The Quebec mercury, 20 février 1855, mardi 20 février 1855

[" ®li£ (Quebec TUESDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 20, 1855.VOLUME LK.OQsilfe ülcrcuc MORES ET STUDIA ET POPULOS ET PRÆLIA DtCAM* VnuJt Gto.IV.NUMBER 22.THE QUEBEC MERCURY.PRICE or ADVbrtisino* first of V.Chaloupin k Co.30 Cases, ) M.Ü.MOUNTAIN, No.69, Sl> John Street, Quebec, July 4th, 1934.\t79\u2014* Your Lordship has culled my attention to the authority of Guizot as much better that mine in School matters.I readily acknowledge the authority of that great Statesman and Educationist.I read his projects for School laws in France, and his various circulars to local School authorities at the time bo wits French Minister of Public instruction, before l prepared my own projects and circulars ; ami when l found under hid system, a Roman Catholic, Priest, u Protestant Minister, and a Jewish Kahbi, in connection with several faymeu, composing and acting harmoniously in each of the K.lucationalUont-mittces or our county Boards, l did not imagine that a system, based on the same principle, could be regarded as \u201c most cruel and hypocritical persecution,\u201d by either Protestant or Roman Catholic iu Upper Canada.Then your Lordship cites me to the testiut.-ty of tho \u201c5'cotclt Presbyterian, Laing,\" in regard to the number of Schools in Romo, and their tendency to promote respect to established authority.1 hare no wish to question the correctness of the conclusion which Your Lordship would w\\sb to establish by these references, much\to dis- parage tho .\"Schools alluded to, many »d- which 1 have personally visited, and found them admirably conducted, aud well adapted to the purposes for which they were established.But l must ay that I do not consider respect t ar e\\:»tunx authority to be the sole object of education, or W tho establishment aud «uuitiplication of ticlioolb for the mass of the people.Of course, tho more energetically such an object is promoted in botli Austria and Italy, and in all despotic countries, the more effectually will Schools and Education be employed as an instrument cf despotism.I think education and Schools fail to fulfil a vital port of their mission if they do not develop all the intellectual powers of mutt, teach him self-reliance as well ns dependence on God, excite flint to industry and euU>r|'ri.e, tnd instruct him in the rights as well as duties of muii.That the numerous Schools of Romo aud Roman Italy fail in several of these particulars, uotwithstandiug their etUcietioy ia other respects, is manifest from the proverbial indolence, dishonesty, poverty, and ,:iry 1>,UV,\u20181 't1* misery of the mass of the people, uô.withstaudiug Ufing tostod.-inn capital respecting the condition of our troops before Sebastopol,\u2014accounts communicated through the medium of the London paper», and which, as we often, for party purposoit, overstate the facts,\u2014exaggerate them indeed, will be set down at St.Petersburg a* 1 eittj; considerably short of the drc.i hui renrity.As Mr.Gladstone showed on Monday might, the British army is far from having been annihilated by the climate firthere ore stiii IJ.tkM) working bayonets ami lilt* tiistiibution of warm clothing and other comfort^ could not fail to speedily improve the health of the men.The Treaty of Alliance between Sardinia, France, England, has been published.Previously, the principal features if this treaty were known, but the conditions *»n which we an?to secure the services of our new ally had not transpired.4* usual, with regard to all continental alliances, John Ra\u2019I will have to pay the piper who produces tins ni.irtj.ii music.The 15,000 men whom Sardinia engages to provide, are to consist of infantry, cavalry and artillery, under the comand ot a Sardinian general; aud the King engages to keep the number up to this complement.In return we aretoiend his Majesty a million sterling; one-hall to be furnished innnediatelv, and tin* remainder within six mom twelve months, the war has we engag** to furnish him w ion, at the rate ot i per cent.Sardinian tnxtp - are to he ir expense France in the o the We of the s: the tren ties at eludes mont n this cmmtr engage to defend \u2022vent of ittaek tluriu-stern Powers guarantet ante.The preamble, ity, seems to have inspn Turin with poetic tei with the follow mg hi^ \u2014\u2018* To the* cross ot Savi unsp hit San I (renoa, tho road to the Last have shown themselves vie fields where this time they one banner.Placed now I ions standards of Kranct will know how to high company, centuries lias si ot the I louse ot complimentary, the parties oo the wav, wtl hands by and to march t French tor the protect! and T.If, within terminated, tothcr mill-est.The tried at the gland and mian States o war, and te integrity danntory of theauthori-tr.It con-town sennas to that ot >wn.Both s on those shine under n the glor-uglamT, it However great may have been the mortality amongst onr troops, the loss which the Russians have sustained since the war commenced far exceeds that oi the allies.It is stated that during the past year the Russians lost no less than 107,1'2d men, of whom *29,-*204 died from natural causes ; 16,15H died from their wounds : and 55,30-1 were invalided from wounds.Nothing that had occurrert in the East, to the Western or even to the Turkish troops, affords any parallel to this dismal record.The accounts by telegraph Iront the Crimea are to the 22d ult.» the direct advices a week earlier.At the first-named time the weather was fine, with a decided impro vement in the temperature.The old comma tuts continue, of filly hospitals and considerable sickness ; but improvements were visible, although it is said that tho immunity which the French have hitherto enjoyed from tho privations to which the English troops have been ?o long subjected, was fast disappearing.We read in the accounts via St.Petersburg of frequent sorties being made in which the allies are declared to have sustained considerable loss.The French works are now pushed within eighty yards of Sebastopol, and when the tire opens preparations wtil be for an immediate assault.The town ot Sebastopol is said lobe a heap ot nuns.No time appears to be fixed for the recommencement ot tin?siege\u2014ut least, none has been sutTered to transpire.The rumorei.resignation of Omar Pacha, in consequence of the refusal of Ismail Pacha to obey his instructions in Roumelia, is, probably, only a ruse on the part of the Turkish commander to secure a perfect adherence to his authority.Lord Raglan cannot fail to be a little nervous when he receive?' intelligence of Lord Aberdeen\u2019s fall, for the censure is, in reality, rather levelled at the Commander than the Premier, and it is just possible that tue head of the new Government may bo compelled to order his Lordship home.Whatever extenuations may be made for the British Com man-der-in-Chief, it is undeniable that he has shown a deplorable want ot administrative talent.How he could have allowed the scenes which the accounts describe as having taken place at Ralaklava to have continued so long, is amazing.Mr.Gladstone was compelled to admit, on the night of the fatal dtvtl ston, that the Cabinet had remindod Lord Raglan of the powers with which ho was vested\u2014a significant hint, which unveils a world of inefficiency.But, tn reality, throughout tho empire the very name ot Sebastopol and the Crimea is annoying to hear, lao winning of great battles is very pleasant, and the great mass of tho world who read t.te accounts of them with such delight have very little idea of the pain and misery by which they arc purchased, or it the thought iitvolun-1'iistariJy occurs, it disappear» in an instant be-lor * the blaze of national triumph.But the hard literal facts about sick soldiers and their complaints have nothing pleasing, but on tho contrary, much that is repulsive to the popular taste, and hence the odium which attaches to the name.The feeling has reached the agricultural districts, and has cured many an ambitious ploughman of all taste for 'l soldiering.\u201d TIIK WAP IN ASIA.Kurdistan is now in open revolt.It will be remembered that the last disturbances were the result of the intrigues of Beder Khan Boy, who slaughtered the Nestorian (dtristians.He was suppressed by Omar Pacha, and the country restored to the rule of the Sultan.But tin?utter prostration of Turkey by this war has le