The Sun.
London, England, 1867-07-11 00:00:00

PORT SQUADRON.

Terrible, paddle frigate, look-out ship, 1, Victoria,
screw three-decker (flagship of Admiral Sir Thomas
S. Pasley, Commander-in-Chief) ; 2, Irresistible,
screw two-decker ; 3, Donegal, screw two-decker ;
4, Revenge, screw two-decker ; 5, St. George,
screw two-decker ; 6, Royal George, screw two-
decker; 7, Duncan, screw two-decker (broad pen-
dant of Commodore J. Tarleton, C. 8.) ; 8, Lion,
screw two-decker ; 9, Mersey, screw frigate ; 10,
Liffey, screw frigate; 11, Sutlej, screw frigate ; 12,
Dauntless, screw frigate. Nymph, screw sloop, re-
peating ship.
STARBOARD SQUADRON (IRONCLADS).
Gladiator, paddle, look-mit ship. 1, Minotaur,
screw frigate (flagship of Rear-Admiral Warden,
C. 8., second in command) ; 2, Achilles, screw
frigate ; 3, Warrior, screw frigate ; 4, Black Prince,
screw frigate ; 5, Bellerophon, screw frigate ; 6,
Lord Clyde, screw frigate ; 7, Valiant, screw frigate ;
8, Pallas, screw frigate ; 9, Royal sovereign, screw
turret-ship ; 10, Prince Albert, screw turret-ship ;
11, Wivern, screw turret-ship ; 12, Research, screw
corvette ; 13, Viper, twin-screw gunvessel ; 14,
Vixen, twin-screw gunvessel ; 15, Waterwitch,
hydraulic gunvessel. Daphne, screw sloop, repeat-
ing ship.
The Vivid, paddle yacht, steamed out with the
fleet at the head of the columns and between the
two flagships, with the First Lord of the Admiralty
on board, the Right Hon. Mr. Corry, M.P., ac-
companied by Vice-Admirals Sir Alex. Milne and
Sir Sydney C. Dacres, and Captain Brandreth,
R N., private secretary.
At noon the pivot position was reached ; the royal
yacht Elfin, Lieut. (navigating) Balliston, with his
Serene Highness the Prince and Princess Leiningen
on board, representing her Majesty's yacht the Vic-
toria and Albert in position on the day of the re-
view, was met by the two flag-ships as she lay hove
to as the pivot ship for the fleet off the Bullock Patch
buoy, Dunnose Head being well open on the star-
13,)ard hand, and the lofty sr ire of Chichester Cathe-
dral gleaming brightly above the low-lying land at
the base of the Sussex Downs on the port hand.
This being the turning point of the fleet's prome-
nade so far, the Victoria, as the leader of the port
lice, wheeled to port and inverted the course of her
steaming, and wits followed in the manceuvre by
each vessel in her line as she reached the pivot point.
The Minotaur wheeled to starboard at the same mo-
ment as the Victoria wheeled to port, and was fol-
lowed in a similar manner by each ship iu her line
or division, as she reached the pivot. The last of the
two lines had no sooner wheeled into the inverted
course than signal was made to repeat the evolution.
and again therefore the huge flagships wheeled to
Port and starboard, followed by their respective
squadrons in Indian file at a cable's length distance.
Tunhees't _.effectships were
was indescribably grand. Four
hips were rushing at full speed over a small
area of water, the two inner lines steaming in one
direction, and
The very hiss oft the waters
outer ones in the opposite.
them watera as the monsters clove
their path through hwas4lcpost as startling as
the appearance of theelleet-itselt, engaged, as it ap-

peared to be, in making interminable circles. On the
second inversion of the oourse being completed sig-
nal was made to steer out in two lines at cable's

length distance, S. by E. compass course. At 1.50

p.m. the two flagships had Selsea under their port
quarters, with Bognor terraces and esplanade broad
open, and showing out strongly under the glare of
the sun, and the stone tower of St. Catherine's
Light on the southernmost point of the Isle of
Wight as broadly open on their starboard quar-

- .
ters. Signal to invert course and steer N.W. by
N. on the return back to Spithead was then
made. Again the lines of ships, glittering and
writhing throughout their length as they wheeled at
the pivot, turned to port and to starboard, and went
through the fourfold column figure again beforo
they could lay straight for the land. The majority
of the fleet steamed in with half speed at half-boiler
power, but some of the Coastguard ships proved
laggards, and the two Georges were passed for a
time by the Duncan. In the subsequent evolution,

however, in making sail on the ships the speed of
the leading ships was slackened and the " slow" ones
again recovered their former position. About this
time the Mersey was observed to be blowing off steam
and loosing her sails as though something was amiss
in her engine-room, and was passed by the Liffey.
The noble frigate, however, was soon to rights again,
and steamed up to her old berth in the line. At
about 2.30 p.m. signal was made from the Victoria
to make all plain sail, and every mast was soon co-
vered with canvass from courses to royals, the Vic-
toria carrying away the palm for smartness. Wind
light, from southward and eastward. Course kept
for Spithead under steam and canvass, the speed of
the slowest necessarily being the gauge of the fleet.
At 3 p.m. the Bullock Patch buoy was passed by
the central ships of the lines, the wind continuing
light, and hauling in more to the southward, the
Achilles having fore and main topmast and top-
gallant studding sails set. At 3 p.m. the two lig-
ships led the way slowly in past the Nab-light vessel,
and immediately afterwards signal was made from
the flagship of Sir Thomas Pasley for Admiral War-
den and his squadron of ironclads to part company
and proceed up Channel to the Dover Straits to
escort his Imperial Majesty the Sultan across the
Channel from France on his visit to England. The
Minotaur, with Admiral Warden's flag, the Achilles,
the Bellerophon, the Lord Clyde, and the Pallas im-
mediately steered out of the ironclad line in obe-
dience to the signal, and, furling sails, stood out to
sea under steam, and laid their course up Channel
for the narrow strait which, between Dover and
Calais, divides England and France.
The famous Warrior now became the leading
vessel of the ironclad line, with her sister the Black
Prince second, and the smart looking Valiant third.
At about 3.45 p.m. the ships took in sail to their
three topsails and foretopmast staysails, and in grand
processional order re-entered the southern channel,
leading into Spith:r.d through the narrow gutway
between the Warrior light-vessel and t he elbow of the
horse Shoal. The sun shone full on the hulls and
sails of the ships, and the numerous yachts, steamers,
and other craft surrounding the fleet on i!s return,
and this re-entry of the fleet, notwithstanding that
it had suffered in numbers by the severance of Ad-
miral Warden's squadron, was evidently a more
striking spectacle to all onlookers in its comlination
of steam and sail power than was the departure of
the fleet under sail alone. So soon as the leading
vessels had passed the light ship all sail was furled
and the fleet steamed leisurely into Spithead, each
ship dropping anchor in her old berth. The fleet,
therefore, lies in the two lines at about N.W. by
W., the Victoria holding the S.E. position of the
port line, and the same position in the starboard
line being reserved for the Minotaur, with Nos. 2,
5,6, and 8 berths for the Achilles, Bellerophon,
Lord Clyde, and Pallas, from Dover. Both lines
are anchored in the order of yesterday's sailing, and
the Terrible, Gladiator., Nymphe, Daphne,
and the gunboat flotilla are all anchored inside the
two main lines of the fleet and on the edge of the
shoals between the fleet and Portsmouth.

All tlie evolutions were exceedingly well performed,
and no no:iceable hitch of any kind occurred to mar
in any way the etiloiency of the d:ty's exercises. The
hydraulic Waterwitch naturally attracted consider-
able notice, and in a certain dogree much astonished
many by the manner in which she bundled along,
and the creditable manner, for such a queer-looking
pump, in which she held her berth at the end of the
ironclad line. The distances at which the two lines
of ships are anchored are one and a half cables be-
tween each vessel, and three cables' length between
the two lines.

It cannot be admitted that the ironclad squadron
of itself gives a very imposing measure of the
fighting strength of England upon the waters of
the Channel, and especially roust this conclusion
be apparent if we eliminate from tl:e squadron
the smaller vessels, the double-screw gunboats
Viper and Vixen, the hydraulic gunboat Water-
witch, and the sloop Research, all of which are un-
abe, from their low rate of speed, to keep their
place in any operations under steam, or to maintain
their place creditably in action. If, however, we
accept the view adopted by the First Lord of the
Admiralty, and look upon the entire fleet, armoured
and unarmoured alike, as a grand exposition of the
progress of war-shipbuilding in England from the
time of the first application of the screw propeller
to the line-of-battle ship, the review of the 17th
inst. will be a display of the greatest possible
interest, even although we only repeat a part of the
story told by the last great naval review, and bring
it down to the present day, when we appear to be
just settling down in our opinion of what form an
ironclad should really be.
The forms of the ironclads are pretty well
known. Twelve of them, including the three
small vessels, are vessels carrying guns on the
broadside, although .one, the Waterwitch, professes
to fire her guns over her bows. The Royal Sove-
reign, Prince Albert, and IVivern are turret-ships,
and very formidable ships for Channel fighting.
In the armament of all these vessels at the present
moment there is as great a dissimilarity as in their
forms. The Minotaur, Warrior, Bellerophon, and
Pallas carry the new armament of rifled guns, but
the remainder of the squadron carry a mixed
armament cf smooth-bores and breech-loading
Armstrongs, the Valiant, for instance, having
smooth-bore 68-pounders in her main deck
battery, with a few 110 and 40-pounder Arm-
strongs. The four small vessels certainly carry
6i-ton rifled guns, but the size of the vessels and
their rate of speed put them altogether out of court
in any serious consideration of the strength of the
squadron as a whole. The three turret-ships are
as yet only partially armed with the 12-ton
rifle. This delay in the armament of our ironclads
not owing so much to the want of guns to put on
board as the want of proper carriages on which to
mount them when they are on board. The manu-
facture of the carriages, however, is now in so for-
ward a state that it way reasonably be expected
that all the ships maybe properly armed during the
present year.
In the unarmoured squadron the Victoria, in her
magnificent beauty and in her speed, has always
maintained her reputation as the handsomest and
swiftest three-decked steamship ever enrolled on the
list of England's navy, while the Revenge, Dun-
can, and Donegal, present as perfect specimens of
the two-decked steamship. The two Georges, the
Lion, and the Irresistible, give earlier specimens of
the screw liner, when conversions to the screw had
to fill up the ranks of our warships. Among
frigates, what vessels can exhibit more points of
healty than the Liffey, Sutlej, Mersey, Liverpo,l,
or or as clipper sloops of the newest school
than the Nymphe and Daphne? All these vessel+,
however, excepting the -I.Tymphe and Daphne, which
carry Gi-ton rifles, and the Mersey, which carries
10-inch smooth bores, theinea.rest approach we have
to the American system, carry artillery that is
harmless when opposed to the sides of an ironclad,
while their unprotected hulls would turn them into
volcanoes when practised upon by the latter's mon-
ster shells. Beauty of form, indeed, does not lie
exclusively with the unarmoured ships, for ugly as
many of our ironclads aro in outward appearance,
there are several that will vie with the best looking
of the unarmoured squadron, and thus combine the
I maximum of usefulness and beauty of form, notwith-
standing their sombre dress of p!ack paint.
The

Warrior, Black Prince, Achilles, and Bellerophon
are sufficiently handsome to please the eye of the
most fastidious in such matters. While on the sub-
ject of good looks in a ship of war, we may venture an
opinion on the Achilles and Mersey as being each the
handsomest as well as the noblest specimens of the
armoured and unarmoured of England's war ships.
There is yet one more ship in the fleet which
deserves notice in this place the paddle frigate
Terrible. Built at Deptford in 1847, from Mr.
Laing's designs, she was then, and remains to this
day, with her battery of 95 cwt. 68-pounders, the
most formidable paddle vessel of war afloat. Of
course, the clothing of ships with iron has sadly
shorn her of her glory, but she remains a brave ex-
ample of our skill of 20 years ago.

The assemblage of the serew-liner Coastguard
squadron at Spithead as part of the Review fleet
will rub the rust off both officers and men belong-
ing to them, and drive away the ennui which neces-
sarily clings to them in their humdrum life in the
various out-of-the way-harbours and rivers around
the coasts of the United Kingdom.
The most satisfactory feature of all connected
with the coming Review is the presence in the fleet
of the thousand officers and seamen of the Royal
Naval Reserve. This fact will tend to rivet closer
the connecting link between the Royal and mercan-
tile navies of England; at the same time it is a
graceful acknowledgment on the part of the Admi-
ralty of the value of our Naval Reserves.

Republic. California under the rule of Spaniards
and Mexicans lay a dead, inanimate waste. Incor-
porated as a State of the Union, cities have been
erected, mines developed, fields cultivated, railways
constructed, and ships employed. A great territory
was opened to the superabundant industry of China,
and gold that vivified and supported commerce was
poured over the globe. While acknowledging this
result the writer sees nothing in American inter-
ference in Mexico but a grasping ambition, which
it is the duty of the world to resist. There were
three who benefited by the transfer of California
to the States. In the first degree, California her-
self ; in the second degree, the United States ; in
the third degree, the world. Can the writer inform
us who lost by the transaction ? No ; but he can
bring his little brains to sketch out the future in the
hands of PROVIDENCE; and he, who knows not what
an hour will bring forth, predicts what the feelings
will be of unborn generations, urging the necessity
of neutralising what he shows to be good in the
present, not that ho fears it will be bad for mankind
in the future, but for his own class and his own
little island.

We wish that Europeans would take a broader
view of American affairs identifying them-
selves in a greater degree with the American people,
and at least glancing at the landscape seen from the
Republican stand-point. They will see there more
than they expected. A wide-spreading area of civi-
lisation, which, beyond the squabbling, corruption,
and shortcomings of the present, displays in the dis-
tance vast regions, where good-will reigns and plenty
abounds. It is well to keep this object before us,
and not endeavour, while seeking the most paltry
ends in the present, to retard the grand conceptions
of the future.—Anglo-Antevican 7 imes.

TILE LIBERALS IN MEXICO.

It is not easy to estimate how far we are ruled

by sentiment. The volley that terminated the life
of MAXIMILIAN and his Empire in Mexico may
have appeared an ordinary affair to JUAREZ and
those around him accustomed to such scenes. Pro-
bably he knows nothing of the feelings that actuate
the civilised world, and, therefore, of the effect
likely to be produced by the crime to which his
Indian nature urged the perpetration. While little
understanding the horror and disgust the cowardly
atrocity would excite among all Christian nations,
he may have strongly felt the pressure of the wolves
by whom he was surrounded. Whatever may have
been the motives, it is now certain that he, as the
head of the Republic of Mexico, has sanctioned and
carried out an act called for by the voice of his
party, and in this, humanly speaking, he has scaled
the fate of his country. If Mexico were not rich in
the gifts of nature to an extraordinary degree it is
probable that the name would cease to be men-
tioned, and Europeans become as careless of what
passed in that barbarous and blood-stained region
as they are of the thoughts and deeds of the more
noble savages inhabiting Timbuctoo. But the world
does not chose that the gifts of PROVIDENCE to
mankind should be shut up from the human race
in this wild beast's den. The Empire was a protest
against a barbarism and cruelty that disgraced
humanity, and closing scene was the strongest
proof of the necessity of a powerful intervention.
Whatever may have been MAxImILIAN's shortcom-
ings, he honestly and legitimately strove to improve
the Empire, and to benefit the country he was in-
vited to rule. In this he was nobly aided by his
wife, who froely gave up her time to distribute
bounty on an Imperial scale from her privy purse.
That the one should be bereft of life and the other
of reason, is but a fitting return for Mexico to give.
The very nobility of the act which induced MAXI-
MILIAN to decline a return to a splendid position in
Europe that he might share the fate of his partisans
in Mexico would, had a ray of generosity lightened
the minds of his opponent,:,, have enabled them to
view his conduct with the admiration it elsewhere