The Sun.
London, England, 1856-05-08 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDOIN, THURSDAY EVENING MAY 8 1856.

LINES LEASED AT FIXED RENTAL&

Naval and Military Intelligence.

Spirit of the Public Journals.

It is reported that the linperieuse, 51, Capt. Rundle
B. Watson, C. 8., will carry Lord Cowley to St. Peters-
burg as Ambassador from the Court of St. James's.
Capt. Watson has been appointed a Naval Aide-de Camp
to the Queen, vice Sir Charles notham, deceased.
The Euryalus, 51, Capt. George Ramsay, C. 8., it is
rep )rted, will go to the %Vest India station, and a squad-
ron to Bermuda.

(Front the Times of this day.)

The debate of Tuesday night, and more especially
the speeches of Mr. Whiteside and Mr. Gladstone,
threw a good deal more light upon the question of
the Belgian press than was to be gained by a mere
perusal of the Protocols. It may therefore be con-
venient to re-state the question as it stands at pre-
sent, and to explain more clearly the error into
which Lord Clarendon has been led in dealing with
the rights and liberties of the only constitutional
kingdom in Europe, except Piedmont and our-
selves. From the 22d Protocol it appears that
Count Walewski thought fit to interpolate into the
discussion of European affairs a bitter and vehe-
ment complaint against the free press of Belgium,
and intimated that, though France was unwilling to
use that language of menace always so unbecoming
from the strong to the weak, and had no complaint
to make against the Belgian Government, yet she
might find herself compelled to give a lesson to
Belgium—that is, to the nation, as opposed to the
Government,—ou the_ abuse of its liberty. Count
Walewski further said that the Belgian Government
was not armed with sufficient powers for the repres-
sion of these evils, and he pointed out as an illustra-
tion of them the publication of pamphlets urging the
assassination of theEpaperor of the French and the ex-
istence of secret societies. These assertions were
greedily caught up and re echoed by the represen-
tatives of Austria and Prussia, while it is to the
credit of Count Orloff that he observed a dignified
silence, and forebore to mix up his Imperial master
in the ignoble attempt to bully and overawe a Go-
vernment which holds its rights by the guarantee
of Europe, and has used them in a manner to ex-
tort the admiration of all those who have watched
its working without allowing their minds to be dis-
tracted by the agency of passion or of fear. The
statements of Count Walewski remained totally
unchallenged, though now shown to be in almost
every respect incorrect, and he stated, in summing
up the results of the Conference, that " all the
Plenipotentiaries, and even those who considered
themselves bound to reserve the principle of the
liberty of the press, have not hesitated loudly to
condemn the excesses which the Belgium newspapers
iniulge with so ranch impunity, by recognising the
necessity of remedying the real inconvenience which
results from the uncontroted licence which is so
greatly abused in Belgium." To this conclusion the
signature of Lard Clarendon is unfortunately ap-
pended. True, that when called upon for his opi-
nion our Plenipotentiary maintained, as might be
expected from him, the doctrine of the liberty of
the press ; but it is unhappily also true that he
affixed his signature to a document full of the great-
est inaccuracies, and involving a principle which
we are convinced Lord Clarendon's more deliberate
judgment must and will repudiate. So far from
its being true, as asserted by Count Walewski and
signed by Lord Clarendon, that there exists in Bel-
gium au uncontrolled licence of printing on foreign
Governments, the very reverse is the case. As
shown by Mr. Gladstone, any culpable attack on
the authority of the Sovereigns or chiefs of foreign
Governments is punished by imprisonment from
two to three years, and by a fine of from 100 f.
to 2,000 f. Such a law appears to us very
different from uncontrolled licence. Nor is this
all. The foreign Government so aspersed is not
obliged, as in England, to institute pro-
ceedings in its own name, but may make a
confidential communication to the Belgian Govern-
ment, which will then itself undertake the prose-
cution. Hefe, then, is the law, and here are the
means for putting it in force—law to curb the
licence, and power to the injured Government to
take means, which cannot fail, of putting it in
force. Nothing, indeed, is wanting except that
the accused person should be convicted without
trial,—a degree of control which even the would-
be resuscitators of the Holy Alliance can hardly
venture in the face of Europe to claim.
But Belgium does still more to preserve the
Emperor of the French from any annoyance at the
hands of residents within her dominions. There
is a treaty of extradition between France and
Belgium, not limited, like our own, to ordinary
criminals, but extended to political offenders ; so
that upon the commission of any outrage the
French Government has nothing to do but to
mark out the object of its vengeance, and the Bel-
gian Government is bound to surrender its guest
to its offended neighbour. Besides this the Bel-
gian alien law is exceedingly severe. Numerous
applicants for the hospitality of the State are
sternly rejected, and those who are admitted are
subjected at the hands of the police to a strict and
even -vexatious surveillance. With what justice,
then, can the Congress of Paris recognise the ne-
cessity of remedying the uncontrolled- licence of
the Belgian press by such means as strong States
can employ against weak ones ? We are far from
imputing to Lord Clarendon that he knew the law
which regulated the Belgian press and Belgian
Government. He went to Paris with other views,
—to settle the relations between the East and the
West rather than to mix himself up in disputes
between France and Belgium.
Something also we would urge with all respect
on the Ministers and advisers of our great ally.
We have just concluded together a glorious enter-
prise, and are more than ever before disposed to
convert our alliance into a durable friendship.
How unfortunate that in the very moment of
success a Sovereign whose boast and glory
it is that he is the elected of 8,00U,000
citizens should force upon our notice those funda-
mental differences which unhappily distinguish
his Government from our own 1 Were it not
better to have passed over in silence and contempt
the miserable half-sou brochure of some obscure
and threadbare incendiary than to have raised a
question so full of difficulty and danger as the
forcible suppression of a free press in a free coun-
try? The Emperor Napoleon knows the English
nation well, and must be perfectly aware that,
should the opinion once take root that we are being
dragged by our foreign alliances into a course of
reactionary policy,it would neither be in the power
of any Government of any conviction or interest,
nor of the press itself, to prevent a lamentable and
irreparable disunion. We rejoice to see that the
French Government has adopted as yet no means
for carrying out the decision of the Congress. We
hope that these imprudent expressions may, though
unfortunately so solemnly recorded, fall without
effect to the ground, and that an alliance which
has survived so many storms may not be endan-
gered by a few idle words spoken on an occasion
to which they were entirely irrelevant.

The new screw three-decker Marlborough, 131 guns,
4,000 tons, was taken out of Portsmouth haibour yes-
terday, for a first trial of her machinery prior to her
being turned over by the engine contractors (Mandslay
and Field) to the Government. The day was most un-
propitious for a trial of the speed of the ship, a stiff
breeze blowing, the force of which was at least 5. Mr.
Andrew Murray, superintendent engineer of the steam
establishment in Portsmouth dockyard, went out to
direct the trial, and Mr. Shirred, manager of the firm of
Maud-lay and Field, we!t in the ship to note the result
for the contractors. A navigating party of 150 seamen
from the Duke of Wellington, under the command of the
First Lieutenant of that ship (Mr. Edwin T. Hindt),
were put in the ship to take charge of her. The Marl-
borough's engines are on the horiz intal principle, having
two cylinders 82 inches in diameter with 4 feet stroke ;
they have 6 boilers and 24 furnaces ; the tube surface of
the boilers is 17 feet per horAe power ; her screw is 9 ft.
in diameter, and was yestir lay worked at 26 ft. 6 in.
pitch ; the engines made 511 and 52 revolutions, with a
pressure of 20th. of steam ; her horse-power is nominally
800, but she worked up to 2,700 ; the weight of the ma-
chinery is about 603 tons ; all worked well yesterday ;
there was no casualties, such as hot bearings, and
tha trial was very satisfactory. Her chief engineer is
Mr. J. Davey, R.N. (first class). After leaving Spit-
head, and passing i❑ review before the fleet, it was re-
solved to make a trial of her speed at the measured mile
in Stoke's Bay. In spite of the very high wind the
result showed there was nothing to apprehend from
adverse features of that kind, as she made the first
run in 5 minutes 1 second, giving a speed of 11 960
knots (with the tide) ; the second run gave 10'000 knots
(against the tide); the third run gave 12'162 knots (with
the tide) ; and the fourth ran gave 9'917 knots against
the tide, the mean average of the four rens realising
11.060 knots per hour—a highly important and satisfac-
tory result ; and there is no doubt that her speed when
properly trimmed, and under fair wind and weather, will
average from 111 to 12 knots per hour. She was an-
chored at Spithead for the night, and will return to the
steam basin this day. Mr. Tonkin, the assistant-master
attendant of Portsmouth dockyard, had the responsible
charge of her during the trial. A large party went out
in the ship.
The screw steam frigate Liffey, 50, was launched
from Devonport dockyard on Tuesday afternoon.
The iron paddle-wheel steam-vessel Trident, Lieut.
Commander R. B. Harvey, from Rio de Janeiro, Feb.
16 ; Pernambuco, March 12 ; and Fayal, April 26,
arrived at Plymouth on Sunday.
The trial trip of her Majesty's ship Orion took place on
Friday in Stoke's Bay, and the average speed was
11.502.

The works now in progress at Pembroke Dockyard
are expected to occupy two years in construction, as
they embrace very extensive alterations and improve-
ments. The fortifications at Dale Point, on the northern
side of the Haven, are proceeding, and, when completed,
will form an important wijurict to the forts on Thorn
Island and the Stack.

The CadmuQ, 20, screw corvette, built at Chatham, is
to be launched on the 20th inst. This vessel has been
constructed under the superintendence of Sir B. Walker ;
her extreme length is 200 feet, and breadth 40 feet 4
inches ; burden in tons, 1,462. She will carry an arma-
ment consisting of 20 8-inch 60 cwt. guns, each nine feet
long, besides one pivot 68 pounder of 95 cwt., and ten
feet in length.
The following appointments have been made at the
Admiralty J. Moore, to be Lieutenant to the Fal-
con ; J. 0. Hopkins, to be Lieutenant to the Nile ; J. 0.
Kidd and R. J. Coventry, to be Lieutenants to the Cos-
sack ; G. J. Malcolm, to be Lieutenant to the Excellent
(additional for service in the Stork) ; H. Salmon, E.
Rice, and J. Buchanan, to be Midshipmen to the Royal
George; James Wade, to be Surgeon to the Assurance;
Cecil Crandell, to be Surgeon to the Surprise ; Matthew
Burton, to be Surgeon to the Victory ; Robert Atkin-
son, to be Assistant-Surgeon (confirmed) to the Vulture ;
C. P. Fulon, to be Assistant-Paymaster to the Belleisle;
G. W. Clayhill, to be Lieutenant to the Algiers ; A.
Graves, to be Lieutenant to the Driver ; W. Clark, to
be Lieutenant to the Sampson ; .L A. R. Dunlop, to be
Lieutenant to the Excellent ; Henry D. Burney, to be
Master to the Coast Guard ; Arthur H. Kelly, to be
Acting Assistant-Surgeon to the Euryalus ; Robert D.
Rose, to be Acting Assistant-Surgeon to the Powerful;
James Gutbrie, to be Acting Assistant-Surgeon to the
Tortoise ; William H. Clarke, to be Acting Assistant-
Surgeon to the Magicienne ; Frederick Piercy, to be
Acting Assistant-Surgeon to the Dragon ; Frederick A.
Codd, to be Assistant-Clerk to the Impregnable ; and
John Wthugal, to be Assistant-Clerk to the Victory ;
J. F. Rish, to he Inspecting-commander of the Coast
Guard ; James Hunt, to be Commander to the Electra;
J. F. C. Hamilton, to be Commander to the Esk ; W.
A. Hood, to be Commander to the Acorn ; H. T. Hag-
gard, to be Commander to the Virago ; Edward J. H.
Tucker, to be Master to the Alecto ; George Turpin, to
be Master to the Acorn ; F. R. G. Llewellyn, to be
Master to the Virago ; Thomas Bowcher, to be Master
to the Elk ; George A. Welch, to be Paymaster to the
Acorn; Hugh F. Pullen, to be Paymaster to the Virago;
John Hill, to be Paymaster to the Elk ; F. 0. Simpson,
to be Second-Master to the Resistance ; the Rev. F. W.
Smith, to be Chaplain and Naval Instructor to the
Amphion ; Richard T. N. Pearce, to be Master's-Assis-
tant to the Cressy ; James Hunter, to be Acting-Assis-
tant-Surgeon to the Falcon.
An Admiralty order has arrived at Sheerness granting
the discharge (on application) of all seamen who have
served their term of five years, also to all the pensioners
now in active service.
Yesterday, at 1.30 p.m., Lord Panmure, accompaiied
by Sir George Grey and Mr. Professor Barlow, arrived
at Woolwich Arsenal, and were received by Captain
Boxer and other members of that establishment. Their
object was to inspect the extensive arrangements which
have been made for the celebration of the national fes-
tivities. They were conducted through the brass gun
foundry to the new paper and pulp factory, where a
considerable portion of the principal designs in course
of preparation have been stored. They thence repaired
to the scene of the late accident. The shed, although
of corrugated sheet iron throughout, has suffered in
many places from the great heat of so vast a budy of
combustibles successively becoming ignited from the
spreading fire of the tourbillon rockets, which cast its
sparks about the place, shattering the roof, which was
composed of thick glass. Numbers of other rockets
and macaroon balls became ignited, and burst with
terrific explosions. There were upwards of 40 men and
boys in the shed at the moment, but, from the fortunate
circumstance of the ordinary fastenings of the doors
having been removed, and replaced by elastic straps
called "monkeys," so that exit was easily available,
only 12 persons were severely injured. Ten are now
lying in the hospital in a deplorable condition, one of
whom is not expected to survive. Two others were
taken care of by their own friends, and are seriously
injured, though not dangerously so.