The Sun.
London, England, 1859-08-27 00:00:00

THE SUY LONDON,

1 . _
at two in the morning of the second De- visited this marvel of_the deep.pan alone realise the
cember which he was playing at whiff " ';l)paiity , The e.sinnplptness,, and the grandeur of the
l'
the Republic was writhing in convulsions whole desigi. The
,mfignitude of the dimensions
under the fury of its brave defehdere of the .Gr3at astern 'Ay lie Vaiired to the mind's
M. de MORNY was cool and indifferent, then to the eye, how ever, by the 'array of figUres marking her
shrieks of French liberty: he would be equally cool stupene.Lous proportions. As one of the most
-
but infinitely glad to witness the downfall of , striking illustrations of thegreat bulk of the vessel,
English independence. Let him wait a bit : he prc- take the fact, most recently speeified,:namely, that
tests overmuch, but we are wide awake now'! i 'with- .all sails_ spread- the leviathan, :will open-

to. the wimds of heaven nearly five thousand square
feet of canvas--sails of such capacity that it is
estimated ti at, with a moderately; strong breeze
upon the quarter, the Great Eastern could be
driven onwards by the winds alone at the rate of
fifteen knots an hour at the lowest computation.
Perhaps more wonderful, however, than the
enormous dimensions of this superb vessel, are the
exquisitely delicate and finished completeness
of its arrangements. Of which, assuredly, no
more remarkable evidence could possibly be ad-
duced than that afforded by the adaptation here of
the admirable invention contrived by Mr. LANG-
LEY, the shipbuilder of Deptford. A contrivance
so applied to the steering of the Great Eastern
that we are told—" By means of this, Captain
HARIZISON, or the officer of the watch on the
bridge, will be enabled to steer the ship by a signal
indicator with as much certainty as if he guided
the wheel himself. A small illuminated dial, with
a moveable index, is fixed on the bridge, in front
of the officer of the watch, and connected with an-
other of the same description in front of the men at
the helm. Moving the index finger of the machine
on the bridge to port or starboard moves the index
of the machine before the helm at the same time,
so that not a second is lost in putting the helm hard
up or down. In the same manner the rudder itself
is connected with another small dial before the
helmsmen, which tells by its index that they have
exactly obeyed orders, while this again communi-
cating with a similar machine on the bridge shows
the officer of the watch the instant his commands
are executed. The movements of the latter dial
being, of course, regulated by those, of the rudder,
the officer on duty has always the helm, as it were,
under his eye, and can detect if the men suffer the
vessel to deViate a quarter of a point from her course
even for a second. The apparatus, moreover, pos-
sesses another advantage, and that is, that simply
moving over the index finger to hard aport opens
up two red lights on the port side, and by turning
it to starboard a double green one is similarly dis-
played. Thus small vessels are afforded every faci-
lity for getting out of the monster's way in her im-
petuous rush over the deep." An arrangement, this
last, of no small consideration to all the lesser craft
(large and small) afloat—bearing in mind what
would be the force of this moving mountain, whose
motto might well be the olal battle-cry of the Innis-
killeners—Faugh na Ballagh ! Whenever the day
dawns when the Great Eastern shall take her de-
parture for the first time from these shores, who is
there that will not wish her a heartfelt God-speed
across the waters of the Atlantic?

So—the first step has been taken towards th e
revision of our National Defences. The Royal Coy o-
mission has been duly announced in the Lend 'on
Gazette of last evening. The Royal Commission ers
are now formally appointed by the Sovereii
Their powers are specified as clearly and cats; go-
rically as their names are enumerated. Gene ral
Sir HARRY JONES, General DUNCAN CAMERJON.
Admiral GEORGE ELLIOT, General Sir FREDERICK
ABBOTT, Captain ASTLEY KEY, R.N., Colonel JO.UN
LEFROY, R.A., and Mr. JAMES FERGUSSON—seven
in all, four military, two naval, and one civilian,
are the " trusty and well-beloved" her _MAJESTY'S
Royal Commissioners. The Secretary of the Com-
mission being another "trusty and well-beloved," '
DRUMMOND JERVOIS, Major in the Army and Cap-
tain in the Royal Engineers. The selection, alto-
gether, appears to be in every respect very judicious.
As a matter of course there is an ELLIOT even
in this brief list of seven—mais cela va sans dire.
Perhaps the Commissioners will be none the worse
for it. Not because we having any, the smallest,
faith whatever in the right divine of the great old
Whig Families to conduct inquiries, or to govern
dependencies of the Crown, or to preside over de-
partments of the Government better than anybody
else in the three kingdoms. But just simply be-
cause, at the present moment, the favoured scions
of those great houses are in a manner put upon
their metal really to work as well as they possibly
can—the attention of the whole community being
jealously directed to their every official move-
ment. Wherefore, we are not disposed to
grumble for one instant at the choice
made in this or in any other instance—
though at the same time we are ready to acknow-
ledge our regret that circumstances have tended to
preclude a man like Sir JOHN BURGOYNE from
taking a conspicuous, if not the principal part, in
the labours of the Royal Commission.;
The motives which have led to the appoint-
ment of this commission are succinctly and
yet comprehensively stated in that one single
paragraph in the Gazette of yesterday :
" Whereas, we have thought it expedient,
for divers good causes and considerations
that a Commission should forthwith issue that
inquiries may be made by our Commissioners
into the present state, condition, and sufficiency, of
the fortifications existing for the defence of our
United Kingdom, and of examining into all works
at present in progress, for the improvement there-
of, and for considering the most effectual means of
rendering the same complete, especially all such
works of defence as are intended for the protection
of our Royal arsenals and dockyards, in case of
any hostile attack being made by foreign enemies
both by sea and land." Exception cannot be
taken by any foreign Power whatsoever to works
so purely, so necessarily, and exclusively defensive
in their character. Whatever feelings may be
provoked against Belgium beyond the frontier of
that little third-rate kingdom by the
late vote of the Assembly at Brussels
for the extension and general improvement of the
Antwerp fortifications—England is too powerful
and gigantic to have her defensive operations
cavilled at by any state or states in the length and
breadth of Christendom. The very particularity of
the wording of the important document nominating
the Seven Commissioners, and their Secretary—em-
powering them to act, to inquire, and to advise—
shews as plainly as anything can shew it
that the project, as its very title implies,
is simply the institution of an earnest scru-
tiny into the state of our Coast Defences.
None, not the most thin-skinned foreign ruler, can
in reason take umbrage at such proceedings
Scarcely would it be decorous even in France to
view the project as otherwise than perfectly com-
patible with the integrity of the alliance between
the two countries—France, whose magnificent cele-
bration of the completion of her stupendous works
at Cherbourg was graced by the presence of the
Royal Lady who nominates the members of
this Commission. Let our gallant neighbours,
then, bear in mind that upon, the, opening
of those grand defensive works at Cherbourg,
two or three years ago, by her own imperial chief'
there by his side, as he passed among the com-
pleted Cherbourg fortifications, was " VICTORIA,'
by the grace of GOD, of the United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland, Queen, Defender of the
Faith"—the same august lady who now tells her
royal commissioners—" For the better enabling you
to carry these our royal intentions into effect, we do
hereby authorise and empower you, or any five or
more of you, to call for, have access to, and exa-
mine all plans, designs, estimates, and contracts for
all works of defence now in progress or under our
consideration, or any other plans or designs that
may be laid before you for the same object."
Adding—" And we •do give and grant to you, or
I any five or more of you, full power and authority to
call before You such persons in our civil, military,
or naval services as you shall judge likely to afford
you the best and fullest information upon the subject
of this our commission, and to inquire of and
concerning the premises by all other law-
ful ways and means whatsoever." To the
regal injunctions afterwards contained in the
document published in another part of our columns
we would add yet another, a popular, a national, an
universal injunction—one breathed at this moment
by many millions of our population. A recommen-
dation to the Royal CommissionerS that' in the
conduct of their inquiries they should act with
speed though without precipitation. Their motto
might not inaptly be those familiar words of
SHAKSPERE—" If 'twere done, 'twere well 'twere
done quickly." Let them act with skilled promp-
titude, though at the same time with watchful
precision.

That latest, !as it is also about the greatest,
among the Wanders of the Worldthe Great
Eastern, the Mammoth Ship. the Leviathan—to-
day closes her career as a mere exhibition. Already,
however,, simply as_ a spectacle opened, to public
admiration, the . glorious monster has .realised in
this way, by an accumulation of small fees,
upwards of £4,060 sterling. ,For, the purposes
of sight-seeing, however, her day ;ends , with
.this present Saturday. Her momentous trial trip
is before her,, almost immediately. She is to
moorings {for the first • time since her
i4autiiilt
oher,
) upon the 3d of September: Upon the
morning !of which day she will be towed down the
lace,
bringing
river bY fleans 'of four tugs--two ahead and two
astern.
°he downffr
thelV ore, her coaling Will take p
more than ten feet deeper than .
she is at preslenta-ithe coaling being conducted with
such speed by means of the steam cranes
that it ii Calculated that within, forty-eight hours
10,000'
ils 'can be stowed away ?in appropriate
Comp eats. Those who, like ourselves, have
ari