The Sun.
London, England, 1859-10-19 00:00:00

E SS. sledge-hommer blow When he maintains that with
ENSON'S
" Perfection of ingcliaialsra."—Morning Po. st. materiel in abundance, what we have to look to
2to 50 guineas.
Gold Watches ............... ... 4 to 100 guineas.
now, above all things, is the personnel with which
silver Watches ................
31 and 31, Ludgato-hill, L03(1011, 1.. C.
to set the-whole machinery of the former in motion.
2 stamps for Benson's Illustrated` a.mphlet on Watches.
-- I
Hitherto he reminds us that we have failed to
solve this problem, though, to the very end of its
solution among other things we have an Admiralty
costing us £lOO,OOO a year! "It is admitted,"
he says,' " that when men are voted and en-
tered there is no difficulty in keeping. up the num-
' ber ; the difficulty is to keep under the vote, but the
moment an emergency arrives and some thousands,
or indeed hundreds, are wanted, we are all abroad.
This is not surprising, as the sailors are employed
in the different trades, and they will not leave their
employment to enter the navy unless it is made
vorth their while ; and experience tells us we have
reeve'' yet come up to their mark." Bozo judici-
ously axed accurately to " come up to their mark,"
S.ir CHARLES NAPIEIt'S letter very lucidly explains.
,fie recommends a series of improvements calculated
mderitzlly to better the condition of JACK, when
he has cnce got fairly into the service. Among
these improvements, insisting especially upon the
advisability, if not the absolute and imperative
necessity there is pf relaxing somewhat the
confinement to which the men are sub-
. II argues forcibly,
jetted on board a ship
in fevpur of doing
to our thinking irresistibly,
away entirely with the discomfort of the hulks—
receiving the men on board the first day the pen-
nant is hoisted. He recommends weekly payments,
the granting of moderate leave, and the making
officers and men at once "as comfortable as if the
ship had been six months in commission." Above
all things, however, Sir CHARLES NAPIER has his
heart steadily set throughout upon the one great
want in the service—the establishment of a reserve
of disciplined seamen to the number of 30,000 !
Now mark especially what it is Sir CHAS. NAPIER
has to say upon this point, as .to the reserve of
thirty thousand. "Parliament," writ2s the gallant
Admiral to the Duke of SOMERSET, " Parliament
has voted £lOO,OOO to form this reserve. It
is proposed to give each man £5. For this
he must be ready at all calls. He must
serve 28 days each year, and must know all his
drills. During-this time he will receive the same
pay, provisions, and the same privileges as seamen
serving. Now, my lord, to make this reserve effi-
cient, they must give up all trades except the
coasting trade. Now, a sailor in the prime of life
does net like to be thus restricted. He is fond of
wandering all over the world ; and if he is not in the
prime of life, he is not fit for the reserve. Your
grace will find that £5 is not a sufficient induce-
ment for a good seaman to take up such a line. It
appears to me the formation of the reserve must be
begun with men who have served ten years in
actual service. At present those men are entitled
to a pension ; that should be abolished, and they
should only be entitled to enter the reserve.
They should be designated the Queen's Naval
Guards ; and they should be exempt from corpo-
ral punishment when serving; they should be
men of exemplary conduct, and after having been
ten years in the reserve they should receive a
good pension, but subjected to be called upon, if
fit, and wanted, and then designated the Old
Guard, and receive, as they do now, both pay
and pension. They should be eligible to civil situ-
ations, and care should be taken to employ them
if fit. If artificers, they should be preferred to
others to serve in the dockyards, which is never
thought of ; on the contrary, the dockyard officers
arc generally against them. This ought not to be.
Now, my lord, comes the question, what pay
is sufficient to induce men to join the reserve
Five pounds will certainly not do. We must be
careful not to risk a failure, and we ought to
make searching inquiries among the men them-
selves what, in their estimation, would be suffi-
cient encouragement to induce them to adopt the
coasting trade, so as to be at hand at all calls.
Whatever is thought just must be given. There
is no help for it, for neither the sailor nor the
country will now stand compulsion." Than all
this, nothing could well be more reasonable. We
listen, like COLERIDGE'S wedding guest, to every
syllable of it. And, while we listen, the Ancient
Mariner " hath his will."—We bow to the force
and cogency of Sir CHARLES NAPIER'S arguments.

----------- ______
ROYAL EN6LISII ' OPERA.,I
cOlf ENT -GII,DEN.
Undir the management of Miss L. l'yne des Ir.W. -Harrion.
THIS EVENING, I) INCo R A If. rs. Santley, 11.
Corri, St. Albyn, and. W. Harrison. Xicses Pilllng, Thirl-
wall, and Miss Louisa Pyne.
Conductor, Alfred Mellat.
DIVERTISSE.IfENT. Mdlles. Levine, „Pasquale, Pier-
ron, and Mons. Vandris.
Commence at S o'clock,

THEATRE-ROYAL HAym,LitIC.F.T.
Lessee. Mr. J. B. Backstone.
THIS ETENING the performances will notnnunce with
AN UNEQUAL MATCH. Miss Arny Sedgwlek.
After which, a new Farce, entitled THE RIFLE, MID
HOW TO USE IT. Messrs. Buckstoue, Compton, Ko:erg,
Mrs. B. White. Mrs. Wilkins, and Mrs..E. Pitzwilliam.
And lIALLOWE'EIg.
Commence at 7.

ROYAL PRINCESS'S THEATRZ.
Lessee, Mr. A. Harris.
THIS EVEICINII, the performances will commence with
LOVE'S TELEGRAPH.
To be followed by a dramatic tableau in Watteau colours,
by J. R. Planche, Esq., entitled LOVE AND FORTUNE.
To conclude with THE TWO POLTS.

MEW THEATRE ROYAL, AD ELPHL
Sole Proprietor and Manager, Mr. Benj. Webster.
Open for the Winter Season.
THIS EVENING will be performed ICI ON PARLE
FRANCAIS. Messrs. J. L. 17oole, Chas Selby, and Miss
Kelly.
After wh, THE WILLOW COPSE. Luke, Mr. Ben.
Webster ; Hulks Mr. David Fisher; Augustus, Mr. J. L.
Toole ; Staggers, Mr. Paul Bedford.
Followed by LOVE AND HUNGER. Mr. David Fisher,
Mr. Paul Bedford, C. Selby, C. J. Smith, Miss K. Kelly, Miss
Laidlaw.
Doors open at half-past six—Commence at seven. Box-
Office open from 10 to 5. No charge for securing seats,
nor far bills of performance. All fees to servants of this
establishment arc strictly prohibited.
Acting Manager—Mr. Wm. Smith.

ROY AL ST. JAMES'S THEATRE,
King-street, St. James's. Lessee, Mr. T. B. Chatter-
ton. The nearest Theatre to Chelsea, Pimlico, and West-
minster, the Park being open to carriages and foot passen-
gers all hours of the night.
THIS EVENING, Poole's comedy, THEY'RE BOTH TO
BLAME. Messrs. Leigh Murray, Barrettat , Walter
Mesdames Erank Matthews, Murray, Chari ne HicksonCarle ;.
+After which the sticce,;sful Ballet Farce, by John Oxen-
ord, Esq., entitled MAGIC TOYS, supported by Miss Lydia
Thompson, Miss Clara St. Casse, and a numerous Corps de
Ballet.
To conclude with the New and Original Burlesque, by L.
Buckingham, Esq., of VIRGINIUS ; or the Trials of a Fond
Papa.
Reduced Prices—Gallery, 6d ; Pit, Is. The Box-office open
from 11 to 5 daily. Doors open at half-past six; perform-
ance commences at 7.

ROYAL STRAND THEATRE.
Lessee and Directress, Miss Swanborough
THIS EVENING, THE GOOSE WITH THE GOLDEN
EGGS.
After which THE GREAT RUSSIAN BEAR ; or, An-
other Retreat from Moscow.
And CAUGHT BY THE EARS.
Followed by THE VERY LATEST EDITION OF THE
LADY OF LYONS.
Commence at 7 o'clock;

CANTERBURY ALL C ONCERT S.—
EVERY EVENING. —The Music of Verdi's Opera of
MACBETH (now first made public in England at these Con-
certs).
In a few days will be produced a Selection from Meyer-
beer's new opera of DIITORAII.
Comic Vocalists —Messrs. George Frodson (the Irish Come-
dian and Mimic), W. T. Critchlield, and E. W. MAckney.
Several interesting Pictures are added to the Fine Arts
Gallery. The suite of Halls have been re-decorated and
beautified, and constitute one of the most unique and brilliant
sights of the metropolis.

THE WEATHER.—Surr OFFICE, OCTOBER 19.
THERVONETER, IN THE SHADE.
58—highest since noon yesterday.
53—!owest this morning and during the night.
59—this day at noon.

BenommTEn-29.93.
WIND, Southerly; light, with dull weather.

HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.
Tins DAY.—Morning, 6h. 21m.—Afternoon, 6h. 55m,
To-Molutow-Morning, 7h. 35m.—Afternoon, Bh.- 22m.

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TILE SUN.
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 19, 180

Additional light is fast falling upon the
hitherto somewhat obscured problem of the National

Defences. Already, thanks to the energetic awaken.
ing of the public attention to the extreme urgenc)

of the necessity long suspected, but now quite
visible—the imminent and paramount necessity of

reorganising those National Defences speedily and
permanently—already we have (what we had not
two years ago) a Channel Fleet ! We have a fleet
in the Mediterranean ! We have the wooden walls

of Old England more carefully looked to, with a
view to their strengthening and general reparation !
Our dockyards, our arsenals, our seaports, ships,
guns and ammunition, seamen and marines, coast-
guards and coast volunteers—men and materials—
the whole naval system, in fact, from the Lords

We feel some hopes that the revelations of thi
two Election Commissions, and the honest, well-
timed remarks of Lord BROUGHAM at Bradford,

Commissioners of the Admiralty down to the

poor maimed and weather-beaten pensioners at
Greenwich Hospital we are now subjecting to a

will not be lost on the GENTLEMEN of the Rouse

careful scrutiny, to an anxious and conscientious

of Commons. A considerable number will occupy
seats on both benches whose sense of honour, and
even their conscience, must make them some-

investigation. Happily by this time we are all of

us pretty well agreed as to the advisability of this
thorough revision of our maritime defences with an
eye to their more perfect reorganisation. Every-
one is ready to put his shoulder to the wheel—we are
all so painfully conscious that it has fallen so deep

what uneasy. Gloucester and Wakefield would
never have been properly known to the

country, nor even to themselves, bad not
the Commissioners shrived them publicly. And
lost indeed to all self-respect must the Commons of
England be if the really pure will not vote for com-
pelling all to be so ; and, if those who know, or
have the best of reasons for suspecting, that they

into the rut of routine as to require a more than

ordinarily energetic effort to secure its complete

and rapid extrication..
Yesterday we had the satisfaction of giving the
latest and not by any means the least important or

sit in the house through the venality of electors, do

least valuable evidence of the profound interest

not show themselves in earnest to prevent a repe

this agitation has kindled in favour of the
better securing of the National Defences by
means of the comprehensive improvement of
the Royal Navy, as bearing at once the

Sword and the Shield of England. Allusion
is made, of course, to the many admirable sugges-
tions contained in the communication addressed to
the Duke of SOMERSET, as First Lord of the Ad-
miralty, by one of our most gallant old tars, Admi-
ral Sir CHARLES NAPIER, M.P. for Southwark.
Sir CHARLES has often blundered before now, both
ashore and afloat, and while we have never once
failed to do honour to his many brilliant qualities
and splendid services, we have at the same time
never once hesitated to reprehend his con-
duct, whether as a politician or as a naval comman-
der, whenever, in either capacity, he has appeared
by errors of judgment or want of discretion to
demand reprehension. Sir CHARLES blundered, for
example, and blundered egregiously, in his mis-
taken estimate of the screw propeller as applied
to the man-of-war in lieu of the old-fashioned, cum-
brous, and exposed paddlewheel. Ileblundered again
to our thinking, and blundered there most deplor-
ably, upon the occasion of his last great command :
First of all, by consenting to take that magnificent
fleet of his into the Baltic without insisting upon
carrying, out with him an adequate supply of gun-
boats of light draught suited to the shallow
waters of the Neva, and cf the Baltic itself
around Cronstcdt and Helsingfors ! and Secondly,
in opening the campaign in those waters
with a fire:3.n d-fury signal that had the
sorry anti-climax of not even ending in smoke—in
the smoke of a daring attempt at the bombardment
of the maritime capital of the foe Whatever may
have been our gallant old tar's sins ()remission or of
commission previously—he is corta.inly, however, nct
blundering now as a u... val reformer ! As a reformer
of that glorious service of which, in spite of all his
faults, he is recognised far and wide as one oft e
most distinguished among its livirtgornaments. In
this his last argument in favour of a better system
of manning the royal navy, Sir CHARLES
hits the right nail upon the head at
once, and does so, moreover, with a telling

MOFFAT aiding and abetting the secret transmis.

tit.ion of such practices.
It is but too common to talk only of the de-
moralisation of poor electors ; but if we are not mis
taken, a sentiment of commiseration for rich can-
didates and respectable electors must have arisen
in many minds, as they have skimmed tedious parts
of the painful evidence, and pondered on others
with reluctant interest ! 'When we find in the
Gloucester affair even Sir W3l. HATTER and Mr.

sion of money from London, and candidates
and professional gentlemen, _ and citizens,
whom we properly deem respectable—handling
money and transacting their business secretly
through other persons, with every precaution
that they shall not, formally and technically, know
that of which they cannot have a shadow of a
doubt—how can we help feeling for the degrada-
tion of these gentlemen. " What you doubt, do
not," is one of the oldest of moral rules, one, too,
which has the express sanction of the Christian
revelation. Yet, all these persons, who would
have cut off their right hands, probably,
rather than be guilty of a doubtful
commercial transaction—all of them conspire
to bay money, or to be agents in its payment
for a debasing crime—a crime both in law and
morality—a crime, which if imputed to them per-
sonally—they would deem themselves excused in
resenting the accusation with personal violence—
with the old English law of turning the accuser
out of doors, or of kicking- him down stairs.
At Wakefield the case was in some respects
worse. The two candidates were, we believe,
for we know neither personally, two as respectable
gentlemen as any who could have contested the
Borough—yet Mr. LEATII.III, though annoyed,
handed over to his election agent first £l,OOO ; in
a few days £5OO ; in less than a week £l,OOO
more; and after the election £2OO and. £soo,—in
all £3,200, and that not all—indeed it did not in-
clude what was paid through the Auditor, besides
outstanding accounts—the whole probable cost
of the election to Mr. LEATIIAM amounting to not
less than £4,200 ! The money was procured secretly
from London; and by avoiding direct knowledge