The Sun.
London, England, 1854-03-16 00:00:00

THE REFORM CLUB DINNER.

The dinner was to inaugurate this harvest of destruc-
tion. That is Sir C. Napier's mission, if he is to act at
all ; and throughout the speeches of the banquet it is
assumed that he will so act. The dinner decidedly smelt
of gunpowder. The Admiral had the best wishes of his
friends that he might return with fresh laurels. If the

"sound reformers" of the Reform Club don't wish the
Emperor of Russia to show fight like a man and be
beaten, they have done themselves injustice in their
speeches. We are not at all surprised, therefore, to find
Mr. Bright rather scandalised, and Mr. Disraeli sarcas-
tic, and Mr. Cobden very severe at the tone of these
festivities, which are premature, not only as regards the
result, but even as regards the beginning, for Sir C.
Napier is merely gone out to the entrance of the Baltic,
and will not pass the Sound, we believe, until further
orders.

Nobody expects Russia to give in, and nobody wishes
her to get off easy. She is already a great delinquent ;
her crimes are actually committed. She has slain her
thousands, and driven all Europe iiito the cost of huge
armaments, and tbe still greater evil of a warlike and
sanguinary spirit. Notwithstanding Mr. Bright, nine
households out of ten, having no expectation whatever
that Russia will surrender at the very first summons,
are hoping and trusting to hear that Sir C. Napier on
the one side, and Admiral Dundas on the other, are
battering her fortifications to pieces, burying their de-
fenders under the ruins, and sending whole fleets with
their crews to the bottom. Were we present at a part-
ing entertainment to Sir Charles given by his family or
his friends, we should expect to hear these sentiments,
and should regard them with indulgence. But, unfor-
tunately, three Cabinet Ministers, two of them speak-
ing with less reserve than anybody else, the presence
of reporters, and the most emphatic passages greeted
with cries of "Bravo, Charley !" all gave a character
to the banquet neither public nor private, but with the
force of the one and the license of the other. Every
word of it is on its way to the Czar, and of course it will
be satisfactory to that potentate, and will tend to soothe
his wounded vanity, to hear that her Majesty's confiden-
tial advisers, and the responsible rulers of the country, give
the Admiral of the Baltic fleet full leave to declare war, so
far,'of course, as they have any voice in the matter.
The Czar will he gratified to find with what intense relish
his disasters will be enjoyed in this country, and that
glasses have already been filled, toasts delivered, and
pledges exchanged to his speedy discomfiture and humi-
liation. That a conspiracy of " blood-drinkers" should
have been discovered in the act of vowing destruction to
the Czar by the hand of the assassin would be nothing
compared with this public, hearty, jovial denunciation of
the tyrant by an actual public assemblage of gentlemen,
headed by three of her Majesty's Ministers. His popu-
larity in this country must indeed be at a very low ebb
when he can be such lawful prey and an object of such
universal abuse and such dignified execration. Whether
it be possible to separate the man from the Minister,
or induce the Czar to feel that a Minister, after his din-
ner, is no more than a city alderman or anybody else,
we do not know ; but the Czar will at least be assured
that a section of her Majesty's Ministers are entering
into the sport with the best possible humour for it, and
the most sanguine expectations of success.
Bnt we cannot go the whole way with Mr. Bright.
We cannot talk as if the war was still a future matter,
and the lives of thousands or scores of thousands might
be considered as now depending only on the decision
the British Government or the movements of Sir
Charles Napier. The war is begun, and has gone on a
long time without anything to call for actual interference
on our part. The bloody reckoning has commenced,
and thousands of lives have been scored. The Czar
owes a good deal to justice and humanity, and the debt
must be paid. This circumstance, of the account
having already begun, and the balance being rather
against the Czar just now, makes a considerable differ-
ence in the feelings natural to the present crisis. An
independent country has been invaded in a time of pro-
found peace, and thousands of its subjects slaughtered on
their own soil, and the friends of.that country, or rather
of her independence, heartily pray for justice on the
head of the aggressor, and the common enemy of
Europe. Surely that is not quite as Messrs. Bright
and Cobden put it. They choose to think it a
question simply of peace or vvar. It is a good deal more.
It is more even than a question of justice or oppression,
liberty or dependence. Russia owes amends to Europe.
She has broken loose, removed her neighbour's land-
mark, committed robbery and murder, and both in the
amount of mischief done, and the threat implied to the
whole world, has committed an intolerable outrage.
Had any small State done the like it would probably
have been extinguished. Russia must at least be brought
to book, and punished, if not Europe is good for very
little, and the civilised quarter of the world must resign
its lofty pretensions to the next continent that shows any
proper spirit and sense of self-respect.—Times,

MUTINOUS CONDUCT ON BOARD SHIP.—A remarkable
case of this descfiption came before Mr. Mansfield, At
the police-court, yesterday, when no less than 20 sailors,
the crew of the ship Ensign, Captain Walker, bound for
Africa, were brought up for disobedience of orders on
the 11th inst., whilst the ship was lying in the river.
The prisoners, who appeared a superior crew in re-
gard to cleanliness and demeanour, were appre-
hended and brought ashore by detective officer
Carlisle, on Monday. Mr.. Chilton, on the part
of the prisoners, examined Captain Walker, who denied
that the men made any objection to him against the con-
duct of his chief mate ; but Mr. Chilton assured the
court that the whole of the crew complained of the mate's
harsh conduct and his unfeeling method of mingling
every order with violent oaths. The captain, in answer
to Mr. Mansfield, consented to take the whole of the
crew to sea, but each man stoutly refused on being indi-
vidually asked by the magistrate's clerk to proceed to
sea and do their duty, They were all sentenced to 28
days' imprisonment with hard labour in the borough
gaol.—Liverpool Courier.