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
comparatively 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