The Press.
London, England, 1855-09-15 00:00:00

THE REWARD OF MERIT.

A WHIG Minister it seems can never perform
without a counterpoise an act of public virtue.
Either he is anxious to set forth his merits
with a foil of lathes, or, buoyant with supe-
rerogatory goodness, he works out political
indulgences by some act of capital corrup-
tion.
Anxious, after the manner of Whigs, to
avoid too great a share of merited commenda-
tion, Sir WILLIAM MOLESWORTH has followed
up his appointment of Mr. HINCRS by an ex-
ercise of patronage equally injudicious and dis-
creditable. The office of Chief Secretary to
the Government of Malta having fallen vacant,
our Colonial Secretary has conferred the
post on his Private Secretary, Mr. VICTOR
ROULTOIC
The importance of the office in question is
as undoubted as Mr. Houvros's deficiency of
qualification. The duties of Secretary to the
Government of the small but important pos-
session of Malta are almost analogous to those
in this country of Prime Minister and Leader
of the House of Commons. The services of
Mr. IL:ILTON are comprised within a space of
two years and a half : viz., since his grateful
master's accession to office under the Coalition
Ministry. Of colonial affairs he must neces-
sarily be ignorant, his experience in the Co-
lonial-office dating from the time of Sir WIL-
LIAM MOLESWORTH'S nomination as Secretary
of State. Of Mr. HouLToN's personal qualifi-
cations little is known save that he is comely
in appearance, a good singer, that he perhaps
paints in water-colours, and has that know
ledge of modern languages usually acquired
by the loungers of society.
Meanwhile the colonial service is large and
not ill supplied. From the Indies to the Pole
are to be found men of long experience, great
administrative abilities, and meritorious ser
vice. These have been entirely overlooked.
Sir WILLIAM MOLESWORTH is evidently afraid
of giving to merit too great an encouragement.
Doubtless, yielding to the remonstrances of
his colleagues, he is bent on proving himself
I a Whig indeed, in whom there is no guile.

ADMIRAL DUNDAS AND THE BALTIC

CAMPAIGN.
A CORRESPONDENT has remonstrated with us
on the tendency of our remarks last week upon
the Baltic campaign. As we are accused of
making incorrect assertions, we feel it incum-
bent upon us to reopen a subject which we
otherwise had been content for the present to
leave at rest.

It is an undeniable fact that our naval
chiefs have never since the beginning of

SATURDAY,

the war displayed that boldness of conception
and active decision which from the heroic
achievernehts Of the Mitt war we had as-
sumed to the inheritance} of our seamen.
We may idbk in *aid front one hemisphere to
the ether for a solitattry pei4brinance equal to
the ititicitiations jntitlficA hy the vast forces at
the dispcsial of our Adiiiitals. There never
has been a naval war with less incident. It is

true that the Russians have ingloriously shel-
tered their ships behind the guns of their
granite batteries ; but this easy stratagem
should have stimulated the ingenuity of our
Admirals, and should have suggested to their
invention expedients adapted to the occasion.
Making all allowance for the mismanagement
and wadi neglect of the home authorities, our
sorry triumphs at Petropaulowski and Odessa
do not allow us to hold as free from all blame
the conduct of our naval commanders. But to
come more immediately to Sweaborg and Ad-
miral
In our observations of last week we had
no intention of attributing to the leader,
or to any of the officers of the Baltic
fleet, want of personal courage. Courage
is the invariable characteristic of British
officers ; but what we complained of was,
that the spirit which, in subordinates,
quails at no personal danger, in superiors
bends under the weight of responsibility.
Neither have we ever called in question the
seamanlike abilities of Admiral DUNDAS. On
the contrary, in THE PRESS of the 25th of
August we expressed our admiration of the
skill shown in his dispositions. Neverthe-
less, we retain our belief that his subsequent
conduct was not equal to the opportunity.
Surprised at his own success, he failed
to profit by the result of the bombard-
ment. Our correspondent further asserts
that no "large line-of-battle ship could have
" anchored close enough to Sweaborg to make
" her guns tell." The Admiralty chart clearly
shows that close under the islands the depth
of water varies from five to eight fathoms,
more than sufficient for the largest line-of-
battle ship. But if for any valid reason Ad-
miral DUNDAS felt himself precluded from thus
directly attacking the forts, why could he not
have attempted the expedient volunteered
last year by one of the captains in tho fleet?
Why could he not have forced the passage be-
tween the islands, taken the fortress in
reverse where it is defenceless, and reduced
the town of Helsingfors to ashes, or laid it
under contribution ? War, to be successful,
must be a series of risks. At present it would
seem as though our commanders contemplated
failure rather than anticipated success when
decisive work was to be done.
We trust that we have dwelt long enough
on this subject to make our meaning
clearly understood. We impugn neither
the personal courage nor the professional
ability of Admiral DUNDAS ; but we assert
that, iu failing to follow up the suc-
cess achieved by his gun-boats, he has
grievously disappointed the expectations of
the country, and established a case for inquiry
into the reasons for his inaction. He has
proved himself in this his first command to be
wanting in fertility of resource and energy of
enterprise ; and under no circumstances do we
imagine it likely that he will again be in-
trusted with the command of the fleet he has
the doubtful merit of having shielded from
all chance of injury hrough encounter with
the enemy's guns.