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Leader (1850-1860), 2nd February 1856, Edition 1 of 2, Page 116, Untitled Article

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      Untitled Article

      THE RUSSIAN SETTLEMENTS IN SIBERIA . Mies on the late Expedition against the Russian Settlements in Eastern Siberia . By Captain Bernard WhUtingham . Longman and Co . The Russians set a high value on their Siberian territories . Those provinces , indeed , which appear to the popular fancy in Western Europe mere deserts pf pme forests , iron-pits , and showy plains , are among the most valuable in the ^ mp ire . Instead of being the abode of eternal winter—the retreat only Of wild beasts—four-fifths of them lie in the temperate zone , and are capable ° y " *? . tlotl - . The whole of the Uralian borders are overlaid with the Black Soil which gives a name to na extensive region , and which is not less fertile than the deep loam in the Volgau and Dniepern valleys . With the Amur leaflino ' Trnm SiKoi-lo 4-n + !¦»/» Dn »; s / . ,.,....,.. ~ , ^ _~ .. j » i .. _ i ! ^ Amur leading from Siberia to the Pacific routes penetrating the

      , caravan Chinese frontier , on one side , an open communication by sea with America on the other , with channels of navigation to Japan , and to all the ports of Eastern Asia , is it surprising that Russia has sedulously prepared fortresses and commercial stations along the coasts of Tartary and Siberia ? Moreover , is it conceivable that when she found herself , in 1854 , at war with the Power £ 1 ' £ £ v ^ ave > , alone P ossessed the key to that important region , while the English and French ships ventured timorously frprn cape to cape , seeking enem . es and finding none ? Captain Whittingham , who narrates the incidents of the North Pacific Expedition of 1855 , discloses enough to set . at rest the minds of those who too readily ascribed a quality the reverse of rashness to our commanders in that sea . Whether , in his own view , he exculpates them , is doubtful ; but the result is this , that the allied squadron was sent XS ft < £ 5 T Veye ( i * m tC ? at t tack * orfcs i « situations perfectly unknown , and Wn il ? 'l ed ^ en to blockade the enemy ' s fleet . While the charts have ISSt ^ tSr ¦ f ? 3 \ e ™ T wtf « the Chagos Arch ipelago , and while httle cocoa-islets have bcen-not uselessly—examine , ! n « m ™?**!««

      nels , or , through the fog , to harbours more secure . Though , in greater force thantbe Allies , the Russians would not engage , and only challenged an attack from an inaccessible position , under land batteries . Why they were permitted to escape from De Castries Bay , and to escape across narrow waters , in presence of an Allied squadron , to the River Amur , naval men may be competent to decide . As we understand , and as Captain Whittingham explains it , the failure was blameable . Yet there were collateral circumstances to be considered . Both French and English were in a strange soa , which was perfectlfamilialfeo the RussiansWhile

      y - . they sounded and signalled throug h the mist , the Russians fled . Why these waters were so obscure is another point , on which the Admiralty may be interrogated . At De Castries Bay the Russian vessels was surprised , lying within a barrier broken by practicable channels . Why were they not attacked ? Because the English , charts were unreliable , and because they were unprovided with the charts of La Pcrouse . Since that romantic navigator explored the avenues of the Sea of Okhotsk * its great fisheries and curious shores , they have only been visited by Commo - dore Broughton , and by a few drifting whalers .

      However , since it appeared that the passage between Saglialien and the mainland , instead of being a channel , was only a gulf , and that the Russian ships ,, in order to gain the Amur , must come out of the narrow waters and pass Tound the head of the peninsula , a frigate and a corvette commenced a blockading crwise . After seven days of sentinel duty , they bore up to De Castries Bay , to make sure of their enemy . He was gone . And now the discovery was made , which a less discreet commander might have made before-r-that there was a clear channel inwards " for frigates and large vessels , " and another to the north for smaller craft , so that the Russian squadron miglit have been assailed as it lay , all the day , in the bav .

      The next movement was towards the Straits of La Perouse , possession of which is coveted by Russia to secure a communication between the Amur and the Kurile Islands , to advance her maritime outposts towards the Korean Channel , and towards the ports of Japan . Twice during this century has Aniwa—the citadel of the Straits — been attacked from Siberia , but the enterprise has not yet been successful . Captain Whittingham , who possesses enthusiasm and talent , desired to test the theoretical geography of the Germans , and the . falsified geography of the Russians , and to penetrate from the Channel of Tartary to the gulf of the Amur ; but the expedition was , from this point , fruitless and disheartening . At Ainian , the new capital of the Government of Okhotsk , three slight earth batteries en banquette were found , constructed by seamen , to illustrate the defences before which our naval forces

      failed at Petropaulovski . But these were deserted . Approaching the Amur , a broad channel seemed to invite the advance of a steamer , at least . The steamer went in boldly , ami after feeling its way for three miles and-a-half , touched a sandbank . Various passages were attempted , but their intricacies foiled the adventure . Ultimately , the enterprise was cut short , the squadron returned to the Sea of Japan , and it was left for the Russian commanders to say that their positions in that quarter were beyond attack . Certainly , the Allies had done little to ensure success . But the British Government should learn , at last , that wherever great political and commercial interests arise , geographical and bydrographical science should follow them . Whatever may be said , the Pacific Expedition failed , because the Admiralty was ignorant . We commend to the notice of all our leaders Captain Wlvittinghawi ' s narrative , which is replete with interest .

      ,, a lhaZ * C « JanneJ ' * , vast Tartar Gulf has been left almost without whtw * i 6 a ° t * remained almost a myth ; and waters , mao that ? ' ° USe Spe ?¦ * , t l ews of his life in « PU& * ' leave on the naap that vacuum whICh the pilot abhors . Surely , in peace or war 11 me well to know a little more of those important coasts , and of the maritime approaches that connect them with the Sea of Japan . bv tfif-v ^ S i V * t < 5 d V P tain Whittingham ' 3 statement , illustrated we ? SIani h % descr £ > * « ft wlle * the Allied squadron , in April last year , 3 £ ^? ai Vr llor from Hong-Kong for the North Pacific , thev entered on n of both uations

      JfSSi ^' . e shi pfl hftd been in that occn »> and ntk w !? Vi rt Siberian coasts the year before ; they had been baffled at e ^ noDenl ?! P ^ opaulovslu ; they had been unsuccessfu l ; and had not 2522 ? tl . ! Wft ? v- ° * ? ° Y cnter P " - Absolutely , in the second Pacific 52 S J expe * fct »© n had still to " ascertain" where the Russian posi-~ pS ^ tol !^ W fl ° "owTar they extended ; and whether it RussTa m ^ lmTrLor ^ H * * Bt ^ nB . 6 was thrown upon the progress of to be plaitedI Tiko ' * *> rtir ' Cftt £ « « the Bay of Okhotsk were found « quadron , mdW belUlSf ^ , ftUic ' Vvithin nfttmal labyrinths ; »™ <» nK uehma l 8 leta ftn « i suoa ] 8 i succcct ] c ( 1 in fl ¦ , unknown chan-

      Untitled Article

      THE RIVAL WIZARDS . Not a hundred years ago , the two national theatres were carrying on a spirited campaign under the rival managements of Gakiuck and Couian ; in 1856 , Professor Anderson and Air . E . T . Smith are engaged in amicable hostilities on the same illustrious field . Such is the progress of the British drama ! The struggle is not now for the possession of the Goldsmith or the Powell , but for the most slashing counterfeit of the Wizard of the North , and the most easy and pleasant mimicry of a favourite comedian . Such was , such is , the condition of the British sta ^ e .

      Professor Anderson ' s retort has had the disadvantage of hanging fire . His Corsiean brother over the way had possessed the town for weeks before the retort was ready . This is a mistake which the " tremendous excitement created by Rob Roy " does not entirel y account for . Meantime , however , thmt somewhat strong title , " An Impudent Puppy , " had been eNchangcd for the more vague and harmless one of IC What do You Wtmt t" No doubt some distasteful personalities have also been expunged from the stage copy 5 the few that survive by no means constitute the success of the farce . That success is due to the admirable mimic powers of Mr . Liaioii Murray , whose personation of Charles Mat-hews almost , if not

      entirely , equals the hitter ' s embodiment of the Wizard . Ilia imitations of Charlrb Kean and of the Professor himself as Ron Roy , nrc equally surprising and clever : the gay dexterity and elegant vivacity with which he rattles through the performance mark real power in the actor , and keep the audience amused .

      Untitled Article

      Mn . Ma . ciajdxay out Loch-Lomond . —In no country but England hwvo tho only means and scenes of relaxation within tho roaoli of some million or two of po (»|» lo boon systematically lampooned and dorklod . Tina diegraoofnl Insularity ox into no longer . Still , Bomo weak traces of its contemptuous spirit may © ociuiionnlly Toe found , even in very unlikely plaoon . Tho accomplished Mr . Muoaulay , in tl » o third volume of his brilliant history , writon loftily about " tho thonwmdrt of olorka and milliners who nro now thrown into raptures by the aight of Looh Kutrino and Loch Lomond . " No hucIi responsible gontloman , in Franco or ( Jornmny , writing history—writing anything—would think it flno to snoor at any iuofUinrtivo ft id useful class of las follow oubjootH . If tho clerks and millinora—wlio pair oil ftiva in arm , by thounanda , for Looh Katrino and Looh Lomond , to colobrato tho Ji , arly Closing Movomont , we prosumo -will only imagine thoir prosonoo poiHonw ? »^ ° . ftt 0 TO to tll ° « " »>» tio hiHtoriun m ho roves along tho banlcn , looking fof Whig Mowibornof Farliamont to nympatliiao with him inadiniitition of fcho boiuilioH ot JNaturo , wo think they will bo amply jvvongod in tlio nbaurdity of tho picture . — ( l lK 8 CtiB . rwKe . " IIoveehoM Words . J

      Untitled Article

      On reading this we were strongly moved to a parody : — Oh ! Mr . Chadwick , what stuff , "What stuff , what stuff ! You have surely written enough , Enough , enough ! Of Sense you have left the shore , And mil never come back any more . The bride , in the original ballad , thinks that her " lad" has been killed " on Alma ' s plain , " when he suddenly steps from some inscrutable hiding-place , and announces that he " is here , is here , is here . " We beg to add a final stanza—supposed to be spoken by the lovely bride : — My lad , you never were there , Were there , were there : I suspect you bolted in f ear , In fear , in feat . Get along , do , from my side , For no longer I'll be your bride .

      Versicles is the modest title given by Mr . Thomas Irwin to a collection of poems which , though possessing no great pretensions , have the rare merits of being « asy , natural , and self-controlled . Some of his verses are very sweet ; Ids measures have music in them ; and he does not forget one of the essential requisites of poetry—good sense . The Battle of the Alma , by J . W . Fletcher ( Theobald ); Conquer aye , a War Idyl , by T . Forster Ker , M . P . S . ( Churchill ); Florence Nightingale , a Poem , by John Davis ; Lays of the War , by Michael Joseph Barry ( Cork , office of the Daily Reporter ); belong to the multitudinous spawn of war poems , and are so like their brethren in the accustomed sound and fury , that elaborate criticism would be needless severity . Of Mr . John Davis we may remark that-he does not maintain the reputation of his namesake of the reign of Elizabeth , who sung of " Dancing . " Although the lawyer-poet , in treating of the divine Crimean Nurse , would have indulged in conceits enough , he would not have talked

      of—Sweet Nightingale , most charming hird of song . The Italics are Mr . Davis's own . He fears that the jolce will be missed if he call not the printer to his aid . The Rev . Arclier Gurney . contributesThe Odeef Peace , hpropos to the present crisis . _ Mr . Gurney has a reputation of some years * standing , which it would be a pity to lose , for placid ' common-place , ' solid Toryism , and unimpeachable orthodoxy . The object of his present harmless outpouring is to beg us not to strike Russia top hard now shei is down ; not to take away any of her territory , nor to force her into " the posture of a slave" by compelling her to sue for peace , but kindly to assume that agreeable posture ourselves ; for the essence of Russian Government ( that fine paternal rule ) consists in the opinion of its invincibility , and it would be a pity to destroy the lovely dream . If Russia should succeed ia bamboozling us at tie Conferences , we may expect to ¦¦ fln . d Mr . Gurney singing an ode of triumph and thanksgiving .

      Untitled Article

      116 THE LEADER , [ No . 306 , Saturday

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  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 2, 1856, page 116, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2126/page/20/