This is why we curse that brute force which slays both souls and bodies, that force which is the mother of corruption and the bringer-in of night. ‘Restore the light,' said Ajax, and let all Olympus topple on me!' That also is the word of the Revolution. II The men of Right who combat Force have no love for war, that stupid and savage game, where chance distributes victories, where the earth which asks but for the sun drinks only blood, where death inscribes the tablets of justice, and wherefrom we pass only to fall into the sorry servitudes of 'fame.' War is one of the most bestial, most monstrous forms of Force; and yet a little while Humanity entering into the light will see in our great battles only brutal and bloody follics. We who have looked upon the lovely dawn of free civilization, we all detest war as violence, as corruption, as a sacrilege against life and especially against the spirit of life. We do not believe that the earth need be manured with human blood for the future to be fruitful; and we curse above all those wars into which the enslaved peoples are dragged as to the shambles, for some princely quarrel, for some courtisan's caprice, for some spite of wounded pride, for a lot of earth, for a fan, for a key, or for a tomb. They who tell us that the nations are exalted by these fratricidal combats forget, doubtless, that their victories are always for the benefit of the prince or of the chiefs, and that the triumphant people has beyond its frontiers brotherpeoples, humiliated and despoiled, who will not forget. Is not this the history of our last days? No! no more imperial or royal wars! no more of the wars which create Cæsars, which invite invasions in reprisal, and which leave between the nations centuries of hate! Philosophy condemns them; true policy proscribes them; and the future, which has other bat'les to engage in, those of science,—the future has problems enough without encumbering itself with an inheritance of grudges and of death. The only war to be entered upon, to be energetically pursued, to be carried through with all the holy frenzies of belief, is that of the Revolution. The Revolution at Paris, the Revolution at Vienna, the Revolution at Warsaw, at Berlin, at Rome here is the great cause to be served. And for this vast work everything is lawful, everything is just, from the weapon-alas! so much rusted—of old times, to the energetic charge of our militant democracies. When a people shall have shaken off the yoke-be it Italy, France, Germany, or Poland-let all the others bestir themselves, let holy federations start forth, let salutary diversions be made, and let the battle be one and multiple. The Governments will totter. This will not be war, but a hunt of malefactors. It will be Justice; it will be the Revolution. And when Europe shall be free, all the swords may return to their scabbards as all the racks may be burned. It will be the hour of ideas. (CHARLES RIBEYROLLES, in L'Homme of November 1) HISTORY OF THE MONTH. THE WAR. THE war still is, as it shall be for long, the one subject of absorbing interest. Sebastopol is not yet taken. Slowly the siege 'progresses'; and the fine weather has passed away. Discase and demoralization it is said are in the Russian stronghold; their ammunition is failing them; their desperate sorties are repulsed : and yet they do not yield. Great as are their losses ours are proportionately greater. Their reinforcements, thanks to Austria easing them of the trouble of occupying the Principalities, crowd upon us; our own numbers are fearfully reduced by disease and by the sword. All that brave men can do, the allies are doing; but yet Sebastopol is not taken. Instead, we are intrenching ourselves, lest we in our turn be besieged. More men! more men! from England and from France, lest we be, not dishonoured, but baffled. The task is harder than was expected. It is well. Now we must rouse our energies, for the war has become real. If Englishmen at home will do their duty, compelling an unwilling Government to do its duty, to assert a clear and wise and honest policy, and to carry it out honestly, promptly, and energetically, there is no fear: for again the victors of the Alma have proved to us of what stuff the Englishman is made. Two more battles, at Balaklava and at Inkerman, have crowned our troops with honour, and given to the Tzar an evidence of the valour which, well-generaled and armed for the Right, can overcome the greatest force of barbarism. The first battle was on the 25th of October, when the Russians, under General Liprandi, attacked the besiegers, drove in the Turks, but were checked by the 93d Highlanders. Driven back, the Russians were retiring with some guns they had captured, when our light cavalry were ordered to charge them. The order was a mistake, or was mistaken. The men rushed upon destruction. The enemy's cavalry, infantry, and artillery, were in position, some 20,000 strong, at the distance of about half-a-league, and our light division, ordered to wrest from them the captured guns, numbered but 700 sabres. 'As they passed toward the front, the Russians opened on them from the guns in the redoubt on the right, with vollies of musketry and rifles. They swept proudly past, glittering in the morning sun in all the pride of war. Surely that handful of men is not going to charge an army in position? Alas! it was too true-their valour knew no bounds, and far indeed was it removed from its so-called better part, discretion. They advanced in two lines, quickening their pace as they advanced. At the distance of 1,200 yards, the whole line of the eneiny belched forth, from thirty iron mouths, a flood of smoke and flame, through which hissed the deadly balls. Their flight was marked by instant gaps in our ranks, by dead men and horses, by steeds flying wounded or riderless across the plain. : The first line is broken; it is joined by the second; they never halt or check their speed an instant with diminished ranks, thinned by those thirty guns, which the Russians had laid with the most deadly accuracy, with a halo of flashing steel above their heads, and with a cheer which was many a noble fellow's death-cry, they flew into the smoke of the batteries; but ere they were lost from view the plain was strewed with their bodies and with the carcasses of horses. They were exposed to an oblique fire from the batteries on the hills on both sides, as well as to a direct fire of musketry. Through the clouds of smoke we could see their sabres flashing as they rode up to the guns and dashed between them, cutting down the gunners as they stood. We saw them riding through the guns, as I have said—to our delight we saw them returning, after breaking through a column of Russian infantry, and scattering them like chaff, when the flank fire of the battery on the hill swept them down, scattered and broken as they were. Wounded men and dismounted troopers flying toward us told the sad tale-demigods could not do what we had failed to do. At the very moment when they were about to retreat an enormous mass of Lancers was hurled on their flank. Colonel Shewell, of the 8th Hussars, saw the danger, and rode his few men straight at them, cutting his way through with fearful loss. The other regiments turned and engaged in a desperate encounter. With courage too great almost for credence, they were breaking their way through the columns which enveloped them, when there took place an act of atrocity without parallel in the modern warfare of civilized nations. The Russian gunners, when the storm of cavalry passed, returned to their guns. They saw their own cavalry mingled with the troopers who had just driven over them, and, to the eternal disgrace of the Russian name, they poured a murderous volley of grape and canister on the mass of struggling men and horses, mingling friend and foe in one common ruin. It was as much as our heavy cavalry brigade could do to cover the retreat of the miserable remnants of that band of heroes as they returned to the place they had so lately quitted in the pride of life.' Of the 700, 150 returned in order; 400 were left dead. : 'It is magnificent, but it is not war,' said a French general, who saw the charge. It was not war, but murder. Never braver feat of arms has been accomplished but to what end? Only the proud consolation rests: that Europe sees once more the heroic force of Azincourt and all our later victories; and the enemy may learn, in spite of all the peacemen, that the Grenville spirit lives among us yet. The other battle was on the 5th of November, when the Russians stole on us in the mist and rain through the valley of Inkerman, hoping to crush us by mere weight. Here is the French account of the battle : : "The plateau against which they were about to concentrate their attack was held only by two English divisions, about 8,000 strong, who had to contend with 45,000, supported by forty pieces of cannon. Attacked right and left, they fought like lions, and expended their ammunition even to the last cartridge. It was one of those Homeric struggles unprecedented since the wars of the Empire. The Russians, though repeatedly repulsed, returned to the charge with fresh forces. A small redoubt, which protected the road, was three times taken and re-taken at the point of the bayonet. Eventually the English, having exhausted all their ammunition, and the Russians not being allowed time to re-load, the battle was continued with stones and the butt-ends of muskets.' Reinforced by the French, our troops at length drove the Russians back with a loss of 9,000 men, our own loss being 2,612, that of the French 1,700. So goes on the war. The Tzar, easily counting odds, gives us two men for our one, till our forces are reduced from 27,000 to 12,000 men. True, our and the French reinforcements are pouring in, but yet not so fast as the Russians and what if the Black Sea become too winterly and prevent either the landing of our succours or the embarking of the conquerors of Sebastopol. Already rumour speaks of wrecks. The Tzar is long-headed; our statesmen are only thick. Very complaisant also, we allow. Sebastopol must fall. Neither England nor France can submit to be defeated there. But if it stand through the winter? Can our beleaguered troops stand as well? And even if we take it within a few days? What is won? What remains to be done? Our triumph is a barren one, our work is but begun. During the winter, happen what may, be sure that Diplomacy will do its worst to make the victory or the defeat conducive only to the interests of the crowned heads of Europe, among whom Nicholas is still recognized as at worst only a a troublesome brother. There is yet no real intention of pushing the war to extremities against him. They prefer peace at any price to war and victory at the price of European freedom. Our Cabinet has indeed under its consideration a plan for the restoration of Poland: but in what way? To be restored in 1856, if Nicholas should not by then have come to terms; NOT TO BE RESTORED TILL 1856, because it is hoped that a Russian occupation of Poland during '55 may so break the spirits of the Poles that they will become fit for such a constitutional government as Lord Palmerston would manufacture for them. It is a villainous calculation, only well worthy a Coalition Cabinet. But events, like wild horses, take the bit between their teeth, and are carrying their 'controulers' beyond all calculations. What if, even though driven out of the Crimea, the Tzar next spring should front the West with Warsaw for his centre of operations, with Prussia for his right wing and the Austrian force extending from Bessarabia to Piedmont as his left? Would Aberdeen give in? Bonaparte dares not. Then the war must aim at the enemy's heart; and the Cromwell sword, dug from its grave, be pointed (O, by whose hand?) toward Warsaw. There only lies the road to Peace. Charge through! The costly victories of Alma, Balaklava, and Inkerman (think what blood of our bravest, what tears and sufferings of widows and orphans these victories have cost us!) shall not be but sacrifices to an empty pretence of peace. Be glad, O ye oppressed nations-Poland, Italy, Hungary, and Germany! England must be on your side. England's heart, however weakly beating, has been with you; England's arm, new nerved, must now strike with you-even for England's sake. Would only that we had been readier for the Right! A WORKING MEN'S COLLEGE Has been established at 31, Red-Lion Square, London, by Professor Maurice and others known for their earnest kindly endeavours to improve the social condition of the poor. The regulations generally are in excellent spirit, and the teachers act gratuitously. Their object is really to elevate the workingThe course of studies for the first term, November to Christmas, '54, (7 weeks) comprises Public Health, Geometry, English Grammar, the Law of men. Partnership, Political Terms illustrated by English Literature, Natural Philosophy and Astronomy, Machinery, Drawing, Arithmetic and Algebra, the Geography of England as connected with its History, the Reign of King John illustrated by Shakspere's Play, Vocal Music; and the Gospel of St John for Sundays. But, doing all honour to the good intentions of the projectors, gladly acknowledging also all the worth which they themselves would claim for such an institution, we yet are bound to speak of it as but one of the thousand schemes which do more credit to the hearts than to the heads of the promoters, schemes which are applauded as practical because they achieve some momentary success, but which are about as practical as the medical treatment which alleviates some little pain caused by a deep disease, leaving the disease itself uncared for. No! these social philanthropists are not practical. Theorists as they may deem us, there is not a practical man among them. They are all, we say it again with full allowance and gratitude for their most benevolent intentions and endeavours, they are all plaisterers and tinkers, one-sided, blundering, and impracticable. Let them apply themselves to the real causes of the illnesses of society, instead of breaking their hearts over futile measures of utopian alleviation. Let them look to the political before the social; let them help the working man to the national recognition of his manhood. Then the Republic will be able to educate him as a man. PUBLIC MEETINGS On the 29th of November, in St Martin's Hall, London, and at Newcastle-onTyne, Kossuth taking part in the first, again commemorate the Polish insurrection, and give utterance to the real policy of England. Last year, the gathering of the representatives of Republican Europe," was an act of faith and propagandism; this year's meetings have a farther signification. Then we spoke of hope and duty; now we have to speak of instant policy and action. If Englishmen do their part, these commemorations are but inaugural of an English movement to compel an English Ministry to reject the traitorous neutrality of Austria, to reinforce our war by allying with Mazzini, Kossuth, and the Poles. But how shall we compel any Ministry? Through Parliament ? The House of Commons is the obsequious tool of the Ministry. How reform Parliament? Through the privileged constituencies which elected it? It is a task for the whole People, the whole People which is required to find soldiers, which is appealed to for a Patriotic Fund for soldiers' widows and orphans, but which is allowed no voice in the purpose or management of the war. Only by the People can a true policy be enforced. And the People is not free. We must demand the suffrage as the only means of insuring a successful issue. Here are some of the most notable portions of M Kossuth's speech :The English public have been told that there never was a position of more pressing necessity, demanding so imperiously a mind that can forestall instead of waiting on events, and can avert evils which it may be impossible to repair. That is perfectly just, though somewhat of an after-fact wisdom, come out too late. But if it be just, then there is no good service to England in lulling public opinion to sleep by advising it to let bygones |