The Sun.
London, England, 1863-12-11 00:00:00

REPLY OF THE KING OF BAVARIA.

Monsieur mon Frere,—l Nava received the letter which
your Imperial Majesty has been kind enough to address to
me, under date of the 4th of this month, proposing a Con-
gross, which would assemble at Paris, with the object of
laying the foundation of the pacification of Europe.
I cannot but render full justice to the lofty sentiments
with which this proposal is impressed.
The treaties of 1815, on which the present political edifice
of Europe rest, are, I am notnnavinerdeatroyed in fact on
many points or misunderstood. There is, therefore, no
grander task than to spare the future the shocks almost in-
evitable from this state of things, by regulating in concert
with the other Powers the litigious questions of the present
day, to which the arrangements of these treaties could no
longer be applied.
I believe with pleasure that the proposal of your Imperial
Majesty, followed by subsequent explanations on the sub-
ject, will be received by the Powers directly interested in
the solution of these questions in the manner which is in-
dispensable to assure its success.
In this supposition I do not hesitate to adhere to the pro-
position of your Imperial Majesty, and I shall esteem my-
self happy to concur in the work of general pacification by
taking part in the future conferences. _

I take this opportunity of renewing the assurance of the
high esteem and inviolable friendship with which I am,
Monsieur mon here, of your Imperial !ttajesty the good
brother, MAX.
Rome, Nbv. 27,

Naval and Military Intelligence.

THE NAVY.

The eastern division of the Channel fleet—comprising the
Edgar, 74, wooden liner, Capt. G. P. Hornby, bearing the
flag of the Commander•in-Chief, Rear-Admiral Sidney,
Oolpoys Dacres, C.B. ; the Warrior, 40, iron frigate, Capt.
the Hon. A. A. Cochrane, C.B. ; and the Resistance, 16,
iron frigate, Capt. Chamberlain—is expected to sail from
Spithead to-day for Plymouth Sound, where it will be
joined by the western division, and receive sailing orders
for the next cruise. At Plymouth the Resistance will be
detached from the squadron and proceed to the Mediterra-
nean, where, according to present orders, she will com•
plete her term of commis-ion. _ _

The Tamar, screw troopship, Capt. Stirling, arrived at
Spitheai yesterday morning from the eastward. She is
ordered into the h rbour.

The ordnance sccew transport Lord Paumure was taken
into the steam basin of Portsmouth dockyard yesterday,
and the two 12-ton 300-pounder Armstrong guns she has
conveyed round from Woolwich were transferred, by the
aid of the large steam crane, from her hold to an ordnance
lighter for conveyance to the gunnery Excellent.
Her Majesty's screw yacht Fairy was undocked at Ports-
mouth yesterday, after completing the coating of her
bottom plates with the M'lnnes composition.
The United States screw steam sloop of war Kearsage,
7, Commander Winslow, on a c uise, last from the Isle of
Wight, was outside Plymouth Sound yesterday.
The whole of the powerful cast iron girders and tramways
for the overhead travellers which the Lords of the Admi-
ralty have ordered to be erected beneath the building sheds
at Chatham dockyard, on which will ultimately be held
down some of the squadron of icon vessels ordered to he
constructed, have been transported to the dockyard from
the foundry when they were prepared by means of three of
the powerful traction engines manufactured by Messrs.
Aveiing and Port,.‘r, Rochester, which have been employed
unceasingly at the work for several months past. The re-
sults prove in the highest degree the superiority of the trac-
tion engine for transporting heavy weights to great die•
tances over the ordinary horse labour. Yesterday five of the
large iron girders, each weighing exactly three tons, were
placed on a couple of lorries, and dragged by one of the
traction engines from the foundry at Strood to the deck-
yard at Chatham, a distance of two miles, over every va-
riety of ground, including a severe incline of one in twelve,
and through crowded streets, without the least inconveni-
ence. On arriving at the end of the dockyard where the
girders are intended to be erected, the engine, by means of
a crane attached, lifted each girder from the waggon and
deposited it in the place intended for it. So favourable are
the reports made of the advantages resulting from the em-
ployment of traction engines for every description of heavy
draughts that in a short time their use will become general
in each of the Royal dockyards.
Mr. Reed'► iron-cased experimental ship Enterprise,to be
launched next month from the slip at Deptford, was yes-
terday commissioned (as stated at Woolwich) by Comman-
der Charles J. Rowley, lately in command of the gun-
vessel Renard.

A notice was yesterday affixed at the entrance of Wool-
wich dockyard announcing that the following number of
men was required for immediate employment :-80 ship-
wrights, 25 joiners, four painters, six millwrights and
fitters, six double firemen, 14 single firemen, and 25 ham-
mermen. The abovenamed increase of the establishment is
to take place in order to hasten the construction of the
Pallas, as well as to complete the fittings of the Racer and
the Ranger, required for the North American and African
stations.

Orders were promulgated at Portsmouth lockyard yes-
terday for the entry of about 1,000 additional hands, 600 of
whom are to be shipwrights, and the rema!nder of different
trades and labourers.
The following appointments have been made in'the Roya'
Naval Reserve :—To be Lieut., William Holmes Long•
man ; to be Sub-Lieut., Edward John Taylor.

THE ARMY.

A general order has been received at Chatham garrison
from the Horse Guards, announcing that the next examina-
tion of candidates for admission to the Staff Coilege, to be
held in July, 1861, will be upon the following portions of
military history and geography:—.Military History—" The
Campaign of Wellin gton,lBl3,concluding with the Battle of
Vittoria ;" " the Campaign of Napoleon, 1800, concluding
with the Battle of Marengo; and " the Campaign of the
Archduke Charles, 1796:" Military Geography—" The
Northern Frontier of Spain and Basin of the Ebro ;" " the
Basin of the Po, and the Theatre of War in Sardinia ;" and
" the Theatre of the War in Southern and Western Ger-
many." Candidates will be expected to acquaint themselves
with, and to be prepared to reason upon, the circumstances
by which the issues of the campaigns were mainly influ-
enced, for which purpose they should compare for them-
selves, to the fullest extent possible, the recounts of both
sides. The examination will be principally directed to elicit
this knowledge rather than a mere narrative of facts.
The Chatham contingent of Royal Marine Light Infan-
try selected for service in Japan left headquarters yesterday
for Woolwich, the officers and men having been previously
inspected by Col. T. Lemon, C. 8., commandant of the
Chatham Division. The force numbered 6 sergeants, 5 cor-
porals, 1 drummer, and 75 privates, together with the fol-
lowing officers :—Lieut.-Col. C. W. Adair, Captain J. A.
Stewart (Paymaster), Capt. J. 11. Parry, First Lieut. W. J.
Barker (Quartermaster), First Lieut. U. H. Dwyer, and
Second Lieut. W. W. Spalding. The entire force of Royal
Marines proceeding to Japan will rendezvous at Plymouth,
where they will embark on board the screw liner Conqueror,
78, 500 horse power, Capt. W. G. Luard, now fitting at the
Nore, which she will leave for Plymouth forthwith.
Lieut.-Col. Mitchell's II battery, Royal Horse Brigade,
three days from Aldershot, marched into garrison at head-
quarters, Woolwich, yesterday, and took up their winter
quarters there. The battery consists of 6 officers and 230
non-cammissioned officers and privates.
A company of Royal Marine Light Infantry, in command
of Captain J. Horndon Parry, consisting of 1 captain, 2
subalterns, 6 sergeants, 5 corporals, 1 bugler, and 20 pri-
vates, anis ed at Woolwich yesterday from Chatham, and
will leave Woolwich this morning by an early train to em-
bark on board the Conqueror, for service in Japan. The
two companies of the Woolwich Division under orders for
Japan will take their departure at the same time. Their
strength is as follows :--1 lieutenant-colonel, 2 captains, 4
subalterns, 1 adjutant, 10 sergeants, 8 corporals, 2 buglers,
and 161 privates. The whole will be commanded by Lieut.-
Col. Suther, Woolwich Division. The names of the officers
have appeared in a previous number of The Sun. Capt. E.
J. Ward, 4th battery, 2d Brigade Garrison Artillery, at
present at Dover, has been appointed Aide-de-Camp to Sir
Richard Dacres. K.C.8., i
commanding at Woolwich, in suc-
cession to Major W. E. M. Reilly, C. 8., who has taken up
the command of his battery.

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