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    JTOY14, 1855.] TH 3 LEAPE R,. 669

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    SURVEY OF THE AVAR. Although hut little ...

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    Lord Janus Russell. Lobd John Russell's ...

    throug h sinking to the Debby level ; that Was Lord Aberdeen ' s object , and Lord Aberdeen was sincere . But let us learn Lord John Russell's genuine purpose from the sequel . It is quite evident that he kept at a distance from Lord Aberdeen , who had regained for him the position of a Cabinet minister . Tor his own part , lie trifled "with that position , exchanging' his seat like an uneasy boy in a room full of company ; being , first , Foreign Minister , then Minister without office , then President of the Council ; but he was unable to rest . Determined to mnke a separate position for

    himself in the House of Commons , he dictated to Xiord Aberdeen a reorganisation of the var department ; endeavoured to hunt the Duko of Newcastle out of place , but affected to be answered by Lord Aberdeen ' s objections ; then flung himself out of office into the back bench , threatened ministers with the opposition of his Whig contingent , threw the whole Government into confusion at a period when confusion on the Treasury bench was worse even than a Derby regime , —succeeded in shuffling the sincere Abeedeen , the earnest Newcastle , and the other Peelite members out of the

    Government , —and finally accepted the mission of going to Vienna for the purpose of carrying the Four Points according to the Western interpretation . Thus , he seemed to accept the Coalition Cabinet as a rescue for the credit of his class , but he really entered it on a separate scheme to break it up for regaining a more conspicuous position . He became the dogmatic advocate of reorganisation of the war departments , evidently before he had framed any distinct idea of the requisite

    reform , for the present change is totally unlike his own crude suggestion . He affected to he answered by Lord Aberdeen while he persevered in the unavowed object of his contrivance ; he retired from office in order to take a more advanced position in office ; he accepted the post of envoy at Yienna in order to perform the manifest duty of a British minister ; and he returned to London brimful of eagerness to carry out the objects of Austria .

    His last turn was the four de force , or rather the tour iV-impuissance ; for no man is such a master of incapacity as Lord John . The "work that he Ims achieved does not stop in defeating his own mission to Vienna ; it docs more than defeat the object of his roadmission to the British Cabinet ; practically , it has destroyed the vital principle of Cabinets in general . When Ministerial responsibility was substituted lor regal

    responsibility ; when Ministers undertook to be the whipping-boy a of Kings towards the State , and a peccant Chaiit . es 1 . was to lose his head by proxy in the person of his principal seal-bearer , the enforcement of Ministerial responsibility lay with the headsman . That is tho objectof the impeachment with "which the War members of both the Into and tho present Cabinet are threatened by Mr . Eoebuck . If the Member for Sheffield were

    to carry out his mission with theoretical perfection , Lord . loirN Kusski . l -would have to be conducted to Tower Hill or to Guildhall , would lay his head on a piece of wood like that which wo Bee in butchers' shops , and Would permit some superior Cat . ckai r to divide his neck . Mr . KoEiurcic . it is true ,

    aims nt all tho bends who are challenged with tho " conduct of tho Avar ; " but wo have no cn « o proved against any nave Lord John , and that by hia own eonfeBsion . In modern days , however , the practice of decapitating INI in intern hats sadly degenerated . The most capital . punishment by "which Ministerial responsibility haw been enforced has been expulsion irom oilieo .

    An adverse vote of the Commons depriving Ministers , of the voting-machine , and therefore of the tax-compelling power , obliges them to leave the Treasury Bench . It was an v / nderstandvng that no man should accept office to carry out measures which he could not conscientiously support ; and while that was the case , the withholding of confidence in the House that regulates finance , was sufficient to dismiss a Minister . Lord John

    has broken that understanding . He accepted a mission to Vienna for one purpose and executed another ; he came back pledged to sustain the Austrian compromise , and , although it was rejected by his Cabinet , he continued to remain a Cabinet Minister . He has thus shown to other statesmen a trick worth knowing . If they will only consent to carry out measures of which they heartily disapprove , they may remain official agents and defeat the forms of the House of Commons . Henceforward it niav be

    understood , that a man may have a set of official opinions distinct from his own opinions ; as there is a set religion , and members of the House of Commons are expected to use oaths of abjiu-ation , to attend the Speaker at prayers , and so forth . This establishes the convenient rule that Ministers who have no conscience need be under no responsibility . The House of Commons , indeed , might pass a direct vote of censure upon an individual , but the House has of late vears grown so polite that it

    always frames votes of censure extremely abstract , general , and in impersonal terms . JN " would it exercise any power of compulsion Lord John has worked out for the public a double-faced demonstration—that no penalty now hangs over the British Minister save moral disgrace , and that the British Minister is callous to that species of attack . You cannot arraign him upon any course—since he is always for loth . Neither Mr . Cobden nor Mr . Bright can impeach him for

    betraying the country into a war , since he has done his best to betray the country into a peace ; Sir Edwakd Lytton cannot convict him of concluding a disgraceful peace , since he is as devout as any for war . He is a Janus who closes , his temple , and at the same time leaves the door open for war—greedy at once for the sacrifices both of honour and of bloodshed .

    Jtoy14, 1855.] Th 3 Leape R,. 669

    JTOY 14 , 1855 . ] TH 3 LEAPE R ,. 669

    Survey Of The Avar. Although Hut Little ...

    SURVEY OF THE AVAR . Although hut little news had arrived from the seat of war up to last night , what little there is shows that , in spite of great obstacles , the Allies are not only repairing the disaster of the 18 th , but pushing the attack with vigour . Nor is it from tho Crimea alone that wo hear good news . The campaign in Asia was opened by the Russians early in June , and at the latest advices Mouhavikitf ' s army had sustained a repulse at Kars . Thr Crimea . —The method pursued by the

    Allies since their repulse has been a development of that which has distinguished the operations of this year from those of last . namely , the accumulation of formidable masses of very heavy guns in positions close to the huge Jetem-os of the place . i roin the 18 th of June to the Oth of July , in accordance with this plan , tho French completed their parallels , uniting the Mamelon and Ar ...,, < . < - « n ,, , ino i > iiimi'c 1 in < r at the same tune Mount connecting at the same lime

    Saponne , their left - \ vilb tho advanced British right attack . In i-nrrying forward these operation * , with the . double object of getting a command of the ' . Russian ship * , ami establishing n flank lire upon the Kusssiim left , they wore subjected to considerable loss lroni the Russian batteries on tho north side of JSebastopol bay , and our allies deserve tho greatest credit for tho steady and undaunted

    manner in which they conducted their incessant labours . At the same time , the works in the quarry were perfected , new batteries constructed , and armed . A heavy storm of rain on the 23 rd of June having broken up a portion of the railway , caused a temporary obs truction to the supplies of shot and shell . We presume , however , that this was rapidlv for

    overcome , on the 10 th of July the Britisii right attack opened a terrific fire upon the Eedan , and either silenced the enemy ' s guns , or caused him to withdraw them . In anv case , the British troops were enabled , under cover of the night , and by favour of the damage inflicted on the enemy , to push their approaches in the direction of the Sedan , as General Pelissier informs us . On the

    extreme left of the main Trench attack upon the town face of Sebastopol , we believe a battery of very heavy and far-reaching mortar 3 has been constructed by our allies . The object of this battery is to co-operate with the mortars in the IMamelon and the works on Mount Sapoune in destroying the Russian

    ships , and so to complete an imperfect kind oi investment of the south side of the great bay . Thus , by degrees , the Allies draw gradually and steadily nearer the enemy , overcoming the inconceivable obstacles interposed by the ground , the fire of the enemy , the climate , and the mighty lines of earth which protect Sebastopol .

    In the field we hear of no movements except constant reconnoissances made by tLe Turks , assisted by the 10 th Hussars , into the valley of Baidar . Prince Goetschakoff boasts that he had received , or was about to receive , considerable reinforcements ; but ti letter from " Warsaw in the Co-nsliiutionneJ , purporting to be derived from the Prince- , through Councillor of State De Kotzeku ::. who had recently arrived from the Crime ; -, gives a different colour to the boast . According to this statement the reinforcements

    arrived very slowly , and were decimated in their progress to and bej-ond Perekop by tho want of water and provisions . The Russian covering force , including the garrison of the north side , is estimated at 93 , 000 men . But it is next to impossible to obtain any accurate information on such a subject . To all appearance no forward movement was contemplated by the chiefs ; yet who shall say what an hour may bring forth ?

    Jisia . —The Russians opened the Asian campaign by an invasion of Turkish Armenia , in three columns , on the ath and 9 th of June . Their forces were estimated on the spot at 20 , 000 men , including a due supply of guns and horsemen . Their base of operations was the fortress of Gumri ; the object of their first movement the capture of Kars . The plan of campaign this year diners materially from that of last . Then , General BiiBU'ioo

    advanced himself directly towards Kara , while General Wrinoelmoved uponBaya / id with the view , as it seemed , of marching by Toprak Kaleh upon the road to Erzeromn , : md cutting the line of communication between that town and Kars . The Turkish army moved at once upon Bemutofi ? , and mot " with defeat at Hadji velli Ivhoi . It will be remembered , however , that tho Russians gained nothing by the victory beyond tlu-! Klorv of it , for a moiincing advance of Schamyi' towards Titlis drew the Russian reserves nil

    to that side . .. , This year the plan has boon ( lilleic I . General ' Mor . Avu : ^ directed tho ac- no annv to move by it » right first- t ^ f * " ! gf . nn before moving "pon ^ in ., « nd " ^ i co ' upon Kars . The left mid centre columns ' X ed a jum-tion near / ain ! on tho l ^ h . a n ,., ( tin ' ii ihe ri «* ht column , under Koval ^ vn i « J ArdMRlmn , which tho Turk abandoned , and had blown up tho

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), July 14, 1855, page 9, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_14071855/page/9/