The Sun.
London, England, 1833-08-03 00:00:00

MESSRS. SCHEERBOOM'S LIFE-BOAT

Thursday being appointed for exhibiting the experiment
with the apparatus by which any ordinary boat or vesse
may be converted into a life-boat, and for which Messrs,
Scheerboom and Co., have obtained a patent, the three
bridges of Blackfriars, Southwark, and London, were by
two o'clock crowded with spectators ; and the barges and
craft on the sides of the river were also filled with anxious
expectants, and the river itself presented one of the most
animated spectacles we have witnessed for some time ;
every boat appeared to be put in requisition, and so intense
was the interest and curiosity of the various aquatic
parties that it was with some difficulty sufficient space
could be cleared amidst the dense mass of cutters and
wherries for the display of the experimenta. Shortly
after three o'cl►ck, it being then high water, the vessel by
which the efficacy of the contrivance of the patentees was
to he established, after having performed a few evolutions,
for the purpose of ascertaining the most convenient spot for
the exhibition, which was by the united force of her crew,
which consisted of eight persons, who were stripped of
every thing but their trousers, and furnished with
" schaphanders" (a species of buoyant jackets), overset in
so complete a manner that her masts and sails were cap-
sized, and her keel and bottom remained above water.
The crew, who were floating in all directions, lost no time
in regaining the vessel ; and after seating themselves across
the keel, to confirm their security, again plunged into the
water, and succeeded without any difficulty in righting
the vessel, and getting again on board of her. This ex-
periment was repeated six tunes between the bridges, and
was as fully succes'ful as the most enthusiastic admirer of
the contrivance could desire ; there was no blunder com-
mitted in the detail, and the performers of the experi-
ments were fully competent to the task their employers
and directors had assigned them. Every thing went off
well ; the satisfaction of the spectators, which was ex-
pressed in loud terms, was universal ; and we are happy
to state no accident occurred. Of the general utility of
this invention, which is by means of wooden boxes or
frames placed beneath the seats and along the sides of the
vessel on the inside, and filled with a substance rendered
impervious to the wet, and three times more buoyant than
cork, to render it impossible for a vessel to sink, from
what we have seen we can speak in terms of high enco-
mium ; but whether or not it would be sufficiently effica-
cious to preserve, or be applicable to vessels in a gale of
wind or in a heavy sea, from our own knowledge of the
subject we cannot of course speak in positive terms, but
we see no reason to doubt its being a very great improve-
ment upon any thing of the kind that has been as yet pro-
duced, and as we are of opinion that with some very
simple additions it may become the means of preserving the
lives of a class of persons on whom the national welfare is
dependent, we recommend it to the attention of all persons
eennscted with the trade and navigation of the empire.

On Wednesday an inquest was held at the Ele,
pliant and Castle, New North-road, St. Pancras, on the
body of SARAH ROWLEY, aged 215 a fine-looking young
woman, found drowned in the Regent's Canal, near
Camden Town. The deceased, who was an unfortunate
woman, was seen last in the company of a young man, a
marble.-polisher, who professed to be much attached to
her. A noise of fighting had been heard near the place
where the body was found. The inquest was adjourned,
for the attendance of the young man.
Of all the Princes of the sixteenth century
who espoused the doctrines of the reformation, there was
none, perhaps, who so well understood the genius and phi-
-I.sophic principles of that great measure as GIJSTAVUS
VASA, the patriotic and enlightened King of Sweden.
In looking back into history, it is curious to observe what
was his conduct when he found the bishops of that
thwarting every measure that he introduced to suit and
keep pace with the expansion of the public mind, and
with his own endeavours to adapt the daunt com-
ponent parts of the state to the general advantage
of the whole. Among the resolutions passed at the
General ll:et of Westeras, in 1527, we find the fol-
lowing :—" That the King should be invested with full
power to limit the incomes of the bishops, together with
the entire administration of the churches, both as regarded
their internal regulations
and their property; with the
obligation, nevertheless, of providing for their proper
maintenance, and of paying over the residue to the na-
tional treasury ; that in order that the bishops and clergy
might the better attend to the fulfilment of their spiritual
functions, they should henceforward not meddle with the
affairs of Government, nor be invested with any civil
jurisdiction ; but that all matters in dispute among the
clergy should in future be judged of by the civil Courts of
Sweden."--s Times.