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Leader (1850-1860), 13th October 1855, Edition 2 of 2, Page 13, SURVEY OF THE WAR. The immediate operati...

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      Our French Partner's Monev Matters. Ave ...

      more assistance to those of her commercial friends there who might bo endangered . When France has carried out free trade thoroughly , then her position might become the same as our own , and she would be one of the most effective partners in the vast joint-stock company of the world . But she has much to do before that da )' .

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      Survey Of The War. The Immediate Operati...

      SURVEY OF THE WAR . The immediate operations at the seat of war a ^ ain furnish material for boundless speculation . The question discussed is not only Avhat are the Allies doing , but what are they going to do ? We cannot follow far in this track ; we cannot pretend to divine the intentions of the commanders ; we can only do , as we have done before , bring under the notice of the reader such new facts , or such old facts confirmed by new evidence , as may enable them to form an opinion as well as ourselves .

      The first thing to remark , is that the war 1 ms been carried beyond the Crimea . AVith whatever intent , ami that intent has not yet boon disclosed , an Allied squadron , consisting of nine line-of-battle ships , twenty-eight steamers , and nine gunboats , left Kainiesch on the 7 th October and anchored before Odessa the next day . The Ministerial Globe promised us an immediate

      bombardment , but , so far as the public are informed , that event has not yet taken place . Another report , derived from a questionable source . Speaks of the fleet as subsequently threatening Otchakof and the estuary of the Dnieper . The next fact to be noticed is the extension of tho French positions in the Baidar Valley to the north side of the ridge overlooking Markoul and Koluluz . They were therefore

      complete masters of the Baidar Valley and the passes leading to the north . Taking a bii'd ' s-cye view of the positions , we see the advanced i ^ osts of the Allies stretching from the right over Markoul , through Ozembash on their left , and thence by the line of the Tchernaya to the plateau of Sebastopol . We shall see the line of the Russians with its extreme right at

      Fort Coustantine , its centre on the inkerman heights , its left behind the Mackenzie ridge , and its extreme left near Markoul . "We shall see the outposta of the belligerents facing each other on the right of the Allies , and engaged in constant skirmishes in the valley of tho Upper Belbck , and on the banks of the Uppor IVhuliu . We shall see the Russian battery at Inkornuan iiring " pot shots" at the French on the Tehernaya , and the

      batteries established in Sebastopol engaging those on the north side . Over the plateau of Sebastopol , in tho valley of tho Tehernaya and the valley of Baidar , we shall ace the soldiers buaily engaged in drilling and roadmaking . The third point attracting attention is Eupatoria . Hero there arc possibly 10 , 000 ov 50 , 000 men , with two British cavalry regiments , and a division of French horsu . The activity of tho latU > r is indicated by their s > uecchs on the 20 th of September , when General D'AiiiiONvu ^ K do Touted General Kouf , and

      captured six guns ; ami by a recent move along the road to Perokop . Combining those operations wo got ; this result : tho French have outflanked the enemy ' s loft anil gained tho valley of tho Upper Belbek . Should this movement be continued , it is reasonable to suppose that tho Kussians would fall back upon tho deiiles of Mangup-Kuleh nml Albat ; nnd thus their left would face to tho east and occupy these defiles , which are in fact little more than tho bods of winter torrents , cut deeply in the ranges of cliff-like hills that run from Aitodor in a northerly- direction to

      Baktchiis menaced , and a strong force is within three days' march of his line of communication with Russia . Simpheropol is now the strategic centre of the Crimea , and he who can hold that wins the victory . The expedition to Odessa is necessarily purely naval ; the bombardment of that town would be a positive gain , as well as a strong diversion : the threatening movements of the fleet on the coast would constitute a diversion solely , but a diversion of considerable importance .

      Serai . What further movement the French can make in this direction remains to be seen ; but Prince Gobtschakoff reports that he has this week been beaten at Koluluz and Janisala . But we must take this in connexion with the occupation of Eupatoria in force , if we would estimate the pressure thus brought to bear on the enemy . And then we see that while the North side is bombarded daily , the left flank of the enemy

      The value of Odessa to Southern Russia is almost as great as the value of Sebastopol . Odessa is the commercial capital of Southern liussia , and the emporium of her trade . Founded in 1792 by Catherine , stimulated by many privileges , supplying a great social as well as a great political want in those regions , Odessa has sprung up into a flourishing city , the pride of the Cz . vit . It is also a great military station . To destroy it , therefore , would be to inflict almost as heavy a blow on the power of Russia in the Euxine as was inflicted by the destruction of

      Sebastopol . We trust , therefore , that it is not only doomed , but that its doom will usefully affect the operations in the Crimea .

      Candidates For Italy. Diplomacy Is The S...

      CANDIDATES FOR ITALY . Diplomacy is the snfefcy-valve of despotism . King Bomba bad worked his police-machine at high pressure , until Austria feared the effect of an explosion upon her Lombard provinces . Thereupon , three powers intervened —and the Bourbon dismissed his accomplice . Naples , for the present , is at peace . The British squadrons , hovering off the Bay of Beauty , will not enter , lest the people should accept tho event as the signal of revolution . Fekdinaxu , meanwhile , unable to employ Mazza as a minister , trusts to him as a private adviser . There has been onlv one

      reform in Naples : tho King was a ferocious bravo ; he is m >\ v a ferocious hypocrite . To Italians , therefore , the situation appears unchanged . The Neapolitans remain the victims of an abusing tyranny . The Lombard provinces , drained by Austrian avarice and scourged by Austrian brutality , only await an opportunity to detach themselves from tho Hapsburg Empire . Rome is repeating the days of 1847 . But in Naples especially , all parties regard the dynasty of the Bourbons

      as ellelo , and look anxiously for its successor . At this point the Muratists present their iilea . They propose to seat on the throne of Bomij . v a inuii whose sole claim is that his uncle was a usurper , false , moan , and tyrannical . But contempt does not suilicc to extinguish contemptible pretensions . Mun . vT , indolent and weak , is a desperate egotist ; necessarily , because ho is of tho Bonaparte blood , anil h »* , perhaps , a star . It is , therefore , important to quench his faction before

      the final moment arrives . Indeed , to accomplish this , it is only necessary that the patriotic ltiiliuna should unite . They represent all that id intelligent , independent , manly , in the peninsula . The Napoleonic section is composed only of unscrupulous or infatuated adventurers , scheming upon a contingency , with not a chance of success except through the disunion and iuiirmity of purpose upon which they rely to deprive the real Itnlian party of its hold upon tho disaffected nation .

      The recent acts of Manist and his friends have produced great consternation among the Muratists in France and JSTaples . It was imagined that the Venetian president and the Republicans throughout Italy , by disavowing the constitutionalism of Piedmont , would divide the ranks of the Italian nationality , and open the way to a Bonapartist pretender . Maoist , however , with a patriotism in harmony with his character , has chosen the better part . He knows that it would be impossible , and unwise were it possible , to disafiect the Piedmontese towards their

      throne . Our readers have already seen the letter , published first in the Op ' mione of Turin , iu which he prefers an alliance between the democratic and constitutionalist parties . In that letter it is well said that the Piedmontese , in order to deserve the support of Italy , must entertain national , and not municipal feelings . If the rallying of the Italians round the Sardinian flagbe viewed merely as au aggrandisement of their King , or as a tribute to their importance , the Republicans can . offer

      no countenance to a policy so selfish ; but if Yictok . Emm . ajsuel's subjects , loyally valuing the independence of the Italian nation , put aside all considerations of egotism and the indolence of apathy to assert the principle of a free national life , they will draw to themselves the sympathy , the respect , and the aid of every man who has the liberties of Italy at heart . Maxi >' , referring to the Muratist intrigues , and to the declaration of ErcciAHDi , has addressed to the editor of the Siccle the following letter : —

      " A pr ,. pr > s of a pamphlet about to appear tinder the title . The Italian Question—Mural and the Bourbons , you have published the declaration of M . J . Ricciardi . Be good enough to add mine , which i 3 tin s : — " Faithful to my principle—Italian Independence and Unit 3- —I repel e % * ery scheme that assails it . If regenerated Italy must have a king , she can have only one , and that one must be the King of Piedmont . "

      Without passion , without personal antipathy , there is enough to condemn the idea of a Muratist kingdom in Naples . In the first place , it would vitiate essentially the priuciple of an Italian revolution . "War against Austria , against the Bourbons , against the Pope , against the despicable Duke of Tuscvxy , would be illogical and fruitless , unless it were a war of

      independence . To vindicate and to preserve that independence , the Italians must be united , which can never be the case while rival governments rule the peninsula—especially if one of them should be an alien , with the traditions of a disgraceful period , identified with conquest , usurpation , treachery . Muratisni , not mad enough to propose itself as tho sulo successor of the

      Austrians , priests , and Bourbons , tends to establish a political dualism , fatal of course to the idea of Italian unity , and dangerous to the integrity of the peninsula . A region , quartered in . small divisions among various governments is a mark for military aggression . Such has Italy been . Such would Muratism compel it to continue . But its patriots have other aims : they desire to root out those foreign influences which have converted the loveliest land iu Europe into an arena for conflicting armies of occupation , for reckless pretender * , for Austriaus , Bourbons , and

      Bonapartifits . Even conceding tho possibility , which Jin * not yet boon established , that two kings ot tho north imd south of Italy could co-opcpnto for a time to keep out the Austrian : ) , it w oovious that causes of anU-oniani would exibt from tho first . - Vs ft Bonaparte , Mvuai . inuftfc govern upon Bonapartist ™™™ - Naples could not be the 8 U o ofl'la ^ cc . He institutions must be »* f ! J °£ '" ^_ ever illusion mig ht bo created , to iboao os

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 13, 1855, page 13, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_13101855/page/13/