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Letter From Prince De Joinville

Letter From Prince De Joinville image
Parent Issue
Day
6
Month
October
Year
1865
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

The following letter from Prince do Joinville to a gentleman rosiding in Washington, Í3 portiueut and interesting r Oklean-s House, Twickenham, Surrey, ) April 3M& ) Bxar Sin ;■ Just as I was going to write toyou to congratúlate you apon the great aeliievsnicnts if your flcets and armies, we heard oC tko horrible dcedoi lbo l'ith, and I havo to mourn with you upon the loss of one oL the grealest and best men of our ago. ïhe voice of posterity is ah'eady spcciking, ar.d eïorywhere everjbody is at lengd) reeognbring tho v'alua of that good, honest and firri) man. ïhe feeFing of horror nnd indiguation is universal in Europe, mixed with a great den 1 of alarm fir the future. For rnysult', I do not feel ihat alarm. I have always had faith in your country, and' I have it st í 11. Your cnergetic but wfeö courclry will find other pilots worihy of tho task they ! have to perlorm. I only say Ihat if good Mr. Seward is saved, that task will be made mueh easier. I ardently hope that it will be the case, and that he will be spared for the good of bis country and and the affection of his friends. But if be was to siiceumb, we have here in London in Mr. Adams, a íirm, c'enrbeaded, disiü-eet man, who has vory strongïy imj prt'SMcd me with his value, and who, as far as my knowledge of men permits me to judge. would mako a very efficiënt snbstitute I also hope that the dastnrdiy aet will be found the work of only a few deperadoes, and thatit wiil not stop that feeling of magnanimtty in victory whioh your bittere.st onemies are obliged to aduiire. You have proved strong in war, unantmous in your national policy; your Oonstitution has passed suocessfully, and is going, I fondly believe, topass snecessfuify, through the severest tests. Punish the assassins, bttt do not be rancorous. Show vourselves as generous as you are strong, I take the liberty to suggest to you that wiah because it is my only fear that these hori'id assasiiiiation.s and the miserable exultation whii-h they will not fa il to provoke among the low-minded of your enemies, sliall bring with them a spirit of retaliation froru whioh no good can come. I wi.h to see your great country eorne out of all i's troubles without anv spot. I wish it for herself firnt, and, aleo for the example. You defend not only your cause, but that of liberal institutions all over the woild. You must be proud, sir, of the doings of your navy. With the briiliant ex'ploit of Commodore Winslow has the tide of victory turned with you. The achievements in Mobile bay are without parallel, and throw the greatest honor on your flag. r All naval raen pay a just tribute oi admiration to Admiral Farragut and hts brother officers and men. This war will leave your navy in a very efficiënt state, and with a feeling of eonfidence in itself which is half the success. Not. go in European navios. Ours is tired and disgustad by the odious service of transports impased upon it. The British navy, nfter a iong period of inaction, and farnished with ships and men it has no confidenoo in, is not what it was formerly. Both navies continue to boild sea-going broadside iron-clads of immense size and cost; but the poliey of building such expensive ships when they may be so easily sunk by a miserable torpedo Í9 much disoussed, and the tide is coming to sranll iron-clads with two or four guns, Monitor fashion. For long cruises, fast unclad serew sloops, Alabama or rather Florida fashion, seetn also to be most appropriato. Upon all these points you have the lead. YYhoro everybody is stilT' behind is in gunnery. The best Elnglish gun is tho three hundred pounder smooth bore, muzzle-loader, Armstrong gun, built on the coíl principie, and able lo throw its shot with a very heavy charge of powder. The royal navy has no good rifle gun of heavy caliber; but I think that Mr. Blakely can turn out some vory efficiënt ones. The Frenoh havo no heavy guns, smooth-bore or rifle, and have not yet suoceeded to experiment succensfully upon any one The best gun we have in use is a breech-loaded rifle gun, throwing a sixty-pound shot with low charge. The gun works well, is very accurate, but of no use against ironclads. The Emperor is trying a gun of bis invention, rifled und made of steel inside and brass outsidü. I have no faith in it, It is Irom the United States that we espect the production of the largo rifled gun for sea service, as soon as your clever workmen shall have turned their minds to the production of builtup guns of steel or wrought-iron. That heavy gun is tnuch wautcd, since the battle of Mobüe has so muoh shaken the eonfidence in the employment of ram. With the preeeding gunnery that, I close this letter. Be good enough to bülievo me always, Very sincerely yours, F. D'Oulhans, Princode Joinville, Tbe State Department is informed that the chol era is rapiclly abatiug in Turkey. The recipts of Interna! Revenue for the quarter ending September 30th, are returned $93,720,460. It is understood tho National lntelli geneer, is to be the oflieial organ of the Adiniaistration in Washington. Sixty copper mimng oompanios are now in active operation on Lake Supeiior. The Postoffice Department bas made a contract for a regular steíimship mail to Bermuda, leaviug New York on the first day of every inonth. The corn erop is promising in Southwestern Virginia that farmers have engaged to sell it for twenty-five cents per 1 bushbl. Harveeting i$ now going ou j euceestfuHy.

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Subjects
Old News
Michigan Argus