The Sun.
London, England, 1858-10-18 00:00:00

PRICE 4D. STAMPED, SD.

THE EARL OF HARD WICKE ON OU
NATIONAL DEFENCES.

KNEESWORTH, CAMBRIDGESHIRE,
. "-- -7 SATURDAY.
At the ninth annual dinner of the Western Cam-
bridgeshire Agricultural. Association, held here,
amongst those present were the Earl of Hardwicke,
Lord George planners, the High-Sheriff (Mr. C. R.
Pemberton), the Kon. and Venerable Archdeacon
Yorke, the Rev. Veriion,Harcourt, &c.
The Earl of HARDWICRE, in responding to the
toast- of "The Naty,"Temarked that it was in gene-
ral customary in this country to propose ‘,‘ The Army
and the -Navy"in that-order of precedence, why it
was difficult to Say, as this our sea-girt isle mainly
owed its protection to our " wooden walls." (Loud
cheers.) If he might venture to assign-a reason, it
would be,.because the army, as a service, was more
immediately under the direction of the Crown—
' under the control of the Sovereign., With regard
to the body-for which it was his duty to return
thanks,
.inasmuch as he:was either at the head of
the Rear-Admiral'S list, or at the bottom of the
Vice-Admiral's—he really,did not know , which---
(laughter)—he would. venture to make ,a, few re-
marks ; and he would first-observe that every mem-
ber of the service felt deeply grateful for the .com-
plimentary and appropriate way in which thattoast
was received in all - social and political societies.
The professionto which it was his pride to belong
,was perhaps More important to this - country than
any other. He would not . say that all had not
their duties .to perform ; but if there was one prO-
fesSion in which.- more than another Englishmen
-
took a deep and prominent interest, he believed it
was that represented by the toast
.justgjven by thct;
chairman. (Cheers.) They should remember that'
they lived in it country surrounded by water, and
that the protection'of their country, their com-
merce, and their trade depended upon their floating
batteries, on the character of the officers who
commanded; and the efficient equipment of their
fleets by. the State. (Cheers.) - Ail • the Ministers
this country had ever had had admitted that the
provision for the maintenance of this service was of
the deepest interest It was not alone the securing
a proper number of hands to man our,fleets, but
these required an enormous revenue to support them
in that state of efficiency which was absolutely
necessary for the Safety—he might almost say the
existence of this country, but he might safely say
for its 'existence
.as a first-rate Power. The navy_
as a profession rant be cherished, and they must
not be—it wotildbefalse economy to be-,-niggardly
in its support. The circumstances he was about to
relate might not
.perhaps be' known to them, en;-..,
gaged as they were in agriculture, but it was - now
time that the__ people of this' country were made
aware of the condition of that see mice upon which
their safety principally depended. He was not
alluding to any- -particular nation when he said
that, taking into consideration the condition of the
fleets of other countries, it was high time we pre-
pared for any difficulty that might arise by looking
keenly to the- state and. condition, to the efficiency
Of our naval defences. (Cheers.) It was highly
necessary, he repeated, though he did not believe
that-any of the nations of Europe, highly civilised
as they flaw, were—high' as :their : social condition
now was—he did not believe,.he said, that any
one of those nations would turn bucaneers man-fake
a piratical deScent upon our-coasts—the coasts o
a country whose only duty it now-was- to advance
the condition of mankind and whose only object,
as avowed,was to retain its own—(cheers)—and was
not, if it ever was, actuated by an aggressive policy.
(Cheers.) This was now a country that simply
asked to be enabled to carry on the pursuit of in-
dustry and virtue, to put to the boat advantage the
great gifts which Almighty God had bestowed upon
her, and create a bond of brotherhood and friend-
kihip with all other nations. (Cheers.) At the
same time we should be prepared at any moment
to show that we Were resolved. to vindicate -mir
honour and character if attacked, and to give our
gallant, sons the opportnnity of exhibiting that
prowess which ever had, and, he said it emphatically
ever would distinguish ,theni. The: .condition
of the British navy was now such as it had never
been in the times of their sires ; and, though such
condition was to be regretted, still it did not arise
from any neglect on the part of the Government,
but by reason of the improvement daily making in-
science and art—in the mode and regulation of the
conduct of the affairs of the maritime world. It
arose alone from the introduction of steamships ; it
this which had such an effect upon the condi-
tion of our navy. • The introduction of steam had,
as it were,- created in maritime matters a clean sheet
of paper over the whole world, and had called upon,
all nations to begin again in nautical matters.
They might consider that sailing ships were struck
out as gilie of Wiir, the-Ugh of course they were
'still fitter for means of transit and for mercantile
purp.oses where economy was an object and time of
comparatively small consequence, with regard to
floating bodies upon the water. For the purposes,
of war, however, sailing vessels. were at an end, and
'had been since 1850, when they first began to pro-
.'pel'ships of war-by the screw system. Since that
time the nations Of the world had beglin to create
new navies. He must say, and impress it upon
them, that he believed the 'condition of our navy to
be weaker than at any period, certainly absolutely
weaker than.that- of some, great Powers near us;
and_ though thevote-given by Parliament might be
considered large, still. they 'must open their purses,
and giVe more to put the Government in a position
to. do justice to the brave men who were ready to
embrace the public service. He felt justified in
enlarging upon this subject, as he was sure it N-,.as-
ouf, that •-.-A; I 1 :i:yjn picas i tSell upon the public
mind. Those who. condwcted :the affairs of the
important naval profession were not altogether
- settled in their minds as to the most expedient way
of laying out the public money in the way best
calculated _to promote the public good, for so rapid
was the progress of science and. so variable the
minds of - inventors, that not six months
elapsed without some change. This led to
great difficulties, for no sooner was produced
what was thought complete, than a step in
advance was introduced, and frequently what
had been done had to be undone. Improve-
ments were introduced. not only in the construc-
tion of ships of war, but also in the most economical
way of-producing them. It was but the other day
• that it was.his duty to visit the different ports in
the country on a tour of inspection, with a view to
report on the state of the navy, and he then had
opportunities of seeing experiments madewhich had
proved to him the miserable inefficiency of our pre-
sent ships for war purposes. He meant the ships
built of wood. Experiments were tried on the side
of an oak-built frigate, which was plated with iron
in sections in various ways. On one part wasplaced
a sheet of iron four inches thick, wrought in her
:Majesty's dockyard ; another section was plated
with iron four inches in thickness, but in different
plates, the. one over the other ; then there were
plates of iron covered with indiarubber 10 inches
thick, and various other., preparations. The frigate
was laid_ off a battery, and fired upon with 68-
pounders charged with 161 b. of powder. The result
was that the iron first mentioned broke every shot
as if they were dust, and all the other sheathings
were shot through as though they were rotten eggs.
The bit of iron four. inches- thick wrought in the
common way resisted the fire of those heavy gulls
- for several hours, and hewould put it to intelligent
minds what .a revulsion such a fact as that must at
once create not only in the state and condition.but
in the form of our floating bodies destined for war ,
purposes. Constructed in the ordinary manner'
they could not possibly carry the weight of their
iron sides together with their guns, so they must 'e-
duce or cut down their top sides. It was surprising
that this material had never been thought of before
to cover the sides of ships of war, but when the idea
did occur it occurred to two or three at .the same
moment, though _he believed that the compliment
for its first introduction was (be 'to the present Elm:
peror of the French, who coupled itwith the screw.
propeller. If, then, we intended to be, as we always
had been, the most formidable maritime Power in'
the world—and
if we were not 'that we must sink
into a second-rate PoWer, inasmuch as in • ships of
the line we. were already inferior- to other nations—
they must not be surprised if GoVernment asked
them for sums of money stiffic, E
ierit to, place the navy_ av
on the footing in which every n, sh man wished
to see it. (Cheers.) It had been the practice very
much of late on the part' of writers who
chiefly instructed and led the public, and.for whom
he entertained the highest respect, to " puff up"
the condition of the navy, and lead the people to
believe that it was the finest in the world, and also
to lead the publiC to believe that. England's navy
Nv6 a, most. important item .in effecting a settle-
ment of the late war with Russia. It was no suck
thing. In the late war our, maritime power had
been comparatively nothing. He should perhaps
be 'excused, -the -subject being So important, if he
subStantiated his .-- statement by some quotations
from the An ittal Register, showing what ourpower
is, what it was, and what it ought always to, he,
remembering that
.it. was, not only necessary _t47
Inive fleets at sea, but to maintain the command of
the British Channel, for whatever Power we were