The Sun.
London, England, 1855-02-08 00:00:00

~~~

sr4th PO— ti till fapithatisti 1* tie shigij
wai la Om m thou tl4 taw nosintr %WSW Oh s;
Way hMe matargt ao lam cif eiq-adit th net tlestriiting wbat
wee not even known to exist. The dieappeintment, •Oa
puzzle of the people, is this :—Why this immense fleet ? Why
these magnificent steamers, se colossal and yet so manageable?
Why ships twice as big as Nelson's biggest, with twice as
much weight of metal ? Why Sir Charles Nspier's big
announcements ? Why the boastful and bullying tone of tha
dinner at the Reform Club ? Why that ostentatious parade
up and down the Baltic, with, every now and then, a repeti-
tion of the Portsmouth Review ? Why that " war to the
knife with Russia" which Sir Charles on returning home told
his gaping friends in Marylebone was the first article in his
political creed ? Why all this swagger, if nothing was to be
done ? If that is all, if we can only break our teeth it Ira frir -
them on the fortifications in the Baltic, surely that can 1,6
proved at less cost than all this bluster, which is very case/
indeed to the national credit. Sir Charles seems to ha Vs
found out no more than everybody knew.
We all knew that Cronstadt was a very formidable place,
that it was surrounded by miles of shallow water, and that
the channel was narrow, circuitous, difficult to be traced, and
well enfiladed by numerous batteries. We complain that Sir
Charles left us at the end of the year just as we were at the
beginning, neither str,nger nor wiser. His speech on 'Tues-
day is of much the same unprogressive character. What la"
we the wiser for it ? These Admirals seem to think that t‘e
final purpo e of a fleet is to look terrible, to manoeuvre, for
communicate by signals, to r. ndezvous now and then at some
good anchorage or convenient poi t, to challenge with im-
punity, to command the seas within sight, and to return
home safe and sound, having done nothing. What we ask for
is something less magnificent, less terrible, less complete
itself, less addicted to challenge the universe but rather MOW
adapted to the particular purpose in view.' dive us something
that shall take Cronstadt, however ugly, sneaking, unpoetical,
uncomfortable it may look. A flotilla of guLeboats that would
really do the business would be worth more than fifty Duke
of Wellingtons or Royal Alberts, which for all practical Vv.
poses might as well be packet-ships, carrying soldiers, -,,tud
defying the ouemy, not by guns, but by speed.. We wart
tools, not for show, but to do the work ; and if Sir Charles,
or anybody else of established reputation, has any feasible
plan, let him offer it, but we shall think all the better of It if
it dispenses with big ships and empty bragging.

(Front the Morning Chronicle of this day.)
The Napiers have ever been an extraordinary family, well
deserving the fame and honours they have enjoyed, and the
Public praise& awarded them for their services, not to their
country alone, but to all mankind. In arms, in science, and its
literature, they have been alike distinguished, and the pre-
sent age has esnecially been illustrated by their bravery and
their tale' . - would
not

ni the
'...ang can impair
will be the extreme
....Limn of this family, of the
bed himself in referring to their

s Napier at the Mansion-house
to' have taken the public by sure
so are equally unable to bear me-
,. Juwvies himself has been so accustoineir
to actulation - of which, we frankly admit, very much has
been deserved--that he is morbidly sensitive to criticism.
Other commanders, admirals, and generals have been cen-
sured for neglect, apathy, or more generally for disappointing
the expectations of their countrymen ; yet they have not
thought it necessary to broak out in.an extravagant manner
at the first inappropriate opportunity, • and cover their supe-
riors
.with obloquy. There were peculiar -reasons, as Sir
Charles Napier must have read in the newspapers, why an
attack on Sir James Graham was at the present moment un-
becoming. If a man of the activity and specific political
weight of the right honourablo bau•onet has been prevented
by illness from taking any active part in negotiations, at a
crisis when the public conduct of Iris friends and colleagues
was in question, surely it could no t be right to expect him to
enter the lists with every exasperat,sd commander, mortified
at the public disapointinent, and that .collapse of all extrava-
gant expectations that had been fortat
el upon a memory of
his past exploits.
Lord John Russell is not in very high,. It: your at the present
moment, and, therefore, we have the more satisfaction in
complimenting him for having in one ins Fes nee—we admit its
singularity—snov,ll insight and sagacity. He refused Sir
Charles Napier the command of the Meditetrauean fleet, be-
cause, in his opinion, he " wanted discretion." Our readers
will remember Lord I:almerston's manly vindication of Sir
Charles from this charge, at the Reform Club banquet,
founded on a retrospect of the gallant admit al'ot.character and
services. Nor will they have forgotten the vet y handsome
terms in which Sir James Graham, now the ob, ject of Sir
Charles Napier's vilification, spoke of him on the same occa-
sion. lt now appears, from the enraged adut
iral's own
admission, that Sir James, in letters during the :A ay of the
fleet iu the Baltic, had frdquently absolved hits .f. -om this
charge of want of discretion. After all, it turns u,
ut that
Lord John Russell was-not very wrong in his • estimate , ; for,
certainly, whatever character for " discretion" Sir 0. harks
Napier may have wrung from the First Lord of the Ad.,n
iralty
during the past year, Ile has utterly forfeited it by his ext. '
-.tor-
divary and unjustifiable speech on Tuesday evening. . The
truth we suspect to be, that the militant portion of si.he
Napier family are discreet enough when on actual sersie ea
but that they cannot ba trusted with a pen in their band, 'Or
with the liberty of public speaking.
Sir Charles Napier is in a great rage, but it is difficult te•
discover exactly what has worked him up into that oblivious
state. His charges against Sir James Graham are of that
conglomerated kind which are often heard from infuriated
females who are too much must passion to speak distinctly. Of
what is it that he complains ! He says he has been
censured by his Government, and dismissed from
hie command—the gentlemen around him flatly con-
tradicting this latter statement. At present, the publie
whatever opinion may have been formed of the
singular contrast between Sir Charles Napier's earlier and his
later career—are in no official way informed of either the one
or tho other event having yet occurred. In the absence of
positive evidence on these points, whence the boiling Indigna-
tion of Sir Charles Napier? Is it because, as a naval com-
mander, he has performed an evolution analogous to the cele-
brated military manoeuvre of the King of Franco and his
twice ten thousand men ? Is it because Sir James Graham

from time to time wrote him letters urging him to action
What could be more natural ? An admiral on service dwell
not supersede the Government in their functions, whatever'
opinion they may have of his " discretion." The kind of
" discretion" displayed by the gallant admiral teas so very
milike that of his earlier and more active years, that the pub-
lic will scarcely oe astonished to 'hear that a little stimulus
was applied to what seemed his flagging energies. We cannot
help suspecting that the sole cause of Sir Charles Napier's
soreness is, that he imagines he has fallen in the public esti-
mation. It must be mortifying to a man with a forty-Napier
appetite for glory, to have taken out the most magnificent
fleet England ever sent forth, and to have )een compelled to
kbnroiornwog
mtitheabnitack !again without having achie red another and a
more memorable
publicSt .
doJ not
can d
fully'A cr e.
give
him
mw
creditdoes Sir
for Ct
hh a re
pl
ae 41.
tience with .which he kept his ships from grounding • for his
watchful care to bring all his fioatingflock back again in safety;
and for his prudence in retiring before stone walls We yen-
turs to say that as much credit as this spoilt child of victory
deserves he will receive ; although it be not exactly the cus-
tom to vote the thanks of Parlianient for the kind of services
he performed during the last campaign. Admiral Dundas
did not go to the Black Sea with so enormous a reputation as
that which Admiral Napier born with him to the Baltic ; but
he effected very nearly as much. He has quietly surrendered
his command to another, and he at least will show better taste
than to rail against his superiors because he does not receive
the ovation due alone to some great achievement. Sir Chas.
Napier ought to understand the full value of subordination.
A professional grumbler in the House of Commons is in a very
different position from an admiral on service; and the gravest
affairs of a great nation ought not to be discussed in the spirit
of a clap-trap speech to the electors of Marylebone.
The professional jealousy of Sir C. Napier with regard to
the interference of an engineer officer might be more excus-
able on a leas solemn occasion. As, however, it was a ques-
tion of attacking batteries, the Admiralty can scarcely be
blamed if they wished the opinion of a man whose specialty
that was. As to the " insulting and degrading letters," un-
til we bettei• know what they really were, and by what con-
duct they were provoked, it would not be right to express
an opinion which might be prejudiced against Sir
Charles Napier by the singular exhibition he has just
made. With regard to his dictating to the Crown and
the country the future exclusion of Sir James Graham
from the Admiralty, that, we suppose, must be passed over
in silence ; the threat having utterly failed to deter her Ma-
jesty or Lord Palmerston from again inviting the right hon.
baronet to contribute his eminent services to the Government.
Sir Charles Napier has made charges rather of a personal
than of a public nature, and we have no doubt that in due
time and season those charges will be met. Upon one other
of the recommendations of Sir Charles there will be a painful
division of opinion. When he Wilt of his name being
" scratched from the Navy List," he presupposes his country-
men oblivious of the gallant services ho rendered in former
years ; but when he hints at " not being hiuployed again,"
he indiscreetly raises a question silently revolSed, we have no
doubt, in the minds of all who heard or read his speech,
but which few Englishmen would desire to see publicly dis-
cussed.
The speech of Lord Cardigan—which, in its calm dignity,
formed so strong a contrast with that of the gallant admiral,
although he, too, might have found a theme for consurs.
—will have been read with an interest propor: to
that already excited by the noble deeds to which it re..
forred. The Earl of Cardigan spoke little of himself, but
much of the memorable charge which so
.signalised the bora°
courage of his troops, and which will have left his name to
ntThe d in air
pese t 0
wohsotnierittyheacsht.he
cmteordoefrnateyrobolfeEnefilish.sh Cbobeenvanpresr;4e
naamiabie aspect may perhaps be surprised to find, that us
the soldier of the highest stamp the keenest sensibility is not
incompatible with an undaunted and inrefieeting bravery.

(From the Morning Advertiser of this day. )
The speech of Sir Charles Napier at the Mansion house, ost
Tuesday, hi which he so fiercely denounced the conduct of
the Admiralty towards him while in the command of the
Baltic Fleet, has created ' a great sensation. The place may
not have been the most suitable that might have been chosen
for such a purpose ; but certainly the revelations the gallant
Admiral made were of a most startling nature, while the in-
vectives which he hurled at the head of Sir James Graham
were of the most furious kind which ever proceeded from the
lips of one man speaking of another. Never was such an ex.
plosion witnessed. The matter cannot remain where it is.
Sir James Graham is bound to give some explanations to the
country respecting the very grave charges which Sir Charles
Napier proto against him ; nor should any time be lost in
the performance proton against
of that duty. The public not only has
right to explanations, but it has a right to expect that they
be made at once.

THE SOUTH SEA HOUSE.—This well-known edifice be
Threadneedle-street, with its Doric portico, its qua.
drangle, with Tuscan colonnade and fountain, and ox.
tensive vaulted cellars, is to be brought to the hammer
—the Conservative Land Society having been already in
the field to negotiate for the purchase by private cow.
tract, in which mode, it appears, the directors are not
empowered to sell. The South Sea Company was ori-
ginated by Harley, Earl of Oxford, in 1711, for the dia.
charge of nearly ten millions of public debt, and
is
1853-54 the South Sea Stock was converted or paid off.
The building occupies .more than half an acre of ground,
and its value for building purposes is of course omen.
Mous.
PUBLIC PETITIONS.—The list now includes a pea•
tions for a repeal of the stamp duty on newspapers,
signed by 12,311 persons ; 43 petitions, signed by as
many persons, for an alteration of the mileage dqty on
carriages, especially omnibuses ; four petitions, signed
by 1,306 persons, for prohibiting the use of grain for
distillation ; and two petitions, signed by two pergola,
for prohibiting the sale of spirituous liquours. There
is also a petition from Mr. Joseph George, the churchh•
warden of St. Anne's, Westminster, for the dismissal of
her Majesty's (late) Ministers ; and three petitionet
signed by 413 persons, for the vigorous proseauti"
• the war,