The Sun.
London, England, 1850-02-13 00:00:00

NAVAL INTELLIGENCE.

PORTSMOUTH, TUESDAY.—The Winchester, 50, was
docked to-day f ,r repair.
The Royal yacht Victoria and Albert was taken into
the steam- basin to-Jay to receive her boilers, &e. The
Termagant screw-frigate aid the Ilecatl paddle-sloop
wore also taken in, to lay up until required for ser►ico.
An accident, which might have been attended with
most disastrous consequences, occurred in the harbour
this arternoon about three o'clock. As one of the gigs
belonging to the York convict hulk was coining down the
harbour, by the strength of the ebb tido she got drawn
in betwsen the Dutch ship Clara Lasina lintnegonda
and the Topaz receiving-hulk, when the top of the boat's
mait fouled the Dutch ship's chain, and capsized the
boat, throwing the keeper and fur convicts into the
water. Fortunately, by the assistance of the Dutch
crew, and ropes hanging over, they were enabled to
clamber into the ship, and were saved. The boat drifted
out of the harbour.

Wind, W., strong breries and cloudy, with r asiirg
shower..

WOOLWICH, FED. 12.—Captain Austen, C. 8., has
been again at the Admiralty to-day, making the neces-
ary arrangements for the expedition to the Arctic re-
gions, and in the afternoon, with Captain Sir Baldwin
Walker, K.C.13., Surveyor of the Navy, proceeded to
Blackwall, returning to the Admiralty about four o'clock
r.m. It is understood the expedition will consist of two
sailing-vessels and two small Warners, having a small
draught of water, and both fitted with screw-propellers,
A plan, submi, ted by Mr. Tucker, one o !the foremen
of shipwrights at Woolwich, for fitting a *crew-propeller
astern of the dead wood of the vessel, has boen highly
spoken of, and there is every reason to believe it will be
adopted in one of the steamers.

Air. Penny, formerly master of the Advice, who was
retained by Lady Franklin, had interviews yesterday
with the Lords of the Admiralty and with Captain Aus-
ten, but his mission to the Arctic regions will be in a
vessel of his own selection, at present at Aberdeen, and
she will be entirely under his own control, independent
of Captain Austen's expedition, excepting the mutual
good services they may render to each other, should they
:meet in the Polar seas.
Captain W. Peel was at the Admiralty a considerable
time yesterday, and is most anxious, it he does not ob-
tain the command of one of the vessels, to act as an ad-
ditional eaptain for a land party, or to proccel over the
ice. Captain Caffin, formerly commander of the
Scourge, has also volunteered his services to proceed
with the expedition, and had conferences yesterday
with Captain Austen and Captain Bird, the latter having
been consulted on many subjects connected with the ex-
pedition, but is not expected to accompany it on this oc-
casion.

Mr: J. Barrow, F.U.S., one of the senior clerks at the
Admiralty, has been most indefatigable in collecting in-
formation of a useful nature from the valuable papPrs
in his possession, and Rear-Admiral Beaufort,
F.R.S., and Captain Sir G. Bick, have unceasiogly.af-
forded their able assistance and advice on every subject
connec'e l with the expedition, and no exertion will be
spared to render it the most efficient ever sent t') the
Arctic Regions.

COTTON.—It having been represented to the Board
ustos hat it is Ycry desirable, for the interests of
craf C roerchants and others engaged in the cotton trade, that
an nce.)ont should be taken of the several kinds of cot-
ton wool exported, the board have issued an order di-
recting that in future all cotton wool entered for expora_
tation be described in the shipping bills by ono or other
of the specific denominations commonly recognised, or
by such other denomination as may correctly indicate its
growth. This new regulation has resulted from au ap-
plication recently made to the Customs authorities from
the brokers and merchants of the port of Liverpool, and
others interested and concerned in the cotton trade, in
order that a correct knowledge may at all times be ob-
tained of the stack of cotton actually existing in the
kitlzdem.

GREAT SCARCITY OF COD FISH.
TO THE EDITOR OF ILE SUN.
Sts,—Billingsgate market this morning exhibits
pretty practical, proof of the necessity there is, that
some measures should be adopted to prevent those
fluctuations of supplies the market according to the
now existing state of things is subject to. At one
period, not many years ago, when there were upwards
of three hundred and fifty welled smacks constantly
engaged in the deep-sea "Codding trade," London
market WAS then the boast of the world for its
pritnest description of cod-fishotiad its regularity of
supplies. Like the butcher who keeps his cattle
pinned up alive until they are required to be killed;
a') were the cod-fish kept alive in the vessels' wells
until there was a wholesome demand. There having
been such a considerable number of vessels in he trade, when it happened the weather was boisterous at sea fur a number of days, the market was
not very materially affected, as there were always a
number of smacks lying et Gravesend with living cod
to supply the demand. That good old system, like
many other good old systems, now wears a -different
aspect. The great competition offered by the .open-
boat along-shore fishermen to the sidled smack
owners has caused the greatest number of th© smack
owners to withdraw their vessels from the. regular
deep-sea trade. The consequence is, that when the
weather happens to be at all boisterous (as it has been
lately), the open-boat fishers cannot put to Sea; and
now, there only being a few cod-smacks engaged in
trade, when
lefthentheal vin.leoastthehraries auf littlefrcsbhoicsotedr.ouss,otrnhes
themarkets are
little time since, when the weather was fine, large
cod weie sold at Billing'gate for two shillings or
half-a-crown. This morning the wholesale price of
cod fish was from
lam,
fifteen sshiirl,linzcs.,to one guinea each.

Feb. 13, 1850.

11. DEMPSTER.'

THE PENEVSULAR WAR.
TO THE EDITOR. OF THE TIMES.
_ . _

Sir,—M. Thiers, in his 9th volume of the Conga-
/ate and Empire, claims for_hitnself the secret of tl'.
Peninsular war, having found it in certain papers to
which he only has had access. That may be; but I
ask if he is incapable of drawing false conclusions
from secret materials to support perverse assertions ?
To answer with good warrant let us examine how
he deals with authentic documents, not confined to
his secret repertory.
Thiers—" 3,000 brisk resolute Frenchmen" opposed
15,000 English at Ricorca.
Reply—The Duke of Wellington judged the
_French to be 6,000. ' Laborde, er,
their command,
denied he had 6,000, thus tacitly admitting he had
5,000 or more.
Thiers—The English had 400 cavalry.
Reply—The English Adjutant- General'. return
gives 250.
Thiers—Laborde wounded or killed 1,200 or 1,500
English at Ricorca.
Reply—The Adjutant-General's return gives 479
killed, wounded, and missing.
Theirs—"Junot collected 9,000 some hundred
men to fight at Yitneira."
Reply—The French order of battle found on the
field gave 14,000.
Tneirs-22,000 French embarked under the Con-
vention.
Reply—The official French embarkation return
gives nearly 26,000 men and officers.
Thiers—" Only 26,000 men followed Junot into
Portugal."
Reply—The Imperial muster-rolls give 29,584
effective in Portugal, 23d of May, 1808.
Theirs—The French army of Spain under Na-
poleon was 250,000 strong, of which 200,000 only
were assembled there the end of October, 1808.
Reply—The Imperial muster-rolls show, on the
25th of October, more than 319,000 einctive ; on the
15th of November, more than 339,000 effective.
Thiers—Sir John Moore's troops arrived at Sala-
manca, exhausted by their long march, and by pri-
vations.
Reply—M'ore's dispatches say his troops were In
better case than when they started from Lisbon ;
they suffered no privations, and their excellent con-
dition up to Sahagun was notorious.
Thiers—" Moore advanced to Sahagun with 29,000
English troops, and about 10,000 Spaniards."
Reply—The Adjutant-General's return of the 19th
of December gives 23,583 of all arms; Moore had no
Spaniards, and Romano, who did not act in concert,
bad only 6,000.
M.Thiers cannot deny the authenticity of my num-
bers, seeing they were taken from the original Impe-
rial muster-rolls in the French War office; not the
yellow, but the green rolls; the officers of that
office will appreciate the di-tinction of colours.
M. Thiers cannot plead ignorance. All the docu-
ments are printed in my history, and he had access
to the French originals.
So much for quantities. Let us examine him as to
quali its.
Thiers—Wellington has a " contracted intellect ;"
it John Moore was " irresolute in council ;" the
English soldier is " beaten almost to death for the
least fau!t ;" he i 3 I:ttle practised to march ;"
is inanimate, feeble, when forced to move to at-
tack ; " "he has no vivacity, no audacity, no en-
thusiasm, no hardihood, no enterprise ;" "to beat
him he must be forced to take the initiative in at-
tack," &c.

R ply—Wellington's intellect, measured by M
Tniers' imagination, must appear very contracted.
Yet it is strange that with a few troops having no
enterprise, no hardihood, and fearing to be beaten
to death for trifling offences, he should have main-
tained the war for five years successfully in Spain,
against enormous numbers of soldiers anti officers
the best and most skilful in the world, according
to M. Thiers, and, finally, should carry that war
int') France ! Strange that troops unable to march
should have moved, in face of an enemy, from Lis-.
bon to the .A,,oieds, from the Agueda to Madrid, from
the Douro to the Adour, from the Adour to the
Upper Garonne. Stranger still, if to beat those
troops it was only nectssary to make them attack,
that they should have attacked successfully at Rorica,
where the French hill was five times more steep, rug-
ged, and difficult than the English hill at Vimeira,
which the French unsuccessfully attacked ; that they
forced the passage of the Douro and drove Soult out
of Portugal ; that they attacked Massena at Re-
dinha, at Casal Nova, at Fonts d'Aronce, at Sabugal,
and drove him also out of Portugal ; that they at-
tacked and retook the key of the position at
Albuera, which the Spaniards had lost ; that they
attacked and defeated Marmont at Salamanca—
the King at Vittoria, driving him out of Spain ;
that in the second fight, near Panipelun, they at.
tacked Soult's mountain position, and drove him out
of Spain ; that they forced the intrenched mountain
position at Vera, and his fortified mountain lines on
the Nivelle, covering. B lyonne ; that they passed
the Gave de Pau in face of the French army, and de-
feated that army at Orthes—that they passed the
Garonne and forced the intrenched camp at Toulouse,
thus terminating the war ! 11. Tniers is not happy
in his military reveries. Brilliant phrases condemns -
tory of revolutions which he could neither arrest nor
guide are more consonant to his genius.
Thiers—Sir John Moore was " irresolute in coun-
cil"—" he yielded to the imperious admonitions of
Mr. Frere"—" papers published by his family prove
this."

Reply—The papers published by Moore's family
proved that he repelled Mr. Frere's arrogance with
calm dignity, did not follow his plan'', and changed
his own because fresh events called for change. His
irresolution in council exists in M. Thiers' imagina-
tion—nowhere else. Those who knew Sir John
Moore will laugh at such a silly assertion. M.
Thiers has not been so remarkable for political reso-
lution himself as to give him a right to censure
others. In what council known to him did Sir John
Moore Isplay irresolution? Those who have read
that General's journals know of several held with
Mr. Pitt, Lord Melville, and others, wherein his abi-
lity, unhesitating vigour, and readiness to undertake
what he advised, the sure sign of resoltrion, were
signally manifested. But Al. Thiers speaks
wardsaPer-
combinedo with
of his ` prudentirresolution fi rn in
l Indomitable
ess.Prudent
resolu-
tion, both in council and in the field, vas 3 oor s
characteristic. Napoleon himself was not more firmnesslde-
cided.,
One more example of unfouinsdeddycensure.
erved the
Spanish cause by drawing
" Sir John Moore saidx. h
• • the south time to rally.callsd
a " presumptuous manner of presenting the affair to
. ,oei. the
Thie north,rA an
giving aol Taohins to
AI.A
cover a disastrous campaign.
The best reply to that prasumptuous remark is M.
'Thiers' history, wherein he 4is'inctly shows that
Napoleon did turn all his forces from the south to the
north in consequence of Moore's advance to Sahagun
—an advneee H hie') that General had previously de-
clared he would make to produce such a result !
Verily, M. Thiers must amend his wanner of treat-
ing known accessible facts, if he would have his
authority accepted for the unknown and inaccessible.
WretiAsi NAPIER, belPjo:- General.

NAVAL CLUB or members of this
F,allant club dined together at the Thatched Douse
1 av-rn on Monday - Ndmiral Sir Charles
Malcolm, president e f the club, took the chair, and was
supported by upwards of foriv of his comrades; among
whom were Captains Sir E. Belcher, C. 8., ("harks
Crole, E. Chippell, Thomas Dickensor, H. E. Edgell,
C. Edmunds, H. Gossett. Percy Grace, W. J. T. Hood,
R. Bridlism, Sir John Ross, C'.B., The
secret ry, Mr. Al'en, eccupied the Tice-chair.
UNIVERSITY' COLLLGN, LONDoN.—The council, at
their session on Saturday last, awarded the Ilahetty
Scholarship in classics to Mr. Alfred Wills, of Birming-
ham—examiners, Arthur St. Clough, M.A., Professor
Newman, and Professor Maiden. At the same
session, on the recommendation of the Fa7.ttlty of
Medicine, the Longridga Priza of 401.ifor general prod-
, cieuy wets awarded to Mr. Relay Briggs, of Mau»

TUE WEATHER.—Srx Orncm, FEN 13.
TIMUNOMETZA, Lowest, 28; Highest, 45. Noon 36

B.anomwrza, 3006.
Wi W.N.W.—fiae sunshiny weather.