The Sun.
London, England, 1849-03-19 00:00:00

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44.
at last gained it by me •
-
sisal force and indom. ,ble stubbornness, rose it
regions of the " brilliant." His actions were " spienloidov-,IShO
actions; he was a hero and a conqueror. Ise ails&
houses with mourning, and " straight ruse up a lord."
The country was on the high ropes of joy and exultation;
not very critical—not very nice. The harder the battle
—the greater the couraieTtlie louder wa-s-th-e-eifthtisi-asns
that arose. But this did not last for ever. Slowly and
slowly the truth began to ooze out. Questions were
asked—opinions were expressed. From the military
centre to the outer civil circumference of the social
circle, knowledge in time began to radiate. Some
awkward revelations were made, some stubborn facts got
into circulation. New battles were fought, new " vic-
tories" wore gained, and old doubts were confirmed—old
convictions were strengthened. Things were not as they
ought to be; mistakes had been committed—were being
committed. There was something wrong at the bot-
tom of it all. But there are personal mistakes, and
there are constitutional mistakes—the accidental mis-
takes of a man, and the inherent mistakes of a system.
The former are more intelligible than the latter, and are
generally those which are first assailed. It has been so
in the instance of our recent Indian wars. The capacity
of the commander has been questioned ; but the more
deeply seated, more abiding evils inherent in our mili-
tary system have been for the most part left to them-
selves. We talk about the old days of Lawrence and
Clive—of Cornwallis and Harris—of Lake and Welles-
ley, and it is sometimes said that our armies are not
what they were ; but why they are not what they
were few take the trouble to inquire. There is
a deterioration somewhere. The armies that now
take the field are not the armies that conquered India.
Paradoxical as it may sound, the causes of their deteriora-
tion lie in the improvements of modern warfare. In our
,formalities—our technicalities—our officialities lie the
germs of many great failures. We are too precise and
methodical. There is not enough of: the " rough-and-
ready" about us. We are so careful to guard against
,mischances, that we are constantly precipitating our-
selves into them. The least thing that a general has to
concern himself about in these days is how to fight and
it° beat the enemy. He knows the fighting qualities of
bis men—but how he is to move them, and how he is to
feed them is not always very apparent. Even in seasons
of active warfare our troops in ndia are ,never ready. to
take the field. Sir Charles Napier quotes, as an instance
of " extraordinary rapidity," the really remarkable fact,
that, at the end of December, 1845, he received orders to
assemble a for se to aid, if necessary, our operations on
,Fithe Sutlej, and that on the 6th of the following
ebruary his army was ready to move. It has often
taken treble the time to assemble such a force. All this is
great gain to the enemy. What India wants is a move-
able
army. "It is well worth the consideration," says
a writer on our Indian military establishment, in the
last number of the Calcutta Review, " whether a much
smaller force, capable of immediate movement in any
direction, and efficient in all its details, would not be
more powerful than a larger one which is not co efficient;
and at any future increase of the army, especially in
that country, which now is and must long be considered
an enemy's territory, this instant readiness for action of
each and every branch of the service is what should pri-
marily be considered. But the miserable inefficiency of
the present means of carriage, and the invariable neces-
sity of entertaining and raising marching establishments
previous to taking the field, will always cripple our
movements. Ready, ay, ready,' is a soldier's best motto,
and in the end this will reduce instead of increasing the
expenses of the:State." Unquestionably it will. Written in
a different quarter of the globe, contemporaneously with
the energetic protest of Sir Charles Napier, these words
deserve all consideration at a time when, unhappily,
there seems but too little prospect of permanent peace
in India. It is mainly because we are never ready to
take the field that our wars are so costly and disastrous.
These things are worth thinking about. The inherent
evils of a bad system are far more important than the
accidental mischief which may arise from the errors of
an unskilful commander. In the entire history of Indian
warfare there are few mischances recorded which may
not be traced to the cumbrous, unmanageable character
of the armies which have taken the field in support of
the British power in the East. We are afraid that
the idea recently suggested at public meetings
by Mr. Cobden's disciples in London and Manchester,
that our disputes with the Seikhs should be sub-
mitted to arbitration, is about as reasonable as the notion
of going to law with a tiger, or arguing a point of doc-
trine with a bear. These rude Punjaubee chieftains
would cut an indifferent figure in the Parliament of Man
—the federation of the world, of which they are invited
to become members. We shall have to fight it out, we
fear, for many a long day yet. The financial economists
cannot urge the propriety of reducing to inefficiency
point the Indian army, on the score of peace, present or
prospective, in that part of the world. We must keep
our armies there in the best fighting condition—in a
condition readily to take the field, and readily to follow
or anticipate the movements of our less disciplined ene-
mies; or we shall chance to achieve a few more of those
victories which Sir Charles Napier says " will undo us."
We may have faith in the man; but no one knows better
than the hero of Meeanee himself how hard it is to bear
up against the pressure of an inherently vicious system.

WRECK OF THE ACADIA.
The loss of this magnificent steam-ship, 1,600 tons
burden, recently one of the North American Ocean
Steam Navigation Company's crack mail steamers be-
tween Liverpool and Halifax, was announced yesterday
(Saturday) afternoon, in tho merchant's room at Lloyd's
and from her previous character, having accomplished
some of the most astounding quick passages between the
two countries on record, her wreck gave rise to consi-
derable interest in the City. The Acadia, with another
of the steamers composing the fleet of the North Ameri-
can Steam Navigation Company, the Britannia, also
1,600 tons measurement, were purchased about two
months since by the Central German Confederation, to
be converted, if our information be correct, into war
steamers, and for that purpose had undergone
at Liverpool, in the Coburg Docks, vast im-
provements as regards strengthening, in order to
carry heavy guns, &c. The Acadia steamed from the
Mersey on the morning of Friday week, fully equipped
for the service in question, manned by a crew of sixty
seamen, officers, &c., under the command of Captain
Jackson, the Britannia following last Sunday. The de-
stination of both steamers was Bremen, and from the
time of the vessels leaving the Mersey, no tidings were
heard of their progress until yesterday, when the mail
from:Amsterday, dated Wednesday last, announced the
sad misfortune—the subject of this notice. The details
of the ship's loss are exceedingly meagre, although,
from the source they were received, no doubt can be en-
tertained as to the correctness of the fact. It appears
that on the night of Sunday last the Acadia was steer-
ing along the coast of Holland, the weather being hazy,
and the wind somewhat boisterous from the north. To-
wards midnight, from some unexplained cause, the ship
struck with great force on a dangerous shoal, known as
the outer bank of Terschelling. All efforts to get her
theo off
re provedmain unavailing;remainder
e f
the night,
owing
she
teo
quicklyher
continual
filled,
and thumping
set-
tled over on her broadsides. All hands, together with
wthaerereopnrbesoeanrtda,twiveerse ohe
saf
vted,
but
termfrea
from
theConfederation,position
of who
e
ship it was apprehended that she would become a com-
plete loss. A portion of the crew reached Amesterdam
by a Dutch vessel on the 14th; and the remainder, who
had taken refuge on board another vessel, were expected
there in a few days. The ship and her machinery, with
steam-engine of 500. horse power, are estimated at nearly
100,0001.

M. TIIIERS' HISTORY OF THE CONSULATE AND
EMPIRE.—The eighth volume of Mr. Colbarn's autho-
rized English translation of this important work, has
just appeared. Among the remarkable and interesting
topics treated of in this volume are the following:—.
Denmark and the Continental Coalition—The Seizure
of English Merchandise—The Occupation of Corfu—.
The French Colonies and Napoleon's System of Marl.
time War—The Finances of 1806 7—lnstitution
of
Titles of Nobility—The Code of Commerce—The Can-
ning and Castlereagh Administrations—Bombardment
of Copenhagen—The Boulogne Flotilla and Hostilities
against England—Treaty of Fontainebleau—Expedition
against Portugal—Entry of
the French into Spain—
Affairs of Italy--The Milan Decrees—Napoleon's
Quarrel with tho Pope—The Expedition against Sicily
—The Russian Alliance—Plans on the Empire of the
East—lnvasion of Finland—Capture of St. Sebastian,
Pampeluna, and Barcelona—Revolution at Aranjuez—
Abdication of the King and Queen of Spain—The Spa.
nish Princes at Bayonne and Valencay—The Insurrec-
tion at Madrid—Joseph Bonaparte proclaimed King of
Spain, &c. &c.
of mattresses,
ROYAL POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTION.—Among the
latest additions to this establishment is a cork mattrase
for ships. The invention, which is very
, , simple, CO.
slated of substituting cork cuttings or aureola in the place
or Sock, as the stuffing
of all kinds. The cork was cut
employed in ships and nautical craft
into small shreds of
various fineness, and a few pounds of this materialwere
Ivoci°l)l.j
found to possess a most extraordinary buoyant
common-sized ship mattress being •
• ss,ehs,aci r,,
power, a
sufficient to support
with case six persons. Experiments have f c time
r m to
time taken place in Woolwich Dock
(I)) pillows, ill:wl
Dockyard, for the purpose
of testing the efficacy of the inventionar ofwhich were
highly satisfactory, approved ,1 all .
of by Sir G. Bremer, and
other persons connected with the navy and science. Until
lately it has been impossible to obtain the material in
sufficient quantities, from the fact that no machinery had
been invented having sufficient power to cut tho cork,
from its exceeding toughness, but this has at length been
accomplished. A newly.invented machine has lately
commenced working on the premises of the patentees, at
the City Saw Mills, Regents Canal, by which the cork
is cut with the greatest dispatch and facility. Had the
unfortunate vessel wrecked on the coast of Essex been
provided with
• these mattresses, most, if not all, of the
lives would have been saved on that deplorable occasion.
CREMORNE GARDENS.—These delightful pleasure
grounds were opened on Monday for the firsttime this season
for promenade, &c. The fineness of the weather, combined
with a desire to witness the many extensive and impor-
tant improvements that have been effected by Mr. James
Ellis, the lessee, since last season, has attracted numerous
visitors during the week. Three g
drand day fetes are an-
nounced at Easter, but the regular dramatic season will
not commence before Whitsuntide. Among the forth-
coming attractions of Cremorne may be mentioned a
new aquatic pageant on the Thames, panorama of that
El Dorado, California, views in Australis, ballet, poses
plastiques, &c. A beautiful walk has
the beenformed on
the western side of the garden, d
tastefullys grounds
laid out from
the have been re-modelled and
the designs of an eminent landscape gardener.
THE ARM for Y.—A return moved by Mr. Hume
shows that the total number of eon-commissioned officers
educated at the Royal Military College from 1830 to
1847 amounted to 446; the number of gentlemen cadets,
to 4r3; —and the number of private persons, to 1,266;
making a grand total of 2,115,