The Sun.
London, England, 1854-12-28 00:00:00

TILE STRONGEST MATERIAL FOR GUNS. i POSITION
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temporary :
Sir,—The Government has shown wisdom in giving
Mr. Nasmyth their support towards developing his
plans. I have no 'doubt that under his hands the
capabilities of wrought iron for gun metal will be
brought out to the uttermost, and his skill and ability
will leave nothing undone to insure the best possible
result. I would, however, take the liberty of sug-
gesting to Mr. Nasrnyth that there is a material far
superior to wrought iron. I allude to oast steel. A
bar of good English iron, one inch square, will sus-
tain a weight of about 25 tons ; a bar of ordinary
cast steel of the same size will sustain 60 tons. The
power of cast steel to resist wrenching asunder is to
that of wrought iron nearly as Ifq to 10k, and, cast
steel can be made perfectly uniform and homogeneous
throughout its mass, whilst with wrought iron, uni-
formity of texture, and solidity, espeeially in large
masses, can only be approximated to, and many imper-
fections must at all times exist when large masses of
wrought iron are required, and which can only be
formed by welding together a number of small pieces.
The objections to cast steel are these is difficult to
obtain it in large masses, for it is only procurable by
melting steel in clay crucibles, usually containing about
401bs. each, and two of which occupy one melting fur-
nace. I have se far improved upon this process, that
I obtain 561bs. from each crucible, and I work four such
crucibles in each furnace ; that is to say, one melting
furnace will yield 2 cwts. of cast steel, and therefore to
cast an ingot ,fitted for being drawn under the steam
hammer into a gun capable of carrying a ball of 3 cwt.
250 such melting furnaces and 1,000 crucibles would
be required, supposing the gun to weigh 25 tons, and
the contents of all these crucibles would have to be
poured very quickly into one large cylindrical iron
mould to form the ingot. Whether it be possible
to arrange matters so as to enable this to be
done I leave it to the great manufacturers of cast
steel in Sheffield to decide ; but my own impression
is that it is not merely possible, but a simple question
of having a sufficient number of well-disciplined
workmen and a suitable workshop, for the melting fur-
naces do not occupy much space. In this manner one
ingot of from 25 to 30 tons weight could be produced
daily at one such establishment ; and the next question
is, Can such an ingot be drawn under the hammer into
shape I This Mr. Nasnayth can decide. Another ob-
jection to the use of cast steel is, that when manufac-
tured sufficiently soft to insure toughness and strength
it is porous in its structure and full of cavities, which,
though they close up under the hammer, never unite so
as to hAromA and wben the cast steel is made
sufficiently hard to form a solid ingot, rree iron, olio va -
ou s internal structure, the steel is then brittle, like cast

iron.
Now I offer to show Mr. Nasmyth or the Government
authorities how to make cast steel, which shall form a
perfectly solid ingot and yet possess the utmost strength,
and I can furnish Mr. Nasmyth with ingots of this steel
to be rolled and formed into tubes of given dimensions,
which, when bored ,and tested by hydraulic pressure,
shall sustain double the strain of that which any wrought
iron tubes of similar dimensions can undergo without
yielding. This cast steel. including the expenses of
melting, crucibles, materials, &c., would not cost more
than 361. per ton, and supposing that it is possible to cast
so large an ingot and to draw it into shape when cast,
and then to bore it, the guns thus formed would be all
but imperishable, and not liable to the wear and tear
which the weaker materials of wrought or east iron are
subject to. Besides the strength and tenacity possessed
by cast steel in its ordinary state, it may readily be made
still tougher and more tenacious either by simply anneal-
ing it at a dull red heat for some hours and then allow-
ing it to cool slowly covered with sand or ashes, or more
readily by bringing the mass of steel to a temperature
of 610 degrees, and then suddenly immersing it in cold
water.—l am, sir, your constant reader,
ROBT. MISHET.

West Dean Steel Works, Coleford

NAVVIES AND RAILTVAY PLANT FOR
BALAKLAVA.

The following letter has been addressed to a con
:en9ora7 _ _

Sir,—The Wildfire, with her " navvies" and railway
plant, was, I perceive by a late Daily News, still at
Birkenhead, waiting a wind--and wait she way for a
month ; or if she sails, he that time before she gets out
of the Channel. Any one who has paid attention to
events knows that in ordinary years, if a vessel does
not leave the Mersey before the second week in No-
vember, unless she is a clipper, the great chance is when
she does leave she may be knocking about for six weeks
before she gets clear.
What are these railways for if they are not to be
availed of in the present emergency ? To say nothing of
the exigency, at a less cost by far than " finding" and
paying ss. per day to each " navvie," and the hire of the
vessel during such detention, the whole plant and men
could be despatched per rail by the "shortest route" to
Marseilles, and thence per steamer to Balaklava.
Small steamers—the class now in requisition for a
winter voyage—(we are always in extremes)—offer little
better alternatives than sailing vessels, as they oaenot
sheer in heavy weather.—Yours, &c.,
Dec. 26, 18L(5)1,11.E WHO KNOWS THI Mum WELL.

7NIST.RY.

‘• ~f
cuo.titutionai government iu England to the position
occupied by the present Ministers. We ask of them
that they will look at that position from no party point
of view, but that they will judge of it solely with refer-
ence to those great constitutional principles which are
the traditions of English government, and which, after
all, are the only true safeguards of English liberty and
English greatness.
There is no doubt whatever that at this moment the
Ministry continue in office solely by the forbearance of
men strongly opposed to them. They chose to stake
their official existence upon the passing of the Foreign
Enlistment Bill. It has been abundantly proved by an
analysis of the division lists that this measure was carried
solely because a large number of men, strongly opposed
both to the Ministry and the measure, abstained from
voting upon one or other of the divisions by which the
fate of the bill was deeided.
We do not now inquire whether those who absented
themselves acted right or wrong. We certainly do
not question either the honesty or the patriotism of
their intentions. We merely call attention to the
indisputable fact, that a very large number of members
of the House of Commons who usually oppose the pre-
sent Ministry, and who are known to dislike their
F other, t
Foreign Enlistment Bill, neglected, from some motive
or
give effect to their opinions by voting the
rejection of the measure. Had they done so, and had
Ministers kept their word, we would not now have either
a Foreign Enlistment Bill or a Coalition Cabinet.
This establishes the proposition, that Ministers hold
office at this moment by the forbearance of their politi-
cal opponents. How far this may be to Ministers credit-
able, or to the country a safe state of affairs, we will not
now stop to inquire. Unhappily
there is ranch more
than this. Lord Aberdeen oontinues Prime Minister,
because the House of Commons, or at least a large num-
ber of its members, are content to abandon the right or
the duty of expressing their opinions.
We can understand very well that members of that
assembly generally giving their confidence or their sup.
port to Ministers should hesitate to displace them by
an adverse vote even upon a measure of which they dig.
approved. To feelings like this we believe Ministers
owe nine-tenths of the votes which were given for the
Foreign Enlistment sill. There would, of course, be no
difficulty in understanding the motives which migh
influence men generally opposing the Ministry to sup-
port a ministerial measure of which they approved.
But the case with which we are dealing is one widely
different from either of these—it is that of men who,
disliking both the Ministry anti their measure, yet, from
one motive or other, abstained from voting against it.
Tt does not need many words to prove that exactly to
the extent to which such absete.:e prows ila, the functions
of the House of Commons are, in truth, virtually in
abeyance. If the number of members thus withholding
themselves upon a division on a vital question be con-
siderable, we may fairly say, that upon that question
the opinion of the House of Commons is, in truth, not
taken at all. The assent of the House of Commons is
not given to it. The forms, indeed, of the constitution
and of Parliament may be observed ; but all that can
give to those forms vitality, or meaning, or life, is
wanting. _ _ _

If this be a correct view of the proceedings upan
this measure we are justified in saying that Ministers
hold office, not merely by the sufferance .of their op.
ponents, but by the abeyance of the constitutional
func-
tions of the House of Commons. It is a very serious
question to ask, whether this be a safe state of things
We have a Ministry existing only by the voluntary
abdication of their duties on the part of the represen-
tatives of /the people. The action of the popular branch
of the Legislature would be fatal to their official life.
They can only prolong that life by lulling into inaction
the House of Commons.
Tills is in itself a grievous and a great calamity. We
are old-fashioned enough to believe that popular opinion
and popular feeling, expressed in the Parliament, con-
stitute the very soul and breath of our Engli,lGovern-
'neut. We are sure that the national sanction to the
resolutions of Ministers is that which is best calculated
to give them weight and authority, not only at home,
but abroad; and that in our free and happy constitu-
tion the approval of the rapresentativeA of the people
,2;ive; to those resolutions a moral influence which
the decisions of despotic Governments never can cow•

maul. in troth, is the advantage in a free Go-
vernment which more than compensates for the many
and obvious inconveniences that attend the public
discussion of its measures. The resolves of the British
Government are those of the nation, aid not merely of
its rulers. _ _ _

But all this is log if we have a Ministry that depends
for its existence upon the inaction of the House of
Commons. Let us take this very Foreign Enlistment
Bill as an example. Is there any pretence for saying
that the nation represented in Parliament has assented
to its passing ? We do not merely say that its passing at
all was a surrender, on the part of those who voted for

it, of their own opinions to the wishes or the conve,
nience of Government—this is an assent, although an
extorted one—but let us test, by the numbers of the
divisions, how far even such an assent as this was really
given by "the Commons in Parliament assembled."
Upon the second reading of this bill 241 votes were
given for the measure, 202 against it. Ministers could
only induce 241 members of the House of Commons to
record their assent to this measure—very little more than
one-third of the house. Never was there an occasion
upori which Ministers might more confidently have
reckoned upon the presence of those who thought with
them. The crisis .was one of the deepest national
elav —.44.5...a "41. Yon AO A di.
monstration of earnestness in supporting the Sovereign
it might have been expected that a full attendance of
members would have marked the interest felt by the
nation in the war. No party stimulus was neglected to

bring up the lagging to the support of the Ministry.
Circulars were issued headed with the unusual but signi-
ficant announcement—

66 Certqin important and DECISITE divisions."

Every effort was made to summon ministerial sup•
porters to their post, and after all this, for a meuure
which they professed to think so essential that without
it they could not carry on the war, the Ministers of
Queen Victoria were scarcely able to obtain the votes of
a third of the House of Commons.

This is a position in which the Government of an Eng-
lish Sovereign never should be placed. To escape adverse
divisions is but a poor triumph for a Ministry in a crisis
like this. Deserted benches tell against the country, if not
against Ministers, in the division. For their measures
Ministers ought to command the cordial and enthusiastic
support of Parliament and the country. This is something
very different from the sullen silence with which a
large proportion of the House of Commons have barely
permitted the ministerial measure to pass. The absence
of so many members of " the great council of the nation"
is no good omen for the country. We do not inquire
sanction
people.
whether that absence was wise or not. We only state
a proposition about which there can be no dispute—that
more Ministers
than coonuel-(l h itnrod o not
fbr the representatives
to
Let Parliamentary divisions he counted as they may, we
repeat that such a Ministry does not command that na-
tional sympathy and support without which no Ministry
can manage the affairs of England with success.
On the contrary, it is plain that Ministers succeed in
holding office only by reducing to practical inaction the
sentiments and opinions of at least one-third of the House.
of Commons itself. We may speculate upon the matter
as we p!ease, but hero is the plain fact. Our Parlia-
mentary Government is one which is carried on by
members of Parliament staying away. We earnestly
recommend this fact to the serious consideration of
Lord John Russell, and those who, like him, still profess
515 attachment to the Parliamentary system established
all
the revolution of 1683.-3foraing Herald.

POSITION OF THE RUSSIANS IN ASIA

11IINOR.

. We extract the following from a letter dated Mosul
Nov. 10 :—A-s I have seen utterly erroneous accounts in
two Loudon papers as to the movements of the Russian
troops under Bebutoff, I have to inform you that the,
have not " entirely withdrawn across the frontier, aban-
doning every position which their successes at Bayazid
and Kurackdei e had enabled them to occupy." I am
able to contradict this statement on the authority of a
letter received to-day by the English vice-consul here,
from Yezdershier Bey—the son of the notori,us Bedr
Khan Bey, now in Candia— who is at present at Mardeen,
six days to the north of this, engaged in collecting irregular
troops for the army at Kars. He says, "By the last new,
from Van I learn that the Russians hive collected a large
fo ce and encamped at Kozlygal, 12 hours from Van on
the road from Bayezid. By this it would seem as if
they intended a winter campaign—through six feet of
t now." To this satisfactory di;prover of the " entire
withdrawal" of the Russians, I may add an equally fiat
contradiction to attJther paragraph in one of the same
journals, which states that "the Turks are advancing by
forced marches on Tiflis from Kars and Batoum." The
Turks at Rare and Batoutn were never farther from
"forced marches" in their life, unless indeed it be back
upon Erzeroum before the Russians, and not -upon Tiflis
re
hereem enitss there are
any a r-
r iviafter then. This also I can state, on the faith of a private
letter which reached myself some days ago from a friend
at Kars, who writes "Everything here is just as it was
h nor if°
a month ago; the Russians remain on their old ground,
and we are not likely to disturb them, even if the coming
snownga allowed B
a toof
rn ot vneemi
neither
thereße
.
likelihood of a stir till spring." S 4 much for the with-
drawal of the Ros dans beyond the frontier, and the
" forced marches" of my old acquaintances • upon Tiflis.

ST. DAVID'S COLLEGE.---Mrs. Mary lane Evans, the
widow of the Rev. D. Evans, formerly rector of Simon-
burn, in the county of Northumberland, has invested
the sum of 5421. in the Three per Cent. Consols, to
found a scholarship in St. David's College, under the
denomination of the " Sinsonburn Scholarship." It will
be open for competition to students training for holy
orders, who shall be natives of any of the 15 counties of
Wales, including Monmouthshire ; but, cateris paribus,
it is provided that a native of Carmarthenshire shall
have the'prefearence.
WAR VESSELS IN THE FIRM-At present the Firth
of Forth is the station Of a squadron of war vessels,
consisting of the Edinburgh, 60 guns, carrying the flag
of Rear-Admiral Chads ; the Cruiser, 17, Captain
Douglas ; the Archer, 14, Captain Heathcote ; and the
Jackal!, tender. All the vessels have auxiliary steam-
power. The Cruiser, which was the first to arrive from
the Baltic, took up its station on Thursday in tlae roads
between Leith and Granton ; tie Edinburgh came upas
far as Inchkeith on Friday, and on S4turday took an-
chorage higher up, saluting the Fort as it passed. On
Sunday the Archer arrived about two o'clock, and
saluted the Admiral's flag —Edinburgh Courant.