The Sun.
London, England, 1864-07-25 00:00:00

LONDON, MONDAY, JULY 25, 1864.

Diplomatically—Everything is gain .ed (in the way
of all the advantages resulting from the preserva-
tion of Peace) —fors l'honneur ! We have been
threatening—and all our threats have come to
nought. We have been promising assistance—and
that assistance, even at the direst, extremity, has
never once been forthcoming. There was
always a putting off, upon some paltry ex-
cuse or another. Holstein was invaded. Yes—
but it was not Schleswig ! Schleswig was entered
by the German troops, was entered and formally
occupied. Ah—it was not Jutland ! Jutland was
penetrated. True—but there was the Island of
Funen Nay—it was actually intimated at
last by the Prime Minister of England, in
the presence of the House of Commons, amidst
ironical jeers of indignation that in certain still
more dire contingencies—lf Copenhagen were
bombarded and taken, for example, if King
CHRISTIAN IX., the father of our young Princess
of WALES, were seized by the Prussian Victors
in his palace, and were carried away thence as a
prisoner of war—England, even then, might—not
"could,'' but " might"—interfere ? Nothing
of the kind! England, even then, might
—it was a mere hypothesis—might—just
within the limits of possibility—reconsider
her policy ! Might—take into her ccnsideration
the advisability of acting, somehow or another,
differently ! No—the preservation of peace
in Europe is in itself, of course, a matter
for profound congratulation. But—it is certainly
no subject for self gratulation to Eugland the
ignoble manner in which it has been brought
about! It becomes even matter for serious doubt
among patriotic Englishmen whether so absolute a
sactifico of honour, of dignity, of good faith, of
• self-respect (in the dealing about us, that
. is, of so many utterly valueless fair promises,
and of so many utterly contemptible, because empty
and idle threats) is not a price too dear for us to
have paid even for the preservation of peace in
i Christendom.

The speech of Lord STRATFORD DE REDCLIFFE
on Friday was very appropriate, and it is satisfac-
tory to know that there are some few remaining
politicians who will broach these awkward subjects,
and thus compel Ministers to make some attempt
at a reply. It is notorious that our Government
shirk all inquiries, and turn a deaf ear alike to the
voice et reason and the language of warning. That
is no excuse for those idle or indifferent members
who will not interfere, because they say it is of no
use to make any disturbance, since no result will
ensue. It is their duty to do their utmost, and if
they fail it is not their fault. At any rate all that
relates to this matter of which Lord STRATFORD DR
REDCLIFFE treated is so very unsatisfactory, and
the intelligence itself so unwelcome to English ears
that we cannot but hail every opportunity that
occurs for watching the progress and marking the
workings of the affair. His lordship put the ques-
tion very fairly before the House, and the tenor of
his remarks must have produced an impression upon
many of his hearers. In the first place, it is im-
possible for the most sceptical to deny that there is
great truth in his observation that such a thing as
the revival of the Holy Alliance must be deemed
far from improbable, and also that if such an
event actually occurred the combination of
the three military Powers, Austria, Russia, and
Prussia would be a great evil. They would inter-
fere with the freedom and the independence of all
the smaller States. This is strictly true, and, in-
deed, proofs are not wanting of the lamentable
effects which have been produced by the union of
these Powers. Las: year Poland was made
almost a complete wreck through the rapacity of
Russia, and every imaginable assistance was ren-
dered by Austria and Prussia. The latter kingdom
more especially conspicuously distinguished itself
for its zeal and energy in the cause, and now this
zeal many calamities have arisen through the joint
working of Prussia and Austria; while Russia has
not only openly lent her aid, but done a good deal
in the way of secret service to those whose greed
and covetousness sent them forth to despoil and
appropriate the possessions of others. It is
impossible to shut our eyes to the fact that
these three Powers, flushed with victory,
intent on plunder, and incensed at the idea
of the spread of liberty, will not be,content to re-
main stationary. Rest and be thankful does not
enter into the policy of their Cabinets; they are
always on the alert, and woe betide the small State,
the independent little kingdom, or the revolutionary
country that stands in their way, and incites them
to exterminate and crush. There can be no greater
mistake than to ignore the workings of a system
until it is too late to do anything to check its course,
or arrest its mischievous tendency. With Lord
STRATFORD DE REDCLIFFE we agree in declaring
that this combination puts us in great danger, It
is one of thosteunpropitioes developments of power
and those disastrous exhibitions of strong passions
without a curb that are fatal to the interests of
communities, and totally subversive of the best laws
of humanity. Lord STRATFORD DE REDCLIFFE very
`forcibly expressed his opinions relative to the mis-
taken views entertained by some respecting the atti-
tude that England ought to assume. The interests
of commerce are held to supersede all other consi-
derations. "If we wish to be safe and to escape
that which has been the almost proverbial fate of
all commercial countries, we must preserve that
high spirit of nationality, and that nobility of heart
which tells us that our best interests are not based
on mere sordid calculations of profit and loss."
These are sentiments which are worthy of a great
country, and it would be well if they were more in
vogue in high places just now, but on the contrary
our Ministers appear to put profit before every-
thing, and the dread of war before the claim's of
justice or the interests of the oppressed. Earl
RUSSELL'S reply to the queries put to him was as
tame and unsuitable as usual on such occasions. 'lie
either did not or would not see the drift of
of the noble lord, as to his dr •
e
authenticity of the rumour referre: she
t hre-
marks
to.
lord appears himself to e4llTih ofe
noble
pee rehend that at some
future time there will -;irtually be a combine;:oa
that will possess dtl the attributes of the Holy
Alliance. The Powers in question are always
expressing a hope that the European
Soverrjjgas may
unite in order to put down reaction-
a7.s movements. We shall only drift into further
perplexities, however, and meet with more diffi-

The imminent probabilities of a general European
war have happily drifted out of view within the
last few weeks. Peace among the Great Powers, it
is satisfactory to know, is not only still preserved
intact, but is likely to b© preserved for some time
to come. Whatever sinister hints to the contrary
may be thrown out by isolated Parisian organs like
Le Pays, the general impression, nowadays, both
here amongst ourselves, and beyond the Channel
in all parts of the Continent, is pretty much
what we have here intimated it to
be. Regarding the mere fact itself—that peace has
not merely to this moment been preserved, but that
it appears to yield every reasonable promise of
being yet awhile maintained intact, for a period of
indefinite duration—we cannot but look to the aetual
result, of course, with a sense, so far, of profound
satisfaction. But, while doing so, in the interests
of humanity, it is impossible to do so in
"r Own selfish national interests. It is
i7l4lsible, at least, to look at the manner in which
this retina,
L has been secured, with any degree of,
so to Speak, And for a
national self-complacency.
reason, u h
n—sPPily, only too apparent, not only here,
but far and wide, all over the world, in both hemi-
spheres. Peace has been preserved—but at what a
sacrifice ! At the Sacrifice of the prestige, rif
the name, and fame, and influence, end
heroic repute of England. It is undenii;ol,e, Ali
Europe knows it to be so. It is rnP,iter for pro-
found exultation through the length and breadth
of the Continent. It is not so with France—but it
is su with England. France never indulged during
the late diplomatic correspondence and negotiations
--in the matter of Schleswig and .. u
..oAtein in the
matter of dispute between Denmark and
y—Fra cce never indulged in
Gaman those
false promises on the one side, and in those bragga
dociose threats upon the other, that England, thankE
to Elri Rus3ELL'S policy, certainly did indulge in,
and indniged in apparently with a sort of insensate
perversity, prepense, upon system, and with a kind
of crass stupidity of deliberation. Reversing that
old heroic cry of anguish that thrills to
us through history, we mfght say now, in
regard to the :Defeat recently badura by England

el:titles if Earl RUSSELL intends to act upon what

he hes said, namely, that he does not see that the
revival of the Holy' Alliance can give U 3 a just
cause for apprehension. Ile cannot believe that
those Sovereigns can mean more than to protect
their own dominions, and secure them from the
effects of democratic invasions. If he is going to
guide the course of his policy by this idea, he %ill
fail most completely in representing the best irate..
rests of our country, and only add to the imbrog-
lios now distracting the nations of Europe. It is a
singular
thing that whenever there is a presage of
any great chansay that the ge occurring, our Ministers always
rumour is false, or else, if it turns
out true, that there is no cause for disquietude.
Ile must be very ignorant or very credulous who
is any longer satisfied with this answer to the in-
quiries made under the influence of astonishment,
intligration, sad dismay, The eonclusiou we grrive

at is still the same, but a sad rehearsal of the past, LATEST IN'TELLIGENCE.
and the people of England, who are the ruling
power of the world, have to look on while tyranny LREITTER'S TELEGRAMS.]
runs riot, and oppression holds Sovereign sway.
The next Session of Parliament will doubtless
witness some of the effects produced by the work•
ings of this Holy Alliance, which it is now convem
nient to laugh at, and to deny zn toto. Oar Go•
vernment cannot possibly lay claim to foresight.

CHINA AND JAPAN.
(By Telegraph from Suez.)
SHANGHAI, JUNE 6.
Major Gordon's force Las been disbanded.
Sir Frederick Bruce is returning home.
Advices received fron Japan state that Sir
Rutherford Alcock has arranged quarters for the
British troops at Jeddo.

This country has always been prompt to recog-
nise the dangers of monopoly. The evils are
indeed sufficiently great, and apparently readily
perceptible to a people much less acute and much less
versed in commercial dealings. Bat early expe-
rience, as well as the natural tendency of the Eng-
lish temper, has inspired us with an especial dread
of anything approaching to monopoly. Year by
year the old remnants of it still at work in our
system are dying out, year by year the principles
of Free Trade are becoming more widely developed,
more generally adopted. The very foundation of
our time-honoured Constitution is the even balance
of power—restraining alike the monopoly of authoe
rity by the Crown, by the Parliament, and by the
people. Everything that has a tendency to cen-
tralisation is looked upon with much suspicion, and
this feeling is the protection of many cumbrous
establishments which might be better worked by
one central authority, but which are justly che-
rished by the people as safeguards against that
social despotism of which they are so jealous. Our
municipal institutions, our county magistracy, our
Poor-law system, have all in turn been abused and
criticised, as in truth they very often lay them-
selves open to be; but, after all that can be said
against them, they rest upon a firm foundation—the
conviction of the country that, with all their faults,
they are part of those barriers which our fathers
erected round their hardly- won freedom, and so
long as they last they afford substantial guarantees
that England shall continue to be governed by
Englishmen after their own fashion. It was this
strong feeling against anything approaching to
monopoly, or centralisation, added to the jealousy
and disfavour with which the House naturally
regards official accounts and official workmanship,
that gave Mr. COBDEN so many supporters in his
his attack upon the Government Manufacturing
Establishments on Friday night. The censure
which he passed on the originators, the enlargers,
and the superintendents of those establishments,
was wholesale and uncompromising. According
to his showing, we are lavishieg unheard of sums
on articles that are comparatively worthless ; we
are empleying large numbers of men and damaging
private business, in providing the country with
inferior articles at a high price; we are putting an
affront on the manufacturing interest of the country,
without deriving any benefit from our offensive
conduct; we are undertaking to do publicly what
could be much better and more cheaply done pri-
vately ; our stores are bad, our contracts vexatious,
our accounts altogether unreliable, and the result
of all is likely to he that our supply will entirely
fall short in time of need, and we shall reap the
consequence of persisting in maintaining these
costly and inefficient establishments in a great de-
mocratic revolution. The answers to all these
charges, general and particular, are not long in
making their appearance. Mr Cobden's sweeping
accusations were met in many instances with a com-
plete refutation. Any quantity of arms, of ammu-
nition, or of clothing, could, he said, be obtained
from our great manufactories at the briefest possible
notice. Bat official experience proves this assertion to
I be incorrect. Mr. MONSELL cited a few instances from
our Crimean experience which serve to indicate the
necessity of the public service not being altogether
dependent on private establishments. In 1854-5
200 tons of shot and shell was given to be delivered
within two weeks, but the full amount was not
forthcoming till January, 1856. Another firm
which entered into a similar agreement was a little
quicker in its proceedings, making its first delivery
of the required articles in June, 1855. A third firm
undertook to deliver 150 tons of shot and 150 tons
of shell by the 7th of January, 1855, and the same
quantity weekly afterwards. The way the con•
tract was fulfilled was by making the first delivery
in June, 1855, and this was in a time of
war, when the welfare of the public service
depended so largely upon a faithful per-
formance of contracts, and there is no reason,
as Mr. MONSELL said, why we should suppose that
things are much altered now. Bat, thanks to the
much abused establishment at Woolwich, a quan-
tity of shot and shell equivalent to the who'd, of
that expended at Sebastopol might be pro:ruced in
six weeks, and the number of cartridges con-
sumed during the siege might IA forthcoming in
half that time. So much for the advantage gained
in point of promptness and certainty. When we
come to the consideration of the qualityof the articles
supplied, the importance of Government establish-
ments becomes still more perceptible, Unhappily, it
is not safe to trust men's lives and health altogether
to the honesty of contractors. The revelations of the
Crimea might convince even Mr COBDEN, but they
were not officially quoted on Friday evening. The
public, however, have not forgotten the boots that
were destined for some- distant and unthought-of
locality, whence the report of their quality would
scarcely reach England, and not be critically
examined with a view to the exigencies of war.
They have not forgotten the tools which proved so
unfitted for their purpose, nor the still sadder and
darker memory of the inferior preserved meat which
so grievously disappointed the poor frost-bound
wanderers in the Arctic regions. All these thing*
have taught us that it is not well to trust exclusively
to the private establishments. Mr COBDEN admits
that in earlier days Government establishments
were useful as a check upon contractors, but now he
say.s ~,
uthe great shipbuilders, the great gue-amkers,
she large tailoring establishments, a.....d better cheeks
upon each other through tb
''., force of competition.
But unhappily the co petition tends rather to keep
I:i
down the prir::e than to improve the quality. "it
is the' f oposition of contractors," says the Marquis

THE PRINCIPALITIES.

EUCHAREST, JULY 24.

The .Romanta has beer suppressed in consequence
of the publication of fu:ther violent attacks upon
the Government.

The Moniteur will putlish to.morrow a report on
the state of the finances )f the Principalities.

FRiNCE

BOURSE, July 23.—Tte market still continues in
the same feverish and inanimate state, and the
limited transactions up .o the present hour show a
slight further decline. Threes, for the Account,
are now at 66f. 10c. Aradlier, after receding to
972 f. 50c., have since recovered to 980 f. So little
has been done in Railway Shares that the prices are
as it were nominal at abut yesterday's quotations.
The market continued heavy to the close, and left
off as follows :

of HARTINGTON, " to supply samples cheap rather
than good; and as even the lives of our soldiers and
sailors may depend upon the quality of articles furs
niched to the Government, I cannot see how the
men of cur navy and army can be protected without
a minute inspection of the articles contracted for."
Several of the establishments objected to are used for
the purpose of testing the goods provided, and, in
spite of Mr. COBDEN, this is an unavoidable neces.
sity. The fact is, that special wants must have a
special supply, and general provision will not do.
When the hon. gentleman was busy with his corn-
law agitation, the regular press could not serve his
purpose, but he must start a journal of his own :
and so, in times of sudden pressure or alarm, it
will not do for the Government cf this country to
depend wholly upon commercial enterprise, how-
ever great. Of course the official establishments
should be kept within bounds, and a close super-
vision of the accounts should be kept by the House,
and so far Mr. COBDEN'S motion may do good eel-.
vice. It is certainly desirable, too, that more hear-
ing should be given to suggestions from without,
and that a fair share of encouragement should be
given to the general industry of the country, but
it is unworthy of a country like En2land to be at
the mercy of any
trade in time of war or emergency,
and experience has proved it to be also meat
unwise.

4t per Cents 94 51
Do. end month —
3 per Cents
Do. end month 66 1(
Credit Mobilier 977 5(
Do. end month 977 51
Bank Shares
Credit Foncier 1217 50
Roman
Els IL ,

Italian Loan 6B 10
Do. end month OS 05
Ditto Threes ..
New Mexican .... 56 50
Russian
Austrian
Spanish Threes —
1-lome Debt
Deferred

Cash.
Orleans , 872 AO • •
Northern .... 978 75 ..
ditto
Southern 637 50 .. 637 50
d Mediterranean 898 75 .. 897 50
515 .. 613 75
Eastern
Sardinian......
Austrian
New L
Westerny o n s
413 75 .. 412 50
Loirbard
North of Spain
Saragossa 528 75 .. 527 50
Ditto to Barcelona --

Account.

LITERATURE,

will rest on theunexciuded particles, as if :Gating on quick-
silver. With similar devotion to accuracy, Mr Whitworth,
in the search for a means of determining dimensions with
precision, constructed a machine, so accurately and deli-
cately made as to measure objects which differ even by the
millionth part of an inch—a division so minute as to be per-
ceptible only by touch after it ceased to be discernible by the
eye. So nice is the adjustment that in using it an inch of
steel can be held to be an inch, only so long as the ther-
mometer stands at 62 deg, the slightest excess of tempera-
ture; and the stanaard yard, a square bar of steel, when
placed in the machine is so expanded by the slightest touch
of the finger as to show an appreciable lengthening even
under the influence of the infinitesimal amount of heat
thus imparted."

The Story of the Guns. By Sir James Emerson
Tennent, K.C.S., F.E.S., (Cc. Longman and
Co.
Had not the fame of Sir E. Tennent been long
ago established in the literary world, his Story of
the Guns would certainly have brought his name
prominently before the public, not so much on account of
the intrinsic worth of the production, which is in reality
only a careful compilation of statistics, as from the acri-
mony with which he has been assailed in many quarters
for having simply told the truth. He states in his preface
that having held a commission as an officer of artillery in a
foreign service during a time of war, he naturally takes a
great interest in the controversy vel's'.en has been going on
for the last few years relative ',O the guns of rival inventors.
It has been his object ..,n the compilation of this work to
give a succinct ssod impertial history of the controversy
since its comoeencrment ; and as far as facts are concerned
his boldest critic may be silent, for throughout the
volulile the author has fortified his assertions by continual
teferenee to blue books and other available sources of infor-
mation. IVhen it is the object of an author to give his
reader a clear insight into a subject so little understood ex-
cept by professional men, it is necessary to enter consider-
ably into detail. This must, to a certain extent, render a
work of this kind tedious, but Sir J. E. Tennent has endea-
voured as far as puska() to obviate this by describing the
gradual progress made in the improvement of firearms and
artillery since an early period, and also by furnishing inte-
resting histories of the careers of the two great artillery
engineers whose rival claims to supremacy form the subject
of the present investigation. It is not our intention to
dilate upon the particular forms and constructions of the
various guns which from time to time have been brought
forward. The Armstrong breechloader, which, from the
accuracy of its fire, and the destructive nature of its pro-
jectiles, was without a rival in 1858, was selected by the
committee on rifled cannon, who recommended the imme-
diate introduction of Mr Armstrong's rifled guns for special
service in the field. At this period Mr Whitworth had not
taken any steps to construct a gun on any special plan of
his own. He had simply yielded to the solicitations
of the Government in rifling some brass guns on the hexa-
gonal principle, which had pro-eed so successful with small
arms. At the close of 1858 some cast iron guns which had
been rifled by him burst, when he addressed a communica-
lion to Lord Panwure, at that time Secretary of War, ex-
plaining the causes of the accident, and deprecating the
further use of cast iron metal for rifled cannon, and received
in answer a letter from the War-office informing him of
the determination of the Secretary of State to discontinue
further experiments with ordnance rifled on his principle.
He then resolved to construct a gun capable of resisting
the extra pressure to which rifled cannon are subjected.
From that time to the present Mr Whitworth has been
diligently engaged in carrying out this determination. Sir
W ihiara George Armstrong, his great rival, is a descendant
of one of the old border families, and was educated for the
law. Unlike many other gifted men who have been forced
I from circumstances into uncongenial positions, he applied
himself with industry and success to the legal profession,
and was for many years a member of one of the principle
legal firms of Newcastle. Still he never abandoned the
tastes which Nature had so unmistakably bestowed, and
which had showed themselves even in his childish games.
When only five or six years old he used to employ himself
in setting a number of spinning wheels in motion by means
of weights descending on strings from the top to the bottom
of his lather's house, and in making t'aess wheels imitate
the grinding of corn, the puropt,g of water, &c But how-
ever uncongenial the sphr,,,, or unapt the profession, where
there is so strong P.. sent of the natural genius it is certain
to find a vent, and, accordingly, in spite of his living among
briefs ann-:, parchments until his 37th year, the name of Wm.
Arreistrong became associated with one of the most remark-
able mechanical inventions of cur time, while he was still
practising as a solicitor. He was making an excursion in a
mountainous part of Yorkshire about the year 1535, when
his attention was drawn to the waste of power in a stream,
which after descending from a considerable height in suc-
cessive cascades, spent its last remaining strength in turn-
ing a mill wheel at the foot of a hill. Although the force
required was dependent on the height from which the water
came, Mr Armstrong remarked that the portion in use was
taken from a level which was only a fraction of the full de-
scent. He perceived the practicability of realising the full
power of the fall by conducting the water in an iron pipe,
and causing it to act upon suitable machinery below, and
applied himself to devising an engine to be worked by water
pressure. He pursued the idea first given by the force of
mountain streams to the construction of artificial towers in
towns, into which water was raised by the steam engine to
give it the requisite " head." The result of his casual visit
to Yorkshire has been known to the world by the construc-
tion of the hydraulic crane, whose silent agency produces
such marvellous effects. Its immense power has been hsppiiy
defined by a " Quarterly Reviewer" in these terms—" At
the foot of every crane, under the pis'on of every hoist,
at every dockgate, unseen and noiseless, the power lies dor-
-1 want, but a woman's hand, applied to a small handle, will
set in motion a force sufficient to raise a mass weighing 50
or 100 tons, and either to place it in the hold of a ship, or
deposit it in any other spot within reach e f the arms of the
crane, With equal case the gates of docks 100 feet in width
:.re opened or shut, and the works of the dockyard done
without a stranger being able to perceive what it is that sets
everything in motion." Attempts to realise the power of
water had indeed been previously made in Hungary as
well as in the mines of Cornwall and Saxony,
but not only were these efforts unknown to Mr Armstrong,
but they were so different from his own method that he
retains the unquestionable distinction of this important in-
vention. So successful did it prove that he was induced
to abandon his profession, and to devote himself exclusively
to that line of life for which nature has especially fitted him.
In conjunction with some friends he established the Elswiek
Engine Works, and some years alter obtained further die.
tinotion by the construction of his hydro-electric machine,
themost powerful means devised,of producing frictional elec-
tricity. At an unusually early age he was elected Fellow
of the Royal Society. After the battle of Inkermann, in
which two 18 pounder guns, brought up with great diffi-
culty, turned the fortune of the day, Mr Armstrong per-
ceived the importance of giving to field guns the accuracy
and range of the rifle, and removing the impediment of
weight by substituting forged for cast iron guns, He re-
ceived froru the MeV() of Newcastle a degree of encourage-
ment not e f ten accorded to inventors, and put together his
first wrought gun in the spring of 1855, but; he had still to
go through much arduous labour and many tedious experi-
ments before he considered that he had attained success.
He used to make his first trials at dawn on the sea shore,
and afterwards occupied a lonely hut amidst the moors, his
targets being placed on the side of a valley, across which
he fired by night as well as by day, through the assist•
ante of an ingenious invention of his own. His first
groat success was his three pounder breech loader, and
afterwards his 12 pounder, which, for accuracy of range
at that time (1858), astonished every one. Although he
has succeeded well on the same principle up to 18 and
e 2 pounders, it is generally admitted that it is in his
light guns that the working of his breechloading prin-
ciple excells all others, Sir William Armstrong has freely
admitted recently that for heavy ordnance the breech-
loading system is a failure, and he has therefore, in
the construction of his Ri inch 300 pounders,
ad opted the muzzle loading principle, cutting
the grooves of the rifling in such a manner
that the shot enters the gun easily but fits the bore tight
in leaving it. This is what is denctrainated the shunt
Principle, and whenever the 300-pounder has been tried
against armour placed targets at short range, the shot
has penetrated. That guns of an enormous size can be
constructed upon Sir W. Armstrong's coil principle cannot
now be doubted, when the results of the late trials of his
600-pounders at Shoeburyness are taken into consideration.
Sir William Armstrong, as we have seen, was not
brought up to the profession of an engineer, but his
natural bias led him to follow that pursuit. Mr Whit •
worth, on the contrary, is a man of high professional
celebrity, in fact he may be reckoned one of the first, if
not the first among the mechanical engineers of this coun-
try. Sir E. Tennent observes that "For this eminence
in his profeesion Mr Whitworth is indebted to a natural
aptitude for its cultivation, but mainly to an exhaustive
knowledge of its principles and processes, acquired by un-
conquerable perseverance. Endowed with a taste for me-
chanics, and with something like an instinct for overcoming
difficulties, he developed and disciplined his powers by
serving in early life under the ablest masters, Maudslay,
Clement, Holteappfel, and others of the class whose
genius and ability have raised mechanical art to its pre-
sent high rank in England, especially by the improvement
of those wonderful self-acting engines which under the
name of engine tools aro now so extensively used for
working in metals, as well as for the production of other
machines dependent on accuracy and precision. Mr
Whitworth does not belong to the ordinary type of in-
ventors, quick, versatile, and ingenious, acting from im-
pulse on apparent inspiration; his productions, on the
contrary, are the results of slow and deliberate thought,
bringing former observation to bear upon tentative expe-
riment, and accepting nothing as established till it has
undergone proof. Proceeding with a logical severity to
rest further operations only on ascertained facts, his pro-
cess is so strictly inductive, that he might justly be desig-
nated the Bacon of mechanics. For the attainment of
perfection it is the belief of Mr Whitworth that the
superiority of all machinery is dependent on two ele.nents
—the power of measuring with unerring precision, and
associated with it the faculty of producing a true
plane surface that is, one so absolutely level,
that when it is opposed to another of equal
truth their contact must be in all parts complete.
The Astronomer Royal, Mr Airey, in his evidence before a
committee of the House of Lords, in 1855, stated that the.
degree to which Mr Whitworth had succeefdpaelcalteomfofmanbamoektfelhontreaagi
perfect the planing of surfaces was entirely unknown
his time.' To such a pitch of excellence has he brought it
by a process peculiar to himself, that
prepared by him when opposed to the face
similarly treated, exhibits a contact so intimate.
co enable the operator to lift the under one with
i,-, as if by its actual adhesion to the upper,
or if lees closely applied, so that:the thinnest
..possible layer
of atmostplaeric air may still remain ktweetir the upper plate

It was after England and the continental nations gene-
rally had awakened to the consciousness of the deficiencies
of the old regulation musket, the Minie rifle, the invention
of a French non-commissioned officer, attracted universal
attention, and Lord Hardinge, after having consulted with
MrWestley Richards, Mr Purddey and other celebrated gun
maker:, introduced the Enfield rifle. After various experi-
ments it was discovered that although the guns were made
upon the same pattern and in all • resp .e:s alike, no two
were alike in their performance or properties. In
this strait Lord Hardinge had recourse to Mr Whitworth
h., 1853, reqUesting him to construct machinery which
would enable the workmen to produce guns which should
be practically as well as theoretically similar. From this
date Mr Whitworth commenced to study the science of
gunnery, with what results his success with the rifle
musket, and his armour piercing projectile can bear wit-
ness. It is a curious fact that the three greatest construc•
tors of artillery in this country, none of them belong pro-
fessionally to the business. It is true that Mr Whitworth,
as a mechanical engineer, when devoting himself to the
construction of wrought iron artillery, was, to a certain
extent, in his element, but as regards Sir William Arm-
strong and Captain Blakely, they were unquestionably
amateurs. It is not our intention to follow Sir E. Tennent
through his protracted review of the details of each step in
the progress of the inventions and experiments of the last
five years. To those who are really interested in the sub-
ject, we would rather recommend the perusal of the work
itself. The impartial observer cannot fail, wh©n he exa-
mines the question carefully, to agree with the author, that
much valuable time has been lost, and a vast sum of money
recklessly expended, through the prejudice and prof;ssional
etiquette of the Ordnance Select Committee. It is no fault
of Sir William Armstrong that the committee rejected
the chime of all other competitors, because they
were desirous of experimenting upon his guns alone.
Although SirW.Armstrong was placed in a situation of great
delicacy, not to say embarrassment, as a member ef the
committee when the productions of other inventors were
'being considered, not a breath of suspicion has ever fallen
upon him of using his position to the detriment of other
inventors. Sir W. Armstrong, on the contrary, no sooner
saw the position in which ho stood. than ho disarmed
censure by cancelling his engagement with the Govern-
ment, and throwing up his appointment in the Ordnance
Departmeat. Independently of all higher considerations
we believe that his confidence in the excellence of his own
gun led him rather to court than to shun competition.
With the other members of the committee it was however
far different. Captain Scot says in his evidence before the
committee of the House of Commons in 1863, that it is his
opinion that the determination to make some plan of Sir
William Armstrong's succeed, caused the Ordnance Select
Committee to reject or delay all the plans of other inven-
tore. Again, the Duke of Somerset, in his evidence before
the same committee, reluctantly attesta the distrust enter-
tained by inventors generally of the decision of the select
committee, and says that " many of the inventors used to
come to him at the Admiralty, because they did not like the
Ordnance Committee at the War-office. And as an illus-
tration of the difficulties interposed by the system, his
grace goes on to state that after witnessing the performance
of the Whitworth gun, when it penetrated the armour
plates of the Trusty, and " could hale sunk her," he says,
" with one or two shots," he felt desirous to have some of
these guns manufactured, and obtained the concurrence of
Lord Herbert, who was then Secretary for War; but the
Ordnance Select Committee not having tried or approved of
Mr Whitworth's mode of rifling, his attempt was defeated."
Five years have passed since the firs committee was ap-
peinted to investigate the relative claims of inventors for
the production of suitable artillery for our army and navy.
In 1858 Sir W. Armstrong produced a serviceable light
field piece. In 186.1 a Select Ordnance Committee have
commenced in earnest to test the relative merits of heavy
guns rifled upon the system adopted in the French canon
rage, and those advocated by Mr Lancaster and Comman-
der Scot—while another committee is still engaged in a
protracted series of trials of the Whitworth and Armstrong
70-pounders. We trust that the energy thus at last dis-
played may be carried on until a satisfactory result be at-
tained. But, why have these long years ,been allowed to
pass by and no progress made, when as yet we are unpro-
veled with efficient guns for the navy. The answer is
simply, because the Ordnance Select Cornmitteee, like all
other Government institutions must do every thing en
regle, and it requires public opinion and Parliamentary
pressure to move them from the beaten track—and if Sir
E. Tennent has in any way promoted the investigation of
this matter by the publication of " The Story of the Guns"
his labours have not been in vain.

Macaulap Hisiory of England. People's Edition,
Part IX. Langman and Co.

The most ambitious of the literary achievements
of Lord Macaulay, though by no means to our
thinking his masterpiece, is still being most effectu-
ally popularized by means of this excellent cheap
edition of it in a periodical form. Five more of
these shilling monthly parts will complete it. And
the work will then take its place upon the bookshelves of
the multitude at large, side by side with the companion
edition of those Critical and Historical Essays of Lord
Macaulay's by which his great reputation is most secure
of being perpetuated. A supplementary volume, if not
even two supplementary volumes, might then extend
the round half dozen, made up by those two volumes of the
" Essays" and by these four of the "History" to a seventh,
perhaps even an eighth, volume, comprising the Mis••
cellaneous" writings, the "Lays," and the Speeches."
Already, indeed, the Messrs. Longman have done nobly
by the reputation of the greatest of all English Frose
Writers, and by that vaet multitude of his educated fellow-
countrymen by whom his resplendent genius is so fully
appreciated—the Messrs. Longman have done nobly, we say,
both by the great Author and his numerous readers, by the
variety of editions in which his work.: have already, thanks
to them, been is3ued from the press eajtions, cheap and
costly, 16m0,, Bvo,, 4t0., cloth, calf and morocco.

Le Correspondent. No. 105. Charles DouniGl.
As usual, there is apparent in the contents of this
always able and often brilliant periodical an espe-
cial regard on the part of the presiding redac teur,
the one entrusted by the management, that is, with
the responsibility of selection, there is still here
apparent on his part, an especial regard alike to the indivi•
dual interest of the themes descanted upon and to their
diversity when grouped together. The present livraison,
for example, setting forth with a comprehensive and lumi-
nous chapter, by Francois Lenormant, upon Prince Couza
and the Dsnubian Principalities, comprises within it
besides articles as various as—one by L, Villerme on Rural
Economy— a masterly contribution by Louis Joubert on
Ireland—a very curious,an exceptionally curious,critioal am -
vey of the Classical Poets of China—Sauveur Jacquemond's
nouvelle of Menichino, and the Abbe Blampignon's sympa-
thetic review of the Count eta Falloux charming gathering
together of the exquisite correspondence between Madame
Swetchine and the Pere Lacordaire, There are several
other papers in the number, not here particularised--papers
entitled respectively Jean Reboul, Les E venements de Tunis,
Les Vierges de Verdun with Melanges Souvenirs du Govern-
ment Parliamentaire—this last mentioned by the Count de
Mentalivet—to say nothing of four minor literary criti-
cisms of a miscellaneous character, and the customary
monthly record of contemporary events. As the penulti
mate contribution of the livraison, there is, moreover, it
should be here especially mentioned, a rapid but compre-
hensive glance at the probable attractions of the fortheom-
lug Second Congress at Mechlin, otherwise Malines.

ECCENTRIC MONUMENT IN THE SAVOY CHURCH,
as described by "K." in the Athenceum.—lt is to
be feared that there has perished in this church a monu-
ment, with an epitaph that has often amused me. The
monument, which was rather sumptuous, was erected about
1716, in honour of a merchant, whose name I forget. The
sole statement of the epitaph was, that he had bequeathed
£5 to the poor of the Savoy Precinct, and a like sum to the
poor of the parish of St. AI ary-le-Strand, while at the side,
and occupying about half the breadth of the marble, the
money was expressed in figures, just as in a page of a ledger
with lines single and double, perpendicular and, at the bot-
tom, horizontal ; the whole being summed up, and in each
line two cyphers for shillings and one for pence. The
epitaph concluded, " which sum was duly paid by his exe-
cutors," Though there was nothing hero intentionally
ludicrous, yet there was much to make a reader, even in
time of service, inwardly smile. The contrast between the
pomp of the monument and the smallness of the bequest
which, and nothing else, it commemorated, and which it
must far have exceeded in cost ; the mercantile accuracy of
the figured statement, with its eight lines and thirteen
figures, and the express addition of what is usually loft to
be understood,that the bequest was paid, formed altogether
an example of simple
quaintness, which it were a pity to
allow to pass into complete oblivion.
PROGRESS OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA.—The public
revenue of South Australia in the year ending the
31st of March: 1865, amounted to £694,515, an increase of
£133,615 over the previous year, but £35,000 of the increas,
appears to be due to a change in the mode of making up the
alcounts. The expenditure of the year was £675,465, an in-
crease of £36,312, the chief increase being in immigration
charges.
The exports of colonial produce from South Aug.
tralia in tha first qttarter of 1864 reached the unprecedented
amount of more than £1,000,000, nearly halt of it being in
cereals,

EViwr
,
-
41' ---
lajinlar

HER MAJESTY,

OSBORNE, July 23.
Her Majesty, accompanied by her Royal High-
ness Princess Louis of Hesse and Princess Louise
walked and drove in the grounds.
Their Royal Highnesses Prince and Princess
Louis of Hesse and Princess Loiningen, attended by
the Hon. Mrs. Brun:, Major-General Seymour, and
Captain von Westerweller, visited the prison for
females at Parkhurst.

July 24.
The Queen accompanied by her Royal Highness
Princess Louis or Hesse, drove out yesterday.
Major-General Seymour was in attendance.
His Royal Highness Prince Louis of Hesse and
his Royal Highness Prince William of Prussia went
in the Fairy, attended by Baroness Dobeneck,
Baroness de Granny, and Capt. von Westerweller.
The Earl of Clarendon arrived on a visit, and had
the honour of dining with her Majesty and the
Royal family.
Divine service was performed to-day at Osborne
by the Rev. G. Prothero.
The Queen and royal family attended by the
household, were present.

Her Royal Highness Princess Helena is CO"
valescent.

The Right Hon, Sir E. B. Lytton is now staying
at the York Hotel, Margate.

The Profits of Blockade-running.

The West India and Pacific Company's steamer
Saladin, arrived at Liverpool, has, by a casual call
at Hamilton, brought much later information from
Bermuda than that previously received. The Br`
rivals from blockaded ports have been large, being
steamers Index (Marshall), from Wilmington, with
803 bales of cotton and 203 boxes of tobacco; AO'
lanta (Horner), from Wilmington, with 536 bales
cotton, 155 half tierces and 527 boxes tobacco;
Mary Celeste (Ursina), also from Wilmington, with
594 bales cotton and four barrels turpentine;
and City of Petersburg (Fuller), also from Wil-
mington, with 810 bales of cotton and 32 boxes
of tobacco. The " fleet" had been augmented
by the arrival of the new steamers Little Hattie,
from Glasgow, and Virgin, from Cardiff. The
steamers Lynx and Virgin had sailed from Nassau
en route for Wilmington. The steamer Fannie bad
arrived with a full cargo from Nassau, and reported
that yellow fever had broken out at Nassau, and
stringent sanitary regulations were in force.
Blockade runners from Nassau were compelled 10
ride quarantine at Wilmington. Anxiety was felt
at Bermuda as to its reaching there, but up to the
15th June no cases had come to light. The Papule
had been the only arrival from Nassau. Perhaps 3
would be interesting to our readers, and apropos
under this heading, to glance at the following dis,
bursement account as an example of the profits 0'
blockade running. It is guaranteed as the cog 0f
a bona IWe account:—
One captain per month 5,000 dol6'
' First officer
second officer

Third officer
One boatswain
One carpenter

One purser

1,000

One steward
Three assistants
One cook
Two assistants

-150
180
150
120

One engineer and three assistants 3,500
Twelve firemen and coalheavers 2,400
240 tons of coal
Rations for crew
Oil, tallow, and packing
Stevedores
Pilotage out and in
Insurance .. 3,500
Wear and tear
Incidental expenses
Interest....

Risks (25 per cent) 37,500
Provisions for passengers..

30,265 dots.
Against this enormous expenditure we have on the credit
side the following as the earnings :--
800 baits of cotton for Government .. 40,000 dole'
800 bales of cotton for owners
Return freight for Government
Return freight for owners Q. 40,000
Passengers

172,000 dala•
Which will leave a monthly profit of 21,735 dols.; and
successful will, in five trips, clear the cost of the atean3ol
Liverpool Courier.

GREAT FIRE AT WRIGHT'S DISTILLERY.--AboOt
six o clock this (Monday) morning the inhabitant
of Aldersgate-street were thrown into a frightfu
state of excitement owing to the sudden outbreak of an er,
tensive conflagration in the well-known distillery 13°1°9
ing 11
to Messrs. John had Wright and Co., carrylllg
business at No. 26, in the before-named thoroughat,-;
The building, or rather buildings, forming the pre°ll.%
cover an immense space of ground, and formed three a
sideof a square, the counting-houses being on the north side
of the yard, The flames commenced in the still-houser `—
the north side of the buildings, in the following ulalluer.,:f
'Whilst the men were at work they dropped a quantity of
spirits on the floor, and whilst mopping the same, IV, t-b-e
trod "
upon a Inciter match or fusee, which, igniting, 50t,n..
,
spirits in a blaze. The men tried all they could to eX-„
guish the fire but without success, and owing to the iillllltaep
able nature of the stock the flames speedily tcok a 8976„g
round the distillery, so that at ono time it was feared tP;
tie whole plant would have been destroyed. The,land
et a
by
engiies by Shand and Mason, the Princess Royal.
Roberts, and nearly a dozen manual power engines °I t t
he
London brigade under the prsonal superintendence of COP
Shaw and foreman Bridges, J. Gerrard, and other 01101,
attended in the course of a few minutes. FortunatelYo
Weston the turncook, was on the beat at the time, and 036,
Mr. Sheppard, the foreman to the New..aiver ConapanY2 0,
sequently not a moment was lost 'in obtaining enouglles;
water from the mains to supply the whole of the one
and it soon became manifest that the firemen would
able to save many thousand pounds worth of property'
which at first was greatly endangered. By noon the flart:f
were entirely extinguished, but the root of the distll'ei
was burned off, a great portion of the spirits destroyed, rof
the machinery damaged. The storehouses and seveil r'' '
the vats were saved, so that the business of till firm sews
be retarded to a serious extent. The counting-11°u° -

much damaged, but the books were all saved.
An Englishman named Harper, aged 23,
wag
°ll
Saturday tried by the Tribunal of Correctioll4
Police on a charge of picking a lady's pocket of her Purtse;
containing 105 francs. A police agent stated tLat tiii
25th April last he was on duty at the Northern i11i,,,,t
station, when he perceived the prisoner wall another P`";
tishman trying the pockets of several persons, bait to
committed no act glaring enough for him to take then :ii
custody, and he saw them afterwards leave by the tfrib;
as he supposed, for England. Three days aftevieeClin° i.•
was surprised at seeing the prisoner near 030 61-111 r•
bus station of the Tour Saint Jacques, ancl:ll°
served him carrying on the same manoeuvres atOr`P ini
crowd assembled there. The prisoner atterwAr" difis
to the Palais Royal station, where he recomnielic,e-013.0
operations, and at that place the policeman cattgll '''' hlO
fiagrantc delicto, and arrested him. The prisoner,' had en
stated that he did not understand a word of French, 1:111 DO
interpreter assigned him, and in his defence said till's-8.0
object in moving about among the crowd at the To or - to
Jacques and the Palais Royal was to find an 005 ibblisfor°
take him to the Madeline. He admitted that wher"',.:lloa
the Commissary of Police he had confessed that .P" to
made attempts to pick the pockets of some persons, ititlf,
declared that nothing was then said about the robbellft-to
which he was now charged. He said that when he .h.- DiS
Northern Station he only went as far as Chantilly Ws'''x, le
companion, and returned to Paris the next day. The 'e ,:ri'
who had lost the purse having positively identified tb 0
tioi
soner, he was condemned to five years' imprisonti :
1 to afterwards remain under the surveillance of the P
Aof ice'
WITTY SAYING (Authorship Uokg°1° ille
Most of the shadows that cross our path through
-
(reused by standing in our own light. T i Ori
A CAPITAL ANECDOTE OF NAPOLEON 1A..; 00
THE LATE LORD ELGIN.—" Alter all," said Loin
anarlenh, Emperor of the French, to Lord Elgi°l tilico
I 1 Viceroy Elect, " I think I have done sornetlail'g.cived,
saw you in London, Russia defeated, Itsl9 ...re:beell
Paris rebuilt, the Revolution bridled, something Ps'otch'
accomplished."
"Your Majesty,"—said the polite Ses too
man,—we tell the story (says the Spectator) as it Vrs gOO
to us, the scene was dinner at St. Cloud,--" forgot,,..tho
greatest of your achievements." "Eh I what is tba',l e
greatest?" "Your Majesty has made of the glit'
Ipa rilemilitary nation,"
GAME CERTIFICATES.--Ia the year en-A -
opted to
;list March, the duty en game certificates 0111
£135,462,