The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1856-1888, 1863-12-10
European.

The French navy has an aggregate strength of
AS ships, carrying 9,7lS guns. or the whole num-
Der of vessels, "a are iron-clad in whole or in part.
One hundred and eleven Of the number are sailing
vessels.
The English journals, with Southern synpathies,
begin to see signs of a collapse in the South. Even
the Londtn Morning Herald admits that the last
news received shows that the numerical weakness Of
the South Is beginning to affect seriously the opera
tons of her armies.
1t IS reported that the new Mexican loan will be
twenty or twenty-four millions sterling. The Times,
editorially. assumes that The Archduke Maximilisn
will ascend the throne of Mexico, and that the British
government will acknowledge and favor the reorgani-
eaton OF the government of that country.
QUICK WoRK-A firm of biscuit manufacturers
in Carlisle, England, by way of showing what could
be done by rapid work, recently had a field of wheat
reaped, the grain thrashed aud ground, and the -four
made INTO biscuits, which were served hot on the
breakfast table at eight o'clock, in exactly four hours
from the time the sickle was first put into the stand
ing grain.
Lancashire prospects loom darby for the coming
winter, as the protraction of the American war and
the high price of cotton will inevitably keep n large
number OF mills closed, and an immense number Of
hands unemployed. Nevertheless, there is said 70
be a large sun of money still in the hands Of the Re.
lief Committees, and various towns and districts are
about to receive government loans, as authorized by
Parliament, In order TO enable them to employ, in
works of street improvements, sanitary operations,
and town parks, the suffering population.
RUSSIAN WARLIKE PREPARATIoNs.-The Paris Sic
Gle points to the warlike preparations of Russia, and
says: The dispatches of the Government of ST.
Petersburg are warlike, aud its acts are not less so,
1t parades its military preparations. At Helsingfors
it tells the people Of Finland that it relies upon them
if the integrity of Russia should be menaced. After
the orders bestowed upon Mouravief, il rewards Vice
Admiral NovOssilski for his labor in experimenting
the Notifications Mt Cronstadt. New war vessels are
TO be constructed in Finland, where &c, 900 troops
are already stationed. Eleven plated and turreted
g%unboats viii leave the dockyards of ST. Petersburg
in the Spring. Lastly, on the banks of the Amoor a
body of troops. composed of Baskirs, Calryucs and
Chinese, is being formed, to be made use of. says the
BreSlau Gazette, against the French and English
The ARMSTRONG GuN.-The London .4rmu and
Nary Gazette of September 18th, regrets to state
that in the late experiments with the Armstrong guns
at NewhaveI, the defects of the lead coated shot
and fine grooVing were very apparent, as happened
in the previous practice With the full charge of
twelve pounds, several of the shells burst at the mug
gle. and one in the gun, cutting up the growing;
while others Of the shells were stripped of their lead
coating and fell short. Last Thursdays experiments,
which were Conducted partly to try the fuses, showed
that the ITO FOUNDER could not be depended upon in
the hour of greatest need, in n close hand-to hand
combat; and established, also, the fact that the pecu-
liar nature Of the Armstrong rihing rendered it very
difficult. if not impossible, to obtain a safe fuse for
the gun.
The Russian Dispatch to England.
From the London Times, Sept. 2lst.l
The purport of this somewhat curt dispatch is,
unhappily, too plain TO be mistaken. Not only is it
not a step forward, but it is a step backward. Hav-
ing provoked and invited an Interchange of opinions
on its own conduct and got the worst of the argu-
ment. the Russian Government now turns round and
refuses to say q word more, lest it should be tempted
to lose its temper. This would be legitimate if no
definite complaint had been made against it, and no
claim of redress had been preferred. A mere dispu-
taut may always plead disinclination to 90 on argu-
ing on pain Of being considered to have been con-
futed. But the representations addressed to Russia
were not theoretical propositions, nor did she so
treat them till she found Winter approaching and d
ON the part of England and Austria to
proceed to e~xtremities. The line which she has now
taken is that which we had always foreseen. She
votes the further consideration of a disagreeable
topic :" superhuOus; - she bows the thres rsmonetranto
Of the room more or less civiliy. France, as the
the most peremptory response; and TO this is append
for the benefit of all the Powers, a cumbrous
memorandum, in reply TO a small portion of the
French note, which merely proves how little can be
for a bad cause in many words. Austria, as the
one whom Russia is least accustomed to fear, is dis
missed with an answer which cannot have been very
il We may judge by the fact tbs the Presse
of Vienna advises the occupation of Poland in the
name Of Europe. Meanwhile. the Russian Govern
ment accepts the full responsibility of its acts. know
ing that it has gained time. and put the Winter
between itself and foreign intervention. This is O
dangerous game TO play, and this easy triumph of
dl plomacy may prove 20 have been purchased too
The immediate gain of time may seem al
together favorable to the Russians, but if they should
be able to hold out a few months longer, time will be
on the side of the Poles. Sympathy is not a feeling
that is bhnted by the continued su.ering of its
object, and Europe will hardly be in so pacific a mood
in the Spring of next year as in the Autumn of this.
is the % moral blockade as it has been called
by n French writer, to which Russia will be subjected
while she continues to Cypress Poland, a matter of
Indifference to a great nation.