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October 14, 1854.] THE LEADER. 971
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TO COTtRESPONDENTS. " A "Well-'Wislier."...
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SATURDAY, OCTOBER 14, 1854.
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There 13 nothing so revolutionary, becai...
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THE QUESTION OF THE DAY. The question of...
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ENGLAND IN THE CRIMEA. If the battle of ...
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Transcript
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
October 14, 1854.] The Leader. 971
October 14 , 1854 . ] THE LEADER . 971
To Cottrespondents. " A "Well-'Wislier."...
TO COTtRESPONDENTS . " A "Well- 'Wislier . "—We saw the paper . " Frank Grant . " —Combat our views , without personal allusions . It is impossible to acknowledge tho mass of letters we receive . Their iasertion is often delayed , owing to a press of matter ; and when omitted it is frequently from reasons quite independent of tlio inerits of the communication . N " o notice can be taken of anonymous communicatioTia Whatever is intended for insertion must bo authenticated by the name and address of the writer ; not necessarily for publicaftion , but as a guarantee of his good faith . Communications should always be legibly written , and on one side of the paper only . If long , it increases the difficulty of finding space for them . We cannot undertake fco rcturnrejected communications . All letters for fclie Editor should be addressed to 7 , Wellington-street ., Strand , London .
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Saturday, October 14, 1854.
SATURDAY , OCTOBER 14 , 1854 .
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There 13 Nothing So Revolutionary, Becai...
There 13 nothing so revolutionary , becaiise there is nothing so unnatural and convulsive , as the strain to keep tilings fixed when all the world is by the very law of its creation in . eternal progress . —Dk . Arnoxd .
The Question Of The Day. The Question Of...
THE QUESTION OF THE DAY . The question of the day has been raised t > y 'Iiorcl Aberdeen in his speech in answer to tlie address , of the Lord Provost and Corporate body of his county town . Oar Farst Minister , speaking , no doubt , in . the name of the Grown which views with favour Ms services , and of the Cabinet which he necessarily controls , has declared that it is a crime to carry on war an . hour longer than .-is absolutely necessary . The question of the clay is—What is a necessary war ?
. Lord Aberdeen very probably meant , in laying down this Ministerial axiom , that if Sebastopol be taken the Avar ought to finish : that is , that the necessity of the war ceases when , the Russian fleet and fortress in the Black Sea being destroyed , the integrity and independence of the Turkish Empire are not only asserted but secured . Lord John Russell ,
no doubt , spoke the views of the G-overnment when , in his last speech of the session , lie said that Constantinople could never he considered safe from Russia so long as Sebastopol was in the hands of Russia . But ig the public , of whom Lord Aberdeen—not being the Minister of a party—should bo the mouthpiece , in agreement with the Premier that the war ought to finish at Sebastopol ?
I he question of tho day would seem to bo thid : "What aro wo at war for ? Lord PalmerstoTi seemed to think it was for tho jnnintenanco of the integrity and independence- of tho Ottoman Empire . Lord Granvillo soemed to think that it was for tho purpose of securing tho French alliance . Lord Aberdeen seoined to think that it was becuuso wo could not help it . Tlio English liberal party seemed to think that it was for tho purpose of doing a mischief to Austria . Tho English press generally seemed to think tlmt
it was for tho purpose of defending civilisation . But no one has an yet attempted nn accurate- definition ; and every one's ideas on tho subject becomo confused by consideration of Lord Aberdeen ' s reference to the criminalit y of an uniuiuostaury war . One thing alone sooina clear , that there could lmve boon pence if tho Czar would hnvo permittod it , that lie is , therefore , tho author of an unnecessary Avar , nnd is , consequently , a great criminal ; ho that : n secondary question of tho day ia : Should the puiriahmont of ho groat a criminal bo wholly reserved for his Maker P
Lord Aberdeen expects to get at peace now—utterly careless of further punishment of the conscienceless despot . But how does Sebastopol lead to peace ? No doubt Turkey is sails as against Russia , if the Crimea be replaced in . her possession ; and no doubt England and France can band over to her the Italy of St . Petersburg to become the Isle of Wight of Constantinople . Yet what guarantee has Lord Aberdeen ( unless he is continuing confidential communications with .
the Czar ) that Russia is as ready as Turkey and as England to come to peace ? Russia , so long as Nicholas represents Russia , will not concede the Crimea ; Russia can afford a long war of mere resistance ; Russia will not accept of the peace which even Lord Aberdeen would now give her . "We are , consequently , it would seem , in for a very long war ; and , at this point , cabinet and country should eoine to some understanding as to what is a necessary war . In other words , as to wliat we are at war for ?
The Liberals will have a political war against Russia- ^ -against the Absolutist system in Europe . They are good enough to accept the alliance of Louis Napoleon and to mourn the loss of the Generalissimo St . Arnaud , who , fresh from the 2 nd December , headed the troops of France in defence of civilisation ; but they compensate for this stern suppression of principle , in favour of expediency , by repudiating the Austrian alliance . They
do not demand that war be declared against Austria , but they rather desire that Austria may "be induced to declare war against us . The Government , which has no policy of its own , has to calculate this public opinion , and the more respectfully that the Conservatives are in opposition , and may , in consequence , have a tendency to revolutionary politics . This public opinion will take advantage of the obstinacy of Nicholas to force the Government
into following the attack on Sebastopol by an attack on St . Petersburg ; while Louis ' Napoleon , whose interest it is to sustain a war which amuses his nation and secures him the p restige of the British alliance , will liave much to say in demonstration to Lord Aberdeen of the continued necessity of hostilities . Now , our Government drifted , into this war ; and they . will go on drif ting . Lord John Russell is a clover man at m aking popular discoveries . Ho has been
in statecraft for half a century , and yet it was only last session that he discovered , " annid cheers , " that the independence , which he thinks wo should maintain , of Turkey , would be a delusion , so long a , s { Sebastopol harbour menacingly floated a Russian fleet . It is not impossible that ho may detect some analogous objection to the fortifications at Cronstadt ; nay , that he may in another exciting session point a" manly" speech by
confessing to a life of blunders , in tho admission that for the safety at onco of tho " West , and of tlio East , Poland must re-appear on the map . ^\ e , for our own part , are counting ou such contingencies , arising out of tho competitions of public men for public applause , and henco our doubts whether it is not an advantage that , in a war which develops into a political war , wo have boon enabled to proas two clespotiHins into our servieo , while engaged in crushing a third—tho greatest of all .
. Lord Aberdeen auid , in the eourso of one of hia over-cautious wpecclieH of last session , that it would bo folly lixing before-hand what should bo tho conditions ! of pence—that tho conditions would depend on tho character of the war . At that time llio saying was cudurded a « sagacious , and doubtlottti it ; wus ; but at this moment Ruaftia is found out ; our war with her is us wimple an a flair aa our war with China ; an Stoics , both are impoailiuusi —they tu-o Map * , not To word . It is , then
quite tune that our Government , if it is to lead the . nation , should say -what will be the conditions of peace- By entering on an inquiry of that sort , they would come to a clear definition of what is a necessary war . The political difficulty , as to the conditions of peace , would perhaps be diminished , if the business-like English people were to instruct their Government that Russia be required to ¦ pay for the expenses of the war—though it should last longer than the House of Romanoff .
England In The Crimea. If The Battle Of ...
ENGLAND IN THE CRIMEA . If the battle of the Alma were even a less conspicuous victory , it would still render the 20 th of September memorable in the opinion of Europe , and dear to England and Prance ; for it is the first occasion on which the Allies found themselves side by side on the same battle-field , staining Russian soil with , their blood , shed on behalf of the great cause which the Western nations have sworn shall siicceed . Whatever there is in the two armies of daring , of discipline , of steadiness , was made eminent on that day ; and to us English there is manifold satisfaction , for proof was afforded that forty years of peace , and forty years of devotion to the till , have not deadened the spirit , nor weakened the force , of the British people . The same rock-like ranks that stood any shock : the same resistless lines that yielded to no obstacle : the same cool warriors who fight " fiercely but manfully : exist now as they existed forty years ago ; and the Light Division , which fills such a conspicuous place in former campaigns , the Highlanders and the Irish , dash forward as gallantly now . The British , army is true to its traditions , and has added " The Alma " to a long roll of glories . Nor have the gay soldiers of France ceased to-be what they were half a century ago . Eager , impetuous , skilful , ready always to assail anything , and carry everything that men can carry , the brave children of martial Franco behaved on the Alma as they ever behaved in the day of battle ; and , whilo they defeated the Russians , the Russians might be proud to meet with defeat at tho hands of such troops . Prompt in manoeuvre , rapid in the assault , they wcro moro than a match for tho dogged stubbornness of tho Russians , who know how to stand , but who know not how and when to manoeuvre . So many details of this already famous fight have reached iis , that wo havo little difficulty in describing tho well-fo ugh ten field . Early on the morning of the 20 th tlio Allies wero in lino upon , tho right bank of tho Alma ; and tho 1 'ough work of tho day was visible to all , They had marched from tho . 13 ulgaitak in a widely-stretched array , tho French and Turks near the son , tho English inland , to tho rear of the French left ; so that their lino of innriih was longer than that of tho French . At nomo distance from tho A . lnm tho armies halted and took food ; and hero the generals plainly saw the great ; strength ol ' Uie Russian position . Prince MenHehikoiF hud posted liin men across the routu which led to iSebastopul . On the southern bank of tho . Alma tho ground rises from tho sea ahoro for . several miloa inland . Rugged and abrupt on tho weal , tlio hill * swept eastward in tho form of an amphitheatre , tlio IowcbI-. iu tlio run ! iv , ami tlio hi liOHt ; peaks to tlio oiimI , <» ' right , <> f tho position . Tho ground intervening between tho hill on the ri ^ iit mid tho elillri on the lelb was out up by deep KiiHii' " , u Inch Borved m winter to en rrv oil" 1 ln « ionvn ! . * , and awell tho narrow ativiun «> t" tho Alum . The islopo waa xthai'ly planted with artillery , whilo on tho right , a regular covered field .-work , mounting
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 14, 1854, page 11, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_14101854/page/11/
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