Value of the Treaty of fore, in destroying the Black Sea forts of Russia, has been all in vain. She may reconstruct her forts whenever she pleases; and consequently the peace is already proved to be a sham, a delusion, a mockery. It is a peace which, for all practical purposes, leaves Russia just where she was before the commencement of the war. We were prepared for much in the shape of disappointment as to the value of the Treaty of Peace, but we must say that, badly as we thought of our Government, we did not believe that they ever could have accepted conditions so deceptive and so dishonourable as some of those which Lord Palmerston acknowledges as constituting part of the Treaty. But the affair of the forts on the eastern coast of the Black Sea is not the only astounding concession which our Government has made to Russia In answer to a question from Lord William Graham, whether under the conditions of the Treaty of Peacewhich was proclaimed the other day, in our public places, amidst so much pomp and circumstance-the Russians would have the right to raise the ships which they had voluntarily sunk in the harbour of Sebastopol, Lord Palmerston replied, to the infinite The Legis surprise of the House, that they had that right. The country will receive this information with equal wonder aud consternation. the replies The conclusion will be forced upon the people, that they have Palmerston, been betrayed. We use the latter word, because no milder one lature sur prised at of Lord A state of war exists as much as ever. would meet the necessities of the case. Instead of being too strong, it is not strong enough. Such insecure and inglorious terms of peace could never have been agreed to in ignorance, or through incapacity. Ministers must have known full well what they were about when they intimated their acquiescence in conditions, called, by a perversion of language, conditions of peace. They are not conditions of peace. A state of war exists in principle as much as ever. What is called a peace is but a temporary truce, which may and will be broken whenever a convenient season for Russia is believed to have arrived. With regard to the ships sunk in the harbour of Sebastopol, instead of being, as we had fondly but foolishly supposed, lost for ever to Russia, they will be again made available for the purposes of war; and we may find, before many years have passed away, that those very vessels which we thus allow Russia The British to raise and refit, may become the means of destroying our flect. In one word, we are playing the part of maniacs and of suicides. We are deliberately placing weapons in the hands of the Czar, by Ministry act as ma niacs, &c. A COLD-BLOODED ASSASSIN A CANDIDATE FOR THE PEERAGE !!! restoring these vessels to him, with which he may destroy our reputation, and greatly damage our most important interests. 511 People of be amused with fireconclusion England to And yet it is for a peace of this deceptive and dishonourable. character that the country is called on to make vehement demonstrations of joy and gratitude on the 29th of this month. It is a mockery of a peace which permits Russia to rebuild her forts on the eastern coast of the Black Sea, and allows her to restore her navy as if by magic, that fireworks are to be let off in the public parks, to the tune of £8,000. Why, the disgrace and dangerous nature of the peace which has just been concluded, ought to cause the country to cover itself in sackcloth and ashes, instead of throwing itself into frantic fits of joy, as ministers propose and expect us to do. When will the country tardly have to hail the happy day, which shall be rendered memorable peace. for ever, by the advent of a Ministry which shall at once combine in their own persons the attributes of integrity and patriotism, intelligence and capacity? If such a day be long deferred, the doom of England is sealed. Its ruin is certain,-nor is it remote. -Morning Advertiser, May, 1856. works at the of a das A COLD-BLOODED ARISTOCRATIC ASSASSIN A (To the Editor of The Times.) SIR,-Will you allow me, through the medium of your columns, to make a short statement of facts relative to an affair, an incomplete and partly inaccurate account of which (copied from the Globe) appeared in The Times of Tuesday last, headed "Behind the Scenes of the Windsor Theatre?" I should not venture to intrude on your valuable space, but, as I have been subject to some criticism in the matter by one or two of your weekly contemporaries, I wish to put myself right, and at the same time to make known a few additional facts that I think justice requires the public should be acquainted with. The following statement will be generally borne out by a full report of the proceedings before the magistrates which appeared in the local paper here, the Windsor Express of September 29: I am the lessee of the theatre in this town. Lord Ernest Vane, an officer of the 2nd Life Guards, stationed in this place, had been in the habit for two or three nights previous to the Vane Tem pest, of the 2nd Life Guards, attempt at assassination. Lord Ernest evening in question, with other officers, of coming behind the scenes, and had behaved himself in a respectable manner, but I cannot say it was so on Friday, the 21st ult. In the early part of the evening his lordship had amused himself by blacking the eyes of one person, kicking another, and so forth. My first salute from him was his stick broken across my back The curtain was going up; I was wanted; the house pretty full, and, as I did not wish the audience to be disturbed, I put up with it and went on. When the first piece was over and I was dressing for the last, I was informed that his lordship had forced Gallantry of his way into the ladies' dressing-room, and would not leave, though repeatedly requested by the ladies, who had to comtleman (!) in mence re-dressing, so to do. I sent my stage-manager to a lady's dressingroom !! an officer and a gen remonstrate with him, but to no effect. I then went myself, when he told me to go to a place not mentioned to ears polite. I at length was obliged to send for a policeman. When the officer came he quietly walked out. I had finished dressing, and was preparing to go on with the last piece; he met me at the back of the stage and said he wanted to speak to me, took hold of me by the collar, and before I was aware of it dragged me to the top of some steep stairs leading beneath the stage. He then said "You dared to send a policeman to me; now I will break your infernal neck; I'll kill you." He held me in a position that I must fall backwards. I endeavoured to escape from him, and said "For God's sake, do not kill me in cold blood!" But he would not let me shrink, and hurled me from the top with all his force. Fortunately a young man, hearing the noise, came to the bottom of the stairs as I fell, and broke my fall, or death would have been certain. He then was cowardly enough to come and dash his fist in my face as I lay on the ground; but eventually his brother officers and other persons interfered and got him away from me. I may mention that the soldiers, of whom there were many in front, had been informed that their officers were being insulted, and were forcing their way on the stage. I am sorry to say that one of his brother officers to whom I appealed gave me no assistance, but told me to get him out of the ladies' room myself. Fearing a collision between the soldiers and civilians, I did not give him into custody. On the following day a military gentleman waited on me to compromise matters. I told him I would bring the young ruffian to justice, and no one can prove that either myself or any person on my behalf listened for one moment to any offer of settlement. Iaving felt the bitterness of death, I did not think that money should compensate it. The local magistrates who were to adjudicate the case strongly advised me to make up matters, with a delicate consideration for the interest of the theatre which I never before found from them. I had three or The Mayor (M. Clode), Mr. Bedand other borough, of Windsor compromiso tempt at four attendances before I could procure the summons, and, Magistrates though I pressed for it on Saturday, I did not get it till Tuesday, a oblat It would do quite as well if his lordship had notice to attend. murder!! At last, on Thursday, the 27th ult., the case came on. Having heard my own evidence and that of others-mostly unwilling witnesses (one having been summoned), it being generally known that golden ointment had been administered in more than one instance--the magistrates, after stating that they considered it a most unjustifiable assault, convicted the noble defendant in the extreme penalty of £5., saying that they would not send it to another tribunal. A mockery of justice of Windsor. Now, Sir, I ask you, is not this a mere mockery of justice! What is £5. to a man in his position? Not so much as five pence to a poor man; and I fearlessly assert-and the above incontrovertible facts will prove it--that a more deliberate by the attempt to kill a fellow-creature has not been made for some magistrates time. Could I but have seen him punished as a poor man would have been (I feel strongly, being a young man), all the money in the world should not have purchased that punishment from me. I have not acted from merccuary motives; thercfore I appeal to you, through whom that justice is given which courts of law sometimes deny. I remain, Sir, yours obediently, ALBERT NASH, Windsor, October 6th, 1855. THE BRAVE SOLDIERS OF THE CRIMEAN ARMY &c. THE MIDDLE CLASSES AND THE ARMY. To the Editor of The Times. SIR,-The subject of the admission of the middle classes into the army having been once fairly brought before the public, it The army to be off cered by So:s of the middle from the ranks. is of the utmost importance that it should be pressed upon the Government till something practical is done. The fact that classes constituting, probably, one-third of the population, are almost entirely refused the privilege of fighting for their country, seems till now never to have occurred to people's minds. We are in the habit of considering the middle classes to be the stamina of our population, and the source of our prosperity and of our rank among nations; yet we quietly submit to the utter exclusion of those classes from our army. admitting into it no class between that of the agricultural labourer, or the poorest class of farmer, and the wealthy gentleman. It is not so much the unfairness of this to the excluded classes that I complain of, as the serious disadvantage to the interests of the country which results from it. I do not for a moment wish the army to be other than an honourable field for the aspiration of our aristocracy; all I Courageons advocate is the admission in larger proportion of another element, such as forms the staple and practical strength of every classes, and other profession-I mean of men who devote their lives and their entire energies to their profession. The letter in your yesterday's number from an Indian officer puts this in a most forcible light. He says of the majority of the officers now in the Crimea that the army is not their profession, is not their home, and consequently that, though not shrinking from the dangers of actual engagements, they will not endure the more wearisome and duller, though not less necessary, exertions which fill up nine-tenths of a campaign. This, however, is a minor evil. The greatest is the fact, which I fear is indisputable, that our officers only rarely attain anything approaching to a thorough practical knowledge of the actual duties of their posts; much less do they attain to that degree of eminence which is necessary to advance the art of war in the same degree in which every other art and science is progressing. How is it that we are always behindhand in every practical contrivance and arrangement for the comfort and protection of our men, for the prevention of danger and disease, and for almost every one of those branches of practical economy and foresight on which military success must of necessity depend? Simply, I would answer, because we exclude from our army those who, in every other undertaking, have the charge of such duties, and commit the most important matters to men who have, for the most part, only joined the army as an honourable profession for a gentle |