DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.16614#0005
VOLUME XXVII.-JULY TO DECEMBER, 1854.
THE ABERDEEN CABINET.—1854.
First Lord of the Treasury......... Earl of Aberdeen.
Lord Chancellor........... Lord Cranworth.
Chancellor of the Exchequer......... Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone.
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster....... Earl Granville.
President of the Council .......... Lord John Russell.
Lord Privy Seal........... Duke op Argyll.
Home Office............ Viscount Palmerston.
Foreign Office........... Earl of Clarendon.
Colonial Office............ Sir George Grey.
Admiralty............ Right Hon. Sir J. R. G. Graham, Bart.
Board of Control............ Right Hon. Sir C. Wood, Bart.
Secretary for War . ......... Duke of Newcastle.
First Commissioner of Works, &c......... Right Hon. Sir W. Molesworth, Bart.
Without Office........... Marquess of Lansdowne.
POLITICAL
PAGE
PARLIAMENT met on the 12th of December. The Queen
:■ opened the Session in person. " My Lords and Gentle-
men," she said, " I have called you together at this unusual
period of the year, in order that, by your assistance, I may
take such measures as will enable me to prosecute the great
war in which we are engaged with the utmost vigour and
effect. This assistance I know will be readily given; for I
cannot doubt that you share'my conviction of the necessity of
sparing no effort to augment my forces now engaged in the
Crimea. The exertions they have made, and the victories
they have obtained, are not exceeded in the brightest pages of
our history, and have filled me with admiration and gratitude.
" The hearty and efficient co-operation of the brave troops
of my ally, the Emperor of the French, and the glory
acquired in common, cannot fail to cement still more closely
the union which happily subsists between the two nations.
" It is with satisfaction I inform you that, together with
153 the Emperor of the French, I have concluded a treaty of
alliance with the Emeeror of Austria, from which I anti-
cipate important advantages to the common cause."
The Russian War completely occupied the attention of both
Houses, and the only debate of any importance was on the
Foreign Enlistment Bill, which was warmly discussed and
opposed, but subsequently passed after a division.
The attention of Mr. Punch was of course principally di-
rected to the great struggle in the Crimea, and some of its
prominent events are recorded in these pages. In the Intro-
duction to the preceding "Volume we have given a brief
summary of the commencement of the War to the bombard- |
ment of Odessa, and we now propose to add a succinct history '
SUMMARY.
I of the progress of the campaign until the end of the year
1854.
After the siege of Silistria the French and English armies
removed to Yarna. Some Russian forts at the Sulina mouth
of the Danube were stormed, and one of the most gallant
and promising officers in the British Navy, Captain Hyde
Parker, fell leading his men, a bullet passing through his
heart.
The months of July and August are the most unhealthy in
the year at Varna, and the fearful mortality which ensued
could hardly be exceeded. The malaria did its fatal work,
and cholera went hand in hand with dysentery and fever,
On the 11th of August a terrible fire broke out in the Turkish
quarters, destroying an immense quantity of commissariat
stores, and leaving thousands of the inhabitants houseless. A
brisk wind prevailed, and wafted the flames from one wooden
house to another. The sailors from the ships worked for ten
hours in quelling this fire, which was attributed to the Greeks'
sympathy with their co-religionists the Russians.
The valleys of Yarna were perfectly pestilential, and our
troops were reduced to the greatest despondency as they sat
watching the dead and the dying around them, and they
prayed to be led against the enemy. Lord Cardigan and
part of the light cavalry were despatched on a reconnaissance,
and travelled over a perfectly desert country for a distance of
300 miles. The Austrian Army had, according to a treaty
with England, France and Prussia, now occupied the Princi-
palities, and on the 3rd of September was issued the final
order for the embarkation of the allied troops for the Crimea ;
and instantly the gloomy despondency of our brave soldier*
THE ABERDEEN CABINET.—1854.
First Lord of the Treasury......... Earl of Aberdeen.
Lord Chancellor........... Lord Cranworth.
Chancellor of the Exchequer......... Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone.
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster....... Earl Granville.
President of the Council .......... Lord John Russell.
Lord Privy Seal........... Duke op Argyll.
Home Office............ Viscount Palmerston.
Foreign Office........... Earl of Clarendon.
Colonial Office............ Sir George Grey.
Admiralty............ Right Hon. Sir J. R. G. Graham, Bart.
Board of Control............ Right Hon. Sir C. Wood, Bart.
Secretary for War . ......... Duke of Newcastle.
First Commissioner of Works, &c......... Right Hon. Sir W. Molesworth, Bart.
Without Office........... Marquess of Lansdowne.
POLITICAL
PAGE
PARLIAMENT met on the 12th of December. The Queen
:■ opened the Session in person. " My Lords and Gentle-
men," she said, " I have called you together at this unusual
period of the year, in order that, by your assistance, I may
take such measures as will enable me to prosecute the great
war in which we are engaged with the utmost vigour and
effect. This assistance I know will be readily given; for I
cannot doubt that you share'my conviction of the necessity of
sparing no effort to augment my forces now engaged in the
Crimea. The exertions they have made, and the victories
they have obtained, are not exceeded in the brightest pages of
our history, and have filled me with admiration and gratitude.
" The hearty and efficient co-operation of the brave troops
of my ally, the Emperor of the French, and the glory
acquired in common, cannot fail to cement still more closely
the union which happily subsists between the two nations.
" It is with satisfaction I inform you that, together with
153 the Emperor of the French, I have concluded a treaty of
alliance with the Emeeror of Austria, from which I anti-
cipate important advantages to the common cause."
The Russian War completely occupied the attention of both
Houses, and the only debate of any importance was on the
Foreign Enlistment Bill, which was warmly discussed and
opposed, but subsequently passed after a division.
The attention of Mr. Punch was of course principally di-
rected to the great struggle in the Crimea, and some of its
prominent events are recorded in these pages. In the Intro-
duction to the preceding "Volume we have given a brief
summary of the commencement of the War to the bombard- |
ment of Odessa, and we now propose to add a succinct history '
SUMMARY.
I of the progress of the campaign until the end of the year
1854.
After the siege of Silistria the French and English armies
removed to Yarna. Some Russian forts at the Sulina mouth
of the Danube were stormed, and one of the most gallant
and promising officers in the British Navy, Captain Hyde
Parker, fell leading his men, a bullet passing through his
heart.
The months of July and August are the most unhealthy in
the year at Varna, and the fearful mortality which ensued
could hardly be exceeded. The malaria did its fatal work,
and cholera went hand in hand with dysentery and fever,
On the 11th of August a terrible fire broke out in the Turkish
quarters, destroying an immense quantity of commissariat
stores, and leaving thousands of the inhabitants houseless. A
brisk wind prevailed, and wafted the flames from one wooden
house to another. The sailors from the ships worked for ten
hours in quelling this fire, which was attributed to the Greeks'
sympathy with their co-religionists the Russians.
The valleys of Yarna were perfectly pestilential, and our
troops were reduced to the greatest despondency as they sat
watching the dead and the dying around them, and they
prayed to be led against the enemy. Lord Cardigan and
part of the light cavalry were despatched on a reconnaissance,
and travelled over a perfectly desert country for a distance of
300 miles. The Austrian Army had, according to a treaty
with England, France and Prussia, now occupied the Princi-
palities, and on the 3rd of September was issued the final
order for the embarkation of the allied troops for the Crimea ;
and instantly the gloomy despondency of our brave soldier*