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    Admiral Napier has done nothing in the Baltic—why Admiral Dundas is unpopular in the Black Sea fleet—these also , surely , are Parliamentary questions . We have Sir E . Belcher tried by Court Martial for feebleness in an Arctic expedition ;—why not try by public opinion admirals who , by nervousness , lose us great political alliances , and admirals who , by the infirmities of age , disgust a gallant fleet who have at least this claim on the nation—that they shall be well commanded . When battles like that at Alma are fought , there should be an English Parliament to vote thanks where thanks are due—and

    censure where there has been a stupidity ; and at Alma , it is freely and publicly said of two of our generals , there were terrible blunders . It is true that Parliament is at present not representative of the country—is merely representative of powerful classes in the country ; and hence we admit the force of the suggestion that a November Session would not necessarily bring the policy of the Government into accord with the desires of

    public ^ p inion . But there is a small party in Parliament which , negatively at least , has great -power in protecting popular rights ; and as , at any rate , we have no other machinery by which to present popular opinion to the Parliament , and to the Crown , we must avail ourselves of this means at getting aU that the public ever gets—a hearing . And a November Session might be desirable , simply because it would be a failure ; for how are we to get Parliamentary Reform , except by arranging that Parliament shall stultify itself ?

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    THE CAMPAIGN IN" THE BALTIC . The campaign in the Baltic is over for this year . Cronstadt has been observed , Helsingfors has been watched , Sveaborg has been irritated , Revel has been teased , and the Czar has been , sighted by a 68-pounder as he sat in his carriage-and-four . Bomarsund , the solitary trophy of the year , amidst all these tedious and tantalising demonstrations , has been stormed by gallant Alliesaided by Luimcu uui ii

    our , uocu o vy guiiciu . ^ i . jiit /» , JUUWU vy a detachment of our own blue jackets and marines , after being played upon at " long balls" by the discreet Admiral Chads ; and the foundations have been , razed by experimental artillerists , under the secure eye of the same discreet Admiral Chads , who , a miracle of self-denial , stood afar off during the reduction of the forts , to come in after the death with a kick or two at the "

    rnmams . " The key of the Aland archipelago is handed over for the winter to a local concierge , a tailor and contractor , who has already asserted the integrity and independence of his dominions by calling his population under arms , and vigorously ousting half a dozen illdisposed Russian ex post facto intruders . Sweden has been " sounded" by diplomatists as well as by the pilots of the fleet , and seems not unreasonably content to remain neutral so long as the operations of the Allies are

    confined to " sounding . " The Royal House of Denmark , brought within a male or two of Russia , dynastically speaking , by Western diplomacy , has consummated a coup d'Jtat , and suppressed a Constitution almost undor the guns of the Western Powers . It has been said that the truo moaning of diplomatic notes ia to bo found not iu the written linos .

    but in the blank spaces between the linos ; in like manner the results of the expiring campaign in the Baltic are to bo lookocl fornot m what the fleets liavo done , but in what they have loft undone . A very few linen have described tho former ; the blank Bimces of th © latter wo leavo to our readora to till up . The campaign in the Baltic ia over for this {^ if ! lefc . U 8 repeat . Had it boon over so 'brilliant in achievements , and ever bo

    triumphant in its issues , it must still be over with the last days of October , and when Austria flaunts her ingratitude , and even maudlin Prussia plays impotently false , the Czar has inexorable winter for his steadfast and sure ally . Cowering all the nightless summer long under his tiers of granite batteries , he " trusts quietly , " as Marshal JVIarmont said , " to the ice for a sure deliverance . " We therefore hear , without surprise and without indignation , that all the sailing line-of-battle ships have left Kiel for the south , and may

    be expected at Cherbourg and Spithead before the close of the present month . Twelve British screw line-of-battle ships remain to the last available moment to enforce the blockade , and to tempt , we fear in vain , the Russian ships to come out and try conclusions , wlrfle the flying steam squadron scours the northern gulfs and cleaves , the earliest floes of ice . That this perilous and perplexing service will be carried out , as long as a keel can float , with perfect zeal , energy , - and

    efficiency , needs not our assurance . For many weeks past the constant dangers peculiar to those shoaly and narrow seas have been increased by a succession of icy fogs and hard , driving gales . Moderate breezes have been few and brief in , the dreary round of wild and " dirty" weather . Anxious and wearying times for all hands , we may be sure ! 3 SFo glory , no eclat , no mention in the Gazette , but day and night unceasing duty , calm and zealous devotion to rough work , little comfort , and no rest !

    We have religiously abstained from echoing a , ny Vulgar clamour of ignorant impatience ; we have always held it to be a saered duty of tile press to deal tenderly and respectfully with the reputations of gallant men serving their country in the van of danger and honour abroad . We may be permitted to recal our words on the appointment of the present Commander-in- Chief of the Baltic Fleet . On the 11 th of March , we wrote :

    "If before the appointment was fixed , loolungto the wide range of choice which an English Government possesses in the number of tried and able officers , thorou ghly qualified to take a distinguished part in our naval operations , our own unbiassed and deferential judgment pointed to another , let -us say , that from the moment Sir Charles Napier received his appointment , he has not only our best wishes but our unstinted trust . His dashing and zealous

    characteristics as a seaman no one has ever doubted , and in such a moment the nation makes the man . But , at all events , our constant principle is this , and it will guide us in other affairs as well as the present before the appointment to criticise the selection ; and after the appointment , to judge by tho acts . On no other conditions can a nation be well served . It ia scarcely possible that Sir Charles Napier can fail to make full use of his unparalleled opportunity . "

    Before tho appointment of Sir Charles Napier , on tho 18 th of February , wo had writton : " What are tho qualities England has a right to expect in the Commander-in-Chiof of her Baltio Fleet . In the first place he should bo in the active vigour of life , a condition which excludes a largo class of * dear old men ' whom tho country would gladly see laid up in ordinary at a comfortable pension in Pall Mall East Wo -want a man of sound and active body , vigorous and uncloudad mind , ripo in experience , fresh from active service .... a man of temper , of moderation , strict in duty , an example of self-respect to all . Surely there are many such to bo found : wo have but tho embarrassment of selection . "

    Was this an unreasonable- catalogue of qualities to demand of a Oommandor-in-Chief ? If not , wo now claim the right to " judge by tho acts . " If we havo rofusod to pander to popular clamour , neither will we echo popular delusions . Perhapa , one of the moat striking and singular of all popular delusions of our tiino , has boon the boliof that Sir Charloa Napier was tho only man adequate- to command tho Baltio Moot . If the gallant admiral has exploded nothing else this year , wo trust ho has successfully exploded that amazing articlo of our national belief .

    Without detracting from the past services of Sir Charles , we can only hope there were better men among the rejected candidates for the command . Sir Charles Napier said he was too old for the work , and our Government might decently have deferred to the suggestion .

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    THE ARMY MADE NATIONAL . The faint expectation that was created early in the week by the reports that Prussia was giving in to the Austrian policy , has disappeared . King Frederick William seems true to the firmness of vacillation , and cannot make up his mind to a course which is safe , because that course looks bold . Rather than join the other Powers in Europe to put down the great outlaw , he prefers to turn between right and wrong , to negotiate between crime and justice , and substituting craft for courage , lie seeks'to set all Europe , as well as a corner of it , by the ears , in the hope of profiting in

    the scuffle . If Hussia is the great burglar of empires , Prussia is the pickpocket of kings , who stands by to filch . wtafc he can , while the policemen are arresting the greater criminal . As the autocrat has / doomed Europe to an effusion of blood , the petty . larcener seeks to increase that effusion for his own purposes , and there is every probability that 'Europe will be divided into the two great ; parties of right and wrong—the Imperial and Royal thieves on one side , on the other the Lynehers of public justice . Our hope is encouraged by'the belief that the blood of our statesmen is up , that they are resolved to vindicate the influence and

    power of this country against any accomplices that Russia can engage in . her crimes . It so happens that the "wrong is against us , and thus it happens that our statesmen are on the right side . By the accident of their position , every blow they strike tells for humanity ; and the effusion , of blood to which the world is destined by the crimes of . Russia and Prussia happens , as it . has happened before in sucli mortal inflictions , to be a sacrifice for the benefit of the world . Already our statesmen show a stronger sympathy for

    their kind , because they are engaged in a common quarrel . Already a nobler pride animates their actions , because , by the cast of fortune , they have "been thrown into a good cause ; and if tho true Republicans of Europe—those who seek more the common , weal than mere party objects , or theoretical distinctions — manage discreetly and fairly , Europe as well as England will get something out of this quarrel ; will get more out of it than the pitiful pickpocket , who is trying to send the . engines astray , that he may pick pockets during the fire .

    If ono thing is more apparent than another , it ; is , that tho calculations of thoso who reckon upon a long enduring peace , who told us of political objects to be gained by " passive action , " and ' tried to mako us believe iu political power divorced from material strength , have- been , refuted , in the groat and obvious ovonts of Europe . Physical force is now deciding between right and wrong . If physical force wore to fail on our side , wrong would prevail . Political injustice , oppression , rapine , and the gmsaoafc crimes iindev which the human flesh can

    quake , would bo inflicted , uofc only u \) on n largo portion of Europo , but upon oursu-lvos . If ait this mom on t wo can still otand up in the political independence of a nation , iu tho safety of our municipal institutions , and tho comfort of our individual freedom , it in because we aro wtrongor in tho right arm and in tho Hfionco of physical force . A h tho cannon tears away the walla of tho abdomon . and © xjpoHcs a hidoous lesson in anatomy to tho unoxpoctiug oyoa of tho bystander , so

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    October 21 , 1854 ] THE LEADER . 997

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 21, 1854, page 997, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2061/page/13/