The Sun.
London, England, 1859-12-17 00:00:00

TEE FRENCH NAVY.

A very interesting paper, from the pen of M. Rey-
baud, in the new number of the Revue des Deux
Mondes, published this day, contains some details
as to the manning and officering of the French navy,
which are not less interesting from the fact of the
apprehensions of a collision with our " powerful"
ally having temporarily subsided. From this paper
I find that the French navy, exclusive of midship-
men (aspirants), comprises 1,563 officers to wit :
33 Flag officers (admirals, vice-admirals, rear-admirals).
110 Post captains (capitaines do vaisseau).
220 CommanderS (capitaines de fr6gate).
650 Lieutenants.
550 Mates (enseignes).

1563
This list suggests to the Revue the following re- :
fiections :
" Our real effective strength of officers is, there-
fore, 1,563, against about 5,000 borne on the books
of the British Admiralty. The difference is great,
and the inferiority of our position obvious—but it
is still more perceptible on tracing the distribution
of that body of officers on board the fleet in case of
a general armament. It is evident that in the case
of a war it would be necessary to fit out, at the out-
set, all the steamers capable, first, of sustaining the
enemy's fire ; secondly, of chasing as cruisers tner-
chantnien belonging to the nation we are at war
with ; thirdly,,of carrying stores, ammunition, and
troops to our colonies, or to accompany as trans-
ports a war fleet, with a view to an expedition
or a landing • fourthly, of defending commercial
harbours, or the more important military harbours
unprovided with batteries and fixed defences. It
would, moreover, be necessary to arm en flute the
few sailing ships we have left, and which in this
form might be very useful when amalgamated with
a transport a piece, towing them when necessary.
For frigates and large sailing corvettes, essentially
fast sailers, their destination is marked out before-
hand; they should proceed to distant seas, where
coaling is,impossible, and inflict on the enemy's
commerce injuries it could not escape. Out of our
27 sailing frigates, 20 are admirably adapted for
this kind of service ; and all our corvettes are also
well fitted for it. The advantage of such a fleet is,
the case. with which it can be fluted out. Every
ship of those two classes once afloat may be consi-
dered as prepared for sea. The guns and stores are
all ready for use in the dockyards, and our sailing
cruisers might have a good offing before the enemy
could despatch any steamers to intercept them. The
sailing vessels below the rank of corvettes would
not be included in an armament of this description.
As regards the steam fleet, it would also be neces-
sary to wake a selection. For the paddle steamers
no vessels should be taken below corvettes, though
first-class despatch boats (avisos) would be useful
as transports. For flotilla ships, the floating bat-
teries, iron-cased, and plain gunboats, very useful
for the defence of the coasts and the entrance of
navigable rivers, should be taken into account:
The three natural divisions of a complete arma-
ment are, therefore, the following :—War fleet,
transports, and sailing cruisers. Besides the ships
required for these services, we should still have—
, 1. The training ship at Brest, where midshipmen are
• instructed. 2. The gunnery ship, which turns out
first-rate seamen and gunners. 3. The ecole des
mousses (ship-boys' school) at Brest, whence the
cadres of petty and warrant officers are recruited.
• 4. The flotilla stationed in the rivers of Senegal,
E. which in case of a war it would be advisable to
strengthen rather than diminish."
: he writer, on the above data, constructs a tabular
statement., showing the distribution of officers on
board the fleet in case of a war, and also showing the
strength of a fleet necessary for such a service

oi.l • •
q
Pi 0•0
.7->g
WAIL STEAM FLEET.
33 33 165 165 33 line-bf-battle 'ships (screw)
7 7 135 7 iron-plated vessels (screw)
16 16' 80 —l6 frigates (screw)
5 6 20 5 corvettes (screw)
5 5 15 5 first-class advice boats (screw)
11 33 11 second••class advice boats (screw)
9 9 27 9-corvettes (paddle)
31 31 31 iron-plated gun-boats (screw)
TRANSPORT FLEET.
9 9 27 9 sailing line-of-battle ships
29 29 87 2W screw transports
19 19 57 19 paddle ;wheel frigates
SAILING CRUISERS.
20 20 100 —2O frigates
11 11 44 11' corvettes, first-class
Staff of officers commanding in chief or
second in command-
-10 15 20 Chiefs of the staff or aides-de-camp
' In the Ports.
5 8 720 = Direction of the port and workshops in
the five great military ports
3 8 40 Divisions of crews of the fleet
5 8 15
3 7 Aides-de-camp to the maritime prefects
(port admirals)
1 1 8 -- Officers of tho' school line-of-battle ship
1 1 8 6 Officers*. of the gunnery line-of-battle
ship and of the sailors' school
3 Officers of the naval school vessel
'2 Governors and commandants in the
colonies
103 .210 630 532 Personnel strictly necessary for the
'service during war
'llO 228 1650 550 Bresent number
7 110 20 18 ltemaining disposable

This number strikes M. Reybaud as insufficient,
and he advocates its increase ; but he deprecates
making it equal tb our own. "The English," he
says, "hare more than 100 flag officers ; we have.
but 33, of which barely 20 are fit for active service.
The English have 358 post captains ; we have but
110 ; r,nd other ranks in the same proportion. It
would be a folly to attempt to raise our, number of
officers to the level of theirs."
• -What he suggests as a reasonable increase is to
.provide a sufficient number of officers for war pur-
poses,logether with a suitably reserve.
As fog' the crews, M. Louis Reybaud sets down
69,560" as a suitable number to man efficiently the
fleet sketched in the abOve table. Adding a reserve
of 10,000 men—this would require a naval force of,
in round numbe.4s, 80,000 men. Such a force, he
says, the country could easily provide. M. Rey=
baud then enters into, various interesting details as.
to the training and drill of the crews, and thinks
that with careful management and judicious in-.
crease in the body of officers, the present comple-
ment of the navy would be sufficient to man and,
officer efficiently o.e 150 war steamers promiqed for
the year 1871.

ROYAL ENGLISH OPERA.—We regret to state
that owing to the very sudden indisposition of. Miss Louisa
.Pyno the opera Of
.the " Rose of Castillo," announced for
last night at the Royal English Opera, Covent Garden, was
brought to a' premature conclusion. Tho cause of Miss
Pyne's illness was stated to be violent hysteria brought on
by over exertion. It was, however, hoped she would
shortly be able to resume her duties.. Much sympathy was
evinced throughout the House on Mr, Harrison making the
circumstance knowg ,

VOLUNTEER CORPS.

THE INNS OF COURT.

The corps of the Inns of Court continues to re-
ceive fresh additions to its numerical strength
every day. Starting little more than a fortnight
ago, with about 200 members, the number up to
last night had increased to 520, and the practice
proceeds with unflagging energy and spirit. The
corps is divided into six companies, each of which
is drilled twice a day, either in the hall or grounds
of Lincoln's-inn, or in those of the Inner and Mid-
dle Temple, by five experienced sergeants from the
Coldstream Guards, headed by Sergeant-Major
Penyward. Scores of the volunteers were being
exercised in, the position drill yesterday afternoon,
both in the Temple-garden and the grounds of
Lincoln's-inn, regardless of the frost and snow.
Many more were similarly engaged in the halls.
The great majority of the corps have now advanced
as far as the platoon exercise, and the rest, who
joined later, are rapidly passing through the
preliminary stages. Mr. Bentinek, M.P. for
Taunton, occupies the honourable position of an
effective member of the corps. The War De-
partment, on short notice, furnished the requisite
number of rifles with great promptitude. Shortly
after Christmas the whole of the corps is to be as-
sembled for the purpose of electing officers. The
question of the uniform is wisely deferred for the
present, pending the inquiry about to be instituted
on the general subject at the War-office in Pall-
mall, by a committee nominated by the Govern-
ment.