mand, General Canrobert rose, stretched out his right arm, and pointing to my noble form, said briefly but emphatically, "A l'assaut!" Three cheers followed from the guests, and at the same instant Monsieur Casterolle made the first incision. His weapon was a straight one, about two feet long in the blade, with a double edge, each as sharp as a razor, and backwards and forwards he sliced with a dexterity which excited even my admiration. It requires a good deal of philosophy to bear being cut up, in any sense, but I beg it may be intimated to Mr. Minton that I met my fate with the most perfect equanimity. "Non omnis moriar!" was my reflection: "my flesh may disappear, but my marrowbone will endure for ever!" It would demand a great deal more eloquence than I—in the spirit— possess, to do justice by description to what was said by the guests while the work of demolition was going on. "Superbe!" Magnifique !"— "Excellent!"—" Parfait !" were words of incessant iteration, mingled with one or two British comments, which, although satisfactory were less encomiastic, a circumstance attributable, I imagine, to the salt, which · doubtless gives a peculiar flavour to roast beef. Practically, however, the English officers did no less justice to my merits than their brave allies: it was 66 cut and come again" as long as a shred of me remained. When all was consumed, General Canrobert again rose, and everybody was silent. avons "Messieurs!" he said, "je désire porter un toast. L'année qui vient d'expirer a été témoin d'une alliance plus que fraternelle. Sur les bords de l'Alma, sur les hauteurs d'Inkerman, le sang de deux nations guerrières a coulé à flots, pour cimenter cette union qui durera, j'espère, jusqu'à la fin du monde! Mais aujourd'hui, messieurs, nous fait mieux que ça! Verser son sang, c'est le devoir de chaque soldat; nous avons tous les deux prodigué le nôtre; aujourd'hui une nouvelle ère commence, même pour ceux qui ont combattu ensemble! La France et l'Angleterre ont des idées distinctives, tendant toujours vers le même but. Avec nous ces idées s'entendent par la phrase: La gloire, l'amour et le vin !' Nos estimables alliés aiment autant la gloire; se distinguent également dans les lices de l'amour; pour la recherche du vin, leur esprit. n'est jamais en défaut; mais encore plus naturellement, je pourrais même dire avec plus d'empressement, ils se portent vers le rosbif! Eh bien ! qu'est-ce que nous venons de faire? Nous avons mangé non-seulement du rosbif ensemble, mais, tranche pour tranche, nous avons mangé du même rosbif; un rosbif que Sa Majesté la Reine d'Angleterre a daigné regarder de ses propres yeux avant de me faire l'honneur de l'envoyer à mon quartier-général. Il n'y a plus à dire! Levez-vous, donc, messieurs, et videz vos verres! Je bois au Rosbif de la vieille Angleterre !" I candidly confess, that when this distinguished honour was conferred upon me by the gallant Commander-in-Chief of the French army, it quite overcame me, and, giving way to my feelings, I fainted. What afterwards took place at the banquet I am unable to say, though I suppose Lord Raglan returned thanks in my name. All I know is, that as a marrowbone I was conveyed to General Canrobert's cabinet, and his valet, a most ingenious individual, is at the present moment very busily occupied in fitting me up as a telescope to replace the one which was yesterday smashed in the General's hand by a Russian ball. Under these circumstances I hope to be an eye-witness of the fall of Sebastopol. BY MARY C. F. MONCK. COME! British hearts awaken! Can you, unmoved and silent, That Britain hath no hearts and hands Shall mercenary legions Your honours win and keep? Oh, no! the thought might almost rouse Above the crested billows A flag that knows not how to strike Is floating wide and free The flag that waved o'er Nelson's head, And drooped above his bier The flag that trembled to the swell And on the hostile plains and heights The wild boars of his grassy steppes Unchased the Orel antelopes May range the mountain's brow; Unthinned the Volga's shores may keep Their stately woods of oak, The cedars of the Ocka Ring back no woodman's stroke. Untilled the men of Vlodomir Have left their teeming fields, 154 From Uralski to the sea, From the Arctic to the Euxine, By the Danube and the Don, Each man whose hand can wield a sword Must gird his harness on. From the borders of the Caspian "Tis the fierce and cruel Vulture But hands that once were those of foes Have met with brothers' clasp, They'll perish or they'll rend at last His quarry from his grasp. Well, well may his strong eyrie To see the foes that come between They've won the thirsty fields that drank The hearts' blood of their slain. Where by the dark Tchernaya yawn The caves of Inkerman, The savage warriors yielded To their firm and serried van ; And shall the cries of our bereaved, That fill the sister lands, Awake no spark of martial fire, Call forth no armed bands? Yes! thousand hearts throb wild and high, Yes! thousand eyes flash bright, Yes! thousand thousand free-born men Are eager for the fight. Who speaks of hiring foreign troops? Shame on the coward words! Like lightning from the tempest-cloud Flash forth our own good swords. Awaken men of Britain! The hour is come at last, To witness to a gazing world THE "MIRANDA" IN THE WHITE SEA. FROM THE JOURNAL OF ONE OF THE OFFICERS. THE White Sea squadron, consisting of the "Eurydice," 26 guns (sailing vessel), Captain Erasmus Ommanney, senior officer; the "Miranda," 15 guns (screw corvette), Captain E. M. Lyons; and the “Brisk,’ 16 guns (screw corvette), Commander F. Beauchamp Seymour, having assembled in the Downs, sailed thence for Lerwick, on the 21st of May, and kept company to that port. They left again on the 26th, and the squadron parted company outside, to make the best of their way to Hammerfest (Norway), in lat. 70 deg. 30 min. N., long. 23 deg. 43 min. E. The "Miranda," under sail alone, arrived within three miles of the latter place first, on the 8th of June, when, after having beaten against a foul wind for the last thirty miles, through a narrow and picturesque passage, the cliffs and hills around which were thickly feathered with snow; a boat from the "Eurydice" came up (which vessel had been discerned in the distance the previous day), with orders for us to proceed back again under steam, and tow her up to Hammerfest. This was accordingly done, and having entered the port both ships anchored there. Hammerfest is by no means a prepossessing town, surrounded with bare and uncultivated rocks, and the houses, built of wood, are not at all remarkable for architectural beauty. Nevertheless, the people are clean, healthy-looking, and well-dressed, infinitely better than the ragged, bare-footed population of Lerwick. They carry on a trade with the northern coast of Norway, Russian Lapland, and Archangel, the principal export being dried fish, and import flour, grain, &c. During the winter they carry on whale and seal fishery. We remained there during that day and the next, the "Brisk" arriving in the mean time, and the following morning, early, the "Miranda" put to sea, leaving the other ships at anchor. Off the North Cape we encountered a heavy gale of wind, against which we could make no way; and on its abating, observing the "Brisk" with "Eurydice" in tow, under the land, we joined company, and then the three vessels proceeded towards Vardo-huns, to ascertain what were its qualities to serve as a dépôt for coals for the White Sea squadron. Captain Ommanney having made his observations, the "Miranda" took the "Eurydice" in tow, and proceeded towards the White Sea, leaving the "Brisk" to find her way after us under sail with orders to rendezvous off Cape Svetoi Nos, or, as English merchant-captains are supposed to have christened it, Sweetnose, at the entrance of the White Sea, or at Sosnovets, or Cross Island, just outside the Arctic Circle, in lat. 66 deg. 29 min. north, long. 40 deg. 20 min. east. Entering the White Sea on the evening of the 19th June, we chased and boarded several vessels, and captured the Russian schooner "Volga," laden with flour from Archangel, bound to Tromsöe, in Norway, which was subsequently made a tender of, under command of Lieutenant Swinburne, of the "Miranda." We then steered onward, and after encountering some thick fogs (the curse of the White Sea) and disagreeable weather, anchored inside Cross Island, where we found the "Brisk," on the 22nd. Cross Island is un inhabited, and untenanted apparently by any living thing. It is about three miles in circumference. In the centre stands a tower of wood painted red, and on either extremity are a number of wooden crosses, which mark the graves of departed Russians. The channel across to the opposite shore is about three miles in breadth. On the mainland is a Lapland village, the inhabitants of which deserted at our first approach, but afterwards returned, and before we left the White Sea carried on a traffic with us, exchanging excellent fresh salmon for left-off clothes, flour, or biscuit. The anchorage is good, as no heavy seas run in the White Sea, and it is sheltered from most winds. On the 24th, the three vessels, despatching the "Volga" to Vardo-huns for the mail, started for the Dwina Bar, off Archangel, and arrived and anchored there at noon on the 26th. There was nothing in Archangel Bay when we arrived. Inside the Bar, about three miles, lay the Russian guardbrig, with a commodore's broad pendant at the fore, and a small squadron, consisting of two schooners, two steamers, and a number of gunboats. Report said at the time of our arrival, that there were about eighteen, but these were afterwards increased to forty. They are supposed to mount two guns each, twenty-four-pounders, one forward and the other aft, and to contain about forty men. They might have annoyed us much by coming out on the flats where we could not get at them, and throwing some long shots at us, which of course we could have returned, but still the chances would have been ten to one against our hitting so small an object at such a distance; whereas, in smooth water, they must have fired very badly not to strike us. This flotilla was moored off a battery supposed to mount about twelve guns, and four more heavy guns were afterwards placed in a commanding position. Archangel of course was not in sight, being upwards of twenty miles up the river. Half-way between the Bar and Archangel there is a very strong fort, supposed to mount ninety guns, and commanding a narrow part of the river, so that even had we been able to cross the Bar in the several attempts we made, we could not have proceeded as far as that city. Nevertheless, from the reports we heard, our proximity must have given them a great deal of uneasiness, as the citizens were enrolled and supplied with arms, preparations made for barricading the streets and houses, and a false alarm given occasionally to prove the state of readiness and activity that the people were in. The trade of Archangel during the summer months, June, July, August, and September, is very great. About seven hundred vessels took in cargoes there this year, chiefly consisting of flour, grain, hides, tallow, and leather-the imports of course are various. From Onega the principal export is timber. For a more detailed account of proceedings at this interesting point of the expedition, we must take the liberty of referring to the journal of proceedings: July 4th, 2.45 A.M.-Commenced preparations for crossing Bar; boats from "Eurydice" and "Brisk" came alongside to assist in surveying and buoying channel; 6.20 weighed under steam, and proceeded slowly towards New Bar; anchored in 31 fathoms, and sent boats ahead to sound and buoy channel; fired a gun to dislodge enemy's field battery, under cover near the lighthouse; observed same drive off; 10.40 enemy's field battery opened fire on boats sounding; fired a ditto with extreme range of pivot-gun, but shot fell short, and observing enemy's flotilla of |
