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February 23, 1856.] THE LEADEB, == — ___...
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ANOTHER WAR BOOK. Sevastopol. Our Tent i...
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SAMUEL ROGERS' TABLE TALK. Recollections...
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Popijlab Science. Orr's Circle Of The Sc...
term function , sometimes meaning the activity of an organ , and sometimes rtierely the general property of tissue . But this question is too wide to be entered upon here . Mr . Dallas , in his treatise on the Invertebrate Animals , which is bound up with Dr . Smith ' s Botany , falls ixto the same philosophical confusion . He says for example , that the cilia which cover the bodies of infusoria are " moveable at the will of the creature . " " We do not make this a reproach to Mr . Dallas ; he is but employing current language . But must he not admit that to speak of the " will" of an infusorial animalcule is somewhat startling , if the idea be realised ; and , moreover , must he not , on reflection , admit that so far from the movement of these cilia being volitional , they are incessant—resulting , as we conceive , from the simple contractility of the tissue placed in an element which incessantly stimulates it ?
Of Mr . Dallas ' s two treatises , that on Invertebrate and that on Vertebrate Animals , we cannot speak so confidently as of Dr . Smith ' s Botany , because we have not had leisure to read them with the same close attention ; nevertheless we ha . ve read enough to be aware that it is no dull compilation , repeating with little variation what is to be found in every other handbook . It is clearly written , carefully compiled , well illustrated with diagrams , and executed with conscientious zeal . As an introduction , to the study of Zoology it seems to be the very book which was wanted ; and the cheapness of cost brings it within very moderate means ; four shillings and sixpence secure Dr . Smith ' s Botany and Mr . Dallas ' s Invertebrata ; another five shillings and sixpence will pay for the Vertebrata . We have been thus circumstantial in our notice of these volumes , because
it is very important that popular works of science should be , what they seldom are , popular and scientific ; and because the treatise on Physiology in tie first volume of this series is just what a popular work should not be . Let us add , however , that this first volume , which contains so poor an account of the principles of Physiology , contains an account of the skeleton by Professor Owen—il maestro di color die sanno—and a brief account of the Races of Men , by Dr . Latham . The three volumes tlius devoted to " Organic Nature " make up a valuable series at alow price .
February 23, 1856.] The Leadeb, == — ___...
February 23 , 1856 . ] THE LEADEB , == ____
Another War Book. Sevastopol. Our Tent I...
ANOTHER WAR BOOK . Sevastopol . Our Tent in the Crimea ; and Wanderings in-Sevastopol . By Two Brothers . Bentley Of what we may call the amateur productions in . the Crimean campaign , or rather a part of it , including the crowning struggle , this volume may be reckoned to stand among the best . It is the -work , as the title-page indicates , of two brothers , inflamed ^ somewhat w itli the common fever , who could not rest until they had seen what was doing in the Crimea . One brother , unfortunately , fell ill just before the last botnbardment , and returned home invalided ; the other was able to stay out the play ; and he has given us an account which all will read with interest . They are "Travelling Gents , " as the camp folks call them ; but they are several grades above the " T . G . " who concocted Inside Sebastopol . Consequently their volume is less
taken up with flippant notes of travel over the well-worn Levantine and Italian routes ; and as they remained longer in the Crimea , and had better guiding than that Munchausen of the lledaii , so do we find that they give us more trustworthy descriptions of the scenes visible to the intelligent in the camp . The brother who remained the longer in the camp describes many things , and describes them well—as the field of Inkermann , perhaps the best non-military account of that battle ground , and the best outline of the battle , that has yet been published ; a visit to the French trenches during the firing ; a visit to the English trenches , under fire ; sketches about the camp ; the lifelike portraiture of what could be seen oix the 8 th September ; and some very fair accounts of the interior of Sebastopol . The style and manner of these volumes is without pretension . It is the style of the English gentleman , and convinces you , by its frank unaffectedness , that the author believes , what he
writes . It would be unfair not to give some specimens and to call attention to the evidence of this witness in the matter of the Redan . Here is an account of a conversation over the breakfast-table of a French officer . Our readers will value it at this moment : — There were j > resent four officers , besides our host ; all men who had seen ro \ igh service in Algeria , In deference to the ignorance of the two English civilians , the conversation turned at firs * ou general subjects , but the bias was strong—too strong fora long restraint , aud within a quarter- of an hour discussions had arisen on purely professional topics—on the merits of the Minio , on the Russian shells that had caps instead of fuses—on tho late battle , & c . I was struck , both on this occasion and others , by the invariable tendency of French officers in their intercourse with eaoh other to converse on subjeots connected with their profession . I do not refer to " promotion , " or tho " last line step , " but to matters of a military scientific nature . Such is not the case * in our army . There
arepro-, bably , two reasons for tho difference . The French officer , iu ninety-nine cases out of a hundred , hns nothing but his sword to look to . His regiment ia his home , and the army the object of his warmest attachment . Many of our officers enter the service as a gentlemanlike occupation foe their younger years . They look forward to leaving it when tired of moving and of regimental life , or when the govornor shall , in dying , leave his son the old estate . They are not domiciled m the army for good . Again , the French officer trusts , in a great measure , to lus skill ami knowledge to bring him into notice , and ensure his rise . Tho English officer looks to patronage or purchase . If he has into vest or money—well ; if not , the system acts like a damper , a dead drag upon efforts unrewarded , aud knowledge without ; fruits . Our systom gives us officers of n superior rank—of Uighor ouste - —ana thia has undoubted uclvantagos ; but tho French army must possess a larger aggregate of professional talent . Would it bo impossible to unite iu one tho good of each ?
A scone from the visit to the French trenches during the sies-e carries vou mto the midst of the ticklish business : — ^ On noariug the extreme end of tho ravine , whore it moots tho wator in Careening «« , y , wo oiuna upou a largo onoamnmont of Zouaves , who formed fcho advanced guard agninafc any attack from tho harbour . They wore , of course , close under the rooks Hltuute to tho wo « t ,-tho Russian fire coming from that wide ; and they wore . Btwndwg or lying about under tho flhndow of tl . o hill , smoking and chatting JL i ° J ° ™ . Way > 1 } X ° laHt OU 1 ' VO of tUo mvi » e O 1 ' ° it readied tho water 5 ErtS , Vr °° S ! " . V ° Ti th 0 m ; , aud h ^™ y round tho projection tho luituoab picket wm stutiouod . A few yards moro in advance brought you quite
clos « to the bay , and almost tinder , and full in view of the Russian riflemen stationed at La Pointe ; and the ping of a bullet instantly warned you that those same riflemen were not asleep . Hence , it was impossible to obtain a view of the bay itself . There was no shelter round this projection as there was in the trenches . You came erect under the full and « lose fire of the enemy in front and the most outlying Zouave gave a very significant smile when I asked whether that was as far as it was safe to go . " The danger of the entire ravine / ' he said , "is not equal to those few feet reaching to the water . Parbleu ! I should not recommend Monsieur to bathe , let the day be ever so hot . " It is worth seeing what our author has to say about the attack on the Redan . He was there and saw it—as well as the clouds of dust and smoke would permit . We do not take his testimony or his views without question , but they are worth considering , and the scene is well placed before you . It is near Stony Hill and the commencement of the left attack .
Here I found a French soldier seabed on the ground just behind a heap of stones . He made room for me , and I sat down "beside him . The wind was perfectly blinding ; and , unprotected as my face was ( for I had no spectacles , as many had ) , it was absolutely painful ; but I imitated the Frenchman , and crouched down during the severe bursts , only raising my head at the intervals of cessation . From this point I could see much better ; but the want of a continuous view was very disheartening . The Frenchman told me that he had seen our gallant fellows get into the Redan , but he said he had only seen one attacking party enter , and that they bad suffered most severely in the approach . " But you are sure they are inside ? " I asked . " Oh , certain , " be said ; " and at the first pause of tlie wind you will see the musketry fire in the Redan . " The roll of musketry pealed incessantly . It was like one continuous fire caused by machinery . When after a few minutes , I caugbt a sight of the Redan , I distinctly observed , that there
were two fires opposed , to eacb other inside the work . ; and , as far as 1 could judge , purs was most stoutly maintained . At tbe same time , though the corpses lay thick about the abattis and . ditch , and I could occasionally distinguish some of our inen on the parapet , or in small and straggling numbers in the open , the space between the abattis and the Redan was perfectly bare of moving masses , and the Frenchman got into a violent passion . "My God ! " said he , " where are your supports ? Where are your reserves ? I > o they expect that handful of men whom I saw enter to maintain that place ? Why , look- —look , " he said , " they are only in a narrow space round the angle— -they have not advanced into the interior . Poor devils ! how can they do it ? " I . tried to assure him that supporting parties had entered during the intervals when we could not see ; but he far too well understood the business , and silenced me by every remark he made . "If any large numbers had supported , " he said , " you would see their fire advance . It is , even
now , only at the point where it was at first . Depend on it , you will lose the day unless reserves are sent up—and that quickly . " The poor fellow muttered his imprecations in the most audible and , to me , the most painful manner . The scene- —the thought of all that ' was" taking place—the glimpses which showed that pur blood was being spilt like water—worked a marvellous effect upon the mind , aud niy excitement rose to a pitch that was alrnost unbearable . I refused to believe that , once inside the Redan , our troops would be allowed to vacate it again , and we both directed earnest ^ searching looks towards the open space for the faintest sign of advancing troops . We saw that space perfectly ploughed wifch . living shot . They swept across it in one continuous stream , sufficient , as I thought , to daunt any soldiers other than French , or-English-.-from advancing through such a raining fire ; but at every moment we fondly hoped to see masses
of men emerge froni the trenches , and advance to the help of their brethren in distress . "If we look for them so anxiously , " said the Frenchman , " what must those poor fellows in the Redan do ! " But they come not—and they never came ! Nearly an hour did that Frenchman and I sit there , and during the intervals in which we were able to distinguish objects no one large body of men advanced to the support , though the firing in the Redan was continued with great obstinacy . I believe it to be true that one or two supporting columns did make an attempt , and reach the parapet ; but it is equally true that the main body of the reserves never left the tranches . After a long interval , during which nothing could be seen , the Frenchman gave it as his opinion that we had retired from the Redan ; and it seemed to me that Russian guns , which had certainly been silent while I had been sitting there , began to open fire from points near the salient angle- He considered this conclusive , and I could not but form the same opinion .
This writer does not impute cowardice to the troops or the officers . It will be remarked that he does not say the " supports" did not move up to the Redan , hut that the reserves did not . He implies great blame to the British chief officers , who did not employ sufficient force to carry the work , although every division was burning to be sent into the Redan . He asserts , and no doubt correctly , that had we taken the Redan the Russian army would have been cut off ; but he does not solve the question , whether any number of men that , by the most liberal computation , could have been sent against the Redan , could have taken it ; seeing that they would all have had to run the gauntlet across the open space swept so closely by the enemy ' s fire ; and that the Redan was 'open to the rear . The French trenches were close to the
Malakhoflf ; the French soldiers dashed into that work , surprised the garrison nt the time the relieving of the guard-was in progress , and before the relief had marched in ; and as it was closed to the rear , they were able to hold it with comparative ease and little loss compared to that on other points . The great loss sustained by the French was sustained in the attack on the Little Redan , where , although tho head of their sap was within a few yards of the -works , they encountered similar obstacles and failed in a similar fashion to the English at the Great Redan . We cannot quarrel , however , with ouj author for showing soreness at our share of the glory of the 8 th September because he shows it in a manner and language that commands respect , if i does not always produce conviction .
Samuel Rogers' Table Talk. Recollections...
SAMUEL ROGERS' TABLE TALK . Recollections of the Table Talk of Samuel Rogers . To which is added Porsoniana . Rloxor [ SKOOJMD AllTIOI . K . ] We resume our notice of this pleasant volume , and may begin by sora theatrical glimpses : — I saw Qnrrick net ; only oaco , —tho part of Ranger in The Suspicious Ifushaiu I romombor that there- was a groat crowd , and that wo waited long in a daj pjvssago of the thoahro , on our way totho pit . I was then a little boy . My futlv hud promised to take mo to sec Qurriok in Lour ; but a fit of tjjio mumpB kept n at homo . Boforo liis going abroad , Qurriok ' s avttmotiou bad much , decreased ; Sir Willio
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 23, 1856, page 17, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_23021856/page/17/
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