The Sun.
London, England, 1819-09-21 00:00:00

fcw comments.

bas r hat of Naval A rcbitectin e been exceeded ;
W can only judge of improvement by compaii-
sou, I would then request your Readers to cow-

tare the English Al 40.4 as' built iii 1792.

with one of the present date, and here I would
call to mind a pa; t of the old system, such as the
clumsy riders from the keelson to the gunwale, the
preposterous knees to the beams, the ever leak-.
jug waterways, the beakhead, ever subject t;.,
being inundated, and !natty others, too numerous
to mention, all 'of which are nearly Out of date,
and England may now boast of having .a,,Navv,
never exceeded in the annals of History for
soundness Nf timber, superior workmanship,
beautiful connection of all its parts, and elegAnce
of appearance.

I have before, Sir, addressed you ott this
jeer, , wherein 1 have potnted out several of the
improvement to which I allude, such as the dia-
gonal tillers ;and trusses; the tound bow, the
thick waterway and shelf pieces, Stc: &c. till of
which have been before the Public, and their
merits appreciated ; but few of your Readers have
probably ever seen or heard of ships having round
sterns. I had flattered myself, that some Berson
'lmre able than the humble individual that now
addresses you, would have submitted somellitog•
to the l'uldic on this subject, but nothing of the
kind ever having- come to my knowledge, I beg
ivi;ll humble permission, to , offer the

ins; :

For tnerly the sterns of Men of War, ,-.ere com-
post,' of large pieces of tim'oer, called transoms,
lying at ce,taiu heights hot izontally, and upon
•
the upper one or wing, was the remaining part of
the stern erected, formed of pieces called counter
timbers, standing sideway:, nearly perpendicular
between which the %vindows of the s'ertt were
tanned ; now in the place of which, the frame*
or fibs of the ship, is continued all round, similar
to those of the bow, and on those rihs, the plank
is wrought -inside and out, extending from side to
side, so that the stern as nearly resembles the side
in point of workmanship as possible, the stern
windows being formed in like manner to the
ports; this is the outline of • the last great im-
prneentent,
I think I hear some of our old experienced
Naval Officers exclaim, ah ! is this the case, and
is the pride of our Nation and the envy of all
others, to be so metamorphosed as this ? I
answer yes, indeed it is, and although I have
suspended my judgment until I have seen one
corn plet ed, and ach no w I edge that with ni 4 fly
others I was lunch' prejudiced against such a mea-
sure, I must frankly declare that I consider it is
equal with,. if not exceeding, many other im-
provements before referred to.
It is true there are some more essentials that at
present do not seem pleasant to the eye, but it
must be expected in a plan deviating so materially
from the former.
The remarks of M. C. Dupin, as stated in the
New Monthly Magazine for January last, speak-
ing of the British Navy, says, that be holds in
his hands, proofs of former improvements '(s
case much doubted); still I think the one I here-
with submit to your readers, will be found per-
fectly original. As I am not in the secret why
those alterations should be made, I can only anti-
cipate the. cause ; during my experience I have
frequently observed even in ships nearly new, a
great weakness in the sterns, which the most
skilful in the profession have not been able to
remedy, occasioned of course, by the great weigh[
overhanging the transom, and when guns have
been brought to fire aft, as its cases of stern
fighting, this has increased that weakness, and
proved the source of a defect, which has imper-
ceptibly crept forward, until the whole body of
the ship became in Motion ; a strong case of
which we have in the Albion, of 74 guns, Capr„
Ferrior, on her passage from the East Indies; hee
sides were strongly lashed athwart, in order to
bring her to England, not even her magazine
was exempt front working, for the lead was
broken in ten thousand pieces and hundreds of
her bolts were broken.
As I fear I have already infringed on your kind-
ness, 1 shall beg to conclude and remain,
Sir,
Your very humble Servant,
I. B.

Sept. 18, 1819.

COURT OF ALOaRMEN.--Ti►e LORD MAYOEL
.has called another Court of Aldermen for Wed-
nesday next (to•morrow)., the summons for which,
-expresses an earnest request for the attendance
• of the- Members. The complaint against Alder.
man .WAITHMAN is not mentioned in the sun
mons, but is probably comprehended under the
words, " other business."
The Anniversary of the Birth of FERGUSON tl►e
Poet was celebrated on the 6th inst. by the Edit,-
burgh Ferguson Club, at Hepbnrn's Tavern,
High-street. The attendance was very numerous,
a:l.f the company, after partaking of an excellent
dinner, spent-the evening with the greatest hila-
rity. Many ►►pl:topriate toasts were given on the
occasion, and several favourite songs were sung
in fine style by some of the members.
On Wednesday evening, about seven o'clock,
there was a most violent storm of thunder, light.
fling, and rain, in Oxford and its vicinity. Toe
rain came on so furiously that -many houses were
flooded ; and some of ;hem had water in the
vtoun•J floors to the height of two feet.

The subject to which I would most particularly
call their attention at this time, is the late im-
provement in the Britil) Nay, and I regret ll,at

my pen is not able to dclineAte what I at this tin,:

feel, though • I cannot hoist of hoary locks for
year- of expel ienee, ii yards of twenty y,asi
spent in close observation, is sufficient to convince
me, and arty one %vim dives! liiinseP of Hit.:
veil of prejiidic-e, that in no one Art or Science,