The Sun.
London, England, 1862-12-01 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 1, 1862.

pounds of powder and a hollow shot. After the gun
was run out to the side of the turret and all was

ready it was fired, the ball ricochetting along the
water a few times, then striking the rocks, causing
them to fly like so many chaff, followed by a terrible
echo, which in its force resembled the explosion of
a powder-mill. The noise outside of the turret was
terrible while inside there was no concussion of any

account, and the noise certainly did not exceed that
which would have been produced by the firing of an
ordinary pistol.
Every one was surprised, and unwilling at the
trial to say much; all were anxious to see the effect
of a full service charge of 34 lbs. of powder. The
gun only recoiled 27 inches. The second time the
gun was loaded with 35 lbs. of powder and a hollow
shot. It was fired, recoiling three feet ten inches,
producing no unpleasant concussion, and as before
there was scarcely any smoke in the turret. Several
of the spectators who were inside the turret at the
first firing were outside this time to see the working
of the shot, but the noise was so unpleasant that
they preferred to be inside the next time the gun
was filed, and accordingly they went in and re-
mained there during the remainder of the firing.
" The third time the gun was fired it was charged
with 351bs, of powder and a hollow shot. The recoil
was only 2ft. Bin. The same results were obtained
without trouble; in fact, it was much pleasanter
inside than outside the turret. No noise was per-
ceptible tending to discomfort either on the berth
deck or in the engine room.
" The fourth and last time the gun was fired it
was charged with 351bs of powder and a solid shot,
the first one fired from a gun of this size with a full
service charge. The result was precisely the same,
the recoil being only 2ft. Bin., and no noise or smoke
inside the turret.

" Thus ended the experiment with the gun,
which was in every respect satisfactory.

.‘We refrain from giving our foreign friends or

the rebels the slightest cue as to how this matter has
been accomplished, but suffice it to say that it is the
plan of Capt. Ericsson, and it is now believed to be as
near perfection as anything mortal man can make.

"We will, however, give some of the general
points in the workings of these new Monitors,
showing their most prominent features.
"In the first place their speed will be sufficient
for the purposes for which they were designed.
There is no dubt that they will go at the very least
nine knots; secondly, at no time will the guns of
the vessel be liable to any damage from the projectiles
of the enemy—for the muzzles will not protrude
outside of their shields ; thirdly, the number of
men to work one of these enormous guns is less than
Ito work an ordinary 11-inch gun on a Marsilly car-
riage. Three men will run out the 15-inch gun,
weighing 42,0001b5. (nearly 21 tons), as easily as
19 men work an 11-inch pivot. The English in-
tended to put a 14-ton gun in a cupola, but Sir H.
Douglas strenuously opposed such a step, as he be-
lieved they would not be able to get men enough
inside to work it; therefore it never was attempted.
One strong person can run out the 15-inch gun,
while he runs out the 11-inch one with perfect ease.
" In these new Monitor batteries we give not only
protection to the men but to the guns, which, when
the vessel has but two, it is very desirable should
be protected. The appliance to carry off the con-
cussion and the smoke is simple and ingenious, and
the Government should take care not to let this
secret get out, so as to be used by other Powers. It
is a success only second to the conception of the
original Monitor. Europe will again be astonished
and set to thinking, while America not only has the
work done, but will ere long test the working on
her enemies. The success of firing a monster 15-inch
gun inside of a turret adds another wreath of laurels
already won by the genius of Ericsson. Our coun-
try should be proud of his talents and his successes.
"All who witnessed the trials yesterday were
highly delighted."

terms of the despatch, saying that as it related only
to the guilty, the innocent could not be affected by
it. The arrest was a measure of necessity, demanded
by circumstances. The minister might, it had been
said, have convoked Parliament at that time ;
would have been very happy to do it t his interest
commanded him to do it; he would have been on
the morrow of the events which had taken place
more favourably judged ; but could the Chamber
have i nmediately replied to his appeal, and should

its decisions have been waited for ? If the amnesty
was not immediately accorded it was because he
wished public opinion to declare in its favour. The
speaker, postponing until the following day the re-
mainder of his explanations, succinctly reviewed
the acts of his administration, and begged that they
should be judged without passion and without pre-
judice. " Let the interests of the country be consi-
dered above aLI things," he exclaimed, in conclusion.

the exe, else and drill had had auth excellent sanitary
teeults that the Volunteers were not only the finest
body of men in the kingdom, but were also the healthiest.
(Cheers.) The hon. baronet then presented the vase to Sir
t. Y. Scarlett, the honorary colonel of the regiment, who
received the handsome gift amid the cheers of the battalion.
Sir J. Y. SCARLETT, in the name of the corps, returned
thanks. He said he concurred in every Ward that had fallen
from Sir M. Peto, and could even say more than that gentle-
man had done in praise of the Volunteer movement. He ac-
cepted the handsome vase with pleasure, not only because of
its beauty and intrinsic value, but because it would excite a
wholesome emulation of the corps, and he trusted that it
would in turn be held by each company in the corps. The
gift, however, was still mere Valuable as a substantial proof
of the approbation with which their fellow citizens regarded
the motives that had induced the members of the corps to
enrol themselves in Its ranks. (Hear.) There could
be no mistake about those motives. There might be stern
moralists or philanthropists so averse from war that they
disliked the idea of placing weapons in the hands of any
men ; but however objectionable might have been the con-
duct of some conquerors who were led on to war by an in-
ordinate love of glory the objection could not be imputed to
the volunteers. They were actuated by a sacred motive, for
when could they more confidently hope for the blessing of
Providence upon their efforts than when those efforts were
made in the defence of their liberties, their homes, their
families and their country ? (Hear, hear.) He had not
been of those who were apprehensive of invasion when
strong suspicions of that danger prevailed in this
country. He did not think a neighbouring potentate
was so blind to his own interests as to wish to attack this
country, but that potentate was in such a position that
he might have been forced to do so against his will by a
power which he could not resist. But the moment that
suspicion arose, then there also arose, as it were, from the
ground a large armed force of Volunteers. He remembered
the astonishment evinced by foreigners upon the occasion
of the Volunteer Review in Hyde-park, and also the im-
pression caused by the review in Edinburgh ; but that was
only the beginning. Since those events the movement had
been so rapid and well-sustained that those who once
thought England might be invaded now held a different
opinion. The gallant General then referred to the condi-
tion of the corps, which he said was remarkably satisfac-
tory. In barely two years the total strength of the bat-
talion had reached 650 members, and it could bring 450
effectives into the field at any time. Eighty recruits had
joined in the present year. He had seen the corps reviewed
at various times, and had heard the highest approbation be-
stowed upon it by the commanding officers upon those occa.
sions. He therefore felt proud of filling the post of hono-
rary colonel of the 40th Middlesex Volunteers, as he did not
believe there was a more efficient corps in London. (Hear,
hear.) He then proceeded to distribute the regimental
prices to the several winners, and finally entrusted the In-
habitants' Challenge Cup to the keeping of Company C, the
winners of this year.
Thanks were voted to the donors of prizes, to Sir M. Peto,
and to Sir J. Y. Scarlett, who, in returning thanks, said he
hoped next year, in the name of Lady Scarlett, to induce
the corps to accept another challenge cup ; and he also sug-
gested that a most acceptable prize would be one offered by
unmarried ladies, to be contended for by bachelor members
of the regiment, a suggestion that was received with loud
applause.

TICKET-OF-LEAVE CONVICTS.

At a meeting held at Bristol a few days since on the sub
ject of a charge in the treatment of criminals, Mr. Commis
sioner Hill, who presided, read a paper contrasting the ad
ministration of the convict system in Ireland with that of
England. He said—Not only is the law precisely the same
in both islands, but the order issued by the executive
Government for carrying the law into execution are also
identical up to a certain point. In Ireland, however, one
of the conditions enjoined on the discharged convict is
that he shall report himself to the police of his district on
the first day of each month; while in England it has been
deemed a policy essential to giving the ticket-holder
a chance for obtaining employment that his antecedents
should be carefully concealed ; therefore, so far from his
being enjoined to report himself to the police, they are kept
as far as can be in ignorance of his existence. The re•
maining differences in the conduct of the two experiments
result from the conflicting views of the Convict Board in
Ireland with those of the Convict Board in England. In
Ireland the directors, believing that the responsibility of
Government for the demeanour of the convict extends
up to the expiration of his sentence, whether he be in
or out of prison, so administer their powers as to make
every portion of that term as efficient as they
can towards perfecting his reformation and making it per-
manent. They act under the firm persuasion that unless
they can induce the prisoner to become the principal agent in
working out his own reformation they accomplish nothing.
In addition, therefore, that most powerful motive with
which the law furnishes him, when it enables him to
shorten his own imprisonment by his own effert, all other
motives within the compass of their powers to set before
him which may urge him to the fulfilment of his arduous
task aro brought into play. And with this view they have
not shrunk from taking upon themselves the labour of
treating their prisoners sews.rately, making themselves
acquainted with the springs of action likely to operate upon
each mind, which it will be readily admitted differ very
much in different individuals. This they call the principle
of individualisation—a principle which stands in striking
contrast with that adopted in England. Sir Joshua Jebb is
of opinion that prisoners are best dealt with in masses
and by routine; that is to say, by a system of training
which treats every man as if he were the exact duplicate of
his neighbour; so that whatever operated upon one would
operate in the same measure of force upon the other.
Another principle kept in view in Ireland (while very im-
perfectly applied, if at all, in England) is, that the power of
self •action there considered as essential to work reforma-
tion is gradually to be enlarged in proportion to the im-
provement made by the prisoner in his aspirations and in
his habits, The Irish directors believe that no persek can
acquire self-government who has not the opportunity of
doing wrong as well as of doing right. For it is the exer-
cise of the faculty which enables us to abide by that which
is right, and steadily reject that which is wrong,which con-
stitutes self-government. It is obvious that at first the
limits within which the prisoner may act as he likes must
be narrow, because, while his old desires and habits are
strong upon him, he will find the temptation to evil too
potent for resistance. This gradual relaxation of his bends
is carried in Ireland to such an extent that while in his first
stage he is denied all communication with his fellow-pri-
soners, and is hemmed in by the strictest and most galling
restraints, the last stage differs but little from perfect li-
berty. The gates are open, and there are no physical bonds
to prevent his desertion. He is frequently despatched abroad
on errands, or seise to agricultural employment or other la-
bours out of doors. For in this last, which is called the in-
termediate stage, meaning thereby intermediate between
imprisonment and freedom, moral influences are alone ex-
erted to enforce the rules which, in addition to general
good conduct, enjoin industry, abstinence from drink, and
his return to the gaol at appointed hours. He knows,
however, that the slightest breach of these rules would
send him back to a lower stage, and he feels that in main-
taining his position he is earning a character. He knows
that the facts of his case will be laid before any employer
who may be minded to engage his services immediately on
his discharge, and also that a character so earned will
have far more weight than any general recommendation
which the authorities of the prison could alone give to
a man whose power of resisting the temptation which
the world outside the prison gates must assuredly have in
store for him has never been tested; as it never can be
tested on any plan in which ho passes at once from perpe-
tual restraint to perfect liberty—where he is one day master
1 of few or none of his actions, and the next day thrown on
' the world utterly without guidance, control, or responsibi-
lity. It is most instructive to contrast the result of these
opposite courses of administering our convict system. The
creature of a " training in masses," and by " routine"
learns. it is true. a sort of moral drill, by which. under or-
dinary circumstances, he becomes obedient and conformable
to prison mike. He is thus carried onward, with little exer-
cise of his own volition, towards the gates of his prison, and
unless he act, as he sometimes does, with outrageous folly
and wickedness, ho is considered to have a claim for his
ticket of leave at the earliest period when, in conformity
with the scale, it can be granted to him. And even in the
cases of gross misconduct to which I have adverted, the
ticket is withheld only for a short period, Now, the great
end and object of the ticket-of-leave system was, as might
be expected, and as we learn from the Ministers of the
Crown in their speeches on submitting the measure to Par-
liament, to stimulate the convict to work out his own libe-
ration by energy and self-command. Yet the English ad-
ministration of the system deliberately destroys that stimu-
lus through a course of proceeding in which the prisoner
receives a discharge obtained through the working of a
sort of machinery. The English administration seems to
imitate in sober earnest the scheme imagined in one of our
nursery fables for transforming age into youth by grinding
the candidates for rejuvenescence in a mill, But, alas I
numerous and potent as the expedients of mechanical
science have become in our day, none of them have hitherto
been successfully applied to moral operations. In Ireland,
on the eve of discharge, whether by ticket of leave or on
the expiration of sentence, employers not seldom resort to
the gaol with the view of making choice of such men as may
snit their purposes. Inquiries are also circulated among
employers of labour, by direction of the board, so that no
opportunity should be lost of consigning the discharged
convict to the care and superintendence of some trust-
worthy person. Nor is this task so difficult as our English
experience would lead us to suspect. The fact of the con-
vict having for a long period resisted all temptations to de-
sert is in itself encouraging, while the register of his con-
duct, which the prison books will supply, enables the em-
ployer to see that the man has evinced steadiness of charac •
ter during a far longer period. He also knows that the con-
ditions endorsed upon the ticket-of-leave will be treated not
as fictitious, but will be certainly enforced. Thus the em-
ployer feels that he has not only the experience of the con-
vict's behaviour during his prison life to rely upon, but that,
by the super vision of the police, the servant will be held to
a very strict responsibility for his future well The
-doing...
esult of all this toil and forethought on the part of th e
a 1