The Sun.
London, England, 1860-09-24 00:00:00

TRANSLATION.

Spaniards,—On addressing myself to the Cortes
in the month of Jane last, making use of the right

• . _
of petition, and demonstrating clearly and plainly
the grounds upon which I considered my rights to

be based, 1 did not obtain a hearing.

The present Assembly, the result of an election
with which every one is acquainted, had to be sub.

missive to the dictates of the Ministers. The Se-

nate, from its composition, more immediately sub-
jected to the will of the person who at present oc-

cupies the Throne, naturally followed the same
course. Thus avoiding all discussion the circula-
tion of my writings was also prevented, by which
means clearly evincing the weakness of a Throne
which dreads discussion, and with special care pre-
vents the circulation of the manifestoes of a Pre-

tender.
In the position I find myself placed at present,
no other alternative remains for me than to appeal
to the Spanish people, being desirous that they
may know my sentiments, and that they may form
an exact opinion regarding my intentions.
I will not insist on 'the question of right, because
it is painful to speak of a beloved brother, ptbrceiv-
ing him to be subjected to a party which strives to
disavow the progressive spirit of the age. Nor will
I expatiate upon his last act, based, it is said, upon
the dictation of clever counsellors, who unfortu-
nately, consulted more their own interests than the
honour of my brother. The question of my rights
is to me inseparable from the sanction of the people
to whom I desire to appeal. •
I deplore the terrible struggle which during
many years, and even since the termination of the
civil war, the men of liberal ideas Have had to
encounter in order to effect the consolidation of a
constitutional system that had in reality no other
origin than.that derived from the Crown, which
has not accepted freely and loyally representative
institutions. Hence the sad spectacle of those Ad-
ministrations which succeeded one another in
Spain at such short intervals, not chosen after
ascertaining the public opinion, but named in
order to secure the election of parties of a deter-
mined character, and thus to create a majority li
which would tamely follow them; hence the gene-
ral disgust, and, as a natural consequence, the
slavery of the Press, and the little respect to per-
sonal liberty, being the last result of an uninter-
rupted series of tumults and pronunciamentos,
sometimes suffocated after precious blood had been
spilled, and occasionally triumphant after gather-
ing but little fruit, to return again to' the reac-
tionary system.
In these vain and miserable contentions the
Spanish people lavish their strength, for it is not a
tranquil and pacific struggle of ideas, but a con-
tinual warfare in order to destroy every obstacle
continually created by the same hand, which ought
only to act as judge in the field, leaving the palisade
open, and procuring by all possible means that the
will of the people be known and manifested. This
system is followed at present by all truly consti-
tutional Monarchs, and where it is carried out no
mutinies occur, no risings take place, no shedding
of blood exists; on the contrary, the Monarch and
the people are bound together in close union.
It is natural for him who thus recognizes the ad-
vantages of an entirely liberal system to desire for
his country a sacred respect of individual liberty—
the broadest liberty of the press, which is the
strongest corrective of every kind of abuse; true
equality before the law, and equal privileges to all
parties; entire freedom in elections, the only
method of rendering the representative system a
reality ; and, in the economical branch, the total
abolition of such duties as are most grievous to the
public, such as those on articles of consumptinn and
the gate duty ; the abolition of the monopoly of
tobacco and salt, by which so many industrial pur-
suits are protected; the most ample system of
amortization, not excepting the property which is
called the Royal Patrimony, because I consider that
the provision accorded by the public is sufficient for
a King, because the prestige and the power of a
Monarch ought not to be based on the ostentation in
which he lives, but rather upon the affection and
the respect of his subjects.
And if all this which I desired for my country be
not sufficient to satisfy the wishes of the people it
would not be I who will put a veto on the national
sovereignty, from which I expect everything.
For this reason I have not hesitated a moment to
make known to you my wishes, entering into de-
tails and reflections ; but at a period when univer-
sal suffrage decides the fate of monarchs, he who
aspires to be.one, he who well knows the evils which
oppress the Spanish people, he who ardently desires
to contribute to their happiness, ought to proceed
with noble frankness, and to make manifest in the
face of the nation his sentiments and his profound
convictions.
I perfectly comprehend that my frankly liberal
tendencies have occasioned surprise to many, and
profound disgust to some of my father's servants,
who never desired to see me separate myself from
his principles, and create doubt at least in those
who, taking into consideration the name which I
bear, believe it difficult that I could openly break
from the traditions of my family. I respect the
memory of my father, who was entirely united to
the ideas of his time, and which he upheld honour-
ably
.and with perfect faith, derived from profound
conviction, until be breathed his last ; but it is un-
just in any grade of society to make a son respon-
sible for the errors of his father ; it would be a
greater injustice to make me participate in such re-
sponsibility in treating of political opinions which
hitherto I have had no occasion to manifest; and
until experience, the reading of history, and the
practical example of that which I observe every
moment in this classical country of liberty, pro
duced the conviction in me that it is madness to
oppose the progressive spirit of the age, and that
the Divine right has no signification without the
assent and love of the people.
It would be unjust to deny the faculty I possess to
appreciate at its true value the spirit of the age in
which we live, when from my position of an emi-
' grant since my infancy I have had frequent oppor-
tunities of coming into close contact with the sad
consequences of absolutism and deceit.
In the year 1848 I witnessed the expulsion, in con-
sequence of the hurricane of revolutionary impulses,
of monarchs who adhered to antiquated ideas, and
who turned a deaf ear to every idea which might
oblige them to accommodate themselves to the just
aspirations of their subjects; I have seen them
afterwards return to their thrones, protected by
foreign bayonets and shedding torrents of blood;
but in 1848 I witnessed also the rising of a nation
proclaiming a Republic, and sending its most ardent
defenders to carry an armed propaganda to a neigh-
bouring country, at the head of which they found
a beloved and respected King. In Belgium the
Propagandists were repulsed, and Leopold thereby
received a solemn proof of the affection of his subjects.
I have since seen the downfall, one by one, of
thrones in Italy which had been upheld and sup-
ported by antiquated ideas, the last of which, that
of Naples, the King of which would not evade his
own ruin when so many opportunities were
afforded him to do so, when so many useful and
disinterested counsels were given him. On the
other hand, I have seen a kingdom—a small one
yesterday, but great to-day--governed by a truly
constitutional King, whose high attributes I know,
having been his companion in arms, and served
his orders in the distinguished brigade of Savoy—
a King who is not only the idol of Piedmont, but of
the entire population of Italy, who recognise in him
the champion of its liberty and its independence.
Finally I see in this great and hospitable coun-
try a virtuous Queen, a model of • mother of a
family, who commits no offence against the esta-
blished institutions, nor conspires against her Minis-
ters, divesting herself of every influence which does
not appertain to her legitimate and responsible
advisers, who are called to this position by the
national' will—a Queen who finds its strongest sup-
port in this liberal system, which is so much
dreaded by the adherents of antiquated ideas.
It is natural that he who has received so many
lessons in the school of misfortune, he who has
been a close observer of so many and such grave
events, he who has been able to compare the results
of the two conflicting systems for the dominion cf
the world, should have formed a firm conviction,
and that he aspires to realise, in the country of
his birth, those principles which constitute the pro-
spirity and grandeur of other more fortunate
nations. JUAN DE BORBON.

THE STRIKE OF FEMALES AT ALVA.—This un-
fortunate, and, we may add, foolish strike, still continues,
causing a loss to the working Population of the village of
£l,OOO a week, that being about the sum which is usually
paid in weekly wages at this season of the year. We were
at first disposed to believe that the s" fillers ' had a show of
justice upon their side, but having made more particular
inquiries into the circumstances, we are compelled to change
our opinion. It was alleged by the females that even work-
ing long hours they could not earn more Gs. a week in sum-
mer, and about 3s. a week in the winter months. So far
from this being the case, however, we find that 7s. 6d. to
Bs. 6d. in summer, and 4s. to ss. in winter, is about their
average weekly earnings, and there aro instances of an
average wage of 7s. 4d. a week being earned all the year
round, even in cases where there has been a good deal of
broken time. One employer informs us that, taking bad
hands with good, the females in his employment have, dur-
ing the past six months, earned an average wage of above
7s. 6d. a week each. Further, it appears that the prices
paid to fillers in Alva are higher by a farthing
than the prices paid in Alloa, and also a farthing higher on
grey and white yarns than the prices paid at Tillicoultry
and Devonside. Many of the weavers, we have a spindle
reason to
know, already regret the encouragement they gave to the
feMales to take this step, and not a few are betaking them-
selves to Galashiels, and others of the border townF, in quest
of employment,—,Worth British, Juts.

MILFORD.

MILFORD, SATURDAY, SEPT. 22.
The operation was performed in a manner which
reflected great credit upon Captain Vine Hall, and
the powerful paddle engines snowed themselves as
docile and manageable in the experieiced hands of
Mr. M'Lennan as they had done upon any previous
occasion. The extraordinary facility with which
the Great Eastern was handled was again the sub-
ject of universal admiration. The gridiron upon
which the ship is now placed is about 580 feet in

length, or equal to the whole length of the level bottom
of the ship. About 100 feet at the head is unsup-
ported, owing to the curve line of the bow, but at the
stern the keel rests upon the beach. Visitors can walk

entirely round the ship, and the enormous mass of
hull, the gigantic network of iron in the wheels, and
the vast size of the screw, high overhead, look most

imposing when the tide is out. Three blades of
the screw were broken at the edges during the
storm at Holyhead. The pieces broken off must
have been several hundred pounds in weight, but
the accident has not seriously affected the working
power of the screw.
At low water on Friday there was a general
movement of those connected with the great ship
to search for the wonderful and gigantic forms of

vegetable and animal life which—if was supposed
would be found vegetating on the ship's bottom.
It was to these weeds and luxuriant vegetation
that the comparatively slow rate of speed was at-
tributed, and it was their removal, as the public
were over and over again.told, that was to have the
effect of giving an addition of at least two knots an
hour. There was no doubt, it was said, that the
speed was in her, but the weeds outside were too
much; remove them, and New York was within
seven or eight days of England. Judge, then, of the
astonishment of the directors and others when, after

floundering about, in the mud, duly provided with
lanterns, and stumbling over the iron bars of
the gridiron, nothing was to be found but some
wretched stubby little hairy tufts and a few diminu-
tive " limpets," among which one of half an inch in
length was secured by Mr. Appold as a veritable
giant among those parasitical molusca. There are
many portions of the ship's side and bottom, of seve-
sal feet in area, upon which not a solitary weed or
shell, or any form of foulness is to be found. A care-
ful calculation, founded on an examination of seve-
ral large areas, shows that on an average there
is one tuft of weed to about two square feet of
surface. Those tufts are small circular spots, very
closely resembing in form, size, and general ap-
pearance, those hirsute developments upon the
human chin known as " imperials." They are
not even mossy or spongy, and do not, therefore,
absorb and hold any quantity of water; they
are formed of coarse, stubborn hair, and the
most hardy species of barnacles could not hope to
obtain pasturage or herbage upon them. The
general appearance of the side of the ship below the
water line is that of an old brick wall, bronzed
with age, and slightly covered with grey and yel-
low lichen. The rich vegetation which covered the
ship while in Southampton water was almost
entirely removed before she left for America, and.
any that remained was effectually cleared off in the
Atlantic. It was necessary for the purpose of
preserving the ship to clean and scrape her, and.
give her some coats of paint, but there was
clearly no necessity for beaching her with the
view of obtaining any, increased speed. All the
scraping and painting in the world will not add
the fraction of a knot to her capabilities in this
respect.
The gridiron is a work whichoccupied the labour
of 200 men for something like two months. The
beach, to the distance of 580 yards, was excavated
and levelled to within a few feet of low water-
mark at spring-tides. The arrangement for the
reception of the ship consists of two grids,' 50
yards distant from the other. Each of these is
150 ft. in length, and is constructed of 40 strong
transverse beams of 45, 35, 30, and 25ft. in length,
kept in their place by iron-shod piles. The longest
of these baulks is laid nearest amidships, and the
others taper off in the same proportion as the beam
of the ship. The dolphins are 30ft. in height, and
are made of baulks of timber 13 inches square,
clamped and bolted together: Their use is to sup-
port the ship and prevent her leaning over on the
land side"; powerful hawsers and chains attached
to the piling prevent her heeling over on the oppo-
site side. At low water the ship sits perfectly up-
right on the beach, the bottom having no keel, and.
being flat for a very large portion of its breadth.
There is no likelihood of getting the ship off the
beach at the next " springs, as there will not then
be more than sixteen feet of water. Thursday
was the last day upon which she floated with
the present high tides. There will, in fact, be
no ehance of getting her off until the 15th or
16th of October, and then only in the event-of the
wind being favourable to the set of the tide. With
a good south-westerly wind the depth of water will
not be more than twenty feet, and should the wind
blow from any other quarter on those days the
Great Eastern will have to pass several months o
idleness. Under the most favourable circumstances,
the voyage to America, therefore, as announced for
the 17th of October, is an impossibility, for should.
the ship be floated from her present position she
would require at least three weeks for coaling, as
there is not a single mechanical appliance on board
for facilitating the taking in of coal. There is,
however, another cause of delay, and that by far
the most important one, viz., the condition of
the screw shaft and its bearings. With this
part of the machinery in its present con-
dition, it is vain to attempt to go to
sea. Owing to its construction in the first instance,
this screw has given an immense deal of trouble,
Originally the ponderous shaft, to which the screw
is attached, worked on bearings of soft or white
metal, an admirable invention for those parts of
machinery which are not subjected to the action
of salt water, but wholly unsuited in cases where
the metal is exposed. As a consequence these
bearings worked almost entirely out in the journey
round from Holyhead. Bearings of lignum vita:
were then substituted, but again with the same
result. The iron shaft worked into these hard
bearings to such an extent that they are cut away
to the depth of 41 inches on the outside. At work,
therefore, the machinery would strain in every
part to such an extent as inevitably to break down
altogether; to tny nothing of the enormous leak-
age through this enlarged opening under water,
and which no amount of packing could effec-
tually prevent. What course is to be taken
to set this matter right has not yet been
decided upon. It is an affair which cannot be
patched up or glossed over. The shaft will not
work properly, nor, indeed, at all, unless its bear-
ings are perfectly true and accurate, while the
friction of the iron surface of this shaft of some.
thing like 100 tons weight, with a screw of twenty-
four tons hanging at its extremity, and making
forty or more revolutions in the minute, will de-
stroy everything with which it comes into contact.
The plan adopted in the ships in the navy and
other large screw vessels is the only one that has
been found to succeed, namely, that of casing the
shaft in brass. This metal will work upon the lig-
nunz vitae without wearing away either of the sur-
faces at the enormous rate at which they were de-
stroyed in the voyage to New York and back. If this
should be done, and it does not appear that any
other course is open, the alteration will occupy
several weeks. It is a work, too, which cannot be
conveniently effected while the ship is afloat, as the
shaft revolves entirely under water. This alteration,
moreover, is one which involves considerable cost.
So far as the hull of the ship is concerned, it
is perfectly sound; not a rivet appears to have
started, and she is as water-tight as when she left
the yard at Millwall. The directors will, no doubt,
shortly make some announcements respecting
.the
future movements of the ship. A short time since
Mr. Yates, the secretary, wrote a letter, by order of
the board, stating that the Great Eastern would.
leave for New York on the 15th of October. It
would be a most profitable time to the voyage;
there are numbers of Americans in England and on
the Continent who will return about that time, and
there are enormous quantities of wheat and flour
which have been purchased on the other side of the
Atlantic, in anticipation of a bad harvest at home,
which might make up a return freight for the ship.
It is clear, however, that the Great Eastern cannot
leave Milford by that, date, or, in all probability,
within the following month."

THE GLASGOW GARIBALDI FUN D.—The Glasgow
committee made the usual weekly remittance to London
on Wednesday, and the contributions hitherto remitted to
London from Glasgow and the west of Scotland amount to
the sum of £2,450.
GARIBALDI'S OFFICERS.—Vice Admiral Persane,
to whom General Garibaldi, on entering Naples, assigned
the command of the Neapolitan fleet, is a brother-in-law of
Mr. Huntley Bacon, one of the Colchester magistrates. A
nephew of Mr. Bacon, Lieut. Cicala, is aide-de-camp
to General de la Rocca.
THE LATE MR. LOCKE, M.P.—The remains of
the late Mr. Joseph acke, M.P. for Honiton, were removed
from Cranstoun's private hotel, where he died on Wednes-
day, the 19th inst., at five o'clock. His body was enclosed
in a wooden shell, a lead coffin, and an outer wooden cover.
Previous to enclosure in this " narrow house," -a post mor-
tem examination was made, and the local medical attend-
ants' opinion of the seat and cause of the disease was fully
confirmed by the state of the intestines, when they were
investigated by Dr. Aitken, of London, Mr. Locke's own
medical attendant. It seems that while out shooting on
Saturday Mr. Locke had felt chilly, and had sat down for
a while. No danger was dreaded, and up till
Sunday evening, though complaining of inconvenience,
there was no idea of illness entertained. The condi-
tion, of the bsdy pr6ved that he must have borne much
agony, and yet' he remained sensible'up till a very ehort
I period before his demise.—Glasgow Herald.