The Sun.
London, England, 1854-09-28 00:00:00

THE BALTIC FLEET.

If the most recent intelligence from St. Petersburg
may be relied upon, the Russian Government has made
up its mind that the campaign in the Baltic is over for
this season, in so far u the Western Powers are con-
cerned ; .and that on the strength of this conclusion the
Czar has ventured to despatch to the southward a body
of the elite of his troops, which he had drawn together
and kept in hand with a. view to operations in Finland.
The admirers of mystery and secrecy look delighted at
this news, and say that the Czar has been led into a
trap ; that the appearances of an intention to close the
campaign have merely been assumed to deceive him ;
and that, now he has weakened his power in the north,
a serious blow will be struck at him before the'Allies
leave the Baltic. This is an entirely gratuitous assump-
tion, and one which all known facts conspire to render
improbable. It may be in the recollection of ' our
readers, that Sir Charles Napier, in the banquet given
to him at the Reform Club before he lett this country,
spoke of the fleet entrusted to his command as rather
weaker than the Russians in respect of the number of
ships and guns ; though, he added, the greater number
of screws and steamers on the part of the English might
make 'good the difference. The plain English of this
remark is,, that in order to effect anything decisive
against the Russians in the Baltic, the force of the cenn-
bined fleet, French and English, must be brought into
play. Now, though some of our contemporaries took
upon them to pooh-pooh the intelligence from the Baltic
which we published some time ago--that the French fleet,
was under orders to return home—time' has confirmed
the accuracy of our information. In yesterday's Journal
des Debuts, an article to which is attached the respect-
able signature of Xavier Raymond, gives On the strength
of the 20th instant, an account of the farewell greeting of
the French and English Admirals at Ledsund :
" Admiral Parseval, having despatched all- his ntber
ships, as many of them as possible provided with turTs
had retained only the steam frigate Darin ; but being
informed of the grounding of the Austerlitz, he iinine-
diately sent the Darien to conduct it to iiel. It thus
happened that the Admiral's own shiplhe Inflexible
• was the, very last of the squadron to mail. • Admiral
Napier, on his part, expected to
.'receive by the( courier
of the 22d orders to return to England. At the moment
of parting, the admirals exchanged salutes with emula-

tive courtesy; the flags, the national
and
which had
• celebrated the junction- of 'the
fories, the French
and English eta*, expressed cordial ;wishes for their
next meeting.
No stress .need be laid On the statement that Sir
Charles Napier was in momentary expectation of being
recalled to England ; that could be nothing but mere
conjecture. • But the final departure'•of the Fretia EcT--
tniral and his fleet is a fact beyond dispute ; and it is
out of the question that any (*mat or important enter-
prise will be Undertaken by the English fleet, now that
the French ships as well as the French land forces haVe
been withdrawn. Indeed, this is virtually admitted
even by those who still profess to look for some active
operations on the part of the English before the close
of the season. Not a word is now said of any attempt
upon Cronstadt, or Sweaborg, or the Russian
men-of. war that are lying perdu at one or the other
place. The
most sanguine only talk of a bombardment of Revel.
And, what could be the object of an attack upon a town
which is of no importance whatever as a military poei-
tion,,upsusceptible of being made the basis of military
operatfons in the interior ? By dismantling the forts of
Cedifsticit'inrSiiiiaborg, or destroying the fleets laid up
at_thess,plapeit,ln whole or in part,
.the Russian Go-
verimient would be weakened ;. the loss inflicted by a
bombardnienf;A Revel•would fall principally, almost ex-:
elusively, upon private individetak, subjects of the Rus-
sian Government. The destruction of Government pro-
perty 'at Stye:Atom or Cronstadt would be regarded by
the Russian peoPlens a legitimate act of warfare, would
impress them with fear of the might of England or the
and'Would not excite animosity to the English.
But the bombardment of Revel would make the subjects
eet-Rueeis-eling-faster to their Government. View it in
any light, the bombardment of Revel—as an isolated
act,•the winding•up. of an uneventful campaign—pre-
sents itself as an enterprise impolitic on account of the
effect it is certain to have upon public opinion. These
considerations cast dis Credit on the reports that such a
measure is in contemplation, -either on the part of the
English Government or of the English Admiral. They
who most regret the prospect of nothing more being at-
tempted in the Baltic during the year 1854 would be
the first to protest against the bombardment of Revel
as a piece of work that were better left undone.—,Daily