Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-05-07 00:00:00

THE TRUE POSITION OF. ENGLAND

TIIE true position of England, at the present
alarming conjuncture, as Lord DERBY well expressed-
it at the Royal Academy the other- evening, is that
of au impartial, a dignified, and a neutral atti-
tude." But it will be utterly impossible; to maintain
this position, we humbly eonceive, if our situation,
even as a neutral Power, is to be systematically
misrepresented. As the Premier further observed,
—" The state of war in which Europe is abOut to
enter will no doubt entail on this country much of
anxiety, much of apprehension, much of expendi-
ture. But God forbid that it should entail on us that
most fearful of all expenditures, that of British
blood and British lives. In endeavouring to mitigate
the calamities of war, ant piomote the cause of
peace, we shall have the assent of all men of all
political opinions whose opinion is worth having in
this country ; and one of the great sources of
influence which England possesses in the world is
this, that whatever our differences of opinion may
be at home, when the honour_ nd the interest of the
country are concerned all private feuds and
animosities are forgotten, and all men in and out
of office are equally ready to lend their aid
for the promotion of the- public service and the
public good." Now, it unfortunately happens,
that there are many exceptions to this state of
things, so charitably supposed by Lord DERBT.
There have been many exceptions to it at the
hustings, during the last week or ten days, where
the opponents of the Government have indulged in
most unjustifiable misrepresentations and suspicions
respecting our foreign relations. There is no doubt
that we have. inveterate enemies abroad, eagerly
watching the opportunity to take advantage of any
vulnerable point, whether real or suppositious, to do
us an injury ; to embroil us, if they could, with the
belligerents, on one side or the other ; or to thwart

our influence, or impair our strength .
A portion of the Press, we are sorry to observe,
is taking that most disreptitable and mischievous
course. The Saturday Review, for instance, gener-
ally so respectable in its conduct, has been grossly
misrepresenting the state of the British Navy.
Replying to the First Lord of the Admiralty's
recent assurance, that "in the event of war we
should have squadrons, both in the Mediterranean
and the Channel, powerful enough to uphold the
dignity and protect the interests of England," it
most unwarrantably asserts, as a fact, that "we
have no Channel fleet at all ; and the only ships
available to supply the void are about a dozen
vessels forming the steam reserve, comprising
several of the inferior eighty-gun screws,
which it will, on the present system, take
many months to man." And then, assuming
to know all about the strength of our
Navy, it unhesitatingly declares, that " the present
force, if every liner were put into commission, would
be represented by 33 sail." But see what the First
Lord of the Admiralty says to his constituents at
Droitwich. " When I took office last year there
were either 25 or 26 effective screw line-of-battle
ships. That was the lowest point to which the
Navy of England had been reduced for a very long
period. Well, several were prepared to be launched
last year ; and you are all aware of the steps which
the Government have taken since that time. I need
only state I expect that by the end of the present
financial year the number of effective line-of-battle
ships will be, if not quite, very nearly double what
I found it when I came into office. We have
devoted the same pains to other classes of our
vessels of war. And if there be one feeling
on the part of the Government stronger than another
—if there" be one subject to which they attach more
interest than another, it is that the Navy of England
should never be allowed to fall into anything
like weakness, but that that great arm of
our strength should be maintained in the
highest possible state of efficiency." So that
instead of 33 sail of line of battle ships, we have, or
are on the point of having, upwards of 50 ; while,
instead of having " no Channel fleet at all," the Head
of the Admiralty, on the same occasion, declared,—
" we have already reinforced our squadron in the
Mediterranean ; we have already reinforced our
squadron in the Channel ; but we shall take further
steps, and we shall not hesitate to adopt any
measures which we may think necessary to put the
fleets of England in a position which shall ensure
our safety." Now, the question is, who knows the
real state of the case best—the First Lord of the
Admiralty, or the Saturday Review? There cannot
be a shadow of a doubt, in fact, that the state of the