The Sun.
London, England, 1859-05-26 00:00:00

MALTA.

The Malta Times of the 17th contains the fol-
lowing :—" The Mediterranean squadron has been
increased during the past eight days by the arrival
of the line-of-battle ships Victor Emmanuel, St.
Jean d'Acre, Brunswick, and Orion, and the steam
frigate Racoon from England and Gibraltar. The
Orion was last from Genoa, where the Conqueror
from Leghorn relieved her. The St. Jean d'Acre
and Brunswick did not enter port, but joined the
Commander-in-Chief, Vice - Admiral Fanshawe,
outside. The admiral has been sailing on and off
the island since the 10th on board his flagship the
threedecker Marlborough, accompanied by the
twodecker Princess Royal. Yesterday the ships
were at general quarters, practising firing shot,
which was distinctly seen from the shore. The
liner Hannibal (flag of Rear• Admiral Mundy) is
hourly expected from Gibraltar. We have now,
in addition to frigates, corvettes, and smaller ves-
sels, ten line-of-battle ships in the Mediterranean
all provided with screw machinery. The two-
decker Centurion was by last accounts at Naples,
the steam-frigate Terrible at Civita Vecchia, the
gunboats Osprey, at Athens, Wanderer, at Con-
stantinople, and Recruit, in the Danube, and the
surveying steamer Tartarus at Candia. The gunboat
Coquette is at Marseilles awaiting Admiralty
orders. The following is a list of her Majesty's
ships of war at present in the Mediterranean
besides the above :—Hibernia, receiving ship, off
Malta ; Euryalus, 51, in port ; Vulture, 6,
Gibraltar ; Ariel, 9, in port ; Argus, 6, in port ;
Scourge, 6, Gibraltar ; Lapwing, 4, in port ; Vigi-
lant, 4, in port ; Azov, 2, in port ; Kertch, 2, in
port ; Caradoc, 2, in port ; Boxer,.in port ; Bustler,
Gibraltar ; Hearty, in port ; Medina, 4, in port ;
Tartarus, 4, Candia ; Supply, 2, in the port. The
present British naval force (23 pendants), large as
it is in these waters, is to be still further vastly
increased ; and we think that our assertion will be
confirmed by the fact when we state that our fleet
in the Mediterranean is to be, and that very
shortly, made up to 97 pendants, 22 of which
are to be line-of-battle ships. We have also good
authority for saying that the garrison of this island
is to be raised to a strength of at least 10,000 men.
P.S.—H.M.S. Renown has just joined the fleet off
the port. The hired transport Pembroke Lass is
under orders to sail from Woolwich, laden with war
stores for Malta."

FRANCE.

PARIS, WEDNE?DAY.

A private letter from Genoa, dated on Monday,
mentions that a serious affair was expected from day
to day. The writer was on the point of starting for
Leghorn, but so general was the belief that such an
event was nigh at hand that he postponed his de-
parture. When he wrote cannonading had been
heard. Another letter, from the head-quarters of
the French army, received here this morning, says
that no important affair was ,expected before the
end of the month or the Ist of June. Yet there is
a rumour here to-day that a battle began yesterday
between Stradella and Pavia. The French troops
are described as in the highest spirits, and, though
the difficulty of driving the Austrians from their
positions be greater than was anticipated, the French
army is full of confidence.

It is said that all the Powers, with the exception
of France and Sardinia, have acknowledged by
telegraph the new King of Naples
BOURSE, May 25.—The market has been rather
agitated by various rumours. One was that the
English Cabinet had sent a note about the occupa-
tion of the Tuscan territory by the French troops ;
and another, that a serious engagement had bogun
yesterday between Stradella and Pavia, and had
continued this morning. Threes, after,having been
done at 61fr. 40c., receded to 61f. ; Mobilier varied
from 585 f. to 570 f.; Orleans, 1,170 f. to 1,162 f.
50c. ; Lyons, 772 f. 50c. to 767 f. 50c.; Northern,
880 f. to 867 f. 50c. ; Eastern, 590 f. to 582 f. 50c. ;
Southern 440 f. to 435 f. ; Austrian, 357 f. 50c. to
352 f. 50c. ; Lombardo-Venetian, 425 f. to 422 f.
50c. The following were the closing quotations :-
41 per Cents. .... 88 50 Credit Fonder 625
Do. end month .. 88 75 I Belgian 4f
3 per Cents 6l 30 Piedmontese (5) .. 77 75
Do. end month 6l 20 Roman Bl 50
Bank Shares. 2700 Austrian

Credit Mobilier 582 :50
Do. Account ..... 577 50

Spanish Threes —
Home Debt 361

RAILWAYS.
Orleans
Northern
877 50 .. 875
New ditto 745 747 50
Lyons and Mediterranean ..
775 .. 775
Geneva 455 .. 450
Southern
Western 495 ..
Eastern
Sardinian 342 50 .. 337 50
Austrian
Exchange on London, at sight, paper, 25f. 710. ; money,
25f. 21c.; three months, paper, 24f. 90c. ; money, 24f. 87ie.

A letter from Vienna of the 21st says :—" niter
various delays occasioned by diplomatic reasons,
the Emperor will definitely leave Vienna on Tuesday
next for Italy, attended by a numerous suite.
Among the personages who accompany his Majesty
are the Archduke Leopold, and Generals Hess,
Hanslabb, Grunne, and Schlitter. The Emperor
has no intention of assuming the command of the
army, but only of personally ascertaining the state
nf
rdo
mof i
vn si pe
ne cntai n gs t
atthee ttrhoaotp 8 .''
o f
Athdin
vicesg s , a
the Belgian
Colonel Lagrange had arrived there on an extra-
ordinary mission, and had been recei •
ved by the
Minister of Foreign Affairs.

The Ost Deutsche Post and other Vienna journals
recently published a most improbable report to the
effect that Prince Alexander of Hesse, brother-in-
law to the Emperor of Russia, had received a letter
from his Imperial Majesty, asserting that in no case
whatever would he attack Austria. A subsequent
number of the same journal contains an authorita•
tive contradiction of the assertion, which is
declared by the St. Petersburg official press to be
altogether unfounded, as no such letter ever ex-
isted.

Prince Eugene of Savoy has issued a decree,
dated the 21st, and countersigned Cavour and De
Foresta, enacting that all civilians committing
delinquencies to the prejudice of the allied armies
shall be punished according to the military penal
code.

The Madrid journals of the 21st state that the
Government was taking active measures for
strengthening several fortresses, and had sent a
number of galley-slaves to Santona to work at the
fortifications. The officers ordered to Italy are to
receive in addition to their 'pay an allowance of
£2O a-month, and £4O for an outfit. It was re-
ported that the Queen was in an " interesting
situation." The Prince of Wales was at Granada.

THE MANNINI

.G OF THE ROY-4L

The following letter has been addressed to a con-

temporary :
" Sir,—Among the grave public questions the
consideration of which by the House of Commons
has been interrupted by the late dissolution, there
is one to which recent events have given greatly
increased importance—l mean the question of man-
ning the navy. The report of the Royal Commis-
sioners, as soon as it was submitted to Parliament,
was printed in extenso in your columns and thus
the widest circulation was given to it. It does not
appear, however, to have hitherto provoked that
full public discussion which the importance of the
subject demands. I venture, therefore, to trouble
you with a few remarks, which a careful perusal of
the report and of the evidence on which it is
founded has suggested to me, in the hope that other
naval officers may be induced to follow me, and,
through your aid, to give to the public the benefit
of their practical comments on the recommendations
of the Royal Commissioners.
"The Commissioners are of opinion that the dis-
inclination on the part of merchant seamen to enter
the Royal Navy is to be traced chiefly to ignorance
of the usages of the service, and the advantages
which it offers. If this ignorance really exists, the
Admiralty might easily remove it by promulgating
through the shipping offices, as the Board of Trade
have done in regard to the regulations of the mer-
chant service, a full and explanatory statement of
those advantages. But some of the witnesses exa-
mined before the Commissioners have suggested
other reasons, such as the grievances and discom-
forts to which men on board her Majesty's ships
are subjected. There is much in the evidence on
the subject of these grievances which was once, but
is no longer true. I can bear witness that all the
Boards of Admiralty during the last 40 years have
used their bests efforts to remove them, and many
of the grievances alleged by witnesses exist only as
traditions. One naval officer who was examined
before the Commissioners gives as a grievance the
practice of calling men out of their names,' and
evidently would wish us to believe that so unaccus-
tomed are merchant seamen to be addressed in rude

language by their superior officers, that the reports
they hear from coastguardsmen of the language -used
on board her Majesty's ships sufficiently accounts
for their disinclination to enter her Majesty's ser-
vice. Now, I will appeal to every officer who has
commanded any well-regulated ship since 1815
whether such conduct on the part of the middies,'
or of any other class of officers, has been tolerated.
This grievance is purely imaginary, and the mer-
chant seamen may now enter her Majesty's navy
with the full assurance that he will not be shocked
by language offensive to ears polite.
Another naval officer gives a long story about
sailors being detained in bad weather, hanging on in
shore boats, alongside, till it suits some ill-condi-
tioned first lieutenant to allow them to come on
board. This officer had evidently read Glasscock
just before his examination. Glasscock was the first
man to show up the caprices of naval discipline,
and the publicity thus given to them caused their
removal.
Other witnesses complain of the discomforts of
the hulks. The hulking system is coeval with the
existence of the navy; it has been bad from the be-
ginning, and there seems to be no remedy for it so
eligible as the establishment of naval barracks in
the dockyards. This would be the best, and, with"
out question, the most economical system. Naval
barracks have been established for some years in
Sheerness Dockyard, where the evils complained of
ereNevom fort
o intolerable,fthe h u laknsd increased there isntoh doubte difficulty -
ning ships at that port. Men of war shouldnf nistaarnt-
from the basins complete, and should return to them
from service, only sacrificing the time necessary t„
discharge their ammunitton ; and the crews show?
be allowed to walk out, if they wish to do so, 1111,
to return the next morning to close their accouilll•
But the exaggerated fears entertained by the Ad-
miralty of fire in the dockyards are such that their
eyes are closed to the many advantages which the
service would derive from the establishment of
naval barracks at every port where ships are fitted
out.
" Capt. Mends makes some very good suggestion;
in regard to the establishment of an uniform system.
of discipline, and any suggestion from so practical
an officer is deserving of consideration. Such a
system is much wanted, as at present every captain,'
is at liberty to carry out his own notions of disci-
pline. It happens, too frequently that an idle lieu-
tenant, who never could and never would do his
duty, and who could scarcely be trusted to keep his
eyes open in his day-watch even, has sufficient in-
terest to get himself promoted to the command of
one of her Majesty's ships. Such a man, without
knowledge and without discretion, immediately
enters upon some harassing scheme of discipline, to
the discomfort and dissatisfaction of everyone but
himself ; he makes no allowance for a crew who
have been instructed by his predecessor in command
of the same ship upon quite a different system, but.
follows up his caprices regardless of the detriment
to the service which is the inevitable consequence of
any just cause of dissatisfaction given to his crew.
There is no doubt that this want of system ,is. f 6
grievance which goes a long way in accounting for
the disinclination which seamen have to enter the
Royal Navy.
" Although I cannot allow that there is anythiug
oppressive in the proper discipline of a man-of-war
yet it must be admitted that under the most favour-
able circumstances the Royal Navy will alvols
tee
have some drawbacks for men brought up
merchant service. The duties of gun drill, muskel,
cutlass and pike, field pieces, &c., are irksome 11,1
themselves, but they are especially so when carried
to excess ; and the military preciseness exacted
bf
some officers renders these duties particularly dig.;
tasteful to seamen. Add to these exercises those e;
boating, shifting sails, and occasionally masts and
yards, hoisting boats in and out, which have all t°
be done against time, and are in excess of the Oita;
mon everyday work of a merchant seaman,
have stated quite enough to account for the dieli.ll:
clination he evinces to serve in a man-of-war. It
every movement he makes he encounters restraint
of some description or other which he has not boll
accustomed to in the merchant service. There are.
but three and frequently two masters in a merchant
ship, except in our large Indiamen ; the case is far
different in a man-of-war. Let me not, however,
be misunderstood, for however irksome and
maydis-
agreeable
to be, they
must
main-
tain that
agre beeab enforcedlethe t
dutieso makel a have
describederw efficientd
; but effi- •
ciency once obtained, an officer will exercise a wise
discretion in enforcing only sufficiente
anything excess of it is an
error.
reports of the excessive drill and of
The efficiency
evil rep o .
;
the caprices of discipline spread widely ; let the
Admiralty, therefore, be cautious how they intrust
commands to officers endowed with so little judg-
ment and discretion as to be unable to steer clear of
such mistakes.
I fear that a voluntary supply
and mtoosotther contentedmean soffor the
securing class; .we
a pe m
perma-
nent of seamen from
the merchant service will always be confined to
small numbers, and that it will certainly not furnih
ntthheeenrte fobesrte look
supplynd of good men for
our navy ; but I ha"
already encroached so extensively on your space
that I must reserve my further remarks for another
letter, if you consider them worthy of a place in
your columns.
" BLUE JacKET•
" United Serv.ce uCI b
,May, 1859."