The Sun.
London, England, 1855-09-07 00:00:00

precators of a war their own evil courses had pre-
cipitated.
Sir J. GRAHAM, for instance, was one of those
far-seeing statesmen who, in 1853, vituperated
with all kinds of personal scurrilities the thrice-
elected ruler of a neighbouring people now
happily our august Ally, thereby confirming
the opinion long cherished by the AUTOCRAT, that
Russia had nothing whatever to fear from the
possibility of any solid union of the interests of
France and England. Yet this same illustrious,
and far-seeing, and over-cautious Administrator—

after being the very man to preside as First Lord of
the Admiralty over the maritime districts of Great
Britain during the first campaign of this mighty
contest with the giant power wielded by the irre-
sponsible Government of St. Petersburg—this
same Sir JAMES GRAHAM had the hardihood, on
Friday, the 31st ultimo, while referring to the
War with Russia, to speak of " the prodigal and
fruitless expenditure of millions of the public money"
upon it [precisely the same despicable argument
dunned into our ears for months past by Mr.
BRIGHT and Mr. COBDEN], and who, later or upon
the same occasion, in a vein of lachrymose so-
lemnity, spoke of the railway he was
then inaugurating as a work for which
a blessing might not unreasonably be expected,
" for it is a work," said he (with a side glance of
reprehension upon the War), "of peace and of
mercy"—adding, " Such are all GOD'S works"—

and then—" Our works are generally of a more
doubtful character." The Russian War all the
while being essential, the handiwork of Sir JAMES
GRAHAM himself, and with him of Mr. GLAD-
STONE, and of Lord JOHN RUSSELL, and of Lord
ABERDEEN, and for that matter of Mr. COBDEN,
and of Mr. BRIGHT, and of the rest of these very
Honourable Pro-Russianists Peace-at-any-Price-
mongers. Surely MAwwoRM was their prototype,
surely with him they might say, sententiously and
sanctimoniously—" I likes to be despised !" For,
have they not evidenced in their genius the true
flavour and unmistakeable characteristics of the
Hypocrite ?

The poor unlucky people, the industrious, hard-
working, orderly, and much-enduring people of
the metropolis must bestir themselves. Like the
stray goose which every aspiring lad of the village
considers himself entitled to have a pluck at, they
are again marked out for victimisation. St.
James's-park is to be bisected by the construction
of a carriage-way from Marlborough-house to the
Birdcage-walk. In other words, it is to be de-
stroyed.

It is really too bad this continued tampering
with the enjoyment of the masses. With a restric-
tive Beer Bill, an insidious Enclosure Bill, and a
pestilent Sunday Trading Bill fresh in every-
body's recollection, comes a fourth scheme, which,
if carried out, will utterly deprive one of the plea-
santest retreats in the metropolis of its attractions ;
and, what makes the matter woroe, the author is
not this time a senatorial Mawworm, a money-
hunting heir, or a foolish lordling, ambitious of
Parliamentary renown, but a Cabinet Minister, a
Metropolitan representative, well acquainted with
the wants and necessities of the people, and who
has hitherto been accounted one of their most sin-
cere and liberal-minded friends—to wit, Sir
BENJAMIN HALL !
Yes, if most accounts be true, to this zealous and
successful sanitarian, and, as was thought, en-
lightened Commissioner of the Board of Works,
by whose instructions a band of music is stationed
every Sunday in Kensington-gardens, to the grati-
fication of thousands, is owing this ill-advised and
injurious scheme. The public may wonder, but
mere wonder won't do ; they have to deal with
a fact. The inhabitants in the neighbourhood of
Westminster and Pimlico want a carriage way in
the direction of Marlborough House, and although
their desire could be gratified by permitting them
the use of the existing drives round the Park, the
scheme in question is deemed necessary. But
then these drives are tabooed for the use of
Royalty and a favoured few, and to let in a mob
of carriages would be desecration. So rather
than Royalty or nobility should be deprived of
an exclusive right, or be exposed to an imaginary
annoyance, thelpeople are to be plucked. Accus-
tomed day by ilay, or Sunday after Sunday, to
repair to these delightful gardens, and pass at
once from the dust and turmoil of a bustling and
multitudinous metropolis into their verdant shades
and the tranquil enjoyment of their thousand
natural and acquired beauties—the industrious
masses are practically to be deprived of this pri-
vilege, and to carry elsewhere, if they please, for
interment, the memory of their ill-remunerated
toil in pent-up localities, rank with an unwhole-
some atmosphere, simply that Royalty may escape
the possibility 'of a fortnight's annoyance per
annum !

Who or what set the Right Honourable Baronet
in motion in this direction we are unable to say.
Whether the scheme was concocted in compliance
with a Court hint, or in order to win Court
favour, Sir BENJAMIN best knows, and the public
have the liberty to guess ; but of one thing we
are tolerably certain, that if it has had any coun-
tenance from her MAJESTY, which we doubt,
a proper representation of the case will cause
her to withdraw that countenance, it being noto-
rious that her MAJESTY has always displayed a
praiseworthy solicitude for the welfare of the less-

favoured portion of her subjects. On the other
hand, so to speak, we are reluctant to believe

that a popular representative like Sir BENJAMIN
HALL would condescend to fawn even for a coronet

—which he is said to want—on royalty. It is for

him, however, to satisfy the public on this head
Whatever was the inducement, they have a right

at least to complain of his haring lent his sanction
and authority to the scheme, and also to expect
its immediate abandonment. Failing a direct in-

timation of this, their appeal must be to the

QUEEN from her misguided Minister.

FAILURE OF NASHYTITS MONSTER GUN.

We regret to learn that Mr. Nasmyth's wrought iron
gun has proved a complete failure, and this not on ac-
count of the mechanicle difficulties which had to be en-
countered—formidable as they were—but from a most
unexpected peculiarity in the material employed, when
brought together in so large a mass as was necessary for
Mr. Nasmyth's purpose. It seems that wrought iron, so
tractable under all ordinary conditions of working, can-
not be welded together in very large masses without
undergoing a change in its molecular arrangement, ex-
ceedingly injurious to its tenacity. As we understand
the explanation which we have received on this point, an
immense mass of iron like that which Mr. Nasmyth has
welded together continues so long in an incandescent
and soft state that a process analogous to crystallisation
takes place within its substance, whereby the fibrous
texture, from which it derives its tenacity, is destroyed,
and it becomes even less capable than cast iron of resist-
ing the explosion of a heavy charge of gunpowder. We
understand that, in addition to the unfavourable result
obtained by Mr. Nasmyth at Patricroft, another experi-
ment of a similar nature, made under the direction of
Government, has preyed a complete failure from the
peculiarity in the material to which we have alluded ;
and a large gun which had been completed was found
utterly unfit for use. Indeed we believe it burst into
many pieces on the first trial. Mr. Nasmyth's experi-
ment has consequently been abandoned.—Afaschssfer
Guardian.

The Duke of Northumberland, who arrived in town
on Tuesday, from Keilder Castle, Northumberland,
where he has been enjoying the sports of the field, left
last night to join the Duchess at Alnwick.
Lord Saltoun is at present at Ness Castle, where a
large circle of friends are entertained with Highland hos.
pitality. His lordship intends to reside permanently at
Ness Castle.