The Sun.
London, England, 1850-09-11 00:00:00

having executed the, manceuvre in one min. 30 secs.,
and the others in a few seconds less. This may be
said to have been done very smartly. The next signal
was to " furl" from bo..vline., &c., and here the In-
flexible, 100, soon began to establish her character as
the cog de l'escadre by beating the other vessels by a
few seconds—the whole time occupied in the opera-
! tion being one min. 58 secs. Soon after
two o'clock the ships began to obey the
signal " Clear for action," which they did with
great celerity, but with a good deal of noise also.
The drums beat to quarters, the fire buckets lanyards
were rove, and the buckets slurig, the tops were
crowded w ith.the armed sailors, protected by tarpaul-
ings triced rip around them, and the guns were all
run out from the ports—the whole being done in a
smart sailor-like manner, but not with unusual quick-
ness. In another instant the whole fleet opened a
most tremendous (although it was a blank) fire,vvhich
Was remarkable for regularity and rapidity. It was
of the character technically called " general firing by
divisions," and it certainly showed the French sailors
to be expert gunners. The musketry from the tops
was not so good as might have been expected ; as a
sight it was magnificent. At last, afrer an itn•
eluded. In a few moments the signal was given to
mense expenditure of gun; owdi T„ the firing con-
man the boats, which pushed off in divisions to re-
present an attack on the steamer Descartes. This
was a beautiful part of the evolutions. Upwards of
55 boats, with heavy guns (321 b. carronades gene-
rally) in the bow, filled with small-arm men, officers,
and sailors, pushed out in excellent order after pre-
paring for nearly half an hour for the attack. For
some time they advanced towards the steamer with
great regularity, the bow guns being fired with
quickness, and the musketry spattering away from
every boat in a continuous roll, so that the advance
soon became obscured by the smoke. Meantime the
Descartes replied by repeated discharges of her heavy
guns, and by a continuous rattle of small arms from
tops, bulwark, and paddle-box platform. After the
boats had pulled for aboat 600 yards their progress be-
came irregular and unsteady, the firing became broken?
the order somewhat confused, but every officer of ex-
perience knows it to be very difficult to manage such
very extensive operations, without great practice, in
boats not accustomed to work together. The shout-
ing and talking in the boats was very great, and
the signals from the Admiral did not appear to be
plainly discernible to the boats, till the recal was
hoisted and the beats pulled away from the victo-
rious steamer. The whole of the evolutions con-
cluded about five o'clock. Sir Thomas Cochrane, Sir
Charles Napier, Captain Chads, Captain Mundy, Cap-
tain Jones, Captain Seymour, Sir G. Lyons, Captain
Hall, dined with the President on board the Fried-
land, and all the captains and senior officers of
the fleet were invited on the occasion. The ban-
quet was laid out on the deck, which was very
tastefully decorated. About 130 persons were present.
After dinner the Admiral Deschenes proposed " the
health of the President" in a civil speech. The Pre-
sident shortly replied, and in doing so paid a neatly
turned compliment to the naval officers, English and
French, observing, with respect to the French navy,
that if it had not always been crowned with laurels,
its cypress was still full of honours. There was no
enthusiasm in his reception by the officers. It is un-
derstood that the fleet will not sail till the 15th. A
grand display of fireworks took place at night, and
the President left for the shore under a salute about
half-past 9 o'clock.
CHERBOURG, MONDAY, SEPT. 10.—The President
up to the time of my departure had not visited the
fleet, but it was generally understood that he would
proceed on board early in the day, and accompany
the Admiral in a cruise outside the Digue, when the
vessels would represent the manoeuvres of beating to
windward in two divisions, and then engaging in
action. This, however, rests on mere hearsay, and
as the weather is freshening a little, and the soft
wind is roughening into a breeze, it is probable
that the President will consult the comfort of his
inner man, as well as the dignity of hii office, and
stay on shore. In leaving this port, now deserted
by nearly every English flag, it may be pardoned
if I make a few remarks on the place it-
self and on the fleet which has been as-
sembled here so long. With the exception
of wandering yachtmen and a few inquisitive
naval officers—for the service possesses some
officers who look to the coast of France
sometimes, and do not for ever regard the shores of
India and America—there are not many Englishmen
who know that within less than 66 miles of Ports-
mouth there is a French port in which the most ex-
tensive works have been for years carried on till na-
ture has given way to the resources of skill and in-
finite art, and, the sea and land alike overcome, have
yielded to our ancient foe one great naval entrepot
placed in a direct line with our greatest dockyards,
fortified at an enormous cost, till it is impregnable to
everything but desperate daring and lucky hardihood,
increasing day after day in force and power, accessible
from every point of the compass and at all states of
the tide to a friendly fleet, capable of crushing be-
neath an almost irresistible fire the most formidable of
hostile armaments—in one word, " the eye to watch,
and the arm to strike the ancient enemy." There is
no geographical necessity for such a port opposite
to our coast. The commerce of France do .s not
need it. Cherbourg is not visited by the trader
and merchantman; but not Brest, nor Rochefort, nor
Toulon, is now E 0 much regarded or looked upon
as of such importance. Our neighbours may well
remark that they are justified in protecting a place
which has already felt the force of our arms, and that
they are bound to protect Cherbourg from such a con-
tingency as that which occurred in the last century,
when Admiral Bligh laid it in ruins; but Admiral
thigh would not have attacked Cherbourg had it not
been a menacing warlike station ; and, talk as they
may, there can be no doubt that the whole of these im
mense works are prepared for a war with England, and
with England alone. When I say this, of course I do
not mean to say that France will take any unjust ad-
vantage of her position ; but we ought not to shut our
eyes to the fact that such a place is within seven or
eight hours' sail of England, and that a French fleet
leaving it in the evening with a leading wind could
be off Portsmouth next morning, and could bombard
any of our towns on the southern coast. Cherbourg
is then a " war port," and not only that, but it is an
English ss ar port, and the first event of a hostile
character which takes place, if any unhappy disturb-
ance of our friendly relations with the republic should
occur, will in all probability be connected with that
important and commanding station. It lies in a sort
of bay into which a strong sea and tideway ran
formerly from Cape La Hogue, so as to neutralize
the rare advantage on that coast of deep water
and excellent moorings. To raise it to the charac-
ter of a safe harbour has been the constant effort
of many French kings since the days of Louis
XIV., end many ingenious eugineers have
propounded plans for the successful construction of a
great breakwater across the bay. Year after year
this breakwater has risen up, piled up by the ceaseless
labours of thousands of men from the very bosom of
the ocean; oftentimes the gale of a night would break
up and destroy the work of many months, scattering
great rocks like sand, and drowning whole troops of
soldiers and workmen. At last Napoleon visited the
place, and took in at a glance the importance of its
position as regarded his unrelenting foe. IVith his
usual Titanic energy he hurried on the works till
speedily they rose in ponderous masses above the
waters, but with the imbecile Government that suc-
ceeded him they were allowed to stand still, and to
Louis Philippe belongs the credit of having advanced
to a state bordering on completion this enormous un-
dertaking. It is far greater than:the Plymouth break-
water, being about 2i miles long, nearly one•half again
as broad, and one-third again as deep as that noble
structure. At either end will be placed heavy forts,
towards the erection of which some progress has been
made, and in the centre is a large battery with light-
house, which is nearly ready for the reception of all
its guns, some being already mounted and in the em-
brasures. This breakwater, called the Digue, is
Command-
about two miles from the interior harbour. Inside
albanyr h
and eat
either
mt heaexnrt.eroeifs.
-f-war
tesy a
deep partewater,acllapb
tandtrines
eles ofob
f thepassages leading
t ti
dine
g used by the
I .
ing one of these entrances is the Fort 'hornet, placed
on a projection of the shore, and mounting no leas
1 than 90 heavy guns, casemated. On an
I island placed across the other entrance is the Fort
La Pelee, which also mounts 90 heavy guns,
the fire of some of which crosses the fire of the
guns of Hornet at right angles in the roads. At
another point commanding the entrance is another
fort—Querqueville—which can sweep the roads with
the fire of 40 32-pound shell guns. As if all this
were not enough, the arsenal walla are casemated and
mounted with cannon, and every height over the
town is commanded by a fort, while the sea walls
, present all the features of a regular fortification, and
I are plentifully provided with cannon and ease-
-1 mated redoubts. In facts, an attack by open day
on such a place would be madness. These batteries
could blow a
forts were carried by a coup-de-main—a thing in it-
-1 self almost to be despaired of—the victors would
' be molested in their dearly-won defence by shells
from the heights above. Should this great
arsenal ever be attacked success must be field
and speedy, or an awful lesson will be taught the
assailants. As the French themselves say, it will be
y
rvDeoaruydrs e,
a getting
at
intng o
enemy,go get into
i n,tio,he there u
Cherbourg,
h towner e
terrible
rboef
oflers nothing
remarkable : the works which defend it are not yet
finished, but appear to be in course of completion.
Inside the piers to the west are the arsenal works.
The dockyards do not offer any very remarkable pie-
, ture of activity to one who has seen our great este-
, blisinuents at Woolwich and Portsmouth, and it
struck me there was a want of steam power which
told against the rapidity of the turning, cutting, and
mast-waking operations. The yard is entirely Bur-

rounded by a strong wall. The most striking works are
' the great basins inside, carved out of the solid rock, 32
feet c!...'ep at low water, and capable cf containing 20
sail of the line alongside. A third, of greater dimen-
sions, is forming, so that Cherbourg will contain
basins able to take in more than thirty first-class
vessels with perfect ease There are six building
slips, which are thus occupied—Nos. 1 and 2 by the
Canada and Infernal, fiat-class steamers ; No. 3 by
the Austerlitz, 100; No. 4 by the Resolue, 40; No.
5 by the Tilsit, 90; No. 6, empty. When I visited
the yard there were no works in progress, but gene-
rally there is no difficulty in a respectable stranger
obtaining admission, at the time of work, on applica-
tion to the authorities. They do not build their
steam-engines here—indeed, most of the French
steamers are provided with steam-engines from Hol-
land, but all other naval works are carried on to a
great extent at Cherbourg. And now one word as to
the fl vet. I believe I only echo the opinions of all the
naval officers present when I say that France never sent
a finer armament on the waters. Every improvement
of which ships are capable has been tried with
them, and even to such points as new and very ex-
cellent " stops" on the cables has the minutest attention
been pail. The officers are all excellent theorists,
quick and intell'gent men, and full of mathematics;
the crews for the mot part young, with a want of
weight and " beef" about them, but smart, active,
and sinewy. Some of them are conscripts, but that
does not hinder their being zealous and obedient.
Since the republic was established flogging has been
abolished, and minor punishments have become
tolerably frequent. Tney are served with about a
glass of brar.dy and two glasses of wine (ordinaire)
each day. Their messes are small, the table uncom-
fortable ; his ship is not the French sailor's home, and
the little comforts of having his cans and cups and
saucers with him are not allowed to him as to the
British sailor, his mess traps being taken away and put
up after meals below deck. The space for hammocks
is rather limited, not being more than 14 inches for
boys, and 18 to 19 inches for men; but they have
an advantage in possessing (each of them) a
separate box, accessible to the owner at all reasonable
times; so that theft of necessaries and wearing appa-
rel can scarcely occur. The dress they have copied
from us altogether—wide trousers, without braces,
tight over the hips, white or blue jackets, turndown
collar, round hat, with the name of the ship on the
riband. Perhaps they imitate our swagger, too.
They are too fond of talking when aloft, but are very
quick when eut on the yarda, and handle small arms
with dexterity. If a message is given to a sailor, he
takes it direct to the captain, whom he generally ad-
dresses bluntly enough, and does not send it through
an eafficer. The dress of the officers does not resemble
ours so much as that of the men, but the same system
prevails of marking grades of rank by the depth and
numbers of rows of lace, by epaulettes, &c. One very
ugly custom they still retain, which it that of fasten-
ing up their cadets and enseignes de vaisseau with
aiguillettes and tags like footmen.
The Friedland, 120, flag of Admiral Deschenes,
is an old but serviceable ship; she carries 1,184 men,
and stows all her provisions, water, &c., with case ;
roomy between decks, but rather too little space be-
tween each gun. Tire Admiral is a mild gentle-
manly man, a kind good officer, who has seen service
against Nelson in the old war. He is said to be an
admirer of Joinville, and not a friend of the revolu
tion. His speech, on proposing the President's
health, was certainly cold. The armament consists
of long and heavy. French 301 b. (equal to English
341 b.) guns, with some 68's on the main deck. The
Valnay, 120 (flag of stdmiral Dubourdieu), is an
immense vessel. Reckoning all her fiats she has no
less than six decks (including the orlop and a lower
orlop deck). She was originally pierced for 140 guns,
but would not " stand up" at all when launched,
so that they were obliged to double her, which gives
her a swelling outline to the water line. She has a
handsome round stern, with splendid galleries (the
Friedland has a stern of the old cut), carries 1,160
men, and has no less than 18 841 b. guns on her main
deck. From her great height out of the water she
would give her opponent a great deal of trouble, not
to speak of her other sources of annoyance. The
cabins are nicely fitted up. The French Government
is far more liberal to its captains than we are, for
it gives them very neatly-furnished cabins gratis.
What a row Mr. Cobden or good Mr. Hume would
make, if they heard of an aristocratic commander
getting a dockyard deal table into his ship for
nothing I The Henri W.—an ominious name among
all these Republican sisters—has never yet been
to sea, but it is a very fine looking three-decker
of 108 guns, with 1,021 men. Indeed, there is
not one of them (the Jena, 92, 967 men, the Je-
mappes, 100, 1,000 men, the Jupiter, 92, 980 men,
Hercule, 100, 995 men, Minerve, 60, GOO men, for
gunnery practice), which would not be able to take
her own part in sailing or fighting. I was near for-
getting the Infl-xible, 100, which is the crack ship of
the fleet, and is equal to our smartest vessels in most
manoeuvres in harbour. There is a great deal of brass
work about the ships, and a good deal of our old po-
lishing system is still maintained. Admiral Dubour-
dieu, a stern, grim, silent old officer, who lost an
arm at Navarine, when in command of a small frigate,
is said to have a weakness in favour of rubbing up
cannon balls and nailheads. Certainly his ship is as
bright as a new pin.
The steamers are by no means handsome, but they
are better—they are good. The use of long pivot
guns on the upper deck is entirely discarded—if, in-
deed, it was ever adopted ; but instead they have very
heavy batteries at the bow and stern on the main
deck, so as to be very useful in sailing to or from an ,
enemy in a direct line. The Descartes, the largest ,
steamer they have except the Mogador, is of 540-
horse power, can work up to 650—her engines, made
in Holland, weigh 700 tons, consumption of coals 60
tons per diem, steam for ten days—has carried 2,000
troops, it is said, and can go ten knots an hour ; her
ports are nearly six feet out of water with all stores on
board. She has eight guns on deck—on upper deck,
six inch shell guns and two 32-pounders; on main
deck has the same armament; was pierced for 38
guns, but only carries 16 ; her scantling is 18 1 .6
inches (that of the Terrible is '2 feet). With the ex-
ception of the Terrible, Sidon, and Retribution, we
have no such steamers in our service. To give some
data for comparison, I may say that the Retribution,
just commissioned at Portsmouth, carries on the
upper deck 168 (solid) pound gun, 9 68 (hollow)
pound guns ; on main deck, 12 32 pound ; scantling,
1 foot 8 inches; engine, 400-horse (can work to
1,200-horse power). Tne Magellan (engines by
Cane, of Paris) is less than the Descartes, having
been built for packet service, but has been found very
serviceable. The other vsseels call for no particular
remark. Any of your readers capable of forming an
opinion may judge for themselves of the force and
real value of this tremendous fleet.

COURT CIRCULAR.
Ihron de Rehausen, the Swedish and Norwegian
Minister, transacted business yesterday, at the Fu-
reign-office.

Renal Effendi, inspector-general of schools in tle
Ottoman Empire, has arrived from Constaninople at
the Turkish Embassy, in Bryanston-square.
Dispatches from the Governor of Canada, and also
from the Governors of the other North American
C donies, were received yesterday at the Colonial-
office.

GLEN TILT.—The Duke of Athol is not yet done
with the shutting up of Glen Tilt. Notwithstanding the
recent decision of the Court of Session in favopr of the open-
ing of the pass, it hasthis season been more 'carefully guardei
than ever. It was only last week that a highly respectable
party from Braemar were turned back by one of the Duke's
menials, and told that without a line from his Grace no
one could be permitted to pass on. And these lines of
admission are gone about in the most business-like way
imaginable. I hey are regularly-printed cheques, evidently
torn from a book kept for the purpose, with the name
of the ' fortunate holdei inserted on a blank line, and
thereafter the " open sesame" of Athol appended to the
precious document. We saw one in the possession of an
individual who got it through the intervention of it friend,
which, enables us to speak definitely on the subject: The
matter must be kept before the country, as, public interests
are deeply interwoven with it. Especially at'this period of the
year is the prohibition a great annoyance to many an intel-
ligent tourist, and the Duke of Athol must be taught
to feel that he is sacrificing both his good name and
his money (neither of which, we understand, are super-
abundant) in a game in which he will ultimately
be the loser. We believe the Duke states that the
decision of the Court.of Session only has the effect of throw-
ing open Glen Tilt to the three gentlemen who were pursuers
in the action against him, so that, by his
,Grace's under-
standing of the finding of their Lordships, our townsman,
Mr. Torrie, is one of three gentlemen, who of all broad
Scotland. or England either for that matter, are alone en-
titled to roam at large, in this romantic district without a line
from the Duke of Athol, to produce at every other turning
of the road. 'We are sure that not a few have envied Mr.
Torrie's good fortune within the past few weeks, and we can
only hope that it will' be their turn next —Aberdeen Banner
THE DUKE OF CAMBRIDGE'S ANNUITY.—The first
quarter's payment of, the Duke of Cambridge's annuity .of
12,0001., secured by the Act passed on the 14th ult. (13th
and 14th Victoria, cap. 77), will become payable on the 10th
of next month, which annuity is to cease if he should become
Sovereign of any foreign state. The annuity of 3,0001. to
the Princess Mary of Cambridge is secured by the same Act.
TIM HON. AND REV. MR. SPENCER.—Father
Ignatius (Mr. Spencer) is at present on a tour in the
northern 'district, and has, during the last fortnight, been
preaching at Sunderland, Shields, and Newcastle. The
Revererid Gentleman, habited in the full costume of bis order,
attracted the notice of crowds who have flocked to the
chapels to listen to his discourses. On the railway line he
always travels by the third or poor-class carriages; notwith-
standing, he has been remarkably well received by, strangers
who know little about his sacred
mission. The subject of the
Reverend Gentleman's lectures is mainly on the conversion
of England, which, he argues, may be accomplished by the
prayers of the faithful—an object which he has been pursu-
ing for the last twelve years. Father Ignitius, we under-
stand, in future will not be confined to a parish or district,
but, with his order, will travel about the country, preaching
wherever audiences can be got to listen to the truth, whether
in chapel,- lane, street, or highway.—Tablet.
The Liverpool Chronicle says that ruinours prevail
at Bolton that Sir Joshua Walmsley has accepted .I)fqce
under the 'Government, which would render
_pecreary,.4B,
p-electiou Or that tm.

~