234 
THE FIELD. 
[Saturday, 
Russian Campaigns of 182S and 1820, speaking of Sebas- 
topol, says : — 
“ It is the author’s belief that Sebastopol would be srife 
against the action of the combined fleets. No doubt the 
hitherto unequalled efficiency of a steam fleet, 'with its present 
armament, would effect all that could be accomplished by skill 
and bravery; but the result of attacking a well-defended for- 
tress with a fleet, remains, as yet, a problem for the future. It 
is true that three remarkable instances have occurred in mo- 
dern times, which may seem to favour the superiority of ships 
over stone walls. These are Copenhagen, Algiers, and Acre. 
In the first case, it is understood that Nelson was only relieved 
from a critical position by sending a letter on shore, which 
caused the batteries of Copenhagen to cease firing against the 
fleet. In the second instance, the attack on Algiers was made 
during a state of peace. We know that after our fleet had 
entered the harbour, not in line of battle, but almost ship by 
ship— and consequently greatly exposed to the fire of the. gar- 
rison— the Queen Charlotte, by the advice of an engineer officer, 
Sir William Reid, K.< Mb, now the distinguished governor of 
Malta, was placed with her broadside on the flank of the grand 
or mole battery. The rest of the fleet had also taken up ad- 
vantageous positions without a shot being fired by the garrison, 
until Lord Exmouth waved his hat, as the signal for the fleet 
to open fire simultaneously. In the third case, that of Acre, 
the fleet was also allowed to take up positions which had been 
previously arranged, without any opposition. Buoys had even 
been placed beforehand, and what had been a st ate of peace up 
to tbut moment, was only broken bv the opening of a terrific 
fire of shells and shot, when everything was ready: at least 
on our side. It is not, however, to be expected that the de- 
fenders of Sebastopol would be equally tardy in opening a fire 
of shells and hot shot on their assailants, and testing, with these 
terrific missiles, the relative strength of stone against our 
‘wooden walls.’ Hut we are here treading on difficult 
ground." 
Mr. OUpllftnt, in his “ Russian Shores of the Blade 
Sea," writes of visiting “ Sebastopol in a steamer, and 
that at one point his vessel was commanded by 1,200 
(qv. 800) pieces of artillery ; but lie also licnvd that 
the artillery could not be discharged without bringing 
down the rotten batteries upon which it was placed.”. It 
would appear, too, that the rooms in which the guns arc 
worked arc so narrow and ill-ventilated, that the artillery- 
men must be stifled in the attempt to discharge their guns 
and their duty. To add to the insecurity of this boasted 
stronghold, lie declares “there is nothing whatever to .pre- 
vent any number of troops landing a few miles to the south 
of the town, in one of the six convenient bays with which 
the const is indented, marching down the main street, 
sacking the town, and burning the licet.” 
These accounts tally ns to the vulnerability of this re- 
nowned fort, and we fervently hope that nature and art 
may combine in crumbling it to ashes before the eves of 
this despot, the enslaver of his people, and blasphemer of 
the creed he professes. 
MALTA. 
[See pngc 225.] 
No acquisition (Says Onptnin Slndc, in bin “Turkey, Greece, and 
Slnltn,” in the former of which countries lie is now serving ns nn 
admiral in the Ottoman flee!) could linvo proved so valuable to 
England as Malta. Position, town, Imrbour, industry, nllporfeet. 
Taking possession of Malta might bo compared toa man espousing 
a widow with -a good house ready furnished. 
The harbour is in miniature, but unique. Fit for n nautilus 
shell to sail in, it has depth for first-rates alongside the quays. 
Lnnd-lockcd, your colours fan the Colonnades in the “Galley” 
Creek, po close, you rimy sketch the escutcheons of various 
knights on the wnlls. The rocky promontory, Mount Scobcrrns, 
site of Vnltfttc, forms two ports, each again subdivided. The 
suburb cities, Yittoriosa mid Snnglca, intersect the one to tho 
■oulli-cnst, and dispose it admirably for tho accommodation of 
war and commerce, for arsenals and warehouses, for tho construc- 
tion of a dry dock ; while tho lessor port, Mnisniouseello, to the 
north-west, is equally adapted, by projecting points of rock, nnd 
by the isle of Constance, on which stands Fort Manuel and tho 
Lazzaretto, for the exigencies and annoyances of quarantine ; the 
latter, in justice bo it observed, existing in a far less degree at 
Valette than in any other port in the Mediterranean, with in- 
finitely less cost to the sufferer. 
Sailors love the place. Returning to it from a cruise, is like 
returning home. Expressly calculated for our wishes, our follies, 
our wonts, nil enjoy it, from the captain down to the cabin-boys. 
Hulls are gay, dinner parties are numerous, horses are fleet, wine 
is cheap, grog is plentiful, fruit is abundant, the police is civil, 
the soldiers nre friendly, the ship lies near the shore. “Wel- 
come” is audible, is legible, is tnngiblo. Tho spectators on tho 
lines sinile on us wliilo sailing in under their trophied rnmpnrts. 
No sooner is tho anchor dropped, than bands of music come 
alongside, a graceful custom peculiar to Malta — delightful, en- 
couraged formerly by the Mnrquis of Hastings, who loved to row 
about the hnrbour, among the shipping, on summer nights, in an 
illuminated barge, followed by music in another boat. Then 
tradesmen flock off — anything wo plcapo, nil for credit. Then 
appeur the cheerful washerwomen, chiefly soldiers’ wives. Then 
come the swimmers, disporting under tho stern for hours, nnd 
diving after bits of money thrown overboard. 'Watching their 
address ns they follow n shining sixpence down five fathoms 
deep, wo begin to credit the wonderful tales of Nieolb Tosco— lie 
who swam with despatches from Palermo to Naples— ho whom 
love of gold chained to the bottom, off Cape Passaro. Men, 
women, and children in Malta, oil swim like fish. 
If anything particularly excites our pride nt Malta, it is the 
polished, spotless, gentlemanly appearance of tho sentries; — 
foreigner wonder nt it. If anything particularly excites our 
pity, it is the Pan ion-' week exhibition of sinners robed nnd 
masked in white, dragging chains, fastened to their ankles, 
through 'tile drools. If Anything particularly excites nur ridicule, 
it is the bestowal of tlio badge of St. Michael nnd St. George; 
nothing but giving the grand cross of it nt length to the chief 
secretary to government saved the credit of tho “distinguished 
order.” If nnything particularly excites our irritability, it is the 
ceaseless, stunning din of bell-mclul during n sirocco. Tf nn-v- 
iliirig particularly excites our admiration, it is the clmroh of SI. 
John. 
Viewed from seawards, Malta appears n largo barren rock 
Without nearer observation, tt stranger would pass on, and con- 
sider the fact of above one hundred thousand people existing on 
it ns n miracle little short of the “loaves nnd fishes” Poor 
creatures! they have not much to cat ; hut the rocky shell which 
apparently jnerutts the island U n delusion, caused by innume- 
rable waifs rising one above tho other, with on appearance of 
continuous strata. The villages or. the ridges of the hills seem 
grotesque formation* of rock. The quantity of lbcust trees, the 
trees of desert places, adds to the impression. Home (persons 
liken Malta, in tho distance, to a series of extinct volcanoes. 
Hut, on landing, we arc agreeably surprised to find tlie whole 
face almost of the island disposed in cultivated terraces, of which 
the walls, by. accumulating l]ic scanty soil and con lining the 
action of niiii. form the nqecs.-ary support. Admirable is tho 
patience of Maltese industry. "Wherever a handful of earth will 
lie, the rock is nursed ns carefully ns a tulip parterre. Wherever 
a man has room to tdrn round with a spade, something grows. 
The terrace* in eomc parts, a* near Cillu-Yccchi.i, asnoar Nnsciur, 
for in literally a flight of steps, from the plain to the foot of the ' 
wttfi : no great stretch of imagination would bo required to see : 
smut Orlirndo Fnrioso, ninwlig tho knights, stalking up them, \ 
from one corn field to onollier, to have a Wow ;*l tlie 'hifidCl. 
Uonapiirte’s savuus cftlctdaJcd that the materials of 'the ‘pyramids 
were suflioicnt'Jo .enclose Egypt w ith a wall. Reverse the ques- 1 
tion ; the agricultural walls df Malta would make a dozen 
pyramids. f 
Superb cities and substantial villages, connected by ronds, have 
since sprang from the living rock. Fruit nnd vegetables of all ' 
sorts, nmong which the fragrant mandarin, the luscious blood- ■ 
orange, aWl the glittering japonica thrive, aro produced m abun- 
dance. Flowers to Such variety, ns to make a dozen florists rave 
in concert. Rich crop6 of clover; nearly '120.000/. worth of 
cotton yearly, nnd enough corn for the consumption of one-third 
of the year. Riding along the rocky, dazzling roads, between 
two lines of stono walls, you would doubt, but for on occasional 
lizard gliding in tho situ, the existence of a green thing in the 
island ; but ascend nn eminenco, or stroll on the terrace of n 
country-house, and fields of corn, odorous sulla, nnd rows of 
fruit-trees, refresh your nching siglit — only in the "immediate 
vicinity, for the eternal walls soon join in perspective, and hide 
the view'. The Hollander boasts of having reclaimed his country 
from (ho sou; tho Maltose has gathered his from the rock. 
Tliiengricnlturnl prosperity, tbc more striking from its contrast 
with tlio adjacent fertile but unproductive shores of Sicily and 
Africa, is owing in sonic monsuro to a judicious tax on loroign 
grain. Remove it, what inducement would remain to continue 
the incessant labour requisite to grow wheat on the scanty soil of 
Malta? Grain, if duty fveo, is often ns low ns twelve scudi the 
Btilm ; twenty scudi the snlm are required to cover the expense of 
cultivation. liven protected, the most extensive proprietor gets 
little from Iris land. 
Hoggors appear to grow in the streets. Yon know not whence 
they spring. You give to one, nnd instantly a wailing crowd, of 
all Ugly conditions, gather round. You hold out your hand to 
one little fellow, but cro you can open it, twenty pair of claws nre 
scratching at you for the mi to. Inclined to give relief, you must 
often endeavour to distinguish between ono apparent extreme of 
wretchedness and another. Such, however, is the force of habit, 
one soon gets careless of the sight, and the cry “ Caritd vix 
mangiare—nix padre — niir mailre — vix pane pen i piccdli in 
easa," heard in every street, from tlio sea-worn stone you first 
set foot on to the gate of tlio palace, soon falls on the car un- 
heeded. The same assemblage, chanting the same laiHlion, lay 
wait at the door of the cole, at the entrance of t lie theatre ; at 
every goto you nro beset. It is true, the nriny and navy render 
bogging o profitable trade. 
The Maltese are great emigrants; the towns of the Barbary 
states, the “scales” of the Levant, teem with them; but this 
effects no permanent good. They do not colonise ; they set down 
ns joiners, ns tailors, ns boatmen, Ac. ; and having realised a 
little money, they roturn to their beloved rock, to marry and 
multiply. Adept at nil sorts of handicraft, the poor Maltose, 
provided lie get n lift to any plnco, with the aid of his wits and a 
lew tools, can make his way, Iml without money lie cannot sol tie. 
The love of country, so strong in a Maltese, is owing, in a great 
mensnro, to roligious zeal. Nowhere else does ho see the rites ot 
his church, officiated so really and so earnestly, or such a. general 
acquiescence in its dogmas. Thoro nro twenty-four cusals (vil- 
lages) in the island, ouch with n church of a size and structure 
befitting n goodly town in any other country. There are fetes 
innumerable — tlieronro processions in honour df favourite saints ; 
so that it becomes almost n duly with a native, a kind of pilgrim- 
age— ns the Jewish predilection for the holy city — to revisit his 
homo. Fairly established, however, n3 a colonist, interest nnd 
duty would then oombino to wenn him from iris desire. An 
attempt mndo a few years hack to settle a few h nnd reds in 
Coplinlonin proved abortive ; sectarian prejudice— tho schism of 
the Greek and Latin churches — stood in tho way; no money 
either was given to the settlers. As well try to make bricks 
without straw, ns to colonise without capital. 
In Malta living is good and reasonable, more so than in Italy. 
Amusements nro various and elegant; a club, provided with 
papers, periodicals, billiards, ite., unites the metubovs of the pro- 
fessions nnd travellers ; an opera throe times u week ; dinner 
parties; riding nnd boating. The climate, if not always agree- 
able, is passable and salubrious. Tho houses combine the luxu- 
rious space of Tniladiiin structures, with the accessories of homo. 
The English society is hospitable, inclined to do honour b> their 
country in tho due entertainment of foreigners, and, burring tlie 
foibles inherent to n confined circle, and which u stranger need 
not mind, very pleasant. 
Landing of tiie Guards at M ai.ta.— Telegraphic 
despatches wore on Tuesday received in London iron) Mar- 
seilles, announcing that the Coldstream Guards, the ihli 
Regiment, and tlio 02nd Regiment, bad arrived at Malta. 
Tlio Sir George Pollock vouched tlio islund ori the 28th ult., 
and the Orinoco nnd the Canterbury on the 3rd inst. A 
correspondent writes that tlio Isle of Wight is to bo made 
tlio head-quarters of nil the regiments sent to tho war in the 
East. 
Further Arrival op our Tnoors at Malta.— T he Niagara, 
with tho ,28th Regiment, arrived at Malta on the 4th March. 
The Ripoii, with Uio Guards, arrived at Malta on the Dili March. 
The Transport Skrviok to Malta. — The Admiralty has 
givon notice at Lloyd's that eight more ships will he required for 
convoying cavalry and troops to Malta. Tlioy will lie ongnged 
for four months certain. 
AGRICULTURAL TALK. 
The Condon Fanner's Club held their Monthly Meeting 
on Monday lust, find did not take a step in advance. 
The first business was, the General Meeting to receive 
the report of tho committee appointed to carry out the 
resolution, unanimously passed in December, for trans- 
forming the Tavern Club of tbc original projectors, which 
by degrees grew into a discussion club, into a “ Central 
Farmers’ Club.” At the discussion which followed Mr. 
Ramsay's paper on “The Advantages of a Central Farmers' 
Club,” it came out very plainly that, without some vital 
change, want of members and want of funds would, nt an 
enrlv period, ensure tlie dissolution of the “London Far- 
mers’ Club.” 
The committee appointed a sub-committee to consider 
the Rubjeot. One section of this sub-committee was in 
favour of re-constructing the Club, nnd endeavouring, on 
a larger basis, to obtain such an accession of members as 
would justify renting a house and providing accommoda- 
tion which would really render it worth the while of 
farmers -and country gentlemen to subscribe, for the sake 
of the comfort they would find in tlie course of their few 
and fur between visits to London. The plan included a 
limited intmbor of beds — like the National Club, in White- 
hall — n good rending room, dining and drawing rooms, 
with a moderate stall' of servants, under the command ot a 
secretary, who, to gentlemanly and agreeable manners, 
should add a little zeal for, and interest in, agricultural 
improvement. — Another section of the sub-committee 
was opposed to any kind of change; considered a couple 
of rooms nt an hotel, with the benefit of the bar ns a 
Portcullis of protection, <fui 't sufficient, nnd fliopod’to get 
over the deficiency in the funds by some one of the chan 
■ter of accidents — A 'third proposed an intermediate course- 
and eventually a compromise was -settled, by which the 
Reform recommended was confined to an increase of the 
-Subscription to two guineas for all new members, and the 
publication and circulation of a quarterly report of the 
monthly discussions. The recommendation of the sub- 
committee was unanimously adopted by the committee- 
but, when laid before the General Meeting, consisting of 
three or four more individuals than the committee, it was 
rejected by a majority; and the resolution carried so 
"unanimously in -December, for forming a “Central Far- 
mers’ Club,” was rendered a dead letter. The result liiay 
be imagined; Mr. Fisher Hobbes, who lmd accepted the 
chairmanship for the year expressly to carry out improve- 
ments he deemed essential to the vitality of the Club at 
once resigned his office, nnd Mr. Ramsay followed his 
example, and retired from the committee. 
A rich and numerous Club cannot afford such divisions- 
hut when a Club is as po u- in funds and in members as 
the “London Farmers’,” dissension very shortly precedes 
dissolution. As w as w ickedly said of a crooked man 
there are some things it is easier to make anew than to 
mend. 
In the times of our grandfathers, tbc clubs best known 
were those where respectable gentlemen sat, smoked, drank, 
and -played criblingc before n tavern fire. More sober 
fashions .put down tbc fashionable taverns between Coveut 
Garden and St. James' 's Street, and built instead “Tlio 
Union,” “The University," “The Athemcum,” “The 
United Service,” “The Travellers’,” “The Reform, ’’ “Tho 
Cnrleton,” and the other mansions, in which gentlemen of 
similar rank aud -tastes associate, or read and feed. 
“ It was all very well to begin a London Far more’ Club 
at a tavern, and t > be content with dingy rooms nnd fare, 
monotonous and dear, with a miserable apology for a read- 
ing-room ; but now that discussion, inquiry, experiment, 
nnd reading and writing on agricultural subjects, nre vigor- 
ously carried out hy-tth e modern race of agriculturists in 
every pin t of the kingdom — now that railroads render Lon- 
don so accessible to every rural district. — if it is worth while 
to have a club at all, it is worth while to make it the centre 
of all agricultural associations. With proper house accom- 
modation, there is no doubt that the subscriptions of absentee 
members would provide funds for forming a respectable 
library, for furnishing a complete agricultural reading- 
room,’ and for paying a gentlemanly, intelligent, and zealous 
secretary, who would carry on agricultural correspondence 
with local associations, and cultivate tho interests of the 
London Club. We hope nnd hear that something of this 
kind will shortly be attempted, under the auspices of a 
committee including some of the first and largest practical 
farmers in the kingdom. 
The dinner followed the General Meeting; and there, 
under the cover of toasts, some very warm speeches were 
made, and some very plain truths were spoken. 
At the usual time, Mr. William Bennett opened the dis- 
cussion on agricultural statistics, in a paper which, without 
any special claims to originality or novelty of illustration, 
was characterised by a degree of literary ability and elo- 
quence far above average. It is the custom at such dis- 
cussions to speak of the eloquence of preceding speakers, 
although, in fact, common sense, humour, useful facts, and 
every other .material of talking, are to be met with, while 
eloquence is most -rare ; but Mr. Bennett was, on this 
occasion, both true and eloquent, and only wanted the 
moral courage to say all he thought, to have made a 
most effective discourse. As it was, blended with some 
clap-trap rebuilt the necessity of obtaining returns o( 
stock in the hands of millers, corn -factors, &c., a return 
which, however valuable, does not form part of annual 
agricultural statistics; and then he went on to expatiate 
■on the inquisitorial impropriety of asking for returns of 
bailey, oats, beans, pigs, sheep, and bullocks. Thus the 
concluding details of his essay contradicted the general 
principles of his commencement. Mr. Baker, of Mittlc, 
who followed, of course opposed agricultural statistics, or 
rather damned the proposition with faint praise. lie — 
“ Just hints a fiiu'.t, and hesitates dislike.” 
But that was to be expected. What is there that tlio most 
respectable Essex agriculturist has not opposed at its first 
introduction to his notice, from agriculture 'machinery 
downward ? Wc have no doubt tbit he opposed railways 
tooth an.l nail— looked on guano with 'considerable sus- 
picion — had doublsaboul thrashing machines— nnd did not 
think anything good could come of substituting a drill for 
a broadcaster and a sheet, although ho now uses and 
praises all those improvements. 
Mr. Baker represents a class daily growing less nume- 
rous— the “ Eldons” of agriculture, who arc slow to believe 
that anything new can be true, and so be safe — oppose 
every innovation, political, social, or agricultural. But to 
counterbalance the opposition of anyone tlie ablest of the old 
school, Mr. Thomas, of Sidlington 1’ark, one of the largest 
tenants of the Duke of Bedford, a first-rate farmer, but not 
of the Duke’s politics, supported tlie idea of a system for 
calculating and registering annually tlie agricultural pro- 
duce of the kingdom. Mi;. Skelton, a Lincolnshire farmer 
and corn merchant, formerly a regular attendant at South- 
sen House, and follower of Mr. G. F. Young, took the 
same line, and illustrated the advantage of knowing the 
truth sis to the harvest early in every year, by facts as to 
prices within bis own knowledge. For some time the 
meeting seemed, as its votes afterwards, proved, dccidcdl) 
in favour of applying to England the system of inquiiy 
practised with more or less accuracy by almost every olhei 
civilised nation. But tlie latter part of the debate took a 
very low tone. One gentleman opposed agricultural sta- 
tistics because they were intended, ns he asserted, to lower 
the price of bread ; and he was supported by another who 
had been engaged a month previously in trying to change 
the mode of taking the corn averages, on the ground that 
tlioy were nt present too high. A third gentleman distrusted 
the suggestion of agricultural statistics because it came 
fi'otn her Majesty's Ministers, which includes, by the by, 
the greatest landowners in the country; and further, be- 
cause the memorial wc quoted the other day was signe 
by all the principal merchants of the city of London, "’ho 
must be, so he argued, the enemies of agriculture. 
A fourth was alraid that the returns published would 
give information to landlords which might be injurious o 
tenants. 
An attempt to recall those suspicious gentlemen to reas 
by rending over a series of admirably drawn resolutions i 
favour of agricultural statistics, which were passed l»y 
same 01 ub without a dissentient voice in 184G, faded 
