The Sun.
London, England, 1863-04-11 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, APRIL 11, 1863

The French Emperor and the Royal
Academy,

A letter from Paris says :—lt is customary for a newly-
elected member of the French Academy to be presented
formally, soon after his reception, to the head of the State,
whether the head of the State be called King, President,
or Emperor ; and the persons who, in virtue of their offic
act as sponsors cn the occasion are the Director for the
time being and the perpetual secretary of that learned
body. The writer who has been last admitted to the fau-
teuil vacant by the death of the well. known dramatic
writer Scribe is M. Octave Feuillet, whose claim to the dis-
tinction is founded on a number of works of fiction, ro-
mances, novels, dramatic sketches, proverbs, vaudevilles,
and comedies, all which are marked less by inventive power
than refined sentiment, delicacy of structure, and grace of
style. M. Octave Fenillet was introduced to the Emperor
on Sunday last, accompanied by M. Vitel, the Director for
the month, and M. Vitlemain, the " perpetual secretary."
The new Academician, though, I believe, no cour, ierin the
vulgar acceptation of the term, stands very well at Court,
and has been more than once a welcome guest at Com-
piegne, where he contributed to the amusements of the
company with his " Proverbs," which were acted by some
of the highest and fairest of its occupants. It is hardly
necessary to say that on the day of solemn reception by the
Academy the new member has to read a discourse, record-
ing 801110 of the leading incidents in the life of his predeces-
sor, and in which there is usually much eulogy, with as
little as possible of criticism. It is replied to with an ad-
dress by the Director, more or less laudatory, specifying
the titles of the recipient for the honour just conferred
upon him. There was a large attendance the day M.
Feuillet went through this ordeal, and the Empress and
some other members of the Imperial family testified by
their presence the pleasure they had received from his vers
de societd and his miniature dramas at Compiegne. In the
course of his address M. reakt-doot occasion to make
some flattering allusions tn. the illustrious lady who was
among the listeners, and which, doubtless, she duly appre-
ciated, and it was certain they were such as would bespeak
more than ordinary cordiality in the Emperor's reception
of the laureate.

After the first civilities were gone throtigh the Emperor
thanked M. Octave Feuillet for the compliment he had ad-
dressed to the Empress and to himself, all the more, he said,
as it required no little courage to praise him or his in the
Academy, and the compliment was the greater from its
rarity. His Majesty went on to observe that these recap
tions were becoming more solemn and more important,
" and," he added, " I have been for some time past trying
to make myself worthy of you some day." A thorough cour-
tier would doubtless have replied to this hint by saying that
his honoured colleagues and himself were greatly flattered
at such a hope being held out to them, and that they were
most anxiously waiting for the moment to arrive when the
superlative honour of seeing one of the 40 fauteuils filled by
so great a Sovereign should be theirs. M. Vital did not,
however, say so ; he merely observed that he, like
every one else, had heard of the historical composition on
which his Majesty had been for some time employed—the
" Life of Julius Comer." He trusted it was near its com-
pletion, and he had no doubt it would fulfil the expectations
raised by it. The Emperor smiled, bowed, and admitted
that a good deal of the work had been gone through, but
that a good deal remained to be done. He flattered himself
that he had succeeded in elucidating some important points
connected with Caesar's military career, and particularly
his campaigns in Gaul. There were, however,' oonle parts
which still required a good deal of study and xajaaarchi-emne
time would probably elapse before be mei:wales' to his satis-
faction. He had-to ransack ad, battle -Adds, the scenes of
Cmsar's victories, and-it required much labour and patience
to do so.

His Majesty chanced to l')ok at M. Villomain at the mo-
ment, as if he directed this part of his observation to him.
" Very true, Sire," said the witty and caustic secretary,
it is no doubt a laborious undertaking ; but, Sire, it is a
more pleasing task to search out old battle fields than
to open new ones," The august interlocutor stroked
his moustache with his thumb and forefinger, and again
smiled, as one fancies the Protector may have smiled when
replying to Dr. Holdenough's lecture at Woodstock.
" Lack-a-day 1 The good man speaks truth, according to
his knowledge and his lights—ay, bitter truths, and hard
to be digested."
The Emperor assured M. Villemain that he fully agreed
with him he felt the force of his observations during his
campaign in Italy, which made an impression on him which
he never could forget.

The conversation then took a desultory turn, and was
soon br, ught to a close. The Emperor was gracious to the
last, and the three Academicians took leave and retired.

From what his Majesty said about his literary studies, it
is clear that he seriously entertains the idea of offering him-
self, either beford or after the completion of his work on
Caesar, as candidate to the Academy. In this, as in so
many other things, he takes the first Napoleon as his model.
During the period that elapsed after his return from Italy
and the expedition to Egypt, Gen. Bonaparte lived in Paris
in the most retired manner ; seldom appeared in public ; re-
ceived only a few persons, mostly savans, in his modest
mansion in the Rue Chantereine (now Rue de la Victoire) ;
avoided military society; claimed and obtained, on the
ground of his scientific acquirements, a seat in the Institute
(of which the Academie Francaise is now one of the five
branches), won the esteem of that body, associated con-
stantly with its leading members, such as Lagrange, La-
phce, Monge, &c., and relieved the severity of his studies
with his favourite, Ossian.
It will certainly be a curious sight that of the Emperor's
reception, but the most curious of all wilt be the manner of
his getting over the preliminary steps. It is a settled rule
that the aspirant for academical honours shall pay a vist in
person to all and each of the members of the Academy at
their own residences, state in precise terms the nature of his
claim to be admitted as their colleague, give all the expla-
nations demanded of him, answer all the queries put to him,
and when all are satisfied, solicit respectfully the honour of
their support. This custom is never departed from, no
matter how high the literary standing of the applicant, and
it cannot, if the Academy is to be considered worthy of
having an Emperor for one of its members, be dispensed
with in his case. But fancy for a moment Napoleon 111.
waiting on M. Montalembert, or on the Duke de Broglie,
or on M. Thiers, or on M. Guizot, or on M. Villemain, at
the Institute, and, hat in hand, deferentially praying for
their vote; or, still stranger, applying by letter to Victor
Hugo for permission to call him "confrere." Then the
Imperial Academician must pronounce a panegyric on his
predecessor, whoever he may be; he must go through the
reception scene, when his literary and political merits are
described by the Director of the day. But the most diffi-
cult is to ascertain to whom he shall be presented after his
reception. It must be to himself as Head of the State;
and he must make a speech to himself, and answer himself.
This part of the ceremonial may, however, take place in the
Salle des Marechaux, where there is, or was, a marble bust
of himself, to which he may be presented. It is a difficult
question, and T cannot suggest any satisfactory answer.
It will, no doubt, occupy the serious attention of the Aca-
demy between this and the period fixed upon for receiving
so formidable an honour. In the meantime it may be well
to offer a prize for the best essay on the solution of the
problem.

Extensive Banking Embezzlements at Hull.

On Thursday the Hull Borough Sessions were opened
before Mr. Recorder Warren. The calendar contained 36
cases, being a large increase over that of several years past.
Amongst the earliest cases disposed of was that of John
Henry North, 42 years of age, late assistant cashier at the
offices of the Hull Banking Company, who was charged
with stealing £3,163 15s. 3d., the property of his employers.
Mr. Gresham appeared for the prosecution, and Mr. Thomp-
son for the prisoner. It appeared that the prisoner had been
in the employ of the Hull Banking Company for a period
of 20 years, first as a ledger clerk, and for the last 14 years
as assistant cashier. Prior to that time he had been em-
ployed in the banking .house of Messrs. Smith Brothers and
Co. The treasurer had an excellent character, and was
trusted by his employers without the slightest suspicion,
but it appears that during a series of years he has been in
the habit of abstracting sums of from £2O to £5O at diffe-
rent times, unil a discovery took place, when he acknow-
ledged the:, he had abstracted altogether the sum of £3,163
15s. 3d. The mode by which this series of embezzlements
was effected was as follows :—The bank being one of
issue its notes were liable to be cut and damaged in the
course of business. As these cut and damaged notes
came into the bank it was necessary that they should
be repaired before they were re-issued. The notes re-
mained in the cashier's hands until they underwent the
necessary repairs, so that each cashier had often in his pos-
session a number of notes, amounting to several hundred
pounds. The notes were put into a parcel and taken into the
cashier's account when his cash was balanced, as damaged
notes amounting to such a sum. When, therefore, the pri•
soner from time to time abstracted the money, he added the
amount abstracted to the sum represented by the parcel of
damaged notes. With the exception of this parcel of damaged
notes the cash of the prisoner would be correct. On Satur-
day, Jan. 17 last, the chief cashier at the bank, Mr. W. A.
hmaadking s
taken
La.mbert, had occasion to check the cash in the hands of the
prisoner, and found that it was not correct. He sent for the
prisoner,
who had been absent from the bank through ill-
omteheexdamefiicniaetniocyn,tlh.ne
spurmisosnvearr
3C,Oinng-
nf
eess:e, d a
that
a fhteer
from £3O to £5O, and that he had applied it to the education
of his children, and to cover losses incurred by railway spe-
culations. He also wrote a letter inwhich he acknowledged
having taken the money, and completely exonerated every
other person in the establishmeat from blame. The pri-
soner's salary was £220 a year. The Recorder sentenced
him to five years' penal servitude.--Zeeds Mercury,

Naval and Military Intelligence.

THE NAVY.

In accordance with orders received last week
from the Admiralty, a searching inspection has been
made by the dockyard officials of each vessel com-
posing the squadron of gunboats attached to the
three divisions of the steam reserve in the Medway,
at Chatham, previous to the sale of those vessels
which the board may not be desirous of retailing
in the service. The result of the inspection has
terminated in an order from the Admiralty for the
following gunboats to be sold—viz., the Spey, the
Manly, the Palter, the Dwarf, the Fidget, the
Tickler, the Thistle, and the Mastiff. Each gunboat,
is about 250 tons burden, and of 60 horse power.
The whole were built for the Government at private
dockyards during the Russian war, and most of them
are in tolerably good condition. A rumour was
yesterday current at Chatham that it was probable
the gunboats would be purchased by the Chinese
Government, to form part of the Anglo-Chinese
squadron under the command of Captain Sherard
Osborne, C.B.

Every exertion is now being used to hasten the
completion of the mahogany diagonal-built paddle-
wheel Admiralty despatch steamer Salamis, 4,
building at Chatham in readinessifor her launching,
which is fixed to take place on the 19th of May.
Her principal dimensions are,—length between per-
pendiculars, 220 feet; breadth, 28 feet 2 inches;
depth of hold, 14 feet 6 inches; burden, 835 tons;
horse-power, 250. The next ship to be built on the
Salamis' slip has not been named, but, as the fol-
lowing vessels have been ordered to be constructed
at Chatham dockyard, it is probable that one of the
number will be laid down on the vacant slip—viz f
the Pitt, 91 guns; the Boadicea, 51; the Pomona'
51; the Ganymede, 28; the Falmouth, 22 ; the
Tees, 19 ; the Diligence, 17 ; and the Albatross, 4.
The Admiralty have entered into a contract with
the firm of Messrs. Cambpell and Johnston for the
erection of a new caisson at the entrance to the
second dock at Chatham, in which the iron frigate
Achilles is under construction. The cost of the new
caisson is estimated at £3,500. Directions have
likewise been received at Chatham for the erection
of a new boiler-house at the Achilles' workshop for
the reception of the new machinery which is
ordered to be purchased and erected during the
present year. Among the sums voted for the ex-
penses at Chatham dockyard during the current
year is one of £16,480 for wages for 480 additional
hired mechanics and artisans to complete the work
already in progress at that establishment.

An official notice has been received at Chatham
dockyard that the boilers for the iron frigate Achilles,
50, have been completed by Messrs. Penn and Sons,
at their works, Deptford, and that they are ready
for shipment. Owing to every foot in Chatham
dockyard being now filled, and there being no un-
occupied shed at that establishment sufficiently
capacious to receive the large boilers for the Achilles,
it is probable that they will be landed at Sheerness
dockyard, and placed in store until they are ready
to be shipped on board the iron frigate.
Admiralty orders have been received at Chatham
for the merchant schooner Southland Head, which
came into collision in the Thames, with her Ma-
jesty's paddlewheel steamer Medusa, Master Corn-
mender J. Loane, and received some injuries, to have
her defects made good at Sheerness.

The Jaseur, 5,80• horse power, attached to the
first•class steam reserve at Chatham, is ordered to be
brought for immediate commission, with a comple-
ment of 65 officers and men. She is intended for
service on the West Coast of Africa. The Jaseur
has been taken into dock to undergo the customary
overhaul.

The Pandora, 4, screw, Commander Ruxton, sailed
from Spithead on Thursday evening, taking mails
for Sierra Leone.

The following appointments and promotions have
been made at the Admiralty :—Commander Henry
Phelps to the Victory ; Commander W. H. Anderson
to the Foxhound, vice Commander the Hon. A. C.
Hobart, promoted; Commander Charles T. Curme
to the Hannibal; Lieut. Albert L. Nugent, flag lieut.
to Rear-Admiral Austin, Admiral Superintendent of
Malta Dockyard ; Sub-Lieut. C. W. Beaumont to the
Magicienne; Wm. C. P. Grant, paymaster, to be
secretary to Rear-Admiral Austin ; James J. Rutter,
paymaster, to the Ajax; John G. Clarke, acting
assist.-surg., to the Valorous; John Roberts (a),
acting chief engineer, to the Indus, for the Orontes;
Thomas Parker, engineer, J. D. Lamont and F. E.
Sheen, assist.-engineers, to the Saseur ; Andrew
Watt, of the Hastings, for the Griper ; John C.
Williams, of the Black Prince, Robert W. Jones
of the Asia, lent to the Warrior ; George L.
Thomson, of the Spider, George Thompson, of the
Fisgard, Thomas Hall, of the Leven, and Frederick
Wheeler, of the Rattlesnake, promoted to engineer;
Simeon Lawton, of the Sparrow, John Pearce, of the
Malacca, David P. Steddy, of the Immortalite, Na-
thaniel Farrant, of the Wrangler, and G. H. Lox-
dale, of the Topaze, promoted to be acting engineers.

The Lords of the Admiralty at Sheffield.

In accordance with the recent determined spirit
evinced by the Lords of the Admiralty to make
themselves as useful as possible, by seeing with
their own eyes all that relates to armour-plating,
from the first rolling of the mass of iron to their
final destruction in the form of targets at Shoebury-
ness, their lordships paid a long visit on Thursday
to the great Armour-plate Works recently erected
by Mr. Brown, the Mayor of Sheffield, and on that
day opened and worked for the first time in the pre-
sence of a number ef distinguished visitors. The
manufacture of armour-plates, we may premise, has
within the last few months been in as fluctuating and
uncertain a state as that of either the guns or pro-
jectiles to be used in destroying them. The experi-
ments at Shoeburyness at first gave very varied re-
sults, and it was not until after some time that they
at last pointed almost decisively in favour of rolled
plates instead of hammered. The fibre in the for-
mer was found to be stronger, the texture of the
metal in every part more even, and the average of
perfect soundness throughout altogether of a higher
standard than could be relied on from the work of
the steam hammer. Still, even with these data
from which to start, there seemed a great difficulty
in obtaining any large supply of really good plates,
even when made of what is now thought to be the
minimum thickness of 41 inches. We hear con-
stantly of the Armourclads on the other side of the
Atlantic being coated with 12 and even 15 inch
plates of iron ; but, in plain truth, these plates are
mere shams, being built up by bolting together one
inch or two inch plates till whatever thickness is
required by the Government is attained, and by
this manufacturing ruse the Federal authorities get
a built-up plate of 12 inches with scarcely the re-
sistance that belongs to a solid one of four. But
what the Yankee Navy-yard has to endure from its
contractors is not tolerated for an instant in the
supplies required for Chatham or Portsmouth,
where the standard of excellence is so high
that even very recently one eminent firm has
had as much as £15,000 worth of its finished
plates returned upon their hands for defects that
were little more than trifling. In fact, every day
has shown for some time past that the manufacture
of plates on a remunerative scale is only to be
secured by those who embark their capital and en-
terprise in it as a business of its own, and put up
the extensive and very costly plant which is re-
quired to bring the manufacture of these gigantic
slabs of armour to perfection: It was exactly these
conditions which large manufacturers, as a body,
did not care to fulfil, fearing that by the time their
capital was sank a gun might be invented which
could sink armour-ships too, and so render the pro-
duction of plates a worthless and no longer needed
process. Fortunately, all manufacturers were not
to be deterred by these remote evils or the near ap-
proach of Mr. Bright's millennium from throwing
themselves heart and soul into the new business, and
especially have the chief firms of Sheffield come for-
ward with a zeal in the cause which is likely to
secure for their town a long monopoly in the lucra-
tive manufacture of ship's armour. Assuredly it
has not been before it was sorely needed that the
trade of the town has received their additional
stimulus. The 150 tons of crinoline steel made
almost weekly at Sheffield, and the quantities of
" hardware" ordered by the Federal Government,
have poorly compensated for the general stagnation
of trade, and, above all, for the steady decline and
departure from Sheffield of the trade in very cheap
cutlery, which seems to be fast leaving the country.
Accordingly, the winter, in spite of its mildness, has
been one of unusual distress around Sheffield, and
it will prove a perfect godsend to the town if more
mills for making armour-plates are opened in Shef-
field on the same extensive scale as that opened at
the Atlas Works by the visit of the Lords of the
Admiralty on Thursday. Making crinolines for
frigates will be found a much more lucrative em-
ployment than making it for ladies, and the
fashion is now more likely to be permanent at
sea than on land. Most of our readers will recol-
lect an armour-plate from the Atlas Works shown
in the eastern annexe of the Exhibition last year,
which was 22ft. long and 4ft. wide, and the pro-
duction of which was regarded as a perfect marvel,
even by our own manufacturers. It serves well to illus-
trate the giant strides with which the new manu-
facture has advanced since then, when we state that
on Thursday last a plate of upwards of 40ft. long,
4ft. wide, and 41in. thick, was rolled with the most
perfect ease and success in the presence of the visi-
tors. It is only a few months since some nin, plates
from the Atlas Works were tried at Shoeburyness,
and proved that plates even of this great thickness
could be made with the most perfect certainty. Yet
on Thursday a glowing mass of almost molten iron,
weighing more than 20 tons, was rolled into an
armour-plate 19ft. long, 3ft. 9in. broad, and 12in.
in thickness.

The Atlas Works are situated on the outskirts of
the town, where a good deal of interest was evinced
in the visit of their lordships ; most of the people
appeared to keep high holiday on the occasion, and
all the streets had more or less of flags, which, when
they could be seen, contrasted favourably with the
thick atmosphere of murky smoke in which they
floated. At 10 o'clock Mr. Brown was at the old
mills to receive his visitors. Among them were
the Duke of Newcastle, the Duke of Somerset, the
Duke of Devonshire, the Marquis of Hartington,
Viscount Galway, Earl Fitz william, Earl de Grey,
Lord Wharncliffe, Lord Clarence Paget, Lord Alfred
Paget, Mr. Roebuck, M.P., Mr. Grenfell, M.P.,
Mr. Robertson, M.P., Hon. J. Stuart Wortley,
Hon. Col. Monckton, Capt. the Hon. J. Drummond,
R.N., Sir J. D. Hay, M.P., Admiral Robinson,
Admiral Spencer, Col. Boxer, R.A., Capt. Blake-
ley, Capt. Harrison, Mr. Pole, C.E., Mr. W. Fair-
bairn, Mr. Whitworth, Mr. Bessemer, Mr. W.
Fowler, Capt. Maury, Mr. Clay, Mr. James Luke,
Inspector for the Admiralty, &e.
Before proceeding over the works the members of
the corporation of Sheffield were introduced to
their lordships, and presented them with an ad-
dress, to which the Duke of Somerset briefly re-
plied, pointing out how at the present time the
navy of England was in a transition state, and
that it was the intention of the Government to
persevere, not impatiently, but steadily, in ex-
perimenting and improving the naval arma-
ments of the country, ready for the occasion, if ever
the unfortunate occasion should arise, to be used
efficiently in its defence. The visitors were then
conducted through the extensive new and old mills
and workshops, where some 3,000 hands were busily
engaged in melting, bending, hammering, and
twisting great masses of seething iron into every
conceivable form its stubborn nature could be made
to take. It was really a wonderful sight. On
every side, amid thick smoke and deafening cla-
mour, the blazing rites of Moloch—the furnace God
of old—were being celebrated. Great furnaces blar-
ing in the fierce white glare which shone from their
crevices were stuffed to the mouth with monstrous
cranks and shafts, and uncouth bosses of red-
metal. Every now and then some one of tlta
:,s rotmos_
opened, with a flash that filledof
phere with a glare as from sn
io:N1-1,bealsanmdoa ze of
fma sparks,
metal, seething and sputtering n a
like s much wax,
was dragged off and moulded,o
under the blows of steam hammers that made the
earth tremble and the whole building to jump and
chatter under the stroke as if frem the shock of a little
earthquake. It was wonderful to see the skill with
whichthegroups of workmen,uniting ailtheir indivi-
dual exertions in a series of violent efforts like a weird
species of dance, contrived to hedge and move about
the great masses on the anvils, so that the hammer
struck only where and how they chose. While the
heat lasted in the mass, and that was for a long
time, they never paused or slaekeied in their work,
and though literally almost scorched by their proxi-
mity to red heaps they kept on toiling till the work
was done, and the lump that a quarter of an hour