The Sun.
London, England, 1861-09-13 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 13, 1861.

to rotten calico : it seems probable that contractors
henceforth will be compelled to make less money and
better clothes. In some cases regiments are pre-
vented leaving for the seat of war because the in-
habitants of their districts will not pledge them-
selves to keep the families of the volunteers from
want when they are away. Every man, too, wants

to have the best description of rifle musket,—an

obvious impossibility at present. Although the
weeding of officers has been carried on to a consi-
derable extent, there are still many whom it is de-
sirable to get rid of. The colonel of a regiment
aspiring to be the President's Life Guards has been
charged by his own officers with obtaining money
under false pretences ; the sale of appointments ;
above all, with having been a convict in a peniten-
tiary ; and with matters of less consequence in a
moral point of view.

Mr. Sickles, concerning whose grade and position
there has been a great deal of trouble, is now re-
moved above all controversy by the nomination of
the President to the rank of brigadier. The regi-
ments he has raised will not be called after his
name, but will be named the Excelsior Brigade, and
will probably present an effective force of 4,000
men. Brigadier Sickles worked hard for his rank,
but it is reported that he has made out a heavy bill
against the Government for the reimbursement of
his expenses.
Encouraged by the approval of the people who
are ready for anything in the shape of force and
strong Government, the authorities are determined
to send every officer who resigns in the army or
navy to Fort Lafayette or some suitable prison, and
to arrest every individual, male or female, suspected
of treasonable designs. The law of " suspects" is in
full vigour. It was time for the Government to vindi-
cate its rights and its power, but it must be seen
that in this vindication it differs in no way from the
means used by the other Governments of the world,
which have been hitherto considered in the United
States as organized outrages on human nature and
certain so-called natural rights of man. The high-
sounding professions of the statesmen and writers of
America in these matters were felt by them to be in
ridiculous contrast with the practices and extension
of a domestic slave trade in some provinces, an d
with the existence of slavery over a large portion of
the Union. Amid the contending cries of the multi-
tude it is now scarcely possible to ascertain how far
this is a war against slavery or a war for the main-
tenance of high protective duties, but it is obvious
that if the war goes on it will be narrowed to the
former issue, and that the Republicans, who now
repudiate the notion of declaring all slaves free,
while in the same breath they express their belief
that the question must come to that end, will be
obliged to do that as a party which as yet has been
done only by the individual men, and hang out the
unconditional abolition banner fully and fairly in the
air. If they would kill slavery as a foreign trade,
however, let them at the same time alter the policy
of their rulers in reference to the right of search.

It is not without reason that the Americans com-
plain of England dealing so tenderly with Spain in
reference to the slave trade; but, after all, it is from
'New York and Boston that most of the vessels em-
ployed in that trade sail for the Coast. Vessels
captured by the American squadron, sent home,
condemned, and sold are bought up and sent out
again to their old business. It would be much
better to burn or sink them. The Storm King.
Triton, Falmouth, Virginian, Ardennes, and other
well-known vessels now on the coast have been even
sold as slavers and bought up again, and it is ascer-
tained that vessels with proper cargoes will not
hesitate to throw them overboard for a cargo of
slaves. Much of the impunity with which these
audacious traders in flesh and blood carry on the
business arises from the persistency with which the
United States' Government has resisted the right
of search. On the approach of a British man-of-
war the slaver hoists the American colours, and
goes on her way intact; if an American man-of-war
comes in sight the slaver hoists a British or French
flag and escapes with equal ease. It has been suggested
in one American journal that the right of search
should be allowed on the African coast, and there
appears no objection to it ; at all events, it is quite
certain from what I read here of slavers arriving at
Havannah and other ports and fitting out for the
trade that the result of our enormous expendi-
ture is only to enhance the profits of the
dealer and of the savages on the African
coasts. Without co- operation our labour is vain
Spain has exhibited a disregard of her plighted
faith, which has bee❑ tolerated by England for
reasons impossible to divine. It is calculated that
a cargo of 500 negroes sold in Cuba at 500 dols. a
head will leave a profit of 177,000 dols. gained in
four months, their original cost being 50 dole. a
head, and the expenses of landing being 25,000 dols.,
ship, crew, and all, and allowing for a loss of 100
on the voyage. It is said that 40,000 negroes were
landed in Cuba in the year 1860, and that about
7,000 died at sea.

As I close my letter there are rumours of a de-
feat of the Federalists at Cape Girardeau, in Mis-
souri, below Cairo.

There are two Queen's messengers, Capt. Cecil
Johnson and Capt. Haworth, now on duty in this
country. in addition to the ordinary messenger,
Capt. Moore, and these gentlemen are constantly
employed in conveying despatches between New
York and Washington and Quebec.

The despatches from her Britannic Majesty's
Consul at Charleston to Earl Russell seized by the
authorities at New York have been despatched by
Mr. Seward to England in the hands of a special
messenger. One is curious to know the result.

THE NAVY.

VALETTA, Sept. 7.—The Sanspareil, 76, Captain
Bowyer, arrived this morning from Devonport and
Gibraltar. She left Devonport on the 20th ult. and
Gibraltar on the Ist, and brings out supernumeraries
for the Mediterranean fleet and Armstrong guns.
The corvette Scourge, 6, Captain W. J. Jones, also
arrived this morning from Constantinople in six
days, the Dardanelles five,:and the Piraeus of Athens
three. She is conveying back to Gibraltar his Ex-
cellency Lieut.-Gen. Sir Wm. Codrington, K.C.8.,
and staff, consisting of Lieut.-Col. Fane,Lieut.-Col.
Fremantle, and Lieut.- Praid. She leaves for Gib-
raltar to-night or to-morrow morning. The British
screw steamer Rangoon, with a portion of the Malta
and Alexandria electric cable on board, is still here,
awaiting the arrival of the screw steamer Malacca,
with another portion of the cable from England,
The Malacca left England on the 19th ult.. and was
to call in at Mahon to pick up Mr. Canning and a
staff of telegraph labourers belonging to the firm of
Messrs. Glasse, Elliott, and Co., who have been en-
gaged laying a submarine cable for the French Go-
vernment. Mr. Forde, superintending engineer on
the part of the British Government, and Mr. Clif-
ford and Dr. Whitehouse, electricians, on the part
of Messrs, Glasse, Elliott, and Co., owners of the
Malta and Alexandria cable, arrived from Marseilles
a few days ago. Dr. Esselbach, electrician for Go-
vernment, arrived on the same day from Italy. As
in laying the other sections of the cable, the valu-
able assistance of Captain Spratt, commanding the
Medina, and his staff of surveying officers, will be
made use of. The submergence of these two sections
will complete the line. The Mohawk will, it is be-
lieved, again assist in the operation, as likewise the
Scourge, should she return in time from Gibraltar.
The following is the proportion of powder, shot,
and shell to be supplied to the Defence, 22, at Chat-
ham, for two 100-pounder Armstrong pivot guns,
and 16 100-pounder broadside guns on her main
deck, under orders to that effect received from the
War-office yesterday :—Cartridges, filled with
121 b. of powder, 1,660; empty, 380; powder, in
bags of 151 b., A 4, 304; LG, 192. Shells, filled—
common, 320; segment, 220; shells, empty—com-
mon, 220; segment, 320. Solid 100-pounder shot,
580.

A notice was yesterday affixed to the dockyard
gates at Chatham that tenders will be received by
the Admiralty for the purchase of the remains of
the wreck of the Hussar, 44, burnt at Shoebury-
ness, as they now lie on the sands. The vessel is

to be solid entire; but the person purchasings her
will have to deliver up the copper and metal bolt
and fastenings, for which so much per pound will
be allowed. At low tides work can be performed
about the wreck for rather less than two hours.

Orders have been issued by the Admiralty to fit
at Sheerness the upper topsails of the iron-clad fri-
gate Resistance on Mr. Cunningham's principle of
reefing from the deck. The Defence is being fitted
also on the same plan. By this arrangement the
chain topsail tye will be the only running gear re-
qaired for setting and taking in the topsails, thus
giving extreme simplicity to the equipment aloft, a
point of immense impoltancein screw ships of war,
as lessening, if not entirely doing away with the
chance of fouling the screw, in the event of the
masts being shot away in action. Another impor-
tant feature in this mode of rig is that the upper
topsails can be set and taken in by the crew under
cover on the gun deck, without exposing them aloft,
or even on the upper deck. Thus, in the event of the
screw or the machinery becoming damaged, say in
engaging a battery, and its becoming desirable to
withdraw from under fire, sail can be made upon
the ship by the crew from their fighting quarters.
The absence of running ropes about the s ails—the
only working gear being the chain topsail tye
—affords greatly increased safety against the sails
being rendered useless by ropes being shot away.
The", Cunningham system has been in use on board
all the troopships, except the Himalaya, for some
considerable time, so that it is not altogether new
to the service. It is extensively used in the mercan-
tile marine, and was referred to in The Sun of the
28th January, 1854, in noticing the melancholy loss
of the ship Tayleur, which occurred chiefly owing
to the inability of the crew to reef her topsails.

The Plover, 5, screw, commander A. L. Corry,
arrived at Spithead yesterday, under canvas and
steam from the eastward, on her way to the West
Coast of Africa, where she will be employed in the
suppression of the slave trade.

The Medea, 6, paddle, in charge of Capt. H.
Broadhead, commanding the reserve at Portsmouth,
tested her machinery (for commission) yesterday,
in Stokes' Bay.
The Nelson, 90, screw, was undocked from No.
10 dock at Portsmouth yesterday and placed at a
berth in the harbour. The midship caisson, at the
junction of 10 and 7 docks, was afterwards floated
out of its position and removed from the dock to
the steam basin, to 'enable workmen to complete
the laying of the blocks over the invert.

The Calcutta, 84, was placed yesterday in No. 1
dock in the Devonport dockyard for examination.

The screw steamship Renown, 89, Capt. A. Forbes,
just returned from the Mediterranean, went yester-
day from Plymouth Sound into Hamoaze, wher e
she was inspected by the Port Admiral.
The paddlewheel merchant steamer Sir Walter
Raleigh, belonging to Messrs. Langdon, Moore, and
Co., of Plymouth, is ordered to be docked in Devon-
port yard, prior to being purchased for the Govern-
ment.

The lighter Rochester, C. Heather master, after
a long passage from Chatham to Portsmouth, arrived
yesterday at Plymouth, with cement for the break-
water and metals for the public arsenals.

Steam was got up yesterday on board the Panta-
loon, 11, and she proceeded from Hamoaze into
Plymouth Sound to try her engines.
Supernumeraries were crnveyed yesterday to the
paddlewheel steam sloop Firebrand, 6, Commander
J. M. Bruce, in Plymouth Sound. To-day she will
embark about 200 of the crew paid off from the St.
Jean d'Acre, 99, Commander John D'Creti; in Ha-
moaze, and proceed with them for the eastward.
The hired transport Con way yesterday went
alongside Woolwich-pier, in preparation to ship
guns and Tower stores, and will receive 700 tons of
gunpowder for Quebec. She is expected to sail from
Woolwich on Wednesday next. The Avosella has
also arrived at Woolwich-pier to ship war stores for
Halifax.

The following officers, acting and sub-lieutenants,
have passed their examinations at the Royal Naval
College, Portsmouth, as lieutenants :—Messrs. C. S.
Harford, D. D. Yonge, A. T. Nugent, F. Walters,
J. M. N. Boyd, H. R. Berners, E. T. Trafford, W.
E. Miller, E. B. Royse, J. Howes, G. R. Heneage,
S. T. Purdon, and H. F. Stevenson. Second Master
for Master T. Dobbin.

charge to rentaining longer in the army. There
were comparatively few discharged from incapacity
for further military service. Under the new regu-
lations authorised by Major-General Eyre, the whole
of the discharged men received the arrears of pay
due to them before quitting their barracks, instead
of at the railway station, as was formerly the case.
The Ordnance Select Committee of Woolwich
Arsenal have been engaged for some days past in
testing with much severity one of the Armstrong
100-pounder guns, in order to prove its extreme
power of resistance. The gun has now undergone
100 rounds of fit ing with charges of 141 b. of powder
and projectiles increasing in weight from 100 lb. to
I,ooolb. The 1,00011% projectile was of such length
as to extend nearly two feet beyond the muzzle.
Ten rounds were fired with these enormous bolts,and
the gun is reported to be totally uninjured. The
recoil of the gun was very violent. It is understood
to be the unanimous decision of the select committee
that no further attempt should be made to burst
it, as its strength is deemed abundantly sufficient
for all practical purposes. As the 201 b. elongated
shot has been proved to be most suitable as a charge
for the 25-pounder Armstrong gun, the War De-
partment have instructed the authorities at Wool-
wich to make no further delivery of the 25-pounder
shot, but to issue the 201 b. projectile in future.
This species of ordnance is intended to supersede
the old 32-pounder cast gun, as well as the brass
howitzer, which are ordered to be set aside, none of
the old ordnance to be issued for the present except
the 68-pounder, which is still to be continued in
use as a fortress gun on the coast.