The Sun.
London, England, 1862-01-02 00:00:00

THE NAVY.

The annual official return of the condition and
situation of every vessel in the navy was published
yesterday, under the authority of the Admiralty.
From this return it is satisfactory to know that, so
far as the navy is concerned, England was never in
a prouder position. The number of vessels on the
Ist of January was 856 of all rates and classes.
There were, besides, 150 line-of-battle and other
sailing ships stationed at the various ports in Eng-
land and the colonies for harbour duty, thus swell-
ing the total to upwards of 1,000 vessels of all
descriptions. Of the 860 vessels actually in com-
mission:or building or preparing for service, only
154 are sailing ships, the whole of the remainder
being"propelled by steam power. The list of vessels
is made up of 81 line-of-battle ships, each mount-
ing from 74 to 131 guns; 22 vessels, each with an
armament of from 60 to 70 guns; 44 51-gun
frigates, the whole, with the exception of about 10
of that number, being screw steamers; 57 ships,
each mounting from 22 to 50 guns, and the majo-
rity of which have a tonnage as large as ships of
the line ; 29 screw corvettes, or frigates, each
mounting 22 guns; 317 screw and paddlewheel
steamers, each carrying less than 22 guns ; and
185 screw gunboats, each provided with two
Armstrong guns. The following screw ships of the
line, and other steamers, composed the squadron on
the coast of North America, under the orders of
Vice-Admiral Sir Alexander Milne, on the
Ist of January, exclusive of the vessels of war now
on their passage to that station :-The Conqueror,
101, 800 horse power ; the Donegal, 99, 800 horse
power ; the Nile, 91, 500 horse power ; the Hero,
91, 500 horse power; the Agamemnon, 90, 600 horse
power ; the St. George, 90, 506 horse power ; the
Aboukir, 86, 400 horse power ; the Sanspareil, 70,
400 horse power ; the Immortalite, 51, 600 horse
power ; the Liffey, 51, 600 horse power ; the Phae-
ton, 51, 400 horse power ; the Melpomene, 51, 600
horse power ; the Orlando, 51, 1,000 horse power ;
the Mersey, 40, 1,000 horse power ; the Diadem,
32, 800 horse power ; the Ariadne, 26, 800 horse
power; the Challenger, 22, 400 horse power; the
Cadmus, 21, 400 horse power; the Jason, 21, 400
horse power ; the Orpheus, 21, 400 horse power ;
the Greyhound, 17, 200 horse power; the Rinaldo,
17, 200 horse power ; the Racer, 11, 150 horse
power; the Desperate, 7, 400 horse power; the
Bulldog, 6, 500 horse power; the Barracouta, 6, 300
horse power ; the Hydra, 6, 220 horso power ; the
Medea, 6, 350 horsepower ; the Spiteful, 6,280 horse
power; the Nimble, 5, 80 horse power ; the Steady,
5, 80 horse power ; the Plover, 5, 80 horse power ;
the Landrail, 5, 80 horse power; and the
Cygnet, 5, 80 horse power. The squadron stationed
on the South-East Coast of America, under the com-
mand of Rear. Admiral R. L. Warren, consisted of
the Forte, 51, 400 horse power; the Curacoa, 31,
350 horse power; the Satellite, 21, 400 horse power ;
the Curlew, 9, 60 horse power; the Stromboli, 6,
280 horse power ; and the Ardent, 3, 200 horse
power. The fleet composing the Mediterranean
squadron, under the orders of Vice-Admiral Sir W.
F. Martin, K.C.8., consisted of 29 vessels of all
rates, several of which, however, have received
orders to return to England for service elsewhere.
During the past year the following vessels were
completed and launched from the various royal and
private dockyards :-The Defiance, 91, 3,475 tons,
800 horse power ; the Perseus, 17, 955 tons, 200
horse power; the Shearwater, 11, 669 tons, 150
horse power ; the Pandora, 5, 426 tons, 80 horse
power ; the aurora, 51, 2,558 tons, 400 horse power,
at Pembroke; the Bristol, 51, 3,027 tons, 600 horse
power, at Woolwich ; the Glasgow, 51, 3,038 tons,
600 horse power; and the Chanticleer, 17, 950
tons, 200 horse power, at Portsmouth ; the Rattle-
snake, 21, 1,705 tons, 400 horse power, at Chatham ;
the Speedwell, 5, 428 tons, 80 horse power, at
Deptford ; the Black Prince, 36, 6,039 tons, 1,250
horse power, at Glasgow ; the Defence, 18, 3,668

tons, 600 horse power, at Newcastle ; the Resistance,

18, 3,668 tons, 600 horse power, at Poplar ; and the
Lily, 4, 695 tons, 200 horse power, at 11illwall, The
following is a list of the vessels of war now in

construction, with the places at which they are
building :—The Achilles (iron), 50 guns, 6,079 tons,
1,250 horse power—Chatham ; the Africa, 4 guns,
(369 tons, 150 horse power—Devonport ; the Agin-
court (iron), 50 guns, 6,621 tons, 1,250 horse power
—Birkenhead ; the Alligator, 22 guns, 1,857 tons,
400 horse power—Woolwich ; the Belvidera, 51
guns, 3,027 tons, 600 horse power—Chatham; the
Bulwark, 91 guns, 3.716 tons, 800 horse power—
Chatham ; the Caledonia (iron cased), 50 guns, 4,645
tons, 800 horse power—Woolwich ; the Columbine,
4 guns, 669 tons, 150 horse power—Deptford; the
Dartmouth, 36 guns, 2,478 tons, 500 horse power
—Woolwich : the Dromedary, 4 guns, 500 tons, 100
horse power—Millwall ; the Dryad, 51 guns, 3,027
tons, 600 horse power—Portsmouth ; the Enchan-
tress, 4 guns, 835 tons, 250 horse power—Pem-
broke; the Endymion, 36 guns, 2,478 tons, 500
horse power—Deptford; the Enterprise, 4 guns,
669 tons, 150 horse power—Deptford ; the Favo-
rite, 22 guns, 1,623 tons, 400 horse power—Dept-
ford; the Guernsey, 4 guns, 695 tons, 200 horse
power—Pembroke ; the Harlequin, 6 guns, 950
tons, 200 horse power—Portsmouth ; the Hector
(iron), 32 guns, 4,063 tons, 800 horse power—Gias-
gow ; the Helicon, 4 guns, 835 tons, 250 horse
power—Portsmouth; the later, 36 guns, 3702 tons,
500 horse power—Devonport ; the Jaseur, 5 guns,
425 tons, 80 horse power—Deptford ; the Menai,
22 guns, 1,857 tons, 400 horse power—Chatham ;
Minotaur (iron), 50 guns, 6,621 tons, 1,250 horse
power—Blackwall ; the Myrmidon, 4 guns, 660
tons, 200 horse power—Chatham ; the Nassau, 4
guns, 695 tons, 200 horse power—Pembroke ; the
Newport, 5 guns, 425 tons, 80 horse power—Pem-
broke'; the North Star, 22 guns, 1,623 tons, 400
horse power—Sheerness; the Ocean (iron-cased),
50 guns, 4,045 tons, 1,000 horse power—Devon-
port ; the Orontes (iron), 3 guns, 2,812 tons, 500
horse power—Blackwall ; the Psyche, 4 guns, 835
tons, 250 horse power—Pembroke ; the Rattler, 17
guns, 951 tons, 200 horse power—Deptford ; the
Reindeer, 17 guns, 951 tons, 200 horse power—
Chatham; the Repulse, 89 guns, 3,716 tons, 800
horse power—Woolwich ; the Robust, 89 guns,
3,716 tons, 800 horse power—Devonport ; the Royal
Alfred (iron cased), 50 guns, 3,716 tons, 800 horse
power—Portsmouth; the Royal Oak (iron cased),
50 guns, 3,716 tons, 800 horse power—Chatham ;
the Salamis, 4 guns, 835 tons, 250 horse power—
Chatham ; the Sappho, 6 guns, 950 tons, 200 horse
Power—Deptford ; the Sylvia, 4 guns, 695 tons, 200
horse power—Woolwich ; the Tamar (iron), 3 guns,
2,812 tons, 500 horse power—Millwall ; the Tarta-
rus, 4 guns, 835 tons, 200 horse power—Pembroke ;
the Trent, 6 guns, 950 tons, 200 horse power—Pem-
broke ; the Triumph (iron cased) 50 guns, 3,716 tons,
800 horse power—Pembroke ; the Tweed 51 guns,
3,027 tons, 600 horse power—Pemb;oke • the
Salient (iron), 32 guns, 4,063 tons, 800 horse power—Pembroke;
—Millwall ; the Wolverine, 21 guns, 1,623 tons.
400 horse power—Woolwich ; the Zealous, 89 guns
3,716 tons, 800 horse power—Pembroke.

The Defence, 18, 3,668 tons, 600 horse power,
Capt. It. A. Powell, C. 8., was undocked at Chatham
shortly after noon yesterday, the operation being
successfully performed under the direction of Com-
mander Pope, Master Attendant, and Mr. Lang,
Master Shipwright. Her draught of water aft was
22 feet 9 inches, and forward 20 feet 6 inches, there
being about a foot of water beneath her keel and the
floor of the dock at the time she was undocked. Al-
though there were only a few inches between the
frigate and the stonework at the entrance to the
dock, the vessel did not once touch the side. During
the afternoon the Defence was placed alongside the
floating shears and had her iron foremast, weighing
15 tons, shipped on board. In consequence of the De-
fence being still in a very unfinished state, and not
likely to be ready for some 3 or 4 weeks, an order
was received from the Admiralty by telegraph yes-
terday, directing that in the event of hostilities
With America the whole of the officers and
crew would be turned to the Galatea, 26, which
is just ready for sea, and which would be immedi-
ately despatched to America. This order has created
a considerable amount of disappointment and some
dissatisfaction amongst the officers, all of whom
appear to be satisfied that the Defence will prove
'herself a smart ship, and they were consequently

looking forward with some degree of professional
pride to the time when she would be ready for sea.
The Galatea, 26, 800 horse power, Master Com-

mander A. Goldsmith, received the remainder of her
Armstrong and other guns on board at Folly Point,
Chatham, yesterday. She carries the most power-
ful armament of any frigate in the service, consisting
of six 100-pounder Armstrongs and 20 10-inch 95
cwt. smooth-bore guns, with a 20-pounder Arm-

strong for boat service. Her boats were forwarded
to her yesterday from the stores at Chatham.
The Meeanee, 81, 2,591 tons, 400 horse power,

has been removed from the great basin at Sheerness
in to the stream, where she now lies awaiting orders.
She has been several months in the first-class steam
reserve, and a short time, therefore, will suffice to
have her ready for sea.
The Revenge, 89, screw, Captain Chas. Fellowes,
at Plymouth, is reported to be ready for sea.
The Devastation, 6, steam sloop, Commander John
D. M'Crea, was taken out of No. 8 dock at Ports-
mouth on Tuesday morning, and will in all proba-
bility sail for North America to-day.
The Vigliant, screw steam-sloop, Commander
Pike, went out of harbour yesterday morning and
anchored at Spithead to receive her powder and
shell. She will try her speed at the measured mile
to-day.
The Coquette, screw steam-sloop, was taken into
No. 1 dock yesterday morning, and the Highflyer,
screw steam-sloop, into No. 3 dock, to be examined
and copper cleaned, &c., preparatory to being com-
missioned.

Yesterday the War Department transport Bo-
marsund was placed alongside the Ordnance wharf,
Chatham, for the purpose of shipping t 129 armament
of the Severn, 51, 500 horse power, consisling of
eight 8-inch 65 cwt. guns, 18 32-pounders, each of
58 cwt., and four 70-pounder Armstrongs, on the
main deck ; and one 100-pounder Armstrong pivot
gun, six 40-pounder Armstrongs, and 14 32-poun-
ders on the upper deck.

The Edgar, 90, screw, Capt. Mends, with the flag
of Rear-Admiral S. C. Dacres, C. 8., received her
orders by post yesterday morning to sail immedi-
ately from Spithead for Lisbon, where she will re-
ceive final orders as to her destination. Rear-
Admiral Dacres took leave of his family at Dent's
George Hotel, and embarked at 3 p.m., the ship
sailing immediately afterwards.
The Lyra, 9, screw, Commander Alexander, will
be put out of commission at Portsmouth to-morrow.

The Terrible, paddle, Capt, Glasse, C. 8., sailed
from Spithead between 2 and 3 p.m. yesterday, for
the eastward, where she will dismantle and be put
out of commission.

The Stromboli, 6, paddle, Commander Henry,
went out of Portsmouth harbour yesterday to Spit-
head, where she-will take in powder and shell, prior
to sailing for the Pacific. She takes out two 100-
pounder Armstrong guns for ships on the station.
Four of the gunboats now being brought for-
ward at Portsmouth for the first-class reserve at the
port,—the Foam, Cracker, Swinger, and Pheasant,
—are ordered to be rigged, stored, armed, and com-
plete in every point for sea by Saturday next at
Sunset.

The flag of Rear-Admiral the Hon. Sir George
Grey, Superintendent of Portsmouth Dockyard, was
shifted yesterday, in accordance with instructions

to that effect, from the St. Vincent (now boys' train-
ing ship), to the Asia steam guardship of the port.
Capt. Thomas Wilson is re-appointed to the St.
Vincent, which, under the new regulations, is to
receive 600 boys for training.
The gunboats Porpoise, Partridge, Gleaner,
Ripple, Tilbury, Nightingale, and Trincul'o, prepar-
ing at Plymouth for active service, are to be sup-
plied with smooth-bored guns ; the Charon, Clinker,
and Delight will have rifled Armstrong guns.
Rear-Admiral Sir Thomas Pasley, second in com-
mand at Plymouth, struck his flag yesterday
(Wednesday) on board the Royal Adelaide, and
hoisted it on board the guardship of steam ordinary
Indus, Captain Astley C. Key.
Captain Hall, of the Royal Adelaide, Plymouth,
has taken command of the screw steamship Rus-
sell, GO, at Falmouth.

Yesterday a detachment, comprising 200 non-
commissioned cfficers and men of the Royal Artil-
lery, left Warley barracks, near Brentwood, for
Sheerness, for the pm pose of augmenting the force
at that garrison. Yesterday 250 men were also
expected to arrive at Warley from Woolwich.
The following appointments were made yester-
day at the Admiralty :
Captain W. King llall, C. 8., to the -Russell, vice Wode•
house, whose term of service has expired.
Commanders—F. S. Tremlett, to the Impregnable, com-
missioned as a training ship for boys; It. B. Harvey, to
the Hibernia, vice Dane, supersedad at his own request;
T. M. Jones, to the Sphinx, vice Day, promoted ; Charles
John Balfour, to the Tr,dent, vice Nicolls, dismissed the
service.

Master—G. A. Macfarlane, additional, to the Asia, for
the Coquette.

Assistant. Paymasters—Henry F. Alldrich, additional
supernumerary, to the Hogue ; H. W. M. Colwell to the
Warrior.
Assistant-clerks—Nicholas L. Gedge and William A.
Milner, additional supernumeraries, to the Rachorse.

LORD CLARENCE PA GET ON TILE
NAVAL RESERVE.

Mr. W. M. Bullivant publishes a letter which
he has received from Lord Clarence Paget, the Se-
cretary of the Admiralty, on the subject of the
Naval Reserve. The letter shows how anxious
Lord Clarence Paget is to give every facility to
officers joining the Naval Reserve. At the same
time the letter is not put forward with the autho-
rity of her Majesty's Government, but as a simple
expression of his own opinion. He says:—
I understand the scheme to embrace two grand
objects. Firstly, the provision of a well-educated
and practical body of merchant officers trained in
the science of gunnery, as an adjunct to the Royal
Navy in time of war.

Secondly, that these officers shall in peace time
instruct the seamen under their command who be-
long to the Royal Naval Reserve, in the gunnery
exercise, both theoretically and practically.

✓
At the present time the Government have no
machinery by which they can impart to these
officers the important knowledge of the higher
branches of the science so necessary to the adequate
performance of the functions above mentioned. The
most they can offer is a course of drill in the annual
exercise of great guns and small arms on board the
training ships in our ports, such as is now given to
the seamen, but this does not, except in rare cases,
embrace the business of target practice, much less
the higher branches of the theory of projectiles,
amount of changes at various ranges, &c., which are
all essential to the efficient command of gun's crews.
Although, however, the Admiralty will do all in

their power by supplying each officer with works
on the use of great guns and small arms, as issued
for the guidance of officers of the navy, nothing
short of a course of experimental instruction on
board one of the gunnery ships, such as is under-
gone by our own officers, will really fulfil all that
is required. This coarse is, at the present time,
unattainable by the reserve officers, owing to the
limited means at the disposal of the Government
and even if facilities were offered for the instruc-;
tion of officers on board the Excellent at Ports-
mouth, and Cambridge at Devonport, it is not pro-
bable that they could devote the time requisite for
the completion of a course of gunnery instruction
without detriment to the duties of their employers ;
under the circumstances I would earnestly entreat
the officers of the reserve not only to make them-
selves masters of the rudimentary exercise in the
training ships,
but likewise to study attentively the
works which the Admiralty will
present to them,
and, if possible, to
(„; b
devote a day or two to a visit to
the Excellent or can ridge, where daily target
practice takes place.

Let us suppose that they have acquired, as far as
possible, a knowledge of the management of great
guns, it would then be a question of national policy
deserving the consideration of the Government,
whether they might not entrust one or more guns
to the care of those officers who have under their
command a certain number of seamen of the Royal
Naval Reserve, exactly as they have entrusted guns
to the Artillery Volunteers along the coast. Our
valuable trading ships, particularly those of
the
higher class, which bear the precious metals of our
shores, would thus not only have their legs to trust
to, but their arms also.
I apprehend that all our largest merchant ships,

whether steam or sailing, will, with a little strength-
ening of their deck, carry cosily a long chase gun
on the poop, and one gun, well handled by experi-
enced gunners, will probably render the ship safe
against privateers, the principal class of vessels
which they have to fear in case of war.
The wisest course, therefore, for the packet com-
panies ana shipowners to adopt, would appear to be
that they should prepare their ships for a long gun
abaft, and that the officers for the naval reserve
should set to work at gunnery without loss of time ;
for whether wo have peace or war, it is more than
probable that the seas may shortly be swarming
with the privateers of the two contending parties
on the other side of the Atlantic.

THE RIGHT HON. E. TV, CARD WELL,

M.P., AT OXFORD.

OXFORD, JAN. 1.
The annual dinner of the Druids' Society took
place this evening at the Town-hall, Mr. Alderman
Saddler presiding, supported byMr. Cardwell, M.P.,
Mr. C. Neate, Sergeant Gazelee, Mr. Sheriff Carr,
Captain Mallam, Captain Fane, Lieut. Holmes, Mr.
Hussey, Alderman Dudley, Alderman Towle, Mr.
Bacon, Mr. T. North, &c. The Town-hall, as is
usual on these occasions, was densely crowded. Mr.
Langston, M.P,, was absent through serious illness.
On the removal of the cloth,
The CHAIRMAN, in proposing " The Health of the
Queen," observed that that excellent lady, whose
health had been for so many years given as the
pride and glory of the land and the nation at large,
had been deprived by the hand of Providence of a
most affectionate husband, who was at once a most
indulgent husband, a wise friend, and an able coun-
sellor. The grief which the whole nation felt at the
demise of :Prince Albert could not be surpassed, and
he trusted that the general sympathy of the people
would to some extent alleviate the grief of their
Sovereign, and that, although widowed and her
children fatherless, she would still be enabled to
perform those high duties which her august station
imposed upon her, with the same energy and fide-
lity that had hitherto made her alike a model
mother and a model Queen. (Cheers.)
The next toast was that of " The Prince of Wales
and the rest of the Royal Family," in giving which
the CHAIRMAN expressed an earnest hope that the
Prince would ever follow the excellent counsels of
his illustrious mother.
The CIIAIRMAN said the next toast was one which
was always drunk with enthusiasm at that meet-
ing; it was the health and prosperity of our brave
defenders by sea and by land. (Cheers.) At the
present moment that was a toast which was pecu
liarly applicable, because we knew uot, speaking
literally, what a day or an hour might bring forth.
He was happy to say that the intelligence which
had that day been received was of a more peaceful
character than any which had preceded it, at the
same time they must remember that it was not of an
official character, and although they earnestly
praykd that peace might be preserved, yet at the
same time it was the duty of the country to be pre-
pared for the very worst. (Cheers.) Thank God,
not only had we a Ministry, but an army and a
navy, who were prepared to vindicate the honour
of the country, and if, unfortunately, we should, we
should drift into war, they would find that both the
army and the navy would, when called into action,

prove themselves fit to carry the banners borne by
those who had shed immortal glory upon the his-
tory of this land. (Cheers.) But there was one
most important body which he should be sorry to
omit from this toast—he meant the Volunteers.
(Cheers.) If in case of a war the Government felt
it incumbent to call upon that body, he was sure
that that call would be answered with alacrity,and
that the Volunteers would render essential service
by performing those duties at home which were
now fulfilled by the army, and thus increase its

Efficiency, He gave them with the utmost eor.
diality, " The Army, Navy, and 'Volunteers,'
(Cheers.)

Captain PANE returned thanks.

The CHAIRMAN next proposed " The health of the

City Members," expressing great regret at the ab-
sence of Mr. Langston, who was prevented being
present by serious illness ; but he was happy to
say that he had not long since recejyed a telegram
stating that considerable improvement had taken
place in the hon. gentleman's condition. He
thought it necessary to mention this to quiet the
apprehensions of those who had been disturbed by-
certain rumours which had been current during the
day.

Mr. CARDWELL, M.P., on rising to respond to

the toast, was received with loud cheers. He said,
Gentlemen, I thank-you from the bottom of my heart
for the kind and cordial manner in which you have
received the toast of my health and that of my ex-
cellent colleague, Mr. Langston. I assure you, gen-
tlemen, that it is with the most sincere regret that
I stand alone to-day to return thanks for this toast
which has been drunk by this numerous meeting of
our constituents and friends, because we know very
well that nothing but the overruling hand of neces-
sity would have prevented him from being among
us on this occasion. Let us hope that the excellent
tidings which we have heard may be borne out, and

that he will speedily recover, and come again among
us. (Cheers.) Gentlemen, the departed year has
gone down, like a winter's sun, in gloom, and with
an anxious augury for the future. It has left us
mourning a loss at once inscrutable and irrepar-
able ; for the nation grieves not only as a loyal
people, tendering, as it must ever tender, the hom-
age of its sympathy to the deep affliction of a most
honoured and a most loved Sovereign, but, beyond
that, every household in the land, from the highest
to the humblest, feels the great calamity we have
sustained as a domestic and personal bereavement.
Such is the tribute which English hearts have paid
to the high endowments and the sterling virtues of
the Prince Consort—the tribute of genuine gratitude
and sincere affection. It is a sorrow too deep to be
expressed in words, and it will not be effaced by
time. (Cheers.) But we bow to the hand of Him
who rules in wisdom and in mercy the kingdoms of
men: Gentlemen, we saw with sorrow a civil war
break out between two parts of one great country
—the inheritors of our blood, of our literature, and
of our glory—(cheers)—and, gentlemen, we should
regard it as little less than a civil war among our-
selves if any unhappy circumstance should arise to
involve us in hostilities with the people of America
(Hear.) Our chairman has told us that the tele-
gram of to-day says that there is hope of an ami-
cable settlement, provided the demand of England
has not been made in sea a spirit and in such a
temper as to render it impracticable ; and I trust
in due time, when all the correspondence shall be
laid before the public, that they will be of
opinion that those who are entrusted with the
powers of State have acted in a manner worthy of
them, and consentaneous with their own principles
and feelings. I believe there never was a spectacle
of which Englishmen might be less ashamed in the
face of Europe and of the world than the demeanour
which England has shown in this great trial of her
fortunes. We have sustained an injury such as we
could not possibly pass by if we meant to retain the
name and the position which England has heretofore
enjoyed among the nations of the world. (Cheers.)
The law, and, as we see, the opinion of civilised Eu-
rope, have been declared on our side. Our contest
is for freedom and for the peaceful rights of com-
merce. (Cheers.) The issue, then, gentlemen, does
not rest with us, but upon the answer we may re-
ceive. How has the English people comported itself
under these circumstances ? Has England shown
that irritation and excitement which usually accom-
panies weakness; or that quietness and confidence
which can spring alone from a consciousness ofright
and a consciousness of power ? We have been deter-
mined to do right, but we have been equally deter-
mined not to suffer wrong. (Cheers.) The Americans
may find an apt description of the conduct of Eng-
land, and by that I mean not the English Govern-
ment merely, but the English people at large, for
there has been no party feeling in this matter; what
has been done has been the act—as it always is in
circumstances where the honour of England is at
stake—it has been the act of a united people, speak.
ing and acting as one man. I say the Americans
may find the best description of the attitude of,

,
England at this moment in the words of her own
popular poet in describing fortitude, as
" Serene and earnest—and still, and calm, and self-
possessed."
I trust that the news of to-day may be ratified by
more full intelligence, and that we may find men
on the other side of the Atlantic influenced oy a
spirit like our own, and that these occurrences may
not only pass over without leading to the great ca-
lamity of hostilities between two kindred nations,
but that, by the explanations that may follow, the
danger of a state of war may be so far removed
and smoothed away that there may arise no other
circumstance calculated to involve us in the like
danger for the future. (Cheers.) A country can
afford to be peaceful in its tone, and moderate in
its language, that stands in the happy position in
which we now stand. (Hear, hear.) Never was
our army or our navy in a more efficient state. We
not only raise without a conscription an army and
a navy sufficient for the defence of our own shores
and our great colonial possessions, but we raise a
militia without ballot. (Hear.) And, in addition,
there has been exhibited during the last three
years a spectacle which no other nation ever exhi-
bited before, in the magical rise of that great army
of Volunteers which has earned the gratitude of
their own country and commanded the admiration
of every other nation. And while speaking of
them and the great debt of gratitude which the
country owes to them, let us not forget the Naval
Volunteers, whose example at this period of doubt
and anxiety has attracted to them the notice and
approval of their countrymen. (Cheers.) I speak
of the Naval Volunteers with peculiar interest,
for I was one of those who had the honour
to advise the adoption of this special force.
At the time the subject was under discussion we
were told by these who professed to speak authori-
tatively that it IN ould be impossible to raise a corps
of Naval Volunteers, because such were the feelings
of alienation between the naval service of the coun-
try and the merchant service that all efforts to raise
a Naval Reserve from the merchant service must
necessarily fail. But those to whom the inquiry
was intrusted did not take that view. They said, if
there be that feeling of alienation between the navy
and the merchant service, let us inquire what is the
reason and whose fault it is ? Does it not arise from
the recollection of old times and ancient grievances,
when you relied upon impressment for manning
your navy, and when your appeals to the merchant
service were made by the agency of force ? We said,
try the naval Englishman as you do every other
Englishman in every other position of life. Don't
use force, but appeal to his patriotism and generous
feeling ; invite him to come forward and rally round
his country, and see if he will not be as ready to
give his service towards the protection of the coun-
try and the maintenance of its honour as they are.
And what has been the result ? It is not yet three
years since that advice was humbly tendered to the
Crown by those who conducted that inquiry, and all
of you know that not only have we an efficient force
ready and zealous to come forward if our navy
should require their services, but; as my noble friend
the First Lord of the Admiralty told me the other
day, of men who constituted the cream of the mer-
chant service. It is an honour and an ambition to
belong to the force, and so it will ever be for a body
of Englishmen to come forward for the defence at
the country when you speak to them as Englishmen,
and appeal to their patriotism, to their generosity,
and to their highminded feeling. But that is not
all. That which I regard wall the greatest satis-
faction in witnessing the progress of that force and
their conduct is that the harrier which did exist
between the navy and the merchant service is
broken down, and we now find the merchant ser-
vice animated by the same spirit which pervades
the rest of the community. Ancient jealousies are
forgotten, and all Englishmen are ready to unite
in defence of the country. I am glad to
find the feeling of England is unanimous in enter-
taining an earnest hope that the blessings of pease
will be continued. (Hear.) No man would depre-
cate more than I would any recourse to war, with
all its attendant horrors and miseries; but, while
I am most anxious to avoid war, I am gratified in
knowing' that in any event our noble and bt-10Ted
Queen may confidently rely upon the patriotic and
enthusiastic spirit in England and Irelsnd— (cheers)
—in Scotland and in our colonies—of a brave, a
loyal, aad a magnanimous people. (The right hon.
gentleman resumed his seat amid loud and pro-
tracted cheering.)
The CHAIRMAN next proposed the toast of

" Prosperity to the University of Oxford," coupling
with it the name of Mr. Neate and Mr. Sergeant

Gaselee.

Mr. NEATE, after a few introductory remarks,
observed that he was not one of those who would
advocate the cause of the Americans ; but, at the
same time, so long as they were not our actual
enemies, he felt bound to treat them as our brethren.
He could not help thinking that the justice of our
cause would be so manifest that, although he did
not concur altogether with those who spoke of the
enormity of the offence, the Government of the
United States would hesitate before, by a refusal to
comply with our demands, they plunged the two
countries into a war. If however a war did take
place, nothing would give him so much conscious-
ness that they were engaged in a just quarrel as the
fact that his hon. friend, occupying he as did a
high position in the councils of his sovereign, agreed
with the rest of the Ministry that it was absolutely
necessary ; for he believed that no position whi ch
the right hon. gentleman filled would induce him to
assent to a war which was not a righteous one.
(Cheers.) At the same time he must express his
opinion that the constant use of irritating language
upon the part of the press of this country when
speaking of American institutions was much to be
deplored, and he regretted to say that the leading
newspapers of the kingdom were too much in the
habit of indulging in comments upon American in-
stitutions which could not fail to be most offensive.
Thay would remember that it was the practice
of the people of Sparta to set a drunken man before
their children to show them how absurdly he be-
haved, end thus to warn them against the vice of
drunkenness, and it seemed now to be the practice
of a large portion of the English press to place all
the defects of the American institutions before the
English people with a view of warning them against
the errors of democracy, and he could not help
thinking that this was done chiefly for the purpose
of decrying popular institutions in this country.
Whatever might be the evils of democracy, he did
not think that the present was a time when irrita-
ting comments upon American institutions ought to
be made. It was quite plain to him that the political
history of Oxford since the passing of the Reform
Bill was a history of the triumph of Liberal princi-
ples, and they had in their right hon. member and
the right hon. gentleman the member for the Univer-
sity two signal instances of that triumph. No consti-
tuency could be more essentially aristocratic than was
the University of Oxford, and therefore, it was with
the greatest possible satisfaction that he witnessed
the return for such a constituency of so eminent a
member of the Liberal party as the Chancellor of the
Exchequer. In conclusion, he observed that it was
his ardent wish that peace should be maintained,
but an honourable peace could only be maintained
so long as we preserved unsullied the honour of the
empire. (Cheers.)
Mr. Sergeant GASELEE also returned thanks, ex-
pressing his regret that Mr. Cardwell had not
thought fit either to give them a retrospect of the
session, or to state whether the Government were
prepared to carry out in its entirety that progres-
sive policy to which they had pledged themselves
upon taking office.
Various other toasts of a local character were
drank, and the proceedings were brought to a close.

AN IMPUDENT ROBBERY.—Last evening as Mr.
M`Rae, of Ludgate-hill, was driving through Stamford-
street, Blackfriars-road, a clever thief abstracted from
the boot of the phaoton (driven at a rapid rate), by means
of a false key, several articles of value, and got clear off.
So quickly was it done that he was not even seen.
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