The Sun.
London, England, 1859-04-16 00:00:00

THE REWARD OF A MILITARY
INVENTOR.

(From the Mechanics' Magazine.)
We sit down to write this article with peculiar
'eelings, having just returned from one of those

philanthropic Meetings at which the bright par-
ticular stars of our aristocracy are now wont to
display their splendours. The voices of the
Earl of Carlise, the Earl of Shaftesbury, the
Earl of Albemarle, Lord Radstock, and, above
all (for the moment, at least), of Lord John
Russell, still linger in our ears, and with them
the " clink of compliment"—compliment to the
working classes, of course ! The aim of their
persuasive eloquence was a very honourable one
most assuredly, for it was that of establishing
free drinking fountains for the masses throughout
the metropolis, to the extent of 400 or more. Suc-
cess to so sensible and serviceable a work ! But it
certainly seems a remarkable fact that while our
governing classes have hearts so accessible to charit-
able emotions, and find so much time for " labours
of love," they should be so sadly insensible to that
which, in our plain way, we prefer to charity, viz.,
justice and right ! We say—with as much con-
fidence as sorrow—that there is no civilised coun-
try under the sun in which the public admini-
strators are more callous, more dead to common
honour, not to say common honesty, than they
are in England. Especially is this true in
respect to their conduct towards that class of
men to whom this country owes far more of its
material greatness and security than to any other
—the inventors and improvers of our mechanical
arts. We verily believe it would be no exaggera-
tion to say that we kill more men of this stamp
than we reward.

This is, however, too large a subject to be treated
here in any general way ; we must, therefore, con-
fine ourselves to the one case of improvements in
military weapons, and to the one improver of them
whom we had in our minds when we sat down to
pen these lines, viz., the gallant and veteran Capt.
Norton. In the history of this officer's career,
up to the present point, we have a succession of
facts which rise up into a towering monument of
dishonour—dishonour not only to the successive
civil and professional chiefs of the military class,
but also, we fear, indirectly to the profession itself.
We could substantiate this statement by abundant
evidence, gathered from sources which are not to
be doubted ; but in order to confine our remarks to
the narrowest limits possible, let us name only it
few of the more important of the gallant officer's
inventions. To him we owe the so-called Mini('
bullet in its best form—the concussion fuse—the
liquid-fire shell—and lead•coated projectiles—four
things which have no parallels, in so far
as their value to military science is concerned.
We do not say we have openly received ell
these from Captain Norton. On the contrail,
one great ground of our complaint is, that We
have obstinately rejected his offers of them, only to
receive them (or most of them) later from the
hands of others. A letter written by Lieut. Col.
Beamish, in 1852, and published in the Unites
Service Magazine for August of that year, sets
forth the facts of the case, so far as they had then
proceeded, in a very clear manner ; and to this We
'must refer our readers. Besides this, the 'former
and present volumes of our own Magazine bear
ample evidence of the magnitude and success of the,
gallant officer's improvements. The Journal of
the United Service Institution for November las.,
likewise contains a resume and description of mall
of them.
Here, then, we have a man of great and admittea
merit as an inventor of military weapons, and one
who still, in the advanced stages of his life,
.11,1
affording renewed evidences of his zeal and skill
daily, as the military columns of the Times bare
lately shown withmuch prominence—a man, there"
fore, who is lifted out of the category of those Will
by happy chances do us service, and ranks With'
those who benefit us by the life-long devotion
extraordinary faculties. And, more than this ;
Captain Norton earned honours as a militia;
officer in the six Peninsular campaigns, and shared
the perils even of the " bloody Albuera," before he
began his work as an inventor. And if even mart
be needed—to satisfy the predilections of the
upper ten thousand—more may yet be saki'
for, upon the authority of Colonel Beamlre
we may state that Captain Norton is tPa
lineal descendant of Parrice de Rynville, second
brother of Thibault (Theobald) de Rynville, Cow_
stable of Normandy, in the time of William the,
Conqueror. Parrice married the sole heiress eh
the Baron of King's-Norton, in Worcestershire'
and took the name of Norton, according to the cull,'
torn of the time. Captain orton is, therefore, 0!
representative of the Barons of King's-Norton, in
the female line. (See " Burke's Heraldry.")
the family records, nearly 300 years old, are IS
following Latin lines, which may have had
influence upon the professional choice and laboal
of the gallant inventor :
"Est aliquid clams magnorum splendor avorum,
Illud posteritas emula calcar habet."
Here the Government may surely discover allwo
cient claims to recompense and distinction. 14°.$
is it, then, that such a man as this still moves abou,
neglected amid the most generous people on eartl3.,..
How is it that of all the millions granted annually
by this nation for military services, not a frac 1.7 ?
is spared for the reward of such services as Dw,,, f
Is it because we are ruled by a class out of most
whom all true honour has departed, and who elft
do nothing but clutch at place, and power, ag:
perquisites for themselves—who have not even
•N
blush left in them for deeds wich
Because,v° would make
tmbaek eSc',cheeks of poor men flame
is high time that a hearty hatred and contempt,
that class were engendered, and its place suppou'
, iby men of nobler spirit.
(e.