The Sun.
London, England, 1846-07-27 00:00:00

ONDON,

the closet manner anti•thing connected with
the service to which he has devotrd him-

self, and of which he is so great an ornament,
professed 1111in:elf est ,nished at the mass of iefortita-
thm brought forward, and stated that he had never
heard a clearer elucidation of the state of the navy.
The total amount of the votes taken was 7,667,4141.,
from which, deducting the reserved credit fur
190,4611., the gross sum required for that
branch of the public service would be 7,476,9531., a
large expenditure indeed, and one deserving of the
closest scrutiny of the House ; but large as it is, we
are convinced that there is no Englishman who would
desire that the efficiency of the navy should be. im-
paired in any the slightest degree by any undue
economy, or petty saving; we have too long suffered
, under the effects ofthe penny-wise and pound-foolish
system to desire that it should be tried on a service
which has justly been looked upon as the bulwark
and defence of England—the source of her power
and greatness. Mr. WARD, most properly, refrained
from holding out any false hope of a diminution of
the expenditure. He stated "that he did not believe
that any great reduction in these estimates was pos-
sible or probable 4 so long as the naval establishments
of other nations continued on the footing on which
they were at present placed. He thought it would
be both unfit and unsafe, he believed it would be
dishonourable for England again to run the risk she
had twice done during the last five years, from an
unwillingness to increase their naval establishment—
that there were periods, when any sudden rupture
.here, or on the other side of the Atlantic, would have
found us unprepared."
This is, indeed, a serious consideration : it is well
known that the best way to avoid a war which,
under the most favourable circumstances, must
prove injurious to our commerce, and disastrous
to the best interests of the nation, is to be
found ever prepared for any alternative that
may be forced upon us, to be enabled to protect the
rights and interests of our country. Such a state of
preparation, too, enables us to speak temperately and
firmly, that while on the one hand we make no un-
worthy, unwise, or dishonourable concession, any
step which we may take to avoid so frightful an event
cannot be imputed to timidity or cowardice. The na-
tion, conscious of its strength and power, can afford
to take steps for the preservation of peace,
the policy or prudence of which might be doubtful in
another, whose resources were less available. It was
by these means that we avoided the horrors that
would have been occasioned by hostilities with our
trans-Atlantic brethren, with whom we may now look
forward to a long interchange of friendly relations,
mutually beneficial to both countries. There was one
part of the Right Honourable Gentleman's. speech
which we hailed with peculiar pleasure—that which
held out a hope that the close attention
k,f the Admiralty would be directed during the recess
to a system which alone could afford a substitute for
the atrocious one of naval impressment, a practice
repugnant alike to every feeling of justice and equity,
tr.d injurious to the parties robbed of their liberty,
and subjected to the vile and brutalising lash. This
painful necessity (if it can be called a necessity) has
hitherto been occasioned by the want of a proper sys.
em of organisatim by which a connexion between
the royal and the mercantile navy might be formed
and kept up, and the services of men who had once
-erved their country, who had been practised and
trained in naval tactics, whose professional education
had been completed, and each of whom would be
more valuable than four of the untried men, who
could be procured even by impressment on any
)ccasion of emergency, might be readily and imme-
liately obtained. The Act for the general
register of seamen, although it is susceptible of end
requires much improvement, has proved a great
check upon desertion from the merchant service, but
it is not in that respect alone that it would be valu-
able. It would be the source and origin from which
(hey might, at a trifling expense, draw in time of
need, and, with a proper organisation, would form
L most powerful naval reserve. They would
.Llways have at home trained sailors, ready
for the advance ships ; but, as the Hon.
Gentleman well remarked, there was in it too
much of mulct and penalty, too little inducement to
merit, and too little of permanent interest. It has been
the common mistake to attempt matters by coercion
which could he much more efficiently and usefully
lone by kindness. We may hope that an alteration
wiil take place, and that a better mode of
treatment will henceforth be adopted to-
wards our hardy seamen—that steps will
be taken, to use the Hon. Secretary's
own words, to recal and collect together those ele-
ments of strength now scattered over the whole globe.
By our own fault they are so scattered, and it is in
our power to recal them by devising a better mode
of treatment for the gallant men upon whom the
country must rely fur its safety. What can be more
foolish, or ridiculous, or more injurious in its
.ffects, than the practice of discharging a whole
ship's company the moment she is paid off?
the consequences are most demoralising and in-
jurious to the men themselves—they are plundered
of their hard-earned wages by a set of harpies who
are in waiting, watching for the opportunity, and in
a few (lays are left in destitution, and obliged to seek
from other powers that employment which is
not afforded to them by their own country.
Thus their skill, training, and discipline is
lost to us, and transferred to other nations, by
whom it is more fully and correctly appreciated.
Would it not be far cheaper to retain those valuable
men in our own service, to give them a permanent
interest in their own country ? A certain number
could be kept always ready to supply any demand.
We sincerely trust that the present Board of Admi-
ralty will reorganise and systematise the great defen-
sive arrangements now in existence. We leave it in
their hands, and augur well of the result from the
fair promises held out.

Ihe German Gazette of Frankfort announces that
the Russian and Prussian troops left Cracow on the
13th instant. ..Vhe Austrian garrison was, according
to some accounts, to remain for three years, and ac-
cording to others, for a longer period. The three
political residents will also leave, the arms having
been removed from their hotels. A Russian agent
is to remain. The English agent has received orders
from his Government to confine himself to commer-
cial affairs so long as the present state of things
continues. _ _

vv
The Hawburgh Correspondent publishes a letter
from Hanover of the 17th instant, which says—

"The King has been ill for "the last week. Yesterday it
wgs reported that his disorder had assumed a serious charac•
ter, but we are disposed to believe that the report is un-
founded."
A correspondent of the Cologne Gazette states that
on the 18th the Second Chamber of the States of
Hanover deliberated on the proposition of M. LANG,
respecting the duchies of Sleswick and Holstein. M.
DE KLENZE, one of the Alihisters, maintained that
the Chamber could not interfere in the matter. Two
Members, MM. HOPPENSTEDT and WACHSNIULIL
opposed this opinion, and the Chamber at last passed
a vote declaring that " the States were fully con-
vinced that the Government would employ all its
efforts to prevent any attempt on the part of a foreign
power to meddle with the independence of the duchies
of Sleswick and Holstein."

On the 16th the following decree of amnesty was
published by his Holiness Pope Pins IX. It is signed
by the Porn alone, without any counter-signature of
a Minister.
" Pius X. to his faithful subjects; salutation and apostolic
benediction.
" In these days, when our heart is moved to see public joy
manifested at our being raised to the Pontificate, we cannot
refrain from a feeling of grief in thinking that a certain num-
ber of families are unable to participate in the common joy,
because they hear the pain Of k.orne offences committed by
one of their members against society, against the sacred
rights of the legitimate Prince.
We Sow desire to east a look of compassion on the inex-
perienced youth which has been led away by deceitful hopes,
in the midst of political discord, where it has been rather the
seduced than the seducer. It is for that reason that we
%wish to stretch out the hand, and offer the peace of the heart
to those mis,,,ruided children who will evince sincere re-
pentance. Now that our good people have shown towards
us their affection, and their constant veneration for the Holy
Sec, and for our person, we are persuaded that we may par-
don without danger. We, therefore, ordain that the com-
mencement of our Pontificate shall be solemnised by the fol-
lowing act of sovereign grace :
" 1. There is granted to all our subjects who are undergo-
ing punishment for political offences a remission of their sen-
tences, provided that they make in writing a solemn declara-
tion, ou their honour, that they will not in any manner or at
any time abuse this.grace, and will for the future fulfil the
duties of good and faithful subjects.
" 2. Those of our subjects who have fled to foreign coun-