The Sun.
London, England, 1854-11-16 00:00:00

THE ENSUING PATRIOTIC FUND BALL,

LIST OF PATRONS AND PATRONESSES.
Yesterday a meeting of the committee connected with
the above laudable purpose was held at the Guildhall ;
Sir James Duke, Bart,, M.P., in the chair. The fol-
lowing was announced as the accurate list of patrons
and patronesses.
PATRONESSEL—The Lady Mayoress, the Countess
Walewski, Madame Musurus, her Grace the Duchess of
Norfolk, her Grace the Duchess of Argyll, her Grace the
Duchess of Beaufort, her Grace the Duchess of Welling-
ton, the Marchioness of Breadalbane, the Marchioness
of Aylesbury, the Countess of Derby, the Countess of
Clarendon, the Countess Granville, the Countess of
Shaftesbury, the Lady John Russell, Viscountess Pal-
merston, Viscountess Canning, Viscountess Hardinge,
Lady Ernest Bruce, and the Lady Molesworth.
PATRONS.—The Right Hon. the Lord Mayor and
Sheriffs, his Excellency the French Ambassador, the
Turkish Minister, his Grace the Duke of Norfolk, his
Grace the Duke of Newcastle, his Grace the Duke of
Argyll, his Grace the Duke of Beaufort, his Grace the
Duke of Wellington, the Marquis of Breadalbane, the
Marquis of Aylesbury, the Earl of Derby, the Earl of
Clarendon, the Earl Granville, the Lord John Russell,
M.P., the Lord Viscount Palmerston, M.P., the Lord
Viscount Canning, the Lord Viscount Hardinge, the
Lord Ernest Bruce, M.P., the Lord Dudley outts
Stuart, M.P., the Right Hon. Sir W. Molesworth,
M.P., the Right ion. Sir James Graham, M.P.
Mr. Bathe, of the London Tavern, we are informed,
has been appointed to provide the entire supply of the
refreshment department.

We extract the following from a letter received
from Berlin this morning :
"As to our ships of war, it is almost marvellous, all
things considered, that the whole should have escaped
tie dangers by which they were surrounded. They have
gone where no Russian vessel of similar size and draught
ever dared to go, even with all the assistance of buoys,
lights, and experienced pilots. They have stood the sea
during six months, in despite of all obstacles and wea-
ther, and will return home with scarcely a scratch of
importance—without, it is true, having gained any
great naval triumph, for Russia took good care to
prevent any trial of strength ; they will return with-
out making any mad-brained assault on Cronstadt or
Sweaborg (an abstention for which every man of sense
ought to be grateful to Sir Charles Napier) ; but they
will not return without proving to the world that Rus-
sia's fleets are utterly useless for war purposes—without
having completely destroyed Russian maritime commerce,
with the exception of its own immediate coasting trade—
or without having kept in check and paralysed the
movements of an army of nearly 140,000 combatants
d'clite, which might otherwise have been marched
elsewhere, and thereby enabled the Emperor to
have disposed of the whole of the first and second
army corps for service in Bessarabia or the Crimea.

" Impetuous men may blame Sir Charles Napier for
not making a dash at Cronstadt or Sweaborg, and for being
over-careful of his splendid ships ; but what would the
nation have said had he made a dash,' failed, and lost a
fourth of his vessels in the attempt, and this without
injuring one of the enemy's ships, ingloriously hidden
behind their granite bulwzrks ! Why, the whole nation
would have hurled anathemas on the admiral's head,
and he would have been set down as unworthy of being
entrusted with the care of her Majesty's ships and the
lives of their valiant crews. The test of the 17th at
Sebastopol is sufficient to show the capabilities of ships
against powerfully casemated batteries, unless the latter
can be approached at once within point-blank range, or
even closer ; and this every child knows is more imprac-
ticable at Cronstadt and Sweaborg than at Sebastopol.
" Every man of the British Baltic fleet, from the ad-
miral to the cabin-boy, has well done his duty—has
done all that could be demanded under existing circum-
stances. Russia alone can regret that they did not at-
tempt more,"
_ .