The Sun.
London, England, 1858-04-30 00:00:00

The Rev. J. Aspinall, the worthy rector of Althorpe
delivered his well-known lecture on " Travelling, Old
fashioned and New," in the rooms of the Working Men's
Association established in that parish, on Tuesday, the
20th inst. The Rev. G. Winterton, the vicar, and pre-
sident of the association, pro ided. There was an excel-
lent attendance, especially of the labouring class. The
lecture was admirably delivered, and the facetious anec-
dotes produced from facts, many of which had refer-
ence to the actual experience of the lecturer,
lerought forth in due order bursts of applause. The
sublime was so pithily blended with simplicity that
it was fitted for the meanest capacity. The meal-
hers of the church choir of the neighbouring village
of Laneham sang some beautiful glees, accompanied
by the piano, in a very admirable style, which reflected
great credit upon their exert:ons. A vote of thanks was
moved by the Rev. C. W. Eyre, M.A., J.P., Lord of
the Manor, in a most appropriate speech, couched in
most flattering terms, to the rev. lecturer.
Mr. ASPINALL, who, on rising, was received with loud
cheere, thus addressed the meeting :—ln returning my
sincere thanks for the vote just passed, I would observe
that I much like 'the name of your association the
Hampton Working Men's Association. There is a charm
in the very thought of working men associating together
ter self-cultivation and self-improvement. (Cheers.) It
seems to be the dawn of a better and brighter state of
things-; and I especially like to hear of it, and to
witness it here in the very heart and the very centre
of the rural districts, and I hope that it is as ,he seed-
time of a rich intellectual harvest. (Cheers.) For myself
I would say that, although I both think arid feel that it
is high time that I should leave my place as a volunteer-
lecturer to young men, yet I LAM keep to the work as
liking better to wear out than to rush out--(loutl
cheers)— and to run in harness a. long as possible than to
be turned out to grass as used up and broken down, in
the pastures of rest and idleness. In my experience much
has been done to let in the light of education, and so
scatter the darkness which has so long oppressed the
intellect of the masses of this country. Schools, institu-
tionselibraries, and lectures are all helping on this great
work. But much more Las yet to be accomplished. Io
some countries there is a law against a man filling his
neighbour's land with thistles from their growth in his
own fields ; and I sometimes wish that we had a law
in this country against those who, keeping their
families uneducated, afflict not only their neighbour-
hood; but their generation, with the thistles of igr.o-
rance. (Cheers and laughter.) I read also in some
book lately that in Siberia no young woman is allowed
to marry until she can make a pudding. (Laughter )
do n.,t know hovv:it may be here, but it unfortunately
happens in seine of our parishes that too many of the
young women who present tnetuselves fur this ceremony
I are, when called upon to sign their names, found only
able to make their marks. (Cheers.) But, while t'ae
rest of the world is improving, we, in the rural districts,
must not stand still. You have probably heard the story
of the careless housemaid, who, when reproved by hie
mistress, answered sharply that she " was quite sure that
she had done her work well and thoroughlys but it war.
all that nasty sun which would shine in through the
window, and show the dust in the corners and tue cob-
webs on the ceiling of the parlour." (Cheers and laugh-
ter.) And so, you may depend upon it, if we do not
keep pace with the march of improvement which is stea-
dily advaseing on every side of us, the light of instruc-
tion will anon flash in upon us and expose the dust of
ignorance and the cobweds of prejudice yet banging in
the chatnbsrs of the rural brain. (Curers.) "Keep
moving" is the cry of this "go-a-head" age. The express
train of iutelligenoe is dashing forward. Take your
places by it, and do not be left behind. But I•spoke in
my lecture of travelling as an educator. I will give yon
an instance, a very striking one, even before the. intro-
duction of the railway. We all have something to com-
municate and much to learn, and those who fancy that
they
.know the most en teeir own strung point, may
occasionally gain addition@ to their stores from the most
unexpected quarters At the beginning, of ties present
century, three men of the royal family of intellect took
their. places one evening in London by the mail for
Cambridge. They were tne celebrated Porson, the
famous De. Parr, and Daniel Wilsou, the late Bishop of
Calcutta. Presently a fourth passenger entered the
vehicle. He, unknown then, but with a career before
him, was a raw-looking country lad, almost a boy, but
nevertheless as full of scholarship as an egg is said to
be full of meat.. He was from the north, and was now,
after the vacation, returning to the university, where he
had already kept a term or two. He know the college
I dons, although they did not know him, and, shrinking
into the corner, modestly drew his cloak over his face,
and listened to the conversation of his seniors. They
were soon deep and earne t in discussion of some mu-
tilated and imperfect line in one of the old Greek poets
—e'Eschylus I believe. Each had his own idea as te what
would restore its force, sense, and meaning. But they
could not agree. Porsoo and Parr were against Wilson's
reading, Person and Wilson against Parr'.', and Parr and
Wilson against Porson's. (Cheers.) Tire debate was
long and rather warm, when ail at once, flesh and blood
not b,:ing able to stand it any longer, the cloak fell frem
before the fact of the raw-looking youth, and he ex-
claimed, in a strong north-country dialect, "Gentlemen,
I beg your pardon f inteudieg my opinion upon you,
but it has always struck me that the line you are speak-
ing of ought to be supp'ied in such and such a way."
(Cheers.) An earthquake or a bomb-shell could not
have more surprised the three giants than did the voice
of this daring boy. F. r a moment or two they stared
at him iii utter amazement, and then came a chorus of '
all their tuegues together, " You are fght, sir, you are
right, and it never struck us before." What is grease
shooting, or partridge shoo:isg, or pheasant shooting,
t ) what we see here ? The Lilliputian bad brought
down and bagged three Gullivera at one shot—(loud
cheers)—and, what is more, he had made three fast
friends from that moment to the end of their several
lives. Taira hap. geed, as I have told you, even b. fore
the introduction of railway travelling. But the chances
of giving instruction and improvement in the same way
are now, of course, increased in a hundred-fold and a
thouosnd-fold clei,,ree. And only think, when you do
go forth on your travels, what 'a poor contribution to
the picnic of intellect which fellow-passengers bring
together it would be to add nothing but ignorance to it.
And one word more to you young men before I sit down.
You must not allow impossibilities to grow in Hampton.
(Cheers.) They would he worse than thistles. You
must blot out the very word from your dictionaries, or,
if you suffr-r it to remain there, it must be as a horse in
its stable, never brought out but for use and exerci e.
You nsuot write on your foreheads, as the doorway of
the brain, "No admission here fsr
(Loud cheers.) You must improve yourselvea that,
wha'ever may be your empl )yrnent, you may, as
it were, have two strings to your bow, and be able, if
the opportunity comes, to call in head work and hand
work, as knowing that in these days of competition,
" A mouse who trusts to one poor hole,
Can never be a mouse of any soul."

((Leers) But without looking to any wirldly advan-
tage and gain whatever, a man has his reward for self-
improvement and self-cultivation in the present pleasure,
satisfaction, and luxury of intellectual enj)yinent. This
is ours, at all events, and, as to the rest, we will may,
with the past on the other bide of the Atlantic,
In the world's great field of battle,
In the bivouac of life,
Be not life dumb driven cattle !
Be a hero in the stiife!
Let us then be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate,
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labour and to wait.

Tae rev, gentleman then resumed his seat amidst loud
and long-continued cheering. A vote of thanks wa
then pacifist' to the glee singsrg, and the National Anthem
havicg been sung by the whole company, they t-eparateo,
highly delighted with the evening's entertainment. We
are happy to learn that the association is waking well,
and is much appreciated, and reflects great credit upon
its working committee.

_ -
chiMera ? Why, I pledged my life and my reputation
as an artilleryman. Tile former might have been too
unimportant to the War-office, but I hope the latter is
sufficiently estimated to cause at least ate inquiry to be
matte, Now, everybody knows that it took the oilier;
12 months to throw into Sebastopol 1,700,000 pro-
jectiles, which have caused but the evacuation of the
northern part—again, in round numbers, 150,000 men
have died of overwork, of pestilence, and of wounds, to
attain that pigmy object in comparison to the sacrifices,
and two hundred millions were spent for this unenrious
end. lam sure Nicholas would have sold all Crimea
and his half-rotten fleet fur that sum without any loss of
life. Yet, I appeal to all scientific members of the pro-
fession to which I have the honour of belonging,
whether it was possible or nut by the means of the
apparatus just described, (and containing in the front
part 100 holes to admit as many rocket tunes of all
sizes) to assent Sebastopol within 24 nours with all the
rockets we could colleot. It matters little in an ope'
ration of this sort of rocket, whether Noe. 1 or 20 of the
streets Alexander or Nicholas was struck or set on fire by
the clouds of rockets, which would have poured incessantly
on Sehawopol in all directions ; on the contraty, the di-
versity of the effect occurring in various parts would ma'
terially increa.e the defence. Comparatively speaking,
it was a great deal easier to guard, to protect, to maw
tarn, to save, and defend one or two points chosen for the
assault, and on which all defence was congregated ;
wise to obviate the consequences of 1,700,000 projectile/
which it took the allies more than 12 months to eject,
while, on the other side, I maintain that no army, no_
fortress, can withstand the effect of one-fourth part of
that number it they are assauited with that quantity,
' wi:hin the time proposed by me. At all events, ad those
enormous fortification works that nearly exhausted
the allied army, might have been spared, for
my operations did not require any, only a feeb:s
detachment to guard it against the enemy, who would
have been too busy inside the fortress in obviating the con.
sequence of so novel and energetic an assault to venture
out at all. I did not ask one farthing for this timely
service—not one soldier frotn the allied army to card
out my plan into execution. I had offered to effect it
with the aid of my personal friends. I put but one tiorl•
d Ition, namely, that if I succeeded fully in the task,
which I am sure was not chimerical, that then our Poles
should be aidsd by the allies to take the field against
the then coinsion enemy, and for our own legitimate
object.

Since that epoch I have improved much my original
di.covery ; now two sheets of certain admixture of
metals, even three-quarters of an inch in thickness,
with other contrivances sufficient to render any man-of-
war or any battering battery completely boimb-prooft
without overcharging them t ,o much, and without AO
kind of inconvenience, that now attend the floating bat-
teries. The project referring to this part I have also
communicated to the Emperor, in April, 1856, at the
end of the memorandum, "The Grand Tactics of
Itocketeers," the introduction to whine is as follows
" Mes batteries flrttantes 3 l'epreuve des bombes
cornme celles du mine genre pour pratiquer une
valent bien un examin appiotondi ; les pi Cnierei armies
do la rochette (rocket) doiveut necessairement itre sups'
riEures qui celles armies de l'Artillerie." . Here
follow the reasons which established by facts that supe-
riority. It is also worth remarking, that the posseseive
ma was not denied in the condescending answer I thee
received.

In conclusion, I beg to state that I do not pretend to
ba the inventor of the present floating batteries, but I
mention that the principle upon which they are made
bomb-proof is my disc,tvery, referring as far back as
1835, and commuhicated to the allied Governments long
before the present battAies were constructed or even
thought of.

Colonel B. DE WIERCENSKI,
Late Director of Artillery.
P.S.—I believe it worth the attention of our Govern•
ment to examine the invention, referring to the making
men-of-war bomb-proof. 2. The enormous advantages
a,tending the use of tny wheeling bomb-proof battering
batteries. 3. The floating bomb-proof rocket batteriee
which would not require more than four inches of water,
and which could eject at once as much metal as the
largest man-of- war. The more so that Ido net ask any
reward, but to serve my adopted country. She may be
soon in need of cheap means of defence and attack ; with
one of ray floating rocket batteries in each port we may
well defy all the prattle of armed and unarmed gear;
of enemy.

T.H.g SOCIETY Ole .ARTS.

TO THE EDITOR 01 THE SUN.

am directed by the Council of the Society
of /kits to request the favour of your insertion of
the accompanying letter, being in reply to a request
wade by the Council to Lord Derby that his lord-
ship would place at their disposal nominations to
compete for clerkships and other Government situa-
tioils of a similar character, as rewards to success-
ful candidates at the society's ensui❑ examinations
of members of mechanics' and other institutions ill
union with it.—l am, sir, your obedient servant,
P. LE NEVE FOSTER, Secretary.
Society of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce.,
Adelphi, w, C.

....................

"Treasury, S. W., April 28, 1858.
Sir,—Lord Derby has communicated to me the re-
vest of the Society of Arts, made through you, that a
certain cumber of 'nominations to appointments under
his lordship's control may be placed at the disposal Of
the 800.0 y ; and I beg to inform you that, in accordance
with the wishes expresee I by the Council, Lord Derby
will be prepared to nominate four candidates during the
present year to compete for such clerkships and other
similar situations as may fall to his lordship's disposal.
"I shall be obliged, therefore, if you will have the
go.clne s to inform me at your convenience of the
names and addresses of the four candidates whom the
society would desire to recommend, in order that their
cameo may duly he recorded as desirous to compete for
appointments.—l any, sir, your obedient servant,
"W. G. HYLTON JOLIFFE.
"The Secretary, Society of Arts."

Ma 'ame Szavardy, the charming pianiste, better
to: own to our readers as Wahelcaina Claws, has' arrived
in Loudon, and will shortly appear at a Matined Musi-
cals, under the auspices of Mr. Mitchell.
ST. JAMES'S THEATRE.—CARLO ANDREOLETTL--11
Physic'en Preshdigatatein, whose mysterious doing°
createi an immense sensation in Parisian society during
the last seas)n, is announced for three performances OS
St. James's- Theatre during the next week, gepvri
speaks marvels of his wonderful powers,