The Sun.
London, England, 1841-02-24 00:00:00

FRANC E.

We have received the Paris papers of Sunday. In the
Courrier Francais ae find the fulluwing important an-
nouncement :

The disarmament has commenced ; Marshal Soult has made
a communication to the Commission, the result of which is
that the budget of 1842 is to be reduced 23,000,000 f. The
Alinister announces that the effective film, such as it had been
announced at first, will be reduced byltl,ooo men. He has
not yet given any explanation with respect to this tardy reso-
lution. Marshal Soult must think that projects of law may be
corrected like speeches fur the Moniteur. The communication
of Marshal Soult seems to:have been received by the Commission
with the greatest surprise, which the public will doubtless
share.

The Chamber rejected nn Saturday, by a majority of
178 against 160, M. Meran;liiod's motion against the
Buenos Ayrean !Treaty. M. Thiirs and his friends all
voted in the minority.
The Moniteur Parisien publishes the following letters
written by an officer on board the Neptune, dated Cagliari, the
2d of February:—
"We left Toulon on the 21st of January. The sea was
calm. The next day the weather changed, and a frightful
wind blew from the north-east, which created great disorder
in the Hugon division ; our mainmast broke, and the damages
increased with the wind. In the evening we were all on deck,
when a sudden blast knocked us all down ; and in this pell-
meg, in which legs were broken and arms put out of joint, the
cauldron, in which the crew's soup was boiling, was overthrown,
pouring its contents out upon the deck, and scalding all who
had not had time or strength to get up. The wind continued
increasing; a great quantity of sales were carried away ; the
great yard-arm was broken into bits ; the mizen-mast cracked;
an immense sea carried-away two of the boats and broke two
others, cal r.t ing away at the same time fifty-six packets of
grape shot and one of the guns. The weather continued in
this state for six days. The vessel seas scarcely able to keep
the sea; and we scudded under bare poles until we came to
Cagliari, where we found the Jena and the Triton, both in
worse condition than the Neptune."
There is no additional news whatever is the French
Journals tf Sunday.
In the Chamber of Deputies on Saturday one of the
Members signified hii intention of bringing fat-ward the
proposition cf M. Remilly for rendering functionaries in-
capaeitatod from scats in the Chamber. M. Remilly
thought that in the present situation of France with fc-
reign Powtrs such causes of internal dissension should be
av, ided.

BELGIAN I, UNDS—llaussims , FEB. 21
Actual Debt, 2 per Cent.
Rothschild's Loan 5 per Cant 1•7%
Loan of Thirty Millions, 4 per Cent. .....
---- 3 per Cent. —
----...Thirty.seven---- ... 6,9778
—(L4O) 97%
Loan of City, 1832, 4 per Cent. 8731
Society of Commerce, 45. i per Cent 11.2
Bank of Belgium, 5 per Cent.... ........ . .....
National Seciety . —
Exchange on London (short)
—Brussels Papers, Feb. 20.

SPAIN.

We have received Madrid Journals of the 14th instant, but
they contain no intelligence of any moment. The Regency,
aware of the importance that should be attached to the woods
and mountainous districts of the country, had issued an order
for a table to be drawn up of the divers forests and mountains
bel nging to the State, making a di,tinction between those
which are public pi operty and those which belong to the dif-
ferent communes, with an exact indication of their produce in
timber and charcoal.

It appears quite certain that M. Antonio Gonzales will leave
Madrid for London in a very few days.

PORTUGAL.

The Royal Tar, steamer, arrived at Falmouth on Sunday,
with the Peninsular mails. The Boyne and Prince Regent,
transports, Lieutenants Aldridge and Jeffrey, R.N., agents,
having on board detachments of the 33d Regiment, for Bar-
badoes, remained in Gibraltar Bay. The Great Liverpool
steamer, pmseti-Elih.altar, boymtitpthe Mediterranean, on the
Stl, inst. Serious disturbances were reported to have taken place
at Parma, in the island of Majorca. The malcontents insist, d
upon the suppression of certain duties established by the Legis-
lature, and great alarm prevailed for some time ; but ulti-
mately the law was maintained and order restored: 'lhe Spa-
nish Government, in reply to the representation of the
Intendant at Cadiz of the Commandant's forcing a sum
of money from him for the wants of the soldiery, has undis-
guisedly acknowledged that the national coffers are so bare
that it cannot provide for the pressing wants of the army. It
accordingly urges the intendants, generally, to use every means
in their power to obtain the advance, or loan, of 15,000 of rs.
vn. for the use of the troops ; for which the Government
offers to pay interest at six per cent, per annum ; and as a
temptation to native capitalists, it engages for the reimburse-
ment of the debt an assignment of two-thirds of whatever sums
shall be recovered on account of the extraordinary contribution
of 180,000,000, the payment of which is supposed to have
already commenced.
The dates furnished are—from Gibraltar, Friday the 12th,
Cadiz 13th, Lisbon 16th, and Vigo 18th.

EXTRA ORDINARY EXPERIMENT

An experiment was tried on Saturday afternoen, of one
of the inventions to which we alluded la't autumn, whieh a
frieed on whom we have reliance had an opportut i.y of
witnessing. The trial OA place in the grounds of Mr.
Boyd, in tee county of Essex, a few miles from town, in
the presence of Sir Robert Peel, Sir George Murray, Sir
Henry Hare Sir Francis Burdett, Lord Inges:rie,
Colonel Gureote4, Captain Britten, Captai r Webster, and
some other gerifemen, who ill appeared Tr ry much as-
tonished at what they saw. By the kindness of the ie.-
veator our informant occupied a posidint that enabled him
to command a view of all that took place. A boat 23
feet long and 7 broad was placed in a lame sheet of
wot r, the boat bad been the day before filled in vtith
solid timber, four-any -a-half feet in depth, et. tssel in
every rirecti an, and clamped together with a jet.
inch spike nails. This filing in was made under the
inspection f Captain B.iiten, who stated the fet to the
eietiriguished g etlemen tee have mentioned, and alto !het
the inventor nevi r went rear the workmen employed, teat
no suspicion night be ant rtained cf any combustitle
materials being lodged in the bold of the vessel. Severa•
of the gentlemen were on Saturday rowed ie a ;met
to the vessel, and examined for themselves, so Volt
every doubt might be teinoved as to the cause of destruc-
tion beiee external, and not from the springing of any
mine. When the different parties had taken up their pc-
sitions, on a signal from the inventor, th, heat was set in
motion, and struck just abaft her starboard bow, and in-
stantaneously scattered into a thousand f-igment'. At the
moment of collision the water parted, and presented to 'he
eye of our informant the appearance of a huge bowl,
while upon its troubled surface he noticed the corruses-
lion precisely resembling forked lightnieg. A column
of water was lifted up in the air nice a huge fountain,
from which were projected upwards for many hundred feet
the shattered fragments of the vessel, which fell many of
them several hundred yards' ciatance in the adjacent fields.
Our informant examined many pieces, and found the huge
nails snapped like carrots; the mast looked like a tree riven
by lightning, and never before, as he assures us, has he wit-
nessed so sudceu and complete a destruction, though he bar
seen shell and rocket practice on the largest scale. Such
seemed to be the unanimous opieion of all preaet.t. How
Vie mighty effect was produced way, of counc,
net disclosed to so numerous a party, but two
Laval officers present v ere perfect!), aware of
the mode of opera ion, and the inventor offered t
go into detes confidentially with one or two of tire distil:-
gui lied officers present. In answer to a question front Sir
H. Hardingg, the invent Jr stated that without a battering
train ho could transport or a mule's back the meals of de..
etroying the strongest futtre;s in Ei rope. No doubt
this is vary at riling, but, hearing what we have, we
cannot pronounce it impossible ; and as in every par-
ticular the inventor has done what be has undertaken to
accompli,h, it is only fair to give him credit for the
performance of more than has yet be en dis-
closed. The existence of these tremendous powers
is placed beyond all doubt, and the inventor asserts
them to be completely under his control, which,
from what our informant has had an opportunity of
ottscrvieg, he believes to be really the case. The
instrument that wrought so terrible an effect on Saturday,
lifting into the air a boat weighing two rind a half tons, and
filled in with five and a half tons of solid timber, and
placing at least four teen or fifteen tons of water, was °PI.,
la!b. weight. Our informant ha,' handled it and kielee;i
it round a room when charged with its deadly
euntentF, so portable and at the same time so safe is ir_s
peint of vast import a ace, when we remernix:r the daily
ccei:!ents that ate oceuring front the delonating shells
now used in our service. At Acre Most of those em-
ployed burst before they reached their object, trod they
arc liable to explode when rolling about a ship's
deck, as eat proved by the fatal accidents on hoard her
Majesty's ship Medea, off Alexandria, and the Excellent,
at Portsmouth, and are dangerous to carry in a common
ammunition cart on a rougio read. Whether Lord Mel-
bourne will condeecend to examine into this matter, and
secure these migirty potters for this country, or permit
them t 3 pass into the hands of our enemies, is more than
we can venture to predict, but about which we cannot
think England will remain indifferent. The inventor has
requested us publicly to return his thanks to Mr. Boyd for
his great kindness in permitting hint the use of his grounds
not only on this but on several occasions.— Times.