The Sun.
London, England, 1850-12-16 00:00:00

altit

LONDON, MONDAY, DECEMBER 16, 1850.

England being any day open to invasion—as was
first demonstrated by his Grace the Duke of WEL-
LINGTON—it becomes a matter of no inconsiderable
interest to listen to every reasonable suggestioa of
defence, whether it be military or maritime in its
character. The reality of our perilous position is by
this time beyond the reach of doubt or contradiction.
The fact has been proved indeed not less by the
absence of all argument to the contrary, but by the
cogency of reasoning which has characterized the
lucubrations of every individual following up the
opinions of the Commander-in-Chief. From the ex-
plicit manner in which that illustrious soldier pointed
out the danger as at present existing, it would have
been but a miserable pretence, evading in any way
the difficulties of our insular position. If the Duke
himself spoke out thus plainly—what reason could
exist for anyone else to maintain silence, or speak only
in inuendos ? The reality of the evil having become
already so notorious—why on earth should the
recommendation for its removal be regarded as a pe-
rilous exposure ? Manifest, however, as these things
have been all along, it has nevertheless been objected
that the very mention of our indefensible state as a
kingdom is something little short of being actually
treasonous. The objectors not reflecting that the
reverse would on the contrary be the case, and that
he would veritably be the traitor who should venture
to gloze over the existing situation of England among
the powers of Christendom. Quietude and timidity
upon the subject, we maintain, would have been in
the very highest degree culpable; and, hence, conse-
quently, we cannot look, as many do, upon the argu-
ments of Sir FRANCIS HEAD as ill-timed, or upon
those of Sir CHARLES NAPIER as ill-judged, seeing
that the simple fact upon which all those arguments
are built up was long ago proclaimed by no
less a personage than Field-Marshal his Grace the
Duke of WELLINGTON.
Referring at the present moment expressly
and exclusively to the course of proceeding
in reference to this great and all-important
question, which has been hitherto pursued
by Rear-Admiral Sir CHARLES NAPIER—P•
would here direct especial attention to the letters ad-
dressed to various parties upon the subject during
he last few months by that distinguished officer,
those documents having very recently been collected
together and published in the form of a substantial
volume.* Under any circumstances a work from the
pen of the NA PIERS would be certain to secure to
itself our attention and respectful. consideration ; but,
considering the peculiar circumstances under which
the present one makes its appearance, considering the
time chosen for its issue, considering the importance
of the subject and the experience of the writer, it
assumes to itself a more than usual interest, and
possesses a more than ordinary attraction. Added
to the fact of the correspondence comprised in this
volume on " The Navy—Past and Present," being
written by Admiral Sir CHARLES NAPIER, it has the
additional merit of being edited by General Sir Wm-
mans NAPIER, the historian of the Peninsula. Con-
sequently the work comes before us invested with a
twofold- authenticity—signed by a naval hero, and
countersigned by a military annalist. On the very
frontispiece, as it were, of the production, the editor
takes occasion to administer a vigorous blow on that
part of our defensive administration to which much of
the existing evils and embarrassments are attributable.
He exposes the proflipte expenditure required in
the erection of public works, or in their subsequent
renovation, by reason of the exorbitant charges
made in consequence of the estimates of the Ordnance

department. Demanding, as they do, five times the
money for any given is,ork which would be asked for

by private contractors, the officers in this department
entail the most ruinous outlay upon the community,
without yielding for that outlay anything like a com-
pansative advantage. In illustration of the disastrous

system here referred to, we commend pages iii. and iv•
of the "Introduction" to the most serious consideration
of our Financial Reformers.

Reverting, however, to the arguments put forth by
the author, and not merely by the editor of this im-

portant book on naval administration, we would
briefly allude to the peculiar right of Admiral Sir

CRARLES NAPIER to come forward as the advocate of

innovation. That right or privilege we insist upon
in hill behalf, not because of this or that achievement

parformed by him in his professional capacity,
when leading on the mariners of England off St.

Jean d'Acre or off Lisbon, but simply and

briefly because of the wholesome improvements

already suggested by himself in the arrangements of
the national service, and since then carried into effect

to its manifest benefit and development. Among these
should especially be borne in recollection his advice
to discontinue the barbarous system of flogging round
the fleet, and of subjecting petty officers to the igno-
miny of corporal punishment, both of which recom-
mendations have been at length happily carried into
effect. Besides which, it is not to be forgotten that
Sir CHARLES has in like manner exerted himself ener-
getically, with a view to aid in ameliorating the con-
dition of the seamen employed in the Royal Navy, some
of his most excellent suggestions having ultimately
been realized, such as that of paying the sailors

" The Navy: its Past and Presont 13tate." By
Rear-Admiral Sir C. Napier, K.C.B. Edited by Major-
General Sir William Napier, K.C.8., &c.„ &c. Bvo.
PP. 259. London; J. and D. A. Darling. 1,851.