The Sun.
London, England, 1852-02-03 00:00:00

EXTRAORDINARY ACCIDENT AT THE
ROYAL ARSENAL, 'WOOLWICH.
Yesterday an accident occurred at the Royal
Arsenal, which might have been attended with awful
consequences. It is invariably the case on the receipt
of new guns from contractors to test them by an
extra charge of powder, varying according to the size
of the gun and description of ordnance. In compliance
with this regulation, a detachment of gunners of the
Royal Artillery attended at the proof butt, in the
Royal Arsenal, and under the usual superintendence
loaded four 56 pounder guns, lying on the ground atla
short distance from the butt, with a charge of 281bs. of
powder to each, and, after the wadding, added a 56
pounder solid shot to each. The time selected for
proving guns is always at 12 at noon precisely, when
the whole of the workmen in the arsenal have left
their work to proceed to their dinners. The process of
testing the guns is very carefully conducted, port fires
calculated to burn four or five minutes being supported
by clay over the vent of each gun, and the whole
ignited by one man, who has ample time to retire
three or four hundred yards before the firing takes
place. Oa the arrangements being made for firing
with the four 56-pounder:, one of the guns, whose
port-fire had communicated to the charge before the
others, burst in the act of firing, and one of the
pieces struck one of the wher guns and turned it
right round, the muzzle bAng then, instead of nearly
due east towards the mound, due west in the direc-
tion of the town of Woolwich, and in an instant
afterwards the 56-pounder shot was fired, proceed-
ing at a tremendous velocity given by the great
cbcsrge of powder over the houses in the line of
.High-street, and only at a very little elevation above,
starting and causing the horses returning from their
work at the dockyard to rear and refuse to proceed,
and astonishing the numerous workmen going
home to dinner with its whizzing sound. The shot
passed on a little to the south of the tall chimney at
the saw and struck the chimney of the residence
Of Mr. Macdonald, master attendant at Woolwich
dockyard, and a few yards further knocked down the
beck drawing-room chimney of Mr. Morgan, the
store receiver's residence, at the same time knocking
down a large portion of the parapet of the building,
scattering the bricks in all directions, and, ultimately,
feel on the roof of a detached part of the house
where the shot was found. Had the shot gone ten
yards further, and the distance where it fell from the
place where it was fired is fully a mile and a half, it
would have fallen on a dense crowd of dockyard
workmen at that moment leaving the yard for
dinner.. Mr. Budd, one of the inspectors of the dock-
yard police, had a narrow escape from being injured
by one of the pieces of scattered bricks, as it entered
the open door of a greenhouse he has on the top of his
house, and broke off a piece of a shelf by the great
force with which it struck ; Mr. Budd had not left the
spot the distance of a foot when the brick entered.
The scattered bricks ascended and broke numerous
chimney pots on the tops of the adjoining houses, and
several windows in the lower parts of the dwellings,
and the inside of Mr. Morgan's residence was covered
With soot and pounded bricks which came down the
chimney. The spot was visited by hundreds during
the afternoon, all congratulating each other that no
Personal injury had been sustained by the accident.

HONESTY.
A FRAGMENT.
I tell you, Sir, that Honesty is nought
But a mere word bandied by men's lips;
It is a quality that does insure
Hate's venomed arrows, and affords a prey
For human bloodhounds to hunt down to death.
There have been honest men—there may be snob.
Some have been bold enough to breathe aloud
Their own peculiar homage to the God
Who formed at first, and who at last shall judge:
They did avow their faith with steady zeal,
Nor let their breast be warped by bribe or threat.
What were the guerdons of such honest tongues?
The chain, the rack the fagot and the stake;
And the sharp crackling of consuming bones,
Commingled with the yell of saintly fiends,
Served as encouragement to speak the truth.
Some have been honest—rarely, strangely so,
In that Elysium of craft—a Court.
With most presuming speech the patriot one
Has offered stern advice to sceptred fools,
Serving a people rather than a King.
And what the thanks he gained? A traitor's name
At least; perchance the secret poison-cup
Or public scaffold, teaching senators
A glorious lesson in our worldly book.

Go, face the hungry lion in his path,
Tread on the serpent in his torrid coil,
And less of risk will wait upon such deed
Than on the effort that shall seek to tear
The specious mask from gilded roguery.
Oh! 'tis a goodly thing this Honesty!
An estimable feature in a watchdog,
And there repaid and valued; but the man
taltes up candour for his standard word,
Scorning
the Proteus shapes of mean dissemblanoe,
Awho cts just as wisely as the soldier does
draws his sword and flings away his shield.
Try ye how uncloaked Honesty will thrive
With close and_kindred friends or passing strangers:
Confess your errors with a ready grace;
Own you have sins, and tell how Passion throbs
With earnest joy at some forbidden shrine;
Proclaim how dark Revenge excites your soul;
Betray the latent spring of selfish Pride
That moves the blazoned hand of Charity.
Publish the flaws and blots that " flesh is heir to;"
Speak out, appear the chequered thing you are,
And see if Mercy will befriend your cause,
Or any voice commend your guileless tongue.
No, no. The herd around, who hide, perchance,
More guilt under more cunning, will pounce down,
Like hungary hawks upon a wandering bird;
They will condemn the heart that's frank enough
To speak its folly, and yet babble forth
"An honest man's the noblest work of God."
,°ll, Honesty! thou art indeed a gem
vf matchless brilliancy, but he who wears thee
Finds the pure jewel is a target mark
Per every bolt that worldly knaves can shoot,
Till, worn and harassed by the goading strife,
lie throws the lustre from his struggling breast,
414 walks the road of life like all wise men,
A flattering trickster. He must learn to look
All smiles and courtesy to those above him,
Be their ways good or evil. He must give
,T,he band of friendship where he may despise;
ZOO the rich fool, and meet the titled villain
br,With enlogistic greeting and glad aspect;
Veer with opinion's compass, let it point
wherever it may, and mouth soft eloquence
In praise of even that be inly loathes.
''is sad, but 'tis most true, that Honesty
48 like the phantom sprites in grandams' tales,
Ruch oftener prated of than seen—and 'tis
As true and sad, that it is safer far
T 0 sin, like Lucifer, in wily guise,
Than simply err, and tell the wrong we do.
ELIZA COOK.

TO TEE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
SlRthe ,—;The extraordinary profits declared by many of
,lathed ending life offices, more particularly those esta-
within the last fifteen years, have tended very
Zerially. to entitle those institutions to public favour
ih.
su support. If a new office can effect this it is easy to
.ligine what might have been done by the older and
li, Qro powerful companies, many of which, a few years
Joe. obtained Acts of Parliament, enabling them to
k"Pt the bonus system with regard to future assurers,
ii,eut, the large number of pre-existing policies being, in
‘, the assurances of individuals, through whose instru-
41e4tality those offices attained their high position, are
!Xcluded from any share of profits whatever, whilst
tact is notorious, that many of tho latter have paidthe in
ms
beyond the amonnt of the sum insured.
vout: Pologixing to you for requesting the favour of
.7 insertion of this letter lam not without hope that
manyof
established' our readers, holders of policies in the old-
'', atibrnitting of, and
concur i oft'es, will recognize the propriety
their claims, to profits, to the
directors of those and other similar circumstanced corn.
P%llies, which, althoug originally proprietary, without
profits
entered new
, areof their assured
kt e
&e
aawcaerrdtiani
certain
themperi 0
dt.o_i sucham
am,
Sir,. ,
AN INSURER.

Th~OpaMENTS OF TRANSATLANTIC STEAM-SIIIPS.—
„tededßoyal Mail steam-ship Canada, Lang
New York,
commander,
pith
from Liverpool at 3 r.M. on Saturday, for
1)2. "e usual mails, a large cargo, and upwardsl of forty
\N„--'engers. The United States mail steam-ship eat Atlantic,
commander, with advices from New York 25th
to the,
nu) 4lay be expected to arrive at Liverpool on nesaa)
tilt,
wYlie rning next. The screw steam-ship City o Glasgow,
phis °l3.
cornt
ednesdanandeY next r will sail from the Mersey for Philadel-
W.
u edfor
-..E AT WELLINGTON BARRACEM—Yesterday
Chesterd held an inquest at the Artillery Arms, Ro-
Priv 'row, Westminster, on the body of George Ridley, a
3,4ltrate in the Ist Battalion of Grenadier Guards, aged 39
who committed suicide by shooting himself with a
Q, on Saturday morning last. Colonel Begot and Cap-
Bonataiu l3Oll (adjutant of the regiment) were in attendance.
Uwe ?f the deceased's comrades were examined, and proved
the aneut half-past seven o'clock on Saturday morning last,
rate Were in their quarters with deceased, preparing for pa-
keoei TbsY were all so much engaged with their accoutre-,
scdde that they did not observe what each was about ; but
fitil„,24lY their attention was arrested by the report. of. the
fell „, of deceased's musket, and the deceased immediately
one 11 the ground dead. There was some shoemakers' wax-
ooe shed to the trigger of the musket, with a large loop at
ate", into which the deceased must have put hia foot
th_ standing UP, with the butt-end on the floor and
hi: nciluzzle to his mouth, set off his firelock, and caused
4nOth by those means. Verdict—," Temporary in-
CIUT
Nt nAhl, FEB. 2.—Volunteering has opened in
ista. barn Barracks for the depots of the Rifle Brigade, her
licileeBtYa 97th and 69th Regiments, and upwards of 300
thevooffered for the home regiments. It is expected that
eeer.l.unteeri9g will become general in Chatham. Several_
es in parties have recently been sent to different locali-
liio±u E.ngland and Ireland. The depots of the 97th and the
13rigade, lately sent out on the recruiting service, have
clin etailed.
On Friday morning_ a
at 20.. k
number of labourers were
Ainnr on. he Birmingham line, at the Sudbury station,
„ the eight o'clock A.m. up-train arrived rather suddenly-
-1,0,ne men got out of the the knotked down and paced over aH
was cOnyeyed
tr in excepting one,
uiaiTonlitY GQllegol LlQapite, e
nale lit 02944 •