The Express.
London, England, 1859-01-07 00:00:00

(Stamped ld. Additional.) [TWOPENCE.

NAVAL AND 1111L17ARY.

In addition to the vessels of war now being built
at Chatham Dockyard, two line-of-battle ship are ordered to
be laid down on the first slips that see vacant. Os* of the
new vessels is to be a .crow steamer of 91 guns and 800 horse
power.

PORTSMOUTH, Jp. 6.

The Shannon, M, screw frigate, Captain kronen
Marten, acting, woe towed down alongside the Sheer jetty
to-day, to be paid off.
The Osborne, Admiralty 'team yacht, Master Commander
George H. K. Bower, was taken into the ship basin to-day
to be dismasted, and taken into deck for repairs, and to be
brought forward for the summer servioe.

CLIATHAM,246. 6.

In accordance with orders received 'from the
Hoses Guards, the whole of the troops at this garrison, in-
cluding the Royal Marines and the Royal Engineers are
regularly marched out, once in each week, in heavy march-
ing order severe! mike into the open country. Daring the
march the troops are occasionally halted, and when the
nature of the ground permits are formed into line. The
dhows accompanying the troops are required to make eying
skatakin of the country on the march, and occasionally to
write a description of the country tratersid, and its coped-
ties for encamping an army.

BLR 0114.1LE8 NAPIER ON OUE NAVAL
Dimwit&

The following letter, addressed by Sir Charles
Napier to the Right Hun. Sir J. F`s.ld/sem, First Lord of
the Admirelry, has been handed to us for publication:
"My deer Sir John,—You have no doubt read in the
lions an article copied front the Conversations Lest:coo, on
the state of the novice of France and England, which is well
deserving your attention. That article will show you that
on the Continent the prestige of the British navy is very
much densaged, if not lost; and it is your duty, as the heed
of the naval administration, to endeavour to meters it, and,
it you are refused the means of so doing, there cannot be a
doubt that you will consider yourself bound in honour to
resign—end if there is patriotism amongst your colleagues,
they will certainly follow your example. I remember malting
the same statement in the Howe of Commons, to which you
nodded went.
_

"When you came into power you found fault with your
predeoemon end gave the country to understand you would
tit out • channel fleet and put the navy in a more efficient
state. You lave got up • channel squadron of five sail of
the line, it la true ; but you are beginning tatiillow the
footsteps of your predecomors, and are about paying off the
Shannon, which hen only been two years and • halt in com-
roisaion' and ought now to be in first-rate order, thus indi-
cating too clearly that the channel squadron is not to be
increased; report moreover says that the navy estimates are
to be cut down.

_
"Parliament will soon meet, and I venture to say in the
House of Commons whatever estimates you think proper to
propose will be cheerfully voted. It will be no answer to
my that there is no money to meet the votes, and the Chan-
calm of the Et:chequer will not lay on more taxes to rain
the needlul. From the position that you occupy you must
be aware that enormous sums have been fooled away without
any benefit to the service • but the people of Englandhowever, forgive that if ;hey see soy hope of amendment,
and will willingly vote whatever more le requisite, and submit
to pay whatever taxes are necessary, provided the money is
judiciously expended.
" I have often pointed out our extravagance in the hones
and out of the hone, but till lately bets made little imprem
ion. The visit to Cherbourg did much good in opening the
apes of a great many members of parliament, and ttiat visit
(by the paper I have alluded to) has had some effect in open-
ing the eyes of the people of the Continent also.
" It is very properly stated net the value and power of a
Best omelets of two points—the materiel end the perammel.
" I propose to examine them two questions, and see bow
far the statements made by the writer are borne out by facts.
" I will follow his example, and pot aside all aimless
vessel. and sailing ships of both rations, and oanfine myself
entirely to screws.
" The writer of the paper Mates that the materiel of the
two nations may be considered equal, leaving out of the cal-
culation our steam gun-boats (which, by the bye, are going
to decay).
" Sir Charles Wood, in the House of Commons, in 1867,
made nearly the same oilskin's ; and since then both
nations have been p on their screws as fast ea poi-
eiblkand converting the beai of their sailing ships.
"They will not make good men-of-war; but se the
French began that system we have been obliged to follow,
and have lately cut aown five theye-deckere and lengthened
them. They will be tolerable subetitutte till we have time to
get better.
' The people of England and some members of the House
of Commons complain of the constant increase of the navy
estimates; but they never think that within these few years
the invention of steam hes rendered useless the old ships,
and we are abeolutely building a new navy altogether ;
and, I sue sorry to say, the invention of Armstrong.
gun will render melees almost the whole of the naval ar-
" bat there has been great waste, and that money ham
beam injudicictiely spent by our nevi' adminutratiou, there
cannot be a doubt ; but • great deal of the expense is owing
to the progress of science and the new inventions of Ism
706711.
It le stated that the defeats the French met with were
more owing to the deficiency of their ship' than to any want
of bravery or prototeirmal capacity on the pert of their o®-
con. No navel officer ever for a moment doubted the
bravery of the French, for we all know that their colours were
never struck till at !met a third of their ship: companies
were killed end wounded, and the ships wellnigh knocked to
pieces. It wee not owing to the deficisecy of their chips
either in strength or weight of metal, for they were in general
as well built as our own, and superiorly armed, and mealy of
them were retained in our eenita and copied by us.
" The real mein of our success was owing to the British
ships of war being constantly at sea gaining rxpertenoe, and
the French ships being almost se contently in harbour, and
having no experience at ell, and their Laving lost almost ell
the best officers by the Revolution. Au old distinguished
Peach Whore once told me that there was no woods we
beet them lest war, Decease we were always at sea and they
were always in port; but now, he observed, things are
cbsaged, as we ere always at see, end our officers are shrine
employed. You are less at sea, know nothing about evolu-
tions, and two-thirds of your officers are unemployed. And
It is very well known that towards the end of the wee, when
Fresco mat single trigete• to sea, there were no less than
tour drawn battles ; they saw what the Americans had done
with their Smell navy, and followed their exempts.
" The author of the Cbowereatiou gives great credit to the
Prince de Jointed!e for the improvement of the French navy.
He was brought up under Admiral Leland, one of the best
officers in France, and profited by his example and instruc-
time ; and now we are doing ell we poseibly con to spoil ear
Sailor Prince, who may at some lattice time Le at the head
of the navy of England.
I " What S stated relative to the waste of money and the
failure of most of our paddle and of all our iron steamers ia
too true. . .

..
" Our first attempts at the screw were Dot successful ; such
v the Ampbion, Termagant, Dauntless, and Senspateil. Tee
four block ship. were very well in their wity, but unlit for
the line, and the sooner they are put &aide the better ; ea well
ea the four other block ships of 200-bores power, with mama
sod yard* reduced as it it was the intention of the projector
that they should neither steam nor sail. Lately we have
made meat progress, and produced the flees% screw-ships in
the world.

A. to our eun•boats, there 11 not much to be said,
that we built too many of them, and too few mortarZeat
The gun-boat. did hula or no good at Sweet:am. Our
mortar-boan did the work ; and, had there been ea many
mortar-boar as there were gun•boata, and only as many gun-
boats se we had niortar-boate, and good mortars in thew, we
Amid not only have destroyed the defences, but we should
have destroyed the island. thennelvcs on which the detencee
were pieced, and opened &panne fur our luneuf•battle ships
into the harbour. I will not compare the French floating
batteries with ours, fur I have not men the farIOW ; bet
Armstrong's gnus have rendered them melee..
" It is aLo mated that our auccoseful actions were owing
to our superior artillery; that is a mistake; we were gene-
rally opposed to larger ships and bonier metal. It was oar
experience at sea, our rapid fire, and superiority of our .its,
that gave in the victory. It is true we always Wed at this
hull, while the French tired moat at the mum and yards.
"They here bow found out their mistake, and aro doing
all they can to give their officers and men experience; and,
with the exception of gunnery, we scent to be doing all we
can to lore our seamanship and experience.
" I now come to the personnel. Since the pace the
French have mode greet improvements in manning their
navy, and we have made little or nom. In France every
man following the sea in any capacity whatever, is considered
ea owing a certain service to the Mato He may take hie
mate rati the roll if he please., and becomes to be • manna;
but ea long an he is on the roll he is a servant of the Crown.
This system give. France • great advantage over England at
the beginning of a war. Besides the conscription, they have
their Equipage. de Live, which always gives them a re-
serve, arid they are in a °audition to man at once 60 or GO
mil of the line.
"1 will nor call them equal to our British Beacom, but they
are far superior to the men we were obliged to pick out of
the street. in the Hessian war; though we have been lately
told that our 11111d81111312 were above the standard of the
Onarda
" We had the Coast-guard, it is true ; but amongst them
there were many landsmen and other, unfit for service.
That is now corrected, and the Coast guard fa to be hammed
to 10,000 seamen ; but if they are to be kept constantly on
shoe* till war breaks out, they will be found very ranch de-
teriorated. We have also at last established the Cant Vo-
lunteers, which we can only consider a a sea militia. The

Queen is authorised, by act of parliament, to call out
seamen to man the fleet in climes ; but then
ere no regulations obliging them to obey the ea,
except by impressment, which I believe to be en-
tirely out of the question. And so it ought to be, he
why is a sailor to be the only slave in England P Various
improvements have taken piece in the condition of the ma-
mma ; bat the difficulty we had and still have in P
them proves that we have not come up to their mark ;e=
is on that account that I moved in parliament for aroyal
commissioo which has not yet made its report. Any one
who hoe road that paper from the continent meet agree we
are not at present in a wholesome state. I admit than is
some exaggeration in the paper alluded to, bat the greater
part is toe true ; and it moat have been written some one
who has well studied the history of both naviesby . Never-
theless I am of opinion that if our maritime population is
well directed we have nothing to fear either from France or
from France and Russia combined.

7I see no difficulty in manning the fleet on an emergeney
In a week, provided our peace establishment is kept on •
proper footing.
' To accomplish this we ought to have • Channel fleet of
at least ten .all of the line manned by thorough seamen. I
will suppose each ship to have a crew of 900 men and 100
marines. In the event of wee, one watch should be dis-
charged into other line-of-battle ships, now ready. Thar
would give twenty sail of the line, manned by 480 men each.
Add to them 200 marines (which should fotm our garrison in
peace, to be replaced by the militia in war), and 160 officers
and boys, se4ly obbeinexl, which would give twenty sail of
the lice, manned by 800 man. Take 200 men for each ship
from the Coast Volunteers, and we should have twenty Daft
of the line, without touching the Comet Guard, better manned
than the fleet ever was in the great war.
" When the Coast-guard we put on • better footing, the
late Board of Admiralty, indeed of placing at the different
porta the seven sail of the line they had reduced, sent them
to deteriorate at Portsmouth, Plymouth, and Sheernees,
with two or three ship keepers on board, and fitted out at
considerable expense a est of useless ships. The present
beard, when they came into office, paid off the sailing ships,
sod substituted for them nine block ships and one screw
frigate. With the eta ption of the frigate Arrogant they are
almost useless, and the sooner they are diaposed of the better.
Oar first reserve are complete, and ready to be manned in the
way I have propused. The second reserve are almost com-
plete, and deteriorating in our arsenals. They ought to take
the place of the block ships, and be much better oared for
than they are at present; they would be manned by the
Coast Guard and Coast Volunteer,. If suck • plan is fol-
lowed, we might have thirty sail of the line manned, and
armed with Armstrong's guns, at &pithead in • week or ten
days. Collect your mortar-boats and gun-boats, and in
soother week you would lay any enemy's port in ruins. To
do all this would cost very little more than our present
epitome It I. so simple, that if the government do not put
It In force they ought to be displaced by the Home of Com-
mas; and I for one will waist to do it.—l remain your obe-
dient servant, " CliAB. NAPIER."

?RESER VATION OF LIFE PEON SEIFIVRECX.

Yesterday, a meeting of the Royal National Life-
boat lastitntion was held at its home, John-street, Adelphi;
THOMAS Citsritste, Esq., F. 11.8., in the chair. There
wme alsopsmant:—Admiral Sir Thomas Herbert, K.C.B. ;
Adana Gordan, Deputy blaster of the Twenty-house;
Alasander Bootsfear Lg. ; Admiral Calor ; Captain Wash-
ington, 8.N., BydrOgrapher of the Admiralty ; Admiral
hiclianty ; W. H. Bartow, Esq. ; Captain Lambert Perron;
and Captain Ward, R.N., Inspector of Lifeboats to the

Mr. Lewm, the St cretary, having read the minutes of the
previous meeting, the following rewards were then voted :
Nineteen pounds to the crew of the institution's life-boat
at Csieter, Norfolk, for putting off late on the night of the 16th
ult., and rescuing eleven men from the Portuguese brig
Prophet., which was wrecked during a gale of wind on the
Booby Sands that day. The service wee attended
by great exposers to cold and extreme difficulty in
obtaining an early communication with the wreck.
41. to the mew of a lifeboat at Appledore for putting off in
bar and rescuing seven men from the brig Felicity, of Mil-
ford, which, during a strong wind end thick fog, went to
pieces on Bidelord bar early on the morning of the 18th ult.
The master of the easel We. at first insensible of the danger
he was in, but was afterwards induced to Amadeu bis vessel,
and on the flowing of the tide she broke up. The lifeboat of
the institution stationed at Newcastle, Dundrum Bay, wag
reported to have saved the crew of five men belonging to •
Preach lugger from Bordeaux, wrecked off Newcastle on the
12th ult. The lifeboat performed this service with much
s. Rewards .mooning to 161. were she voted to
rlerrOlarm nth and Lytham lifeboats fur putting off, in reply
to signals of dietress from ships, with the view of saving life.
The Lytham lifeboat was likewise reported to have assisted
in bringing the schooner E. D., of !Minot:ob., into port in
safety. A reward of 61. was also voted to a bout's crew in
consideration of their laudable conduct in rescuing one out
of three persons from the smack Catherine Anna, which was
wrecked during stormy weather off Maryport. The boat
succeeded only in taking off one men on her first trip, but on
her second she was too late to save the life of the captain,
who, is the meantime, had been washed off the wreck and
drowned; another men had come ashore on a piece of
the wreck. Had there been a good lifeboat, with an expe-
rienced crew at Maryport, such •calamity could hardly occur.
The silver medal of the institution and V. were voted to
Joins Mom, OWL= in acknowledgment of his gallant con-
duct in saving, at ibs imminent risk of his own life, one out
of two persons who had been thrown out of • small boat off
Dungeness. Moss had sprung over the bows of the lugger
end secured one man by tying • lope round hint, who was
nearly exhausted when brought on board. Moss again,
nothing daunted, darted overboard a second time to the
rescue of another man, and had actnidly succeeded, by great
exertions, in placing him on the bobstay of the logger when
• heavy wave washed both of them off. The man unfortu-
nately sunk this time to ries no more, and the gallant Moss
himself only narrowly escaped from 'haring a similar fate.
A sum of 41. wee also voted M a boat's crew for saving six
persons from the schooner Sealby, of Maryport, which
during a heavy gale of wind was wrecked off Inniehofin
Island, on the coast of Donegal. The boatmen had put
off with much promptitude, and had succeeded in reaciung
the crew just in time to save them from a watery grave.
21. was also given to a boat's crew for their creditable and
prompt exertions in saving three men belonging to the brig
Florence Nightingale's boat's crew, whose boat had been
awempod off Arklow during squally weather. A sum of 81.
was also voted to a boats' crew of four men for putting off
and resetting the crew of three men from the schooner Oaks,
of Goole, wrecked daring a heavy gale of wind off Blakeney,
on the Norfolk coast. 31. was likewise granted to • boat's
crew in consideration of their laudable conduct in rescuing
five men from the brig Sampson, cf Waterford, which during
stormy and cloudy weather wee wrecked off Bediaaoorty,
near Dunn:van. The institution is, it was reported, about
to send • new lifeboat to this dangerous locality. Various
other rewards were voted in ackuowledgraent of meritorious
anima in saving life from wrecks cc different ports of the
coast.

It was reported that the institution had durinf; the pad
month sent new lifeboats and carriages to (3111km:oats, mar
Tynerooeth, and to Canmore and Triunore.
Fermenta amounting to 7211. &a 32. were ordered to be
made for various lifeboats and their equipments.
A tabular statement showing the services of the lifebuste
of the institution during the peat year was laid before the
meeting. The boats bad attended upwards of forty wrecks,
and had saved more than one hundred tiers. The society
bad paid its lifeboat crews nearly 6001. for their lautMble
services on those occasious. . . .

vet
It was stated that the institution was murb in need of
funds to maintain in a state of thorough efltiency its SO
lifeboat establishments; that the nomaottre bad been com-
pelled to draw largely on Its small reserved turd to meet
their large outgoings; and that the present lucerne of the
society is very inadequate to west its necessarily increasing
expenditure.

THE BURNING OF THE iNIEROO.--OR the 28th of
November, the Tyne, West India packet, whilst in let.
15 N., lon. 31.40 W., &roomed • Bre on board the Melee.
She left Csleutta no the 21st of August, with a cargo of
reede and jute, and the conflagration which ensued is sup-
posed to have erica from spontaneous ignition. It broke
out in the main bold, and so rapid was the spreading of the
Carom that the most etrenuoua exertions of the captain and
crow to ',tinge& tittle were rendered entirely abortive.
Whilst preparing to abandon the ve.eol in the boats, the ship
Oneyfeetber, of New York, bound to San Francisco, hove in
eight, and bearing down to the burning vessel rescued the
captain, officer', and crew, nitimately.landing them at Per-
nambuco on the 9th of December. They speak in terms of
great preime of the kindness and consideration of the officers
and crew of the Grsyfenther. The Tyne brought to South-
ampton Captain Tate, Mr. Dcnaldeos, chief officer, and 17 of
the crew of the Meroo.
Tae WEST INDLt MAILS.—The following notice
was Waned from the General Poet-oftloe yesterday—viz,
Atrato for the mails of the 17th inst.. A mail for Nassau sad
&shames will be forwarded by this packet. Letters, &0., in-
tended to be forwarded in is moat be especially oddment!
rid St. Thomas.
Tits OUTWARD EAST INDIA AND CHINA MAILS.
—The steam ship Ceylon, Captain Resort, left Southampton
yesterday with the above malls, 1,920 boxes of specie of the
value of 616,1621., and 116 perm:igen. among whom were
Lieu.-Colonel Graham, Colonel and Mrs. Abriy, Lieutenant
M•Caualsnd, Ensigns Seymour end Goer. fitalf-Surgeon
Small, Rev. Mr. and Mrs. Richards, 11ev. Mr. Templeton,
and Rev. S. Finclly.
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IlikOND-HAND PIANOFOWI2B.—CRAKIIM,
au Os. Imo a Mrs mamma of=tioo=
mo‘ almord maim. as ma*

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