The Sun.
London, England, 1861-02-13 00:00:00

THE NAVI

A letter received at Plymouth from the Ajax, at
Kingstown, says :—" On Friday, the Bth, the wea-
ther was very rough, but not stormy ; the wind north-
east, and right in for the harbour. A brig tried to
go out, but could not, and in tacking went ashore
close to the lighthouse. We saved all the men,
but the vessel was dashed to pieces ; she was
laden with salt. On Friday night it blew very
heavily from north-east, and on Saturday morning
we could not see a particle of the wreck. The mail
steamboat Leicester tried to go to Holyhead, but
had to put back, having been nearly lost' in the
gale. It was dreadful to see the waves. Some
dozen vessels at sea endeavoured to put in for
shelter ; all but four succeeded. The first, a fine
brig, ran on the rocks 500 yards from our ship.
Our people were all on shore trying to save the
crew; they saved one man, the master ; all the rest,
five, were drowed. At the same time another vessel
ran on the rocks close to the first. She was lost,
and three men out of five were drowned. A third
vessel was driven ashore, but the crew escaped. The
rocks were all crowded with our men, trying to
help the crews of the wrecked ships, and a lot of
people from the town were looking on. I cannot
describe properly what occurred, but a sea like a
mountain came and washed every one off. Many
were carried up on the land, and drawn back again,
'by the waves. How many were drowned we can-
not tell as yet, but we have recovered nine bodies,
some from under stones a ton weight. Twenty-
one townspeople were lost that we know of, and we
expect there were more. Our loss from the Ajax
'Was Capt. Boyd, John Curry, seaman; James John-
son, A. 8.; John Murphy, seaman; A. Forsyth,
A.B. ; and John Russell. The captain's body is
not yet found. Our gunner, Mr. Farren, is much
cut by the rocks, and a dozen more are in the same
condition ; they are all in bed. Our ship is very
sad and lonely. The gale is all over now. There
have been thousands of people from Dublin to see
the place where the wrecks occurred, and where our
sailors were lost." .

The Speedwell, screw gunvessel, of 5 guns and
427 tons, was successfully launched yesterday from
Deptford dockyard, in the presence of Capt.-Super-
intendent Buckle and several visitors. The cere-
mony of naming the vessel was performed by Miss
Fincham, daughter of the master shipwright. The
Jaseur, a similar vessel, is to be immediately com-
menced on the slip vacated by the Speedwell.
Her Majesty's screw steath=frigate Bristol, built
at Woolwich, under the superintendence of Mr.
Turner, was yesterday launched into the river from
her building-slip in the dockyard. Miss Yelvertom,
daughter of one of the Lords of the Admiralty, had
barely completed the ceremony of christening when
the Bristol was hailed with an uproar of voices and
cheers, as already on her way, completely clearing
herself of her huge cradle and every other inomn-
brance in.a most satisfactory nukanari'and proceed-
ing up the stream, She svgs promptly brought to
by the steamtugs Bustler; NlCnkey, iind Widgeon,
and subsequent hauled into the fitting basin to
.
receive her engthes,_ of 600-horse power. Her
dimensions are As follows :—Length, extreme,
285 ft. ; ditto between the perpendiculars, 250 ft. ;
ditto of keel for tonnage, 204 ft. 7in. ; breadth,
extreme, 52ft.; ditto for tonnage, 51ft. Gin.; ditto
50ft,. Sin;; depth in hold, 18ft. Bin. ; bur-
den in tons, 3,027 40-94. The Bristol is a sister
ship of the Undaunted, built at Chatham, and the
Newcastle, launched on the 16th of November at
Deptford. Her timbers have been selected with
peculiar caution and care.

The screw steam frigate Ariadne, 26, Captain
Vansittart, in Plymouth Sound, had the Blue Peter
flag flying yesterday at noon, and was expected to
proceed shortly for her destination, Gibraltar.
The paddlewheel steam vessel Spitfire, 5, Lieut.
and Commander Allingham, baying received 20
volunteers for the Artillery force, which were con-
veyed to her by the tug Pike, left Plymouth Sound
yesterday for Portsmouth.

The 2d company of Royal Engineers, under the
command of Lieut. A. R. Ilacdonnell, arrived at
headquarters, Brompton Barracks, Chatham, on
Monday night, from Gibraltar, after an absence
from England of upwards of six years.

RIFLE VOL U! DERItY.

The following letter has been addressed by Mr.
Rigby Wason to the Earl of Derby:—
My Lord,--Few can be more disposed than myself to
appreciate your lordship's opinions upon any subject un-
connected with party politics, or more inclined to distrust
themselves when differing from your lordship's views upon
any particular question; and in venturing to publish an
opinion contrary to that which your lordship has ex-
pressed on the inexpediency of giving medals to be com-
peted for by the Rifle Volunteers, my excuse is that the
question between us is far more one of fact than of opinion,
and I submit for the reconsideration of your lordship, that
however easy it may be to carry out your plan in the
wealthy county of Lancaster, or in those called the metro-
politan counties, on account of the opulence of their inb.abi-
tants, yet it would be totally impracticable in nine-tenths
of the other counties in Great Britain, and therefore, to
insist upon carrying out such a plan would be nothing
more or less than sacrificing the end to the means.

The desired end is to render as permanent as possible
the institution of Rifle Volunteers, and that some means
are necessary is preyed by the fact that the Volunteers of
1804 (although double in number to the Volunteers pre,
sent), in a very few years died a natural death ; and it is
believed that the principle of competition—an element which
did not exist among the Volunteers of 1804—would, if
fairly carried out, be most effectual in establishing the per-
manency of Rifle Volunteers.

Practically speaking, competition always *.vorks better
when carried out under a system of prizes ; for although it
may and often does exist without them, as at chess, cricket,
boating, &c., 3 et it must be admitted that while on the one
hand prizes cannot possibly check competition, so, on the
other, they always materially assist it. With this notori-
ous fact, it is not surprising that all who desire that our
Rifle Volunteers should be permanent are in favour of
giving prizes, and the only questions are in what such
prizes should consist, and how they should be competed
for.

The most essential element in the first of these ques-
tions is that the prizes should be of a permanent character,
not given in one year and withheld in the next; and
although in a few counties where there are many wealthy
inhabitants it may be tolerably certain that some one will
always be found able and willing to give prizes to each
corps within the county, yet it is far more certain that in
the great majority of counties the expense of giving such
_ _ _

prizes would invariably fall on one or two individuals in
each district, and whom it would be unjust to tax for an
object of national importance. The feeling of such injus-
tice could only end in the discontinuance of the gift ; and

thus the very element which is proposed to render Rifle
Volunteers permanent would hasten their decay by being
unwisely administered.
There is only one mode of avoiding the evil; and that
is, by establishing. for each corps a prize of a permanent
character, to be the property of the successful competitor
for one year only, and then handed over to his successor.
This would not prevent other prizes being given, but it
would ensure that one should be annually given. Now, I
venture to submit most confidently to your lordship, that
as must permanent prizes can only be retained by the
winner for one year, it is impossible to name a prise so
little open to objection as a medal.
The only objection which your lordship has pointed out
against
ed In abi—that they arc now given to everybody for
everything—may be easily obviated, by making the medal
of so distinctive a character that it could not possibly be
mistaken for any other ; and this, I think, has been accom.
plished by the enclosed, the original of which may be seen
at Hunt and Roskell's ; but even supposing that this should
not fully meet your lordship's objection, yet I submit that
it is of very trifling importance in comparison with that
which I have mentioned against your lordship's suggestion.
On the second question—How such medals should be
competed for ? I have never seen but two plans—that
proposed by the National Rifle Association, the other by
myself. To these I beg to call your lordship's attention,
and have the honour to remain,
Your lordship's most obedient and faithful servant,
Feb. 11, 1861. RIGBY WASON.

The Imperiil Court of Paris has decided that a
banker, when lending money to a person who is not a
trader, nor borrowing for commercial purposes, cannot take
more than the legal interest of 5 per cent. without being
liable to a prosecution for usury.
We learn from Berlin that Mlle. Artot, whose
great success in that city we have already noticed, has now
set the seal to her former triumphs by her singing of
Amine, in the " Somnambula." Her youth and beanty,
not less than her sentiment and style of execution through-
out, are pronounced the beau ideal of Bellini's charming
heroine, in which the musical critics declare that she is
fully equal to Jenny Lind in the best days of that celebrated
vocalist, whose chief success at Berlin was in the fiame
character.—Galignani.

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