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Leader (1850-1860), 20th October 1855, Edition 1 of 2, Page 998, Untitled Article

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      subserviency even to departed greatness in wealth The three gentlemen , whose conduct has impoverished numbers and mined many individuals , are brought to the gaol in all the odour of sanctity of wealth . They appear , from the reports , to iinderstand their position ; and the Governor alsc understands it . They are at first lodged in certain cells , but it is soon discovered that they are oi that quality which requires distinction , they are of that blood with which port wine is congenial , they are of that standing which is above the rules of ordinary persons ; and Mr . Governor Hull , regarding their fall with compassion , makes the custom of the prison bend to their dignity . They have correspondence , parcels , friends , without restriction , and the letters pass without ex amination ; whereas common men can only have their friends for twenty minutes at a time , and only two in a day , and their letters are read . The three magnates of the criminal community are permitted to have friends with them all day . Mr . Stkahan , naturally feeling separation from his wife , is furnished with an occasional residence in the Governor's house ; where he is so much at home , that when a friend visits him in the prison , he beckons ^ that friend to a more agreeable place of meeting . The Governor perceives distinctions , and can enforce them , notwithstanding the prejudices that may reign amongst the vulgar herd of prisoners against such differences between man and man . As to the possibility that Strahan or Paul could have used opportunities for escape , that is not to be thought of : they are persons of hig h distinction , not for a moment to be suspected of dishonourable purposes ! Does not Stbauan say , alluding to magistrates who may object to his treatment , that they are a set of " Radicals , " and that he will " reward" the faithful Governor ? Does not dethroned greatness exclaim , " Yes , take all , but leave me my Bible ! " Are persons of this stamp to be brought down to the low standard ? N " o , Hilx . is above such mean considerations . By his instructions , the rules of the prison are rendered subservient to the prisonersnamely , to these three ; and the " Radical " magistrates record their spite upon Hill by suspending him until they shall consider what to do . But law and justice themselves are under consideration . We have had a continuance of the attacks upon the ticket-of-leave system , and it has at last met with one defender—a defender who shields it in the most extraordinary fashion . Colonel Jebb , Chairman of the Directors of Convict Prisons , brings forward an elaborate statement in the Times to prove that the ticket-ofleave system has been eminently successful . His argument is , that when transportation ceased , imprisonment at home was regarded as the substitute or equivalent ; that in the colonies the convicts used to obtain their discharge conditionally , ^ and- that they ought to do so here ; that the strictest imprisonment justifies a shorter term , and that the statistics of the returns show the prisoners , on the whole , to have been reformed . Out of 3629 prisoners who have been discharged conditionally , only 96 have had their ticket-ofleave revoked , and 97 have been convicted and sentenced for fresh crimes . While of 099 prisoners who have claimed the balance of a gratuity due to them out of their earnings after they are discharged , if they behave well for three months , 684 have obtained the allowances upon satisfactory assurances of their behaviour . The Colonel also shows that the pcr-contage of ordinary prisoners convicted again is much greater than that of the tickot-of-lcavo men reconvicted . But this system , so successful , ho aays—and he says it as a kind of assurance to the public—is not to be carried out by Government . They will more commonly observe the rule that the priso nor undergoes his whole sentence in confinement ; not enjoying the tioket-of-leave . So that , while

      . defending the system , he abandons it ; and , telling . the country the blessing it has had , he reassures , us by telling us the blessing is to be revoked ! This * is an odd policy fora reforming Government , ? and we can only suppose that by some accident ? the matter has been left in the hands of a subori nate—Colonel Jebb . ~ Another " party" has been brought before the law . and in a manner almost unprecedented to the public of the present day . Certain refugees have been culled to account lor an olTenee against the political as well as the common law of this country , and they have been punished with a penalty that iu some countries has been ranked next to death . Three refugees resident in London have affixed their names to a paper iu the form of a letter to Queen Victoria , which we have characterised in a separate paper . Addressing the Queen in terms of unreserved familiarity , the refugees affirm that Pianori ' s attempt on the life of the Emperor Napoleon was only the prelude to the final destruction of the Emperob ; and they declare that the family of Kvpolkon must be expelled from every country , respect for bis very name or memory constituting an offence . This letter has been printed in L ^ Homme , a French paper , published in Jersey ; and the inhabitants of St . Heliers , the capital of that island , have met and called for the suppression of the paper . The island authorities , exercising the privilege of a local law which is sometimes a serious nuisance to the United Kingdom , have * ' banished" the proprietor , the editor , und the publisher of the journal . This , no doubt , sends them over to England ; where they will recruit the forces of the triumvirate which signed the letter . The occurrence has ereatetl a feeling of strong disgust among many patriots resident in England , who see in it an injury to themselves and to the good cause , even more than to England or to the Queen . In fact , the refugees who have signed the letter may be said to have embezzled the character of patriots , and to have prostituted it to a very low class of trade—that which panders to the mere love of sensation . As certain people trade in disgusting publications for sale among the depraved , these traders appear to be bent upon composing a crime and publishing it bodily ; and the letter is the puff preliminary . The Bishop *> k Lincoln on Clekov Increase . — Some observationa were made by tbe Bishop of Lincoln at a meeting at the Corn Exchange , on the subject of the ¦ want of churches and clergymen . He auid that , allowing one clergyman for everyone thousand or fifteen hundred persons , the increase of population would require something like a hundred additional clergymen per annum . The largest number that a clergyman could properly attend to was 1000 or 1200 ; but many pride themselves ¦ w ith being invested with the charge of 50 , 000 . A conscientious minister makes an attempt at visiting ; and inquiring into all his parishioners ; but he soon finds it impossible , and is obliged to give it up . The want of clergymen in the large towns , said the Hisliop , is the cause of infidelity and immorality . " What was denominated the Church property had by successive reductions been limited to something like a tenth of its former amount , and a curious fact was mentioned in a report of the Additional Curates Aid Society , that the sum spent annually in Great Britain on tobacco and snuff was just twice as much as the whole income of the Church of England , from the Archbishops down to tho curates ; so that , to put it in another way , if people who indulged in the use of those unnecessary and often injurious stimulants were disposed to give up what they expended in them to the use of the Church , the number of tho clergy might be increased threefold . If the whole of the iii-1 cornea of the Church of England were redistributed and I divided equally among all the incumbontu throughout | the land , the result would be a net average income of only about 200 / . a year each . " Dramatic Kicauino at Bristol . — Wo observe in the local papers that Mrs . Chatterley , tho London actress , has been reading Much Ado About Not hint ] at tho Bristol Athonieum . The reading was prefaced by an historical and critical account of tho play —a novel feature which wo , believe Mrn . Chatterley introduced for the first time at tho l'olytechuic Institution . Entertainment : * of this kind servo to popularisn the iicliicveine . iits of great intellects , and to extend refining influences ; and wo aro , therefore , glad to learn that Mm . Chatterloy was greeted with tho applause of a numerous audience of Brintolians .

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      OOQ T H E X E A D E R > . [ No . 291 , Saturday , yyo - -- ¦ •_ " — *" ' ' '

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      THE WAR .

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      An entire defeat of the Russians before Kars forms the chief item of the war news tins week . It appears that on the 29 th of September the Russians attacked the city which they have so long blockaded . For eight hours the combat continued , the utmost fierceness and determination being shown on both sides ; « nd , although the attacking columns several times gutued am entrance into the works , they were as often dashed back , till , utterly disheartened and worn out , they retired , completely routed . The losses are variously stated . According to a despatch from Lord Stratford de Kedcliffe , the Russians had 2500 killed , and twice that number wounded , while upwards of 4 OOO muskets were left on the field ; and the Turkish Minister of Foreign Affairs , in writing to the Ottoman Knvoy in London , states that General Mouravieff lost 4000 men killed , 100 prisoners , nnd one gun . The Turkish losa appears to have been from SCO to 1 OOO men killed and wounded ; the killed including several superior officers . It was at first stated that the Russians , seized with a panic , were preparing to retreat and abandon the siege ; but General Mouravieff announces that the blockade of Kars is re-established on the same footing as before the attack . The failure of the attempt is attributed by him to several officers of high rank having been killed or wounded early in the action ; but it is added by the Russian Commander that he succeeded in capturing fourteen Turkish flags . It is gratifying to reflect that a large part of the honour of this Turkish success is due to Englishmen . General Williams is the Commander-in-Chief at Kars ; and he has had under him Captain Teesdale , Colonel Lake , of the Madras Engineers , and Captain Thompson , of the 68 th Bengal Native Infantry—all three young men . The last-named officer was severely wounded in the arm in the Burmese war ; and , going out to Kars before he had fully recovered , has actually aided in defending that town with his arm in : i sling . Preparatory movement , an J the weaving of a vast network of stratagem round the Russians , may be said to be tbe summing up of the intelligence from the Crimea and the adjacent lands and seas . GortschakofTannounces to his Government that the Allies are organising a concentric advance from Eupatoria , Baidar , Kertch , and Kinhurn , with the design of surrounding and cutting off the Russian forces . The appearance of the Allied fleets before Odessa , did not lead to any attack ; and the squadrons departed in peace , and sailed to Kinbum—a town situated at the extreme western point of the coast which bounds the liman or estuary of the Dnieper on the south . They appeared there on the 15 th inst ., and landed a small lorce not far from the Salt Lakes . In the evening , six steamers began to bombard Kinburn ; the fortress replied , and one of our vessels was injured . On the 16 th , a cannonade took place between the fortress and the gunboats of the Allies ; but no result of importance has as yet occurred . Intelligence has been received by Lord Pun mure that Sir Colin Campbell has been sent to Eupatoria with a considerable force of infantry and artillery . On the evening of October the 6 th , an expedition , consisting of 3500 English troops and 2000 seamen , sailed for the mouth of the river Bug ; and the Light Cavalry , under Lord George Paget , together with a troop of Horse Artillery , will embark for Eupatoria . Gortschakoff , on October 11 . telegraphed to St . Petersburg that the Allies hud concentrated imposing masses of troops in the valley of the Upper Belbek , and were preparing to advance still further ; nnd despatches from the Crimea , dated the lath , state that the advanced posts of the Allies on the previous day were within five leagues of Uaktchi-Serai , that the Kus .-ians were retiring slowly , and that everything led to the belief that General Liprandi intended to defend the line of the Belbek , and to rest upon the corps commanded by Prince Gortschakoff . In a telegraphic message from Gortsehak <> n ; of the same date , we find it usserieil that the Allies quitted the valley of the Upper Belbek that morning , and returned to tho ridge separating it from the valley of Baidar . This retreat is attributed by GortMi'hukoff to a movement of the Russians towardH Tavri and Albat . The temporary inaction after the full of South £ ¦ ebastopol neems , however , to have given place to an elaborate and widely-extended movement , the results of which we have yet to await . Among tho current rumours , to whirh it must be owned no great importance an yet attaches , it may be mentioned that the Kunsians are naid !<> contemplate abandoning the north side of Sobastopo ) , and retiring to Perckop . The HtraitH of Kertch have once more beheld n complete Huecoas on tho part of tho French nnil English fleets . Admiral Brunt has communicated to his Government an account of operations ugui" 1 * ' 1 Tainan and I'hanagoria . A nummary of lliis _ 'lespatch ' in the MoniUiur narrates tho following incidents of the expedition : — "On tho 24 th of September , Commandant Buna M'

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 20, 1855, page 998, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2111/page/2/