The Sun.
London, England, 1863-07-08 00:00:00

7 THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, JULY 8, 1863

R. Murchison ; and on other subjects they took the opinion
of Professor Airey and Dr. Hoffman. He quite admitted
that if there was any large extension in the works carried
on that the department would " not be equal to its duties,
but the difficulty must not be met by placing a permanent
commissioner at the head of the office, but by increasing
the number of professional men at its disposal. And no
doubt before long such an addition would have
to be made. The right hon. gentleman then proceeded
to consider the suggestions made by the hon. member,
and declared that either the appointment of a permanent
head of the department, or of a board to assist the chief
commissioner, would be decidedly retrograde legislation.
The right hon. gentleman concluded by reminding the
house that, unlike other departments, the Office of Works
was simply an office of expenditure, and, therefore, that it
ought to be directly responsible to Parliament. He en-
tirely denied that it had been shown that there was any
flaw in the constitution as it had existed since the year 1851.
The house then divided—
For the motion
Against it
Majority against.. —92
CHURCH RATES.

Lord A. CHURCHILL asked leave to introduce a bill for
the amendment of the law with respect to church rates.
The bill consisted of two clauses, and it provided that for
the future no penalties should be recoverable for the non-
payment of church rates. The machinery for making rates
would remain, but the bill repealed all power of levying a
distress if payment was refused, no matter what the motive.
Of course it was impossible that the bill could be passed into
law at that advanced period of the session; but his object
was to have the proposal considered during the recess.
Mr. J. E WART seconded the motion.
Mr. NEWDEGATE must withhold his assent from the
principle of the bill ; and he did not think the noble lord had
much chance of success.

Sir U. GREY said that, in allowing the bill to be intro-
duced no one would be deemed to have assented to its prin-
ciple. Subject to the understanding that it was to stand
over for consideration during the recess, there was no objec-
tion to its introduction.

Leave was accordingly given to introduce the bill.
THE NAWAB OF THE CARNATIC.

Sir F. KELLY rose to move for a select committee to
inquire into the claims of his Highness Azeem Jah to the
title and dignity of Nawab of the Carnatie; and otherwise
in respect of a treaty entered into between his highness's
father, Azeem-.111-Dowlah and the East India Company,
and the circumstances attending the same. The hon. and
learned gentleman recounted at some length the particulars
of the arrangements entered into between Azeem-ul-Dow-
lah and the East India Company, the principal condition of
which was the guaranteeing to the prince and his successors
the absolute sovereignty of the Carnatic ; while, on the
other hand, the East India Company were to manage the
civil and military administration, and receive the revenues
of the country, with the exception of one-fifth (amounting
to £120,000 a year), which was to be appropriated to the
family of the prince. The `ion. and learned gentleman com-
plained of the contemptuous silence with which the present
claimant had been treated ; for he had been told that he had
lost all right of succession to the Carnatic, that the treaty
had coesed with the life of his father ; but that if he was
willing to become a subject a pension would be granted to
him of £lO,OOO a year. The prince, whose cause he had un-
dertaken to advocate, indignantly refused this insulting
offer, and what he now asked was that a committee should
be appointed to inquire into the justice of his claim. Of all
the princes of India none were more scrupulously faithful to
the British Crown than the Nawabs of the Carnatic. The
sovereign rights of the family were also recognised by the
native princes of India, and specified in numerous treaties,
and he therefore appealed to that sense of justice and honour
which always resided in that house, and which was never
absent from its deliberations, to institute a searching in-
quiry into the claims of the prince, and grant him the re-
dress to which he was entitled.

Mr. SMOLLETT seconded the motion, and was proceed-
ing to address the house, when
An HoN. MEMBER noticed that there were not 40 mem-
bers present.
The house therefore adjourned at 25 minutes before nine
o'clock.

Mr. Davey has paired with Mr. Way for the remainder
of the session.

HER MAJESTY'S SHIP CONSTANCE.

A competition has commenced between three of onr prin-
cipal steam engine manufacturers. In order as far as pos•
sible to put 'all the competitors on equal terms, the Lords of
the Admiralty selected three frigates of the same model,
built at Pembroke, as nearly as possible from the same
lines as those of Sir Wm. Symonds, with similar midship
sections, and having about an equal draught of water. The
Arethusa, 35 guns, 3,141 tons, at Sheerness, has been sup-
plied with engines by Messrs. John Penn and Son—the
Octavia, 39 guns, 3,161 tons, at Portsmouth, has received
hers from Messrs. Maudslay—and the Constance, 39 guns,
3,213 tons, at Devonport, is fitted by Messrs. Randolph,
Elder, and Co., of Glasgow. The average consumption
of coal in the Royal Navy is estimated at the present
time as between 31b to 41b. par indicated horse power ; and
one of the main objects of the competitive trials is to en-
deavour to prove the possibility of reducing the consump-
tion to a little over 21bs. To gain this saving of fuel it
was necessary to make the engines of the Constance
heavier, larger, and consequently more expansive than those
of corresponding power on board other ships. It is, how-
ever, but justice to the manufacturers to state that much of
the weight is to be attributed to a desire to retain the means
of reverting to the present mode of working, should the new
mode be found unsuccessful. In consequence of this desire
the boilei b fitted to this ship are much larger than are re-
quisite for her new engines.
The Constance as originally constructed sat on the water
gracefully, and was ranked among the fastest frigates in the
service. Sir Baldwin Walker carried his flag on board her
when captain on the Pacific station. She was recently
lengthened at Devonport to receive the screw, and her ap-
pearance is, if anything, improved by the alteration. The
frigate carried originally 50 guns, and is pierced for that
number now ; in the Navy List she is down for 39 guns,
but it is probable that owing to the altered condition of our
armament she will carry only 36; they will, however, be as
heavy as a ship of her class can sustain. Above 60ft. have
been added to her midship section, and 13ft. aft to adapt her
for the reception of the propeller. Her dimensions now are
—length, 252 ft. ; over all, 286 ft. ; and extreme breadth,
52ft. , tonnage, 3,142 tons. The masts are not yet stepped.
Her draught, with 40 tons of coal, and 70 tons of water, is
17ft. forward, and 20ft. 9in. aft.

The builders of the engine have supplied her with a pair of
what are termed double cylinders, or compound engines of
500 horse power combined, which are bedded in a block of
solid cast-iron weighing 50 tons. Well up on each side of the
engine room she is fitted with three cylinders, the pistons
from which work directly on the crank shaft. There are three
cranks, each of which receives two connecting rods. The
middle cylinders are high pressure, the other four are low
pressure expanding cylinders. The diameter of the middle
cylinder is 60 inches, and the others. 78 inches. The ac.
tion of the surface condensers can, if required, be changed
while the engines are in motion, and the engincs can be
worked in the ordinary way by sea-injection. When all
are in action, the steam is expanded partially in the high
pressure cylinders, and from them still further into the low-
pressure cylinders, down to a pressure of about 101 b. below
the atmosphere before it escapes into the condensers. Such
a degree of expansion is difficult to obtain practically with
any other class of engines in consequence of the unequal
action of the steam in the cylinders. The condensers are
surface condensers; each contains 1,308 tubes, through
which the condensing water is drawn by means of two di,
culating pumps. The two condensers contain 2,616 tubes,
the external surface of which, for condensation, is 5,848
square feet, being rather more than 11'5 square feet per
nominal horse power. The tubes of the condensers are
packed so that when they require cleaning they can be
easily removed and replaced ; each tube is lift. sin. long.
The total length of the 2,616 tubes is over 51 miles. The
object of the surface condensers is to separate the condensed
steam from the cold water used to condense it, so as to se-
cure a supply of fresh distilled water with which to feed the
boilers, instead of using sea water, which is the only re-
source when surface condensers are not applied. This is an
important means for diminishing the consumption of fuel.
By this mode the necessity for blowing off when sea water
is used is avoided, and the steam power economised. Ac-
cording to recent arrangements the system of jacketing is
extended on board the Constance, as in many other newly-
supplied ships. The aides and ends of all the cylinders are
jacketed with steam and well cased with staves of mahogany,
which firmly enclose a covering of felt. The Constance has
four boilers, partially superheating, with six furnaces to
each boiler. The fire-grate surface is about 57 square feet
per nominal horse hewer. The slroke of the engines is 31t.
3in. The diameter of the propeller shaft is 14in., its length
from the sternmost coupling to the thrust block 86ft., and
from the thrust block to the engine, 13ft. llin, The length
of the boss of the screw, one of Griffith's double-bladed, is
4ft. Gin. ; diameter of screw, 18ft. ; and pitch, 271 feet.
The weight of the engines is 190 tons, of the boilers
160 tons, and of the water in the boilers 70 tons.
The stowage for coal is 260 tons ; the consumption of coal
by ordinary engines would be from 70 to 80 tons per day;
bythe engines it is expected that about 50 tons daily
will
Although the space occupied by the be newsufficient.
... , yet the aggregate space for
ma-
chinery bf the Constance is greater than that which would
be required for some engines,
machinery and coal is less, in consequence of the decreas!
oßfehyehracinoalstsetaorn7arged., inwAitththaeptrreieslssureof steam of 2alb., the
the North Basin,_ in
revolutions were 36 per minute. The engines of the Con-
stance are started by two steam donkeys, the management
of which, while it reduces the labour of the engineers,
proves a andverynwsrhteaiaenhdcyea,llwikay
e rapid method of reversing, &c. It
is, however, doubtful, as in all similar cases, whether the
advantage
iAstitohn esco fo f help
of this kind is not occasionally counter-
balancedo by the introduction of more machinery, the com-
p Ica
Sthi
envAorlevtehaudsdaiantioanaol
crisk
vi oaf,
was not
built originally for the reception of steam machinery, consi-
derable difficulty has been experienced in placing her en-
gines. It is in consequence of the sharpness of the frigate's
floor that the three cylinders each side are carried well up

in the wings; they act diagonally at an angle of 45 deg. on
the propeller shaft; through this arrangement the engine
room, which is 73 feet long, has the appearance of being
crowded ; in fact, it is so much filled with machinery as to
be what is by courtesy termed rather confined, an inconve-
nience which will probably be felt most severely when the
ship is in a warm latitude and the engines are requited to be
used there. It is but fair this evil should be charged against
the construction of the frigate and not of her engines. The
authorities at Keyham are about to adopt the system of
open bulkheads, by grating, so as to lead all the ventilation
to the warmest part of the ship—the engine room. While
the position of the cylinders in the wings crowds the engine
room, it will be advantageous to the sailing qualities of the
ship, by counterbalancing in some degree the weight of the
engines in her heel. All the working parts of the engines
are in view and easily accessible by the engineer. The
ladder holes to this room are most inconveniently small, a
very awkward defect, which might be easily rectified.
Messrs. Randolph and Co. have fitted their compound or
double cylinder engines to many merchant steamships,
among others to the Peru, with enginesof 350-horse power,
and the Talka, L'6o, and ten others, the property of the
Pacific Steam Navigation Company. The principle has
never been tested before in the Royal Navy.
On Monday morning the Constance left the Hamoaze,
under charge of Captain William Edmonstone, C. 8., the
new chief of the steam reserve at Devonport, who was ac-
companied by Commander Risk, of the Indus, and Mr,
Dinnen, inspector of machinery afloat, and by Mr. Miller,
chief engineer of the steam factory; Mr. Steil, his assistant ;
and Mr. Saunders, of the shipwrights' department at Key-
ham. Messrs. Randolph and Davidson, the contractors,
were also on board. In consequence of the strength of the
easterly wind, from 4 to 6, and partly on account of heated
bearings, it was deemed inexpedient to test the engines for •
mally at the measured mile, and she went accordingly
round the Eddystone. On this trip her speed was twice
tested by log line, when no special efforts were used for her
rpervopoluultsiioonns, avnardieadrfartoemof4osvteor
5120
pkneromtsiwnuatsein,
solteicaamtepdr.
pressure
about 301 b., barometer pressure vacuum 29 inches, con-
denser 28 inches. The action of the screw did not create
much trembling motion. The hot bearings consisted of the
heating of some of the collars of the journals, which have
all been fitted with great nicety. This circumstance does
not in any way impugn the principle on which the engines
are constructed, and up to the present time it is the opi-
nion of most of the practical engineers who have studied
the mode of construction, that it is one likely to prove
successful.

When returning through the Sound the first cutter of
her Majesty's ship Canopus, with 12 rowers and a coxswain,
in attempting to cross the bows of the Constance, came in
contact with the steamtug Zephyr, lashed alongside. Eleven
men stuck to the boat, but two, fearing all would be thrown
into the sea, dived down under the tug, a paddlewheel, and
came up astern of the Constance. A ring life-buoy was
thrown over immediately, and one of the men having got
into it raised himself until he descried his comrade, and
boats having come from the Virago and other ships in the
Sound, they were soon rescued.

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

TlMES.—Though the news which we publish
this morning does not unravel the mystery of Gene-
ral Lee's operations, it gives us a good deal of addi-
tional information respecting the movements of his
army. It is at least certain that his main body is
not merely resting in the Shenandoah Valley, but is
pushing on with vigour in various directions. To
the west the forces of General Milroy have been de-
feated again and driven out of M'Connelsburgh, a
place about half-way hetet een Chamborsburg and
Bloody Run. To the north, Chambeisburg is no
longer occupied only by cavalry, but has become
General Ewell's head-quarters; and if the ad-
vanced guard of the army has not already occu-
pied Carlisle, it is on the eve of doing so, and
meets with only a nominal resistance. The
force which we mentioned on Monday as ad-
vancing north-east on the Northern Central
Railroad, between Baltimore and Washington has
occupied Gettysburg, and is said to consist of
ten regiments of infantry, with cavalry and artillery.
On the south-east all accounts agree that General
Lee's army occupies the valley of Boonesborough,
South Mountain, and Frederick city. It will be ob-
served that most of these places were at the date of
the intelligence we pablished on Monday occupied
only by cavalry, and the reports, therefore, show
that General Lee's army is steadily and systemati-
cally advancing in the directions we then indicated,
and we are led suppose that his troops are con-
stantly moving across the Potomac, either at
Williamsport or at some of the fords between that
point and Harper's Ferry. The river for that dis-
tance, as we explained, is entirely in the hands of the
Confederates, and they cast move their forces over
it as they please without any chance of interference
by the Federals. In fact, Lee seems to be holding
a sufficient force on the south of the Potomac to
checkmate Hooker and hold him paralyzed while
he is pushing his forces steadily forward in Maryland
and Pennsylvania, to prepare the way perhaps for
some more important movement on Washington or
Baltimore. Some such decided movement on one
or both of those cities must be the object of the ex-
traordinary operation which is said to have been
intrusted to one column of his army. We are in-
formed to-day that a large corps has been detached
from the main army to cross the Potomac below
Washington, and advance on the capital from the
south. It is said that this division was accompanied
by a large pontoon train, and, if so, there can be
little doubt that it is intended to cross the Potomac
at Dumfries and march northwards on Washing-
ton, or more probably on the line of railway which
runs north-east from Washington to Baltimore.
It is impossible to speculate on the success of this
daring movement, but it is obvious that it is an
extremely dangerous one. In the first place, the
Federal gunboats command, or ought to command,
the Potomac below Washington, and to cross on
pontoons in their presence would be a most hazardous
operation. But, besides that, supposing this force
to be once across, it must be in a very critical posi-
tion. It will be cut off from all its supplies and
communications. The Confederates have no navy
to protect the rear of a force advancing in this way
up the sort of peninsula below Washington. If
this division of 30,000 men should meet with any
check, they will have nothing to fall back upon, and
their retreat will be cut off by the Federal gunboats.
It is obvious to point out that the movement
divides the army of invasion, already considerably
scattered. We must suppose that the corps is in-
tended to march northwards and unite with the
forces advancing on the Washington and Baltimore
Railroad from Frederick city. If it can reopen com-
munications with the main army in this way, it will
be safe, and the movement may have the effect of
isolating Washington on the south and east, as it is
rapidly being isolated on the north and north-west.
But it is very difficult to suppose that this corps can
be expected to hold its ground without thisnorthern
communication, and the movement, therefore, gives
us an important key to Gen. Lee'e, objects, and would
seem to prove that he is aiming at Washington or
Baltimore. In fact, a glance at the map will show
how campletely his recent movements are surround-
ing Washington. The spectacle, indeed, is most ex-
traordinary, whether the operations are ulti-
mately successful or not. There seems hardly one
point around the Federal capital which General
Lee is not threatening, and on the other side
there is an inexpressible attitude of helplessness
in the Washington Government and army. Hooker,
we are told, holds the south side of the Potomac
from Washington to Harper's Ferry. That is, while
the enemy has possession of the river above him, so
as to cross at pleasure, get round him, and in the
rear of the city be is expected to defend, he sits mo-
tionless below, still facing the point where his enemy
was. If he were to make some serious movement
on that part of Lee's army which holds the Shenan-
doah Valley, and so threaten the Confederate com-
munication with Richmond, Hooker's position on
the south side of the Potomac might turn to some
advantage, and there is a rumour that he intends to
make an attack on Harper's Ferry ; but, short of
this, he only succeeds in makiug the sole army of
defence on which the Federals can depend as use-
less in a great emergency as 70,000 men can
possibly be. If General Lee has any designs on
Washington and Baltimore, it is difficult to conceive
that anything would suit him better than to be able
to keep the whole of Hooker's army inoperative on
the south side of the Potomac by retaining an un-
known force in the Shenandoah Valley, while his
army gradually occupies all the important places
on the north side of the Potomac, seizes all the rail-
roads, and closes steadily round Washington. If
he succeeds in isolating the capital, Hooker will be
obliged to meet him at last, for the Government
cannot possibly afford to be shut off from the Northern
and Western States. It was not by standing still
and staring at his adversaries' movements that
M'Clellan drove back the first Confederate invasion
last year, and this continued inactivity of General
Hooker and the army of defence seems to us to in-
dicate nothing but ignorance and helplessness. The
two Governments, or rather the two nations, seem
to be treating this invasion in totally different ways.
It is clear from the statements which we publish to-
day that the Confederate Government have thrown
their whole force into the movement, and intend it
to be a far more serious affair than the hurried in-
vasion of last year. We are informed that during
the last two weeks 40,000 Confederate troops have
passed through Lynchburg, bound for Richmond
and the North. Old troops of General Lee, which
he had detached some weeks ago to Chattanooga,
20,000 men from Gen. Bragg's army, and 10,000
from General Beauregard at Charleston, are being
thrown into this critical struggle. The North have
to face no mere raid, but an organised invasion on
the largest scale, directed by a leader who has de-
feated all their generals in succession with forces
far inferior to the powerful army he now commands.
On the other hand, not only is the Federal Govern-
ment as helpless and paralysed as we have described
it, but the people partake of its inactivity and
apathy.
The spectacle disorganisation presented
by of
by the telegrams we publish, to-day is at once dis-
graceful and disastrous. 'I 'he capital is fast being
surrounded, the railways are seized, the enemy is
spreading fast over one of the richest and most popu-
lous States; yet the people of this State itself con-
tent themselves with placing the Susquehannah as
quickly as possible
between themselves and the in-
vaders, and the Governor of New Jersey has posi-
tively withdrawn his troops from the scene of action
because tie cannot agree with the Governor of Penn-
sylvania as to the conditions on which the men are
to serve.
The only possible explanation of this ex-
traordinary indifference and want of spirit is, that
in spite of their fears the Federals do not really be-
lieve their enemy intends anything serious. It ie
the opposite case to the story of the boy who
cried " Wolf" too often. Their press and their
public men have dinned into their ears so inces-
santly the weakness of the rebels and their own
invincible superiority that it is impossible to rouse
them now to a sense of their real danger. They
have all through this war indulged in the great
and foolish error of underrating their adversary ;
they secretly flatter themselves that this invasion
is after all only a passing raid, and the same papers
which cry frantically for fortifying Baltimore and
raising the militia conclude by saying that this
ought to be the end of the rebellion, and that none
of the rebel army ought to return to Virginia. In
the interest of peace it is to be hoped that Gen. Lee
will at least make this invasion sufficiently effective
to disgust the Northern people with the war, and to
shame their leaders out of their boasting and conceit.

HERALD.—The House of Commons is thankful for
very small mercies. It could not restrain its delight
at learning from Lord Palmerston that "her Ma-
jesty's Government have pursued the standing
policy of this country not to contract any engage-
ments with regard to events the course of which it
is not possible to ascertain." Admirable sagacity
not to commit oneself blindfold to a road of which
you know nothing. What follies must the house
not have anticipated from the noble lord when it
could express its warm approbation of this very
ordinary caution which only madmen would neglect.
But the house is over credulous as well as over
thankful. It seems to have believed that " we are
at perfect liberty to act as events may arise in
accordance with what we may then deem suitable to
the interests and the honour of the country." It is
no doubt quite true that the English Government
has not entered into any engagements which bind
it to draw the sword for Poland. We do not require
Lord Palmerston's assertion to convince us that La
France spoke without any warrant when it hinted
at assurances given the French Government or Bri-
tish support in the event of its goini, to war with
Russia. France would not ask for them at this
stage of the business, and the English Government
has no occasion or inducement to offer them, When

Russia gives a point-blank refusal to the demands
of the allies, or the conferences which may be en-
tered into upon her acceptance of those demands as
the basis of negotiation are broken off, then will be
time enough for France to ask England to join in a
crusade for Poland, or for England to impel France
into such a war by the promise of a friendly neutra-
lity which might ripen into active aid. But it is alto-
gether a different question, whether' when that time
comes, England will be at perfect liberty to act as
her interests may prompt her. Great nations are
bound, not only by written engagements and verbal
assurances, hut by the fair inferences to be drawn
from the policy they have been pursuing. Their
own honour, or a mistaken sense of that honour,
sometimes drives them into war to maintain words
ton hastily spoken, or an attitude of defiance
thoughtlessly assumed without any expectation of
hostilities. Earl Russell, we are bound to believe
—for we have his solemn declaration to that effect
—regards a war on behalf of Poland as the greatest
scourge that could afflict Europe. But Earl Rus-
sell, for all that conscientious objection to war, may
have rendered war unavoidable by assuming a tone
towards Russia which will compel England, in
whose name he speaks, to vindicate her contemned
advice and remonstrance by hostilities; and no as-
surances of the Premier that we are not bound to
any particular course should induce the House of
Commons to forget that Earl Russell is one of those
ready writers who prefer an epigram to the fair ex-
pression of an idea ; that Lord Palmerston is a
' Minister who, there are good reasons to believe, is
anxious to impel this country into a war with Rus-
sia; and that the Cabinet is composed in large part
of the very men under whose guidance this country
has once before drifted into a costly and needless
war, which served no other purpose than the esta-
blishment of France as the dominant power upon
the Continent. These assurances of Lord Palmer-
ston are, we repeat, worthless. They are no doubt
literally true, but they have no practical value.
What we want to know is, whether the tone in
which Earl Russell has addressed the Russian
Government is such as to leave it an opportunity of
accepting his note as a basis of negociation, or
whether it is not expressed in terms which render
a decided refusal upon the part of Russia neces-
sary, and that refusal means such a reprimand
to England that the spirit of her people wi I
not enforce a warlike rejoinder. The demand
for an armistice will certainly be rejected. It
appears possible that the Russian Government
may intimate its willingness to accept the other
propositions as bases of negotiation. That will
undoubtedly adjourn the difficulty, but it will not
remove the danger. In a few weeks the season for
operations in the Baltic will have passed ; in even
less time the embers of the insurrection may be
crushed out. If these weeks can be gained by
appearine to yield, the Russian Government, aware
of the advantage, equivalent to complete triumph,
will brave public opinion, which pronounces itself
enthusiastically for resistance to the last extremity
to the claims of foreigners to interfere in the affairs
of Russia—for so the Russians style the interven-
tion on behalf of Poland. And what would then be
the position of England and France ? The Polish
question would be settled by the extermination of
the Poles, but the quarrel with Russia would be
embittered, and war would almost become necessary
if only for the purpose of letting out the bad blood
engendered.
POST.—It is now upwards of fifteen months since
the celebrated encounter between the Merrimac and
Monitor in Hampton Roads shook the faith univer-
sally reposed in the efficiency of stone fortifications,
Indeed, so extraordinary was the revulsion effected
in popular opinion on the subject that her Ma-
jesty's Government deemed it advisable to sus-
pend for a titre the works then in progress on
fortifications which had previously been pronounced
indispensable for the security of some of our ports
and dockyards. The reaction, however—if we may
call it by that term—was only temporary. It
scarcely needed the further illustrations afforded
in the course of the American war to satisfy the
world that the means of attack must always be
superior to those of defence. It happened indeed
that, on the occasion above referred to, the Confe-
derate :ron-clad was enabled to sink and disable
several wooden ships of war belonging to the Federal
navy, though lying under the guns of neighbouring
forts. But, although the Merrimac received no
injury, either from the guns of the vessels which
she attacked or of the forts which protected them,
it by no means followed that iron-plated gunboats
were absolutely impregnable. At that time we
maintained in these columns that artillery could be
constructed which would pierce the armour plating
of any gun-boat then in existence. The event proves
that we were correct. Setting aside the results of
the experiments at Shoeburyness, which proved that
plating even stronger than that with which the sides
of the Warrior are covered was not impervious to
rifled artillery, the facts disclosed at the bombard-
ment of Charleston may be considered as having
finally disposed of the claims advanced for the supe-
riority of ships over forts. On the Mississippi, at
Vicksburg, and Port Hudson, iron-plated gun-boats
have over and over again came into collision with
fort a but on every occasion they have been repulsed.
At the siege of Charleston the finest and strongest
vessels of war ever employed by man endeavoured
without avail to force their way past the fortifica-
tions commanding the entrance to the harbour.
Whatever, then, may have been the doubts enter-
tained a twelvemonth since respecting the compara-
tive degrees of excellence of ships and forts, none
can now exist that it is the duty of a State desirous
of protecting its ports or dockyards from hostile
fleets to construct fortifications, and to arm them
with the most powerful artillery which modern
science has placed at its disposal. In the course of
last session an act was passed empowering the Go-
vernment to raise the sum of £3,200,000, to be ap-
plied towards the construction of fortifications. Of
this sum, however, very little over £2,000,000 have
been expended during the past financial year, which,
together with about £300,000 due on lands already
purchased on which to erect defensive works, left a
balance exceeding £750,000 in the hands of the
Government at the commencement of the cur-
rent year. The evening before last Lord Pal-
merston proposed to the House of Commons
that an additional sum of £650,000 should be
voted in order to meet the expenditure demanded
for the prosecution of the works until March, 1864,
and which, it is supposed, may reach £1,500,000.
It is needless to say that when the original sum
was granted Parliament was aware that renewed
demands would be made, and, therefore, so far as
regards the magnitude of the amount now asked for,
it could only elicit objections from those who denied
the necessity of erecting any fortifications at all. It
is certainly not unreasonable that those who are
the guardians of the public purse should anxiously
and jealously examine every item of the national
expenditure ; but it not unfrequently happens in
the House of Commons that objections which are
intelligible when offered to a project when mooted
for the first time, are reiterated alter a formal de-
cision of the house has deprived them of their origi-
nal importance. On a question whether the people
of England shall construct fortifications or not, it is
just as reasonable to object either that the people
cannot afford the expense or that the fortifications
will be useless. But when these objections have been
formally negatived, and when large sums of money
have been voted and expended in the construction
of the proposed defences, it is no longer open to
raise objections which, if entertained, would have
the sole effect of rendering the outlay already occa-
sioned a barren expenditure. It is but just to say
that, except on the vexed question of the value of
forts in arresting the advance of iron-clad vessels,
the Government proposal gave rise to no discussion.
The fortifications which are already in course of
construction, and some of which will be shortly
completed, are those commanding the entrance of the
Thames and Medway, the defences at Dover, Port-
land, Plymouth, and Pembroke, and the works
which it is to be hoped will secure the dockyards of
Portsmouth from the attacks of a hostile fleet, and
prevent even the most formidable gunboats forcing
their way into the Solent and Southampton water.
In the construction of these several fortifications
much has been done during the past year. At some
places the foundations of powerful casemated forte
have been laid, at others works already in progress
have been carried towards completion. It is, how-
ever, the defences of Portsmouth and the Isle of
Wight which more than any others the country is
desirous of seeing placed in an efficient state. It
was chiefly in respeet to the value of these works
that doubts arose in consequence of the achieve-
ments of the Merrimac and Monitor. It may now,
however, be considered settled that, however use-
ful floating batteries might be in opposing the en-
trance of an enemy's fleet into Southampton water,
permanent fortifications cannot be dispensed with.
It was originally recommended by the Commis-
sioners appointed to report upon the beat means of
fortifying Spithead, that forts should be raised com-
manding the channel leading to the anchorage, and
that defensive works should also be constructed
upon the south side of the Isle of Wight. On these
recommendations the Government will act, and forts
will be constructed on opposite sides of the channel,
which at Spithead is about 2,000 yards across, by
which means all attacking vessels must come within
a range of, at most, 1,000 yards. It has already
been demonstrated that at a range of 800 yards a
Whitworth 120-pounder gun can pierce a target
similarly constructed to the side of the Warrior, so
that there is no reason to doubt that even at a
greater range the same feat might be performed—
if not with similar, at least with heavier artillery.
The close similarity existing between Spithead and
the entrance to Charleston Harbour Justifies the
proposal of Government, since it is fair to assume
that, if forts proved too strong for ships at the latter

place, they would equally do so at the former. On
the second reading, of the bill on Thursday even-
ing, Sir F. Smith has given notice that he will take
the opinion of the House of Commons on the expe•
diency of the proposed fortifications. With the ex-
perience afforded by the American war, the decision
of Parliament on this point cannot be doubtful.

Murder of Three Children by their Mother.

SUICIDE OF THE MURDERESS.

BATH, Tuesday Evening.--I have just returned
from the contemplation of a most melancholy sight
—the corpses of three children and their mother,
who lie at the George Inn, Bathampton, a village
about three miles from this city. The children were
yesterday drowned by their mother, the unhappy
woman herself having afterwards committed suicide.
The facts of the shocking affair, so far as could be
gathered from the parties present, were that the
deceased woman, who was about 36 years of age,
was the wife of a man named Coles, who was about
20 years her senior, and they lived with their five
children in apartments at No. 2, Galloway-build-
ings in this city. Formerly they were in good
circumstances, and about four years ago they re-
sided at Larknall, a suburb of Bath; but thence,
about four years ago, they went to Bristol, and took
the Ring of Bells public-house, Thomas-street,
which turned out an unfortunate speculation, and
three or four months ago they returned to Bath,
and have since subsided upon the sale and pawning
of their wearing apparel and other property. This
reverse of circumstances appears to have affected
the mind of the wife, who was a sensitive woman,
and she on several occasions had said to neighbours
that she could not endure their state of penury, and
should drown herself and children. On Sunday
moaning a district visitor who called at the house
saw her forlorn condition, and advised her to go
with her family to the workhouse, as her husband
is incapacitated from infirmity from following his
trade as a carver and gilder. Yesterday about half-
past 12 she left her home taking with her the
three younger children, two boys and a girl. John,
the eldest of the three, was six years old; the next,
Matilda, was about three; the other an infant in
arms. All were very fine children. They called
at the Folly public-house on the banks of the Ken-
net and Avon canal, and having rested a short time,
during which the mother partook of half a pint of
beer, they proceeded along the towing-path towards
Bathampton. On reaching a secluded spot, where
the canal is spanned by a stone bridge, it is supposed
she first threw the children into the water, and then
jumped in herself. Indeed, a milkman in the
meadows adjoining heard a cry of "Don't 'ee,
mother," and then " Murder;" and a lady in a villa
at some distance heard the same sounds, and saw a
child running from a woman on the towing-path,
but they became hid behind a clump of trees, and
she thought it was merely a mother chastising her
child. It is now supposed that she had thrown
her two younger children into the water, and was
pursuing the eldest for the same purpose, as on the
milkman reaching the canal a few minutes after, he
saw the woman in the water, and an alarm being
raised, and drag poles secured, she was dragged out
quite dead. The canal was dragged for some dis-
tance further, and ultimately the three children
were recovered, but life was extinct.