The Sun.
London, England, 1854-10-18 00:00:00

THE BALTIC.

In letter received from Paris this morning we
find the following :
"A person who has just come from the Baltic
announces that next year operations will be under-
taken on a large scale in those seas, and that not
merely the lesser forts will be attacked and de-
stroyed, but that Cronstadt will be bombarded with
every chance of a favourable result. Indeed, the
opinion there seems to be that before a year passes
over, the allied flags will float in St. Petersburg.
Contrary to what was, I believe, the opinion gene-
rally received, Finland is reported as Russian—not
out of love to Russian rule, but out of hatred to
Sweden; and Sweden, no doubt from the same mo-
tive, is said to be suspect. The loss of the French
in the Baltic both from cholera and (it is added)
mismanagement has been much greater than was
supposed, and complaints have been heard against
General Baraguay d'Hilliers."
A morning contemporary has the following :
" It is said in Paris that some short time since, in
consequence, perhaps, of the disappointment
which it was thought would be felt in England and
France at the combined fleets not having effected
more in the north than the destruction of Bomar-
sund, a meeting of the Admirals, Sir Charles Na-
pier and Admiral Deschenes, and of the superior
officers of the fleets, was held, when the question
was discussed as to the propriety and possibility of
attacking and taking Helsingfors and Sweaborg.
The question was examined in all its bearings, and
the reports of the officers who had been sent to
take soundings on the coast were of course laid be-
fore this naval committee. I am not aware of th e
relative proportions of those who were in favour
and those who were against the attack of these
two places ; but it is certain that the decision of the
majority was against it, and it is affirmed that Sir
Charles Napier did not dissent from that decision.
In answer to those who considered that an attack
was both feasible and necessary, it was observed
that, though there was little doubt of Helsingfors
and Sweaborg meeting the fate of Bomarsund,
yet that it was impossible for the Allies to keep
these places, and that when after the capture they
were obliged to abandon them, a pretext would
be afforded for the Emperor of Russia to announce
another victory, and to proclaim to his subjects that
the English and French were beaten out of the Gulf
of Finland. Other reasons were alleged, but the
one I allude to was the principal. The minutes of
the proceedings were drawn op in duo form and
signed by all the officers present. The meeting then
separated, it having been previously agreed to that
copies of the minutes should be forwarded to the
English and French Governments. Owing, how-
ever, to some cause, not very clearly explained, no
copy was that day sent by the French Admiral to
his Government, he having received an assurance
from Admiral Napier that the report of Vie meet-
ing should be communicated by the English Go-
veruni,l t, to that of France through the Ambas-
sador. Before transmitting the minutes to Eng-
land, Admiral Napier is said to have added a post-
script, or written a sok arate despatch to the Adrai-

ralty, to the effect that the minutes contained the
opinions of the officers of the squadron, but thst
these opinions were not in conformity with his own,
and that, on the contrary, he thought the atta, k
on Helsingfors and Sweaborg ought to be made at
once. This despatch, or postscript, is stated not to
have been communicated to the French Admiral.
This officer became acquainted with the fact soon
after ; end, without loss of time, sent to his
Government the minutes, which it appears he
drew up from memory, aided by the officers
who were present. In the meantime, the
Imperial Government received from London the
communication of the report as transmitted by,
Admiral Napier, with the Admiral's separate post-
script, and the result was, that orders were at
once sent by the Minister of Marine to Admiral
Deschenes to commence the attack forthwith.
Before anything could be done the communica-
tion made directly by the Admiral, and which
contained the decision of the meeting of officers
against the attack, reached the Government, who
no doubt convinced by the reasons submitted
to them, at once sent counter-orders ; and these
counter-orders were in all probability those to
which I alluded a few days since. This matter has
it is said, produced an unpleasant feeling among
the officers of the fleets, not by any means against
oach other. Between the two Governments, how-
ever, nothing unpleasant does or can exist on that
account. Such are the facts as stated by persons who
appear to have no doubt of their exactness, but
for which, as I have already said, I by no means
vouch.