The Sun.
London, England, 1861-10-05 00:00:00

THE FRENCH PRESS AND THE

WARRIOR.

A letter from Paris says:—The Patric devotes
as much of its nautical knowledge and metallur-
gical and engineering scienee as can be condensed
in three columns to the examination of the iron
sides of the Warrior, and its internal arrange-
ments. On the whole it must be admitted
that the observations of our French con-
temporary are less disfigured than usual with the
absurd contradictions, inaccuracies, and ignorance,
which are its wont. It comes, however to this
conclusion—hitherto France has only been able to
keep on terms of naval equality with England by
combining its naval forces with those of the smaller
Powers, but these iron ships, like the Warrior,
cost some £500,000 each, an expense which the
smaller States will be unable to bear—" France,
therefore, finds herself standing alone before her
adversary. She must henceforth rely upon no
assistance, and at whatever cost it may entail upon
her, she must be prepared for all eventualities.
This is a national necessity, before which no Deputy
will recoil, not one citizen will haggle. There
must be an equality of armament between France
and England; and, unless England will resign
herself to this agreement, the two millions which
Lord Palmerston has just extorted from her will be
but an infinitesimal fraction of what she will be
called upon to spend."
Now, then,petfide Albion. France tells Britan-
nia that if she wishes to retain her rule over the
waves she must pay dearly for her whistle. France
here announces her intention to continue her game
of " beggar my neighbour," which Punch lately
represented her Emperor as playing with Lord
Palmerston. It is a game at which he who can
hold out the longest invariably wins, and France
has yet to show that her resources are equal to
ours.

This is evidently a sore subject with France and
her journals. She cannot refer to it patiently. It
is the red flag which exasperates the bull. The
Patrie flies at the Warrior; the Constitutionnel,
to-day, at the Portland Breakwater, and at the
?inzes for its congratulations to the country on this
additional rampart against the perpetual menace
of its powerful neighbour. Such gratulations are,
according to the Patrie, as futile as the millions
which England has thrown into the sea to complete
her breakwater. The Constitutionnel does not
favour us with its opinion respecting the many
more millions which France has thrown into the
sea at Cherbourg for the same purpose. Should it
entertain the same opinion of that expenditure it
would be imprudent to express it ; so the Constitu-
tionnel contents itself with this display of its ser-
pentine frolic of " biting against a file."
• "Give a toy to a child and he will occupy himself more
in showing it to be admired than in using it. If it con-
tains some surprise—such as a Jack in the box, which
jumps up on touching a spring, and if the child imagines
that he has frightened you by showing it, his joy knows
no bounds, That old baby, the Times, has given an ex-
ample of this, by calling on the universe to admire the
breakwater and fortifications of Portland. The roadstead

of Portland is very near to Cherbourg, the distance being
only 117 kilometres (about 73 miles). No doubt this
vicinity inspired England with the idea of closing the
roadstead by a breakwater, and of surrounding it with de-
fences. It is a sort of pendant to our maritime arsenal—

an imitation of the breakwater and fortifications of our
port. The English have taken from us the screw for yes-
._ _

sels, rifled carbines, rifled cannon, and iron •pl ated frigates;
and they have resolved to complete the list of their bor-
rowings by taking the model of a port. In all this, there is
for us nothing new, nothing surprising, and in particular
nothing alarming, and we cannot understand why the
Times should express so much joy. That journal had no
need of Portland to be reassured, if, indeed, it should think
fit to show itself reassured.
"We will not carry further this monotonous enumera-

tion of cannon, fortresses, and breakwaters. What we
said is sufficient to prove that Portland is, so to speak,
only an article of luxury, and that before the termination

of that port, Groat Brita*i was surrounded by ramparts
sufficiently strong to defy any attack and to give confidence
to the most timid. But the Times is like the woman of the
Bible who will not be comforted. The access of joy which
it had on learning the completion of this new port of refuge
will, no doubt, be followed by articles on the volunteers, on
iron-plated frigates, the Armstrong gun, fortresses covered
with iron, Enfield rifles, and the rest All this constitutes

a mania which falls within the domain of caricature. In
the meantime, it has already cost England something like a
milliard ( X 40,000,000 sterling), and in the midst of the
American crisis and of the anticipated deficit in the supply
of cotton, the price is rather high for a whim."