The Sun. — London, England, 1869-04-01 00:00:00

EDMUND KEAIV'S DEB U?. SPIRIT OP THE PUBLIC;JOITENALS. THE STRIKE AT PRESTON. The Times observes that the improvement in the revenue ! There was another numerously attended meeting of the in the quarter just closed is a fact to be remembered in I masters, on Wednesday, the object being to discuss the making provision for the year just beginning. But it ! " situation," and consider the measures requisite for pro must be observed that the future thus foreshadowed tecting the interests of the trade in the present crisis. The depends upon three circumstances, one of which, we are various statements put forth since the last meeting were told on authority, is very uncertain. The first is the ' mentioned, the embarrassing condition of the cotton trade maintenance of the elasticity the revenue has exhibited was commented upon, and the inability of working to a during the last three months. The state of trade does profit at the present price of the raw material and labour not justify any sanguine prediction that this elasticity was referred to. No disposition to deviate from their will endure, and, perhaps, points the other way, original proposal—a reduction of 10 per cent—was shewn but we incline to the opinion that it may on the whole be by the masters ; such a change in remuneration as trusted to continue. The second circumstance is freedom it will necessitate was deemed essential ; and the meet from any further extraordinary expenditure for some time ing eventually broke up with a firm conviction to come, an exemption we can never rely upon when the that the step which the manufacturers had taken was a extent and multiplicity of our national interests are con- ' right one. It seems to be now certain, unless a compro sidered. The last circumstance is the absence of any raise is come to in the meantime, that in a week from now further calls from India in respect of Abyssinian expendi- the operatives employed in between twenty and thirty of ture, and, while this is the most doubtful element of the the mills in Preston will be out on strike. -- A meeting of three, it is the one which may be most quickly resolved, the P res ton Amalgamated Trades' Council was also con- Should Mr. Love be able to inform the House next vened to consider the letter received from Mr. Mundella, Thursday that be is free from future M.P. A large number of operative s in Preston belong to claims, his first Budget may be launched under happier auspices than any the militia regiment, which annually assembles in the t )wn at this time of the year ; and for several weeks from of us have dared to hope. The Doily P; cars considers that the revenue return for 1 the present the funds of the trades union will be consider the quarter is very similar to its predecessor. There is an ably relieved by their absence. Deputies sent from Preston increase of about the same amount cn most of the prin- into different parts of the country report favo i til e y s as cipal heads of receipt ; and in the Customs, where there is to the support they have received for the opera - on a decrease, the amount is rather less than it was in the strike. —__ -—-- - -- -- -- --- -= ----=- - - --- -- - previous quarter. Altogether the net increase is £731,000, but this includes two items — £ 2o4 , ooo of property t a x and ROBBERY OF £50,000 IN TIIE CITY , 0 £179,000 miscellaneous—which cannot fairly be reckoned rob bery, which is said to have resulted in the lo when the revenue is taken as an indication of the national I A. curious system of r°b of £50 , 000 to a well-known c ompany of gre a t progress. The miscellaneous always fluctuates , and the ' wealth ss and longstanding in the City, rates and collection of the property tax have f or the p eriods di s covered, in question been somewhat irregular. Deducting these has just been and a reward of £ 2OO has been two sums there is a net increase of £410,000, which offered for the apprehension of a Thegeman suspected gentleman may be properly considered a sign of elasticity, and ,of being conc erned in the affair. suspected party, NI r . Ben jamin Higgs, was assistant book-keeper, and the amount is large enough, after the returns to which a -- r • confidential position ' at the o ffi ce of ts l ” we have been lately accustomed, to justify a good deal occupied Ventral a Gashis salary b • Company, being £lBO ayes:. of satisfaction. Actually there is a gross increase of he Gr eat He lately in formed some of his City business friends that £472,000, 1 iz., Excise, £248,000 ; stamps, £44,000 ; taxes,' he had married a ward in Chancery, whose wealth was so £17,000 ;Post Office, £lOO,OOO ; and Crown lands, £l,OOO. great that he did not exactly know what it amounted The disagreeable feature is the want of response in the to. He took to living in style, and ordered a mansion Customs, which seduces this gross sum by £G2,000 ; but to be built for himse?: at a cost of £12,500. The the Customs do not so readily indicate the beginning of site fixed upon was near Richmond. There was some improvement as the Excise, and we may rest satisfied land near the house, which he wanted for pleasure grounds, with the diminution in the amount of the falling-off. The and he bought the freehold of it for £3OO an acre. He had account for the whole year is by no means so satisfactory. iron railings put round a meadow at a cost of £1,500. The The unfavourable returns of the first two quarters of the house, when completed, was beautifully furnished. The year are far from being wholly r ecovered. While there is an apparent gross increase of £ 3,555,000, and a net in- gentleman used to give sumptuous dinner parties, crease of £2,901,000, sve find that this ismo re than accounted and lie introduced his guests to his wife and two daughters. Some of his guests were aware for by the increase of £2,441,000 on the property tax, of the amount of his salary, but he told them that due to the higher rate and the arrears left of the he was one of the largest shareholders of the com previous year, and of .£769,000 in the miscellaneous. pany, and that he merely remained in the inferior posi- Looking at the ordina r y branches of revenue only there tion in which he was so that he might be able to see that is a decrease of £226,000 in the Customs, £323,000 is he was not robbed. Everything went on well for stamps, and £15.000 in taxes—total, £564,000 ;- and an increase of £300,u00 in the Excise, £30,000 in the Post him until a few days ago, when the books were inspected. £345,000 ; It was then discovered that an extensive system of Office, and £15, 0 0u in Crow n Lands—total, chewing a net falling off of £219,000 for the year. The forgery and robbery had been carried on, and that the p a nic of 1866 by the depression it caused has told most seal of the company had been fraudulently attached to heavily on the year just past. It is onl y now we have a documents, and money raised upon them. The sum stolen falling off on the whole finan cial y ear. In the year pre- is said to be .£50,000. The clerk has fled, but a warrant v i o us there was a real expansion o f somewhere about has been issued for his apprehension, and a reward offered. £300,000. It may be hoped , h owever, that as the tide has He is know to have had a large sum with him whe n h o k begun to turn, we have seen the worst of the crisis, and absconded. that every quarter of next year. and the whole year, will I EMBEZZLEMENT OF £B,OOO BY A chew a continuous improvement. I SECRETARY. The Telegraph says the unpleasant ciicumstance about the reduction in Customs revenue is, that all articles of luxury have gone less into consum p tion recentl y . Our At the Salford Hundred County P o li ce - cour t , on T ue s. day, HenryJac p eo ple have consumed less tea, coffee , sug a r , t ob acco , kson, secretary to the Astley and Tyldesley s pi r its, wine, and even fruit, within the last few months, Coal and Salt Company, wh ose d e f a l ca ti ons are a lleged to exceed £B,OOO, was b roug ht up on reman d o n charges and the revenue tables show the e ffect. No circumstance could more painfully testify to the hamp ered and lessened of forgery and em b ezz l emen t. Th e principal wit means of our great consuming middle class. But the ness, Mr. John Ad atnson , accountant, Manchester, and resulted auditor to the comp an y, s t a t e d that the prisoner, in his disclosed has another aspect. It i s im possible capacity as secretary, had the charge of the cash. In the to doubt that, in the present circumstances of that portion month of February last witness went over to Tyldesley, of the community which is exposed to the full where he saw the prisoner, and asked him to produce his incidence of direct taxation , e ver y a d di tion to the i nc ome tax provokes a corresponding retrench. balance sheet. That document, in the prisoner's hand. writing, was given to him, and represented a balance of meat in personal expenditure. Even in times of prosperity we should expect such a result ; when times are bad it is £12,839 12s. 6d. as being the amount due to the bank. Under date of December 5, he found in the rough cash inevitable. The ability to bear burdens is then in the book an entry of £ 950 for `' bank sundries , " and on aggr egate much smaller, and the inducements to lessen the 22nd of December an entry to the same bank of the infliction are proportionately stronger. It is to be hoped that Mr. Lowe will bear this consideration in mind £1,393 ; but upon examination it was found in the cash when he arranges his financial proposals fOr the year, and book the latter amount had only been £ 393 . On the 31st of the same month there was another entry in will endeavour, by retrenchment, reduction, or postpone- the rough cash book of the item " bank sundries " £1,512, ments, to avoid laying a heavier weight on that portion of and here again the original sum appeared only to have the community which is too honest to evade the tax- been £512. In this way the prisoner was charged with gatherer—but which will, nevertheless, unquestionably having in all forged a pass book to the extent of nearly stint in one direction if over-pressed in another. The £4,000. Four charges of embezzlement were also preferred income tax, though obnoxious and unpopular in the highest degree, is an efficient financial screw ; but an against the prisoner, but it being proved that the re were entries of his having received the cheques i n excessive application of it may in some measure defeat the end sought by its operation. : each case in his pass hook, the sitting magistrates decided that as the essence of embezzlement was " non-account- The Star says that it is not very pleasant to contem- ing," and that as in this case the prisoner had in reality Plate the predicament in which we find ourselves placed. Apparently, after borrowing £1,0 00 , 000 from the Bank, b accounted for the cheques, this part of th e case could no t e sustained. The prisoner was committed for trial on nve have absolutely less money in the Exchequer than the the other charges. demands coming due by £1,845,018. To expect any lightening of the intolerable burden of taxation is in such circumstances hopeless. We shall be fortunate indeed if we escape an additional 3d. of income tax, which, most unfortunately, would just provide for the deficiency. The A LIBEL CASE.—At L ee d s, on W e d nes d ay, an act i on by Mr. Dunning, surveyor for theborou h of • temptation to use this ready instrument of adjustment was brought ' will be almost irresistible. Middlesborough, against the editor of the Middlesb oro ugh News, for a libel. The article complained of severely The Standard thinks it has been proved to demonstra- Lion that Mr. Gladstone's scheme for dealing with May. censured Mr. Dunning's appointment as surveyor, which rooth College involves not only a flagrant injustice to the office it declared bins to be quite incompetent to fill on Irish Church, but a distinct breach of faith. In regard to account of his multifarious occupations as ironmaster, the first, the building charge on its fabric is remitted, manager of gasworks, and agent for the Middlesborough while the enormous debt of nearly a quarter of a million Estate. No witnesses were called on either s id e , an d th e on the glebe-houses of the Irish Church is exacted to the jury gave a verdict for the plaintiff—damages 40s. last farthing. Moreover, care is taken in the case of the ELECTION Rsors.—At Monmouth several pe rsons h ave been tried for taking part in election riots at Ab er y sc h an Irish Church that the money compensation may be and Blacnavon. The greater part of them we re f oun d exhausted in the payment of life interests, while by the plan of commutation adopted in the case of Maynooth, nuilty, and sentence was deferred. the authorities of the Roman Catholic Church are placed WILFUL MISCHIEF.—On Wednesday, a t th e D over Sessions, Mr. Tait and Mr. Duncomb e Sh a f t o were in possession of a sum with which they can purchase an endowment of at least £ 12 , 000 a year, although, as charged with maliciously destroying th e fitti ngs o f a correspondent recently pointed out to us, it would be a first-class carriage on the South-E as t ern Railway. a the journey from Charin g - cross t o Dover thesey the easiest thing in the world for them to realise . • .£40,000 a year out of it. The injustice of this is flagrant two gentlemen amused themselves by throwing the cushions, blinds, carpets, &c., o ut o f th e w i n d ow, an d and patent ; that it constitutes a gross breach of cutting the cloth and padding of th e sea t s . D ou b ts faith is scarcely less obvious. Mr. Gladstone declared were raised as to the jurisdiction o f th e cour t , an d ever and over again in the course of his campaign in South. , the recorder concurred in the view of the counsel, west Lancashire, that, in abolishing the Maynuoth Grant, and no bill was sent to the grand jury. The recognisances as a consequence of sequestrating the revenues of the of the accused were not discharged, as it was un d erstoo d Irish Church, he would not sanction any proposal for that the South-Eastern Company would p re f er th e c h argt handing over any portion of those revenues to the Roman Catholic Church. In the preamble of the bill he lays it against them at the approaching as s i zes . ASSAULT IN THE HUNTING FIELD.—At th e B arns l ey down as tl.e very basis u p o n w hich he asks Parliament to Police court, on Wednesday, a case w as t r i e d which excites legislate, that, while it is expedient that the Church should much interest among sportsmen. It app eare d th a t- on t h e be disestablished, its property " must be applied to the advantage of the Irish people, and not for the maintenance 20th ult., while the Badsworth hounds w ere c h as i ng a f ox near Barnsley, a farmer, named .Newsome, came up t o of the Church or clergy of any other persuasion, nor for the teaching of any religion." We do not hesitate to say the horsemen with a poleaxe, and aimed a blow at on e of that the proposed transfer to the authorities of Ma them, which fortunately missed its object, but struck his May horse, wounding it severely. Two gentlemen who were nooth of a capital sum, convertible into a permane n t present gave evidence, and the defendant was fined £3 and annuity of at least £12,000, is a distinct violation of these the expenses. The assault was not committed in the public and formal engagements. In fact, the bill does that . svhich its preamble says must not he done, and which Mr. farmer's own field but in one adjoining his land. Gladstone himself declared never should be done. And COMIC SINGERS.—At th e Sheffield Town Hall, George our sense of this faithless conduct is none the less acute Leybourn e , th e we ll-k nown com i c s i nger , appeared to when we consider the motive by which it was instigated. comic singer, named Fancourt. The affair was a a ns o i t i i -e t r a charge of assault preferred against him by The Poet declares that the poor have a great many more n co claims to consideration, and an undoubted right equally le►vi e• comic than tragic in its nature, the disputants been friends until Mr. Fancourt took with the well-to-do classes to beneficial legislation, but it offence an' cannot admit that they have an exclusive claim to the ofbim at ne something his friend and rival said challenged him to fight, a challenge title of the People of England, notwithstanding the inter- which Leybourne accepted, seemingly in jest, and the pretation which Mr. Morley has attempted to affix to the bench fined h' phrase in his speech at Blackburn. "In my opinion," .to givemuchrm is. and Os. costs. The fine did not appear , 1 two concern to the defendant, who handed in said Mr. Morley, "the poor are the people of England, ob sovereigns, requesting that the change might go to just as when we speak of the army we mean the rank and the file." It must be owned that the new nonsense 13 or- ox. of extreme Liberals is to the full as absurd, and certainly quite as likely to be mischievous, as the antiquated nonsense of the old ultra Tories. The doctrine of the divine right of kings, and the classification of the working men by the noblesse of the French ancien regime as canaille, were not a whit more extravagant than the theories of national organisation which there seems a disposition to put forward just now, in which it is claimed that there shall be a despotism of numbers, and that the sole functions and only rights of the rich shall consist in their carrying on their backs the burdens of the poor. Mr. Morley appears to think that the result of his ideas put in action would be the removal of poverty from the face of the land. People more p - ticsl and less fanatical w il l p robabl y come to . ac . the conclusion that Morley ism thoroughly carried out would lead no further than to the destruc tion of property, while men of military knowledge might tell the propagandist of these new interpretations that an army constituted of only rank and file would cer tainly be squandered the first time it was brought into presence with a Stifficu'ty. That there are poor, or, in a Teeple," is in Mr. Morley's ot:lcr words, that there ' opinion canned by the fact that there is a Government administered by property. Let it be in the hands of those who lave none, and instead of the wearing of broadcloth Icing an accident, it will become a universal practice. In short, England will, if these ideas are well promulgated and thoroughly enforced, become a perfect Jack Cade's El Dorado, and the fountains in Trafalgar-square will flow with champagne and claret. LAW AND POLICE. In a suburban church near Birmingham, a Sunday or two ago, the clergyman in charge preached a sermon so thoughtful and eloquent, and so much above the preacher's ordinary level, as to attract general atten tion from the congregation. One of the hearers, however, fancied that the discourse was not unfamiliar to him ; and being of an inquiring turn of mind, he hunted it up, and found it, in print—one of a series of essays contributed by Mr. E. W. Dale to Dr. Macleod's magazine, Good IVlrds. ANARCHY IN AMERlCA.—Outrages of all kinds continue to be perpetrated in Georgia. A Kuklux editor denounces a Unionist doctor as a coward and liar for having blackballed him at a Unionist club, where upon the doctor takes his trusty rifle, and waits in his own room till the editor passes his window, when ho kills him by a " pot shot." The sheriff locks the doctor up, but the Kuklux arrive in the night and break open the gaol, and take the doctor out and riddle him with balls. Other Knklux operations are negro floggings and ravishingi by the dozen all over the State. The Lower House in the State Legislature passed the constitutional amend ment, with the view, as one of the minority said, to "give Butler a dose of nigger suffrage in Mas sachusetts ;" but in the Senate this consideration was not deemed sufficiently powerful, and the amend ment was rejected. The combined refusal of both branches to admit the negro members has led the Committee of the United States Senate to " report "a bill providing for the restoration of military rule in Georgia ; but the committee are unable to agree in their recommendation about it, and it is very doubtful whether it will pass, or, if it does pass, in what precise shape. The whole affair is a very disagree. able one to deal with, and yet something must be done to restore order. The country is expecting great things from Grant, but Congress has nut left him men enough in the ar my to do anything with the strong hand, Affairs ja Texas got E42llCt The Bury Post London correspondent states that when Mr. Bright, in the Irish Church debate, predicted that the fall of the EstaFlishment would dispose Irish Catholics to Protestantism, Dean Stanley nudged 4.b.ch bishop Manning, who sat with him, and . 49_th laughed vicamay. At Drury Tithe nothing had for a long time suc ceeded till, on the 20th. of January, 1814, a little shabby man with fine eyes—a new recruit from Exeter—appeared as Shylock. He was a poor slighted actor, one Edmund Kean, who, only a few weeks before, had entered Dorchester foot-sore and hungry, carrying on his back his eldest child, who was dying of whooping-cough. He had been play ing melodramatic parts, and harlequins and savages, through Devonshire and Dorsetshire, and at Dor chester had been lucky enough to catch the eye of Mr. Arnold, the Drury Lane manager, who had engaged " the great little man with the fine Italian face," for a term of three years, at a salary rising to ten pounds a week. "My God," he said, burn ing with ambition and brandy, for he &ready drank bard, " if I should succeed now, I think it will drive me mad." A few nights after Lis child died : he drenched hi:nself with brandy, then, throwing himself on the corpse, covered it with kiss , s, and swore he would wake it from the dead. This child (Howard) had acted with him at Teignmouth in "Pizarro" and " Charon and Achilles." At the time of his Drury Lane engagement Kean was all but starving in his lodgings at No. 21, Cecil street, Strand. Ile hal come up to town with bor rowed money, and he had not paid his rent for two whole months ; but the good Glel maid, his land lady, was merciful to the eccentric debtor, and, con trary to Mrs. Siddons, who had said, "'There is too little of him to do anything," prophesied his success to his believing wife : " There is something about Mr. Kean, ma'am," she said, " which tells me he will be a great man." " Richard the Third" was to have been the open ing play, but Kean was afraid of his stunted stature being unfavourably contrasted with the heroic figure of John Kemble, and he had therefore said, " Shy lock, or nothing !" The actors, at the rehearsal, disliked his innovations, and Raymond, the stage manager, predicted his failure. As a class, actors and stage-managers are liberal in such predictions, and do not believe much in unrecognised genius. Fuseli used to eat pork that he might dream of devils ; Dryden took purges before writing an ode ; ossop had peculiar dishes for every character— roast pig fur tyrants, steaks before " Measure for Measure," boiled mutton for "Romeo," and pudding for " Tancred." Kean, so well inured to fast's, forti fied himself for once with good beefsteak and stout ; then tied up his wig, collar, black silk stockings, and red hat in a pocket-handkerchief, thrtirt them into the pocket of a drab coat with great capes, and saying he only wished he was going to be shot, trudged through the snow on a cold, dismal, fore boding evening, to the bright, noisy theure. There was a scanty but an appreciative audience. Kean's generous friend and patron, Dr. Drury, of Harrow (Byron's master), was there, and saw, the moment Kean took his position and leaned upon his cane, by his quick, flashing eye, and resolute staccato manner—sinister, vigilant, hard, and re yen geful—tbat he meant to do or die : it was Caesar, or nothing. The first scene went flat. In the third act, with Tubal, however, he triumphed ; and the trial scene brought down the house in glorious ,hunder. " That day," says Mr. Proctor, " he overcame the Nervii." Pope and Powell followed Kean to the humble dressing-room which he shared with two or three others, and uttered these delicious words , " You have made a hit to-night, sir." " You have done wonders, sir; you have saved the theatre." Arnold, the manager, however, sent fur Kean, and said, " You have exceeded our expectations, sir. This play will be repeated next Wednesday." In the meantime two kind fellow-lodgers at No. 21, Cecil-street, had hurried back to tell Kean's anxious, half-despairing wife of his triumph. Pre sently upstairs raced Kean, wild with joy. "Mary," he cried, "my fortune's made. Now you shall ride in your carriage." Then he caught Charles out of his cradle, kissed him, and exclaimed, " Now, my boy, you shall go to Eton ;" then he gave a deep sigh, and said, " 0 that Howard was alive now ! but he is better where he is." The happy couple sat up all night castle-building. On the second night of Shylock £325 was taken at the doors. 'I he public already felt a great dra matic genius had arisen to fill the vacant throne of Garrick. After the third performance Whitbread tore up the first contract and offered Kean £2O a week. After six Shylock nights he essayed "Richard the Third," terribly afraid of a failure. It was, however, a great success. His Richard was not princely, but it was satanic and terrible. The point in the death-scene, where with savage impotence he strikes at h:s adversary after his own sword has broken, lie in copied from the death of an officer in Spain. Being pure nature, it was of course thought by the more superfine critics to be vulgar and want ing in dignity. The fourth night Kean played Richard the doorkeepers took £6UO ; the first night he played Hamlet £660. " I hear he is an admirable Harlequin," said an envious actor. " That I'm certain of," replied radiant, generous Jack Bannister, " for already he has leaped over all our heads." Gold now showered upon Kean as if he was a second Danae. He is described by an eye-witness as having bank-notes lying in heaps on his mantel piece, table, and sofa ; while Charles Kean, then a little boy with rich curling hair, was playing with a handful of guineas on the floor.. Kean's first benefit had produced about £1,150. Ladies were there, who approached Mrs. Kean as if she had been a divinity, and eyed Charles, who had just mounted a large wooden horse, as if he were a young Prince of Denm(irk. An anonymous nobleman sent the great actor £lOO ; Mr. Whitbread put a draft for £5O in Charley's band; Mrs. Coutts sent £5O; the Drury Lane committee presented the new actor not long after with £500; and four of the shareholders of the great theatre gave him each a share. The golden ball was at his feet ; he bestrode the theatri cal world. " In January, 1816, Kean ascended another round of Fame's ladder by acting "Sir Giles Overreach." He at once surpassed Kemble in his favourite part. It was one of his most perfect performances, and there was unity in it that was wanting in his Ham let and his Macbeth. My friend Dr. Doran, an ex cellent judge, who saw Kean in this part, especially remembers the bad man's scornful answer to Lovel's, " Are you not moved with the sad imprecations ?" "Yes, as rocks are When foamy billows split themselves against Their flinty ribs; or as the moon is moved, When wolves, with hunger pin'd, howl at her brightness.' His voice was flute-like at the word " moon," creat• ing a scene by a mere monosyllable ; the last line he gave sharp and fiercely ; then, glancing upwards, he threw supernatural music, that led every hearer into fairyland, around the one final word " bright ness." During his last dying speech, Mrs. Glover, who played with him, fainted from emotion; ladies were seized with hysterics in the side-boxes ; and Byron, who might have had too much claret at his club, suffered what he was pleased to call "a con vulsion fit." The first night Kean played Sir Giles the loving wife whom he afterwards so cruelly wronged, eager for his return, met him at the door, and saw victory in his eyes. " Well, Edmund," said she, "what did Lord Essex think of it ?" (Lord Essex was a hanger-on of greenrooms.) "D— Lord Essex, Mary," said the conqueror, still flushed with his triumph, " the pit rose at me !" —Walter Thorubury in Belgravia. The American Artisan of March 10 hr.s an ex cellent illustration of Messrs. Bibley and Wade's in genious apparatus for receiving and delivering mail bags while a train is in rapid motion, which has been satisfac torily tested on the Boston and Albany Railroad. The new method was tried on a train going from Worcester depot. "Ba3s were taken up at Newtown Corner, New tonville, West Newton, and Natick, and at Auburndale a basket containing a live dove, two bottles of wine, crackers, wine glasses, cigars, &c., was suspended, and was easily scooped up while the train was proceeding at its average speed-83 miles an hour. The dove was un injured, and the bottles of wine were found intact. Wher ever the bags were suspended at the proper distance the experiment was thoroughly successful.'' G. Augustus Fuller, formerly of the Merchant Union Express Company, has been appointed general superintendent of the expreso businesi on the Erie Utta r(*) which will hereafter be trahsactod by the company. 1111SCELLAgEOUS.NEWS, LORD STANLEY. Our contemporaries are greatly exercised about Lord Stanley. The John Bull tells the Conservative party that they must put their faith in the Lord Derby of the present, not in the Lord Derby of the future. The Spectator tells Lord Stanley that his silence on all except foreign questions is a grave dereliction of duty. The Times strongly advises the ex-Foreign Secretary to sever himself from the Conservative party, and so avoid the terrible mis take committed by Mr. Disraeli of binding himself hand and foot to politicians who will condemn him to perpetual sterility. The Standard, alarmed at the prospect of the party losing one of its few able men, indignantly resents this. advice, and declares that his lordship has no intention of following it. Perhaps the day will come when the Standard will desire _ _ that he had, and will bestow upon him the same title as it bestowed upon Sir Robert Peel twenty- three years ago. But Lord Stanley is an inscrutal;le man. Ile set out with supporting the abolition of church rates and the admission of Jews into Par liament at a time when both measures were abhorred by the party with whom he usually acted. People eft mush niore certain that he would announce him self a Liberal then than they do now, though they are just as sure of his Liberalism as they ever were. After all, Punch was right when it said, with refe rence tothe solar eclipse and the formation of the second Derby-Disraeli Administration, eleven years ago, " The true eclipse of the son is Lord Stanley joining his father's Administration." That was an event which brought about a similar event in 1860, and each repetition of it renders more difficult a return to an honest position—that of acting with the party with whom you sympathise. LORD AMBERLEY. If the National Reformer (the organ of the Secularists) is to be believed, Lord Amberley and Sir Charles Lyell have joined a committee for the defence of the Rev. Charles Voysey, the clergyman whom the Archbishop of York is prosecuting for heresy. We presume that his lordship takes this step by way of practically carrying out the argument laid down in hi s l a t e contribution to the Fortnightly Rev:eir, that a State Church ought to include the teachers of error no less than the teachers of truth. If Lord Amberley could have taken this step six months earlier, the Liberal party in South Devon would not have had the misfortune of being weighted with a candidate whose theological views were so entirely opposed to the convictions of the majority of the electors, for the party would have seen from the first what it has now learnt by experience—that to fight with success it must have a champion whose tactics will not alarm his own followers. NEEDY KNIFEGRINDER ItEDIVIVUS. The somewhat notorious 1)1.. Armstrong, of Burs lem, prays every Sunday for the Irish Church, which he describes to be in deep affliction. He has written to the Archbishop of Armagh to tell him of those prayers, and to propose that the Archbishop should invite his clergy to pray too. The Archbishop is much obliged, and says he shall be very glad of any snpplications, either in the closet or the congrega tion. It does not seem to have struck Dr. Armstrong that it is rather funny f or I r ish Churchmen to be advised to pray for themselves by an English cler gyman. If they are in the " deep affliction" he supposes, one would h ave th o ught that they would have begun prayin g w ith ou t any incentive from the rector of Burslem. Has Dr. Armstrong ever read Canning's poem of " Th e N ee dy Knifegrinder ?" THE EARL OF SHAFTESBuILY ON THE HOUSES OF THE WORKING CLASSES. The Earl of Shaftesbury on Tuesday laid the foundation-stone of some new dwellings for the working classes, which are being erected in the suburbs of London. In the speech usual on such occasions he spoke on the homes of the working man. On this subject he declared his well-known conviction that intemperance was the cause of a great many of our national failures; bad homes produced intemperance, and should, therefore, be made good, if possible. Good dwellings produced in many cases good habits. Let us, then, said his lordship, have them by all means. The people of England would never be as they ought to be without three rooms being set apart for each family. When that took place, and the houses were clean and comfortable, the working men would be entitled to universal suffrage. " I do not talk politics on these occasions. lam not called an vdvanced Liberal, and am not so. lam hardly a Liberal, and do not pretend to be; but if I could see the working classes brought to the condition I speak of, I should be the first to propose universal suffrage." EDUCATION STATISTICS. There is one item of national expenditure whose increase might well be a matter for congratulation rather than for regret—the Education Estimates . From a Parliamentary return just issued, it appears that the sum spent upon education in England and Wules during the past ten years has increased from £788,461 to £1021,184. A still more satisfactory feature of these statistics is that while the total sum thus spent upon education has augmented, the augmentation has been met not by increased taxation, but by increased payment on the part of parents and by increased subscriptions. The " school pence" have risen in a very remarkable degree, viz., from t .)0 0,17-1 in 1858 to £430,279 in 1868—in fact, they are not far short of double. This seems to chew that education is being more valued every year by the c1:1 ss for whose benefit it is promoted. The subscriptions have increased to a much smaller extent, viz., from £458,151 to £409,782. This is as it should be ; education should be as little eleemo synary as p oEs :ble, and the more its expense is defrayed by th ose who enjoy the advantage of it the better. While the school pence have nearly doubled, the parliamentary grant has largely decreased. It reached its maximum in 1862, when the amount was £700,700, having increased nearly £lOO,OOO in four years. Mr. Lowe then took the matter in hand, and devised various reforms, which excited great indigna tion at the time, but which have had this result—the amount spent on education is £124,000 more than it was when the Government grant was highest, and yet the Government grant is £llO,OOO less. The difference has been made up for the most part by those who ought to pay—the parents. The total amount from all quarters spent on education during the ten years 1859-68, is £8,991,405. Turning to Scotland we find very similar results. The total amount spent in 1868 was about £70,000 more than that spent in 1859, and about £46,000 more than when the parliamentary grant was highest. That grant has been reduced from £115,317 to £90,634. The school pence have increased in ten years from £47,056 to £90,631, and the subscriptions from £41,333 to £60,623. The total amount from all sources spent on education in Scotland during the ten years was £1,426,406. THE ENDOWED SCHOOLS BILL. " M.A." writes to the Times a long letter on the Endowed Schools Bill. He points out what he con siders to be two blots in Mr. Forster's scheme. The nrst is tne exemption of the seven great schools from the scope of the Educational Council. Eton, Win chester, Harrow, Rugby, Charterhouse, Westminster, and Shrewsbury are not to be in any way under the power of the new commissioners, because they have a commission of their own. But why (he asks) should they not be subject to the Council. Either the Educational Council is good for Eton and Rugby, or it is not good for Marlborough and Uppingham. Why should Parliament trust the governors and masters of Charterhouse and Shrewsbury more than those of Tunbridge and Sherborne ? What have the parents who send their sons to Wesminster and Harrow done that they should be deprived of a test which is granted to the parents who select Canterbury or Repton ? Why should old endowments like Winchester be left unguarded, and new ones like Wellington College, Bradfield, and Lancing stand in need of additional safeguards ? " M.A." also argues against the proposed exemption on the ground that ill would practically exclude from the Council the men taught in the exempted schools ; and by implying that the Council was not fitted to govern the higher would lower its prestige. Secondly, " M.A." argues for a rearrangement of the present system as regards the cathedral schools. These schools no longer fulfil their original intention, as many of the original provisions concerning them have become obsolete. And yet the commissioners are not to have power to remodel them without the consent of the Dean and Chapter of the cathedral. The correspondent of the Times argues that they should have this power, and suggests, among other things, that the managementof the schools should be taken from the Dean and Chapter, the present allowances- made by them rendered permanent, and the schools further endowed from the increased moneys which the Ecclesiastical Com missioners have received on account of the increase in the value of cathedral property. MISS CARPENTER. Miss Carpenter, the Eatly Yews announces, is so seriously ill in India that she will be obliged speedily to return to her native land. It is to be hoped that though giving up her work of female .education in India, she will be spared to return to her old work amongst the criminals of this country. THE MARQUIS OF WATERFORD. Mrs. Vivian has much to answer for. She has not only brought disgrace upon herself and sorrow to her husband and children, but has added another to the list of absentee Irish landlords. The Marquis of Waterford has broken up his establishment at Cur raghmore, and all the servants save two have been informed that their services will be no longer required. A local paper adds :—" The absence of a resident nobleman who spent so much time at his family residence, will be felt seriously in the locality." The Marquis may take to himself this reflection, that he has done more to shake the tanurard Fenian nead-centres put togethe - r. It will be Me fault of the chief of the Beresfords if Irishmen, hungering for land, asli them selves wh y the y should be kept out of it while the owner of it is spending the revenue derived from it in a foreign country, and upon an adulteress. A FAMILY HEIRLOOM. Sir Wilfrid Lawson has just obtained a highly edifying parliamentary return of three pages, will of which we scarcely know whether it more please or alarm the family whom it concerns. It will be remembered that when Mr. Disraeli's Government was in its death throes, the. Earl of Lonsdale, who is 82 years old, resigned the Lord-Lieutenancy of Cumberland and Westmore land, and was succeeded by his nep hew and heir, Mr. henry Lowther, M.P. for West Cumberland. There was a great outcry. It was alleged by the Liberals that this resignation of Lord Lonsdale's was made in order that the dignity might be kept in the Lowther family, which it would not have been if Lord ' , nsdale had died during the existence of Mr. Gladstone's Administration. It was also complained that the lord-lieutenancy of two counties should be held by the same person. Thereupon Sir Wilfrid Lawson, who has before now fought a political battle with the Lowthers, moved for a return of all appoint ments to the dignities in question for thelast 110 years. That return is now before us, and is a curious docu ment. We find that in 1759 the Earl of Fgremont was Lord-Lieutenant of Cumberland, and in that year his patent was revoked and conferred upon Sir James Lowther. Fourteen months later Lord Egre mont was appointed custos of Cumberland, Sir James Lowther custos of Westmoreland, and the office of lord-lieutenant of both counties was con ferred upon the latter magnate. In 1765 Lord Egre mont lost his sole remaining dignity, and the com bined offices of Lieutenant of Cumberland; Lieutenant of Westmoreland, Custos Rotulorum of Cumberland, and Castes Rotulorum of Westmoreland have ever since been held by Lowthers, whose vested interest in these dignities seems to have been acknowledged alike by Tories and. Whigs ; by Lord Melbourne no less than by Lord Liverpool, the Duke of Wellington, Sir 11. Peel, and Mr. Disraeli. But tempera mutanlur; we need not finish the Quotation. CITY ARABS. An East-end clergyman writes to the Times on Miss Rye's project for helping " gutter children," and thinks it is well adapted for the requirninents of a difficult class. In his own parish he has hundreds of these children who are growing up to be thieves and Magdalene% He gives an account of a girl in his parish, to shew how arduous is the tas'.i of rescu ing these outcasts when their " vagabond habits" have became firmly established. Another correspon dent lool;s with doubt on the scheme for the emigration of pauper children, and points out the difficulties which Miss Rye seems to have overlooked. He does not think that the Americans would approve of the wholesale removal of children ; and the immigration laws arc so strict that the children may not be allowed to land. He considers the proposal will be quite impracticable unless it receives the sanction of the Government of Canada, or of the United States. EDUCATION OF TILE BLIND. The discussion lately raised respecting the best means of instructing the blind is continued with vigour. The Worcester Society proceeds upon the assumption that the Roman type is the best suited for universal adoption by the blind. On the other hand, the French clotted system is fast becoming popular ; while the Bible has been published in raised type on Moon's and Lucas's systems, and is nearly complete inFrere's phonetic shorthand. Dr. Armitage hasputforward his views onthissubject at some length, and is strongly in favour of submitting the ques tion at issue to the decision of a council of blind men of education who are practically acquainted with the different systems. The Rev. W. Taylor, of Wor cester, proposes that each party should print what books they please, and leave the demand in the market to show which the majority of the blind prefer. It must be remembered, however, that few blind persons would have the opportunity of judging between the rival systems, unless they had been spe cially instructed. Dr. Armitage manifests some annoyance at the course pursued by the Worcester Society. It is to be hoped that the result of the controversy will be an increase in the supply of literature for the blind. VOLUNTEERS ON THE ➢iARCH. A correspondent of the Times calls attention to a fact which ought materially to strengthen the hands of those who advocate so strenuously the volunteer movement. He records the travels and adventures of the 35th West York Rifles in their journey from York to Dover and back. One hundred and forty of the corps leaving Keighley on Saturday last arrived in London late at night. They were provided with supper and sleeping room at the headquarters of the Surrey Rifles. But only sleep ing room ; they had to rest on straw, the War Oflice refusing to allow the palliases and blankets lying in the Stare Department to be used. They had, therefore, to sleep under canvas begs and such like, borrowed where they could obtain them. The night was cold ; andthe men warmed themselvesnext morn ing by a march to Westminster Abbey, where they attended service. They then had their march through the streets back to the Royal Exchange, and were dismissed till night. At three o'clock on Monday morning they were up to go to Dover. At Dover they stood the rain and cold, and did the work marked out for them. They returned the same night to London, slept at the same place as they had used the two previous nights, and went home to Keighley on Tuesday morning. From Saturday afternoon to Tussday afternoon, 72 ' hours, these men. who were chiefly mechanics, were absent from their homes. Of this time 22 hours were spent on railways, 16 hours in sleep. Indepen dently of the miles traversed in London and in the course of the review, they were carried WO miles by rail. Each man paid his own fare to London, and lost a day's work. This feat reflects credit both on volunteers in general and the county from which this particular corns came. . THE INAUGURATION BALL• (From the Washington Correspondence of the Cincinnati Com mercial, March 5.) Instigated by the devil, and persuaded by two angelic faces, I went to this most be astl y exhibition of all that disfigured the inauguration of General Grant. Into the narrow corridors and small rooms of the Treasury was packed to suffocation a crowd of men and women, pushing, struggling, fainting, and almost fighting. Over two thousand tickets had been sold, and each ticket averaged three people. There were men in swallow-tailed coats, white chokers, and tight breeches, and women in all sorts of costumes, of which the bare neck and arms with immense trails predominated. We climbed four flights of stairs to the ladies' dress ing-rooms and gentlemen's cloak rooms. We gave—unsuspecting mortals as we were—our coats and hats to the reconstructed, receiving a piece of pasteboard, with a number on it, in ex change. A dark suspicion crept over my prophetic soul that I had parted with my coat and tile for ever. Sandwiched between two lovely females, I began the descent. A stream of humanity was rushing up the winding-stair—a stream of humanity was pouring down ; and, by the watch, it took me one hour to reach the last step at the bottom. Here we fell into a tide setting heavily westward, a good deal agitated by a stream of stout policemen, cotton-gloved coloured waiters, and some feeble , minded young men, with hair parted in the middle, that made a pretty strong current setting to the east. For half an hour I and my convoy whirled in an eddy, caused by a projection at a corner. Escap ing from this we fell into mid-stream, and made ste idy but slow progress. I suppose by morning we might have reached the end of the corridor, had we not en countered a cross sea, made up of the diplomatic corps and some military pumps, that carried us into a reception room where the President and family stood firm. Against these we were dashed with great violence, made more fearful by a stout man who bawled out, " Don't shake hands, don't shake hands," as the President and Vice-President kept violating this order. I could not understand the meaning of it, unless the man was the court physi cian, and feared we or General Grant would catch the itch. This was varied by weak females in tight dresses fainting at intervals of five minutes. And the character of the officials may be gathered from a conversation I heard between the husband of a lady ill from the heat and fatigue, and a functionary. He had carried her out, and fortunately found a vacant space in a hall where there was a little fresh air, and while he held her up some servants passed with chairs. He made an earnest appeal for one of these, but the stupid fellows refused. At last he seized one, and was about seating his wife, when an official c ime at him, demanding the chair. The poor man explained, but the fellow replied that he hat his orders—the chairs were needed for another purpose. The husband bade his wife sit down, and then said, "Now, if you take that chair, you must take it from under my wife, and I hardly think that will be a healthy proceeding." " You can gain your purpose in that way," exclaimed the fellow, white with rage, "but it your wife is sick you had better take her home." " You are an insolent hourd," roared the husband,. " and if you will give me your address I'll smash your dirty mouth to morrow, when there are no women to protect you." I was told that the scene in the supper room beg gared description. The doors were opened to the entire crowd, and in two minutes the rooms were packed to suffocation. To eat was impossible. But to stir up the temper and destroy dresses was the rule. The long trails of rich material suf fered at every step. While trying to get to the supper room I felt for some time under my feet what seemed to be a soft carpet. I found, in a few minutes, that it was the trail of a lady some distance in advance. What guys women can make of themselves when they try. I saw some youthful female donkeys with their heads plastered over with white powder and pomatum, as if their dear little selves had terminated in an apple dumpling. When at last tired and disgusted we sought the dressing rooms for our wraps, I found that we were pinned to the place for two days. Fortu nately, after invading the ladies' dressing-room, very improperly, 1 found their cloak;, and then I ascended for mine. I found a crew actually fight ing in the ball above. At the bolo in the don' of the cloak-room an idiotic face made mouths at us, in the most exasperating manner. [[lcre there is a hole in theballad, how it occurred we cannot tell, but we give the fragments as we find them.] " Not your old white hat." " Yes, my old white hat, and with it my overcoat. It is lamentable that the rebels did not take this d--d town and burn it to ashes. They showed their spite by not doing so. It is an in fernal sinkhole of iniquity, depending for its miser able existence on the Government." I left the venerable philosopher lamenting. What an extra ordinary fact it was that he lost his old white hat. I had an idea, in common with the pensive public, that it could not be lost. I believe he c•)uld not sell it if he were to try. He could not give it or throw it away, and here it was lost in a cloak room. This event inipre3sed me deeply. I went home in the col I, without bat or overcoat, in the bitter cold ; but I ruminated, I marvelled and wondered, and all last night I dreamed that the venerable Horace was a ferry boat and I steered him. Lost his old white hat ! THE REPORT TO THE SENATE ON ORDN,INCE. On the 15th ult. the Joint Committee on Ord nance, appointed 30th March, 1867, presented the report of their investigation on the purchases, con tracts, and experiments of the Ordnance Depart ment. This document will be read with interest in Europe, where it will excite surprise —first, because it repudiates e mphatically what is supposed to be an American theory tenaciously held, that the most effective projectile is a huge spherical mass of iron thrown with a low velocity to rack as opposed to what is known as the punching process ; next, be cause it deals with the scientific corps of the United States in a way that no committee of another nation would dare to do with a trained professional branch of its own service. The Report, in allusion to the struggle between attack and defence, between guns and armour, asserts that the large guns of all na tions have failed in a greater or lesser degree, and in a manner which has tended to complicate the problem. One gun has fired over 2,000 rounds, while another precisely similar has exploded almost at once ; and those of the strongest material when tested often prove the weakest. The 30-pounder is the largest rifled gun which has exhibited even comparatively good endurance in America, and the result is no better in Europe. After discussing briefly the systems of the great inventors, the Com mittee conclude that none are successful in prevent ing bursting or in attaining uniform reliance. Al though the guns introduced into the United States service have been tested beyond question as to their endurance all failed when tried in actual service. Twenty-two large guns only were mounted at a time on Morris Island, yet fifty burst during the siege, being upwards of twice the number mounted in the fort. All the Parrott's guns of the fleet used against Fort Fisher burst, and forty-five persons were killed anl wounded by five of these explosions, while only eleven fell before the enemy's fire. This is considered conclusive proof that the system of testing is defective ; and the Committee do not hesitate to condemn it as valueless, showing nothing of the gun's ability to do the work required in war. The real conditions existing in battle have never been truly copied. Heavy charges have been fired as well as numerous, but slowly, so that the gun had time to cool, while in action rapid firing is neces sary. It is the heat produced by quick firing which, by adding its expansive force to the bore, aids the powder in effecting a rupture. "If the force with which metals contract when cooled is shown to be so potent, as to break the gun from the inside when cooled from the interior, it can be seen that if the gun be in a state of tension, which has the tendency to compress the metal of the interior and extend the exterior, the heat afterwards communicated to the surface of the bore by the burning powder or by fric tion of the moving charge would assist the pressure of th 3 powder to break the gun, especially if the gun should be fired a number of rounds in quick suc cession." This force should not be overlooked when it has been known to break huge blocks of iron spontaneously, as was the case with a large mass of wrought iron prepared by Mr. Mallet in England, by the mere force of contraction from the centre towards the exterior as the mass cooled ; and it may be the means of determining how the stronger material is more liable to burst than the weaker, and why the accidents most frequently occur during battle. The following extract is given from the report of the Chief of the Ordnance of the Navy :—" Opinions differ quite as widely in re gard to the preferable mode of developing ordnance power, whether it shall be by smooth or rifled bores, by loading at breech or muzzle, made from iron, cast or wrought, or from steel, solid or in con nected parts. The relation of mass to velocity is also unsettled. In fact, the question involves the necessity of going back to fundamental principles, and starting thence by well-conducted experiments." On this the Congressional Committee make these severe comments :—" It therefore appears that, notwithstanding a series of elaborate experiments, extending over a long period of years, and the practical experience of our recent war, the ordnance officers of the Government have not yet determined upon even the fundamental principles of their art, and possess no positive knowledge of the problem they have so long sought to solve. Mechanics is an exact science, and ignorance of that branch of it involved in the construction of guns would seem to show either want of knowledge of its principles, failure to understand their application, or superfici ality of investigation, surprising in men whose minds have been from boyhood trained in the direction of a specialty." Later in the report this is again re ferred to. Indeed it is necessary to give the remarks in the words of the Committee, for in attempting to summarize them we might be accused of exaggeration. "The fact that the ordnance officers of the Go vernment find it necessary, at this late day, to re turn to the rudiments of their art and begin their experiments anew, as stated in the report of the Chief of the Ordnance of the Navy, shows a defect in the system upon which experiments have hereto fore been conducted, and in the organizttion of the ordnance departments, calling for a remedy. The difficulty appears to have been fld vo- ; first, the ordnance officers, knowing their 't* post ions secure to them for life, have not felt the I • ncentive to exertion and improvement which stn • nulates men not in Go vernment employment, and they have become at tached to routine and to corps, jealous of innovations and new ideas, and slow to adopt improvements. An illustration of this is found in the f aet that the late war was fought with muzzle-loading guns (with the excep tion of carbines for cavalry), although a variety of excellent breech-loaders were urged upon the at tention of the Government constantly ; and the honour was reserved for Prussia, with a weapon inferior to many American inventions, to demon strate the immeasurable superiority of breech-load ing guns. In the second place, these officers, edu cited to a specialty, and proud of their positions, come to look upon themselves as possessing all the knowledge extant upon the subject of ordnance, and regard citizen inventors and mechanics who offer improvements in arms as ignorant and de signing persons, and pretentious innovators, who have no claim to consideration. Instead of encourag- ing the inventive talent of the country these officers seem to have constantly discouraged it, and many complaints of improper and oppressive treatment have been laid before the committee by persons who have sought to draw the attention of the pro- per authorities to what were supposed to be vital principles connected with their art. Another diffi culty that has retarded progress in the science of ordnance has been the fact that prominent officers have been inventors of arms, and have possessed sufficient influence to secure the adoption and re tention in service of their inventions, frequently without due regard to the question of real merit, and to the prejudice of other and better devices brought forward by citizens, or developed in other countries. A further difficulty, calling for a remedy, lies in the want of co-operation b,..tween the War and Navy Bureaus. Great diversity exists iu the practice of the two branches of the service respect ing the arms adopted, and the manner c.f proving, mounting, and using the same. The calibre, models, chambers. and ammunition of the navy guns differ entirely from tho=e i❑ 113 C in the army. For example, the navy 12-pounder boat howitzer has a calibre of 3.4 inches, while the army 12-pounder guns are of the calibres of 3, 3.2, 3.67, and 3.8 inches. The chamber of the navy gun is of parabolic form, while the army gun has a eyeloidal chamber, or none at The models of the two guns are entirely diffe rent, so that neither could be used on the carriage of the other; the army guns being furnished with trunnions, and the navy gun having, in some cases, the loop and loop-bolt of the old carronade. The system of sighting is also different. A gunner in one arm of the service, without special instruction, could not use a gun belonging to the other ; one being graduated to.seconds of time of the flight of the shot, and the other to degrees of eleva tion. The Navy has 8,9, 11, and 13-inch smooth bores, while the Army guns are of the calibres of 6, 8, 10, and 12 inches. In the guns of the two branches of the servica there is no uniformity, in either rifle or smooth-bore, in the 20 calibres adopted below the calibre of the 32-pounders. It is impossible to use Navy ammunition in an Army gun or Army ammunition in a Navy gun. Co-ope ration between the Army and Navy while in active service is thus greatly restricted, and in some cases has been entirely prevented. Offensive operations on the part of a joint expedition of the two might be brought to an end by the want of projectiles for the land forces, while the ships of the Navy might have a surplus of the very articles required, but which could not be used by the land forces. Not a single advantage is claimed for this lack of uni formity, while the disadvantages are very numerous and apparent. It has grown out of the fact that officers in the two branches of the service have succeeded in securing the adoption of their own inventions, and the rivalry existing between them has prevented fair competitive trials of the various devices and systems advocated by each, neither being willing to admit the merit of the other's in ventions, or to utilize the knowledge gained either by their successes or their failures. The experi ments, being duplicated on account of this jealousy, have been, necessarily, needlessly expensive. A further increased expense results, in time of war, from maintaining two separate organizations fJr the procurement of arms. The two Ordnance De partments are brought into competition with each other in the matter of contracts and purchases of war material from the private workshops and factories of the country, thus putting the Government in the attitude of bidding against itself." The conclusions of the Committee are that no fur ther purchases of heavy guns should be made for the present--that the Rodman system is defective as well as the Dahlgren ; that the real cause of heavy guns bursting should be determined by ex periments, inventors encouraged, efficient harbour defences adopted, no naval or military officer be permitted to take out a patent for articles required in the service, and that the Ordnance Department of the service be abolished, the duties being handed over to the Artillery. The necessity of a change the Committee consider to be shown by the fact that the country has a vast coast line to defend, a great navy without a rifled gun of large calibre, and a corps of ordnance officers who have " failed to discover a remedy for the failure of the guns, or to master the rudiments of the science in which they have been trained at the public expense." Ap propriations are asked for to purchase over 1,900 guns for the forts, of a kind shown to be inferior in range and penetration to the guns of Foreign Powers, and unreliable as to endurance. " The ex perience of all nations goes to prove that the most effective way of developing ordnance power is by rifled guns. To return to smooth-bores, throwing huge spherical masses of iron with low velocities, is to disregard all modern progress in the science of gunnery, and to return to the arms in use two cen turies ago. Furthermore, the advisability of using guns of such great size is very doubtful, for the slowness with which they can be handled and fired makes them less effective than smaller guns deliver ing a more rapid fire. Two hundred of the guns required it is proposed shall be Rodman 12-inch rifles, notwithstanding all of that class of guns heretofore procured for the army or navy and sub jected to test have either burst disastrousl3 before the lowest reasonable test has been completed, or have given such indications of failing, after a few rounds, as to be considered unsafe." Perhaps no other portion of the Report will create more sur prise than this last extract. In England experi ments were expressly instituted at Shoeburyness to test the smooth-bore Rodman throwing a heavy spherical shot at a low velocity. " Wait !" ex claimed a noble lord on the ground to an officer of the Royal Engineers, " till the Rodman is brought into play." They were testing at the time some chilled projectiles, and were on the tiptoe of ex pectation to see how the target would be demo lished by the heavy shot from the American smooth bore. "Why," said the Engineer officer, " it was like throwing cricket balls at it ; they had little more ef fect." Notwithstanding, it was supposed that Ame ricans would obstinately adhere to their racking system, but this Report will effectually demolish any such supposition. It was possible that having finished their war they might throw the subject aside, and pay no further attention to it, but those who calculated that they would adhere to a system proved to be faulty, with their . attentien fairly di rected to the matter, have very little knowledge of the national character, and their erroneous impres sion will by this Report be somewhat removed. [ADVERTtssußwi'.] Dyspepsia (Indigestion), Constipation. Debility, Consumption, and all nervons, bilious, stomach, a, a liver complaints in every sage, are only aggravated and acce'e rated by drugs of every description, but perfectly curable by Du Barry's health.restoring Revalento, Arabica Food, as proved by thousands o: cases which had bean considered hopeless, such as —cough. as..bma, also diarrhoea, htemorrhoids, liver complaints, flatulency, nervousness, biliousness, fevers, sore throats, diphthe ria, catarrhs, Colds, influenza, noises in the head and ears, rheu matism, gout, impurities, eruptions, hysteria, neuralgia, irrita bility, aleeplessners, acidity, palpitation, heartburn, headache, debility, dropsy, cramps, spasms, nausea, and sickness, even in pregnancy or at sea, sinking fits, bronchitis, scrofula, tightness of the chest; pains at the pit of the stomach and between the shoulders, &c. We quote a few:—The Pope's health restored by Du Barry's Food. Cure No. 68 413—" Rome, July 12, 1866—The health of the Holy Father is excellent, especially since, abandon ing a'l other remedies, he has confined himself entirely to Da Da.ry's ":',evalenta Arabica Food, o; which he consumes a plate ful at every meal. It has produced a surprisingly beneficial effect on his health, and his Holiness cannot praise this excellent food too highly.—From the "Gazette du Midi," July 25. Cure No. 46,270 -Mr. James Roberts, timber merchant, of Frimley, Surrey, of thirty yea rs ' diseased lungs, spitting of blood, liver derangement and partial deafness. Cure No. I,77l—Lord Stuart de reties, Load-Lieut. of Waterford, of many years' dyspepsia. No. 0 -3,832—" Fifty years' indescribable agony from dyspepsia, nervousness, asthma. cough, constipation, flatulency, spasms, sickness, and vomiting.—Maria Joly." Important Caution.-- Beware of the many unsavou ry and more than sloppy imitations to which, with ou t authority, Baron Liebig's name is most auda ciously attached. In tins, at ls. 11d.; 1 lb. 2 s. e d. : 2 lbs. 4s. 6 d.; 51 b 8 . 118 .; 12 lbs, 225. ; 4 lbs, 40s, —Also Du BARRY'S REYALENTA. ARABICA CHOCO LATE POWDER is packed in tin canisters; for 12 cups at 25., for 24 cups at 3s. 6d., for 48 cups at 60., for 288 cups at 50s, foe 576 egg at 558.—being about one penny ?ar cup. The 30s. and 555. tate are sent free of carriage in England on receipt of Post Office Order. - BARRY no' BARRY and Co., No. 77, Regent-street. Lon don; and all Grocers and Chemists. Births. Hoon—On the 30th ult., at Stoke. Devonport, the Hon Mrs. Hood, of a son. LOFTUS—On the 30th ult., at 40, Ebury-street, the wife of Colonel Loftus, of a daughter. Marriages. Btrivr—PlLLlNG—On the 30th ult., at St. John's Church Chester, John Oswell Bury, of Wrexham, to Mary Jane Pilling, of Gatefield, Wrexham. STANBORD—GODSON—On the 30th ult., at All Saints', En nismore-plics, Robert Harley, son of Sir Robert Stan ford, late Captain 27th Regt., to Dorcas Sarah, daughter of Septimus Holmes Godson, Esq., of Rutland-gate, and Tenbury, Worcestershire. Deaths. BATTYE—On the 30th ult., at Skelton Hall, near York, William Walker Battye, Esq., aged 79. PECHELL—On the 28th ult., at Bix Rectory, Henley on f4Thames, the Lady Caroline Peellell, aged 61. RUSSELL—On the. 30th ult.. at Dover,_ Rear-Admiral John Russell, of liaulside, Ayrshire, N. 8., aged 59. London : Printed and Pzblished by WILLIAM ANDUBWE. of No. 112, Strand, Printer, at THE SUN Odles, No I' 2 . Strand, in the' Precinct of the Savoy n the County 0 Middloiioe•TharligitY, April 1,180. THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING,