The New York herald., 1862-04-17


I'll in their sndeayors make the Archduke Maximil,
Emperor OF Mexico Mr.. Russell, OF the LONDON fpsss
m for the Duke Of cambridge. The idss OF exchans
Ing Mexico for Vsnetia and giving the Emperor OF Aus
tra the bsnubian prinopates or Bosnia and the Herye
g'vna as further oom ensaton, Is secuted most d.
oidedy and certainly Russia would never agree to suo
projects.
THE REVOLUTION IN NAVAL WAR.
>>~--~~~s>c~~~~-~~~~~>-~.~
Debate In tho British Parliament on tn
Subject OF Iron-Clad Ships and Lane
tihcstions-Enect OF tho Battle BE
tween tho Merrimae and Monitor-Th
Last Days or "Woodon WaIls"-Exor
tiOns or England-Captsin Coles Plal
or Cupolas and Gua Towers, 6sc., SO.
In the House Of Commons the 3ist Of March. Sir
SIXTH 70 call the attention Of the Secretary for Wa
70 what had recently occurred In American waters Will
visw Of subsequently putting Question concerning d
forts now In Of construction n spithead UPa
former occasions hs had protested against the conssuo
sisa n works upon PortsAown HA because be though
~ shouId never b SHis 70 garrison ~A the forta
thought 30 still Hs had ast voted witA tho honorabl
member for Iskeard when he proposed TO abandon a
Of defence necessary but recent had nduc
ID him TO alter h opinion and tho subject was o0t
OF vast importance to this country he felt 70 be hi
duty 70 Invite the attention OF the House 10 it. He would
have brought forward the subject Friday but that
he desired the presence of the noble ord
the head Of the government, whom he congratulated
upon his reappsarsnoe in the House cloud cheers IA.
great question Of troiGtcd chips had been brought 10 an
sse. and, happily. without any action on our part
(asar, hsar.) appeared that vessel, which . few
months back was wooden ship, was sunk, was thcn
raised down within three feet Of the water cased
casing brought the deck In the form OF roof but
not absolutely forming ridge, with an aperture on
deck for ventilation In order 70 break the blockade Of
the Chesapeake that vessel moved down TO Hampton
Roads, whore she found several vessels constructed Of
wood with considerable power most Of thsm we'll armed
but not all well manned. She engaged those vessels DO
sroysd one BY running into her. injured herself in
doing shs destroyed another by firing nor and kept
the rest OF the squadron at bay Tat ~ss gallant eo
plou, and showed that tho captain must have had
great confidence In the iron casing OF his vessel
which there ives reason to believe was 1--WE inches
thick Private letters stated that tho shot flew off
from the iron covering Of the Msrrmao without having
tho least effect upon IL. although shell appeared
to hAvo entered the aperture on dock and killed the cap
tain SO far that showed the OF
covering with iron decks but II might DO object
Cd that such vessels could not navigate the in bad
day 70 that upon which the Msrrmac made her appear
ance another iron vessel Of different construction de-
signed by Mr. Ericsson arrived In Hampton Roads. That
Wind and had proved herssn good and safe sea boat
Tho Morrimao and the ooms the Monitor soen went
oolsa was a. great iRspovtdns us, ohew
siAJn0 AosD e should bet defend porss at tho Io0H
had been reduced but he would wish 70 them still
further reduced. (Hear hear Let the House consider
the question Of how those forts could bs fought They
were 70 mount $50 guns and would require 100 trained
Gunnsrs who would have TO Ore ct moving objects with
heavy guns The right honorable baronet would perhaps
contracts had been entered nto and that It intend
Cd 10 place guns Of size upon those forts He
bad heard th guns throwing 200 pound shot were to be
mounted but hoped that not the faet because II
the proportion OF third the weight OF The
shot-was to be retained II would be like sprinsng q
WSG danger ,co,d shers bs Of aJors sa nao5ino n
TIE So'eN Cue had fea Of 4iry or forty Ertesson Nons.
tors in Portsmouth, kdrbr iohich could bo conarsled at
onetes the cost Of Tie fortss Hear, hear) The noble
lord the secretary to the Admiralty would rscoect the
statetneut OF an able ocerCspt. Sulivanthat there
y. and but few shos could b. Grsd at them Besides
the expense OF the orts, there that Of works pro
posed TO erected upon the north coast Of the se Of
Wight 10 prevent enemy from occupying certain
ponts with view 10 bombarding Portsmouth dock.
yard Vessels like the Merrmao Monitor soosld take
As q ~ ;ss .os on n! % Of Wight Tns
sage OF the Needles must be defended and there were
forts there already and the landing must be guarded
enemy from bonsbardiwg ictsmo.A dockyard pure
.case Of public MONEY (Hear. hear The officers who
fought the action in Am:rca 70 which no had referred
and iron vessels. The Navy Department o. Wash
ington had issued Invitations for tenders for che
construction OF vessels OF all descriptions partly wood
and partly iron. These were 70 be vessels Of certain
drsugh OF for harbor duty vessssA river
vc: others .o S o. [
taken form fe Of mos formidable character. Those
vessels which intended 70 defend harbors and the
coast wore fifteen knots to carry elevsn days
COAL and 10 b armed with eleven inch gums We
heard Of immense mortar but nothing came OF IL
and the same result would probably follow In me case o.
ne corios parts OF Me eia oond be antalgdmated so as
render proof against the arse quantity q powier which
Perhaps the nrsi two three trial guns might he well
but by and less care would be taken with
them and some serious accident would happen: lHssr
casionally happened, although there the amount
/ OF metal was comparatively small. With regard
TOO far they could surely suspend their operations
1 He was told that three forts were 10 progress
Let tho experiment be confined 70 them, or at al
events give up n the Isle Of Wight Tho esti
mated cost E1 900 000 but he believed they woult
cost great deal more and that we should be very lucky
II we got OF for less than f2 900 600 II would b,
better 10 stop the works and pay penalty to the con
tractor than to spond much money 50 ussessy Hear
hsar) The honorable ana g iani member for wakehol
(Sir j. d. Hay) than whom man more oompeten,
TO qye an opinion this subject 10 lettcr addressed
TO the Timc,, upwards Of three years ago, called pubic
attention 10 tho of building iron vessels Mr.
Laird also published most admrsb.e stter descriptive
OF chip constructed as TO into and sink adver
ssry. But even In America biunders we're made and
No doubt the noble lord the secretary 10 tho Admiralty
would take 10 hart ts lesson. There was time to give ou
| ships now In OF construction much greater
strength In this respect The Warrior could run init
such vessel the Merrimac without receiving very
rious injury; but her present very handsome stsn
were removed and strong, useful stem substituted
| she would be q much moro servicsable vessel wa
quite clear that constructing the forts at spithead
too late to draw back and thers could :. 20 nor
opporuns time for doing 30 then R9r, On the last da
Of the financial year, One hSini which the House sho
remember was No din rly in gs,n9 2,T00 ,oel -aine
drtLypen to the forts. Such force could not b.
spared, even II the volunteer movement contlnued AM
1t right, then, 70 60 on constructing forts whio
they would nnd II impossible 10 manf (Hear.) Blu
there would be no difficulty in manning small vessed
carrying two guns, which would bs enough TO keep
bay. N they did no more, formidable vessels ike th
Merrimsc. (Hear, hesr.) The action IN question hs
changed his opinion with regard TO these FORTS and h
fully Impressed with the necessity OF MAXIM
| the best use OF the lesson which had Just besi
taught. The House would remember that his lame nts
friend Sir r. Dundas OF opinion that for the deisnc
OF the Solent IL oh better 10 rely vessels thai
| on forts, (Hsar, hssr.) That officer . big
authority, add had proved sl9oat propAet Y2on lhl
| question. Captain Coles had Advocated the ssm
| thing and the country wAs much indebted to hin
for his services (Hsar, hssr The question OF slopin
Sides which had been much osnvassed one of detail
No doubt II you could present q ship sopng and not
| pArpsndicular side. much thinner