The Sun.
London, England, 1839-01-28 00:00:00

CAPTAIN CP,AUFURD AND THE

RUSSIAN NAVY.

TO SIR JOHN BARROW, BART.
SIR,—In a Supplement to your " Life of Lord Anson,"
which I saw only yesterday in the Morning Chronicle, and
which may be taken as strictly official, and of authority, as
coming from one who has for so long, and, as I understand, so
ably assisted in the administration of the affairs of the Admi-
ralty, I meet with some passages reflecting in the most unwar-
rantable manner upon a particular friend of mine, who, being
himself out of England at present, commanding a brig of war
upon the North American station, his brother and brother-in-
law serving in Canada (in the Guards), and his gallant uncle,
Sir Andrew Barnard, in attendance upon her Majesty the
Queen Dowager at Malta, I take it upon me to prove how un-
justifiable are your comments upon his pamphlet, and the re-
fleetions you have cast upon him for publishing it in 1837.
In the first place, not knowing the man, you assume that
" he was so enraptured at the reception he had met with, so
astonished at the number, force, and equipment of the fleet,
that he could not resist the temptation of publishing a pam-
phlet with ' Remarks,' as he prints in large capitals on its first
page."
I have a copy—the second edition of the pamphlet! before
me ; and these words to which you refer—" remarks," are in
small and modest characters, as it happens ; but, to pass on to
more important comments upon your observations.
That he was graciously received by the Emperor of Russia
is a circumstance alike honourable to him, and to the profes-
sion to which •he belongs, and has doubtless been so regarded
by all of the profession who have right feelings upon the subject.
Then you are pleased to assume that Captain Craufurd did
not " draw the attention of the department under which he
holds his commission, to the remarks and observations he had
to communicate I" which is of itself a most unwarrantable and
injurious assumption upon your part.
Then, as to "the temptation" you talk of to publish ! I
cannot suppose that your own feelings in regard to publication,
used to it as you are, prompted you to the surmise and as-
sumption of what his were ! But here I must distinctly say, that,
to my own knowledge, he had no intention of publishing the notes
he made at Petersburg, until urged to do so by his friends some
time after his return, and their object, I may say, in so urging
hint was, that there was a certain curiosity—not to say a cer-
tain uneasiness !in the public mind—even in 1837—in regard
to the navy of Russia, which rendered, or would render, any
communications of an eye-witness respecting it acceptable to
the world—the world of Britain I—particularly when known to
come from a young officer, enthusiastically attached to his pro-
fession, who, during the time be was unemployed (that but a
short time) was assiduously perfecting himself in it, and ac •
quiring a knowledge of it at home and abroad—an officer, ad-
mitted by all who know him to be as intelligent as those of his
profession, who are acquainted with him admit that he is, as
tar as his years have given him experience, deserving of credit.
Now, in affording those communications, which he has
made in a very unpretending manner, as it appears to me, and
I believe is admitted by most people, you complain, Sir, in
very coarse and unseemingly terms, " that he was fouling his
own nest," by stating facts which should be known, and which,
as I am preparing to prove, you have not succeeded in contro-
verting; and you then go on to impeach his evidence !
But how do you do it ? Not by setting aside the facts which
he brings forward, together with the comparative view he offers
of the Russian Navy as he saw it in 1836, in the Baltic, and
in such portion of it (as he saw when on board the Asia with
Sir Edward Codrington, in 1828 and 1829), under Admiral
Heyden—acting in concert with the British Admiral at the
battle of Navarino, at, before, and after the battle—but, after
much further vituperation and affected compassion for his ig-
norance, which you sneer an—by laying before us a "table I"
which actually confirms these facts of his; the most important
of which is, that the Russians have at this moment (in corn-
mission)forty sail of the line in three seas; while we have but
twenty, including our three guard-ships, in all the seas—chan-
nels and ocean too. And further, by admitting " that Russia has
two large fleets, fully manned, and, as you are told, provisioned
for four months," England comparatively none in commission
_confirming the charge (if any be made in his pamphlet) of
leaving the safety of the nation, or its interests, dependent
upon the will of one man—" War or peace being," as you say,
"in that nation ( Russia) the prero,gative of one man."
" When Commander Craufurd," you say, " talks of the pro-
gress made in the Russian Navy, he is ignorant of the fact that
a Russian fleet in the Baltic has been a sort of hobby since the
days of Peter the Great, who had no less than twenty or thirty
sail of the line—small, it is true, in comparison with the

prescn
This ignorance, which you ascribe to Captain Craufurd in
this matter, is again, Sir, an assumption on your part, and a
most unwarrantable one.
I am aware, and probably he knows, that many people
think (and, perhaps, with some degree of reason) that the
fleet in the Baltic is an idle gew-gaw, an Emperor's toy.
But still the toy may become no plaything, and until you, Sir,
or soin'l other civil or uncivil officer can prove that these "
or 30 " were equal to the "27 ships" which Captain Cran-
ford gives it as his opinion, from minute observation, were
superior to Adm'ral Heyden's squadron, the elite of the Rus-
sian navy in 1829 (the Mediterranean squadron being always
the elite of their naval force, I believe), I shall be of opinion,
and that opinion I dare say will be general, if not universal,
that Captain Craufurd did well in calling attention to the
great improvement—the increased efficiency of the Russian
navy since 1829 !—did well in making known to the public,
the nation (the only effectual or useful method of calling at-
tention to facts o—the evidence which he was so competent to
give—evidence obtained under every circumstance of advan-
tage for seeing and judging, and at a favourable moment too
for judging, since, although it was in a summer month, the
weather was anything but fine.
You yourself admit that Russia has forty sail of the line in
different seas, of which the squadron in the Mediterranean is
an integral part, and probably that part which, from its ob-
servance and emulation of the navies of other countries there,
and its adoption of all improvements that pass beneath its no-
tice, and the circumstance of the climate favouring its constant
cruising the whole of the year, has improved up to this time
(1839) to a greater degree—in a greater ratio—than the fleet
of twenty-seven sail of the line of which Captain Craufurd
speaks, and which only at a certain season of the year is able
to move about—at that time, be it recollected, within little
more than a week's sail of our coasts.
You may say look at the ships in ordinary in our ports 1
But you know, Sir, and must admit the difficulty there is
in finding men in a moment, even if you could make them,
the ships, ready for sea in any reasonable time.
Then as to the superior manning of our fleet of which ycu
speak
Not pretending to know more than most landsmen, I shall
not say much about it.
The British navy, in respect to materiel, I dare say has not
deteriorated since the war. We have " hearts of oak and ribs
of oak" for our vessels yet. Thank God I that is my belief;
but I must say, from all I have heard, that all that could be
done to render officers indifferent to the smartness of their
ships, and the men disgusted (I mean particularly those on
board the heavy frigates, which are so undermanned), has been
done ; and in proof of this I shall beg your attention, Sir, to
an anecdote which I chanced to hear upon a trip I made some
ten months ago to Portsmouth.
A certain captain, now in command of one of the finest
frigates in the service, just before he was appointed to her,
happened to meet two first-rate seamen who had served with
him previously, afloat. He mentioned to them his expecta-
tion of a ship ; upon which they both eagerly expressed their
desire to accompany him. Some short time after he was ap-
pointed to a ship, a 46-gun frigate He again met the same
men, and reminded them of their promise. Quoth they,
" We should be very glad to go with your honour, as we said
afore, but we don't like sarving aboard of a seventy-four in
disguiser That is, as you well know, Sir, they did not like
serving in a vessel with spars as heavy, or very nearly as
heavy, as those of a seventy-four ! but with a very much shor-
ter complement of men than these last carry, and quiteinade-
quate or unequal, unless the men are overworked (which dis-
gusts them 1) to handle the vessel properly.
I went on board this fine frigate at Spithead, and, to the
best of my recollection, there were fifteen first class boys, and
twenty smaller boys, aboard of her, with only numerically a
frigate's complement altogether. I.
It may be very well—the training up these boys to the naval
service of the country!—but ti,-,xious as you are, Sir, to prove
the present efficiency of the. navy, you cannot pretend to say
that a ship so manned as this—a ship from which as much or
more, perhaps, would be expected than any other of her class
in the service, were she to meet an enemy, can be expected to
do as much, and be worked as well, as one that is effectively

manned. ,
And this reminds me
mine, who, when some one observed that it was true we had
but one guard-ship at Sheerness, ,and that but very indifferently
manned at the mouth of, and for the protection of the tharnes !
—but then, if an enemy appeared at the Nore—we could take
up the buoys that serve to mark the channel—" Don't tell me
of the boys (buoys)"
said my"friend, punning upon the word,
" I like to depend upon men.
Sir, I am fully disposed to give as much credit to, and to
place as much confidence in, official statements and returns as
they deserve, and particularly such as emanate from an old and
meritorious servant of the country such as
you ; but, in a case
like the present, where he has allowed his anger to get the
b
judgment,
ent; to the injury of a friend of mine, I con-
sidero avail myself of all the mistakes and
misrepresentations
sheiisf he makes in attempting to correct the igno-
rance presumption (as. he calls it) of a most deserving
o
myself
and the result is the following summary.
The facts stated by Captain Craufurd are confirmed by your
ef
officer;
ttce ehr
.r., t
e; v
and
own table (No. 1.), both as regards our own and the Russian
navy tin commission), by your admission, thitt " Russia has
two large fleets constantly manned ;" and, as you add, " You
were told, kept provisioned for four months," we having (com-
paratively) none in commission; and because " war or peace
is actually in that nation (Russia) the prerogative of one man,"
gainst any nation he
who can wage it at a moment's notice a

my object has been to show that my friend, Captain
likes.
Crlanuffinured, in giving his honest opinion, has not committed him-
self, as you allege, rather than to give any opinion upon the
attitude of repose in which England (my country) stands,
which may be alike consistent with her strength and best inte-
rests—although an attentive perusal of your " Supplement,"
might lead one to ose
p
sup you doubted .
I am your obedientit servant,
J. J. W. ANGERSTEIN,
Captain of the Grenadier Guards, and Lieut.-Colonel.
Tuesday, Jan. 22, 1839.

THE LATE MR. COBBETT, M.P.—Miss Rey-
nolds. in her third lecture at the Mechanics' Institute this
evening, has undertaken subjects of great difficulty. From the
quick perception and immense capabilities of her mind, we
doubt not of the utility and success of her elucidations.