The Sun.
London, England, 1863-12-18 00:00:00

ROYAL E NGLISH
Co` 'ENT-GARDEN.
Under the Manage ment of Miss Louisa Pyne and
W. Harrison.
THIS EVENING, for the 23d time,". Balfe's new Opera'
BLANCH D 1 NEV.
E!3S: Miss Louisa ryne, Miss Aanaessrs. W. . ,IL Corri
Hiles, vtiss Emma He)'' 05°1-1;
C. 1.1,1MJ1, . Rouse,and eiss
W. Harrison
A. Cook, A. Lt. Albyn,
To conclude with ti to Second Act of THE DESERT
FLOWER.

in-Chief.

Condu r. Mr. A. Mellon.
Doors open at half .pust 'ommence at Seven

El EAT RE no 'YAL DRURY- LANE.
Manacrers, Messrs. 1 Falconer and F. B. Chatterton.
_M-V
,esty's Servants will perform
THIS EVENING, her .
the Farce ot MY H. IN THE HIGHLANDS:
characters by mr. Nev file, Mr. G. Weston, Mr. Warde,
.1 Marris ; 3lrs. C. M elville, and Miss Harfleur.
Mr. .
At er which. Lord Byre' Choral Trazedy, MANFRED.
Messrs. helps, Ryder, Ra yner, M-agreson, Ward, Spencer ;
Eburne, Miss V. Atkh icon, Miss Lcclereq, and Mrs. E.
Falconer. Vocalists—Miss Poole, Miss i.itter, Miss Cicely
Not', Miss Heywood. and 3. Swift.
Followed by BEAUTY 0 6 THE BEAST. Principal cha-
racters by Messrs. Addiscn, G. F. Neville, Barret, spencer,
and G. Weston ; Mrs Edmtitui Falconer and Miss R. Lecicrq.

TFIEATRE ROVA L HAY‘IARKET,
Sole Lessee and Man: vier, Mr, Buckstone.
THIS EVENING, USED 1 IP. Messrs. Chas. Mathews,
flowe, Clark, Braid, Gordon,. Cullentord, &c. ; Mesdames
Fitzwiiliam, Lindley, &c.
Followed by THE GOLDEN FLEECE. Messrs. Charles
Mathew, Compton,Weathersby,. ac.; 3lesdames C. Mathews,
Keeley. Griffith, &c.
With CODL AS A CUCUMBI IR. Mr. C. Mathews.
And MY HUSBAND'S G a 0; Vl'.
Commence at 7.

ROYAL LYCEU Ni THEATRE
Under the Sole Management of Mr. Fechter.

BEI. DE AO NIO (a Triumphant Success) will be repeated
Eve, y Evening until further notice
THIs EVENING, the Comediett a, by W. Gilbert, entitled
UNCLE BABY: Mess s. Widdico nbe, J. G. Shore, Charles ;
Miss P. Le'lercg, and Carlotta Lec
After which, at Eight o'clock, l lEL DEMONIO, a Love
Story, in Twelve Taweaux, taken from Stendhsl's 'Ragan
Chronicle ," by Mr. John Broin.;:nm. Principal e'larae-
ter by Mr. Fechter, supported by Messrs. Jordan, Charles,
Br-au,fh, m, Emery, Raymond, Yioreland, Smith, Clifford,
Colic; t, Andrews, Sims ; Miss Ka to Terry, E. Lavenuc, Aim
Lee, and qiss Elsworthy.
Doors open at half-past 6--commence at 7.

ST. JAMES'S THEATRE-ROYAL. under new
Manazement, will OPEN for the Winter Season on
BOXING NIGH r.

NEW 'TEAfRE-R,O YAL, AD ELPHI.—
SOP Prourfiator And M tnatror. Mr. B. Webster.
THIS EVENING, THE PRETTY ITORSEBREAR ER.
Messrs. J. L. Toole. Paul Iled.ford, and Miss Woolg-ar.
tB, the New Drama of LEAH : Bth weeK of Miss B
mau, supported by Messrs.A.rtnur Stirling, R. Phillips,
ate.
lington, Stuart, Stephenson, .Eburne; Miss H. Simms, and
Mrs. Dilliugton.
4'o conclude with ICI ON PARLE FRANCAIS. Mr• j,
L. Toole.

Commence at 7.

LEAH.-EVERY

EA :I'm/lA-N.-LE A H.-TIIIS EVENING,
ISS
66th appearance of the great Tragic Actress, Miss
the
ANIAN.,r, the character of L P:AH. In consequence of
theAlunbounded success with which Miss Bateman's imperso-
nation
or the priLetpal charac er 711 the new Five Act Drama.
has been attended. Mr Webster begs to announce
o LF:AU
that it will be performed EVERY EVENING- until further
notice.

ROYAL STRAND THEATRE.
Manager, Mr. W. 11. Swanborough.
THIS EVENING, MIRIAM'S CRIME. Messrs. Geo.
Money, Parselle, Belford, Turner, Miss K. Saville, and Miss
Manders.
Followed by (22d time) PATIENT PENELOPE ; or, The
Return of Ulysses. Messrs Honey and Fenton ; Mesdames
wanborouc,t and Simpson.
After which, MY .NEW PLACE. Mr. A. Wood.

O PER A, I of his death, ready to obey implicitly the orders, the
sigh test hint, of the great Confederate Commander-

Another leviathan of the navy has just been
launched. The :Minotaur is the largest and best-
protected iron-plated frigate in the service. Her
tonnage exceeds that of the Warrior and Black
Prince by upwards of eight hundred tons. She is
encased with five and a-half inch iron plates from
below her water line to her bulwarks; she lies low
in the water; and will be armed with some
fifty formidable guns. We do not sup-
pose that any maritime nation can produce
a vessel that could try conclusions with her on the
high seas with any prospect of success, but here the
prestige of invincibility ceases. A vessel of the
Minotaur class may be invincible when she can get
at her foes, bat the great draught which her inor-
dinate size necessitates renders her powerless against
coast defences as an aggressive power, and likewise
useless for intercepting an invading force conveyed
in ships of light draught of water. It may be con-
tended that the Minotaur, and her two sisters nearly
ready for launching, will, by the great power of
their engines, command, a speed which will enable
them to intercept any hostile fleet while yet in deep
water. But is England to rest contented to act on
the defensive only ? Hitherto it has been our boast
to carry the war into the enemy's country, and we
should like the Lords of the Admiralty tell us why
they are building ships which will be useless for
purposes of aggression, excepting through the
agency of their boats or tenders. Why has the
Administration taken such a mania for defending
ships ? The Armstrong guns and the Minie rifles
have not made the artily less popular, and the youth
of England enlist and " march to death with mili-
tary glee," as freely and as confidently as in the
dais of old "Brown Bess." Why are our seamen
to be taken such unwonted care of? Cutlass and
pistol have hitherto been the order of the day in
our navy, and the cry of " boarders away" has been
considered the conclusion of the action. Are we
now to relinquish the prestige which three centuries
of indomitable courage have given to the nation and
follow the example of the Americans by trying
conclusions with our enemies at five miles range,
with what happy results the siege of Charleston
may demonstrate. Again, for the sake of argument,
let us suppose that our leviathans are manageable
and handy, and that they can carry guns weighing
twenty or even thirty tons. Of what avail would
they be if exposed to the fire of the forts of Cron-

stadt armed with six or eight hundred pounder
Blakely guns such as that gentleman is at present
manufacturing for the Russian Government, Hav-
ing been neglected and rebuffed by the Government
o► his own country, he has been compelled in self-
defence to seek that support from a foreign Power
which petty favouritism and underhand influence
prevented him from receiving in his own country.

Last week the first trial at long range with the

Armstrong six hundred pounder took place at Shoe-
buryness. One shell only struck the target, but

that one was sufficient virtually to demolish it; the
range was only 1,000 yards, but there can be no
doubt that the effect of the shot would have been
as destructive at 2,000 yards as it was at the
shorter distance. In fact a six hundred pound shell
would have passed through both sides of the Mino•
taur, scattering death and destruction on its way—
the heavy plates and backing only serving to aggra-
vate the evil. The question, therefore, resolves
itself into this—if armour plating cannot protect our
ships from the impact of heavy artillery, why should
they be encumbered with it ? Speed is of more
advantage to a cruiser than invulnerability, and by
dispensing with armour-plating she may carry
heavier guns and more powerful engines. We as
yet know but little to what extent artillery range
or calibre may be carried, but we do know how far
we may load our ships. Sir WILLIAM ARMSTRONG'S
600-pounder cannot be fired three, or at most four,
times in the hour, and then, even when the dis-
tance is known and the angle of elevation calculated,
two or three shots are thrown away before the
target is struck. When we consider that each Of
these shells costs the country some £45, economists
cannot be blamed if they advocate reserving such
monsters for coast defences, where by the adapta-
tion of hydraulic cranes or steam power these heavy
guns might be served as expeditiously and as truly
as 18 pounders on board a ship. There can be no
doubt that the Armstrong shells are unrivalled as
destructive missiles, but the complication of their
construction and the consequent expense naturally
lead us to question the expediency of their ani,

versal employment, especially when we find tha'

BLAKELY's or WHITWORTH'S muzzle-loading guns
have the Fame accuracy and penetrating powers
without the same extravagant outlay in projectiles.

For field service or boat guns we believe that the
ARMSTRONG breech-loading guns are unequalled,but
for heavy ordnance we woald rather place reliance

on those of BLAKELY or WHITWORTH, and let
practical utility have precedence of theory. We

believe that our navy is in as high a state of ems.

ciency as that of any other Power, but we have yet

o learn that the supremacy of Britain depends on

her ships rather than on her seamen.

I Hitherto the chief demonstrations that hare taken
place throughout the country seem to have been
held by the Conservatives. It is time then that the
Liberals should have their say, and hence the meet-
ing at Yorkshire is appropriate, as affording an op-
portunity for retort and reprisal. Audi alteram
partem is a well known adage, and a very good
one ; it expresses the sentiments that always actuate
the people of this country, and form the chief reason
why we carry on affairs so much more quietly than
our neighbours, and yet possess so much more in-
trinsic freedom than they whose excited demeanour
and, vehement language might at first sight lead a
"1130/cial observer to think otherwise. Mr.
BeiNte
spoke at some length, and appeared to give
; great .
election to his auditors. In the first place,
conanit,.
ucad his speech in a somewhat novel mode
for a Libertti
of member, ember, by sounding the praises of
the House
O4le. This was the toast he pro-
posed, and he die, Ltra
P_,o3 justice to it, in his earnest
tofo endeavouringo to put class
harangue. Inassteeise,
often the practice among
against
Rclaesfos,rmers, whom no
from g
might be
ent experience, it is
most satisfactory to recent
Gm_
dangerous, judging
Really
yth
we
ewasyo dioefte„nhinies,
public men doing
and remove
prejudices. their always
bestr a
to
meet with such
tirades against authorities, and other
r levances so
fiercely expressed, that the originality of
this
dis
course is as welcome as its style. M1%134111E8
in
beginning adverted to the great advantag,El We
derived from the mixed form of government—lQ
Lords, and Commons. This may seem a trite oh_
servance, but surely this is the very time of whieli
to take cognisance of the benefits thereby deduced.
It is long since all who took large views on political
subjects concurred in the opinion that no liberties
could flourish under despotism, and that the exist-
ence of absolutism was incompatible with the growth
of any lasting prosperity in a land ; but recently
some other notions must have been subverted.
Many well meaning individuals entertained the idea
that reptib-icanism was the most correct form of
government. The deplorable events that have
taken place beyond the Atlantic must have evi-