The Sun.
London, England, 1854-08-03 00:00:00

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LONDON, THURSDAY, AUGUST 3, 1854.

It is terrible to think of an English Admiral
declaring that the fortifications of Cronstadt are
impregnable. If we are to believe the Hon. and
Gallant Member for the city of Gloucester, Sir
CHARLES NAPIER, the dashing, heroic, dare-devil
Sir CHARLES NAPIER. has done so. According to
ADMIRAL BERKELEY, the Commander-in-Chief of
the Baltic Fleet has written home to the autho-
rities, declaring that, even with the splendid group
of ships-of-war under his command, to attempt any
attack upon Cronstadt would be certain destruc-
tion. Now, bluntly, we don't believe for an
instant that Sir CHARLES NAPIER would say that,
and only that We maintain that there was
something suspicious in the circumstance of that
one, single, insulated fragment of the letter,
addressed by the daring old Sea Captain to the
Lords of the Admiralty, being the sole portion of
that important document laid before the House of
Commons by the Member for Gloucester. We
are perfectly convinced that Sir CHARLES NAPIER
said more than that. Immediately after this
solitary portion of his letter—without the context
—was submitted with such plausible but suspicious
candour to the notice of the Legislature, we
asked how it came to pass that the rest of so very
timely and conclusive a document was suppressed?
We put that query again. We sh mild amazingly
like to know what Sir CHARLES. NAPIER said to
the Admiralty besides what was read the other
night to the House of Commons by the first of
the Naval Lords Commissioners. We rest per-
fectly satisfied that the gallant Commander of the
Baltic Fleet told the Admiralty wiseacres, pretty
plainly, that--as he was then situated—with the
fleet o'n/Y—without troops and without proper
gun-boats—he found that an attack upon Cron-
.stadt would be nothing less than certain destruc-
7,tion ! We don't think Admiral NAPIER is quite
the man 'to .assert, without having yet fired a shot
upon Cronstadt, that its fortifications are impreg-
nable—unless at the same time he explained it to
be so conditionally.
Insomuch are we impressed with this convic-
tion that we believe that Sir
CHARLES NAPIER all
this while has been anything but idle in clamour
ing for both troops and gun-boats. An ill• ustrious
and maligned predecessor of her MAJESTY, as
Queen Regnant of England, declared—we all
know the anecdote, it is one of the household
stories of our national history—that when she
died there would be found engraven upon her
heart—
" Calais ! Calais 1 Calais I"

Our immortal NE
LSON, in a kindred mood, de-
dared shortly before his great victory of the Nile,
When he was chasing the phantom fleet of the
enemy across the Atlantic, and then back again
across the Mediterranean, no less fervently and
passionately, that if he fell at
his
heartthat time,
battle or by disease, that on there either in
ere would
be found imprinted
"Frigates ! Frigates
.
Frigates !"
Supposing—which HEAVEN forbid—that anything
1111°Ilid befall our heroic Sea Captain now up the
Gulf of Finland, we might say of him as earnestly
and with as much significance that there would
be discovered stamped upon his heart—
"Gun-boats Gun-boats ! Gun-boats 1"
A considerable land force is now on its way to
aid the Baltic fleet in its warlike operations. But
no supply of gun-boats with a light draught of
water—suited to the navigation of the mouth of the
river Neva and of the waters of the Gulf of Fin- ,
land lying between tronstadt and St. Petersburg—
has been despatched in the same direction. None ;
even are building. The Admiralty is contenting
itself not with accepting Mr. Scorr Rvuzia,'s

offer to construct new vessels of that description,
but with sending him out on a long, and, as it
happens, a not unsuccessful endeavour to buy up
two old gun-boats, such as the Nix and the Sala-
mander.
However-10,000 French soldiers have actually
been sent out very recently to co-operate with the
Allied Fleets in the Baltic, or rather in the Gulf
of Finland, fleets carrying 44 pennons altogether
—namely, fourteen French and thirty English !
And with the remembrance of this tardy trans-
mission of troops to aid by land the maritime de-
signs of NAPIER and PARSEVAL D ESCII ENES
comes the rumour to-day, by way of Stockholm
and Lubeck, to the effect that Bomarsund had,
on the 29th ultimo, been captured, after
a severe bombardment. Whether this ru-
mour be true or not, it is unquestionable that
the allied fleets can, whenever they feel so dis-
posed, take possession of the Aland Islands—
about the seizure of which, by the way, there has
been latterly a great deal too much fuss—seeing
that no great positive result of any kind whatever
would be attained by having these same Aland
Islands in our possession. However, we will sup-
pose them to be already captured—as we main-
tain they may be, readily enough, with a compa-
ratively insignificant portion of the vast naval
force under the British and French Commanders-
in-Chief. Well—in that case, some three or four
hundred out of the 10,000 French soldiers now
on their way up the Baltic, would be sufficient
for all purposes to remain behind them in garrison,
leaving the rest available for after and more im-
portant operations. Foremost among those ope-
rations must inevitably be the destruction of the
batteries of Sweaborg, and the advantage conse-
quent upon such a victory, the capture of Hel-
singfors. With the co-operation of 9,000 or 10,000
French soldiers we believe that the sailors of the
allied fleets would find this feat of arms not
altogether impracticable. Assailed in the rear
by the land forces, and in front by the enormous
allied maritime armament there collected together
for that purpose—attacked thus by sea and laud
simultaneously—Sweaborg would inevitably fall,
and with Sweaborg, of course Helsing,fors. As
among the happy results of which achievement
there would devolve upon Admiral CHARLES
NAPIER, and PARSEVAL DESCHENES the capacity
(hitherto denied to them by the mere circum-
stance of their having yet to capture the fortifica-
tions of Sweaborg and the city of Helsingfors),
t,,e important, and indeed inestimable capacity of
proceeding further up the Gulf of Finland with
undivided attention, with undisturbed energy,
and with the whole of their force united—to the
attack upon Cronstadt [also, as in the previous
instance by sea and land simultaneously], and
the consequent attack upon the Russian capital
itself, upon the commercial wealth and poli-
tical might of St. Petersburg. Having van-
guished Sweaborg and taken Helsingfors, the
allied fleets might then [what they could
not do otherwise] take on with them up the Gulf
of Finland the powerful squadron hitherto detained
there for a long while under the command of
Admiral CORRY—and thus, as we have said, be
enabled to proceed with their whole force united
to the objects of all this vas; maritime, and re-
cently also this important military, array—the
successive attacks upon Cronstadt and St. Peters-
burg.

Moreover, it should be remembered at last that

the timefor diplomatic shilly-shallaying has gone by
entirely. The allied Governments should, there-
fore, accompany, or, at the latest, promptly follow
up their seizure of the Aland. Islands, and the
double onslaught upon Sweaborg and Helsingfors,
by the transmission of a final appeal to Stockholm
and Copenhagen. So that we might learn before
proceeding further whether Sweden and Denmark
must be considered with us, or against us. There
should not be allowed any room for further uncer-
tainty in that matter. If with the fall of Swea-
borg and the capture of Helsingfors, Sweden and
Denmark did not declare themselves on the side
of France and England as openly opposed to the
Russian AUTOCRAT—then they should be regarded
as foes, and treated accordingly. But under no
circumstances ought we, without putting an
end first to all doubt whatever upon this
head, to proceed with our fleets from the
destruction of Sweaborg and the capture of Hel-
singfors, to the final and decisive attack (with our
whole force) upon Cronstadt, and through Cron-
stadt upon St. Petersburg.
Proceedings such as those we have here
sketched out would bring the war to an end by
enabling the allies to extort from the Emperor of
RUSSIA a peace, to them, in all essential respects
satisfactory. Better acts of vigour like these—
than diplomatic hair-splittings down to the end of
the chapter with the emissaries and representatives
,f the Austrian and Prussian Governments.
Better than that continual talk about ingenious
ivanceuvres along the Danube or in the Dobrudscha
—better than these constant rumours about
the likelihood of our transmitting assistance to
the Circassians—better than this perpetual babble
about the vague chance, the mere possibility, of
some ultimate descent being made by the Allies
upon the Crimea, with a view to the seizure of
Sebastopol, and, we may presume, the subsequent
dismantling of its fortifications.

We yesterd ty pointed out some striking objet-.
tions to the procedure and practice of military
tribunals, as illustrated by the recent persecution
of Lieutenant PERRY. We would this day direct
attention to others equally glaring, in the hope
that some notice may be taken thereof in Parlia-
ment, even before the prorogation.
Refusing to recognise any professional adviser,
the responsibility of every question asked is cast
:ea the accused, who may a second time be brought
to trial for matters urged in vindication of him-
self from the first charge. To enhance that re-
Tonsibility, the question must be delivered to
the President in writing, and considered by the
other members of the Court before it is put to the
witness. Discussions frequently arise on its
admissibility, during which the Court is cleared,
and the public time unnecessarily con-
sumed. But the delay is by no means the
worst part of the tram iction. The witness has
the entire interval to consider the nature of his
answer, and to frame it so as to excuse himself,
and to prove most damaging to the prisoner.
Eminent judges have declared that written cross
interrogatories are of no possible use—that a
witness desirous of concealing or unfairly colouring
the truth cannot have his evidence broken down
by such means. It is only the rapid fire of the
visa voce examination, leading to palpable contra-.
dictions, or scarcely less damaging 4hiftings and
evasions, that confuses the mendacious witness,
and exposes the utter worthlessness of his testi-
mony. Under the present system the most skilful
cross examiner could effect little or no good, being
wholly unable to condemn a prevarication out of
his own mouth. It appears too that the witness hears
the question before it is considered by the C nut, and
that he may have an opportunity of speaking pri-
vately to others on the subject before returning an
ofyesterday, answer. An instance of this occurred no later
than
ntwehrre,n,gatthorey to
witness mentioned
iiie was the
nature
sub-
sequently called on to reply. Now, although we
do not attribute any corrupt or improper motive
to that gentleman, it is quite sufficient to notice
' the matter, to show what mischievous results
might follow from the practice.
It will also be seen how many questions which,
in Civil Courts, would be considered strictly perti-
nent to the issue, were suppressed. Inquiries
calculated to show the systematic ih-treaticeat of
the prisoner the gross and incessant pro-
vocation he received were rejected on the
most frivolous grounds ; and when the stan-
dard authority on military tribunals was re-
ferred to, the Court refused to recognise it,
or to be bound by anything tut " the Articles of
War." The most damaging insinuations against
the prisoner were received, but he was not allowed
at the moment to repel them, but told to reserve
these matters fur his defence, or to put them at
some other time, or iu soma other form—so that
the venom might rankle in the wound which the
victim might never find an equally favourable
oppiotritsununitnyeeeofsisaieraylin.
to dwell
dwell on the palpable lean-

ing against the prisoner (Perry) which was so
painfully perceptible on each of his three trials—
for he was virtually on his trial on the second as
well as the other investigations. No disinterested
or unprejudiced person could fail to observe the
manifest bias, which showed that the result of
the inquiry was a " foregone conclusion," that the
prisoner had been virtually condemned before
even he was heard in his own defence, or
a word of evidence given against him. In place
of being considered " innocent until his guilt
was established," he was treated as if no rational
doubt could exist, but that every charge preferred
against him had been proved on the most conclu-
sive testimony. We might multiply instances of
this, but shall merely refer to the sneer of the
President of the third Court, who on being told
that time would be required to prepare the de-
fence, as some of the witnesses had sailed for
Turkey and other parts, drily remarked, " I
thought as much !" An observation, which, in
place of being unanimously and very severely re-
primanded; only produced a burst of laughter
from the members of the Court. A great parade,
too, was made of a desire to show every indul-
gence to the prisoner ; and, above all, to give
himfull time to meet the extraordinary and unusual
charges brought against him. This was exempli-
fied by the refusal to release him on his " parole"
from the arrest under which he had been for 31
days kept in close confinement in a small bed-
room, only 12 feet by 10, a very unnecessary
and cruel piece of tyranny, and also by the re-
fusing to adjourn for a longer period than until
the Monday.
It is now unnecessaryto speak of the first Court-
Martial, or the causes by which it was occasioned.
We have already expressed our opinion on the sub-
ject, decidedly and unequivocally, and there is a re-
markable concurrence—we might say, an unpara-
lelled unanimity—among public journalists of all
classes and varieties of politics. It was, that
Lieutenant PERRY had most completely and
triumphantly vindicated his character, and that he
was an object of sympathy and compassion rather
than punishment. In place, however, of being im-
mediately relieved from the heart-breaking suspense,
in place of being ordered to return to his duty with
an untarnished reputation, he is still kept in igno-
rance of the decision of the Court, a prisoner in
the close small room 12 feet by 10, worse than a
convicted felon would be condemned to. But this
is not all. He is again virtually placed on his trial.
The questions of the Prosecutor, Colonel GARRETT,
being directed rather towards inculpating his own
witness than the party nominally accused. He
is stopped from explaining matters to the Court
necessary to the elucidation of the truth, and
when he puts these matters in writing for the con-
sideration of the President, fresh charges are
founded thereon, and he is a third time placed on
his trial, still kept in the close small room 12 feet
by 10. -

The specious pretext of this course being
adopted, for the purpose of giving the prisoner
an opportunity of substantiating his statements,
is too ridiculous for sober discussion. If that
were the object, why was not the Court-Martial
ordered on Lieut.-Colonel GARRETT, and Lieu-
tenant PERRY placed in the witness box. That
would have been the proper course if the inten-
tion were to elicit the real facts, to let full and
complete justice be dune, and to prevent "might"
from triumphing over "right," a matter of too
frequent occurrence in this world, but peculiarly
so in all matters investigated before military
tribunals.