The Sun.
London, England, 1862-06-09 00:00:00

THE NA Vl'.

• The paddle-wheel steam surveying vessel Porcu-
pine,
3, Master Commander Hoskyn, at Devonport,
appointed on the application of the directors of the
Atlantic Telegraph Company, to take soundings in
the Atlantic, will be provided with a donkey-engine
on deck to assist the men. The machines which
will be used are those called the " Bulldog" ma-
chines. They are constructed on the principle best
adapted for bringing up portions of the bottom.
Brooke's apparatus will also be employed. The
Porcupine, it is expected, will in the first place go
to that part of the Atlantic where there is what is
popularly called a " cliff,' in the bed of the ocean, at
which point it is supposed the former cable was
broken. At the head of this declivity, about 200
miles from Ireland, there is a depth of 550 fathoms,
and at the foot 1,750 fathoms, showing a
difference of 1,200 fathoms. But this decline
extends over a distance of eight miles, so that
the fall is only one in eight. Other portions
will no doubt be sounded. It is stated that in
the event of a second attempt to establish
telegraphic communication across the Atlantic some
place on the coast of Ireland, further north than
Valentia harbour, will be selected for the purpose
of obtaining a more convenient bed for the reception
of the wire. The burden of the Porcupine being
only 382 tons, she is rather small for the duty. The
donkey-engine alone will weigh 10 tons, and this,
with the fuel necessary to be kept near it on deck,
may cause her to roll, especially when her stock of
coal is diminished. While employed sounding very
little coal will be expended, but as she cannot stow
above 100 tons frequent communications with the
shore will be necessary. Galway, or some other
western port in Ireland, will be visited for this
purpose. Mr. John E. Davis, Master, R.N. (borne
on the books of the Fisgard), who has had great
experience in surveying, and who accompanied
Capt. Allen Young, in the Fox, in 1860, to survey
the proposed northern route via Faroe, Iceland,
Greenland, and Labrador, has been appointed by
the hydrographer to go in the Porcupine for the
purpose of aiding the present inquiry.
The Prometheus, 5, paddle, Capt. Bedingfield,
arrived at Spitheadyesterdayafternoon from Ascen-
sion and the West Coast of Africa. Subsequently to
the recent important services of the Prometheus at
Lagos, where for some time Capt. Bediugfield was
senior officer, she was surveyed and pronounced un-
seaworthy owing to the defects of her hull. She
has, nevertheless, been navigated home in safety.
She awaits orders at Spithead.
The Megtera screw troopship, Commander Hen-
derson, arrived at Portsmouth at 5 a.m. yesterday,
from Guernsey and Jersey, with three batteries of
artillery on board, Two batteries remain in garrison
at Portsmouth, and the third was despatched by
special train on the South Coast Railway yesterday
morning, immediately after disembarkation, for
Dover.

The screw steamship James Watt, 80, Captain E.
Codd, from Malta May 8, and Gibraltar May 22,
arrived in Plymouth Sound on Saturday morning.
Contrary light winds from the north were expe-
rienced in the first part of the voyage. For the last
two days she had fine winds from the southward.
The James Watt was commissioned March 5, 1859,
and comes home to have her crew paid off. The ship
is in good condition. She embarked at Malta Mr.
C. F. B. Homan, clerk in the dockyard; Brigade
Major C. E. Burt, Royal Artillery ; Capt. T. Tyack,
22d Regiment, Lieut. W. H. Irvine and Ensign E.
C. Dickson, 3d Regiment, Mr. Hallett, Mr. J. Lit-
tlejohn, Serg. F. Thompson, and three privates be-
longing to the 22d Regiment, and at Gibraltar,
Major H. P. Gore, 6th Regiment, Ensign J. Co-
ventry, 7th Regiment, Ensign H. Dawson and 60
military invalids, two women, and one child. She
left at Malta the screw steam sloop Icarus, 11, Com-
mander N. Salmon, and the paddlewheel steamship
Medina, 4, Capt. T. A. B. Spratt, C.B. ; and at Gib-
raltar the screw steam corvette Scylla, 21, Capt. R.
Lambert ; and the screw steam sloop Intrepid, 6,
Commander J. H. Marryat. The United States war
-m..awtopr 101,y

Tuscarora were in the Bay.
The following appointments have been made at
the Admiralty :—Commander S. Greville to the
Sanspareil; William L. Southey, master additional
to the Victory; George P. Burney, master additional
to the Cumberland; Henry S. Ley, master to the
Sanspareil ; Samuel W. Webb, surgeon to the Asia;
John MSwiney, surgeon to the Sanspareil ; Arthur
B: Johnson, assist.- surgeon to the Antelope; Fred.
Piercy, assist.-surgeon to the Cornwallis ; the Rev.
R. Croker, chaplain and naval instructor to the
Sanspareil; W. Pitt, chief engineer to the Sans-
pareil ; Jeremiah P. Lloyd and George W. Robins,
first-class assist.-engineers to the Sanspareil; Henry
J. R. Miall, paymaster additional to the Victory ;
Charles W. Sturgess, paymaster additional to the
Indus ; Richard C. Beale, paymaster additional to
the St. Vincent ; George Penfold, paymaster to the
Sanspareil ; Henry Hodge, assist.-paymaster to the
Revenge; Alfred J, Boyton, assist.-paymaster to
the Indus ; Cecil P. Walker, clerk to the Sanspa-
reil ; George E. Marcon, clerk supernumerary to
the Royal Adelaide; Berry N. West, H. T. Gieason,
William Scriven, B. J. Sims, H. G. N. Walsh,
William S. R. Go w, Charles M. Dobson, William
B. Heade, William E. Farrington, and Herbert G.
I'acker, master's assistants additional to the
Earyalus.

THE ROYAL NAVY.

(From the Economist.)

An absolute government has motives to economy
which a reuresentative Government has net. A
great king or a great minister wishes to render his
rule palatable to the people. He has no shield;
there is nothing between him and the community
he taxes. But if Parliament will vote money readily
"if, as is often the case, Parliament wildly and
eagerly proffers money—a minister has little re-
sponsibility, In seen things a free Government is
better than a despotic Government, but in unseen
things it is often worse. If expenditure be popular
a Government which
lives by popularity will spend ;
if economy
be Popular, such a Government so living
will save. But both the expenditure and the eco-
nomy will ba equally mistimed.
The sole remedy
against these great dangers—
against folly in our expenditure and ag
settiainst incon-
ciliivences in our debates, la me enaeut of bollle
principle by which the armament. • . the
prin-
.:4 country
shotild be determined. Unless we
settle our
ciple, our labour of detail will be l'ain, and all our
words and discussions useless.

Suppose, for example, we should lay down
a
canon that our navy should be half as powerfula
again as that of the next most powerful natian
and this would be no irrational rule, since our cola.
merce is much more extended than that of any other
people, and our insular position rendered a great
navy so necessary to us. In that case we should
have a sort of measure to apply to the requisitions
and estimates of Government ; we should be able
to fix with some rough accuracy when our arma-
ments are sufficient and when they are excessive.
In many states of the world this criterion might
perhaps be inadequate. If two great and hostile
powers were threatening us or likely to threaten us
we might find it necessary to have a navy equal to
them both together. But in the present state of
the world probably it is enough to have a navy half
as powerful again as the naval nation next to us in
the scale.
The mode in which a definite rule cf this sort,
when once adopted and once accepted as sufficient,
not for all times alike, but for present times and
Present circumstances, would work, may be exem-
P ified. France is now the greatest naval nation in
the world except ourselves, and a Parliamentary
PPer just issued gives the exact force of the
French navy on the Ist Jan., 1862—50 far at least
as the numbar of ships is careerned. A Parliamen-
tary paper, laid °lathe table of the House of Com-
mons on the 17th Feb.,
prom 1862
, gives the state of the
English at that time. et comparison of thd
two some results maybe
easily dtia7uinout, though
m wi
it is not easy to reconcile the
t" nients
of various speakers on Tuesday evening.
Take first the steam navy of the two countries, 01:1

Which the principal dependence must be placed by
both sides. Now the figures are :
Total steam navy of England built and building 580
1, „ France „ I) •II NO

Difference in favour of England..
whereas an excess of 180 would be a lf quate for our
purpose. In ships of the line we have (including
block ships) 85 against 37, which is again much
more than we should have by our canon ; but in
frigates—a most important kind of vessel now-a-
days for the protection of our commerce—we have
not enough. The account stands :

English frigates built and building
French

Difference 0n1y....
In gunboats, which we suppose in a defensive war
to be of critical importance, we have a large surplus:
The number of English gunboats built &building is 197
Of French

Excess 139
Of iron-plated vessels, the figures given in these
papers do not correspond with those given by Lord
Palmerston, either as far as respect the English
navy or the French. He said the French had 36,
and the English 25. The returns give :

FRENCH.
Built. Building. Total.
6
and they can only be raised to the number men-
tioned by Lord Palmerston by including—
Floating batteries mentioned in the return
Seven additional mentioned in a subsequent return 7

21
On the other hand, the English list only gives 15
iron-cased ships, whereas it is said we now have 25,
though some of these too may be floating batterres.
Even now, therefore, we have no adequate informa-
tion upon this material item. But still we should
look on our steam navy as a whole. We can and
we should case our existing vessels with iron; but
the expense of so doing is not vast, is not compar-
able to the expense of building new iron ships, and
the experiment of the Merrimac shows that even
under unfavourable circumstances, such metamor-
phoses may be very successful. In England, too,
in an emergency, such operations could be effected
with singular speed.
The general aspect of our steam navy, if these re-
turns may be relied on, and if we have rightly in-
terpreted them, would certainly indicate no unusual
or unnecessary exertions are needful now. Some
constructions are necessary; and iron-casing must be
a feature of the times ; but no spasmodic recon-
structions can now be required, even if they were so
formerly. We may have built too many ships of
war and tco few frigates, but we should be warned
by this as well as stimulated; we should remember
that as in this, so in future instances, we may be
constructing vast and expensive ships which will
become in comparison less efficient with the pro-
gress of the time and the change of warfare.

RAILWAY INTELLIGENCE.

LANCASHIRE AND YORKSHIRE:

A Wharncliffe meeting of this company took
place at Manchester on Saturday to consider a bill
for making the Shawforth branch•
Mr. WICKHAM, M.P., the chairman, said he was
informed that a return to the company of six per
cent. on the outlay might be expected. He con-
cluded by moving approval of the bill.
Mr. RADCLIFFE, director, seconded the motion.
The motion was opposed by Messrs. Thomas,
Joshua, and Samuel Fielden.

Mr. Broadbent, Mr. Wilson, Mr. Scott, and Mr.
Lever supported the motion.

On a show of hands there appeared several against
the motion, and a poll was taken, when there ap-
peared,—

For the motion ;—Present, 4,143 votes, represent-
ing £415,555 stock; proxies, 29,787 votes, repre-
senting £2,987,717 stock ; total, 33,930 votes,
and £3,394,272 stock.

Against the motion ;—Present 3,784 votes, repre-
senting £379,011 stock ; proxies 2,324 votes, repre-
senting £232,960 stock; total, 6,108 votes, £611,971
stock.

The CHAIRMAN congratulated the meeting on the
.....,ar yr cue poll being in favour of the bill, and
then declared the meeting adjourned to the 25th
inst., for the purpose of considering another bill
now before Parliament.

MANCHESTER, SHEFFIELD, AND LIN-

COLNSHIRE.

The Wharncliffe meeting of this company, which
had not concluded when our report left on Friday,
resulted in the shareholders having to go to a poll
upon four of the six bills submitted to it—namley,
the Godley and Woodley, the Garston Abandon-
ment, the Trent, Ancholme, and Grimsby, and the
West Cheshire. The result of the first poll was ;
For the motion, £1,623,273 stock ; against it,
£35,436 ; majority, £1,587,107. The majority was
nearly as great on the other motions, and the
Chairman declared all the resolutions carried.