The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1839-01-01 00:00:00

STATE OF THE NAVY.

(From the Newcastle Journal.) '
The following extract from that Ministerial toady, the Sun-
day Observe, will serve as a choice specimen of the sort of
sty le in which the desecration and growing delapidation of
that holiest arm of national greatness, the Navy, is itnpu-
deutly denied out, and is to be mendaciously defended in
Parliament:—

" A most gratifying sensation, we understand, was,pro-
duced among those present at the dinner given to Sir James
Carnac, by the Court of East India Directors, on Wednes-
day last, by what fell from the Earl of Mintn, in returning
thanks for "The Navy." His Lordship deClated in the bold-
est- and most decided manner, that it would be found, on ex-
amination, that the Navy of this country bad not for many
years been in so efficient a state, and so well prepared for the
proper reception of a foreign enemy. We rejoice to think
that that Noble Earl will be able, when the proper opportu-
nity arrives, to dispel by facts the groundless alarms which
have been propagated by anonoymous letter writers on this
vital subject."
This sort of jargon, it will be perceived, is to the very words,
nothing but a repetition of the sort of " facts" which the same
Lord, so renowned for his achievements in the club-law and
ducking line among Hawick Votes, so dauntlessly sported
during the last Session of Parliament in the House of Lords
witlf all the effrontery of_Scotch brass cast in the coarsest
mould, and most impenetrable to shame. There is something
amusing doubtless in the wordy gasconade with which this feat
of the Admiralty Chief is recorded by the subordinate official
scrubs appointed to herald his exploits, and the "boldest and
most decided manner" in which my Lord can spout, when
the wine is in and the wit out,. will not.
,fail of due apprecia-
.

tion among the veterans who have never mistaken him yet
for a salamander or a fire eater. , By and bye he will haVe an
opportunity of eating his own words and gulping down his
own falsehoods in that.assembly_ where his repetitions of the
same feat on former occasions, if they have not marle him a
perfect, show him a practised hand and a willing though a
clumsy juggler. But although he kept his "facts" if not his
words wisely to himself, a small hack of the, Admiralty some-
where about Plymouth, called .the bevoz.lprt Telegraph,
has been, as we learn from our contemporary, the West of
England Conservative, published in the, same locality, in-
structed to parade in the offing and lake soundings prepara-
tory to a parliamentary "demonstration," which we may take
it for granted will prove as signal an abortion as the "demon-
stration ships" got up for, shew and for service upon paper,
and from thence safely .to bombard enemies afar off, instead
of blowing them out of the sea, as jacketed scarecrows are
stuck in corn-fields to frighten cock sparrows and other winged
vermin. From this demonstration" of the Devon port under-
strapper we learn that— , .
Of ships of the line in icommission, actually at sea, there
are
In pout and soon could be got ready 4
Demonstration ships ready for commission l3
Ships which could be got ready in a few weeks l5
l'hird rate, which on an emergency might be sent to sea

for a service of two or thtee years` 2l
Tha writer of an able pamphlet, which,has been largely quo-
,ed by the Times.. itiatoLard andjournals in
town aott cout!try: as- conausivaly that them, ••••
roonstration" ships, with those which could be "gut ready
in a few weeks," could not in reality he made available for
service afloat under any circumstances fur many months, and
as to the " emergency" ships they are mere old hulks rotting
in ordinary, in which neither men nor commanders. however
intreped, could easily be found to adventure their bodies.
Admitting for a moment that the twenty-eight demonstration
and "ready" ships, which it would take months to fit out, are
so far all that could be expected, where are the crews to come
from when the "emergency" arrives? Seamen are not
manufactured so readily as faggot votes at Hawick, as the
Conservative cuttingly observes, nor, we nsay add, are Nelsons
and Collinewoods so abundant in the navy now or so likely.to
be selected for service as the Eiliotts and Glevs with which
it is crammed, and of whom all that is known is in the shape
of job and sinecure in piping times of peace. The result
therefore is that,,including the four ships in commission but
in port, which might possibly be got ready in a "few weeks,"
there are actually disposable and ready for service at sea just,
twenty-one ships of the line and no more. But of these
twenty-one ships it is well known, and is not denied; that all
of them, excepting the flag ship of Admiral Elliot himself,
the brother of Lord Minto, are but hal/manned, and with
only half their complement of guns on board in consequence.
From the East India, West India, Brazilian, Pacific and
Canadian stations, Where on service there is not a letter re-
ceived, whether from on board the ships or from merchants
ashore, which does not attest the fact. •
Ships of the line and of war are in the usual acceptation
meant for service and not for show for action and not for
"demonstration." They were formerly. if not now, intended
to represent to rival or hostile states the power and greatness
of the British emnire and the British people—moreover,
they were especially designed to watch over and protect the
interests of British commerce. Securely and free from in-

suit did the sails of the peaceful trader blanch every sea and

career it to every clime. Our empire being the most vast and
varied, and our commerce the most extensive, it would fol-
low with mathematical. rigour that our navy should in pro-
portion be the mostmighty, our ships of war the most numer-
ous, and the Royal Flag of England (not the Lambton rag)
the most proudly and universally streaming of all others--
than almost of the world combined. • HOw stands the fact ?

T. illustrate it we have compiled, also from " official
sources," with our Janus faced friend of the Davenport Te-
legraph, the following facts and figures. Our esteemed ally
of the Devonport Conservatire has treated of the subject as
became him and the great naval arsenal of England of which
he is the worthy representative and defender, in the national
and military point of view; we hope he will allow us to pre-
sent .t to him in the national and commercial sense also We
shall reduce the question to one of simple arithmetic, leaving
to him the wider scope and more vital concerns perhaps of
national power and national defence, which he is, from his
locality, so much more competent to traverse and to handle,
as ably handled he has.
Russia has at least twenty-seven Sail of the Line in the
Baltic, and about thirty Sail more in the Black Sea—all
afloat. The population of Russia is about fifty-five millions.
France has at least twenty Sail of the Line afloat. The
population of France with her Colonies may be about thirty•
three millions.
The United States have fourteen Sail of the Line at sea
and service, neatly all superior in force of guns and men to
our first rates. The population of the United States is about
fourteen millions.
The population of Great Britain with the East Indies and
her Colonies may be taken at the least at one hundred and
twenty-five-millions. She has twenty-one Sail of the Line
at sea or effective in port. Tabularly the comparison stands
thus :=

Population. Sail of Me Line.
Itii iiii- ... -" 55,000,000
France ' • 33 000,000
United Stales. .. 14,0(X) 000 - l4
Great Britain. 125,000,000
So stands the balance against us at present. In reference
to the idle talk about ships building and ships which could be
" ready"- in a few weeks, we throw it all overboard, whether
as respects this or other countries, .where doubtless they could,
if inclined, indulge in as much silly swagger and with quite
as good reason as even Lord Mint() himself. Now be it on a
par, as respects pepulation only, with the States named, the
comparision Should run thus—assuming the maximum of the
United States or simplicity of ealulation :
'Population. Ships of the Line.
United States ' ' 14,000,000 • 14 •
France
Russia
Great Britain

As it is each State has for everyone million of inhabitants
United States
France not quite ' 5-8 Of a Ship.
Rassia 1 Shin and 1-18th of a Ship.
Great-Britain not quite 1-6 of a Ship.
Great Britain—the mistress of the seas that was—has not
one-si.alt of a ship in actual service per one million of people,
whilst the average of the other three powers is not far off one
whole ship per million. In proprotion to population, the
United States have six times as many. •We recommend these
calculations to Lord Minto's most special notice on the next
happy moment, when stomach strong with Christmas turkey
and head strong with Kay's prime Champagne, at the Albion,
he shall again be breast deep enough in the one and glass
valiant enough in the other to indulge in one of his nights
aforesaid in his " boldest and most decided manner."

A Scotch political economist being asked the meaning of
metaphysics, explained it thus—" When the party who lis-
tens dinna ken what the party who speaks means, and the
party who speaks dinna ken what he means himsel'—that's
just metaphysics."
THE ARMY.—A vacancy has occurred in the command of
the 3d Dragoon Guards by the demise of General Sir Samuel
Hawker, Knight, G.C.H., who has held the appointment of
colonel since April, 1831. Colonel Crawford. of the Royal
Artillery, having been ordered to return to Europe, the com-
mand of the garrison at the Bermudas devolves upon Lieut.
Colonel Robinson, of the 30th regiment. Lieut. C. C. Dom-
ville has been appointed extra aide-de-camp to Sir George
Arthur.

ACCIDENT TO SIR W. GOSSET.—We regret to state that
Sir W. Gusset, Serjeant-at-Arms to the House of Commons,
met with a serious 'accident on Monday last. Sir William
and family are passing the Christmas holidays with the Mar-
quis of Anglesea, at the noble marquis's residence, Beau
Desert, Staffordshire. On Monday last, as Sir William was
leaving his dressing-room and proceeding down stairs, his
foot slipped, and he was precipitated to the bottom with such
violence that his collar-hone was broken, and otherwise
slightly injured. 'We are happy, however, to add, that let-
ters fiave been received in town this morning which state
that'Sir William is going on favonrably.—Stanclard.

A _Li_