The Sun. — London, England, 1867-01-02 00:00:00

Mr. Neate, iblic Affairs. Yesterday the 59th or Oxford Lodge of the An cient Order of Druids, according tolong-established custom, celebrated the opening of the new year by a banquet held in the Town- hall, Oxford. The re presentatives of the city are usually invited to these banquets, but only one of them (Mr. Neate) was present on this occesion, Mr. Cardwell being now a sojourner, with many of his late colleagues, in Italy. Brother Wells presided, and was supported by the mayor and other members of the corporation, Capt. Fane, Capt. Mallam, Mr. J. Dudley, and Mr. Towle. After the usual preliminary toasts, the Chairman briefly gave the health of the members for the City of Oxford, expressing his regret at the unavoidable absence of Mr. Cardwell. The toast was received with great cordiality. NEATE, on rising to respond, was received with loud cheers, and after excusing the absence of Mr. Cardwell, proceeded to say that if there was any particular in which he himself had any advan tage over his right hon. colleague, it was that, hav ing filled no official position, he was always willing and at liberty to tell them the little he knew upon public affairs. At the present time that little was very little indeed. Men talked of the progress of civilisation and the spread of knowledge ; but he thought there was an increasing darkness over the land at that moment. Nobody now knew what hardly anybody else was going to do. If they asked a Conservative what thepresentMinistry were likely to do—whether they were likely to introduce a very large extension of the franchise, he would reply that he could not say, but he might at the same time tell them that a very large extension of the franchise, if managed by Conservative hands, would probably prove a very Conservative measure. There was, how ever, a party which did not shrink from speaking out. He referred to the advanced or popular party ; and here perhaps he was trenching on what was some times deemed at these meetings forbidden ground. (No.) There was a party which stated that what i t de sired was residential manhood suffrage. He was not going to say whether he was prepared or not to vote for that; but he thought he might say, with out committing himself too far in that direction, that if Mr. Gladstone would propose a measure for establishing manhood suffrage, and Mr. Cardwell supported it, he, too, would be ready to vote for it. (Hear.) He would not presume to question the right of the English people, whether they were with in or without the pale of the Constitution—as far as the pale of the Constitution was confined to those who possessed the franchise—to meet . together and express their own sentiments, or to hear from the leaders in whom they trusted that counsel by which they were willing to be guided; but he must say that at some recent meetingsthe House of Commons had been treated in a way which it hardly deserved. They were all concerned, no less than he himself as one of its members was, in seeing that the house of Commons, which was partly their work, should have fair play in those public discussions which he had no wish to restrain. He repeated that he did not believe the House of Commons had been fairly dealt with on many of those occasions. He had thought, for one, until that year that the highest honour which had been conferred upon him in all his life was done him when they made him their representative. But he had observed at different times of late that the House of Commons had been spoken of in the presence of large assemblages of Englishmen in a manner which, if justified, would warrant him in asking them what they had seen about him which made them think him worthy to be placed in so disreputable a body. (Cheers and laughter.) It had been spoken of that a man, in stead of being proud, should be ashamed of being a member of it. Now, he did not defend the present House of Commons through thick and thin. He thought it had failed to a great extent in its duty in the last session. Yet, after all, there was no very great reason to complain of the way in which it re ceived the proposed Reform. It was a very exten sive measure, and nobody liked to be reformed. • It was like a dose of physic. The best boy, no doubt, was he wh ) took his me dicine with alacrity the first time it was ten dered to him ; but still they did not call a boy a very bad boy because he refused to take it at once, or even because he might rejoice to see the nauseous potion spilt. (A laugh.) Well, the manner in which the house of Commons received the late proposal of Re form was not at all inconsistent with the respect which it was bound to have for the will of the people, whether that will was the will of those who elected it or that of those who bad an equal interest in its deliberations. But it was to be regretted that, from the course which the Reform debates took, they had no opportunity of hearing what the opinions enter tained on both sides were. The Ministry stated their views, and the then Opposition, now the present Ministry, would have had to state theirs ; but unfor tunately they were relieved from the necessity of doing so by finding that there was a division on the Ministerial side. And thus the country had seen a Ministry turned out for supporting a particular bill, while it had not had any statement of the principle on which that bill was defeated. But he did not find fault with any criticism that had been passed upon the action of the House of Commons; and no man could be less disposed than he was to object to the free expression of public opinion by meetings or otherwise. Still less did he object to the great leader who had been selected by the popular party as their chief organ. Ile thought that if they wished to measure the progress they had made in civilisation there would be no surer way of doing so than by comparing the present great popular leader with any that had preceded him. They found in the great popular leader of the day, however much they might differ from him, a higher tone of morality, a juster consideration of the rights of others, and a greater unwillingness to mislead than was exhibited by any popular leader who has gone before. (Hear, and some dissent.) He spoke with pride and pleasure of Mr. Bright as his friend, although it was well known that he eid not agree with him on many points. He was not prepared to adopt all his principles or to assent to all his facts ; but at the same time he must say that all the meetings in which he had taken part a higher tone of morality had been evinced, and those who attended them had felt themselves raised into a higher atmosphere of thought and feel ing than that to which they had been accustomed ; and, although they might have gone away with a higher notion of their rights, yet if they had listened, as they ought, attentively to the great orator they must also have carried away with them a higher notion of their duties. But there was, nevertheless, a difference between argument and intimidation—a difference between meetings held for purposes of dis cussion and mere demonstrations of numerical force. Against such demonstrations as the latter—although they might be held in the country with less danger —against such demonstrations, if any such were in tended to take place in the metropolis of the king. dom, lie must enter his most decided protest. He should hope that the wisdom and good sense of the leaders of the popular party would prevent them from attempting anything further of the kind. (No.) But he was quite sure that the Liberal party would not participate in any such demonstrations, that they would support any Government who would put them down. (No, no, and cheers.) Let people only consider how great was the danger of bringint, together in the largest city in the world any tumult- OM assemblage. If, therefore, at the meeting of Par liament no one else took that line he should himself be prepared to ask the Home Secretary what course lie had adopted, or was ready to adopt, supposing such demonstrations, of mere numbers as were still talked of to be persevered in, in order to protect the freedom of the House of Commons and the peace of the metropolis. (Cheers.) He would now turn from subjects in which he was sorry to see there was not entire agreement between himself and all those present, only remarking that hiS past career would prove that he bore no hostility to popular rights. Before sitting down he wished to say something upon foreign politics, in which Englishmen of all parties were, he hoped, disposed to concur. A vast change had taken place in Germany since they last met there, and the Italian kingdom, t - o, had been completed ; results with which they were doubtless all much gratified. He trusted that the Pope would be allowed to spend in peace the few further years of life which might remain to him, and none of them, he thought, would grudge him that repose. Another most important point was our relations with America. It had been kept out of their sight that there was a very great danger of their friendly intercourse with the United States being seriously interrupted. Our friends on the other side of the Atlantic were not the less deter mined than we were. They had shown in a remark able degree their resoluion in carrying out their ends, and one of their purposes, which they had never renounced, though it had for a time been kept in abeyance, was to obtain from us some re dress—he would not say what amount of redress— for the outrages of the Alabama. To his mind the question at issue was not very doubtful, though it had been perplexed and complicated by the discus sions of the lawyers. But he wished to remind them that that question was still hanging over them, and that while it continued to do so England would have but half her rightful weight in the councils of Europe. So long as it was known that the United States of America had the power and the disposition to let loose upon us that hostile nation which Irish emigration had created on the other side of the Atlantic (for the Irish on the other side of the Atlantic amounted almost to a nation), so long as it was known that the United States could at any moment let loose that hostile nation either upon Ireland or upon Canada, England would remain a nobody in Europe, or at best but a third-rate Power, because all the world would believe that as soon as we had any difficulty in Europe we should have America on our backs. He did not think that any nation ever felt such an enmity towards its rulers as the Irish had conceived against us without some just cause. (Murmurs of dissent.) But, be that as it may, he desired earnestly to im press on them, and through them on our statesmen and the public, the vital importance of having this controversy with America about the Alabama claims speedily and amicably closed. He did not believe there was any settled animosity in the mind of the American nation towards England, and he thought it might all be made right if we would but meet them fairly—(cheers) —and if we had been in the wrong in our dealings on this particular question it was not too late, and not beneath the dignity of this country, to admit it. (Hear, hear.) The present Government had a particular advantage in treating that question, and he hoped they would improve that advantage. He could only say that, if they could settle it in any honourable way, they would deserve, as he believed they would receive, the grateful thanks of the nation. (Hear.) There were various other topics on which he could have wished to offer a, few words, but he was anxious not to trespass too far on their kind indulgence. At the present mo ment the relations between master and workman were not altogether in a satisfactory condition ; and indeed, whether they looked at home or abroad, the time was especially one in which they should not seek to revive or exasperate differences of opinion, but rather look to those points in which they all agreed. He did not mean to say the Liberal party were to acquiesce in the retention of power by the present Government, but he did venture to assert that there were now very grave questions, both foreign and domestic, which they ought to approach with a desire to settle them in an amicable manner —questions of far more importance than any of a merely party character. (Cheers.) Mr. Neate concluded by thanking the company, in his own name and that of his absent colleague, for the com pliment which had been paid them. Several other toasts were drank and the proceed ings terminated. Naval and Military Intelligence. VALETTA, Dec. 26, 1866 :—There is very little naval news to report since writing on the 24th inst. The Cockatrice, 2, screw gunboat, Commander Bogle, has come in from the Danube, Constanti nople, and Syria; and the Cossack, '2O, Capt. White, has returned from the north coast of Africa, where she was employed assisting the telegraphic steamer hawk in repairing the Malta and Alexandria cable. The Cossack is under orders to proceed to Spithead to be paid off, and will probably leave soon after the beginning of the new year. The Caradoc, 2, de spatch vessel, Lieut.-Commander E. H. Wilkinson, which has been undergoing repairs, will leave port to-morrow to try her michinery. The Endymion, 21, screw steam frigate, Capt. C. Wake, will also leave port to-morrow for target practice, prior to sailing on the 2d of January for the coast of Syria, to provision the Racer, 11, Commander L. Brine. The Ocean, 23, ironclad, Capt. Chandos Stanhope, has not yet arrived here, although news has been received of her having passed through the Straits of Gibraltar on the 16th inst. The Resistance, 16, ironclad, Capt. IL S. Hillyar, C. 8., which it was at one time expected would be relieved by the Ocean, will not leave the station for the present, and the Gibraltar, 81, screw line-of-battle ship, Capt. R. Coote, has been sent home in her stead. Commander Nicholson, of the Endyinion, has proceeded to Eng land for appointment to the Royal Alfred, flagship for the West Indies. Sub-Lieut. Charles Atkinson, of the Resistance, has been allowed to resign his commission. Yesterday being the first of the year 1867, the formal commencement of the great works for the extension of Portsmouth Dockyard was made by the contractors, Messrs. George Smith and Leather, Mr. W. Scamp, C.E., Dvuty Director of Engi neering and Architectural Works to the Admiralty, the designer of the plan, with its docks, basins, workshops, &c., for the extension of the dockyard, inspected the ground yesterday, in company with the contractors. An order received at Chatham directs the new corvette Blanche, 4, 1,268 tons, 350-horse power, towards the completion of which great progress has been made at that dockyard, to be furnished with an armament of two wrought-iron muzzle-loading rifled 61-ton 7-inch revolving guns, and two 64- pounder side guns, together with two 12-pounder and 9-pounder Armstrong rifled guns for field and boat service. Accommodation is to be provided in her magazines and racks for 100 common and 20 double 7-inch shells, empty, and 110 common 64- pounder, and 240 12-pounder and 9-pounder common empty shells. Of filled shells she is to be furnished with 100 common, 20 double, and 20 shrapnel 7-inch shells ;40 common and 10 shrapnel 64-pounders, and 140 12-inch and 9-inch for the Armstrong guns. The solid shot to be supplied her are 100 chilled Pallisser 7-inch and 20 common 7-inch ;10 64-pounder, and 100 12-pounder and 9 - pounder shot. During the last few weeks considerable quantities of the plate iron sent into Chatham Dockyard by the contractors supplying that establishment have been rejected by the officials, on the ground of its alleged inferior quality and its failing to reach the standard of excellence insisted upon. The con tractors have appealed to the Admiralty on the subject, and, after a long correspondence and numerous official reports, their Lordships have up held the decision of their officers. The standard of excellence insisted upon by the Admiralty is that the plate iron shall stand a pressure of from 20 to 22 tons to the square inch with the grain, and 18 tons to 20 tons against the grain —a degree of excellence which, under the trials with the apparatus in use at Chatham, the iron rejected has failed to attain. The contractors, however, assert that the iron thus rejected is superior to the standard laid down, and refuse to submit to the dockyard tests, which, they contend, are not to be relied on, inasmuch as the testing ap paratui is imperfect. In proof of this they have placed in the hands of the Admiralty reports from two of the most eminent iron testers, in which the samples of iron rejected by the dockyard officials were, on being tested by them, found to be of even better quality than the standard required by the Board. Private and perfectly independent tests have likewiie been made, and again the results have been adverse to the ruling of the Admiralty officials. Under these circumstances the firm more particu larly concerned has intimated the intention of com mencing legal proceedings against the Admiralty for the heavy loss they have sustained. Her _Majesty's iron hydraulic gunboat Water witch, armour-plated 777 tons, and 167-horse power, went down the river from Woolwich on Monday, on a further trial of speed, after going through a course of alterations and improyements, which it is hoped may increase her rate of steam power. The officers and crew were provided with 3 days' provisions, in anticipution of a prolonged trip. The war department steamer Lord Panmure, Muter-Commander Spriddle, yesterday completed the landing of :a heavy cargo of returned army stores at Woolwich arsenal from Devonport, con sisting of 3,000 quarter-barrels of ammunition, 400 chests of small arms, transhipped from her Majesty's ship Medusa, Commander Potter, from Dublin, for conversation on the new system, and a number of Armstrong guns of various calibres to be re-sighted and repaired. The Lord Panmure afterwards com menced shipping stores,including guns, Pallisser shot and shell, &c., in readiness for an early departure for the west. A large amount of miscellaneous army stores, ex the Star of the North, from New Zealand, were yes terday landed on the gun wharf at Woolwich, con sisting of petards, brass guns of the old pattern, shot, shell, ammunition, &c., condemned as useless for further service. Active preparations were yesterday commenced in the departments of Woolwich Arsenal for the transfer to the shipping wharf of many of the model guncarriages and other ingenious objects in the pro duction of which the mechanics of the establish ment excel, for transport to the Paris Exhibition. A number of non-commissioned officers, being a proportion from each of the brigades belonging to the regiments of mounted and dismounted artillery, yesterday reported themselves at Head-quarters, Woolwich, having been detached from their divi sions for the purpose of going through the usual course of gunnery and laboratory exercises—namely, from January to April at Woolwich, and from April to the end of the year at Shoeburyness. The regiment consists of A, B, C, D, E, and F horse brigades, 25 brigades of field and garrison mounted and dismounted Artillery, one brigade of coast Artillery, and the Depot. The whole of them are expected to pass through the course of exercises in rotation. The captaiu's good-service pension of £l5O a year, vacant by the promotion of Captain Astley Cooper Key, has been awarded to Captain John B. Dickson. Capt. Henry Phelps is appointed to her Majesty's ship Orontes, and to join on the 4th of January, when that ship will be re-commissioned. Yesterday, Major-General Sir Robert Walpole, K.C.8., relinquished the command of the Chatham district, on the completion of his period of five years' staff service. On giving up his command, Sir Robert Walpole issued the following divisional order to the troops : " Major-General Sir Robert Walpole, being about to leave Chatham, desires before quitting the command of this district, to thank the officers commanding corps, the heads of departments, and the officers of the staff for the support they have rendered him in promoting the efficiency and carrying on the duties of this command. To the officers generally, the non- commissioned officers, and priyato sol diers the thanks of the Major-General are also due for the manner in which they have performed their several duties, and for their general good conduct, which has materially assisted him in maintaining that discipline and good order which is essential to the wellbeing of the service. "By order of the Major-General commanding, " W. W. LYNCH, Major of Brigade." Major-Gen. Sir Robert Walpole is succeeded at Chatham by Mtr-Gen. Freeman Murray, who will assume the command of the district to-day. An order has been received at Chatham directing Ensign J. E. Curtis and Ensign J. Grant, 45th Regiment, to embark for Bombay to join the ser vice companies of that regimens. Yesterday the whole of the shipwrights employed on the iron-clad ships building at Chatham-dock yard discontinued working extra hours until further orders, in accordance with directions to that effect received from the Admiralty. The effect of this order will be the retarding of the completion of the iron-clad frigates beyond the time fixed for their being launched. Major-Gen. Stisted, C. 8., who has just been ap pointed to the command of the Montreal district in Canada, entered the army in 1835, and as a subal tern £aw a good deal of hard service in the Affgha nistan war. He was wounded at Ghuznee, and afterwards took part in the Beloochistan campaign. Having obtained his brevet as Colonel, he went in 1856 with the 78th Highlanders to Persia. For his services at the battle of Khooshab he obtained the Companionship of the Bath. Major-Gen. Stisted also took an active part in the suppression of the Indian mutiny. He was present at the battles of Bithoor, Mungulwar, and Alumbagh, and succeeded Neil i❑ the command of the Ist Brigade at Luck now until the arrival of Lord Clyde. In April, 1858, he served in the force under Lord Clyde in the campaign in Rohilcund, and led the 2d Brigade at the capture of Barcilly. Lieut.-Gen. George Saunders Thwaites died on Sunday last at the advanced age of 88. He entered the army in 1795, and was actively employed up to 1817. He served in the expedition to the coast of Holland in 1796 ; in the East Indies from 1799 ; then on marine duty on board her Majesty's ship La Forte, till wrecked in the Red Sea. During the campaign of 1801 in Egypt he volunteered to cross the desert of Suez with Col. Lloyd's detachment, with which he joined the Grand 'Vizier's army on the advance to and surrender of Cairo. Ile served with the 48th Regiment from 1811 to 1813 as Capt. of Light Infantry in the Peninsula, including the siege and storming of Badajoz in 1812, the battle of Salamanca (wounded), the advance to and occu pation of Madrid, battles of Vittoria and the Pyre nees (wounded in command of the light companies of the brigade), besides minor affairs. He has achieved the Sultan's Gold Medal of the Order of the Crescent, and the silver war medal with five clasps, for Egypt, Badajoz, Salamanca, Vittoria, and Pyrenees. The deceased general's commissions bore date as follows :—Second-Lieut. September 12, 1795 ; Lieut., December 23, 1795 ; Capt., July 2, 1803 ; Major, June 4, 1814 ; Lieut.-Col., July 22, 1830 ; Col., November 9, 1846 ; Major-Gen., June 20, 1852; and Lieut.-Gen., February 13, 1861. The following appointments were made yesterday at the Admiralty :—Capt. Frederick W. Sidney to the Challenger, additional, for surveying services ; Commander Henry F. Nicholson to the Victory, for service in the Royal Alfred ; George M. Blyth, paymaster, to the Princess Royal, for disposal ; and G. W. D. Simmonds, paymaster, to the Fisgard, additional, for services in the Crocodile. French Academy of Sciences. At the last sitting the President announced that he difference of longitude between Newfoundland and Valentia, Ireland, that is, between the two ex treme points of the new Atlantic cable, has at length been ascertained by Mr. Gould, entrusted with this duty by the Coast Survey-office of the United States. The following is the result :—Longi tude of Heart's Content Station, Newfoundland, calculated from Valentia Station, Ireland, 2 h. 51 m. 56.5 sec. ; time employed by the electric fluid in its passage through the cable 35 minutes. The observations are to be repeated, but are not likely to modify the above results very materially. The Astronomer Royal on the other hand has de termined the exact longitude of Valentia Station from Greenwich. A paper wazo re ceived from M. Comaille on the comparative value of the hen and duck as egg-producers. His observations were limited to three hens and three ducks, all fine animals, hatched at the same time in the mouth of February. During the following autumn the ducks laid 225 eggs ; they recommenced laying in February, and continued to do so until the middle of August. The hens laid no eggs during the autumn, but began in January and left off about the middle of August, The totals of each at the end of that time were: —The hens, 257 eggs ; the ducks, 617. M. Comaille next examined the nutritive value of each kind of egg, and found them nearly equal in that respect. Hence the duck is more pro fitable than the hen by far. A paper was also read from M. Preterre, in which the latter ad vocated protoxide of nitrogen, commonly known as laughing-gas, as an excellent anaesthetic. This opinion met with opposition from M. Chevreul, who stated that Proust and Vauquelin, having in haled some of this gas, found it exceedingly irri tating., M. Dumas, on the other hand, pointed to the great diffic u lty of gettin it and danger that would arise from its g being pure, mixed the with even a small quantity o f th e deutolide, Converting .eechloaders. Our readers are no doubt aware that the Enfield rifles are now being converted into breech-loaders, in accordance with the determination of Govern ment to change the arm which our soldiers possess. It may not be so well known that a portion of the work is being done in this district, Birmingham has been so justly celebrated for the manufacture of guns and rifles that it would be something astonish ing if in any great work of the kind she had no share. Some few months ago we mentioned that an order had been received by the Birmingham Small Arms Company (Limited) to convert a number of Enfield rifles into Snider breechloaders. This was done with a celerity which is most creditable to the company. The order was received on the 24th of July; and by the end of October 700 rifles, finished in accordance with the pattern gun, were completed and forwarded to Canada. The difficulty of accom plishing this work was very great. Patterns had to be made of the new parts, dies fashioned, tools in vented, and, more difficult still, new machinery constructed for the more rapid carrying on of the work. Yet all this was done, and the first order completed in the very short space of three months. Those who are uninitiated may think that this job must have monopolised all the skill and all the in dustry which the company possessed. This is not so, however. The company had on hand at the time the pattern gun was received an order for 30,000 rifles for Turkey. It is impos sible to go through the factory and see the long succession of machines in every department without feeling that th e process of manufacture is only limited by the extent of the order, and that the power of production is i ncomprehensible. In this extensive and beautiful factory every appliance that can save labour and multiply production, and every variety of labour that the human mind can de vise, will be found. The men who are engaged about the machines occupy the position that all men should in the world of labour. The steam hammer, trim ming machine, drilling machine, screwing machine, barrel-cutting machine, and many others, do the hard, the dirty, the sinew-wearing work, while the men look on and direct the labour. As you go through the extensive, lofty, w ell-lighted and well ventilated work-rooms, you feel the men's labour is dignified, and that the discoveries of science have happily ameliorated the toil that skilful workers in the same trade once had to undergo. This company does not exclusively depend upon the manufacture of rifles, or their conversion, for existence. They culti vate with much success another, and, we think, a higher branch of the trade—they manufacture the machinery and tools which produce the very work in which they are now engaged. An order for the con struction of rifle-making machinery is received as thankfully as one for the production of a few thou sand rifles. This department will, perhaps, show how complete the factory is. It does not depend on any other manyfactory for the supply of anything which it uses in the gun trade. Machinery of the most complex character is made there, and tools of every kind are turned out by the hundred. The variety of machines in daily use is interesting to note. There are knives at work shaving iron as easily as a man would pare cheese ; little, round, finely-pointed tools that bore a straight hole through a block of iron more swiftly than a waiter can drive a cork-screw into a cork ; cutters that put the thread inside the barrel of the rifle more readily than a sportsman could u n t w i st the loosest screw ; and give blows mi g h t i er than the cons number of men or horses could that a oft any biped power mers produce. With such servants as these, that obedient to the gent l est touch of the human hand are it is not to be wondered at that an immense amount of work can be got through in a short space of te eth loader work of converting an Enfield into a breech loader may seem at first thought to be a very simple process, involving but fe w operations . breech old b arre l h as • to be shortened , and the breech acti on put in. This action is contained in two parts ; the shoe, in which the cart r idge or placed, and the breech block, in whichthe needle or piston . works. Yet, few as they are, these parts require upwards of 100 different plete the t rans f ormation. processes to com- We are no t going to weary our re a d ers by attemptino• t describe even o one - fourth of th ese ope ra ions, general descrip- be altogether un b °ut a tion of the c hi e f processes may not interesting. Th e r i fles that are sent t o th e factory have never b een i n the hands they of our soldiers ' • come direct f rom the stores. As 8 0011 as th ey are received th e fi rst thing is to strip th • e rifl e . E very portion is t a k en away from the stock trigger. Fi rst of all the pull of the trio. ger i s excep ting light _ th e ened, and th en t h e stocks are laid up in the rac k s until the bar re l i s converted. The away, and a pi ece cut off hammer is t k a en the end t o fl t a ten it. T almost wh o ll y o b literates the chhis q ngeueri diam ond - shaped cutting in the top of the hammer ' that rou g h by which it i s l a i d hold of with the fi ngers. The operation of rechequering is rformed by boys, ends after a little practice, showsconsiderable a t' tude at their work. Leaving the lads tapping•l).l - with their little hammers as they chequer, we pass • the long machine-room. here the barrels are short- T he barrel having been fixed in its p la ce, a whe e l armed with sh ar p t ee th cuts off the requ• rod len g th , which met asures about 21 inches. This Operation is a i done so well th a t no mark of any kind, not even a scratch, is left upon t h e barrel, and consequently the process of re-browning is avoid de• After th is the barrel is fi xe d on the " barrel- I, chine, which pe r f orms several ver y i mportant ope . rations. It w ou ld b e t e di ous to describe the m all, millino. separately. Th ey em b race facing tiering, screwi ng , an d gauging. No h arm has yet ' cham been inflicted on th e barrel, which is now almost ready for the b reec h action. The barre is passed to the ha n d s o f t h e breecher, who brings the b arre l and the breech ac ti on to their rioht °sit Finally, the ba rre l i s handed to a man who')ions. recesses the action for the insertion of the cartridge. Then it goes to be proved by the Government offini„is in the proof-house, near the factory. B t u Nve have only followed the barrel in its progress towards complete conversion. The most important part of the work remains to be seen ; this is the construction of the breech action. To explain the component parts of this, which is the soul of the gun, we shall have to make use of some technical phrases. The breech action is made up of two parts—the shoe and the breech block. The shoe is that part into which the cartridge is first placed, the barrel being screwed on to the end of it. The breech-block is that portion which contains the needle, or, more properly speaking, the piston, and which falls into and fills up the shoe. Tbis breech action is made out of Marshall's best iron. Two men, with a forge and steam hammer, were at work in one of the shops fashioning the iron. Bars of iron were red dening in an intensely bright flame, fed by anthra cite coal. The hammer was fitted with two dies. These were the breaking down die, by which the shape of the shoe was roughly outlined in the red hot metal ; and tho finishing die, which completed the form. When the shoe is cool it is passed to another steam hammer, where the surplus " flash" left by the steam hammer is cut off. Now the shoe is of the exact shape required, but many things have to be done before it is completed, be cause it is still one solid lump. It has to be pierced from end to end, screwed at both ends, sized, faced, counter sunk. Upwards of 25 distinct and separate operations are gone through before the shoe is ready to be screwed on to the barrel. The manufacture of the breech block is on a plan precisely similar to that by which the shoe is produced. First of all the block is struck by a steam hammer in a solid mass, and it is then passed from one machine to another until finished. From first to last upwards of 30 dis tinctoperations aregone through before it is finished. When the parts are completed and put together each gun is sent to the proof-house, where men sent down by Government prove them. A double charge is put in and :fired. The best testimony to the character of the work is evidenced by the fact that not one breech-action has been injured in any way by the test out of many thousands that have been proved. In the outline we have given of this work we have omitted mentioning many operations, and the con struction of the minor portions, such as the extracts, the hinge pin, the piston, the nipple, and the spiral , LONDUN, WEDNESDAY EVENING, JANUARY 2, 1867. spring. After proof the action is again taken off and separated, the shoe and extractor are blued, the breech-block hardened, and then it is finally put to gether. These operations gone through, the barrel is ready for mounting. The company are convert ing 2,000 rifles a week. They employ 470 men altogether, and work is carried on night and day. At the Enfield factory, near London, 3,000 rifles are converted every week, and 1,900 men are employed night and day. The rapidity of the process, as ear -1 ried out here, thus contrasts very favourably with the rate of production at the Government factory. At present some additional machinery is being laid down, by which, in the course of a month, the Small Arms factory will be able to convert 3,000 rifles a week. The very satisfactory manner in which this order is being executed at Small Heath reflects the highest credit upon the enterprise of the company. —Birmingham Daily Post. Rough Weather in the Mediterranean, We read in the Malta Times of the 20th inst. : " During the last few days we have had violent gales from the northward and westward, which on Monday night shifted to the northward and east ward, and on Tuesday occasioned a very heavy sea to set into the harbour. A fisherman on Monday evening was washed off the quay of the Marina and drowned. His cap and fishing rod were found on the following morning, with a fish attached to the line, but the body of the man has not yet been recovered. The English screw steamer Italian, which arrived on Sunday morning from Liverpool, had very rough weather in the Bay of Biscay, and parted one of her stays. While putting up a preventer stay to secure the mast the shackle broke, and a block falling on the head of a seaman named Lenning, injured him so seriously that he died seven hours afterwards at sea, notwithstanding he had the aid of the surgeon of the vessel. The English ship Josephine, which left Malta on the 13th inst., after repairing damages, for Cork or Falmouth for orders, had to take shelter under Cape Passaro. Whilst there a seaman fractured his leg, and she conse quently bore up for, and entered Malta harbour again on Sunday last to procure surgical assistance Intelligence has already reached this island of the total loss of one vessel. Captain C. Hand of the Greek brig Arianni, arrived yesterday from Burgas, Constantinople, and Scio, reports that on the pre vious day (18th inst.) at two p.m., in the neigh bourhood of Mount Etna; he fell in with a small brigantine, nation unknown, in danger, and soon afterwards he saw her go down with all on board. He could render her no assistance, owing to the tempestuous state of the weather. During the gale of yesterday an Austrian bark, the Cassimiro C., Captain A. A. Marcovich, laden with wheat, having become waterlogged, was abandoned by the master and crew under the lee of Malta, near Filfla, and landed in smooth water at Wied-iz-Zurriek. This morning, the gale having abated, and finding that the ship was still afloat, the marine police, with the crew and some additional hands, went on board of her, and, application having been made to the Admiral for assistance, the _Hearty was despatched to tow her into port. In the meantime the Arcadia, English screw steamer, from Liverpool, which has been for the last three days at the south of Malta for shelter, took the Austrian barque in tow this morning ; but on the arrival of the Hearty gave her up to her. Several vessels ran in for shelter on Tuesday, chiefly on account of shifting cargo. Some injury has been occasioned to the moles by the heavy sea, which washed right up against the merchants' stores on the Marina at the Barriera, and most of them had, in consequence, to be kept closed throughout Tuesday and 'Wednes day. The want of a powerful steam tug, to remove some of the vessels in port out of the stream, was greatly felt, but Capt. Allen, the master attendant, acting for the admiral superintendent, absent on leave, very considerately placed her Majesty's steam tug Hearty at the disposal of any masters of merchant vessels applying for her services. The absence of rain generally is still matter of serious anxiety to persons whose tanks have no communi cation with the aqueducts, though there have bee , some heavy falls in particular localities." HE PUBLIC HEAL 01. The following is the weekly return of the Regis trar-General of births and deaths in London and in 12 other large towns of the United Kingdom : General Register-offfd3, Somerset-house, Dec. 31. In the week that ended on Saturday, Dec. 29, the births registered in London and 12 other large towns of the United Kingdom were 3,998 ; the deaths registered, 3,071. The annual rate of mor tality was 26 per 1,000 persons living. In London the births of 900 boys and 910 girls, in all 1,900 children were registered in the week. In the corresponding weeks of ten years 1856-65 the average number, corrected for increase of popu lation, was 1 ,8 71 . The deaths registered in London during the week were 1,436. It was the 52d week of the year, and the average number of deaths for that week is, with a correction for increase of population, 1,554. The deaths in the present return are less than the esti mated number by 118. The daughter of a pen merchant, aged 16 years, died on the 23d of December, at 3, Boar's-head yard, Whitechapel, of cholera Asiatic (14 hours.) Fourteen deaths from diarrhoea were registered during the week. Smallpox proved fatal to 27 children and 8 adults; it was not stated in the returns that in any case the patient had been vaccinated. In the sub district of Christchurch, Marylebone, five deaths from smallpox were registered. The Registrar of the sub-dizitrict of St. Giles South remarks that " smallpox is very prevalent, and great inconve nience is felt from the want of proper accommoda tion for patients suffering from the dispase." Twenty-five deaths from measles, 41 from scar latina, 10 from diphtheria, 58 from whooping cough, and 41 from typhus were registered during the week. The influence of the temperature on the morta lity from diseases of the respiratory organs is very great. In the week which ended the 13th of Oatober the mean temperature of the air was 52.4 deg., and the deaths from bronchitis were 89 ; as the air became colder the deaths from bronchitis in creased ; last week the mean temperature was 44.0 deg., and the deaths registered from bronchitis were 224. Eight deaths from burns or scalds were registered in the week ; one of the unfortunate victims was a domestic servant, whose clothes took fire when dis tended by crinoline. A child, aged one year, died D ec . 21 i n conse quence of swallowing znistletoe berries. The annual rate of mortality last week was 24 per blino 1 ,00 in L on d on, 28 in Edinburgh, and 24 in Du ;25 in Bristol, 26 in Birmingham, 33 in Liverpool, 30 iu Manchester, 25 in Salford, 28 in Sheffield, 27 in Leeds, 23 in Hull, 37 in Newcastle.. upon-Tyne, and 27 in Glasgow. The high rate of mortality which has prevailed during the past 13 weeks in Newcastle-upon-Tyne has been caused by an an unusually fatal epidemic of scarlatina, from which 220 deaths have resulted in the past seven weeks out of a total of 601 deaths. At the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, the mean height of the barometer in the week was 29 . 890 in. The barometrical reading decreased from 30 . 27 in. at the beginning of the week to 29.59 in. on Wednesday. The mean temperature of the air in the week was 44.0 deg., which is 6.5 deg. above the average of the same week in 50 years, as determined by Mr. Glaisher. The highest day temperature was 514 deg., on Friday. The lowest night temperature was 34.5 deg., on Tuesday. The entire range of tempe rature in the wee k was therefore 16.9 deg. The mean of the hi g h es t t emperature of the water of the Thames was 43.0 deg.; that of the lowest was 40.7 deg. The difference between the mean dew point temperature and air temperature was 4.2 deg. The mean degree of humidity of the air was 86, complete saturation being represented by 100. Rain fell to the amount of 0 . 16 in. The general direction of the wind was S.W. and W. According to a return fur nished by the engineer of the Metropolitan Board of Works, the average daily quantity of sewagepumped into the river Thames at the southern outfall works, Crossness, was 171,917 cubic metres, SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. TIMES.—The telegraph brings us the intelligence of the New Year's Reception at the Tuileries. Hardly anything occurred to give the ceremony a more than ordinary interest. For the last two or three years the Emperor's levee on this occasion has ceased to be a political event. A twelvemonth ago his Majesty spoke a few words singly to each of the foreign Ministers, but made no general address to the whole diplomatic body. This year he thanked them for their congratulations, and co nveye d through them t o their Governments the expression of his sentiments of friendship. His wishes were for the stability of thrones and the prosperity of nations. He looked forward to a new era of peace and con ciliation, and trusted that " the Universal Exhibi tion would contribute towards calming passions and drawing closer the general interests." We are far from disputing the importance which may be at tached even to these few commonplace sentences. A Sovereign at the head of the most compact and homogeneous State in Europe, and possessing as much absolute power as is consistent with the barest forms of representative government, must be aware that not only has he a right to be heard, but that his very silence would be considered as significant as his most distinct utterance. The mind which guides events must have some foreknowledge of what a twelvemonth may bring about. Seven years ago a few words spoken to the ambassador of a mighty monarch portended the loss of the finest province in his master's empire. This year the hope and wishes of Napoleon for peace ought to be equi valent to a guarantee of its continuance. The old phrases that not a cannon should be fired in Europe without the Emperor's consent, that when France was satisfied the world was tranquil, were not alto gether idle boasts. There was none to dispute with Napoleon the rank of moderator and arbiter. In the general confusion consequent upon the disturb ances of 1848 there was nothing that Europe stood in greater need of than a redresser of wrongs and a protector of the oppressed, or, in other words, an international policeman. France had hailed her ruler as the saviour of society, and that check which he exercised on anarchical passions at home he could equally have extended to dangerous ambitions abroad. But for the discharge of so jealous au office it was necessary that the Emperor's motives should be essentially pure ; his championship of the cause of peace and order should be entirely disinterested. It was necessary the world should know that he not only did not covet, but would not even accept any thing, either for himself or France. His confidence in the ascendancy of France should have been so full as to allow no man to suppose that he considered any accession of territory an increase of her import.. ance. It was on these principles that his policy was originally based, and it so fully coincided with the views of the French people that any exception which might have been taken to the character of his home rule was overlooked in consideration of the flattering assurance that " the Empire was Peace." Unfortu nately, the faith of the Emperor was not up to the level of his sagacity. The calmness which reigned around his throne was not sufficient to reassure him, and he fell too lightly into the notion common to his predecessors—that it was necessary to divert the at tention of French people from home to foreign af fairs. As he expressed himself to a great statesman at a famous interview, "Il lui fallait ddborder." Neither France nor Europe saw the necessity of this "overflowing," but, at all events, his first un dertakings, the Crimean war and that of Lombardy, were prompted by generous motives, and untainted by sordid objects. France foughtthrough those wars with her wonted gallantry, but not with her ancient eagerness, and was only too glad of any incident that cut short her victorious career. Napoleon thought he could reconcile France to her sacrifices by the annexation of territory, and this led to his first blunder—the acquisition of Savoy and Nice —a blunder which lowered France in her own esti mation, and exposed her to unappeasable mistrust. The influence of France was, however, unbroken, and up to this last spring the Emperor Napoleon was still master of the situation. Had he at Aux- erre simply stood up for his mission as a peace maker, had h e t a k en u p h is position on the Rhine, and intimated that whoever fired the first shot by that very act threw down his gauntlet to France, would either ha v e bee n no war, or he might have given the war such a turn as would have laid Central Europe at his discretion. Instead of this he put forth claims for compensation, and tendered as it were his tacit complicity with the depredator upon condition of a share in the spoils. His moral influence was gone before the outbreak of hostili ties ; his credit for sagacity was damaged by their unforeseen results. His exertions at Nikolsburg hardly covered his retreat. The Emperor Napoleon has, however, the courage to acknowledge an error, and the adroitness to repair it. He tendered his hand to the man who had foiled him; he abandoned his claims, and declared that, under no circum stances, would he allow his friendly rotations with Prussia to be int irrupted. His few words to the di plomatic body at yesterday's recep'cion fully confirm the frank declaration of last summer. France is at peace with Prussia. She is at peace with Europe. Would that the Emperor Napoleon were Nil-illy at peace with France ! His scheme for the reorganisa tion of the army is most assuredly one of those mea sures by which he destroys whatever faith in his infallibility may yet exist. A reduction, not an in crease, of her military establishnient 'Would betfit the new era of peace and conciliation proclaimed in yes terday's Imperial address. France has no reason to fear or to wish for war ; she clnnot tolerate the drain of men and money inseparable from the sense less prolongation of -an armed peace. With all the laurels that the French armies ever reaped in the Crimea, in Lombardy, in Mexico, France has only reason to regret that the Empire should ever have departed from its original programme. It was the too heavy tribute in blood and gold exacted from France that overthrew the Throne of the First Na poleon. Let it not be said that the Second Empire lays on France all the burdens without the glories of the First. It is the lastfeather's weight that breaks the camel's back. France is a warlike nation. She has for the last eighteen years borne patiently the inces sant increase of her military establishment without too steadily inquiring into its object. Let her ruler beware lest upon his demand of further sacri fices France should look to the results hitherto achieved. The Emperor Napoleon has spoken in a friendly and benevolent tone to the agents of foreign Powers. Has he no words equally reassuring for his own subjects? Can he not announce to them " new era of peac e "---an era of u narme d Peace ? a On account of the effective nature of the experi ments and trials made with Capt. the Hon. A. Coch rane's vertical t u b e b o i ler, now completed at Wool wich, it is stat e d th at the Lords of the Ad • It Dutra y have ordered a tabulated detail, with full official re marks, to be drawn up for their inspection, in order to satisfy the board, of the utility of the boiler for the general service of the Royal Navy. From the fact of a saving of 10 per cent in coals alone having been realized by the trials, the subject has become one of general interest. It was stated on Saturday at Woolwich that some of the large ocean companies have entered into negotiations for the supply of Capt. Cochrane's boiler, by which they calculate upon an increased dividend of from £15,000 to £20,000 a year. The Times remarks that in the new Post-Office Directory for the coming year no fewer than fifty new trades have been added. The search after " new things" never ends, and from year to year a Beckman might gather in these pages materials for a new history of invention. Sometimes it is science that gives birth to a trade, sometimes it is a passing caprice. In either case the want brings the supply. London traders take care that no one shall long be able to say with a clear conscience that he cannot get all that money can procure. When the want has thus been met, it is for the Directory-maker to record the fact in his register of new trades. The list is not quite so fantastic as usual, but is still a curiosity in its way. It includes aluminium agents, anti-friction powder manufacturers, artificial plant and bouquet makers, brimstone refiners, church vestment warehouse (Roman Catholic), dolls' boot and shoe makers, earth closet manufac turers, esparto merchants, gazogene manufacturers, graphotypers, paper-fastener makers, parkesine manufacturer; school and exhibition decorators, sodium and (patent) sodium amalgam manufac turers, and stay-fastening manufacturers. It fs only rea,sonab!e to suppose that as new trades are born, old ones die out ; but they pass away un noticed and unsung. So with the changes which each year sees among the people whose names, dwellings, and avocations such a book undertakes to chronicle. An old inhabitant possessing the requisite local knowledge can read no sadder volume than an old Directory. To him the register of street or quarter must call up painful recollec tions of men who one by one have been struck ' down in the hard battle of life, and whose places are now filled by a new crowd of busy, struggling, successful, disappointed workers. But the book itself deals neither with success, or failure, with ruin or death. If you answer to the yearly muster roll, well ; if not your name is blotted out, and there, for Directory purposes, is an end of you. COUNTRY MARKETS. BRISTOL —TUESDAY. At our market to-day;there was about the usual attend ance. There was some inquiry for fine wheat, and full prices were realised. Grinding barley was 6d to is per qr. dearer. Oats about the same as last week. SHEFFIELD—WEDNESDAY. The supply of wheat to-day was only moderate ; the trade ruled firm at extreme quotations. A middling show of oats; prices were unaltered. Not much doing in beans, at 20s to 22s per load of three bushels. Red wheat, per load of 3 imp, bushels 23s Od to 21s 61 White do do 2ss Od 2;s 0,1 New red do do 2ls Od 23s 0:1 New white do do 24s Od 263 Od Beans do do 2os Od 22s 01 Peas, per qr. .. ......... —Ls 64 193 6d Grinding hit ley, per qr 35s Od 3 , 23 Od Malting balky, , o Oats, do 2;s 0,1 Us , ?4.1 F10ur....1s 101 to 23 ~d per 111 n, L YNN-M 0 ND AY. New wheat, 54s to 58s ; new red, 40s to 48s ; old white, 67s to 71s; old red, 59s to G3s per 36 stone. Barley for malting, 46s to 525; sec on d ary, 37 s to 38s. Oats, new, 248 to 28s per 24 stone. Beans, small, 42s to 445. Peas, 36s to 40s per 28 stone. MARKET HARBOROUGII.—MoNDAY. With a fair supply wheat sold at rather better prices. Barley was a fair trade, and finest samples rather dearer. The trade in oats ruled firm at recent currencies. Beans a middling trade, at barely last week's quotations. Old white wheat, 55s to 725; new red,,sos to 67s per 36 stone. Barley, fi ne , 52 s ; o th er ki nds, 23s to 36s per 30 et. Oats, new, 22s to 23s ; old, 30s to 34s per qr.' Beans, old 50s to 555; new, 46s to 48s per qr. LEEDS —TUESDAY. There being only a moderate show of wheat at this day's market we have to report a firm trade in that article at last Tuesday's prices. Fine barley quite as well sold, while inferior descriptions are bad to quit. No material change in oats and beans. Average prices : Wheat, 58s 4-1-d; barley, 37s Did; oats, 25s 61-1 MELTON MO WBRAY.—T UESDAY. Not so much wheat as usual. Finest qualities were is per qr. higher • other sorts ste a dy a t l ate rates. Superior samples of malting barley were rather dearer; other sorts unaltered. Oats a fair trade, and unchanged in value. Beans a heavy trade at easier rates. White wheat, 62s to 72s ; red, 528 to 67s per 36 stone Barley for malting, 40s to 525. per qr ; feed, 32s to 38s per 30 stone. Oats old, 30s to 355; new, 22s to 29s per 24st. Beans, old, 52s to s'ls; now, 46s to oos.per qr. Foreign Mail Packet List. MAILS DUE. kustralia and New Zealand, Via Southamptori.....Jan. 19. Ditto, via Marseilles ... ...Jan. :3. Brazil and Capa Verde. by British packet. .........Jan. 1. • Ditto, by French packet Cape of Good Hope, Ascension, and St. Elelena Dea. 8. China. Penang. and Singapore, via Sou:hampton Jan 3. Ditto, via Marseilles faikland Islands Gibraltar, via Southampton Jan. 3 India (Calcutta), and Ceylon, via Southampton Jan 3 Ditto, via Marseilles India (Bombay), via Southampton. Ditto, via slarseilles Malta, Egypt, and Aden, via Southampton Jan. 3. Ditto, via Marseilles . Jae. 7. Mauritius, vit Southampton Ditto, via Marseilles... .. Jan. 9. Newfoundland ~ —Jan. 2. Portugal •• ••....Jan. Ditto, by private ship t o Lisbon. . United States and British North America, by Bri tish packet. •• . Jan. 9. Ditto, by United States packet, via Southamp ton Ditto, via Cork •• • Ditto, by Canadian packet, via Londonderry ..Jan. 4 West Coat of Africa, Madeira, and Tenerife ~ . Jan. 3. West Indies and Pacific (except Bahamas and Honduras) Bahama, via New York Cuba a - Walt/3m ....... Bermuda, via •• • Jan Jan 1 Jan.— Jan. 16. The cattle plague continues to show itself, al though ou so infinitesimal a scale that the " weekly return of reported cases," issued " by authority of the Lords of the Privy Council," does not appear_ to be of much use. From this document, received-" last night, it appears that there were six cases in the week ending Saturday, December 22, being the same number as in the previous week. There is, however, this difference, that whereas last week they were all from South Holderness, in the East Riding, only three came from that district, and the others, one each, from Stowmarket, in •Suffolk, Pirehill, in Staffordshire, and Warrington, in Lancashire. The report of the East Indian Railway Company, to be presented on the 31st inst., is the most im portant document of the kind yet issued with regard 1 to Indian li nes , s i nce i t announces for the first time the payment of a di v id en d i n excess of the 5 per cent. interest guaranteed by th e G overnment. The sur plus is £108,073 , h a lf of which belongs to the India Government, a n d th e rema i ning half will enable the dividend to b e i ncrease d from the rate of 5 per cent. per annu m to 5;- per cent., leavi ng £l,OOO t o be carried for war d, a f ter appropr i ating £9,166 to a :. reserve fund to meet a pro b a bl e l oss f rom the failure 1. of a concern called the Commercial Transport Asso ciation at Calcutta. The working expenses for the half-year to the 30th of June last were 41.34 per cent., against 42.30 per cent. in the corresponding half of the previous year ; the number of passengers was 2,099,737, against 2,183,319, and the tonnage • of goods was 401,305 tons, against 391,951 tons, and the net earnings were £626,218, against £474,083. The vacancy in the Board caused by the death of the late Capt. Nairne is to be filled by the nomina tion of Mr. D. I. Noad, the secretary, to be managing director. The interest paid by Government on the East Indian line from its commencement has amounted to over £4,000,000. When this shall have been paid off by the division of all earnings above 5 per cent., the whole of the net revenue will go to the shareholders. A letter from Florence, in the Debats, has the following :—." When two months ago I wrote to you that after the departure of the French from Rome in all probability nothing particular would happen, I must confess I did not expect to be se thoroughly correct. The fact is, that nothing is doing, absolutely nothing, and the calm is such that it seems as if it might be prolonged to all eternity. However, this must only be trusted to a certain ex' tent. M. Tonello and his mission' are hardly spoken of. People say that by the side of his negotiation a secret semi-official one is progressing which willpre'* pare the real solution. What is clear, in any case, is that the country is tranquil and that the passions, I if they exist, are singularly kept down. The Official Gazette has published a letter from the ' bishops residing at Rome to the President of the Council, and the reply of Baron Rieasoll• This answer deserves to be noticed. It is a cleat and lucid exposition of the motives which animate the Government. I may add that it appears a sill' cere one ; the Baron has evidently either written or dedicated this epistle, and put into into it his real, thought, for it does not cons i s t o f mere Minister i a l phraseology. His idea is to solve by the most cow' plete liberty the long-standing difficulties between Church and State. This attempt, made in Italy herself, there where the Church had fixed her centre of empire, there where the Roman right was created # which has furnished the best arms to the State, is a daring effort, so bold, that pne hesitates to pre" diet its success, although, down to the present time , everything seems to indicate its possibility." Births. KnaxnAm—On the Ist inst., at Cambridge Villa, Gil s tool road, West B romp t on, t h e wife of 'l'. N. Kirkham, EA/ of a son. MILLER -On the 31st ult., at 20, Beaufort-street, Chels egl / 4 : Mrs. V. Mill er , o f a son. MARTIN—On the Ist i ns t., a t Bi c kl ey, Kent, the wife of I K. Martin, Esq., of a son. STANHOPE —On the 24th ult., 111 Dublin, Mrs. Russell 5 1311 hope, of a son. Marriages. ADC . OOK—ROBINSON—O n the 29th ult., at St. Illarq Church, Regent's -park Edwin Adcock, Esq., of Sidt , 3 Cullege, Cambridge, to ' Emma, second daught er of t" late Henry Robinson, Esq., of A.nwick, Lincolnshire. WATSON—SEYMOUR—On the Ist inst., iu Gloucester CL i thedral, G eorge L. W a t son , E sq ., o f Rockingham Cast?. • Northamptonshire, to Laura M ar i a , second daughter the Rev. Sir John Culine-Seymour, Bart. Deaths. ASHLEY—On the Ist inst., at Upper Brook-street, the 11°11 : John Ashley, Q.C. BUTLER—On the 31st ult., at Coton House, Warwieksb ire ' Eliza, wife of the lion. Charles L. Butler, aged 54. BAEDOULEAU—On the 30th Ult., at 10, North-road, Qp, ham-park, Sur re y, S tep h en R. Bardouleau, Esq., o f Leadenhall_street, City, aged 55. CIIENEY—On the 30th ult., at Badger Hall, in the coun ti of Salop, Robert H. Cheney, Esq., aged 67. HENDERSON—On the 31st ult., at Green-street, Grosven or , square. John Henderson, Esq., of Berry-Shetland, 01 th Inner Temple, barrister-at-law, aged 68. London Printed nad Publiched by WEL LIAII A N pg .° ' i t/. of No. 112, Strend, 'ter at Tan SUN 011 1 00, N O. 0 1 Strand, in tae Precinct of the Savvy, in the COU 141441 e 4 "' Wedne B 4aY, 44111Uary 2, Ise7. beci);; £3oof Beef, I The the.Ca V The reeeirii BREE( repeatii future The To b hollow , Must service. The I fixed ae Must allow a Must 1 10 per ei Must 1 rough ns breech-lc also, of t men, and form qua I. Must t and exp( ( dental ex being ma quality. Optiom L. T Option: Options Capable aiming, ill o. ACCIII The rc than 36i a n. and bin. tv The m e shots each Not to r deg. 30 mi The she at 1,000 yt The me that of the viz., 12 hal hours in w Distance Wax on may be sin necessary No arms SPeeificatio stating the finished spe nition, show Offica, Pall- The i by the Ordt berg, who y War, and w select and r 4 as may appe such as may warrant thei ditions of w Each acce] for experime to the specir munition pe mand. Eacl committee tl Ploy- A sur competitors, the supply The Secre arm which, by the comm A second taming a sati Lars, is select thirdcei . ities which awarding thin of sustaining various olima The shootii as they ma,y d the cart r id ge stdered as tho It is cl ear l y will a comp e l such prize wil given to the i sarvico. MAW Magazine m ceived and en loading Rifles. inches, includi Tho limit of elusive of the It is indisp bayonet. • The Secrets Magazine or R conditions ; an present define to be fulfilled 1 Those Maga for further tria This sum is arm. The Seeretai novelty produe adopted into th and that the na bates shall be r if the r ifl e t into the semi:a Wax Office, c Sol res Pe; ma UN LA: Jan reac trac for 1 may 186 as a then the ' T 1 to In agen dress No form on ny troth, the the e( treat . " or an the ch each sureti Admi of the nous( Not t Must I 1 Ai aft no ant