The Sun.
London, England, 1849-06-04 00:00:00

waste of public time without any beneficial result. 1 specting this subject, for the purpose of discovering
In the next vote, however, a greater degree of I a RULE that would enable us easily and simply to
economy was manifested. The pension of the I find the true quantity of error in any place and
widow of a Colonel in the army was withhe d, under all circumstances." " A desideratum," says
because her deceased husband had been something Sir JOHN Ross, further on (p. 14), " which I claim
above the regulation age at the time of their marriage, to have completely established during my voyage of
This unfortunate lady has been suffering the deepest discovery in 1818." The Rules here laid down by
distress ; but Ministers should prove themselves our eminent navigator are the fruits of his experience.
vigilant guardians of the public purse, and although i They are no theoretical notions, but facts proven by
nothing could be alleged against her character or experiment. Their correctness has been tested again
conduct, and it could not be asserted that she was and again, before Sir JOHN Ross has at last ven-
not a fitting object for the public bounty, she is left to tured upon the publication of his treatise. To pro-
sust ain the privations and misery incident to poverty claim the importance, the vast national importance,
that a few pounds per annum may be saved to the to a maritime country like Britain, of this brief and
national exchequer. The Ministers, in this instance, very simple pamphlet, this pamphlet comprised within
seem to have reversed the rule of the followers of i forty octavo pages, we need only declare that it does
ROBIN HOOD, who, according to WAMBA, set off a i actually establish " rules by which the true course of
thousand bezants, taken from a fat abbot by a crown, a ship may, in every position and under all circum-
given to a mendicant friar. They, on the contrary, stances, be obtained for every point of the corn-
justify 220,0001. per annum wasted in the Dock- pass." How difficult safe navigation is under exist-
yards, by 701. or 80/. per annum. abstracted from ing circumstances can be readily demonstrated by the
a destitute and helpless widow. I enumeration of such facts as the following—that
Again, we find, dfter that splendid exhibition of although about the middle of the sixteenth century
thrift and parsimony, new votes for Buckingham Palace. f (when the deviation was first suspected) it was proved
No less than 763,2961. have been expended on that to have an easterly tendency in Legland and its
precious specimen of British architectural taste, and vicinity, abcut the year 1658 or 1660 the direction
yet it is still admittedly unfit for a residence for our of the needle began to correspond with the meridian,
SOVEREIGN, while new sums are annually absorbed and gradually becan.e more westerly. That of itself
in repairs and alterations. Windsor Castle, too, it i indicates that the deviation is liable to fluctuate in
appears, has cost no less than 1,516,0001. within the regard to Time. Other facts have shown clearly
last quarter of a century, but these trifling sums can enough that its fluctuation in regard to Place is
easily be spared, for Mrs. UNIACKE'S pension has been ► not less conspicuous. In the publication before us
saved to the nation, through the prudence of the Se- . it is clearly laid down that this variation (p. 11)
cretary at War. " differs in all parts of the world ;" (p. 17) that it may
We need scarcely allude to the marble arch, which be altered at pleasure, by placing the compass on the
was erected at a cost of 80,0001. some few years binnacle, by shifting it from side to side, or by placing
since, and about which all that the Chancellor of the , it amidships half way between the mainmast and the
Exchequer was enabled to state was, " that it was capstan ; and that " the angle of deviation is itself
quite clear that it could not stand where it was, but materially affected by light, heat, ar.d cold [by the
that where it was to be put to was not quite decided," amount of the ship's attraction, an amount varying of
to show that useless expenditure and undoing work course with different ships, by increase or decrease
recently executed is not peculiar to the Dockyards. of variation and dip, by proximity to land or to
However, it would be wrong to cavil at such a trifle, another ship], as well as by the humidity and
when the claim of a Colonel's widow for the usual 4 density of the atmosphere." Here is surely sufficien
pension has been disallowed. to show the almost insuperable obstacles which pre-
The most important, perhaps, of all the sugges- vented Sir J. Ross from arriving at first at any safe or
tions, and that which touched the Government most satisfactory conclusion. Here, moreover, is enough
closely, was the proposition of the Hon. Member for in all conscience to show the dangers surrounding the
Oxford,hire for a general reduction of official sala- mariner so long as he continues without some such
ries. A stronger earnest could not be afforded of rules as those which are here at length laid down for
the determination to suit the national expenditure to his future guidance. So great and peculiar is this
the altered circumstances of the times, and the in- ' perilous liability of the best sailor to fall out of his
creased value of money, than a beginning with the right course, that an occasion is recorded in the life
incomes of the heads of the different depart-
of Lord DE SAUMAREZ, the hero of the Gut of Gib-
ments. It is, unhappily, but too notorious raltar, when the Channel Fleet bore up in a storm
that the effect of the Acts of 1819 and 1844 has been for Torbay, at a time when the position of the ships,
to increase the value of money by at least 20 or 30 by means of their reckoning, were six degrees in error !
per cent. All the necessaries and luxuries of life On that very occasion Sir JOHN Ross, then having
may be obtained at much lower prices than was for-
charge of the chronometers on board the Hibernia, made
merly the case, and surely Sir CHARLES WOOD, who
an adowance of one point on the east course, and, in
lauds those statutes as the perfection of legislative consequence of so doing (p. 8), "landfall was made
to a mile, after an absence of six weeks, during which
wisdom, cannot conscientiously receive a much
time no land had been seen, and the fleet had been
higher remuneraticn for his very valuable (!) services
than it was the intention of the Legislature to chasing in various directions." After quoting thus
bestow—and that increase occasioned by the very much, nothing further is necessary to demonstrate,
e
Act, in favour of which and notwithstanding its vie- even to the unprofessional reader, the extraordinary
advantages of such rules as those here established.
tual suspension, he obtained the report of his judi-
For the rest, the Rules themselves being of an en-
ciously selected Committee, in opposition to the great
tirely technical description, come less within the pro-
body of the evidence adduced before them. It would,
vince of a public journal than of a professional and
at least, exhibit the disinterestedness of Ministers in
a stronger light if they refused to benefit personally, scientific treatise. To that treatise, therefore, we
in consequence of the code that is so loudly and to confidently and earnestly direct the attention of the
Mariners of England.
justly complained of by the community in general.

THE FRENCH REPUBLIC.

Anything which can at all tend to diminish the
chance of shipwreck in an age of rapid navigation,
cannot but be deserving of the most serious atten-
tion, especially in a great maritime country like
England. A remarkable pamphlet, having precisely
this tendency—namely, the diminution of danger to
vessels traversing the deep seas—has very recently
been published from the manuscripts of a man whose
name will ever be ranked among our most illustrious
navigators. The circumstances under which this ex-
traordinary treatise has appeared are somewhat ana-
logous to those which accompanied the publication of
another pamphlet written by a distinguished
member of the other chivalrous profession. Almost
immediately before Sir CH MLLES NAPIER started for
the Asiatic peninsula to take the supreme command
of the British Indian army—the " Letter" was printed
in which he explained his project for the improve-
ment, or rather for the total re-organization of the
baggage corp. Almost immediately before the depar-
ture of the nephew of Sir J. Ross to the Arctic Circle, for
the purpose, if possible, of rescuing the survivors of
the last expedition from destruction—the "Treatise"
appeared in which he has expounded his theory of the
Deviation of the Mariner's Compass, and has es-
tablished several very secure and reliable rules
for its correction.* Now different, essentially dif-
ferent as the two schemes are in themselves—in their
tendency they are very little short of being identical.
The soldier has endeavoured to develope the military,
and the sailor the maritime system. One has
evinced a solicitude to diminish the perils of a cam-
paign, and in so doing to facilitate the tactics of war ;
the other has striven with like ardour to decrease the
dangers of a voyage, and, in so doing, to advance the
science of navigation. Having already more than
once drawn attention to the pamphlet by Sir CHARLES
NAPIER, a sentiment of j ustice would impel us to direct
general observation also to the pamphlet of Sir JOHN
Ross, were we not irresistibly incited to do so, irre-
spective of all such collateral stimulants, by the sin-
gular importance of the discoveries disclosed in it,
and by that pure and practical philanthropy which
ha, prompted the researches and inspired the treatise
of the renowned navigator.
Every one in the smallest degree acquainted
with the merest outlines of the History of Science
is perfectly familiar with the fact that the
Deviation of the Mariner's Compass has been
numbered among the inscrutable mysteries of
Nature, from the period when the polarity of the
magnetic needle was first perceived. The phenome-
non of the deflection of the magnetic needle has been
to the science of navigation what the librations of
the moon have been to the science of astronomy—
truths altogether unfathomable and incomprehensible.
At one time, indeed, the hope of satisfactorily ac-
counting for the deviations of the compass was scarcely
less wild and chimerical to all appearance than the
hope of finding out a correct system for the discovery
of longitude, or of accounting on philosophic
and demonstrable grounds for the eccentric
orbit of a comet. Ever since the publication,
however, of the memoir written by Captain FLINDERS,
a memoir which will be found recorded in the Philo-
sophical Transactions of the Royal Society in 1805,
something of a confident expectation has been formed
that ultimately the cause of the aberration might be
detected. Still, although this expectation has existed
we have never yet found ourselves approaching its
realization. The theory of FLINDERS in some essen-
tial particulars was hardly less fanciful and was
barely so ingenious as the one propounded in a mo-
ment of awful emergency by the immortal discoverer
of America. Those who have ever lingered with
breathless curiosity over the biography of COLUMBUS,
whether they have perused his history in the simple
diction of his descendant, or in the eloquent language
Of WASHINGTON IRVING, can never have lost a recol-
lection of that incident—How, when threatened with
death and mutiny in the midst of the solitude of the
Atlantic, the great adventurer retired to his cabin,
and there in a few minutes contrived that inimitable
hypothesis of the Deviation of the Compass,
which, although perceptibly erroneous to the
philosopher, was sufficiently specious, in its
ingenuity, to dissipate the apprehensions of the insur-
gent mariners ! Decided as was the step in advance
taken by FLINDERS towards the elucidation of this
mysterious phenomenon in the needle, it was, never-
theless, as we have already observed, scarcely of one
jot more practical importance than this hypothesis of
CoLumuus. According to the view taken of it by Cap.
tatty FLINDERS, " the error of variation was produced
by the combined force of terrestrial magnetism, and of
the ferruginous attraction within the ship." So far the
scheme was undoubtedly admirable, and espe-
cially inasmuch as further experiments cor-
roborated the accuracy of the opinions
formed by FLINDERS. " Still, however," as
Sir JOHN Ross himself observes in his pamphlet
(p. 13), " much more information was wanted re-

We have received the Paris papers of Saturday and
yesterday.
The formation of the new Cabinet is completed, and
was officially announced to the Assembly on Satur-
day by M. ODILON BARROT.
The following is the composition of the new Ca-
binet :
M. ODILON BARROT Justice.
M. PASSY
M. DE FALLOUX Public Instruction.
General RULHIERES
M. DE TRACY Marine.
M. LACROSSE Public Works.
The above, it will be seen, were all members of the
late Cabinet. The new Ministers are :

M. DUFAURE lnterior (in the place of M.
Leon Faucher).
M. DE TOCQUEVIDLE Foreign Affairs (in place of
M. Drouyn de L'huys).
M. LANJUINAIS Agriculture and Commerce
(in place of M. Buffet).
Marshal BUGEAUD refused to enter the Cabinet
unless the command of the National Guards were
separated from that of the army, but the PRE-
SIDENT, or rather M. DE FALLOUX, refused to
diminish by one jot or tittle the power of the
Legitimatist General CHANGARNIER, and Mar-
shal BUGEAUD consequently does not enter the
Cabinet. The department of Foreign Affairs has
been refused both by General BEDEAU and M. DE
REMUSAT, the Roman question being the difficulty
with each. It is said that M. DE FALLOUX has com-
pletely succeeded in his intrigue as far as the affairs
of Rome are concerned, and that General OUDINOT
has been ordered to force his way into Rome, and to
restore the priestly domination without delay.
The PRESIDENT'S Message (which has been drawn
up by MM. TutEßs and MoLE) is to be delivered
to-day.
M. DUPIN was on Saturday inaugurated as Presi-
dent of the Legislative Assembly.
, The following is the report of the proceedings at
the opening of the Assembly :
M. de Keratry rose and said,—Gentlemen Representa-
tives of the Republic, the honourable selections which
you made in yesterday's sitting have led me to desire,
even more ardently than before, that the moment should
arrive when I might be permitted to resign my tem-
porary functions into hands of persons more firm, more
able, and more exercised than I am. (A voice on the
Left—And more impartial.) I have sated according to
the measure of the strength which Providence has con-
ferred upon me.—(Approbation on the Right; ironical
laughter on the Left.) God forbid that I should prFsume.
to lay down any programme, or trace out any hue of
conduct in the presence of an Assembly on the trenches
of which are seated able men, accustomed to business,who have arrived at the highest grades of the civil and
military orders, and been honoured over and over again
by the confidence of their fellow-citizens.—(Murmurs
on the Left.) Certainly, I should never dream of
any such presumption. As to you, Monsieur le President,
arid you, gentlemen secretaries, I have not the slightest
doubt that you will worthily answer the expectations of
your country, which now calls you by my voice to this
chair, and to these seats of honour; they cannot be more
fitly occupied. This Noble Chamber—(Loud exclamation
on the Left.)
A voice from the same quarter—We are not now in
the Chamber of Peers.

M. de Keratry—This Noble Chamber by which you
have been selected by a majority—almost unanimous--
(Interruption)—has for pledge your character and the
sentiments in which it intends itself persisting. I have
now to call on the members of the definitive bureau to
come forward and take their places.—(Hear, hear.)
M. Dupin, sen., then ascended the steps leading to the
estrade, followed by the members of the bureau. The
Honourable Gentleman wore his distinctive ribbon of a
Representative of the people, and near it the large
crachat of a grand cross of the Legion of Honour. The
two Presidents interchanged the customary accolade,
after which M. de Keratry and the provisional secretaries
withdrew, the new comers assuming their places.
M. Dupin, sen., then, after taking the chair, rose and
said :—Gentlemen and Honourable Colleagues, in dis-
placing in the chair our honourable senior representa-
tive, who has fulfilled his difficult functions with so much
devoted—(Interruption)—I cannot help making a pre-
liminary reflection. Tho office of President of the Na-
tional Assembly is not merely an immense honour, it is
a charge imposing most heavy duties, always difficult to
be fulfilled, but particularly so at the period in which
we live. As a man belonging to the law I should wish
to behold order reigning everywhere, and the regulations
whichher prevailsehize oeuateshi de ,
Assemblya nd is ohbal
ei giars-
always observed with fidelity.—(Hear.) Independently
ns,
peculiar laws—the regulations which it imposes on
own P it
itself, and by which contracts the obligation to
itself. The existing regulations, the viola-
obey euns earsalolnawa lot
of which always leads to disorder, and
tion
strict and impartial execution of which is confided
the
to,f,rtyh eeng
to the President, will immediately call for your
attention,
in order to decide what modifications
experience has shown to be necessary. However the
Assembly may decide the point, I shall endeavour at
present, with all the firmness I possess, to have them
strictly observed, and I will employ all the force which
I possess to maintain them during the continuance, for-
tunately e exceedingly short, of my laborious function.._
( Aricc on the Left—" We hope so.") The tribune,
gentlemen, ought to be free—free for all: the minority
has an interest in such being the case even more than
the majority. • Both sides must consequently learn to
listen
with calm, even to what .may be displeasing—to
e epre3s ourselves with consideration for others,, and to
submit afterwards with resigna:ion to yetis which ac-
quire the character of law, and consequently are invested
force of national sovereignty. Gentlemen
and all the
and honourable colleagues, the acts of this Legislative
Assembly must powerfully influence the destinies of the
country. Constituted as we are as a Republic, let us not
forget the union of the great powers of the state—
(Loud interruption on the Left).
A Voice from the same quarter—There is only one at
present.
M. Dupin, senior, in continuation—ls one of the first
guarantees of public tranquillity—
A Voice on the Left—What do you mean by your
greet powers?

* " A Short Treatise on the Deviation of the Mariner's
Compass; with Rules for it Correction, and Diagrams."
By Sir John Ross, C. 8., &c., Cap
Royal Navy. Svo.tain in the
, pp. 40. Pelham Richardson; London,
1849.