The Sun.
London, England, 1860-01-13 00:00:00

GOVERNOR WISE GONE MAD.

We read in a Canadian letter a report of a speech
made by this " madcap Governor" (as he calls him-
self) to some students. Of course he refers to John
Brown and the abolitionists. He says :—".lt would
be with an aching heart, it would be with a wild
fever passion, that I could be forced to strike
against the bosom of my own countrymen of New
England, New York, Pennsylvania, or Ohio ; but
if I could only be relieved from that struggle I
would gladly take the alternative of a war with
England. (Applause.) My heart would leap to
that alternative like a bridegroom to his chamber.
(Applause.) Fred. Douglass says he is bound for
England. Let him. Oh ! if I had had one good,
long, low, black, rakish, well-armed steamer in
Hampton-roads, I would have placed her on the
Newfoundland banks with orders that if she found
a British packet with that negro on board, to take
him. (Tremendous applause.) And by the eter-
nal gods he should have been taken—taken with
very particular instructions not to hang him before
I had the privilege of seeing him well hung.
(Laughter and applause.) Then, then, if Queen
Victoria called upon my prince, Mr. Buchanan—
[the remainder of this sentence was lost in the ap-
plause.] I hope I would have said that all he could
lo was what he said he could do at Harper's Ferry.
(Laughter.) If the British Minister had demanded
that the madcap Governor should be given to the
British lion, I would just deliberately have referred
the question to you. (Tremendous applause.) I
should have said to them, come up and take
me, and if my people are willing that I shall be
surrendered, I will go without a fuss.' I would call
above all upon the President of the United States
to demand of England that she should not suffer
her Canadian possessions to be used as a place of
refuge for violators of our laws and disturbers of
our peace."
The New York Herald is half disposed to en-
courage the demand of Governor Wise :—" In this
connection," says that journal, " his allusions to
Canada as the house of refuge for such abolition
conspiracies as that of John Brown, for the over-
throw of our Southern institutions and Southern
society, and the Union itself, afford a hint which
the Government at Washington might profitably,
take into consideration. The position which Eng-
land holds towards us on the slavery question in
Canada is not consistent with peace or goodwill, or
good faith to our country. It is the position of a
fellow-conspirator with our abolition traitors and
incendiaries, and the sooner we bring her to a defi-
nite understanding upon this subject the better.
Governor Wise calls upon the President to notify
the British Government that (Canada) their asylum
of fugitives from labour and from justice shall not
be allowed to foster dissensions and disunion in the
United States,' and we think that the ventilation
of this idea in Congress would really develop the
main root of all this existing mischief."
The Canadian Correspondent says:—"Notwith-
standing all this bluster, we are not much afraid.
They came across the lines once before, and had the
wprst of it. We have grown a trifle since 1812."

A LOYAL SUBJECT.—A capital battery of 14 guns
is now to be seen at Shirley, a village near Southampton.
It is the property of Mr. Waterman, who has offered it to the
corporation of Southampton for the defence Of the town, or to
be used for practice by an artillery corps. The gun
mounted as field-pieces, and have two ammunitincarsts aresoNntt-.
at-
tached to them. With the carriages each gun
and
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been tested by artillery officers
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them,Lord andPalmtehre-
ston and many of the aristocracy
utmost surprise has been manifested that a private indi-
vidual of such limited means (the proprietor being only an
assistant to a brewer) should have had the spirit to spend
his savings in so loyal a cause, which at the present crisis
is a worthy example to those who have more extended
means. Mr. Waterman has expended the sum of £4O in
--powder, by firing salutes on coronation days, birth-days of
the members of the royal family, and other periods of re-
joicing. There is no doubt the corporation of Southampton
will accept the offer that has been made them in such a
liberal spirit.
WHAT DIVERS MEET WITH UNDER WATER.—
When the vessel has settled down in a sandy bottom, it is
preserved for many months from breaking up ; and its posi-
tion may be much the same as it would be when floating in
calm water, if it be not tilted over by any under-current
drifts. The light, of course, depends a good deal upon the
depth, and upon the nature of the bottom; but whore there
is no chalk to give a milky thickness to the water, the diver
pursues his work in a kind of gloomy twilight. By the aid of
this he can see and feel his way round the ship, but when he
ascends to the deck and winds down into the principal cabins
he finds everything pitch dark, and has nothing to guide him
but his hands. This is the most difficult, and yet the most
frequent, labour he has to encounter; the danger being that
in a large vessel, where the cabin stairs are deep, and the
cabins are long. and broad, he may get his air tube twisted
round some unfamiliar projections, and so squeeze off his
supply: of life from above. In positions such as this he re-
quires all his nerve and self-possession, all his power of feel.
ing his way back in the exact road that he came. He may
have got the precious casket to which he has been di-
rected in his arms; but what of that if he die before he can
find the stairs? The cold, helpless masses that bump against
his helmet, as they float along the low roof over his head, are
the decomposed corpses of those who were huddled together
in the cabin when the ship went down. A few of these may
be on the floor under his feet, but only when pinned down
by an overturned table or a Wien chest. Their tendency is
ever upward, and the remorseless sea washes away the dead
infant from its dead mother's arms, the dead wife from her
dear husband's embrace. If the wreck be in the Chennel,
the small crabs are already beginning to fatten on their prey.
The diver disentangles himself from this silent crowd, and
ascends the welcome stairs to the deck. The treasure he has
rescued is hauled up into the attendant diving-boat, and lie
turns again to renew his work. He seldom meets with an
accident under water; never, perhaps, with death, and the
chief risk ho runs is from getting some heavy piece of ship
lumber overturned on his long train of air-pipe. Even in
this case he feels tho sudden check and the want of air,
gropes his way back to the obstruction, removes it, signals
to his companions to be raised, and roaches the boat ex-
hausted and alarmed, but not so much as to give up his
place in the trade. Ilis earnings mostly take the form of
shares in what he recovers. If fortunate, his gains may be
large ; if unfortuate, they may be small ; but no man can
grudge him the highest prizes it is possible for him to win.
May Whitstable always have the honour of producing gook
bold and dexterous men as plentifully as she has hitherto
done, and may they have the wisdom to keep what they get.
—Dickens's All the Year 4.2anct,