The Sun.
London, England, 1855-06-11 00:00:00

SPIRIT OP THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

(From the Times of this day.)

It. is now pretty plainly admitted that the celebrated
Four Points were the result of a compromise, and, if
adopted by Russia, would have turned out little better
than a delusion. e are now speaking of the faults which
all men, including the very Ministers who are responsible
for the framing of these Points, find in them, of the
difficulty of carrying them out, and the fresh difficulties
that are sure to arise as soon as the- former difficulties
are surmounted. We would direct attention at this mo-
ment not to those things.for which. provision has, how-
ever imperfectly, been made, but to a matter of the last
importance, which has been omitted altogether. The
occasion of the war was the aggression of Russia upon
Turkey—the cause of the war is, undoubtedly, the ag-
gressive attitude of ' Russia towards the civilised
world. She is surrounded by a number, of States indi,
vidnally too weak to cope with her, and. bound together
by bonds of union too slight to produce a really for-
midable and effective confederacy. Sweden and Den-
mark, Austria and Prussia, Turkey and Persia, are all
at discord with each other, and ready to sacrifice their
corn non safety, in order to gratify their individual ani-
mosity. Firm I•esistance is only to be expected from
those States not immediately in contact with Russia ;
and it is a remarkable fact that, except Turkey, which
bas actually been invaded, there is no Power having a
common frontier with Russia which has ventured in the
present war to unsheathe the sword against her. Such
being a short statement of the case,
it is simply absurd
and ridiculous to treat the question between Russia and
the Western Powers as a purely local one, or to suppose
that we gain anything by blocking up one outlet of Sla-
vnnian barbarism while we leave every ether untouched.
We have been labouring to destroy Sebastopol, as yet
without effect, but we have taken and utterly razed to
the ground the Sebastopol of the North. How comes

it that in the Four Points no mention whatever was
made of the fortress of Bomarsund, and that it was left
open to Russia to rebuild that demolished fortress when
and how she pleased ? Those best qualified to judge on
the subject are of opinion that in Bomarsutid Russia war,.
laying the foundation of a power which in a few years
would have converted the Baltic Sea into a Russian take.
The situation was admirably chosen ; it lay at the
months of the Gulfs of Finland and Bothnia, and com-
manded the southern part of the Baltic. The Aland
Isles lie over against Stockholm, at even less distance
and separated by fewer obstacles than are interposed be-
tween Sebastopol and Constantinople. The plan of the
fortress was vast and comprehensive. It was con•
strutted in direct violation to treaties, having in it every-
thing to facilitate attack and aggression. Money was
lavished on the foundations on such a scale as befitted
nothing less than the nucleus of a future empire. Had
the present war been deferred only a few years—
had the cockatrice's egg, instead of being rudely crushed
at once, bean allowed to hatch—the North would have
stood appalled at the monster by which itsfreedom—nay,
its very existence, was overshadowed. There would
have been no need of large expeditions by land; Sweden,
Norway, and Denmark would have soon felt that every
remnant of independence had passed from them, and
tamely bowed their heads in submission to the yoke
which the construction of such a fortress would have
placed around their necks.
But it may be said, after all, we might have besieged
and destroyed this mighty citadel just as we are be-
sieging, and we hope on the point of destroying the
corresponding fortress of Sebastopol. But the cases are
widely different. Sebastopol lies in a temperate cli-
mate, in which, with moderate care and precaution,
the beat of summer and the cold of winter may be
supported without difficulty ; but the Aland
Isles are protected during more than half the year
by a climate the rigour of which makes military opera-
tions impossible, and which during the rest of the year
is in the highest degree foggv, rainy, and uncertain.
These islands are singularly difficult, of approach, and the
narrow channels which lead among them admit of being
fortified in a manner to render the access of a fleet dan-
gerous, if not impossible. The climate is proved to be
most injurious to health, and thus nature would lend
her most powerful assistance to art in rendering the pro-
jected citadel impregnable. A blockade, except for the
few summer months, would be impossible, so that the for-
tress could be repaired, re-provisioned, and the garrison
reinforced every winter. The erection of such fortifica-
tions within a few days' sail of our peaceful shores would
be to us a great source of misfortune and weakness, and
to the nations that dwell around the Baltic Sea certain
and immediate destruction.

And yet this very fortress, so menacing in its posi-
tion and its destination—so nearly completed, so for-
tunately destroyed—was not considered worth a thought
when the articles were to be fixed on which peace should
be concluded ! Had it not been for the fortunate perver-
sity of Russia in repudiating the third point of the nego-
tiation by transparent subterfuges and counterfeits,whicb
to the impartial reader appear of the grossest and clum-
siest description, we should have been bound to make
pace without any provision whatever with regard to
the future erection of Bomarsund. We must have sat by
and seen Russia raising anew from its ruins that mighty
fortress, traverse, ravelin, bastion, and parapet, without
having a right to mklge a remark or utter a single word
of remonstrance. We should have known perfectly well
that it was the first against its weaker neighbours, and
then against ourselves, that this fortress was constructed,
and we should have had as little power to prevent its
erection as the criminal who watches from the window
of his cell the construction of the scaffold on which he is
about to be executed. We have just escaped a peace
which would have withdrawn our army from the Crimea,
leaving the fortress which we besieged standing, and per-
mitted the immediate reconstruction of the one we took,
and the very ruins of which we have been at so much
pains to destroy. In the recent debate no persons have
been so severe on the policy of the four points as some
of the very ministers who advised and were responsible
for them. But, even in their utmost zeal against the
work of their own hands, they have omitted the most
serious imputation—that these four points would,
after all, have left the aggressive career of Rtissia
unfettered in a sea in which Great Britain and
France ought at least to feel as much interest as
in the waters of the distant Euxine. No doubt it
is most desirable that Russia should not absorb
Turkey ; but, in our anxiety to save Turkey, to
hand over Sweden, Norway, and Denmark to her
mercy would be to imitate a philanthropy of the good
Bishop Las Cams, who, in his horror at the - atrocities
perpetrated by the Spaniards on the natives of the West
Indies, suggested the importation of African negroes to
suffer the torments of slavery instead. It is a grave
question whether it be wise to lay down in time of war
the conditions on which the belligerents are willing to
make peace. Reason would seem to pronounce against
it, though much allowance must, no doubt, be made for
the facility such a course affords for the formation of
alliances. At any rate, we have a right to require that
obligations of so binding a nature should not be entered
into with less care and solicitude than a treaty of peace
itself, and that, if we be compelled, as we hope we shall
not be, ever again to resort to them, we shall find them
more carefully prepared than those conditions which
were, we trust, finally scattered to the winds by the dis-
solution of the Conference of Vienna.

(From the Morning Herald of this day ).
It appears by the despatches which Mr. Sidney Her-
bert read to the house that Admiral Dundas was ordered
by the public instructions sent to him by the Admiralty
to " obtain an entrance by the Gulf of Kertch into the
Sea of Azoff with a view to intercept the communica-
tions of the enemy with the eastern shores of the Cri-
mea—to which (the despatch says) their lordships have
always attached the greatest importance."
"Their lordships" certainly show their sense in "at-
taching to this operation the greatest importance," and
they likewise showed their foresight in proving, as the
ex-First Lerd stated to Mr. Roebuck's committee,
" vessels of light draught," in order " to pass" the
Gulf. " My lords," then, it appears, not only gave
their orders to the admiral that this operation
should be executed, but very providently provided
the means for its execution. The recent events
in the Gulf of Kertch and the Sea of Azoff prove
that the orders given were not difficult of execu-
tion ; and the bodies of our brave countrymen, who now
lie under the soil, on the heights of Sebastopol and Ba-
laklava, too painfully attest that " my lords" did not
over-estimate the enormous "importance" of the opera-
tions which they directed their admiral to execute.
We know, nevertheless, that this operation was not
carried out by the admiral. The public, therefore, have
a right to know the reason why he neglected to carry
out his instructions ; and moreover, we are convinced
that the public are determined to have their right. It is
painful to dwell on the proceedings of the public men of
the day. The Roebuck committee was ostensibly ap-
pointed to ascertain the causes of the dire calamities
which befell our brave army before Sebastopol. They
wearied the public with their minute and desultory
questions. They endeavoured to fasten blame upon
all the subordinates, whO, doubtless, in many cases,
perhaps, richly deserved it ; but the moment the
real authors of the calamities ran the risk of being
exposed the committee shrank from their duty ; they
debated with " closed doors," and nipped in the bud
that course of examination which must inevitably have
led to the exposure of that treason which, we fear, lurks
at the bottom of the whole. That committee contrived
to conceal, not to probe or to elucidate ; and its pro-
ceedings have only served to increase the mystification.
Mr. Sidney Herbert's incautious revelations have,
however, thrown a wondrous light on the matter at issue,
and brought it into a very narrow compass. It is now
certain that Admiral Dundas has neglected to obey his
public instructions ; and it is not less certain that the
consequences of that neglect have been the greater por-
tion of the deaths and the miseries which befell our
Crimean expedition.
Why, then, was Admiral Dundas guilty of this ne-
glect, which has entailed on this nation such fearful
calamities ? That is the question. If the admiral be
guilty, let it be known, and let him hear the full
Iweight of the odium ; but if (as we hesitate not to affirm
that we believe) be was guilty of no neglect, but simply
obeyed the secret orders of the First Lord, contained in
his private letters, this also must be ascertained, and the
I I ex-First Lord must be called up,n, if he can, to explain
1 and jiistify those letters. If they contain, as we believe
they do, a positive prohibition to the admiral not to un.

Idertake an operation—which in a public despatch he was
ordered to do—an operation to undertake which "mY
lords attachei the greatest importance," Sir James must
be compelled to explain how he ventured to issue these
counter-orders. Did he acquaint " my lords," his col-
leagues at the board, that he had done so ? If not, what
treachery to them I He, must be compelled to reveal
who were his accomplices and his advisers in this (what
appears to us) treason to his Sovereign and his country.
Did he stand alone, or was he backed by that dark cabal
which we have always believed; .and always said, delibe-
rately and with malice aforethought paralysed the efforts
of this country against our gigantic foe ? If this simple
inquiry be honestly pursued we shall at la-t find out
who are the real delinquents. These private letters of
Sir James are evidently the clue which, if followed up,
will unravel the whole mystery. We shall then, most pro-
bably, find out why Mr. Gladstone starved the war by his
financial operations—why Mr. Sidney Herbert under-
took to take a prominent part in conducting hostile ope-
rations against hig maternal country, and why Lord
Aberdeen, by "clinging to the hope of peace with des-
perate tenacity," contrived to neutralise all adequate
preparations for the war. Let Sir James Graham be
subjected for one hour to the examination of any clever
and really honest man, and we are certain that all these
things would be brought to the light of,day. Skilful as
he may be at fence, quite as much might be ascertained
from what he did not say as from what he did say.
Here, then, we point out to this hitherto- befooled.
nation the way in which they may escape from their
befoolment. It is simple, clear, and straightforward.
We ask, will the House of Commons dare to neglect or
to refuse this inquiry ? Is there no independent patriot
amongst them who will insist upon its being entered
into ? Its necessity is so obvious, that much as many
members may desire to suppress It, they dare not.openly
to do so, if only they are compelled to pronounce pub-
licly aye or nay on the question.
The inquiry is a very narrow one--no long examina-
tions are required—it is simply this :—Why did Admiral
Dundas disobey his public instructions ? If, in conse-
quence of a secret private cancelling of those instruc-
tions, who is responsible for those secret instructions ?
~_,.

M. Kf'SSUTIT ON THE SUOCES4S IN THE
SEA OF AZOFF.

( From the Atlas.)

It is already more than six months ago (at the Polish
anniversary meeting, Nov: 29, 1854), that, commenting
on the strategico-tactical blunders connected with the
Crimea expedition, I pointed to the occupation of the
Straits of Kertch as one of the most indispensable ele-
mentary conditions of success ; and declared its omis-
sion to be a first-rate blunder amongst the numerous
blunders of this unreasonable campaign.
The Times, of course, only taunted and sneered at my
suggestion. Even a professional authority from the Army
and Navy Club was called in to prove that I was wrong,
and that to take possession of the Straits of Kertch was
neither necessary nor would be worth while, and, being
besides a. hazardous enterprise to engage in would be
neither prudent nor advisable.
However, it has been done at last, and after it is done
the light bursts on a sudden upon Israel ; they are struck
with the necessity, the advantage, the prudence, and the
facility of the operation ; they confess it to be astonish-
ing that the project was not thought of long since, and,
ringing a merry peal of exultation, they acknowledge it
is only now the siege of Sebastopol begins.
Thus far I have nothing to gainsay.. A conversion,
though late, is better than none. Since the disgraceful
subserviency to Austria left you no better battle-field,
aed though that subserviency turns out to be—what I
for ono have warned "England a hundred times that it
will and must be—" useless and .ruinous," it is still al-
lowed to clog your resolution and to fetter your arms, it
is certainly advisable to make the best of the ill-advised
Crimean adventure ; and for making the best of it, the
occupation of Kertch is as important as it was necessary ;
but if it be true that it is only now the siege of Sebastopol
in reality begins, look to the glopmy churchyard around
that fatal town, where the bones of the bravest of your
braves are bleaching without any profit to their country;
revolve in your minds the history of the last eight
months, and then say what responsibility weighs on the
heads of those who but in the eighth month of the siege 1
did think of this elementary measure with which. the
siege in reality only now begins, and the indispensable
necessity of which I for one pointed out more than six
months ago.
However, spent is spent, and dead is dead—the siege
begins at last ; and as matters just stand, it is very likely
something at last may be done there in the Crimea. Eng-
land and France are owing many a fine torch to the Men-
schikoffd, and G prtschakoffs, and Luclerses, and what their
name may be. First I was at a loss to understand how it
came to pass that the,Russians did not even try to oppose
the landing of the allies, and did not fall upon them on
that first dreadful night of their landuig, when those who
had landed were in the most helpless condition, perfectly
at the mercy of any enemy that would have taken the
trouble of riding them down and driving the rest into
the surf. But that the Invalide Rum explained. They.
could not think that,any Government or General in his
senses could. be so mad as to forsake the pursuit of a
beaten enemy on the Danube, for going to the Crimea,
where no permanent advantage, nothing, in fact, is possi-
ble to be gained, except, at the best, vain military 41ory.
They thought their adversaries wiser than they proved to
be. Hence the Russians, not believing in the possi-
bility of the Crimea folly, allowed themselves to be sur-
prised ; unprepared as they were, they did not oppose
the landing, and did not fortify Sebastopol ; it was left
an open town—from the old fort to the military harbour,
not a ditch, not a wall ; and hence, to where now the
tower of Malakhoff proudly stands, not Gne redoubt was
finished, not one battery was mounted. Well ; there
the Allies were, and—they looked in. What did thel
Russians ? They looked out in return. The Allies com-
menced, digging ; the Russians did the same. The. Allies
gave them time during the siege to make Sebastopol im-
pregnable (except at Kertch and Perekop, by cutting off
the supplies) ; the Russians, in return, gave the Allies
an equal time for making their camp impregnable. The
Allies put themselves on the defensive, the Russians re-
mained on the defensive, and both stood on the defensive
for months and months, in fact, since the day of Inker-
man. Most wonderful campaign I Alter that battle of
Inkerman, being asked what my opinions were about
the issue, I answered that really I could not tell ; where
nobody acts logically, there logical reasoning is at an
end. So much I know, that if logic would bear the
sway, the Anglo-French army, such as it was in Decem-
ber, would have to lie down, and swear that they are dead
to the last man ; because, logically speaking, they can-
not be alive, not one of them. If the Russians were logical,
they would have renewed the battle day by day for
a week after the action of Inkerman, and had they done
this, superior in numbers they as were then, they might
have lost thirty or forty thousand men more in the first
six days ; but as sure as that two and two make four,
the remaining twenty or thirty thousand would not have
seen on the seventh day one single French or English
man on the Crimean ground, except the gory corpses of
their fallen heroes. But the Russians did not attack.
The Allies stood, and froze, and hungered, and dug, and
looked in ; and the Russians stood, and froze, and hun-
gered, and dug, and looked out, for nearly six months.
Ob, campaign of immortal renown for instruction of *bat
is not to be done in a war on either side I

A VILLAGE BEREAVED.—On Tuesday 13 yotths left
East Clyth in a haddock-boat to proceed to Skerriemore
for the purpose of collecting bait. After the party had
accomplished their object, and when off Mabray-head,
a sudden squall caught the sails of the boat, and she in-
stantly filled and sank in deep water, every one of the
fated 13 ping down with her. Let our readers imagine
a community of some 16 or 20 scattered houses, and the
metnbers of which are all more or less nearly related to
each other ; let them picture the grief of one family be-
reaved at one blow of three promising sons, others who
have lost two, and the ties of relationship which bound
the whole village together,land they may be able to form
an idea of the woful spectacle.—John o' Groat Journal.
ARTISTS BENEVOLENT FUND.—The annual festival of
this incorporated association was held on Saturday, at
the Freemasons' Tavern, the Earl of Rarrowby (in the
absence of Earl Granville) presiding. The company,
although not very numerous, comprised many of our
principal artists and patrons of art, including among
others Sir C. Eastlake, Mr. C. Stanfield, Mr. D. Roberts,
Mr. J. Absolon Mr. G. Godwin Mr. G. Clark, &e. The
i noble chairman, n propsing the Chief toast of the evening,
" Success to the Artists' Benevolent Fund," dwelt upon
the advantage of the institution, which, while it prac-
tised benevolence, at the same time inculcated prudence.
During the past year the fund had paid annuities of 151.
each to 52 widows, and granted assistance to 29 oephans
of artists to the extent of 1371. 10s. In former ages im-
providence had been regarded as the necessary accom-
paniment and distinguishing feature of great talent ; but
that mistake had pa,sed away and professional men were
far from improvident. Still the advantages might be
greatly increased, and it was therefore desirable now that
such great endeavours were being made to foster art
among all classes in this country, that the professors of
art, as well as its patrons, should give their assistance to
an institution which bad such peculiar claims upon them.
Mr. G. Godwin, in replying to a toast with which his
name was connected, said h considered the Art Union
of London as of the greatest benefit to artists. It had
encouraged a taste for art, and many commercial men
who commenced their career in art by gaining a prize in.
the Art Ur,ion had been led on to become assiduous
collectors of pictures. The Art Union, 20 years ago,
raised with difficulty 4001.; it now had a steady annual
income of 12,0001. or 13,0001., which was all diffused
among artists. A list of subscriptions, exceeding in
the aggregate 3501., was read, including 100 guineas
from her Majesty. Sir J. E. Swinhurne, pre-ident
of the institution, subscribed '101.; the Chairman, 101.;
Earl Granville, 101.; the Duke of Sutherland, 101.;
aacict:;
proprietors ;
B. B. Cabbell, 10 guiteas ; Mr. Clarkson Stanfield, 51.;
Mr. D. Roberts, 5 guineas, &c. The musical arrawN-
ments were under the direction of Mr. Fernadgnittocintso thens n
, sis
by Messrs. Lawler, D. King, andM. Smith. The d'en
ner and wineso
f werethe excellent,
tavern
m eand
ssrs
.did
kc
and Mr. Banks, jun,, fillei the important post of toast.-
,
muter very satisfactorily,