The sun., 1908-05-17

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ieAS WA oyer the conftOvessy cesweSn
huessa amd Turkey regarding the Dannblan
had caused EnGiand aad
France 10 adopt Q concurrent arh-Ruspian
policy, and In Decenaber OF the year named
eTe,sTs were sent TO tho allied feet 10 enter
the Black Sen, while at the Same time sir
Charles Napier. In command Of . seccnd
feet. was sent 10 the Baltic. Very oppors
tupeiy, a. 1t happened. an advance copy Of
O book sent to the Tiusse cffsce for review
catie into Delanes hands before the close
OF 1853. This was Laurence Oliphant's
Russian Shores Of the Black ees, the first
book TO call attention 10 the military and
naval strength Of 5ebastopoi. tho very name
OF which was then unfamiliar TO tho major
ity OF English readers. 0liphant seems TO
have been the FIRST Engllshman 20 predict
that u war should come Il was at Sebastopol
that England would have TO strike at tho
heart Of Russia. 50 much struck was
Delane with Ollphant's book that he not
only gave II very favorabIe notice In, the
columns Of the Times but made the ac-
qusintsnce OF its author and induced him
to become one Of his regular foreign scorre-
spoudents. We may here note that In 1854
D5lHnD To8uIn0Q tine DTU6Ll08 OF ko8pluk u
diary, but except for the ocoasion Of his
visit TO the Crimea Id the autumn, whom he
kept full account OF his voyage out and
home. 10 was merely a. record OF his social
and business engagements
Long before the formal declaration OF
war. which was made on February 81, 1884,
Delane had completed his preparations for
enlightening the public at home a. to the
course OF the campaign which he had long
foreseen to be inevitable. Early In Febru~
ary w. II. Russell. who had seen something
Of warfare. was directed to proceed with
the army to tho East. and his first private
letter to Delans was written on April 8
from Gallipoli. Thomas Chenery was sent
to Constantinople as correspondent OF tho
paper in that city; Stowe, fellow OF Oriel,
who had previously been employed a. q
writer by Deisns, to varna, and Laurence
Oliphant to describe the doings Of the
Turks under Omar Pasha. In also send
ing Charlss Nasmith, a young officer In
the East India Companys service, to the
very spot (Silistria) where the Gar received
his fret check Delane displayed remarka-
bic foresight. The idea OF having special
correspondent with an army to move
WIN tLtcf OODS anu uG3CIlDe III uGtdki 6N0iy
action and incident OF the campaign was
an almost entirely new feature in journalis-
tic enterprise --as long ago as the Peninsu-
lar campaign the Tsmes had appointed
Henry Crabb Robinson to act as its war
correspondent the innovation Yves not
regarded with much favor by the military
authorities at home or In the field
It is we'll known that after the raising Of
the siege Of Silistria the Russians withdrew
from the principalities and recrossed the
Pruth. The ostensible cause OF the dispute
being thus removed, did it follow that the
war should logically come TO a close? Aus
tria said yes, and thenoeforth withdrew
even the semblance of diplomatic support
from the allies. : Delane said no, and ON
juno is, 1854. the Times declared: "The
grand political and military objects Of the
war cannot be attained SO long as Sebasto-
pol and the Russian Black Sea feet are in
existence. A peace which should
leave Russia in possession of those means Of
aggression would only enable her to recon-
mence the war at her pleasure" What the
Times thought one day the Government OF
Lord Aberdeen was apt to think on the
morrow. and Palmerston at once presented
a memorandum to the Cabinet pointing
out that although the particular overt
act by which Russia had broken the peacs
was the invasion Of the Danubian rrinci-
palities. the purpose for which England had
taken up arms would be very imperfectly
attained If the only result Of the war was
to be the evacuation Of those provinces by
the Russian army. He was tho first men,
ber Of the Cabinet to realize that England
was not likely to accomplish anything Of inn
portance in the Baltic-Sir Charles Napier's
expedition was an egregious failure-and
that the right course to pursue was 10 move
the troops from Varna to the Russian shores
Of the Black Sea and TO reduce Sebastopol.
From the very first Russell's letters to
the Times from the front showed that he
intended TO be an'unsparing critic OF mill
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