The Sun. — London, England, 1865-09-09 00:00:00

HOLYbAY-MAKERS. ~- (From the Times' Correspondent.) BADEN BADEN, Sept. 7. I have run the round of Baden dissipations, and my head aches and my eyes are burning with the consequences, for I am a slave to the habit of early rising, and this burning of the candle at both ends is, I find, terrible work. I shall leave to others the enjoyment of the forthcoming festivities—the bals pare's, eclipsing all the lustre of Almack's or the Tuileries—we had one last evening in all the blaze of the really grand and gorgeous Nouveaux Salons in the Louis XIV. style ; " Don Pasquale," with Patti as Norina ; the dainty French plays —we have one by Georges Sandes, " Le Marquis de Villemar," this very evening ; the fireworks, the fetes for the Grand Duke's birthday, all " treats," in short, which make Baden so especially attractive through out September. I shall leave all ; I have had my share. The tide of holyday-makers is still setting in strongly; very few as yet give signs of any disposi tion to leave, and to the question so often put by people as they meet, " How long do you stay ?" the almost invariable answer is, "to the end of the month." Bear in mind, however, that the English, for a variety of reasons which I have already en deavoured to explain, do not .by any means make up the majority of the gay people at Baden ; nay, they willingly allow themselves to be outdone in the way of rank, of high-sounding names and titles, of wealth, and the display of all such things, and live here very quietly. Baden, strictly speaking, belongs to the French ; the Russians, Austrians, and Prus sians come in with the Gallic rulers, but in an acces sory and almost,subordinate capacity. The King of:'tTnasia has left us for Darmstadt, where he is to nieet, it is said, the Queen of Eng land on her return from- Coburg. We have the other members of the Royal family of Prussia still here, howeier, and we number Prince Nicholas of Nassau and Prince Henry of Reuss among the recent corners. These and many more, sure to make their appearance in the course of the day, will give sufficient brilliancy to the steeplechases which are to close Afeiiice season this afternoon. There is more in and about Baden, however, than the butterflies of this gay world seem to be aware of ; more than they see in all these race-meetings, these reunions at the assembly-rooms, all this gather ing of whatever European rank and fashion can muster. Go up to the hills, right or left, you can hardly go wrong ; drive up the paradise of the Murg Thai, or climb the heights of the Groose and Kleine Stauffen (the Mercurius Berg), or the more remote range of the Hornis Grinde, seek the solitude of those weird mountain lakes, the Mammelsee, the %Vildsee, &c., visit the ruins of Ebersteinburg, of the Yburg, of the Windeck, of 100 other castles, abbeys, and nunneries, listen to the legends handed down among the peasantry for 'centuries, search this Schwartz-wald far and near, and then acknow ledge that it is not easy to find another part of Germany, or of Europe, on which your imagination may dwell with keener or more undying interest. Out of these numberless Sagen, or traditions of the Black Forest, 14 have been splendidly illustrated by Gotzenberger in as many large frescoes decorating the handsome portico of the Trinkhalle, erected here in 1843 ; hundreds more have been treasured up in books ; a few have become the theme for some of the liveliest strains in German ballad literature. It is hardly to be conceived how any region on earth can harbour so many gnomes, dwarfs, sprites, and goblins as are to be found in these districts, and yet manage to feed their present generation besides. Another place, where the Prince of Darkness plays so conspicuous a part, where he is perfectly at home, is not to be easily named, nor one boasting so many Devil's Bridges, Devil's Pulpits, Devil's Mills, Devil's Chapels. Everywhere the Angels of Light nod the Spirits of the Deep, the Ormuzd and Arimanes of Mediwval Christianity, have been waging war in this their debateable ground, and th( : t traces of the struggle are apparent at every step. The marks of the powerless rage of the routed fiend are still shown on the rock—the very spot on which he gave his last kick—" Der 'Rid e rs eisen . ! Oho Devil's nor:se-Aloe), a name prov ing him to be an imp of another breed from the one we are familiar with in Englall ; no connexion, 1 should guess, with that cloven-footed fiend whom St. Dunstan and I ngoldshy have painted so black. And then the ghosts ! Where shall we look for the dark side of nature with hett , :r chance of success than in the deep gbiom at these Ili' woods Singing and sighing ghosts, sneezing ghosts, screeching ghosts, mass-saying, bell-ringing, dancing and ban queting ghosts! wild huntsman, the White Lady, a sister, belike, of the dread apparition of Berlin, Bay reuth, and other places, the bearer of tidings of death or calamity to the Princes of Baden as to other pri vileged reigning houses; or the Black Lady, that Frau . Jutta of the Alte Schloss, near at hand, an un natural monster, poisoner of her own sons from ava rice, now doomed to haunt the scene of her crimes to the end of time. All these uneasy souls, flitting about like bats, the rustle of their long, trailing garments blanching the cheeks, the stare of their stony eyes curdling the blood in the beholder's veins. As a contrast, the wonder-working images, the blessed Liebfrau of the cloister of Lichtenthal, to whose shelter the terrified nuns flocked as a band of lawless marauders were storming at their cell doors, when the Lady Superior laid her bunch of keys on her patroness's lap, and the latter stepped down from the altar, met the miscreants on the threshold, and sent them trooping back, dismayed, down hearted, like so many hounds with their tails between their legs; or, again, the same blissful apparition, and the unspeakable comfort she brought to Catherine of Austria, widow of Charles I. of Baden, when the pestilence had struck down her Margrave at Pforz heim, and, in the terror of that all-sweeping morta lity, she had taken refuge in the highest turret of her stronghold at Hohenbaden, all alone, shun ning contact with the scene of desolation around. 'With uplifted hands, and deep faith in her heart, the noble lady called upon Heaven, not for herself, • but for her people, and for the two blooming infants now sleeping before her in a gap between the battle ments, and the Queen of Heaven came down and smiled, and the clouds around her gathered in fan tastic shapes, bodying forth on her right the hot springs of Baden, on her left the cloister of Lichten- Vial. The Margravine read the portent aright. The hot springs were let free to flood the town and the country around. The plague was washed off and the two babes were set apart for God's service ; Mar garet grew up to be Abbess of Lichtentahl, Frederic took orders and died Bishop of Utrecht. Then we have the wa ter - wonders,--mermaids or a water-witches as plentifultrout or carp in . any of the dark pools. every wherc.resdo. tting the deep go rges of the Black M ountain liclief of these innocent rustics ion—b o tt om l ess i n the th e se or in c row d s th e se lovely nymphs emerge•fro„, with starry diadem hoses on still waters their h ea d s by moonlight, and silver veils on their shoulders, w i th harps on their knees, and white hands nestling lovingly a t their feet, dangerous to the stray huntsman o r „,_ wary swain whom suddenly brings in sight of their _charms. It was with such an Undine that Peter of Stauffenberg fell in once on the margin of the Wildsee. The spell was over hi m, he offered love and marriage, and was accepted on condition that on his ever swerving from his allegiance his life should be the forfeit. The happy mortal and the mysterious being lived together, :man and wife, fora year and a d a y, an d a t t h e en d : o f that period their union was even blessed with an infant ; but by that time the Knight had wearied of the sameness of his castle life ; love of adventure drove him to battle-fields, where his valour restored the sinking fortunes of Burp:m.l(ly. Ile won the good graces of the Duke, he won the hands of the Duke's daughter Alde gun& ; but on his wedling-day, as he was walking with his bride along the bank of the stream in the Duke's garden, the myrtle, wreath from Aldegunde's brow fell into the water ; the gallant knight plunged in to the rescue, the waters closed over his head, and he was out of sight for eN more. Not a few out of so many tales of wonder do not go beyond the boUndaries of natural occurrences, and these have by no means the least enduring Charm. Take, as an instance, the Crucifix in the Baden Friedhof. We have all read of that stone figure at Andernach which used to come down from the Cross in the night, went and did a good turn in behalf of some poor family, withdrew at cockcrow, and nailed itself back in its place, demure and still as if it had never stirred from the siot. To the Baden Crucifix a far more touching legend is at tached. The stonemason who carve lit had buried on this spot a daughter who was seduced by a false friend, and whose heart was broken. He lured the betrayer to his daughter's grave, and there slew him. When his deed of blood and revenge was to be atoned for on the scaffold, he acknowledged the justice of his sentence, but asked for so long a respite as would enable him to leave behind him a token of his skill no less than a remembrance of his guilt.l l. The boon was granted ; the artist shut himself up in his chamber, and on the features of his Redeemer he cut in stone the very anguish of his own prolonged agony. The work was ready ; wondering crowds gathered to see the awful per formance, the Margrave of Baden among the num ber, who would do no less than tender the work man his free pardon. But the man shook his head. The pang of death was already past ; the feeble thread of existence that had borne him up in that long ordeal of terror and remorse snapped, and he was laid on the morrow under the sod to repose with his child and his child's destroyer, under the very sod on which his monument was reared for the wonder and worship of after ages. Naval and Military Intelligence. A Russian screw corvette arrived at the Mother bank, off Ryde, Isle of Wight, early yesterday morning and anchored. She exchanged salutes with the Admiral Commanding in Chief's flagship at Portsmouth, the Victory, and also the saluting battery of Portsmouth garrison. The screw steam frigate Euryalus, 35, Captain Wm. M'Dowell, C. 8., flag of Rear-Admiral Sir Augustus L. Kuper, K.C.8., which arrived at Plymouth on Thursday afternoon, was appointed to leave the Sound on Friday for Portsmouth, where her crew will be paid off. The Euryalus was put in commission in January, 1862, and took part in the attack, September, 1864, on Simono saki. She left Chusan, March 21; Amoy, March 30 ; Hong Kong, April 28 ; Singapore, May 27 ; Batavia, June 9 ; the Cape of Good Hope, July 16; St. Helena, August 1 ; and Ascension, August 5. She brings three first and one second class en gineer—viz., Messrs. Goodwin, Hunter, Reith, and Symcock, belonging to the gunboats Flamer, Coquette, Kistrel, and Bouncer, with some naval invalids and a number of naval time-expired men. The screw steam corvette Satellite, Capt. Stephen L. Crofton, which arrived at Plymouth on Thurs day afternoon, was appointed to be inspected on Friday in the Sound, after which she wouldproceed up Hamoaze to be dismantled and be paid off. She was commissioned on the 25th of November, 1861, and in December she proceeded to herstation on the south-east coast of America, where she continued on duty. The Satellite left Montevideo on the 7th of July ; Rio Janeiro, July 24 ; and Pernambuco on the 3d of August. She brings the officers and crew of the gunboat Sheldrake, sold out of the ser vice, including Second-Master Partridge and Assist. - Surgeon T. Hamilton ; and the officers and crews of the gunboats Doterel and Spider, paid off and re commissioned, including Second-Master H. Smith, and Assist.-Surgeon N. T. Conolly, with Engineers Waterfield, Thomas, Green, Hancock, and Jenkins; and also Acting- - Master A. J. W. Neville, late of the Triton, and a few naval invalids from the Egmont. The Satellite passed, July 29, a French bark showing the third distinguishing pendant, No. 9,150, and standing to the southward ; on the same evening, long. 35 W., Lit. 16.6 S., the English ship Mary Francis, standing to the south, which signa lised " Have broken telescope ;" July 30, passed the English ship Venilia, with emigrants, standing south ; August 26, lat. 36, 42 N., long. 36 42 W., the bark Jessie Stowe, of Liverpool, bound to Swan sea and standing north ; and Sept. 1, lat. 42 44 N., long. 28 44 W., the English ship Jelin, from Callao. The Fantome, 12, sailing sloop, attached to the reserve at Chatham, having had the whole of her stork's, &c., removed, has bmn handed over to Messrs. Castle and 13each, the contractors to the Admiralty for breaking up old vessels of war, for the purpose of being taken to pieces. The Fantome was built at Chatham dockyard nearly 3Q years ago, and until within the last few years was employed chiefly on the Western Coast of Africa, where she was success ful in making captures of several prize slavers. The Childers, 12, another of the squadron of sail- ing vessels at Chatham, has been disposed of by the Admiralty to Messrs. Holloway and Co., and an order has been received directing her to be handed over to that firm. Little now remains to be completed on board her Majesty's screw frigate Arethusa, 35, 500 horse power, nominal, Capt. R. J. J. G. Macdonald, in making good the injuries she sustained from the fire which recently broke out on board on the occasion of her official trip at the Maplin Sands. The repairs are expected to be completed by an early day in the ensuing week, immediately after which she will be at the disposal of the Admiralty for the service on which she is intended. During the time she has been under repair opportunity has been taken to make a thorough overhaul of her boilers and machinery in order to make good any defects. Her engines, manufactured by Messrs. John Penn and Sons, worked satisfacto rily on the occasion of her last official trip of speed. The Icarus, 11, 150 horse power, at Sheerness, is being fitted with a topgallant forecastle, and is now preparing for commission. Yesterday the Alberta sailed from Woolwich, after receiving her supply of coals, for Portsmouth ; the Vivid, Black Eagle, and Osborne proceeded to the ordinary off Woolwich dockyard, and the latter vessel, after coaling, will return to Antwerp and em bark their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Wales and suite for England. An Admiralty order was received at Chatham dock yard yesterday, announcing that Mr. R. Laws, prin cipal naval storekeeper at that establishment since 1854, bad been superannuated on a retiring allow ance of £6BO per annum. Mr. Laws will still retain his appointment at Chatham for the present. The following appointments have been made at the Admiralty : • Capt. Geoffrey T. P. Horuby, to be additional to the Formidable, for service as First Capt. of the Bristol ; Capt. Thomas Brandreth, to the Edgar, vice Hornby ; Comman der 11. B. Franklin, to the Constance, vice Jardine; Lieut. Edward Hotham, to the Constance, vice Lyon ; Lieut. Henry J. Coddington, to the Canopus, vice Onslow ; Lieut. Andrew R. Gordon, Lieut. Edgar It. Mathias, Lieut. Charles Crowdy, Lieut. John Heat, Lieut. Rodney M. Lloyd, and Lieut. Spencer M. Medley, to the Princess Royal, for disposal; Lieut. Henry E. Grey, to the Irresis tible, vice Crowdy ; Sub-Lieut. Henry A. Digby promoted to Lieut., with seniority of 16th of June, 1865 ; Sub-Lieut. William H. Mound, Sub-Lieut. James C. C. Dennis, Sub- Lieut. Philip B. Aitkius, Sub-Lieut. Thomas H. Dickson, Sub-Lieut. Yarborough, F. 11. Parker, Sub-Lieut. George C. C. Carter, Sub-Lieut. Gerard U. Noel, Sub-Lieut. Henry Lefebre Ryder, Sub-Lieut. Ernest If. H. Stephens, Sub . Lieut. Hugh C. D. Ryder, Sub-Lieut. William P. Murray, and Sub-Lieut. Francis 0. Hartshorn, to the Princess Royal, for disposal ; W. E. B. Atkinson, midshipman, to ' the Achilles ; Ernest Kinder, Frank 11. Henderson ; Wm. , unarles A. Forlong, R D - . C,: , , , oksey, Chas. E. Wood, Colin P. Jones , and Reginald -` _ Bruce, midshipmen, to the Princess Royal, for dispo al Channer, Robert B. E. Regi nald Yorke Ogle, Arthur G. Smith, Gerard Alexander R. Hood, Regi 11. verdinanGderavrd William Trevor, William Hingston, Frank 0. y. Tubbar, M. W. M. Gruggen, yit72,oand, Henry J. Edgar, Charles Milne, Charles J. D. Poole, Pranc°iusn William A. D. Henriquez, and Henry ldA. Catfield avie''' to the second master, additional to Princess Royal, for disposal ; Geor g , 3 B. Newton, to the Acorn ; Francisj. Palmer, to the Fisg - ard ; Albert 11. Otter, It. v. C„d yon, Atkinson, John Browne, Joseph Proctor, and John A. Miller, second masters, additional, to the Princess Royal ; James C. Meagher, Henry Winstanley, Isaac B. Moorman, and John P. Pasco, paymasters, additional, to the Princess llnyal to the Duncan; ; Mitch ; e 4 , l4 assist 7 l i i n laster' to the Dee ; ee.y, assist.-payntas e charge , Rolort M. Colwell, assist.-paymaster, additional, to the Cumberland ; George Shield and Charles S. Marsh, assist.- paymasters, additional, to the Princess Royal; Henry J Riider, assist.-paymaster in charge, to the Helicon ; Henry Langworthy, assist.-paymaster, to the Cambridge ; G. C. Hammond, master's-assist., additional, to the Sutlej; Al frel Dourly, master's-assist., additional, to the Rifleman ; Frank T. Lake, W. H. P. Backner, A. G. D. Hilton, Chas. S. Neclhrun, and Willi am T. Th ompson, master's-as.!;ists., to the P r i ncess - Royal ; Heuryliull, engineer, to the Indus, for the Thais; Charles Langley, clerk, to the Lion; John R. Mosso, clerk, to the Fisgard ; John B. Creagh, clerk, to the Duke of Wellington ; William T. Fencock, George A. Young, F. D. Tongue, George W. Prynne, Frank A. Bur ney, and George F. M. Kent, clerks, additional, to the PrinQess Royal ; John B. Pearce, assist.-clerk, additional, to the Victoria; Edw. Armstrong, Henry Norval], Moses J. Piercey, Alfred Woolward, Thomas Rains, Charles Kendall, Joseph W. Chester, and Henry Dawson, assist.- clerks, additional, to the Princess Royal. THE SUB, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENUNG, SEPTEMBER 9, 185. subject of admiration with all on board. No guns are yet on either the upper or main deck, but work men were busy about a massive wrought-iron car riage and slide, the under part of the latter being fitted with as many wheels and pinions as there are in a clock, for working 12-ton guns through central ports. As the Minotaur's engines are the largest that have yet been tested in her Majesty's navy, they deserve a brief description here. They are built on Messrs. Penn's horizontal trunk principle, and, with the exception of a slight excess in the diameter of the cylinders and an increased length of stroke, might be taken for those of the Warrior. They have two cylinders of 1041 in. diameter (effec tive), and 4ft. 4in. length of stroke. They drive a fixed four-bladed screw having a diameter of 24ft. 6in. and a pitch—set for yesterday—of 25ft. 6in., the screw having a varying pitch from 22ft. 6in. to 28ft. 6in. Steam is supplied to the engines from 10 boilers, having 40 furnaces, each furnace with a length of 7ft. 9in., and a breadth of 3ft. 2in. Yesterday a band of picked stokers from the steam factory of Ports mouth yard held charge of these furnaces and fed their rapacious mouths with the choicest steam coal. The boilers contain 4,800 tubes, and hold collectively 186 tons of water. The coal bunkers of the ship carry 730 tons. The entire weight of engines, boilers (filled), screw, and shaft ing, spare gear, hydraulic engine and ram, coal bunkers and coals, is as nearly as possible 1,800 tons. The steering apparatus of the ship consists of the ordinary straight tiller (an iron forging 23ft. long) and a beautiful hydraulic arrangement fitted by Mr. Humphries (Humphries and Tennant). The electric wire fitted to the Silverton signal dials com municates to and from all parts of the ship to the quartermaster in charge of the wheel, the officer in charge on the bridge or forecastle, the captain in his cabin or on the poop, and to the engineer in charge on the platform of the engine-room. Nothing, indeed, has been neglected that practical knowledge or professional science could suggest to render the ship the most perfect man-of-war in the world. The Minotaur left Portsmouth harbour yesterday morning shortly before 11 a.m., under the command of Commander Brett, of her Majesty's ship Asia, for the trial course in Stokes Bay. Mr. John Din nen, Inspector of Machinery Afloat to the Admi ralty, was on board to report officially for the in formation of their Lordships ; Messrs. Thomas Penn and Matthews represented the makers of the engines, and Messrs. Ward and Murdock conducted the trial as the Admiralty representatives of Ports mouth dockyard. Rear-Admiral G. Wellesley, C. 8., Superintendent of Portsmouth dockyard, was also on board, as were several other naval officers. The ship drew 23ft. lin. of water forward, and 24ft. tin. aft, and had her safety-valve loaded at 251 b. 'The wind was light from S.W., and sea perfectly smooth. Several runs were made over the mea sured mile, but owing to a deficiency in the vacuum, a priming of the boilers, and other contretemps growing out of these facts, the trial of the ship's speed was postponed until this morning, when, if circum stances prove favourable, a second attempt will be made. Nothing, therefore, now remained to be done except to give the ship a run out S.E. clear of the east end of the Isle of Wight, and test her when there in making circles with her ordinary wheel apparatus, and also with her hydraulic steer ing gear. When outside the Nab a slight ground swell was experienced, nothing to speak of in an ordinary sense, but still just one of those " liftings" from the bottom of " old ocean" that frequently makes a vessel of common size feel "lively." The Minotaur is a vessel of uncommon size, yet she yes terday, outside the Nab, not only felt lively, but also " rolled" with exceeding grace and smartly as could be wished, It is a rare quality in an iron clad to do this in the manner the Minatour did yes terday, and favourable auguries were drawn of her future behaviour at sea in stiff gales and tumbling seas in consequence. The result of the trials as far as they went were as follows : Circles—Ordinary Steering-wheel, but with men at re lieving tackles ; full boiler power ; helm to starboard— Time in getting helm up, lmin. 45sec. ; turns of wheel, 3 ; men at wheel and the relieving tackles, 47 ; half circle made in 3min. 33sec. full circle made in 7inin. 28sec. ; revolutions of engines, 49; angle of rudder, 26 deg. The Same with Helm to Port.—Time in getting helm up, lmin. 4sec. ; turns of wheel, 3; men at wheel and tackles, 47 ; half-circle made in 3min. 47sec. ; full circle made in 7min. 15sec. ; angle of rudder, 19 deg. ; revolutions of en gines, 39. Ordinary Steering-wheel, with Half-boiler Power (helm to starboard)..—Time in getting helm up, 51sec.; 34 turns of wheel, with 53 men ; half circle made in 4 min. ; full circle made in 7min 56sec ; angle of rudder, 33 dog ; revolution of engines, 40. The Same with Helm to Port—Time in getting up helm, 53sec, with 56 men; turns of wheel, 3-i; half circle made in 3min 51sec ; full circle in 7min 43sec ; revolutions of engines, 40. Circles—HydraulicApparatus—Full-boilerPower—Helm aport—Time in getting up helm, 27sec, with 2 turns of wheel, 1 min ssec, with 2-} turns. Half circle madein3min 35sec; full circle in 7min 58se3; angle of rudder, 26 deg. Helm astarboard—Time in getting up helm, lOsec, with 1i turn of wheel, 24sec, with 1f turn, lmin 35sec, with 5 turns. Half circle made in 4 min llsec; full circle in Bmin 4sec ; angle of rudder, 19 deg. Hydraulic Apparatus—Half-boiler Power—Helm to port —Time in getting up helm, 13sec, to turns of wheel ; lmin 20sec, with 21 turns of wheel ; half circle made in 4min 13sec ; full ditto in Bmin 16sec ; angle of rudder, 30 deg.; revolutions of engines, 40. Helm to Starboard—Time in getting up helm, 18sec, 2f turns of wheel ; 39sec, with 21 turns of wheel ; half circle made in 4min 4sec ; full circle, in 7min 56sec ; angle of rudder, 34 deg ; revolutions of engines, 39. The experiments in turning the ship round in circles by the hydraulic apparatus alone were made in the absence of Mr. Humphries, the head of the firm that fitted the apparatus on board, and there may therefore he some good reason against judging the principle in its application on board the Mino taur by the results obtained yesterday. So far as those results went they not only gave a great infe riority to what was obtained frem the ordinary steering-wheel, but they were infinitely inferior in every respect, the most forcible illustration of which was the utter absence of controlling power in giving or checking the force from the ram piston to the rudder head. Hydraulic steering of ships will be a grand innovation upon the old-fashioned wheel, rope, and tiller system, if in the former system it can be as evenly applied and checked as in the latter. The Minotaur was to resume her trials this morn ing, but would probably not conclude them until Monday. DEATH OF MADAME KOSSUTH.—The Movimento announces the death of Theresa Kossuth, wife of Kossuth, the Hungarian ex-dictator, on the Ist inst., at Turin. The deceased was 55 years of age. In accordance with her wish the body will be conveyed to Genoa, and interred in the English Protestant cemetery at St. Beningo by the side of her only daughter, who died three years ago. IMPORTATION OF WINES INTO ENGLAND.—Mr. W. Ray Smee, in the preface to his pamphlet upon the h, e w s i t n h e e s v o a f i m ported into England l F ue ra o n f ce th a e t se on w t) i pe ne n s ny per bottle customs duties, dur ing the last five years:-1860, £1,037,000; 1861, £953,000; 1862, £717,000; 1863, 698,000; 1864, about £BOO,OOO. The official account for 1864, since published, differs but little from the one given by the author, being £793,000. In this total, which represents the entire value of the wines of France, and which is comparatively of little importance, the red wines, that is to say those generally consumed at dinner, are about £340,000, whilst the importation of eggs from France amounts to £714,000, and butter £859,000. With these figures, we ask how it happens that the red wines of France, which are one of its principal productions, and of which England has the greater need, because these wines cannot be obtained from its own soil, nor from any other country, only are consumed for a smaller sum than half that of French eggs and butter, both of which Eng land produces as well as France ? Is there not in this an anomaly deserving the attention of the two Governments ? The official returns show that Spanish and Portuguese wines imported into England amount in value to four times more than French wines. The following account gives the value of wines imported into England in 1863 : French wines, £698,000 ; Portuguese, £1,017,000; Spanish, £3,457,000 ; Italian; £61,000 ; from Holland, £155,000 ; Hamburg, £50,000 ; all other places, £59,000 total, £4,497,000. And if the quantity of the same wines is con sidered, the inferiority of France is even more striking. In 1864 there was imported into England—Spanish wines, 7,791,000 gallons; Portuguse wines, 4,345,000 do.; French wines, 2,723,000 do. Nevertheless, the wines of France in continue are a light o r di nary d r i n k , w hil s t th ose o f Portugal an d those Spain are rath er th e w i nes of li queur . Thi s u n f or t una t e state e° of thi ngs f or the wines of France mus t necessar i ly in le un n; til ar t e he ch li a g r h a t ed wi e n n e s s t , oma whi d ch ut a ie re a dmruuunhk less ake thanbeer that is to say, until the duty for French taken in wine gl asses, wines is reduced to one penny per bottle.— L'lnternational. • The British Museum and National Gallery. The following facts and statements in respect of the proposal to open the British Museum and Na tional Gallery on week nights, and to found branch museums for London, likewise to be opened on week nights, have been issued : The working classes of London are cut off from the open country, at the same time that the increased value of house property compels them and their families to live in narrower apartments. It is too much to expect the work ing man to sit in the crowded room from the time he leaves his work until, rising from his bed, he again goes forth to labour until the evening. And yet London is worse provided than most provincial towns with free museums and libraries. Neither for the million of people living south of the Thames, nor for the City of London, nor for the vast east-end population, is there a free museum or gallery. I. The museums and picture galleries in London are in accessible to the bulk of the people, first, by reason of dis tance from their dwellings. The British Museum, the Kensington Museum, the Geological Museum, and the East Indian Museum, the National Gallery, and the Na tional Portrait Gallery, compromise them all. Mr. Cole, of the Kensington Museum, gives the follow ing evidence on this point :—" In September last, 1,150 visitors freely gave their names and addresses. Of that number 402 came from the provinces, 71 were foreigners, 201 came from beyond six miles, 87 within six miles, 91 within five miles, 205 within four miles, 203 within three miles, 146 within two miles, and 114 within one mile ; so that a large majority may be said to have come from beyond three miles. There is however a second hindrance equally formidable. Museums and picture galleries are opened when the work ing men cannot visit them,and closed when they wouldvisit them. Unlike all the places of public resort for the working classes, which may be closed by day, but are opened in the evening, the museums and picture galleries, with one ex ception, are closed at night and opened by day. "I once made some inquiries as to the number of persons visiting the National Gallery, and I will give the figures—Ou k of a total of 1,669 artisans only 137 had ever been to the Na tional Gallery even once. Of late, however, there was one exception. The Kensington Museum has now for some years been opened three evenings in the week. It is the most inaccessible to the majority of the people. being in a remote corner of the metropolis ; and yet, in 1860, the su perintendent says more than half a million of people have visited it between the hours of 7 and 10 o'clock in the even ing. "On Monday nights the majority of visitors are cer tainly working people, who come in their fustain jackets, with clean collars, bringing perhaps a wife and two orthree babies and children." It is therefore proposed that our other museums and pic ture galleries also should be opened on week evenings. "I cannot conceive why the National Gallery should not be lighted up at night, if properly prepared, and if the ventila tion were made what I presume it could be made, and what indeed it has been proposed that it should be made by our engineer, Capt. Fowke, who submitted a plan to the late Government to add very much to the space of the Gallery and improve the lighting of it." Since Mr. Cole said this, the National Gallery has bean enlarged, its ventilation has been improved, and hose laid down in the various rooms, but it dill remains closed in the evenings. " I feel certain," said, Mr. Cole, " the workingclasses wouldavail themelves much of it, if it were opened in the evenings, and the open ing were made known properly." Mr. Wornum's only ob jection against the gallery being visited in the evening is, that the crowd of visitors would be too great. " Otherwise I do not think the pictures would be injured, and I think that the people would enjoy it very much." The same facts apply to the museum. Said Mr. Cole, "My opinion is that there are parts of the British Museum which might be lighted up. The library, I apprehend, could, if it were thought desirable, bo lighted up from the outside, suppos ing there was any apprehension of risk from lighting in the inside ; but when you bear in mind that there are open fires throughout the rooms, and that people have to walk about with open lights, I entertain no doubt that gas is not more dangerous than that, whatever the danger of that is. Then, again, supposing it was thought that there are parts of the British Museum that should not be subjected to the risk of lighting, I cannot see why the Natural History depart ment, being separately housed, should not be lighted up." "The Lord President for the time being, Lord Salisbury, appointed a commission, consisting of Professors Faraday, Hofmann, and Tyndall, with Mr. Redgrave, our Inspector- General for art and a Royal Academician, and Captain Fowke, R.E., our engineer, and their report has been laid before Parliament. The substance of their report is that there is nothing innate in coal gas which renders its application to the illumination of picture galleries objec tionable. The question was put to them whether they would prefer to have the gas insulated from the gallery by means of glass, or whether they would prefer that the glass should be away, and the gas in a chamber open ; and they were unanimously of opinion that, for the good of the pic tures in crowded galleries, it was far better to have the gas in a chamber open. The effect of the gas, upon a hot summer's evening, in the museum is so conducive to venti lation as to reduce the temperature two degrees ; and the ventilation is so much improved, that the rooms, having great crowds of people in them, are purified at onco by the lighting of gas. Our experience is, that bad ventilation in rooms is perhaps the most injurious thing that can hap pen to pictures." The pictUres at the Kensington Museum have received no harm whatever through the burning of gas. "Professor Faraday says that unburnt gas is, chemically, not injurious at all ; if you take a picture, and put it into a bath of gas, if the gas is properly prepared, as the best gas is, no da mage would arise." 11. But were our present museums and picture galleries opened in the evenings, they would only be within reach of a portion of the people. It is therefore suggested that ;simple yet commodious rooms might, at a trifling cost, be provided ; it may be partly by Parliament, - partly by subscription and by local authorities, as branch museums for working people. The central museums and picture galleries would be as the centres of circulating libraries. The less rare productions and duplicate articles might be lent to responsible authori ties for these branch museums for a given period. Iron rooms for museums at a trifling cost might be planted, like iron churches. These would be the pioneers for perma nent stone or brick buildings, which would follow. "What ever is in the South Kensington Museum, and is able to be removed, is freely lent under the rules to every school of art throughout the whole country. The collections con tained in the museum are lent; and collections of porcelain and other things, to the value of £20,000 or £30,000,' have been travelling safely round the country, to the vark,us schools of art, during the last five years, and they have travelled by railway and by sea. I should like to put in the exact cost, for it has been so trifling as to be hardly worth consideration—that is, the public cost ; £l,BOO has been the public expense. "I should think if the Government were disposed to give the ground of the Victoria-park that a gallery as well as a school of art might be founded there at a cost, say of £5,000, perhaps not exceeding that ; and I should think that the people in that part of London would contribute half the amount ; and then if a structure were prepared (for East London) I do not hesitate to say that the South Kensing ton Museum could keep it filled with a rotation of objects which would be changed every year as long as it lasts." " Thus our museums would not really entomb instead of exhibiting their content; making every addition of them to decrease as well the probability as the possibility of any one object being often examined. Our first steam-engines might then bo exhibited to the ironworkers of the Isle of Dogs, instead of being hidden in the store-room of Ken sington. Working men's exhibitions show what the people want; they provide themselves in this way with temporary museums ; they light them up in the evenings ; they crowd into them with their wives and children, even though they have to pay for admission. What a permanent happiness would it be to them to have warm rooms, with interesting objects, and pictures on the walls, always at hand, free of cost ! What a refuge for young men in lodgings ; what competition with places of vice ; what retreats after labour for the husband and wife together ! Our climate shuts the people up from out-door enjoyment one half of the year. The public-house or the casino is now too often the only place left open to them. Our Government have gone to great expense to provide parks and out-door places for the people, but they scarce have done anything to provide them with in-door places of resort during the winter months. The Government or Parliament would then indeed act as a beneficent father, hi providing for the masses of London branch museums, and insisting upon the opening of these, as of the British Museum and National Gallery, on week evenings, when work-people have leisure to visit them. li " Lord's-day Society, 20, John- st., Adelphi, June 9." " P.S.--By the petitions' report of the last session it will be seen that during it there were presented to the House of Commons alone petitions, praying for the opening of metropolitan museums and picture galleries in the even ings, and for the formation of branch museums, likewise to be opened on week evenings, signed by no less than 10,022 working men, all living in London, nearly all of whom dated from the factory, workshops, foundries, and like places where they were at work. From the description of themselves, as printed in the Parliamentary return, it will be seen that they comprise organ builders, zinc workers , labourers, ca bi ne t ma k ers, turners, engravers, carpenters, engineers, lithographers, printers, compositor; wheel wrights, typofounders, cardboard makers, shipwrights, boilermakers, brickmakers, employes of wholesale druggists ; plasterers, bricklayers, stonemasons, blacksmiths, petters, plumbers, painters, men at Reid's brewery, men at Tru man and Hanbury's brewery, steampress printers, piano forte maker; steam-fire enginemakers, shoemakers, iron founders and forgemen, vinegarmakers, journey men tailors, journeymen hatters, marble workers, watchmakers, 'jewel lers, coachmakers, gas engineers, tinmen, clerks and por ters on railways, brass-finishers, polishers, glass-cutters, floorcloth makers, colour maker; tanners, and leather dressers, ecc.—Sept. 7. H. STEVENS." The vintage is now going on actively in the de partment of the Bouches-du-Rhone. The fruit is, in gene ral, of good quality and abundant. In many localities of the neighbourhood the growers have this year been obliged to have vats and casks constructed to receive the crop, which is much larger than was expected. SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. TIMES.—The ingenious gentleman who told his fellow-shareholders in the Great Western Railway on Thursday that the speech of their chairman was always one long homily on the virtue of patience and the consolation of hope was not far from the truth. Chairmen may change, but the:burden of their song is the same. The Great Western Railway Company has tried men of many kinds—landed proprietors, city merchants, Privy Councillors, country brewers ; and when the London and North-Western Company intrusted their fortunes to the heir of a dukedom, the Great Western, not to be behindhand, elected the hrtir to a marquisate ; but whoever might fill the chair he told the shareholders the old story. With prudence and economy—and never were directors more prudent and economical than those over whom he had the honour to preside—brighter days were sure to come. Districts teeming with a prosperous and travel-loving population, or, at all event, rich in mineral wealth almost beyond powers of expres sion, were on the point of being opened up, and goods and passenger traffic would thereupon flow over the old lines in increasing streams. All that was necessary was that shareholders should trust the directors, send in their proxies, and the re su lt was secure. Dividends would mount up, the credit of the company would rise, the debenture interest would fall, and it might even be necessary to reduce the passenger fares to prevent more than 10 per cent. being divided. And yet the wished-for result has not been secured. The chairman on Thursday was like the chairman of any number of past years. An original shareholder who had attended former meetings might have shut his eyes and forgot the lapse of time as he listened to him. Mr. Potter began with a regret that the dividend which the directors felt justified in recommending was no higher than two per cent. per annum ; he ended by declaring his conviction that there was an amount of business traffic and trade in the Great Western district which only required a more com plete organisation for its development, and which when developed would return a thumping dividend. If the listener were of a speculative turn, he might ask how it was that the directors had always to tell the same tale of mingled regret and hope, and with a little patience a satisfactory answer might be given to the question. The chairmen of the company are changed, but the policy of the board is the same. It used to be said in the days of Mr. Saunders, that the policy of the Great Western Railway Company was the policy of its secretary ; and, if we may judge by the acts of the directors, the traditions of his principles still govern their course of procedure. It is only necessary to refer to the confessions of Mr. Potter. One of the facts which he had to deplore on Thursday was an increase of £16,500 in the rent-charges which must be paid out of the income of the company, and the greater part of the increase was, he acknowledged, due to the opering of new branches, extending over 47 miles. These branch lines were for the most part unproductive, and he said that as a rule the branch lines of the Great Western Railway did not pay a fair interest upon the capital expended on them; yet the Great Western perseveres in promoting branch lines, and in opposing independent companies whenever the latter desire to engage in the same ruinous pur suit. Next to the wasteful construction of unremu nerative branches, and, indeed, of a piece with it, is the vehement opposition of the Great 'Western Company to any competitor seeking to enter its field. Mr. Potter will not even now hear of such a thing as free trade in the formation of railways. No company has suffered more from the spirit of ex clusion than the Great Western, and none clings more fondly to it. In order to secure a monopoly of the west country traffic it promoted a railway through Cornwall, which does not produce income enough to pay the interest on its debenture debt, and the Great Western, in conjunction with the Bristol and Exeter and South Devon Companies, is forced to come forward every two or three years, if not oftener, to raise the deficiency by new guaran teed loans. With the same object of keeping the western traffic to itself, the Great Western Com pany opposed, session after session, the bill for making the South-Western line to Exeter ; the expense of opposition was enormous, and it was all thrown away, for the line is made. The Great Western Company in the last Session fought against what the directors call the aggressions of the Midland Railway Company in Gloucestershire ' although every one feels that the only result will be that money will be spent and the Midland will gain its end. And just as the Great Western Company has suffered loss after loss and defeat after defeat in its defensive battles, it has bled profusely in its equally ruinous victories. Af ter years of struggles it won the privilege of run ning trains to Birmingham and Liverpool, and in the other direction to Weymouth and Salisbury. To get the first victory it was obligati to sacrifice its distinctive gauge, and thus incur a new and per manent expense, besides the direct outlay upon the contest. And what has been the consequence of all this struggle for exclusive possession and mo nopoly of traffic ? Engineers and the Parliamentary Bar have been impoverished and shareholders have been ruined. The introduction of the mixed gauge has been a fruitful source of expense ; the company has now 220 miles of it, and the number will soon be largely increased, requiring for their maintenance an outlay greater than if they had been broad or narrow alone. The company has, again, numberless small branches eating up the profits of the main line, many of which were projected, not because there was a chance that they would pay the interest of their cost of construction, but in order to occupy a district, and thus get a foothold of opposition to any rival scheme. In the face of these facts, it is astonishing railway directors do not see that it would be to their interest to suppOlt the utmost freedom in the making of railways. Once establish the doctrine that any one should be at liberty to make a railway who could get the consent of landowners to sell the land required for its construction ; once get Parliamentary committees to lay down the fixed rule that no railway company should ever be heard in opposition to a railway scheme on the ground of competition, and thenceforward railways would be made only when they were wanted and gave, fair promises of remuneration. Ruinous con tests' and premature schemes would be abandoned, railway companies would save money, shareholders would receive better dividends, and the public would be served more cheaply and more efficiently. If any etew argument were wanted in favour of re viewing the principles on which Parliament deals with railway legislation it would be found in Mr. Petter's naive confession on Thursday. He told the shareholders " candidly that the close and laborious attention which the chairman and the officers of the company were compelled to give to the Parliamen tary campaign to a very great degree abated and impaired their efficiency in the administration of the line." It is impossible not to see that the state ment is of almost as much interest to the general public as to the shareholders in the Great Western Railway. We connect it with the other statement made by Mr. Potter, that after the Rednal acci dent the directors instructed their officers to look over the rules relative to the repair of the perma nent way and the supervision of the platelayers, as a precaution against the recurrence of such acci dents. The Rednal accident will probably cost the company between £30,000 and £40,000, and the loss may for a time stimulate the officers to fresh vigilance. But the public ought not to forget the acknowledgment of the chairman, that the line can not be properly supervised, because the energies of the Board are engrossed by the Parliamentary campaign. We thought in our simplicity that to work the line they had made was the first duty of directors, but it now appears that their most en grossing occupation is to prevent rival schemesfrom the approval of Parliament. Would it not be for their own interest, as it certainly would be for the public safety, that they should be relieved from this labour, and advised instead to provide for the security of their passengers ? POST.—There is scarcely a surer sign of hopeless brutality than indifference to suffering in the brute creation. Many a man who will kick his wife or punch his neighbour's head on the ground, be it more or less true, that the nails of the one or the insolence of the other had justified the aggression, will hesitate before he will wantonly torture a dumb animal, unoffending and defenceless. The bully of the district, the terror of his family and the dread of his neighbours, will often be found credited with the strange inconsistency that " he wouldn't hurt a fly." But the human being who has passed beyond this halting-place of a vile temper ; who can wreak a savage ferocity on a stray dog without rhyme or reason ; who can skin a cat alive remorselessly, that the fur may retain a more brilliant gloss ; who can drive a spike without hesitation into the quar ters of a weary bullock ; or, despite wounds and debility, demand impossible labour from the most willing and generous of all animals, the horse, may be safely set down as an hopeless and incurable dis grace to humanity, to whom no atrocity should come amiss, and for whom no punishment would be deemed too severe. But if there be any circum stances under which this unnatural brutishness may be held to be more unnatural and repulsive still, it must surely be so deemed when it is perpetrated permanently, systematically, and in cold blood, for the sole inducement of gain. Sudden anger may account. for and mitigate, if not excuse, any angry blow ; but the disposition that can harshly practise a constant torture upon a dumb animal in order that a profit may be secured on its purchase and its keep, need receive neither pardon nor leniency from those whose duty it is to avenge such an offence against all laws, human and divine. Those who hold such brutality in abhorrence will there fore agree that a very lame conclusion has been 1 As e-e arrived at in a case in point just heari at Merthyr Tydvil, which seems to include a more reckless and aggravated indulgence in savage barbarity, combined with a brutal indifference to the sufferings inflicw'l, permitted for some time to shot: k than has been the feelings of the well disposed po r ti on o f the com.L'AnnitY• At the instance of the " Royal Society for tn . : Prevention of Cruelty to A n i ma l s, " it was found L'eT3sselTl about a fortni g ht ago, t o i nst i tute no less then o distinct charges of the most barbarous crudii? against the :colliery manager, a Mr. Bedlington, the veterinary su rgeon , a Mr. Wiltshire, and & subordinate servant, one Moses, all belonging to the Rhymney Iron Company, working at a " cutting" called the Tir Phil Level, in Glamorganshire. The cruelty was exercised, and evidently had been con tinued for a long time, or the horses employed at the works. Mr. Colam, the secretary to the society, in consequence of information received, obtained an official examination of the horses by Superintendent Wrenn, of the Glamorganshire constabulary. That officer found the poor animals in such a horrible condition that he at once had them taken out of their harness and sent to their stables. It was high time. The wretched brutes—we mean the horses — were covered with wounds, palpably caused by work beyond their strength, but which work, despite the wounds, was still exacted from them. These wounds were ulcers of a large size and of long standing, under the collars which had caused them, and upon which those collars pressed whenever the poor animals moved. There w ere man y on eac h animal. Moreover, these ill-fated creatures exhibited wounds on their backs, which were accounted for by a state ment enough to turn one's blood cord. These horses were actually forced to work in a cutting, the roof of which was naturally roug h an d jagged ,- but which was lower than their own height. Many of these horses measured 5 feet 2 in. at the withers, whilst the roof of the cutting was only 4 feet 9 in., so that the poor beasts were compelled to perform work, already too much for them, owing to the ulcers on their shoulders, in a locality where every step added to them a few more injuries on their backs, and this w as a p rocess " o f l ong s t an di ng .' , No wonder Mr. Colam remarked that " it Was incredible outside a colliery." But there was something more incredible still to relate in the matter. The summary proceeding of Superinten dent Wrenn was reported by the subordinate servant, Moses, to the colliery manager, Mr. Bed lington, when that humane individual ordered the horses into work again the following day ! This brutal intent was only frustrated by actual force on the part of the police, and a body of constables was left on the spot to prevent,pendente lite, any further employment of the suffering animals. On Wednes day the case came on at Merthyr Petty Sessions, when the above incidents were disclosed, and their truth not disputed. A Mr. James, for the defence. admitted the facts, but asked for a " nominal penalty," on the ground that the defendants were ignorant of the law ! He might just as well have urged such a plea in a case of murder. He also " hoped that the fact of other horses having been substituted for the injured ones (the employment of which had been prevented) would induce the magi!' trate to inflict in this,the first offence, a mere nomi nal penalty." The decision of the magistrate seems to have been upon a par with the extraordinary nature of the whole affair. He " considered that the company were in every respect to blame, and he should act upon the impression that the fines would be paid by them." He accordingly contented hire self with imposing penalties on this wealthy com pany, which amounted altogether to about £l4, thus awarding no punishment whatever to the com pany who had been really the guilty perpetrators of a barbarity disgraceful to the name of man. Why should a fine have been inflicted at all, unless of a really round sum sufficient to insure a due care on the part of the company for the future. The only penalty of any practical use by way of punish meat or warning would have been a personal inflic tion on those who had personally offended. There is no lesson so likely to teach the cruel the enor mity of inflicting torture as to subject them to a little of it themselves. Those who are most reck less of pain in others have the most decided objec tion to their own endurance of it. As it is, the perpetrators got off scot free (save, we should hope, from the disgust of even the colliery district). The directors will give a cheque for the amount ; but on the direction of the Rhymney Iron Company there are respectable names, and perhaps they need hardly be reminded that the stigma which even this most lenient magistrate could not refrain from passing on them yet remains to be cancelled, and that they owe it to themselves, no less than to human nature in general, to insure that it shall never be repeated. Her Majesty's Ship Minotaur. The building of this frigate was contracted for by the Admiralty with the Thames Ironworks Com pany. After very considerable delays in the pro gress- of the work the vessel was launched on the 12th of December, 1864, in the presence of the Ad miralty and some thousands of spectators. Subse quently to her launch the ship was fitted with the greater portion of her armour plating, her five iron masts, with their complicated rig, and received her machinery from the firm of John Penn and Son. All this completed, she left the Thames for Ports mouth, where she has since had certain alterations made on her main deck for mounting, experimen tally, 12-ton guns, making good her general equip ment, and preparing her for the official trial of speed at light draught of water over the measured mile, whic commenced with full-boiler power in Stokes Bay, near Portsmouth, yesterday. The Minotaur has a length between perpendicu lars of 400 ft, an extreme breadth of 59ft 4in., a depth in hold of 41ft 6in., and a Navy List tonnage of 6,621. The ship is built up from a keelson formed of a vast bar of iron 40in in depth. To this the iron ribs are bolted in short lengths, to meet the longitudinal girders, at intervals of 23in and 28in. These ribs, meeting with and joining the longitu dinal girders, divide the bottom of the ship into a number of square cells, braced and tied together in the strongest possible manner. Above this lower section of ribs there are five longitudinal girders, which stretch along the whole length of the ship, intersect the ribs, and give unyielding strength to her frame. Thick, deep girders athwartships hold and further strengthen the ship's sides, and on these the respective decks are laid. The upper deck girders or beams are covered with iron plating, riveted together in the strongest boiler-make form, and on this is laid the usual oak and teak plank forming the upper surface of the deck. The height from the ship's floor to the lower deck is 21ft., the main deck being 9ft. 2in., and the upper deck 7ft. 2in.- in the clear from deck planking to lower part of overhead beams. Running along each side of the ship are the wing passages, 42in. wide, correspond ing with the height between decks, and divided into a multitude of water-tight compartments. In the lower portion are water-tight bulkheads for the ad mission of water ballast to increase the immersion of the ship, if such a step, from lightness of immer sion by consumption of fuel and stores, should ever be rendered expedient. Externally the hull of the ship has a powerful beauty of its own, which we think fully equivalent in gracefulness, and more than equivalent in force, to the beautiful yacht like outline of the Warrior. The stern of the Mino- taur is elliptic and without any quarter badges or useless ornamentation, while the bows of the ship preserve the same cutter-like form, free of all over hanging weight, the stemhead falling slightly in board from about 3ft. above the water-line. The sides of the ship amidships have a slope inwards of 2ft. from the water-line, and this, added to the gracefully curved lines of the bows and stern, gives the ship a bold and handsome appearance, which it becomes difficult to imagine could possibly be im proved upon in any future drawings of a broadside gun ship. The rolled iron armour plating covering the outer surface of the Minotaur's hull, where ex posed to shot, extends from the usual sft. distance below the load water-line to the upper deck plank ing and waterways. It is 51in. in thickness on the broadside, but gradually tapers off to 41in. round the bows and the stern. This armour plating rests on the iron framing, filled in with 9in. of teak backing, with an inner iron skin on the teak to pre vent splinters starting out on the impact of shot, and to hold up the backing of the armour-plate to its work. The gunports arc at present of the usual area and form given to all our - ironclads, with the exception of four ports amidships--two on each side of her main deck—which have been enlarged for experimental practice with 12 ton guns. It will be found, therefore, from the foregoing account of the main characteristics of the Minotaur that she differs from the Warrior in tonnage and general dimensions ;in engine po wer, disposition of her armour, thickness of armour, and thickness of the armour teak backing. In tonnage the Minotaur exceeds the Warrior by 51 - 2 tons ; in length by 20 feet, and in breadth by about 16 inches. In horse power of engines she exceeds her by the somewhat indefinitely expressed addition of 100-horse. In the disposition of armour plating the Minotaur carries ' her plating round the bows and the stern as well as on the broadside, while the Warrior has only about 220 feet of her main deck and water-line covered with plating, her extreme ends being of thin iron plating divided and subdivided into numerous cellu lar and water-tight compartments. The Minotaur carries 51in. of armour on 9in. of teak backing amidships, and 41in. of armour on the same descrip tion of backing round her bow and stern. The Warrior's armour, which she carries, as we have said, only on her broadsides, is tin. less in thickness than the armour of the Minotaur, but it is supported by double the thickness of the teak backing possessed by her improved sister—i.e., 18in. The most important differences existing, there fore, between the Minotaur and Warrior lie in the disposition of the armour of each, and the thickness of the armour considered specially and closely in conjunction with the thickness of the teak backing. In the protected ends of the ship the Minotaur is undoubtedly a superior vessel to the Warrior. In the increase of the armour from 4in. to siin., and the decrease of the teak backing from 18in. to 9in., the reverse position has undoubtedly been arrived at. To ascertain the exact compara tive value of the resisting force to shot and shell by the sides of the two ships, we must turn for a mo- ment to the practice-ground at Shoebury, where we may also supplement our proposed comparison by pursuing it further with Mr. Reed's Bellerophon and Hercules. It is well known to all readers of The Sun that targets to represent a section of the broadside of each of our ironclads, from the War rior downwards, have been built to Admiralty order, and tested under fire at Shoeburyness. The War rior target gained wonderful fame by the power of resisting shot or shell plied against it from guns of various calibres, and literally came unscathed out of a fire which " crumpled up " the Minotaur target. This result seemed to prove that the increase of the iron plating and the decrease of the teak backing of the Minotaur gave a shot-resisting power on the brOadside very inferior to that of the Warrior. These anomalies in the construction of our iron ships of war did not escape the notice of our present Chief Naval Constructor, who increased the weight of his side in the Bellerophon over that of the War rior or the Minotaur, and made a still further ad vance in the same direction in his designs for the Hercules. The weight of the Warrior target was about 3351 b. per square foot of ship's side, and the Minotaur's 3471 b., an increase of weight with a decrease of shot resisting power. Mr. Reed made the weight of his Bellerophon target to represent the ship's side at 3891 b. per square foot. In the Hercules target, with its double skin, double fram ing, and double beams between, the weight per square foot was increased by Mr. Reed to no less than 5201 b per square foot. The targets of the Wa rrior, Minotaur, and Bellerophon were all beaten by the guns at Shoebury, but the Hercules target was e e GO not beaten ; a 300-pounder gun firing a shot (ste e l) w e it e ). t on lb thef innerpowder, s k inf failing tb to produce a p r r g o e d t u a ann slightly other se bulging it i nwa r ds. allotted The diff erence i n t h e d efensi ul e e i s gh isi t simply o f this tle rowersformer of the r r Minotau radse r and i re w armour over every part of her hull, from her upper deck planking to Oft. below her load water-line, while the Hercules' armour is concentrated in a central square battery and a water-line belt. Yesterday the ship did not exhibit to advantage her noble proportions inboard, the decks being crowded with tanks, chain cables, and stores of all kinds waiting stowage below. The strength with which the ship has been constructed and the beauti ful finish of the workmanship in every part was the COUNTRY MARKETS --- ____ip._,_._- LI VERPOOL.- -FRIDAY. At to day's market there was a thin attendance and onlY a limited demand experienced for wheat ; holders would not give way in price, and the sales made were at Tueli; day's rates. Flour slow sale and prices unchanged. 01 , oats and oatmeal rath er l ower , and new difficult to quit,the former at ld to 2d per bushel, and the latter at is 6d per load decline. Beans fully as dear. Indian corn met a fair sale at a reduction of 6d to 9d per qr. upon New Thrall& and mixed American. Fine Galata maintains its value, being scarce. DERBY-FRIDAY. At to-day's market oats were in demand and mth er higher ; old 28s to 31s, new 22s to 26s per 24 stone. 135 5136 is dearer. New white wheat, 46s to 50s Od ; red, 48s to 52s per ,6 stone. Barley for malting, —s to —s per qr. ; grin to 27s to 28s per 30 stone. Oats, new, 238 to 275; old, 275 308 per 24 stone. Beans, old, 48s to 50s; new, 41s to 41 ' per 38 stone. S TAMP ORD.—FRIDAY. At to-day's market the demand for new wheat was %IA! ! at 2s to 3s per qr. decline ; old t en d e d downwards. value of barley quite as high. Oats sold better. Beans -° per qr. dearer. Old white wheat, 46s to 51s ; new do., qs to 48s per 3 stone. Barley, malting, —s to —s; grinding, 26s to 32 per qr. Oats, new, 24s to 28s ; old, —s to —s per 24 stout ) Beans, 44s to 46s per 38 stone. Peas as of late. WAKEFIELD.-FRIDAY. • ----• At our market to-day the wheat trade rules dull and in' active, and to effect sales of old a decline of is to 2s per qr. must be exceeded. New still sells at irregular prices. Novi barley fetches 30s to 35s as to quality. Beans steady. WO and shelling unaltered. LINCOLN.-FRIDAY. At this day's market the show of barley was limited, an d lato rates fully paid. Oats in sellers' favour. Beans 1// higher than last week.- New white wheat, 445 to 506 ; n ew re d , ' 42 s t o 45 $ per 3 6 stone. Barley for malting, ---s to --5 per qr ; grindin% 265 to 30s - per 30 stone. O a t s , 25 s t o 29 8. B eans , 418 " 45s per qr. BRISTOL SUGAR.—FRIDAY. There has been a good demand this week for sugar, 6nd 1 ) , prices must be quoted is hi g he r i n va l ue th an cou ld be ° tained a few days since. Rum—the sales are light at la ti rates. COAL MARKET. Price per ton at the close of the market. s. d. s. '; .... .... Carway and Duffryn Eden Main 3 Malting 24 0 E So a u st th H H art a l rt e , p le o p o o l ol ............ 2 20 0 :j a Byass's Bebside West Hartley lB 3 Russell's Hetton ...... 1 9 6 Holywell Main l6 0 South Hetton ......... 20 e Hetton 2O 6 Tunstall Walls End Gosforth 18 6 Kepler Grange ...... ... 19 ,, 6 New Belmont.... .. . .... 19 3 Walls End Haswell 1 1 ;1 5 Tees llTylam l6 0 Hartlepool Ships at market, 84 ; sold, 31. The latest medical bulletin from Marseilles e el for the 4th 66 deaths, 26 being from cholera. Births. DE&YE.—On the 31st July, at Secunderabad, Deco O D Hon. Mrs. Bonar Deane, of a daughter. 1//4 HENLEY.—On the 6th. inst., at 11, Cedars, Putney, f the wife of the Hon. and Rev. Robert HenleY , ri • daughter. of NEWBERY.—On the 6th inst., at Broxb ourne , the wife G. J. Newbery, Esq., of a daughter. WELDON.—On the 7th inst., at the residence of her rnott 1, Oxford-square, Hyde-park, W., the wife of Sir J t * Weldon, Bart., of a daughter. Marriages. HARBORD—SCHENLEY.—On the sth inst., at All S' lint r E• el Knightsbridge, the lion. Ralph Harbord, brother Suffield, to Lily, second daughter of Edward w' Schenley, Esq. MNISZECH — MALING.—On the sth inst at the _ellit.checbt the Oratory. L on d on, the Count de Vandalin 30 . 11 jta' to Elizabeth Anne eldest daughter of the late Vic ° miral Dialing, of The El ms , Worcestershire. 1 . vt Alit BEAL L.—On the 6th i ns t ., at eaths Upper Tooting, Thos' 8e Esq., aged 80. g CY' OURTIS.—On the 7th inst., at 5, Stockwell-place , - t° well, Mr. John Curtis, aged 73. Casa well, DALY.—On the 7th in s t., at Brunswick-square, CO John Daly, Esq., aged 68. Vi r • GOODGER iff .—On the sth inst., at Burton-on-Tren t, ""'"' Goodger, sen., aged 74. rot °I Howmin.—On the 7th inst., at Fulham, Sarah , re 1 Win. Howard, Esq., aged Ato l3, OLD.—On the 7th inst., at 9, 8 Cavendish-place, Pik , Treuham Old, Esq., aged 84. aree r SIILLIVAN.—On the 7th inst., at the Royal Hosplt a ii wich, Captain Thomas Ross Sulivan, R.N., aged 66.rset, SEALY.—At Castle-hill House, Nether Stowey , Soule George Sealy, Esq., aged 82. —.O" S London : Printed and Published by WIL LIAM AN v o. ic of No. 112, Strand, Piinter, at TILE SUN ()Meet of Strand, in the Precinct of the t'•svoy. In the Co Middiesexv—Saturday, September %VA% C o ric 2 T " av At e r Iliki