The Sun.
London, England, 1863-09-30 00:00:00

TIM StiN. LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 30, 1863

American war the Yankee navy was manned by
British seamen ; why may not American and Rus-
sian ships be built by English artisans at the pre-
sent day ? What a certain cavalry officer said to
MuRAT in the Russian campaign of 1812, when
censured for the failure of a regiment of dragoons
in a charge—namely, that " the horses had no
patriotism, and would not fight without corn"—
may apply in some respects to mechanics, for, if
Government will not find them employment, they
'must not expect to find the men for the country
when wanted, and the day may come when least
expected, and the navy of England be found as un-
prepared for action as it was at the outbreak of the
Russian war. It is curious to remark that, while
the Lords of the Admiralty are so eager to save a
few thousands sterling this month by the discharge
of competent workmen—which must in all probabi-
lity cost the country thrice that amount in the
next by the re-engagement of double the number
discharged, to make up for time lost by their pre-
vious parsimony—they think nothing of squander-
ing millions of public money in very fanciful altera-
tions, and in building up one day and pulling to
pieces the next, as the epirit moves them. Again,
it is by no means uncommon for ships to be docked,
thoroughly overhauled, and fitted for service, and
then condemned as unseaworthy, dismantled, aild
sold out of the service or broken up. We find that
some eight gunboats attached to the steam reserve
at Chatham have been ordered round to Deptford
to be broken up : they would have been sold, but
no purchasers could be found who considered
them worth what 'the Government required. In
other words, the ships were not worth buying. May
we not ask why the ships were not broken up at
first, rather than expend large sums to fit
them out for the reserve, and then, after
all, to break them up The total failure
of the Recruit the other day, when she
was taken down to the Nore to try her engines
and rate of speed, is a case in point. It may be re-
membered that some years ago the Board.of Admi•
ralty then in office exchanged, for reasons best
known to themselves, a fine 38-gun frigate, the
Thetis, for a couple of gunboats belonging to Prus•
sia, which that Government found to be by no
means up to the mark—the Recruit and the Weser.
The latter is at present in the Mediterranean, the
former was to have proceeded to the coast of Africa,
but on trial proved herself to be so unmanageable
and unsafe in a breeze that it was deemed unsafe to
proceed with the trial. Might not the former per-
formance have furnished evidence of what might
be expected from such a coffin, and prevent her
being selected for a station where speed and sea-
going qualities are indispensable. Let us look at
another branch of the dockyard management. The
Caledonian was yesterday floated out of dock
at Woolwich, where she had just received her
armour-plating, but the great accumulation of mud
and refuse in the river, opposite the dockyard, ren-
dered this an operation of great difficulty, for the
sternpost of the frigate took the ground, or rather
mud, just outside the dock, and brought her up, and
it was only by great exertions that she was dragged
through the mud and moored in the river. What is
the meaning of this? The presence of the accumu-
lation of mud was well known to the authorities
some months ago. It must therefore either have
been left there by gross negligence, or for the pur-
pose of calling into play the ingenuity of dockyard
people, and demonstrating the power of science over
matter, and likewise just to try what stress might
be put on the sternpost of a ship without carrying
it away. Would any of our large private companies
have been guilty of such neglect? No; the cost of
an accident woulri have fallen upon the proprietors,
but in a royal dockyard nobody is ever to blame,
and JotiN BuLL p.',ys the piper. It is not to be
Wondered at that the naval estimates are always so
heavy, and the results for the large sums yearly
voted by Parliament so inadequate. It is for the
public to look to it, and take care that the honour
and interests of the country are not trifled with to
suit the fancy of any visionary statesman and expe-
rimentalist. In the meantime it is to be hoped that
due care will be exercised in reducing the number
of artisans employed in the dockyards while so much
yet remains to be accomplished. It is but lately
that the practice of discharging a ship's company
after a three years' cruising, and after having learned
their business, and engaging new hands for the next
ship in commission, when a great part of the new
hands have to commence their education, has been
discontinued, and the continuous service introduced.
Let this system, at present in force in the navy, be
introduced, as far as practicable, into the dock-
yards.

The opening of the Danish Rigsraad, or Repre-
sentative Assembly for Denmark and Schleswig, is,
at the present crisis, no inconsiderable event. For
many years the vexed question of German right
and German interference have troubled the peace
of the little kingdom, and year by year the solu-
tion of the difficulty seemed to be getting farther
off. It was in fact tacitly felt on both sides that
there was small hope of its settlement, since the
real object of Germany, and more especially of
Prussia, was not put openly forward. The wish
to make a military Power a great nav3l Power also,
to secure by fraud or stratagem those advantages
which the very configuration of their country
denied them, was not exactly a suitable excuse for
Prussian diplomatists to put forward ; and it was,
moreover, a plea which would certainly fail to gain
the support of the rest of Europe. It was, there-
fore, better and easier to discover that the Hol-
steiners were an oppressed and ill-used people, the
jurisdiction of whose affairs belonged of right to
Germany, while Schleswig could easily be claimed
as part and parcel of these Federal territories. Ac-
cordingly the strife began, which has been waging
ever since, by speech, by despatch, by proclamation,
by threat, and by counter-threat. It has exercised
a most injurious inflaence on the affairs of Den-
mark ; arresting its internal progress, unsettling its
people, and introducing all those elements of dis-
turbance and discontent which hinder the develop-
ment of a nation's fortunes. The various phases
through which the matter has passed within the
last year or two are so familiar to the public that
it is unnecessary to refer to them ; but the address
of the KING to the assembled members of the Rigs-
read is imporiLant, as indicating his views
of the recent proceedings of the Diet. The
speech, like all the public words and
acts of the Danish Monarch, is temperate
and moderate in its tone, betraying no ambitious
desire to extend his sway over the provinces not
strictly belonging to him, and manifesting no wil-
lingness to provoke hostilities by arrogance or as-
sumpt ion. At the same time the language of the
KING allows no doubt of his determination to de-
fend his constitutional right. It is firm and reso-
lute, s bowing that he fully appreciates the difficulties
and dangers of his position, but is not disposed to
shrink from them. The speech refers almost ex-
clusively to the exciting topic of the day, the Ger-
man mischief-makers forbidding the consideration
of domestic improvements for the present. The
sumo iary of the Royal Speech tells us that it opened
with congratulations on the recent elevation of a
Danis h Prince to the throne of Greece, an event
which naturally could not be passed over on such
an acciyion. The KING next proceeds to inform

the Assembly that he has ordered bills to be laid
before them relating to a new constitution for
Denmark and Schleswig, which will give the
Rigsraad such power that it will be able " to meet
the great demands of the proximate future," i.e.,
to repel the aggression of Germany, and a future
time it may succeed in accomplishing " the com-
plete constitutional development of the country."
Further on the KING boldly refers to the existing
state of things. " The dispute between Denmark
and the Federal Diet," he says, "appears to be
approaching a decision, as the resolutions passed at
the Congress of German Princes anticipate a change
in the relative positions of Holstein and Denmark
in conformity with my proclamation of March last.
I trusted that an understanding with the Federal
Diet would be arrived at ; but, in reply to that pro•
elamation came the Federal Diet." The last
despatch which Denmark forwarded to the Federal
Diet expressed, as we already know, her readiness
to carry out its resolutions in Holstein, provided
they were found to be compatible with the Danish
KING'S authority over the Federal Provinces, and
"did not impede independent legislation in the other
parts of the kingdom." However reasonable and
complaisant such an offer may appear, it is certain
that these two provisos entirely deprive it of all
favour in German eyes. The resolute distinction
maintained between Holstein and Schleswig by the
Danish Government is a serious ground of offence
to the Diet, and the stipulation as to any undue
interference with the administration of the other
parts of the kingdom, shows the determination of
Denmark to preserve her independence in spite of
the benevolent efforts of the Confederation to take
the trouble of government off her hands. His
Majesty of DENMARK points out to his people that
should the Diet refuse to listen to his remonstrance
the question would no longer be of Federal rights
over Holstein, but of the independence of Denmark
herself. The KING and his advisers have the sense
and sagacity to perceive the vital importance of
preserving the line of distinction between the two
Duchies. Being unable, as a member of the
Confederation, entirely to resist the claims of
the Diet to interfere on behalf of the
Holsteiners, King CHRISTIAN is yet resolved that
the intruders shall not make these claims a specious
pretext to dismember his kingdom. The number
of Germans resident in Holstein, and the active
propagation and disturbance by German agents
help to complicate matters, and it certainly needs a
large share of prudence and firmness to steer the
bark of State through such troubled and treacherous
waters. The KING expresses his conviction that
he relies for support on his people, love of their
country and their liberties, and in this hope he will
probably not find himself mistaken. He may also
count upon the assistance of Sweden, and we hope
on the aid of England. Lord RUSSELL has now an
opportunity of rectifying the blunder he made last
autumn in his diplomatic intervention between
Denmark and her aggressor. Much depends on
his conduct at this crisis, and we very much doubt
whether he will prove equal to the occasion. He
may be sure that his countrymen, as well as ])anes
and Germans, are narrowly watching his move-
ments, and unless his words and acts are worthy of
an English Minister, he will have to account for
them to Parliament a. d people.

The Acclimatisation Society of Great

Britain.

TO THE EDITOR OF TILE SUN.

Sin,—We have the honour to inform you that
Light of the Age (passenger ship belonging to 11
Mackay and Co.), sailed on the 27th inst., from tl
India Docks, carrying with it a consignment
variegated pheasants from this Society to the Ace
tion Society of Queensland. The birds are cag
manner we think :nowt likely to ens+are their safe
an ample supply of food and gravel has been pro
Captain Porter, who commands the ship, and
kindly interested himself in the matter, feels very
of being able to deliver a fair proportion of
Brisbane. The birds were presented for the purr
Higford Burr, Esq., of Aldermaston Court, Reading.
By the Ariadne (also belonging to Messrs. Mac''
which sails within a month) a large consir-
birds will be sent by the Society to
his Grace the Duke of New,--"
Esq., of Milton Abbey, and
have promised to contribute
The owners have kindly p,
accommodate these birds, am

this will materially increase I _.:l cal
of the birds, whose most fatal ..u.Lt exposure
to the weather and the salt wat %rho wish well to our
prosperous Australian colonies ,we are sure, be glad to
hear of the safe arrival of the,_ migrants, who will, no
doubt, be welcomed on their arrival far more cordially than
the gaol birds whom our Government has lately been send-
ing to Australia.—We are, sir, your obedient servants,
F. FECE.LA.ND, 1 scretartes.
JAMES LOWE,

Sir H. Verney, 11,13., and Mr. Hubbard, M.P.,
in Buckingham.

The annual dinner of the local association took
I;:tice in the Town-hall, Buckingham, yesterday,
several
course of the to the
under the presidency of R. P. Fitzgerald, Esq.
After dinner the usual loyal and patriotic toasts
owcecraes i o given,n.
sai wereu .vn
Verney,
o a
r
e
y, e
n e r
thle appropriaterse
urged upon his
re-
markshearers
he was
rer
sthe called upon
importance
a f elevating
make,
tiag
the condition of
the labouring classes in the agricultural districts
and improving cottage and tenant residences. These
were subjects which demanded the serious attention
of landlords, ai well for their own interests as for
the general good of the country and the individual
benefits of labourers and tenants. Mr. Hubbard,
in rising to address tbs meeting, remarked
upon the tranquillity of the last session
of Parliament, which he consilered was attributable,
in some degree, to the fact that the House of Com-
mons, as at present constituted, was no longer in
its aid individual members
ha hdeoit succeededlistheegriatv
ie youth;
. m carrying out the views they
Parliament, or bad entertainedaban-
doned
them aon s
hopeless.nt e rnig
In speaking of the foreign
a e
policy of England, the hon. gentleman expressed
his satisfaction at the resolution of the present Go-
vernment respec'ang the Polish question, as made
bya member of the Ministry, in a
Scotland. He was quite of opinion
pk
an
bo
lwi
an
srpeaceeauht liya
that England was not called upon to go to war on
behalf of Poland. The hon. gentleman went on to
say that he thought Russia had not been fairly dealt
with, that the claims of Poland had been exag-
gerated, and a great deal of misplaced sympathy
accorded to the Poles. Regarding the war in
America, he considered the Government had acted
y wisely in a strict adherence to the policy of
very
-intervention, Sir 11. Verney again addressed
the meeting on the termination of Mr. Hubbard's
speech,strongly
expressing his dissent from that
gentleman's
sina s views respecting Poland and Russia.
History did not furnished a parallel to the dreadful
aa
tyranny and cruelty exercised towards Poland by
the Russians, and he considered that moral as well
as diplomatic obligations made it incumbent upon
England to hold out a helping hand to the unhappy
Poles. The remarks of the hon. gentleman were
received with marks of the fullest approbation by
the meeting. Several toasts of a local and special
character were given and responded to, after which
the proceedings were brought to a close by the
usual votes of thanks,

JOHN LEECH'S Fourth Serzes of " Pictures of
Life and Character," we are right glad to see announced
for publication in October, according to a notification of the
fact upon to-day '8
number of Punch.
A MEMORIAL TO WILLS, THE AUSTRALIAN
EXPLORER, is to be erected at Tatnes, he having been a
native of that place. Mr. Ritchie, of Chester, has supplied
the design for this work, which is to consist of an obelisk,
one face of which bears a tnedallicn portrait of Wills. The
obelisk, resting upon a pedestal, with plinth and cornice,
placed upon a rusticated base, is to be 33 feet high, the
base 11 feet square.

A new Paris journal, called le Potpie, will be
shortly issued : its price one sous:

LATEST INTELLIGENCE.

[REUTER'S TELEGRAMS.]

THE UNION OF THE lONIAN ISLANDS
WITH GREECE.
PARIS, SEPT. 30.
Advices received from Corfu announce that the
elections in the lonian Islands have terminated.
The Islands of Corfu and Paxos have pronounced
in favour of union with Greece.
The result of the elections in the remaining
islands is not yet known, but it is not doubted that
it will be favourable to the union.

THE BRAZILS.
RIO DE JANEIRO, SEPT. 9.
By telegraph from Lisbon.
The elections are favourable for the Government.
Exchange on London, 271 ; coffee, 7,500 to 8,500
reis ; shipments since the departure of the last mail,
85,205 bags, including 32,378 for the Channel; sales,
60,500; stock, 70,000 bags; freight, 355. to 40s.
BAHIA, SEPT. 13.
Exchange on London, 261 27 ; cotton, 19,000
reis, no sales ; sugar, 2,200 to 2,400.
PERNAMBUCO, SEPT. 15.
Exchange on London, 277, ; sugar, 3,500 to 3,800
reis ; brown, 1,700 to 2,100 ; cotton, 20,000 to
22,500.
The Messageries Imperiales steamer Giuenne
arrived at Pernambuco on the 12th inst., and sailed
the same evening for Bahia.
LISBON, SEPT. 30.
The Royal Mail Steam Packet Company's ship
Parana from the Brazils has arrived here, and will
leave at 11 o'clock to-day for Southampton with
82 passengers, £22,051 in specie, 200 rolls of
tobacco, and 228 packages of sundries.