The Press. — London, England, 1858-10-23 00:00:00

THE PRESS, OCTOBER 23, lB5B. 1022 regretted, still it did not arise from any neglect on the part of the Government, but by reason of the im provement daily making in science and art—in the mode and regulation of the conduct of affairs of the maritime world. It arose alone from the introduction of steamships ; it was this which had such an effect upon the condition of our navy. The introduction of steam had, as it were, created in maritime matters a clean sheet of paper over the whole world, and had called upon all nations to begin again in nautical matters. They might consider that sailing-ships were struck out as engines of war, though of course they were still fitter for means of transit and for mercantile purposes where ecanomy was an object and time of comparatively small consequence, with regard to limiting bodies upon the water. For the purposes of war, however, sailing-vessels were at an end, and had been since 1850, when they first began to propel ships of war by the screw system. Since that time the nations of the world had begun to create new navies. He must say and impress it upon them, that he believed the condition of our navy to be weaker than at any period, certainly abso• lutely weaker than that of some great powers near us ; and though the vote given by Parliament might be considered large, still they must open their purses, and give more to put the Government in a position to do justice to the brave men who were ready to embrace the public service. Ho felt justified in enlarging upon this subject, as he was sure it was one that would soon press itself upon the public mind. Those who conducted the affairs of the im portant naval profession were not altogether settled in their minds as to the mcst expedient way of laying out the public money in the mangier best calculated to promote the public good, for so rapid was the pro gress of science and so variable the minds of inventors that not six months elapsed without some change. This led to great difficulties, for no sooner was pro duced what was thought complete than a step in advance was introduced, and frequently what had been done had to be undone. Improvements were introduced, not only in the construction of ships of war, but also in the most economical way of producing them. It was but the other day that it was his duty to visit the different ports in the country on a tour of inspection, with a view to report ou the state of the navy, and he then had opportunitiea of seeing experi ments made which had proved to him the miserable inefficiency of our present ships for war purposes : be meant the ships built of wood. Experiments were tried upon the side of an oak-built frigate, which was plated with iron in sections in various ways. On one part was placed a sheet of iron four inches thick, wrought in her Majesty's dockyard ; another section was plated with iron four inches in thickness, but in different plates, the one over the other; then there were plates of iron covered with indiarubber ten inches thick, and various other preparations. The frigate was laid off a battery, and fired upon with 68 pounders charged with 10Ib. of powder. The result was that the iron first mentioned broke every shot as if they were dust., and all the other sheathings were shot through as though they were rotten eggs. The bit of iron four inch's thick wrought in the com mon way resisted the fire of those heavy guns for several hours, and ho would put it to intelligent minds what a revulsion such a fact as that must at once create not only in the state and condition but in the form of our tloating bodies destined for war pur poses. Constructed in the ordinary manner they could not possibly carry the weight of their iron sides together with their guns, so they must reduce or cut down their top sides. It was surprising that this material had never been thought of before to cover the sides of ships of' war, but when the idea did occur it occurred to two or three at the same moment, though he believed that the compliment for its first introduction was due to the present Emperor of the French, who coupled it with the screw propeller. If, then, we intend to he, as we always had been, the most formidable maritime power in the world—and if we were not that we must sink into a secoud-rate power, inasmuch as in ships of the line we were already inferior to other nations—they must not be surprised if Government asked them for sums of money sufficient to place the navy on the footing in which every Englishman wished to see it. It had been the practice very much of late on the part of writers who chiefly instructed and led the public, and for whom he entertained the highest respect, to " puff up " the condition of the navy, and to lead the people to believe that it was the finest in the world, and also to lead the public to believe that England's navy was a most important item in effecting a settle ment of the late war with Russia. It was no such thing. In the late war our maritime power had been co mparatively nothing. He should perhaps be ex cused, the subject being so important, if Ile substan tiated his statements by some quotations from the "Annual Register," showing what our power is, what it was, and what it ought always to be, remem bering that it was not only necessary to have fleets at sea, but to maintain the command of the British Channel, for whatever power we were engaged in war with must never be allowed to approach the shores of Old England. The army ass a profession might be useful when the foe reached our coasts, but we should he prepared with fleets ready to put to sea at any moment to prevent them reaching the shores of our That precious gem, born of the silver sea. Ile forgot the context at the moment, but ho knew it applied to ;he important matter of the protection of our sea girt isle, which we should make defensible against any fleets that could possibly be put to sea. In the seven years' war of 1763 we had 113 sail of the line, and Parliament voted 56,626 seamen and marines, and in those which followed the figures were as under : Seamen and War. Date. Sail. Marines. American French Revolutionary 1802 .. 120 .. 120,100 With France lBl5 . 113 .. 110:187 With Russia 1836 .. 33 ".. 67,729 And they actually had great difficulty in fitting out the thirty-three ships in the last instance. Those ships went to sea in such a condition as to inflict a positive injustice on the brave officers in command of them ; and if it had not been for the efficiency of the latter and the way their crews were discipline .I they might as well have stopped at home. In all probability the statement he was nor making would go to the public, and he was sure all who read it would join him in a prayer to the Government and the country for grants for the purpose or putting on its legs that force which alone could insure the pro sperity, the welfare, indeed the safety of the country. The next question to which they should turn their minds, supposing the fleets provided, was to the stout hearts who were to man them, which had been a subject of great importance in the minds of all the governing po.vers for many years, for, from the nature and character of our commerce, which ex tended over the whole globe, there was always great difficulty in mantling the fleet of ships usually in com mission, even with the ample time afforded under ordinary circumstances, the ships being gradually rigged and fitted. The provision in this respect, then, for a sudden emergency was, and had been for years, the question of the day. In times gone by, when the public mind was not so powerful or in quiring, and the press was not the great and almost all•ruliog power it had since become, it was the custom in such emergencies to lay an embargo on our ports, and take the seamen by the strong hand to man our fleets. But in the progress of time the public had decided that this was a painstaking, an unsatis factory, and a slave-making mode, which they would not put up with any longer; and, consequently, every • thing had been done of late years to ameliorate the condition of the seamen on board our ships of war, and to render the service of the country more popular. That was the course that had been and was still being taken ; but although he would not speak dispara gingly of the sailor—for without a characteristic he was about to impute to them our tars would not be what they were—their recklessness was such that they only valued what was before their eyes at the moment, and disregarded anything like provision in the shape of pension in the time of sickness or old age. Her Majesty had been pleased to place him at the head of a commission, with the view of seeing if anything could be laid before her Majesty to solve this great problem—how in the case of need they should be enabled at short notice to man thirty or forty sail of the line. He felt that the undertaking was a grave one, and he addressed himself thereto with the greatest possible desire to bring it to a satisfactory conclusion. Ho did not think the Crown should abandon that great and important right it had ever exercised for the purpose of the defence of the country, of taking persona who had been bred to the naval profession, whether merchant seamen or other wise, and compelling these persons to stand forth in defence of the country. There was not a man in England who was not compelled by moral law and constitutional right to give up his blood for the defence of the country; and he was at a loss to under stand, that being the case, that merchant seamen should not be compelled to lend their exertions to protect the homes and firesides of England. While be felt that every exertion should be made to ameliorate the condition of the sailor, and to provide at the expense of the State for his widow and orphans, he seriously advocated that the Crown should never abandon the right of impressment, but adhere to the principle of laying an embargo on our ports and seizing sailors for the defence of the country. He knew the exercise of the power was painful, and should only be used in cases of the direst emergency; but used it ought to be when the lives, the property, the wealth of the inhabitants of this great nation were at stake. When such sacred interests were at stake the matter vanished before his mind as a question of law, the two great questions being placed in juxta posit:on. The mode of taxing was a difficult subject to decide on—whether by a ballot, as in the militia ; whether for a term of years, according to the age of the parties : all these questions must be considered, this being an island, and consuieruig that, though at peace, and he prayed fervently th a t this peace mi g h t continue, we should always be prepared for war, The officers of the navy were most anxious to be placed in such a position by the good understanding and right feeling of the people of England, and when called upon to shed their blood in the defence of their country, weapons and means should be placed in , heir hands, not only to show their ability and strength, but their readiness to meet the liberal expenditure of the country by making the best use of those weapons. His lordship resumed his seat amid loud and continued cheering. THE EARL OF SHAFTESBURY ON INDLt AND CHINA. AT the annual meeting of the Leeds Auxiliary Bible Society, on Monday night, The Earl of SittrrEsnufty, who presided, having appealed to his audience to promote the spread of the Gospel in France, Austria, and Italy, sa id t h at eudesett to devotethe countries t a h eepf strongrbnet East prin cipal se t c l o wp n eh t r i i t n e n f a t tt o ha f el it E r t ie u mb r o ee s p r m while acting in the most free and catholi c s pi r i t on h p t r s h e s e t o e y n t :I claim, but peculiarly so at that moment. It was im possible to look upon the two great empires of India and China without seeing that they were invited, he might say commanded, to direct their special efforts to the evangelization of their people. India pre sented peculiar claims, for not only was she now a constituent part of her Majesty's empire, and her people their fellow-subjects, but she was fast emergi • ng from a frightful revolution; and if they wished to govern that empire, and to prevent the recurrence of such horrors as had been disclosed during the mutiny, not only in fact but in their very notion, they must do all in their power to raise the people of India to a level with themselves in spiritual knowledge, and give them the means of free access to the written Word of God. Notwithstanding all that had taken place, India was at that moment in a position more favourable than she had ever been before for the diffusion of God'a Word. This was the opinion of almost every one who hail the opportunity for forming a correct judgment, and from every quarter of that vast empire was heard the cry, " Come over and help us." With reference to the past, he must say that he thought thtiir missionaries had committed a great mistake, as well as all engaged in circulating the Scriptures, by the special attention they bad given to the conversion of the high caste and the Brahmin. They had been thought objects peculiarly worthy the claim of the missionary, who had thus, uninten tionally, done much more than he was aware of to fasten on the native mind that vanity, that conceit, that self sufficiency, that conviction which pervaded Indian society that caste was a thing of immense value. The conversion of a Brahmin caused more noise than the conversion of a dozen pariahs, and the news circulated from hand to hand over the entire country, and thus the attachment to caste had been unintentionally fostered. And yet that caste was the great, almost the only, obstacle to civilization in India, and it was their duty to set it aside, to treat it with the contempt it deserved. For God's sake, do nothing which should savour of coercion or civil disability ; do nothing which should enable the mostimalignatit to say that they were not acting in accordance with justice; but let them ignore caste, and declare that they would recognize nothing but individual merit, whether found in the proudest Brahmin or the meanest Sudra, declare that caste was of no value and had no influence, and they might depend upon it there was not a Brahmin in India who would not soon pocket his caste, and that in a few years they would hear no more about it. Hitherto the no-caste population, numbering no less than twenty millions, and forming the aboriginal race and the hill tribes of the country, had bee n neglected by the Christian missionary, but they formed the army of Clive and of Lawrence, they obtained the dominion of the country, and if the English nation were only true to them they would save India,. as they had w../I1 it, and keep it in peace for the advancement of religion and civilization. Everything showed that in India opportunities were opened to them such as were never opt ned before, and he did hope that, in con• junction with that excellent society for training native schoolmasters and schoolmistresses, to teach in the vernacular, special attention would be di rec ted to India. Then as to China, they had now established a treaty which gave them free access into that empret and recognized not only the existence of Christianity, but for some the right to teach it. It was p ossible thato some time the stipulation would b e onl y a bare _ or principle , u the op nb t e ing was made, and it was I well them to avail themselves of it ; and it W wh ikS ether worthy the consideration of the Bib le Society, a special Lund should not be opene d for the issue of one million Chinese Bibles, for circ ulation in China. Attention should also be directed to the Chines emigrants in their Australian colon ies. It wa s cal. culated that there were something like 40,000 Chinese nd thieking in Australia. They were an intelligent a people, and as they everywhere evinc • ed the j2teptiOU TilE PRESS OCTOBER 23, 1858. -Ise from any neglect on Old England. The army its a profession might be peace, and he prayed fervently that this peace might 'by reason of the im- useful when the foe reached our coasts, but we should continue, we should always be prepared for war. -o and art—in the be prepared with fleets ready to put to sea at any The officers of the navy were most anxious to be c affairs of the moment to prevent them reaching the shores of our placedcalleandrd ig upon to shedihnt fseueclhihag position bnyplethnef gEonodglaVerstanding • 'etroduction island,—when sn effecttheir That precious gem, born of the silver sea. ;on of country, weapons and means should be placed in ,beir • a lfe forgot the context at the moment, but ho knew hands, not only to show their ability and strength, but it applied to :he important matter of the protection their readiness to meet the liberal expenditure of the -'f our sea•girt isle, which we should make defensible country by making the best use of those weapons. :nst any fleets that could possibly be put to sea. His lordship resumed his seat amid loud and seven years' war of 1763 we had 113 sail of continued cheering. and Parliament voted 56,626 seamen and in those which followed the figures were THE EARL OF SHAFTESBURY ON INDIA. Seamen and AND CHINA. Date. Sail. Marines. AT the annual meeting of the Leeds Auxiliary Bible 17+42 .. 126 .. 105,433 .. 120 .. 112.0,100 Society, on Monday night, .. 113 .. 1 01,387 The Earl of Sittrrnsnuoy, who presided, havin33 g 67,729 appealed to his audience to promote the spread of in fitting out the Gospel in France, Austria, and Italy, said that '-kuce. Those while acting in the most free and catholic spirit on 4o inflict a the continent of Europe, they must devote the prin. "Inland cipal part of their energies to those countries of the vof East which at all times presented to them a strong I claim, but peculiarly so at that moment. It was im oossikle to look upon the two great empires of India ,1 China without seeing that they were invited, he • say commanded, to direct their special efforts -angelization of their people. India pre 'iar claims, for not on:), was she now a + of her Majesty's empire, and her subjects, but she was fast emerging lotion; and if they wished to .0 prevent the recurrence of closed during the mutiny, ^v notion, they must -eople of India to •nowledge, and the written ,c 1 taken more