Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-10-10 00:00:00

RIFLED CANNON.

The difference between the action of the American and
English governments in similar fircuinstauces is strikingly
evinced in their dealings with military matters. Both
nations are naturally inclined :athe_ to agriculture,
commerce, and manufactures, than to war ; and in
America esp2cially the army and navy are generally
avoided by native Americans. Even the splendid vessels
recently seat to our shores, as aineh, perhaps, for the
purpose of display as from any particalar neces:ity, and
in which, if anywhere, American citizens could be likely
to be found, contain a very large psopsrt on of foreigners.
The American army is stet-c 1 to be will more dependent
on extraneous aid. The abund tare of employment suited
to every temperament is, it appears, a sufficient reason for
the avoidance of professions in which the rewards can
never equal the risks, even in a couetey which contains
a large proportion of men more familiar with the use cf
arms than any other civilise,d. community. Yet, in face
of these difficulties, or possibly in consequence of them,
the American navy is continually advancing, the " Con-
stitution" is superseicd by 'the It tiisgsrs," beevy guns
are taken out of these ve;sels, to be replaced by others
of still more un vieldy strength, and this goes on whoever
°Nei..ies the White House, and whether the administration
is composed of svhigs or dmiecrets, while we in -England
are content to foliew humbly behind, rot daring to initiate,
too happy to exhibit en abject and monkey-like imitation
of o hers. For example, the steam-engine, as applied to
navigation, is et peetically the w irk of Bcglish brain
and science, but no arg-unem or consideration could
induce the English Admiralty to apply it to the purposes
of the navy until Louis Philippe brought the Gomer to
Porremouth. Again, rifled muskets were offered to the
Ordnance-office, as they have since admitted, twenty years
ago, bat-only to be spurred; and no notice was taken
of them until long after the French had adop ed them in
their army, and their introduction had been strenuously
advocated by the British Press. Yet to their use we are
indebted for the brilliant victory of the Alma, " Alma e
felice," and to them we owe the fact that the surprise at
Inkerma'en was not followed by a fatal issue, and the
glorious struggle of the "soldier's battle" did not end in
annihiliation and defeat. The order that no soldier shall
be sent to India unless armed with and prat iced in the
use of the Eiffield rifle is, perhaps, due to the circumstance
that the Commander in-Chief is one of the survivors of
Inkerm an—if so, that one resoluti n will go far to
redeem the losses of that dreadful day, and possibly in
time lead to the conclusion that is might be well to have a
prat ical man at the head of some other departments of
the state The odds ageing the British soldier is India
are in the eyes of reflective persons sufficiently great.
Some of these disadvantages are the distance from hrme,
the climate, the possession of fortified cities by a mutinous
army, trained and instructed in our own methods of
fighting, supplied with cannon and ammunition in more
than Eastern profusion, and supported by the latent if not
open sympa by of 100 millions of their c tuntrymen. But
these odds are increased when man in power can be
found to assert, in the face of the country, and act on the
assertion, that reinforcements sent in sailing vessels will
make the voyage to India as quick, or q'iicker, than
steam-vessels ; when, bat for their opposition, both field
and horse artillery would now have cannon as superior
in range and power to those in use at present a: the
Enfield rifle is to the old musket. Take one instance only ;
the so-called siege of Delhi makes no progress because,
according to the artillery officer in command, the guns are
useless at 1.500 ya-da - the range of a rifled gun would be
4,000. If noble lords and right hon. gentlemen were to
go out to battle themselves, they would be entitled to carry
what we.pons they pleased, but when they send others
they are morally bound to see that every chance is given
to those others for the preservation of their lives. To
nilfully withhold any weapon, offensive or defensive,
is to take part with the enemy, and even on economical
grounds i 3 utterly indefensible, for no munition of war
is at the present time, or is likely to be in future, so
valuable as the life of a British soldier. —Front a
Correspondent.

DEATH OF COL. ITAVZLOCK AT THE BITTLE
OF RAMNUGGER, ON THE 22ad NOV., 1848.

At a time when every English heart bats high in
expectation of tidings of the fate cf the gallant Mejor-
General Havelock, and of his devoted force, it may not be
inappropriate to cast a reerospe3tive glance at the action in
which the brother of the present General, Cd. William
Havelock, K.H , boat hie life on the battle-field, at the head
of his regiment, the 14 h Light Dragoons. At the com-
mencement of the second wt-ek in November, 1848, Lord
Goigh moved across the Sutlsj, • at the head of General
division. Oa the 22nd of November, his lordship
placed himself at the head of the advanced troops, and
movei towards the Sikh army. After alv incing some
time -towards- the Cheuab, and passing the village of Ham
nueccee j.h pram,: flrlnStrian t
occupied the opposite, or right bank, bat some troops and
guns were left in a small island, in mid.chenael of the
river. The 3rd light dragoons-and the Bth Native Light
Cavalry easily drove beit the advanced posts of the enemy
t.nd our Hor-e Artillery pushed on into the deep sand of
the river, and opened fi 70 on the enemy on the other ride.
Bat oar light six-pounders were no match for the heavy
guns of the enemy, and one field piece and two ammunition
waggons had to be relinquished, as they had become deeply
embedded in the quicksand. The enemy, seeing our
dilemma, crossed over with 4 000 Cavalry, on which th,
ardent Colonel Havel ~ck who had, as "the fair-h tired bey,"
distinguished himself at Basaeo, Salamace I, and Vittoria,
and was wounded at gaetre Bras, demanded permission to
charge the overwhelming force. No sooner had the assent
been reluctantly given than he dashed off with his regi-
ment, and threw himself on the crowd of Sikhe, who lined
the high bank of the river. So impe-u:iue was the onset,
and so effectually did Havelock Fled his troopers ply their
swords, that all gave way before them. Yielding to his
love of glory, Colonel Havelock did net stop here, bat re-
forming his men. attacked the Sikh fords, which were now
crowding r. and him, a second time. Taeie guns. jingelle,
and matchlocks were brought to bear on the daring regi-
ment with terrific effect, and it was during :his second
charge that the here fell, covered with wounds and
surrounded by the boliee of his devote 1 drag-tons. The
Afija,ant.General of the army, Brigadier Cureton, his
oldest and most intimate friend, gell-ped to the spot to
re: r sin his and cur, but too le.° ; and he too fell glorioesly,
in trying to rescue his friend So brilliant was this action
esteemed that the s;h Native Liget Cavalry, the only regi-
ment which stipp- rted the 14'h in the attack, presented at
the close of the campaign, a beautiful silvoi cup to that
regiment "in commemorat'oe of their joint charge,"
a tribn e which stands solitary aril unpare'lelcd in the
history of British India We fervetrly hope that he hero
of Cawnpore will be, spared for a lengthened and p,osperous
career, and 1 ye to be the highest ornament to the profession
of arms, and become the successful leader of our armies.—
Advertiser.

OTT CLOTHING MADF, WI NI GREAT TASTE, at LEWIS and

CuMPAUY'3,N Ranelagh-street.

The Paris Figaro announces the melancholy news that
M. G-oun d, the composer. V e author of Sappho, the
Bleeding Nun, and the choruses of Ulysses, is for the
present deranged, and that his friends sent him to Dr.
Blanche's lunatic asylum at Pasy on Monday lasst.
Of la'e years (says the Toronto Globe) the Americans
have been the cnitf pa:chasers of our surplus crop of
wheat, our crtle, and our clear pine lumber. Last year,
they bought more thin one half of our whole exports:
Minerals, £34,396 18s 8i; Fish, £35 233 17a 101;
Timber, £816,409 1W 61; Animal, £593,470 4s 61;
Farm produce, £2,965,938 154 1,1; Manufacture,, 139,883
18s 101; other articles, £6670 3r 01 Total. .£4,494,938
84 8.1. And our whole exports were £8,611 754.
Trig IFlTiorsur YeTM —When the "silent system " was
first tried in this coantry, the House of C rrrect:on at
Wakefield vas chosen for the experiment. Being desirous
of knowing all thugs fro-n scru tl observation, we proceeded
to that town, and were accom oanied by the excellent and
intelligent surgeon that pris n, to a certain for ourselves
the t ff:ct of the new (Esti dine. In the workrooms of the
men 'hue appeared the stillness of the grove, so fa- as the
absence of the soond of the human voice warrants the com-
p iriion. The overseers in each room were themselves
eriminnls; but their post, as spies on the anions and con-
duct of their fdlows, wls rewarded by a remission of all
manual labour, and by a more than usull allowance of a
better kind of food rh in th • ordinary die.ary of the gaol.
Animal motives were the only ones addressed under this
system, as they hal been under every ether ; fir these
overseers IA ere he'd to their rigid ditty by the idieuf ss and
comfort they ol):ained, and by the fact lilt, if they allowed
any of the p at work to in'e change a few words,
the reporter of any such 1.,x discipline on the part of nri
overseer would lead ti this cons-Ttence—they would
exchange pl c s the overse,r would have to take the
work of the inf inner, and the latter would assume the r2nk
and ins us posi i,n of his predecessor. It was Borne-
thing fearful to tort, mplite so many au'emata w Acing
witho it a pu-pos-, wi h sc,w,ing fac-s and vacant minds;
and wnen th-y m sched in ;;;;nAs to tlie.r dinner, making
no other sound than the sl;ght one yroduced by the motion
of their bodies, with their p La and jv7erl faces unmoved
and uninterested, it was like a procession of the dead,
lirerally and posi,ive'y chilling us.—Tournal of Psycholo-
gical Medicine, fur October.

At LEWIS & COHPA Y'S. Ranelagh-street.
BOYS are CLOTHED : w Hie Agcs of Six to Twenty Tear!.