The Sun.
London, England, 1863-02-11 00:00:00

THE ARMSTRONG FIASCO.

TO TILL' EDITOL OF THE SUN.
Snt,—lf it be true, as quoted in the papers of the
2d February, that, in a lucid interval, the War De-
partment has decided upon upz;:tting the mate's nest
at Elswick—getting rid of that glorious field, now
producing worse than nothing, although richly
manured with the guano of jobbery and extrava-
gance, I must hail the step as directly in the right
direction, and it will then be for the country
to pay
the fine which, by a strong compact and sound in-
denture, Sir Wm. Armstrong tied down Gen. Peel
and his successors in office to pay, if they ceased to
use the works at Els wick. So be it, then. The
pretty little bonus which Sir Wm. Armstrong will
receive amounts to something handsome—l forget
whether it be £7O 000 or £80,000; but what signi-
fies an odd ten thousand ? John Bull pays the piper
while we dance, and John has not yet arrived at the
issuing of " greenbacks." Let us pay for our folly
without grudge or grumbling, and pray to become
wiser. The scene is before me when Gen. Peel rose,
and, in a clear and steady voice, announced that
England was safe in possession of a breech-loading
cannon, and that he was proud in having showered
down royal honours and government pay on Arm-
strong, the saviour of the nation. The House of
Commons was excited, and cheered to the echo ;
even Mr. Williams forgot to be a continuation of
Hume, and failed to ask what saving the nation cost.
The peace-at-all-price people devoutly believed that
the olive branch was in the screw of Armstrong's
breech-loader; the reporters were awe-struck; the
strangers under the gallery, in the Speaker's gal-
lery, in the stranger's gallery, heard the words in
the house, " Lo, Armstrong is great, and Peel is his
prophet; " and then devoutly repeated the holy
inspiration.

In the ladies' gallery what a fluttering of fans.
" That dear Armstrong, from what horrors has he
not saved us!" Such enthusiasm never found its
way into the Commons House, since, in answer to a
motion made by Lord Cochrane, and seconded by
Sir Francis Burdett, to inquire into the disgraceful
manning of the navy, Croker answered, refuted, put
down the two querulous members by an indignant
denial, and by reading the despatch just received
announcing the capture of the Chesapeake by the
Shannon. Tell it not in Gath, but the sapient
House of Commons received this English " bun-
combe" as a valid argument, and scoffed at Coch-
rane, and believed in Croker and his Admiralty.
In their true colours, black enough do they appear
by taking up a volume of James's " Naval History,"
and the number of the men and the state of the
crews sent to fight men as good as ourselves may
there be read. Indeed, Sir, there was one act of the
Croker Admiralty which quite equalled the Arm-
strongfiaseo, Not being cunning in geography or
topography—consequently firmly believing that
lakes Ontario, Erie, and other inland American
waters were salt—Croker's Admiralty sent over iron
tanks to put on board of our men-of-war:on those
lakes. These tanks were assessed as costing about
£5OO a peace, after carriage, &c., across the Atlan-
tic and through Canada, and when they arrived it
seemed to strike the commanders of our ships that
the easiest way of procuring fresh water was by
throwing a bucket overboard and hauling it in by
dint of a rope; so they declined lumbering their
ships with iron tanks. Is there one jot more reason
in this Armstrong affair P An engineer persuades
a credulous Minister-at-War that the only guns for
our service are breech-loaders; whereupon the
Minister at War become a true believer, bites all
brother ministers, who turn equally rabid with
Armstrong mania. Without sufficient trial, and
with an exclusion of competition, enormous
outlays are made to uphold this breech-
load engineer. He makes a dead failure;
yet, so strong is Armstrong, that he is allowed
to back out of the principles- which originally
made him an object of attention, and procured
him the honour of knighthood; and he is now al-
lowed to make muzzle-lording guns, which he com-
menced by abjuring, against Whitworth, who al-
ways considered breech-loaders a farce.—l am, Sir,
yours, &c.,
Feb. 7. SCLOPETRUM.

Min CT IOW: IIT I Mil.4loMlieri.

CAII BRIDGE.

The nomination of candidates for the representa-
tion of Cambridge took place yesterday morning in
front of a temporary hustings erected before the
Town-hall. Mr. Alderman Henry Smith, mayor,
presided.
Mr. C. BALLS proceeded to nominate Mr. Francis
Sharp Powell. The motion was seconded by Mr.
D. Adams.

Mr. Alderman E. RICE next proposed Mr. H
Fawcett, the motion being seconded by Mr. MAC-

MILLAN.

Mr. POWELL then addressed the electors at con-
siderable length. The foreign policy of the coun-
try he denounced as in many respects a meddling
and impertinent policy. As a proof of this he re-
ferred to the recently published despatch on the
Roman question. Owing to the course pursued by
Earl Russell we have been told by Napoleon to
mind our own business, and have received a well-
merited snub from the Pope. He considered we
ought not to interfere in the American question,
bnt he must add, also, that he-defied any person
to say that he had uttered one word in favour
of the maintenance of slavery, for he believed that
its abolition would raise the negro in the scale of
civilisation and humanity. AVitn regard to the
public finances, he said that last year to less than
seventy-one millions and a half of money had been
spent, and in order to maintain that they had a
bloated system of taxation, the most important part
of which was the income-tax. He should specially
direct his attention to the reduction of that tax. He
should oppose any augmentation of the Maynooth
grant and the unconditional abolition of Church-
rates, though he was open to entertain any proposal
to compromise the latter question. He should up-
hold the spread of education among the working
classes, and of the principles of the Church of Eng-
land in public and private life, and all social matters.
Mr. FAwcETT, who followed, said, after allusion
to local matters, that he was in favour of and would
support the present Administration generally, and
that, though that support would not be unqualified,
he would especially uphold the foreign policy of
Lord Palmerston. Mr. Fawcett treated with ridi-
cule "the snub of the Pope" and the interference of
the Emperor of the French. He desired a reduction
of the income-tax; was not opposed to the Church
of England. He would have every one placed in
unison, so far as civil and educational privileges
were concerned. One seat might decide the fate of
the Administration, and so all England was looking
to this contest ; but he had come in and spoilt the
" nice little arrangement" made in favour of what
was called " Conservative reaction." In conclusion,
Mr. Fawcett announced, as Mr. Powell on his own
part had done before him, his thorough belief in his
success.
The MAYOR having called for a show of hands, it
was declared to be in favour of Mr. Fawcett. The
poll will take place to-day.

REPRESENTATION OF HAnwicn.—ln anticipation
of an early dissolution of Parliament, Mr. Michael
Wills, of Mecklenburgh-square, has issued an address to
the electors, announcing his intention to contest the
borough of Harwich. It appears from Mr. Wills' address
that he is in favour of a £lO county franchise, and the
abolition of church rates. He approves the general policy
of the present Government, but considers the national ex-
penditure excessive ; and ho would support a reduction of
the tea, sugar, and tobacco duties, and a revision of the
income tax. The borough, it may be remembered, is at
present entirely in the hands of the Conservatives.
REPRESENTATION OF BANDON.—Mr. John King-
ston Sullivan, solicitor, has addressed the electors of the
borough of Bandon Bridge. The representation is also
sought by the Hon. W. Bernard, brother of the deceased
member, and brother of the Earl of Bandon.
REPEAL OF THE MALT DllTY.—Encouraged by
the success which attended the agitation carried on
by the late Hop Duty Repeal Association, the leading
farmers and agriculturists of the county of Kent have
formed a society to obtain the repeal of the malt duty. A
public meeting, to which the several farmers' clubs and
agricultural associations throughout the kingdom have been:
invited to send deputations, will be held in London on
Monday next, and it has also been resolved to openoa ce
c
tral office in the metropolis for the business of the Bjoy..