The Sun.
London, England, 1814-05-04 00:00:00

NAVAL Iti?,DUCTION.

The vigilance and promptitude of the present
Board Of Admiralty, are strikingly manifested in
the following Official Document, which has just
been issued.. It sheki;si that though: a reduction.
in our• Naval Establishment is dcenied expedient
and necessary, yet that it is to be gradUally a*
complished, and with a Oolitic reference to the
situation of affairs between Gteat Britain and
the United States of America.

" Admiralty Office,-30th April, 1814:

"The Lords Cotrimissioners of the Admiralty
cannot aunoinice to the Fleet the terthination of
hostilities with-France, without cxureSsing to thl
Petty Officers, thg Seamen, and !Royal Marines
of his Majesty's ships, toe high sense which their
Lordships entertain of their gallant and glorious
services during the late war.
• The patience,"perseverance, and di2cipl!oe;
the skill, con Fag-e, and devotion• with which the-
Seamen- -Marines have uphttld beSt duce-
rests,•and achieved the noblest triumphs of the
country, entitle them to the. gratitude, not on' y
of their naxive land, which they have preserved
inviolate, but of tho other nations tjf fiLttrope, of
whose ultimate deliverance their successes main-
tained the hope, and kceelel'atcd the accoinplish-
meta. •

" Their Lordships regret that the unjust and
unprovoked aggression of the American .6overn.-
ment, in sdeclar .ing war upon this entintry, atter '
all the causes of its original conylaint had been
,removed„ does .not. permit them to reduce theFlect
at once to the peace establishment ; but as the
gnestion now' at issue in this war the main-
tenance 'of those'. Maritime Rights, which are:the '
sure foundatiOns of our naval glory, their Lord-
ships look with confidence. to that part "of the
Fleet, which it may be still necessary•to keep is
commission, for a I continuance of tha.t spirit .of
discipline and gallantry, which has, raised 'the
British Navy to its present pre:eminence.
" reducing • the Fleet to the establishment
necessary for the American War, the Seamen and
Marines will find their Lordships attentive to the
claims of their respective services.
" The•reduction-will be first made in the crews
of those ships which it may be found expedient
to pay off, and from them the Petty Officers' and
Seamen will be successively discharFed, according
to the length of their services ; beginning, iii the
first instance, with all thoSe who w ere in his ALl-
jesty's service previous to the 7th of INiarCh 1 803 , '
and have since continued in it.

‘f.. When this reduction shall have been thus
made, as to the ships paid citl,, their Lordships
-will direct their-attention to those which it may
be found necessary to keep in commissiort,Jand,
as soon as the circumstances of the war will ad-
mit, will bring home and discharge ail. persons
having the same standing and peri9ds cf service,
as those before discharged Wont the ships'paid oil:
so that, in a few months, the situation of
victuals will be equalized ; al-1 men of a certain
period of service will be at liberty to return hrime
to their families ; and the number which it !illy
be soil, necessary to retain, will-be composed f f
those ivho have_been the shortest -time in the
service,

•
" An arrangement in itself so Just, tannot,•
their Lordships' opinion, tail to v e universal Sa-
tisfaction ; and they are induced to mike this
communication to the. Fleet, because they thiuk
that the exeMplary good conduct of E n tire p.2tty
Officers, Seamen, and Marines, entitle theiu to
every confidence, and to this mull and candid ex-
planation of their Lordship! intentions. •
" Their Lordship's cannot ccinclude without
expressing their hope, that the valour of his MT-
jesty's Fleets and Armies with speedily bring the
American contest to a conclusion honourable to
the British name, sate for British interests, and
conducive to the lasting repose of the civilized
world.

By Command of their L:,rifthips,
UtOKER.,,

Faori THE LONDpN. GAZETTE; MAY 3.