The Press.
London, England, 1855-02-10 00:00:00

128

"remarkable discretion ;" and then comes the
most singular part of these disclosures.
When the public dissatisfaction was begin-
ning to make the Coalition quake, " they
" wrote me (says the Admiral) the must goading
" letters," and not long after Sir JAMES GRA-
HAM'S lecture on discretion, there came the
" most meriting and degrading letter ever written to
"an oflicer." Here is a case at once for in-
quiry. Who wrote that letter? What were its
terms ? At whoa() instance was it sent? These
questions must be answered. Either the
statement is false or true. If it be false—Sir
CHARLES himself anticipates what should be
done. " I ought to be scratched off the list if
" lam not telling the truth." And if it be
true, severe should be the sentence passed on
those administrators who chose a brave Ad-
miral, overloaded him with caution, dinned
into his ears to " beware of stonewalls"—
then praised him—next " perverted his
" words " afterwards joined in a clamour
against him, and finally sent him the " most
" degrading letter ever written to an officer!"
Now, in this grave and truly serious case,
we shall refrain from assuming the truth or
falsehood of the charges. But an investiga-
tion must be made, and that at once, even at
the risk of shocking the sensitive nerves of the
gentleman who " lost a place, and found a
" constituency.' The charges are now patent
to the world. Independent of the two cha-
racters at stake, the facts must he investigated
for the sake of the Naval Administration.
On the one hand, the laurels of a British Ad-
miral are not to be snatched from him by a
vacillating Minister; and on the other, a
Naval Officer must not on light grounds ac-
cuse the Executive. Silence cannot be main
twined on such serious charges. The speech
of Sir JAMES GRAHAM at the Reform-Club
dinner still rings in public recollection. The
present Premier was at that dinner, which
seemed to some persons like a tempting of
PROVIDENCE to confound its reckless revellers.
Then and there Lord PALMERSTON also spe-
cially lauded the " discretion" of the Admiral,
and the question must be tried in the present '
instance—" which is the real culprit ?"
On the 7th of January, 1779, the brave Ad-
miral KEPPEL wan arraigned on several
charges, and, after a long investigation, the
indictment recoiled against his accusers. Sir
CHARLES NAPIER has dared a similar ordeal,
for he closes his charges with a sentence,
which will be read by every seamen in the
Navy—" If Sir James Graham has one bit al
" honour in him, he will never again take his
" seat in the Admiralty until this matter is
" cleared up."

STATISTICS OF WAR.
DURING the recent debate upon Mr. ROEBUCK'S
motion Mr. SIDNEY HEnBERT and Mr. GLAD-
STONE both dwelt emphatically upon the in-
evitable waste of human life in war. We are
sure that not one of their hearers was disposed
to question the truth of this proposition ; but
when these gentlemen proceeded to compare
the losses sustained by this country in former
wars with those of the Crimean expedition,
with the view of showing that the present
complaints of the public were groundless, they
raised an issue upon a matter lof fact which it
is of the highest practical importance should
he thoroughly investigated. If they are right,
the public and the press, and an overwhelming
majority in Parliament, are all egregiously
wrong. The losses and sufferings of our
Crimean army are not greater, Mr. SIDNEY
HEKIIRBT assures us, than might have been
anticipated. He alluded to the condition of
the Duke of WELLINGTON'S troops in Spain
upon two memorable occasions, viz., after the
great battle of Talavera, and during their re-
treat from Burgos ; and he left it to be inferred
that, even under the eye of that experienced
chief. the destruction of life was quite equal to
that which is now taking place before Sebas-
topol. Let us see how this startling theory is
supported. The Registrar-General has, since
it was propounded, supplied us with the means
of testing its accuracy, and the following are
the results :
In the latest quarterly returns published by
that officer he states that of our force in Spain