The Sun.
London, England, 1862-08-08 00:00:00

ITALY.

A letter from Rome, of the let, says :—" At first
no one at Rome would give credit to the news of
Garibaldi's intended attempt, but repeated de-
spatches and the most precise information at last
compelled the French authorities to pay attention
to it. Assistance was immediately demanded from
the Emperor's Government, and a squadron of six
French line-of-battle ships soon appeared off Civita
Vecchia. Every military precaution was adopted
in the fear of an attack, and a movement of concen-
tration took place. All the commandants of the
Italian troops on the Tuscan frontier—at Grossetto,
Talemone, &c., were warned to actively watch the
movements of the Garibaldian bands, and lastly, in
order to reoccupy all the points which had been
left without garrisons in eonsequence of the concen-
tration of troops, reinforcements were applied for
from France. The Papal Government represented
that, in the present state of agitation,,the places
abandoned by the French troops might become the
scenes of disturbance and manifestations, but the
answer was that in case of an attack against the
Pontifical frontier, Garibaldi would not have a less
force than from 12,000 to 15,000 volunteers, and
that the French companies, isolated as they were,
would be unable to defend themselves against so
large a force. The French authorities, therefore,
thought it their duty to give a simple piece of advice
to the Pontifical Government, and pointed out to it
the danger which the Papal soldiers might incur if
sent to the extreme frontier to repel the first efforts
of the enemy. That advice, however, was disre-
garded, and the Papal ZJuaves are to occupy
Ceprano, near Frosinone."

CAPTAIN CO WPER COL ES AND .HIS
SHIELD SHIPS.

Captain Coles has addressed the following letter
to a contemporary :—" The models of shield ships
exhibited by me in the International Exhibition
admit of from 7to 8 deg. depression. In two this
is obtained by the deck on each side of the cupola
sloping at the necessary angle to admit of the re-
quired depression ; in the other two it is obtained
by the centre of the deck on which the cupola is
surmounted being risen sufficiently to enable the
shot, when the gun is depressed, to pass clear of the
outer edge of the deck. I enclose you the drawing,
published by me in 1860, of the midship section
from which these models were made. It also gives
a section of the Warrior (Fig. 5), by which you will
see that, supposing the guns of each to be 10 ft. out
of water, and to have the usual depression of
guns guns
on
from
her the navy (7 deg.), that the Warrior's
the broad Aide will throw the shot 19 ft. further,from
her side than the shield ship with her guns piac d
in the centre, that being the distance of the latter
from the edge of the ship, and thus, a
greater ad-
us, with the same
depression, the shield ship will have
vantage, which I consider t.o_bPanimportant merit
former deck
was
ilt, but
of my invention. The Royal Sovereign's
completed .
:via be con-
structed similarAr to those shown in my
s
modulo, when she will have the advantage of de-
pressing her guns, .so as to hit the water at a less
with
a now
slope when
distance from her side than most ships in the 118.7.
time being now entirely occupied in carry lug
okviii•Yt my invention under the direction of the Admi-
ralty, I regret that I cannot enter into the subject
more minutely, but hope these few lines will
suffice
to oho* how erroneous are the opinions of A
stant Reader.'" Con-