The Sun.
London, England, 1841-05-06 00:00:00

EVENING EDITION

not hear it asserted in that room that slavery still existed
in the West Indies without denying it, because :be knew
it to be false._( Applause.) He had supported the Eman-
cipation, although he held the first mortgage on three
large estates in Jamaica—(Hear, hear)—and his interest
was equal to the whole value of those estates, as might be
known from the fact that the trustee could not pay him.—
( Hear, hear, and a laugh.) It had nothing to du with
this question, whether or not the slave-trade in Brazil
was carried on with British money or not. If it was so
the Britigh capitalists were guilty of felony, and ought to
be punished.—( Hear, hear.) As to the subject of their
petition he could only express his opinion that 'it would
ruin the colonies. It would cause the necessity for an
agrarian law in the West Indies, or lead the Degrees to
imitate the conduct of their brethren in St. Domingo.
The Earl of HAItaWOOD said that in all assemblies in
which the interests of men were concerned, a little warmth
of temper was to be expected.—(Hear, bear,) But he
thought it was right that every gentleman should be al-
lowed to express himself, however his opinions might
differ from the majority of those present. He was glad
that Mr. Ridgway had made the statement respecting the
employment of British capital in the Brazilian slave-
trade. It was certainly one thing to know a fact, and
another to be able to prove it; but if Mr. Ridgway could
make good his charge he would do service to his country,
and credit to himself.
The resolution was then carried unauimonaly, and
thanks having been voted to the Chairman the meeting
separated.

THE LIVERPOOL CLERGY AND

THE " TRACTS FOR THE TIMES."

TO THE HON. AND RIGHT REV. RICHARD, LORD BISHOP OF

OXFORD.

May it please your Lordship,
We, the undersigned Clergymen of the Church of Eng- ,
land, resident in Liverpool and its vicinity, venture most
respectfully to address your Lordship on a subject which
we humbly conceive to affect most materially the inter es:a
of that Church, to the doctrines and discipline of which ee
are sincerely and conscientiously attached.
We have now, for a considerable period, regarded with
the most lively and anxious feelings of alarm the continued
publication of certain tracts, entitled, " Tracts for the
the Times," written by " Members of the University of
Oxford," in your Lordship's diocese.
Whilst we are willing to allow that, in consequence
of the imperfection of the human understanding, a
certain degree of diversity of opinion must ever Le
expected to exist among so large a body of men as
the clergy of the Church of England, not only re-
specting questions of doctrine generally, but also respect-
ing the meaning of some particular expressions in the for.
mu!aries of our Church, which, not being inconsistent
with ecclesiastical unity, may not be thought justly desery -
ing of censure, we are at the same time of opinion that
many of the statements contained in these " Tracts " do
not fall within the limits of any reasonable latitude of in-
terpretation.
We, therefore, cordially rejoice to see, from the charge
delivered by your Lordship three years ago, that those
statements had attracted your special attention ; at the same
thre we have regretted to observe that the characteristic
mildness of your Lordship's language, instead of producing
the effect which might have been so justly anticipated from
it, appears to have emboldened the authors of them to
assume that they were not, in your Lordship's judg-
ment, held guilty of any departure from the dcctrines of
the Church. Publications have therefore been continued,
the general spirit and tendency of which have been so
pc:ea, in our judgment, to the received faith of tee
Church, as seriously to perplex the minds of many of its
lay members, and not only so, but also to turn aside several
of our younger brethren in the Ministry from the " old
path" of that Scriptural course which, by their ordination
vow they solemnly engaged to pursue.
We learn, however, with unfeigned satisfaction, that
No. 90 in the said series of Tracts, lately published, and
entitled " Remarks on certain Passages in the Thirty-
nine Articles," has been deemed by your Lordship so
calculated to di,turb the peace of the Church, that
your episcopal influence has been exerted for the sup-
pression of the evil. And it is nut in any ME-
eious spirit that we take the liberty of presenting
our respectful thanks to your Lordship, hut hecause,
being alive to the deep concern which it must have
occasioned to your Lordship's paternal f clings to be
obliged to issue such en dthnonitlon to any of your clergy,
we desire to assure your Lordship, that in the discharge of
this painful but ne e :nary duty you have tho sincere
sympathy a-ad fervent prayers of many attached clergy-
men vaho are personally unknown to your Lord-
ship ; and because v,e ar' penetrated with a serge of
the duty which we our;tives owe to the Church, thus pub-
licly to avow our con,ictiun of the unscriptural and schis.
mitical char.x:cr of the public itiona in question, and the
tnst-quent eccesstty for authoritat'vc interference if any-
thing tf::serving the name of (ulesiastictil urof.trinity is to
be mliut tined in the resin).

We ha-:e the honour t-1 be, my Lord,
Wick unfcigtiPd res7eet,
Your Loriship's most o':)er!ient and faithful serv,:ntF,
( Signed by 31) del-gyn.:en.)

IGE-11 'NANG cONDUuTORS.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

SIR,—As your columns scent ever open to communica.
tions which to late to the public well-thing, or arc con-
nected with the question of individual benefit, I venture to
trespass on your time, and to solicit a niche in your co-
lumps. Favouritism, I f.ar, mingles often in Pariiamen-
tary Committees and Government Commissions of Inqui-
ries, ai.d hence a (P.m-sided and partial view of the question
terminates the case. I had no reason to be disappointed in
the very impeifect and useless investigation on the subject
ef shipwreck, consigned to a Committee appointed by
Parliament, whoa Mr. Deonett was not examined, and
his rackets, way superior to the invention of Manby,
termed no item in the recommendations of the Committee ;
but I think I have a right to complain in the case of the
favouritism shoan to Harris, of Plymouth, in the recom-
mendation for adopting his conductors in the British Navy.
The opi dons of F,traday, Daniell, and Wheatstone, the
personal friends of Mr. Harris, seem to have been ane
plus ultra, and were made to beer entirely and exclusively
on his lightning rod, as if no other had been in existence,
or even propo,e
My lightning conductors have been long before the pub-
lic and tacit efficiency fully proved in many a thunder-
stcrm during the last twelve years, so that there is nothing
hyputhiticai or problematical in reference to my Even-
More tl,ao thirty of these conductors hate been
erected ia Yorkshire alone. It has been described in my
work on the subject, as well as in the " Annals of Elec-
tricity." lam not aware that Harris's conductor has ever
been erected, and Mr. Roberts and Mr. Sturgeon have
controverted its efficacy.
My lightning conductor comes before the public recom-
mended for its economy and simplicity, while it stipulates
all the conditions which should enter into the composition
of a complete storm conductor, calculated on the sound
principles of induction. Its perfect security has never
been questioned, nor has arty one ventured to doubt the
absence of any of the elements of a good lightning rod.
It may certainly be received as an axiom, that a bad or im-
perfect conductor is infinitely worse than no conductor
at alt.
The elements of a good conducting medium for light-
ning in the storm arc these :—A provision for its prompt
and safe receipt—a continuous conducting medium for its
subsequent transit, that being a material fraught with the
best conducting character—and further, a safe escape to
the subsoil or to water. As lightning penetrates to a
dcpth scarcely appreciable the substance of good conduc-
tors, a considerable superficial extent is requisite.
I employ copper gas piping, screwed together in defi-
nite lengths, and terminating above in an elongated solid
copper pyramid. Immediately beneath this terminus the
bellow stem is perforated, so that the lightning may also
lie cetrete the interior. This interior surface :any be pre..
Stlvod for ever free from oxidation. The continuous rod
enters the earth, and terminates in a well, or the subsoil.
In order to protect the external surface from oxidation, I
apply the galvanic principle of strips of zinc, insulated by
'bands of leather, and connect the zinc with the copper
stem by copper wire.
It is easy to see the application of this conductor to
ships. The higher parts of the conductor may be made
to slide into each other like the tubes of a telescope, to
meet the contingencies of the topmast and topgallant-
mast being struck (lowered) in a storm. The lower end
of the conductor passes through the keclston.
Yours, &c.,
May 1, 1841. J. MURRAY',
P. S. Apart from the question of " the lateral explo-
sion," I consider a smooth rounded surface eseential to
the character of a good conducting medium.

--.----.....„.
TO THE EDITOR— OF THE 'SUN.
myre of truth
el He,
Slit,—l beg to apologise for intruding myself ag
self. ain
upon your kindness, but being accused of misrepresenta-
tion by Mr. Blily, I should wish to explain
Mr, Bally, says " that the assertion is a mixtu
and error. At the commencement of the discussion the
decreasing Mr. Brindey's
majority were greatly averse to Socialism, but, notwith-
standing the misreprewentations and calumnies of
Mr. Brindley, the expimotion .of Mr. Lloyd Jones,
n e
cri ssisnituya
bad the effect of rapidly
only abaubtis73.o, alone being present
'fion the part
li°ant existed for
majority every night." And, further, the pit;cp
of
nie;;;ing was too remote fur many of the Inenibe,Q.
of tik. Metropolitan Social Branches to attend, tho:., a
the m arest numb2ring'
oi in
ivalnry. csoanisi
ii d
clearlyerablc f.ohrocel•-'s:
thisT
my f 'not r letter•
mould make
was really the fact of the
Case, as Mr. Balled woui
but I. it appear to be, I would
candidly acknoge 8 , can only imagine that Mr.
B• was notprese2tor he would not hav . co
, me to such a con.
clusiae. A t the outset of the second night's discus
Brindley 'proposed a gentleman as moderator,
ion Mr.
Mr.
put to the meeting, hut not carried M 'wwas
then propised a gentleman for the same. r. Lloyd Jones
which was carried by an overwhelming cffizo on his side,
elesrly showing that at so „rl, majority, thus
of those present acre in fay-) ''
a.
,period the greater part
,cords, Sociali.ti. , ur of Mr. Jones, or, in other

Mr. Bally i.voes on to state "that the assembly of ody
a f,,v thousand,; of individuals, &c., is a very fair criterion
of tie truth or error cf the new system of society." On
the .am, principle, if a meeting, nine-tent.hs of which
consisted of soldiers, was to take place to hear two par-
ties in discussion upon war—whether beneficial or not to
mankind, and at the conclusion of such debate to put it
to the meeting for their opinion, would not the soldiers
cause the majority? And that a resolution go the round
of :he leading Journals to the effect " that the destroying
of a portion of the human race would be very beneficial to
all mankind." I should think would be considered even
by the Socialists themselves to be the very height of folly.
With reference to the obligation that would be confer.
red upon Mr. Baily by Mr. Brindley accepting the
challenge of Mrs. Martin, I beg to say that in this matter
I cannot assist hire, not being in any way personally known
to Mr. Brindley.
The insertion of this letter in you invaluable paper will
greatly oblige. Sir,
Your very obedient and obliged servant,
BENJAMIN •SWALLOW.

Longo, May 4, 1841.