The Sun.
London, England, 1864-01-22 00:00:00

N°.

THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, JANUARY 22, 1864.

Ira EINE FURE, CARPETS, B EDDING, and
FLOORCLOTH, CARRIAGE-FREE to any house in
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Every article warranted.
CL EiiGYMEN and GENTLEMEN ABOUT TO FUR-
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scale ;
A Six-roomed Parsonage £74 3 0
An Eight-roomed ditto
A Tea-roomed ditto
A Twelve-roomed ditto

WHERE CAN WE MEET AF !'ER THE
PANTOMIMES ? My dear Fellow, Gentlemen sup
at EVANS', Covent-garden.

TEAM from LONDON to NEW YORK.
he British and American Steam Navigation Company
(Limited) will DESPATCH one of the undermentioned
Splendid Fast Screw Steamers TWICE E &CH MONTH for
New York;—

The New Bridge at Blackfriars.

KINAHAN'S LL WHISKY v. COGNAC,
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This celebrated Old IRISiI WHISKY rivals the finest
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Sold in Bottles, 3s. Bd., at the Retail Houses in London ; by
the Agents in the principal towns in England ; or wholesale
at

Tons. Horse Power.
LONDON 2,500 ..... 6uo ..... Capt. GLOVER.
WESTMINSTER 2,500 ..... 500 ..... Capt. Couch'
DUBLIN 2,500 ..... 500 ..... Capt. FROUD.
NEW YORK 2,500 ..... 500 ..... t apt. HARRIS.

- -
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going sterner, and have accommodation for passengers re-
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March ; the exact date to be fixed in a latter announcement.
To load in the Victoria Docks.
• •

8, GREAT WINDMILL-STREET, W.
Observe the Red Seal, Pink Label, and Cork branded
‘.liinahan's LL Whisky."

For freight or passage apply to the Company's Agents,
Alfred Laming and C.)., 70, CornhilL

IMPERIAL LIFE INSURINCE COMPANY.
No. 1, Old Broad-strect, London, E•C'•

Together with a Price List of purified Bedding, and a mass
of valuable informationto all requiring' househ 31d furniture,
carpets, or bedding. References kindly permitted to Clergy-
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COBBETT and CO., General House Furnishers, Deptford-
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Instituted 1820.
EDWARD HENRY CHAPMAN, Esq., Chairman.
MARTIN TUCKER SMITH, Esq., M.P., Deputy-Chairman.

Insurances effected before the 31st January, 1861, will be
entitled to Three Years' Additions in the Profits to be de-
clared in 1866.

SAMUEL INGALL, Actuary.

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Naval and Military Intelligence.

Now ready at all the Libraries, in 3 vols.,
A.
WOMAN'S RANSOM.
By the Author of " Grandmother's Money," &o.
"An admirable novel. It is superior to any of the author's
former productions in interest, construction, and style."—
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" An excellent tale."—Daily News.
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THE NAVY.
VALETTA, Jan. B.—The 11,p,idignoe, 18, Captain F. A.
Chamberlain, came in on Sunday last from Plymouth 12
days, and Gibraltar five. She relieved the St. George, 86,
Capt. the Hon. F. Egerton, which left on Wednesday for
England to be paid off. As expected, the Trafalgar, 70,
Capt. T. Mason, left on Monday from Corfu, and is to be
back in about a fortnight, with invalids, prisoners, &c.,
when it is expected she will proceed to Gibraltar, there to
await the arrival of the Royal Oak, ironclad, Capt. F. A.
Campbell, and thence go home to be put out of commission.
The Icarus, 11, Capt. N. Salmon, V.C., arrived yesterday
from the Piraeus and Kalamata, 16 days from the former
and five from the latter. The English men-of-war at
Athens were the Revenge (flagship), the Meeanee, the Gib-
raltar, the Foxhound, the Trident, and the Boxer. The
Gibraltar was to leave Salamis Bay on the 26th, and enter
the harbour of the Piraeus. The foreign ships were the
Magicienne, the Mouette, and the Sentinelle (French) ; the
Seehund (Austrian gunboat) ; a Russian frigate in Salamis
Bay, and the Hellas, Greek frigate. The learns will
shortly proceed home to bo paid off. Capt. N. Salmon,
V.C., of the Icarus, who has lately received his promotion
from commander, will leave for England shortly, and Flag
Lieutenant H. T. Boger has been appointed Acting Com-
mander in his place. Captain Stirling, of the Chanticleer,
who also lately received his promotion, left Malta last week
for England, via Marseilles, and his successor, Corn. J.
E. Risk, is expected here from Southampton by the packet
of the 4th of January. In the meantime the Chanticleer
is under the command of her First Lieutenant, A. C. May.
Captain Fortescue, of the Phoobe, returned yesterday from
Italy. There have been no other movements of her Ma-
jesty's ships since the departure of the mail on the 4th
instant.

TRAVELS AND ADVENTURES OF AN
OFFICER'S WIFE IN INDIA, CHINA, AND
NEW ZEALAND. By Mrs. MUTER, wife of Lieutenant-
Colonel MUTER.

- -
" With the stirring narrative which Mrs. Muter relates
with graphic power, in these entertaining and instructive
volumes, have been interwoven comments by Colonel Muter
whicliimpart to the work additional interest and value."—
Post. _ .

Hurst and Blackett, 13, Great Marlborough-street.

On January 25, in post Bvo., 65., with Two Illustrations,
THE THIRD end CHEAPER EDITION of
NED LOCKSLEY, the Etonian.
"The new corner whom we now hail . • . writes with
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NEW NOVELS BY POPULAR AUTHORS

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SORROW.

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By %EIMER DEENE.
In 3 vols., 31s. 6d.,1

THE BELLE OF THE BALL.

THE TRIALS OF THE TREDGOLI)S.
The New Novel, by DUTTON COOK, Author of
"Leo," may be now obtained at all the Libraries and Book•
sellers, in 3 volumes, post 'csvo.

London : Sampson Low, Son, and Marston, 14, Ludgate.
hill. ...

This day, at all Libraries, in 2 vols.,

THE SMUGGLER
By GUSTAVE AMIARD.

CHIEF,

*** "This is decidedly the author's best novel, and it
stands alone in the dexterity with which the female charac-
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upon the achievement. Every one will be satisfied with this
work."

Her Majesty's iron paddlewheel steamer Recruit, 6, 150
horse power (nominal), having completed the alterations to
her engines and machinery, and made ready for sea, was
yesterday taken out of Chatham harbour to the Nom, for
the purpose of testing her rate of speed at the measured
mile, Maplin Sands,
before being finally handed over by the
dockyard officials to the first-class steam reserve, in readi-
ness for commission. On the occasion of the Recruit being
taken on her last trial trip she proved in every respect a
complete failure. A maximum speed of only about four or
five knots an hour was obtained, and the paddlewheel floats
were at the same time so deeply immersed in the water that
it was considered useless to attempt to continue the trials.
Indeed, from the way in which the vessel laboured during
her trial a strong feeling of relief was felt by all on board
on the steamer being safely brought up at anchor. Since
the trial alluded to the Recruit has been very considerably
lightened by the removal of some of her heavy stores, toge-
gether with two of her 32-pounder 56cwt guns. She has
still, however, the whole of her six months' sea stores on
board, with the exception of her provisions. With 90 tons
of coals in her bunkers at starting yesterday, together with
about 120 tons of machinery mud boilers, 40 tons of water,
and about 30 tons of anchors, cables, &c., the Recruit drew
81t 4in aft and Bft 3in forward, and thus being on as nearly
as possible an even keel she was not in the test trim to make
her trial. Chatham harbour was left shortly after 9 a,m.,
the officials on board being Capt. W, R. Hall, C. 8., Com-
manding the steam reserve in the Medway, who superin-
tended the trials ; Mr. J. Baker, chief engineer at Chatham
dockyard, and inspector of machinery afloat; Mr. Hutchens,
assistant master shipwright; and Mr. Rumble, chief engi-
neer in charge of the steam merve squadron. The Recruit
was navigated to the trial ground by Mr, Blakey, second
master and Queen's pilot, and the engines were in charge
of Mr. J. li. Brettal, principal engineer. Captain H. F.
M'Killop was also on board during the trial, for the purpose
of testing the new cofferdam or portable dock recently in-
vented by him, and submitted to the Lords of the Admiralty.
On reaching the trial ground, six runs were made over the
measured mile with the following results :—First run, time
5 min 35 sec., speed in knots 10.746, number of revolu-
tions 33; second run, 6 rain 20 sec, speed 9'474 knots,
number of revolutions 33; third run, 5 rain 20 sec, speed
11.25 knots, number of revolutions 321; fourth run, time
7 min, speed 8.571 knots, number of revolutions 32; fitth
run, time 5 rain 1 sec, speed 11'96 knots, number of revo •
lutions 32; last run, time 7 min 2 sec, speed 8.531 knots,
and number of revolutions 321. From these figures it ap-
pears that the moan average speed of the Recruit, with her
coals, stores, &c„ on board, is 10179 knots per hour, which
is a fair rate for a vessel of her class and dimensions.
On the occasion of her former trial, on the 9th of July last,
the Recruit attained a mean speed of 10.508 knots, the
slight loss during her yesterday's trial resulting from her
increased displacement and the quantity of stores on board.
The mean pressure of steam was 221 b, and the vacuum 25.
The temperature on deck was 44 deg, in the engine-room
96 deg. The weather was favourable for the trial, there
being a slight breeze from the southward with a force of 3.
At the close of the official runs at full steam a couple of
runs were taken with two of the boilers cut off, when the
first mile was run in 5 min 38 see,
equal to a speed of 10.651
knots, and the second mile in 9 min 42 sec, giving a speed
eoevrr et allt
average speed at half boiler
26 revolutions of the engines
peaciilwdae2lrBtwl3 8
lobao6fl:te46laB knots,mkotTs. h owTßihe pith
hecruit is fitted with a rudder at
both stem and stern, which thus enables her to be steered
in either direction. Some trials were accordingly made to
ascertain her capabilities of making a circle when both rud-
ders Each helm was accordingly
brought4o deg. by two men; when at
half
deover,
in and
a brought
nthe intoangle
hard sport, the complete circle
was
of rather less than 200 yards, in 3
tsneadoa diameterh
eplml ao yf .
rain 20 sec. Owing to the lateness of the hour at which
the trials to ascertain the speed of the vessel was completed,
it was found impossible to carry out the experiments with
Capt. M‘Killop's invention, which had been placed on the
side of the steamer in readiness for use had time allowed.
The public trials were accordingly postponed until Satur-
day, when they will take place in the presence of various
officials. The Recruit was handed over to the steam re-
serve at the termination of the trials, and will, it is stated,
bo shortly commissioned to relieve the iron paddlewheel
steamer Weser, 6, 150 horse power, Commander Johnstone,
now in the Mediterranean.
Yesterday it was rumoured Plymouthuntil
ntthat
furthert heorders.Edgar,
B
which left Gibraltar on
Lisbon
tchl.eTaTchlk .3e ryunct r
Industrya
er
ie i v
e t Warrior, r
r,rariesner
screw
dv:u eci sreshiPt
Defence,
at Spithead on Tuesday, from Rio Master Commander Ed.
at at
Janeiro, with a few invalids and a cargo of old stores, and
sailed again on R ednesday morning from Woolwich. The
Industry sailed from Rio on the 22d Nov., 1863. On the
29th December she spite, in lat. 26 60 N, lone. 31 24 W,
the Hamburg ship Orient, and on the 30th, in lat. 31 19 N;
lcoonwge.s3lfo4rllV,the Bremen ship Helena, from Callao for
orders.
The following appointments were made on Wednesday
at the Admiralty :—Lieut. the Hon, Victor A. Montagu to
the Racoon
noona—va
cadets, the Hector—Philip E. ,Crosswell,
Edmund Hannam, Frod. G. Lillingston, and John D.
Kirkness, naval cadets, to the Prince ]Consort—Cyril W.
Cole, Edward Ramsay, John H. O'Brien, Josh. W. S.
Anthonyt sG. F. Gordon, L. H. Eliot, and W.
,
Jekyll, Alex. K, B. Granville, and Richard F. Warden,
midshipmen, to the Prince Consort—Henry Crawford, F.
T. de Lisle, and Arthur H. Boliero, midshipmen, to the
litor
chief engineer, to the Fisgard, addi-
tional and Charles Beal, chief engineer, to
eciorW the ur
Niger—and
r_,
the Fisgard, additional for the Spiteful.
The following appointments and promotions were made
yesterday at the Admiralty : Capt. S. 11. Henderson, to
Curtin,
the Victory, for service in the Urgent—Dr. A. Bryson to
be Director-General of the Medical Department of the
Navy, vice Sir John Liddell, retired—Dr. Alexander E.
Mackay, surg., to the Fisgard, as additional for service at
Somerset-house, vice Bryson—Andrew Edwards and Win.
B. Risk, assist.-payraastere, promoted to be paymasters—
Wm. Roberts, in the Indus, for the Forth—John Bonen,
in the Liffey—H. W. White in the Blenheim—E. D•
Dooley. in the Euryalus—J. C. Weeks, in the Eclipse—M.
Beaks, in the Racehorso—J • B. James, in the Trafalgar—
T. F. Hight, in the Resistance—T. Baldwin, in the Fie.-
gard—J. Ritchie, in the Jason—R. W. Topp, in the Magi-
cienne— and J. Lister,. in the Wildfire, promoted to the
roAk Of engineer,

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In two months more the easy work of helping old Black-
friars-bridge down will be begun. It has done its best to
save contractors unnecessary work in rendering this last
office. It is like a ship ready to be launched; they have
but to knock away the centring from the two btoken-
backed arches which now obstruct the river, and the whole
structure will go pell-mell into the Thames. It is just in
that critical condition that it can change no further with-
out coming down with a crash. It has reached its last
point of subsidence, and, to do it justice, it has for some
time past seemed disinclined to tempt its fate further. It
might stand in its present condition for the next ten years,
or it might tumble down like a house of cards in a few
hours. The intricate, yet beautifully arranged web of scaf-
folding raised for the erection of the temporary and the
railway bridges has much decreased the scour of the river
through the arches; it so far has checked any tendency to
further settlement, and, perhaps, the old bridge has more
chance of standing now than it has had for the last 25
years. But it is not a safe rule to calculate too closely in
these matters, so Mr. Cubitt has hurried his plans forward
for completing the temporary bridge at once, that the old
high-shouldered structure may be closed in April and re-
placed with a far wider, stronger, and infinitely handsomer
structure as soon as possible.
The great engineering works now in progress at Black-
friars always command a somewhat large and apparently
deeply interested body of spectators, who from the old
bridge survey what is going on beneath them hour by hour
as long as daylight lasts. To the ordinary spectator it is
a curious and rather bewildering scene, a web of piles and
ties, a singular two-storied mixture of iron and wood, with
glimpses through the network of deep round iron cylinders,
like those used for soap boiling, pushed far down in the bed
of the river, being filled up with masonry. In the nooks
and corners of the great framing lurk steam pile drivers
fussily busy, driving great balks of timber down into the
London clay, while overhead the travellers are crawling
slowly to and fro with blocks of granite, masses of iron,
beams, girders, or whatever else they may have seized upon,
and crept off with till they are claimed with a hail from
below, and lowered to their proper places in the structure.
This is what can be seen from the old bridge, but the as-
pect is very different from the works themselves. There
nothing is in the way or out of the way. The tangle of
scaffolding reveals itself under proper inspection, and we
see at once that, as in a spider's web, there is not a fasten-
ing without a purpose—nowhere is there one more or less
than is required, and everything, from the largest iron
girders to the smallest fastening, has its own special work
to do, and will do it when the time comes. Looking towards
the east from the old bridge two bridges are now being
built, and both by the same engineer, Mr. Cubitt—one the
great four-line bridge for the London, Chatham, and Dover,
of which very little can now be seen; the other lofty tier of
scaffolding is the temporary structure which is happily to
replace Blackfriars in a couple of months or so. This, as
the first temporary bridge we have yet seen over the Thames
in London, and for its own intrinsic merits, as a very
simple, yet immensely strong contrivance in scaffolding,
merits some notice. Its length is 990 ft from wharf to
wharf, and it is built in two stories; the lower one is
26ft wide (the width of the old bridge roadway) ; the
upper storey is raised 16ft above this, and consists of two
footways, each 9ft wide, the width of the footways in the
present bridge being only 7ft. The lower storey is for the
carriage traffic, the upper for pedestrians, and the four feet
extra width of footway given to the latter is to accommo-
date the loungers on either side who are sure to pass much
of their time in looking over at the progress of the works
beneath. This scaffolding, though called a temporary
bridge, is in reality a pereae;eent structure as far as strength
is concerned. It is only temper... 7 in the sense that it is
not built of durable materials, such tie atone or iron. The
lower piles are driven 10ft into the bed of the river ; the
staying piles which carry the roadway are only 18ft from
centre to centre longitudinally—those laid transverses; are
only 7ft apart. All these, too, are braced together wilie
horizontal and diagonal bracings, and, in fact, even as far as
the woodwork is concerned the whole is built of consider-
ably greater strength than ordinary wooden viaducts for
railways. This bridge has three openings for river traffic,
each of 70ft span. These are formed by two girders, Eft
deep, with ordinary transverse girders between, They are
already nearly all floored with wrought iron buckle plates,
and for the future traffic are to be covered with asphalt and
paved with wood. The gradient of this temporary road
will be exactly that of the new bridge when finished—that
is, a rise of lin 40, instead of as at present lin 22—an in-
cline only less dreadful than that which stops the traffic up
llolborn-hill. The approaches to the foot bridge, as being
taken up t 3 a high level above the roadway, will be much
more steep—no less than linlo on either side. To make
these easily practicable to pedestrians it will be necessary
that in wet and frosty weather such timber slopes should
be well sanded, or they will be almost insurmountable. This
steep gradient is only continued to where the footpaths
going and coming from each side meet the road traffic
above, whence they are continued across the river at al-
most a level. Yesterday this temporary bridge was tested by
a mass of iron weighing 36 tons being drawn slowly across
the greater part of the carriage-way. Under this severe
test not the slightest yield or complaining among the tim-
bers could be detected, though the strain was certainly more
than double what is ever likely to come upon a single part
of the bridge at any one time. This was a test for strain
only ; the next will be for vibration, when a weight of six
tons will be drawn rapidly over it, in order to counterfeit,
as far as it is possible to do so, the rapid, reckless driving
of one of Pickford's heavy vans. Under this last test a
good deal of vibration is sure to be found, but that in mere
wooden structures, which, as it is said, "give and take so
much," will be of little consequence so long as no lateral
sway of the whole fabric takes place. In April it is hoped
to be able to open this bridge, when the old one will be at
once closed, and the work of removing it to make room for
its grand successor bo urged on with all rapidity.
The new bridge, which is to occupy the site of the old
one, will be as great an improvement upon that which now
cumbers the river, as Westminster is upon the heavy, dan-
gerous, and steep pile of stones it at last superseded, with
so much benefit to the public. The improvement that will
result from the change, looking at it only as a question of
accommodation for the public, may be seen at a glance by a
mere comparison of dimensions. Tho width of the roadway
of the old bridge is 26ft; the width of the new roadway will
be 45ft. Old Blackfriars has two pathways of 7ft each ;
new Blackfriars will have two of 15ft each. The gradient
of old Blackfriars is 1 in 22ft—of the new, 1 in 401 t, or the
same as new Westminster, which on the surface it will en-
tirely resemble, except in being 4ft less wide over all. It
is to be built in five spans or arches, the two next the shore
being of 155 ft span each, the two next those, again, 175 ft
span, the centre arch having a stretch of 1851 t. These
arches will be all of wrought irou—the piers on which they
rest of Aberdeen and red polished granite, with richly orna-
mental cornices and capitals of Portland stone.
The total length of the proposed structure from end to
end is 1,170 ft., its width extreme from point to point of
piers, 130f1; its height from high water, 36ift, and from
foundation to parapet, 81ft. The waterway under the
arches will be 845 ft, as compared with the present water-
way of 769 ft ; its headway under the arches will be 25ft,
and though Oft lower in height than the present structure,
it will double the accommodation to river traffic under it,
owing to the elliptical shape and somewhat flat crowns of
its arches. The style of the whole is to be what is called
Venetian Gothic. The two outside ribs of the ironwork
that will be seen from the river will have open lattice span-
drils of wrought iron, ornamented at their junctions with
bold gilt flowers. The ribs beneath this will be in five
joints, of great depth and strength, and similarly orna-
mented, but on a larger scale. In the centre of each arch
will be hanging shields, gilt and emblazoned. Over the
latticework will be a moulding, carried on concave brackets,
enriched with broad graceful leaves of foliage, while above
all will come the balustrade of the footways. This latter
will be exceedingly handsome. It will be formed of an open
arcading of cast iron, each of the small columns which
support it having highly enriched foliated capitals of the
most varied designs, though all in strict keeping with the
style and intended general effect. Above these columns,
the cornice, so to speak, of the balustrade will be pierced
in trefoils with a kind of moulded string course to resemble
a sort of handrail above all. This balustrade will be atft
high, and all its beautiful proportions and detail of design
have evidently been studied with the utmost care, and
certainly with the utmost success. The spaces between the
many separate ribs which go to form each arch will be
built over with buckle-plates, and the usual bed of asphalt
and stone pitching pavement laid above all. So much
for the ironwork. With the stone, as might be expected,
higher efforts are made at ornamental details, and, in
an architectural point of view, are made with even more
success. There are to be four stone piers, each 130 ft
long by 201 ft wide, and 35ft high from Trinity level. As
the design was especially framed to admit of construc-
tional colour, the masonry used here will the blue gray
granite of Aberdeen, red polished granite columns, with
bases and capitals of richly-carved white Portland stone.
To begin, however, with the construction of the piers.
They will, like all bridge foundations of the present day, be
built in wrought-iron caissons. Seven caissons will be re-
quired for each pier. These will be forced down to 2act.
oft.
below the bed of the river—into the London cl.y,
in f
When they can be got no lower they will be laid at the
bottom with concrete, and built up inside till they are solid.
It is not yet decided whether they are to be thus filled iu
with bricks or masonry, but it is to be hope d the latter.
the iron arches rest; but on the external face of the pier,—
willt t
bbee lloawi d l,oawn
dw
beer teecrotnhtei
nbuleode kuspoi fp. gtrhaenoei ten
centre
el ltoo fwgh reste
r e
FstihozaeuCt is, on each end that can be seen from the river, they
win rise apparently to the level of the balustrade. On the

7-4..,5e-g 2-4

PRICE 4d.
STAMPED ....sd.

end of each pier, and rising from a bold rich pediment of
carved white stone, will be a column of polished red granite,
7ft in diameter and 12ft in height. This will Le surmounted
by a gigantic capital of carved white stone, and this again
with what we may term a cornice deeply cut and rich in its
design. Above all will be the massive ornamental parapet
of white stone, partly pierced in bold yet simple designs,
and this latter will form the balustrade surrounding the
wide recess above each pier. It is difficult to speak too
highly of the general effect of these piers as they will be
seen from the river. There is a simplicity, a massiveness,
and dignity in their whole proportions, and the effect of
their colour contrasts will bo so striking that no merely
verbal description can do them justice.
When the piers are all finished the pressure on the foun-
dation will be only four tons per fo•)t, or not much more
than half the pressure on the foundations of large ware-
houses. The ironwork will, of course, all bo tested before

it goes up, and before the bridge itself will be opened ;
but it is almost not too much to say that the second
testing in place will be a mere matter of form, for
the sectional area of all the girders has been designed to be
about seven times stronger than any strain than can ever
come upon it in the reasonable course of London daily
traffic.
One most ornamental and novel feature in the new bridge
deserves especial mention, both for its own merit and for
the praiseworthy liberality and good taste the corporation
have displayed in granting this extra expense for purely
decorative purposes. At both sides and at both ends the
new bridge is to have a wide and noble flight of steps lead-
ing to the waterside. But, unlike other bridges, which ge-
nerally have their parapets tapering away into insignifi-
cance at their extremities, the balustrades at either end
stop short and terminate in four bold massive pediments
about 25ft high, somewhat similar to those which terminate
the balustrades M London bridge, but far more lofty in size
and noble in proportion. Once seen in design and it was
impossible for any architect or engineer of taste to resist
surmounting them with groups of statuary, and this Mr.
Cubitt boldly did, and included the price of the bronze
groups in his estimate for the whole bridge. Though these
are, after all, mere supplementary ornaments, without which
no doubt, the bridge, as a bridge, would do quite as well,
yet the corporation, to their great honour, did not take this
narrow view of it, but, regarding the statues only as a
splendid finish to their splendid work, almost unanimously
granted the £16,000 required for the four groups. All these
are to be equestrian statues in bronze, and 20ft high. Three
of them are already decided on—her Majesty, with Queen
Elizabeth, at one end, and King Alfred, and most probably
Edward the Black Prince, as the first and most renowned
of our Princes of Wales, at the other.
The coat of the whole work, including the temporary
bridge, is only £265,000, which is at the rate of £3 per
foot super, only about is a foot dearer than Westminster-
br idge, which still enjoys the honour of being the cheapest
and as yet the most beautiful that spansthe Thames. There
is only one great drawback on Mr. Cubitt's bridge, but
this, unfortunately, is a most serious destroyer of its
beauty. It is that the equally fine bridge which is being
built for the Chatham and Dover line is so close to the site
of new Blackfriars that from no point of the river can a view
be got of one structure without the other also appearing and
spoiling it. The distance between the two is only 150 feet
—a mere nothing in perspective. The spans of both are the
same, but the railway is a level bridge and the city struc-
ture is arched, and situated as they are, apparently almost
touching, one most effectually kills the other. In these
days of metropolitan railways the Chatham and Dover
bridge (which is a wonderful structure of its kind) must,
we suppose, be regarded as a necessary evil. But, neces-
sary as it may be, it is cordially to be wished that it was
anything but alongside the site of new Blackfriars. The
latter will really be a noble structure, and will add still
further to the character the Thames enjoys above all other
rivers in the world for the grandeur and beauty of its
bridges.

THE PROPOSED PRUSSIAN' LOAN,

BERLIN, Jan. 19.

The report of the Committee of the Chamber of
Deputies upon the loan demanded by the Govern-
ment has appeared. Having been drawn up before
the declaration of Austria and Prussia at the latest
sitting of the Federal Diet, it does not touch upon
the most recent phase of the Schleswig-Holstein

question.
The declarations made in the Committee by Herr
von Bismark upon the position of the Governmerlt
are of especial interest. They may be summarised
as follows
Up to the present time it has not been the inten-
tion of the Government to proceed upon any other
basis than that of the Diet. This, however, by no
means excluded the possibility of an independent
advance,il the proposition of Prussia should not be
supported by a majority at the Diet. It was his
duty, as Minister for Foreign Affairs, to place Prus-
sian interests in the first rank, not the interests of
another dynasty or of any other nationality. It
could not be admitted that the collective strength of
Prussia and Austria—the Powers who protected
the glass-house of the German State system from
European attacks—should be disposed of by a majo-
rity which possibly did not represent two millions
and a half of population. So long as the separation
of territories in Germany held good, so long might
German commercial interests and the like be spoken
of, bat no German interests in politics. In that
regard he could only recognise Austrian, Bavarian,
&c., interests.
" He considered the question of Prussia's entire
withdrawal from the London Treaty rather a ques-
tion of opportuneness than of right. Only those
deductions from right had force which one possessed
the power to carry out. It was a common error to
imagine that the right of States was found by law-
yers, not made by treaties. It was an awkward
thing to measure treaties by the mere standard of
justice. The Committee should recollect the Treaties
of Vienna, which contained much injustice, and yet
had constituted the basis of the European State-
system for nearly 50 years. They should recollect
Poland ; remember the curtailment of Saxony,
whose King was punished merely because, being
the only monarch in the power of Napoleon, he had
been unable to join the Allies.
"If the German deductions of right in the Schles-
wig-Holstein matter were declared to be perfectly
clear and transparent, as had been remarked in the
Committee, and opposing opinions were stigmatised
as 'threadbare sophistry' and ' hole-and-corner
arguments,' he would only observe, in place of all
criticism, that hole-and-corner-arguments; when
supported by a majority of European bayonets,
usually gained the day. In the question of oppor-
tuneness our relations to the Duchy of Schleswig
played an important part ; for as soon as we with-
drew from the London Treaty, the cognate treaties
of 1851-52, and therewith all claims to interference,
fell to the ground. From the moment of withdrawal
from the London Treaty, therefore, the Duchies
were shown different roads, and then the question
immediately started into importance whether the
Confederation had a right to conquer a non German
country—Schleswig—from a German Prince. Such
imparted
a right of the Confederation could never be de-
duced from Federal treaties, which were merely
far mutual assistance. Were such a capability ac-
have reconquered for Austria her birthright in Italy
siau Ambassadors
In case of a withdrawal from the London protoco,
si it
owr
eo
au would
Neufchatel
follow t hatto Thee
King
ge doefr Prussia n shoaunl
and
chpf eoa Pei
ntmeemdar
Ist of January of this year, to which period he had
etrht
think
nkl
y a
new shape to the proceedings of the great German
irykrceofeurlrdedataosndceeciiseicorporate Schleswig. The
of the de-
parture
Copenhagen, end of the collective motion
brought in with reference to that date upon Dec.
28, which held out the prospect of eventual occupa-
ntrtci Powers;r
e
occupa-
tion of Schlegwig. The Diet had come to no resolu-
tion as to ejection' of the hereditary Prince of
A egustenburg. The motion of the prenidin,4Powur
ofletthethAe
uCsit)rwiamnitatuvedee hio,anrdlu):
(to request the Prince to leave the country) had been
met by seven affirmatives, five negatives, and four
votes desiring to convey the request in the form of
a wish ; and the motion had, thereupon, been re-
ferred to the Committee. The Prussian represen-
tative had voted in the affirmative without instruc-
tions, but in perfect conformity with the wishes of
his Government, because the presence of the Prince
obstructed the action of the Federal Commissioners,
and was injurious to the authority of the Diet."
A membsr of the Committee asked how these ex-
pressions were to be reconciled with the passage of
the Royal reply, which stated, The succession