The Sun.
London, England, 1859-06-25 00:00:00

THE BOMBAY MAILS.

The Peninsular and Oriental Company's screw
steamship Behar, Capt. G. W. Hicks, bringing the
heavy portion of these mailg, arrived at Southamp-
ton yesterday at 6 p.m. She left Alexandria on the
10th inst., Malta the 13th, and Gibraltar the 18th.
As far as Gibraltar she had moderate winds and
fine weather; thence to Cape Finisterre strong
gales, with heavy head seas; fine weather in the
Channel.
This packet brought 83 passengers, among whom
were Majcr-General Blood, Brigadier Stisted,
Majors Hay and Mein, Captains Heatley, Womb-
well, Paget, Etheridge, Roberts, Creagh, Levine,
Taylor, Archer, Austin, and Forrest ; Colonels Tur-.
ner and Timmins: Drs. Naylor, Johnson, Gibson,
Currie, and Williams—all from Bombay; Captain.
tgb Hon. Pennington, from Malta; Capt. Camp-
bell, from Gibraltar, &c. On freight she has three
packages of specie, value not stated, four ditto of
valuables, 110 bales of silk, and general cargo.
On the 18th inst. the Behar spoke H.M.S. Doris;
20th, H.M.S. Exmouth ; 22d, signalled a sloop of
war, but received no reply ; 24th, spoke American
ship Sonora, in lat. 46.27 N., lon. 6.56 W., and the
English ship Benjamin Flaxte, in lat. 48.17 N.,
long. 5.40 W.
The usual Egyptian fleet was at Alexandria.
At Malta were her Majesty's ships Hannibal,
Caradoc, Boxer, Lapwing, and Hibernia. The Orion
and St. Jean d'Acre were cruising outside.
Her Majesty's ship Vulture was at Gibraltar.
The Peninsular and Oriental steamship • Indus,
with the outward Australian and Bombay mails of
the 12th, arrived at Gibraltar on the 17th, in five
days from Southampton.
Capt. Tomicich, of the Austrian bark Mercede,
arrived at Gibraltar, reported that he was chased,
about a fortnight previous, by a Riffian boat off
Cape Tres Forcas, for a considerable time, but,
thanks to a smart breeze which sprang np, he was
enabled to clear the coast, or the pirates would have
succeeded in their design of boarding his vessel.
Her Majesty's steamer Banshee, Capt. Campbell,
from Plymouth, arrived at Gibraltar on the 14th ;
hg
re
rah
i tasnhPdAe Asuadbaglife
and the steamsloop Intrepid, also from Plymouth,
on the 16th.
A eorrespondent at Gibraltar writes as follows
on the 18th :
" The anxiously expected east wind set in be-
tween ten and eleven o'clock last night. The ves,
sels in our bay, including many which have been
westward.hind the Rock,
The
here since the 16th ult., as well as those in the road-
dirfoornithbee
st
weighede d
yeeoet Aurora afehlikewise
htaoes rlbeaeare
vrnie vdfaoelrt took
aftri
the
eme detained
rasincetladvant-
ageli
ae
anchor
ti Sardinian
hhee
10A5futthehi.
Aurora,
fas t or
Capt.e May,favourables
Villa-
franca, waiting for a fair wind. 0 •ng to the
lightness of the wind this morning,
the entrance of
the Straits was observed to be very crowded with
vessels under sail. What with those that have
already taken their departure and others that con-
tinue to wend their way from
the eastward, the
number now proceeding
Atlantic greatly exceeds 500 sail. The Thor, Capt.
Wulff, D •
Danish
'sh war steamer, which arrived yester-
day,_ is from Cadiz and Tangier, and remains. The
Russian steamer Odessa, from Marseilles and Va-
lencia, with oranges for London, arrived yesterday
afternoon ; and the Bceotia steamer, from Liverpool
for Palermo, and the Alice steamer, from London
for Genoa, put in this morning. All. these steamers
will leave for these destination in the course of the
day. Her Majesty's steamer Intrepid, 6 gun vessel,
left for the eastward at half-past 1 p.m. yesterday;
the Indus steam packet shortly after for Malta, &c.
A French screw liner passed to the eastward about
4. Wind continues east.
" Exchange.—London, 5071 ; Paris, sf. 20c. ;
Marseilles, sf. 26e. ; Genoa, 5 29."

We have great pleasure in stating that the Board
of Admiralty have paid a very gratifying tribute to the
services of Mr. Corry, as their seerptary, by promoting his
nephew, Lieut. the Hon. Armar Lowry Corry, now serving
in her Nitioty'o f3l iP NeroM to the roao ocinuandur,

Ml. GLADSTONE AND THE DEFENCE,

OF THE COUNTRY.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
SlR,—Statements having been made attributing
to Mr. Gladstone a desire to reduce the defences of
the country, the chairman of Mr. Gladstone's com-
mittee would feel glad if the Editor of The Sum
would insert the following letter which has been
addressed to him.

11, Carlton-house-terrace, June 24.
My dear Sir F. Rogers,—Statements have ap-
peared. in the public press with respect to the
defences of the country which render it necessary
for me to trouble you with a few lines.
It is alleged that, when Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer, I starved the Crimean war (that is, I pre-
sume, limited the expenditure upon it), and that
when the war was over, I caused the Government
to reduce the estimates and forces, and even to
break faith with seamen.
In neither of these statements with respect to
the past is there one word of truth.
It is also said that there are menaces of present
reduction. On this I have to say that I know no-
thing whatever of any proceedings calculated to
diminish the efficiency of our defences. And lam
confidently of opinion that, when the estimates for
the year are finally submitted, and when the de-
mands necessary to meet them are made upon the
House of Commons, those who are most anxious re-
specting defences will find in them complete satis-
faction.
I am able to add, that no orders for reduction of
any kind have been given or suggested by the new
Board of Admiralty, which has not yet been con-
stituted, and that, if any such order is in operation,
it must have been issued by the late Govern lent
in the course of public business.
I remain very sincerely yours,
(Signed) W. E. GLADSTONE.

A rumour having been circulated that the pre-
sent Government are likely to neglect the national
defences, the Junior Proctor wrote to Mr. Glad-
stone on the subject, and received the following re-
ply :

11, Carlton-terrace, June 23, 1859.
My dear Sir,—l have received your letter of
yesterday, in which you acquaint me that much
uncertainty exists with regard to the views of the
Government on the defences of the country, and
inquire whether it is my intention to endeavour to
maintain our navy it a strength sufficient to cope
with any combination of European Powers, and to
encourage the formation of rifle corps throughout
the country. You are without doubt aware that
my duty is to deliberate upon those subjects in co
cert with my colleagues, having special regard to
the judgments of the Ministers of the respective
departments, and that my peculiar duty is to sug-
gest the means of meeting the charges which the
decision of the Cabinet may entail. I was not aware
that any uncertainty existed with regard to tbe in-
tentions, on the question of defences, of a Govern-
ment having Lord Palmerston at its head, nor do I
believe that it exists beyond the sphere in which
it has been suggested from particular quartdra
as a means of influencing a contested election.
At the same time, I thank you very much for
bringing before me the doubt which those sugges-
tions might naturally produce; and while I can
neither give pledges nor enter into details, I ven-
ture with confidence, to express my opinion that 'if
I am permitted as Chancellor of the Exchequer ,;:to
submit to the House of Commonsithe demands of
the public service for the current year, those de-
mands will probably be found such as to afford' to
all persons anxious about the sufficiency of the
defences of the country an ample satisfaction.
Believing that you will find in this comprehemiive
answer full means for the removal of any doubts
you may. have entertained, I remain, my dear sir,
very truly yours,

W. E. GLADSTONX.
To the Rev. the Junior Proctor, Christ Church.

(From the Times.)
Mr. Gladstone must think that his. countrymen
have lost their memory, or that the last copy of
Hansard has been consumed in some recent fire.
We commented yesterday on the retrenchments
in the Royal Navy, which, it was reported,
the present Government were about to carry out,
and in relation to this scheme, of which the Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer had the chief credit, we re-
ferred to Mr. Gladstone's proceedings during his
tenure of office in 1854, and his subsequent opposi-
tion to Lord Palmerston's Government. In a letter,
which will be found elsewhere, Mr. Gladstone
denies that he limited the expenditure upon the
Crimean war, or that when it was over he caused
the Government to reduce the estimates or forces.
With respect to Mr. Gladstone's conduct in &it
Crimean war, it is, unhappily, fresh enough in the
memory of all Englishmen. He began by insisting
that the expenses of
.the war should be met out Of
the ordinary revenue, and to this hopeful proposal
we believe that the ttrrible disasters of 1854-5 were
originally owing. After the war was concluded,
Mr. Gladstone's exertions to break up the fleet
which had just been reviewed at Spithead were only,
too successful, and we declare, what every naval
man knows, that faith was broken with the seamen
who had been invited, nay, almost implored, to en-
list in 1854, and who were turned adrift two years'
later, to fill the American ports with complaints Of
the ingratitude of the mother country. We are
glad to learn that as yet no reductions have b
beei
eezt
made, the new Board of Admiralty not having
constituted, and we trust that the public indigna-
tion which the mere apprehension of any design to
diminish the armaments necessary for our national
defence has excited will prevent the possibility of
any such design being entertained even by Mr.
Gladstone, Mr. Cobden, and Mr. Gibson.