Anything on the subject of warships that came from the pen of M. Normand the head of the eminent firm of shipbuilders was worth serious consideration, and the French Government would have done well to weigh carefully the advice that he had given in a recent pamphlet. The text of which was based on the tendency towards excessive speed in French warships. The sum and substance of the article amounted to this, it was better for a second-rate naval power when compared with Great Britain to construct a large number of vessels of lower speeds, than a few of high speed.