The Sun.
London, England, 1869-03-26 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, HiIDAY EVENING, MARCH 26, 1_,69

fin ,
i 41443 Snit

officers, that the vigilance of the Admiralty must not
be relaxed. Although our ironclads are good as broad-
side ships, the tide of authoritative evidence is turn-
ing more and more decisively in favour of the turret
principle. Admiral WARDEN'S idea of ironclads is
that they should always be built of iron, be armoured
throughout, be armed as heavily as possible,
and possess bow and stern fire. But perhaps the
time has arrived when the increased power of
artillery, and the consequent increased thickness of
plating, will render this theory of armoured
vessels impracticable. In that case if the weight
of guns be such that the whole broadside
cannot be made available to carry them, and if the
space they occupy be such that they cannot be pro-
tected by armour of adequate weight, it seems to
follow, says Admiral "WARDEN, that the turret-
ship is a necessity. The broadside ship can
carry neither the most formidable artillery nor the
most powerful protection. On the other hand, "guns
of every weight can be placed in turrets, armour of
almost any thickness can he carried round them, and
it will then be necessary only to protect the water-line
with a belt as heavy and thick as the ship can bear."
Admiral RYDER pronounces to the same effect. This
officer regrets much that a turret-ship was not sent to
cruise in company with the fleet ; but, without passing
any definite opinion, he !thews that turret-ships
have two great advantages—they can be made longer,
and therefore can carry more fuel, whilst in action
they can maintain a greater average speed, and
yet keep the guns upon the enemy. The only ques-
tion is whether cupola ships can be built which will
prove seaworthy in all weathers. Providing this can be
done, the turret vessel is undoubtedly the man-of-war of
the future. In the meantime, however, it-is reassuring
to learn that whilst the British fleet is not all that it
might be, it can still bear comparison with the
navies of our great competitors.

IT was a recent Parisian bon mot that the delay
in the publication of M. OLLIVIER'S pamphlet arose
from the fact that the printers had not sufficient
J.'s to meet the demand caused by the pam-
phleteer's incessant use of the word " Je." The news-
papers which have given Mr. ROEBUCK'S " political
testament" in full must have found themselves
not a little embarrassed to provide sufficient
I.'s. The ex-member for Sheffield's egotism
is always conspicuous; but in a "political testament,"
in a last speech, in a piece justicative, in an apologia
pro sud vitd, it was sure to be overwhelming.
Accordingly, we are not at all surprised to find that
in the last fifteen lines of his speech the first person
singular occurs two dozen times ; nor to learn that
though Mr. ROEBUCK has formally retired from
public life, has put the coping-stone upon the arch of
his career, he believes that there is a great work in
store for him, in the doing of which he promises
that his steps shall not falter. In truth
Mr. ROEBUCK is like a notable female singer, who
shall be nameless. She has made at least a dozen
farewell tours, and each time found parting such
" sweet sorrow," that she determined to have another
parting on the morrow. Mr. ROEBUCK'S position is,
indeed, not exactly similar, for in his case it is the
audience which has parted with him, not he with the
audience, and it is just possible that the party
responsible for the farewell may not care to
repeat it. However, it will not be the rejected
member's fault if he does not once more make
his voice heard in the concert-room of St. Stephen's.
There are three clauses in Mr. ROEBUCK'S testa-
ment—" Beware of Trades Unions ! " "Beware of
Ireland !" " Beware of America ! " That is the
outcome of a thirty-five years' career as a Liberal.
At a time when Tories as well as Liberals are admit-
ting the necessity of giving a legal status to trades
unions, Mr. ROEBUCK can only say " Beware ! " At
a time when Tories as well as Liberals are urging
that measures of conciliation shall be adopted
towards Ireland, Mr. ROEBUCK can only say
" Beware ! " At a time when Tories as well as Liberals
are using their utmost efforts to bring about a cordial
friendship between the two great families of the
Anglo-Saxon race, Mr. ROEBUCK can only say
" Beware !" This is the ripe fruit of matured wisdom.
This is the statesmanship of a political veteran. It
is very sad, very lamentable. It shews of how little
value years and experience are in themselves,
how they may be worse than useless if the
mind be warped and the judgment clouded.
It shews that age is not only not free from panics,
but is peculiarly liable to them. Of course what
Mr. ROEBUCK said by way of justifying his alarms,
was all good enough in its way. It was of the good
goody.. But the time is gone by for lectures
to labour and capital upon the advantages
of co-operation, and the disadvantages of strife.
Both sides know these things better than Mr.
ROEBUCK can tell them. IN/ hat they want to know
is how their interests are to co-operate, how they
are to avoid strife. In reply he can say nothing but
"Beware of trades unions." This is just as if, when
i
two armies were drawn UP n battle array, he were
to say to one of them, " Beware of the enemy." It
is just as effectual as if Tear'em were to stand
barking at the burglars while they were binding
the inmates. So, again, as to Ireland, Mr.
ROEBUCK would have us do justice to that country,
but to keep it at arm's length, to " beware" of it.
.
Ile does not tell us what justice ; but as he sneers
at Mr. GLADSTONE, we presume that he does not
think the disestablishment of an alien Church is just.
As for anything beyond bare justice, he does not
pretend to it. The attempt to make the Irish people
as loyal as the Scotch, to make Ireland as great
a source of strength to England as Scotland, is, he
deems, wholly chimerical. So with the United States,
Mr. ROEBUCK, the one-while Radical and all
but Chartist, has no sympathy except with the former
slaveholders of the Southern Confederacy. He has not
even the wit to see that prudence at least urges us to
prefer the friendship of a great Power actually in
existence to sentimental regret over a Power
that might in Mr. ROEBUCK'S opinion, have
existed if we had but recognised it. That assumption
is a very large one indeed ; and at the best it deals
which no longer endures.
with a state of things
Mr. ROEBUCK is so intent upon his hypothetical past
that his " testament" is utterly worthless for the
certain future.

LATEST INTELL MENGE

(REUTER'S TELEGRAMS.)

EX-PRESIDENT JOHNSON.
PHILADELPHIA, March 25.
Ex-President Johnson is very ill at his house,
Greenville, Tennessee.
There is a report that he died this morning of
paralysis.

..••••,............

THE BELGIAN RAILWAYS.
BRUSSELS, March 25.

The Etoile Beige of this evening contains a
rumour to the effect that a Prussian company pro-
poses to enter into negotiations with the Belgian
Grand Central Railway Company to resume the
management and working of the line from Aix-la-
Chapelle to Antwerp. It is added that this pro-
ject has been officially communicated to the Belgian
Cabinet.

SWITZERLAND.
GENEVA, March 25.

Fears are entertained that there will be a re-
newal to-day of the disturbances which have re-
cently arisen here. The journeymen printers who
refuse to join the strike have been compelled to
leave the society, and are about to constitute a
new one.

4 p.m.

The expected demonstration has not been held.
The strike continues, but the excitement has
abated.

THE ROB ROY ON THE SEA OF

TIBERIAS.

In the narrative of his canoeing explorations, "Rob
Roy" writes to the Record :—" The Sea of Tiberias is a
little more than twelve miles long north and south, by
seven miles broad at the widest part, and its shape is very
like that of tlu) continent of Africa. The best view of the
lake is from the water about a mile from the south-east
corner and looking north. From thence the hills form
a complete amphitheatre. On the left the towers and
walls of Tiberias are reflected in the water. They are
the only stone buildings all around the entire circuit of
this once populous lake, except one or two modern mills and
a bath. Beyond them is the smooth beach of the land of
iGennesareth,' a little crescent-shaped strip of plain teem-
ng with verdure down to the shore, which is of clean,
pretty gravel and shells and sand, with a row of oleander
hushes growing in the water. Next comes the white
strand, where once Bethsaida stood. When I sailed to
this beautiful spot the waters from a copious hot spring
were gushing over rocks into the lake. Part of them
were laid through a mill, and as the wheel of this turned
slowly in the dark, cool evening, a cloud of steam rose
from the hot foam and curved up to heaven in
graceful folds. Soon round my boat I saw ten
thousand fish, their heads and backs above water, and
as close together as they could lie. Outside of these was
a circle of cormorants and ducks waiting for prey. I
stopped a night in the travellers' house at Tibe-
rias. The walls are ten feet thick. The proprietor is a
Jew, for this is the capital of the Jews of Palestine. The
streets are most wretched and abominably filthy. The
Jews, who seem to prowl about rather than to reside in
the place, are dirty and unkempt, and many of them are
ragged to a degree. Now, one does not meet any ragged
Moslems. Their garments may be old and patched,
or worn out or discarded entirely, and they may then
become nude paupers, but the Jews are in draggling
rags, "squalour, and listless-looking, abject wretched-
ness. Inside their houses things are different. The
houses look clean and comfortable. Still, the saying is a
true one, ' The king of the fleas holds his court in
Tiberias.' I could not sleep a wink, for the levte of his
magesty was in my room. The governor of the town
came to see the canoe (which always reclines alongside its
master, even in a house). The narrow street of Tiberias
was crammed with spectators as the Rob Roy was carried
through to be launched again. They stood also on the
house-tops as I paddled out into the lake."