The Sun.
London, England, 1857-06-01 00:00:00

VAIN FEARS OF ADMIRAL SIR CHARLES

fib'd

(From the Examiner.)
"In case of a sudden war with France and
Russia, the Queen's throne would not be worth six
months' purchase," says Admiral Sir C. Napier,
whose special delight it is to exalt foreign naval
forces and to disparage our own. But what puts
the throne of our Sovereign in so much danger ?
Simply the fact that France and Russia can man
their fleets more expeditiously than we can, but
how do they man them ? True, the Czar marches
regiments on shipboard and calls them seamen, and
France,,with better resources, can command the
services of 40,000 seafaring people. But does no-
thing depend on the quality of the crew so pro-
vided? The Gallic cock has no aptitude for water.
The Frenchman is not web-footed. He is horn and
bred to strut and crow ashore. The parade is his
place, not the deck, where there is no public to ad-
mire him. We are a nation of the duck kind.
Wherever there is a pond or a puddle you see chil-
dren swimming boats in it, or if there be no boat
to swim, they will be paddling in it from the sheer
love of water, quite apart from, and irrespetive
of, its uses for drink and cleanliness. In France
you would see the urchins of the same class playing
at soldiers. Nevertheless Frenchmen serve at sea,
and perform the duties of seamen, but it is without
that aptitude which seems to belong by breed to
the Englishman, and consequently, when diffi-
culties occur in French ships, there is always a
want of resource, readiness, and contrivance. They
do very well as long as the routine continues un-
disturbed, but let that be deranged and a rare con-
fusion follows.

Sir C. Napier has given an account, we believe,
greatly exaggerated, of the state of things in which
be found himself on his way to the Baltic with a
newly-nianned fleet. Does he believe that a French
fleet, suddenlymanned by naval conscription, would
be in better or in equal order? The French, it is
true, would not have landsmen, of whom Sir Charles
complains he had too many ; but, on the other
hand, are their best seamen to be compared with
our thoroughly able seamen, competent to every
duty of a ship, except the navigation—leadsmen,
helmsmen, riggers &c., and the handiest fellows
aloft at makinv shortening sail, and reefing in the
world ? Confident we are that an English fleet,
newly manned, with its portions of landsmen an
able seamen, will in the aggregate of skill be more
than a match for a French fleet with its comple-
ments of regular but inferior seamen. The English
landsman, be it observed, is improving with every
day's practice, and with an ap,itude, which we will
call national, for the work. With the Frenchman,
at best, the thing is all malgre. He hates the sea
and all belonging to it.
The English love for the thing favoured by
wealth manifests itself in gentlemen's yachts pecu-
liar to the Anglo-Saxon race in these isles and
America. A French admiral observed to the
wife of an English consul in France, that if all
other evidence of the madness of English people
were wanting, the single fact of rich and great
English lords and gentlemen leaving their beautiful
places to go sailing about in small craft was enough
to prove the national insanity. Upon which the
lady replied, that, if all other evidences of the in-
, aptitude of the French for the sea were wanting,
the sp _ech which the admiral had just made, im-
plying that there could be no comfort and no en-
joyment in a sea-home, was enough to prove the
e'emental incapacity.
When Zadig hurt his eye, the surgical authorities
all settled that he must lose the sight of it, but
when it was so uncivil as flatly to contradict them
and to get well, they wrote unanswerable treatises
to demonstrate that, according to all scientific pr in
ciples, it ought to be stone-blind.
Sir C. Napier's naval fortunes have been as per-
verse as Zadig's eye. He ought to have been beaten
on several occasions when he was not :
" When he fell in with the Miguelite fleet, which
was double or treble his force, one of the enemy's
ships was first boarded by his captain and his son,
now no more, and they were hardly followed by a
single man of the clew. Yet these were British
sailors ! And out of the fifty marines only three
hoarded. Why was this ? Because the men were
undisciplined, and had no confidence in themselves.
True, the Miguelite fleet was taken. Yes, but by
all the rules of warfare it was the British fleet
which ought to have been taken."
But it was not, and "if not-why not ?" as they
ask in bills of equity. Because, after all, the men
pitted against double or treble their force were
British seamen. They may have hung back at
first, the best will occasionally do so, but they
must have made up for it afterwards, or the vic-
tory could not have been won against such odds.
Pursuing a similar train of argument, Admiral Sir
C. Napier assured +he Grand Duke Constantine
that he might have beaten the British fleet in the
Baltic, but perhaps, if the Russian had been so ill-
advised as to try the experiment, the result would
have been the same as that of the Miguelite fl et,
and Sir C. Napier could then have told us that "by
all the rules of waeare it was the British fleet
which ought to have been taken," not the icussian.
There must surely be something deficient in the
rules of warfare if events contradict them. The
great achievements of the English navy were per-
formed by men who did not act by rule, but who
ruled fortune by their genius and daring. Calcu-
lation has superseded all that, and calculation is fal-
lible, as it does not always include all the elements
which go to make up the re•ailt of success on the
one hand or failure on the other. For example,
if that Miguelite affair could ever occur again, Sir
C. Napier would not fight a battle in which he
ought to be beaten, though the event was not a
defeat, but a victory. He may have have had an
opportunity of the same sort in the Baltic, and
lost it by process of the same erronecus calculation.
The motion which served to introduce Admiral
Sir C. Napier's favourite text, "we have been
baton," together with that comfortable assurance
respecting the Queen's short tenure of her throne
in the event of war, was for a committee to con-
sider the constitution of the Board of Admiralty.
We have lately had a run of good fortune, very
able men having in succession filled the office of
First Lord, but still we cannot see why a civilian
should be placed at the head of the Admiralty any
more than over the army. And there is this to be
observed, that the management of naval affairs re-
quires much more technical knowledge than that
of
,the army. In both services there is the per-
sonnel and material to be mastered, but the mate-
rid part in the navy is much more extensive and
difficult. Can any seaman suppress a smile of
contempt when he reads that a First Lord of the
Admiralty has inspected and approved the equip-
ment and condition of a ship of which any
swabber or cabin boy on board has a better com-
prehension ?

LIST OF SCOTTISR COMPANIES' PRICES.
---------
Dividend Amount I
Name of Company. per of Paid. Price.
7 Annum. ghats.
s-_ - - --
1 X a. d. .£ 0. d.
I Bank of Scotland .... 74. per cent. 100 C 0 IGO 0 0 19710 s
. British Linen Company 81. per cent 100 0 0 100 0 0 231 /08
Caledonian Bank ..... Si. per cent 10 0 0 210 0 31 16s
City of Glasgow Bank .51. per cent. 10 0 0 10 0 0 13/ 51
' Clydesdale Bank .... 5%/. p cent 20 0 0 -10 0 0 14 2s
1 C mmercial Bank •• 71. per cent. 500 0 0 100 0 0 248 iOs
. Eastern Rank.. •• •• - 61. per cent. 25 0 0 10 0 0 14i es
Edinb. & Glasgow.... 3%1. p Mt. 5 0 5 0 0 5/ 2s
National Bank ...... 6)6 per cent. 100 0 0 iOO 0 0 192110
NortlioN•eotland Bank 51. per cent 10 0 0 210 051 lOs '
Royal Bank Of Scutt. .. 5/. per cent. 100 0 0 100 0 0 137/I
Union Bank of Scot. - al•percent. 100 0 0 50 0 0 109/05
Western Bank- •.• . - 71. per sent. 50 0 0 50 0 0 '441 Os
Mance Fire and Life.. 8)41.pr cent. 100 e.O 11 0 0 17112 s
British Guarantee ... IL por cent. 10 9 0 2 0 0 11 lls
Caledonian Fire Insur 104. per cent. 100 0 0 10 0 0 251 Os
City of Glasgow Lite.. al. per cent. 25 0 0 2 0 0 I/ 5s
Colonial Life ......... 51. per cent. 50 0 0 3 0 0 '.l Os
Edinburgh Life Incur 61. oer cent. 100 0 0 15 0 0 28115 s
Eng. & Scot, Law Life 51.:ter cont. 50 0 0 3 5 0 4/ Os
Life Assoc. of 3cutland 61. per Cont. 40 0 0 3 0 0 rii 153
Nationa4 Fire and Life 61. per cent. 10 0 0 1 4 02/ Os
North British incur... 71. per cent. 200 0 0 20 0 0 36/15s
Northern Assurance Co. 20 0 0 1 0 0 1/ 17s
Scottish Provincial .... - 50 0 0 2 0 031 Os '
Scottish Union Insrnc. 7%1. prcent. 20 0 0 1 0 o l/ 15s
Standard Life ...... •• 51. per cent. 50 0 0 7 0 z2l Os
MISCELLANEOUS. •
Dividend Amount
Name of Company. per of Paid. Price.
Annum. Share.
--- -
Z s. d. £ s. d. -
Acadian Charcoal Iron
.. 10 0 0 2 0 0 -
African Steam Ship ..
.. • 20 0 0 10 0 0 -
Assam tea •... •• •• . it. rer cent. 50 0 0 20 0 0 -
Auction Mart........ tltilper cent 50 0 0 - -
Australian Asriculturl - 25 0 0 19 0 0 19
Australian Trust .... 81. pr cent 100 0 0 25 0 0 -
Austra,tan Royal Mail - 10 0 0 all _
Anglo-Mexican Mint.. 11. 10s. 10 0 0 dB • -
British American Land Si. per ceps 50 0 0 40 0 0
Canada ............. el. percect 100 0 0 32 10 0 151
Do. 5 per cent Bond, 5/. pet cent Stock 100 0 0 -
Ditto, 5 per cent bds 51. per cent Stock 100 0 0 -
Ditto, 0 per cent. ..6/. per cent. Stock 100 0 0 - '
Ditto, 6ir c. bds 1874 61. per cent. Stock 100 0 0 - 1
Ditto, 6p c. bds Itt76 6/. per cent. Stock wo 0 0 -. 1
Crystal Palace ...... 2/. per cent 5 0 0 all 2%
Ditto Preference.... 71 pr. cent 5 0 0 5 0 0 -
~
Cry s. Palace of France - 40 0 all - c
City Nt.vigation Bonds 3%1. per cent - - -
Electric Telegraph .. 61. per cent. Stock. 100 0 0 -
Eng.& Aus. Cop. Smelt. - 5 0 0 all -
Eng.&lris. Mag. T. Co. - 50 0 0 all -
Equitable Iteversionry 5/per cent. 100 0 0 00 0 0 -: 1
Ditto New .....• - - 50 0 0 22 10 0 -
Gen. Revers. & Invest. 11. p c and 11. 100 0 0 'OO tt 0 - ' s
Gen. I. Sc. Col. (Lim.) - 95 0 0 all -
Gen.SteamNavi,zation 101. per et. & 15 0 0 14 a is -
London Gen. Omnibus 121. per cent 4 0 0 all 37. )
Hudson's 8ay........ 5/. per cent. Stock Stock -
Hungerford .......... 2'. ss. 100 0 0 all -
Lon. Ne. &Na. Mauso. - 10 0 0 all - 0
London Reversionary 5/, per cent. to 0 . all -
Alex. &S. American - 10 0 0
0 5
all 2% 3
Nat. Discount Comp • • -'25 0 0 0 N 1
N.S.W. Gov.sp.c. Deb. Si. per cent - 100 0 0 -
sr. peGrdc'ent. 201 00 00 17 alllO 0 -934 °
Nor. Bri. Australasian
North of Europe, strn.
PriccesPatenttland. Co - 21 0 0 all 23% ~.
Peel River LandkMin. - 5 0 0 all 2 0
Pen. & Oriental Steam 71. per cent 50 0 0 all
70
Ditto New •••• • • • • - 50 0 0 10 0 0 L -
Reversionary Int. Soc. 4%/. pr cect 100 0 0 all
Ditto New •• ••• • - .1%/. pr cent. 100 0 0 29 0 0 ._
-
Royal Vail Steam.... 41. p. share. 100 0 0 69 0 0 -
Scottish Ans. Invest. 15/. per cent. 1 0 0 all L
1 1.1
South Australian Land 71. per cent. 25 0 0 all 35
Trust and Loan Comp. 754.• pr cent. 20 0 0 5 t 0 °r tA2,
Yam jUlemen's Land.. ' 108. 100 0 0 28•-10' -0 A-1
Do. CoY.6 per ct.Bds. 6 per cent. - , -
-

GRE .;T 7 O.;'S OF LIFE 0:7,7 TIC LAN
C 1. ER ND if LVERSTO:' E SANDS.

. Dud, g Friday night or early on Saturday mil'n
ing several persons were drowned OD the sauds be-
tween Lancaster and Ulverstone. SaturdaY
evening when our report was ofnecessity despatche39
it was not known at Lancaster what was the *Pre"
c;se number of those who had !ost their but
there was reason to suppose that it was not lees
then 14, and e bodies of eight of the deceased had
'Yon recovered, having been washed ashore St
Heat-ba;:k, ab ut thrt e ft can Lancaster. It
was at this p int thai, the fact of the calamity first
became known on ti. :e morning of Saturday. k'folal
the sands which it will be remembered skirt mere-
cambe-bay, there were seen floating in the water 3
numb, r of men's hats, some boxes, and other thitlr,
and it was at once conjectured that ihe hats, boxes,
(Cc., were the property of persons who, in crof•ei4
the sand, had either been overtakt n by the tide ur
had left the preper track and so got into the water'
A. number of men went out in boats and rec)vere,i
_l
the hats and boxes, and a further s arch reveal"
the bodies of eight men floiting as n-arly togethis':
as possible. Tht y were brought ashore, and tutna"
course of the day recognised ; and it was rutneuried
at this place that at Silverdale, two or three Wile,'
higher up the sands, some bodies bad been washed
ashore. It is believed that all the persons who We
lost their lives are single young men, in serVil
Some suppose there were two young women Icit
them, but owing to difficulty of obtaining inforPW
tion from the other side of the sands our c9rleS'
pondent had not learnt whether this was true'
Suffice it that a party of more than a dozen persos
who had been living in service at Poulton,HeYs-
ham, and oth r places on the Ulverstone end of the
sands, left Kent's-hank on Ft iday night, inteudins
-:;,) be present at the Whit-untidy lurings at P 11,.:
caster on 'Saturday. Their route was along the
sands by the edge of the hay, bring the some tho'
is taken by the over-sands coach between Inver
stone and Lancaster. Toe party spent some tl dtiiiloug at Wllcocks's Kent's-bank Hotel, an,
they started in twolight one-horse carts. Accoriine
to the tide-table it was high-water at Ulverstone
Saturday morning at 10 minutes past 4 o'clock 33"
in order to cro,,s the sands in safety and avoid the
tide e jeutney should have been conuneeced 3
either end at 41 min. past 9 o'clock on Friday bight?
but this party, beside s being intoxicated, are under'
stood to have &arted later by an hour or mitre'
Some who int-nde 1 to have crossed with than- auci
clined to doS9 because f the time they started, an
so saved their lives. 'Nothing more is kuo wn tiei
party until the bodies of some of them were wash ,
ashore as atready described. We have cenitt-0
to mention that at Hest, along with the bottie,w.
33
Jecovered on Saturday one of the carts, with 'to;
lifeless horse attached to it. Two conjectures
hazarded as to the way iu which the accident ruel
have occurred, which no one is left alive t.) expl3l;
One supposition is that the cat ts were floated at 03.
of the sir,-ams that have to be forde 1. At Vie n 303"
dangerous one there is a guide stationed :rot) sun;
rise to sunset, so that he would not then Lave beet'
on duty. One young man of the company nawei...,
Gto. Ashburner knew the track which ought
have bet n taken, hut the probability is that no one,
thought of using his experience.. Another cortrt
tore is that the whole party hid fallen asleep, ill!,
the Moral-s had been left to take their own tours;
and that they atemilly followed the tide until t'd.)
sle,py occupants of the carts wt re fatally imineVe,
The appearance of some of the bodies has led to tb
supposition that suffocath n took place dui.ingsieli
Upon the eight bodies recovered at Hest b3ts
money t.) the amount of about 301. and 40!. saefound, being the wages they had received beL°
starting.