The Sun.
London, England, 1863-11-25 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, NOVENIBE,R 25, 1863.

subservience have been about as successful with the

JONATHAN in question, as our attempts at con-
ciliation have been with the Maories of New Zea-
land. On doinestic matters, Mr. BENTINCK, on
behalf of the "old Tories," shows a fair spirit of
moderation and good sense. He declares himself in
favour of progressive changes, although opposed to
those violent innovations which are calculated to
produce either a dcminant democracy or a military
despotism. Such Toryipm as this, although it may
not keep pace with the theories of the day, is yet a
useful element in our political system. It seems as
wholesome ballast to keep the great vessel of State
steady in her course, and acts as a counterpoise to
those too eager and adventurous spirits who are
willing to adopt theories untested by practice. If
it hinders sometimes the introduction of beneficial
changes, we may at least rely on it for preserving
intact those great fundamental principles of English
freedom which are the glory of our Constitution.

If we are to believe all that is said by certain
public speakers on behalf of the efficacy of our
navy at the present time, we may well congratulate
ourselves on the result of the energy of our present
Administration, and the ability of the officials at
Whitehall and in the dockyards. But, alas, it is
too evident to all on which side of the case these
gentlemen hold their briefs. In fact, like many
able wearers of the long robe, they speak to order,
and it becomes a journalist, in reviewing their
remarks, to blow away the froth, as it were, of their
speeches, and to elucidate as far as possible the gist
of their arguments. There can be no doubt that the
speeches of Mr. LAIRD and others have very much
annoyed certain parties. In fact, Lord CLARENCE
PAGET has admitted as much, but recently, to his
constituents at Sandwich. He observed—" Our
officers are anxious to notice these attacks, but the
invariable course of the Admiralty is to forbid them
to notice them." Such a course may be prudent,
no doubt, but it is a pity that when two gentlemen
of such professional experience as Lord CLARENCE
PAGET and Mr. REED address public meetings
upon naval matters, they should not compare
notes beforehand, and concoct the best defence
possible, and support each other in it. As the
ease stands, Mr. REED, at Greenwich, and Lord
C. PAGET, at Sandwich, both declare the Prince
Consort to be a miracle of a ship—both admit that
she nearly went to the bottom—but each ascribes
a different cause for the mischanee ; and we are
sorry to say that, in our opinion, both excuses are
equally fallacious. It is all very well for a mem-
ber of Parliament to dilate to a seacoast consti-
tuency, or for the constructor of the navy to ad-
dress an assembly at the Greenwich Institute. In
both cases parties come to listen and applaud, not
to cavil and argue ; and all depart satisfied,
little caring whether the assertions of the
speaker be correct or otherwise. He has entertained,
them, and that is sufficient. Let common sense,
hewever, review the long list of an invincible navy,
as it is in existence and in embryo, and what is the
result ? We have four iron• clad first-class vessels
which have been to sea, two built of iron, the
Warrior and the Black Prince, and two wooden
ships plated with iron, the Royal Oak and the Prince
Consort. Another wooden ship, the Caledonian, is
likewise afloat and preparing for sea ; there are also
several iron ships of various dimensions in course of
construction, in a more or less advanced state, while
while two other timber-built ships are in process of
conversion. These vessels are all built upon the
ordinary principle of men-of-war, except that the
tonnage of the Warrior and Black Prince is double
that of ordinary first-rates, and forms a kind of con-
necting link between them and the Great Eastern,
as they are also cased with heavy iron plating.
Lord C. PAGET tells us the Government will not be
led away by anyone to adopt any new mode of
conversion, or innovation on the existing mode of
construction, however high may be the standing of
its supporters, but will adhere to the straight-
forward principle of deciding for themselves. This
is perfectly cozrect, and, therefore, we call upon the
Admiralty to act upon the experience already
gained by the trials of the four ships afloat, before
launching into expenses which may be proved
useless before many of the ships upon which it is to
be lavished have been completed. It is obvious, from
the conduct of the Prince Consort in the late gale
in the Irish Channel, that it will be impossible to
encase ships with plates of greater thickness than
four and a half or five inches, without so altering
their construction as to deprive them of the speed
essential to a man-of-war.

Now the question arises, are these plates capable
of resisting the impact of heavy ordnance, such as
it is at present being constructed, at close quarters.
The maximum thickness of iron plating which can
I be carried by a ship capable of performing all the
functions that are required of her has been reached ;
while the size, penetrating powers of artillery of
improved construction and heavier calibre is by no
means ascertained, and while ARMSTRONG, WHIT-
WORTH, BLAKELEY, and others are still competing
for pre-eminence, ic would be unwise to predict
where they will stop. Again, with the draught of
water of these leviathians it will be impossible for
them to approach an enemy's coast except at cer-
tain places, or even to enter many of our own ports
but in certain seasons of the tide. It is impossible
to construct a ship in such a manner that she shall
be able to carry heavy armour plating, a sufficient
quantity of coals for a reasonable voyage, and yet
possess great speed, unless she be of very great ton-
nage, which must more or less necessitate a great
draught of water. The Warrior and Black Prince
have met these requirements pretty fairly, and the
Royal Oak has behaved well, but the question now
arises, Is their armour shot proof, and if it be, is it
not rather overdone ? When gunpowder was first
invented, and firelocks came into use, the armour of
the knights and men•at-arms was strengthened to
as great an extent as the men could carry, and when
it was found that even then it afforded no protec-
tion it was dispensed with altogether, and yet sol
diers still survived an engagement, and at length
began to look with contempt upon the caution of
their ancestors. Are we in the present day going to
return to the customs of the Middle Ages, not
as regards our soldiers but our ships, and endeavour
to set death at defiance until improved ordnance
shows the futility of the endeavour, and we have to
give it up. Why, we would ask, are our ships
more likely to go to the bottom now than in days
of yore. Many a good ship has been riddled with
shot in the early part of the century, and yet carried
her flag triumphantly into other engagements. It
it be deemed necessary to protect a ship against the
effect of a shot between wind and water, let her be
heavily plated for a short distance above and below
the water line, which would rather tend to steady
her than otherwise, but for the rest let her take her
chance, as did the fleets of NELSON and HowE, and
such craft will be more popular in the service than
any heavy-labouring iron safe which Mr. REED en
any other may design. Vessels of this construction
could be built of any size and up to any reasonable
rate of speed. Mr. REED informed his listeners at
Greenwich that the Warrior
A was 100 feet too long,
and that if she bad been constructed that much
shorter a saving of 4100,000 would have been
effected, and the ship rendered more handy. This
is possibly true, and as the length of the vessel is
400 feet, and her cost some 4400,000, the supposed

saving is obvious. We do not wish to detract from
.11r.REED's well-earned reputation, and we sincerely
trust that the new vessels which he is constructing
may realise his expectation, but we should like to
have some more practical experience of some of
these new theories before plunging headlong into
a vast expenditure. Let, then, our wooden ships
be partially plated if it be deemed neces-
sary, let their decks be plated just thick
enough to resist a shell or a long shot,
but until the result of future ordnance experiments
is obtained, let us abstain from loading them with,
perhaps, useless encumbrances. It is proposed to
replace the wooden gunboats at present lying at
Haslar by iron ones. Let the new vessels be con-
structed of different classes; let them, without ex-
ception, be furnished with twin screws ; let them
vary from 100 tons to GOO or 900 tons, and all pos-
sess great speed. The smaller classes along the
coast, in case of a threatened invasion, or for land-
ing troops on an enemy's coast in time of war.
These small fry would be comparatively safe from
large vessels drawing from 25 to upwards of 30 feet
of water, being, from their diminutive size, pretty
secure from a distant fire, and yet capable of in-
flicting infinite damage on boats and other small
craft. In time of war they might be distributed
along the coast, and seek security or supplies at
any of our mercantile ports, however small or in-
considerable. A mosquito fleet like this would
afford infinitely more protection to our coast line
and po
than rt s ,
is o
be supported,
of course, by the large
cruisers,
expected from the wondrous
sea t
structures now building under the joint patronage
of Captain COLE and Mr. REED. The Americans,
while waging a life and death struggle, are com-
pelled to construct upon theory and experiment in
reality. They are doing their best, and have
already given us ono warning in the shape of a
Monitor, not exactly the warning meant, however.
Let us lose no time in equipping a practical fleet
ready for any emergency, but let us, at the same
time, be cautious how we venture upon new ideas
without seeing our way a little.

LATEST INTELLIGENCE.

(REUTER'S TELEGRAMS.)

THE BOMBAY MAIL.

SOUTHAMPTON, Nov. 25.

The Peninsular and Oriental Company's steamer
Ceylon, with the above mails, has arrived. She
brings 70 passengers, specie value £72 65., and a
general cargo, including 1,612 bales raw silk, value
£150,000 sterling.

The Ceylon experienced fine weather throughout
the passage. On the 21st inst., when off Cape St.
Vincent, she passed the French fleet, consisting of
five iron clads, two line-of-battle ships, and one
gunboat.

GIBRALTAR, Nov. 20.

Letters from Melilla of the 9:h announce the
arrival at the Spanish settlement, on the 6Lh, of
Senor Merry, the Spanish Minister in Morocco,
on board the screw sloop of war Concordia.
Senor Merry was accompanied by the Spanish
Consul in Tangier, and the Concordia also conveyed
to Melilla some boxes of specie (amounting, it is
said, to 85,000 dols.) belonging to the Moorish Go-
vernment, and designed for distribution amongst
the tribes which are required to cede the lands in-
cluded within the new Spanish boundary. On the
day after his arrival, Senor Merry proceeded to the
camp of Maley Abbas and had an interview with
the Prince. After his return to Melilla the 96
Moors who had been arrested in the town and de-
tained as hostages for the good conduct of their
friends outside, were set at liberty and handed over
to a Bashan of the neighbouring district. Muley
Abbas, whose duty is in some measure that of a
mediator between the Riff tribes and the Spanish
garrison, appears desirous not to compromise his
popularity with the Moors by being on too intimate
terms with the Christians. It is probably to
this motive that must be attributed what the
Spaniards of Melilla considered as a slight put upon
them. A large party, consisting of ladies, officers
of the garrison, and inhabitants of Melilla, went out
on the 6th to visit the Moorish camp. Instead of
the courteous reception they expected the visitors
observed that, cn their approach, all the Moorish
tents were immediately closed. After such an un-
mistakeable hint, that the Prince and his warriors
were " not at home," the party returned to the
fortress, regretting that they had their walk of half
a league for nothing.
The following British vessels have arrived here :
—On the 15th, the steamer Iberia, 8 days from
London; schooner Idea, 21 days from Newport;
barque Halcyon, 28 days from Sunderland. On the
16th, steamer Una, 71 days from London ; steamer
Messina, 9 days from Glasgow. On the 17th,
steamer Ellora, 41 days from Southampton ; and on
the 18th, Royal Yacht shooner Ginebra, 8 days
from Southampton ; steamer Gladiator, 81.1 days
from Liverpool ; and steamer Minerva, 5,1 days from
London.

Exchange and freights unaltered.
AUSTRIA.

VIENNA, Nov. 25.

In to-day's sitting of the Lower House of the
Reichsrath, Count Rechberg stated that he would
reply to the question on Holstein to-morrow. He
was only awaiting the arrival of a diplomatic docu-
ment from Paris, and would then be enabled to lay
the correspondence upon the subject before the
House.

PRUSSIA.

BERLIN, Nov. 25.

The Committee of the National Verein resolved
yesterday to issue an address to the German
people.
The address reminds the Princes of their serious
responsibility, implores the German nation to act
for itself, calls upon the friends of the country to
furnish men, money, and arms, and to hold all re-
sources in readiness. It promises application of
the funds collected for the German fleet in a manner
corresponding with the emergency, and demands
set f•taxation by the people.
The address finally exhorts the nation to firm
organisation, and states that the National Verein has
formed an auxiliary committee for the purpose.
FRANCE.

BOURSE, Nov. 24.—The market has been heavy,
but without any material decline, Threes, for the
Account, being now at 67f. 25e. Railway Market
also dull, with some of the lines rather lower. The
market closed as follows :

41 per Cents 95 10
t)o. end month
3 per Cents
Do. end month —
Credit Mobilier 1086 25
Do. end month li 00
Bank Shares 3360
Credit 1! oncier 1270
Roman

Italian Loan 72 05
Do. end month —
Near ditto
Do. end mouth —
Russian
Austrian .. —

Spanish Threes 53 50
Flome Debt
Deferred
VAT%
Cash.
Account.

RAIL

Orleans
Northern

975 - .. 977 50
980 -- .. 980 -

New ditto — .. —.
I,yons and Mediterranean 951 25 .. 952 50
New ditto — —
Geneva.. 0000 • •
S Althorn
.. 693 75
Western -
.Eastern
Sardinian
Austrian
Lombard
North of Spain
Saragossa .... 630 .. 627 50
Ditto to Barcelona .... 315 .. 317 50

MARKETS—This Day,

MARK-LANE.

A moderate supply of home-grown wheat was on sale at
Mark-lane to-day, in but middling condition. All good
and fine dry wheats moved off freely at the improvement of
Is per quarter realised on Monday. Superior qualities were
in slow request; nevertheless, prices ruled firm.
The supply of foreign wheat on the stands was large.
For all descriptions there was a fair inquiry, and Monday's
currency was well supported.

Floating cargoes of grain ruled firm at quite previous
quotations.
Good and fine malting barley realised extreme rates, but
inferior produce was dull at about stationary prices. The
show of samples was tolerably extensive.
The malt trade was firm at quite former prices for all
qualities.

With oats the market was but moderately supplied.
Both home-grown and foreign parcels met a steady sale at
quite Monday's improvement in the currency.
Beans and peas ruled firm, and their value was well
supported.

Barrel flour ruled firm, and sweet parcels were held at
further enhanced rates. Town and country flour was quite
as on ➢ionday.

ARRIVALS THIS WVEK.
Wheat. Barley. Malt. Oats. Flout.
Engllsh 460 950 220 llO 1 ,U 0
Irish.. — - 400 • -
Foreigu 900 3,20 J 530 220 eke,
1,370 brie.