The Sun.
London, England, 1848-08-16 00:00:00

S N AUGUST 16, 1848.

dividuals composing the diplomatic body are the best
security that every day our relations will become closer."
But no sooner had this been published than we re-
ceived a second mail, containing advises of a battle be-
tn•een Bustamente, at the head of the Government
forces, and Paredes, commanding the insurgents. Pa-
redes is represented as having gained a complete vic-
tory, his loss being only 87 killed or wounded, while
that of Bustamente exceeded 500! Thus it is probable
that ere this there has been another revolution in Mexico,
and that Parades is now in power. But there is a graver
light in which this matter may be regarded. The in-
surrection of Paredes was based upon the ground of
opposition to the treaty of peace with the United
States, and it is thought that war may yet be rekindled,
and indeed that Paredes might be actually pledged to
resist the occupation by American troops to the territory
ceded by the late treaty to the United States.
The remaining news from Mexico is not very impor-
tant, except that the whites have at length gained several
advantages over the Indians of Yucatan. The Custom-
house at Vera Cruz has been restored to the Mexicans,
and most of the high roads of Mexico are infested with
robbers and guerrilleros. Nearly all the United States
troops have left Vera Cruz. The Indians had risen
against the Government in several parts of Mexico.
Most of the United States forces have been withdrawn
from beyond the Rio Grande, and a few regiments are
ordered to Santa Fe and California.

The project of a new and independent " American "
Republic, commencing at Tampico, and occupying the
whole region of the Sierra Madre, is now more actively
cherished than ever. It is to be established chiefly by
private adventurers, in armed bands—and therefore we
find in several New Orleans papers advertisements for
" men to join in a buffalo hunt on the Rio Grande, to be
armed and equipped, and the expedition to rendezvous
at a given point in the fall, and there to be joined by
Mexicans, natives of the country," &c.
We hear by every arrival of further massacres by the
negroes at Martinique ; also that negro insurrections, at-
tended with great destruction of life and property, have
broken out in the islands of St. Bartholomew and St.
Croix.

The United States Senate has resolved to adjourn on
the 14th inst.

The Irish meetings continue to occupy much attention,
and doubtless it will interest your readers to know some-
thing of public opinion on the subject on this side the
Atlantic. At the meeting held at the Shakspeare Room,
New York, immediately before the sailing of the last
steamer, it will be remembered that Mr. O'Connor who
had just returned from Canada, spoke of invading that
province with 50,000 men, said that it must be invaded ;
and that Mr. Mooney said that, "if the British Govern-
ment seized on a single American (Irish) citizen which
they (the meetings) had sent over to aid Ireland in the
present struggle, they would in turn seize upon the
British Consul in New York. For the first man of theirs
that they would assail in Ireland, they would here seize
double the amount." As might naturally have been an-
ticipated, these expressions, which set all national and
all American law at defiance, have evoked much censure
from several American journals. The !Yew Yorh
Herald of the 27th says :
" As regards the invasion of Canada, it is all fudge—
sheer nonsense—and intended, no doubt, to stir up the
ire of the Irish here, and coax them out of their money."
The Philadelphia Times remarks—" Our Government
is, of course, notwithstanding its warm sympathies, tied
up by the comity of nations to non-interference."
The Philadelphia Sun, alluding to another, but to a
kindred point, remarks:—
"We perceive that the New York Irish Brigade' are
getting up a subscription to present Meagher, the Irish
agitator, with a splendid sword on his arrival in this
country. If it is as keen as the irony conveyed in the
gift it would: do tremendous execution— in good hands
—upon the oppressors of Ireland. The Irish patriots,
notwithstanding their ten years' bluster, have proved
themselves ' the mildest mannered men that ever cut a
throat.' We would recommend the committee to recon-
sider their proceedings, and welcome the great Irish
rebel with a wooden fire-horn, or some other emblem
which makes a great deal of noise, but never does any
harm."

The New Orleans Evening Mercury, alluding to the
subjoined closing paragraph of the "Declaration of Irish
Independence," recently read at a meeting by Mr.
Mooney, is quite severe:—

6' Now, we, whose names are hereunto subscribed, vow
before God and the nations to go forth, and, at the risk
of our lives, shoot down the men who form this Govern-
ment, and those who assist them, either in detail or in
gross, according as the Lord may deliver them into our
hands."

The Mercury then "comments editorially," and in
the course of its remarks, says:--
"No man possessed of common sense, and who is a
true and devoted friend to Ireland, would conceive or
give expression to such a sentiment. It is calculated to
excite the contempt of bravo men and the bitter loath-
ing of every generous lover of liberty. If adopted by
the Irish associations of this country, it would bring
their noble cause into disrepute, and array against them
much of the patriotism and intelligence of the land. The
sacred fire of liberty can never be kindled by the sword
of au assassin."

There was a " mass meeting" of the friends of Ireland
held in Tammany .hall on the 26th inst., in relation to
the arrest of Messrs. Duffy, Martin, O'Doherty, Wil-
liams, and others, and to take measures to meet
the crisis at hand for Ireland. This meeting, was
called by Mr. Robert Emmett, the Chairman of the
Association; but ho was not present. About 2,000
persons attended—all, or nearly all, Irish. Mr. Greeley
was in the chair, and Messrs. Doyle, Lynch, White, I
Robinson, Mooney, and Michael T. O'Connor were the
speakers. Some of the speeches were violent enough;
but it will be observed, on perusing the published reports,
that the invasion of Canada was not again introduced;
neither was the British Consul again threatened. There
was, however, some little difference of opinion towards
the close, in relation to the subscription, one of the
speakers suggesting and half insisting that " Mr. T.
O'Connor should put his name down for 5,000 dolls., or
ever after hold his tongue—because he was very rich;
and another gentleman was called on for 1,000 dolls. for
is similar reason." This was resisted, and a kind of
squabble ensued. A series of resolutions censuring the
British Government were passed. A meeting on Irish
union and fraternization was held in New York, on the
27th, Robert Emmett, chairman; and on the 28th there
was also a meeting of the " New York American League
for Ireland." One business meeting has likewise been
held during the week in Philadelphia, but as there was
a great resemblance in the speeches that were made at
all these meetings, it is scarcly worth while to en-
cumber our columns with even condensed sketches or
abstracts.

CO URT CIRCULAR.
The Queen and the Prince Albert, accompanied by the
Prince and Princess Hohenloho Langenburg, and the
Princess Eliza or Hohenlohe Langenburg, and attended
by the Viscountess Canning, Colonel the Hon. C. B.
Phipps, and Colonel Wylde, left her Majesty's marine
residence, Osborne, Isle of 'Wight, at two o'clock yes-
terday afternoon embarked at Osborne pier, on the Fairy
Royal yacht, crossed to Gosport, and travelled to town
by a special train on the London and South-Western
Railway. On arriving at the Nine Elms Station, the
august party proceeded in three carriages and four, es-
corted by a party of Light Dragoons, to Buckingham
Palace, where they arrived at a quarter before six o'clock.
Her Majesty and his Royal Highness Prince Albert
were received at the Palace by the Lord Steward, the
Vico Chamberlain, the Earl of Morton, Mr. R. Ormsby
Gore and Captain Francis Seymour.
The Queen held a Court after her arrival at Bucking.
ham Palace.
Mona. de Beaumont, Envoy Extraordinary and Mi-
nister Plenipotentiary of the French Republic, had an
audience of her Majesty to deliver his credentials. His
Excellency was introduced by Viscount Palmerston,
, G.C.8., her Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for
I Foreign Affairs, and conducted by Colonel the Hon. Sir
Edward Cust, li.C.H., her Majesty's Master of the
Ceremonies.

Her Majesty was attended by the Earl of Morton,
Lord in waiting, and Mr. R. Ormsby Gore, Groom in
waiting.
Lord John Russell had afterwards an audience of the
Queen.

Her Majesty and his Royal Highness the Prince Al-
bert, accompanied by their Serene Highnesses the Prince
and Princess of Hohenlohe Langenburg, and the Prin-
cess Eliza, honoured the performance at her Majesty's
Theatre with their presence in the evening. The Royal
suite consisted of the Viscountess Canning, the Earl of
Morton, Colonel the Hon. C. B. Phipps, and Col. Wylde.
Her Majesty the Queen Dowager, attended by her
suite, arrived at Marlborough House, yesterday after-
noon, from her residence, Bushy House, Bushy Park.
Her Majesty honoured the performance at her Majesty's
Theatre with her presence last evening.
His Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge left the
residence of the Duchess of Gloucester in Richmond
Park, yesterday for Cowes, Isle of Wight.
Prince Cactelcicala, the Neapolitan Minister, had yes-
terday an interview with Viscount Palmerston.
A deputation, consisting of Mr. Thomas W. Cookson,
of Liverpool, and Messrs. William Hamilton, J. R.
Laurie, and John Hamilton, of London, had an inter-
view with Earl Grey, yesterday, at the Colonial-office, on
matters connected with their trading establishments on
the Western Coast of Africa.

Count do Revel, the Sardinian Minister, transacted
business yesterday at the Foreign-office.

THE LICENSED VICTUALLERS' FANCY FAIR.--The
fancy fair and fete in uid of the funds of the school of
this society were commenced yesterday in the grounds
of Cremorne House, Mr. Ellice, the proprietor of the
grounds, having very liberally consented to give up his
gardens if the weather would permit the fete to be holden.
There was a numerous attendance of visitors, not less
than 5,000 persons could have been present at 7 o'clock.
At that hour there was a balloon ascent, conducted by
Mr. Gale. In the early part of the day aquatic tourna-
ments were exhibited, and in the gardens a variety of
amusements in addition to the usual attractions of the
place were introduced. In one of the largo rooms Mr.
Jones, the governor of the institution, the committee, and
the gentlemen more immediately connected with the
charity, were asssembled, and here the usual toasts were
drunk with the honours, It wes,late before the ooropany
broke up•

[PRICE SD.

TO THE SECRETARY OF THE

BRADFORD REFORM ASSOCIATION.
Sir,—l will take the opportunity to conclude the naval
subject. For the last fifty years there has been a conti-
nual tendency to increase the size of the vessels used for
the various purposes of war. Thus a frigate now, is of
double the force of frigates fifty years ago, and a line-of-
battle ship greater by the half. Two reasons for it may
be traced. One is, that if you were to build two ships
of twenty guns, and your enemy one of forty, there
would be several chances in favour of your enemy. If
he fought your two ships both on the same side, you
would be on equal terms, or twenty active guns against
twenty. But if he posted himself between your two
vessels, he would have forty guns in action against
twenty of yours; and though his forty guns may not
be so well manned as your twenty, still the advantage
must be with him, especially at the commencement of
the fight. And the same principle operates to a certain
extent in cases where the difference is less marked, and
produces a general feeling in favour of expending a
given sum on a smaller number of larger vessels instead
of a greater number of smaller.
But there is another reason, dependent on the sailing
qualities of vessels. I remember making out, five-and-
forty years ago, in the course of my studies, that what
may be called the fixed element in the dimensions of
ships with different tiers of guns, is the height of a man
between decks. If men had been twice or half as tall as
they are, the proportions of one, two, and three-decked
ships would have been totally altered. Suppose then a
perfect frigate, which is a vessel with only one complete
gun-deck in a sailor's reckoning, though a landsman
would unhesitatingly swear to the fact of there being
two. For some reason or other, a sailor never counts
what a landsman would call the uppermost deck, and a
vessel which has got no deck but this, he calls
" corvette-built." Perhaps the origin of this
may be, that in the earlier war-vessels the uppermost
deck was not intended for guns, but was merely of the
nature of a stage to work the ship upon. Fancy then
the possessors of a perfect frigate taken with the ambi-
tion to add another tier of guns, which will make what
the sailors call a two-decker. But here it is plain that
one of the dimensions concerned, namely the extreme
height above the water, will be something like doubled.
From which it would be a reasonable first inference, that
the way to make the new vessel possess the sailing
qualities of the other, would be to give it something like
double the dimensions in all ways. And though this
from various causes is impracticable, there is left a
strong determination towards the fact, that one way to
provide for the increased height of the new vessel and
the weight it is to carry at that height, will be to increase
the principal dimensions, as notably the length and beam.
And the same reasoning will hold when the ambition
soars to a three-decker. Hence if the principle of
adding to the force of single ships by increasing the
tiers of guns is to be carried out, it implies increasing
the dimensions in general, in order to preserve the sail-
ing qualities.
In spite of the principle which admits the superiority
of larger vessels, three-deckers do not appear to be a
very popular class. Sir Walter Raleigh protested
against the very idea of them. Ile says, " Two Decks
and an half is enough, and no building at all above that,
but a low Masters Cabbin. Our Masters and Mariners
will say, that the Ships will bear more well enough -
and true it is, if none but ordinary Mariners served in
them. But men of better sort, unused to such a life,
cannot so well endure the rowling and tumbling from
;
side to side, where the Seas aro never so little grown,
which comes by high Charging.—Letter to Prince
Henry, touching the Model of a Ship." And the
charge against them at this day is, that they
roll their lower deck guns under water, in weather where
the two-deckers do not. An inference from this is, that
they are not yet so large as they ought to be ; or at all
events, that the largest are likely to be best. A large
class three-decker now, (120 guns), is of exactly half as
many more guns as made a three-decker when our oldest
admiral was born. The sailors make no complaint of
them as unwieldy ; on the contrary, some of them, as in
the instance of the Queen Charlotte, have had the cha-
racter of being among "the best sea-boats in the nary."
Still, from some cause or other, the three-deckers do not
appear to have established in naval annals any superiority
of name above the ships with two decks. Possibly it
may be from having less frequent opportunities; which is
the cause of a similar appearance in respect of the heavy
and light cavalry of armies. Neither can it be collected
from the history of naval combats, that any principle for
the employment of three-deckers in action has been made
out and acted on, beyond assigning to them the task of
engaging the enemy's vessels of the same class. Steam,
in the event of a naval war, is very likely to give a fillip
to the calculation of all the possible moves upon the
chess-board of the ocean.

And now comes the point which you will say is of
most immediate consequence to you and me; which is to
try to throw some light on what may be reasonable or
unreasonable in the way of naval expenditure in the time
of peace. If we are met by the assertion that the best
way would be to have no preparation at all, we must
wait till that view of the case is satisfactorily established;
but till then, we must attend to our own. And here
there is a strong analogy, as to be expected, between
what is sensible for the sea and for the land. The prin-
ciple on which the artillery was organized in Napoleon's
Italian campaigns, was that every division of artillery
present with the troops, had a second of equal force in the
rear, and a third a day and a half's march further back.
On extraordinary occasions the two first were supposed
to join ; and the third was considered as a reserve in
case of loss. A similar principle, though not restrained
to numbers and proportions, seems applicable to fleets.
Supposing the simple case of a precautionary fleet,
after providing vessels for distant services, it is clear
that there ought to be maintained a miniature model of
what fleets should be ; for which five heavy ships with
appurtenances (being nearly what is now in the British
seas) would apparently be sufficient. These should have
everything of the best; but be prepared, as far as pos-
sible, to turn over one watch of the crew to another
ship if the service requires it, and fill up with new.
But as long as there is a possibility of a naval
alerte in Europe, it is clear that there should
be the power of doubling these ships, almost by a
a word. Ten ships of the line aro (as a great bookseller
once said of twenty shillings, in his evidence before a com-
mittee of the House of Commons,) a certain sum, or pro-
duce a definite idea of importance, which is not so
clearly conceded to Dine or eleven. But then again,
L there should be the power of doubling, in a compare-
! Lively short interval, which may undoubtedly be in some
degree calculated upon the knowledge of what ships
exist in other countries, but on which it is better to be
on the right side. And considering the great interests
' at stake, no reasonable man would probably object, to
there being ships in a state of forwardness for this pur-
pose ; thus pointing in the whole to 40 sail of the line.
All beyond this, may be considered as defensible only
on proof produced, that the state of naval preparations
in other countries is such as to require it. Ship-
building and ship-keeping aro most ;expensive luxuries.
You will be astonished to hear, that a ship of the line
when built, cannot be kept in a band-box for more than
fourteen years on an average; which makes us half
through our third set of ships since the peace of 1814. It
seems scarcely credible; but I find it stated in a
pamphlet on the navy, backed by the declaration of the
author, that ho is ready to allow to past Governments
that their ships should only last eight years, and still
prove the existence of inordinate expenditure. As an
indirect evidence, what were known as the Fir Frigates,
were contracted for, to last for seven.
A question of parallel importance is how such succes•
sive augmentations are to be manned. The great secret
is, as in every thing else, to pay ; and to this, now that
the idea of impressment is everywhere given up, it must
clearly come. Some aids, however, might be contrived.
Whatever is the law for the Militia, might be applied to
the water-borne population under the title of Sea-Fenci-
bles; and when the one wont into camps and garrisons,
the other would go into block-ships and floating batteries.
The Coast Guard—which is a force to prevent smug-
gling—is recruited without difficulty under an engage-
ment to be disposable for home service in the navy in
the event of invasion ; and by following out the same
idea, it is probable a large proportion of the coasting
seamen, for a small bounty or pay, would voluntarily
enrol themselves under a similar agreement. Men
easily give the uncertain for the certain ; and a few
ships of the line saved in building, would go a long
way towards providing crews for the rest. Since
nothing is so cheap as instruction, why should not the
Marines be made as perfect as the Marine Artillery, in
everything connected with gunnery which can be
learned in harbour, and in fact all the duties of a
ship of war, except going aloft, which can
hardly be acquired but by :early habit ? In many
ships the marines can furl the mainsail, and
of course the foresail also. They man the lanch or
heaviest boat; whence the sailors' phrase of " a s?'gers to
wind," for a side wind, which carries the marines
Jut
shore and back again without pulling at the oars.
if they can man one boat they could man another; and
if two cutters were started for a piece of service, one
manned with sailors and the other with marines, it may
be held certain that neither would be much behind the
other. There appears no reason why y the best of the
top-men should always be sent
away fn boats. The no-
tion that men cannot be brought
war, and must be stolen ready-made,
humbug. In 1804 I remember is professional
men sent on board a
frigate by the London police. One of them was a
whher it was he
hackney-coachman; an
used to ribbands,—but withinet that
six months he actedwas as
captain of the mast, not an office of the charge a
landsman might infer from the name, but still
one of considerable trust. Instead of the allowance
to ships of war being one marine to a gun, why should
it not in case of emergency be four? Why shohld not
one or more battalions of marines form part of every
garrison to which a fleet or single ship can come to re-
fit? Why should not every battalion have a rifle com-
pany? And why should not the marines, the Admi-
ralty's army, be officered from that superfluity of officers
in the earlier grades of the navy, which is always
besieging the Admiralty for promotion? Ia cases
of proved aptitude, the officers and non-commissioned
officers of the marines should be promotable to
places about the dock-yards. The marines are a po-
pular service so far as recruiting is concerned,
and
there would be no difficulty in raising them to any•
tent in place of other troops. Men prefer a hammock
wad alld the iget•OiSkt to itNifillip ill a ploughed fields 8114