The Sun. — London, England, 1841-02-27 00:00:00

N 1 critF, fur" immediate t h e p übiic rd Lieutc• Ind abilitY , hemr, but solution ot• of eircuol eriuity and ild not be • proposed, his appro• le Govern :tic inter neces:ity, wino and [ler reform. zotch, and amino con° re trains mn ance by the p' in the Jamy SCIICIYIP fan for the or rVan t, iLAgE. 3AO S4 t I'l o { J r As b ec „ill ti le ° the ir for iri to b ° trials t he a 0 0,00 Heir ac- j e ic l o st rti ed „a o r o ve r he'. „ ;0 ,4. o,o°° N9• fan' hap to „ord i°l4 , y A man r ht be h g n boO s ' b e orr lie lech 3 l lj the ino t i - 115 . ; n nic ar ' ; re Vr' op i e r, v , r v _ ° licr• gar' the • c o el dist ° , nIIL I C- brathe Li L OP P°l3" i% MORNING EDITION. LITERATURE. L ETTERS.FROM THE COURTS OF FRANCE, NAPLES, 'c.-2 Vow. Colliers, London, 1641. I 3 Y a short bi ograp hi ca l memo i r prefixed to the first v o l ume o f th i s work, we learn t h at its Mr. Swinburne, was an accomplished Ba ronet gentleman, third son of a northern • Lsa ronet . of that name ; that he wrote a highly Popular book, en ti t l e d 4 4 Travels in Spain and Italy ;'' and died in the West Indies in the year 180 3, of a coup de soleil. From the volumes now l y i ng on our table, we should judge that he was ontleinan of very accomplished tastes, and a 'an of the world in the best midmost comprehen !lye sense of the term; and we may add—what Possessing I s evident i n d eed i n all his letters—t h at w i t h out one tithe of the fancy and sprightli rless of Horac e W a l po l e , th a t p r i n ce of epistol ists) he possesses much of his easy, sketchy Power of n arrat i on, espec i a ll y w h en d eta ili ng a Court or fashionable anecdote. Though in these volumes Mr. Swi n b urne re f ers t o ti me s,char acters, an d!oeidents l ong s i nce passe d awa y—f or th e dat e of his last letter is as far back as 1802—yet his ob . ervations and gossiping stories will be read with interest, af f ording us, as they do, a clear insight ' into the character of fashionable continental ZietY towards the close of the last century.. ee Louis th e Fif teenth, an d hi s favourite mistress uli 13a rr i , we have many interesting reminis ,i,Le,"; the latter, to whom our author was (rT a llY introduced, he describes as follows We found the favourite Sultana in her morn ing her capuchin on, and her hair un dressed she was very gracious, and chatted a rod deal about the opera. I could hardly re rain from laughing 'at an involuntary exclama •,,en from my brother presentee, the Duke of t'cirset, whose Ahern istress, Mrs. Parsons, has 8 4 7,, n long out of teens. Good Heavens !' i s `" h is Grace in a whisper to me, why her bloom quite past !' Madame du Ban is of a middling 4, Just plump enough, her face rather in the ' e duw leaf, h er e y es goo d, and all her features r egul ar ; but I cannot think her a pleasing figure 11( 'v, whatever she may have been, or may be when made up, and decked out in her pride." 11 ,P quitting- the Court of France, where he met Oh, a cordial reception from all classes, our \s ", aut hor set out for Spain, and here he was equally verll received by the Royal Family and the No el lt ,Y. According to his own account, nothing ' 1 (1 exceed the magnificence of the Spanish ig court at this period. " There are," he tells us, twelve thousand head of deer in the Royal Woods of Aranjuez. The King alone has 0„ e hundred an d fifteen sets of mules, and f e u iithousand persons follow the Court whenever e " , anges palaces. The Duke of Infantado gives a l l wards o f ten t h ousan d pounds sterling in wages li d Pensi ons ." F ro m Spain Mr. Swinburne s! () eeeded to Rome, Naples, and thence to tii c " i Y, where nothing surprised him more than le e exceeding ugliness of the women of Pa -Btrine. Br done if we remember rightly, was landwith their beauty. On his return to En . g : - n i n „ tl our author mixed much in the higher cir cles of the metropolis; and among others whom 6- e often met in company, were the celebrated rege Selwyn and John Wilkes, of whom he tes these anecdotes. hi h , 4 w, e had a turtle dinner at Wilkes's yesterday. I had met thZ the day before on the parade, and the warmth of the ea -11,-. a nd walk had carried off all the powder from his bald pate. gre•!t co . mplimenter, and would stand king to me anti h hat in his hand. A drummer and his son . passed us, ,!' s I was going their way, I overheard their discourse. , i) , ,, tat a queer-looking bald fellow that was,' said the boy. Wi r ", r ''t you knew him ?' replied the other ; "tie Johnny re 7" , and that bald head has more brains in it than all our W~lput together, drummers and all.' I told this to t Q l( es, and it ma d e him chuckle. He was very amusing, and d Trie several droll things. • t: In 1 783-4, the House of Commons went up every day with :•ddress t o th e Ki ng , p ra yi ng to remove Pitt and his Mi gas,rY; The King always received them on his throne, and Sele them an answer. One of these days, at the club, George t w Yn had been asking the Prince of Wales some questions, which he did not choose to reply otherwise than by Pshaw! hal l : er 'se !' Not long after, as they were both leaning on the s a i d looking at the Speaker going to Court, the Prince suer. I wonder what will be his Majesty's mcst gracious an ;i' ` I cannot tell,' answered George Selwyn, what may 1:1 4 ""e gracious a nswer of his present Majesty—but I can tell will be the answer* of our next gracious Sovereign.' r wt what will it be ?' said the Prince. Nonsense !' he of " The other d a y, at a dinner, in company with the Prince ki „ ales, Wilkes being called upon for a toast, gave The ac bg' and long life to him !" Since When have you become ha v ,; ) ,l l, Wilkes?' said the Prince, laughing. Ever since I h e 9 4 the honour of knowing your Royal Highness,' said ",,,' l ll a respe c tful bow. sq, "ben the Prince was a little boy. havingbeen very trouble h~m his father's room, am' several times turned out of it by o r , ,' ne returned at last, and thrusting his head into the door ), !cr eamed out, Wilkes and Liberty !'" I " Mrs. Siddons, whom our author frequently me t si while i n London, he says that " she is hand butut too stately for common life," to which a n' us ing the Editor, Mr. White, appends this '.•kuslng note isle true. Mrs. Siddons almost always, to use her own fonten, spoke in the language of Shakspeare, and accounted th e by Dy her mind being constantly absorbed in meditating upon it worke of our immortal•bard, so that she identified herself, h e '"ere, with Ins phraseology. The last time almost 1 met t hs ` How fares your good lady Passing well," r l.ered I. B ear ray kind greetings, and commend me to 4 i ' av ur," replied Mrs. Siddons, waving her hand. Then "1" n , \. ° ll c day at dinner, I proposed to help her to something ; Your mercy," said she, " I've feasted sumptuously." r 1 Lockhart's life of Scott there if we re reellber rightly, a somewhat similar anecdote 4 1 ; a ted of Mrs. Siddons. She was dining at e r,hotsf or d, w h en , happ e ning to call for a glass to h eel', the servant, by mistake, brought her a tl ler of c o ld water, on which, looking at him with the severe, majestic air of a high tragedy Q T e en, she addressed him in the following blank • called anner,brought me water, boy, itth for beer." In closing our notice of this itl us ,ing, desultory work, we must observe that "Y no means so carefully edited as it should de ve bt e l . H ere , f or i ns t ance , i s a strange blun iar on. tile part of the Editor. Mr. Swinburne, v i, 4l ,g ''asiiallmentioned that he, had.paid a zrl s h "Duchess de la Valliere, aged sevent-p -4.`) \vim was a famous beauty, and has yet won with eyes," Mr. White, confounding this lady li a .`t the celebrated mistress of the Grand Mo ka,'e) observes in a note :—" It is, I believe, A r Zulted that Madame de la Valliere, from her li e s ' i ipresentation at Court to the latest moment of tit i d r " f e) continued most constant both to the person ,"lentory of her Royal lover... The history of nre daisoi t with Louis XIV., and her abandon 4rentt by that dissolute and capricious Monarch, it h ri o ° well known to require comment." Now,. "Wens that the Duchesse de la Valliere did • ° t surviv e 17 Louis, but died five years before him, sh, 1 °) and yet Mr. White gravely states that S w i 'v is as alive in 1787—the period to which Mr. afte r ti "lle's visit 't refers—just seventy-seven years 'ter decease ! This is sad negligence. 2111 E NAVAL SURGEON. 3 rms. , T h . . Colburn, London, 8 it --,re is no want of mystery l in 4l. this story, but is u - h ( n el violent and melodramatic character, and det;' r avelled with an appearance of effort that sp,,`'aets from the effect. The hero is a high /ri:lted, adventurous young man, the son of an OCiT B aronet of ancient descent, Sir Maurice 14 ° ,nnell, who having been rescued from death s tt :eld of battle by a brother officer of the he name, is so grateful to his preserver, that Cur i l n'ehases him a small estate near his own at who e Maurice; adopts him as a brother • 'and s io „.n both O'Donnells subsequently mary] t t . h e e . y r 4p to live together, so as to form with Po - ; (1 :en one large, happy, and united famil y. l ; - , c4 ne years nothing can surpass their mutua l a'l l- ‘3T, but unfortunately circumstances call Pions ,O'Donnell to England, and during his ab- Ith e his wife, who is a confirmed sleep-walker, - Wit: e ver anything weighs upon her mind, meets . ver, - or rathei• is the occasion of—the following %A i - a wkward mistake, which is thus related by Darraurice O'D onne ll, who was one of the chief imams compromised by the accident, to his son, „" tong year after the event : • LP . 62 aXtrem e care this habit of slcep-walking in Mrs. grtei ;2°l had b een , as we b e li ev ed, quite cured; and •RtierwtoK itself only when externalbircumstances had d 11•1 1 ? oppressed the mind, a long interval elapse ,^°td 'u " all recurrence, and we ceased to fear that sut•h 'e the cause. Colonel O'Donnell, her husband, ts hi — i ,`st forgot that it had ever occurred, and this led ,‘il,B"7lecting the precautions that guarded against its L V hert he as you are aware, left Castle Maurice o f 4 , 1 -6 ' 4 , 0( 1 , his ' wife greatly wished to accompany him ; olai t , q (- had a peculiar aversion to such a step, she rr icitt di.lojud, and. it being their first separa , tion, was and ' tr e's• At this time both my brother room an R ife were doubly furriabei chambers, and when my The di s c (1 th. foliowing morning, she came to my side. You seeuvery which ensued, I cannot, dale not, relate to Ong bl ast ; su ffi ce it to say that the happiness of a life 4 Y tu l. e 'mcment for all three. The unspeakable e horrihlC e ehate that follomed I cannot dwell f c ll slT s• O'Donnell became a gibbering ideot; my t " , th n tn almost as pitiable a state; and I w.is t'ience "r• rh , 1 incholy t•e:ng you have always known. At th, thoo“ls d • b'e to conceal the truth from •I• a vis u a • • im p ossible , l wrote to h l e I but that becom i ng t b - h l let cooj , lady with your mother. To her part of 'hl7, pli..d But whether hit reason tottered t: t l o4 e e r fl ': e i t i s o - e: at u te l i n f epr : - know not ; 1 cannot, however, think e: n us y ed to btli •ye ant thing but the vilest • % ' ° *Pil to °n luY part—spoke cf his immediate return, and ,, life, whenever he should meet me. °,1)01-ke,nrse after this " untoward" affair the I.tle B at a no longer reside under the same roof; i Ttajo r 0 1.° .!,,et still '' coutinues at his castle, but . j'eo t„ D onnell retires with his wife and chil ,lapno - , 4 small estate in the neighbourhood; and deaai li tng' to meet with 1 • old friend, but now hi y ene_yits t o a ? one day in hunting, he provokes a f te 'tnl, and is killed by the Baronet. '• r wards the survivor's son encounters %r' young Kathleen O'Donnell, falls in love with her, and would have married her, but that Sir Maurice hearing of the circumstance orders her to be clandestinely conveyed away to the Continent. Thus disappointed, and stung by his fatheEs harshness and injustice towards him, the young man resolves on leaving home and becom ing the artificer of his own fortune. With this view he adopts the medical line, and obtains the post of naval surgeon; and his adventures in this profession, which are related at length, and with much graphic vigor, form by far the most enter taining portions of the tale. Here, there is much various knowledge of actual daly life exhibited, and not a few characters drawn with equal tact and superior energy to any of Captain Marryat's naval sketches. The tale concludes with the hero's marriage with Kathleen O'Donnell—a re sult, however, which is brought about by a can currence of the most improbable events. CHILDREN OF THE MOBILITY. Bentley, London, 1841. This is a lively and ingenious quiz upon gt showy, fashionable Annual entitled " Children of the Nobility," which, it may be remembered, was brought out last year in a very splendid style, and contained some three or four brace of aristo cratic portraits, to each of which was attached some commendatory pieces of prose or verse. In the " Children of the Mobility," we have, instead of particular individuals, groupes of figures of the lowest classes, sketched with great spirit and humour by Leech, who bids fair to win himself a name in this walk of art.. In the ease, lightness, and occasional elegance of his touch, he is not unlike H. 8., but he has less whim of conception, and has yet to show that he possesses the variety of this accomplished caricaturist. Mr. Leech's first plate, which forms the frontis piece of the present work, is his cleverest, and represents a squalid groupe of pauper children, whose thin, pinched titces and tattered garments present a striking contrast to the healthy, hand some aristocratic groupes depicted in the Annual above mentioned. One figure, that of a young girl, who is listening with a smile to the conver sation of a ragged urchin near her, is remarkable for the ease, not to say elegance of its attitude, though the artist, we suspect, intended to make. the girl's figure merely . ridiculous. The bare legged child who stands next her, and is looking pensively into an empty porter-pot, cannot be e seen without exciting a hearty laugh, so exqui site grotesque is the would-be pathetic expression of her countenance. The literary department of the work is penned in a spirit of quiet, sedate humour, which would have been more effective, had the author thrown a little more breadth and piquancy into it. THE MONEYED MAN. 3 VOLT* Coburn, London, 1841. Mr. Horace Smith has here essayed a task in which he is far better qualified to excel, than in writing . imitations of the Waverley novels. In the " Moneyed Man," he has found a subject every way suited to his talents, for the tale is one ofreal practical life, and deals with real characters, and consequently has been treated con amore by an author whose power of shrewd observation has ever been more remarkable than his fancy. We consider the novel before us as the best that the year has yet produced, first, on account of its in cidents, which are well put together, and vigor ously and carefully wrought out; and secondly, on account of the judicious reflections that are scattered throughout it, and the praise worthy moral it enforces. The leading points of the "Moneyed Man" which assumes the form of an autobiography— may be soon summed up. The hero, Mark Hawkwood, is the son and heir of the richest banker and merchant in all London, and at the opening of the narrative has just succeeded in obtaining a partnership in his father's house of business. The old man, whose sole thoughts are bent on the accumulation of gain, endeavours, of course, to inoculate his son with the same tastes; but the young man prefers rather to join in the fashionable society and dissipa tions of the West-end, which soon involve him in pecuniary embarrassments. While he is thus hampered by his extravagances, old Hawkwood suddenly dies; and then the son discovers to his surprise and horror that, instead of succeed ing, as he had anticipated, to his vast wealth, he succeeds to nothing but his debts, for the supposed millionaire had died in a state of absolute insolvency. Then follow in rapid succession the usual calamities attending such a state of things. The destitute young man is cut by all his respectable acquaintances; the charm that hung around his life is dispelled; his spirits daily sink more and more; and he seems likely ere long to degenerate into a confirmed misanthropist. Butat this crisis, hi only sister Edith interposes, like a guardian angel, between him and utter, hopeless ruin. By her advice, he looks actively about him for the means of sub sistence ; shakes off his lethargy; and after some time spent in hunting about for a suitable em ployment, obtains a situation on a newspaper; marries a girl with a small fortune, whom he had occasionally flirted with in the days of his prosperity ; and during the remainder of his life enjoys a far greater amount of rational happiness than he had ever enjoyed when courted by all classes of society in defe rence to his father's wealth and his own expecta- tions. The main object of the tale is to show that riches are by no means indispensable to felicity, but, on the contrary, are too often destructive of it ; and this useful moral is enforced through the medium of the hero's own confessions, who, as a rich man, is a very selfish, heartless, ar rogant fellow ; but when brought to his senses, and sobered by misfortunes, seems to change his very nature and to become calm, amiab!e, contented, and happy, because then, for the first time, he enjoys—what Pope has so beautifully called—the " eternal sunshine of the spotless mind." The delineation of this charac ter, in the various phases of its idiosyncrasy, is admirably true to, nature, and induces the suppo sit ion that some particular individual, with whom the author was acquainted, sat for the portrait. In th e course of the narrative we have brief glimpses of several personages of more or less note in their day—such as the Prince of Wales, Beau Brummell, and Barrington the pickpocket, which last genius had the finest conception of a petty larceny of any artist that ever existed, though it has been objected to him, by some fastidious critics, that his style of execution was monotonous and wanted versa tility. We close this hasty notice with the re mark that the " Moneyed Man " isincomparably the most thoughtful, spirited, and entertaining novel that has yet appeared from the pen of Ho race Smith. SCEIVERY AND ANTIQUITIES OP IRELAND. Pear I. Virtue, London, 1841. We have here the commencement of another work on Ireland, resembling in its plan and mode of publication the one now editing by Mrs. Hall, but certainly not possessing—so far at least as we can judge from a first number—the claims of that excellent work on popular favour. Mr. Wil lis is the editor of the present publication—an American gentleman who has written some small poems of a very Grub-street order of imagina tion, and one or two volumes of travels in which, mixed with same lively descriptions, there is an infinite deal of pert twaddle. His cursory sketches, in the Part before us, of the scenery in the neighbourhood of Belfast, are passable enough, and his account of the city of Belfast is, we have reason to believe, strictly accurate. " No town," he says, " that I have since visited, is so un-Irish in its appearance, or in the character of its inhabitants. Industry, tem perance, and frugality seem to be the guid ing principle among every class. Business is life here, and life is business; we find none of the deep drinking and careless merriment of the South, which leave to-morrow to do for itself. A shrewd calculating spirit pervades the whole mass of the community, proving in contestibly their genuine Scotch descent. Yet, with all their money-getting habits, the people of Bel fast are not so engrossed by business, but that they can afford a large portion of their time and money to the advancement of literature and the fine arts." The embellishments of this Part are six in number, and furnish us with a vivid idea of some of the loveliest landscapes in Ire land. The best in point of subject and execution is a view of " Clew Bay, from West Port," which, with its gleaming water dotted by syl van islands, bold mountain-shores, r.nd far stretching promontories, realizes all our notions of the sublime and beautiful in nature. By way of frontispiece, we have a half-length portrait of Mr. Willis, in which that gentleman is trying hard to look like a man of genius, but, we are sorry to say, without effect. HE SPAS OF ENGLAND. Colburn, London. 1841. After visiting- in succession, and describing with much minuteness of detail, the most cele brated Spas of Germany, Dr. Granville has now turned his attention to those of England and in the prespnt volume has given an ac count of those of our northern Spas which are most frequented by invalids. His de tails of Harrogate—a watering-place whose springs still retain all their old efficiency— of Scarborough, Redcar, and Hartlepool, are full of curious local matters, and we hope will be the means - of drawing an increase of visitors to these delightful spots, and checking the preva lent mania for resorting to foreign Spas, as if THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 1841. our own were not quite as serviceable as remedial agents. Of Harrogate which seems to be a great favourite with the Doctor, he tells us that "it remains a village to this day, though upwards of two hundred and seventy years have elapsed since the first mineral water was tapped on its bleak heath. Its springs are unsophisticated, because the place itself remains as it was. You dip your cup. into the fountain head, and get your strong waters. There is no shuffling, and the mind is convinced at once. Har rogate is, in fact, a true and genuine Spa. Its situa tion is delightful. For elevation, above the Irish and German oceans, midway between which it is placed; for position, at about equal distances from the capitals of the United Kingdom and for geological formation, favourable to human life—Harrogate stands almost pre-eminent. That such a place must enjoy a salubrious air it is hardly necessary for me to add. The extensive heaths which, with immense tracts of finely-cultivated country, surround this favoured spot, allow full play to the sweeping breezes, and render the air remarkably pure and bracing." Of Scarbo rough, its environs, and its waters, our au thor speaks in equal terms of praise, and expressly assures us that, " after a course of the Harrogate waters, the daily use of the south spring water of Scarborough would form the most appropriate and beneficial appendix to the treatment of a vast number of disorders." We take for granted that in the next volume Dr. Granville will furnish us with an account of the more fashionable western and southern Spas of England, as his present volume is exclusively devoted to descriptions of the northern ones. thing more than suspicion in the minds ofreaders ' that facts are often twisted to suit his own dis torted views. The following paragraph is a spe cimen :—" Unadopted by the Foreign-office, un paid by the country, unrejected by any constitu ency whatever, I have not thought it right to practice literary larceny on a large scale, as some have done, or appropriating the language, senti timents, and opinions of others, to call it a Re port, and fawningly foist it on the tables of Par liament." He is wofully out of his reckoning at times, too, in speaking, of the English and French navies. On visiting a rope-walk at Cherbourg, he heard some 500 men and boys singing martial airs to the beat of drum, a cir cumstance which made as awful an impression on his mind, as if the " infernal machine" of the Times had been prepared to blow all our wooden walls at . once to destruc tion. But we must describe his dismal foreboding in his own words :—"AsI paced down these noble covered allies (alleys) and saw the glistening eye, and heard the martial song and the loud beat of the drum,. I caught a portion of that enthusiasm which is in some sense cominu- nicable and electric, and I said to myself, in going out in a torrent of rain," Would to heaven that we had some one to take care of the navy of Old England." And while these lugubrious words were going through the press, the English fleet after successes on the Syrian coast, un paralleled even in the days of Blake or Nelson, were safely moored in Marmorice Bay, a French fleet was exposed without an object to a tempest in the Mediterranean, and utterly dispersed with frightful loss oflife and property ! The writer seems to have forgotten that there are such animals as British sailors in existence ; and we would advise him, therefore, to take - a cruize with Commodore Napier, to compare the cheer of the gallant crew of the Powerful with the chaunting of the Cher bourg rope-makers; or, if he will, what is more terrible before battle, " cet affreux silence des Anglais." Whatever he may know of French ports or French sailors, he evidently knows little or nothing about the energy, the resources, and the enterprise of the people of this country or the state of our navy; and • before his book reaches a second edition, we would advise him to pay some attention to these subjects, and place them in contrast with the exaggerated statements in his letters. HEATING BUILDINGS WITH HOT WATER. TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN. Sir,—Being interested in an extensive manufactory hostel by the above means, my attention was naturally roused by the alarming announcement above in your paper of the 15th instant. After detailing many dangerous con sequences from its use, your Correspondent asks, •' How, if at all, can the danger be averted, and this cheap and convenient mode of beating buildings by means of water, be practised without risk ?" This question I will ende ivaur to answer by explaining the plan adopted in our own manufactory. The building consists of four floors or stories; upon the lower floor is erected a wrought-iron boiler, of an elongated form; on the upper floor is a cistern of a similar form, but of much smaller dimensions, avid open at the top. A cast.iron pipe four inches in diameter is connected to the top of the bciler by a flancb, and proceeding upwards, passes round the lofts required to be heated, and terminates at the cistern above-mentioned, to one end of which it is united in the same manner as at its commencement from the boiler. At the opposite end of the cistern begins another pipe of the same dimensions, which descends to the boiler, and, passing through the top of the boiler, goes to within a few inches of the bottom. The first from the top of the boiler to one end of the cistern is the ascending pipe ; the latter from the opposite end of the cistern through the top and nearly to the bottom of the boiler, the descend ing pipe. The apparatus is filed with water supplied by a torte-pump, to the open cistern at the top, and the ope ration is at once simple, safe, and effective; simple, be cause natural, as thus : Water, being composed of parti cles or atoms whose affinity for each other is readily dis turbed by beat, the lowest portion, at the bottom of the boiler, being nearest the fire, is the first affected, and the, columnal pressure cf the water in the descending pipe being greater than that in the ascending, the whole is set in motion passing through the cistern at the top down one pipe through the boiler and up the other pipe, until the whole body of water is heated to one uniform degree, never reaching the boiling point, consequently producing no steam. _ _ For safety, no plan for diffusing heat can be equal to this, as no danger can arise from materials, however com bustible, being placed in close contact with the pipes. Of its efficacy we have had ample proof in the experience of ten years, a temperature higher than required for the pur poses of any manufactory being easily produced and kept up without heating the water to the boiling point. So far I presume, Mr. Editor, your Correspondent's inquiry has been satisfactorily met. Looking fur a mo ment to the case which has proved so disastrous, it seems very clear, from the statement of your Correspondent,- that the water has been heated far beyond boiling point. We are all aware that at this point water evaporates, or flies off into steam ; in other words, the affinity of the par ticles or atoms of which water i 3 composed, is at this de. give of heat destroyed, and, separating from each other, become an expansive power of more or less extent, ac cording to the degree of heat ; but if the boiler and pipes 'are so filled that no space or vacuum exiats for the forma tiittf-of-- steam, then, as the experiments of Perkins, already alluded to, have shown, it can be heated to any de• gree of heat that the metal which confines it will sustain without fusion. _ The remedy, therefore, proposed by your Correspon dent, of employing a metal for the pipes that would melt at a heat short of what would ignite wood or other com bustible materials, is, I submit, providing for a danger that ought not to exist. If it has been the practice to work the apparatus in question at a higher temperature than boiling water, and an interval of disuse has occurred during the late severe frosts, the contents of the pipes most remote from the fire have no doubt become solid ice, and by obstructing the flow of water occasioned an excess of heat near the boiler so as to cause the mischief which has happened. I remain respectfully, Sir, Your's, &c., 0 Coach Manufactory, B a th, Feb.T I H B, S. FULLER. 1841. PARLIAMENTARY DIVISION. (I rom the totes and Proceedings of the Rouse of Commons.) THURSDAY, FEB. 25. PARLIAMENTARY VOTERS (IRELAND) BILL. Order for Second Reading read ; Motion made, and Ques tion proposed, " That the Bill be now read a second time :" Amendment proposed, to leave out the word " now," and at the end of the Question to add the words " upon this day six months :"—Question put, .. That the word ' now' stand part of the Question."—The House divided:— MAJORITY—AYES, Abercromhy, G. It Fitzwilliam, G. W. Acheson, Viscount Fleetwood, H. Adam, Sir Charles Fort, John AgiionbY, H. A. ' Fortescue, T. Alston, Rowland French, F. Anson, Hon. Colonel Dillon, W. D. Anson, Sir George Gisborne, T. Archbold, Robert Gordon, Robert Bainbridge, E. T. Grattan, J. Baines, E. Grattan, Henry Bannerman, A. Greenaway, Charles Baring, F .T. Greg, R. H, Barnard, E. G. Grey, Sir C: Barron, H. W. Grey ; Sir G. Barry, G. S. Grosvenor, Lord R. Basset, John Grote, G. Beamish, F. B. Guest, J. Bellew, R. M. Hall, Sir B. Berkeley, F. H. Hanley, H. Berkeley, Grantley. Harland, W. C. Berkeley, Hun. C. Hastic. A. Bernal, It. Hawes, 13. Bowes, T. Hawkins, J. H. Blake, W. J. Hayter, W. G. Blake, M. J. Heathcoat, J. Blake, Mark Heathcote, Sir G. Blewitt, Reginald Heathcote, G. J. Bodkin, Joan James elector, C. J. Bowes, J. Heron, Sir It. Brabazon, Lord Hill, Lord A. M. C. Bridgman, Hewitt Hindley, Charles Briscoe, .1. I. Hobhouse, Sir J. C. Brocklehurst. J. Hobhouse, T. B. Brodie, W. D. Hodges, T. L. Brotherton, J. Hollond, Robert Browne, It. D. Horsman, Edward Bryan, George Hoskins, K. Buller, C. Howard, B. G. Buller, E. Howard, F. J. Bulwer, Sir E. L. Howard, I'. H. Busfeild, William Howard, C. W. G. Byng, George ....mock, Lord Byng, Hon. G. S. Hume, J. Callaghan, D. Huinphery, J. Campbell, Sir J. Hurst, R. H. Carew Hon. R. S. Hutchins, E. J. Cavendish, Hon. C. Hutt, W. Cavendish, G. H. Hutton, It. Cayley, E. S. James, William Chalmers, P. Jervis, J. Chapman, Sir M. L. Johnson, General Chetwynrl, Major Labouchere, H. Chichester, J. P. B. Langdale, Hon. C Childers, J. W. Langton, Col. G. Clay, W. Leader, J. I'. Clayton, Sir W. Lemon, Sir C. Clements, Lord Lennox, Lord G. Clive, E. B. Lister, E .C. Collier, John Listowel, Earl of Collins, William Loch, James Corbally, M. R.. Lushington, C. Cowper, Hon. W. F. Lushington, Hon. S. Craig, W G. Lynch, A. H. Crawford, W. Macauley, I'. B. Crawley, S. Macmiiata, W. Crompton, Sir S. Dl*Taggart, J. Currie, Itaikes Marshall. %V. Dalineny, Lori( Marsland, H. Dashwood, G. H. Martin, J. Denison, W. J. Ilelgund, Lord Dennistoun, J. Mild. ay, P. St. John D'Eyncourt, C. T. Milton, Lord Divttt, E. Molesworth, Sit W. Donkin, Sir Rufane hlorpeth, Viscount Duff, James Morris, David Duke, Sir James Morrison, James Duncan, Viscount Muntz, U. F. Duncombe, T. S. Murray, A. Dundas, W. D. Muskett, George A Dundas, Frederick Nagle, :air it Dundas, Sir it. Noireys, Sir D. J. Easthope, John O'Brien, W. Smith Elliot, Hon. J. B. O'Callaghan, D. Ellice, A. O'Connell, D. Ellice, Rt. Hon. E. O'Connell, J. Ellice, E. O'Connell, M. J. Ellis, Wynn O'Connell, M. Etwall, It. O'Connor Don Euston, Earl of O'Ferrall, It. M. Evans, Sir De Lacy Ord, W. Evans, G. Oswald, James Evans, W. . Paget, Lord A. Ewart, W. Paget, F. Fazakerley, J. N. Palmer, C. F. Fenton, John Palmerston, Visct. Ferguson, Sir Robert Parker, J. Ferguson, Colonel Parnell, Sir H. Belden, J. Pattison, J. Fitzalan, ;..ard Pease, Joseph Fitzpatrick, J. W. Pechell, Captain Fitzroy, Lord Charles Pendarves, E. W. ticland, Sir T. D. tcland, 2g9. Phillipps, Sir R. P. Philips, M. Phillips, G. Phillpotts, J. Pigot, 1). R. Pinney, W. Ponsonby, C. Ponsonbv, Hon. J. Power, James Price, Sir R. Protheroe, Edward Pryme, 6. ltainshottom, J. Rawdon, J. D. Redington, T. N. Rice, E. B. Rich, Henry Rippon, C. Roche, E. R. Roche, W. Roche, Sir D. Rumbohl, C. E. Rundle, J. Russell, Loid John Russell, Lord Charles Rutherford, A. ,salwey, Colonel Sanford, E. A. Scholetield, J. Scrope, G. P. Seale, Sir J. H. Seymour, Lord Sharpe, Geocral Shell, 11 L. Sianey, R. A. Smith, John Abel Smith, B. Smith, G. R. Smith, R. Vernon Somers, J. P. Somerville, Sir W. Standish, C. Stanley, M. Stanley, Hon. W. Stanslield, W. R. C Staunton, Sir G. T. Steuart, R. Stewart, James Stock, Dr. Strangways, J. G. Strickland, Sir G. Struit, Edward Stuart, Lord James Stuart, Villiers Style, Sir Charles Surrey, Earl or Talbot, C. R. M. Taltouru, T. Noon Tancred, H. W. Tavistock, Marquis Thornely, Thomas Townley, R. C. Troubridge, Sir T. Tufnell, H. Turner, Edmund Turner, William Verney, Sir H. Villiers, Charles P. Vivian, Major C. Vivian, John H. Vivian, Sir R. Wakley, 'Thomas Walker, R. Wall, C. B. Wallace, R Warburton, H. Ward, H. G. Wemys , , J. 6. Westenra, Hon. H. Westenra, Hon. J. White, A. White, Colonel H. White, Samuel Wilbraham, G. Wilde, Sir Thomas Williams, W. Wilshere, W. Winnington, Sir 7, Winnington, H. J. Wood, C. Wood, Sir Matthew Wood, G. W Wood, B. Worsley, _Lord Wrightson, W. B. Wyse, Thomas Yates, J. A. k'Court. Capt. Adare, Lord Ainsworth, Pe!or Alton], Viscount Antrobus, Edwtrd Arbuthnot, Hun. H Archdall, General Ashley, Lord Ashley, Hon. H. Attwood. W. Attwood, 31. Ragge W . Bapt, Hon. W. Joseph Bailey, Joseph, jun BaiDie, Colonel H. H. J. Baker, Edward TELLERS. Stanley. E. J. Maule, Hon. Fox Baldwin ' C. B. Baring, W. B. .NORITY—NOES, Egerton, W. T. Egerton, Sir P. Egerton, Lord F. Eliot, Lord Estcourt, T. G. B. Farnham, E. B. Fector, J. M Feilden, W. Fellowes, Edward Fill - tier, Sir Edward Fitzroy, Hon. H. Fleming, J. ollett, Sir William Forester, Hon. G. Fox, S L. Fresnrield..T. W. Gaskell, James Miloes Gladstone, J. N. Gladstone, W E. Glynne, Sir S. R. Goddard, Ambrose Godson. R. . • Gordon, Hon. W. Gore, 0. J. R. Gore, 0. W. Goring, H. D. Goulburn, Henry Graham, Sir James Granby, Marquis of Grant, Sir A. C. Greene, T. Grimsditch, Thomas Grimston, Lord Hale, R. Blagdon Halford, H. Hamilton, C. J. B. Hamilton, Lord C. Harcourt, G. G. Harcourt. G. S. Hardinge, Sir H. Hawkes, T. Heathcote, Sir W. Henea:rc, 0- W. Henniker; Lord Hepburn, Sir T. B. Herries, John C. Hill, Sir Rowland Hillsborough, Earl Hinde, J. 11. Hodgson, Frederick Hodgson, Richard Hogg, J. W. Holmes, W. A'Court Holmes, W. Hope, Hon. C. Hope, H. T. Hope, G. W. Hotham, Lord Houldsworth, T. Houston, George Hughes, W. B. Hurt, Francis Ingestrie, Lord Inglis, Sir R. H. Irton, S. Jackson, Serjeant James, Sir W. C. Jenkins, Sir It. Jerinyn, Lord Johnstone, Hope Junes, John Jones, Theobald Kelburne, Lord Kelly, Fitzroy Kemble, Henry Kerrison, Sir E. KKirk, Pe.er natchbull, Sir L. Knight, H. G. Knightley, Sir C. Laseedes, W. S. Law, Hon. C. E. Lefroy, I) Y. Lennox, Lord A. Liddell, H. T. Lincoln, Earl of Litton, Edward Lockhart, A. M. Long, W. Lowther, J H. Lucas, E. Lygon, Hon. Gen. Mackenzie, Thomas MacKenzie, W. F. Mackinnon, W. A. Maclean, ]- Mahon, Lc Maidstone, Manners, _ Barneby, J. Barrington,'Viscount, Bateson, Sir R. Bell, Matthew Benett, John Bentinck, Lord G. Bethell, R. Blackburne I. Blackstone, W. S. Blair, James Blakemore, Theirierha.;sett, A. Boldrro, H. G. Bolling, W. Bottiekl, Beriah. Bradshaw, James Brainston, T. W. Broadley, H. Broadwood, Henry Brooke, bit . A B. Brownrigg, J. S. Bruce, Lord E - Bruce, C. L. C. 294. Marton, George Master, Colonel Mathew, a B. Maunsell, T. P. Meynell, H. Miles, W. Miller, W. h. dilnes, Richard Alonypenny T. G. Mordaunt, S;• r. Morgan, C. Morgan, Octavius Neeld, Jo s eph Neeld. John Nicholl, J. Norreys; Lori Ossulston, Lord Owen, Sir Joh,- Packe, C. W Pakington, J. S. Palmer, Robert Palmer, George Parker, Montague Parker, It. T. Parker, T. A. W. Patten, Wilson Peel, Hon. Sir R. Peel, Colonel J. Pemberton, Thoniass Perceval. Colonel Pigot, 11. Planta, J Plum ptre. J. P. Polhill, Frederick Pollen, Sir J. W. Pollock, Sir F. Praed, W. T. Pringle, A. Pusey, P. Rae, air William Reid, Sir John R. Richards, R. Rickford, W Rose, Sir George Round, C. G. Round, John Rushbrook, Colonel Rushout, George St. Paul, Horace Sanderson, Jr. Bandon, Lord Scarlet', J Y. Shaw, Frederick Sheppard, T. Shieey, E. J. Sibthorp, Colonel Stiith, Abel Smyth, Sir H. Smythe, H 0.,. G. Sotheron, T. E. Spry, Sir S. T. Stanley, E. Stanley, Lord Sturt, H. C. Sugden, Sir Edward Teigninouth; Lord Tennent, J. R. Theiiger, F. Thomas, Colonel Thompson, Aid. Thornhill, George Tollemache. E. J. Trench, Sir F. Trevor, Hon. R. Trotter, J. Tyrell, Sir J. T. Vere, Sir C B. Verner, Colonel Villiers, born Vivian, J. E. Waddington, H. S. Walsh, Sir John Welby, G. E. Whitmore, T. Wilbraham, Hon. B. Williams, Robert Williams, T. P. Wilmot, Sir El Wodeliouse, Hon. E. Wood, Colonel Wood, Colonel T. Wyndham, Vt . Wynn, C. W. Yorke, Hon. E. T. Young, John Young, Sir L. W. TELLERS. Fremantle, Sir T. Baring, H. B. Bruce, Colonel Bruges, W. H. L. Buck, L. W. Buller, Sir J. Y. Burr, Higford Burrell, Sir C. M. Calcraft, J. H. Campbell, Sir H. P. Canning, Sir S. Cantilupe, Lord Cartwright, W. L. Castlereagh, Viscount Chapman. A. Cholmondeley, H. Christopher, It. A. Chute. W. L. W. Clements, H. J. Clerk, Sir George Clive, Robert Cochrane, Sir T. Codrington, C. W. Cole, Hon. A. Colquhoun, J. C. Compton, H. C. Conolly, E. C oopei;E. J. Coote, Sir C Copeland, W. Coiry, Right Hon. H, Courtenay, Philip Cresswel I, Cresswelt Crippi, J. Dalrymple, Sir - A. Darner, Hon. G.. Darby, George Darlington, Earl of De Horsey, S. H. Dizlc, Q. D'lsraeli, Benjamin I)ottin, Abel Roos Douglas, Sir C. Douro, Marquis of Dowdeswell, W. Drummond, H. H. Duffield, T. D. Dtigdale, W. S. &Mbar; George Duncombe, W. buncombe, A. Dungannon, Lnrd Du Lie, George East, J. Buller Eastnor. Viscount Eaton, It. J_ Lord Ard C. RS. FOR. Andover, Viscount Blackett, C. Butler, Colonel Cave, Otway Colquhoun, Sir James Davies. Colonel Dundas, David Edwards, Sir J. Erle, William Ferguson, Sir R. C. reig, D. Hall yburton, Lord D, Hencage, E. Lambton, H. Maher, John Martin, Thomas B. Noel, C. G. O'Brien, Cornelius Spencer, Hon. F. Shelbarne, Earl of Talbot, J. H. Walker, C. A. White, Luke AGAINST. Powerscourt, Lord Davenport, J. Crewe, Sir G. Burdett, Sir F. Sinclair, Sir George Irving, John Morland, T. I'rice, Richard Ingham, Robert Somerset, Lord G. O'Neil, J. Miles, P. S. Rolleston, L. Stewart, John Baring, F. Ellis, J. Lowther, enlonel Farraud, Robert Northland, Lord Herbert, Hon. S. Foley, E. T. Jones, Wilson Hayes, Sir E. ANALYSIS OF DIVISION. For Second Rea fing(Tellers included 361 Against 296 23 Pairs 46 Absent Speaker Vacant (King's County) nurrougbes, H. Campbell, W. F. l)undas, Hon. J. Fitzgibbon, Hon It. Howard, Sir It. ABSENT. Kerr, D. Lowther, Viscount - 148 Moreton, A. H. Jervis, Swynfen Powell, Colonel Pryse, P. (ill) Tomline, George Vernon, Granville THE WEATHER. ROYAL GALLERY OF SCIENCE, ADELAIDE_ STREET. __ _ NooN, FEB. 26. Barometer 29 9 In. Thermometer Highest .. 46 *5 Lowest Wind N. N. W.—Freezing Point 32 Deg. A NEW NOVELIST.—We have reason to be lieve that the reading publ c are on the point cf being called upon to greet a new aspii ant in the realms of ro mantic fiction, whose pretensions will, at once, place him in the very hi,ahe,t rank of that most popular branch cf modern literature. If %Int we hear of the forthcoming novel entitled " The Engagement " be true, we have had nothing since " Trem3ine" and " Pejham" that has beet, c ilculated to call forth ha:f so much curiosity concerning its anonymous author, or ha so intense an interest to wards itself, as sill this rthcomi,sg work. Indeed we a-c to'd that it comb . F, in a very remarkable manner, the leading charade! tics of the two accomplished writer, above referred to...that it unites to all the force and fervor of imagination £d the strength of passion, which so en &lent us in Bulwer, all the exquisite moral grace and b auty, as well as the truth and delicacy in the delinea din of the female character in all its phases, which so eminently distinguish tFe writings of Mr. Plumer Ward. THE TWEED.—The salmon fishing in Tweed commenced on Monday week. Some of the more expe rienced fishermen consider that there are symptoms of a good season ; but the fishing in the other Scottish rivers, which commenced a fortnight since, barren.—Ayr Observer. has as yet been very INITIA LATINA. This is a very useful guide to Latin for begin ners, edited by the Rev. I. Edwards, M.A.,Se cond Master of King's College School, and Wil liam Cross, of Trinity College, Cambridge. Its peculiarity consists in the threefold division of the Syntax, forming three successive courses of study. Nothing is anticipated in construction, Jut an outline of the subject is presented to the pupil in the first part, which is the object of the remaining parts to fill up. A vocabulary is pre fixed to the first and second parts, and the Eton Syntax forms the basis of the rules. which are so simple and intelligible that a learner with a slight knowledge of the grammar may study the work to great advantage without the assistance of a master. A DICTIONARY OF SCIENCE, LITERA TURE, AND ART. The Second Number of this work, which is to be completed in Twelve Parts, has just appeared, and contains all the articles under the letter B to those under Cup to " Chivalry." We have already described the nature of the work, and are glad to find that this Part confirms the favour able opinion we formed of it at the commence ment. The article on " Banks," by Mr. M'Cul loch, will be read with interest at the present moment. It gives a concise history of banking in general, pointing out the defects of the pre sent system, with suggestions for its improve ment, a statement of the affairs of the Bank of England, an account of the circulation of pri vate banks in England • and Wales, and an outline of the system of banking in Scotland since the establishment of the Bank of Scotland in 1695, one year after the Bank of England was founded. In describing the panic among bankers, farmers, and others, after the general peace and the panic of 1825, the writer gives the following distressing account of the vast destruc tion of property : • " The country banks (in 1815) being generally without the means of meeting any emergency no fewer than 240 of these establishments stopped payment. There is, in fact, believed to have been in 1814-15-16 a greater destruction of bank-paper in this country, and a wider range of bankruptcy than had ever previously taken place any where else, except, perhaps in France, at the breaking up of the Mississippi scheme, and so rapid and sweeping . was the destruction in 1825, that, in less than six weeks, above severity banking establishments were swept off; and a vacuum created in the currency that absorbed from eight to ten millions of additional issues by the Bank of England? Among the other articles of interest are " Ba rometer" (an ample account), " Bridge Canal," and a " Capillary Action and Chemistry." FOX'S BOOK OF MARTYRS. PART 1. - Virtue, London. 1841. A republication, in Monthly Parts, of a book once exceedingly popular, but which has now, in a great measure, fallen into oblivion, tile age having outgrown that taste for physical horrors in which it unsparingly deals. The Part is printed in a clear, and even elegant type, and on very excellent paper. We cannot, however, pre dict for the work any extensive circulation, though its cheapness and beauty are certainly strong arguments in its favour. MEMOIRS OF TAE COLMAN FAMILY. 2 Vols. Bentley, London, 1841. Much of the matter contained in these volumes has already appeared in George Colman's " Ran dom Records," but as the Editor, as in duty bound, has mentioned this fact, we know not that we have any great cause to complain, especially as the extracts are all of an entertaining nature, and many of them, no doubt, new to our readers, the work from which they are taken, having had, we believe, but a limited circulation. As the Colmans, father and son, passed their whole lives amid the stir and bustle of society, and were both of them distinguished by ability —the father being the better scholar, the son, the greater wit—they came in contact with nearly all the celebrated personages of their day ; and in the ze volumes we have cursory remini scences of many of the most eminent among their contemporaries. As a matter of course, Dr. Johnson figures prominently among them, but is drawn by the , younger Colman in no favourable 'light, while Gibbon is kindly and respectfully spoken of, and Goldsmith' ex tolled to the skies for that very Onhommie and simplicity which so highly excited the pity and contempt of Boswell. Of Garrick also, and Foote, and Sheridan, we have several diverting recollections; but the former, with his insatiable egotism, vanity, and fussiness of nature, cuts but a sorry figure ; and after reading the biographer's . account of the great actor's en deavours to puff himself off through the medium of a friend, while residing in Paris, we are more than ever disposed to acquiesce in the justice of Johnson's estimate of him. Hannah More appears but once on the stage,but this once is quite enough, for never was author more extravagantly overrated than the sainted Hannah. As a poet and a dra matist, her abilities were beneath contempt; as a novelist, she was merely of a fourth-rate order; and as a theological writer, her prosi ness is at least as remarkable as • her piety. She had, however, consummate knowledge of the world, and by flattering all the great people of her day—more particularly Johnson, whom, on one occasion, she absolutely sickened by her fulsome compliments—she managed to se cure for herself a reputation which is only just now beginning to find its level. At the close of the volumes we find a character of the younger Colman pourtrayed by Mr. Arnold, in what we are willing to believe is a just, though it is assuredly not a flattering, spirit. This gentleman gives more the praise to the con versational wit of Sheridan than to that of Colman, in which he differs from Lord Byron, who had met both in society, and has recorded in his diary—vide Moore's Life— that he thought the latter by far the most acceptable companion of the two. " Who shall decide when doctors disagree ?" We subjoin a whimsical anecdote of Colman when invited to dine at Carlton House, which has this rare re commendation, that it has never till now appeared in print : Ab-ut this time his Royal Highness the Duke of York obtained leave (from the King's Bench) for Colman to dine at Carlton House. He accompanied the Duke thither. On his walking through the apartments with him, Colman remarked, " What excellent lodgings ! have nothing like them in the King's Bench I" After dinner, be exclaimed,—" Eb 1 why this is wine ; key, do tell me, who that fine looking fellow is at the head of the table ?" The good-natured Duke, said. " Hush, George, you'll get into a scrape." " No, no," said Colman, in a louder voice, " I am come out to enjoy myself; I want to know who that fine, square-shouldered, magnificent-looking, agree able fellow is at the head of the table ?" "Be quiet, George," interrupted the Duke, " You know it is the Prince." " Why then," continued Colman, still louder, " He is your elder brother. I declare be don't look look half your age. Well I remember the time when he sung a good rong I and as I am come out for a IF rk, for only one day, if he is the same good fellow that he used to be, be would not refuse an old play-fallow." The Plince laughed. and sang. " What a magnificent voice," exclaimed Colman. " I have heard nothing to be compared to it fur years. Such expression too ! I'll be eamr.cd if I don't engage him for my theatre." It would appear thbt this freak gave no offence to the Royal host; for Colman was ever treated. with kindness by George the Fourth. PORTS, ARSENALS, AND DOCKYARDS, OF FRANCE. J. Fraser, London. This is a collection of letters originally pub lished in a Morning Paper, giving a hasty, though occasionally interesting account of the principal naval establishments in France. It is to be re gretted, however, that the writer, by fulsome flattery of one party, rancorous abuse of another, and a wanton attack upon an individual long em ployed by the Government, should raise some- TO 7'RE EDITOR OF THE SUN. SIR,—In a late number of your Journal there are some remarks on the danger of besting buildings by hot water, and an account of several- fires which bave:occurred in consequence of adopting that plan. The subject is a very important one, and the remarks most just. There is, however, one error throughout the article alluded to which it is desirable to correct. The ar ticle describes the accident to have arisen from apparatus of the ordinary construction. This is a mistake. The apparatus in question is one which was patented some years since by Mr. Perkins, and consists of hermetically sealed tubes, which can easily be heated so as to render them red hot, and thus produce the effect you have de scribed. Not so, however, with the ordinary hot-water apparatus, because, in this, pipes cf two-inch bore and upwards are always used, together with a boiler and cis tern, which is invarisbly open to the external ar, thus effectually preventing the temp rature of the water in any p a rt from rising above 212 degrees. In such an apparatus as this there is no possibility of accident, either from fire or from explosiln, and the hun dreds, nay, thousands, that have been erected on this plan, with the most perfect success, have proved its safety and efficiency in buildings of every description. It is of the utmost importance that these two distinct plans of heating buildings should not be confounded. In the one where the small hermetically sealed pipes arc used, the risk from fire and from explosion are imminently great, in the other these accidents are absolutely impossible. It therefore behoves the public, as well as the Insurance Companies, to investigate this matter fully, as the ac knowledged safety of one description of hot-water appa ratus has led many persons to believe that the same pro perties belong to the other, and they have thus become in advertently possessed of an apparatus which a very slight degree of inattention may convert into a most dangerous and destructive engine. I am, Sir, your most humble servant. London, Feb. 20. PRO BONO PUBLICO. COMMISSIONERS OF SEWERS. TO THE EDITOR OP THE SUN. - - SIR,—In your report of the proceedings of the Commis sioners of Sewers on Tuesday last, my name appears as having taken a part in the business of that day. I beg to state that was not present during the sitting of the Court, and I shall therefore feel obliged by your correcting the error. Your's, very obediently W. ViIWIN. ST. MARY-LE-BONE BANK FOR SAVINGS. —The Eleventh Annual General Meeting of this Institu tion, was held on Thursday, the 25th of this month, at the Office, No. 76, Welbeck-stre et, Cavendi s h- square . Th e Very Rev. the Dean o f Chic hester, in the Chair. It ap peared from the several Reports read to th e meet i ng , t h at the progress of this B ank continues to be of a very rapid descripti )n. No less than 2,815 new deposits hating been made in the last year. 12,680 deposit accounts re mained open on the 20th November last, of which no less than 8,224 held balances averaging less th a n 51. eac h. Upwards of 253,167/. vs as then invested with the Com missioners, for the reductr.n of the National Debt. This amount has since risen to 256,5311., and is rapidly on the advance. The continued evidence this affords of the strong and growing disposition of the working classes to provide against the casualties of life, will prove a source of gratification to all reflecting minds. ICE-CUTTING STEAM-BOATS.--Letters from Copenhagen of the 18th ult. state, that M. C. M. Hjorth has just resolved a problem which, for upwards of ten 3ears, has vainly exercised tl e sagacity of naval eng'- neers—and whose solution has more than once bten pro posed for competition, as well by the General Administi a tration of Post , as by the corporation of merchants in th capital. He has invented a steln-boat, cipab!e of cutting its way through the thickest ice, with a speed nearly equal to that of its unimpeded nay gatiun. The General Administration of Posts have re ceived a most favourable report from a committee of ship-builders and. machine makers, to whom they bail submitted the model, and have applied for authority to construct a vessel, for the trans port of the mail bags in winter.—Scotsman. The Marquis of Northampton arrived in town, on Thursday afternoon, from a visit to Mr. C. and Lady Eli zabeth Dickens, at Stoke Park, near Chichester. The Earl of Charleville left Charleville Forest, Tullamore, on Friday last, for Dublin, where the Noble Earl intends to stay a few dap, and then come to town. COURT OF SEWERS FOR WEST MINSTER AND PARTS OF MIDDLESEX: A Special Court of Sewers was yesterday held at the Com missioners' Offices, in Greek-street, Soho, J. L. Donaldson, Esq., in the Chair, in order to consider the Bill now in Ccm mittee in the House of Lords, intituled, "An Act for the better Drainage and Improvement of Buildings in large Towns and Villages." The heads of the Bill having been read by the Clerk at the table, The CHAIRMAN said that the Bill might be divided into two portions, the one relating to sewerage, the other to venti lation. With the first part only had they any thing to do. He moved that the first clause be read. The clause having been read, The CHAIRMAN said that the clause provided that no house in a town should be built without a barrel drain. Now they ought to have provided that there must be a sewer or water course in the street, or the drain would be of no use. It should be in a street where there is a sewer. Mr. LESLIE said, that it was now, for the first time, that an attempt had been made to mix up the Commissioners of Sewers with the building of houses. He thought that they had quite enough to do to attend to the sewers, and that it was not proper to throw such an onerous duty as that of superin tending the building of all new houses upon the Commissioners of Sewers. 'lt would add most materially to the business of the Court. He thought that every thing connected with the Building Ad should be made the subject of a distinct Act. The machinery of the Court was not adapted to the superintend ence of the building of houses. Sir G. FARRANT thought they would have no additions' trouble with the buildings. Tne CHAIRMAN said that at present persons building new houses frequently came to the Court to know when they might drain, but they could not be compelled to drain. Mr. LESLIE thought all the objects of the Bill might be accomplished by compelling parties building new houses to drain into the common sewer. If the Bill passed, the district surveyors appointed by the Magistrates, would, by a side wind, be made the surveyors of the Court. The Bill was a valuable one, but it ought to be separated into two parts. Mr. S. oin, had heard it reported that it was the inten tion of the Legislature to separate the Bill into two parts. The CHAIRMAN agreed that it would be better the Bill should be divided into two parts. Mr. LESLIE thought if they got the power of compelling parties to drain into a common sewer, under the superinten dence of the Court, wherever there was sufficient public sewerage, they would obtain all that was necessary. He thought if a memorial were sent into the Home Office on the subject of dividing the Bill into two Acts, that it would meet with attention. Mr. WILLOUGHBY thought the more the Corporation at tended to the great lines of sewers, and confined themselves to that, the more would they be in the performance of their duties. With regard to private drains, they ought to confine themselves to superintendence, and to compelling parties to drain into the great lines of sewers. The Court was not fitted to carry out the provisions of that Bill. The CHAIRMAN said they should be cautious how they gave up interference with drains, for the Poor-law Commis sioners had endeavoured to get the power of ordering sewers to be constructed into their •hands. It would be a great obstruc tion to the business of the Court if the district surveyors were to be the officers of the Court. Mr. WlLLoucirev was of opinion that the provisions of the Bill were too general, and that the Bill brought forward two years ago was a better Bill, as far as sewerage was concerned. In answer to a question from a Commissioner, The CHAIRMAN stated that no one had seen the Marquis of Normanby on the part of the Commissioners of Sewers. Mr. LESLIE moved a resolution to the effect that although the Commissioners approved of the objects of the 811, yet they were of opinion that it. wouid be better that the Bill should be divided into two or more patts, so as to separate that portion relating to sewerage from the other parts of the Bill, and that _ the objects of the Bill relating to sewerage would be obtained by giving to the Commissioners the power of compelling parties to drain into a common sewer. He thought it would be better to communicate some such resolution to the Home-office, before going into the details of the Bill. if they went into the provisions of the Bill, he could show that it would be impossible for the Commissioners to carry even those relatin e ,_.• to sewerage into effect. Mr. WILLOUGHBY thought it would be better to omit the latter part of Mr. Leslie's resolution, and confine themselves to expressing the desire for the separation of the Bill into two or more parts, confining themselves to the general principle at first, and going into particulars afterwards. Mr. T. DYER thought it would be desirable that the Com missioners should have the power of compelling parties to make new sewers where requisite. The CHAIRMAN proposed that the resolution might be altered so as to embody the suggestion of Mr. T. Dyer. Mr. LESLIE thought they had better ask only for a little, and they would get a great deal ; if they asked for too much they would get nothing. The CHAIRMAN did not think they were asking too much. If they had not the power of making sewers they would not produce one-thirtieth part of the good which they would effect if they had that power. It was ultimately arranged that the resolution should be divided into three parts—the first relating to the divi sion of the Bill, and the confining the sewerage to the Commissioners of Sewers, which was carried unani mously ; the second, relating to the power asked for by the Commissioners to compel parties to drain into common sewers, where such were in existence, which was also carried unanimously; and a third, relating to the powers asked for by the Commissioners to build new sewers where a Jury should de cide them to be necessary, at the expense of the owners of the adjoining property, if they refused to do so, which was also carried unanimously. Mr. LESLIE would like to call Lord Normanby's attention to the clause in the local Act as to the Poor-rate being proof of I occupation, so as to introduce some such clause into the general measure. There was a great interest at the back of the Bill—the Surveyors. —( A laugh.) There might be hereafter, for all they could do to prevent it, a proposal to map and plan all London. He had an utter horror of the mapping and planning system. The CHAIRMAN thought it would be better to confine them. selves strictly to the matter on which they were engaged. Should these resolutions be communicated to -Lord Normanby by letter or by a deputation? It would perhaps be better that the clerk should transmit the resolutions to his Lordship, and state that, if his Lordship wished for further information, a deputation would wait upon him, and he would suggest that such deputation should con.ist of the mover and seconder of the resolution, and the Chairman. Mr. LESLIE did not want any deputation. Mr. THISTLETON DYER thought a deputation exceed'ugly de sirable. Hit were intended to get rid of the Commis ion by a side wind, the sooner they were informed if it the better, in order that they might set their house in order. He thought it was the duty of the Court to appoint some persons in whom they had confidence to represent them before the Committee of the House of Lords on the Bill. He thought Lord Normanby ought to be asked to receive a deputation. The motion was then agreed to. Mr. LESLIE wished to know in what situation they wouldbe placed with regard to the proceedings on Tuesday. On Tuesday last two gentlemen had chosen to adjourn the Court. Now, that he believed was fatal to the whole proceedings. The Chairman had thought proper to revive the motion, but had not revived his amendment. The CHAIRMAN said Mr. Leslie might, at any time, pro pose an amendment without notice. Mr. LESLIE understood, from high authority, that the ad journment of the Court was fatal to the whole of the present ment, and that they must begin de novo. Let them recol lect that the Court, not the debate, was adjourned. Was the Chairman prepared to rule that they could, on Tuesday, re vive the question ? The CHAIRMAN—The motion was not the same motion—it was a different one from the one brought forward on the last occasion. Mr. LESLIE—But suppose ,Commissioners should be ad vised not to attend where such a fatal objection existed to their proceedings? The CHAIRMAN—Then they had better stay away.—(A laugh.) He had not revived the former motion—he had pro posed an entirely new one, upon which it was quite competent to Mr. Leslie to move an amendment. Mr. WILLOUGHBY said, that by the bye-laws there was no discretion left to the Chairman as to putting the question of the adjournment of the meeting, if made after four o'clock. Mr. A'BECKETT gave it as his opinion, that in such a case the business must be taken up where it had been left off on the former occasion. Mr. THISTLETON DYER thought the best way would be to issue another summons, taking up the business just 'where it had been left off on the former occasion. _ _ The CitAnota N thought he had acted quite regularly under the second clause of the bye-laws. The motion and amend ment had been adjourned sine die, and he had to give notice of an entirely new motion. He had no other course to pursue. Mr. LESLIE'S objection was on other grounds. They had had parties brought before them for judgment. They had come to no decision—they had adjourned without doing so ; that was equivalent to an acquittal, and those parties would claim the benefit of it. The motion for the signing the decree and the amendment were on their books, and before they were disposed of they adjourned, not the consideration of the ques tion, but the Court. He had not opposed it, because he thought it was carrying out his views. Mr. WILLOUGHBY thought that henceforth the reproach of taking technical objections ought not to be confined to law yers alone. All the proceedings had been according to the rules of the Court. Mr. A'BEcKETT wished to know how they were to proceed on Tuesday ? The CHAIRMAN said they would proceed upon the business in the paper.—The Court then adjourned. FALMOUTH, FEB. 12.—The Royal Tar, Captain Donnan, and Lieutenant J. Wire, Admiralty age it, came in to-day; from Gibraltar the 1 9 tb, Cadiz the 13 h, Lisbon the 16th, not communicating with 0,), no, and from Vigo on the 18th, passing the outward b.tund steamer off Ftnisterre. There is nothing to be learnt of the state of things at Tangier; her Majesty's brig Jaseur was still absent, and it was said remained there. The two transports, Boyne and Prince Regent, had not sailed for the West Indies from Gibraltar. The Great Liverpool passed through the Gut in seven says from hence. The United States sloop of war Preble, from Boston, had arrived in the Tagus, after a long pass: go of thirty days, having on loard the Americaa Charge d'Affaires, Mr. Edward Cavanagh. The late and con tinue.' rain had caused great devastation on the borders of the Tagus both to life and prcperty. The accounts received by the steamer fram the Basque provinces of the a,' rit a d disposition cf the natives are fir from pgreeing with each other. What appears positive is, Ilia Govern meat . 5 sending a division of 8,000 men to that quarter, under the command of General Zavala. The elections still calved disturbancm‘. General Espartero's late ad dress to the National Guards of Madrid had been con strued disrespectfully by some of the Opp osi ion papers towards that body. This had been ret ented both by the addresser and the addressed at an interview which the General bad, in consequence, with a numerous deputation of the Guards. The opportunity was improved same time by all concerned to the odeelaim ag cient order of things, to elegise revolutionarya ins t t at e ate move ment by which it was upset, and to renew assurances of mutual regard and support for the future. The Ge neral t 'ld them that he relied upon them, as they might rely upon him. WILTON HOUSE, THURSDAY MORNING.— The Countess of Shelburne has, we regret to say, ezpe riereed a relapse, and no hopes ..re now entertained of her rect..very. For five days prece .iag Tuesday her Ladyship was considered much better, and to a I appearance would recover, but subsequently the symptoms have been m ore alarming, and the worst is anticipated. It iv ncedlts-v to state the diAre,s of the Dowager Countess of Ponbroke, the Marquis and Marchioness of Lansdowne, and other me mbers of the family. The Earl and Countess of P., who Bruce ee r ar e here, as alto the Hon. Sydney Herbert, I i s prevented attending to his Parliamen t ary d ut i es in con- P hi e s e s l is , te ß r. art., M.P., set; "i r e h n e e e R o g t h h e t dangerous Sir i o e s b s e o r t f gives it's second Parliamentary dinr.er on Saturday, the 6th of the ensuing month. MORNING EDITION RUM DUTIES. Several communications have been received on the proposed equalization of the rum duties, chiefly from parties advocating the West Indian side of the ques tion. Among the matters bearing on the subject, none seems to hare excited more interest than the opinion expressed on the East Indian side, that the profit of making► rum has caused the West Indians to send less sugar to market, sacrificing some of the material for the purposes of distilling. It is singular enough, that in en deavouring to refute this notion, completely opposite state ments are made by parties advocating the same interest, one endevouring to prove that molasses and what are called " skimmings" are, in reality, the same thing, and another that they are perfectly distinct, though both would prove sugar has not been sacrificed for rum. The process is thus described by one Correspondent : The " skimmings" are taken from the sugar while boil ing ; this sugar when sufficiently boiled is put into coolers, and when it is settled into perforated hogs heads, through which the moist residue or " molasses" escipes, a reed being used to prevent the escape of sugar. The " skimmings," according to this Corre spondent, are them elves fined, and thereby become pure molasses, the only ingredient used in the manufac ture of rum, which also therefore pre-supposes the manufacture of sugar, 'and cannot he the cause of a deficient supply. Another advocate of the West Indian side of the cause, distinguishing the molasses from the " skimmings," admits that rum is dis t lied from both these substances, but denies that it is worth while to increase the ". skimmings" at the expense of the sugar. Neither of theze state ments however would seem to outweigh the objection of the East Indians, which is not founded on the iden tity or difference of the materials for, making rum, bu t on the opinion that such materials may be so sur charged with sugar as to be made more available for distilling purposes, while less sugar is in consequence sent to market, and that the possession of a monopoly must conduce to such a practice. That it is possible to surcharge molasses with sugar is shown by cases of smuggling, in which a material called " molasses" has in reality contained an extra quer& ty of sugar, so con cealed that less duty might be paid. It need scarcely be repeated, that we merely record the arguments of both parties, regarding what appears to be the validity of each, without any reference to the interests they advocate. The present state of our western possessions is itn medi,ttely connected with the same subject. A cor respondent sends a sketch of the profit and loss of a West Indian estate, showing from the year 1833 to 1839, both inclusive, the respective profits of 1,501/., 1,2321., 1,892/., and 463/., whdt for 1840 and 18.41 the losses are estimated at 239/. and 701. Here the total profit for the first three years amounts to 4,993/., and for the last three to less than 1601., which, by an addition of 140/. per annum interest on compensation money, gives an average of about 1901. per annum ; the average income for the first three years being 1,661/. per annum, and the difference amounting to 4,415/. From Guiana the falling off of importations generally is stated at 1,150,0001. from 1836 to 1839, and this decline is con sidered the more important as it is said that Guiana in 1836 took 31. 12s. 6d. per head of British goods, while the North American colonies took 175., and France Ild. per heal. The Association of West India Merchants and Planters of Glasgow have, in a petition, opposed the equalization, on the ground that the East Indies enjoy privileges of trade denied to the West, that an ar rangement made in India can afford a guarantee against the introduction of spurious rums, and that the position in which the West Indies are placed by the abolition of slavery is such as ought to preclude any measure un favourable to their interests.—Times. HAND-LOOM WEAVERS. SUMMARY OF THE REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONERS ON THE CONDITION OF THE HAND-LOOM WEAVERS, PRE SENTED TO BOTH MOUSES OF PARLIAMENT. We have inquired into the condition of the hand-loom weavers throughout the United Kingdom. We have stated that, as a body, they are in a sate of distress; that the great cause of this distress is a disproportion between the supply of hand-loom labour and the demand for it ; the demand being, in many cases, deficient, in some caws decreasing, and in still more, irregular, while the supply is, in many branches, excessive, in almost all has a tendency to increase, and does nct appear in any to have a tendency to adapt itself to the irregularities of the demand. In considering the second of the objects proposed to us by your Majesty's Commission, namely, the reporting whether any, and if so, what measures can be devised for the relief of the hand-loom weavers, we were governed by the result of our previous inquiry. It having been ascer tained that the principal cause of the low earnings of the hand-loom weavers is the disproportion between their num bers and the demand for their labour, it follows that no measures can effectually raise their earnings, except by getting rid of that disproportion ; but even while the dis proportion continues, the condition of the weaver would be improved by any cause which should render the demand for his labour more steady, or eiminiin the price or im prove the qualities of the commodities on which his wages are expended. The remedies for the distress of the weavers appeared, therefore, to .be reducible to three classes—first, those which aim at increasing or rendering more steady the de mand for their labour ; secondly, those which aim at cheapening or improving the commodities on which their wages arc expended ; and, thirdly, those which aim at di mitoshing their number, or preventing its undue increase. We tucn gave an • outlioe of the principle measures which appeared to us the most expedient for the purpesea cf increasing or rendering more steady the desnand for the labour of h end-loom weevers, and of cheapening or im proving the commodities on which their earnings are ex pended. As the principal means by which all these purposes may be effected, by whieh the trade cf the country, both inter nally and externally, may be made more steady ; by which the exportation of the products of our own looms may be promoted, and the food and babitatbns of our labourir g population may be improved, we have recommended the substitution, for the p: went anomalous and fluctuaing cern duty, of a duty, either to be annually reduced or to be per manently fixed at a low rate ; and such a change in the duties on timber as may no longer exclude from all build ings intended for the use of the . great majority of the people, the timber which is cheapest and best. And we have recommended further measures :for promoting the healthiness of the dwellings of the labouring classes, and for the improvement of ocr foreign trade. In order to cheapen the material on which one class of weavers are emploe /, and thereby increase the demand for their labour, vie have recommended the abolition or dimiuution cf too duty on organzine. For the purpose of further increasing that demand by the improvement of Biitish patterns, we have recom mended the extension and protection of copyright in de signs, the establishment and promotion of schools of de sign, and the general cultivation of the popular taste. Believing that the cost of production to the manufac turer is much increased, and, consequently, the demand for hand-loom labour much diminished, by the embozzl:- meet of woven goods, and of the materials of weaving, VS c Lava recommended measures for its more effectual rc- pression. Believing the restrictions on the manufacture and sa'e of Irish linen to be mischievous, we have recommended their abolition. And believing that hand-loom weavers suffer even more that the libouti. g classes in general under the obstacles to the tree use and circulation of labour imposed by combina tions, we have recommended measures for rest°, log liberty to the werkieg &asses by deptiving combinatiuns of their powers of intimidation. We have, lastly, consilered the means by which the number of hand-loom weavers may be eirrinished, or their undue increase prevented. After remarking that the re storing freedom to the labour market will, to a certain degree, effect these purposes, we hive directed our attention to two auxiliary measures—emigration and education. We have stated our fears that the weavers will not derive much direct and specific advantage from emigration. Nor have we encouraged the hope that they will be peculiarly benefited by the extension of education. But believing most firmly that the who!e body o f the labouring would derive benett from a general system of education, classes means, and parents, and all ethers filling the place of pa rents, to use them, no have suggestedan outli . .e of a plan under veh;ch the communit y s h ou ld he bound to supply the en duced. by which such a syseem may to ( Signed) NASSAU SAMUEL JO 'DWARD HICKSON. WILLIAM JOHN L ESLIE. London, Feb. 19, 1841. SENIOR.NESo TERRIFIC ----Fixi,LoslorrofoaF very 9 2 SA alarmingT which T .:4 0 C K • atm e, the manufactory of Mr. Charles Axon of i s lac a e nd in o t n he so s m er e vi o e f e i' t i b p e e, batuis . Helton- lane,lt appears the lower story, where the pipe Stuckport,_. on . Frilay evening. considerable quantity• sup • gti.ig oreocnuTr.r7dAr:nexilsion ef . gas, . . e editi s ini c 't:ve a tes p rnas e thew d i ct , i thamh a ke i m hal lli o dl i :il t gilt:ahh t kt e ae r gn r t' i o' fi c explosion So lout was the report, that it was heard all over the town, and fur nearly a mile beyond it, and the utmost canste-nation was excited in all parts of Stockport, som e attributing the report to an earthquake, and all being se'zed with an undefined sort of al rm and appre hencian. The building, which is four stone; high, was shaken in the most violent manner ; nearly every window was shattered to atoms ; all the lights were extinguished ; a great deal of the machinery was disarranged; and the efleet was desetiLerl by the hands who were at work in the upper stories as similar to their being lifted up about two , r three fe.t and then thrown down again. So far as we hove heard, no lives were lost, oar has any serious injury bcco suLt tined by the hands in the mill, except by one boy, who war re, eta I y hurt. The shock was felt more or less in all the buildings near to the stmt.—ilia:re/fester Chronicle. MARRIAGE IN HIGII LIFE. —On Saturday last, at Hollywood Church. Downshire, the Hon. Thomas a C n i d otw hi o a r r t m h i ISakteeffivinsgeotounn,tesfosumrtahssseoren of Viscount ene,totile Fer Hon. rard Hen rietta Catherine Blackwo od, dau g hter of the lat e Lord dr T eemi h , e ount H iye. o o n n . anpace elegant and friends. Dufferin and the Dowa g er Lady D a u , te f f i e e tgh r i ae n n . et e Theil th nl e Rev. \V. J. Blackwood officiatedhas addres se d a letter to D r . Dow oe cla :al Thu un e r pt o L ca a a d sn y e i ofeDe ucfpeoartritinl Phillimore, the Commissary of the Archbishop of York, t hrough the York Courant, in which the Dean denies the right of the Archbishop to interfere as Orditiary. / 1 :~ ;'::~,