The Sun.
London, England, 1862-04-15 00:00:00

THE SPAIVI,4R_DS IN MEXICO.

A letter from Vera Cruz in the Debate, gives
some account of the ill effect produced by the land-
ing of the Spaniards in Mexico, unaccompanied by
the troops of the other only allied Powers :

" The premature landing of the Spanish army at Vera
Cruz before the arrival of the French and English, although
a great fault, had not, however, been without a certain
utility, as it led to a knowledge of the real state of
parties in Mexico, and opened the eyes of the allies as
to what they had to effect. When the French arrived
at Havana, they were informed that the Spanish
town and market was deserted, that every isolated sentinel
was struck by an invisible dagger, that every Mexican suss
pected of holding relations with the enemy was put to
death—in a word, that the most violent hostility against
one of the allies was being carried on prior to the arrival of
the others. The sight of the Spanish flag floating alone on
the Fort of Saint Jean d'Ulloa had caused that explosion
of violence, and it was turned to account by the parties hos-
tile to the intervention, The tone of triumph which was
assumed by the Havana press also served to mislead public
opinion in Mexico as to the real object of the intervention,
and the cry of Death to the Spaniards 1' was heard on all
sides. Mexico was at the same time inundated with
proclamations, comparatively polite towards France and
England, but filled with the most violent imprecations
against Spain. It became evident that the moment a
hostile struggle commenced it would assume between the
Spaniards and the Mexicans the same character of savage
atrocity that had signalized the war of independence. A
French army could not in any way take part in such scenes,
nor could it even be an eye-witness of them, and then what
would become of the common action ? The English would
not under any circumstance quit Vera Cruz, as their con-
tingent did not exceed 500 men. It was under those con-
ditions that the junctic,, of the three flags took place on
the Mexican territory. A difficulty of another kind was
soon felt—the want of the means of transport. Nothing of
the kind had been brought from Europe, the resources of
the country having been calculated on, but they were found
to be completely wanting, in consequence of the regime of
terror which had been organised for a distance of 30 leagues
round Vera Cruz. The French Admiral, however, would
not allow himself to be shut up in Vera Cruz, and resolved
to quit it at any risk. A railway about twenty miles in
length starts from the town in the direction of Orizaba,
one of the roads to Mexico. Two stations provided with
water—Tejera and La Lhoma—were occupied by the
French troops, joined by a battalion of Spanish chasseurs,
and a detachment of English infantry. Those two posi-
tions were provisioned by the railway, the locomotives of
which were driven by engineers from the allied fleets. The
three flags had thus united in the first military movement
of the expedition ; the Mexicans drew back their advanced
posts, and Vera Cruz was relieved, The allied commanders
then made known at Mexico their intention to advance to
Jalapa, a more healthy position for their troops, and where
they would consent to open with the established Govern-
ment the negotiations with which they were charged.
That intention was signified in the shape of an ultimatum,
and was to be carried into effect quietly or by force. Dur-
ing that forced exchange of correspondence, the interval
was turned to account by sending steamers to Havana,
which brought back provisions, wheels, springs, and mules,
while the carpenters of the fleet occupied themselves in
making carts and other vehicles calculated to assist the
advance of the army, and in that respect they performed
wonders. The Mexicans were not ignorant of the active
measures which were being taken. On seeing that the
feverish sun of their country, on which they had counted
much, did not overpower the Allies, they began to compre-
hend that this handful of men, to be so energetic and so
confident, must feel themselves supported by a decided
policy and by an exalted solicitude which would not allow
them to remain in embarrassment. At this moment the
admiral received a despatch announcing a reinforcement of
500 Zouaves. The moment approached when the Mexican
Sahara, le tierra calente, would be crossed by the Allies.
The road was opened, and it was then that the convention
offered by General Doblado was accepted."

OUR NEW SHIPS AND OLD ONES:
MR. LARD'S RETURNS AND MR. CORRY'S
PLAN,

The assertions made on Friday evening, in the
House of Lords, by the Earl of Ellenborough, that
we are building ships-of-war too large to be accom-
modated in our docks, was borne out by the appear-
ance, on the following morning, of the returns made
by the Admiralty, on the motion of Mr. Laird, of
the dimensions of all graving docks as at present
existing in the royal dockyards, and the increased
dimensions of those in course of alteration, and of
the number of days in the year which the Warrior
can enter any of them. It appears from this return
that, at present, the largest of our iron-plated
ships can be docked only at Portsmouth and Pem-
broke, and at those yards only on a very limited
number of days in the year, and under certain cir-
cumstances. There is one dock at Pembroke where
she can be docked at ordinary spring tides, when
drawing not more than 22 feet of water, which we
apprehend will seldom if ever be the ease; and at
the double docks at Portsmouth she can be docked
six days each spring when fully loaded ready for
sea, There is one dock at Chatham being altered
which will admit her when light four days each
spring, but not at all when deep. At the north
inlet dock at Portsmouth, in course of construction,
it is stated that she will be able to be docked on any
day when she can enter the basin ; but it appears
that the depth of water on the sill at ordinary neap
tides will be only 21 feet 9 inches, and at ordinary
spring tides (high water) 25 feet 9 inches. •There
is a dock at Keyham, being enlarged, in which it is
stated that, by raising the water in the basin, she
can be docked any day during the year; and this is
also said to be the case in respect of the new long
dock in course of construction at Devonport. Lord
Ellenborough's statement was not therefore incor-
rect or exaggerated, and the Duke of Somerset's
reason for the building of ships of the enormous
size of the Warrior, namely, that the twin deside-
rata in such constructions—great speed and heavy
arm amen t —render necessary such dimensions,shows
the importance of the motion of which the Right
Hon. Mr. Corry (long one of Sir R. Peel's Lords of
the Admiralty, and Secretary to the Admiralty under
the late Administration), has given notice for May
13, and of which the data obtained by Mr. Laird
are apparently at once the foundation and the mo-
tive. The motion to which we refer is for the ap-
pointment of a select committee to inquire into the
adequacy of the accommodation afforded in the
naval establishments at home and abroad for dock-
ing vessels of the royal navy, more especially in
reference to the increased length of ships of modern
construction, and the probable substitution to a
great extent of an iron for a wooden fleet. It will
also be a question for the committee whether, if
additional accommodation should appear to
be required, it could be obtained with the
greatest advantage in connection with existing
dockyards, or in other localities. The importance
of this investigation must be obvious when we con-
sider that the result of the experiments made last
week at Shoeburyness shows that plates of less
thickness than those of the Warrior will be no pro-
tection at all against guns throwing heavy shot,
whether from ships or forts, and that smaller vessels
could not be so protected without greatly diminish-
ing their speed, if not seriously interfering with
their flotation. First class vessels of our future
navy must not only be able to carry a heavy arma-
ment, but also to attain a high rate of speed, quali-
ties which can only be combined in ships of the
largest size. The present state of the problem be-
tween the penetrating power of heavy ordnance and
the resisting power of iron plates, coupled with the
experience afforded by the action between the iron-
plated Merrimac and the wooden Cumberland,
and that between the former vessel and the Moni-
tor, render it extremely probable that the most
powerful means of offence in future naval warfare
will be the crushing power of the iron prow. The
heavy shot of the two iron-clad monsters rattled
harmlessly upon their armour, but the side of the
Cumberland was torn open, and her immediate de-
struction rendered certain, by one blow from the
iron beak of her confident antagonist. To use this
formidable means of offence with effect it is obvious
great momentum is requisite, and can be attained
only by the use of very powerful engines. The
more the thickness of the plates is increased, the
larger the ship, and the more powerful her engines
must be; and in proportion as we increase the
dimensions of our ships, it will be necessary to en-
large our docks. The return obtained by Mr. Laird
is conclusive as to the necessity of such enlarge-
ment; and, though it may be found expedient to
Warrior class on the home station,
keep ships of the
there are good grounds for including our naval es-
tablishments abroad in the terms of Mr. Corry's
motion for inquiry. Our arrangements in this re-
spect are at present' most deficient, notwithstanding
the large sums annually expended in altering and
repairing the Admiralty works in our possessions
abroad, Any outlay that might be made in the