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    October 21, 1854.] THE LEADER. 997

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    THE CAMPAIGN IN THE BALTIC. The campaign...

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    THE AHMY MADE NATIONAL. The faint expect...

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    A November Session. Parliament Has.Been-...

    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 publie opinion admirals who , by nervousness , lose us great political alliances , and admirals -who , hy the infirmities of age , disgust a gallant fleet who have at least this claim on the nation—that they shall be Tvell 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 opinion . 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 all 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 ?

    October 21, 1854.] The Leader. 997

    October 21 , 1854 . ] THE LEADER . 997

    The Campaign In The Baltic. The Campaign...

    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 , Uevel 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 our gallant Allies , aided by 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 "

    remains . ' 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 noutral so long aa the operations of the Allies are confined to " sounding . " Tho Royal House of Denmark , brought within a malo or two of

    Russia , dynastically speaking , by " Western diplomacy , has consummated a coup d'etat , and . suppressed a Constitution almost under the guns of tho Western Powers . It has been said that the true moaning of diplomatic notes is to be found not in tho written lines , l ) ut in tho blank spnees between tho linos ; in like manner the results of the expiring campaign in tho Baltic aro to bo looked fornot in what tho fleets have done , but in what they have loft undone . A very few linea have described the former ; tho blank apace a of the latter we leave to our readers to fill up . The campaign in tho Baltic ia over for this year , lot us x'epoat . Had ib boon ever so brilliant in achievements , and over ao

    triumphant m 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 Marmont 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 , while 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 ! JSTo 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 abst ained from echoing any vulgar clamour of ignorant impatience ; we have always held it to be a sacred duty of the 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 xecal our words on the appointment of the present Commander-iii-Chief of the Baltic Fleet . On the 11 th of March , we wrote :

    " If _ before the appointment was fixed , looking to the wide range of choice which an English Government possesses in the number of tried and able officers , thoroughly 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 the acts . On no other conditions can a nation be well served . It is scarcely possible that ? Sir Charles Napier eun fail to make full use of his unparalleled opportunity . "

    Before the appointment of Sir Charles Napier , on the 18 th of February , we had written : " What aro tiia qualities England haa a right to cxpeot in the Commandor-in-Chiof of her Baltic Fleot . In tho first place he should bo in tho active vigour of life , a condition which excludes a large class of ' dear old mon ' 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 unclouded 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 : we have but tho embarrassment of selection . "

    Was this an unreasonable catalogue of qualities to demand of a Oonuriander-m-Chiof ? If not , wo now claim , tho right to " judge by tho acts . " If wo haro refused to pander to popular clamour , neither will wo echo popular delusions . Perhaps , one of tho most striking and singular of all popular delusions of our time , has been the belief that Sir Charles Napior was tho only man adequate to command the Baltic Flout . If tho gallant admirul has exploded nothing else this year , wo trust ho haa successfully exploded that amazing article 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 G-overnment might decently have deferred to the suggestion .

    The Ahmy Made National. The Faint Expect...

    THE AHMY MADE NATIONAL . The faint expectation that was created early in the week ~ b y 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 , he seeks to set all Europe , as well as a corner of it , hy the ears , in the hope of profiting in the scuffle . 3 f llussia is the great burglar of

    empires , Prussia is the pickpocket of kings , who stands by to filch what he can , -while the policemen are arresting the greater criminal . As the autocrat has doomed Europe to an effusion of blood , the petty lareener 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 Lynchers of public justice . Out 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 IRussia and Prussia happens , as it has happened before in such 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 " 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 the 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 got more out of it than tho pitiful pickpocket , who is trying to send the engines astray , thut ho may pick

    pockets during tho lire . If one thing is moro apparent than another , it ; ia , that tho calculations of those who reckon upon a long enduring peace , who told us of political objects to bo gained by " passive action , " and tried to make us believe in political power divorced from material strength , have been refuted in the groat and obvious events of Euj'opo . Physical force is now deciding between right and wrong . If physical force wore to fail oa our aide , wrong would prevail . Political injustice , oppression , rapine , and tho grossest crimoa under which the human flesh can

    quako , would bo inllictod , not ; only upon a largo portion of Europe , but upon oiirrirlvoa . If at this momont wo can still stand iip in the political iudepeucloneo of a nation , in tho Bufoty of our municipal matitutiona ^ uii'l tho comfort of our individual Jroodom , it h because wo nro titrongor in tho right arm and in tho aoionco of physical force . Am the cannon toara away tlio walla of tho abdomen and exposes ) a hideout ) loawon in anatomy to tho unoxpocting oyoa of tho byatandor , ao

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 21, 1854, page 13, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_21101854/page/13/