The Sun.
London, England, 1856-03-17 00:00:00

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SIR CHARLES' NAPIER'S MOTION.
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(From, the Examiner.)
" Wash your dirty linen at home," was a maxim
of Napoleon, which Sir Charles Napier would have
done well to observe. He has done himself no
good by his motion, and he has done the service
considerable harm in the opinion of foreigners.
For what must be the effect of his statements in
Russia and in France ? The enemy must say, "Is
this boasted naval power of Englan4 so formidable
after all, which sends out a fleet manned with
lubbers who dare not lie out on the yards to furl
sails, commanded by officers who have not skill
enough to sail in line, and piloted by pilots utterly
ignorant of their business. Had we known this
ass in lion's skin better, we need not have shrunk
from meeting it on the open sea."
The French, too, if they credit the statements of
Admiral Napier, may not unnaturally ask whether
in combined operations it is safe to trust to allies
who aro so ill prepared for war, even upon the ele-
ment where their strength has been supposed to lie.
If Sir C. Napier's services in '54 were of greater
value than he -rates them, the disservice of his sub-
sequent speeches and writings outweighs them in-
comparably.
His first complaint is of want of preparation for
the war, but it appears that he was not more ready
than the Admiralty, and ho describes himself as
torn away by the hair of his head. His cabin was
not fitted up when ho was ordered to sea, and he
sailed without knives and forks. Yet he had had
ample time to make his preparations, and though
so backward himself, he has no indulgence for the
pilots who had not their clothes with them, and
who had to land at the Downs in consequence. Be
has blame for everybody but himself, and he ac-
tually refers to the preposterous expectations created
by his own speech at the- Reform Club dinner, as
if he had nothing to do with it except indeed to
complain. Mark his words :
He would pass over the banquet at the Reform Club
(laughter)—that glorious banquet where many fine
speeches were wade which, he believed, led the'country
to expect co much from the fleet, that if the Emperor of
Russia had been brought prisoner to England the peo-
ple would not have been satisfied. (Laughter.)
This is a pretty bold stroke. The admiralis too
modest to add quorum pars magna fui.
We are to believe two things explicitly. First,
that Sir C. Napier's fleet was about the worst
manned and the worst commanded ever sent forth
for a grand campaign. Secondly, that being so
bad, it did everything admirably well. For ex-
ample :
Thinking that it would not be proper to enter the
Gulf of Finland so early in the year, before his fleet was
in hand, he went to Elgenabben, the roadstead of Stock-
helm, intending to remain there two days for the pur-
pose of completing the watering and coaling of his ships.
After leaving the entrance to the Gulf of Finland, it be•
gam to blow very hard, and there was a succession of
furious gales, which detained him for about ten days. At
last the storm ceased, and he proceeded to sea ; but,
while in the very middle of the rocks and shoals of Elgs-
nabben, the fleet was, unfortunately, caught in the
thickest fog which it had ever been his lot to see. He
never passed such an.anxions time in the whole course
of his life. The fog ‘11,3 so dense that he thought it al-
most impossible the fleet could escape. Anchorage there
was none; the danger was extreme; hut, by the mercy of
Providence, every ship got safely out. One, indeed, a
little in advance of the rest, came in contact with a rock,
but without sut,taining any material damage, while an-
other narrowly escaped the same misfortune. He was
bound and happy to state that great energy, zeal,
and decision were displayed on that trying occasion.
There was no wavering on the part of the captains.
All they could do was to go forward ; they did
so ; and every one brought his ship safely out to
sell. He himself passed alone through a passage of
which nothing was known before, and he would leave
the house to imagine what an anxious night he spent
not knowing what had become of the rest of tho fleet,
for it was not till the following afternoon that his mind
was relieved by seeing the ships safe at sea. No human
foresight could have prevented the terrible risk. He was
perfectly justified in going into E'gsnabben, which was
the roadstead of Stockholm, and nothing but a fog could
have exposed the fleet to such danger.

[PRICE 4D. STAMPED SD•

Naval and 1111litary intelligence.

Her Maj3sty's ship Cmiar, 91, Captain Robb, and the
Majestic, 81, Captain J. Hone, screw two-decker left
Spithead on Saturday for the Downs, going to the Baltic
it is believed, although a report .was current in the port
that they had been despatched merely io await the pas-
sage across the Channel of the King of the Bol,gians.
The steam-transport Imperial, No. 18S, left Ports-
mouth on Saturday afternoon with provisions and stores
for the army in tlia Crimea. The Hecla, 6, paddle-sloop,
Commarisder Aplin, rent out of Portsmouth harbour on
Saturday evening, and loft for Bristol and Liverpool to
convoy hack gun' and mortar-boats. The two trainin,,
brigs for nitval apprentices, Rollo and Saalark, have both
been refitted for the Somber's exercising cruises, and
were taken down to their respective moorings on Satnr-
da,V aftertmoo. •
The Rhadamanthus steam transport arrived at Ports-
mouth yesterday from the Thames, with machinery 'for
the ships being fitted. The Comet steam-tog returned
to Portsmouth yesterday from Rye,' with a new mortal--
boat. The Coquette, 4, screw despatch and gun-host,
Commander Risk, arrived at Portsmouth yesterday
afternoon from the eastward.

In Portsmouth hat bour yesterday were her Majesty's
ship Victory, 104, Captain the Hon. J. R. Drummond,
bearing the flag of Vice-Admiral Sir George Seymour,
G.C.H.K.C.8., the commander-in-chief of the station ;
Si. Vincent, 101", Captain G. A. Elliot, bearing the flag
ofßear-Admiral Superintendent or the Dockyard, W.
FesMartin ; the Excelleot gunnery-ship, Captain Sir
Thomas Maitland, C.B. ; the Illustrious training-ship,
Captain R. Harris ; the Queen's yacht Victoria and
and Albert, Captain the Hon. Joseph Denman, and her
tenders the Fairy, Master D. N. Welch, and Elfin,
Master A. Balliston ; the Perseverance screw troopship,
Commander M'Donald ;. the Transit, ditto, Commander
C. R. Johnson ; the Lightning, steam-tender to the
Duke of Wellington ; the Firequeen steam-yacht, Mas-
ter-Corentander W. F. Paid ; _tire Vivid eteam-yaoht,
Master-Commander H. W. &flee ; the-Sprightly, steam-
under, Acting-Master • Mr. G. Allen, the Volcano,
steam smith, ; the Sealark and Rolla, apprentices'
brine, and the Pigmy, Comet, and Echo, tugs ; the
Fauny and Portsmouth; sailing tenders, and 15 steam
gun-boatv. At Spithead were—the Duke of Welling-
ton, 131, Capt. Caldwell. C. 8., bearing the Captain of
the Fleet the Hon. F. T. Pelham, C. 8., and the flag of
Rear-Admiral the Hon. Sir R. Saunders Duradas, K.C.8.,
Conamander-in-Chief of the Baltic Fleet; the Royal
George, 101, Capt. Robinson ; the Nile, 91, Captain
Mundy ; the Cressy, 81, Capt. R. L. Warren ; the Hawke,
60, Capt. Ommanney ; the Arrogant, 46, Capt. Lyster ;
and the Devastation, 6, paddle-sloop, Commander Mar-
shall. In dock were—the Algiers, 91, Capt. Codrington,
C. 8., refitting ' the Bellerophon, 78, fitting as a depot
ship ; the Fox, 42, under conversion to a steam trans-
port ; the Urgent, steam troop-ship, Commander
Phillips, under repairs ; the Ringdove, 6, steam
despatch boat ; the Fury, 6, steam-sloop, and the
Hardy gun•boat. Ie the fitting basin were the Rod-
ney, 92, converting to a depot ship ; the Pearl, 21, un-
der repair ; the Flying Fish, 6, steam despatch gun-
boat ; the Resistance old troop-ship, abd the Opossum
gunboat. In the steam basin were the Marlborough,
121 ; the Victor Emmanuel, 91 ; the Shannon, 51 ; the
Pioneer, 6 ; the Lapwing, 6 ; and the Basilisk, 6, all
receiving or repairing machinery. At the Motherbank
were the Colossus, 81, Captain the Hon. H.
C.B. ; the Belleisle hospital-ship, Commander hooker,
and 14 gunboats.
The hired steam transport Andes, No. 100, Captain
William M'Arthur, from the Crimea, put into Plymouth
Sound on Saturday. She left Balakiava-on the 24th of
February ; Constantinople, 26th ; Malta, the 4th of
March ; and Gibraltar, the 9th of March ; and brings
15 officers and 158 invalid soldiers, marines, and sea-
'men from the Crimea; under command of Capt. Brown,
95th Regiment, and in medical charge of Staff Surgeon
Donnell and Surgeon Jephson, Ist Dragoon Guards.
Four deaths of invalid soldiers have occurred since her
departure. Among the passengers is Lieut. Massey, of
the 19th, popularly known as " Redan Massey." This
gallant olcer is slowly recovering from the serious
wound which be had received in his thigh during the
assault, but is net yet able to walk. Dr. Cree, of the
paddle-wheel steam-frigat Odin, 10, Captain J. Wilcox,
and a few seamen from Malta, have come home in the
Andes inralided. At Gibraltar there was a steam-sloop
of war, the steam tran4port Foyle with 51 military offi-
cers for the Crimea, anti the steamer Calpe from Liver-
pool. The Andes passed in the Straits a larze steamer
with two funnels and white-paddle boxes, bound for the
Mediterranean.

As the proof of the pudding is proverbially in the
eating, so the proof of the fleet in the trying cir-
cumstances described would show that it could not
hare deserved the character before assigned to it
by its admiral. And some of the officers who so ad-
mirably acquitted themselves upon this occasion
were the same as those to whom he desired to tele-
granh the order before the eyes of the whole fleet,
" Go heine, you are of no use to me here."
And of inconsistencies of this character the ad-
miral's statements are full. The workman was al-
ways quarrelling with his tools and bragging of his
work. He wasat war with everybody, but least of
all with the Russians.

The Calcutta, 84, Captain W. K. HA, was placed in
the basin dock at Devonport on Friday, to have her
copper examined and repaired, previous to sailing for the
ErA Indies, to bear the flag of Sir M. Seymour.
The screw steam-sloop Desperate, 8, Commander R.
White, and the paddle-wheel steam-tug Magicienne, 16,
Captain N. Vansittart, left Plymouth on Friday for a
cruise in the Channel to relieve homeward bourid.vessels,
of which more than 100 are new at anchor in the
Sound.

On the other hand, we cannot but think that he
was held too much in leading strings by the Admi-
ralty : as the old song has it,

Now fondled, now chid,
Permitted, forbid.
Prudence was preached till it appearei that pru-
dence was in excess, and then daring, and "no-
thing venture nothing have," became the text of
the lesson. Our notion is, that an officer in chief
command should have full unfettered discretion to
act according to the present circumstances, of
which he must have the best knowledge. If he
deserves the command, he deserves this confi-
dence. But an error in this respect does not make
Sir Charles Napier right, for he ought not to
have submitted to the interference of which he
complains, but should have resigned his command
if his first protest against undue meddling was un-
heeded, and the practice persisted in. This is
what Nelson would have done, what Coßingwood
would have done, and what others have done. By
his own showing, Sir C. Napier should not have
accepted the command of the Baltic Fleet, which
he thought unfit for its duties ; and by his own
' showing, too, after having taken the command, he
should have resigned it when he found that there
was an admiral over him at Whitehall, overruling
his judgment and prescribing his operations. Nre
do not mean to say that the fact was so ; but sup-
posing Sir C. Napier's representations to he true,
his conduct ill submitting is censurable. The plea
of regard to the public service will not avail, for
the public service could suffer by nothing so much
as by the criminations and damagine, statements in
which Sir C. Napier has not scrupled to indulge,
to say nothing of the disgraceful breaches of con-
fidence. What he has done for his own character
may be an unpleasant question even in his own
self-satisfied mind, but that his speeches have, in
I the eyes of foreigners, lowered the character of the
navy, whose prestige is the protection of our coun-
try, is too certain and deplorable a fact.

Toe screw steam-ship Conqueror, 100, Captain T. C.
Symonds, is appointed to go out of Hawoaze to-day, to
wake another trial trip round the Eddystone.
The crew of the screw stearn•Floop Cruiser, 17, Com-
mander the Hon. G. Doug'as, bent sails at Devonport
on Friday. Shoji appointed to go out of harbour t.)-day.
The Resolute steam-transport sailed on Saturday from
Liverpool for the Crimea, with detachments of Royal
Artillery, who will be landed at Kingstown ; she will
then proceed to Malta with two officers and 76 men of
various regiments. The medical corps and some officers
of the Turkish Contingent, who were to have gone in the
Resolute to the Crimea, have been ordered back to Lon-
don.

Her Majesty's steamer Geyser sailed on Saturday from
the Mersey for Portsmouth, with the now wooden gun.
boats Blazer and Brazen.

The Wanderer, screw despatch steamer, Commander
J. P. Luce, fitting for sea at Chatham, has received her
armament, including two large Lancaster guns of bon
range, besides a large quantity of Lancaster shells,
which have been sent round from Woolwich. She has
received orders to leave Chatham this day for Sheerness,
where she is to await her sailing orders.
The Mohawk despatch steam-vessel, CommanderF. A.
Close, haying finished coppering, and the machinery hay-
in;; been put on board, was hauled out of dock at Chat-
ham on Saturday. She is to have a complement of 90
men, and is expected to be ready for sea iu a short time.
The .tEtna floating battery, building at Chatham, is
nearly completed, but it is understood that the order for
her launching to take place on the 24th inst. has been
countermanded.
An order has arrived at Chatham from the War-office,
directing the following officers belonging to the depot of
the Fusiliers to embark forthwith fur the Mauritius :
Ensign G. E. Massy, Ensign E. S. Lewis, and Ensign
J. B. Barker.
Nearly the whole of the depots belonging to the Provi-
sional Battalion at Chatham, in addition to the 6 company
deport of the 91st Regiment, under the command of LiLut.-
Col. B. E. M. Gordon, have been perfected in a course
of instruction in the use of the Enfield rifle, under
Captain W. Nott, 83d Regiment, and Lieutenant W. H.
Ballingall, 35th Regiment, the instructors in musketry at
Chatham garrison. Great care is taken that the whole
of the men under instruction shall not acquire a thorough
knowledge of this weapon themselves, but that they shall
I also be able to instruct others.

A HIGH SHERIFF FINED 1001. BY A

JUDGE.

On Monday the commission for holding the Spring Assize
for Carrearthenshiro, was opened at Carmarthen, before
Mr. Justice Williams. It was, so far as the county was
concerned, a maiden assize.
Mr. Wm. Goode, the under sheriff. proceeded to meet
his lordship—the high sheriff, Major Rice, of Llwynybrain,
being unable to attend personally on account of illness-
Mr. Goode, who left Carmarthen in an ordinary fly, unac-
companied by javelin Inca or county policemen, met his
lordship about two miles from Carmarthen, on the road
from Cardigan. We (Swansea Herald) aro told that his
lordship refused to proceed to Carmarthen in the fly pro-
vided by the,nuder sheriff, and entered the town in his
own carriage about 4 o'clock in the evening, and immedi-
ately proceeded to the Town-hall.
On l'uotday, his lordship, in charging the grand jury,
said :—ln Cardiganshire. whence I have just come, 1 had
the task, t me altogether as novel as it was agreeable, of
telling the grand jury that I had nothing which I could
make the subject of a charge, because there was net a single
prisocer for trial, nor any business whatever to be laid be-
, fore them ; and again have I that most agreeable duty to
perform, and to tell yon that there is nothing whatever to
do. Bet, gentlemen, my plfevure on this occasion is not
altogether without alloy. The gentleman whom her bfa-
emrstealifnly thatto hbies
jesty has appointed to be high sheriff of this county is
absenceis
absent. I learned from a letter which I received on my
here
That
tmi
sh
certainly
andatt r
fb
ot a bhl ee
atorriilvlanless.
cannot reasonably be expected to be regretted,
present -d at
here today
the sacrifice of his health. His absence, however, from
such a sates is no good sumo for his failing to provide
that usual and necessary attendance of bailiffs, and other
incidents
which are requisite not only for paying a proper
respect to her Majesty, whose representative as judge of
assize I have the honour to be in this chair, but also for
maintaining and preserving a decent order sad a due dig-
nity in the administration of the law, and in the execution
of her Majesty's commission. This is the duty which, by
tlazt commission, is imposed upon the high sheriff, and
etpon the performance of which he cannot stand excused
because he is unable to be present personally. Indeed, I
should have thought this would have been rather an addi-
tional motive for hint to be more than usually careful that
his duty should be faithfully performed on his absence.
But it has been plainly and !pointedly neglected, and for
that neglect I found it incumbent upon ins yesterday to
fine him in 'the sew of one hundred pounds. (This an.
nouncement created throughout the court a sensation,
amounting almost to cheers.) I need net say that it pained
me to be under such a necessity, and especially to be under
that necessity in the country so endeared to me as your
county of Carmarthen. I know not what the circumstances
are that have led the present high sheriff into such a course
of conduct, but I do feel sure that there is no other gen-
tleman in this country who is capable of such a failure of
loyalty to her Majesty,, and such a mark of disrespect to
the law of the land.

The folio wing appointments were made on Saturday at

the Admiralty-: Rarkan, assistant-surgeon to
the Beiteude ; Edward T. Mortimer, acting-t,urg,eOn, to
; Edward Enid, acting-eurgoop, to_ tie
Hawke ; Hamilton Col; acting-clerk, to the Con-

THE ALLEGED POISONING BY STRYORNIA AT LEEDS.
--LEEDS, Sunday Night.—The prisoner, William Dove ,
now appears to be somewhat affected by confinement, or
anxiety of mind, or both. His appearance is more care-
worn and haggard since the last adjournment. Tho
evidence to be brought forward at the adjourned inquiry
this day (Monday) is expect?tl to be of material import-
ance, and the imblic mind is on the tiptoe of expecta-
tion. The defence which will be set up at the trial is
rumoured to be on the scientific point—as to the possi-
bility of detecting strychnine in the stomach after death;
and as Professor Taylor, in the Rugely cases, gave evi-
dence antagonistic to that advanced by Mr. Morley and
Mr. Nunneley, it is exceedingly probable he will be an
important witness at the judicial investigation of the
case.