The Sun.
London, England, 1860-07-19 00:00:00

FROM A CORRESPONDENT OF THE POST.

Whether the astronomers stationed in various
parts of Spain and Algeria have attained the object
of their anxious and laborious mission must for a
few days at least remain a subject of uncertainty,
regarding which it would be well to avoid alike
sanguine and desponding presumptions. In London
and its neighbourhood the sky was most unpropi-
tious, and at no period of the eclipse was the con-
stellation of the two planets visible quite free from
clouds, although at times only so thin a stratum of
watery vapours intervened between the planets and
the eye as to admit of a fair inspection of the phe-
nomenon. 'Shortly before the period of the greatest
phase of the eclipse the temperature sank consider-
ably, and the air came into irregular commotion.
At that period all chance of observation with mag-
nifying instruments seemed lost, as dense masses of
clouds, probably produced by the fall of the tem-
perature drove up from the west, and eclipsed both
sun and moon together. But shortly after the
greatest phase some intervals ensued, during which
a fair telescopic view of the rugged dark outline of
the moon, as projected upon the crescent of the sun,
could be obtained. As the moon receded, a solar
spot of considerable diameter was uncovered, and
diversified a trifle the' monotony of the telescopic
view. But soon a general spreading of high white
clouds closed up the heavens, and prevented all fur-
ther observation.

As we have promised our readers an account of
the observations which we hope our astronomers
have now enriched science with, it may not be amiss
to recapitulate some former observations of eclipses,
by which the red prominences on the margin of the
sun first became a question of science. During the
total eclipse of July 8, 1842, Arago and other
astronomers observed dark or feebly-illuminated
clouds, which he supposed to be situated upon the cir-
cumference of the sun, or at a trifling distance from
it. These Clouds had a ruby or rose-red colour ac-
cording to some observers, and were assumed by
Arago to belong to a third outer sphere, or solar
envelope, consisting of gas, and having a somewhat
imperfea transparency, according to Sir John
Herschel. The total eclipse of the sun of July 28,
1851, contributed many facts confirming the
opinion of Arago. To the account of the observa-
tions of the Astronomer Royal and M. Otto Struve
we have to add a notice of those of Dr. Galle, who
on that occasion was stationed at Frauenburg. He
saw little detached clouds, which, by means of two
or three threads, were connected with the hook-
shaped gibbosity. This hook-shaped excrescence
corresponds to what in England has been termed
the boomerang. The marginal excresences could be
seen by means of the telescope, although slight
clouds of the terrestrial atmosphere intervened, and
could be identified within the corona with the
naked eye. During the totality of the eclipse they
quickly changed their shape. Dr. Lamont sup-
poses these red prominences to be produced by thin
clouds, or masses of vapour, floating in our atmo-
sphere, and condensed by the depression of tem-
perature in the shadow of the moon. He thinks
that all the phenomena which have been recorded
agree perfectly with this explanation, and he has
no doubt that in a hot climate, where the air con•
tains a large quantity of vapour, it will be possible,
by using a telescope of low magnifying power and
considerable aperture, to trace these clouds to a
much greater distance than has yet been done, and
to prove by their motion and changes that they do
not belong to the sun.
The prominences were last observed by Lieu-
tenant J. M. Gtlliss, U.S., during the total eclipse
of the sun on September 7, 1858, observed by him
from a station near Olmos, Peru. He states that
the night of the 6th, and until daylight of the
morning of the 7th of September was bright and
faultless; but just before sunrise a few banks of
heavy cumuli formed over and near the distant
mountains to the eastward, the part of the sky least
obscured being in the direction of the sun. Some
of the intermediate peaks became enveloped in fog
banks at the same time, while the cirri stretched
to near the zenith. The wind was then from the
westward, and the atmosphere humid, under the in-
fluence of which the lower strata of clouds increased
in number and density, and the sun continued
invisible until after the eclipse had made consider-
able progress. By half-past six all the fog-banks
to the north and west were drifting towards the

valley of Olmos, and at seven there was no portion
of the sky entirely unclouded. Whenever the sun
became momentarily visible during that period the
cusps could not be satisfactorily seen because of the
masses of vapour continuously rolling across its
disc. At about a quarter past seven there was a
striking change, the whole mass of cumuli to the
eastward was lifted towards the zenith, leaving
that portion of the sky clear, and it was only by
close examination that a delicate film of vapour
could be detected between them and the sun. At
this period the general light did not greatly differ
in intensity from that of the moon when nearly full,
though its colour resembled more that from burn-
ing spirit than that of the sun. Both intensity
and colour changed under the feeble and gloomy
illumination with perceptible rapidity, and for a
minute before the first internal contact of the limbs
the hills near appeared of a black hue.
At from 12 to 15 seconds before the beginning of
totality the entire luue, then perhaps 35 deg. in
extent, broke up into masses of unequal length,
showing detached portions wholly separated from
the rest by dark lines. Within the ten following,
seconds the remaining visible fragments had be-
come brilliant globules of nearly equal size, which
differed from Baily's beads, as observed by Gilliss
during the annular eclipse of September, 1838, by
the darker spaces which separated them from one
another.
When the total obscuration took place, at nearly
31 minutes past seven, four masses of luminous
clouds became immediately visible at as many posi-
tions of the lunar circumference. The observer re-
moved the screen of glass from his telescope, and in

corona light flaslted..,dat, the
,instant of
totality. It extended karthest froth the sun in lines
atl.Wn from the • centre throUgh the solar clouds;
`but was nowhere traceable more than 15 or 16 min.
beyond the lunar disc: There -were no radial
streamers, or hundlei of rays, but only a uniformly
diminishing and slightly orange-tinted light. whose
brightness and extent_ were apparently influenced
by the mist film, as the colour of the clouds also
may have been. Beyond the corona light, the
colour of the sky was of a grayish-black.
Oar readers are now in possession of facts which
will enable them fully to appreciate the report of
our astronomers regarding their mission to Spain.
We hope that they will have compared notes before
quitting that country, so that the, public may at
once have the advantage of individual observations
and the general expiTienee.- •

AlißlVilk OF LOAD CLYDE IN
. .RNGZAND.

DONTR;i4VEDNESDAY EVENING.
Lord Clyde arrived here from Calais this after-
noon, at a quarter past 3 o'clock, in the mail packet
Alliance, on his returnt.OM India. As.soon as the
Alliance drew towards the pier, th^ figt,•-&, of Sir
Colin (as he was still called by eeery i.k,dv) was
easily discernible on the quarter-deck. Ile was
standing with his usual erectrressAind.looking much
Abe same as when he embarked from the very spot
to which the boat was now approaehing, except that
the bionze on his countenance was a tinge deeper,
and his hair a trifle grayer. The characteristic de-
cision and firmness of the old General were as
easily recognizable as ever in his slightest move-
Merit. On the vessel being moored, the Mayor of
Dover.(Mr. J. C; Ottaway), accompanied by the

Town Clerk, Mr. E. Knocier, proceeded on board
to solicit from his Lordship the honour of wesent-
ing an address. A minute or two's conversation
ensued, during which the crowd lining the Adaii-
ralty pier waved their hats and handkerchiefs and
cheered enthusiastically. The Artillery Volun-
teers; untie:. Captain, Wollaston, with their
.band,
were in attendance as a guard of honour; but,
owing to the short notice which -had been given of
his Lordship's arrival, General Craufurd. tho com-
mandant of the garrison, and the
,other official per-
sonages, who, under other circumstances, would
have been there, were not in attendance.

The reception, therefore, was in all respects a
civil one, Lord Clyde walking with the Mayor, and
preceded by the mace, from the landing pier to
Birmingham's Lord Warden Hotel, in the principal
saloon of which the following address was presented
to his Lordship in the presence of a very distin-
guished assemblage :

"TO TIIE RIGIIT RON. BARON LORD CLYDE, D.C.L., &C.
" May it please your Lordship,
" We, the mayor, aldermen, and burgesses of the town
and port of Dover, approach your Lordship on landing at
this port, to offer you our warm welcome and congratula-
tions on your return to your native country from the ardu-
ous career which you have been enabled, by Divine Provi-
dence, to bring to a successful and happy issue in her
Majesty's dominions in India.
" We, in common with the nation, while lamenting the
necessity that existed for your Lordship undertaking such
a campaign, could not but admire the readiness with which
your sword was placed at the service of your Queen and
country. And we would now unite will the nation in
wreathing the laurel crown to adorn the brow of the brave
and intrepid soldier, the considerate General, and the ad-
mired of his army and country.
"That your Lordship may long live happily to enjoy the
honours which Her Most Gracious Majesty has so worthily
bestowed upon you, in the confidence of the Crown, and in
the affectionate esteem of Britons, who know how to appre-
ciate the sterling value of Britain's sons, is our earnest
desire and hope.

" Given under our corporate seal, at Dover, this 16th day
of July, in the year 1860.
"t J. C. OTTAWAY, Mayor."
Lord Clyde, who appeared to labour under con-
siderable emotion, replied as follows :

" Mr. Mayor and Gentlemen of the Corporation of Dover,
—I cannot tell you how much I feel impressed at this re-
ception, which I was quite unprepared for ; but I can assure
you no one could have a higher sense of the great honour
that has been done this day to a simple soldier returned from
the performance of his duty. I beg you will accept niy
thanks, and believe how gratified I feel. Although I can-
not fittingly reply to the strong expression of approbation
you have been pleased to convey to me, I entertain, I assure
you, the deepest sense of this distinction."

Turnir.g to the Rev. W. Yate, who wore his gown
and bands, and who was the only representative of
the clergy present, Lord Clyde continued,—
" I beg, Sir, that you will convey to your brother clergy-
men how much I feel the great honour you have done me
on this occasion, in meeting me on my return from the
services of the field and the discharge of those humble
duties which her Majesty and my commander did me the
honour to intrust to me."

At. the conclusion of his reply, Lord Clyde, who
throughout was visibly affected, shook hands with
the gentlemen of the corporation near him, who
then withdrew. His lordship, who was accom-
panied by Major Alison and Colonel Stirling, his
aides-de-camp, left by the 3 45 train for London;
amid further demonstrations of joy at his safe
return to the shores of England.

(From the Times.)
That felicity which is the boasted friend of the
brave has brought to our shores at this hour of
martial enthusiasm the most fortunate of our
Indian warriors. When the public hear that Lord
Clyde landed yesterday at Dover, and is now in
town, they will feel the presence of one more un-
doubted soldier and trustworthy chief in this island.
Lord Clyde is in every respect the man to justify
this confidence, being not only a man of unflinching
courage, of practised skill, of long and varied ex-
perience, and undisputed knowledge of his profes-
sion, but, what is more than all, of that success
which is so often wanting to brilliant qualities,
and which the greatest generals have ever declared
to be at once the best test of ability and an indepen-
dent element in war. His career has so thoroughly
eclipsed that of many contemporaries, that it takes
some recollection to recall the men with whom
he might be compared, for it is not every one
who can now enumerate the great losses England
has suffered during the last two wars. It is,
however, only six years since there was a Colonel
Colin Campbell in town, 'who was a Penin-
sular soldier, and had served with some distinc-
tion in China and in India. But there were
many others of whom much the same could be said,
and at that time there was every probability that
the Colonel " unattached," with the scanty pay of
his rank, in the decline of life, with no prospect of
employment, and no particular interest, would sub-
side into the military gentleman of private life,
whose history would have to be learnt fromhis own
lips, and who would certainly have passed away
without any record in these columns. But Fortune
had other things in store for Sir Colin Campbell,
and he proved himself won by of her favour. By a
careful use of two grand opportunities, and by an
exercise of the qualities most important in a soldier,
even when they can scarcely be said to show them-
selves, Sir Colin has become Lord Clyde, with all
the distinctions and honours Parliament and the
Crown could bestow, and a fortune computed at
hundreds of thousands. To rewards unprece-
dented since the days of Wellington oue thing only
is wanting, and that is the life to enjoy them.
Lord Clyde does not, like Wellington, return home
to enter upon a new career at the age of forty-five.
He is sixty-eight ; but he is young in spirit and in
strength, and qualified to take a useful part in the
military questions now growing into interest and
importance.
It has been observed of Wellington, and was cer-
tainly felt by himself, that, whatever his powers, he
had not the opportunity of those brilliant enter-
prises which have placed his chief antagonist among
the half-dozen great conquerors of history. Fortune
itself had dictated his tasks, and impressed duty
rather than glory on the successful results. Some-
thing of the kind may be said of Lord Clyde's career,
but in a much more evident degree. His services
show rather a struggle with fortune, and a rolling
of the stone up the hill, than the sort of career
the young cadet would choose for himself. Wal-
cheren, Vimiera, the retreat of Sir John Moore,
hhee Bsiidegasesoao,f wearne
Corunn a, Barossa,
paVsistatgoeriao,f
tt
Sebastian, and the
thiesrsed brave
Waterloo,
soldiers,
and to
some of the trials which made the hard cradle of
this career. Sent, like In
America, Captain Camp
ara a)
bneyl le m
except in quelplienrgioadnoifn_ siunrareetivity till the first ex-
pedition Insurrection in Dem er he
passed a low, i„ .
n 1842. Twenty years ago there
seemedprospect of a soldier past the
of life beginning a career of usefulness and
very to
meridian
fame, and having the alternative of a Peerage or
Westminster Abbey. Even the command of a regi-

47* 4, t. 0.4
Z•
keyed the dulltenotirnl inactivity 74
for sixor seven years more. But the-yea
• <;'
s„ -
politicNElPl S
written itself in our finance ---our politics, and t ,ei
very look of our populatien, is equally a turning
point in the life of ink4v B
a ritish. soldier. Colonel
Campbell commanded a division throughout the
Punjab campaign, and acquired such a reputation.
as a brave soldier and a cautions-leader that he was ••
subsequently intrusted . with various expeditions
the Hill tribes. ' .The command of a small
disciplined force against an enemy having gene-
rally the advantage of numbers and position was
exactly that to prepare a man. for more recent In-
dian emergencies. The Punjab, Pesha -cur and the
Mountains of the north-western frontier, as they
have contributed the materials for the suppression
of the Indian mutiny, so have they been the schools
and Col: Campbell there acquired the experience
which lie was afterwards to find so valuable. But
few would have guessed six years ago the work
still in reserve for the man who had been hunting
dowit'sa.vages in their strongholds of Central Asia,
and was now glad to be relieved of that duty, even
at.the expense of idleness and poverty. There were
greater men then in the service than Col. Campbell,
but none wiser, or safer, or mom, fortunate. It was,
doubtless, through a just appreciation of these qua-
lities that he commanded the Highland Brigade
and Highland Division throughout the war in the
Crimea. So good a man and such good troops were
not to be thrown away. Gen. Campbell led his High-
landers at the Alma, and no doubt it was a comfort
to everybody in the camp to know they were at
Balaklava, which " the thin red line" nobly de-
fended when the foe had the temerity to attack it.
They were too precious to be wasted at Miceli-Ilan,
or squandered in the inAuecessful attacks on the
Iledan,.. So, when-they were wanted; they Were
found; and the man who interposed, an iron.wall
between the enemy and our shipping was spared -
for the mighty task of suppressing the Indian Mu,
tiny. This he has done with characteristic eant;aon.
and deliberation. His object has been to (h.) the
work, not to catch at the glory of extraordinary
'achievements. India in. revolt, and the largest
European army ever assembled on Indian soil, were
not things to be played with. Sir Colin would ran
no risks. Instead of winning or losing India in
one year, he - "--( make sure of it in two; at
great cost, to be sure, but not at a greater cost than.
we usually pay for assurance doubl=, sure. The
Nere-
suit is that India is ours, Carr 1) li
of 1854 is Lord Clyde, covered with wells-tarned
honours.

Such is one.of the great prizes in The lottery of
war. There were great names Elt years ago; some
have sunk into obscurity; SOMO bgAve been quenched
in mid-career ; some have only shown them-
selves on the scene to be intercepted. by envious fate
on the very threshold of fame. Colonel Havelock,
among many others, had then an equal right to
expect that he would one day return to England
loaded with Indian glory and spoil. What has
made the difference, if we except the caprice of
Fortune or the inscrutable will of Providence ? But
one quality Lord Clyde has which truth should
not overlook. He has never been the man to run.
needlesi risks. And he has the qualities which in
private life lead to fortune and position. When the
adventurer who is always quarrelling with Fortune
and deft ing her to do her worst flings away to-day
all that he won yesterday, the man of sense keeps it
and adds to it. He retains his fortune, his friends,
his "actual advance, his prospects,. and opportuni-
ties. This has been Lord Clyde's rule through his
military career. Retook ;toed-care of his soldiers,
and took equal care' that. their merits should be
known. He has given the mutineers no chance,
Had he done so, and failed, he would have had no
mercy shown him. In war, as in other things,
there is no excuse for failure ; and Lord Clyde has
shown a wise determination not to be beholden to
excuses. Whatever people may object to his ope-
rations, to their cost in money and men, or to their
tediousness, he has one answer which is sufficient
--plat he has done the work-which was to be done,
and done it effectually.

INTERNATIO.VAL STA TISTICAL CON-
GRESS.

The various sections of the Congress resumed
their sittings yesterday morning in the rooms set
apart for their use in Somerset House and King's
College.

At the general meeting of the Congress, in the
large hall of King's College, at two o'clock, Lord
Brougham took the chair, in the absence of the
Right Hon. T. M. Gibson, who was prevented from
being present in consequence of having to attend a
Cabinet meeting. The minutes of the meeting of
yesterday were read and confirmed. Letters from
Sir B. Brodie and the President of the Royal So-
ciety were read, stating that from illness and other
causes they regretted they were compelled to be
absent, but that they fully appreciated the objects
of the Congress, and would use their best efforts to
promote them.
The SECRETARY then stated that severil
valuable papers had been received, which could
not be very well classified, but they would
receive the attention due• to their import-
ance. Among them was one by Mrs. Baines, on
"Wet Nurses" (laughter)—a medical paper by Dr.
Marsden, and a paper by Dr. Crompton. of Man-
chester, on " The Statistics of Paper." When these
papers were printed with the other records of the
society, they would no doubt be highly appreciated
by those who felt an interest in the subjects therein
discussed.

Dr. JARVIS, registrar of births, deaths, and mar-
riages, next rose to read a paper, but
The CHAIRMAN said before their respected col-
league read his report he wished to make an obser-
vation. He regretted very much that Mr. Dallas,
the Minister for the United States, was not present,
because it appeared that a remark: which he had
made at the opening meeting on Monday had been
attempted to be turned into something disrespectful
to the American Ambassador. He could only say he
was very sorry that remark should have been so
misconstrued. He never intended to say anything
that could possibly be painful to our kinsmen in the
United States, for whom he had the greatest re-
spect, though there were subjects upon which he
and they differed. When he saw Dr. Delaney, a
respectable coloured gentleman from Canada, in the
room, he had merely mentioned it as a statistical
fact, which it was, and a fact, he might be permitted
to add, of no small importance. He only called the
attention of Mr. Dallas to it in the same way as he
would have invited the attention of their excellent
colleague from Brazil, without the slightest inten-
tion of saying anything disrespectful to the Bra-
zilians. He hoped that Count de Repolda would
also accept this explanation, as the Spaniards bad
persons of various races in their possessions in the
New World. (Hear.)
The proceedings closed with votes of thanks to
the noble and venerable chairman, and to the dele-
gates who had aderessed the meeting, and the
proceedings were then adjourned till this day.