The Sun.
London, England, 1862-05-20 00:00:00

HALIFAX AND QUEBEC RAILWAY.

An interesting collection of despatches, relating
to the proposed railway through portions of Canada,
New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, which by uniting
lines of railway already in existence would complete
the railway communication between Halifax and
Quebec, was laid before Parliament yesterday.
First, we have the memorial of the delegates
from Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick,
to the Duke of Newcastle on the subject of the pro-
posed railway; next a despatch from Lord Monck,
enclosing the recommendation of the Executive
Council of Canada ; next, despatches from Lord
Mulgrave, transmitting addresses from the Legis-
lature of Nova Scotia ; next addresses from Mr.
Manners Sutton, Governor of New Brunswick, en-
closing addresses from the Legislature of that
colony. Finally, we have the following despatch
from the Duke of Newcastle, in which the decision
of the Home Government is announced :
" COPY OF A DESPATCH FROM THE DUKE OF
NEWCASTLE K.G., TO THE VISCOUNT MONCH.
" Downing-skeet, April 12, 1862.
" My Lord,—You are aware tkat I duly received
your despatch, No. 4, of the 31st of October last,
reporting that at a meeting in the Council Chamber
at QUeliec of members of the Councils of Canada,
Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, it was resolved
that those three Governments should renew the
offer _made to the Imperial Government on the
26th of October, 1858, to aid In the construction
of an intercelonial railway between Halifax and
Quebec, and`that a delegation fromithe provinces
• la'
should proceed to England with the view of pro-
moting this object.
" You reported to me that the Hon. Philip
Vankpugnet was appointed to represent Canada,
and not long afterwards this gentleman, associated
with the Hon. Joseph Vowe, from Nova Scotia,
and the Hon. Samuel Tilley from New Brunswick,
arrived in England.
" I had several interviews with these gentlemen,
who urged with great ability the project com-
mitted to their charge, and eventually embodied
their views in a memorandum communicated to
me in a letter dated the 2d of December, 1861.
But owing to the urgency of business connected
with the threatening aspect of affairs in the United
States, I was unable to bring the subject under
the consideration of her Majesty's Government be-
fore the deputies were obliged to return to their
homes, and other urgent matters have hitherto pre.
vented the adoption of a decision. The subject has
now been before her Majesty's uovernment, and
I need scarcely assure you that they have examined
it with the care due to the importance of the ques-
tion, to the high authorities from whom it has
emanated in the provinces, and to the character and
position of the delegates by whom it has been so
powerfully presented to notice in this country:
" The length of railway necessary to complete
the communication between Halifax and Quebec
is estimated at 350 miles, and the cost, after de-
ducting the right of way, which the provinces will
provide, is estimated at three millions sterling.
Such being the data supplied by the deputation,
the project is that the Imperial Government should
join the three provinces in a guarantee of 4 per
cent., upon £3,000-000, in which case the provinces
are ready to pass Bills of Supply for L 60,000 a
year (L 20,000 in each province) if the Imperial
Government will do the same. The selection:of
the route is left solely to the British Government.
Should the sum of three millions be found insuffi-
cient, nothing very definite is said on the essential
point of the provision to be made for the comple-
tion of the railway.

" I regret to inform you that, after giving the sub-
ject their best consideration, her Majesty's Govern-
ment have not felt themselves at liberty to concur
in this mode of assistance. Anxious, however, to
promote as far as they can the important object of
completing the great line of railway communication
on British ground, between the Atlantic and the
westernmost parts of Canada, and to assist the
provinces in a scheme which would so materially
promote their interests, her Majesty's Government
are willing to offer to the Provincial Govern-
ments an Imperial guarantee of interest, towards
enabling them to raise by public loan, if they
should desire it, at a molerate rate, the requisite
funds for constructing the railway. This was the
mode of action contemplated by Earl Grey in the
year 1851, and is the same method which was
adopted by Parliament in the act of 1842, in order
to afford to Canada the benefit of British credit in

raising the money with which she has completed
her great system of internal water communications.
The nature and extent of the guarantee which her
Majesty's Government could undertake to recom-
mend to Parliament must be determined by the

particulars of any -scheme which the. Provincial
Governments may be disposed to found on the pre-
sent proposal, and on the kind of security which
they would offer.
" I fear that this course will not be so acceptable
to the Provincial Governments, as that which the
delegates were authorised to propose for conside-
ration. It is, however, the only one in which her
Majesty's Government, after anxious deliberation,
feel that they would be at liberty to participate. I
trust that the proposal will at all events be received
as a proof of their earnest wish to find some method
in which they can co-operate with the provinces in
their laudable desire to complete a perfect inter.
colonial communication over British territory. And
it will be a source of sincere pleasure to me if, ad.
verting to all the different bearings on the subject,
and to the condition of their respective finances, the'
rn
Provincial Governments should not end by finding
andnowte despatch b
i t
subject
t the
in
it in their power to make use of the present offer,
and to propound some practicable scheme for apply-
ing it to the attainment of the desired object.
thelblanßrunswick,hdasof h
I
us t a similar
leave
Lieutenant-Governorsvet addressede of
pr Novaovincia Scotia
several
l Governments,
and m
Nenetws,
Rho will best know, in case they prosecute the
subject further, how to provide for
the requisite
mutuftl consultations. —I have, &c.,
" NEWCASTLE."

As the Abbe Morancez, more of Margon (Eure-et-
Loir), was lately passing along the high road reading, a
mare which was grazing on the roadside rushed on him,
and after biting him severely in the side precipitated him
into a ditch, and endeavoured to trample him under foot.
Fortunately he struck the animal on the nostrils with the
book, and apparently hurt it so much that the mare de-
sisted. The cause of this strange attack cannot be divined.
The wounds of the Abbe are serious, but his life is in no
danger.

/
/ 7/4:7;,e

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PRICE. .... -..4d.
TAMPED ....sd.

GUNS FOR NAVAL WARFARE.

......-- .
Yesterday evening Captain E. G. Fishbourne,
RN., C. 8., delivered a lecture at the United Ser-
vice Institution,
Whitehall-yard, on "The charac-
ter of guns best adapted for naval warfare, as
plans of guns proposed."
gathered from the various
His Grace the Duke of Somerset, the First Lord of
the Admiralty, took the chair.

Captain FISHBOIJRNE, after a few preliminary
remarks on the importance of the subject under
consideration, said the 681 b. smooth bore gun gave
a greater indentation than the 1101 b. Armstrong
gun.
Round shot could not he dispensed with, for
it would be impossible to send elongated shot with
the same velocity as round shot. It had been argued
that the smallness of the recoil was a proof that in
the cylinder shot the friction was less than in the
round shot, but that fact was a proof that the fric-
tion was greater, and that it consequently dimi-
nished the recoil. The computation that had been
made was that in rifle guns one-half the power of
the powder was lost by the friction, and that con-
sequently there was greater damage to the gun.
The lecturer then referred to statistical tables,
showing the results of various experiments that had
been tried between Horsfall's guns, Sir W. Arm-
strong's, and the smooth bore. We had given up
strength, utility, simplicity, and economy for length
of range and accuracy of aim. He thought they
could not do better than turn their attention to the
development of smooth-bore muzzle-loading guns
and round shot. He disapproied of the breech-
loading guns, as they were so much weakened that
they could not bear a sufficient quantity of powder
to send the missile with proper force to its destina-
tion. He then referred to diagrams showing the
amount of windage in the Lancaster, Whitworth,
Scott, Armstrong, Geoffrey, Blakely, and other
guns, and the consequent loss of powee in each. He
believed that with round shot and smoothbore they
could easily, safely, and economically, over short
ranges, attain that power over iron-plated ships
which they could not gain by rifle guns of long
range. If they were to have rifle guns they should
be made strong, and not liable to injury, and the
missiles should be simple and loaded from the muzzle.
By simplicity of construction the price should be
mach reduced, and he thought the country ought
not to pay £6OO for a gun when they could get as
efficient an engine for £3OO.
The Noble CHAIRMAN having invited discussion,

in order to arrive at a correct result,
Sir W. ARMSTRONG said there were so many
figures that he could not go into their refutation
without consideration. He therefore suggested that
the discussion should be adjourned until a future
occasion, when he would not only refute what had
been advanced, but would also state his own views
with regard to the best guns for vessels.

After some discussion, in which the lecturer's
calculation and deduction were severely criticised,
the meeting was adjourned.

TILE JAPANESE MISSION.

'On Sunday the Japanese Ambassadors took a
drive to Hampton Court, going by way of Twicken-
ham. As usual, they were accompanied by Mr.
Macdonald, attache of the English Legation in
Japan, and some of the officers of their suite. After
making a tour of the interior of the Palace, they
were conducted over the grounds, and thence to
Bushey-park, which they saw in all its glory of
foliage and flower. They are said to have a fine
eye for the picturesque, especially in landscape
scenery, and to have been greatly delighted with
some of the parks of the metropolis; but at Bushey,
and more particularly on seeing the famous avenue
of trees at Hampton Court, their admiration was
excited to the highest pitch. Here, as in Paris,
they have always bad a great hankering to see the
country, and they were much rafrebhed by the
glimpses which they were afforded of it on Sunday.
From Hampton Court they drove to Richmond,
where they halted for an hour or so to take lun-
cheon at the Star and Garter. Here again they
were captivated by the view from Richmond-hill,
and lingered over the enjoyment of it for some time.
Leaving Richmond they paid a passing visit to Earl
and Countess Russell at Pembroke-lodge, remaining
there about half an hour, and then returned to their
quarters at Claridge's Hotel, where they dined at
their usual hour of 8 o'clock. On Saturday they
drove to the Crystal Palace, which they had not
seen before, and where they spent several hours.
They were received by Sir Joseph Paxton, Mr.
Farquhar, and Mr. Bowley, and by them conducted
over the building. There everything they saw was
to them so entirely novel and unique that they have
talked about little else since their visit. Their de-

light at the structure itself, as they saw it for the
first time glistening in the sunlight, knew no
bounds. With all the various courts, especially with
that of the Alhambra, they were profoundly inte-
rested, as they were charmed with the internal dis-
play of plants and flowers. From the centre bal-
cony they were afforded a sight of the grounds and
of the landscape of marvellous beauty stretching
beyond on all hands. There, too, they witnessed
a display of the upper series of fountains, for
which the day was remarkably favourable.
The grand fountains would also have been played
for the distinguished strangers but for the short
notice the authorities at the Palace had of their
visit. As it was, they were intensely pleased with
all they saw. They were afterwards present in the
concert-room while the Prussian Coronation March
was being performed by the orchestra. At its con-
clusion they took lunch in the directors' apartment,
and left the Palace about five o'clock. Earlier in
the day they had an interview with Earl Russell at
the Foreign-office, and attended her Majesty's
Theatre in the evening. On Friday morning the
Ambassadors received a visit from Captain Forbes,
Staff-Captain at Woolwich, w ho, in compliance with
a request made by them, through Mr. Macdonald,
to the authorities at the War-office, presented them
with sketches of some of the more remarkable sights
and processes they witnessed on their recent tour of
the Arsenal. So deeply interested were they with
much that they saw there, that a few of the scientific
members of their suite intend to pay a second visit
to the establishment. On Friday also, at half past
three o'clock, the Envoys had an official interview
with Earl Russell, at the Foreign_office,
on business
connection with their mission
which Mr. Layard and Mr. to this country, at
Hammond were also
present. In the evening they attended the assem-
bly of Mrs. Samuel Gurney, at Prince's-gate. On
Thursday morning Mr. Rapp, the Swiss Consul-
General, had an interview with the Ambassadors by
appointment at Claridge's Hotel, for the purpose of
delivering to them a letter from his Government.
Later in the day Lord Stratford do Redcliffe paid
their Excellencies v.. complimentary visit, and re-
mained some time in conversation with them, with
the aid of the interpreters of the mission.

A committee was appointed some time since to
visit the whole seaboard of the French empire, with a view
to ascertain what improvements could be introduced into
nets and other implements used by fishermen in their
calling. The labours of the committee, examined by an
uppr one under the presidentship of Vice-Admiral Febvre,
have furnished the grounds of a new decree respecting the
csiast fisheries. This is preceded by a report, published in
the Moniteur. Any person of whatever nation is declared
free to fish at a distance of three miles from the shore, that
distance to be calculated from low water-mark ; and even
those limits will not be enforced wherever there aro not
sufficient and serious reasons for maintaining them. Fish-
ing may be prohibited now and then on some points of the
coast, in order to encourage the growth and multiplication
of a particular species.
THE LAMBING SEASON ON THE GRAMPIANS AND
Ociam.s.—The lambing season is about completed on all
these extensive pastoral ranges, and it is selldomendid thstoc at it has
k of
closed with such a strong, healthy, and sp
lambs. The pasturage has been excellent, and the lamb
are growing very fast.--,s'cotsynan.
At a recent slave sale in Texas five negroes sold
for 7,010 dols.