The Sun.
London, England, 1859-09-20 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 20, 1859.

PURSUANT to a Decree of the High Court of
Chancery, made in a cause " William Henry Mott, an
infant, against John Mott and Andrew Pritchard," the Cre-
ditors of WILLIAM GREEDY MOTT, late of Cheapside, in
the city of London, and of Manor House, Gunnersbury, in the
county of Middlesex, silversmith and jeweller, who died on
the 3d day of May, 1857, are, by their solicitors, on or before
the 7th day of November, t 1859, to come in and prove their
debts at the Chambers of the Vice-Chancellor Kindersley, at
No. 3, Stone-buildings, Lincoln's-inn, Middlesex, or in
default thereof they will be peremptorily excluded from the
benefit of the said Decree.
Saturday, the ltth day of November, 1859, at 12 o'Clock at
noon, at the said Chambers, is appointed for hearing and ad-
judicating upon the claims.
Dated this Bth day of August, CHAS. 1859.
PUGH, Chief Clerk.
RUTHERFORD and SON,Plaintiff 's solicitors,
58, Gracechurch-street.

CONTRACTS F
OATS, COCOA, TEA, SUGAR,
AND TOBACCO.
Department of the Comptroller for Victualling and
Transport Services,
Somerset-house, 16th September, 1859.
HE COMMISSIONERS for EXECUTING
T
THE OFFICE of LORD HIGH ADMIRAL of the
UNITED KINGDOM of GREAT BRITAIN and IRE-
LAND, DO HEREBY GIVE NOTICE, That on THURS-
DAT, the 6th October next, at Ha'f-past One o'Clock, they
will be ready to treat with such Persons as may be willing
to Contract for supplying and delivering into her Majesty's
Victualling Stores at Deptford, the undermentioned articles,
viz :

OATS 5OO quarters.
COCOA
When to be delivered—One-half in Two Weeks, and the
remainder in Two Weeks afterwards, or earlier if preferred
by the party tendering.
100,
TEA OOO lbs.
SUGAR 3OO tons.
TOBACCO
When to be delivered—Half of each is Three Weeks, and
the remainder in Three Weeks afterwards, or earlier if pre-
ferred by the party tendering.
Tenders may be made for the whole or any portion of the
Articles.
l'heir Lordships reserve to themselves the power, when the
tenders are opened, of contracting either for the whole or for
such part thereof only as they may deem fit, or for a greater
quantity, or of not contracting for any, and also an unlimited
power of selection.
The Cocoa, Tea, Sugar, and Tobacco to be exempted from
the Customs' duties, and parties tendering are to state where
they are respectively lying.
Samples of the Oats (not less than two quarts), of the
Cocoa (not less than two pounds), and of the Tea (not leas
than two pounds) from the bonded warehouse), must be pro-
duced by the parties tendering.
Each tender for Sugar must specify the mark and landing
number of each cask.or package, the ship in which imported,
and the country or place of its growth or produce, and an
average Sample (not less than 21bs for each import mark) must
be produced by the parties tendering, and not an average of
different marks or several imports ; and any parcel that is
found not to'be of the same mark or average quality as the
samples tendered and accepted, wid be rejected by the office, s.
Each tender for Tobacco must specify the several trade
marks and numbers, and the countries or places of its growth
or produce, and a fresh drawn Dock sample of each cask or
package must be produced by the parties tendering, and any
cask or package that is found not to be of the same mark.
number. or quality as the sample tendered and accepted, will
be rejected by the officers.
The samples produced by persons whose tenders are not ac-
cepted, are requested to be taken away by them immediately
after the Contracts have been decided.
No tender will be received unless made on the printed
form provided for the purpose, and which may be obtained
on application at the said office, or to the officer conducting
the Packet Service at Liverpool, or to the Collector of Cus-
toms at Bristol.
Particular attention is called to the recent modifications of
the conditions of the contract, which may be seen at the said
office, and at Liverpool and Bristol.
No tender will be received after half-past One o'clock on
the day of treaty, and it will not be required that the party
tendering, or an agent on his behalf, should attend at the
.office
on the day of contract, as the result of the offer received
from each person will be communicated to him and his pro-
posed sureties in writing.
Every tender must be addressed to the Secretary of the
Admiralty, and bear in the left-hand corner the words" Ten-
der for ," and must also be delivered at Somerset-
house.

THE DISPUTED ISLAND OFF BRIT
COLUMBIA.

- -
The San Francisco Times contains the following
account of the little " difficulty" which appears.to
have grown up in our newly-recognised colony :
" VICTORIA, V. 1., Aug. 7.
"You are, perhapsi aware before this, while you have
been, absorbed in political controversies at home, or watch-
ing the events of the great world in the far East, war, with
all its attendant evils, has been threatening us here in the
distant North.
" Some weeks ago came to this port, in the United States
steamer Massachusetts, General Harney. His arrival was
acknowledged by a salute, and, after a nay's sojourn as the
guest of Governor Douglass, he ' passed by on the other
side.'
"A few days after the General's departure for Puget
Sound, our town was thrown into the greatest exoitement
by the news that a company of American troops had seized
the disputed island of San Juan, and that barracks were
being established upon it. No one knew by whom the act
was authorised, and especially did certain chivalric Ameri-
cans, with Filibustering proclivities, seem not to care. Then
commenced blustering and bloviating on both sidss, the
American population waxed rampant, as usual on such oc-
casions, and the British indignant. Numerous lively dis-
cussions sprung up among groups of citizens at the street
corners, and a considerable quantity of the king's English
was demolished on both sides.
" Very soon vessels for the conveyance of passengers to
the seat of war were in demand. Small boats were char-
tered for the trip, and several steamboats departed with
visitors, both English and American, to the island of San
Juan, a distance of 15 or 20 miles from this place. Two of
the English vessels of war from Esquimalt Harbour had
gone over on the first reception of the news. Most of those
who went to the island did so, perhaps, through curiosity ;
but others, no doubt, went determined to lend a, hand to
their respective countries if their services were needed. In
the harbour of San Juan were found, beside several British
men-of-war, the United States' ships Massachusetts, Shu-
brick, and a revenue cutter from Fuget Sound. A company
of American soldiers, to the number of 40 or 50, had taken
possession of the island, and quite boldly indicated their in-
tention to keep it, as will be seen by the following order,
which was posted in various places about the island s---
(Order No. 1.)
" Military Post, San Juan Island, W. T., July 27.
"'l. In compliance with orders and instructions from
the General Commanding, a military post will be established
on this island, on whatever site the commanding officer may
select.
" 2. All the inhabitants of the island are requested to
report at once to the commanding officer, in case of any in-
cursion of the Northern Indians, so that he may take such
steps as he may deem necessary to prevent any future oc-
currence of the same.
" 3. This beim.. United States territory, no laws other
than those of the United States, nor Courts except such as
are held by virtue of said laws, will be recognized or allowed
in this island.

" By order of CAPTAIN PICKIIY.
" James W. Forsyth, Second Lieutenant,
9th Infantry, Post Adjutant.'
"It will be observed from the tone of this order that it
ignores the Treaty and Boundary Commission, and admits
of no compromise ; if, therefore, it proves to have had no
higher authority than General Harney, and any concession
is hereafter made, it will afford us another example of the
reckless manner in which Filibustering American citizens
jeopardize the peace and compromise the honour of their

country.
" From the first,it appears that the British desired to avoid
a collision, as their ability at any moment to take the
island can scarcely be doubted ; it was their wish to gain a
joint military occupation of the island with our troops,
until orders could be received from the heads of the two
Governments. A proposition to that effect having been
made, was rejected ; but, it is believed, will yet be acceded
to. It is unnecessary to repeat that if such a concession is
made, after what has passed, it will be a dastardly compro-
mise of the country's honour.
" Affairs have rested in this plight, with little change,
during the past week. A small company or two from Fort
Bellingham have been added to the American forces, and a
number of Americans have gone from this place and Wash-
ington Territory, with the avowed intention of settling at
San Juan. A British vessel of war brought down some
Sappers and Miners from Fraser River a few days since,
and renewed the request to land their forces, but were re-
fused. They had not landed at the last accounts, and mat-
ters remained in siatu quo.
" On Wednesday Governor Douglass issued a protest
against the occupation of San Juan Island by the Ameri-
cans, and declared the island to belong to her Majesty
Queen Victoria. His Excellency also sent a message to the
Vancouver Legislative Assembly yesterday, in which it is
declared that the British forces will be landed on the
island. If such be their intention, a collision seems inevi-
table.
"The disputed island lies north-westerly from the en-
trance to Puget Sound and the mainland of Washington
Territory, in the vicinity of Port Townsen.d, the broad,
beautiful Strait of Fuca being between. Sang from the
Sound to Victoria, across the Fuca, San Juan appears to be
a part of Vancouver's Island, and the disputed channel
cannot be distinguished until you have come down oppo-
site its mouth or junction with thend the loud talk that is
Strait.
" Notwithstanding the treaty, a
made about the commanding importance of San Juan to the
Americans, it naturally belongs to the British, and is of
infinitely greater value to them than to the United States.
The channel in dispute is the gate to the Gulf of Georgia,
Fraser River, and British Columbia—mostly British water
and British possessions. If this channel is by the treaty, de-
termined to be the boundary line, it only gives us a small
island of small value, with no other advantages, as we own
nothing north of it, while to them it is the doorway to all
their possessions. This is no reason, however, why the
United States should not have the island, if by any right It
belongs to them ; but if John Bull goes to war for this
island it will be because it is of great value to him ; and if
Jonathan backs out, as he usually does, it will be because
it is not of much value to him and his master. King Cot-
ton and Lord Democracy tell him it is not in the right
direction to be worth fighting for.
"Considerable ill-feeling appears to have arisen among
the people at Victoria in consequence of this movement of
General Harney. The Victoria Gazette, having assumed
a position upon the subject which is deemed there to be an
American view,' is asailed severely by several English
writers in the Colonist.
"The Pioneer and Democrat commends the action of
General Harney in taking possession of San Juan Island.
It says:—
" "rho treaty is based upon the principle that all south
of the parallel of 49 degs. was United States territory, and
the deviation made was simply to give Vancouver's Island
—only a very small portion of which was south of that
parallel—to that country which, had the line continued
directly across it, would have owned the greater part of it.
If, then, the question were ono of doubt as to the proper
channel, a consideration of the intent of the treaty must
solve that question in favour of the United States. But it
is not a question upon which a doubt should be permitted
to exist. The Canal de Haro is the broadest, deepest, and
most direct channel from the Straits of Fuca into the Gulf
of Georgia. And this would not be questioned were i'.
for the value of the intermediate islands. To England the
are valuable as well for the land, of which there is much
that is of a superior quality on some of the islands, as also
that they are supposed to command the southern entrance
to th e Gulf of Georgia. To us they are necessary as a
military post,
being the only place suitable for the protec-

tion of our people from the hordes of Northern savages,
from whom we have already suffered, and from whose
threatened attacks many of our settlements down
the Sound are kept in continual alarm. San Juan is
just the place for a post. The Tndians must pass within
striking distance in coming to and returning from the
settlements.' "
The following is Governor Douglabits message :
" Government House, Victoria, Aug. 3.
" To THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL AND HOUSE OF ASSEM-
BLY OF THE COLONY OF VANCOUVER'S ISLAND.

" Gentlemen,—l have to communicate for your informa-
,ion the intelligence of the landing of a detachment of
United States' troops on the Island of San Juan, avowedly
(see enclosures Nos. 1 anal 2) for the purpose of forming a
military post, and of asserting the sovereignty of the United
States over that island.
" Having received no information from any quarter that
the United States ever contemplated taking possession of
any part of the disputed territory while the boundary line
remained unsettled, I am forced to believe that the late un-
warrantable and discourteous act, so contrary to the usages
of civilised nations, has originated in error, and been under-
taken without the authority of that Government.
"That impression is corroborated by a letter (a copy of
which is here enclosed) from the Hon. W. L. Marcy, Secre-
tary ter the United States, dated Washington, July 12,
1855, to her Majesty's Minister at Washington, which con-
tains instructions from the President of the United States
to the Governor of Washington territory, and displays in
the clearest manner the conciliatory 'and moderate views
entertained by his Government on the subject of the dis-
puted territory.
"Though the right of Great Britain to all the islands
situated to the westward of Vancouver or Rosario Straits is
to our minds clearly established by the first article of the
treaty of 1846, and though those islands have, since the
foundation of this colony, been considered as a dependency
of Vancouver's Island, it is well known to you, gentlemen,
that out of respect to the construction that has been put
upon that treaty by the Government of the United States,
we have abstained from exercising exclusive sovereignty
over them.
" Convinced that any assumption on either side of ex-
clusive right to the disputed territory, would simply be a
f uitless and mischievous waste of energy, neither detract-
ing from nor adding force to the claims of either nation,
wise and considerate policy enjoins upon us the part of leav-
ing so important a national question for settlement by the
proper authorities, and of avoiding complications foreign to
the views and wishes of, and probably embarrassing to both.,
Governments.
" immediately on being informed of the landing of United
States' troops at San Juan, her Majesty's ship Tribune,
under the command'of Captain Hornby, was despatched to
that quarter, and soon after a detachment of Royal Engi-
neers, and Royal Marine Light Infantry, were ordered from
New Westminster, by her Majesty's ship Plumper, Captain
Richards, and those troops will be landed at San Juan to
protect the lives and property of British subjects.
" You will observe, gentlemen, from enclosure No. 1,
that the captain in command of the United States' detach-
ment of troops, in a public notice, dated 27th July, assumes
the, exercise of exclusive sovereign rights in the Island of
San Juan, while the President of the United States alto-
gether disclaims such pretensions, and seeks at most to dis-
continue the joint right of sovereignty and domain in com-
mon with Great Britain. We may presume from that cir-
cumstance that the notice in question was framedin ignor-
ance of the intention of the United States Government, ann
that the pretensions set forth will not be maintained.
" Entertaining such opinions, I have not failed to impress
on her Majesty's naval officers now stationed at San Juan
the desire of her Majesty's Government to avoid every course
which may unnecessarily involve the suspension of the ami-
cable relations subsisting between Great Britain and the
United States ; at the same time those officers have been in-
structed and are hereby prepared to assert the rights and
maintain the honour and dignity of our Sovereign and her
dominions. I have the honour to be, gentlemen, your most
obedient servant, " JAMES DOUGLAS."
In the report which Mr. Nugent, as United
States' Commissioner at Fraser River, raade last
winter, he explains in a few words the nature of
the pending dispute as to the islands as follows :
" The treaty of June 15, 1846, stipulates as follows :
Article 1. From the point of the 49th parallel of north
latitude, .where the boundary laid down in existing treaties
and conventions between Great Britain and the United
States terminates, the line of boundary between the terri-
tories of her Britannic Majesty and those of the United
States shall be continued westward along the 49th parallel
of north latitude to the middle of the channel which sepa-
rates the continent from Vancouver's Island, and thence
southerly through the middle of the said channel and of
Fuca Straits to the Pacific Ocean. Provided, however, that
the navigation of the said channel and straits south of the
49th parallel of north latitude remain free and open to both

parties.'
" There are two channels between the continent and Van-
couver's Island, both leading out into the Straits of Fuca—
the Strait of Rosario, a narrow channel nearest the main-
land, and the Canal de Haro, which, besides being the
beaten track, is much wider, has greater average depth of
water, and is nearer to Vancouver's Island. It is claimed
on the part of Great Britain that the Strait of Rosario, being
the channel nearest the mainland, is that contemplated by
the treaty; but a very slight consideration of the circum-
stances under which the line was run, as well as of the
warding of the article above quoted, will show that this
position is wholly untenable. In the first place, the only
reason why the boundary line was caused to deflect from
the 49th parallel before it reached the Pacific Ocean was to
avoid the southern end of Vancouver's Island, on which
there was then a British settlement. The intendment of
the article was merely to save Great Britain the Island of
Vancouver, and consequently the nearest channel to Van-
couver was undoubtedly that through the middle of which
the treaty contemplated the line should run. Again, the
islands bordering on the continent belong to the continent,
unless otherwise stipulated ; but there is no stipulation ex-
cept as to Vancouver's Island, neither was there any reason
existing at that time why there should be, as none of the
islands in dispute ware then occupied by subjects of Great
Britain."

THE LATE SIB 1. STEPILEN, K.C.B.

We announced yesterday the death, on Wednes-
day last, at Coblentz, in his 71st year,
of the Right
Hon. Sir James Stephen, K.C.8., Professor of
Modern History at the University of Cambridge,
and formerly Under-Seoretary of State for the
Colonies. The deceased was the son of Mr. James
Stephen, Master in Chancery (well known for his
writings and exertions between 1815 and 1830
on the subject of colonial slavery), and was born
about the year 1790. "He was educated, " says a
biographical sketch iu the English CYcl"l'edia'
at
Trinity-hall, Cambridge, where he graduated B.A.
in 1812. Having chosen the legal profession, he
was called to the bar at Lincoln's-inn. He had
hardly, begun practice as a Chancery barrister
when, in 1812 or 1813, he became connected offi-
cially with the public service as counsel of the Colo-
nial department. For 11 years he was at once
counsel for this department and a Chancery barris-
ter in extensive practice. He then retired from the
bar, and became at the same time both counsel to
the Colonial Department and counsel to the Board
of Trade. He held these offices jointly for 10
years ; after which, during the Whig
Government
which succeeded the Reform Bill, he left the Board
of Trade and became Assistant Under-Secretary for
the Colonies. From the Assistant Under-Secre-
taryship he was subsequently promoted to the per-
manent Under-Secretaryship, spending 14 years in
the two offices together. He was thus connected
with the civil service 35 years in all, during the
whole of which time his relations were mainly with
the Colonial Department. His impressions of the
state of our Government offices, and of the Colo-
nial-office in particular, derived from
,this long
experience, were published, with other opinions
on the same subject, in a Blue-book •in 1855,
when the question of the reorganization of the
civil service, by the adoption of the system of
appointments by competitive examination, instead
of by patronage, was first agitated. The opinion
there expressed on the condition of the public ser-
vice, as regards the intellectual capacity and culture
of the majority of those comprising it, is by no means
favourable, but the writer speaks of splendid ex-
ceptions. Of these exceptions the writer himself
was certainly one. While in the Colonial-office he
was one of the ablest and most efficient public ser-
vantsthe thecoSltoanteialpossessed, and his final retirement
from
Under-Secretaryship
in 1847 was
a great loss to the department. He then received the
honour of knighthood. It was not only, however,
as a public official that he had up to that time dis-
tinguished himself. A man of general thought and
culture, ho had all along employed his leisure in
studies ranging beyond the topics that interested
him as an official ; and he had latterly contributed
extensively to the Edinburgh
_Review on subjects re-
lating to the history of the Church and the develop-
ment of religious opiniotis. A collection of these
articles, already widely known and appreciated iu
their scattered shape, was published in two volumes
in 1849 under the title of Essays in Ecclesiastical
Biography.' In the same year Sir J. Stephen was
appointed to succeed Win.
Smyth, M.A., as Regius
Professor of Modern History in the University of
Cambridge, which office he still holds. In 1851 he
published two volumes,' Lectures on the History of
France.' This work is now in a third edition, and
there have been several editions of its predecessor.
The two together have given the author a high and
peculiar place in our graver contemporary litera-
ture. Among other slighter things which Sir James
has published are one or two lectures delivered to
popular institutions. One of Sir James's sons, who
has followed the legal profession, is likewise known
by various writings. His brother Sir G. Stephen, is
also known as the author of
Adventures of a Gen-
tleman in Search of a Horse,' Adventures of an At-
torney,' The Juryman's Guide,' The Clerk,' and
The Governess,' in C. Knight's series of Guides to
Trade ;' of a novel entitled, ' The Jesuit at Cam-
bridge,' and of a pamphlet on 'The Niger Trade and
the American Blockade,' as connected with the slave
trade, a subject in which he has always taken much
not interest."

[ADVERTISEMENT.] - Mr. Ilenson, Ludgate-hill, has
just published a new illustrated pamphlet on watches (free
by post for two stamps). It should be read by all who are
about buying a watch, as it contains prices and important
information as to—What watch to buy I where to buy it
and how to use it

MANNING THE N. 4. Yl.

Colonel Simmons, Royal Engineers, in a letter
to a contemporary, says :
The subject of efficiently manning the navy is of
sueh great importance that you may, perhaps, think
the following observations and suggestions worthy
of consideration and insertion in your journal.
I was much struck the other day in reading the
able and interesting account of the Great Eastern
steamship, given to the public through your columns,
bythe statement that the proportion of her crew was
as follows:-180 connected with the engine depart-
ment, 180 officers and crew, or what may be called
the nautical department, and 145 for the hotel de-
partment. The question naturally suggested itself,
if the Great Eastern requires only 180 in her nau-
tical department, why should any ship iu her Ma-
jesty's service require more, except to supply casu-
alties, which may naturally be expected to be
greater ?
The crews of ships of war may be classed under
three heads, assuming every ship to be fitted with
steam power,—engine, nautical, and gunnery de-
partments.
The engine department is easily and fully sup-
plied from the civil and military dockyards and the
sun: Brous manufacturing establishments of the
country, and can be supplied in greater abundance
by England than any other European country.
The nautical department is made up of officers
and seamen. Of the former there is no lack of
supply, whereas the latter, from the roving nature
of their occupation, and from the magnitude of the
demand, for which the supply is scarcely adequate,
are difficult to procure in large numbers in a com-
mercial country like England, and constitute the
real source of embarrassment in maintaining an
efficient navy. Moreover, the peculiar duties of
their occupation in general as se en in the mer-
chant service do not 1-.eirlie.......Efuaiuted with
the service of guns, nor fit them for all the duties
of men of war's men. Therefore there is a constant
difficulty in procuring any very large force of such
men on a sudden emergency who can be regarded
as fit to sustain the honour of the British flag before
an enemy.
For this reason, it would appear advisable to limit
the number of seamen on board ships of war to those
actually required to navigate them, and to extend
the corps of Marines, drilling and instructing the
whole force as Artillery, and abandoning the ar-
rangement by which they are now constituted as
light infantry.
The organisation of the entire corps of Marines as
Artillery would not preclude their being drilled as
infantry, and being made capable of acting effectu-
ally as such on shore, for which purpose small arms
might be kept on board ship for their use, but the
result of increasing the Marine force would be that
wherever a fleet was present a larger force of well
disciplined troops would be available for disembar-
kation, to act as naval brigades on land, and for such
an expedition as that which will now probably be
undertaken in China.
Suppose this arrangement were carried out in a
line-of-battle ship, which at present has a crew say
of 1,000 men, composed of 100 in the engine de-
partment, 150 Marines, and about 750 seamen.
The crew, according to this suggestion, would con-
sist of 100 in the engine department, and say 700
Marine Artillery with 200 seamen.
The Marines could do all the pulling and hauling
work on deck, assisting the seamen, who would
suffice to do all the work aloft, and the seamen
might be drilled to assist at the guns.
The demand for seamen would thus be materially
reduced, and it would probably be found that the
number required at any time could be always ob-
tained without difficulty, and whenever levied they
would be found to know all that was required of
them to make their ships effective as men of war.
Their place would be supplied by a body of men not
near so costly in their nature as able seamen, and
who, from gunnery being their special duty, would
naturally constitute a far more efficient body of
gunners than seamen hastily got together and im-
perfectly trained to the use of guns. In fact, it is
well known that the best gunners on board ships of
war at the present day belong to the Marines, as
also do the best men in the use of small arms.
Why, then, perpetuate a system which was per-
haps necessary, when every ship was dependent
only on sails, and which, in addition to the embar-
rassment it causes, deteriorates the value of the
ship as a battery or machine for war ?
When the crews of the splendid merchant ships
which traverse the ocean with their valuable car-
goes in all directions are seen to suffice for their
safe navigation, it cannot be necessary that ships of
war should be manned, as they now often are, with
four or five, and sometimes even ten times as many
sailors. The smartness of the ships in shortening
sail and in other nautical manoeuvres may, per-
haps, suffer—although this even may be questioned
—but it cannot be doubted that their batteries,
which are of more consequence, would be improved,
and much of the difficulty now experienced in man-
ning the navy would be got rid of by increasing
the corps of Marines by some 20,000 or more men,
making them all Artillery, and diminishing pro
Canto the force of seamen.
As improvements in artillery are introduced, such
as the Armstrong gun, this organisation of ships'
crews will become absolutely essential ; in the
meantime to man a line-of-battle ship, or even a
ship of war of each class on this principle, would be
a costless experiment (a few such ships' crews would
be very serviceable in China) which would afford a
satisfactory answer to all questions that may arise
out of this suggestion, which, as I have never seen
it advocated, I hope may find a place in your
columns, which will at any rate subject it to abun-
dant discussion and a thorough sifting'of its merits
and demerits.

The following letters have appeared in reply to
the above :
Sir,—When a man of Colonel Simmonds' weight
recommends the expulsion of the seaman from the
British navy and the substitution of the marine, it
surely becomes some naval officer to expose the
error of imagining that the great naval problem
can be so resoved. I shall regret much if no betted
answer than mine be produced; failing such, how-
"ver, the instinct of right being strong within me,
I hope to be able to dispel, at least partially, any
reader's belief in the practicability of Colonel Sim-
monds' scheme for manning the navy, as published
in your impression of the 16th inst.
A grave proposal certainly, and if adopted a very
dangerous ono, I think, for the future weal of Eng-
land, " to equip the fleet -fsith Marine Artillery-
men, and let there remain on board but a small
contingent of seamen." Colonel Simmonds states
that he has never seen his suggestion as yet advo-
cated, but I recollect within the last few months
reading like suggestions in two separate letters
signed, if I remember aright, by " A Marine Officer"
and " A Marine Artillery Officer."
Our ships, according to these ideas, are to relapse
voluntarily into mere batteries of soldiers. The
sea-bred, sea-clad animal, England's own particular
child, is to be dispensed with, and, consequently,
the nation providing most soldiers, and able to build
most ships, must reign over that element which we
have hitherto fancied our insular position and mari-
time qualities give us some right to assert supre-
macy upon. Pleasing information, forsooth, for
certain huge military States.
Is this an argument—that, because the nautical
proportion of the Great Eastern's whole comple-
ment, when steaming peacefully from her Thames
moorings to Portland harbour, consisted only of
one-third, therefore the proportion of seamen on
board line.of-battle ships should be reduced to one-
fifth (?), for Col. Simmonds proposes that among
the 1,000 men of a liner there shall be but 200
officers and seamen.
The question is simply this :—Will an Artillery-
man fight a ship at sea, and be as handy for various
naval exploits as a sailor ?
With certain conviction I answer " No."
Admitting for the moment, for the sake of ar-
gument (for, holding a contrary opinion, I main-
tain the masts and sails of a ship continue as an
indispensable secondary power to ships of war)
that men-of-war no longer require spars, that they
should be mere hulks—mere floating batteries—
still I say they would be better manned by sailor-
bred men than by soldier-bred men. The iaan with
the loose easy dress, the supple active form, and
the hardy unshod foot would be fitter for sea
fighting and general sea work than would be he
whose very essence must continue to be a belted
uniform, an upright firm figure, and a pair of thick
boots. Where both are Englishmen, it can, of
course, be no question of pluck, but simply of
adaptation. The naked foot I consider a great
point ; it gives a sort of cling to the deck when
working a gun, and a power of balance under all
circumstances. Colonel Simmonds would, perhaps,
propose that the marine artilleryman should throw
off his boots ; but then, I say, he is disabled as a
soldier, and half turned into a sailor. Without
this naked claw and loose rig, who are to be the
boarders, swarming through the chains and over
the netting into an enemy's ship ? Who are to
give the marines a lift over, first their muskets
and then themselves ? Who are to IpRA the boats