LATEST FOREIGN NEWS.

Colonist, Volume II, Issue 112, 16 November 1858, Page 4

LATEST FOREIGN NEWS.

FRANCE. (From the Times, August 16.) Paris, Saturday, August 14. A LETTER from Marseilles, dated yesterday, informs us that the works of the Imperial palace, about to be erected in that city, which had been stopped for some time, are now recommenced with increased activity. All the earthworks are finished, and the first stone is to. be laid on Sunday next, being the Emperor's fete. The Bishop of Marseilles will perform the ceremony of bestowing his benediction on the works, in the presence of the Prefect of the department;5 the Mayor of Marseilles, and the various authorities. The ceremony will take place at five in the afternoon. It appears from a letter received from Toulon, dated yesterday, that the French ships of war in the Adriatic are to remain there for some time longer. The Government transport Bucephale had sailed from Toulon lor Ragusa, with stores for the French ships there. A slight shock of earthquake, which lasted two seconds, was experienced at Toulon on Friday night last. The heat had been oppressive during the day. The naval display at Cherbourg supplies the [Constitutionnel with a theme for a long article of reflections on the maritime forces of "France, and on the progress of shipbuilding science, some passages of which are not without interest:-— "We Frenchmen experience various feelings at the sight of our men-of-war. They inspire us with a great deal of hope; bat this hope is still mingled with a vague uncertainty. History attests the quality of our ships, the instruction and courage of our sailors, the science and skill of their chiefs; but there still remains a souvenir, that of a heroism which was unfortunate during the last wars; and while admiring our vessels, we cannot help thinking with painful uneasiness pf that past; but a spectacle such as that presented by the roads of Cherbourg during the Emperor's visit is calculated completely to dissipate those unpleasant impressions, and to convince us that we may repose in the success of the devotion of our navy the same confidence which we may place in the feurtunate courage of our army." The Cherbourg squadron, the Constitutionel proceeds to say, comprised specimens of the two sorts of ships of which the French fleet is at present composed. The vessels had not been chosen expressly with a view to exhibiting favorable specimens. France has plenty more as good. The progress made has been immense since the day when it was proposed to suppress ships of the line and compose the French navy of frigates, which would have been to accept,, says the ConstitiUionel,.a. definitively secondary position, inferior even to that of Russia, as a maritime power. The most important augmentation of relative force was obtained by means of steam, and dates from the day when the fine line-pf-battle ship Napoleon slid off the stocks, provided with engines of 900 horse-power, which enable her to steam 13 knots an hour, without any diminution of her military force. Fast under sail, she served as a model for a whole fleet, combining the rapidity of frigates with the solidity of first-rates :— " They are especially invaluable for the rapid navigation of short distances, as in the Mediterranean, and they give fresh guarantees of security to our possessions in Northern Africa. This model was carried tb the highest point of perfection when the ship Bretange, which bore the Imperial flag during the passage from Cherbourg to Brest, was launched. This vessel has 130 funs, and an engine of 1200 horse-power, t is a masterpiece of naval construction, and there does not exist in the whole world a finer, stronger, or more rapid ship. Thus far has science arrived. But new questions are in agitation. Experiments are making which would completely change the present conditions of navigation. It is proposed to so arm vessels as to render them ball proof without diminishing their lightness or their speed—a great and radical revolution, which is still only in the state of conception in the minds pf engineers, hut of practicability of which it may soon be possible to form a judgment. Meanwhile we may j trust with confidence to what exists. France possesses at this moment numerous and j excellent vessels of war. The Imperial navy is henceforward competent for any mission it might receive; every year augments its strength and efficiency; modern inventions are relatively advantageous to it. Thus does our country insure itself more and more the respect which is always paid tp strength, and render more remote every chance of aggression or pf insult, which would compel it to fight tP defend its rights or its honor."