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Leader (1850-1860), 2nd February 1856, Edition 1 of 2, Page 98, Untitled Article

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    • THE WAR,
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      Untitled Article

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    • THE WAR,

      THE WAR,

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      Untitled Article

      They admire him individually for the dash that he has displayed as a seaman , as a traveller , as a diplomatist , as a war captain . They admire him for being admired by the brave . They admire him for having been in the Crimea , and for speaking up as he does , on behalf of the army , its gallantry , its English spirit , and its deeds of bravery at Alma , Balaklava , and before Sebastopol . For he , a sailor , whose professional repute was not at stake , saw what was done there , and vouches for its being up to the standard of English character .

      his limbs 1 The quarrel became embroiled ; the Ambassador and the Sadr stood upon their rights , the Shah sustained his Premier , and the British Minister struck his fiag—sacrificing his mission as Envoy , to the chivalrous duty of championing the helpless . Scandalmongers insinuate that Mr . Murray had some special interest in the fair Persian ; on which his defenders reply that the lady is now the solace of a third husband , and that the ambassador intended to send lier 1 , 000 miles away —facts which render the insinuations of a gallant motive improbable . We are , bowever , to hear more of this story of Murray Effendi and the fair Persian .

      Yet further East , another drama has come to its due conclusion . The kingdom of Oude has fceen suppressed , and its territory is now merged in the English possessions by which it is surrounded . There was indeed no reason for maintaining it as a separate state — every reason for the present measure . The reigning king was only the adopted heir of his predecessor . He was the rout of a class "happily unknown in the West ; his Court was a casino—nay , it is libelling any respectable casino to draw a parallel ; tlie Court officers . were chosen for their baseness— -the Court ladies for their degradation j and fantastic cruelty dictated

      the customs of the Government by executions and torture being of hourly occurrence . The best men in the country were made to eat dirt . The King coquetted with miserable rebels like our Thom of Canterbury ; the British Resident and troops could only support his authority at the cost of fighting against their ownreal friends ; the State was inverted against itself , and to assist in maintaining it was to assist in prostituting the authority of England to be the instrument of the most abandoned of wretches . The nuisance has been put down ; and one interruption to the uniform course of English rule throughout the territory of Hindostan has been removed .

      The Manchester poisoning inquiry continues to develop itself ; and the trial of Pa jlmer appears to be definitively removed from Staffordshire in order to remove the accused from the influence of local prejudice . This is only just . A remarkable reaction has taken place in his favour ; we see journals and judges suddenly remembering the duty of caution in accepting evidence beforehand . Very proper , no doubt ; but when . Lord Chief Just ice Campbell ,, besides telling those who discuss the subject that they are liable to punishment , expects that all will hold tlieir tongues out of deference to his punctilios , he goes beyond the ~ province of tlie Bench , and deserves to be told not to b «

      impertinent . The Queen and this Hon . Miss Murk / vy . The AUienctium has a , paragraph explaining the true state of the case with reference to the reported retirement o £ tho Hon . Miss Murray from the Court .. It appeal's ( according to this statement ) that Miss Murray , having visited America , formed now opinions on tho antislavory question . " This change of view Miss Murray conmmVmicatod to the Queon , who replied to her Lady in Waiting , if wo are rightly informod , by eomo very wleo and vory womanly counsels . Unhappilytho

      , Royal letter missed its object ; and boforp Miss Murray had the advantage of reading her august friend » advice sho ha < l pledged liorsoif not to observe that discreet silence on a moat intricate and vexed problem which is necessary in persona holding public Bituationn . Mies Murray has tho courago to avow her opinions ; but as ahe cIioho to talce part in a dtsousssion that every day throwtons to read tho U nion , her retirement from tho Queen ' s household followed naturally .

      Theso are tho simple fiveta . There was no intention to dodicato tho book to her Majesty . Hor Majesty never saw the proof-shoota . Wo oivnnot suppose thut tho Quoen meant to robuko Miss Murray—ns tho pa-ragraph mrvkea her—for forming an hon «» fc opinion . Mias Murrtvy ' ft retirement from tho Court must bo assigned to a political , not a personal , motive . \ fe boo nothing in . it save what ie creditable alike to BO > vejcoign an 4 aubjeot . "

      The inhabitants of Westminster have met in public meeting in St . Martin ' s Hall , to protest against any unsatisfactory and dishonourable peace , or the conclusion of an armistice before the signing of the preliminaries of peace . Somehow the demonstration , which might have been useful , was mismanaged , and its result is such as to serve no party , unless it be the peace party . It will do no harm to ministers , since it ended in an extravagance . The Honourable Smyth Verekee , an Irish Tory

      at large , appeared in association . with Mr . "Westerton , the liberal agitator of Westminster , and Major Lyon , a representative of Irregulars in the Easta combination which at least promised to give us something irrespective of party . But another section of the inhabitants of Westminster broke in ., in the shape of James Finlen , the ebullient young Red Republican , advancing a proposal that Lord Palmekston and his colleagues should be impeached , with a view to the decapitation of Prince

      Albert ; At least such is the object to be inferred from the amendment , which the meeting carried . The I * ew York mail brings us the intelligence that the Government of General Pierce has demanded the recall of Mr . Ckampton , the British -sMinisrer at Washington , and we are unable to state that the report is untrue . On our side , it is intimated semi-officially that our Government has apologised , which is sufficient reparation , and that , in point of fact , no wrong was done . This implies

      ti > at the apology was of a very doubtful kind , since men seldom apologise very humbly if they are perfectly certain that-they have done nothing -amiss . At all events we are left to infer that the apology has been neutralised- by a justification ; if so , it is implied that the British Government could resume through Mr . Crampton , Mr . Howe , and Messrs . Hertz and Strobel , the same process of raising men in the United States against the will of the

      Republic which was attempted and stopped . If our conjecture be at all correct , it follows that our Government has again drifted to the yerge of a -war ¦ with America ; and in the same half-official way the Americans are told virtually that if they do not take care the tremendous British navy will come over sweep their commerce from the seas , and rake their coasts . There is every prospect , however , that the subject will be vigorously taken up in Parliament , and that an explanation will be extorted .

      Glancing to the far East , we have a very pretty scandal got up on the subject of the Honourable Charles A . Murray ' s relations with the Court of Persia at Teheran . There has beea a person called Mikza Hasijim , who was formerly employed by the Persian Government , and subsequently by the British Embassy . This man was the object of peculiar and personal hatred to the Sadr or Prime

      Minister of tho Shah . Failing to arrest Hasium in l \ is sanctuary , learning that Mr . Murray intended to send him to another post 1 , 000 miles off , Sadr then seized the man ' s wife as a material guaVantee ; for strange to say , while some of our British husbands would only be too glad to realise that kind of divorce—see the police reports passim —• the barbaric Persians evidently believe that to Bfeizommtttt's wife ia equivalent to chaining one of

      Untitled Article

      98 THE IE ADEE . [ No . 306 , Saturday ,

      Untitled Article

      The apprehended Russian attack on Kertch has been attempted . On the 9 th ult ., the Russians advanced over the ice , with a view to attacking the place , but the alertness of General Vivian disappointed the project . No details have yet been received . The gulfs of Odessa and Kiaburn are still frozen , but the temperature in the Crimea has become milder . A despatch from the East says that short cannonade has taken

      a place between Fort Constantine and the steam frigates of the allied fleet . In the camp , it was thought that an attack was preparing against the northern forts ; but the cessation of the firing all at once disappointed the general expectation . An experiment as to whether the batteries of Fort Constantine on the sea-side had been dismounted to increase the fire on Sebastopol , was alleged as the cause . A Greek spy has been arrested , and given over to a military com '

      . The progress of affairs in Asia presents but few subjects of interest . The Invalide Russe says that intelligence from the Oriental shores of the Black Sea informs them that Iskender Pacha was seriously wounded on the 23 rd of December . Lieutenant-General Prince Andronik off had been removed from his post as Governor of Tiflis . Some of the Turkish prisoners taken at Kars had arrived there . According to the latest news from Asia Minor , Halim Pacha and General Stewart were engaged

      m organising the defence of Erzeroum . Hostile preparations are being carried on at Constantinople with the utmost activity ; and tlie War Department in Sweden has drawn from the Treasury 1 , 100 , 000 francs , to be applied to the urgent defence of the kingdom . But these foreeastings niay be rendered unnecessary by the Peace Congress at Paris . A few particulars of interest from Odessa and its neighbourhood are contained in correspondence from the continent , where we read : —

      " The Imperial Commercial Bank of Odessa has issued assignats of the value of one silver rouble . It need hardly "be said that there is a sad dearth of silver coin- The corn bought by the Russian Government from the subjects of neutral States has not yet been paid for , although most \ irgent . demands for payment have been made . The troops are still employed in . constructing strand-batteries . Thousands of men are employed on . the fortifications of Nicholaieff , where floating batteries are about to be made . The northern side of Nicholaieff is still unfortified . There are strandbatteries at several places on each bank of the Bug Cherson is still in a dilapidated state . The weather is now very mild at Odessa . " '

      The war has come to a veritable pause , and diplomatists will soon be laboriously planning to prevent its resumption .

      A CRIMEAN RETROSPECT . Newspaper correspondents now and then manage to acqu ire information which is calculated to interest Governments as well as the great public , and such is my case at present . After the fall of South Sebastopol , the Russian army was in Buch a terrible state of demoralisation and distress that the whole of the Crimea must liave inevitably fallen into the hands of the Allies if tliey had followed up their advantage . The state of things was no alarming " , that it was at first resolved to evacuate tho Crimea immediately , but the Allies remained imictivo , and two divisions of tho Grenadier corps hiul time to

      make their way to tho theatre of war . On tlio arrival of these troops , tho Russians again took courage , and in a council of war , at which tho Emperor wan present , it was resolved to maintain possession of tho Orimon . Tho world is much ( surprised that Russia i « willing to conclude peace on such terms , but it ; will perhaps bo loss so whou it has voad the following singular iutolligence , which has tho merit of being perfectly authentic . No languago « nu descri'bo tho tjullbrings of a part of that Russian axmy to wlxich wns intrusted tho dofonce of tho coasts of tlio . Baltic , Tim body of it wftH composed of mililiiunon , who

      wore not only miserably clothed mid equippod , but litoraliy luilf-Btarvod Tlio poor wretoliofl wore affected by n , singular nmludy . " Vunt numbers of thom had the tolaucht ( raving miuluc-. s , ot povhaps delirium , tremena , ira meant ) , and they wore not relieved from thoir sufferings until tho cruitios ol tho enemy had disappeared . ( i Tlio Allies , who arc tho grontost blunderers on tho faoo of tlio onrUi , i'iuwk tho blockado too noon , and tho conBoquonoo win _ ' vast quantities of atoros and provisions urrivod iron Momol and Dautsio as soon as thoir baoUft vvor turnod , " While tho \ infortunato militia woro loiU <

      suffer tho pangs of hunger , tho groatost euro )« token to supply tho Imperial Quiu ' d with ovorvthin that it could aouiro . —Times Vienna , Corrc » poniU >\ l >

      The War,

      THE WAR .

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 2, 1856, page 98, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2126/page/2/