The Sun. — London, England, 1844-08-02 00:00:00

STEAM-BOAT PIERS ON THE THAMES. Wednesday a Court of Common Council was held for the dispatch of public business. The principal business of the day was, the consideration of the report of the Navigation Committee on the petition of the inhabitants in the vicinity of Blackfriars- bridge, for an improved pier for landing from and embarking on board steam-vessels. The Court was fully attended. THE PIERS OF THE RIVER THAMES. Mr. Thefts (the Chairman of the Navigation Committee) I brought up the report relative toe steam-boat piers, and ex pressed his earnest hope that the Court would be as unani mous as the Committee had been in its adoption. The fol lowing are the principal paragraphs the report :—" That we have duly proceeded in the examination of the allega tions in the petition, and upon inquiry it appears that the subject of the erection of a steam-boat landing or pier at Blackfriars. bridge has been for some time under considera tion. That in December, 1841, a conference was held by us with the Blackfriars-bridge Committee when the plan of Mr. Walker, the engineer, for a pier of two arches on the north west side of the bridge, was examined, and this Committee expressed an opinion favourable thereto, but urged a hope that any plan, before being finally agreed upon, should be rendered subservient to the proposed general embankment of the river. That when the Blackfriars-budge Committee closed their labours, the matter was by this Honourable Court referred to the Bridge-house Estates Committee, who on the 30th of March, 1843, presented a report for authority to obtain plans and models, which report was read, and the consideration thereof adjourned, since which it does not ap pear to have been resumed.—( Hear.) That your Committee are of opinion that some such erection as the one proposed by Mr. Walker, modified with a view to the eventual carry ing oat of the general embankment of the river, would be a great accommodation and security to the public ; and that we should accordingly be empowered forthwith to take such steps as we may deem advisable, to enable us to lay before this Court a plan for a safe and suitable pier at Blackfriars bridge." The Chairman moved that the Court should agree with the Committee in the report. Mr. As:Dm:rose said he hoped the Navigation Committee would not sleep upon the subject, but would follow the ex cellent example set by the Lord Mayor, in visiting all the piers under the conservancy of the City of London, and taking care that every construction of the kind should be liable to no objection of instability or incommodiousness.— (Hear, hear.) He particularly called the attention of the Court to the Southwark-bridge pier, the Cadogan pier, and like pier at present being formed at Vauxhall-bridge, all of which he considered to be models of utility, and the last of which would be a very great ornament to the neighbourhood. He concluded by repeating his hope that the Committee would not sleep in the business, and declaring that he had no wish to continue the excitement occasioned by the calamity which had occurred at Blackfriars-bridge.—(Hear.) Mr. OBBARD said the former Committees against which such strong censure had been expressed at the last Court, ought to be released from the imputation of neglect, as the Court was, in its collective capacity, really reprehensible. Mr. HALL agreed with Mr. Obbard that the blame did not justly lie with the Navigation Committee. It was impossible not to see what embarrassments must have arisen from erecting a permanent pier pending the great question of a general embankment of the river contemplated by the Go vernment.—(Hear, hear.) Mr. GRESHAM could not see how any immediate remedy was applicable by the terms of the report proportionate to the immediate urgency which existed. Mr. HICKS said that, if Mr. Gresham would wait until the report should be agreed to, a paper would be submitted, to their consideration, containing a comprehensive statement of the important plan upon which it was intended to act. Mr. GRESHAM observed that his apprehension was that something might be proposed to which the Court would de mur for eighteen months more. A MEMBER added that after the present excitement should be abated, the report might just drop into the oblivion which had been the fate of numerous other recommendations. Mr. Lorr said there was one thing to which it was neces sary to call the attention of the Committee. The owners of steam-piers, and the captains of steam-vessels, entertained great objection to the placing of planks as a protection to the public. He suggested that an attention to such a means of security ought to form an item in the list of safeguards. Deputy STEVENS said he thought that too much stir had been made about the accident.—(Cries of "No, no.") Upon looking at the circumstances of the accident he found that although the erection had not been made to hold seventy persons, it had been sufficiently strong for the purposes for which it had been constructed. Ile did not see how the Court would be justified in incurring a large expense at a time when the general embankment of the Thames was under consideration. He trusted that it would not for a moment be supposed that lie did not feel as much as any other person in that Court on account of the accident which had occurred, but he could not see why there should be such alarm amongst the members, as if they were all chargeable with the consequences.—(Hear.) Mr. PEW - TRESS was much surprised at the total insecurity of the piers on the river, and considered the Court to have been culpable in granting the power to ir.dividuals to erect piers for their own profit, without demanding that stability should be one of the principal conditions of the grant. Upon the motion of Mr. Sracv, the important paper to which Mr. Hicks referred, as containing the elements of the remedy for the evils complained of was read. It was as fol low.:— " FLOATING PIERS.—The Corporation of London, acting under the advice of eminent engineers, as well as their own officers, have been hitherto unwilling to grant licenses for the construction of temporary landing-places for steam-boat pas aengers, in the belief that some general plan for improviig the banks and bed of the river would be adopted, in which the better accommodation of steam-passengers might be pro • vided for, by the erection of strong and sub ,tantial perma nent piers. " The recent melancholy accident at the floating platform at Blackfriars, has, however, impressed upon the Committee the conviction that the public safety demands the immediate exercise of the authority of the Corporation, as conservators, to avert the dangers attending the insecure and unstable Boetitg piers and platforms as they at present exist on the river. When the Committee consider that several hundreds of thousands of persons weekly avail themselves of these landing places to make use of steam-boats for purposes of business, health, or recreation, it is manifest that, in the ab sence of some general plan of embankment (which it may require a series of years to accomplish), the continuance of borne such temporary expedients in an amended form, is ab• solutely necessary to afford present accommodation. The Corporation have, therefore, given directions to their officers to inspect and report upon the state and condition of every steam-boat pier within their jurisdiction, with a view to the application of the following rules and regulations as speedily as they can be brought to bear upon the numerous piers already existing, as well as upon those which may be here after erected. " The Corporation will have to regret, if in the discharge of the duty they have undertaken, they should be obliged in juriously to interfere with private interests or private conve nience ; but they rely upon the good feeling of the proprietors of existing piers, by a speedy and cheerful acquiescence in these reasonable rules, to spare them the necessity of resort- , ing to strong measures. The Corporation rely with equal confidence upon the force of public opinion to sustain them in their endeavours to give additional security and accommoda tion to steam-boat passengers, and to prevent the recurrence of accidents similar to that which has so recently taken place. " nor the purpose of carrying the foregoing objects into execution, the Corporation have resolved— ." That no pier or landing-place for ateam-boat passengers be allowed on the River Thames within their jurisdiction as conservators of the river (viz., from Staines to Yantlet), without a license in writing from the Navigation Committee under the authority of the Right Hon. the Lord Mayor. " That no such license be granted except upon a certiti sate from the Clerk of the Works, or other officer of the navigation, appointed by the Committee, to the following effect : " let. That such pier or landing-place does not project from the bank beyond a line laid down as the limit for tem porary piers, and that such pier is so constructed as not to in terfere with the navigation of the river beyond what the necessity of the case absolutely requires. " 2illy. That such pier is constructed of good sound ma terials-of a proper thickness, and in a suitable form to afford all reasonable convenience to passengers, and to secure the safety-of the public. " 3dly. That the access to the pier from the land is pro. tected by a suitable and sufficient gate or barrier. " 4thly. That two red lights are fixed—one at each end of the extremity of the pier. " sthly. That a suitable drag and man line are provided and placed at a convenient spot on the pier. " 6thly. That a suitable chain painted white' upon a dark ground, or black upon a light ground, has been securely fixed a little above the water-mark all round the Boating-barges and pier, as hold-fasts for persons falling over. " That such license do continue only during the pleasure of the Committee, and that such pier be removed in either of the following cases : " Ist. If from any alteration of the current from the for mation of a permanent embankment, or from other causes, the pier shall, in the judgment of the Corporation, become an impediment or obstruction to the navigation of the river. " 2dly. If any part of the barges, piles, bridges, chains, platforms, or any other part of the structure shall from ac cident, injury, or decay, become unsafe, and if it shall not be immediately repaired with good sound materials of a suffi cient thickness, and rendered safe and secure to the satisfaction of the Clerk of the Works. " 3dly. If the gate or barrier at the entrance be not kept in a sufficient state of strength to prevent the access of more than a convenient number of persons, or if the person having eliarge of the pier do permit passengers to remain upon or over-crowd any part of the pier or platform ; or if he do per mit any other persons than passengers to use the pier. " 4thly. If the red lights on the pier be not kept in a pro per state, or if they be not lighted and kept alight from dusk till morning light, so as by night to show the position of the pier and to define its extent. " sthly. If a suitable drag and man-line be not always kept on a convenient part of the- pier to be ever ready in case of accident. " ethly. If the chain above the water-mark of the pier be not always kept securely fixed and in condition for use. 7thly. If any steam-boat be allowed to moor or to remain attached to any part of the pier during the night. Corporation reserve to themselves t he right to make r rules and regulations for the safety and conveni enceeh oh o h ithe public, and for the protection of the navigation, as time if and._ experience may call for; and they will remove • the pier such additional rules and regulation; be violated, in the same manner as they Would do if they were incorpo rated in, and formed a part of, the roregoing regulations." The reading of this paper evidently gave general satis faction. Mr. Corm said there was a disgraceful and most annoying nuisance, to which the paper made i ri i ? reference. He meant t the touting for passengers, which ho resided near th e piers were constantly in the habit of witnessing. The touters not only took hold of passengers, but actually for which actually fought f or ti them, in order to secure them for the companies . they exercised their rival zeal and had spoken to the City Comini,ssioner upon the Ile subject, but that officer did not seem to think that there was any law to Auction his interference. He (Mr. Cope) thought there must be some error in that opinion. Mr. PiLkrrnEws concurred in the opinion expressed by Mr. Cope. Mr. WIRE condemned the course pursued be the Court when the accident was discussed. If he were a member of Parliament, and wanted to find arguments for depriving th e citizens of London of their privileges, he could have found abundant reasons in the discussions which had taken place, during which the Court cast the blame upon the Committees, and the Committees cast the blame upon the Court. If, in stead of proceeding with useless and empty criminationi and recriminations, the Court had copied the conduct of the Liverpool authorities, and taken the whole management of the river, over which they had complete control , into the ir own hands, there would at the present moment no reason fir complaint.—(Hear.) The Court was no doubt reprehen sible, for when plans for the erection of piers were presented they were uniformly ordered to lie on the table. Ile did not chink the report of the Committee went far enough in the power for which they soaght, and he therefore should move, as an amendment—" That the Committee be empowered forthwith to take such steps, by and with the sanction cf the Lord Mayor, as they may deem advisable, to erect a safe and itaugnitacunblog o rders erat be ptu la s c us kfriar . s ; bridge, and that the 23d and 26th d upon the occasion."—(Hear.) Mr. GRESIUM was understood to adhere to his statement of the former day, and to add his opinion that the Committee had only half done the business they had been authorised by the Court to do. Mr. ASUURST supported the amendment, and expressed an ardent wish that the Court would do as well as talk some thing.—( Hear, hear.) Mr. STAGY said there was no necessity for the amendment. The report, if agreed to, would be an adequate security to the public, and the piers would no longer be dangerous. - Mr. PRIOR strongly supported the amendment, and urged that a concurrence in the report would merely give rise to a vast diversity of plans and speculations, and occasion still greater delay. The plan of Mr. Walker had all the elements of a sound and good construction.—(Hear, hear.) Mr. HEPPELL trusted that the Court would negative the amendment, and agree to.the report. Lying as they did under the charge of having neglected an important duty, they ought not to give up their whole power on so serious an occasion to a Committee.—(Hear, hear.) Alderman T. WOOD hoped the Court would adopt the amendment. Apart from the recent accident, it must be acknowledged that nothing could have been worse than the floating piers.—(Hear, hear.) They were incommodious, without order, or regularity, or plan, and there was about them a total absence of security. He was satisfied that, as conservators of the River Thames, they were bound to do something for the security of the public, and at the present season. Erections of piers ought not to be made upon the principle of private property. All erections of the kind ought to be swept away, and permanent places of public accommo dation ought to be formed by the Corporation.—(Hear, hear.) The Corporation would be adequately reimbursed by the pub lic, and they would obtain an egsnopical superintendence through the agency of the Watermen's Company. They would also get rid of the dangerous competition between rival steam-vessels, and of the noisy and annoying nuisance of the touters.—(Hear, hear.) He was of opinion that the best plan to pursue in the construction of steam-boat piers was, to make them the adjuncts to the bridges, by which they would be completely protected ; and he believel that if the Corporation would adopt the suggestion, they Auld find the Watermen's Company ready to pay for t he whole outlay, and to take the whole management upon themselves.—(Hear, hear, and cries of " No.") Mr. Hicks, although he proposed the original motion that the Court should agree with the report, said he certainly pre ferred the amendment, upon the principle that " If ; were done, it were well if 'twere done quickly." Mr. HARRISON was decidedly against suspending the stand ing orders, especially to give to the Committee a power which ought to be exercised by the Court itself. The LORD MAYOR, in answer to some observations made at the commencement of the discussion by Mr. Anderton, who warmly thanked his Lordship for the example he had set to the Court and its Committees, said, that from the in spection he had, with the aid of some of the officers of the Corporation, made of the piers on the river, he had ascer tained that, with the exception of one or two, they were all in a very bad condition, constructed of rotten barges, and affording no protection to the public; and that the officers had been instructed to make a report to the Committee upon which they could act, which had been accordingly done. The amendment was then negatived, and the report wet agreed to, and referred back to the Committee to be carried into execution.—Adjourned. RULES FOR THE REGULATION OF STEAM-VESSELS. Draft Rules suggested to the Court of Mayor and Aldermen of the City of London, for the regulation of steam-vessels, pursuant to the provisions of the Watermen's Act, 7 and 8 Geo. IV. cap. 75. 2. That from and after the allowance of these bye laws, the Court of Master, Wardens, and Assistants of the Company of Watermen and Lightermen of the river Thames, upon the application of the owner or owners of any steam or sailing passage-boat or vessel which shall be worked or navigated upon the said River Thames within the limits specified in the said Act of Parliament, shall grant a license to such owner or owners to use and work for hire any such boat or vessel (for carrying passengers) upon the said river within the limits aforesaid; in which license shall be expressed the number of persons or passengers such boat or vessel shall be permitted to take and carry, according to the admeasurernent thereof as herein after is provided; and such , licence shall contain a number for such boat or vessel, which shall be regis tered in a book or books to be kept for that purpose, by the clerk of the said company ; and the owner or owners of such boat or vessel shall cause such name of every such steam-boat or vessel to be painted and kept legible on the outside of each paddle-box, or if there shall not be any paddle-box, then upon the quarter or some other conspicuous part of the outside of such steam-boat or vessel, in plain legible letters, twelve inches long at the least, and broad in propor tion, so as to be seen plainly in the day time by persons passing on the said river; and shall also cause the registered number of every such boat or vessel, and the number of passengers licensed to be carried therein, to be painted and kept legible upon the inside of each paddle-box of every such steam-boat or vessel, or if there shall not be any paddle-box, then upon some conspicuous part of such steam-boat or vessel, and upon the companion or some other conspicuous part of such sailing boat or vessel, in plain letters and figures, two inches long at the least, and broad in proportion, so as to be seen plainly by persons upon deck. And if any such steam or sailing-boat or vessel, whose voyage shall commence and terminate within the limits aforesaid, shall be used or worked (for hire or gain) within the limits aforesaid without such license for the same having been first obtained as aforesaid, or without such name so painted and kept legible on the outside of such boat or vessel as aforesaid, or without such registered number, and the number of passengers licensed to be carried in such boat or vessel respectively so painted and kept legible on the inside of such boat or vessel as aforesaid, the master or other persons having the 'command or management of such boat or vessel shall forfeit and pay for every such offence any sum not exceeding five pounds. 3. That no steam-boat or sailing passage-boat or vessel navigated upon the said river, whose voyage shall commence and terminate within the limits afore said, shall be licensed to carry more than one person or passenger for every four square feet of the deck of such steam or sailing passage-boat or vessel, to be mea sured within the gunwales, deducting from the gross admeasurement one-tenth part thereof for the com panions, skylights, steam-chests, &c., upon the said deck (children under the age of twelve months not to be included). And if any such boat or vessel whose voyage shall commence and terminate within the limits aforesaid, shall be navigated upon the said river within the limits aforesaid, carrying any greater number of persons or passengers than shall be ex pressed in the license granted by the said Compimy of Master,Wardens, and Assistants as aforesaid, the master or other person having the command or management of every such boat or vessel shall forfeit and pay for every person or passenger exceeding such number any sum not exceeding forty shillings. 4. That if any person shall act as master or in command or management of any steam-boat or sailing passage-boat vessel, whose voyage shall commence and terminate within the limits aforesaid, until approved and licensed so to .lo by the Court of Masters, Wardens, and Assistants of the Company of Watermen and Lightermen cf the river Thames, every person so offending shall for every such offence forfeit and pay any sum not ex ceeding five pounds ; and that if at any time it shall appear to the said Court of Master, 'Wardens, and Assistants, that the loss of human life or any damage or injury to the person or property of any person or persons on the said river within the limits aforesaid was or had been occasioned by reason of the negli gence, unskilfulness, or misbehaviour of any person so approved and licensed as aforesaid, the said Court of Master, Wardens, and Assistants shall and may from time to time suspend or annul and make void the license granted to such, person as aforesaid ; and if any such person shall act as master or in the command or management of any such steam-boat or sailing pas sage-boat or vessel within the limits aforesaid, during the time his said license shall be so suspended or an nulled and made void, or if any such person shall neglect or refuse to produce (and deliver up to be cancelled) to the said Court of Master, 'Wardens, and Assistants, any license which may have been so granted to him as aforesaid, when required so to do by writing, signed by the clerk of the said Company, and left with such person, or at his last known or most usual place of abode, then and in every such case he shall forfeit and pay for every such offence any sum not exceeding , five pounds. 5. That the master or other person having the command or management of any steam-boat or ves sel navigated Lyon the said River Thames, within the limits aforesaid, shall whilst navigating the same within the limits aforesaid keep as far from any sand or . ballast craft whilst getting sand or ballast, and from any lighter-boat, wherry, and other vessel as the depth of water and other circumstances will per mit, and shall when passing such sand or ballast craft, lighter-boat, wherry, or other vessel, so reduce or regulate the speed of such steam-boat or vessel as to prevent as far as possible the swell occasioned ' by such steam-boat or vessel from being forced into upon or over such sand or ballast craft, lighter-boat, wherry, or other vessel, under the penalty of forfeit ing and paying for every such offence any suns not exceeding five pounds. 6. That the master or other person having the command or management of any steam-boat or vessel, when navigated on the said river within the limits aforesaid, shall whilst navigating the same within the limits aforesaid, remain, continue, and be on one of the paddle-boxes or the bridge of such steam-boat or vessel, and shall not permit or suffer any other person, except the crew of such steam -boat or vessel, to be and remain on such paddle-box or bridge of such steam-b Oat or vessel, and shall cause and procure a proper look-out to be kept from the bow of the said steam-boat or vessel, under the penalty of forfeiting and paying for every such offence any sum not exceeding five pounds. 7. That all steam-boats or vessels navigated on the said River Thames within the limits aforesaid, in a westernly direction, shall from and immediately after pi d ne u gn s , dkheidanvoetnhteaweo3v,aesrtnrdion strong red a s n pa d r until daylight in the mbrn lfiagshtetsn,edeigtohtthfeeetfoarpeamrta,sts,uosr- if there shall be no foremast then such red lights shall be fastened to the funnel, twenty feet at least above the deck, or to the top of the funnel, and another strong red light fastened under the bowsprit ; and all steam-boats or vessels navigated within the limits aforesaid, in an easternly direction, shall have two strong blue lights, eight feet apart, suspended in like manner on a yard or spar fastened to the foremast, or to the funnel as aforesaid if there shall be no fore mast, at the same height above the deck as aforesaid, and one strong blue light fastened under the bowsprit as aforesaid ; and in case the weather shall be so foggy as to prevent such lights being seen, or in case of thick fog during the day-time and such steam-boats or vessels shall not be under weigh, the same shall remain at anchor, or if such steam-boats or vessels shall be under weigh then the same shall bring up witil the weather clears; and in case such steam-boats or vessels shall not have such lights as hereinbefore directed, or shall be navigated during a fog as is hereinbefore prohibited, the master or other person having the command thereof shall, for every such offence, forfeit and pay any sum not exceeding five pounds. 8. That no master or other person having the com mand or management of any steam-boat or vessel navigated upon the said river within the limits afore said shall take on board or put out any passenger or other person whilst the engine of such steam-boat or vessel is in motion, nor shall cause such engine to be again put in motion until the boat or wherry bring ing or taking away such passenger or other person to or from such steam-boat or vessel shall be suffi ciently clear of such steam-boat or vessel, under the penalty of forfeiting and paying for every such of fence any sum not exceeding five pounds. 9. That no master or other person having the com mand or management of any steam-boat, or vessel navigated on the said river within the limits aforesaid, shall allow such steam-boat or vessel to be placed alongside any ship or vessel whilst towing the same on the said river between London-bridge and Green wich Hospital, under the penalty of forfeiting and paying for every such offence any sum not exceeding five pounds. 10. That no steam-boat or vessel of more than two hundred tons burthen, registered tonnage, shall be navigated upon the said river westward of Green wich Hospital at a greater speed than at the rate of six miles in an hour with the tide, nor more than four miles in an hour against the tide ; and that no steam-boat or vessel of less than two hundred tons burthen, registered tonnage, shall be navigated upon" the said river westward of Greenwich Hospital at a greater speed than at the rate of eight miles in an hour with the tide nor more than six miles in an hour against the tide (such distarices respectively to be computed and ascertained by the marks of admea surement set up on the shore of the said river by the authority of the Corporation of the City of London); and if the master or other person having the com mand or management of any such vessel shall navi gate the same, or permit the same to be navigated, within the limits specified in this bye-law, at any greater rate or speed than as aforesaid, he shall for feit and pay for every such offence any sum not ex ceeding five pounds. It is intended to take the above rules into conside ration on Saturday next. SPIRIT of the PUBLIC JOURNALS. ?ROY UM EVENING PAPERS OF YESTERDAY. GLOBE.—Captain Warner's wonderful invention was introduced to the notice of the House of Commons last evening by Lord Ingestre. A more complete exposure of the affair can scarcely be imagined. Not the vestige of a well-supported claim to novelty of discovery, or to an improved mode of applying an agency already known, was left to Captain Warner ; who, in nautical language, was " blown out of the water." This was effected by Sir R. Peel's straightforward, matter-of-fact explana tion ; followed up, as it was, by the narrative of Sir Howard Douglas, who described the proceedings of Sir Byam Martin and himself, to whom Sir Robert Peel had referred the application of Captain Warner. An oppor tunity to exhibit the extraordinary discovery he had made had been afforded ; and the way in which Captain Warner had acted in the transaction was explained. The Hon. W. Cowper, private secretary to Lord Melbourne, when Captain Warner pressed the purchase of his discovery on the Administration of which his Lordship was the head, also supplied valuable testi mony as to the real merits of the discovery. Sir C. Napier ably exposed the absurdity of Captain Warner's claims to any new discovery in science ; or to any valuable novelty of application of a power previously known. With the bluntness of phrase and breadth of humour peculiar to the profession, the Gallant Commo dore ridiculed the whole affair off Brighton, as wonder ful only in the eyes of persons either wholly or pAtially. , ignorant of what is generally known to nautical men. The greatest wonder of the performance, in Sir C. Napier's opinion, is, that any professional man could have been deceived into the belief that there was any thing extraordinary in the transaction. Captain War ner's pretended invention of a new explosive power— the possession of which would enable the nation that exclusively possessed it to defy the world in arms—has been extensively used for the purpose of attack upon Lord Melbourne's Government, and also of reproach to the present Ministry. Both Lord Melbourne and Sir R. Peel, it was last night shown, adopted the course which they were bound to adopt under the circumstances. They referred Capt. Warner's discovery to the scientific de partments of the Government; directed that a commission should issue. formed of the most eminent officers, by whose skill the efficiency of the discovery should be tested ; and upon their report determined to act. Instead of having treated Captain Warner, or his invention, with neglect, it clearly, appears that both the late and the present Govern ment acted with fairness, and even with liberality towards both : they provided him with the means, and afforded him opportunities of demonstrating the al leged powers of his invention. The only thing they would not do—but this was the very thing Captain Warner showed he was most anxious should be done was this : they would not pur chase without proof. Captain Warner bad been most prodigal of professions—most prolific in assu rances. He had performed extraordinary feats, by means of his powerful agent, at various times and in divers places—of which, , , however, there were no persons alive who could verify his statements ; and no records of his doings in the public offices ; where, if the feats had been achieved, they might be expected to be found Captain Warner, among other representations of what his discovery had effected, stated to the Commis sioners that he had sunk two French privateers with his invisible shell toward the end of the war. No record, however, no trace could be found of this extraoi dinary transaction. With his "long range," he said, he had destroyed rocks in the islands off Vigo Bay, at six miles distance. In the absence of oral or documentary evidence of these extraordinary performances, the Com missioners asked for ocular proof. They, possibly, thought that Captain Warner had, in his descriptions of the powers of his "long range," practised largely with the long bow ; and they wished to see as well as hear. This, however, was declined. As Mr. W. Cowper remarked, in the course of his statement of what took place be tween the late Government and Captain Warner, rela tive to his invention—" Captain Warner was more desirOus of corresponding with the moneyed than with the scientific departments of the Government—more anxious to have his discoveries bought than tested." the Prussian Government has, it seems, been equally unjust to Captain Warner. The scientific and patriotic discoverer of this destruction-spreading agent—with a far greater affection for pelf than for country—has, it seems, been huckstezing with a foreign State for the purchase of his secret. If the Government of Prussia would have entered into a blind bargain, and paid the required sum without knowing whether it had got anything in the shape of value for its money, there would have been an end of Captain Warner's applications to the Government of England to possess themselves of the wonderful invention. We might have read the sin of our incredulity by the glare of the fires kindled by means of this destructive agent in our har bours and arsenals—if, indeed, our "tight little island" had not been blown out of the ocean, and England been numbered among the nations which now exist only in the pages of history. Sir G. Cockburn's ac count of the way in which he has reason to believe the explosion off Brighton was effected, agrees, in all the material points, with the suggestion we ventured to offer as to the process by which it was accomplished. Lord Ingestre seems to have been pretty consider ably laughed at in professional circles for his gratuitous attestations in behalf of a very questionable experiment, the validity of which he ought rather to have suspected, than affirmed. Incapable of deception in any form, Lord Ingestre, like many of his profession, is the more likely to be deceived. Had Lord Ingestre seen what the officer referred to by Sir G. Cockburn " distinctly saw," he would not have signed the certificate which bore his name, and induced the public to confide in the extra ordinary accounts of the magical, if not miraculous, per formance off Brighton. The correspondence moved for by Lord Ingestre is to be produced ; and we trust, printed. To a new and enlarged edition of " Popular Delusions" it would contribute an interesting chapter. STANDARD.—Lord Ingestre last night moved, in the House of Commons, for the production of the cor respondence between the present and late Govern - ments and Captain Warner, upon the subject of the extraordinary destrUctive instrument, the invention of which is asserted by the captain. Lord Ingestre gave a full history of the progress of the alleged discovery, and of Captain Warner's endeavours to have it adopted by the Government • and Sir Robert Peel, who freely granted the correspondence, seconding the Noble Lord's motion, gave a supplementary history of the efforts of the two Governments to come to what might be considered rea sonable terms with Captain Warner. Sir Howard Douglas, Sir Charlei Napier, and several other members spoke, and the debate upon the matter occupied nearly the whole of the night's sitting. Sir Charles Napier gave a graphic and highly amusing account of his own share in the attempt to burn the French flotilla at Bou logne by explosive globes, and offered an irresistibly comical proposition, to blow up the Noble Mover if only he would oblige him by sitting down upon an explosive mixture. We are not sorry that this de bate has taken place, because we think that it will set the public mind at ease upon a subject that has caused some anxiety since the late exhibition at Brighton. We live in an age apparently of great mechanical discovery, certainly of great discovery in chemical science, and we see daily the development of so many wonders either by the ap plication of capital to well-known though neglected con trivances, as in case of gas-light, steam navigation, rail roads, &c., or by the use of really novel inventions, as the employment of galvanic electricity for va rious purposes, that things cease to be thought improbable because they are astonishing. Nay, we are not quite sure that credulity does not incline in the opposite direction, and cause to be most easily believed whatever is most opposed to experience. If we do not go to far as to .ay credimus quia impossibile, we almost acknowledge that we most readily give credit to what seems impossible. Under these circumstances it is well that the minds of men, somewhat dismayed by the notion of that tremendous power which Captain Warner claims to possess, should have the means of judging of the whole matter upon considerations distinct from the physical possibility or probability of the exist ence of such a power at the command of any one. Let us glance at the debate in this light, and in this light only, conceding, for argument sake, the possibility that there may be such things as the "invisible shell" and " the long range," the powers which Capt. Warner claims to have invented. We ourselves prefer to consider the subject in this light, because we are bound to confess that some years ago we were believers, to some, though not to the whole extent, in the importance of Captain . Warner's alleged discoveries, and have since changed our opinion altogether, upon the external evidence, and not from a consideration of the physical difficulties. In short, we are now satisfied, from Captain Warner's proceedings, that whether the things he speaks of be or be not possible •to he accomplished, he has not accom plished them. The captain's whole story, as detailed in last night's debate, is a mass of improbabilities—not of physical improbabilities, we have nothing to do with them, but of moral improbablities and of gross incon sistencies. Captain Warner says that he has been twenty-seven years in possession of the secret of' the " invisible shell." and twelve years in possosion of the secret of the " long range" (a power by which fleets, forts, cities, nay mountains, can be destroyed at six miles' distance): There is some inaccuracy in the statement of the age of the invention of " the shell," because Captain Warner says that by the use of it he de stroyed two French privateers in the late war—one at St. Mato, the other at St. Vallery—whereas all war with France was happily at an end twenty-nine years ago, and the naval war was at an end thirty years ago. This inaccuracy may be a mere slip of memory ; but there are graver objections to the story of these two privateers. Captain Warner says, that when he destroyed them he was serving under his father in the ship Nautilus, one of his Majesty's smallest ves sels, at the time in the humble service of landing spies on the. French coast ; but there is no record of the destruction of the privateers at the Admiralty or of the spies in the Foreign-office. No head money was claimed, though the destruction of two privateers would have brought a good round sum to Captain War ner's father, and it is said that, contrary to the peremp tory rule of the service. the Nautilus kept no lig. In the absence of all this, the natural evidence of the destruc tion of the privateers, it might be expected that some of the crew of the Nautilus, who cannot he all dead, would be produced, • but there is no suggestion that any living man except Captain Warner himself knows anything of the fate of these two unlucky vessels ; nay, we have not even a reference to a newspaper paragraph. Nor is this all. Captain Warner, in his correspondence with the Government, rates the expense of an experiment with his invisible shell at 2,7001., to destroy the two privateers must, therefore, have cost him at the very least 5,4001. Where a sub officer of the Nautilus could get so much money we have perhaps no right to inquire, but we must admire the generosity that could give so much to the public service without asking one farthing of remuneration ; the modesty, too, which in the moment of triumphant success restrained the captain from apprising the Ad miralty of the extraordinary power of which the in ventor was in possession. That was the time to bargain with the Government for the sale of the secret. Neither at that time, nor in 1816,. when Lord Ex mouth's expedition was fitting out ; nor in 1828, when Sir Edward Codrington was proceeding to the Medi terranean ; at no. period within sixteen years at the least, did Captain Warner think of placing at the service of his country, or applying to his own profit, an invention which had proved so successful at St. Malo and St. Vallery, and which be estimates at 200,0001.• Few other men would so long lie out of so much money, or lose the opportunity of war like preparation to bring so precious an instrument of war into the market, reserving its sale for a moment of profound peace. We must now, however, come to the long range, an invention only twelve years old. The first circumstance that will appear remark able to most observers is the increased fondness with which Captain Warner adheres to his invisible shell, notwithstanding the later 'discovery, by which the use of that, and, indeed, of all other instruments of war must be superseded. What in the name of common sense can be the use of invisible shells, or any other shells, against fleets, forts, armies cities, and mountains which you can disperse into atoms from a dis tance of six miles. Every one has heard the story of the mountebank who sold powder to kill fleas (privately ex plained to operate by being put into the insect's mouth), and the rebuke of the clown, who said, that when he had caught the flea he wanted no help from doctor's stuff to kill him.. So it seems to us, that if you can destroy your enemy at six miles' distance you may spare the trouble of creeping under his feet to set traps. As there is no allegation of any authenticated trial of the long range power, we may say the less of it. For the rest we think that the whole tenour of the correspondence, as it was given in the debate last night. proves the reverse ofa willingness on Captain Warner's part to come to the test of a fair experiment. There is always some hitch suggested by the captain's suspicions—suspicions which, in our opinion, do not always treat her Majesty's Ministers as gentlemen ought to be treated. It is plain that they must trust Captain Warner, or Captain Warner must trust them, and it is no imputation upon any one to say that he is less entitled •to confidence than the responsible Ministers of the Crown. With respect to tho exhibition at Brighton., as far as our ex perience goes, it has rather damaged than served Capt. Warner in the judgment of scientific men: The opinion among such men is, that though it is possible that the destruction of the John o' Gaunt may no doubt have been a bona fide operation, the result might with perfect ease have been produced by preparation, contrivance, and sleight•of--hand. SUMMER ASSIZES. HOME clECUlT—Guildford, Aug. 1. The commission for the county of Surrey was opened on Wednesday evening, and this morning, at eleven o'clock, both Courts were opened for the dispatch of business, Mr. Baron Parke presiding on the Civil side, and Mr. Baron Gurney trying the prisoners. • The gaol calendar is light, there being only thirty six prisoners for trial, and a great number of these are cases that have been transferred from the sessions to the assizes. The cause list is very heavy, eighty-two causes being set down for trial, of which ten are special jury cases, which are likely to occupy a good deal of time. The business disposed of yesterday was of no public interest. POLICE INTELLIGENCE. (YESTERDAY.) MANSION-HOUSE. Sir JOHN KEY stated that he had received a commu nication from the Duchess of St. Alban's, on the subject of frauds which no doubt were extensively practised by some persons in Ireland, who enclosed fictitious declara tions, purporting to be signed by magistrates, to people of rank in England, whose names and addresses appeared in the Red Book, accompanied with letters entreating relief. Her Grace had received one of these letters ; and would have sent a remittance for the service of the writer, had not her steward intimated to her that Lady Key had received a letter in precisely similar language, with the exception of the names of the writer, and the ship in which the writer stated she had been wrecked, and of her address, as well as of the address to which the relief was requested to be remitted. The correspondent of Lady Key called herself Margaret Cope, Black Rock, Dublin ; and the same person subscribed herself to the Duchess of St. Alban's, as Ellen Willoughby, of Red bourne, and begged that her Grace's answer might be transmitted to the care of Mrs. Hensler, No. 46, Meath-street, Dublin. In both letters were inclosed certificates, written in the same hand, stating that each lamentable account was strictly correct, and that the poor woman was an object of great compassion. The appeal was strengthened by the assurance that the applicant was anxious to get out to her hu-batid on a distant station, but was detained by the sickness of her child, and the, failure of resources in a strange land, where no sympathy existed. Sir John also stated that he had received a letter from Sir George Thomas, from Weymouth, stating that Lady Thomas had been favoured with a like application from a person, who subscribed herself Margaret Wilson, and desired that an answer should be directed to the care of Mrs. Cronan, 36, Mar rowbone-lane, Dublin. From the following letter, which Sir John Key read, it appeared that the imposition had succeeded :-- "Lady Cockerell's compliments to Sir John Key; having observed iii the Morning Post of this day that Lady Key had been imposed upon by a woman , who had written to her Ladyship in the name of Margaret Cope, supplicating pecuniary assistance, Lady C. begs to in form Sir John that she has received a similar letter, which she has no doubt is from the same person, though signed by another name, as he will observe by the ac companying letter inclosing a certificate, which by her desire. Lady C. returned to her on the 23d of July, with a Post-office order for 2/, to be paid to her in Dublin, as Lady C. thought it to be a case of urgent distress. " Hyde-park-corner, July 27." Sir JOHN KEY added that Lady Key having, at his request, refrained from sending a remittance to the ap plicant until he should make inquiry into the case, was favoured with another epistle from her correspondent, senxlpierietsinsigngastshisetapnaeneg.s lieof w fe tt a n re t, d t a h n a d t s s t o il i l n m ge o n r i e o e u a s r a ne p s l t a ly n would, if not most powerfully exposed, prove very suc cessful. He had himself ascertained at the War-office that there was not a syllable of truth in the whole his tory before be had received the foregoing .evidence. Sir J. KEY then stated that he bad received the half of a 51. note for James Thomson Irvine, who had lost all his property at Hamburgh, when Bonaparte confiscated the property of the English merchants trading in that country, and who had since that period been struggling amidst the most awful misfortunes to support his chil dren, whose mother was in a lunatic asylum. The bene volent person who had sent the inclosure said that when he should see that it had been received, he should remit the other half of the note ; and he requested Sir John would acknowledge the receipt in the Morning Post. Joseph Ady, who became so notorious some years ago, by his correspondence with people in all parts of the world, whom he informed he could communicate some thing to their advantage, upon the payment of a certain sum of money, and finally referred to the un claimed Dividend Books at the Bank, on a wild-goose chase, appeared on Wednesday before Sir P ge e n te e r ra L lly aurie, ihnyctohnasteqtnednefceatoigf indefatigable Magistrate.ummonsw hic h lt had w a b s e been sent to him ex pected. that Ady would not appear. Indeed many have thought that the sentence at the Old Bailey had induced heimtoehangethe line of business in which he had so long been engaged ; but at the proper hour he walked into the public room, and took his accustomed station before the Alderman. Mr. Haldane, a gentleman in the commission of the peace, who had written to Sir Peter Laurie on the subject of oae of Mr. Ady's circular letters addressed to Mr. William Haldane, in Scotland, soon after the death of the latter, attended upon the occasion. He produced the circular, which was as follows: L.B. page 3. " The undersigned is able to inform you of something he believes considerably to your advantage, on receipt of five shillings for his trouble by post-office order on Whitechapel or otherwise.—Respectfully, " JOSEPH ADY, accountant, No. 5, York street, Charlotte-street, mile east of Whitechapel Church, London. " June 23, 1844. " No letters received unless post-paid." The above letter contained the following blank re ceipt : " Received this day of 184 ,of pounds, shillings, pence, for information received, which fee I promise to return if no benefit result, and in case of any difficulty the Right Hon. Sir Peter Laurie, Knight, and late Lord Mayor of London, will see justice done to any client of mine, without any fee or charge whatever. " JOSEPH ADY." Mr. Goodman (the chief clerk) observed, upon look ing at the communication, that Mr. Ady had acted with a great deal more caution than he had manifested in days gone by. Sir PETER LAURIE—He has derived advantage from his experience, but I shall certainly wech him narrowly. Well, Mr. Ady, I thought you and I were never to meet again? Ady—Well, what is all thi4 about? What am I come about? What have I done now? Sir PETER LAURIE—It is to me personally you are responsible in this matter. When you were sentenced to transportation at the Old Bailey, and that sentence was subiequently commuted to imprisonment for twelve months, upon condition that you w..uld not annoy the public again, you gave your solemn assurance that you would adhere strictly to that condition. How is it, then, that you not only continue• the practice, but you au daciously use my name for the purpose of assisting you in your attempts at imposition? Ady—lmposition! No, no; I have done no harm. Sir PETER LAURIE—I never in my life heard that vim had (Line the slightest Avid.—(Laughter.) On the very day this gentleman (Mr. 11.ildane) wrote to me I re ceived this letter from Ireland:— " Macroom, Ashgrove, July 24, 1844. "Sir,-1 have lately received two or three letters from I Wm. Joseph Ady, of York-street, Whitechapel, London, acquainting me that he can give information to me as the heir-at-law of the late William Ashe, by which I can procure a sum of money, and has referred me to you in one of his letters.--(Laughter.) I am well known in the County of Cork, where I reside, and take the liberty of applying to you to know whether I may rely on Mr. Ady to transact the business—(A burst of laughter)— and to give me any further information in your power. I beg to apologise to you for taking the liberty, and I hope you will excuse the trouble I give. I also beg to inclose the raper he sent me in one of his letters.—l have the honour to be, Sir, with great respect, your obedient humble servant, " RICHARD ASHE. " Sir Peter Laurie." Now I trust that the newspapers will convey my an swer to all who correspond with you and take for granted that you are authorised to use my name, or the name of any of the Court of Aldermen, that I know you have perpetrated a vast deal of mischief, and caused infi nite misery, by making statements to poor people in dis tant counties wholly destitute of truth. Ady—No, no, people mistake. Sir P. LAURIE—I think you have had quite enough to do with me to believe that you ought to be cautious of mentioning my name at all. In my mayoralty the Court of Aldermen found it neces-ary to caution the public against you, when you referred falsely for your character, integrity, and responsibility to Sir William Heygate, to Alderman Copeland, who, you said, would be security for you to the amount of 1,000/., and to our late respected chief clerk, Mr. Hobler.—(A laugh.) Ady—Well, well. Sir PETER LAURIE—I wish to know from you now whether it is your intention to continue to use my name in your letters in this manner ? Ady—No, I'll promise you I won't use it any more. Sir PETER LAURIE—You'II find the law too strong for you. Recollect the result of your trial. Ady—Oh, they were all false witnesses. Not one of them was to be believed.—(Laughter.) Sir PETER LAURIE—The arts you have resorted to would be most ludicrous, I admit, if they did not cause heart-burning and sorrow. Why, Sir (to Mr. Haldane), he told every body at last that his name was James Laurie.—(Great laughter.) Ady, who did not show the least inclination to smile, should i r t e l p a e n a y t e letterd that of he his, would d n h o e t use a l so S d i t e • c l l ' a e r t e e r d a u t r i h e e ' s use the same sort of respect towards the other Alder - men. . . Sir, P. LAURIE—Very well. Remember this pledge. If you violate it, the course I shall take will prove most disagreeable to you. Ady (nodding to Sir Peter Laurie)—l promise you I won't break my promise. I sha'nt use your name at all on any account. The defendant then suddenly walked away amid-t laughter. UNION-HALL. Mr. Hinds, a surgeon residing in Park-street, near the Borough-market, was brought up in the custody of police constable, M 100, on a charge of being drunk and disorderly. and being utterly incapable of taking care of himself. Mr. TRAILL said it was lamentable to see a person in the station of life in which Mr. Hinds moved in so degradin a situation. Mr. Brady, a surgeon, informed the Magistrate that he was certain the unfortunate gentleman at the bar was utterly in capable of managing his own affairs. Up to Christmas last a more amiable and excellent man never existed, but since that period, from some cause or other unknown to him, he had given way to constant habits of intemparance. It was only yesterday that he, Mr. Grady, saw Mr Hinds in a most excited state, with a crowd of twenty people round him, and drinking with a common pot-boy. Mr. TRAILL said it would be a mercy to place the de dthidant under restraint by his friends, .for he was killing himself by inches; he had become an habitual drunkard, and would soon be an inmate of a lunatic asylum. Mr. Hinds uttered several incoherent sentences while at the bar, and it was evident to all that his mind was seriously affected. Mr. TRAILL said Mr. Hinds must find bail for three months in the sum of 20/. Bail having been accepted, the defendant was liberated. It is the intention of his friends to place him in an asylum. QUEEN -SQUARE. A decently-dressed, middle-aged woman, applied to the Magistrate for his advice in the following case : She said a distraint for rent had been put into the house in which she occupied a room, and although she had paid her rent to the utmost farthing her goods had been included in the distraint, the person who rents the house not having furniture worth more than 305., and the claim of the landlord for rent being above 71. She added, that her late hug banil's friends bad purchased the few things she possessed only a few days . ago, as they were desirous of making her comfortable during her accouchement, which she expected to take place every day. Mr. BURRELL said her case was a very hard one, but all the furniture in the house was liable to be distrained on for rent. He regretted he could not assist, and advised her to go to the landlord of the house, and throw herself upon his kindness. The poor woman, who seemed quite broken-hearted at her misfortune—no light misfortune to the poor and helpless— thanked the Magistrate and withdrew. Ellen Mortimer, a pretty young Irishwoman, apparently in delicate health, applied to the Magistrate for relief. She said her child lay dead, at a house in which she lodged, in Maiden head-court. It had been ill for many days and nights, and that she had been unremitting in her attentions to it until it died yesterday morning. " I (added the young woman) have not a candle or a bit of fire, and I am in great distress." Mr. Thomas, the relieving officer, who was in the Coureat the time, said she had been in the receipt of out-door relief for some months past. She had been in the workhouse, in which the child was born, but voluntarily discharged herself. She had received bread and other nourishing articles for some time past, and had she applied yesterday to him, he would, as usual, have afforded her relief. She should have relief if she applied to him on Saturday next. The applicant said Mr. Thomas had always been kind to her.—She then left the Court. SIGHT AND HEARING TESTIMONIALS. 39, ALBEMARLE-STREET, PICCADILLY. General Browne Clayton feels desirous to express the comfort and advantage he has derived at his advanced age of 70 years, and af►er two years' trial, from the use of Messrs. S. and B. Solomons newly invented Spectacles. Their valuable inventions fully merit the patronage they have received. Address, Adlington-hall, Lancashire. Major-General Sir Howard Elphinstone begs to say that the Spectacles he has now had some time in use, have fully redeemed the assurance of the Messrs. S. and B. Saila )ns as to their excellence, and having found so much comfort and advantage from their use, far prefer able to every other kind of glasses. 13, Norfolk-street, Park lane.—The Hon. George Cavendish, to Messrs. S. and B. Solomons, 39, Albetr.arle-stra.et, Piccadilly, op posite the York Hotel. Gentlemen, I approve very mu. h of the Spectacles I purchased from you ; I have made use of glasses for many years, and never met with any to enable me to see equal to yours, and with less incon venience to my eyes. Yours obediently, a Cavendish Leixlip Castle, Ireland.—lmproved Achromatic Teles copes, Opera Glasses, Microscopes, &c., of the same kind of lenses, to surpass any ever yet invented.—The Messrs. S. and B. Solomons' Invincible Operator Voice Conductor, Sound Magnifiers for deaf persons, give im mediate relief to old standing extreme cases of deaf ness.—Caution. Messrs. S. and B. Solomons, Opticians and Aurists, are not in any way connected with a person of the same name in their immediate neighbourhood. Nor in any part of the country. To prevent mistakes, be cautious and observe—only to be had at 39, Albe marle-street, Piccadilly, opposite the York Hotel. Ladies travelling, or temporarily subjected to any deviation of equable temperature, will find in Rowland's Kalydor a renovating and refreshing auxiliary, dispel ling the cloud of langour from the complexion, and immediately affording the pleasing sensation attending restored elasticity of the skin. The distressing and unsightly varieties of cutaneous eruptions are also promptly eradicated by the Kalydor. Spots, pimples, freckles, discolourations, and sallowness, yield to its specific qualities, and are succeeded by a smoothness and transparency of the skin, giving rise to sensations of the utmost pleasure and surprise. Being universally preferred, its consequent great demand excites the cupidity of unprincipled shopkeepers, who give the title of "Genuine" Kalydor to some compounds of their own manufacture, of the most deleterious character, con taining mineral astringents utterly ruinous to the complexion, and by their repellant action endangering health. It is, therefore, imperative on purchasers to see that the words " Rowland's Kalydor" are on the wrapper. All others are fraudulent counterfeits !1 I CAPTAIN WARNER'S INVENTION. TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN. Sin,—l read in your paper a statement made on the information of some Shoreham pilots, extracted from the Brighton Herald, which the editor of that paper thinks to be " calculated to throw a suspicion upon the genuine character of my experiment." A Mr. Young, " a well known and respectable inhabitant of Shoreham," went on board the John o'Gaunt, from which no person was excluded, as soon as she arrived in Shoreham-roads, and " remarked a quantity of new warp (a rope about three inches round) lying on the deck, and wondered what the rope could be for." This mysterious rope was simply a coil, consisting of two new tow ropes. for the purpose of towing the ship. Other ropes, which seem to have perplexed these Shoreham visitors, were merely guy ropes, for conducting the large or tow ropes on board the steamer ; others were man ropes, hanging over the sides ' for the more convenient escape of the crew ; and I dare say there were ropes tow ing overboard, both ahead and astern, as will hap pen in slovenly ships, and the John-o' Gaunt was slovenly enough, I dare say ; though I pledge you my honour I never was on board her from the time she left Gravesend, ten days before. To remove the real doubts of every sceptical spectator of my experiment, or to answer the pumping questions of every insidious in quirer, would be either an endless or an unprofitable task to me ; for to do so effectually would be tantamount to explaining how the John o'Gaunt was destroyed, an explanation which I shall not impart to Mr. Young, of Shoreham, however respectable, nor to his four pilots, who convert a few common tow and side ropes into a formidable " apparatus," as Don Quixote mistook wind mills for giants. _ _ This visit proves one thing, at any rate—that every one was not excluded from the John n' Gaunt, one of the many false assertions under which I am for the present doomed to labour. . I perceive many of the correspondents of the public journals suggest a variety of methods and materials by which my experiment off Brighton might easily, " with out any difficulty whatever." to adopt their own phrase, be performed. I invite these gentlemen to ".go and do likewise."—l am, Sir, your obedient servant, London. July 29, 1844. S. A. WARNER. HISTORY OF CONTRIVANCES FOR KILLING MEN. (Fr. , tts the Liverpor I.7ournol) They have a contrivance in China for killing woman. Europe, with more gallantry, is content with implements for killing men ; and, strange as it may appear, the more perfect the implements, the fewer men are killed. Dr. Birltbeck discovered that man was made for box ing, the articulation of his wrist joint demonstrated it; but the fighting propensity, which the fact intimates, has never been content with the " bunch of fives." Man has sought other and more destructive weapons ; hence, in stead of Mr. James Ward at Waterloo, we had the Duke of Wellington ; instead of the ring" of the "fancy," we had the Artillery and the Life Guards. But the fact is, the prize-ring is not a primitive institution—it is itself a proof of advanced civilisation. The art of boxing is very properly considered a science, for it is unknown everywhere, since the days of Adam, except in England. Sir Walter Scott founded his tale of "The Drovers" on this nice distinction between the tutored and the untutored man. The Englishman used his fist —the Highlander his dirk. Originally—that is, long ago—men armed themselves in the best way they could for war ; and victory, since the first battle, has ever depended upon the nature of their arms—their man-killing machinery. Science has always triumphed over physical force, and men armed according to more perfect art, have, however few their numbers, ever been invincible. " The Retreat of the Ten Thousand" is a case in point; Cortes, in Mexico, is another and the same. Identified with this fact is another still more instruc tive. The general who first adopts approved methods, or new machinery, is certain of victory. The Greeks, Athenians, and Spartans, defied the Persians by means of their phalanx, and they themselves were subsequently humbled by Espaminondes, who doubled the ranks in the phalanx, making them sixteen in place of eight. Philip was his pupil, and adopted his plan ; the Athenians neglected it, and the disposition of men in a column defeated all the eloquence of Demosthenes—all the patriotism of Greece. Alexander, by the same method, conquered all Asia, save one town ; and, mark the fact, that town was defended by a novel man-killing machine—the Greek fire, of which more anon. The phalanx gave Persia and Egypt three centuries of civilization under the Generals of the " Macedonian madman." The Roman art of war differed little from that of the Greeks, save that their materials were better and more abundant. Their successors at Constantinople protracted the fall of the empire for ten centuries, by the adoption rather than the discovery of a new man-killing implement —the Greek fire. The Saracen brought up his fiery and fierce thousands in vain; the mysterious fire drove them hack, and preserved from desecration the domes of Constan tinople. It fell only when the enemy availed himself of the same destructive power, and the empire had ne glected the new explosive—gunpowder. Had Constan tine Palcelogus only had half-a-dozen pieces of artillery on his walls—which he might have had—the fate of the world had been different. The birth of gunpowder was the eternity of civilisa tion. The barbarian was from that moment impotent. and never again could he destroy the works which science had raised. and refinement consecrated. War then became a thing of science, and the battle was his who best understood the law of projectiles. This was Napoleon's grand secret. He was a gunner, and his artillery, under his own direction, con qoered, as he prorhecied. Italy in a month. He had another secret essential to su cess—the knowledge of concentration—he had but one line of operations from a single bsse, and the tendency of all was to one deter mined spot. So fixed was this rule in his mind, that the evening of the great battle in Russia he was heard thinking aloud—" What, after all, is victory ? It de pends on the power of eoncentrating, on a given point, a greater number of men than your Opponent." The history of man-slaying contrivances will exhibit the humanising and civilising influence of science when applied to war ; in fact, superiority of war is the test of civilisation, for it implies cultivated intellect, mechanical skill, and scientific superiority. The Greeks were the greatest in peace because they were the greatest in war ; the same may be said of the Romans ; and the Western Empire, by the Greek fire, sustained civilisation until it found again refuge in the free municipalities of Italy. The application of gunpowder gave dignity to Europe ; rendered the study of sciences necessary to nations; and capital essential to captains, for without money there can never be war, and without trade and manufactures there can be very little money. When Captain Warner's destructive explosive mys tery was first mentioned in Parliament, the worthy Member for Salford protested • against it as an in fernal machine ; and declared that the inventor de served execration rather than honour. He was wrong : more men were killed in ancient than in modern battles, and battles will cease when means of the utmost destruction are discovered, for who would then go to war ? Captain Warner's discovery seems to he of this kind ; and, if available, there can be no more battles. Men will then be compelled to submit to reason —the majority must then rule—rule in righteousness— in the good opinion of all. Befo - re the - application of the Greek fire to purposes of war, various contrivances were adopted for the purpose of demolishing fortresses, undermining walls, &c. The ar tillery, so to speak, was a restrained bow, which, when released, flung a stone some hundred yards or so, and men approached walls, castles, &c., by concealing themselves in covered sheds moved on wheels. Of this descrip tion was the Trojan horse, but in the middle ages it was called a " sow," and the object of the men inside was to " bore" a hole in the wall, or work the battering ram. These were used in Ireland in the fifteenth century. The Greek fire was an anticipation of gunpowder. The secret of making it was known only in Byzantium for cen turies, yet was it borrowed in India. Alexander the Great retired from the city of the Oxydracw. because they fired thunder and lightning from their walls. Gibbon de scribes it as sweeping the Bosphorus ; but in all this there was exaggeration, for the secret is now well known to chemists. The confinement of the secret of the Greek fire so long to the Western Empire indicates a most ignorant and unequivocal age, and yet gunpowder, like steam, was a play-toy with boys in ie streets two thousand years hefore its man-destroying qualities were known. Usually the dis covery is ascribed to Roger Bacon ; and, like true-born Britons, we contend against the claims set up by the Ger mans to the Liebiu of the I4th century—the scientific, monk Barthola Schwartz. riot the 'rush neither are entitled to any praise. Roger Bacon, in 1270, mentions it, not as a discovery of his, but as a thing so well known that boys used it in the streets in making squibs and rockets. Long before him Magnus Gmeus describes the mode of making it ; and, whet is not a little sin gular, recommends w. hat is now used in prefer , nee charcoal of willow wood. In a treatise on Pyrotech nics, he describes the manner of using it at the Zoido gical Gardens of this day. In the year 80, of the Christian •period, the Chinese had ordnance which they used in war. The Arabian, in 1312,-employed artillery ' • we n'ed them in 1346. snd . the Venetians had them on board their vessels i n 1 380. All this time, however, they were of comparatively little use, and would have remained so, but for the rage for mathematics in the succeeding centuries in Italy. Military men knew nothing , : of the art eT gunnery, and the philosophers were the first who investigated the law of projectiles, Galileo's treatise on motion having especial reference to the subject of artillery. It took more than 100 years before small guns were used, and then not to be fired from the shoulders, but from rests driven into the ground. They were fired by a slow match, and more than another century elapsed before the wheel lock was discovered, and the wheel-lock was nothing more than a notched steel, which struck fire as it re volved. Flints are only a very recent contrivance, and percussion caps are of yesterday. The manufacture of gun flints is of itself a curiosity ; and, strange enough, the tip of the savage's arrow is the source of powder ig nition in the hands of civilised man. 0 It may thus be seen that knowledge progresses slowly even where we should suppose the most active stimulant; and, consequently, the non-adoption of a discovery is no proof of its unfitness for the greatest purposes. Perkins' steam-gun undoubtedly possesses the capacity to do the work of a potent explosive powder. It discharges bullets every day at the Adelaide Gallery—it projected a 401 b. ball, in the presence of the Duke of Wellington, with a velocity unknown to gunpowder ; and yet it has never been fairly tried. It now never will, for Captain War ner's mystery will render its use unnecessary. What is this mystery ? Captain Warner is ready to reveal it for a sum which they have refused to give, but which they will give by and by. The cold water thrown on it by military and naval men was in perfect accord ance with all that has gone before. The common mind is essentially conservative ; devoid of faith in man's ca pacity to progress, and ignorant of the secrets of science. The blowing-up of the ship on Saturday is a, fine satire on Sir Howard Douo-las's speech last session in Parlia ment. Captain Warner was described as something very like an impostor, hut he had the true energy of discoverer ; he was not to be diverted from his purpose, and he has righted himself, not by means of Field Mar shals, or Admirals—not by the bounty of Government or patronage of the Court, but by the liberality of a British shipbui!der. From the first moment that Captain Warner satisfied himself of the practical importance of his discovery, has pursued it with all that irrepressible ardour and earnestness wherewith Providence seems to endow wi g flal genius for the achievement of its destined ends. despite of every obstacle that may accrue from limited means, public apathy, private incredulity, and the a? palling discouragement of the wor ld' s d re ad laugh that ever awtits on even partial failure in a vat undertaking. But from the commencement, Captain Warner found many zealous, liberal, and sanguine friends. Among these _ was a solicitor, named --- , . --, whose history, if published, would make a cora• plete romance in itself. This gentleman was second in a duel that obtained considerable notoriety about eight years ago. in which the younger brother of a then recently created Peer, figure d in a manner more con ducive to his love of eccentricity than creditable to his manliness or eb.eency. The attorney assisted the Captain in raising very large sums of money for the purpose of prosecuting his experiments. We are at a loss to know what it is in these experiments that renders them so ex ceedingly costly as they are represented to be—for it will be recollected that their expense was one ground upon which the Government declined to embrace the inventor's proposition for testing the value of the dis covery. But this we do know. that the solicitor referred to raised many thousand pounds, which were invested in the prosecut;on of the experiments ; and he becoming ruinously iny4.b.ed in pecuniary and other legal liabili ties, the Capta4, wtH, we believe, .greatly embarrassed through the vet.) course from which he had looked to receive ample assistance at the usual premium only paid for such aid. But still, what is his mystery ? Can we not pluck out its heart? Let us, like others, have our guess; and the history or gunpowder encouraees us to suspect that we may not be very far wrong. Though, truth to speak. we are not without a bla,; for a friend of ours was once fool ish enough to fl-,t t« r himself that he had made—a die c, ,very I It is kn.,wn to chemists that the chloride of nitrogen possess s an explosive power greater than that of any body hithert.• dkettvpred. For instance, a grain of it, not larger that, the small.-s: mustard seed, if placed on s soup plate. and tom•hed with a wet or oiled point of fishing-rod, will instantly explode, and shatter the plate into a thousand pi. ces. Owing to the difficulty of manage ing it, very few chemists have made experiments on it. Sir Jurnphrey Davy, in trying its power on phosphorus , had nearly lost his life ; and Dulong, the French che mist was deprived of an eye and finger by it. Turner gives the mode of preparation, and all subsequent che mists are content to repeat his process in—words. Now. here is an explosive power sufficient to accom plish the destruction of a whole navy ! All that it wanted is a sufficient quantity. and the quantity require(' is perfectly portable, and, where there is water, its ac tion, silent, unperceived, and inevitable. Supposing* therefore, that Captain Warner has discovered - a saf e mode of manufacturing—say half-a-pint of it, the subse quent process is obvious. He has only to place it in shell of a strength adequate to bear the force necessary to propulsion, and in this shell let the aperture through which the oil was poured be left open. The account of Captain Warner's experiment show' that the explosive power, whatever it was, operated first on the water, and subsequently by concussion on the vessel. If this be not the Captain's " secret," it is cer tainly a power which would operate exactly in the we/ his is described to have done. Still a secret would re main—how to manufacture the quantity required. But Captain Warner will blow up forts as well 0, 1 , ships, and in forts he could not drop his " mystery into water. True ; but the smallest drop of oil in • fragile glass globule, and disposed so as to burst os striking any body, would answer the same purpose I t contact with water—would, we believe, answer, possible, still better. MARKET NEWS.-(YESTERDAV RAY PfLA.ItiCRTS. SMITHFIELD.—Coarse Meadow Hay, 31106 to 41; use ful ditto, 4l 4s to 4/ >is ; fine Upland ditto, 4/ lOs to 4/ 15s; Clover Hay, 51 to 61; Oat Straw, 1/ 6s to 1/ Ss' Wheat Straw, 1/ 8s to 11 lOs per load. Trade on the who' . dull at the above quotations. CUMBERLAND.-Coarso Meadow Hay 3/ 15s to 414 s ;_ ful ditto, 4/ 6q to 4/ 12s ; fine Upland ditto, 4/ 14s to 4/ ioli Clover Hay, 4/10s to 5/ 15s ; Oat Straw, 1/ 8s to 1/ 108; Whit Straw, 1/ lOs to 1/ 12s per load. A moderate supply and " steady demand. WurrEcHAPEL.—Coarse Meadow Hay, 3/ 103 to 41; ful ditto, 4/ 4s to 4/ Es; fine Upland ditto, 4110 s to 4/ 15st Clover Hay, 4/ 12s to 6/ 6s ; Oat Straw, 1/ 6s to 1/ PI Wheat Straw, 1/ 8s to 11 lOs per load. Supply good, 01 trade firm. New Meadow Hay produced from 21 10s to 3/ 12s; 1111 ,, New Clover 4/ to 5/ 5s per load. IVIZAT 7111.A.RICZTEL 11 SOUTHALL, JULY 31.—We had on sale here to-day A fae average time-of-year supply of each kind of meat, while demand was, throughout, heavy, at barely last wee' quotations. Beef, from 3s 2d to 3s 10d; Mutton, 2s 4d to 491 Lamb, 4s to 4s lod ; Val, 3s 4d to 4s ; and Pork, 2s 4d t° 3s 8d per Blbs. Supply—Beasts, 41 ; Sheep and Laulbs' 3,546; Calves, 40; Pigs, 50. lloMFoiw, JULY 31.—Prime Mutton was in demand I t , full prices. In other kinds of stock next to nothing 4 doing. Beef, from 2s 8d to 3s 8d • Mutton , _ 2s lod to 1 '' Lamb, 4s to ss; Veal, 38 4d to 4s; and Pork, 2s :In *I ,f; 3s 6d per 81bs. Sucking Calves, 18s to -8 ; Quarter-41i' Store Pigs, 16s to 20s; and Milch Cows, with their egi'` . calf, 161 to 191 each. LEWES, JUIX 30.—Beef, from 23 8d to 3s 10d ; 14fattolla, 2s 10d to 4s ; Lan - b,3s 10,1 to 4s 8d : V ea l,3 s 4d t o 3 s 10d ; A n d Pork, 2s 6d to 3s 6d per 81bs. Supply but moderate, trade dull. CORN AVERAGES. AVER AOE PRICES OF BRITISH C; o f Fur the Week ended July 27, P 44, 1114.1, op from the R eturn the!uspeetor‘q, the diflerent Citiea and Towns in Englsn' Wales. per Imperial (2 carte. Id 52• 9d. - Oats ...... 20s 101.; riArley 3 4.. 2,1 Rye ...... 33 ..... 3711 AvERAOES OF THE LAST RIX WILES. JAI/ Weeks ending Iwiiitar. EARLEY.' OATS. EYE. BEAR& 44 g June 22. ... 55 .32 10 22 8i 34 2, 37 10 29 ...... 55 9 34 4 22 9 0 38 0 July 6 55 8I 34 5 022 11 33 0 38 f.; 3 113 54 10 34 10 22 3 34 2 3" 8 g 20 54 1 34 5 21 5 36 4 37 7 3 29 ..... 52 9 134 2 29 Li .33 9 37 • 1 0 ., IMPERIAL. AGOREGATI AVERAGES OF THE SIX WI S.- 0 ..... 54. 9d. Oats 22s 32.1 fd. Barley...—. 34s 1 .....».. 1 Rye ...„.. 34 s 9d.1 DUTINS ON roatta , ts coax. dd . Wheat ...,.....18 Oil. I Oats Barley ...... 4. Od. I Bye i' h THE GRAVESEND STEAM-BOATS.—The new he f laws and rules about to be passed for regul a ting the DIMI)ii of steam-boat passengers according to the tonnage of t og different vessels, have excited considerable alarm s ni :bs the rival steam-boat companies at Gravesend, who to compelled to increase their prices, in order, if possi b ' e lied make up for the losses that must ensue upon the intenr limitations in the number of passengers. It was the o crowding of the boats on Sundays that made up for the eo" day losses. LANGHOLM FAIR, JULY 26.—The high prices °b it tained at St. Boswell's fair have, considering quality, b i ee f t ;eo this market fully realised. Eskdale clips having range d my ll 275. to 295. pure white; tarred, of which there is but I s A s quantity, from 16s. 6d. to 19s. 4d., which latter Pric.%,o 0 00 believe, was only given for one parcel. The market co me ]] yearly to fall off for Cheviot lambs, and customers, as f f : be sellers, seem to be fully aware of this, for they seen' , b oys keeping themselves for the great Lockerbie and 1 1 4%0 markets to be held on the 13th of August. Half-bred, to from I ls. to 165., and Cheviot top wedder lambs from Ac e., 10s.; and the night closed dull, with rather declining Pr` which has been the case here for several years past. ( eel IRON AND COAL IN. AUSTRALIA . —Iron ores - cla d to be so plentiful in 'Western Australia as to have attltoe the notice of the settlers in a variety of places, and t o r drawn out speculative inquiries as to the possibility of A etr .„ ing the mines and subjecting the mineral to the;;,01; facturing process by the agency of wood fuel. The Lx`' re so' ment, it is said, have offered a reward of 2,50 0 s c oot . land to any one who shall discover coal ; but the, o til, urgent operations o f th e se ttl ers h ave hith er t o pr event -0 0' attempt being made. W e rea dily a d m it th e import's" or such a discovery as that of coa l, an d cou ld w i s h that tberveil vernment of this province were empow ere d as w ell as i n .„ c l oa f to encourage the finding so valuable an a ddition Iv o ch available resources; but, in our opinion (whilst we ba ye o clue stores of forest wool), it is not indispensable to the P , tr ' diOS tion of good iron front our own rich mineral- 4°s Journal. ,„ IC • . , iv' On the 2; ii, .it., at me (.trove, Highgate, Mrs. 6° Smith, Of a UM. On the 27th ult., at Paradise Cottage, Dunstable , t ill 0 i olf of W. g r F. Brown, Esq., of a son and heir. 4 On the 29th ult., in Ch es t er -t errace , Regenk's-rn ark., John Bethel!, of. :-(m. T.,. Will, On the 29th ult., .t Rantsgate, the lady of Hen - -' o i Esq., of a daughter. Of On the 30th ult., at. South-place, Camberwell, the Herman Cox, 1-,,,q., of a son. . I f,lllßlkl Or the 30th tilt at St. James's Church. Piceaclill,„'Attetli' tain David Price. R.N., ,;1 Lanthew, lire c on, to .61.- 14• cldest daughter of the late John Taylor, Pi W;st/ On the 30th ,at St. Mar:lo;one Church, l obo Abercrombie Denton, M A., Rector of Sumer Provr,;(o to Mary Frances Matilda, fourth daughter of the ''!"- lee* Wroughton, Esq., of Adwicke Hall, Yorkshire. O.P or On. the 30th ult., at All Souls Church, Lapel J7_,01,,, the Rev. Edward Healy Thompson, to Harr'_, e youngest daughter of the late Nicolson Calvert , of Hunsdon House, Herts. rel ict DIED. Ge ddes' On the 21st ult., at Derby, Mrs. Katharine I _es' of Christian Geddes, E'sq., of Viewforth, Culres s. " ' ",,„ o f SP the 21st ult., at Hampstead, Mary Anne , w,. - e . Wimbush, jun., Esq., Halkin street, Belgrave scln a M o e- On the 24th ult., at Sheffield, Joshua Hawks i lliss ri t e. On the 25th ult., at Midgham House, Berks , I% Fotio beth Fowke, eldest daughter of the late Major S iic i t or, ° On the 27th ult., Charles Barrett, Esq. , 9°— 084 chester, aged 72. gr. On the 27th ult., at Manor-street, Clapham' Jot til Simmons. gr. On the 27th ult., at Taunton, Somersetsbire, „ 0 10t / ' Sheppard, of Staplegrove. ii° On the 28th ult., in Melbury-terrace , Will I ' l oP o des, Esq., barrister-at law. ent - g On the 28th ult., at Tavistock-stteet, Cev ins . / 1 James Orfeur Pettit, late of her Majesty's Cllfr, fl ell On the 28th ult., Meyer Tobias, son of o f rt . Isl e Keeling, Monument-yard. On the 28th ult., at Milbrooke, near l`Tel i l: ° ;q• r t ith Wight, Lucinda Marianne, wife of Henry Sew e r Georg e On the 29th ult., Agnes, second daughter 0 ' 66 . Esq., of Bentinck-terrace, Regent's-park. to , Age d ___.- On the 30th ult., in Crosby-square, T. R. A' s _____.- -- --- ;:0 04 ----------- TOP oft DO So. 44 London: Printed and Published by Pl a jg office,otir No. 112, Strand, Printer, at Th e Soils the Strand, in in the treeinet of the &molt Bliddlessz, Friday, August 2, 1844. • THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY MORNING, AUGUST 2,184 t.