The Sun.
London, England, 1860-06-14 00:00:00

THE WEATHER.--SUN OFFICE, JUNE 14, 1860.

THERMOMETER, IN THE SHADB.
61—highest since noon yesterday.
48—lowest this morning and during the night.
63—this day at noon.
BAROMETER-29.75.
WlND—South-Westerly ; fresh, with variable weather,
but fine. A heavy shower fell in the midst of sunshine—
heavy clouds rolling.

HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.
THIS DAY.—Morning, 9h. 37m.—Afternoon, 10h. 7m.
To-monnow.-Morning, 10h. 37m.—Afternoon, 11h. Bm.

„,, q u 1 • nT;i1.4„...
s. '4'..- A i
~i4...c
' --'(--"--.1- Z• ”" I: \ ''' if- '''', i, mp
11,'-- \ ?5,74,--,1---- ~-,-, C t, :‘,' 47. 0,,,1•N
,',-,•;•'• N,-",:„...4,t ~,„
_ ‘,.z 4'l , ~,,• • ',/,--- --:%,4 , • - '''''T-3 , , , , ~..,, I' •It o ' bpot r '
'' t- - 0 - .„-, • ;'=", ,t,',4--..,,,

THE SUN.
LONDON, THURSDAY, :JUNE 14, 1880.

The National Defences of England—as we have
recently, in these columns, taken occasion to de-
monstrate—are no longer forgotten or neglected.
£30,000,000 a•year being set apart, in a time of
peace for our military and maritime expediture, of
itself affords proof positive that we are at last in
earnest upon the matter ; that tho people themselves
are, at length, aroused to a recognition of its vital
importance; that the House of Commons is in a
disposition to be liberal under this head, even to the
length of absolute extravagance ; that the Govern-
ment is bent upon thus attesting its patriotism in
a manner worthy of those who are at once the
guardians of the State, the Ministers and
Advisers of the Crown and the responsible conduc-
tors and regulators of the complicated machinery of
the Administration. Apart, however, from the
annual outlay in a time of peace of £15,000,000
upon our marine, and of another £15,000,000 upon
our land forces—there are abundant indications
elsewhere amongst us of this fact, that Englishmen
are resolved, one and all, to put an end, if possible,
to the uncertainty felt now for a long while past as
to our general preparedness or unpreparedness
against the chances of invasion. It is thus
that in addition to the regular army we
have now amongst the ranks of the civi-
lians themselves, distributed far and wide, all
over the country, but prepared at any moment for
co-operation and concentration upon any given
point as many (just to begin with !) as 100,000
rifle volunteers!

And now capping the climax of all these elabo-
rately organised efforts in the one direction—that
of perfecting as soon as practicable, and as nearly
as may be, our complex system of National De-
fences—there
.has come forth at length the care-
fully prepared and anxiously looked for report of
the Roval Commission appointed last August to in-
quire into the actual condition of our insular
Fortifications. This remarkable report, although
dated February the 7th, 1860, only made its
appearanco yesterday. It is a substantial blue-
book enough, lucidly arranged throughout. It is
the well-digested result of the investigations carried
on during nearly half a year by the seven officers
and gentlemen nominated by the Clown as the
Royal Commissioners. As a reminder of the pro-
fessional competence of these seven authoritative
surveyors of the state of things along our coast
line, it may be as well to recal to the remembrance
of our readers the names of the different members
of the Commission , viz. :--Major- General Sir Harry
Jones, of the Royal Engineers; Major-General Sir
Duncan Alexander Cameron, late of the 42d High-
landers; Rear-Admiral Elliot; Major-General Sir
Frederick Abbott, of the Indian Army; Captain
Astley Cooper Key, R.N. ; Colonel J. 11. Lefroy,
of the Royal Artillery; and Mr. James Ferguson,
who, although merely a civilian, was peculiarly
competent to take his l
P ace at the board,
as a skilled theoretical engineer and the author
and projector of an entirely new system of forti_
Bk-!ations. It is no at once, and should be
mentioned here at the very outset, that the "up.
shot" of the whole report may be described in
so many words as the recommendation of an ex-
penditure upon certain fortifications of a sum of
money very nearly approaching in round numbers
-to £12,000,000 sterling ! The actual total speci.
lied towards the close of the Report is precisely