14 MAY 1864, Page 22

England's Danger. The Admiralty Policy of _Naval Construction. By James

Chalmers. (E. and F. N. Spon).—If all the statements in this pamphlet are true, Mr. Chalmers has not been well used. There does not seem to be much doubt that his target stood the trial to which it was subjected by Government better than any other, and he maintains that his system of iron-plating is much cheaper as well as stronger than any of the plans which the Admiralty has adopted. There may, how- ever, be objections to it which outweigh even these advantages. And the style of Mr. Chalmers's writing shows that he has his full share of the sanguine temper, and of the readiness to impute paltry and selfish motives to everybody who cannot see the merits of his plan, by which inventors are so commonly distinguished.