The Sun.
London, England, 1865-08-02 00:00:00

Naval and Military Intelligence.

The Board of Admiralty, comprising the Duke of
Somerset, K.G., First Lord ; Rear-Admiral Eden,
C. 8., Rear-Admiral Drummond, C.B. ; Mr. Chil-
ders, 31. P. ; Rear-Admiral Robinson, Controller
of the Navy ; Capt. Clarke, Director of Engineer-
ing and Architectural Works, with Captain Hall,
private secretary to the First Lord ; Sir Richard
Mayne, K.C.8., and Mr. F. M. Mallalieu, Chief
Commissioner and Inspecting Superintendent of
the Metropolitan Police Force, arrived at Deptford
yesterday afternoon at 2 o'clock, to make the annual
inspection of the Royal Victoria Dock and Victual-
ling Establishments. Their Lordships were received
by Capt. Chads, the superintendent, the master
shipwright, storekeeper, and other officers. Having
transacted some official business at the Capt. Su-
perintendent's and Accountant's offices, they pro-
ceeded to the cooperage for the purpose of inspect-
ing the new machinery recently erected for the
rapid manufacture of the casks, &c., required for the
shipment of provisions to foreign stations, and for
the naval service. Their Lordships then visited in
succession the slaughterhouses, rum and wine stores,
mustard mills, steam biscuit bakery, salt provisions,
sail, clothes, and other stores. After an inspection
of the, several workshops, ship-building slips, docks,
basins, and other departments of the dockyard,
their Lordships were occupied for some time in
making an examination of the three new vessels
now in progress. These are the Endymion screw
frigate, which was laid down some years since, and
the building of which was for a long time suspended
in accordance wiih the decision of the Admiralty to
discontinue the building of more timber vessels. She
has since been remodelled, and is in such a forward
state that their Lordships have directed her to be
launched during the present month, after which she
will be removed to Woolwich or Sheerness for com-
pletion. The Niobe and Nymph, ironclad screw
gun vessels, laid down and in course of construc-
tion from the designs and under the superintendence
of Mr. E. J. Reed, Chief Constructor of the Royal
Navy, are intended Ito solve the problem of obtain-
ing a high rate of speed with some of the smallest
class of gun vessels when armour-plated with the
same thickness of iron as that of the Warrior. The
Nymph has only recently been laid down, but the
Niobe is in a forward state. Their Lordships occu-
pied about two hours and a half in their inspection,
and before leaving the establishment they received
a deputation from several classes of workmen, re-
questing an increase of pay and other advantages,
which their Lordships promised to take into conside-
ration. After partaking of refreshments at the
residence of the Captain-Superintendent, their
Lordships left for London at half-past 5 o'clock.
It is reported at Plymouth that the Lords of the
Admiralty will inspect the Pembroke dockyard to-
morrow, and that on Saturday evening or Sunday
morning their Lordships are expected to arrive at
Devonport. It is not supposed that the Board will
remain as long as usual at Devonport, as the Duke
of Somerset and other members were there recently
with the Prince of Wales.

The Arethusa, which was reported in The Sun
recently to have returned to her moorings to be
thoroughly overhauled in consequence of the defec-
tive state of the valves of the air pumps, is still. at
moorings in Sheerness harbour. The defect has
been discovered, and the vessel will in a few days
again be taken for trial on the measured mile prior
to join the experimental squadron.
The Star, 4, screw steam gunvessel, 695 tons, 200
horse power, having been fitted for the first divi-
sion of the Sheerness Steam Reserve, was taken
from the large basin in Sheerness Dockyard for an
experimental cruise on Saturday last, to test her
engines prior to her trial on the measured mile. The
Star is moored in the harbour, and will be shortly
commissioned for foreign service.
The necessary repairs of machinery on board the
Sheerness, paddlewheel steam tender, 114 horse
power, at Sheerness, having been completed, the
vessel will be taken out of dock this day, and will
resume her duties as tender to the dockyard. •
The iron-cased screw steamship Ocean, 23, left
Hamoaze yesterday morning in charge of the offi-
cers of the Steam Reserve, for the purpose of test-
ing her engines and machinery in a trip round the
Eddystone.

The Royal Sovereign, turret-ship, Capt. Herbert,
has returned to Portsmouth harbour to coal.

The Salamis, paddle-wheel despatch boat, Com-
mander Suttie, arrived at Portsmouth yesterday
from Portland, as also the Trinculo, tender to the
Edgrx, flagship of the Channel squadron.

The Enchantress, Admiralty yacht, Staff-Com-
mander Petley, left Portsmouth yesterday for the
westward, to be in readiness for the embarkation of
the Lords of the Admiralty either at Plymouth or
Pembroke.

The Helicon, paddlewheel despatch vessel, was
undocked at Portsmouth yesterday. It is expected
a trial of her speed will shortly be made.
The Orontes, troop-ship, Capt. H. W. Hire, will
embark troops this morning at Portsmouth for
Aldershott, and sail immediately for Plymouth and
Pembroke—her expected voyage to Canada being
postponed.

His Excellency M. Musurus, Ambassador from
the Ottoman Porte, arrived at Devonport on Mon-
day evening, and yesterday inspected the iron-cased
Turkish frigate Osman Gazi, 16, Capt. Arif Bey,
which is receiving her armament in Hamoaze, and
is expected to leave to-day for Plymouth Sound.
The large gunmetal cleaver-shaped weapon,
-which is to form the under-water portion of the
stem of the iron-cased frigate Lord Warden, at
Chatham, has been successfully cast in the foundry
at the dockyard, the previous efforts to make the
casting having failed. This formidable weapon,
-which on leaving the foundry weighed between nine I
and ten tons, and is the largest casting of the kind
ever made at Chatham Dockyard, has the appear-
ance of an enormous wedge. Placed as it will be
at the most prominent part of the protruding swan-
shaped stem of the Lord Warden, below the water,
it will prove a powerful auxiliary in running down
and cleaving open any hostile vessel, should it ever
be necessary to use the frigate as a ram. The prow
was placed in its position yesterday, and although
the operation was attended with some difficulty, and
required considerable care, it was effected under the
directions of the officials connected with the master-
shipwright's staff without accident. The work of
fitting and preparing the Lord Warden for sea is
being pushed forward as rapidly as the resources of
the dockyard will permit, nearly 1,000 mechanics
and other workmen being employed on her.
Among the new machines ordered by the Lords of
the Admiralty to be erected at the Chatham Dock-
yard to meet the constantly increasing requirements
of that establishment, is one large steam crane,
capable of lifting weights up to 25 tons. It is to be
erected on one of the vacant wharves at a cost of
£1,940, together with two 10-ton cranes, at an out-
lay of £2,160. Messrs. J. Taylor and
Co., of the
Britannia Works, have received orders to" supply
the dockyard with two travelling cranes, each capa-
ble of lifting 10-ton armour plates at a cost
of
£1,480. The same firm will also supply two steam
rivetting machines at a sum of £895. Among the
other steam machinery ordered for the general ser-
vice of the establishment is a new 5-ton steam ham-
mer, to be supplied by Messrs. Tannett and Walker,
at a cost of £1,350. Several other new machines
are also ordered to be fitted up in Chatham Dock-
yard, the whole involving an expenditure on the
plant alone of between £9,000 and £lO,OOO.
The Ist Regiment of Life Guards returned to the
cavalry barracks at Windsor yesterday from a month's
duty at Aldershot. The Ist battalion of the Grena-
dier Guards returned to-day to the Wellington
Barracks from a month's exercise under canvas at
Aldershot. The 2d battalion of the Grenadier
Guards left the Tower of London yesterday morn-
ing for a month's duty at Aldershot. The 2d bat-
talion of Coldstream Guards left St. George's Bar-
racks yesterday. Eight companies went to the Tower
of London to replace the 2d battalion of Grenadier
Guards and the remaining two companies to St.
ohn's-wood Barracks for gymnastic exercise. The
two companies doing duty at St. John's-wood Bar-
racks left for Warley to join the recruit establish-
ment of the brigade of Guards.
The troops already announced in 7he Sun as
Laving arrived at Portsmouth in the hired transport
Gosforth, disembarked at the dockyard yesterday

morning early, under the superintendence of Col.
Shadwell, Assist.-Quartermaster-General of 4 the
south-western district, and were forwarded to the
depots of their respective regiments. The Gosforth
left in the afternoon for London to discharge her
cargo.

The experiment recently commenced at Chatham
of apportioning various suitable tracts of the Crown
lands adjoining the fortifications and citadel among
the non-commissioned officers and troops of the va-
rious corps quartered in the garrison, to be cultivated
as gardens, has been attended during the time it has
been under trial with the most satisfactory results,
and the applications for additional space by the
troops are constantly on the increase. In addition
to the plots of ground within the trenches which
have been broken up and divided among the bat-
talions the portion of the fortifications near the
Cornwallis battery and beyond the curtain has just
been divided among the non-commissioned officers,
who have already commenced its cultivation. Se-
veral acres of the glacis and hornwork of the trenches
and fortifications have already been marked out to
be divided among the various corps, Major-General
Sir Robert Walpole, K.C.8., and the other officials
being desirous of meeting the wishes of the troops
who apply for plots of ground, and encouraging to
the fullest extent this recreation for their soldiers
during their leisure.

The deaths of the following officers have been
officially reported at the War-office since July 1 :
Major-General J. Ashmore, Royal Marines Light
Infantry ; Col. E. J. White, 70th Regt. ; Lieut.-
Cols. C. Sim, Royal Engineers ; J. Drysdale, 42d
Royal Highlanders ; and G. P. Erskine, Paymas-
ter; Major R. S. W. Jones, 2d West India Regt. ;
Captains R. P. Welch, Royal Artillery ; A. J.
Schreiber, 31st Regiment; and J. Grimes, 76th
Regiment ; Lieut. and Adjt. A. IL Lewis, 65th
Regiment ; Lieuts. G. Black and H. Phillips, Royal
Artillery ; J. H. Clutterbuck, Ist battalion sth
Fusiliers ; A. Handcock, 33d Regiment ; R. A.
Emmet, 92d Highlanders ; F. W. Leman, 107th
Bengal Infantry ; T. Hunter, 18th Dragoons ; R. R.
Thompson, 26th Cameronians ; and J. Hine ; En-
signs L. H. Jones, 89th Regiment, and E. Burton ;
Assist. Inspector D. Maclagan, M.D. ; Senior Surg.
W: lieLy, Royal Artillery; Surg.-Major and De-
puty Inspector-Gen. W. Odell, M.D. ; Surg. W.
F. Daniell, M.D. ; Assist.-Surga..N. Carter, 109th
Regiment ; and J. Anderson, M. 8., Staff.

The following appointments haire been made at
the Admiralty :—John Washford, assist.- surg., to
the Tyrian ; Robert Harding, assist.-surg., to the
Donegal ; Francis E. Julian, engineer, to the Re-
sistance; Edward Holmes, second-class assist.-
engineer, to the Tyrian ; Ebenezer E. Lucas,
second-class assist.-engineer, to the Cockatrice ;
John Kimber, acting second-class assist.-engineer,
to the Asia, for the Mersey ; and William Elliot,
assist.-clerk, to the Edgar.

The Confederation of British America.

(From the Times' Special Correspondent.)
MONTREAL, July 20.

The questions which at the present moment oc-
cupy the public mind in the British American Pro-
vinces, and which have severally increased in import-
ance since the termination of the civil war in Ame-
rica, and both delicate and intricate. It is felt on
almost every hand that the old condition of things
has passed, or is rapidly passing away, and that, in
view of the military power displayed by the Federal
Government in the subjugation of the South, a new
organisation is imperative if the provinces desire to
avoid incorporation with their formidable neighbour.
It is true that there is in the British Provinces, as
everywhere else, a Conservative party which wishes
to let well alone, and which dislikes the risks of
change, lest it should lead to worse evils than those
it is intended to remedy. But this party is not so
powerful in a new as it would be in an old country,
and in the Canadas is composed of a small section
of well-to-do people whom age has rendered timid.
The bulk of the community in Upper, and of the
English-speaking portion in Lower Canada, acknow-
ledge that the time is ripe for a change of some kind,
and declare themselves either for annexation to the
United States, or for a union of the provinces under
British protection. It is essential to note, however,
that amid all the conflict of opinion there exists no
party in favour of present or even of speedy inde-
pendence. If a thought of this kind finds favour at
all, it is bnt a dream of the French Canadians, dis-
missed with atsigh as incapable of realisation. In a
future letter I hope t-,0 describe with more detail the
feelings and wishes of this nation within a nation,
who have little love for their English fellow-subjects,
but have still less for the Americans, and who, if
they be allowed the privilege of entering a sentimen-
tal protest against their allegiance to the Crown, will
be very glad to remain its subjects, provided always
that no new taxes be imposed upon them for the
privilege. In the meanwhile it will be of greater
immediate interest if I confine my attention to the
British Canadians.

It cannot be denied that there is a party in Upper
Canada, and a much smaller one in Lower Canada,
that desires annexation to the United States, as by
far the easiest solution of many existing difficulties,
and as the best means of opening up the country to
the enterprise of the restless, indefatigable, and
energetic people of the States. They allege that
British protection is a source of weakness, not of
power ; and that annexation to the States, although
to be attended with the drawback of participation in
the immense and yet unascertained liabilities of the
Federal Government, would be fully compensated
by the advantages certain to be derived from com-
mercial union with a country whose resources are
infinitely greater than its indebtedness. But this
party is without a leader of any note or influence in
the Canadian Parliament, and scarcely finds a re-
presentative in the press. Without prompting from
Washington or New York, it would probably be
much less heard than it is, and owes the greater
part of whatever influence it may wield to the pro -
pagandism of American settlers, who, wherever they
go, remain Americans, and affect, as Yankees always
do, to despise what they are pleased to call the
slowness and inertia of all who do not enjoy the
inestimable privilege of having been born under the
" Stars and Stripes," and among the slowest of the
slow invariably reckon the Englishman, or the men
of English descent in the colonies. Whatever
may have been the strength of this party a week ago
—and no one claims that it was considerable—it
has been seriously diminished by the very indiscreet
proceedings of Mr. Potter, the Federal Consul-
General in that city. This gentleman, moved appa-
rently by a letter from Mr. -Wood, the superinten-
dent of the Montreal Telegraph Company, who
assumed to speak the sentiments of all his country-
men in Canada;took it upon himself at the Detroit
Convention to assert that, if the Federal Govern-
ment did not renew the Reciprocity Treaty with
British America, the Canadas, if not the maritime
provinces, would, in less than two years, be reduced
commercially to such straits as to be compelled to
sue for admission to the Federal Union. For this
reason he argued that the Treasury ought not to be
renewed. The publication of the letter of Mr.
Wood and the speech of the Consul-General have
led to such a whirl of excitement among the British
Population as to produce the resignation by Mr.
Wood of the position he holds in the Telegraph
Company, and a requisitionto Lord Monck, to be
forwarded to
D
dis-
missalbyhinl w
offoArira. Potter, should dtgn-eFederalfor e
Govern-
ment
not see fit in the meanwhile to remove him.
Apart from these merely personal aspects of the
question, the zeal of Mr. Potter defeated its own
object. Many Canadians who looked without very
much disfavour upon the idea of annexation, pro-
vided it could be brought about in a friendly spirit,
and on theground of mutuahnterest and convenience,
were scandalfi:ed at the idea of coercion so nakedly
and offensively stated, and asked themselves not
whether reciprocity of trade even with so good a
customer as Federal America might not be too
dearly purchased,
but whether, all things consi-
dered, the Uni led States, even on the single ques-
tion of the fishcu'ies of Newfoundland, to say no-
thing of the free• navigation of the St. Lawrence,
had not much Che best of the present bargain.
And as for threats, it would become matter
for grave reflection, if reciprocity were de-
nied from motives ea unworthy as those avowed
by Mr. Paler, 4pr from any others, good,