The Sun.
London, England, 1859-07-29 00:00:00

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The captain of het §aid that as he was chartered for
Government he could not take us to Sierra Leone.
I did not think I should be justified in trying to
reach the land with 40 men in the boat, as at the
outside she could not have carried two days' pro-
visions anil water, and so came on to Ascensiou.—
I have the honour to be, Sir, your obedient kprvant,
" F. li, BLAIR, Matte, late of her Nlajesty's
gem."

" H. M.'s Ship Tortoise, Ascension, Jur
"Sir,--hnompliance with your ' naP- .Ae 18.
cb;. or the
..ef that my reasons
terday, I have the honour to state c "no! of yes-
tion of the Commander-in-
.ruscott and other informa-
foroffi-
supposing Commander T-
._ n the morning of the loss
boc
yet. r st
tbwheee
Heronrehei
andt haver
erw,,.
,thokai
n,
al eat:
..,,0
aa
pn
tda i
nt
li
Te
rusgucnontterwabsy
marine, and J - seen
bOatSWa'" s
' •
- recognised both of their voices, the
t 4 men. •
...o. voice was alsorecognised by some of
" On arriving on board of oae Eleanor
of wind was 1, and in from' five to
ontor the. force
afterwards hands wet'e sent to the mastheadennutteos
look for the 4 whal:er,' but nothing could be seen of
her .—I have the honour to b' S.
e, Sir, your most
obedient st"rvant,
"F. H. BLAIR, Mate of her 'Ma' t '
Jes y a
late brig Heron,
" Captain W. F. Burnett, C. 8., her 'Majesty's
ship Tortoise, Ascension .."
The undermentioned are the surviivors brought to
Assension by the EleanorrYii:l6=llkli.-E-H.' Ilrair,
rtifellOhn Friar, captain fore-top ; Henry Obtfin,
captain main-top; George Parnell, carpenter's
mate; John White, cooper • George Anderson,
ropemaker ; John Weller, leading semnen ; George
Kent, ordinary seaman; Charles Owen, boy first
class; John (ireenham, ordinary seaman ; Neil Sin-
clair, carpenter's crew; William. M'lntyre, ditto;
R. Merroony,, 4.8. • John Cayhill, boy second
classt;, J. Bohn/lan, A.B. ; Henry Every, ordinary
seaman; Charles Floyd,. ditto; James Baker, lead-
ing seaman ; Samuel Saul, private R.M.; John
Suter, ordinary seaman ; John Kimber, boy first
class; Robert Smart, leading seaman; Alfred Jes-
sop, sailmaker ; Torn Dollar (African), A. 8.; Jack
Savey, Krooman ; Ben Roberts, Krooman ; Ben
Johnson, Krooman ; Dick Andrews, Krooman ; Ned
Breeze, Krooman ; Peter Woman, Krooman, ; Tom
Freeman, Krooman ; John Bull, -IC
---r°o7liall ; Estruse
Pierre, Maitrjos Groslienlo, A --nt" ci
nio Belas uer,
Jose Antonio Abord, Prancise-, 'lt° odriquer, Jose
Mauricle, Jose Mariote, 3.
-
Spaniards uan F. Feirrerr—
and Portuguese. , part of the crew of the
slave sinkiame unknow n captured by the Heron on corn'- s, --Ascensio- .
in April last.
Mel', i I,—.INT a 1 '
.ndut ames of 1 officer and 14 men
belon l'' '
• ''' he.. _Majesty's brig Heron, away in the
prize, (1.
k"l.--0., by the Heron on coming to Ascension)
, • .
;at th
-----5 time of the catastrophe, and are now on
doore
vi-
- her,Majesty's ship Trident, at Ascension,
•
• z.,—Mr. W. Chapman, lieutenant Charles
,
florsp66l,' captain maintop ; William Rogers,
boatswain's Mite, died in Trident, with fever,
coming to Ascension; John Spencer, leading sea-
man ; Thomas Bowry, A.B. ; John Germain, ordi-
nary seaman ; F. G. Beaver, ordinary seaman ;
Thomas Moulder, boy, first class; Reginald An-
drews, ordinary seaman, died in Trident with fever,
coming to Ascension; James Freeves, boy second
class ; John Osborn, ordinary seaman ; *William
Young, ordinary seaman ; William Bridgman, pri-
vate Royal Marines; Hurst, private Royal Ma-
rines.

The above is correct as far as can be ascertained
from the Heron's men on board the Tortoise, as the
the Trident having the fever so bad, there is no
communication with her.
Memorandum.—The undermentioned two men
and one boy were left at Ascension Hospital sick
by the Heron when she sailed for Sierra Leone
(and were not in her at the time of her loss)—viz.,
Edward Fluen, able-bodied, now on board her Ma-
jesty's ship Tortoise; John W. Manning, boy first
class, now on board her Majesty's ship Sharp-
shooter, gone to Sierra Leone ; Arker, private Royal
Marine Light Infantry, invalided, went home in her
Majesty's ship Meg sera.

THE AFFAIRS OF ITALY.

(From the Timei.)

Lord John Russell had to address the house
last night under circumstances of unusual difficulty.
If he could show that England had not lost credit
or weight, that she had not damaged herself by
offensive and rejected interference, that she was
still wanted in the settlement of Europe, and
could do good, this was so much gain to his hearers
and to the public. Although he spoke as the man
who "strives some rock's vast weight to throw,"
slowly and laboriously, still he left the comforting
conviction that there' is trouble enough in Italy to
render our presence at some future Congress ac-
ceptable, if not necessary. linked, the innumer-
able objections to our taking any part in it only
end, it would seem, in the thing being unavoidable.
The, two Emperors have done without us as much
as they could ; without us they rushed into war ;
without us they made peace; without us they
would, if possible, settle Italy, or divide it. But,
unfortunately for them, Italy cannot be settled
so easily. The Papal States are taking mea-
sures of their own ; Tuscany, Modena, and
Parma, have thrown off their rulers, and
both France and Austria disclaim all intention
of employing their soldiers to bring back the
old state of things. There would seem, then,
little prospect of France and Austria settling
Italy by themselves. The peace of Villafranca
binds none but themselves, and only o'vtains for
each certain terms for the other. It does not bind
Italy, it does not bind Europe. It can only pledge
the two Emperors to further the proposed Italian
Confederation. If they meet, then, by their repre-
sentatives at Zurich, to reduce to terms the rough
notes of their hasty peace, they must either confess
all they have done for Italy to be utterly abortive,
or they must at the eleventh hour, involve other
powers to contribute their counsel and their sanc-
tion. The embarrassment, therefore, the rash in-
terference, the meddling without settled purpose,
all usually charged to England, are this time charge-
able entirely on the Continental belligerents ; and
it is their fault—not ours—that at this moment
Italy lies, one may say, in the gutter, as the Im-
perial Crown did now and then ; and the Italians
are likely to fight it out among themselves. If,
then, there is anything discreditable and perplex-
ing in the present state of things, the reproach and
the helplessness belong entirely to France and
'Austria, not to ourselves.
All that England is answerable for is her own
interference, which, as it was ineffective, so may be
considered harmless. The general effect of our
counsels was to represent to France that if she
pushed her successes too far she might find herself
in collision with all the neutral Powers, and so
involved in a war of uncertain consequencns ;
and to Austria, on the other hand, that, as the
neutral Powers would not interfere to establish
her dominion south of the Alps, she must attempt
it at her own risk. No doubt, this has touched
the pride of both combatants; but, as both allege
that they have made a hasty peace in conse-
quence of these unfriendly and threatening com-
munications, it cannot be said that the neutral
Powers have done harm, or done nothing at all.
Lord Palmerston gives, as we trust, the right ver-
sion of a current tale, hat England had heedlessly
put it in the Power of Napoleon 111. to show to
Francis Joseph the hard terms we were ready to
recommend him. He says we have simply per-
formed the friendly office of communicating to
Austria the terms on which France would make '
peace. However, all this will be cleared by time ;
and we trust the Foreign Secretary will come ou'c
of it better than the Envoy Extraordinary to
Vienna.
What the Peace of Villafranca happily did is
one thing; what it happily, or unhappily, could
not do, is another. It could transfer a province
from one Emperor to another, and enable them
to consign it to a third Power. It could place
another province in a somewhat new political
position, to receive its character from the will of
the two contracting Powers. It could also pledge
them both to further a certain speculative proposal.
That the two Emperors should cease to lead their
subjects to mutual slaughter on these conditions was
their own affair, and a most happy event for the
world. The Peace of Villafranca could not and did
not
give Princes, Constitutions, Federations, Presi-
dencies, and what not, to the other States of Italy,
neither represented at Villafranca nor at the dis-
posal of the two Emperors. These two latter will
send their Plenipotentiaries to Zurich to put the
terms of peace into form, but neither they, it seems,
nor anybody else, dream of the affairs of' all Italy
being so easily disposed of, No doubt, France and
Austria will do as much as they can for this purpose.
They
are, however, fully aware of the impossibility of doing all they could wish• and Count Walewski '
informs the. British Ministers' that his Government
has always desired and still desires to see the great
Powers concur for the definitive settlement of
Italy. Accordingly, France hopes that the Powers
will be able to meet to confer on all the questions

NEWSPAPER
The
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'(..,.
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)raised by the Aetna] state of a' '-'
--'' 'l'
which are connected with the gene .l' .;
•-a!,` .1
- '
precise meaning of these termsg is ~ .' .•
,
importance. They are an admission t
..-7.- --_-=
of Villafranca has done nothin r .„ .
Lombardy to Sardinia, and groo." ‘1137. llUt
teilmsee,. which The iasrrteongreemceeievte
witshiPeihnt triciti
`reed "Amefhing
for Austria and France to mak erpretation from
it is competent
territory at their disposal,
,n. regards the
Itth %rip
will
aneendeot,itmeteay
pbeer4done P de'' washatever else
it
tetuwailll
bsetatneecoefssar,thinp- , vel :y shortly indeed.
of vsb .at is called "the
~s in 'its, ly," and of course
confer upon that y that 'the Powers invited to
about the tern- state of thinf ;s should know all
business, iv' ..is of peace. The n comes the further
the ne- , nich may be uncles taken this year or
sett)r -,:t, by five Powers ar by more—viz., the
_,lment of Italy.
Of course, if there is to b e a Congress for this
purpose, England will be onl y too true to her un-
broken prescription if she hav e a voice in it, We
have repeatedly interfered in, the affairs of -Italy
at the invitation of vari .ous Powers, and it is
needless now to' demonstra to our right to do so
if we are so minded. We have co-operated.
with France up to this VE :rte day in sugestions,
to the Court of Naples ; arW, when 'Lord Clarer.-
don at the Congress of Paris called attention to
the state of the Peninsula., he only did wil
he had a perfect right to do at a very
.prop:ir occaat
-
sion. If anything is done fo:r Italy it
is for the in-
terest of Europe that the concurrence of every
Power should be secured. It is said, indeed, that
the Emperor of Austria strongly objected to a Con-
ference. No doubt he has reasons, and they are
the very reasons why any Conference would be in-
complete without his representative. This, how-
ever, is a matter for mature deliberation. As Lord
John Russell says, a Confederation may be a good
and wise measure, but impossible this year or next.
The general settlement of Italy, therefore, is not
likely to be despatched as quickly as the convey-
ance_ of Lombardy, It will be a work of time, and,
as far as we can see, the Emperors of France and
Austria will be very glad to leave England and the
other powers at liberty to carry out their own.
views of Italian regeneration. We trust that we
shall consider long before we undertake to in-
terfere.

TEE FRENCH DISARMAJLENTS.

_ -
TO THE EDITOR OF THE DAILY NEws.
Sir,—Some curiosity will probably be felt to
know what will be the real effect of the diminution
recently announced as about to be effectee.. in the
French naval establishments. Will any change be
made in the rate of progress of the works now going
on at Cherbourg, at Brest, or at Toulon:? Will the
completion of the seventy and odd men-of-war now
upon the stocks be stayed in furtherance of the
altered policy of the rpler of France ? Will the
foundry fires be quenched, the forges silenced, the
hammers be plied with less activity ? Will the ten
thousand " inscribed" seamen, recently taken. by an
imperious order from their 'ordinary avocations, be
restored to their homes ? Will either of the squad-
rons of evolution, or any of the vessels now in com-
mission, be recalled and paid off?—in short, with
there, three months hence be one ship; one gun.,
one man less afloat than there is at present ? These
are the obvious queries that will occur to most
thinking men ; and the mental reply that, in the
majority of instances, will be given to them will in
all probability be in the negative.
What may be termed a peace footing for the
military or natal armaments of our neighbours may
well be matter of debate ; and what they would in
all likelihood deem a very moderate force, sufficient
only to repel aggression, we might pos'sibly judge--
and with better reason—to be capable of over-
running other States on the, shortest warning.
Many amongst us hate been too much in the
habit of underrating the resources of France,
no less than her energies and capabilities when
roused. Only six years ago, the materiel of our own
navy bore a proportaon to that of France of three
to one ; nor was her personnel in a comparatively
more flourishing Qondition. She then possessed but
27 line-of-battle ships afloat, 13 of which were
scarcely sea-worthy; while of the remainder only
three were provided with steam power. She has at
this moment 51 ships of the line, of which 37 are
provided with engines of the aggregate horse-power
of 24,440 horses. Six of these carry from 130 to
114 guns each, twenty are 90'-gun ships, and the
armaments of the remaining eleven vary from 82 to
70 guns, the entire number of guns borne by these
37 vessels being no less than 2,380.
These numbers are altogether exclusive of steam
frigates, of which class of vessels Franee Possesses
57 afloat. mounting. 1 91 e hcavy guns, and ntt,eu.
with engines of the power of 21,880 horses. Having
thus shown what she can effect, she announces her
intention of raising her steam navy to 150 vessels
of all denominations (irrespective of transports,
&c.), with engines of fe.ll power, and hulls con-
structed upon the most approvedlines.
The year 1871 will -witness the completion of this
mighty undertaking.; together with that of a variety-
of additions to the 'Java' ports, arsenals, docks, and
factories, with a).l their concomitant fortifications.
Besides the mul-of-war already enumerated, no less
than 72 steatn transports, 26 of these capable of ac-
commodating 2,500 men, and the rest from 1,000 to
1,200, with all their baggage, stores, and eauip•
ments, rare in progress of construction.
It is a remarkable characteristic of the policy of
France that she never recedes. Raving deliberately
determined on a particular course, she adheres to
it with inflexible tenacity of purpose, notwith-
standing any change that may occur in the a'a-.
ministration, or even in the form of Governmerst
itself. We may therefore with confidence infer Vnat
notwithstanding the conciliatory professions of, her
Autocrat, "no reduction to a peace establislT went"
will in any way interfere either with Vie com-
pletion of the numerous batteries by raeaus of
which his seaboard is being protected.., nor will a
single workman be discharged of all the tens of
thousands who are busily engaged hrJur by hour in
preparing a navy iOtended before long to be in a
position to cope with that of P,ritain. It was lately
announced upon the highest official authority here,
that France already had it in her power to out-
number to a great 'extent any fleet that this coun-
try cculd send into the Channel. French naval
officers regard it, indeed, as an established and in-
controvertible fact, that their country at this mo-
ment actually possesses the command of the Chan-
nel.. Is it probable, from the well-known character
either of the people or of their Ruler, that the ad-
vantages they have attained, or imagine they have
attained, by the expenditure of so many millions,
they will now forego ? Assuredly not. They are
perfectly aware that they can fit out as many efff-
cient ships as we have ourselves—that by means of
the simple but efficient mechanism of the " Inscrip-
tion" they can always man them without delay on
the occurrence of the most sudden emergency ;__ and
as it is the practice at all the French dockyards for
ships to be laid up in ordinary with all their guns
on board, much less delay would at any time oo-
cur in fitting out a French than an English fleet.
It is not to be expected then, let what nominal
changes be introduced there may, that any altera-
tion will 'be effected in the very judicious system
which enables the Minister of Marine by means of
a few telegraphic lines to send to sea without no-
tice and in time of profound peace a frzmidable
armament, either on the Mediterranean or on the
Atlantic. -
What probability is there, then, tliat even an
apparent reduction in the naval department will
take place, so as to afford a sembtarice to the rest of
Europe that the promise to disarm will be kept ?
Your readers doubtless remember that a few
weeks since it was announced here, by royal pro-
clamation, that a bounty of XlO percer-
tain man
would be given to. every A $. who might, u
conditions, enter on board of her Majesty's
,
ships. No stoner was that announcement known
in Paris than from the Bureau de la Marine the
wires -elbrated to every one of the five great naval
portA. Orders forthwith emanated from the Pre-
fe'Jture at each, and in fourteen days 10,000 of the
./0,217 seamen registered upon the " Inscription"
were called out and actually on board of the ves-
sels to which each individual was specially desig-
nated. It may be observed that this mandate,
wholly unexpected as it was, Was obeyed with more
than ordinary alacrity, simply because a rumour
had simultaneously gone forth that war with Enr
land was imminent, and that the fondest wish in
every Frenchman's heart was about to be gratified.
There is little do,abt, then, that what will now be
done, will be to Wain these 10,000 men on board
the fleet, and to allow an equal number of trained
and discipl;_ned seamen to , return temporarilyt to.
their home 8,
conseque•at effect being that the State
their
b
or to engage in other vocations,
ewhile relieved from the expense ofet
recall them them at.
mainte-
nance,, while she will be enablede toohart
any -moment, at the same tim
qu'alifying for active duty. afloate
fir some ten ships of the line.
any number of land forc.ese, ns,forhal
she will be
additional crews
As for disbanding
will be so credulous
in any degree probable.
as; to suppose such acorn
by the army of Italy
The recent losses sustained
are not, under the most moderate ecomputation,
52,000 in d-1 c Evn.d wounded ;
estimated at less than
and w
as e were not long ago assured by an exalted
personage that the French army was then only
supposing
upon a peace footing,
a remonstrance to
be offered to the immediate and -not improbable
levy of 50,000 men, the obvious reply from the
same quarter would be that the army was simply
being restored to the condition it • presented before
the late outbreak of hostilities,.—l am, &c.
L. A. P.