The Sun.
London, England, 1864-02-11 00:00:00

consent, quite abruptly, to pause for however brief
an interval, thereby impeding their onward progress.
Meantime, since the battle at Oversee, the Aus-
trians under GABLENZ, and the Prussians under
MULLE have not been idle. Flensburg, as a matter
of course, was, immediately after their signal defeat
of the Danes at Oversee, entered in triumph. But
there already in Flensburg the victorious allies found
the Prussian cavalry, under Prince FREDERICK
CHARLES, occupying it -- the latter having
reached the town in one day's advance from
Arnis. Unsatisfied with the mere occupancy of
Flensburg, the victors of Oversee, still led by
GABLENZ and MULLE, after a brief repose
of twenty-four hours, pressed for ward in the direc-
tion of the entrenchments at Dappel.
While thewar is being thus prosecuted by the belli•
gerents, the dawdling hesitations of our own Go-
vernment in arriving at any determination what-
ever, as to a definite policy of any kind, certainly of
any comprehensible kind, is giving rise to all sorts
of ugly rumours, rumours of the most sinister and
ominous description, at Berlin, at Vienna, and
at—Paris. It is easy enough, of course, to put
aside as altogether idle, to appear to laugh
to acorn as a thing wholly extravagant
the notion of there being any estrangement of an
appreciable kind between.:the Governments of
France and England, by reason of Earl RUSSELL'S
impertinent mode of declining, in the name of his
QUEEN and Country, any participation on the part
of England, in the labours of the Congress proposed
by his Majesty the Emperor of the FRENCH. With
the jauntiest air of almost indifference, eo idle does
he affect the rumour to be in his estimation,
Lord PALMERSTON thrusts aside the mere hint of
any such estrangement as a notion alto-
gether preposterous. And yet, what man is
there in the three kingdoms gifted with a particle
of sense, who for a single moment gives credence to
it ? It is only necessary for that matter to look at
the Paris journals in order to see, that—not the
rumour laughed at, but the denial of that rumour
with a laugh—it is, that is preposterous. Why it
is a thing notorious, in point of fact, both in London
and in Paris, that there is this estrangement—all
Lord PALMERSTON'S assurances to the contrary
notwithstanding. Nor, can the fact that it is
so, be regarded as a matter in any way
surprising under the circumstances. Judging from
our own feelings,it would on the contrary have been
very surprising, indeed, had it been otherwise.
Which one amongst us, is there, who would not
have felt estranged by a rebuff so singularly dis-
courteous and so wholly unprovoked as that to
which the Emperor NAPOLEON found himself
abruptly subjected by the decision arrived at by
his cordial ally—or rather, it should be said,
by the sneering cynicism of manner with
which that decision was announced through
the now notorious despatch penned by that
most perverse of letter writers, the noble earl the
English Foreign Secretary. Estrangement there
is between the two Governments—thanks to our
our own. And Europe may soon have cause to re-
member it, by reason of several, now imminent,
complications.

The discussion in the Upper House on Tuesday
night respecting the guns and armour plates em-
ployed by the Admiralty was not without import-
ance. The Earl of HARDWICKE asked whether her
MAJESTY'S ships were supplied with any guns or
projectiles that could penetrate the iron plates of a
ship's side four inches and a half thick. The noble
earl, after remarking upon the wonderful changes
introduced by the progress of modern invention,
observed that he bad been a member of the Cabi-
net to which Sir WILLIAM ARMSTRONG'S guns were
first submitted. It is due to Lord DERBY'S Go-
vernment of 1858 to say that they showed every
willingness to patroni3e the invention. Since that
time, as we know, other inventors have appeared
upon the field—invention has succeeded invention
—the improvements in guns and armour plates have
kept pace with each other, leaving the final adjudg-
ment of superiority of power yet undetermined.
Lord HARDWICKE said it appeared that Mr. WHIT-
WORTH, ARMSTRONG'S formidable rival, had not
been permitted to carry out his experiments exactly
in the way he wished, and he added that his reason
for putting the question as to the guns now in use
in the Royal Navy was that Mr. WHITWORTH had
never failed to penetrate the iron plating to which
his guns were opposed. Lord HARDWICKE con-
tended that this reduced our expensive armour-
plated vessels to the level of the old wooden
ones, an assertion which the Duke of
SOMERSET subsequently denied. Lord HARDWICKE
also pointed out that the armament of the sea ser-
vice ARMSTRONG gun might not be useful on board
ship, and would not bear the charge required for
heavy artillery. The requisite machinery is so
delicate and complicated as very quickly to get out
of order. The ARMSTRONG guns are excellent for
field service, but a high degree of precision and de-
structive power of projectiles was more aimed at by
the inventor than a length of range. With regard
to heavy guns recent improvements have shown
that they can be constructed on a scale which the
strongest armour plating would be quite unable to
withstand. At the late trial of the Armstrong 600
pounder at Shoeburyness, a shell weighing 6101 b.
passed through and demolished the Warrior target
at a range of 1,000 yards. The Duke of SOMERSET,
in his reply to the Earl of HARDWICKE, said that
the Government had obtained 130 and 150 pounders
that would pierce iron plating, but the difficulty
lay in obtaining an effective broadside gun. It is
true that the constructor of the Navy has asserted
that he can build ships to carry very heavy broad-
side guns. This is no doubt correct, but in so doing.
the speed of the vessel must be proportionately
diminished. A speed of nine or ten knots is quite
inadequate to the requirements of a man-of-war at
the present day, for no matter how powerful her
armament or invulnerable her armour plating, a
vessel that cannot overtake an enemy is practically
useless. These excessively heavy guns of ARM-
STRONG, BLAKELY, or others may be very advan-
tageous in forts where they can be worked by means
of steam machinery, or hydraulic power, but will
never be available for service in ships
unless indeed the suggesti ons of Admiral
SARTORIUS, of making the ship the gun carriage,
should be put into practice. The gallant admiral
proposed that the gun should be so fitted as to
fire always in a line with the keel ; thus a ves-
sel worked by twin screws might carry a heavy
gun both forward and aft, the gun being pointed
by the turning of the ship. According to the
official explanation, tho delay experienced in get-
ting
a Supply of WurrwoßTifs guns has been
occasioned by the difficulty which that gentleman
experienced in getting the proper material for their
construction. We are inclined to think, with the
Earl of HARDWICKE, that the coldness almost in-
variably shown by the Admiralty to inventors has
had more to do with the matter. The Government
a ed
in these have succeeded in effectually disgusting one of our
most able men, and were only
arousedento a sense
of their mistake by finding him engaged
service of a foreign Government. Too late they
tried to secure his services—their order must wait
until the prior engagement is fulfil (I. This is
the way in which England's most potent arms of de-
fence—her men of genius and capac'y—are driven

from her; and it is not impossible that the first
BLAKELY guns used in this country will be cap,
tured from the Russians. The noble duke at the
bead of our naval affairs declared that the only
object of the authorities was to get the best article
for the service, and that they wished not to over-
look any valuable practical improvement, but they
were overrun with so many new projects, that
endless delay would be occasioned if all were tried.
No one proposes such an outlay of time and money,
but have we no one at the Admiralty capable of
selecting which are worth a trial ? How is it, if
the interests of the service are the first considera-
tion, that such an inventor as BLAKELY was turned
from the country in despair ?

We have noticed of late several traits in the present
Ministers which distinguish their actions from those
of some of their predecessors, who have been fore-
most in every achievement whether in war or peace
which could increase the renown or add lustre to
the annals of the country. A very daring instance
of decadence, or want of purpose has recently been
furnished with regard to the want of celerity which
has been displayed in laying the papers which
relate to the Danish question before the House.
Putting aside political discussion as to motives,
real or suppositious, for these documents not being
ready at the opening of the session, and passing by
the non fulfilment of any plan whereby the previous
negligence was rectified up till now, the intelli-
gence conveyed to both Houses regarding the pro •
duction of these papers is really astonishing, when
Lord CARNARVON in a brief, but emphatic speech,
sought to gain the desired information as to when
the members of the Legislature 7would have an
opportunity afforded to them of arriving at a
definite conclusion as to the conduct of the Govern-
ment and the state of affairs generally, and whieh
result could only be attained by a perusal of the
documents in question. Earl RUSSELL'S reply
must have been a source alike of wonder and
dismay. The noble lord said that three weeks
must elapse before they could be furnished, Was
there ever such a preposterous idea and such an
untenable argument. Well might Lord DERBY
exclaim on the instant, " Send them to the Times.'
This is just one of his lordship's happy thoughts
which spring spontaneously to the mind, and
often create more impression than elaborate phrases
and studied sentences, which take long to connect?
and longer still to understand sometimes. Cer-
tainly the cynic may exclaim, " Progress to what ?"
when he peruses this statement. In an age which
is pre-eminently distinguished for speed, and re-
markable for quickness in all things, are the Minis-
ters of the most enterprising nation in the world
to wile away a considerable time, while the work
that some hours should see accomplished takes
weeks for its completion. The sarcasm of the noble
lord, the head of the Opposition, is a very just one,
and the home truths it contains must afford en-
lightenment to the bewildered, and raise doubts in
the minds of the credulous as to the nature of the
objections which occasion this insuperable delay.
No one who takes up a paper within a few hours of
the rising of the House, and surveys the rows of
columns which record the details of the night upon
some great question of more than ordinary
interest, but will comprehend the absurdity of the
excuses put forward by the authorities. When Sir
ROBERT PEEL made his famous speech on the
Catholic Emancipation, which created sach a sensa-
tion at the time, a copy of this journal was placed
in his hands twenty minutes after he resumed his
seat, which contained eight columns of the speech
that he had just delivered to the House, and which
had occupied a period of two hours and a half in
its utterance. With the resources of the Times
establishment the whole of the papers which have
been the subject of so much discussion in Parlia-
ment, could be printed in twelve hours. Surely
then it is as idle as it is unworthy
of Ministers to put forward these shallow
excuses, and to interpose these shuffling delays.
Why is not pressure applied in the right quarters?
Why are not needful exertions made to put an end
to such inconvenient dilatoriness, and to end a state
of things which is creditable to none concerned in it.
In the House of Commons the subject was discussed
at some length, and some rather sharp retorts were
indulged in by the Opposition. Mr. DISRAELI
made a strong point of this suspicious case, and
clearly demonstrated the proper means to rectify
mistakes, and redeem the errors made in the tran-
sactions of these affairs. He asked why they did not
use more despatch, and suggested that the printer
of the Foreign Office had been only " rubbed up for
the first time on that day," and concluded his re-
marks by pressing the inquiry, and taking away
the shadow of an excuse and the semblance of
an apology from the Government. "If you have
all the materials ready, and the credit of the Foreign
Office be at stake, you must endeavour to compen-
sate for former lathes by distribnting these docu-
ments into the hands of several printers, and I will
be bound to say, with proper diligence, that you
ought to produce those papers to Parliament in
eight and forty hours." There is a trite saying
which avers that Fas est ab hoste doceri, and the
Ministers will do well to take to heart the warnings
conveyed in this address of their opponent. There
is truth in them which, if they are disregarded,
may prove to be only too powerful for them to con-
tend against in a future day. There are many who
cannot, or will not, comprehend the complications
of the Schleswig-Holstein affairs, who will under-
stand only too readily, and with too apt an intelli-
gence, that at a great political crisis despatches
that bore immediate reference to the conduct of the
Government were withheld at a critical juncture,
and that the reasons adduced for their non-appear-
ance were such as no novice could fail to confute.
This is not a time, when the fate of nations depends
on the issue of events that a day may bring forth,
to have the course of a debate arrested by excuses
so lame that :hey excite instant derision on the
part of their hearers, the reasons for the delay being
such as no man of business would listen to for a
moment, and no Minister of spirit would suffer to
be mentioned in his presence, much less given to
Parliament.

THE MARITIME INSURANCE COMPANY (LIMITED).
—The recent meetings of the newly-formed Marine
Insurance Companies in Liverpool have been in
every respect so satisfactory and encouraging, that
.we are not surprised that another should be intro-
duced to the public under the above title. 4fhe
Maritime Company, however, is ushered into exist-
ence under extraordinarily favourable auspices. The
Company commence operations at once, on the basis
of the old established business of Messrs. Price and
Co., and which, more recently, under the exclusive
direction of Mr. henry Case, has been one of the
most prosperous and best managed private under-
writing concerns in Liverpool. The valuable ser-
vices of Mr. Case have been secured as managing
underwriter, his remuneration depending in a great
measure upon the success of the company, and with-
out the payment of any " promotion " money, either
in cash or shares, The profits of Messrs. Price and
Co.'s business, during the last few years, have
averaged about £9,000 per annum, an encouraging
fact, assuring for the new Company a most nume-
rous and influential clientelle, and which, with the
increased advantages of a public company, gives
natural promise of a certain and increasing business.
The capital of the new company is fixed at
£1,000,000, in £lO shares, of which only 25,000
will be first issued. The list of directors comprises
some of the most influential and best known mem-
bers of the Liverpool mercantile community, which
Is a guarantee that the public will be fairly and
=Partially treated in the allotment of the shares.