The Sun.
London, England, 1854-01-18 00:00:00

MINES.

OUR NAVAL COMMANDERS.

We have recently had occasion to show that the
naval arsenals and dockyards of this country are
prepared to send forth, at a very short notice, a
fleet of extraordinary magnitude and power, con-
sisting not only of the ancient wooden bulwarks of
England, but possessing the advantages which the
application of steam has given to naval tactics
and navigation. It has also been announced that
the Admiralty contemplate a large and immediate
addition to the seamen and marines serving in the
navy ; and we presume that, in addition to the
vote which will be taken on the meeting of Parlia-
ment, the Government are Prepared to adopt the
necessary means for the encouragement of volun-
tary enlistment. In France measures of equal
vigour are taken for the augmentation of the navy.
Orders have been sent down to some of the 'ports
to call out all the seamen between 24 and 40
years of age for the imperial service. The large
reserve of seamen employed in time of peace in
the Newfoundland fisheries will be ordered for
naval duty, and the greatest activity prevails in
the dockyards, where several screw line-of-battle
ships and large frigates will be launched in the
course of the present year. Everything denotes
active preparations for naval warfare, and, as we
are satisfied that our ships arc in good order, and
we trust that crews will be found to man them,
the next consideration is, who is to command
them ? We turn to the 11 avy List for an answer
to this question, and, without the slightest disre-
spect to the veterans who fought the battles of
their country in the beginning of the present cen-
tury, we must be permitted to remark that the
same services cannot be expected of them now.
To begin with that fine old specimen of a British
sailor, Sir Byam Martin, the Admiral of the Fleet
—whose sons are admirals and
grandsons post-
captains—we find that he received his first com-
mission as post-captain in the year 1793,
and that
his standing in the navy considerably exceeds 60
years. We have 21 admirals now on the active
list, the oldest of whom hoisted his flag in Ibl4,
and was posted in 1795, whilst the youngest officer
of this rank was posted in 1804, just half a
century ago. The vice-admirals amount in num-
ber to 26, all of whom were posted between
1805 and 1810, so that the youngest on the list
must have been at sea fifty years ago. The rear-
admirals number 17 to each division of the fleet,
or 51 in all. Their senior is Sir Phipps Hornby,
whose captain's commission dates from the 16th
of February, 1810; and their junior, Admiral
Montagu Stopford, who got his flag only last
month, is a captain of the Bth of April, 1825. We
must infer from these facts, without entering
into private or personal considerations, that there
cannot be a flag officer in the navy on the active
list much under 60 years of age ; and it was ascer-
tained, when the matter was brought before the
Naval and Military Commission some years ago,
that the average age of these gallant veterans was
considerably above 70. The reason of this state of
things is obvious. These officers are the hardy
survivors of the greatest maritime war ever carried
on by this country. In their youth an immense
number of ships were in commission, promotion was
rapid, most of them were posted at an early age,
and rendered services which fully entitled them
to enjoy for life the honours and emoluments of
their profession. Hundreds of their contempora-
ries have already dropped off in the course of
nature, but these veterans are still sufficiently
numerous to fill the entire list of senior officers
established by the present regulations of the navy,
and it is not till we descend to the two lowest
classes of rear-admirals, of the white and of the
blue, that we fall upon men who can be said to be
in full possession of the strength and vigour of
manhood. The other day, when the Admiralty
very properly appointed Sir Edmund Lyons to he
second in command of the fleet in the Levant, he
was considered what is termed a young admiral—
and, in fact, it was only four years ago that he got
his flag. But Sir Edmund Lyons dates his cap-
tain's commission from the 7th of June, 1814—
nearly 40 years ago ; and, though we have no
doubt he is in the full enjoyment of his powers, an
officer of his standing should hardly be so near the
bottom of the list. To exemplify still further this
state of things, we shall borrow from the same
official authority the following list of flag-officers in
commission, with their respective commands and
the date of their seniority
Nore—Vice-Admiral the Hon. J. Percy, Captain 25th
of September, 1806.
Portsmouth—Tice-Admiral Sir T. J. Cochrane, Cap-
thin 23d of April, 1806.

Devonport—Admiral Sir John Ommanney, Captain
16th of October, 1800.

Cork—Rear-Admiral Sir W. Carroll, Captain 6th of
December, 1813.

Western Squadron—Rear-Admiral Corry, Captain
23d of July, 1821.

Mediterranean—Vice-Admiral Dundas, Captain 13th
of October, 1807, and Rear-Admiral Sir E. Lyons, Cap-
tain 7th of June, 1814.

North America Vice-Admiral Sir G. Seymour,
Captain 29th of July, 1806, to be succeeded by Rear-
Admiral Fanshawe, Captain 17th of October, 1816.
Pacific—Rear-Admiral Moresby, Captain 7th of June,
1814. to be succeeded by Rear-Admiral Price, Captain
13th of June, 1815.
South-east Coast of America—Rear-Admiral Hender-
son, Captain 9th of October, 1815.

East Indies—Vice-Admiral Sir Fleetwood Pellew,
Captain 14th of October, 1808.
West Coast of Africa—Rear-Admiral Bruce, Captain
16th of November, 1821.

Seniority is the sole law of promotion for flag-
officers in the British navy ; and, without injustice
to individuals, it probably cannot be altered,
although the result is that a considerable disadvani-
tage is incurred by our navy in comparison with
those foreign navies in which younger officers may
be raised by merit to the highest ranks of their
profession. This enormous superincumbeut weight
of senior officers, bequeathed to the country by
the last war, which ended 40 years ago, has
naturally a discouraging effect on younger and
more active men. Nay, the effect of the Admiralty
regulations is not only to perpetuate these veterans
on the active list, to the exclusion of their juniors,
but, in many instances, to cause junior officers to.
be carried over to the retired list, merely because
they have not been afloat the time necessary to.
qualify them for their flag. Thus, within the last
few days, Lord Hardwicke, a captain of 1825, and
an officer of very high character, has been shelved
by the immutable rules of seniority on the list of
retired Rear-Admirals because he wanted four
months to complete his time afloat. It is not un-
common to meet with naval officers, scarcely of
middle age, who foresee that, unless very special
circumstances intervene, they will share the same
fate. So that the present condition of our list of
flag officers is, that we retain as for active service a.
class of officers many of whom it would be absurd.
to send to sea, and that we consign to the retired.
list officers very much their juniors, who are a loss
to their profession, and who surrender their chance
of future service with the utmost regret.

It is impossible this state of things should con-
tinue if the navy is to be put on a war footing,
and, even without that demand on our naval re-
sources, the public service has in some instances
we could name, suffered considerably by the ap-
pointment
of Admirals to active duties who had
better have remained over the club fire in Pall-
mall. The only effectual remedy is a liberal super-
annuation of officers who have in their time de-
served well of their country, and who are still
entitled to the utmost consideration of the Govern-
ment and the nation ; and we' think a further at-
tempt should be made to clear the list of senior
post-captains of such officers as are not desirous of
immediate employment at sea. Upon the com-
mencement of naval hostilities by a country which
proudly cherishes its ascendancy on the ocean,
after an interval of almost 40 years, it is impossible
that some difficulties of this sort should not arise.
The Navy List contains in every rank of the ser-
vice officers fully capable of emulating the most
glorious exploits of their predecessors ; but the,
stagnation of a long peace and the accumulated
arrears of the service at a former period have sus-
pended the natural course of advancement, and
means must be found to bring forward officers
whose age, education, and energy qualify them
for all the duties they may now have to per-
form.—Times.

SERIOUS COACH ACCIDENT.—An accident occurred on
Friday to the coach which plies between St. Katherine's
and Lochgoilhead, by which the driver is so much in-
jured that he is not expected to survive. While on the
way to Lochgoilhead, and when crossing the hills, the
wheels got out of the regular road track, and the ma-
chine upsetting, tumbled over the face of a steep hill,
and made several somersaults before reaching the bot-
tom. There were only two passengers and the driver—
Miss Morrison, daughter of Mr. J. Morrison, auc-
tioneer, of this city. and Mr. Peter Ferguson, temper-
ance missionary of the Gorda's, neither of whom are
seriously hurt—in fact, both escaped with but a. slight
bruise or two. After the young lady and Mr. Ferguson
had recovered from the shock they went to the kelp of
tiladriver, who was badly hurt and almost speechless.
He was only able at that time to say, " I'm dying—
look to the young lady." Mr. Ferguson
and Mists Mor-
rison, having taken the cushions out of the conch, laid
the unfortunate man upon them, and at once proceeded
to the nearest farm house for assistance, which they were
fortunate in procuring. Tbey then set out for Loch-
goilhead, and after a walk of about six miles through
' deep snow, reached an inn, where a carriage was pro-
cured and proper medical assistance despatched to the
wounded sufferer. It is hoped that the driver, who was
well known upon the road, and universally esteemed,
may yet be brought round, though in the meantime he
is in a dangerous state.—North British, Daily Mail.