The Sun.
London, England, 1838-11-07 00:00:00

STATE OF THE NAVY.

(From the Examiner.)
Louis Philippe is the King of Grocers, and the Times, very
probably with truth, attributes to him, or his dictation, an ar-
ticle in the Journal des Debats, which begins about sugar and
ends about navies.

No one certainly would have expected a paper of high po-
litical pretension under the introduction graced with the rhe-
toric of the epicerie, " The sugar question appears to be on the
eve of a solution." But in melting the sugar question the
wholesale grocer also melts the British navy, and throwns in a
boast, sweet to the French palate, on the maritime equality of
France with the Queen of the Ocean :
" In consequence of the strenuous exertions of the Go-
vernment of the Restoration, and of the still more deci-
sive measures adopted by the Government of July, the
French navy possesses at present a materiel which does
not fear a comparison with that of any other nation in
the world ; for if we strike out of the pompous list of the
British navy published by the British A dmiraity the ves-
sels unfit for sea, we shall find that Great Britain herself, the
Queen of the Ocean, cannot muster a greater number of
vessels than France. With those admirable ships—the
scientific proportions and perfect armament of which are the
envy of all other nations, we have a personnel of officers,
who unite-to French valour, knowledge, experience, and dis-
cipline."

Upon this text the Times puts forth a very angry article,
which, as it is well written and able, is evidently not edito-
rial, and which, as it sets the fashion of tracing the parentage
of anonymous writings, we should attribute to a gentleman of
great talents not very scrupulously exercised, who once filled
a high office in the Admiralty. The article is Croking, but
clever. We extract a passage :
" The boast may for all that, however, be not unfounded in
truth. If so, what must every Englishman think of the nefari-
ous negligence of the same British Admiralty,' taunted by the
French writer with the publication of a 'pompous' navy list, so
fallacious as to be in part made up of vessels unfit for service !
We can believe anything disgraceful of Lord Minto's naval ad-
ministration, without the authority of the Journal des Debuts,
for a fact so monstrous as that which it has stated, having had ,
so late as the last session of Parliament, the far higher tes-
timony of the Duke of Wellington, who told the First Lord
of the Admiralty to his teeth that the British navy was in a
state of lamentable decay, and unequal to the emergencies by
which, even then, the peace of Europe and the safety of this
empire were threatened. Every man in England will agree
with us, when at the close of the war with Bonaparte we had
150 sale of the line, and France not more than 20 fit for ser-
vice, nothing can be so disgraceful as the conduct of the
Admiralty, which has permitted a foreign and a rival power
to come up with Great Britain within twenty years, notwith-
,triet so vast a superiority. A navy list having been
handed to us, we there find, upon the explanation of a pro-
fessional friend, that Great Britain does not now possess al-
together more than 75 sail of the line, about half the amount
of her-fleet in the year 1815, besides 13 ships which are said
to be building, some of them with little more than the keels
laid down Of the 75 sail of the line, how few, besides the
squadrons, making up altogether some 18 or 20 ships scattered
over the whole world--how few, we repeat, are now fit for
immediate service, should the existing broil with Russia pro-
ceed (as it must do), or the chronic jealousy of France break
out in any sudden explosion!"
We have quoted this passage for the sake of the concluding
question, which does seem to us highly important. It may be
shown, it no doubt will be shown, that the ships which appear
in the Navy List are not " faggot" ships, as pretended by the
Journal des Debats, but ships fit for sea, and good in point of
materiel; but the question about 4vhich we feel less confidence
is, whether the ships in commission are properly manned,
whether they have their full complements of men. We have
too much reason to apprehend that so far from being generally
in good fighting strength they are barely in working strength,
barely furnished with crews adequate to the ordinary duties of
the service—in a word, what is termed weak-handed. We
published some short time ago a statement to this effect from
an excellent naval authority, who showed that the consequence
of urdermanning our ships was such an increase of discomfort,
worry, and toil to the men, as rendered the service odious,
and destroyed the disposition to volunteer into the navy
which it is so desirable to cultivate at any price in lieu of
impressment.
This is a state of things which must be reformed.
Ships, if wanting, can be built speedily enough, but seamen
are not to be formed rapidly. Let no penny-wise and pound-
foolish system of pseudo-economy dry up the very life• blood of
our naval power and resources. Every ship in commission
should' be in the highest state of efficiently ; and of the two
things, it would be more desirable to have fewer ships, and
those overmanned, than more ships at sea, and those under_
manned. But the true wisdom and the true ecoriorey is tor.
adapt the scale of the naval establishment to exiffencies re
sent and probable, and to give it, to the extent of ita sep4l.a,
the most eernple;e ef.l..eicncY: By 'suct!, 4
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Lora at Holland House, Ken-
sington, from Paris.