The Sun.
London, England, 1867-05-21 00:00:00

THY, LITXEMBITEG TREATY.

BERLIN, May 18.
A semi-official article has just been published
here upon the Luxemburg question, which says :
" Peace is secured anew, so far as human judg-
ment extends, a serious and a lasting peace. More
fortunate than the peace Conferences of recent
years, the London Conference has attained its ob-
ject, and has brought about a solution of the Luxem-
burg question, to which all the parties concerned
have readily declared their assent.
" The position of Luxemburg is settled upon
fresh bases by a treaty concluded at London. It is
notorious that the Grand Duchy, which the King of
Holland governs as an independent State, had be-
longed to the Germanic Confederation since 1815.
After the dissolution of the Confederation last ye ir
the King of Holland, as Count von Bismarck stated
from the commencement, could not be compelled to
join a new German Band. The Minister announced
that Prussia had never made such a proposal, and
no wish was expressed from Luxemburg it.elf with
regard to junction. Prussia did not wish to
exercise either force or compu!sion upon the sove-
reigns, nor to increase the tinder that threatens
European peace.' -

" While, therefore, for reasons of right as well as
policy, our Government was able to look forward
solely to a free agreement as to the future position
of Luxemburg, the right of garrisoning the fortress,
hitherto possessed by Prussia, had to be taken into
special consideration. This right of garrison re-
posed originally equally upon the former position of
Luxemburg as a German federal fortress ; but the
treaties by which that right was transferred to
Prussia stipulated expressly that in its exercise the
interest of the combined defence of Prussia and
II Luxemburg' should be paramount.
"After, as a matter of course, Luxemburg ceased
to be a Federal fortress by the dissolution of the
Germanic Confederation, it remained reserved for
the further consideration and agreement of Prussia
and Luxemburg—the two Powers immediately con-
cerned—to determine the extent in which they
should maintain or modify the treaty in question in
the interest of the united defence. As, however,
the state of affairs hitherto existing had come to
pass, with the express co-operation of the European
Great Powers, it seemed appropriate also to admit
those Powers upon the present occasion to partici-
pate in the new decisions. These were the general
points of view from which our Government pro-
cealed in the commencement with regard to the
requisite settlement of the Luxemburg question.
" With regard, however, to the special interest of
Prussia, the interest, viz., of the defence of Prussia
and Germany afforded by the right of garrison, our
Government was obliged, in case the King of Hol-
land intended to give up the hitherto existing 1
treaty, to demand a corresponding compensation
far the security of the frontiers of Germany, in so
far as that had up to the present time been guaran-
teed by the fortress of Luxemburg. Above all, it
was impossible for Prussia to consent that a fortress
hitherto employed for the defence of Germany
might in future become a means of menacing her.
"Before formal negotiations upon the relations
of Luxemburg took place between Prussia and the
King of Holland, symptoms came to light that a
project was entertained of ceding the Grand Duchy
to France. Subsequent statements of the French
Minister for Foreign Affairs to the Corps Legislatif
confirmed the fact that the negotiations pending
between Holland and France actually turned upon
the acquisition of Luxemburg by the latter Power.
The matter thus entered a new and entirely different
of a menace to the
Prussia, in abandon-
ing her right of garrisoning
sftarognetiersWohf ilGe
Luxemburg,
was bound under all circumstances to avert,
e rtmh ea n
yd nwgheire h
seemed -to be immediately realised, Prussia
and Germany could but feel
deeply hurt
that the King of Holland negotiated with a
foreign Power concerning a country and a fortress
actually occupied by Prussian troops upon the basis
of former treaties.

" This was the starting-point of the latest
bnego-
tiations. The Prussian Government,
supportedman , by
t
a sincere desire for
athneimnaatteiodnaatl
tehxecitseammeenttianpiepabryent in Germany,
peace, placed itself at first in confidential communi-
cation with the European Powers who had co-ope-
rated in the settlement of the treaties respecting
Luxemburg. An earnest endeavour was soon ma-
nifested upon all sides to avert the outbreak of po-
sitive dissension upon the Luxemburg question.
Thanks to the circumspection and moderation of
all the Powers concerned, the Conferences have
permitted the object of a peaceful solution to be at-
tained."

Mr. George Peabody, who arrived in the Scotia,
at Liverpool, was asked before leaving America to run for
the Presidency. He replied that he preferred fishing for
salmon—and we think he is right.

Senator Sumner has written a letter to the New
York Independent in support of his bill to establish equal
suffrage in all the States. Theodore Tilton approves it,
and says he knows that Chief Justice Chase also does.

Postihaster-General Randall has tendered his
resignation to the President on the ground that the South
ought to be represented in the Cabinet. The President
acknowledges the fact, but declines to accept tllo resigna-
tion.

Yesterday Major-Gen. F. Murray, commanding
the forces at Chatham, accompanied by Brig ide-
Major W. Lynch, Col. R. 11. Crofton, command-
ing Royal Artillery ; 1) puty Assistant Superinten-
dent of Stores.C. Wilgress, and other ofEcers of the
divisional staff, proceeded from head-quarters on a
tour of inspection of the fortifications and other
works, completed and in progress, at the Isle
of Grain for commanding the approaches to
the Thames and Medway at the confluence of
the rivers. Although the fortifications at the
Isle of Grain were commenced as far back as
1803, they are still far from being complaed. The
Government engineers and other persons employed
on the undertaking have come to the conclusion
that much of the works already executed will have
to be taken down. The large battery, in the in-
spection of which considerable time was occupied
yesterday, which was originally constructed at enor-
mous expense on the western shores of the Medway,
is now considered to be altogether useless, from the
gradual giving way of the foundations. Indeed,
from the present rate at which the structure is sink-
ing it promises at no distant date to disappear alto-
gether, about eight feet of the battery being already
out of sight. It was originally designed for this
battery to mount 20 of the 600-pounder guns, but
as the entire work is broken by its own weight, any
dtai attempt a
armamentrt
ao
nee. place
rre vhemen,
ttahhtietne
battery
yet a lest
ufeorl
dre me
toiedndal
ybol
II:
a d
thete
esici
softr i
ipt s-
p
s
alluvial soil of the marshes, on a subsoil of mud and,.
silt of about 40ft. in thickness, beneath which the
London clay is reached. The retaining as well as
the several other walls of the structure were built
in concrete, merely deposited in a common trench,
without any preiiious preparation by piling to en-
able it to sustain the massive works placed on it.
The result of this system .of construction, which
was anticipated by every one but the Government
engineers, has been that the works have been taken
down to prevent their falling. The concrete, about
eight feet in thickness, laid on the marsh for foun-
dations for the parapets, &c., appears, from the in-
spection yesterday, to have sunk about six feet, the
e.pnsequence being that this part of the foundation
is broken up and bulged by its own weight, and
therefore altogether useless for the 'purpose for
which it was intended. The slopes, which are formed
of the earth taken from the excavations for the
foundations of the fort, do not appear sound, and,
although the precaution has been adopted by the
engineers of introducing layers of hurdles to about
every three or four feet of filling, yet even this
has proved useless, as at a distance of about
fifty feet from the foot of the slopes the
ground has been raised up as much as three feet
out of the original level, thus proving, what, indeed,
ought to have been well known to all concerned be-
fore a block of granite for the fortifications was laid,
thatthe soil in its present condition is too treacherous
-and spongy to bear the weight placed upon it. After
this description of the present condition of the bat-
tery it will only be necessary to add that all further
work on this structure is, for the present at least,
abandoned. The magazine fort is erected on the
highest point of the Isle of Grain, to enable the guns
to sweep the approaches to both the Thames and
Medway. This mass of buildings already shows
several serious fractures, necessitating a free use of
iron tie-rods. The magazine is built on a bed of con-
crete Oft. in thickness, boxed in by Whole timbers,
and sheet piles 25ft. in length. During the timethe
piles were being driven in it was found then impos-
sible to force them beyond a certain depth, a thick
bed of shingle being met with, through which the

piles would not pass. The magazine contains bar-
racks for several hundred troops, with quarters for
officers, and the fort is now occupied by a detach-
ment of Royal Engineers, who are engaged in re-
pairing the slopes of the ditches and in other works,
some thousands of yards of the earthworks having
slipped. The original estimate for the cost of the
defences in the Isle of Grain was £lOO,OOO, but
already a much larger amount has been expended on
the works as far as they have been proceeded with.
It would prove instructive were some member of the
House of Commons to move for a return of the
amount spent on the defences for the Medway and
Thames and the present condition of the several
works.

The unarmoured screw sloop Danae; 4 guns, 350
horse power of engines, will be launched from Ports-
mouth dockyard at noon to-day. This vessel has
been built from the designs of the present Chief Con-
structor of the Navy, and, as she is one of the im-
proved Amazon class of vessels, it is necessary to say
a few words respecting her. She has a length of
212 ft. between the perpendiculars ; a length of keel
per tonnage of 185 ft. Bin. ; a breadth, extreme, of
36ft. ; breadth, moulded, 35ft. 2in. ; breadth for
tonnage, 35ft. 10in. ; depth of hold, 19ft. 4in. ; and
burden in tons, builders' measurement, 1,268 8-91.
The Amazon was designed solely to supersede the
Roebuck class of sloops, none of which reached more
than about 10} knots an hour at the measured mile.
The Controller of the Navy Department had to make
provision for carrying heavy guns, and at the same
time to secure the highest possible rate of speed on
small dimensions. When that vessel was first de-
signed it was believed that she would give a return
of nearly or quite 13 knots, but this rate was barely
reached on the trial of the vessel, but yet this ap-
parently unsatisfactory result was perfectly and
satisfactorily explainable. The engines of the new
type, with which the Amazon was fitted, had not, as
a rule, nor have they yet, perhaps, developed all the
power expected, and much heavier guns at the bow
and stern had been ordered for the ship during
the time she was building than she
_was originally
intended to carry when her keel was laid down ; a
larger complement of officers and men being allotted
to her at the same time. The consequence of this
alteration in the weights of the ship was that, in-
stead of a measured mile rate of speed of 13 knots,
she fell a little short of 13} knots at her deep-load
draught. The loss on the estimated rate of speed
was, however, but very insignificant after all, and
was really nothing at all if the difference between
the designed and actual immersion is considered.
The next vessel of the class completed, the Vestal,
just exceeded 121 knots. Taking a mean rate of
12 knots per hour over the measured mile, it is really
an enormous and unprecedented speed (in the Royal
Navy) for gun sloops of a little over 1,000 tons. The
half-power trials of the Amazon over the mile gave
10136, 10.458, and 10•894 knots per hour, and
these half. power trials gave her a higher rate of
speed than the vessels she superseded possessed at
full power. So soon as it was ascertained by the
Admiralty that the full 13 knots could not be ob-
tained from vessels built on the Amazon's lines, and
carrying the increated weights of guns, ammunition,
crew, stores, &c., the Admiralty determined to proyide
the speed, if possible, in the three ships of the same
class then about to be built—the Danae, Blanche,
and Sappho, of which the Danae alone had been
taken in hand to any extent, and even she was but
then partly in frame. Accordingly the designs for
these ships were amended, and the Danae's fore
body timbers wore taken down and built up again
with increased length of some 25 feet, and conse-
quent fineness of the bow lines. The Blanche and
Sappho have been constructed throughout from the
new design. The new Board of Admiralty have
ordered several other vessels to be built from the

improved design, including the Sirius, at Ports-
mouth ; the Spartan, at Deptford ; and the Tenedos,
at Devonport. The Danae is built of wood,
strengthened with iron wherever it can be applied
with advantage to structural strength. She has six
iron bulkheads, one of which extends from the keel
upwards to the upper deck .beams, about 15 feet
abaft the ship's stem. The remaining five reach
upwards from the floor to the lower deck beams,
but carry side plates up to the upper deck beams on
each side arid bolt to the stringer places of the

upper deck. These stringer plates lie on the upper
deck beams entirely round the debk and next to the
ship's timbers, and by their connection with the
bulkhead side plat?s tic up the interior frame of the
ship in one rigid and unyieldin,..; form. The Danae
will carry two 61-ton awl 7-inch muzzle-loading
rifle guns mounted on the broadside, and two
64-pound,T muzzle loading rifled guns, the latter
firing through ports over the ship's stein and s'ern
portheads.-

Tne following appintaLmts have been made at
the Ad:Himlty IV. 11. Bond to the Serapis;
Edward A. Richmond, midshipman, to the Phoebe;
Commander James Grant to the Phoebe ; Charles
M'Shane, staff surg., additional, to the Victory ;
Edward 11. Evans, surg., additional, to the Liver-
pool; Dr. William Yarde, nssist.-surg., to the
Triamculo ; George Spain, clerk, to time Challenger,
additional, for disposal; -William S. Gibbon, assist.
clerk,, to the Canopus; Richard li. Clark, assist.
clerk, to the Narcissus, additional, for disposal ;
and William H. Elgvean, nominated a naval
cadet.

RAIL WAY INTELLIGENCE.

LONDON AND NORTH-WESTERN AND MIDLAND.

The following were the three alternative proposi-
tions
_marle.:l4y the Londo n and North- Western Rail-
way Company with the view of inducing the Mid-
land Company to become occupiers jointly with
them of the Lancaster and Carlisle line, before the
Midland Company applied to Parliament for the
Settle and Carlisle Railway Act :
" 1. That the Midland Company shall join the
London and North-Western Company on terms of
perfect equality in *he responsibilities and profits of
the Lancaster and Carlisle lease, the line being
managed by a joint committee as previously pro-
posed, both companies having power to work
and use for_ all traffic without restriction, paying
into a joint *fund the receipts on local traffic, and a
mileage proportion of the receipts on through
traffic, each of the companies being at liberty to
carry any traffic they can at rates to be agreed on
or settled by arbitration in case of difference, but
without compulsory division.
"2. That the Midland Company take upon them-
selves the entire working of the Ingleton branch of
the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway, paying for the
same, by way of rent, a sum equal to 5 per cent.
upon the cost, the London and North-Western
Company giving running powers between the Junc-
tion near Low Gill and Carlisle, on payment of a
mileage proportion of the receipts to be agreed on, or
settled by arbitration in case of difference, less 20
per cent. for working expenses, with access to and
use (as far as the London and North-Western Com-
pany can give it) of the Carlisle Joint Station, on
terms to be agreed upon or settled by arbitration.

"3. That the Carlisle line should be used in the
same way as the Great Western and London and
North-Western use the Shrewsbury and Hereford
line,—viz., that each company pay a moiety of the
rent, local receipts going in reduction thereof, and
each company using the line free and without any
restriction."

With regard to the controversy in respect to this
matter, it was alleged by the Midland Company
that the Act for making the line from Settle to
Carlisle was applied for by them in consequence of
" the London and North-Western Company having
refused to concede the necessary facilities for the
use of their Lancaster and Carlisle line ;" while the
London and North- Western Company stated that
the negotiation went off solely in consequence of the
Midland Company's refusal to submit to arbitra-
tion any difference that might arise about the rates
to be charged upon competitive traffic to add from
Carlisle.