The Sun.
London, England, 1852-02-26 00:00:00

THE SUN,

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

SIR,--1u the summary of the Bombay Tunes of
the 17th January last is given a letter addressed by
Sir Wtn. Napier, to the editor of the Bombay Ga-
zette, in which he disposes of Major Jacob's pub-
lished letter, therein given. After having given in
the Bombay Times the letter of Sir Wm. Napier,
taken from the Bombay Gazette, and addressed to
its editor, the editor of the Bombay Times—that is,
Dr. Buist—then gives some remarks of his own, in
which he states, " that in 1845 he was for some
months within reach of Sir WTm. Napier, who then
suffered his statements to he all upset, and given to
the winds by a party on the spot ready to meet him
in any way he liked ; he waited till the seas inter•
vetted before he in any way replied to the in-
vitation." Such is the manner in which
Dr. Buist puts forward his valorous boast
to the people of Bombay of his chivalrous bearing
towards Sir William Napier in 1845. Now, Sir, I
happened to be a resident in the island of Guernsey
in 1845, when Dr. Buist's valorous bearing towards
Sir William Napier, who was then resident Lieute-
nant-Governor of Guernsey, appeared, and I read this
production in the local paper in which it appeared in
the island at that time, and I assert to you, that when
it was published it was matter of notoriety at that
time in the island of Guernsey, that Dr. Buist had
embarked on his return for India at the time it was
published, and must have been many hundreds of
miles away. Many amusing remarks were made in
ridicule of the gallant Doctor's fierce valour, whose
inflated vanity had evidently been wounded. •
I enclose you the Bombay Times of the 17th Jae
nuary, requesting as a favour you may notice in your
widely circulated journal the Doctor's statement, to
enable the people of Bombay to appreciate the
Doctor's vaunt at its proper worth.
The Doctor states that he has not had the castigation
of the broomstick which Sir Charles had promised to
inflict upon him. I can only congratulate the fortu-
nate Doctor on his escape—all who have fallen in his
hands have not been so fortunate.
I enclose my name and address, to satisfy you I
was in a position at that time to be cognisant of the
facts I stated, and you are at liberty to make what use
you please of the same.
I have the honour to be, &c
SARNI2E.
Guernsey, Feb. 23, 1852.

SIR CHARLES•NAPIER and the BAYONET.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE TINES.
Sir,—Your correspondent " Medicaster," in the Times
of yesterday, represents the hero of Scinde, Sir Charles
Napier, as having championed the bayonet as the queen
of weapons, in a recent letter on our national defences,
and " Medicaster," in reply to this letter, gives an ex-
tract from the Lancet of the 14th of this month, wherein
it is stated by Mr. Guthrie (an eminent army surgeon
of great experience during the late wars is Spain, Por-
tugal, and France) that he, in common with other army
surgeons, scarcely ever saw a bayonet wound, which
Medicaster " alleges " ought to have great weight in
settling the question as to the efficiency of this weapon of
destruction."
Now, Sir, as an old soidier who witnessed the greater
part of the battles and sieges which took place during
those wars, I can confirm, as to the fields of battle, this
statement of the army surgeons as regards the hospitals,
as I never witnessed a bayonet wound or two hostile
lines come in contact, for this simple reason—that one
party gave way, overcome by its tears of this weapon,
before it was physically vanquished. But this fact does
not by any means tend to controvert Sir Charles Na-
pier's reasons for championing the bayon
et as the queen
of weapons; it tends, in my b opinion, rather to
support those reasons, as when the great object in war-
fare is to make the enemy show his back as expedi-
tieusly as possible, the weapon that will tend the most
effectually towards the accomplishment of this object
ought to be regarded as the most efficient.
Under these circumstances I would recommend those
amateur sportsmen who are desirous of making game of
the enemy in the event of an invasion, to think more
of the bayonet and coming to close quarters than of
rifle shooting at long distances, 'averaging, as some of
your correspondents assert, from half to three-quarters
of a mile. Sharpshooters covering the front of a line
may amuse themselves in this manner as the enemy
approaches, but the corps that means to make him show
his back should be concealed behind the summit or
brow of an undulating plain well selected across his
line of march, and await patiently until he arrives
within 50 yards of the top, then suddenly appear in line,
fire a well-directed volley into his columns, and charge
through the smoke, and when the atmosphere becomes
clear the backs of their foes will be discerned descend-
ing much more rapidly than they ascended, all from the
" fears of the bayonet." Therefore, in my humble
opinion, and with all due respect for " Medicaster 's"
statements, Sir Charles Napier is right in designating it
" the queen of weapons."—l have the honour to be, Sir,
your most obedient servant,
London, Feb. 24. JOHN SCOTT LILLY.

BRITISH EMPIRE MUTUAL LIFE
ASSURANCE COMPANY.
The fifth annual meeting of this company was held at
the offices, New Bridge-street, on Tuesday; Mr. John
Gover in the chair.
The CHAIRMAN said they had row come to close the
business of the past year, and the period had arrived fer
the first division of profits under the deed of settlement.
Ho imagined the members of the society must all feel
some interest in the winding up of their affairs at this
time. The business last year had increased in a much
larger ratio over that of the preceding year than had
ever before happened, although the accounts of each
year showed a greater amount of business than its im-
mediate predecessor. The total amount of the policies
effected was 553,3031. This success he had no doubt
was due to the individual efforts of the members in ob-
taining insurances. He then remarked on the few
deaths that bad occurred i❑ the last year, and stated
that the amount paid upon life policies bad been 2,3231.
4s. 9d. The last point he had to notice was, that a
saving of 10 per cent. had been effected on the ex-
penses every year since the first commencement of the
company,
The SECRETARY then read the report, which stated that
a disposable balance remained in hand of 8,0251. Is. 7d.
The CHAIRMAN moved the adoption of the report,
which, after being seconded, was carried unanimously.
Mr. MILLAR (vice-chairman) announced that one-
half of the disposable balance, as soon as the respetive
amounts to be paid could be calculated, would be ready
for the shareholders. It was at their option whether
they would receive the amount in cash or apply it to
diminishing the premiums. The dividends would be
ready on the Ist of July. He proposed that the recom-
mendation of the directors be adopted.
This resolution, on being seconded, was carried unani-
mously.
The retiring directors and the auditor were unani-
mously reelected, and the proceedings terminated.

ORDNANCE EXPERIMEN7'S.
WOOLWICH. FEB. 25 —Lord Clarence Paget, Lieut.-
General ;air Thornas Downman, C. 8., &GM, Mujor-
Gnenerol Campbell, Colonel Gordon, Colonel Chalmer,
Colons Brereton, C. 8., K.H., and Lieutenant-Colonel
Bell, Roy al three Artillery, Lieutenant-Colonel Bar-
Mugs, K.H., Lieutenant- Colonel Anderson, Lieutenant-
Colonel Burn, Lieutenant-Colonel Thorndike, Lieute-
mint-Colonl Robe, Major Wingfield, Riding-house
Troop, Major Dupuis, Royal Horse Artillery, Brigade-
Major Btngham, Captain Riddell, Deputy Assistant
Quartermaster-General of Artillery, and a great number
01 die officers of the Royal Artillery, Royal Engineer s,
and 4th Light Dragoons, assembled in the marshes at two
o'clock P.M. to witness experiments with the rifle-can-
non.
Tne shot and shells fired from the rifle-cannon
were constructed on Lord Clarence Paget's plan, which
differs from the shot and shells formerly described as
being made of galvanized iron, having four projecting
longitudinal pieces on each of nearly half an inch in
depth to slide in the grooves of the cannon. Those on
Lerd Clarence Paget's principle are made of cast-iron,
of a conical or sugarloaf shape, and having attached at
their base a ring of lead rather more than half an inch
in thickness and about two inches in depth, which
when fixed, projects nearly an inch beyond the iron of
the shot and shell, forming a hollow similar to the
leadiia;stocutthevvtihthretillr
oftharsehaadrapo
bottom of a common black bottle. The outside of the
echaracter,
renders
the si -
shot and eh efcarecwir,cuwlhaf
lead expand
sal shells easy to ram home, and when fired the
Sri
inch in (ndfil!ki the four grooves, each being about
depth. The nrinbreadth by nearly an eighth of an inch in
battery guns, one took place from two 9-pounder field-
9-pounder service, supplieda with the usual field battery
solidshot of 91h. weight, and a
charge of three pounds
other, the weight
powder, at a range of
1,000 yards. The t,se rifled cannon, was supplied
with Lord Clarence Paget
their elongated shape, weighed 151 b.
shot, which, from
.)lb.
charge of powder was only one 602. each, and the
the firing took place with the rifle
epeound weight. When
to ascertain the result, as the lead Part it was difficult
detached during the flight of the projecteienerally become
the ground at from 600 to 700 yards dista'nat"tl; striking
meet of the iron part was lost sight of, as it 'did enmo eve-
pear to strike the hire, or enter the mound behind it.
light 3-pounder field-battery gun, rifled in a simillatr.
manner to the 9-pounder cannon, but with less depth of
groove, was then taken to within 300 yards of the tar-
get, and fired with shells made
cussion• on. Lord Clarence
Paget's plan, having a common perap on
a nipple, and the second round entered the target near
n stri
the centre, bursting immediately oking th
and be bulk-
-11,a4 behind, throwing down the target,burying
the iron part of the shell in the massive hard woo
sd. The
experiments were concluded on firing the two shell
from the 3-pounder rifle cannon.

_
THE FORTIFICATIONS AT PEMI3ROICE. The corn-
struction of the martello tower at the entrance of
rbiiiiLbi.ireds
Haven is being proceeded with, though the late severe gss
and boisterous weather have much impeded the progra °1
the contractors. When completed, this will prove a
serious
annoyance to an enemy, in consequence of its artillery being
able to command the approach to the haven in every direc-
tion. the guns forming the battery (western) at the dock-
yard are being replaced with more effective artillery, the
present ones being totally inefficient for the pur.oses of
defence; and the matted() t tae's at the Arsenal, which have
been so long erected are to be mounted with proper guns,
the necessary orders having been issued by the Board of
Ordnance. It is expected that before long additional de-
fences will be adopted for the protection of this great naval
OS, ablisliment.

LARGE ARRIVALS OF SKIPPING.__ithin the last
few days upwards of 150 vessels have arrived in the port of
London from nearly every quarter of the globe that had
been weather-bound in the British Channel and the Downs
duripg the vielent gales fxella tho

LONDON,

SPIRIT of the PUBLIC JOURNALS

FROM THE MORNING PAPERS OF THIS DAY.
HERALD.--In the observations we felt ourselves
constrained to make yesterday, touching the principal
members of the new Administration, we said not one
word of the Noble Chief. Nor was it necessary. For
it seems on every side to be admitted that the cha-
racter of Earl Darby is without stain and without
reproach, and who shall deny his surpassing ability—
his chivalrous courage—his straightforwardness and
eminently British feeling. The Earl of Derby has
betrayed or deoeived no party. When he could not
concur in the policy of a Cabinet, like a man of
honour and integrity he resigned his post, and entered
into the ranks of private life. Against such a man
no ill word can be uttered by his most determined
political foe. To write the praises of such a nobleman
were needless, or might now appear interested. Even
the Chronicle or the News might say, as was an-
swered to the panegyrist ot Hercules—Quis vitupera-
vit g It cannot be urged that the Earl of Derby is un-
used to sublic life. From almost the period of his ma-
jority he was a member of the House of Commons, and,
after having visitea the United States and Canada,
was early initiated into public businees. As Chief
Secretary for Ireland, and as Colonial Secretary, he
showed himself as capable in the transaction of public
business and in affairs of administration as he was
ready, effective, and eloquent in debate. The Noble
Earl has had carte blanche to form an administration
—offices were at hand which he might bestow on this
relative and on that other private friend and con-
nexims, and yet, in five-and-twenty or thirty nomi-
nations, no 'human being can find a trace of nepotism.
There is no nice family party or interest for whom
the Noble Earl has taken care to provide. He has
not taken pity on his father-in-law—or chosen his
brother-in-law for colleague, or his kinsmen to fill
the vacant places in his Cabinet. Thank God, there
is no brood of incapable hungry Minto-Elliots
or greedy Greys clinging round the skirts of
the Earl of Derby. We have had, for six long
years, enough and too much of this. The country
was indignant and nauseated at such fla-
grant jobbery, and at the shameless sang froid
with which it was avowed. Of all the narrow and
nasty cliques which ever disgraced a faction that
Minto-and-Grey clique was the narrowest and the
most unbearable. The gorge of the nation had risen
at it long ago. There was no public service—there
was no country which these miraculous Greys and
these stupendous Minto-Elliots were not quartered
on. The country had, Heaven knows, a dear and a
heavy bargain of their emptiness, their arrogance,
their superciliousness, and their sordid thirst for
public money. Let it not be said our censure is in-
discriminate, or that we run down a great party.
We deny it. The concentrated essence of Whiggery
is not contained in the Greys and Elliots. They
loved the name for what it produced to their kith and
kin, and cared not a doit for the mere doctrines
which were unprofitable without office. Contrast
the public and official lives of these men with the
graceful departure, the blameless, unspotted, and un-
selfish career of Lord Lansdowne, and they stand
rebuked by the contrast of a Whig who unites
the qualities and attributes of a nobleman and gen-
tleman. We have said there is no nepotism in the
appointments of the Earl of Derby. In all that long
list of officials which the Morning Herald has for
the three last days contained, there is but one name
connected with his Lordship's own family, and that
is the name of Lord Stanley, who is appointed to
the Under-Secretaryship for Foreign Affairs. For
this office no man has fitted himself more by laborious
preparation and long travel than the Noble Member
for King's Lynn. Had Lord Stanley been one of the
Greys in the. Ministry of Lord John Russell, or one
of the Elliots, think you the "governing families"
would not have provided something better than an
under-secretaryship for a young nobleman who not
merely obtained the first place in classics at Trinity
College, Cambridge, but who also took mathematical
honours, and gained the declamation and other
prizes. The Secretary of the Admiralty, at all times
an important place, is just now peculiarly so. It has
been conferred on Mr. Stafford, a gentleman of un-
questioned ability and readiness, and great personal
popularity. Tha Secretaries of the Board of Con-
trol are Lord Desert, a nobleman of confessed
ability, and Mr. H. Baillie, who has devoted much
attention to colonial questions, and who on more oc-
casions than one has distinguished himself in debate.
There is not a better informed man in the House,
nor a better man of business of his standing, than
Mr. G. A. Hamilton, and his colleague, Mr. Forbes
Mackenzie, is not only an excellent man of business,
but deservedly popular with men of all parties. The
Marquis of Chandos is not merely a most exemplary
member of society, but has already shown himself
an excellent and a prudent man of business. It is
true, none of these noblemen and gentlemen are as
old, as hacknied, and as experienced as some of
the Whig red-tapists. But of all the cants
in this canting world the cant of expe-
rience is the most unmeaning. Do not we see men
of fifty, sixty, and seventy every day, who have
had abundant experience, and whom nobody thinks
the better or the wiser for it? Official life must have
a beginning, and it were better it began early than
late. Some of our .greatest and best public servants
bad responsibility cast on them at a very early age.
We need but mention the Pitts, the Nelsons, the
Wellingtons, the Cannings, the Peels, and the Stan-
leys. No one can say, however that the head of the
Government—that the head. of the law, in England
or Ireland—that the first law officers of the Crown,
either in England or Ireland—that the Commander-
in-Chief, or the Master-General of the Ordnance, or
the President of the Council, lack experience; and
for the rest, the mere routine of office will be soon
learned by those unused to official life. We have
seen so many unworthy, uncandid, and, we regret to
say, unprincipled things practised by men seasoned
to, and hacknied in, official life, that we rejoice now
to have to deal with some officials who come not to
the work with tainted, damaged, or equivocal charac-
ters from their last places.
DAILY NEWS.—To-day the New Ministry are
to " kiss hands ;" and to-day the Old Palace of St.
James's will exhibit the well-known features of a
levee. Carriages will throng Pall-mall, and St.
James's-street will be all animation. Soldiers drawn
out and busy policemen will keep back the curious
throng ot the of polloi, who gaze with greedy wonder
upon the jostle of vehicles filled with wonderful
people, all crimson and gold, and feathers, and swords,
and.all framed and glazed in carriages of every ima-
ginable sort and size, from the dignified yellow cha-
riot with marvellous hammer• cloth of the Peer, to the
dingy hired brougham of the lieutenant of marines.
With a real loyalty—now almost singular in Europe
—crowds of dignitaries, ministerial and non-ministe-
rial, naval, military, legal, clerical, will, to-day, flock
about the. Queen to pay to her position and her dig-
nity that homage w hich her virtues render so pleasant
a duty. In the midst of this curious crowd will be
one man to whom the situation may be novel, but
the triumph great. The day will lift him to the
crowning point of a long-wrought ambition—will re-
ward a fierce struggle unceasingly kept up for years
with the steadiness of purpose that can alone secure
the realization of any lofty effort. The Lords whose
boast is a wealthy pedigree may frown, and the
hangers-on of the State may titter; the old aristocra-
tic Tories may flatter themselves they are using him ;
whilst he knows he is using them; they may doubt, or
deny, or repudiate as they will, but this one plebeian
of the throng to-day it is who has created the Minis-
try about to " kiss hands" on taking their places. He
alone saw the way of linking together the elements
of a once powerful hut disorganized party; he it was
who " felt his way" towards healing prejudices in one
direction and widening them in another; insinuating
a doubt here and administering a compliment there;
taking up the cudgels of debate when hereditary dul-
ness was suffering from the onslaught of economic
truth, or yielding his rapier for defence when the youth-
ful cleverness of modern England fleshed its keen blade
in the slothful stupidity of those who think mildewed
prejudices sufficient to satisfy the needs of our time.
Ready, witty, fluent, dexterous—and with steady
panedinatdhheerheanstsptruirvpeonsefe—r.he hasTo d
aa last
yt
bemusacthv ieed tle
rememberi
the Parliamentary scorn that, years ago, saluted his
first Parliamentary effort ; to-day going on his knee
to the Queen as one of her appointed Ministers, me-
mory can scarcely fail to recal his bitter reply,
hurled as the return for that scorn—" The, day will
come when you shall be glad to hear me. ' And it
has come. And Lord Derby may flout, and his
friends may scoff if they will, but the men who
aisisns:raeaanwldiitsty'a'lnetoda-dadsnatybac,i:tvre and can only be regarded
as Mr. Disraeli's Ministry. The son of the scholar
and author—himself a novelist and a writer for the
the anticipation
paoreds
adventurer—has
n lordstu
Benjamin
him through the raenrd—i
ehrads
ibanded h
etogether,oernart pageant of to-day. The hope and
Div,aefij/ears has been realised, and—Mr.
Exchequer of Great &Jr.'
has reached the apexpinnacle, and become,
"arnig
sca.tlaeihdn.the height, mastered the
is Chancellor of the
will hdavweill take the useful salary
t honourable." He tastes
—of
sHweeets" And what next ?He
worry him ; colleagues—who pwaitlrl 0 n age—that will
use and scoff at
him. He is too quick not to see, too a
feel, too clever not to appreciate all
tehttisitive not to
melice of the vain and envious may not But the
surprise,
animosity of the malicious can only amnsonuthe
hire. The
bitterness of the showy cup will come from .
another
quar:er. The glitter of the levee will not hide itne
will the jingle of " right honourable" drown itsr
voice. The talent that has lifted the plebeian into
the gaudy unrealities of modern aristocratic life
will, also, show its owner the falsity of his position,
He is a genius amongst dullards ; an emanation of
the present amongst those who believe only in the
pa't ; a flatterer of prejudices he knows to be
; and a preacher of the wisdom of theories
long since exploded. He I,;akes his place amongst
these noblemen of the Cabin et because they have been