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    Untitled Article

    j > erpetrat ^ d < py brutal , savage cut-throats , who , Rearing $ he livery of the ; Czar of Russia , are a fli $ CTace to ' tie name aftdpTofession of a soMier . '*'

    The modes in which this " overthrow" manifested itself have been variously stated ; but one statement , is , that . the Duke of Catnbri 4 ge haql , spine over-animated discussion with Lord Raglan op . the subject of military conduct . Lexers ; from the 'Crimea speak of the subject as 4 be Cambridge row . ' * Other versions of the ^ stcry represent Major-Geueral Henry Bentinck as the offended , party . General Bentinck wasswounded , but not very severely . He returns , however , to this country , and pavs one of his first

    visits to the Duchess of Gloucester , at whose house he is met by the Duchess of Cambridge and the Princess Maiy . It had been stated in the papers that ( he had received an iavitatiqn " from the Queen , but had excused 'himself on the score of his bad state of health . I ^ ter , however , the General did visit the Queen , and had a long interview with they ^ a jesty and Prince AJbert . He has s « bsegueoxtjy been appointed Governor of \ ¦ -

    Portsmouth . It is reported by the telegraph that the Duke of Cambridge '' had left the army invalided . " These are some of the very few ascertained facts , mingled with mere rumours , whiah throw a doubtful light upon the subject . Th . e reports have been repeated ; their bearing has been ., pointed , as we have observed , "by the Staadxtrd . ; they remain without contradiction , and the whole subject is involved in what looks like a systematic mystery . We are . therefore left to , put our owninfecenees .

    The appointment o £ the Duke of Cambridge is the most conspicuous , but not the sole example of those made apparently on some ground of connexion or favour . Others have given occasion to remark . Why was the venerable . but hot-headed Lord Lucan placed in position to make that suicidal charge at

    Balaclava , the discredit of which , was for a time thrown upon poor Captain Nolan ? What axe Lord Cardigan's characteristics , beyond those of-a trooper ? What admirable qualities of command has he displayed , to redeem Iris black bottle stains , that he should be chosen to dash ihis men into action and to bring so few of them , out of action ? It could not be for want

    of cavalry officers who have shown genius and have . gained experience , since there is aThackwell at home , —employing his great ability in recruiting horses for the troops ! The Quarter-Master ~ General in the East was by some reason or other induced to return home soon after the oommencement of the campaign , and his return called attention to the question why he ever ¦ wen t out ? Was it because of his connexion with a Minister in office ? What _ have been the services of the Dulse of Cambridge ? The incessant restlessness with which lie rode about the camp at . Chobham was marked , and looked meiitorious : and . he had shown a similar vi-1

    vacity of Belfndisplay at the Wellington funeral ; hut 'Cb . obb . atn and the Strand are mot fields which tost the genius > or experience sufficient to make a General of Division . On the field of battle , as at Alma , he displayed a laudable desire that his troop should " form up ; " lus anxieties however seeming more for parade niceties than for snatching a rough victory out of a . rough field . It must have taxed Lord Raglan ' s tact to give the Duke a service suitable ; but why encumber the Comrnander-in-Ofuef Tvifch a Royal Highness , when ho wanted an efficient General of Division ? In n field

    whore five Generals may be wounded , and three Killed , in one day , it is not desirable to have ornamental officers , or to give away posts in " a particular service , " for the claims of family connexion . AB-exceytiona amongst the m « ss of oloqwmt atift chivalrous literature that the post ponra back , from the JSast , come a . few gi'umb'linjga ,

    disparagements , and despondencies . Some of the officers , grumble , and go on ; others tnk with thfeir grumbling the talk of their returning home . ; and -cynics observe that these homesick people are the sons of hatters and grocers who < have crept into commissions by the unaxistooratic laxity of the -Horse Guards . If such is true , perhaps we shall find that the hatters . and grocers had commercial relations with the aristocracy , and that the Horse Guards bad favoured lenient creditors . But what are the facts ? There are some tolerably notorious instances of gentlemen who have shown the utmost dislike to the trenches and

    enterprises of Sebastopol , or the victories of Balaklava -and Inkerman ; but it is not the sons of hatters and grocers who are reported to have bolted , or ito have laid themselves down upon the ground , " roaring" with terror at the idea of being ordered to advance ! If you go down to the humblest classes , you may iepeat > without ceasing , instances of a chivalry equalling that of romance . A Sullivan , acting as one of a small picket party ,

    withstands an approaching host of Russians , as we hear of knights withstanding armies ; and a Hewitt remains alone to man a gun against the advancing enemy : but these are noncommissioned and warrant officers , whom , with many others of the same rank , the authorities are Ibreed to recognise by military promotion These men have " crept into commissions , " though -they are probably the < sors of those who are even " lower" than hatters and

    grocers . They have the capacity for understanding their duty i the fidelity to render just ^ obedience in a field where infidelity of obedience is the frustration of victory , courage to Bnatch triumph from ithe very hands of death , fortitude to sustain death itself with patience , and gentleness crowning the chivalrous 'c haracter which worships female presenoe . Hear what Mr . Sidney Herbert says of the private soldiers in the Crimea : —

    " He had witnessed with great pleasure for many years paBt the . endeavours which had been made to improve our soldiers by : giving them a better education and more comforts , and he disagreed with those who thought that we were doing too much for the British army ; he also thought that opinions would be greatly changed by what had recently taken place . " There could be no doubt that in all armies there was-a feeling , which wag shared in both by officers and men , of indifference of life ; but in the present campaign the warmest feeling of attachment to each other had been Bhown by all , and the strictest order

    and discipline had been followed out . He was looking "but a few days since over the late Duke of Wellington ' s despatches relative to the Peninsular campaigns , and one of his chief complaints was the total want of discipline , and the outrageous brutalities committed by his army , which nothing but the greatest severity Gould put an end to . Let them turn to the army-now in the Crimea , and compare it in this respect with that in the Peninsula . The army under Lord 'Raglan , was , as ho was informed by an officer > who had just arrived from the seat of

    war , an army without a . crime , with great order , with no complaints , and with no bad conduct , and the office of Judge-Advocato was a perfect sinecure . There was no doivbt that much of this was to > be attributed ito the Duke of Wellington himself , who had'loft the army in the highest state of self-control . He had seen a letter from the lady who had gone out to tfllco charge of the scik and wounded , which stated that in her progress through tlio various hospitals , which extended > over a distance of four miles , she had not heard aflinglo word unfit for a lady to hoar , nor a single complaint . "

    It is not , therefore , for want of materials £ hat they choose unsuitable cadets of aristocratic houses , or eeleot Royal Highnesses to put in place . of officers and Generals of division . Certain failures of persons who have nofc known how to ueo the opportunities ithrust upon thorn in the Crimea , corroborate all that wo have aaid as to the mischief of choking up the higher ranks in the army with tlie favourites or minions of court . or aristocracy , instead oi letting appomtumenUi go according to the -tliirec * claims of merit iaud o&pnaifcv .

    Untitled Article

    RAH / WA 3 T -CONTRACTORS CARRYING O&T THE WAH . ( Prom a Gor ^ e $ pond 6 at ^ Mbssbs . BbAssey , Peto , Betts , and Co .,-having entered into an engagement to send to the * Crimea , certain cm / engineers , railway navvies , railway pLant ,. &c ., the public will no doubt -wait most anxiously the results . That one or more thousand men inmued to labour may be made useful no one need doubt—that is , their power to labour will be so much , added to the available stock of

    power on hand . But , that they will add to the efficiency and strength of the ttntiy , in proportion to their numbers and cost ( if used as proposed , namely , to construct railways ) , may reasonably be doubted . Horses , mules , and donkeys , or even Turks , present labour in a much cheaper and more available form : these , or a combination of these , will convey ammunition and stores generally from the shipping to the army quite as well , and at a cheaper rate , than the navvies can—under the circumstances .

    Does the Duke of Newcastle expect that railways can or will be laid daring the continuance of this siege ( Sebastopol ) so as to be useful ? If so , other than wooden houses shouM be sent out ; the nation may look for a repetition of the siege of Troy , and should prepare for it accordingly . The army may require model lodging-houses , baths and wash-houses , patent soil pans , &c . ; the question of brick sewers , or earthenware tubular pipe drains may probably be settled at the camp , arid the metropolis benefit by the experience accordingly .

    But , in all serious earnestness , to return to the question of navvy labour in war—for the subject is a gr-ave one—how shall it or how can it answer ? It is said one navvy will be-worth , in the trenches , several soldiers . — Query 1 This depends upon the judgment of the general . Soldiers are , for the most part , day labourers and artisans , men brought up to labour , and who have been drilled into obedience . Then there are the Sappers and Miners—artisans of good character , and skilled in the use of their tools-, prepared by precept and practice in entrenching and fortifying . Surely no man will say a raw , clumsy , uncouth , untrained , and mulish navvy is even equal to on « of these men . Then why not send out every available sapper ?

    Those who have employed , superintended , and paid gangs of navvies , know something about their tempers and their -working powers . In temper , they are obstinate , in disposition , bru-tish ; and , at any other labour than filling a waggon or wheeling a barrow , clumsy . They labour like asses , but eat , drink , and sleep like pigs . By constant labour of one form their limbs aro strong , but stiffened and ungainly . They can neither run nor figlit—to advantage . A London pugilist of ten stone weight would beat a score of the largest and stoutest navvies as fnat as they could stand up before him , one

    after the other , and would only be beaten in turn by the damage to his fists . All this may seem beside the question of their wso at the war , but it is not . Men are required , not only strong , but active , and , above nil , amenable to discipline . This the navvies are not , neither will they be made so in the time roquiretl . Wo do not expect to hear of " single nnd double runs , horse tuns and waggon roads" being regularly " worked night and day by double shifts " in the trenches ; if so , the navvy will require " sub" and have his " drinkingboutH , " or the men sent out will alter in their nature and in their

    conduct . There Ls another and more serious feature of the cnee to ho considered , namely , the presence of free men and their pay— . that is , tho association of tho unonlifltod raw material nt 7 » . a day with the soldier doing heavier duty nnd risking his life at lfl . a clay . Will this tend to harmony ? Will it create content ? Will it improve discipline ? We fear not . Tho ¦ wording of tho agreement is not very clear .

    The mivvicH are to bo employed in tho formation of railways from Ralukluva to tho hoightu round Bobaetopol . X'hoy had bettor be employed to carry or wheel up tho material , ammunition , stores , & « . By the time tho railway ia formed tho war miiy bo « t < in end . One thouflftiid men will carry or wheel ton thousand tons eight miloH long before they would complete one mile of railway ; thorotforo , t ) iK » ty thousand tons may bo plncod on tho hoightu round fctibantojpol boforo a ainglo lino of rails could bo laid . Tho whole Buhuinu looks vastly like an absurdity , and indicates tho shifts a Ministry may bo driven to .

    Qovoruinont might contract > for many things with ndvantttf ^ o — HhifM of war , &c . Yankoy buckwoodtnnan would have shot down tho CaflVoa by contract jit urttinfh of tho r » un » , paid . Wo might ovon bo governed by contract cheaper than « t pvenotrt . At nil events ,, tho Queon might > t * y the rtmxlt of nn aflvorttoflmont 'for « War MlniHtcic , warranted ) to auidurutunU hit ) UuhIjuwbh .

    Untitled Article

    1106 ffraE fL % A . IEB . [ Sasimpa ^ ,

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 9, 1854, page 1166, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2068/page/14/