The Sun.
London, England, 1854-11-30 00:00:00

THE WAR-SEA STORM.

The " boisterous and stormy Euxino" still
maintains its evil reputation as a " Static male-
fida carinis." A fearful storm on the 14th inst.
—the day subsequently to the alleged battle of
the 13th—inflicted -considerable, but, happily,
not irreparable, damage on our shipping. Two-
and-thirty English transports aro reported to
have been lost on that fatal day. Among them,
it is said, that the screw-steamer Prince and the
Sea Nymph foundered, with all on board t and
that three small steamers had been stranded.
, These are deplorable calamities, not so much for
the pecuniary amount of our losses as for the
brave fellows who have either perished with their
vessels or fallen into the hands of the enemy !
But this was not all. It was not merely the
commercial marine that suffered severely ; our
vessels of war sustained their share of damage.
The Sanspareil, so nobly distinguished in the
naval attack on Sebastopol of the 17th ultimo,
was driven ashore, and her machinery set on fire.
The Britannia, the flag-ship of Admiral DUNDAS,
considerably strained, having five feet water.
The Agamemnon, with the gallant LYONS, which
has already achieved a reputation that renders it
worthy of bearing the name of NELSON'S favourite
ship, stranded ; but, we rejoice to say, rescued
without serious injury. In addition to these we
hear that the Retribution was only saved by
throwing her guns overboard, and that the SAMP-
sores machinery was damaged. Nor have our
gallant Allies escaped with impunity : the
Henri Quatro, of 100 guns, and Pluton war
steamer, are reported to have been wrecked.
These are, indeed, painful tidings. They do not
come from official sources, but we fear that they
are but too true—that there is but little reason
to duubt the reality of the catastrophe. We
must, however, await further intelligence before
we can arrive at au accurate conclusion as to its
real extent. Whether the stores with which these
vessels were laden had been safely landed at
Balaklava or otherwise whether the much-
required comforts for the men, the hale
and sound as well as the sick and wounded,
or, still more important, the crews, or
possibly reinforcements for the besiegers,
were involved in the danger, is, as yet, unknown,
in consequence of the Ministerial negligence and
apathy to which we have so recently alluded.
Had there been greater energy displayed in the
first instance—had it not been for the disastrous
and worse than puerile attempt to keep the ex-
penses of the War within the current income of
the country, we should long since have brought
the autumnal campaign in the Crimea to a conclu-
sion, and have had a safe resting-place for our
vessels in the harbour of the captured Sebastopol.
Had it not been for undue parsimony, for the
unfortunate adherence to the worst points of the
" penny-wiseanciepound-foolish" system, the army
of Moldavia could not have been transferred to
the Crimea, the sanguinary battle of the sth
could not have taken place, Sebastopol would have
fallen, and the British vessels been sheltered in
the convenient port. These melancholy disasters
would then have been averted ; or, had any-
thing taken place, we should have had early and
trustworthy information as to the full extent of
the mischief. It is, however, useless to deplore
past deficiencies. They are now irreparable.
But we may at least profit by the experience so
dearly purchased, and resolve that there shall, so
far as merely human foresight can avert it, be no
reason to dread a repetition of similar evils. It
is for Parliament to speak—to proclaim, as we
have declared in another part of our impression,
that we shall, even at the eleventh hour, go to
war "in earnest." Ministers may do much
during the interval by anticipating the
wishes of the People. Even twelve days are
not, to be sacrificed under existing circumstances.
We have been too long careless and indiflerent.
Let us make up for it by greater zeal and energy
for the future,
booking relief of our gallant
gsole
ly to a p
thigiengsuleppoli;j:oeft
ample reinforcements) and of every comfort
necessary. Thus shall
we vindicate the cha-
r icter of our country, already seriously compro-
mised--thus 5114 we practise true economy, and

save considerable sums, by simply resolving on
achieving our object without reference to present
outlay.

WAR IN EARNEST.

War in earnest. This must be the watchword

of the 12th. Everything else will follow. The

right measures, the right men, ample supplies for

;he exchequer, stimulated and successful engineer-

.ng invention, encouraged Allies, waverers de-

cided, everything, in short, depends on the one

condition-- Warin earnest. With this demand

on the lips of all—Peers and Commoners, Opposi-
tion and Ministerial Liberals—the Legislature of
Great Britain must assemble. Party spirit, whe-
ther Ministerial or anti-Ministerial, will be infamy
to all who indulge it. Our Commoners are proud
of considering themselves legislators for the
empire ; they cannot misunderstand the spirit of
Great Britain and Ireland. Let not a syllable then
misrepresent that spirit. We want no long
speeches, no declamation ; we want a phalanx of
grave men in our grave position, who can
place on record, in language as brief and i
pregnant as that of a Lord SOMERS, the merits
of their country's cause, and the cool decision of
their country's judgment. If our Government
discern beforehand the spirit of the country
steadily animating all its representatives, if it
throw itself honestly, and with all the talent at
its command into the nation's object, then we for
one would counsel oblivion for the past. We
confess no little fear of a Cabinet which first
wheedled away six precious months in negotia-
tions with known despots and swindlers, which
then wasted still more precious time sufficient to
have razed Sebastopol, iu holding back our troops
from the conflict, which dabbled in war when it

ought to have made it irresistibly crushing to the
enemy, and which has sacrificed thousands of
British and Turkish lives through complacency to
the wishes of a Government the most loathsome
of all on earth to honest Englishmen. We
should like, certainly, a War Ministry of
better antecedents—but if even they will
but come forward for war in earnest
they shall have our hearty support, and find that
we are Englishmen enough to let "byegones be
byegones." They will find also the same forbear-
ance from the country's faithful Commons.
Let cur Government remember that Russia
has staked her grand chance upon the Crimea.
We accept her choice. Her obstinate defence of
a purely military town, one of no commercial
value whatever, shows how tenaciously she clings
to the idea of domination in the Black Sea, and
at Constantinople. She has drawn away her forces
from the Danube and the Pruth ; she has even
moved them from Poland itself to save, if she
may, the means of aggression on Turkey, and of
subjugating the whole of Eastern Europe. She
has chosen on the Crimea to measure her strength
against France and England. We thank her for
the choice. We had thought of dealing with
only Sebastopol there ; we have instead to fight
the strength and flower of the Russian army,
with Sebastopol merely as its mighty intrench-
ments. Now, then, is England's opportunity.
There stand the Allies safely ensconced in a Rus-
sian Torres Vedras. The sea open to them for
reinforcements and supplies, nothing to hinder
their obtaining all they need, while the Russians
have no means of supplying their vast numbers
but land carriage, becoming almost every day
more impracticable. The greater their numbers
the more hopeless their condition as soon as the
Allies can resume the offensive. Why, then,
should not every effort be made, cost what it
may, to augment our present camp, and to cut
their line of communications at the isthmus, in
which case surrender or destruction are their only
alternatives. This could be done. It requires
only money, which, whatever the amount,
would be a cheap strategical investment,
and men and materials, both of which are
at the command of the Allies. The work
Austria would then do for us, dirty as her mo-
tives might be, would be worth something. A
slave labouring for us under the lash is better
than one secretly helping our antagonist. War
in earnest means in the first place, then, the
Crimea inundated, if need be, with• our troops,
the Black Sea towns and forts utterly demolished,
and Austria set to show her pluck in bayoneting
her beaten friend.
War in earnest means much indeed. We are
reminded by the Polish meeting in Sussex Cham-
bers that it especially means no longer refusing
the service of the most legitimate and precious
aid we can command. Nothing in the course of
Cabinet delinquencies has galled our English
feelings more than that at the instance of England
—no, not of England, but of England's governors
—the SULTAN should have been compelled to
refuse the aid of Polish and Hungarian officers and
troops. Lord DUDLEY STUART is no more ;
but is there no ono in the House of Lords
or Commons to demand that English
blood shall not be wantonly shed in every
way through thelbaseness of Austria Is that
reptile Government to be the curse of yet more
English hearths and homes, because she must
not only be accommodated without trouble in the
Principalities, and allowed to send Russian legions
from the Danube to multiply the sighs and tears
of English widows -and orphans, but must also -
detain from helping us the noble band of Poles
burning to share in the great duty of the hour ?
We appeal to every bereft family, from that of the
Peer to that of the rustic cottager, whether we
shall be denied any longer the aid of these legiti-
mate, these brave, and these thrice-valuable co-
adjutors. To hoist the Polish standard before
Sebastopol would intimidate its Russian defenders
mere than adding another vast battery of Lancaster
guns. To accept the offer of the Poles
to head a storming regiment would turn the face
of IVlnNscirmorg deadly pale. And what stands
in the way ? Austria! Our bravest, most
natural, and rightful Allies, are to be denied a
share in the contest, to ple.ase the one whose
villany has already clad our most splendid victory
in the deepest mourning.
War in earnest will not hesitate on the ques-
tion—Poland or Austria ? The wretched coward
who would not fight Russia herself, can have the
least title of all to forbid our acceptance of the
brave people who will. But, indeed, Austria,
poor thing, need not trouble herself in the matter.
She and Gallicia may square matters as they like,
but England and France mean all Russian Poland,
at least, to be Poland again ; the two nations mean
this,
and we are pretty confident the ruler of one
of them means it too. Austria may find it
politic to let her share in the Polish
territory be joined ultimately to its other parts.
She had better look ahead and prepare for that.
Meantime a Polish regiment, marching under
Polish banners, is one of the indispensable ele-
ments of war in earnest. We press this point
on our representatives' attention. The thing is
thoroughly right in itself. We owe it to our
army; we owe it to the Poles. We owe
it to their country ; we owe it to the
great object for which we began the war—na-
tional independence ; we owe it to every one who