A delicate question has been raised by one of the
subjects of otir faithful ally " d'outre Manche." In the beginning of 1855, M. Fortoul, Minister of Public Instruction, sent a certain Baran
de liammcourt to the Crimea, in 'order that be might be able to compound an official recital of the expedition. The Baron was duly accredited to General Canrobert ; and he took up his quar- ters in the trenches, or, as he says, " au oteur du siege." Here he picked up the gossip of the .camp ; either there or when he returned to Paris important documents were placed in his hands ; and out of all these he compounded two volumes, and, by per- mission, dedicated them to the Emperor. These volumes are be- fore the public ; and their contents have become the subject of
newspaper controversy. The effect of the book, whatever may have been intended, is to depreciate the services of Lord Raglan and the English army. The work is worth- less as history, or even as what the author calls it, " Chroniques de la Guerre d'Orient," and would be beneath serious notice were it not put forward by authority. But being put for- ward by authority, it becomes a political event. The book raises nice questions, in the face of Europe. What was the posi- tion of Lord Raglan ? what were his relations with the French officers ? what were the services of the British army in the war? We in this country have been very forbearing throughout the war ; it is not we who have raised the question now—it is the Emperor of the French. If, as the Baron de Bazancourt's friends apologetically allege, he has produced an effect which he did not intend, it is open to the French Government to discredit the book in the co- lama of the Moniteur. At any rate, it is time that justice should be done to the memory of Lord Raglan and the British army. It cannot be doubted that ample materials for the pur- pose exist, and the publication of them would be the best anti- dote to the Baron de Bazancourt's glosses. It has been sug- gested that there should be an ofcial history of the war on our side : but official histories are not in good repute, and one on this subject would not be satisfactory. What is wanted is an independent Napier.
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