The Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1860-05-17 00:00:00

HER MAJESTY'S SHIP MAJESTIC.

The coracles and flat-bottomed boats of the ancient
Briton ; the ceols, hulks, aescs and boats of the Saxons;
the navy of the great Alfred, *high consisted of galleys
rowed by thirty tit forty pair Of dirsiten ; the Great
Harry of Aeiify the Seventh, and th 6 Grace de bleu
of Henry the Eighth, tnaiined by their titaire subjects,
maintained in the days of Obi the tionotit Of out country;
and kept the nations of the earth in constant awe and
subjection: But, suppose the ancient Briton, the Saxon
warrior, Alfred the Great, thB seventh Flew and the
eighth Henry, tiotild obtain a peep at the present fleet
of battle ships—old England's wooden Walls, which
ride majestically and reign supreme on every sea—they
would find boats larger than their finest vessels, and
many a line of battle ship which would have shattered
to the winds all their fleets combined. Still !hese were
the men who sowed the acorn and trimmed the sapling's
which have growil into the mighty oak-made "messengers
of Kteith',' of the i6th century. , When Ring John
claimed the Sovereignty of the dais, and declared all
foreign ships, which refused to strike to the. British
flag, fair and lawful prizes, he little dreamt his dec.
cendant, Queen yict9Eil; would rnlin a greater dis 7
tinction, in eivaying the sceptre of invincible power over
tt7;ry ocean, and in ruling over lands and peoples
in every ttitte And she does title on every
Sea, aiid tlfe does give lairs tb eitry country,
fof it had been said the son never sets on her
dominiOni: One Of these riiiMMOth vessels of
which Yictpria's navy consists now lieSln the Mersey,
At the usual station nearly opposite Itock-ferry. Thrmigh
the kin tress of Captain ,Men4s the public were allowed
• Monday to make an : insPeqion, of her stupendous
armaments, which cdnipiiSe every modern improvement
in naval warfare. She is a first class screw steamship
of 2,566 registered tonnage and carries eighty guns ;
was built at Chatham and launched in 1853 ; she has
two engines of a combined nominal power of 400 and
indicated power of 700 horse. . On the upper deck are
twenty-four gunS; on the main and lower decks twenty-
eight guns; fourteen are of eight inch bore and sixty -
five cwt. each; • the others ate thirty-tWo pounders of
weight ranging front forty two to sixty-dye cat. each.
The eoniniander is Captain BierldS. The officers num-
ber thirty-pile:OfegOtt She. i manned by 327
marines, boys, acid seanieri; Set itill cernplernent how-
ever numbers over 700. The arrangements on board
are precisely similar to those of all first class men'-of-
war. The stab-room is situated of course in.the after
part of the vessel on the upper deck ; and is tastefully
and expensively decorated. Underneath is the ward
room where the snperior officorz, vlevou ,-16,,retner, mess
and sleep. Below that on the lower de:l is the gun-
room and mess-room of the subordinate officers. Here
also is the office where all the business is transacted and
the men paid, by tWo paymasters and three assistants.
The lover (lea possesses the gfetilegt, atWaithi for the
casual visitor, with the exception of the ladies; who, as
matter of course, crowdnear the stern on the main deck..

. .
It is on the loWer deck that the men live, eat, drink, and
sleep: Their messes are arranged between the guns ;
and their hammocks above the guns,' 24 inches in
breadth by many feet in length of hanimack room
being allowed each marl. IA the Men Mess at the same
time ; and everybody present during meal time on
Monday must have enjoyed the scene. There was a
hum of conversation passing around ; the boys were
especially humorous in their actions : 'type of the
Briton, with youthful vigour stamped on each broW,
undaunted by the skirmishes of past days, without a
thought for the future, unknown to grief, insensible
almost to pain, braVe, generous, and noble, there they
were, between the guns--Leating. talking; laughing,
baWling; and tumbling al3orit. llo* tticio liercule.s
in miniature enjoyed jokes of their own Making; here
one ii&et hot tea into his neighbour's lap, and these a
second tapped a bisorit-niunehing coniraile on the back,
causing parts of the bread to stick in his windpipe and
half choke him. The rest appreciated the fun, and the
performers were thanked by being thrown into a similar
dilemma in return. On board the Majestic one day is
Very . like another,—" ship life knows little of
hours ;" the day is divided into six watches, and each
watch to eight bells: On 'Sundays hammocks are
piped up" at seven, wrapped neatly in the canvass
hanimock, and plated lie the hettings, where they have
the benefit of the breeze and the sunshine. After
breakfast the men are informed how to dress for church
according to the Season. Inspection by the officers and
surgeon ensues, and then the captain inspects them all
on the upper and main decks. Ail being ready, divine
service takes place on the quarter deck. There is no
work done on Sunday. At half-paSt four the men are
" piped" to supper, and the evening is brought to a
close at an early hour. Beneath the lower deck is the
cock-pit, where the injured get surgical aid: The cabins
of the officers are arranged around the fore cock-pit, and
each of these is ornamented to the varying and often
peculiar taste of their occupiers. The inferior officers
sleep also on this deck, their hammocks being slung
outside the cabins. Under the fore 'part of the "pit" is
a store-room, which contains very interesting 'relics of
the Russian war. There is a deible-headed Russian
shot whiCh passed *Rhin a few inches of the head of
Captain Mends, who at that time was Admiral Sir E.
Lyons's flag captain ; a drum picked up on the field in
Dha, 1.110 master gunner of the
Majestic ; and a number of other things in the shape of
swords and arms. In every place there is perfect order ;
every hole and corner is occupied by shot and arms;
above the gas are hung the sponges, rammers, and
words, for loading and cleaning the guns; arms for the
Ilse of the Marines, and boxes of shells, Millie and
Enfield rifles stand in racks around the sail-room and
gunners'-room ; boxes of arms for boat service lie hero and
there, and in the hold of the ship are two large powder
magazines. Shots and spare cables and ropes, car
porters' tool-chests, shot lockers, plugs for plug-
ging shot holes=-occupy their proper spheres ; and
such exquisite order is observed elicry*here, that
nothing soots to be oat or its own proper
place, which reflects * the greatest credit upon the
captain, the first lieutenant, and all the officers and men
on board.

_Recent discoveries id our dockyards of rotten
gnnbdats, coupled with the half discovered designs of the
gentleman across the water, has attracted the attention of
the nation and created a good deal of sensation about the
state of our navy. But it need not he doubted that a
fleet of ships, of the size and strength of the Majestic
commanded by men of the experience of her captain,
would, in case of a rupture, make all our warlike neigh-
bours feel that the wooden walls of old England are as
strong and impenetrable as ever.

VICE-CHANCELLOR'S COURT.-YESTERDAY,

:Before the Worshipful WILLIAM M. JAMES, Q.C.)

JOHNSON AND ANOTHER V. GALLAGHER AND
OTHERS.—At the sitting of the court this morning his
liononr stated that he would defer his decision in this
case until the other cases had been disposed of, for the
purpose of affording Mr. Prendergast and Mr. Bonds-
well an opportunity of consulting upon the point, of law
which had,been raised in the.case. •
MERCER V. JAMES.—Thin was an issue in which
some building transactions between the plaintiff and the
the former residing at Manchester, had been
raised. After hearing the arguments the court deferred
its judgMent:
HUGHES • ;V. WOODS. —ln this case, the plaintiff
sought to recover the value of a, quantity of bricks,
supplied to the defendant, which had been made at a
field in the neighbourhood of Edge-hill, near Liverpool,
on the defendant's ground. It appeared that the agent
of the plaintiff, being in possession of the defendant's
field, sold same bricks to the latter, at 235. per thou-
sand, and the claim being objected to the present suit
had been instituted. On the part of the defendant, it
was contended that the claim could not be sustained, on
the ground that the bricks were mule on his own field,
and that the materials of which they were constructed
were his own property. Whbn the court rose at half-
'past five o'clock the arguments had not been concluded.

Dr. Emerson, an American missionary, has jus
returned via Panama to the United States to the Sand
wick Islands, where he has resided uninterruptedly for
30 years. Until be arrived at the Isthmus he had never
seen a railroad, having left his country before such
things were thought of.
FREEDOM OF THE CITY TO CAPTAIN 314CLINTOCR,
R.N.—The Lord Mayor has fixed Saturday; the 19th,
at one o'clock, for the presentation of the freedom of the
city to Sir Leopold M'Clintock, at the Guildhall. His
lordship has invited a large and distinguished company
to the Mansion-house on the evening of that day, to
meet Lady Franklin, Captain INl‘Clintock, and his gallant
comrades of the yacht Fox.
THE LATE COUNT SZECRENTI.—In a will drawn up
by the late Lord Szechenyi, in 1833, is the following
singular passage :--" I wish my body, if possible, to be
taken to England—a country in which I have learned
so much—in order that it may there be dissected. My
reason for wishing, this is, that my example may tend to
diminish the dislike which is felt by the English to the
dissection of the bodies of their relatives."
We understand the Emperor of the French has been
pleased to accept of a copy of the translation recently
made by Mr. J. H. Simpson, of selections from his
Majesty's writings, entitled " Napoleon 111. on Eng-
land," and to compliment the author on the felicity of
hig translation. Permission at the same time has been
given to Mr. Simpson to translate the entire writings of
the Emperor, and the English translation will in duo
time be published "by authority."
THE NATURE OF Womira.r.—As my father used to
say (observes the Season Ticket), as to women, you
must study their nature. When he lived at Sheffield,
and his establishment was small, he never rang the bell
for the maid, but, when he wanted her, always went
out into the street to call her : be said women were sure
to be fonnd looking out of the window. In like manner
he always hired the prettiest girls he could find ; they
waited for the men to run after them, but the ugly
ones always wasted their time running after the men;
one stayed at home, and tb.e other didn't.