The Sun.
London, England, 1858-01-04 00:00:00

in.

[ Pricil 4. S'rNl A PED 5

PROFESSOR FARADAY'S LECTURES AT
THII ROYAL INSTITUTION.

At Professor Faraday's thin.' lecture on " Con-
duction, Insulation, and Lightning Conductors,"
we observed among the distinguished company pre-
sent M. de Due d'Aumale' M. le Prince de Conde,
M. le Comte de Paris, M. le Duo de Chartres, with
M. le Docteur de Mussy, the eminent and accom-
plished physician of the Orleans family ; Sir Ben-
jamin Brodie, Bart., F.R.S.; Sir C. Fellows,
F.S.A.; the Rev. Dr. Whewell, F.R.S. (Master of
Trinity College, Cambridge), Revs. J. Barlow,
F. R.S. ; C. W. Page (Student of Christ Church,
Oxford, 41. c.), Ar.e.
His R )yal Highness the Prince of Wales (at-
tended by Mr. F. W. Gibbs, Dr. Becker, and
Lieut.-Colonel Cavendish) took the chair at three
o'clock, with his usual punctua'ity. On the wall,
behind the Professor's table, were fixed circular
cards, containing an epitome of the previous lec-
tures ; electricity being shown to be-
1. Evolved or destroyed at pleasure.
2. Produced by any two bodies ; and
3. Apparent on the rubbing of the bodies. Fur-
ther,--7

4. The acting body is not changed.
5. Force is local. •
6. It is variable to any degree.
7. The result is attraction and repulsion.
8. Two states are in the force.
9. The power is transferable.
10. The power is conducted.
11. C.unduction and insulation are demonstrated;
12. Ca: rying or convection.
When the professor made his appearance he was
greeted with loud cheett from his juvenile (and ma-
tur) admirers, to which he responded by saying,
that " although in that place he was surrounded by
the highest.society, both in rank and intellectual
eminence, he was happy to find the privileges of
children allowed there, and therefore he accepted
the cheers of his young friends." By various ex-
po intents the learned Professor proceeded to show
the power of conduction—iron, copper, and wood
being shown to conduct differently. To de-
monstrate the conduction of the electric force
as operating diversely with divers substances,
two rods, one of copper, the other of
iron, were exhibited against the chimney, between
which a phosphorous lamp was placed, and it was
shown by means of little wooden balls, which had
been stuck on to the rods by pomatum, and fell
from the rods at different times, that copper was
more powerful conductor than iron.
A very curious experiment was tried with two
kinds of thread used as the conducting force.
From the electric machine on the table a silk thread
was carried to the indicator a yard or two off, and
was shown to be a non-conductor when the glass
tube was rubbed and applied to the machine
(although the silk when wetted conducted), while a
metallic thread of the same thickness, when treated
in the same way, conducted the force so much as to
vehemently agitate the gold leaves within the I
indicator.

The difference in the conducting power between
glass and brass was then explained, and it was
proved that brass conducted, while glass insulated.
The professor then treated of the circumstances
under which electricity is conducted, and when it
ceased, after which he gave a lucid and interesting
description of the Atlantic telegraph (part of which
he exhibited), and of the late Dover and Calais
telegraph, and when his explanations were cheered,
said, " Thank you for all your approval ; I think
your silence gives it best." His ignition of a jet of
gas when, standing "insulated" on the carpet, be
put one hand on a branch of the electric machine
and the other on the burner, was, notwithstanding,
loudly applauded ; as also when he held in his band
and used for an electrometer a passel of paper,

which became dishevelled and violently agitated
when being "insulated," his hand wag electrified.
The rest of the lecture was devoted to the eluci•
dation of the principles of lightning conductors, as
useful on lighthouses, Arc. A model of the Eddy-
stone Lighthouse was used in illustration, and one
of St. Kathariue's lighthouses was exhibited on a
table in the ante-room, which was examined after
the lecture and much admired.

THE .NEW INDIAN BILL.

(From the Daily News )

"The aftrirs-of my fea4--111 liardotainionrs will
-require -yotu -ilserious consideration, and I recom-
mend them to your ear-est a•tention." This was

the injunction laid by the Queen upon her Parlia-
ment when they met, at the openiug of the session,
on the 3d of last December. Immediate compliance
with the injunction would net, however, have suit-
ed the purpose of Lord Palmerston. His lordship
has to obtain the sanction of the Legislature to a
bill for the future government of India, which has
been described by ono of his own organs in the press
as such a crude measure as " may arise from the
aberrations of a Parliament talking six months
upon a subject studied hurriedly and without pre-
vious preparation." A piece of legislation of this
kind, it is obvious, will require to be hurried
through Parliament without allowing time to scru-
tinise its defects too narrowly, Hod it been pro-
duced when the Houses first met, members must
uecessarily have had a couple of months to study its
provisions before the great debates could come on.
To avoid this Lord Palmerston has, up to the pre-
sent time, kept his own secret. In February Par-
liament will ba called upon to ppss an extempore
measure for the government of India. Such in-
decent precipitancy ought, if possible, to be pre-
vented ; and this is the reason why we submit to
the pubic such details of the Ministerial India Bill
as we have been able to glean from various well-
informed
quarters. Our sketch of its most
essential provisions will, we have not the shadow
of a doubt, be found correct. If there is any
inaccuracy in the minor details, Ministers have it
in their power to set themselves right with the
public by putting forth their own version. In this
way our object will yet more fully be attained ; fop
that object is simply to frustrate the nefarious
attempt to smugle a Bill, intended to revolutionise
the government of India, through Parliament, with
alinitaimum of discussion.

We learn, then, from sources on which we have
been accustomed to place great reliance, that by
Lord Palmerston's India Bill—

The political affairs of India are to be transferred
to the direct management of a member of the
Cabinet, who, it is understood, shall be a Peer,
and in whom all patronage, —wi th one exception—
is to be vested.

This member of the Cabinet is to be President of
a Council to whom simply consultative functions
are to be entrusted; they are to have neither ad-
miniitrative nor executive powers. The Members
of Council are to be six in number ; and they are
to be chosen in the first instance from the existing
Court of Directors.

The European portion of the Indian Army is to
be greatly augmented, and placed directly and ex-
clusively under the Crown. All regulations and
orders regarding it will emanate from, all patronage
will be exercised through, the medium of the Horse
Guards. The Native Army will be confided to the
charge of the local Government an India.
The Indian Services will be kept distinct from
the Home Services, and charged directly and ex-
clusively on the Revenue of India.
The first consequence of this measure that stares
us in the face is, the immense addition it will make
to the power of the Crown. The European army
of the Crown in India will be withdrawn from tbo
annual supervision and control of Parliament, A
great army of European soldiers will be maintained
in India irrespective of the Imperial Parliament.
The patronage dispensed by the Commander-in
Chief—an officer who has come to be regarded as
the more immediate Minister of the Crown, and in-
dependent of and unaffected by the mutations of
the balance of parties in Parliament—will be error;
mously increased. It has been generally under-
stood that so long as Lord Hardinge remained at
the;head of the army every paper of the Horse
Guards was submitted to the Prince Consort, and
strong suspicions are entertained that this practice
has not been entirely abandoned since Lord Har-
dinge's demise. If Parliament sanctions the transfer
of the largely increased European portion of India
to the Horse Guards, the power of the Crown iniits
very worst form—that
is,
straintiand control of_ responsible Ministers—will
be augmented to perilous extent.
to the re_
Again, should Lord Palmer.ston's India Bill
become law, the influence of the Political Govern-
ment of the day will be increased. All the non-
military patronage of India will be placed at its
disposal. Under it the Civil Service of India will
be jobbed to an extent of which some recent objec-
tionable appointments convey but a faint notion.
The Cabinet of the day will be, more than compen-
sated for the loss of Colonial patronage consequent
on the concession of self-government tothe Colonies
India will become a preserve for the aristocracy
and their venal tools and dependents in Parliament
and the constituencies.

The measure for the government of India con-
,emplated by Lord Palmerston is neither more nor