The Sun.
London, England, 1855-08-07 00:00:00

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Sun-office, 112, Strand, London,
9th July, 1855.

?It -
, -17,2 .
TID t •

LONDON, TUESDAY, AUGUST 7, 1855.

The season is rapidly advancing. We are in
the second week of August, but we are still wait-
ing for decisive events in the Euxine and the
Baltic. As we have already intimated, there are
indications that something will be attempted in
the former of such a character as to,compensate
fully for past delays !, But what 'has been at-
tempted :in the latter ? What promise is there
of .greater activity ? It is true that we have
kept the Russian fleet skulking under the protec-
tion of batteries, that we have maintained an
efficient blockade, but that is all ! We have
taken a few trading and fishing vessels, and
greatly damaged a few comparatively undefended
towns ! But there has been nothing equivalent
to the capture and destruction of Bomarsund last
year ! Nor has there been any appearance of
despatching an auxiliary land force to co-operate
with. our enormous naval power, which
so. greatly exceeds that of last year under
the command of Sir CHARLES NAPIER, and with
'Which he was, despite the novelty and difficulties
()flit' position, expected to have produced almost
miraculous results.

.7w4 zkr4i Unwilling to believe that this apparent
aPathris' the fault- of the Admiral, - or that a
high' character. and unblerniShed
reputatiow ahould, unless controlled by positive
al ib Ogh
,f'94it'llstructions from " 'My Lords,"
remain itidiffereUbdio the chances of achieving for
himielf a high pOtitiMi among the naval heroes by
whom the British name was once rendered so re-
markable! But that charaeter must in some degree
•
suffer-should the frost set in; and -all operations in
B,altic be superseded, without even a single heavy
body idow been aimed at Rusilia. rn the Crimea we
ate -merely striking at an extremity. It is
11440;,ibeedly an important operation, which will
eripviefthe aggressive power of the enemy, so far
as 'Turkey is concerned. But, from what we now
know of the, stubborn pertinacity of Russia, in
following 'up the traditional policy of PETER and
°cCATniaTi., it will be of vital consequence to
plr9 its-fangs hi another quarter, and to free the
Scandinavian Powers from the menaces perpetually
dipz!cted agair•st them—by Sweaborg and Cron-
84dt, and the squadrons sheltered therein. We
should hi ive, so far as practicable, secured the co-
opirati&l Of thb-Danes, and Swedes, and Norwe-
gians.; and that might long since have been
eff`ebted ~ if we proved ourselves really in earnest
•
in the ;North. Had the fall of Boraarsund been

duly followed up, the Scandinavian neutrality
would no longer exist, and these high-spirited
races would have been enabled, long since, to
Lave displayed their real feelings towards the rob-
bers by whom they have been stripped of so
many of their possessions. The objects of
the War cannot properly be accomplished,
nor Russia brought to a due sense of its
position, and the necessity of making suit-
able concessions, until a further and very decided
effect has been produced in the immediate vicinity
of St. Petersburg.

It is possible that such an attempt may at any
moment be made, and if so we have no doubt that
it will be alike honourable to the Allied Fleets
and beneficial to the great cause in which they are
engaged. But we fear Sir CHARLES WOOD, and
we are not justified in allowing the prorogation of
Parliament without calling on some independent
member to endeavour to elicit from that model
red-tapist the Ministerial intentions respecting the

proceedings of the Baltic Squadron. The power of

even asking a simple question will soon pass away,
and we have already seen the efficacy of such
interrogatories and other indications of public
opinion on a Government composed of very
" squeezable" materials. The destruction of
Sweaborg would be something tangible, which
would give an earnest of our unbending resolution,
and probably induce the Swedish Government to
shake off its apathy, and once more brave the
hereditary foe and unrelenting spoliator. It
would likewise be a suitable act of retribution for
the Hango massacre, which the authorities at St.
Petersburg have so scandalously adopted, refusing
to restore to liberty the officers and men so nefa-
riously made prisoners. If something be not done
in return—if England admits the paltry quibbles
by which Prince DOLGOROIIKY attempts not
merely to palliate but even to justify that infa-
mous transaction, we shall iaecome a laughing-
stock to all nations, and may deeply deplore our
departed glory, and the prestige so completely
sacrificed.

The interrogatories might be framed as to the
number of the gun-boats and mortar-vessels, long
since promised, but not as yet supplied in any-
thing like sufficient force to run into shoal water,
and get rid of the only obstacle that has hitherto
prevented our success ; and also, as to the intention
of sending any, and what number of land forces to
co-operate with the Fleet. These are matters
which may fairly be asked, and to which a reply

cannot properly be refused. At all events an
effort should be made to prevent the season from
closing before the Baltic Fleet has done something
worthy of its country, its officers, and its men,
and calculated .to maintain the naval honour of
Great Britain.

The discontinuance of a pitiful anneal grant to
the Royal Society for the Promotion of Science
is well deserving the attention of Administrative
Reformers, both for the principles involved in the
act and the display of official untruthfulness in
its defence. In the following Report of the pro-
ceedings in the House of Commons is a short
statement of the defence, put in the mouth of
Lord PALMERSTON

" THE ROYAL SOCIETY.

" Mr. HEYWOOD inquired why a grant of 1,0001. to
the Royal Society for scientific objects had been recently
withdrawn by the Government ?
"Lord PALMERSrON replied that a few years ago this
grant was asked for by the Royal Society as a tempo-
rary assistance for a specific purpose. Those who ap-
plied for it represented that it was wanted for a particu-
lar year, and that, if 1,0001. were advanced, probably
the whole of that amount would not be required, in
which case the remainder would be returned. An ad-
vance of 1,0001. was accordingly made from a fund not
strictly applicable for such an object, but intended for a
charitable purpose. The grant was, however, given a
second time, and in the third year the society applied
for another 1,0001. 'as usual.' (A. laugh.) He felt
obliged to reply that he did not consider it a proper ap-
plication of the fund in question, and that he must de-
Cline to coutinue it. No doubt, however, a grant of
this sort for scientific purposes would be a very fitting
one for Parliament to take into its consideration."

This statement is felt by the Fellows of the
Society, who are acquainted with the facts, to
involve unjust imputations of ungentlemanly
conduct : first, it charges them with attempting
surreptitiously to convert a temporary into a per-
manent annual grant ; and, next, with knowingly
Making this surreptitious abstraction of money
from a fund devoted to charitable purposes.
Bath these imputations are utterly unfounded.
Colonel SABINE, in the absence of Lord WROT-
TESLEY, has written a letter, which appeared in
the Athenaeum of Saturday, stating the fact, that
the Royal Society, instead of makiui an original
application to the Government, were applied to
in 1849 by Lord JouN RUSSELL then Prime
Minister, on his own spontaneous suggestion.
The Government requested the opinion of the
Society, whether a sum of 1,0001. could be advan-
tageously applied for the promotion of science.
Colonel SABINE states that—
" In other countries, the members of scientific insti-
tutions receive, as such, pecuniaty support from the
State, and the State has consequently a direct claim on
their services. In this country the Fellows of the Royal
Society have no such provision ; and the Government
has, consequently, no direct claim on them. But, hap-
pily, they have not shown themselves, on that account,
less ready or disposed to aid those plans of the Govern-
ment which have for their object the •promotion of
science and the consequent advancement, it may be, of
the material prosperity of the country, but always of
the national character. Accordingly, early in Novem-
ber, 1849, Lord JOHN RUSSELL was informed, [in an-
swer to his offer] through the Earl of ROSSE, then Pre-
sident of the Royal Society, that the President and
Council were of opinion that the judicious employment
of grants in the way proposed by his Lordship might
very materially promote the advancement of science,
and that they were willing to act as trustees on the part
of the public for the suitable application of the proposed,
grant. And, further, that, viewing the grant as de-
signed, not for their own Society in particular, but for
science generally in the United Kingdom, they would
propose to form a Committee to consist of about forty
persons most eminent in different branches of science,
and in different parts of the Kingdom, to assist them
in the execution of the trust. Lord JOHN RUSSELL
expressed, in reply, his entire approval of the mode
in which the President and Council proposed to deal
with the intended grant, and his approbation of
the caution and deliberation which marked their
proceedings to
course he His
Lordship
signified
tli ° g
a a trheouagr d
of he
eni
d in
no
r degree e
bind his successors, it was his own i • ntention so long as
he should continue in the office he then held, to recom-
mend a grant of a similar sum in succeeding
years, so
long as the Royal Society continued to think such a
grant useful and desirable and were willing to administer
it. Accordingly 1,0001. Was transmitted to the treasurer
of the Royal Society, in June, 1850, and similar sums
have been received in succeeding years, under, both Lord
Join/ RUSSELL'S and Lord DERBY'S Administrations,
until 1854 inclusive, making an aggregate, not of 4,0001.,
as stated by the Secretary of the Treasury, but of 5,000/.
With regard to the particular fund out of which the
grant has hitherto been paid, the Council of the Royal
Society had no means of knowing, and were in fact igno-
rant of what that fund was, until they were very re-
cently informed by the Secretary of the Treasury that it
was paid out of a charitable fund. It need scarcely be
said that the Council would much prefer, if the grant
should be resumed in future years, that they should be
voted directly and specifically by Parliament. The
Royal Socie • ty has sufficient funds of its own (derived
from the contriblitions of its members) to meet its own
expenses,—including therein the publication of the
Philosophical Transactions,' which are regarded
throughout the world as the national records of British
science, such as, in other countries, are published at the
expense o. f the State. The Council neither require, nor
have they solicited or received, aid from Government
for the purpose of carrying out any of the objects which
it more especially devolves upon them to execute as re-
presenting the Society."
After this statement, which will be verified by
the production of Lord JOHN RUSSELL'S original
letter, Lord PALMERSTON may be called upon to
do som • ethmg more than retract the imputations
cast upon the Council and Fellows of that Society
—the most ancient and efficient scientific body in
England, if not in Europe. In the House of
Lords the responsibility of the • misrepresentation,
as it is now shown to be, Was cast by Lord GRAN-
VILLE upon the "lesser gods of the Treasury."