The Sun.
London, England, 1855-12-04 00:00:00

Exmouth, 91, Captain W. K. Hall, C.B.
Calcutta, 84, Captain J. J. Stopford.
ColoFsus, 80, Captain Robinson.
Blenheim, 60, Captain Hall, C.B.
Hawke, 60, Captain Ommanney.
Russell, 60, Captain Francis Scott.
Ajax, 60, Captain Warden, C.B.
Harting,, 60, Captain E. G. Fanshawe.

Edinburgh, 50, Captain Hewlett,~C.B.
Arrogant, 46, Captain Yelverton, C.B.
Meander, 44, Captain Baillie.

Sampson, 6, steam-frigate, Captain Hand.

Polyphetnus, 6, Commander !Marren.

,

Coininanders4pliq
SafAmaiderTtr,'Caltinian-er fir-1.,
'Vrg,u6, otowiu twep.hir, Commander Philltr-

tipa.

The fleet was moored in two lines N.W. W., one
cable's length apart ; the small vessels forming the port
line, and the ime-of-battle ships and Arrogant forming

he northern or starboard line. The course taken by the

Royal Yacht was, first, ahead of the weather line, then

close astern of the weathermost ship, and then astern of
the leewardmost and round the spit into harbour. as

she approached a Royal salute was fired, and the crews
manned yards and cheered. We have all been so accus-
tomed for the last two years to witness these ceremonial

observances at Spithead that it would be out of place
here to dilate upon the effect produced by theca ; bat
the spectacle of so many of England'e floating castles,

alive with sailors, and startling the Solent with their
salvoes of artillery, must have powerfully impressed
King Victor Emmanuel, who probably never in his life

before witnessed such a naval display. The Royal party
did not go on board the men-of-war, nor were any evo•
lutions performed ; but on their leaving another salute
was fired by the fleet, and it was taken up by the Vic-
tory and other ships in harbour as the Fairy passed
Blockhouse Fort on her way back.
In making the harbour his Majesty was steered in
the Royal barge by Captain Denman to the time-

honoured old Victory, on board of which he was received
by Captain G. Gordon and Commander Strode. They
conduced his Majesty to the quarter-deck, and showed
him the spot where Nelson fell. Ho then descended to

the cockpit and viewed the cabin where our great naval

hero died.

The attention of the King was next directed to some
experiments made off the dockyard with Clarkson's new

cork life-boat, which was launched bodily off the dock-

yard jetty with a full crew, but righted at once. On
hnding in the dockyard hia Majesty proceeded first to

view the celebrated block machinery in the wood-mills.

This machinery is still made so much of when distin•
guished foreigners visit Portsmouth that considerable
danger arises lest its true value, on the one hand, be mis-
apprehended by the uninformed, and, on the other, ex-
pose us to ridicule among intelligent visitors from abroad

When Sir S. Bentham, Maudsley, Bramah, and Brunel

were first struggling with the difficulties which such a
series of inventions imposed, and had mastered them, the
block machinery ropresented a great step in mechanics,

and might fairly be regarded with astonishment ; but we
are separated from that day by an immense interval 0
progress. The block machinery was the first successful
effort in that wide field of ingenuity which has given the
mechanic such extraordinary control not only over wood
but over iron, and even stone, and which is every hour
extending and yielding more valuable results to human
industry. Men, therefore, look back to it as they would
to the first marine engine or the first locomotive, they

regard it with a deep antiquarian interest. In this point
of view we may be proud of showing it to foreign visitors
however illustrious. But there the feeling of satisfac-
tion ends. The mercantile marine are supplied with far
better blocks at a vastly cheaper rate, and any private
manufacturer attempting to supply the market with
this boasted machinery would very soon find him-

self in the Gazette. The block machinery did good ser-
vice in its time, but its usefulness belongs to the
past. It is now a positive loss to the country, yet
the authorities never tire of pluming themselves upon

it, and of setting it forward as their irresistible prece-
dent whenever they want to set up as manufacturers on
their own account. From the wood-mills Prince Albert
and the Duke of Cambridge conducted their Royal
guest through the smithery and the steam factory, but,
as compared with what he saw on Saturday at Wool-
wich Arsenal, and with what he might witness in 41,,zati
of private establishments throughout the country, there
is nothing in these places. spacious and imposing as they
appear, that can be considered in the least degree sur-
prising. It sounds very marvellous that a Nasmyth
hammer, which forged a capstan spindle weighing four
tons and a-half, also cracked a nut without breaking the
inverted earthenware plate on which it re.tcd ; but this
has long since ceased to be a novelty, and far better and
more powerful steam-hammers are now in use than any
at Portsmouth Dockyard. So with many of the other
machines, they being for the most part of a very old-
fashioned character. The steam factory is not a steam
factory at all, but a shop for boiler making and for re-
pairs, the Admiralty very properly considering that it
would be folly in them to attempt to make their own
marine engines when they can get them so much cheaper
and better, and in so much greater numbers, when
wanted from the private trade. When they did attempt
to make their own engines they were always breaking
down. Now that they get them from the machinists
and encourage competition in quality instead of
price, it is very unusual to hear of anything going
wrong. Here, then, is the recognition of most im-
portant principle with regard to Government establish-
ments of this description, which we hope to see gradually
extended. It at least palliates, if it does not justify
the antiquated character of the mechanical appli-
ances which King Victor Emmanuel was yesterday taken
to wonder at, for, if they are not what they ought to be,
we are comforted by the knowledge that private enter-
prise will do the work assigned to them far more effec•
Wally and advantageously for the country. Were it
otherwise it would be necessary to press upon the atten-
tion of the Admiralty the salutary example of the cotton
lords in the north, who always fix a term within which
they conceive it necessary to provide for the substitution
of their old machinery by new, embracing all the most
recent improvements. The royal party did not venture
into the sail-loft, a department of the dockyard where an
immense amount of labour is most wastefully employed
in doing what our American cousins would at once call
in the aid of sewing machines to accomplish cheaply,
expeditiously, and well.
From the steam-factory the Prince took his Majesty
on board a 91-gun ship hitherto galled the Repulse, but
which is henceforth to bear the name of Victor Em-
manuel. The King had completed his inspection of the
ship, and was about quitting her, when Prince Albert
announced to him the change contemplated, and he
seemed highly gratified by the compliment. She is a
noble vessel, and will, no doubt, make her new title re-
spected by the enemies of England and Sardinia in what-
ever sea she floats. His Majesty also visited the Marl-
borough, 131, and appeared much struck by the sweep
of her maindeck, which was cleared of the suite on one
side in order that he might see its extent.
This concluded the royal survey of the dockyard, and
the illustrious party proceeded to Sir Thos. Cochrane's
house, where luncheon had been prepared for them.
Sardinia,
of
the Marquis
,D besides Duke
eof t the Ki n
Cambridge,g
d'Azeglio, the Marquis Della Rocca, Count d'Angrogna,
ThePrin
()gen
Alberte sts c oamnpdr itsheed
Count Calderone, Count Persan, Aides-de Camp to the
King ; Count Bobilhut, Count Barone, Officers of Ord-
nance ; Chevalier Pappalardo, Sir Charles Wood, the
Marquis of Abercorn, Colonel Hood, General Wemyss,
Rear-Admiral Martin, Major-General Breton, the Mayor
of Portsmouth (Mr. Stigant), Captain Sir Thomas Mait-
land, C. 8., Captain S. C. Dacres, C.E , Lard George
Lennox, Lord Byron, Captain G. F. Gordon, &c.
After the dtjeuner the Mayor of Portsmouth WAS pre-