The Sun.
London, England, 1859-02-25 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 25, 1850.

bill with regard to the disfranchisement of the Roman
Catholic freeholders, and he came back to them with an
answer to the effect that Government had encountered so
much difficulty in obtaining assent to that measure that
every part had been so settled that it would be very dan-
gerous to alter it in its passage through Parliament. They
agreed with that assertion of Sir Robert Peel, for they be-
lieved he had made the best terms he could under the cir-
cumstances ; but he did not believe that either Sir Robert
Peel or the Duke of Wellington shared at all in the fears
existing at that time, and he certainly thought it was quite
unnecessary for them to share in those* fears at that time,
and say that because there were persons who had unde-
' fined and unnecessary fears thirty years ago it was neces-
sary to entertain them now. But the clause was also objec-
tionable for the good reason that a person who was in the
high capacity of a legislator, and was called upon to act in
everything affecting the highest interests of State, ought
not to be bound down with respect to the particular course
ho may pursue. In his opinion, they ought to leave all
these questions to the discretion of the members of the
house. (Hear, bear.) But the matter became much worse
when it was not an oath to be taken by all the members of
the house. If it was necessary to guard their Ohurch
Establishment, and it was not safely guarded without the
imposition of an oath-, let every member who went to the
table take that oath. (Hear) The Attorney-General
for Ireland had paid a well-deserved compliment to the
hon. member for Cork (Mr. Fagan), who declared that
he felt himself bound by his oath not to give a vote
directly tending to the subversion of the Church Establish-
ment. As they had improved last year the form of oath,
so they should this year act similarly as regards the Roman
Catholic oath, by striking out everything obviously
superfluous, totally unnecessary, and, above all, what was
in the nature of an insult to their fellow-subjects. Mem-
bers of Parliament ought to be able to come forward and
vote as their consciences dictated, and they ought to de-
pend on the freedom of discussion, truth, and the general
interests of the country, rather than on the phrases of an
oath. (Hear.)
. After a few words from Mr. NEWDEGATEt

Mr. MAGUIRE said the oaths imposea upon Roman
Catholics implied degradation. and ought to be abolished.
The right hon. gentleman the Attorney-General for Ire-
land called upon them not to open old sores ; but he would
tell the right hon. gentleman that it was those degrading
and insulting oaths that kept open the running sores, and
that it was idle for the right hon. gentleman to attempt to
gloze them over by any salve or plaster. (Laughter.).
Mr. WALPOLE wished, before they came to a division,
to state why it was he should vote against the motion . He
had listened to the debate with some degree of pain, because
he thought that, after what had occurred last session, they
had done with discussions on these oaths. He had good
reason to hope when they settled the form of oath to be
taken by Protestants—that when they converted three oaths
into one—throwing out of them all superfluous and obsolete
expressions which diminished its sanctity—that all would
be settled. The question then arose also with respect to
the Roman Catholic oaths, it was debated, and decided by a
large majority, in which the noble lord the member for the
City of London voted. The noble lord argued the question
on grounds which would be equally applicable to taking
any oath. He said the house had no right to dictate to
any member the course he should take on a particular mea-
sure ; but the question they had to discuss was not the form
of oath now, but was there a good reason to alter that im-
posed in 1829, by the late Sir Robert Peel, the author of
that measure which admitted Roman Catholics to that
house, and which was looked upon as a condition of that
admission ? (Hear, hear.) Unless they had strong reasons
for doing so, they would alarm the Protestant mind in this
country, they would do away with that which was considered
by them as a security. If there was nothing objectionable
in it—and Roman Catholics had taken it from 1829 down to
the present—if they said the oath was to be done away
with, the people of this country might say that they did so
because Roman Catholics objected to take it. (Hear, hear.)
"Well, then, if that be so, and if they declined to swear, in
the words of the oath, that they will defend property as
settled within this realm—that they will not disturb the
Church Establishment as settled by law, nor exert any
influence to disturb or weaken the Protestant religion—and
he was not going to say they had any such intention—but
the inference would be, that they wished to do so, and so
considered by the people of this country.• When Roman
Catholics were admitted into that house, they bound them-
selves not to do so ; and he was of the same opinion as the
noble lord the member for London, when he said that,
when questions were settled after much deliberation and
long discussion, it was not wise to reopen them again. If
they altered the oath in one instance, they must do so in
another ;.• and, for the sake of peace and tranquillity, it was
better to leave the oath as it was. He relied on the state-
ment made by the author of the oath, he relied on the wise
maxim .of the noble lord, that when things were settled
they ought not for the sake of peace to be disturbed, and
for these reasons he should oppose the motion.
M. V. SMITH said he was favourable to the motion of
his right hon. friend, as he was anxious that the special
obligation imposed upon Roman Catholics by this oath
should be done away with.
Mr. SPOONER looked upon the present motion as
another step in the direction of the destruction of the Pro-
testant religion of this country.
The house then divided, when the numbers were—
For the motion 122
Against it
Majority
The result was received with cheers at the Opposition
side of the house. _ _

The house went into committee on the resolution, which
was to the effect that the chairman ask leave to bring in a
bill to repeal the Roman Catholic Oaths Bill framed in
1829.

On the question that the resolution be agreed to, the
committee again divided, when the numbers were—
For the motion
Against it
Majority for the motion —l6
The resolution was then :agreed to, and the house re-
sumed, when the bill was brought in.

THE ARMY.

Sir B. Hawes, accompanied by Sir W. Armstrong,
who was admitted to the honour of: knighthood at
her Majesty's Levee on Wednesday last, visited
Woolwich Arsenal yesterday morning and trans-
acted business with Col. Tulloh, superintendent of
the Royal carriage department. They were received
within the. Arsenal gates by Col. Wilmot, superin•
tendent of the gun factories ; Capt. Gordon, prin-
cipal military storekeeper ; and Mr. J. Anderson,
inspector of machinery. It is rumoured that the
appointment of Sir W. Armstrong as engineer to
the War Department for rifled ordnance is the first
step, towards the improved arrangements" about to
be issued for carrying out with greater efficiency
and economy the duties of the manufacturing de-
partments of the Arsenal by civil officers in the
place of those of the Royal Artillery, as at present.
The subject is at present under the scrutiny and in-
vestigation of some of the members of the House of
Commons, and will be brought before the house,
together with other important matters connected
with the Royal Arsenal during the present session
of Parliament. One of the extraordinary breech-
loading weapons invented by Sir W. Armstrong, a
12-pounder, which was received a few days ago at
Woolwich as a sample gun, was yesterday morning
brought on Woolwich-common for driving and
theoretical firing practice by a detachment of Royal
Horse Artillery, in command of Adjutant Everitt,
when a large proportion of the officers of the garri-
son were present. The most stringent orders are
observed to prevent the near approach of civilians
or any examination of the piece by strangers, under
the impression that so valuable an arm of warfare
may be illegally imitated and manufactured in coun-
terpart. During the few days the gun remained in
store at the Arsenal even the officers of the establish-
ment were refused permission to inspect it. After
the detachment exercise"yeeterday the gun was re-
turned to the Horse Artillery square, where it was
subsequently housed in a temporary wooden shed
erected to screen it from the public gaze. A gentle.
man who was detected in the act of taking a pencil
sketch of the gun was immediately arrested and
called upon to forfeit his unfinished production,
which he most reluctantly yielded up to an officer
present.
Mr. Warry, the armourer sergeant of the 3d
depot battalion of Chatham, having succeeded in
making one of his breech-loading cannons on a
much larger scale than that formerly brought under
the notice of the authorities, a trial of the new gun
took place at Brompton barracks yesterday morn-
ing for the purpose of subjecting the new invention
to a severe test. The length of this breech-loading
cannon is 16 inches over all, and 14 inches -from
the breech to the muzzle. Its weight is 111b.' ex-
clusive of the carriage, the gun itself being of brass,
and, together with the mechanism at the breech, of
beautiful workmanship. With this cannon ten
rounds can be fired per minute, being as fast as two
men can load and fire it. The balls used yesterday
were the ordinary Enfield rifle bullets and Captain
Norton's paper-coated conical balls, the latter pre-
senting many improvements over other rifle bullets.
With this cannon 10 balls per minute can be fired
at an object at a distance of 2,000 yards with the
greatest accuracy of aim, as was fully demonstrated
in the firing which took place yesterday. The most
valuable improvement in this breech-loading cannon
is, that the firing takes place by percussion, each
gun being fitted for a percussion cap, whereas in
thebreech-loading gun invented by Capt. Armstrong
the charge is fired in the old-fashioned manner
adopted in firing brdinary cannon, and where Capt.
Armstrong's gun fires about one round per minute,
Mr. Warry's breech-loading gun has fired 10 rounds
per minute, which rate of firing can be maintained
as long as the ammunition lasts. By a simple
contrivance, which has been invented by Mr.Warry
since the last experiments were made, the cartridge
is cut, the nipple pinned, and the breech closed, all
by one motion of a small lever placed on the left
hand side of the gun, so that it is almost impossible
for the gun to miss fire. After the most rapid
firing the interior of the gun is always found to be
perfectly cool, the opening at the breech admitting
a current of air immediately each charge is
inserted. It is intended to apply Mr.Warry's prin-
ciple to an ordinary 32-pounder gun on board ship

when it remains to be seen whether the invention
will be found to answer as satisfactorily in the case
of large guns as it does in the smaller kind of
cannon

FRENCH REPUBLICAN DEMON-
' STRATION.

Last night a public Meeting, convened by the
committee of French proscrits, known as the
" Commune Revolutionnaire," was held at Fitzroy
Hall, Little Portland-street, Oxford Market, in
commemoration of the second French Republic of
the 24th of February, 1848. About 250 proscrits
of all grades, and of both sexes, and almost entirely
French, were present on the occasion, the building
being filled in every part. The interest manifested
in the pio-eeedings of the evening, even by children,
was something
_remarkable to witness ; and on
every countenance the bitterness of exile seemed
to b softened by the hope that out of the impending
European -crisis some relief for their sorrows and
sufferings might at length arise. It is proper
to add also that the greatest decorum and mode-
ration characterised the speeches that were deli-
vered by the several speakers, which were also
filled with genuine expressions of sympathy for the
oppressed of every despotism.
The proceedings commenced at nine o'clock, wl, en
the chair was taken by a French gentleman,whose
name was not communicated to the meeting, but
whose impressive language immediately engaged
the attention of his auditory. He reminded them
that this was the eighth annual occasion on which
they had met in exile to commemorate the Revolu-
tion of February, 1848, which they all had so much
reason to extol, and the overthrow of which by the
very man whom it had elevated from an inglorious
expatriation to supreme power, they had so long
and still so bitterly deplored. The object of their
meeting there that night was to keep alive in their
memories and in their hearts that revolution, which
must ever be dear to them for the purity and devo-
tion which it called into action ; but that was not
all that was incumbent upon them at such a time.
It was their duty, each according to his own powers,
to assist in the concentration of thought and energy,
and, if necessary, of material means, by which they
could be restored to the exercise of the rights of
which they had been dispossessed, and to the
country from Which they had been shamefully
driven. To that great end he urged them to give
their minds, and in the 'meanwhile would assure
them that success was far more possible than ap-
peared to them now. (Cheers.) In conclusion the
chairman announced that M. Felix Pyat would
address them.

M. FELIX PYAT accordingly ascended the
tribune,_and was greeted with cordial and long-
continued cheering. Silence having been restored,
he proceeded to deliver a discourse, the subject
which Was Le Bonaparte et L'ltalie, and. which,
for upwards of an hour, was listened to with
breathless attention. It would be impossible,
of course, to attempt to do more than offer our
readers a general sketch of a speech which
embraced such an infinitude of political
points,- and entered into anticipations of the
future on almost all possible hypotheses; but it was
upon the great European question which now stands
for solution, that the orator made the deliverance
of the French nation to depend. He opened by
pointing out at once forcibly and grandly, that it
is idle to look to Louis Napoleon as the future de-
liverer of Italy. To the Italians he would be just
what he had been to the French—a master. The
French nation were, in fact, on the eve of another
2d of December ; but it was a European 2d of
December, which had been foreseen and predicted
ever since the former one, as they had in vain
sounded in every ear. In France the coup d'etat
cost them a republic ; in Europe it might cost them
more—their country. Bonaparte would not free
Italy, but would expose France. That was not
exactly a prophecy. Alas ! it was a souvenir. At
the rate at which the Empire was going, if France
did not stop the Emperor, Europe would. M. Pyat
then proceeded to examine the leading points of
the understood aims of the French Government in
Italy—the suppression of revolution, the evacuation
of the Austrians, the secularisation of the Roman
Government, and the federation of Italy under the
presidency of the Pope. These he soon showed
would not remove the permanent causes of discon-
tent which rankled in that unfortunate country,
and which nothing short of a national restoration
could effect. He looked upon war as a result not
to be questioned, and contemplated its consequences
thus, in the concluding words of his speech :—" Ah !
if there be a mortal pain in exile it is to foresee the
misfortune which we cannot prevent ; it is to have
' no other means of warding it off than to foretel it;
it is that in the moment when France has need of
all her children and of her most faithful citizens,
we shall be unable to make a vow of our lives to
serve her, or of our deaths to save her. May our
eyes close far away from her rather than look upon
the horror of such a day. It is a last word, a word
of affliction deep as is our love. For if once the
sword be drawn, we have only to gather in silence,
and to await in anguish worse than death the
event of a war which must be mournful in
either case : victory, and the oppression of Italy
by France ; defeat, and the invasion of France by
the kings. Orsini was right on the 14th Jan."
This speech was loudly and repeatedly applauded;
and for graphic power, the judicious and telling use
of ridicule and satire, and lofty and touching elo-
quence, has probably seldom been exceeded.
Mr. JOBSON, who described himself as the author
of a history of the French language, then moved a
vote of thanks to M. Pyat, which was seconded and
supported by M. Picquet, M. Becker (a German),
and M. Bonnin, and carried amidst loud applause.

We must not omit to mention that the trium

phant return of Mr. Edwin James for Marylebone
was mentioned by Mr. Bonnin, in connection with
his spirited defence of Dr. Bernard, and elicited a
perfect hurricane of applause.
The " Marseiliaise" was then sung, and the pro-
ceedings .closed at midnight, with a vote of thanks
to the chairman.

STORNOWAY.--THE GULF STREAM.

Lieutenant Chimmo, F.R.G.S., of her Majesty's
steamer Seagull, has just delivered a lecture in the
Town Hall, of Stornoway, Sir James Matheson,
Bart., M.P. in the chair, principally on the aneroid
barometer, the newly-discovered-element ozone, and
the effect of the Gulf Stream on the Hebrides. On
the last subject he said :
" All atmospheres-are guided by currents of the
ocean. The currents bring with them their warm
vapOurs, which temperate and heat our atmosphere.
As a building is warmed by the vapours arising
from boiling water, so are we indebted to the va-
pours of a comparatively hot water for the mildness
of this place. That current to which we are par-
ticularly indebted is the Gulf Stream, those waters
which have a temperature of b 0 degrees, originating
in the Indian Ocean, passing round the Cape of
Good Hope, brought across the equator by the S.E.
trades, launched into the Gulf of Mexico, whence
they take a course for the western shores of Europe,
and their warm and pleasant atmosphere is wafted
to us by the prevailing south and south-west winds.
This warm vapour, meeting the colder atmosphere
natural to our coast, is condensed into rain, and
hence the great quantity of rain in the island of
Skye, which during the last eight months has mea-
sured 32 inches, and in the month of December 7,1
inches. - The hills of Skye, 3,000 feet high, attract
these rains ; but in Lewis, which is comparatively
level, not near the quantity falls, hence the supe-
riority of the climate and hence its mildness.
" In St. John's, Halifax, you, south of the har-
bours are frozen in since November or December
last. They do not enjoy the warmth of the Gulf
Stream ; it is deflected to our shores before reaching
theirs, and passes close to the Banks of Newfound-
land, meeting the cold and chilling waters of the
Arctic regions. Do you not, then, consider your-
selves a much-favoured people ? aad although you
may have heavy rains with these warm winds, yet
I cannot find any bad effects ' • you roam about in
your wet clothes all day, and I have known many
of you come out of your fishing-boats at night and
turn into your bed with your wet clothes still on you,
and in the morning your clothes have been still wet.
Now this must convince you what a healthy atmo-
sphere you must inhale to repel these effects ; you
could not do so in any other place. I should like to
put one of you in wet clothes for a night in London,
Manchester, or Glasgow, and the next morning would
show you the difference of climates ; you would
have cold, sore throat, rheumatism, and everything
that is disagreeable. Rheumatism is rather pre-
valent here ; but I have taken the trouble to make
minute inquiries, and I find it exists only in those
persons who confine themselves to their houses and
rooms, not to the sailor and the farmer who breathe
a pure air, but those who sit over a large fire, and
shut their doors and windows, the cool air outside
condensing the warm one inside (which may be
seen on the = glass), is inhaled, and you breathe
your own artificial atmosphere instead of a pure
and naturally healthy one; hence your pains and
aches; I would, therefore, strongly recommend
more out-door exercise, if you wish to enjoy a life
free from troubles. I can assure you all that lam
a living illustration of what I have been endea-
vouring to convince you of. During a residence of
two years in London, I was seldom without a sore
throat, cough, cold, or some other disagreeable dis-
order. I havelbeen eight months in Skye and the
Hebrides, and although I have been frequently wet
through on hills and in boats, I have not known
what either a Gore throat or cold is, and my health
has visibly' and wonderfully improved. This
stream, which brings you a warm, mild, and
healthy temperature and climate, is, one of your
greatest blessings; it is an atmosp ere peculiar to
yourselves, containing benefits which many cannot
enjoy."

Lieutenant Chimmo then explained at some
length the properties of the ozone, and the means
of detecting its presence in the atmosphere, He

also expressed a hope that Stornoway would be
selected by the Board of Trade as a suitable place
for erecting an aneroid barometer for the use of
fishermen And sailors.