The Sun. — London, England, 1859-04-16 00:00:00

ROYAL PRINCESS'S THEATRE. Under the Management of Mr. Charles Kean. THIS EVENING, will be produced Shakspeare's historical play of KING HENRY V. King Henry V., Mr. C. Kean; Chorus, Mrs. C. Kean. THEATRE -ROYAL, HAYMARKET. Lessee, Mr. J. B. Bnckstone. PHIS EVENING, will be produced a new Comedy, en titled EVERYBODY'S FRIEND. Mr. and Mrs. Charles Mathews. With NOTHING TO WEAR. Mr. and Mrs. C. Mathews. Hollowed by PATTER V. CLATTER. To conclude with JACK'S RETURN FROM CANTON. Commence at 7. NEW THEATRE - ROYAL, ADELPHL Sole Proprietor and Manager, Mr. Benj. Webster. M ASKS AND FACES ; Triplet, Mr. B. Webster ; Quin, Er. P. Bedford ; Sir Charles, Mr. C Selby ; Ernest, ;fr. Bil lington ; Peg Woffiington, Miss Woolgar ; Mabel, Miss H. alfm ms. After which, THE PRETTY GIRLS OF STILBERG. Sr. B. Webster, Killington, Eburne, Misses Woolgar, Keeley, and Arden. To be followed by THE MILLINER'S HOLIDAY. Mr J. L. Toole, C. Selby, Billington, Misses Woolgar, Keeley and K. Kelly. Acting manager --Mr. Wm. Smith. Doors open at a quarter-past six —Commence at seven. Box Office open fl'om 10 to 5 —no charge for booking. No fees to servants permitted. A registry kept of all articles found. OYAL LYCEUM THEATRE. Manager, Mr. Edmund Falconer, T HIS EVENING will be presented THE KING'S GAR DENER. . Followed by BEAU BRUMMELL. Mr. Emery. After which, an original Petite Piece de Circonstance, EOUSEHOLD WORDS ALL THE YEAR ROUND. And FaRTITNE'S FROLIC. Redwed Prices—Drss Boxes, 4s. ; Upper Boxes, 3s. ; Pit, St4lls, ss. ; Gallery, ls. Box - ofilos open from 11 to 5 daily. Doors open at hall-past 6 to commence at 7 every evening. ROYAL STRAND THEATRE. Lessee and Directress, Miss Swanborough THIS EVENING, VANDYKE BROWN. Mr. J. Clark, JindMiss M. Ternan. After which, the new Extravaganza, KENILVirbETH ; or ire Queene. ye Earle, and ye Maydenne To be followed by I'LL WRITE TO THE TIMES. Commence at 7o'clock. ASTLEY'S ROYAL AMPHITHEATRE, West minster-road. Lessee and Man ager THIS EVENING th e perf ormances w i ll commence with new grand Drama, entitled THE THREE MUSKE TEERS, in which 31r. R. Phillips and the company will ap pear. After which, the matchless and unrivalled SCENES IN THE CIRCLE, i ntroducing the great St ar Rid ers and M i ss Zmily Cooke, Madame Blanche, Madame Bridges, Madlle. Yleurette, and Madame Francisco, being the greatest amount et female equestrian talent ever seen in one night in any ljmatre. Grotesques—Messrs. Hemming and Thorne. To conclude with A THUMPOG.LEGACY, Miss M. Jackson. The splendid romance of IVANHOE ; or, The Knights Templars, is in active preparation, and will be revived with extraordinary magnificence. .Dress Circle, 4s. ; Boxes, 35.; Pit, 2s, ; Gallery, Is. ; Upper Gallery, 6d. Private Boxes,Seven: £2 2s, and £1 Is. Commence at Carriaees at 11. Stage Manager, Mr. R. Phillips CANTERBURY HALL, Westrainster-road.— Proprietor --C. MORTON. The public is most respectfully informed that the FrrrE Anvs GALLERY, in connection with the above Hall, IS NOW OPEN DAT AND NIGHT, from 11 o'clock a.m. until 12 o'clock p.m. The New Gallery contains an extensive Collec- Jon of Pictures, by Ancient and Modern Masters and is also devoted to Art productions generally. The Proprietor feels he may confidently assert that, viewed altogether, the exist added Music Hall, the New Fine Arts Gallery, and the recently added Ante-Hall, will 'present an attraction which, whether as regards the architectural beauty of the structures them- Within,selves, or the varied and hitherto unattempted combinations will be found to be wholly without parallel in the H ingdom. The MIIMICAL ENTERTAINME NT c o mme nc e s as usual at Seven o'clock. In addition to the usual entertainment, the SAUVLET PA MILY, of Amsterdam Eight in number, whose varied Instrumental performances have created so marked a sensa tion in the Principal cities and towns of the Continent, wiL Derform every Evening at Nine and Eleven o'clock. ..............____ THE WEATHER.—SVN OFFICE, APRIL 16. THERMOMETER, IN THE SHADE. 50—highest since noon yesterday. 40—lowest this morning and during the night. 44 —this day at noon. BAROMETER-29'62. fr'WIND, Variable, f rom N ort h er l y to N or th- wes te r l y ; inter es h and ning squally, with showers of snow and sunshine ve. Lord JoRN RUSSELL has put forward his address to the citizens of London, stating the grounds on which he asks for a renewal of their confidence, and to be again honoured with a seat for the British metropolis. We cannot, however, recognise perfect the City of candou r i n his appeal to the electors of Lond on. If he consented, as he said, to rescue the Governm ent from drowning last year, it was simply because lie had not patched up his little differences with Lord PALMERSTON, and could not hope to hav epersonally profited by th e i r e j e ction from offi ce . hell, ho wever, a sati s f actory agreemen t was con; W eluded, he willingly abandoned " the pole and hook, and, by a most factious and unjustifiable resolution, attempted to throw out the Ministry who had done more for the nation, than any of their predecessors for a series of years. The resolution was artfully contrived, and, unfortunately, it answered the intended purpose, by capturing stray votes, and thus shelving the question in tion of Reform for th e present year. Con siderg that Lord TORN was the advocate of finality for a score of tainl years, a n d th a t h e cer y manifested neither zeal nor energy in Pressing f orward th e st i nted measure which he was compell e d to b ring forward, we must, while ; ; gn y Lng him credit for former exertions decline to repose unlimited confidence in his future intentions, and more so ina smuc h as h e has de c li ned to give any indic a ti on respecting his views, sav e that he is, as evcr, oppo se d t o T HE BALLOT, th e Alpha and Reform er ' s heart. O mega i n every true On this point he was pec u li arly vague. He strove to play off the dod ge practi se d with so much success by his brothers on the last election. Let it be discussed, and the truth will prevail. Of course it will be discussed, while HENRY FITZHARDINGE BERKELEY and his consistent and honest disciples retain seats in the representative branch of the Legislature, and so long as the peopl e of this country are so strongly interested in obtaining protection. for the humble voter against every corrupt and debasing influence. A great principle is at stake, and the citizens of London should not, by their votes, re turn one, however eminent in other respects, who be, one of has ever been, and will still continu e t o the most formidable opponents of the privilege of secret voting. Lord STANLEY is not thus disposed. He has lon been in favour of g THE BALLOT, and s o l ong as he continues a' Cabinet Minister the prospect of its adoption win be materially advanced. Should he be chosen by the peopl e of Lond on , th e Lib eral cause Will be in the Cabi net, in Parli ament, and i n th e country greatly promoted. has regarded th e cou Every s i ncere Liberal rte of th at talented young ; and nobleman with deep interest constituencies there are few we beli eve t h at throughout the length and breadth of the land which would not feel by his becoming a candidate, honoured and r eturn hi m b y decided majority. Liverpool —the commerc a metropolis of ial as London, an England—has invited him and there are many w hi c h woul d well act in a similar manner if there was any c h ance of the requisition being accepted. Lord ToHN RUSSELL asks the electors of Londo n "not to proscribe men who are opposed to THE BALLOT". But it is one thing to proscribe and an other to give confidence, and elect as representative a man who totally differs from a large proportion of the citizens, on what they believe to be a matter of vital importance. It was not by such lukewarm intlifference that the repeal of the bread tax—the abolition of the monster monopoly that para lyted the energies of the industrial po- 4. •' -V- \1 tat! - ca _le —• •- • ) t o • 3it .; s • • .•••10:0 ' THE S H UN. SATURDAY, APRIL 16, 1859. pulation of the country was obtained Then, every thing was earnestness and de termination. No person halting between two opinions would have been tolerated, and the request to await discussion would have been treated with the ridicule which it deserved. The noble lord has stated that he has no distrust of Lord .........VALMESBURY." If his position is difficult, it is rendered more so by the difficulties of the Ministry than by his own want either of inclination or ability." This is a just and honourable tribute to the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. But we would ask Lord JOHN, who was the man who occasioned the Ministerial difficulty at so critical a period ? Was it not he himself who enkindled the torch and created the conflagration ? He might truly have said, " adsum qui fed," and he ought to repent in sackcloth and ashes the mis chief he has occasioned, which may destroy the peace and tranquillity of Europe. The Government deserves all credit for the Report on the Navy Estimates presented to us last week. It is an honest document. We have ex amined it carefully, and so far as it can be judged by those who have not the vouchers before them, we should say a more trustworthy and carefully drawn paper has rarely been furnished to the public. Nothing appears to be intentionally omitted—no thing introduced for a purpose merely. The great increase in our naval estimates suggested the appointment of a committee to trace the causes of it, also to ascertain whether the character and power of the British navy (dockyards and stores included) correspond to the greatly increased expenditure ; and lastly, to compare the progress of the French with that of the English navy. These are inquiries, indeed, of national interest. That we should be paying threepence in the pound out of our income tax for additional naval charges since 1852, is enough to make us unfortunate con tributors under schedule D bethink ourselves. Yet such is the -fact. For, in round numbers, the naval estimates of 1852 were five million eight hundred thousand pounds, and for last year somewhat above three millions more ! And, comparing the expenditure on the French navy with that on our own, during the same seven years, it turns out that we have expended sixty-one millions and a half, and they but forty-two millions and a half. That is, we have expended between eighteen and nineteen millions more than our neighbours, with the result that, in the most important arm of our naval force, we and they are nearly on an equality. No one can over look the gravity of such facts. Perhaps few also will fail to notice that the inquiry commences at the time when our " distinguished ally" constituted himself the sole Ruler of France, so that, whatever cost we are put to guard against the extremities to which French absolutism may be driven, seems to be due to the events which have made so memo rable the 2d of December. As to the first part of the inquiry, the greater portion of the increased expenditure is due to a few heads. The Coast-guard and Naval Coast Volun teers, which are now included in the naval esti mates, and figure for £178,592, together with these six heads,' make nearly the three millions to be accounted for. Two of these votes, sea wages in excess of 1852 and victuals, which, of course, de pend on the number of men and their price for the year, amount to £1,341,424; artificers, stores, and new works, to £1,127,961, and the transport of troops, not exactly a naval service, to £282,900. The increased amount of seamen's wages is caused partly by an increase of pay in all ranks, and partly by an increase in the number of men. Alto gether we have 14,739 men more than we had in 1852. The increase, also, under the head of new works and stores appears to be pretty fairly ac counted for by the changes requisite in consequence of the introduction of steam and increasing the size of the ships. An illustration of the difference of charge in wages between a first-rate steam and sailing ♦essel is given, and it is upwards of £8,500 ; between, two frigates the difference was £4,700. The introduction of steam has increased, indeed, in every way the cost of a navy. Not only is there the first cost of the engines, and of the greater tonnage requisite to find room for them and for the requisite fuel, so far as to enable the ship to retain the same force, much greater, but the charge of wages, as we have seen, is increased con siderably; and also that of the "annual maintain ing rate." A first-rate, like that of the Duke of Wellington, costs £171,735, of which £106,291 is for labour and materials for her hull, the rest for masts, rigging, engines, stores, &c., exclusive, we presume, as they are not mentioned, of guns. But we have not done with our costly wooden walls yet., Such a vessel costs £14,325 per annum merely to keep all things in floating and working order; at the end of fifteen years she will need a complete and expensive repair of her hull, and at thirty years of age she will be transferred to Lord PAGET'S " better world," for she will have done her work in thil! Our actual increase in naval steam power since 1852 is considerable. We had then but four first. rates and twelve second rates ; altogether 135 vessels of 166,357 tonnage, carrying 3,072 guns, and of 39,764 horse power. Last year there were 29 first-rates completed, and, including those build ing and converting into steam ships of the line, 50. And a total of 402 steam ships, of all classes, with a tonnage of 420,159, carrying 8,202 guns, and with 95,428 horse power. But how do we stand in comparison with our neighbour, who may any day become our antago nist? The-important point of comparison now is our relative steam force; it is on this that the power of invasion depends, and on this, too, that we must rely for our defence. It is singular that last year our number of steam ships of the line' and that of Fran2e were the same—twenty-nine. But when both of us have completed what we are now build ing and converting, we shall have 50, and they 40. But to set against this they will have 12 more frigates than we, and four iron-plated ships— which they hold to be invincibles, and to be such " a success," that they have stayed building other first -rates till they have completed these. The Comparison of English and French line-of-battle ships and frigates afloat, building, &c., gives Eng land 84 ships, 5,974 guns, tonnago 47,740. France 86 ships, 5,294 guns, tonnage 46,890. In sailing vessels we have 296 against 136 French ; and so far do we surpass France in the smaller class of steam vessels, gunboats, corvettes, sloops, &c., that, every thing included, we have 464 steam ships against 264 of theirs. Our superiority at present must be held to con sist in sailing vessels and the smaller class of steam v "sels, to which must be added the immense re sources of our commerc i al marine—more than four time s greater also than that of F rance , our vesse l s b eing between tw o and three the size of hers. Also our immense mechanical resources for the produc tion of ships and other ca naval st ores. F rance, on th e hand, n, by h er conscription, arbitrarily man her fleet at almost a day's notice, and can thus for the moment be j is for the publi c to ap p ar ently strong er th an we. It judg e o f t h e cost they desire to incur to be prepared to meet any day the ally who is building an immense navy wholly unnecessary except against us ; and wholly unnecessary, con sidering our peaceful conduct towards France ever since .she ceased to aim at the control of Europe. Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent, attended by Lady Susan Melville and Sir George Couper, left Clarence Rouse, St. James's, yesterday, for her resi dence, Frogmore. Their Royal Highnesses the Reigning Duke and Duchess of Saxe •Coburg are expected to arrive on a visit to her Majesty and his Royal Highness the Prince Consort, next week, at Windsor Castle. The duke and duchess are expected to remain about a fortnight in this country. Lord and Lady Lyndhurst received a select party at dinner, last evening, at the family residence in George street, Hanover-square. Lady Dover, who has lately been indisposed at her residence in `Whitehall, has much improved in health within the last few days. Lord Howard, the son of the Earl of Effingham, Mr. Douglas Pennant, son of Colonel Douglas Pennant, M.P., and a party, leave at the end of the present month for New York, with the intention of making a tour through the United States and Canada. Lord and Lady Greenock and family have arrived at Maurigy's Hotel, from Thirsk, Yorkshire. Mr. D. ,R. Scratton and Mrs. Scratton have arrived at Fenton's Hotel, from Essex. The marriage of Mary Elizabeth, daughter, of the Rev. W. Atkinson, M.A.., rector of Gateshead Fell, with Mr. George Dundas, of Dundas Castle, LinlithgoW shire, took place yesterday, at St. James's Church, Picca dilly. After the ceremony an elegant breakfast was given at Everett's Hotel, in Albemarle-street, to a numerous circle of relatives and friends of both families. Later in the day the happy couple left town for the seat Of the Hon. Mr. Coventry, at Melton Mowbray. ADELPHI THEATRE.—The revival of the capital petite drama, the, " Pretty Girls of Stilberg," has proved quite a hit, and the career that it bids fair to run on this occasion will far exceed that when it was first produced at the Haymarket, some years ago. It is in this piece that Mr. Webster gives his celebrated imitation of Napoleon 1., which has been pronounced to be one of the most extraor dinary performances ever witnessed. All the peculiarities of le petit corporal are so vividly portrayed that the audi ence seem completely lost in surprise for a few minutes ; after which they give vent to their admiration by unbounded applause. The new theatre during the week has been very fully and fashionably attended. • THE NEAPOLITAN EXILES.—IAst evening a public meetingwas held at St. Martin's-hall, Long-acre, for the purpose of giving an expression of welcome to the Nea politan exiles now in Enifland, and to consider what is now called' the " Italian question." The meeting was presided over by Mr. P. A. Taylor, supported by Mr. Sergeant Parry, Dr. Epps, Mr. Shaen, M.A., &e. The following wore the exiles, who were present :—Signori Pellegrini, Maffei, Merganti, Gerai s Antaglietra, Petrudilli, Ventri, Agresti, Frdncitano, Morelli, and Lamenza. Addresses were delivered by the chairman, Mr. Sheen, Mr. Sergeant Parry, Mr. Slack, and Mr. Mantel, expressiVe of the sym pathy of the British people for the sufferings of the exiles, to which signor Agresti replied in Italian. An address embodying the sentiments of the speaker was adopted. DREADFUL ACCIDENT IN A SUGAR REFINERY.— John Jones, a - workman in Macfle'a sugar refinery, Bache lor-street, Liverpool, was killed by being caught in some machinery in motion. His legs were amputated below the knees, and his shoulder bones and some of his ribs crushed. The poor fellow, who has left a wife and family in a sadly destitute condition, died immediately afterwards. SUICIDE IN BLENHEIM PARK, OXON.—On Thursday, the 14th instant, a gentleman, said to be the Spanish Consul for Australia, committed suicide, by shooting himself near the Home F arm , i n Bl en h e i m P ar k. It appears that his name is Don Antonio Arom de Ayala. On his person were found three letters, one addressed by him to the landlady of the Bear Hotel, Woodstock, where he has been staying since Tuesday last, and another addressed to the Duke of Marlborough. The other letter is evidently, addressed to himself. The address on this letter is, " Don Antonio Arom de Ayala, Spanish Consul for Australia, Tavistock Hotel, Covent-garden." In his letter to the Duke of Marlborough, he begs that his Grace will pardon him for selecting his park for a place in which to end his life ; and he observes that he has a feeling, which may be a childish one, that objeets that he should die in cultivated fields where cottages are, and rail roads cross, and signs of life exist; therefore, 'he has selected Blenheim Park for this purpose, and he prays that the duke will cause a-cross to be put up to note the place according to the Spanish custom. He states further, in his letter, that he went yesterday (Wednesday) to see Blenheim Palace, hoping that a sight of the noble paintings would do him good, but that the sight was of no avail. To the landlady of the Bear Hotel he gives directiOns as to things of his in her custody, ordering some to be sent to his wife in Spain, and he thanks the landlady for her kind accommodation. He went out from the Bear Hotel in the morning, after giving directions for his dinner at six o'clock in the evening, and he posted a letter in the Woodstock post-office at 1 o'clock at noon, which, as stated, is addressed to Mr. Albert 13ottman, 26, Duncan-terrace, Islington, London. It appears that a pistol was purchased by him in London on the 11th of this month, and it is stated that he came by a do am train on the Great Western line to the Woodstock -road Station, et half-past 4 p.m. on Tuesday, the 12th inst. The body is now lying at the Woodstock Lodge, in Blenheim Park, awaiting the coroner's inquest. DEATH OF MACKAY, THE CELEBRATED PIPER.— Mr. Angus Mackay, formerly piper to her Majesty, has been accidentally drowned in the river Nith; Dumfriesshire. Mackay was of a race of hereditary pipers, who obtained their instruction at the once celebrated college of the Mac- Cruimins, in the Isle of Skye, which has been swept away in the changes produced by the altered state of Gaelic society. He 'was not simply a performer, able to read and note down music, which many of his profession tan scarcely do, but he was a composer of singular ability, and his style of exe cufion so superior that even the ears of her Majesty were pleased with an instrument which in less able hands would have been discordant. He published a collection of upwards of 60 of those ancient and peculiar pieces of music called " Piobreaela," with historical and biographical letter-press, which is a standard work among the military and private professors of the national instrument. He subsequently published a volume of " Reels and Strathspeys," with their respective names both in Gaelic and English, and had a cot siderable collection of his own compositicrns. He was besides no contemptible versifier of poems from his native tongue. The Gaelie orthography of his name is MacAodh. —Edinburgh Courant. THE FIRST DRINKING FOUNTAIN IN THE ME TRoPOLis.—On Thursday the workmen in the employ of the New River Company completed the laying on of the water supply from their reservoir at Claremont-square to the newly constructed drinking fountain at the south-east corner of St. Sepulchre's Churchyard, in Skinner-street, Old Bailey. The fountain is neatly executed, and the de sign is .both simple and serviceable, and a touch of orna ment about it most gratifying to the eye. In a recess hewn out of the churchyard wall two small pillars are fixed, from the top .of which springs a semi-circular arch, neatly moulded : the sides of the recess with the arch itself are of polished Aberdeen ,e - ranite. In the centre is a tastefully wrought marble shell, through an orifice in which the water will flow into a bowl of white marble, also highly polished. The setting is finished with cement coating ornamentally executed in relief, materially heightening the effect of the diminutive work it encloses. Deeply cut in the cement of the major arch is the inscription,—" The First Drinking Fountain," and in the granite curve underneath—" The Gift of Samuel Gurney, M.P." These letters are trebly gilt. - Upon the plinth immediately below the basin is en graved, " Replace the cup," and upon the base line the words, " Filtered water from the New River Company." The cost of the water supply will be made a charge upon the consolidated rate, and will of necessity be so small as not to be felt by even the most needy of the ratepayers. It is ex pected that the fountain will be opened in a few days. INDIAN FINANCE.—The total estimated receipts of the Home Treasury of the Government of India, from the lit of May, 1858, to the 30th of April, 1859, amount to £14,419,720, and the total disbursements to L 14,389,651. The receipts include sundry balances of c as h. The esti mated balance of cash deficient on the 30th inst. is fixed at £259,086. The charges in the revenue of India include £631,486 for dividends to the holders of India Stock, £46,074 for interest and temporary loans £159,179 for in terest on the Home B on d d e bt, £205,522 for interest on the Home Debenture loan, £2,015,127 for military and other stores expended and to be expended, and £2,567,036 for pay-office demands on account of troops serving in India and for stores. In the estimates for the ensuing year, 1859-60, the balance of cash deficient on the 30th of April, 1860, figures for the enormous amount of £5,715866. The present amount of th e guaran t ee d f un d o f the East India Company is £4,917,035 stock, cost £4,496,863; the estimated amount next year is £5,079,678 stock, cost £4,645,584, and from this amount it will g•radually rise until March, 1889 (30 years hence), when it is estimated that it will be £13,052,529 stock, cost £11,935,865. The interest payable in England on debt incurred since the Ist of May, 1857, is £457,664 ; the amount payable in India on debt incurred there since the Ist of May, 1857, £527,257, and the balance in the Home Treasury on the Ist of March, 1859, £1,101,361. The - cash balances in the Indian Treasuries on the Ist of May, 1858, were £14,404,964 (the latest account received). THE FEVER IN TRINIDAD.—Some official corre spondence on this subject has been published by order of the House of Commons on the motion of Sir De Lacy Evans, M.P. The yellow fever was first reported in the island last September, and three officers, with 25 men, women, and children, were reported as dead on the Ist of November. On the Ist of December the monthly return reported that "at Trinidad"—(this grammatical blunder is certainly re peated in the official papers. in defiance of the simple rule of Lindley Murray)—" yellow fever had disappeared ;" but on ' tho Ist of January, 1859, its re-appearance in the 41st Regi ment was reported. At the end of the month, however, an improvement in the health of the troops was reported. The disease is ascribed to the unhealthiness of the barracks. The Army Medical Department wrote to the principal medical officer at Barbadoes on the 25th of November trusting that every sanitary measure would be taken to im prove the state of the barracks and hospitals. The depart ment afterwards (18th of February) approved a recommen dation of Surgeon-Major_ Stone, that the troops should again be encamped on th e - Savana: — ofi7yeinease of yellow fever appears to have occurred since the 25th of January ; there were a few mild cases of remittent fever, and the en campment was very healthy. IMPROVED PRINTING SURFACE.—Mr. Henry Bradbury, of the well-known printing firm of Bradbury and Evans—a gentleman whose beautiful system of " nature printing" has charmed us all—has introduced a new method of producing printing surfaces from .engraved plates. He describes it thus :—A composition is spread, over an engraved plate in order to get a cast, and from such cast an electrotype plate is obtoined. The composition consists of gotta percha and animal grease, or cil, or vegetable oil (by preference hard or olive oil is used). The gutta percha is combined with the grease or oil by means of heat. The composition is kneaded and washed in warm water, and then the water is com pletely pressed out. The composition is laid on a plate, and heat is applied to the under or back surface of the engraved plate, so that by melting the composition the whole of the engraved parts may be filled. The coating of composition thus applied is, when dry or set, to be removed, and from it an electrotype plate is to be produced, as is well understood, but in place of resorting to theordinary means of preparing the surface of the cast taken from the engraved plate, it is prefered to wash the surface of the composition cast over with the solution of the nitrate of silver, and then to eubject the same to the vapours or fumes produced froin phosphorous and caustic potash. Mechanics Magazine. LATEST NEWS. PROSPECTS OF PEACE. The Paris correspondent of the Times (second edition) says : " We were yesterday, I believe, within a few hours of a declaration of war on the patt of Austria, and I regret to say that it' is attributable to the prevarications of the Imperial Government of France. When the question of a disarmament was at first proposed the popular opinion was against Austria, because she, a great Power, with vast armies, required, as the condition to her enter ing the Congress, that Piedmont should first dis arm. This was a fault, but Austria retrieved it by the more reasonable demand of a general disarma ment. • " The French Government, whose only object was to gain time, started a new objection :—France had , not armed, and she could not be asked to disarm. Austria demanded that the general disarmament should take place previous to the meeting of the Congress, and England urged the same. The French Government, whose equivocal policy M. Cavour's Piedmontese friends declare so much reassured them, wanted that the question of the disarmament should be submitted to the Congress and be decided by it. The object, of course, was to have sufficient time to complete its preparations, and, Asdien completed, to break off, on one pretext or another, all further ne gotiations, and take the field with its ally, Piedmont. The English Government were aware of this credit.: able conduct ; so, of course, was Austria. Austria, to whom every day, nay, every hour, is of immense consequence, made up her, mind for the worst ; England asked for a categorical answer to the de mand for immediate and geliei•al disarmament, and the French Government was `called on' to exercise its influence with Sardinia to enforce compliance. It had the effrontery to plead that it could not compel Sardinia to do anything of - the kind. Of course we then saw 'Plat our friends were dis posed to play us false, and Austria intimated that if a categorical answer was not given within a certain time, as to the disarmament, she would consider it as equivalent to a declaration of war ; would act instantly ; and would probably be at Turin in 10 days. Austria may be accused of precipitating matters, but her situation is one of the most critical ; the expenses of her army are strain. ing her resources to the utmost, and her only chance of safety was to renounce all hope of peace, and act at once. It was the necessity of her condition. When people blame her, they ought to remember that, in point of fact, she has been menaced since the Ist of January last. From that date she has, beyond all doubt, seen through the plan contrived against her by M. Cavour and his great friend, and set hersif to pre pare accordingly. She knew that she was to be duped, and, as she had no faith in the fair promises and pious aspirations of the Moniteur, she resolvcd to be ready against all emergencies. It is difficult , 'a • • to see how she could act otherwise than she has done, and it has proved her best means of salvation. "As I have told you, matters reached yesterday the extreme point. The French Government were informed that the responsibility of so terrible a calamity as a general war would fall upon them alone. In spite of the civilities, courtesies, and coquetting going on for some time past between 'St. Petersburg and Paris, it was shoWn that when the critical moment came the French Government would not have the support or sympathy of-any one Government in 'Europe, ex i eept, I suppose, Piedmont ; and Russia, notwithstanding her re. sentment against Austria, showed symptoms (as I am assured), of a wish to stand well with old dynasties and old friends, - and .little real inclination towards a war which sooner or later must become revolutiotary. " But the scene, it appears, has alanged; and hope smiles once more. The French Government are said to have seen the dangerous course they were hastening on. But, whatever be the cause— whether the prospect of the unanimous condemna tion of all Europe, the certainty of the condemna tion of France, the soundness of the ' reasons and arguments of her allies, or all these things to gether, I am given to understand that we have at last got into smooth water. I presume that the French Government have -agreed to a general disarmament, including, of course, that of Pied mont, previous to the Congress; as I am told , that the Congress will meet *it the time already mentioned, and that the Moniteur will soon announce the fact. No one will rejoice more heartily at this than the French people themselves; and M. Wa lewski and one or two of his colleagues will exult as much as any one. " I hope it is not the invention of some rash opti mist, but I also hear that M. Walewski this morn ing made inquiries about a house at Baden-Baden, with a view to the Congress. Prince Gortschakoff has already done so." FRANCE. PARIS, FRIDAY. Count de Persigny has left Paris for London, it is believed on a confidential mission relating to the present negotiations. The Journal de Cherbourg announces that the maritime Prefect at that port has received orders to arm as quickly as possible the following nine gunboats :—Aigrette, Fulmin ante, Arquebu se, Lance, Poudre, Redoute, Sainte-Barbe, Salve, and Tempete. After being armed they are to be de spatched to Toulon with a reduced complement of seamen. They are to form a flotilla under the name of First Division of Gunboats. It is stated that the construction of 10 new gun boats has been commenced in the ports of the Mediterranean. The plan was made by M. Dupuy de I'Orne, naval architect and director of material at the Ministry of Marine, and approved by the Emperor. It is announced that M. Fleury, brother of Gene ral Fleury, who is Freneh consul 'at Liverpool, has been appointed Consul at Palern - io. M. de Chasseloup-Laubat, Minister of Algeria, will seize the opportunity of his journey to Algiers to visit several other places on the coast of Bar bary, and particularly Tunis.- The Moniteur publishes 'the returns of the in direct revenues for the first quarter of the present year. The whole amount is 259,604,000 fr., being a diminution of 1,502,000 fr. as compared with the corresponding period of 1858, and an augmentation as compared with 18f 7. The principal items of increase have been potable liquors, 4,556,000 fr. ; tobacco, 1;557,000fr.; miscellaneous customs dues, 515,000 fr.; corn, 537,000 fr.; export duties, 336,000 fr.; foreign sugar, 328,000 fr.; salt, 318,000 fr.; and Post office, 212,000 fr.; the principal ones of diminution registration dues, 5,970,000 fr. ; beetroot sugar, 4,004,000 fr. ; stamps, 730,000 fr. ; gunpowder, 269,000 fr. ; and French oolonial" sugar, 269,000 fr. The official journal also publishes a short statement of the receipts of the direct taxes for the past quarter. The whole sum received has amounted to 106,0!..., ) 0,000f., being 27,822,000 f. more than was due for that period. In 1858, the sum so paid in advance was only 24,999,000 f; BOURSE, April 15, Two o'clock.—The market has been• - dull, with little doing. There is a great uneasiness about the' political situation, and the adjournment• of explanations in the English Parliament till Monday did not alleviate the appre hensions. Threes welt done . at 67f. 35c., then declined to 67f. 20c., and rallied again to 67f. 35c. Mobilier varied from 660 f. to 680 f. ; Austrian, 516 f. 25c. to 520 f. ; Orleans, 1,255 f. to 1,260 f.; Lyons,, THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, APRIL 16, 1859 820 f. to 825 f.; Northern, 900 f. to 902 f. 50c. The following were the last quotations : 41 per Cents. .... 95 I Credit Foncier Do. end month .. -- -- i Belgian 4f — 3 per Cents 67 60 Piedmontese (5) .. Do. end month 67 65 Roman B4 Bank Shares 2760 Austrian Credit Mobilier .. 675 . Spanish Threes Do. Account ..... 685 Home Debt 4O 38 RAILWAYS. Cash. Account. Orleans Northern . 900 - 905 - •• New ditto. 750 .. 777 50 Lyons and Mediterranean 827 50 830 New ditto leneva Midi Southern Western 630 533 75 Eastern Grand Central — Sardinian 375 .. 380 Austrian Exchange on London, at sight, paper, 25f. 71e. ; money 25f. 2ic. ; three months, paper, 24f. 95e.; money, 24f. 90c. AUSTRIA. VIENNA, April 13.—1 t is not yet certain that the Congress will meet, but it will be Gntirely the fault of the Emperor of the French if it does not. The Austrian Government no longer insists on a general disarmament , before the Congress as sembles, but it will be satisfied if the Ilioniteur will inform the world that the first step taken by the Congress will be to make arrangements for placing the armies of Sardinia, Austria, and France on the usual peace footing. In fact, Austria requests nothing but the abovementioned indirect proof that the real object of France in insisting on a Congress is the maintenance of the peace of Europe. PRUSSIA. A Berlin letter of the 13th says :—" The great event of the day is the arrival of the Archduke Albert of Austria, Governer. General of Hungary. The visit took place so suddenly that the Minis ter of Austria, Baron de Koller, had barely time to go as far as Breslaw to meet him. H.I.H. arrived yesterday morning, and Prince Frederick William and the other Princes of the Royal family were waiting for him at the railway station, as were also the principal military authorities. The Prince Regent paid him a visit in the course of the day, and a grand dinner was given at court in his honour the same evening. It is not doubtful that he is charged with a political mission, and it is thought probable that its object is to gain over Prussia to the policy of Austria. But we may hope, from the prudence of our Government, that it will not allow itself to be turned aside from the path which it has hitherto seen to be the only true one—that of neutrality." The reigning Duke of Saxe Coburg-Gotha has arrived at Berlin, and leaves at the end of this week for London, to be present at the confirmation of the• Princess Alice. The Cologne Gazette announces that M. de Neu mayer has been appointed Minister of the Interior at Munich, and General Luder Minister of War. The names of the Ministers of Justice and Finance are still unknown. SPAIN. The Madrid .journals of the 11th have ar rived. In the Chamber of Deputies a debate had taken place as to whether certain mea sures taken by the Constituent Cortes in 1856 were to be considered valid, though not sanc tioned by the Queen. M. Olozaga and M. Calvo Asensio maintained that under the circumstances, and from what took place in 1842, they ought to be', but the President of the Council and the Minister of the Interior insisted that no act of the Legislature was valid without the Royal sanction. No formal decision was come to on the matter. What occasioned the discussion was the presenta tion of a rfetition praying that a pension accorded by the Cortes in 1856 to the family of a captain shot in 1847 for political causes should be paid ; and the petition was referred to the Minister of War. An official return shows that the number of letters which passed through the Spanish Post office last year was 39,928,455 ; in 1857, it was 36,163,871; and in 1855, only 28,838,032. NAVAL MEDICAL OFFICERS. Six weeks ago Sir J ohn P a lcinolaii i . , in the House of Commons, pronounced a high eulopurn upon the medical officers of the Royal Navy, and declared it to be his intention to concede to them, in sp;:.it and in substance, the advantages which they claimcu. At the time we readily absolved the First Lad' from the imputation of hesitation and doubt in deal in. with the question of the extension of the army medical warrant to the naval service. But we took leave to warn him of the evil consequences of delay in carrying his good intentions into execution. The event proves this warning was not unnecessary. Week after week has passed without any further indication of the long-expected and much-desired " warrant" than a.repetition by the First Lord of his assurance that the subject is still under consi deration. • Aleanwhile the prospect of recruiting the naval medical department, so as to maintain it in effici ency, becomes every day more remote. The army and the Indian service have, since the army war rant of October 1, 1858, was issued, respectively admitted 100, and 39 assistant-surgeons, whose at tainments they be estimated by the high standard of examination which in each case they have passed. In the navy, during the same period, three officers only of this Class have been added to the list. Nor can it be Said that this scant accession to the medi cal staff of the navy is due to a less urgent demand for medical men in that service, for upon the most certain information we know the very reverse to be the fact. We find, moreover, in the Nary List, just published—what we believe to be anomalous and al' ogether wrong in principle—that in several ships of the line and frigates surgeons have been appointed to do the subordinate duty of assistant-surgeons, evi dently from inability on the part of Sir John Liddell to provide the latter class of officers in sufficient num ber to. plea the fair requirements of the service. In the medical schools, too, there still exists a firm deter mination to keep aloof from the naval service, until the condition of its medical officers becomes assimi lated to that of the medical department of the army The medical officers of the navy have hitherto abstained from any manifestation of impatience or discontent. They have calmly waited for the fulfil ment of the promises made by the Government. But nothing could be more erroneous than to suppose that dissatisfaction and discontent do not exist among the officers of the department. To allow such a state of things to continue is obviously pre judicial-to the public service, as well as unjust and cruel to the class immediately concerned. The case of the medical officers of the navy, and the questions connected with it, are said to have more or less occupied the attention of the Admiralty for upwards of six months. Sir John Pakington and those of the other Admiralty Lords who aspire to seats in Parliament may, in the ensuing election, seek the support of constituencies upon the ground of fleets equipped, of ships put upon the stocks, of ships built, and of committees appointed with a view to the improvement of the navy. Something also may be urged for the zeal manifested by the First Lord that the Board should be adequately represented in Parliament. But we should ear nestly advise him and his colleagues, in the event of their being called upon to vindicate their capacity for " despatch of 'business," carefully to avoid the most distant allusion' likely to provoke inquiry into the cause of the tortoise-like progress of the " war rant" for the reconstruction of the Medical Depart ment of the Navy.—Daily News. RAILWAY ACCIDENT.—An accident of a very serious nature occurred on the Newport, Abergavenny, and Hereford Railway on Friday morning. A man named Robt. Moody was driving an engine to which were attached trucks laden with iron rails. There is a caution-board erected at place called ‘.‘ The Summit," 21 miles from Ponty pool-road, instructing 'drivers of goods trains to stop there and apply their breaks to each truck ; but disregarding this injunction, Moody went over the Summ it without stopping. The impetus gained was uncontrollable ; the train rolled on with fearful speed, and at last the engine ran off the line and tumbled over, seriously injuring its mechanism, smashing a number of trucks into small fragments, and bending up the iron rails like willow wands. The traffic was stopped for several hours, but fortanately no one was hurt. The loss to the company will amount to several hundred pounds. Moody, the engine-driver, has absconded, but a warrant has been issued for his apprehension. ATTEMPTED MURDER AND SUICIDE.—On Thurs 7 day a man named Francis Hopwood, who was formerly an engine driver, was taken before the borough magistrates at Ludlow, charged with attempting to murder his wife, and was committed to the next Shropshire Assizes on The capital charge.. It appears that about eight o'clock on Sunday morning cries of murder were heard proceeding from a back lane in Lower Broad-street. On a man named John Lewis proceeding to the spot he saw Hopwood stabbing his wife in the thioat: On being pursued,' Hopwood ran into his house and inflicted a dreadful gash on his own throat. He then ran, all bleeding as he was, to the bank of the rl • er into which he jumped, and from which he was withd v iffil culty rescued. He still lies in a very dangerous state ; but the woman's wounds. I are not so 'serious. t appears that the pair frequently fell out, and, on this occ a sion, quarrelled , about the amount of woney-_.(onl 25.. 6d.) which her hhs I band brought home on the — preldotta - night; - , THE NAVY. The following are the principal dimensions of the Revenge, screw steamship of- the line, pierced for 91 guns, ordered to be launched at Pembroke Dock yard, viz. :—Length between perpendiculars, 234 feet 3 inches ; length of keel for tonnage, 199 feet 11 inches ; extreme breadth, 55 feet 4 inches ; depth of hold, 24 feet 5 inches; burden in tons, 3,146 1-3 d. The Revenge is a good specimen of the new class of 91's, and appears likely to prove an efficient man-of-war. On Thursday evening the French screw steam vessel of war the Lavergne, commanded by Vis count Lavaissiere, arrived at Sheerness from Dun kirk. Capt. Sir G. N. Broke has arrived at Sheerness, taken up his commission, joined the Hero, and has proceeded on Admiralty leave for 14 days. The new screw line-of-battle-ship Edgar, 91 guns, in the fitting basin at Sheerness, has completed the setting up of her engines, so as to be ready for a trial of her machinery. The Comet, paddlewheel steamer, at Portsmouth, was yesterday moved out of No. 2 Dock and placed in the fitting basin, where she will complete her repairs. The Sealark, 8 (exercising brig), Lieu tenant Commander M. Lowther, was afterwards taken into the same dock to clean her bottom, &c. The Pioneer, screw steam despatch vessel, went out of Portsmouth harbour yesterday to try her machinery, in charge of Captain Gordon, command ing Steam Reserve. Mr. Murdoch, inspector of machineryafloat, was on board. Every part worked in a satisfaCtory manner. The Assurance, 4, screw steam despatch vessel, Commander C. Aynsley, was yesterday warped from alongside the Sheer Jetty at Portsmouth dockyard into the. fitting basin . , ready to go into dock. The following is an extract of a letter from her Majesty's steamer Vixen, dated Panama, March 25 : " We have discovered now that our after-spon sonbeam is broken and otherwise defective. The hull is rotten in several place near the waterline, and our stern has fallen three inches, and, in fact, we are altogether unfit to face anything-of a breeze. The Ganges arrived at Valparaiso from Vancouver in 71 days. The Tribune arrived at Vancouver from India on the 13th of February, and the Pylades on the following day. The Calypso is at Sandwich Islands. The Amethyst is expected to arrive on the station daily, and we expect the Alert here with 700,000 dols. on board. This will give a nieelittle bonus to her captain. The Vulcan, screw steam troopship was moved yesterday from the' steam basin at Portsmouth into No. 8 dock. Lieut. Francis Osburn was yesterday appointed to the •Arrogant. THE ARMY. The Under Secretary for War, Sir Benjamin Hawes, K.C.8., has issued the annexed circular re specting remittances from India on account of in valids, addressed to Paymasters of her Majesty's regiments and corps and officers commanding troops and companies of Royal Artillery and Royal Engi neers in India : _ _ " With a view to establish a uniform system of remitting balances, &c., due to invalids and others returning to this country, all such sums, instead of being reported, as at pre sent, in the Quarterly Remittance Returns, or separate re turns, should in future be stated against the names of the men in the monthly casualty returns in which they may be reported non-effective; or in the earliest possible succeed ing return. The names of invalids should follow, and be kept distinct from those of deceased men, and the requisite separata receipt of the treasurer for the sums should be an nexed to the return. "It is at the same time strictly enjoined that all claims of invalids quitting their corps in India should, if practica ble, be settled before they embark, to obviate the serious in convenience which frequently results from the men having quitted the service before the intimation of the sum due to them is received in this country." It is understood that an increase will shortly be made in the force of Royal Engineers now serving in the Mediterranean, the authorities at the War Department having it in contemplation to station an additiOnak company at Corfu, and also one at Malta. The companies of Royal Engineers already stationed at Malta, Gibraltar, and Corfu having fallen considerably below- their required strength by promotions to home companies and other casual ties, orders have been issued for the companies at those stations to be raised to 100 men each. The corps of Royal Engineers has now been recruited up to its establishment. Detachments from the several battalions of the Brigade of Guards will leave their different bar racks on Monday next for Aldershot, to commence ball practice for the season. The important disclosures which have recently been made public relative to the •alleged defects in the Enfield rifle used by the Britishtroops in India have been the means of directing the attention of the authorities to the vast superiority, as a weapon in the hands of troops, of the Lancaster rifled car bines, with which the corps of Royal Engineers is now armed. From the reports which have recently been received by the authorities at the Horse Guards crom the officers now serving with the Royal Engi , n e at ,. in India, there can be no doubt that the Lan is in every respect superior to any small caster rift,'" repeated proofs of which were arm in the ser,l ice, ufficts with the mutineers in given during the c‘:. of the Royal Engineers India. Four companies ~ during the rebellion, have been employed in Ina ,, , rbine and the same all armed with the Lancaster cu.• , proving it to tests which applied to the Enfield be defective, have resulted i n the La. ? caster rifle maintaining. its efficacy. The officers rep; rt that there has not been u single complaint of fou.. l ing , difficulty of loading, or want of accuracy and power, brought against it ; but, on the contrary, it has proved in every respect superior to the Enfield rifle. During the frequent conflicts with the mutineers in which the men of the Royal Engineers and the troops of the line have been engaged together, with the same amount of ammunition issued to all the troops engaged, the men of the line regiments have been compelled to cease firing for the purpose of wiping out the barrels of their Enfield rifles after firing from 10 to 20 rounds, whereas the Royal Engineers, with the Lancaster rifle, have continued their fire, loading their carbines with perfect ease. On the 21st February, in last year, the 4th com pany of Royal Engineers, consisting of about 100 non-commissioned officers and men, was stationed at Fort Jellalabad, before Lucknow. The enemy attacked the fort in great numbers, and went close to the walls. They were, however, repulsed by the Royal Engineers with great loss, no less than 90 men being left dead on the ground, the whole being killed by the Lancaster rifles. No idea could be formed of the number of killed and wounded carried off, but no doubt it was considerable. The Royal Engineers sustained no loss ; not a man was even wounded. This fact is most important, not" sb much as showing the accuracy of the arm, but from the circumstance that during the six hours the Royal Engineers were engaged with the rebels until relieved by Sir J. Outram's force each man fired on an average at least 60 rounds, and yet not the least difficulty was experienced during the whole of that time in loading the car bines. The only thing observable was that with some the bullet became a little tighter than usual as it approached the breech when rammed down the barrel, and with others that there was an in creased recoil. If the defects pointed out in the Enfield rifle and the difficulty with which it is loaded after several rounds have been fired from it resulted from the expansive action of the barrel against the bands, or against the bayonet socket and its ring, causing an indentation of its outer surface, and consequent contraction of the bore at those places, the defect would be p e rmanent, and nothing but a mandril or cutting tool forcedinto the barrel could remove it. It is, however, well known -that,after an Enfield rifle has been wiped out with a wet or greasy rag it loads as easily and fires as well as when first used, thus proving that the defect alluded to is not a permanent one pro duced in the metal of the barrel by expansion, but a temporary one resulting from the pecu liarity of bore retaining the maximum amount of deposit from the powder charge. On the other hand, the peculiarity of the Lancaster bore, judging from its performance under the same cir cumstances, and with the same. ammunition, ap pears to 'be such that it retains only the minimum amount of deposit, while at the same time its range and accuracy are greater. In the last-mentioned qualities it has been frequently proved to excel the Enfield rifle in England as well as in India. Both rifles may now be considered to have had a fair trial in the very best school for testing their re spective merits—namely, actual warfare, and from the unanimous testi mony o f off i cers and men, both in India and elsewher e , there can be no doubt that as a weapon in the hands of troops. engaged in war the Lancaster is in every respect superior to the Enfield rifle. THE CIVIL SERVICE.—East India Department.— Mr. E. Frankland has been appointed lecturer on chemistry at the Royal Military College. The Board of Trade.—Mi. Robt. Laws has been promoted to be a senior supplementary clerk ; Mr. J. M. Reed has been appointed a junior supple mentary clerk ; Mr. Edward Roscoe has also been appointed a junior supplementary . clerk. War-office.—There are several vacancies for junior clerks, commencing salary,£loo per annum• There are vacancies for eight second-class clerks to military storekeepers. Commencing salary, £BO per annum. The Dockyards.—There is a vacancy for a temporary clerk at Pembroke yard. Mr. John Fenton Taylor has been appointed to a clerkship in Sheerness yard, after a competitive examination. Customs.—Mr. N. E. Browne, Comptroller at Bristol, has been promoted to be collector at Plymouth, in the room of Mr. Robert Daw, retired on superannuation, after a lengthened service. The office of Controller at Bristol is to be abolished.—ciVa SerViCe Gazette. THE REWARD OF A MILITARY INVENTOR. (From the Mechanics' Magazine.) We sit down to write this article with peculiar feelings, having just returned from one of those philanthropic meetings at which the bright par ticular stars of our aristocracy are now wont to display their splendours. The voices of the Earl of Carlise, the Earl of Shaftesbury, the Earl of Albemarle, Lord Radstock, and, above all (for the moment, at least), of Lord John Russell, still linger in our ears, and with them the " clink of compliment"—compliment to the working classes, of course ! The aim of their persuasive eloquence was a very honourable one most assuredly, for it was that of establishing free drinking fountains for the masses throughout the metropolis, to the extent of 400 or more. Suc cess to so sensible and serviceable a work ! But it certainly seems a remarkable fact that while our governing classes have hearts so accessible to charit- able emotions, and find so much time for " labours of love," they should be so sadly insensible to that which, in our plain way, we prefer to charity, viz., justice and right ! We say—with as much con fidence as sorrow—that there is no civilised coun- try under the sun in which the public admini strators are more callous, more dead to common honour, not to say common honesty, than they are in England. Especially is this true in respect to their conduct towards that class of men to whom this country owes far more of its material greatness and security than to any other —the inventors and improvers of our mechanical arts. We verily believe it - would be no exaggera tion to say that we kill more men of this stamp than we reward. This is, however, too large a subject to be treated. here in any general way; we must, therefore, con -fine ourselves to the one case of improvements in military weapons, and to the one improver of them whom we had in our minds when we sat down to pen these lines, viz., the gallant and veteran Capt. Norton. In the history of this officer's career, up to the present point, we have a succession.of facts which rise up into a towering monument of dishonour=-dishonour not only to the successive civil and professional chiefs of the military class, but also, we fear, indirectly to the profession itself. We could substantiate this statement by abundant evidence, gathered from sources which are not to be doubted ; but in order to confine our remarks to the narrowest limits possible, let us name only a few of the more, important of the gallant officer's inventions. To him we owe the so-called Minie baLet in its best form—the concussion fuse—the liquid-fire shell—and lead-coated projectiles—four things which have no parallels, in so far as their value to military science is concerned. We do not say we have openly received all these from Captain Norton. On the contrary, one great ground of our complaint is, that we have obstinately rejected his offers of them, only to receive them (or most of them) later from the hands of others. A letter written by Lieut. Col. Beamish, in 1852, and published in the United Service Magazine for August of that year, sets forth the facts of the case, so far as they had then proceeded, in a very clear manner ; and to this we must refer our readers. Besides this, the former ' and present volumes of our own Magazine bear ample evidence of the magnitude and success of the gallant officer's improvements. The Journal of the United Service Institution for November last likewise contains a resume and description of many of them. Here, then, we have a man of great and admitted merit as an inventor of military weapons, and one who still, in the advanced stages of his life, is affording renewed evidences of his zeal and skill daily, as the military columns of the Times have lately shown wth much prominence —a man , there fore, who. is lifted out of the category of those who by happy chances. do us service, and ranks with those who benefit us by the life-long devotion of extraordinary faculties. And, more than this ; for Captain 'Norton earned honours as a military officer in the six Peninsular campaigns, and shared the perils even of the " bloody Albuera," before he began his work as an inventor. And if even more be needed—to satisfy the predilections of the upper ten thousand—more may yet be said, for, upon the authority of Colonel Beamish, we may state that Captain Norton is the lineal descendant of Parrice de Rynville, second. brother of Thibault (Theobald) de Rynville, Con stable of Normandy, in the time of 'William the Conqueror. Parrice married the sole heiress .of the Baron of King's-Norton, in Worcestershire, and took the name of Norton, according to the cus tom of the time. Captain Norton is, therefore, the representative of the Barons of King's-Norton, in the female line. (See " Burke's Heraldry.") In the family records, nearly 300 years old, are the following Latin lines, which may have had their influence upon the professional choice and labours of the gallant inventor : " Est aliquid clarus magnorum splendor avorum, Illud posteritas emula calcar habet." Here the Government may surely discover suffi cient claims to recompense and distinction. How is it, then, that such a man as this still moves about neglected amid the most generous people on earth ? How is it that of all the millions granted annually by this nation for military services, not a fraction is spared for the reward of such services as his ? Is it because we are ruled by a class out of most of whom all true honour has departed, and who can do nothing but clutch at place, and power, and perquisites for themselves—who have not even th: blush left in them for deeds which would it make h cheeks of poor men flame ? if contempq of is high time that a hearty hatred that class were engendered , a nd its p lace su pp lied by men of nobler spirit. B e cause, and THIS DAY'S MARKETS. COVENT GARDEN. Compared with last wt:.*, very little change has taken place in the value of any ki.nd of produce, the supplies of which have been seasonably god. On the whole the trade has ruled steady, as follows : FRUIT. s. d. a. d. Pine apples, per lb 6 oto 10 0 Colonial do., each 0 oto 0 0 tirapes, per lb 25 oto 30 0 Foreign do 2 oto 4 0 Melons, each Peaches, per doz 0 oto 0 0 Nectarines, per dz 0 oto 0 0 Apples, per bush. 5 oto 10 0 Pears, per doz 2 6to 8 0 Oranges, per 100 5 oto 10 0 Lemons, per 100 3 6to 7 0 Apricots, per doz 0 oto 0 0 VEGET. Greens, dz bunch 2 oto 2 6 Cabbages, pr do. 0 9to 1 3 Savoy do., pr do. 1 oto 1 3 Cauliflowers, pdz 1 oto 3 0 Brocoli, per bh Bto 1 0 Old potatoes,p tonBo oto 100 0 New ditto, per punl oto 1 3 Peas, per sieve 0 oto 0 0 Turnips, dz bunch 3 6to 4 6 Carrots, pr do 4 6to 5 .6 Cucumbers 1 oto 3 0 Garlic, per lb Sorrel, per sieve 0 oto . 0 0 Spinazh,hf.-sv 0 6 to 1 0 Brus. sprouts, h.s. 1 3to 1 6 Old onions, dz bun 1 oto 1 6 New do., doz bun 0 9to 1 6 French beans, h.a. 0 oto 0 0 Leeks, per bunch 0 2to 0 3 NEWGATE AND LEADENHALL. Turkeys, 5s Od to 8s Od; poults, Os Od to Os Od each; geese, 4s Od to 6s Od ; goslings, 6s Od to 8s Od ; ducklings, 3s Od to 4 s Od ; rabbits, is Od to 2s Od each ; do., Bcl to is 2d ; pigeons, 8d to Os 10d each; largo Surrey fowls, grouse, Os Od to 6s 4s 0 0 1 . t t o o l 6 O s s 0d; chickens, chickens, 5s Od to 8s Od; barn-door fowls, O c s ap o o d n etto s, 6d ph; pheasants, 2 O s s O o d d t t o o 2s os 6 0 cl d ;; ptarmigan 2s 6d to .3s 6d ; woodcocks,- 38 to4s 6d ; snipes, le Od to is 3cl; teal, is Od to is 3d; wild ducks, 2s 6d to 3s Od; widgeons, is Od to is 6d; plovers, Os 10d to Os Is 3d each; . guinea fowls, 4 s Od t o 6 s Od ; roasting pigs, 4s Od to 7s Od each; Ostend fresh butter, lid to is 2d ; English, is 2d to is scl per lb ; English eggs, 6s Od to 68 6d ; French do., 5s 9d to Os Od per 120 ; leverets, 2s Od to 2s 6d each. BILLING SGATE. Salmon, is 6d to 2s 6d; trout, Os Cod to Od eels, Bcl to 1s; prawns, 3s 0d to 4s; pike, skate, sturgeon, and halibut, 6d per lb. Turbots, 28 6d to 20s ; cod, 2s Od to 5s Od ; brills, is Od to 7s Od; doreys, Is Od to 10. s Od ; mullets, 6cl to 2s Od; lobsters, 6d to 3s Od; crabs, 6d to 2s 6d ; plaice and gurnets, 4d to is Od each; soles, 4cl to 2s 6d per pair ; common oysters, 16s to 20s ; natives, 42s to —s per bushel ; whitings, 3s Od to lOs Od ; haddocks, 4s to 20s Od ; smelts, 2s 6d ; flounders, ls bloaters 6d per dozen ; mackerel, 45s stench, herrings, 68_,. ,Bsto Os per WO ; carp and h, ls to 3s per brace. NEWPORT. Beef, from 3s Od to 4s 4d ; mutton, Ss 2d to 46 8 d lamb, 4s 8d to 5s 6d ; veal, 3s 1 0 d to 4 s O d ; and pork, 3s oa to 4s Od per 81bs WHITECHAPEL. Beef, from 3s 4d to 4s 4d ; mutton, 3s 2d to 4g 8d; lamb, 4s 8d to 5s 6d ; veal, 3 s 10d to 5s Od; and pork:, 3 0 Ott to 4s Od per 81b., by the carcase. BREAD The prices of wheaten bread in the metropolis are from 6d to 7d ; of household do., 4id to 6d per 41b loaf. HIDES AND SKINS. Market hides, 561 b to 641 b, 31,1 to 4d ; 641 b to 721 b, 4d to 41d • 721 b to 8011, 4 1d to 5d ; 801 b to 881 b, 5d to 50 ; 8811; to 9611, 51d to 6d; 961 b to 1041 b, 6d to 61d. Horse calf skins, hides, 8s Od to lOs Od ; light, 2s 6d to 4s ; ditto f ull, 6s 61 to 7 8 Od ; p olled shee p , 8s 6d to lOs 6d ; half-breds , 8s Od to lOs Od; Downs, 6s Od to 8s Od; lambs, 2s 9d to 38 10d; shearlings, is 4d to Os Od. HAY MARKETS. SMITHFIELD.—Meadow hay, £2 108 to £4 lOs ; clover, do., £1 Os to £5 ss; and straw, £1 4s to £1 8s per load• Both hay and straw moved of steadily at late rates. CUMBERLAND.—M ea dow hay, .E 3 a s to £4 lOs ; clover do., £4 Os to £5 5s ; and straw, £1 4s to £1 lOs p e r lea. A fair demand. WurrEcHArEL.—Meadow hay, £2 lOs to £4 lOs ; clover do., £4 Os to £5 ; and straw, £1 3s to £1 8s per load, Supplies moderate and trade steady. s. d. s. d Cherries, per lb.. 0 oto o 0 Filberts, per lb .. 0 6to 0 9 Cobnuts, per lb 010 to 1 0 Almonds, per bus 0 o to 0 0 Walnuts, per 100 0 o t o 0 0 Figs, per d0z..... 0 oto 0 0 Strawberries pr oz 0 oto 1 0 Gooseberries, sv. 0 oto 0 0 Currants, per do. oto 0 0 Plums, per do. , . 0 0 oto 0 0 Greengages, pr 0 do. oto 0 0 Raspberries, pr ptlo W 0 0 LBLES. Shallots, per lb .. 0 6to 0 8 H orse radish, pbn 1 o to ,se; 0 Parsley, per ditto 0 2to 0 4 Celery, per ditto 0 Bto 1 0 • Beet, per doz. .. 1 6to 0 Parsnips, per do. 0 oto 0 0 Small salacl, Pn, 0 2to 0 3 Mushrooms,p potl 0 9to 1 3 Artichokes, pr dz 3 oto 6 0' • Cabbage letts,psc 0 oto 0 0. Endive, per score 1 oto 1 0. Radishes, dz hnds 9 4to 0 6 Tomatoes, pr hsv 0 oto 0 0 Walnuts, per 100 0 oto 0 0 Chillies, per ditto 0 oto 0 0 Capsicums, per do 0 oto 0 0 Rhubarb, per bun 0 2to 0 6 Asparagus, pr do. 3 6to 7 0 Sea kail, per pun, 0 9 to 1 3