The Sun.
London, England, 1866-08-25 00:00:00

SPIRIT OP TII.II PUBLIC JOURNALS,

TIMES.—Iu Germany, the other day, a spacious
building, which had been constructed for an Ex-
hibition of the Works of Industry, was converted
into an hospital for wounded soldiers, and this as-
cendancy of the spirit of war over the genius of peace
is again illustrated in our country by the debates of
the British Association. In the section of Me-
chanical Science the President fairly confessed that
engineering power in the present day was princi-
pally shown in instruments of destruction, and that
the favourite products of modern skill were ships of
war and gigantic cannon. Unfortunately, Mr.
Hawksley could not say much for the success of
British mechanisms in this all-important branch of
science. Our ships, he thought, were portentous
and costly mistakes, and of our guns he could say
nothing better. At this moment, indeed, we can
scarcely be said to have any guns at all, for the new
300-pounders, whatever be their merits, have not
yet been distributed for service. It is lamentable
to confess, but it cannot be denied, that the gene-
ral opinion of professional authorities on this sub-
ject coincides with the views expressed by Mr.
Hawksley. Guns of the new pattern are not yet
forthcoming, and both time and money will be re-
quired in no stinted measure before the supply can
be adjusted to the demand. As to the navy, how-
ever, while there is undoubtedly only too much
to be admitted, there is also something to be ex-
plained. We have now been engaged for about seven
years in the construction of a new navy. It was in
1859 that we first recognised the comparative
inutility of wooden ships and the paramount
value of ironclads. At that time, however, one
nation only was in advance of us. France had
launched the Gloire, and set an example which
we could not neglect, but even the Americans, the
most inventive of all people and least given to
routine, had rejected the new system. We had,
therefore, only the Gloire to beat, and we beat her
with the Warrior : but though, by common consent,
we were thus far successful, our effort had been so
costly and tedious that it was only once repeated.
To the Warrior we added the Black Prince, at an
expense of about £700,000 for the pair. It should
be remembered that in these days monster guns had
not been produced, nor was there much desired in
an ironclad except armour and speed. The new
frigate represented an old frigate in general design,
with the difference of iron plates on her sides. In
course of time, but still with hesitation and delay,
we closed with a design for an improved vessel of
the Warrior class, and thus obtained at length the
Minotaur, the Agincourt, and the Northumberland,
to which, from a Government yard, was presently
added the Achilles. Now, it would be unfair to
deny that these six vessels were, and indeed are, the
finest ironclads afloat, according to the lights by
which they were constructed. For a combination
of great swiftness with defensive strength they:are
still unrivalled. Our next step was taken at the
instance of Lord Palmerston, who, justly appre-
ciating the value of ironclads, and struck with the
difficulty of obtaining them, advised the imme-
diate conversion of some of our old timber ships,-
so as to stop the gap in our national defences.
This suggestion gave us half-a-dozen ironcased
frigates, each of which was as good as the
Gloire. Omitting mention of the smaller vessels,
this is a brief history of our ironclad navy
up to the time of Mr. Reed's appointment as
Chief Constructor. The results in themselves were
not discreditable to us ; but, whereas we had thus
turned out only a dozen fighting ships, in half
dozen years, while all our old wooden reserves had
been suddenly superseded, it followed that other
nations had made themselves not only relatively but
absolutely as strong as we were. Foreign Govern-
ments had no difficulty in either building or buying
irouclads at the rate of two a year, and this was
enough to give them a navy as good as ours—at any
rate, in numbers. We do not believe that any
foreign ironclads on the broadside model are really
as strong or as powerful as our own, but reckoning
merely ship for ship it was easy enough for others
to keep abreast of us. The only question, therefore,
is whether we should not have employed greater
energy in building these'new vessels, and shown less
fastidiousness in the selection of patterns. One
nation, and one only, has adopted this policy. The
Americans made up their minds upon the question
with singular decision. After rejecting the principle
of an ironclad force for some years, they were
at length so influenced by the action in Hampton
Roads that they rushed headlong into the new sys-
tem. They took the Monitor as their model, and
built Monitors as fast as they could. It must also
be added that they are perfectly satisfied with the
result. They alone, of all the people in the world,
possess a navy which in numerical strength is
amply sufficient, and which in excellence of pat-
tern they believe to be unapproachable. Whether
we, under similar circumstances, should be equally
contented must admit of some doubt. • The Ameri-
cans, however, entertain no doubts on the ques-
tion. Mr. Hawksley says of our " floating castles"
that every one of them appears " heavier, uglier,
more unmanageable, and more useless (except for
special applications) than the former one." But
these vessels are heavy because the condition of speed
involves large tonnage, and because tho increasing
power of guns suggests increased thickness of armour
plates. They are ugly, no doubt ; but as they are
constructed less for ornament than use, w e may leave
their beauty out of the question. But it happens
that our latest specimens are certainly not more "un-
manageable" than their predecessors, but the con-
trary ; and this brings us to the last batch of our
ironclad fleet, Mr. Reed has supplied us with the
Lord Clyde, the Lord Warden, and the Bellerophon,
and it is the especial merit of these ships that they
are handier and more manageable than those of the
Warrior and Minotaur class, without perhaps being
materially inferior in speed. Altogether, unless
broadside ships are certainly worse than turret ves-
sels, our ironclads are probably better than those of
any other country. The misfortune is that we have
so few of them, and that the r avy of Great Britain no
longer exhibits its old superiority of force and power.
A reflection, however, is suggested by a recent ex-
ample which may contribute a little to our re-assur-
ance. At the battle of Lissa an old wooden two-
decker undoubtedly engaged modern ironclads with-
out disadvantage, and the Austrian officers appear
to have formed a conclusion that a wooden ship
striking an ironclad fairly with her prow would
probably disable her. This axiom would leave
scope for the employment of wooden vessels in
naval actions, but it must not be too hastily
admitted. Had the Italian ships been skil-
fully as well as bravely fought, their heavy
guns ought to have easily destroyed any un-
armoured antogonists, but their firing was so
wild that the example can hardly be thought to
carry much weight with it. At any rate, the con-
sideration will not furnish us with much excuse for
our present position. If we are deficient in new
ships, it is not because we believed in our old
ships still. We were convinced of the need of iron-
clads, but we built them so slowly, so distrustfully,
at such heavy cost, and after such protracted expe-
riments, that other governments, with less money
but more confidence, succeeded in doing more than
we did.

ANGLO-AMERICAN TIMES. - The Continent
of Europe having accepted the consequences of
the battle of Sadowa appears to be settling
down to peace. We trust that the Paris Ex-
hibition will be the herald of a more propitious
time than the Great Exhibitions of London. We
can well remember how these events were prognos-
tigated to be the forerunners of universal peace and
philanthropy—that nations were to abandon the
bloody and unprofitable work of war, and the only
rivalry thenceforth was to be in arts, science, and
the material progress of the nations. Never were
predictions more falsified. Four great wars have
since occurred in Europe, besides one successful
and one unsuccessful revolution. From Cape Horn
to the great lakes of North America and the St.
Lawrence, the countries have been the scenes of
successive conflicts ; among which, conspicuous in
huge proportions, in disastrous results, and in vital
interest, have been the great actions fought between
the Northern and Southern States of the Union.
India from the Khyber Pass to Cape Comorin has
been desolated by warfare ; China has seen her
Emperor a fugitive from his capital, and his palaces
occupied by a foreign foe • while acts too horrible
even for the worst rebellions of civilisation have
laid waste his provinces and annihilated the cities
of his Empire. Regions whose geography is obscure,
away in Northern Asia, have furnished battle-fields
to Russian troops and Asiatic hordes ; while
Southern Africa, .New Zealand, and unknown
countries have been contending in arms for objects
almost inexplicable to the people of Europe. Turn
' which way we will and we find the science of war-
fare that most cultivated, and necessarily so, for the
very existence of nations seems to hang on their
power of holding their own by force. Never were
prophecies more belied by results. But we still
look forward to the time when artificial boundaries
will have disappeared, and peoples being more
united in nationalitiescnder strong Governments,
Will find less cause for appeals to arms, and settle
down to a career of more peaceful pursuits. When
Prussia will have amalgamated Northern Germany
into a great empire, she can have no cause to dis-
turb the peace of Europe, and it would be a daring
nation that gave her a just reason for directing her
enormous military force against itself. Italy will
be free—France and Russia content England, the
universal meddler, has ceased to interfere—Austria
and Spain are powerless—and Turkey sick again,
the only source of disquiet. After the conspicuous
failures of the Peace Prophets, he would be a bold
man who ventures to predict. Still it is patent