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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.
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THE BATTLE OF THE TCHERNAYA . The Battle of the Tchernaya was an attempt on the part of Prince Goetschakoff to raise the siege . The means by which this was to be accomplished were discussed and decided at a council of war held on the 13 th . Prince Gobtschakoff divided his forces into two corps d ' armee , placing one under General Bead , the other under General Iiipeandt . Each foot soldier was to take with him four days' rations , and the cavalry as much provender as they could carry . Having imbibed copious libations of hot brandy , they were to descend the Mackenzie heights , IjiritAUDi with the seventeenth division leading the way , and moving by the left across the valley of the Chuliu , and Head following with the seventh and part of the twelfth division , and forming on the right of Lipbandi . The whole line was then to carry the Tchernaya , seize the heights of Fediouchine , and hold themselves prepared to press the victory by an assault upon the rear of the Allies . In the meantime the garrison of Sebastopol , we are told , was to issue on the extreme left and right , and by these operations , it was hoped , the whole position of the Allied army would have been enveloped , and at least the siege rendered utterly hopeless . How Prince Goktschakoff imagined that he could effect these great objects remains one of those mysteries that attend the conduct of almost every commander , and remain for history to reveal . At all events , his plan totally failed , and he was forced to acknowledge , for the third time , that the serfs of Russia are no match for the freemen of Europe in the open field .
crossing the-aqueduct and ascending the Inll ; but hotly received by Camou ' s division , they were routed and driven from the field . Meanwhile the bridge had been carried and the French right and centre simultaneously assaulted . As the enemy crossed the river , as he climbed over the aqueduct by means of his portable pontoons , the Sardinian artillery ploughed through the masses , strewing the river and its banks with dead . Nevertheless the Russians pressed on ; at one moment the French seemed in the act of retiring , and the Russians must have entertained a fleeting delusion that they were winning the battle . But the Zouaves in front had only fallen back upon the main body ; and in a moment the divisions of Faucheux and De Fiai / ly were firing terrible volleys into the heaped and unformed masses of the enemy , and ere they had recovered from this rough handling , the French were on them with a cheer , hurling them back into the Sardinian line of fire , and beyond the Tchernaya . Three times , in this manner , "were the bridge and river bank taken and retaken with such obstinacy and impetuosity did the enemy fight . After the third , he came on no more , but gathered himself up as well as he might , and retreated , pursued by the Sardinian rifles . There were some thousands of cavalry in the plain of Balaklava fiercely desirous of leaping upon the enemy , but the chance did not offer , and they remained inactive . "Why the Allies did not follow up the blow thus heartily dealt is ascribed by General Simpson to the inferior numbers on the field ; but ought they not to have been superior ? The non-use of the cavalry is justified by the fact that it would have only been Balaklava over again , that the utmost P . elissiek could hope to vtla would be a few prisoners ; and for this small result he would not risk * his noble horsemen . It is quite true that the enemy retreated under his guns upon a-very strong position .
The position of the Allies had great advantages . In its front ran a river , not deep , it is true , but still no inconsiderable obstacle ; beyond that an aqueduct , forming , in fact , a second river , with precipitous banks ; and beyond the aqueduct a low liue of hills . The river was crossed by a stoue bridge — the Traktir-bridge—and on either side was a ford . The bridge is a continuance of the main road from Simpheropol to Baluklava . and the road then runs on between the lulls .
The ford above the river is also opposite another opening in the hills . It was at this opening that the French right stood . On the other side of the ravine the Sardinians had established themselves on a hill of some elevation , fronting Tchorgoun . Here the Tchernaya receives the waters of two tributaries—the Chuliu flowing from the Mackenzie heights , and the Sukiai running from the valley of Baidar . The Sardinian position
partly fronted the Tchorgoun-bridgo , partly ilanked tho valley below , and had its right on the Sukiai ravine . Still further to the right , across the Sukiai , were the Turks , who stood towards Alsou , and whoso batteries played on the extreme left of Lip-kandi ' s position on [ tho Chuliu . It should bo remembered that the French guns faced , and the Sardinians flanked , the lino of tho Russian advance .
The attack was begun with tho dawn before tho mist hud rolled up tho Mackenzie heights , and , it is said , while the Allies yet slept . The Sardinian pickets over the river , after n spirited resistance , fell back over tho bridge of Tchorgoun . At the same time tho French woro . assailed at Traktir-bridge , and also driven in . Tho attack on tho Sardinians was a feint , and tho real battle developed itself further to tho left . Crossing tho bridge on either sido ouo heavy column rushed , with blind impetuosity , ngaiust tho French loft ,
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EXAMINATIONTESTS . A costkoteust has been lately going on in the columns of some of our contemporaries as to the expediency of adopting the vivd voce method of examination for civil appointments . The disputants appear to have forgotten that it is partly a question of time . The viva , voce examination of two hundred or three hundred candidates would wear out the examiners , tho examinees , and the public , who are expected to form a judgment of the impartial character of the examination , aud who , to do
so , or pretend to do so , properly , must sifc it out . But Uie grand aud fatal objection to the adoption of vied voce examination for prizes is , that it is essentially and inherently unfair . Questions given on paper are the same for all the candidates . But questions asked vivd voce ur& not the same , or anything like the same , for all the candidates . No human
examiner ( much less any set of examiners ) can make them so ; especially when the examination is not confined ( as at Oxford ) to particular books , but ranges over whole subjects . Equally impossible would it be fairly to register and estimate the answers of all the candidates . Even tho most practised examiner has to think almost as much of his next question as of the last answer of the
. At Q ^ ibrd ( which is quoted as the vivd voce model ) there is no vivd voce examination for tho university scholarships , where tho competition is strictly between man and man , and exaet comparison is ossuntini . xulio jo viva voce examination for tho classes , and occasionally ( very rarely ) ib decides a mans eW lU- generally tho class vivd voce is understood to bo of very little »» po ^~ . First c | as § men often pass wretched vivd vood
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> # 7 ^ ' ^ 3 Srtner"Secotjtt place , there is every ( ro ^ abilifcy'tiikt machinery will be introduced otife extensively into the rude labour of agriuiture , and that the farm labourer will rise ( fthe rank * . of a skilled labourer . It has ^ n ignorance which has made the rustic iMtile io ike introduction of machinery ; for lie inevitable result of machinery is to pro-$ ce in a larger quantity , and therefore to apport a larger number of persons than can ifiPsupported by unassisted hand labour . A Hiking illustration of this principle is seen tffipie the introduction of labour which is to pertain extent skilled has not only given ^ greater power to the whole force in the Mmea , but has had an influence in raising lie . value of the common soldier . It is far pm probable that the fields to which malinery is applied will produce less food ; the [ hd will , therefore , support a larger number f persons . It is quite possible that with the Ivance of agricultural and sanitary science ie spaces of ground will be reckoned by le square yard ; every speck of earth id each individual seed beiug accounted r , as every fibre is accounted for in cotton manufactory ; and then the proactivity of land will exceed any existig calculation . In the meanwhile the LSt effect of introducing machinery will be , > elevate the level of agricultural wages to iat of manufacturing wages , to increase the > turn in food for every man in the country , rd ultimately to increase the number of bourers in agriculture with higher wages . This , tbe first effect of war on the value of hour , is likely enough in our day to be fol-> wed by another equally valuable . Desnding for support on the nation , requirig the aid of all classes to extend the in-> me-tax and other imposts to a wider level , ke Government of the country must necesirily feel an increased anxiety to obtain the lod will of . the numerous classes ; and bnce the value of the labourer will rise rtitically . We believe that no ordinary agiition for the extension of the franchise > uld have done so much as the events ? the last year . No doubt the results ill bo greatly facilitated b } r all that has een done by political pioneers for prearing the public mind , for instructing the tbouring classes to stand up in assertion ? their rights , for extending education , for ringing cufferent classes together , and , in rort , for familiarising the mind of all , from ie highest statesman to the humblest citizen , i ' tti what wo may call the naturalisation of bvcrnment . This would restore to every eeborn Englishman his right to a vote in io election of the member who taxes him , of io county officer who governs tho county , id of the pariah officer who governs tho Irish . Tho feeling which has been exfesscd by informal but unmistakable eviisnees throughout the country , has been so i > wcrfu ) , that , in obedience to it , Ministers Jujve undertaken tho war more heartily than ioy nt first proposed , have conducted their lianeea with a ifioro Hbernl sense of the re liirfcmenta imposed upon them , and have been ble to overrule factions in Parliament that ero JTor trimming between peace z \ nd war , if ot for truckling to tho enemy . Tho time , lorefore , is comewhou skilled labour advanced > raise the value of the common soldier , when tilled labour promises to raise the value of \ g agricultural workman , and when bettor iRchinery in politics promised to givo tho ill value to the industrious citizen . Wo do fit think any tho worse of that happy time ccauso theao largo results are likely to bo Jftliscd without domestic discord . If tho drking-claaaea ore guided by their own ^ eat instincts and by the honestest men wongst them , they will be » ble to realise all
that they are worth in money * position , and political rights , without a word to disturb the harmony of the national voice .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 1, 1855, page 837, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2104/page/9/
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