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

two contetiaiiirelfeist“-nd at last gainecritby Intkplit;
sical force• and indomitable stubbornness, km into t'
regions of the " brilliant." Ilia actions were " splendi, actions; he was a hero and a conqueror. He filled c
houses with mourning, and " straight rose up a lore
The country was on the high ropes of joy and exultatic
not very critical—not very nice. The harder tite:sbat
—the greater the courage, the louder was the enthusiat
that arose. But this did not 4as-t-fne--wr....

sue-even—measlya "
,lowly the truth began to • ooze out. Questions set
asked—opinions were expressed. From- the miliras
centre to the outer civil 'Citatinifeienbefat the s,nai
circle, knowledge in time- began ate sradiase. sor
awkward revelations were made, some stubborn littryt
into.cireulation. New battles were fought, newLs
tories" were gained, and old doubts were confirmed-sap
convictions were strengthened. Things were not as tb
ought to be ; mistakes had been committed—were-bei,
committed. There was something wrong at the b,
torn of it all. But there are persona,l miataee, saw
there are constitutional mistakes—the' accidentaltnsi
takes of a man, and the inherent mistakes of a system
The former are more intelligible than the latter, and at-
generally those which are first assailed. It has been t
in the instance of our recent Indian wars. The capacit
of the commander has been questioned ; but the mot
deeply-seated, more abiding evils inherent in our mil
tary system have been for the most part left to them
selves. We talk about the, old days of Lawrence asa
Clive—of Cornwallis and Harris—of Lake and Welles
ley, and it is sometimes said that our armies arsam
what they were ; but why they are not what the
were few take the trouble to inquire. There a deterioration somewhere. The armies that no
take the field are not the armies that conquered Indi Pandoxical as it may sound, the causes of their deteriotts-
tionlie in the improvements of modern warfare. in cat
formalities—our technicalities—our oflicialities lie sa...
germs of many great failures. We are too precise ran
methodical. There is not enough of the " rough-e,n
ready" about us. We are so careful to guard age,in
mischances, that we are constantly precipitating out
selves into them. The least thing that a general has t
concern himself about in these days is how to fig'at an
to beat the enemy. Ho knows the fighting qualities (
his men—but how be is to move them, and how he is t
feed them is not always very. apparent. Even in season
of active warfare our troops in India are never ready t
take the field. Sir Charles Napier quotes, as an instant .
of " extraordinary rapidity," the really remarkable fat
that, at the end of December, 1845, he received orders 1
assemble a fore to aid, if necessary, our operations la, •
the Sutlej, and that on the 6th of the followin-
February his army was ready to move. It has of Le
taken treble the time to assemble such a force. All th'ist
great gain to the enemy. What India wants is a roma
able army. "It is well worth the consideration," 89,3 a writer on our Indian military establishment, i tl
last number of the Calcutta Review, " whether a, roue
smaller force, capable of immediate movement in an
direction, and efficient in all its details, would not b
more powerful than a larger one which is not sa efficiery
and at any future increase of the army, especially i
that country, which now is and must long be considers:
an enemy's territory, this instant readiness for action s
each and every branch of the service is what should pi
warily be considered. But the miserable inefficiency
the present means of carriage, and the invariable net et
sity of entertaining and raising marching establishrne•a
previous to taking the field, will always cripple 04
movements. Beau, ay, ready,' is a soldier's best motto
and in the end thia will reduce instead of increasing th
expenses of the:State." Unquestionably it will. Written
a different quarter of the globe, contemporaneously wit r
the energetic protest of Sir Charles Napier, these word
deserve all consideration at a time when, unha,ppily
there seems but too little prospect of permanent pea(
in India. It is mainly because we are never ready t
take the field that our wars are so costly and disastrous
These things are worth thinking about. The inheres
evils of a bad system are far more important than '41.,
accidental mischief which may arise from the errors
an unskilful commander. In the entire history of India
warfare there are few mischances recorded which n
not be traced to the cumbrous, unmanageable charade
of the armieLwhich have taken the field in support, r
the British power in the East. We are afraid dal
the idea recently suggested at public meeting
by Mr. Cobden's disciples in London and Manchisstet
that our disputes with the Seikhs should be sul witted to arbitration, is about as reasonable as the rustic
of going to law with a tiger, or arguing a point of doe
trine with a bear. These rude Punjaubee chieftain
would cut an indifferent figure in the Parliament of M.,.
—the federation of the world, of which they are invite
to become members. We shall have to fight it out,
fear, for many a long day yet. The financial economist
cannot urge the propriety of reducing to inefficiencs
point the Indian army, on the score of peace, present la
prospective, in that part of the world. We must keel
our armies there in the best fighting condition—in:
condition readily to take the field, and readily to folios
or anticipate the movements of our less disciplined ene
mies; or we shall chance to achieve a few more of the,.
victories which Sir Charles Napier says " will undo tui.
We may have faith in the man; but no one knows Isom
than the hero of Meeanee himself how hard it is to ben
up against the pressure of an inherently vicious system,

WRECK OF THE ACADIA.
The loss of this magnificent steam-ship, 1,600 tor
burden, recently one of the North American Oces
Steam Navigation Company's crack mail steamers b.
tween Liverpool and Halifax, was announced yesterda (Saturday) afternoon, in the merchant's room at Lloyd
and from her previous character, having accomplish(
some of the most astounding quick passages between ti two countries on record, her wreck gave rise to consi
derable interest in the City. The Acadia, with anothe
of the steamers composing the fleet of the North Anien
can Steam Navigation Company, the Britannia, als
1,600 tuns measurement, were purchased about tw
months since by the Central German Confederation, t
be converted, if our information be correct, into wa
steamers, and for that purpose had undergon
at Liverpool, in the Coburg Docks, vast im
provementa as regards strengthening, in order t
carry heavy guns, &c. The Acadia steamed from t 1
Mersey on the morning of Friday week, fully equippe
for the service in question, manned by a crew of kat
seamen, officers, &c.,_ under the command of Captai
Jackson, the Britannia following last Sunday. The d•
stination of both steamers was Bremen, and from tb
time of the vessels leaving the Mersey, no tidings wer
heard of their progress until yesterday, when the naa
from:Amsterday, dated Wednesday last, announced ti
sad misfortune—the subject of this notice. The detaii
of the ship's loss are exceedingly meagre, althoitgl
from the source they were received, no doubt can be er
tertained as to the correctness of the fact. It appeal
that on the night of Sunday last the Acadia was steer
ing along the coast of Holland, the weather being ban•
and the wind somewhat boisterous from the north. T(
wards midnight, from some unexplained cause, the shit
struck with great force on a dangerous shoal, known the outer bank of Terschelling. All efforts to get he
off proved unavailing; owing to her continual thumpin,.:
the remainder of the night, she quickly filled, and set?
tied over on her. broadsides. All hands, together witt
the representatives of the German Confederation, wilt.
were on board, were saved, but from the posftion of tl,
ship it was apprehended that she would become a cow
pleto loss. A portion of the crow reached Amesterdsta
by a Dutch vessel on the 14th; and the remainder, *Mat
had taken refuge on board another vessel, were expeodel
there in a few days. The ship and her machinery, wit
steam-engine of 500-horse power, are estimated at nearl)
100,0001.

M. TIIIERS'7;;;;T OF E cONSULITH
EXPIRE.—The eighth volume of Mr. CO barn's authe
rized English translation of this important work, 11.%.
just appeared. Among the remarkable and interesting
topics treated of in this volume are the following:—
Denmark arid the Continental Coalition—The Seizure
of English Merchandise--The Occupation of Corfu,
The French Colonies and Napoleon's System of Mari.
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*
Quarrel with the 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 Aranjue!-r!.,
Abdication of the King and Queen of Spain—The Spey-
nish Princes at Bayonne and Valengay—The Insurreo:'
tion at Madrid—Joseph Bonaparte proclaimed 'Xing of`
Spain, &c. &c.
ROYAL POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTION.—Among the
latest additions to this establishment is a cork ruattras
for ships. The invention, which is very *simplii,' eft:
sisted of substituting cork cuttings or shreds in the plate
of horsehair, wool, or flock, as the stuffing of mattrassq6
pillows, &c., to be employed in ships and nautical craft,
of all kinds. - The 'cork was cut-Into small shreds or
!various fineness, and a few pounds of this material were
'found to possess a most extraordinary buoyantower;
common-sized ship mattrass being suffi p a
cient to
with ease six persons. Experiments have from time to
time taken place in Woolwich Dockyard, for the purPepe
of testing the efficacy of the invention, all of which were
highly satisfactory, approved 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 the cork,
from its exceeding toughness, but this has at length beets
accomplished. A newly•invented machine has lately
commenced working on the premises of the patentees, at
the City Saw Mills, Regent's 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 occa,ion.
CREMORNE GARDENS.—These delightful pleasure
grounds were opened on Mondayfor the firsttime this season
for promenade, dc. The fineness of the weather, combined
with a desire to witness the many extensive and impor-
tant improvements that have been dreeted by Mr. James
Ellis, the lessee, since last season, has attracted numerous
visitors during the week. Three grand 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 Australia, ballet, poses
plastiques, &c. A beautiful walk has been formed on
the western side of the garden, and the grounds gene-
rally have been re-modelled and tastefully laid out front
the designs of an eminent landscape gardener.
THE ARMY.—A return moved for by Mr. Hume
shows that the total number ofnon-commissioned officers
educated at the Royal Military College from 1830 to
1847 amounted to 446; the number of gentlemen cadets,
Persons, to 1,266;
to 473; and the number of private
making a grand total of 2,161.