The Sun.
London, England, 1840-09-22 00:00:00

EVEN LNG EDITION._

FRENCH HARBOURS.

CHERBOURG, SEPT. 17.—1 believe that the very
enlightened few who live in this town and its environs
are sincerely desirous of peace, but the artisans, the
workmen, the small shopkeepers, and the great mass
of the lower orders, would not be sorry to see war
break out anew. This, though at first sight it may
appear extraordir.ary, is not after all so much to be
wondered at. In a time of war, or of preparation for
war, the whole of the population is employed, and
gaining money. The porter militaires are places of
entrepot and transmission, and thousands of the work-
ing classes, the most numerous in every nation, gain
their bread by the production, the transportation, and
the fabrication of articles which are always needed
when a rupture of the peace is imminent. Besides,
it should always be remembered that this is not a
commercial town, but a great arsenal, and the
small share of commerce which it had formerly has ge-
nerally not increased, and in some particulars has nota-
bly diminished. For instance, there was formerly a very
considerable tonnage engaged in the whale and cod fish-
eries, which fisheries are sow, as far as relates to Cber
bourg, totally abandoned. At the period, too, when
France had colonial possessions of some importance in
tire West Indies, there was a great exportation of mules
from Cherbourg ; but now, having but Martinique, Gua-
deloupe, and Mariegalante, this commerce is necessarily
much diminished. The trade to Chandernagore, the
Isle of Bourbon, and the Indian Ocean, always inconsi-
derable, is monopolised by Marseilles and Bordeaux ;
while that of Guiana, Goree, Senegal, St. Pierre, and
Miquelon, as well as the great American commerce,
falls to the lot of Havre. Cherbourg, instead therefore
of being a port of export, is in reality a port of consump-
tion. On an average of the last few years the exporta-
tions have been made in 60 French bottoms, amounting
in measurement to 2,250 tons, while the importations
have been made in 66 foreign vessels, averaging a mea-
surement of 20,000 tons. The value of articles im-
ported in French bottoms amounts on an average to
75,000 f., While the imports in foreign ships represents a
value of 1,200,000 f.
The annual value of the exports, in which 320 ves-
sels are engaged, measuring in the whole 5,500 tons
amounts to 1,900,000 f.
The coasting trade of Cherbourg employs about
r-lirteen vessels, of 1,300 tons tonnage, manrcd by 80
n. The smalier coasting trade cmp!oys from
100 to 110 vessels, of 3,503 tons, which are manned by
44.5 men.

There are 92 fishing vessels, whose crews amouflt to
370 men, and the produce of whose industry pres.crs
so small a sum as 60,000 E. The number of vessels
annuady entering the port is about 1,600. Two-thirds
of this number run in here, howeuer, as a mere harbour
of refuge, which caused Vauban to say that " Cher-
bourg was the hotel of the French Channel." No in-
considerable porticn of the exports are to England ; one
article, I mean eggs, you will be amazed at the an-
nual exportation The quantity of eggs sent to London
alone amounts in value to more than 1,000,000 f. per
year.
The custom-house duties are as follows :

Frarcs.
Ist. On importations 93,000
2d. On exportations 22,000
3d. Le Droit et denti-droit de
tonnage

Total

Now all these sums sink into insignificance in matter
of receipt and disbursement when compared with the
outlay in the arsenal in time of war, coupled with the
sums which have been within a few years expended in
completing the Diane. From 1819 to 1837 there was
disbursed on these public works no less a sum than
1,700,000 f. In the budget of 1838 a further sum of
600,0001. was granted ; and it was estimated that
800,000 f additional will be required at the least for the
completion of the harbour and its dependencies.
When, therefore, I tell you that the inhabitants are
only 20,000 in number, that 15,000 at least among them
are daily labourers, that there is little for the trade and
no manufactures worth speaking of, that they are very
nearly as obstinate, as narrow-minded and litigious as
their ancestors were a century ago, (for the proverb
says Processif comme un Normand, or Guerre au Nor-
mand, to designate dtsputaciousness) ; that they arc often
sottish, and occasionally sullen ; that they live on barley
bread and buck wheat porridge, with a bit of pork about
once in the week—you will not be surprised that one
should occasionally find among them a fool who thinks
his own condition would be bettered if all his neigh-
hours were engaged in fisty cuffs, he" knows not why and
cares not wherefore." It is, after all, however, very '
immaterial how beings so wholly null and unintelligent
think and feel. I merely advert to the patent desire
for war as one fact which strikes the passing stranger,
and which might be tortured into a kind of popular
opinion, prevalent through the whole country, if it were
not explained and accounted for from extrinsic and other
circumstances. There is, however, some excuse for
these peasants. Their opinions are altogether tradi-
tionary ; and when it is remembered that our cluntry-
men twice set fire to the town, and in 1758, just 82
years ago, completely sacked it, levying contributions at
right and at left, it is not wonderful that time has not
altogether extinguished a hatred which heretofore burned
irr Eereely„
l',Ere is also considerable excuse to be made for
subordinate emploses in the dockyards (whose opi-
nions are certainly bellicose), %hen I tell you, that
in the Marine Budget for the present year, in the esti-
mate of Edifices Ande a Terre et a la slier, I find an
increase in the estimate of 30,000 0001.—(Compte Ma-
teriel de la Marine, session 1840.) The following is
the actual value of provisions at this moment in store
here :—Wheat, comprising flour, biscuit, &c., 49,459 f.;
mess beef and other meat, in barrels and otherwise,
213,470 f. ; assaisonnements, 6,957 f. ; wood, candles,
and oil, 3,0711.; small objects, 3,9631. ; making a total
of 270,9221. The amount of the wages of the work-
men at Cherbourg in the last budget wi's 46,237 f.,
making a total of 317,1591.
The mess beef and mutton in this estimate is now
prepared at Morlaix by a new chemical process.
The chief authorities here are the Contre Admiral
commanding, who is also Maritime Prefect, and the
Commissaire- General of the Marine. The Rear-Ad-
Taira' is M. de Martineng, who formerly performed
these high functions at Toulon, and I am bold enough
to say that no sovereign in Europe possesses a more
able, a more intelligent, or a more admirable ad-
ministrator. Of the blandest and most winning man-
ners, easy, approachable, frank, and communicative,
Monsieur le Contre-Admiral Martincng unites to
these gentle, fascinating, and social qualities, the
highest scientific attainments in his honourable pro-
fession. I have rarely met a min with whom I was
so captivated : " Il a plus que tout le monde l'esprit
Tie tout le monde a." This excellent public servant
was for some years a prisoner in England. He spent
11 :nonths at Merton, and the rest of the time at
Stapleton, near Bristol. He does not forgrt in his
prosperity the attentions he received from the Duke
of Beaufort and others during his captivity in England.
The Commissary-General of the Marine is M. le
Baron de la Gretinerie, who, as well as the Admiral, is
a native of the south of France. As an administrator
be has no rival, and I believe him to be now one of
the most experienced public servants attached to the
marine. In times of urgency the restoration as well
as the revolution have taken counsel of him. He
was here in /827, when the Duchess d'Angouleme was
at Cherbourg ; in 1830, when Charles X. bade a
final adieu to the land of his birth ; and he bas been
,within the last fortnight removed from Bayonne to
this place, because of his immense experience and ex-
tensive knowledge. He is beloved by all classes, high
and low. Though only of middle age, he is altogether
.a the vielle roche, and gives one the idea as well as
the Admiral, of what old Brantome calls a tres digne
e moult parfait cavalier. Sir Philip Sydney, perhaps,
expresses the idea more intelligibly, at least to an
Xneishman, when he describes such a being as pos.
seeming " lofty thoughts seated in a heart of honour and
courtesy."
The maritime Prefect
oris always either a Vice-Adrni-
mat)(Vice-Amiral
pavilion quarre au grand
or a Rear Ai
d(caortntre-amiral qui port le
ae.itlon quarre au mat
His functions
„correspond with those of inwn)
Port_Admiral. in England.
The maritime Prefects received,
when
ogee, 18,0001. or 7201. per annum; andnothtere are employed
extra
at
.allowances, which amount occasionally to about 17,000 f.
;additional.
To the commissary-general of marine, sem ewl,at
similar to our commissioner resident at Portsmouth,. is
intrusted the supervision, audit, and control of all that
is going on within the dockyards ; and you may judge
sot the responsibility which weighs on his shoulders,
when I state to you the value of the materiel of the
marine at present is these establishments of Cherbourg.
In the hospitals, 173,769 f. ; in provisions of all sorts,
Z86,5,53f. ; in naval materials, 25,279,683 f. ; in marine
...artillery, 3,771,961 f. ; in Travaux Hydrauliques and
-buildings for the use of clerks, 83,545,49.21.; in scien.
tific objects, such as maps, plans, and instruments,
18,838 f., making a grand total of 113,176,298 f. There
!is not an anchor, ground-tackle, yard, sail block rigger,
spar, sail, bolt, or caulking iron, of which he must not
be able to render an account, and I must admit the
system of control and comptabilite is strict and ad-
mirable.

While I am recapitulating these warlike materials, I
,v as well state to you that a per; nof a vast quantity
46. ;n pigs shipped from England to Havre by steam_
lias been recently transferred here. It is recorded of
the Dutch, that they sold to Louis XIV. gunpowder,
with which he blew up their own towns. I
will not
say that the English are so " fat witted" as to do this,
but it is nevertheless within the range of possibility that
this lead may be used against us.
I should also state to you, that all the vessels now ,f tti ng out here are furnished with ovens a la Wilkin-
son, doubtless manufactured in some part of England.
The cannons which have been recently transported
'hither from the forges an,l f3undries of
Rude, Sievers, Chassande,
evers, c., are so toistructed, that matches
are no longer necessary. The piece its sew discharged