance, however, the national might prevailing
over the individual right. The vicarious champions,
victims if you will, of the long-waged war against the
Museum claims are Messrs. SUTHERLAND and KNOX, of
Edinburgh, who complain, and show good reason for their
complaint, that they have been very scurvily, and, as they
insinuate, unfairly treated by Mr. PANIZZI and his agents.
Of course the latter repudiate the charge, and make out a
strong case to show that they are all right " in law," and
charge the unhappy publishers with being their own worst
friends as delinquents. Where a law interposes a rule of
action, it may be unwise to resist its dicta, but it cannot in-
volve much practical criminality to inquire how far that
law is just and wise. The law claims for the British
Museum and some other public institutions a copy
of every work published, and confers on certain
parties the right to enforce that claim with certain
prescribed penalties, if it be not voluntarily recognised
and satisfied. In this country no man is expected to ren-

der service or to give a contribution without receiving a
benefit of some sort in return ; but the British Museum
confers no benefit on authors or publishers : and although
it is no doubt very desirable that there should be one or
more national depositories of every work published,

it is scarcely reasonable to insist that the public should
be so accommodated at the expense of an author or pub-
lisher. The National Gallery is not furnished at the cost
of artists, yet it is a national depository for reference.
Whether through rival idiosyncrasies, or simply through
rival commercial interests, it might be difficult to deter-
mine, but the Athenceum and Critic range themselves on

sides of this controversy—the former appearing
to favour the "legal" view, the latter the " rational"

opposite

aspect of the case. In addition to this subject

pretty case of mutual accusation has been got up betweer
thos(

two literary rivals, relative to the purity and disin-
terestedness of the respective .motives of their publica-
tions. The to quo que argument is bandied about between
them in a manner little becoming the pretensions of
h as is not calculatetitto elevate the eta-

vance t

,he interests of lite

At the' very best, as they show off the matter, it is only a
" pot and kettle" quarrel after all, in which the public is
not likely to feel much interest.

In the death of CHARLES KEMBLE, which took place on
the 12th instant, we have lost one, and the last one of
the histrionic Titans. CHARLES KEMBLE, at first distin-
guished as the brother of his sister and his brother, be-
Camiafterwards famous for the tact, beauty, and polish
of his own impersonations in the highest walk of genteel
comedy. As representative of the man of elegance and
refinement, he was long without a -rival on the British
stage; and those who remember his Lord Townley, Mr.
Oakley, Charles Surface, Colonel Freelove, and such
characters, will readily admit that his like has not been
seen since he quitted the stage, now a good many years
ago. Besides being an able and accomplished actor, he
was a man of education and refined manners, and was
generally respected and esteemed.