The Sun.
London, England, 1860-10-09 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 9, 1860.

7.HE NA VY,

We understand that, owing to continued ill-
health, Vice-Admiral Sir C. H. Fremantle, K.C.8.,
will not rehoist his flag as .commander-in-chef of
the Channel fleet. According to present arrange-
ments the two divisions of the fleet will winter at
Portsmouth and Devonport, remaining under the
command of the Port Admirals at the respective
ports.

The Osborne paddle yacht, Master-Commander
G. K. Bower, has sailed from Portsmouth for
Gravesend and Antwerp.
The second dock at Chatham dockyard having
become vacant by the completion of the steam float-
ing battery Trusty, 14, 150. horse power, which was
some time under repair, preparations will be forth-
with commenced for laying down the large mail-clad,
steel-plated iron vessel, which the Admiralty have de-
cided on having constructed in that dock. The plans
and drawirgs of the proposed vessel have been for
some time past in preparation at the office of Admiral
Sir B. Walker, Controller of the Navy, and his
assistants at Somerset-house, from whose de-
signs the new frigate is to be constructed. The
dock in which this gigantic vessel is interded to
be built is one of the largest at either of the Royal
establishments, but, notwithstanding the great size,
means will have to be made to increase the length
before the new ship, which is to be upwards of 400
feet in length, can be commenced; but after a sur-
vey of the dock by the assistant-surveyor of the
navy, who was specially tent down to Cnatham by
the Admiralty for that purpose, it has been ascer-
tained that the additional length can be obtair,,d
by extending the dock seaward by means of a tem-
porary dam. The whole of the ironwork ? equired
in the construction of the vessel will be prepared at
Chatham dockyard, and in order to meet the in-
creased dem nd which willbe made on the smithery
department additional furnaces will be required to
be erected contiguous:to the dock, and a number of
fresh hands taken on. As soon as the new vessel
has been fairly commenced the work is to proceed
without intermission. the authorities being anxious
that the first of the steel-plated shot-proof vessels
may be completed and afloat early in the ensuing
year, or, at all events, as soon as it is possible to
have her completed.
It appears from the last official list, recently pub-
lished, that there are at present being built in her
Majesty's various dockyards 42 vcssels of war, car-
rying from 1 to 91 guns respectively, and each of
from 80 to 1,250 horse power—viz. :—Eight at
Pembroke—the Aurora, 61, Defiance, 51, Pandora,
1, Perseus, 17, Shearwater, 11, Triumph, 91, Tweed,
51, and Zealous, 91; seven at Deptford—the Colum-
bine, 11, :Favorite, 22, Newcastle, 51, Rapid, 11,
Rosario, 11, Speedwell, 5, and Zebra, 17 ; six at
Cnatham—the EON idera, 51, the Bulwark, 91,
the Rattlesnake, 21, the Re:ndeer, 17, the Royal
Oak, 91, and the Undaunted, 51 ; four at Ports-
mouth—the Chanticleer, 17, the Dryad, 51, the
Glasgow, 51, and Royal Alfred, 91 ; three at Wool-
wich—the Bristol, 51, the Repulse, 91, and the
Wolverine, 21 ; three at Millwall—the Eclipse, e'
the Lily, 4, and the Star, 4 ; four at Devonport—the
Liverpool, 51, the Ocean, 91, the Petrel. 11, and the
Robust, 91 ; at Glesgow—the Black Prince, 36 ; at
Jlarrow, Newcastle-on-Tyne—the Defence, 16 ; at
Sheerness—the North Star, 22; at Poplar—the
Resistance, 16 ; at Blackwall—the Warrior, 36 ; at
Plymouth, the Trinculo gunboat ; and at Newhaven
the Tyrian gunboat.
The Algiers, 91, screw, Capt. G, D. O'Callaghan,
took out powder and shell yesterday at Spithead, and
afterwards steamed into the harbour for repair and
refit.

The Megsera, screw troopship, Commander Hen-
derson, has completed her refit at Portsmouth, and
is again reported ready for further service.
The Sutlej, 51, screw, converted from a sailing
frigate, steamed out of Portsmouth harbour on Sa-
turday, and proceeded to the trial ground in Stokes
Bay to test her speed at the measured mile, under
the official superintendence of Capt. G. T. Gordoi,
commanding the steam reserve at the port. The
Sutlej has been fitted with engines of 500-horse
power (nominal) by Messrs. Maudslay, Field, and
Co. The ship drew only 17 feet 3 inches for ward and
20 feet 3 inches aft, consequently she was in very
light trim, and the immersion of her screw was in-
complete by 9 inches. A comparison of the results
of her trial with that of the Immortalite, tested at
Portsmouth on the sth ult., proves, as had been an-
tiaipated from her graceful lines for?, and and aft, to
be highly favourable to the Sutlej, taking into con-
sideration the fact of her being 100 horse power less
than the Immortalite. The latter ship realised on
her trial t-ip a mean of 12.533 knots, at a draught
of water of 21 feet forward, and 21 feet 10 inches aft.
The Sutlej, in her trial on Saturday, used Griffiths'
propeller, with a diameter of 17 feet 6 inches and a
pitch of 20 feet. The pressure of steam was 201 b.
on the gauge; vacuum, 23; revolutions of engines;
maximum, 72, mean 71. Six runs were made, the
mean of which gave the ship a speed of 13.067
knots. The machinery and boilers worked per-
fectly, the latter furnishing an ample supply of
steam. There was an entire absence of any raised
body of water under the ship's bows when at full
speed, and the trial was altogether as satisfactory
as could be desired.

The screw steamships Centurion, 80, Capt. H. D.
Rogers, C. 8., and Aboukir, 90, Capt. D. Curry,
having discharged their powder, were brought yes-
terday from Plymouth Sound into Hamoeze, to have
defects made good. The crew of the Aboukir were
paid wages yesterday, and granted leave of absence.
The gunboats Spider and Delight were put in'o
Keyham steamyard yesterday to undergo repairs.
The Metropolitan Police Force will commence
duty on the 22d inst.,when the Devonport dockyard,
Keyham steamyard, and the Royal William Vic-
tualling yard will be placed under their protection.
The Lords of the Admiralty have given direc-
tions for an extension of the Royal Marine barracks
at Chatham towards the dockyard, in order that
additional quarters for the officers and men may be
erected in that direction. The new buildings will
necessitate the taking in a portion of the dockyard,
including the official residence of the master rope-
maker, which will be required to be taken down,
and also a par t of the private garden belonging to
the captain-saperintendent.
The following appointments were made on Satur-
day at the Admiralty :—Lieut. W. H. Elton to the
Miranda; J. IL C. Bishop, chief engineer, to the
Mirdnda ;T. Edgar, 2d-class assist-engineer, to the
Miranda; D. H. Jenkyn, 2d-class assist.-engineer,
to the Indus, for charge of the Charon ; Alex. Gil-
lenders, acting 3d-class assist.-engineer to the Done-
gal ; James Torkington and George Alexander,
acting 3d-class assist.-engineers, to the Indus, as
supernumeraries; George F. Gossage, acting 3d-
class assist.-engineer, to the Miranda; R. Oliver,
third-class assist.-engineer, to the Miranda ; Thos.
Lewis, third-class assist.-engineer, to the Cumber-
land, for charge of the Cochin ; and Wm. Watson,
third-class assist.-engineer, to the Indus, as super-
numerary.

RUSSIAN COMMERCE.

(From the Money Atarl•et Review.)
During the last year or two, the commercial
wor)d has repeatedly been frightened from its pro-
priety by alarming statements respecting the atti-
tude of Russia. At one time, that Power has con-
cluded an alliance with France, with a view, of
course, to aggression upon Eurcpe in general, and
upon Turkey in particular. France, it is true, four
or five years ago, lavished millions of treasure and
thousands of lives in resisting, in conjunction with
England, the attempted encroachments of Russia
in Turkey. Were she to enter into an alliance, one
of the first objects of which would be to promote the
long-talked-of partition of the Sultan's dominions,
she would justly incur the opprobrium and even
ridicule of the world. Is it to be imagined that her
Emperor would beard public opinion, by proclaim-
ing that all the French blood and treasure expended
in Turkey has been utterly wasted, and that his
policy is directed by motives of the narrowest and
most selfish order ? France 4s proud of the achieve-
ment of her sons in the Crimea, and would con-
sider it almost a sacrilege were Russia to be
helped by her hands to the prey in defence of which
they died. Even the Emperor Napoleon dare not
attempt to guide the nation into a path repugnant
to its very nature. His language in every public
document of speech points to the exaltation and
grandeur of France. How could he possibly make
these high-flown sentiments harmonise with a
policy which would bear upon its very face the im-
press of pique, personal resentment, and petty
views ?

More recently, alarmists have availed themselves
of a new peg whereon to hang the forebodings.
Hitherto they have talked of a secret alliance be-
tween Russia and France. Now, with a strange
disregard of consistency, they croak about an
alleged uncle-standing—i.e., alliance—between
Russia and Austria, the vanquiehed and bitter
enemy of France. They soon sketch out a pro-
gramme. Russia is to hold down Hungary—as if
she had not had an effectual lesson in her former
interference in that kingdom, and in the gratitude
with which Austria reprid her for it—and Austria
is to step forth from her fortresses, overthrow the
national party in Italy, and disjoint the map of
Europe once more. According to some, all this is
to be accomplished in defiance of France; accord-
ing to others, with her concurrence, disgusted as
she is alleged to be with the restlessness of an Ita-
lian revolution. We might point to the folly
of supposing for a moment that France can let her
work be undone in Italy any more than in the
Crimea, or that the Emperor can abandon a broad
policy. through a petty pique, in the one case more
than in the other. We might dwell. tco, upon the
egregious folly committed by those who complete
the sketch by assigning to enlightened Prussia the
ignominious task of assisting Austria in replacing
the fetters upon Italy.
But a truce hasuch nonsense. We only refer to
it in order to show the kind of foreign news, -and
of comments thereupon, which, in these days of
wholesale purveyieg of telegrems and orecular
despatches from abroad, is occasionally served up
to tickle the palate of the English people. It
meets, unfortunately, with a certain market, or it
would cease to be supplied. Let us, however, quit
this fanciful branch of the subject, and consider
what is really the position of Russia, who is made
to figure in so many projects tending to the dis-
memberment and permanent agitation of Europe.
We do not hesitate to affirm our belief that Russia
has been maligned. We believe that she has neither
the power nor the will to embark in any line of
foreign policy that must be backed up by force of
arms. And we have very little doubt it will be
found that, although the Emperor Alexander may
perhaps permit his Foreign Office to go to a certain
length in inditing strong despatches relating to
Russia's " mission," and so forth, there will be be-
hind all a strong check, which will prevent their
proceedings from becoming a real source of anxiety
to Europe. Russia has been flung back from the
aggression which she attempted under the direction
of her late proud stern Autocrat ; and under the
more humane rule of Alexander--more especially
under the influence of absolute exhaustion—she has
accepted her position. The tremendous nature of
the exertions and sacrifices which she made during
the late war, in order to cope with Great Britain
and France united, has never been fully understood
in Western Europe, The finances were brought
into a frightful state of disorder, and the nation we 9
drained and impoverished to an extent of which we
have little conception. Russia continued the strug-
gle until she could carry it on no longer. The bur-
thens which it has left behind are sufficient to dis-
gust her with the idea of war for a long time to
come. Accordingly we see that great retrench-
ments, amounting by some accounts to three or
four milliens sterling per annum, have been made
since the close of the war, in the ordinary military
expenditure. The levies of the population under
the conscription have been reduced considerably
below the normal level. Neither in point of finan-
cial nor of military preparation is the Government
in a position to enter at present upon a new war,
or even upon a course that might lead to war.
But apart from the pacific policy which is dic-
tated by her exhaustion and financial embarrass-
ments, Russia has other seriors internal cares just
now. The question of the emancipation of the serfs
has forced itself upon the attention of the Govern-
ment, and is being taken earnestly in hand. The
condition of the serfs throughout Russia, has been
materially ameliorated. It may be said, indeed,
that a great social revolution is in course of accom-
plishment, demanding all the watchfulness and
energy of the Government. As an illustration of
the changes that have taken place, we may allude
here to the contents of letters from Russia which
were received in London two or three weeks ago.
The writers reside in a district within 100 miles of
St. Petersburg. They state that the crops in every
part of that region had been greatly retarded by
the bad weather, and they draw attention to the
remarkable circumstance that their in-gathering on
the estates of many of the nobles and great landed
proprietors has been delayed and jeopardised more
than in other instances. The serfs, in fact, had got
in their own crops, whilst many of the proprietors
had been unable to do so. The explanation is to be
found in the alterations which have been established,
with due sanction of law, in the relations between
the proprietors and the peasantry. Formerly, if a
noble wished his crops to be got in, or other work
to be done, he sent his factotum to the serfs' village,
who collected the male inhabitants and marched
them off without more ado to the scene of opera-
tions. The lord's work must be finished whatever
became of the peasant's patch of land, any rules or
regulations to the contrary notwithstanding. Were
any of their serfs to prove refractory, there was a
military force not far off, and the knout at hand.
But now the serfs are only required to work for
their lords during three fixed days of the week, the
other three being assigned to themselves. Should
the days given to his service prove unfavourable for
field work, the lord comes badly off, and is obliged
to urge his peasants to increased exertion by pay-
ing them. The letters to which we have re-
ferred are of a perfectly original and reliable
character, and throw an interesting light upon the
progress of the great social revolution in Russia.
The movement is obviously not free from dangers
of a vast scope, mad the means of obviating these
furnishes ample occupation to the Government.
Upon the ground, then, of her exhaustion, her
financial difficulties, her lack of military prepara-
tion, the absorbing nature of her home cares, and the
humane and enlightened character of the present
Emperor, we refuse to believe that Russia harbours
at present any designs against the peace of Europe.
The meeting of crowned heads at Warsaw, should
it take place, will not signify aggression. These
views are confirmed by many indications, too nume-
rous to mention, which cannat escape the attention
of those who have peculiarly valuable opportu-
nities of watching diplomatic and military move
ments in Russia.