The Sun.
London, England, 1856-03-14 00:00:00

ITALY AND SARDINIA.

Mr. BOWYER asked the First Lord of the Treasury
whether there was any truth in the report that the at-
tention of the Paris Couference would be directed to the
affairs of Italy ; and, also, whether the S4rdinian
Government had suggested or 'requested that any and
what matters of Italian politics might engage the atten-
tion of the Confe'rence ?

Lord PALNIERSTON declined to give any answer
4) the questions.

PRUSSIA.

Mr. DISRA,ELT asked a question relative to a ru-
mour that was in circulation in regard to Prussia having
been invited to take part in the Paris C3nferences, and
who were the distinguished individuals that were to re-
present that country at the Conferences ?
Lord PALMERSTON declined to answer the ques-
tion.

SIR CHARLES NAPIER AND THE BALTIC
FLEET.

Sir C. NAPIER (who, from speaking with his back to
the gallery, was very indistinctly heard) rose to move for a
select committee to inquire into the operations of the Baltic
fleet in the years 1854 and 1855. In making this motion he '
stated that his only object was to call attention to what
had taken place, and to vindicate his own character., He
urged that after so much had been said about what had
been done by the Baltic fleet while ceder his command,
what might have been done, and what was not done, he
thought it only fair that there should be an iuquiry whether
or not the admirals had done their duty ; so that if rot,
they might be brought to account and punished, or' if the
fault lay with the Admiralty, that they might be made to
bear the blame, anti not shift it from their own shoulders
upon those of others. He (Sir C. Napier) had served his
country for n years, he had served under four sovereigns,
and believed he had always (lane his duty faithfully
and honestly. He had commanded not fleets only,
but armies ; and he had at all times shown himself ready
to undertake any service to which he Might oither have
been appointed by his Goyernmeut or recommended by
them. It had been said by. the late Sir.R. peel, .that, in
two Minutes, ho hart overthrown a dynasty; but whether
that was so oe not he took credit for having .done sonic
service in expelling 'the nelirpor lion Miguel from, the
kingdom of Fortugel, • and establishing 'the constitutional
eivereign upon the throne. He would endeavour t') state
his case with moderation and jUstice. 'He hed a plain,
s'aaightforward ttla to tell, and had no occasion toTts!et
to exaggeration or subterfuge, and ho hoped that all- who,
f Wowed. hits would follow.ine example, and confine them-
selves to the simple truth, (Cheers.) On the 21th.of Nov,
1354, the then First, Laid of thoMeairelts, (4ir J..Gea-
hem) ceirmannicate'd his ,intention to.appeiet
Napier) to theecomMariti' if the Baltic fleet in the eseett
of a war eeith lenesia. At that time it -was known to.
every man in England, and ho'believed to'evt.r/ man in
Europe, except- the British Government;' that war was
inevitable. Ho received his appointment to thtecomrnand
on the 25th leebrnery ; but before that, after he had been
told that he was. to have the command of a fleet, he drew
attention to the importance of having that fleet well
manned. lie made representations to Lerd Aberdeen anti
he believed also to Lord Claroudon, of the unpreparedness
is whi.:ll our navy was for wile'. He also applied to th -
First Lord of the Admiralty, but he derlined to see him.
Well, on the 25th of February he was appoiute 1 to the
command of the Baltic fleet, and every member of that
lid ;se *would be aware that he felt proud at recn.vieg such
au appointment ; fOr there were many other officers in the
service, probably, who, from their greater capability,
.r
other • circumstances, Were more 'wait:ell to the ills.
tinction. BUt at this time what was the state of our
naval forces? We had three ships of Violin° at 'Llsbo •,
awl several steamers and small vesicle; while 'at hone
the only force we had available be,ides was three
;sail of the lino, to take care of the ()raillery- ,
:Nail tit for harbour, duty. They had three block
:ships, one a', Portsmouth, ono at Plymouth, .and one the
tender to the Excelleni gunnery ship. He adtnitted.thet
the Goreratnent the moment war was declared made the

• most strenuous exertions to fit oat an efficient naval force
—but it was impossible to-man the ships properly by the
amens to which they resorted. The only availabie hands
were the coast-guerdemon and the dockyard riggers, :tie]
of the former many .wore not smiles* at. all, havi ig ben
teepietetvii t the cerise! eemetel serviee be intlussuo There
wore two 84 or 9.)-grin ships, the St. Jean tt'Acro and the
Princess Royal, and another, a three-docker, ho b shrived
at Sheerness. . The great difficulty was to man th:, Beet
'•• • •rA j T.JVI 11110 A. cull-.
' ratty ought to kuow, that if the c sentry suddenly past. d
from -4esace to war, and an increase of 5,000 or 6,000
men in the navy became necessary on the instant, nothirg
was more difficult. • than -te procure -them. Well, he
( it Charles Napier) appealed to the right hon. baronet
to issue a proclamation, under the act of Parliament,
which empowered her Majesty to do so, and offer to
all seamen who would at once come forward and enter dotes
blo beunty; but the right lion. baronet did not think pro-
per to do se. He 'thought the right hon, baronet was
wrong ;. and lie believed'other 'members of the Admiralty
Board and some of the Ministers with whom he had c in -
inun'ca d also' thought he was wrong. They knew per-
fectly welt that the Russians had an effective fleet of 23 sail
of the line in the Baltic, well manned, and organised, and
regularly exercised, which was a force' not to be despised,
and, feel*? himself responsible fur the safety and character
of the fleet, he felt it his duty to make the representatioue
he had dime. He would pass over the celebrated banquet
at the Reform Club—that glorious banquet where such
fine speeches were inatle-e-speochei that stirred up the
country to such a pitch of expectation that if he had sue-
cisedeil in capturing Cronstedt and St. Petersburg, and
bringing home the. Emperor of Russia prisoner, they would
scarcely have been satisfied. (Laughter.) Bat he would
pass that over. (Hear.) The fleet was composed of two
three deckers, the throe block ships, two 84 gun ehips,snd,
ha thought, another ship from Sheerness—altogether theta
were nine ; and when this fleet was ready for sea at Spit-
head, her Majesty and almost all England—at all events, all
who could bear the expense—vent dawn to see it start ; and
of course everybody thought that to such a force Cronstadt
and St. Petersburg would surrender the momentthey saw it.
(Hear.) He saw the position he was in with this half-
manned fleet from which so much was exoected. He gave
the highest credit to the various officers for their zeal and
their efforts in bringing their ships into a proper state of
discipline as far as the defective means at their dispersal
would allow. (Hear.) After referring to the suddenness of
the order he received to sail, and the personal inconvenience
he was subjected to in consequence, he observed that the
Ottvern moat hat with their usual fc.ressight,procured pio'
front Hull and the eastern ports of England who were sup-
posed to be acqoainted with the navigation of the Baltic,
who were to take the fleet in safety up to St. Petersburg ;
but when they got to the Downs all the pilots except eight
loft them, and these eight knew so little of Baltic naviga-
tion that oncrby one they were also sent back. He did not
blame the Admiralty for this, for they did their best under
the circumstances ; but what he did complain of was that
no steps had been taken to obtain properly qvialified pilots
beforehand. He wrote from the Downs that they had. no
North San. pilots in the fleet, but he was ordered to sail the
next day, and of course he went. During the last war no
ship of the line was allowed to go to sea without three pi•
lots on board. But this the Governmentprobably could not
provide on the inst mt. Well, the fleet sailed, and, hap oily,
reached the Sound in safety. Then it arrived at Haugo
Sound, where he was directed by the right bon baronet to
take it, and there await further orders. About this time he
received an order from the Foreign Secretary so to dispose
of the ships under his command that no Russian steam-yes-
eel should escape by the Raltic. Now, those who know any-
thing about the Baltic woeld be a ware that Hango Sound was
not the place to prevent steamers coming upthe Baltic; but
env- people here did not know what the Baltic was. He
had to consider then how he was to execute these opposing
or.lers. If he had remained at Hang° Sound and the
itnesian fleet had put to sea and arrived at Copenhagen,
eatting off his only means of getting back, what would
have been said by the Government, by the house, and by
the country about his incapacity and neglect ? He would
have been told, "You had your orders from the Secretary
of State, and ought to have obeyed them as being superior
tie those of the First Lord of the Admiralty." Well, he
obeyed the Secretary 'df State's orders,/ and having very
active admirals under 'him, Admiral Plutnridge anti
others, be placed the steamers amongst the rocks and
shoals to command the passage there, and passed with the
main body of the fleet through the Belt without accident
or loss. On the following night they were obliged to
anchor in the Cattegat, in the open sea, the windblow-
ing so hard that the ships could not keep their sails
furled, and the men could not go out upon the yards.
He should observe that many of the men had never been
aloft before, and that altogether the fleet was in a most in-
efficient state in regard to the manning, and this when they
had a difficult service to perform in a dangerous sea and
against a peweriul and superior force. Well, when be
arrived at Kioge Bay he received a letter from the Admi-
ralty directing his attention to the order he had.received
from the First Lord, and intimating that he had left the
station appointed for hirn.to wireless at without sufficient
reason. Hoe ever, they afterwarila found out, he supposed,
t hat he had sufficient reason, for there came to him no less
than four letters from their lordships, which, he supposed,
as they were connected with the secret departrnent, he must
not read, but which the house might imagine the purport
of—one approving of biter:induct—another complimenting
him oft the successful passage of the Belt. On the Bth of
April he received a letter from the Admiralty condp:iment-
ing him upon his having permed the Belt under all the
circumstances. : Now what that meant he did not know,
unless the Admiralty hail forgotten their own order:. He
(Sir C. Nup er) wrote ailetter to their lordship in reply, to
the one he had alinded to, calling their attention to the
order ho had received front the Secretary of State to place
kis ships at the.head of theSoand, and prevent the Russian
fleet from getting elate and he added, I did my bast to
obey that order, and you blame Ime for so doing." Wall,
that passed off, and having succeeded in getting the fleet.
coaled and watered, on the 12th or April he sailed with 12
sail of the line for the Gulf of Finland. He hail hail by
this time•experience of the danger arising frem the vessels,
beings inadequately manned. He and the officers under him
did all they could in exercising the mon, and teaching them
their duty, but everybody must know that it wits not in
a day or two, or even in two or three weeks, 'that a fleet
even when menned by seamen, could be got into orderaud
efficient discipline ; but such had been our neglect of naval
affairs during peace, that we had very rarely had a fleet at
sea, and then ocly for a short time, and the ceesequeucs was
that when the necoseity more, men were not to bo found.
What would a Board of Admiralty, careful of the interests
of the country, have, done under puck oircumstcmcco ? It