The Sun.
London, England, 1863-12-08 00:00:00

that further delay is dangerous, we may hope that
the relations of the Duchies to the Kingdom will be
regulated once and for ever.
PosT.—The speech of Colonel M'Murdo at the
prize meeting of the 37th Middlesex comes opF or-
tunely at
a moment when the country is beginning
to inquire what it has got for the money which was
so liberally voted last session. A uniform grant of
one pound per man, to be increased under certain
circumstances to thirty shillings, may represent no
very extravagant outlay from the public purse. B at,
in the first place, it must be remembered that this
capitation grant is supplemental to the expense en-
tailed by the maintenance of a competent number of
inspectors, of a staff of adjutants, and of a sufficient
quota of drill instructors to allow of each detached
corps being furnished with one. Then, too, there is
the issue of arms, and of a certain amount of ammu-
nition gratis, and of an additional number of rounds
at cost price. In this way the sum gradually mounts
i
up, we will not say to a formidable item n the
estimates of the Minister for War, but to a figure
which may well make us carefully scrutinise the
return which we are likely to get for our expendi-
ture. By the fourteenth of the present month
all accounts will be made up, and we shall know to a
fraction how many effectives the volunteer force
musters. Indeed, so minute sre the forms which
have been issued that there will be no difficulty in
ascertaining at a glance—first, how many each corps
possesses in the shape of affiliated members, effec•
tives and non-effectives included; secondly, how
many have qualified themselves by attendance at
drill to receive the Government grant ; and thirdly,
what proportion of the latter have passed through
the prescribed course of ball firing in addition to the
ordinary routine of attendance at position drill, or
musketry instruction, required of all effectives. The
first category may be said to include all who could
be rallied in the course of a fortnight, in the case of
actual need of their services ; the second represents
the bone and sinew of the movement ; while awong
the third are generally to be found the pith and
marrow of each individual corps, the enthusiastic
among the commissioned officers, the best of the
sergeants and corporals, and the "old soldiers" of
the movement among the privates. Enough, how-
ever ie already known, by those who have such
means of information at their command as Colonel
IVl'Murdo, to warrant their expressing a tolerably
confident opinion as to the numbers and state of
efficiency at which the whole force has arrived.
These, we are glad to learn, may be regarded as
satisfactory. The Inspector-General has every rea-
son to believe that, under the new regulations, the
force is maintaining its former strength. The pre-
dicted eventual lukewarmness of those who origi-
nally composed it has always been the bugbear of
volunteer organisation. It was asserted that, as
time went on, the ranks would be decimated by
the joint effects of satiety, of indolence, and of
matrimony, until brigades dwindled away to the
strength of single regiments, regiments to that
of companies, and companies to sections. This,
however, if we are to believe Colonel M'Murdo,
has not been the result. Nay more, in the case
of ono distinguished corps, we happen to know
that any defalcations on the part of original mem-
bers have been amply made up for by the influx of
recruits, and that the battalion parades for inspec-
tion, or upon any special occasion, just as strong as
when it appeared for the first time in public at the
memorable review in Hyde-park. There is another
point, however, upon which Colonel M'Murdo's
evidence may be regarded as still more conclusive.
He has, in the course of the year, not only had full
opportunity, as Inspector-General, of scrutinising
the proficiency attained by the metropolitan
volunteers, but he has attended county musters
in Essex, Suffolk, Devonshire, Dorsetshire, Lan-
cashire, Durham, Worcestershire, and elsewhere.
The result of his experience is in every way favour-
able to the working of the present system, and the
state of efficiency which has been generally attained
under it. He is " gratified to find that in
battalion, is brigade, and in divisions of brigade,
the volunteers work together efficiently, as
armed and disciplined men should do ;" in
other words, that they are doing that which the
country means and expects that they should do.
To say that they are the equals of troops of the Line
would be to flatter them at the expense of truth.
They aie not, and never can be, their equals, even
in the movements of an ordinary field-day, and for
all the purposes of a campaign they have their
work still to learn. But then they were never in-
tended for it. What the nation requires is a rough-
and-ready force, costing comparatively little, but
available at a moment's notice, and sufficiently
drilled and disciplined, in the event of any sudden
attack, while the militia—the old constitutional
safeguard of the country—is being mustered and
trained. And this, if Colonel M'Murdo is right, is
precisely what we have got. The one hundred and
sixty thousand odd men who compose the effectives
of our Volunteer army are of a class and calibre
which could not be subtracted for any length of
time without serious inconvenience from the rest of
the community. But they could and would do their
best to stem the tide of an invasion, and, after the
first burst was over, to lighten the task of those pro-
fessional soldiers upon whom the main burden of
our defence must ultimately fall. They would be in-
valuable, from their local knowledge, either to an
advancing or a retreating army, They would par-
tially garrison many of our most extensive fortified
places. Above all, their presence would operate,
even in their disembodied state, as a salutary check
upon those " dangerous classes" who would seize
with avidity the occasion of any national disaster
to set the police, their hereditary enemies, at defi-
ance. The nation has a cheap bargain of the Vo-
lunteers upon such terms. As Colonel M'Murdo
sensibly observes, the acceptance of a Parliamentary
grant does not deprive the force of its volunteer
character, for the unpaid services and time of the
officers and men are still given for the public bene-
fit. What it does do, and ought to do, is to secure
that the country gets a substantial return for the
money which has been already spent upon the
movement. If the professional inspection of the
various corps is honestly and thoroughly carried
out it is next to impossible that the public money
should be squandered. Col. M'Murdo is evidently
of opinion that it is not so, and that every year
renders the volunteer force more efficient for the
purposes for which it was originally designed. We
believe that his views are shared by others who
have had the opportunity of watching its rise and
progress, and that, with due vigilance, there is no
prospect of any falling off either in its numbers or
• I its efficiency.

EXETER HALL.—The Christmas performance of
Handel's Oratorio, "The Messiah," will be given by the
National Choral Society on Wednesday, the 16th. Mr.
Sims Reeves and Mr. Santley are already engaged. The
band and chorus will number 700 performers. Conductor,
Mr. G. W. Martin. Organist, Mr John C. Boardman.
THE PYRAMID TOMB OF CAIUS CESTICUS, so well
gallery on one level,
known to all visitors to Rome, has recently been
restored, by order of the Pontifical Government, Some ex-
cavations made in a cemetery near San Sebastiano resulted
in the discovery of many symbols and inscriptions which
proved it to have pertained to the Jews of Rome. The
burial place
wth
was
the
bordinary
in ti2e form
not, as9l
above another. In the sides of this gallery the graves were
placed in tiers. Some doubts were raised, and may be still
entertained, as to the Hebrew character of these interments,
from the fact that no inscriptions were found in the lan-
atac of
oam lbosn, gon different floors, one
guage of that nation, but all appears in Greek or Latin.
Even the seven-branched candlestick is no decisive sign of
Hebrew origin, nor are such the palm, lomon-fruit, birds,
baskets of fruit, hens and chickens, the cow and calf, Scci
which appear to have been found. The cylinder, probably
indicating the Book of the Law, the oil-jar, the ark within
the circlet, and, above all, the inscription Areht-synagoOst
which occurs more than once, are tolerably sure evidences
of the Jewish origin of the tombs. In this cemetery were
found two vaulted chambers, painted with a victory, with
palm and crown, winged, and bestowing a reward on a
youth who kneels at her feet; a female figure bearing a
cornucopia ; the genii of the seasons ; Pegasus ; the pea-
cock ; and other symbols, which would seem to indicate the
accidental juxtaposition of a Pagan place of interment with

DpaistUtGentl gDhUtOerT.o7l,Airb.oustamhauelfl
that of the Jew—ilthenocuin.
CAPTURE OF A BURGLAR BY A PUBLICAN'S
Brown, landlord of the Cross Keys,
.Hunslet-lane, when
attending to her ordinary duties, fancied she heard some-
thing upstairs. Without speaking to any one she went up
Orr:MS.:Jure:a; BnAigahEt°,
to one of the bed-rooms, and there found two men, who
had just been ransacking the drawers. She boldly seized
one of them, and ho called out to his companion, who made
an unsuccessful attempt to rescue. Ito pulled him a por-
vthSeed°allu
tion of the way downstairs, but the young woman gallantly
held him by the hair of the Lead until assistance came,
The other man got away, carrying with him about £8 in
silver. The man apprehended, whose name is James Wal-
lace, no doubt a travelling thief, though describing himself
as a "French polisher, Bradford," had in his possession a
complete set of very superior skeleton keys, a dark pocket-
lantern, picklocks, and other housebreaking implements.
He had also in his pocket, and which he bad taken from
the drawers, £5O in money, and a gold locket, !Pooch and
'
a ring, worth £l.o.—.Lcas Mercury.

THE NAVY.
Her Majesty's steam storeship Supply, Comman-
der Bawden, R.N., having discharged a portion of
her cargo from Malta and Gibraltar, consisting of
victualling stores, yesterday hauled alongside the
wharf at Woolwich, and commenced returning her
dockyard stores.
The freightship Guide, from Gibraltar, yesterday
completed clearing out her cargo of returned war
stores at Woolwich, and was paid out of t he service.
The old 78 gunship Conqueror, fitted with a
screw propeller, is 'under orders to receive the bat-
talion of Royal Marines for Japan, in command of
Lieut.-Col. Suther, on the 11th inst., and to sail on
the following day.
The Lord Panmure, ordnance steamer, arrived at
Portsmouth yesterday from Woolwich, with a heavy
cargo of guns and ordnance stores, including the
two 12-ton 10.5 inch 300-pounder Armstrong guns
from Woolwich, for the Excellent gunnery ship at
Portsmouth pro tem., but intended for service in the
turrets of the -Royal Sovereign. One of these pieces
is rifled, and the other is a smooth bore. Both are
of Elswick manufacture. The performances of one
of Sir William Armstrong's smooth bore 100-ponn-
ders, now under trial at Portsmouth, is likely to
attract considerable attention from artillerists. The

100-pounder Armstrong smoothbore gun is pretty
well known, but it may be as well to state here that
it weighs 8 tons 641 b., has a diameter of bore of
8.9 in., a length of bore of Bft. Bin., and an
exterior length of lift. 2in., with a circum-
ference at thickest part of base of Bft. Sin.
With this gun experiments have been commenced
with steel shot and shell, but they have not suffi-
ciently advanced yet to furnish any detailed report.
What has actually been accomplished is this :
Spherical and steel shot have been fired from the
gun with 201 b. of powder, only a fifth of the weight
of the shot, and have penetrated through a
51 inch armour-plate, bolted on the side of the
Monarch target ship, and also through the side of
the ship itself, covering the deck of the target ship
with splinters of the ship's planking, timbers, and
iron knees, fragments of the broken plate, and of
the steel shot itself which had broken into small
pieces in its course. Never, perhaps, was the want
of an inner iron skin inside the wood backing of a
ship's armour more forcibly illustrated. The result
demonstrates the insecurity which must exist in
time of action for the seamen working the guns of
ships of the Royal Oak class, and the security under
like circumstances for the men in the Warrior class
of ship. To fully realise the importance of this fact
of a spherical shot fired from a smoothbore gun
passing through a 54inch armour-plate and the side
of a line-of-battle ship, it must be borne in mind that
this is the first known instance of the kind, and that
our greatest efforts in the same direction, which
have been mado with the Armstrong 110 pounder
rifled gun and the 95cwt. 68 pounder smooth bore
have merely resulted in making an indentation of
2in. or less on the plate's surface; that is, when the
plate has been of equal quality with the plates
through which the steel shots penetrated. It must
not be thought, however, that the gun can claim the
entire credit of this result. In the majority of our
firing at wrought iron armour-plates we have dis-
charged with 161 b., 201 b., and at times, 251 b. of
powder 601 b. balls of soft gray cast iron. In firing
steel shot against wrought iron plates we have but
now taken up the principle we should have first
started with in the great contest of " guns against
armour-plates." It is evident that the destructive
penetrating power gained in these experimental fir-
ing trials is owing more to the nature of the projectile
than to the gun from which it was fired. If the War-
rior's side can therefore be destroyed by steel balls
fired from the old and despised 68 pounder, there
will be new data furnished for the study of our
artillerists and shipbuilders.
Yesterday the War Department transport Bomar-
sund shipped a large quantity of condemned ord-
nance stores, guns, &c., at Chatham for Woolwich,
and afterwards dropped down the river to the Go-
vernment powder magazines at Upnor Castle, where
she also shipped a quantity of condemned shell.
The work of cutting away the granite sides of
the dock at Chatham in which the Achilles bas been
constructed is being rapidly pushed forward by a
body of workmen under the direction of Messrs.
Foord and Sons, in order that no delay may be ex-
perienced in having everything completed for float-
ing the iron frigate out of dock on the 24th inst. A
party of workmen have arrived at the dockyard
from the engineering establishment of Messrs. Penn
and Sons, Greenwich, in order to commence fitting
the screw machinery on board the Achilles before
she is undocked.
The mechanics and labourers of the dockyard and
arsenal at Woolwich yesterday commenced working
overtime, to compensate for the loss of the Satur-
day following Christmas-day, which is to be held as
a holiday, so as to close the establishments during
the three successive days.
The third experimental 600-pounder Armstrong
gun, similar to those forwarded to the Excellent at
Portsmouth, is now ready to be shipped at Wool-
wich for Shoeburyness.
The new Bellerophon target, which has been
fitted at Shoeburyness, under the superintendence
of Mr. Baskcomb, one of the foremen of Chatham
dockyard, and a body of shipwrights, has been con-
structed by the Millwall Iron Company, and is in-
tended to represent as nearly as possible a portion
of the proposed side of the Bellerophon, increased
frigate, which has been commenced at Chatham
dockyard. Its trial is looked forward to with the
keenest interest, as on the results will mainly de-
pend the form of construction which the first of Mr.
Reid's new ironcased frigates will take. The part
of the ship which is to be tested by the target is
that situated between the main and lower decks and
not in the line of ports, the object being to ascer-
tain the strength of the
general side of the ship. As
ll of
the Bellerophon is to carry only a
vrillsma number
be made to
guns, special arrangements
strengthen the side of the frigate near the ports.
As the number will be small, it will be possible to
strengthen them by the introduction of additional
iron to an extent which could not be practicable if
the number were large. Each frame of the target
iron 10in. long, nin. broad
is made of anglebroad, and
. kiwis,d two 3i
n, angle irons V
2in. in thw .
in. by 3
P
inches, and a. n thickness, rivetted together. To
the double angle irons of this frame the skin, which
is composed of two thicknesses of i inch plating,
with a layer of painted canvass between, is rivetted.
on the outside of the skin plating
angle iron stringers are attached, two under the
upper armour plate, 92in- long by 32in. wide, and
tin. thick, the broad flange
being square to the
akin, and not reaching out to the armour by
half an inch. The h
ot er two are placed
behind the lower plate, and are 10in. long,
22in. wide, and 2in. thick. The breadth of the
broader flange b • eing the same as the thick-
ness of the backing, reaches out to and comes in
contact with the armour. Wood backing, 101 D,
thick, is worked longitudinally on the skin plating,
and between the angle-iron stringers, bolted with
nut and screw, bolt through the skin plating. The
armour consist of two rolled plates 6in. thick, weigh-
ing upwards of nine tons each. The upper armour-
plate is fixed with bolts 21 in. in diameter. In one-
half of the target, divided vertically, the armour-
bolts have elastic washers, and are clinched on aingio
nuts. In the other half, the bolts have cowmen
8 not
washers, with double nuts, and the bolt
clinched. In the construction of the Bellerophon
shot and
target the mere capabilitiy of resisting
regard has also
shell has not alone been considered ;
been had in arranging its details to the satisfactory
and economical construction of se actual ship upon
the same plan. In erecting the target care has been
taken to support it behind with beam ends, &c., so
Ithat the actual condition of the proposed ship's side
may be approximated to as closely as possible. The

THE ARMY.

1404-or
ri-Cilfrt4l°4&°' NEWSPAPER'
weight of the target is exactly 3891 h. to t; ilatrltVAl/4,t74,-*
foot, which is between 301 b. and 101 b.
foot more than the Warrior target. Sitti,i,v, ,„ 4,
Bellerophon target stand well against the F4,l;;7ff
4t,
service gins-110-pounder Armstrongs,
41Offlatt.
pounder muzzle loaders--a considerable
will be made, for the Bellerophon, alttinugl
300 ft. long, and costing nearly £lOO,OOO let 8 than
41
the Warrior, will be more effectually proteee, from
end to end than that vessel is in the middle t mly.
T.he target is not expected to stand against
large Wh,; the
tworth guns and the 300-pounder
Armstrong, shot from both of which vill
probably go right throuwh it. A sanguine
belief is, however, entertained.' by the officials at
Chatham dockyard concerned in' its construction,
that the 68-pounder and 110-pooreder Armstrong
shot will fail to penetrate it.
Through the exertions of Messrs. P 'son and Sons,
the manufacturers of the engines for t. Arethusa,
35, 500 horse power, the accident which ,'occurred to
the condenser has been completely repai re'd, and a
new metal cistern door to the condenser c xh-npletcd
The part of the condenser to w.hi ch the
and fitted.
accident occurred will
The Arethusa is expected 't `o be
commissioned for sea forthwith.
A large quantity of horse provender is in cou,-se
of shipment for New Zealand, to supply the a ddi-
tion-al troop-horses required for the present es ur-
gency. The Statesman is to be employed on t his
service, and yesterday commenced shipping 160 to as
of compressed hay And other fodder. The Golconda
was yesterday inspeeet.l, to follow the Statesman ,
and other ebips are te
I be hired to convey smilax.
freights to New Zealand Ou.'ing
the month.
The following appointments were made on Satur-
day at the Admiralty :—Lieut. L.. M. Mallett to the
Defence ; George Grant, paymatA
queror ; Edward W. Gordon, pay's, aster, to the
to the Con-
Meander ; and William E. Presscott, first class
assistant engineer, to the Rattlesnake.
1. The following appointments and promotic.. us Ver°
made yesterday at the Admiralty :—Commao,der C.
J. Rowley, to the Fisgard, additional, for servi
ce
with the Enterprise; Lieut. Lawrence A. Bell, tt
the Excellent ; Richard G. Chandler, assist. pay—
master, to the Resistance ; John M‘Senzie, of the,
Asia, James Mutter (acting), of the Challenger,
Angus APlntyre, of the Cumberland, George E.
Foote (acting), of the Terror, David Francis (acting),
of the Vulcan, John Aitkin, of the Fox, William
Wallan, of the Queen, Daniel Cartmel (acting), of
the Immortalite, Joseph Turner, of the Asia, for the
hector ; Robert Anderson (b) of the _Himalaya,
Joseph B. Frith, of the Argus, George Bartlett, of
the 3.iagieierine, and Thomas Young, of the Indus-
ty, pro,,noted to be first class assistant engineers.

Several lest, urea and entertainments have been
provided during the past month for the non-com-
missioned officers an
men of the Royal Dragoons
stationed at Aldershottc
and it is intended to con-
tinue them every Friday e Yelling during the winter

red to assemble at
months.
A general court•martial is orde‘
theßoyal Marine Barracks, Forton, ear Gosport, for
the trial of Capt. W. Cosser, paymaster of the Ports-
mouth division of Royal Marine Light Infantry, on
charges of defalcation of accounts.

Arrival of the Sumter at Queenstown,

QUEENSTOWN, Saturday Night.
At six o'clock this evening the celebrated Sumter,
now called the Gibraltar, Captain Reed, steamed
into the harbour, with a cargo of cotten,with which
she ran the blockade from Wilmington, North
Carolina. Having been introduced under peculiarly

:avourable circumstances, I was most hospitably re-

ceived by Captain Reed, and had the pleasure of
hearing from him an exclusive account of his out-
ward and homeward voyage, but reserve such par-
ticulars as I think should not be made public at
present. The vessel left Liverpool ou the 4th of
July, and on the 15th August, when in sight of the
shore of North Carolina, one of the engines broke
down, and, after some delay, was repaired. Soon
after the accident Captain Reed went aloft, when
he saw three of the blockade squadron—One on the
starboard, one on the larboard aide of him, and the
other directly in front, and bearing down. The
captain, knowing it would be ruinous to seek to
evade scrutiny at once hoisted the American pennant
on the main, and the ensign on the peak, and bore
directly for the steamer in front, passing so close to
her as to see men repairing their hammocks and
some sails on deck. This bold course of proceed-
ing, and Captain Reed's ready response to the
hail of the Yankees, at once disarmed suspi-
cion, and the Gibraltar we s enabled to get
under cover of the guns of Fort Fisher, which is
in the hands of the Confederates, without interrup-
tion, On account of the state of the tide the vessel
could not get past the bar of the port of Wilmington,
and her position soon attr acted notice of the flag-
ship outside. A number of shots being fired from
the flag-ship three of the squadron joined her, and
the Gibraltar soon became the object of their united
attentions. Forty-eight shots were fired,
the greater
number of them whistling through the rigging! and
within 200 yards of the Gibraltar. She was enabled,
waspaid
however, on the rising of the tide to get out of her
unpleasant position, and i;idiradienligvteorantehrectaorwgn cargo.
During
Capt. Reed's stay i
a visit by President Davis, who was received with.
the greatest enthusiasm. Capt. Reed was required
in Charleston, ,
se e
easnhd„ heas
m most
a t describesiete thee ,
the feeling l
ladies
es there infavour of ,
most enthusiastic, and so forgetful of
self espe-
ciallythat being
they disregarded General Beauregard's
injunction to leave the city and get out of the reach
of General Gillmore's Greek fire.
For some time after her arrival the Confederate
Government had under consideration the propriety
of taking the Gibraltar again into service, but on
account of the state of har boilers they deter-
mined to let her proceed. Having taken the
cotton on board and paid 1,600 dollars to a, pilot
for the run to Bermuda, the captain proceeded
down the bay, but got aground on the Rip in sighs
of the blockading squadron, which was now in
creased from four to seven vessels. The vessel being
got off an endeavour was made to get her down the
new inlet, bat the pilot again got her aground, and
as she was now in close proximity to the squadron,
Captain Reed telegraphed his position up the bay
to the Confederate battery at Fort Caswell. Three
launches, each having 20 men on board, were at
once sent down to his protection, remaining by the
side of the ship lest she should be cut out, until the
third night, when the captain, having previously
taken the bearings of the flag ship, succeeded in
getting out. The Gibraltar reached Bermuda
iina
in
two and a half days, and made Queenstown '
days. Captain Reed left Wilmington on isiov 14,
and brings Charleston papers to that date, together
with important dispatches.
runners cap-
The captain reports four blockade,
other ,
.
tured between Nov. 11 and 14. An
oefidreedbyinthruencnreinwg.
in order to avoid capture, was set
The E. D. Vance and Banshee so"
Wm safe.
the blockade and getting into
il
i
The Sumter is now busily engaged n coaling,
taaLr
ri
evsepr po
no odle
It: doefl i vi.e)ru
bhietnr
and will proceed at once t°
bales of heavy cotton.,
cargo, which consists of
each weighing SO-a--
Express.
..............,......................•
APPLAUSE" BREATH OF TILE ACTOR. —I
have heard that, when the late Mr. Kean wan per-
in onio city of the United States, he came to the
forming & teheendofthef
fththired
pit
tt
haelletips siatsid,h‘a‘nlclusanin't itsgo
manager a
on the stag again, sir,
„ockets. Su.ch au audience would extinguih And
o tory saith that the manager made his s appearance on
the stage, and assured the audience that Mr. Kean, having
been accustomed to audicncc„ Llorn demonstrative than was
habitual to the severer intelli•gi ie, of an rtss,rablv of Ame-
rican citizens, mistook th,.;r !,il, it I ot tent ion for disapproba.
Lion ; and in short, liesi, i:' they did not applaud as Mr.
Kean bad been accustomed to LC:Li:ph:oled, they could not
have the gratification of seeing Mr. Kean act as he had
been accustomed to act. Of course the audience—though,
no doubt, with an elated sneer at the Britisher's vanity—
were too much interested in giving him fair play to with-
hold any longer the loud demonstration of their pleasure
when he did something to please them. As the fervour of
the audience rose, so did the genius of the actor, and the
contagion of their own applause redoubled their enjoy-
ment of the excellence it contributed to create,--Sir Buttocr
1 Lytton's Caxtoniana,