The Sun.
London, England, 1866-10-19 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON FRIDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 19, 1866

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LONDON, FRIDAY, OCT. 19, 1866.

The Mayor of Oxford having given his annual
dinner afforded an opportunity for speech-making,
-which will afford interest at this dull time of the
year. The entertainment was to the leading per-
wna
ges of the city university and county, and was
Very brilliantly attended. The " Health of the
City Members,,
being given, Mr. CARDWELL made
an interesting speech. After some complimentary
remarks respecting the
r.g Mayor, on his retirement
ig ht bon' from office, the
dilate upon the
'nemortaee g-ntleman proceeded to
events so lately passing
around us. As to the
have cause to rejoice thwa'tarit in Germany, we I
for at one time it thre 'ats over so soon,
in duration the disastrous estn
pathising withretidggjte across
to
rival
the Atlantic. While fully yrn
Mr. CARDWELL in the satisfaction h
expresses
at the brief duration of the war, we cannot go so
far as he does in believing that a beneficial chap..,
has taken place. " We have seen a new Germany
arise on the ashes of the old—a Germany which is
likely, I think, to exercise a greater influence in
the councils of Europe, and I trust that that in-
fluence will be a beneficial one." If it is it will be
something quite unprecedented of late years, for
Prussia's influence and efforts have always been on
the wrong side. Of course, as here mentioned,
England has no jealousy concerning the territorial
aggrandisement of foreign countries, only nothing
that has taken place in Germany of late has
been of ti:natutte to promote the advantage and hap-
pinem of others, Mr, CARDWELL very truly states

that England is " justly confident in its own re-
sources, material, and wealth ;" but we wish that
the Government of which he was so prominent a
member had shared his convictions, and not acted
as if they were afraid of the resources of Germany.
Had they done so Prussia could never have attained
that supremacy which she has now unhappily done,
and been able to dictate terms to others just as it
suits her own arrogancy and self-sufficiency.
Mr. CARDWELL is a good statesman, and his re-
marks and observations are worthy of all attention
in many important respects, more especially
where he seeks to point the moral of the late war to
us. "if we see victories gained more rapidly than
the victories of CAESAR or NAPOLEON ; if we see
the destinies of empires changed in a war so short
in duration that it has been termed a seven days'
war; I think it is only prudent for the greatest
countries in the world to investigate the causes of
these events, and to consider whether they can learn
from them any lesson in regard to the future organi-
sation or improvement of their own material re-
sources." This is very much to the point, and
exactly what we should do, when we ponder
upon what has recently taken place. The strik-
ing advantages which Prussia gained by the
forethought and energy displayed by her Ministers
in preparing for the war may well cause all red-
tapists to learn wisdom, and our time-servers to
exercise their powers a little more to their own
credit and the advantage of the country they pro-
fess to serve, and whose money they squander at
so fearful a rate, that they may draw good from evil,
and take the lesson of this German war to heart in
the matter of our inefficient, state of preparation for

1
emergencies.
Another subject of interest at the present time
w as referred to in this excellent speech, namely, the
" extent to which men engaged in civil life are de-
votirg themselves to the study of the military art,
and constituting themselves valuable accessories and
reserves in aid of the regular forces of the country."
The Volunteers have already shown themselves
to be deserving of all commendation, and those who
are now in Belgium have displayed their "practised
skill" in a manner creditable to their own efficiency
and reassuring to their countrymen. It is interesting
to notico the progress that has been made in the
public estimation and appreciation of the valuable
addition to the services of the country. In all places,
and at all times, when matters of general interest
to the community are referred to, the. Volunteers
are specially made mention of. The Royal
Naval Reserve is also a great element of strength if
its appliances are properly made use; of and, as Mr.
CARDWELL said, it is most important that each
force should be kept in its own separate state in high
efficiency, the advantages they possess being very
great. As they are chiefly on the defensive, and not
on the aggressive side, they are a great make-weight
on the side of peace.
Another point worthy of consideration in Mr.
CARDWELL'S speech was his allusion to American
affairs, and side by side with that great Republic,
but not in any emulation of it, we are now
engaged in constructing a new community by the
union of the several provinces of British North
America. Mr. CARDWELL deserves great praise for
the energy he displayed in furthering this impor-
tant work, and for the encouragement he had
the prescience to afford it. The description given
by Mr. CARDWELL of this Confederation is a very
just one, and one calculated to inspire confidence in
its future. "They will not be of a greatness to com-
pare with their powerful neighbours, there will be
no rivalry, and there will be no jealousy ; but ex-
tending as they will from the Rocky
Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean, with an
unlimited territory, with 'a large population, with
commercial enterprise, and with maritime cuter-

prise, they will constitute no mean community
among. the nations of the world." One of the most
creditable acts of the late Government was this
inauguration of the Confederation in North
America, and it is well for them that they can look
back upon a work so likely to afford satisfaction
for the future, and to consolidate the frontier of the
" foremost dependency of the British Crown." Mr.
CARDWELL was precluded from adverting to the
"vexed questions of the day," but he spoke of the
general policy to be pursued in a strain very diffe-
rent to that which animates those meetings where
Mr. BIUGIIT is lord of the ascendant. He said that'
it was his sincere and earnest hope that they might
address themselves " to questions of that kind in
no narrow or party spirit, but in a broad and
patriotic spirit, conscious of the vast importance of
their proceedings to the future destinies of Eng-
land, and animated only by a paramount desire to
arrive at conclusions which may satisfy public ex-
pectation and strengthen the institutions of the
country."
Mr. HENLEY returned thanks for the county
members, and made a few interesting remarks. He
said that he did not think it advisable to join the
present Government, because he deemed it wiser for
a man to find out for himself that he was old than
to leave it to others to find out that he was not able
to do his work. Whatever his opponents may say
of him, no one can possibly aver that want of
straightforwardness is a characteristic of Mr. HEN-
LEY'S discourses. Whatever he has to say he always
1 says in a direct manner, without any circumlocution
soaridex, ainggeration.
adverting Ttoh:;herigfhatet,htohna.tgaent ttlehmesaenentrtuelry_
tainments men of all ranks and opinions came toge-
u lesson,e s t ion s
foofrdoi discord,
or df ,t thheat
great
t“he ra
swni without oaurit
unimportant
alluding
secrets of securing all that was valuable was to respect
differences of opinion." Referring to the recent
changes in Germany, Mr. HENLEY said that all
old landmarks had been swept away, and that,
therefore, those who now lorded it over others
must show their fitness to do so by securing ad-
vantages to the people. If they did not do so
" a fearful day of reckoning would certainly come
upon those Princes who had brought about these
changes, unless the just expectations of the peoples
and of Europe were fulfilled, and the proposed
end of the change accomplished." We are glad
to meet with so sensible a remark, instead of the
encomiums usually bestowed so lavishly upon
Prussia just now.

The moral has very often been pointed of the
neglect and ingratitude with which the most useful
public services are too frequently repaid, and every
one who has taken the trouble to exercise his
memory can at once recall a dozen provincial his-
torical names. It is, however, somewhat mortify-
ing to find that although we may have improved
considerably in some other respects, we aro still as
bad as our ancestors in this, and that wealthy and
munificent England does not scruple to avail
talentsher-
soettlfcoiafltrhoeutine,of and labours of men whom she
leaves to starve on their. reputation. The story of
prejudice, and unwillingness to
give an inventor a fair trial, has been told times
out of number, but there is even a more disgraceful
aspect of the ease than this. It is when the in-
ventions of men who have devoted the best part of
their lives to some great public end are accepted
and profited by ; but the inventor himself is
so ill-requited that, insteadomfen
th, i it leads
being a source of profit and enjoyment,
nothing but mortification and disappointment.
Such a cue, if the Story is told troy, 40 as yet

it remains uncontradicted, is the case of Mr. SNIDER,
by whose invention for converting the Enfield
rifle into a breechloader, the whole nation is now
so largely profiting. It would have been impossible
after the experience gained in modern warfare for
England to have rested satisfied with her old wea-
pon. The expense of supplying our entire army with
anew arm, and the serious consequences which might
result from an inefficient method of conversion,
may be roughly estimated without much labour, and
the actual saving to the national exchequer result-
ing from Mr. SNIDER'S admittedly successful design
is something to be reckoned by hundreds of
thousands sterling. The converted Enfield is
generally acknowledged to he superior to that
Prussian needle gun, of which we have all
heard so much, and we know that in Prussia the
fortunate inventor is loaded with honours and re-
wards. Let us see, then, what reward rich and
liberal England has in store for her inventor.

Seven years ago the invention was presented to
Government, and was, after characteristic delay,
accepted and adopted on an extreme scale ; and
then; it might be supposed, came the time for re-
warding the inventor. No such thing. We ma-
nage matters much more economically than that in
England. Mr. SNIDER was told to send in his
claims under the three heads of expenditure, ser-
vices, and invention, and was given to understand
that the first two were enough at a time. He esti-
mated his expenditure and his services at £2,700,
not, one would think, a very exorbitant sum. Go-
vernment, however, thought differently, and re-
ferred the claim to its solicitor, who advised the
offer of £l,OOO ! This the inventor of the converted
Enfield accepted, being in reduced circumstances,
sick at heart with hope deferred. ' The actual claims
being thus settled, we hear no more of the reward
due for the invention, and our Administrators, past
and present, may congratulate themselves on having
saved the public money at the expense of justice,
humanity, and national honour.

The fact of Mr. SNIDER'S being in bad health, and
without the means of subsistence, adds to the hard-
ship of the case, though in common justice,
if he were a CRasus, the Government ought
to pay him what his invention is worth. But
if he were a CRCESUS, and had dressed up some
one else's ideas, he would very likely have been re-
paid with a peerage and half a million. There may,
of course, be two sides to the question, and the in-
ventor may have been unreasonably exacting ;
but as yet the fact remains uncontradicted that the
man who has rendered a great public service is left
in poverty and sickness, while out of the 12 or 14
millions annually voted for our Army Estimates not
one fraction can be spared for the inventor who has
excelled the needle-gun.

We published on Wednesday a very interesting

Letter from Captain ANDERSON, of the Great
Eastern, on a subject most congenial to him. His
object was to render the honour due to the hearty
goodwill and professional skill of the officers and
men connected with the memorable expedition in
which Captain ANDERSON and his " big ship"
played so conspicuous a part. The Liverpool
banquet, it is true, was given in honour of all the
members of the expedition, and Captain ANDERSON,
in his speech on that occasion, endeavoured, he
says, to express his sense of the zeal and efficiency
of the services rendered ; but, thanks to the late-
ness of the hour, the press of matter, and the
exigencies of the telegraph, the reporters did not
think fit to give the world a verbatim report of what
the captain said. He complains, half humorously,
half indignantly, that they only said he made " a
characteristic speech ;" which, as the gallant officer
does not profess any peculiar style of oratory, was
a somewhat perplexing definition. Perhaps, how-
ever, they mead that the readiness and cordiality
with which Captain ANDERSON gave the credit of
success to every one but himself was quite in ac-
cordance with his character, and in this aspect of
the case the commander of the Great Eastern need
not complain of the sagacity of the stenographers.
He is not contented even with praising the officers
in connection with the expedition of 1866, but has
a word of commemoration for those who laboured
with equal zeal, but less good fortune, in the days
when an Atlantic cable was a hope, but not a reality.
" No one," he says with kindly courtesy, " can ap-
preciate more than I can the former efforts on board
the Niagara and Agamemnon, with ships so un-
adapted, and cable appliances so immature, as com-
pared with the Great Eastern and the cable ma-
chinery of 1865 and 1866, and 1 hope the officers
employed in those former struggles will not do those
of the late expedition the injustice of supposing
that we claim more than that the opportunity was
ours to complete what they had begun." Those
former struggles and failures, so far from being
profitless, were iu fact mainly conducive to the
ultimate success of the scheme, seeing that much
was learned from them, the deficiencies and errors
in the cables themselves, and in the machinery and
management were ascertained, and experience
taught that practical knowledge which no theoreti-
cal science can hope to equal. Staff-Commander
MORIARTY, one of the officers of the Aga-
memnon in the former expedition, took part
in this one, and gave Captain ANDERSON
very useful assistance. The most gratifying testi-
mony is borne by Captain ANDERSON to what he
calls " the cheerful zeal" of Captain COMMERILL, of
the Terrible. We can fancy how welcome was the
cheery sailor paying his visits to the anxious party
in the great ship with his encouraging " You'll do it
yet" when doubt and despondency threatened them.
He was not content with words, however, for
" What can I do ?" was his oft-repeated question, to
be followed, as soon as the want was expressed, by
the ready " do it."
No less valuable to the conductors of the
undertaking was the nautical skill shown by
the commanders of the Medway and Albany
during the anxious weeks spent on the grappling
ground. It was, says the captain, of the greatest
importance that the vessels of the squadron should
keep always together close enough to begin work
whenever it was possible, and yet avoid collision
in fogs. "We were often separated by fog, gale,
or darkness ; yet whenever the day dawned, or the
fog cleared, there the squadron was to be seen
converging from different points towards the mark
buoy, a small spot looking no bigger than a man's
hat upon the surface of the ocean. Unless all
had concentrated their minds and watched their
ships and compasses night and day no such beau-
tiful illustration of nautical science could have been
possible." The recovery of the lost cable was, in
fact, the crowning triumph of the expedition, and
many who were sanguine as to the ultimate suc-
cess of the new line were very doubtful as to the
chance of finding the old one. The result has been
highly creditable to the zeal and perseverance of
all concerned, and Captain ANDERSON may rest
assured that the public will not readily forget the
services of any of those whose names are associated
with the great nautical and telegraphic exploit of
1866.

DOCK CORPORATIONS AND THE POOR RATES.—It
was stated at the meeting of the Mersey Dock Board yes-
terday, that the surplus for the current year would have
been £70,000, instead of £7,000, had not the board been
mulcted in the payment of poor rates and arrears for past
Years.

CORRESPONDENCE FROM PARIS.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

PARIS, Thursday Evening.
The Moniteur states that General Lebceuf, in
concert with the Austrian military authorities, was
present at the evacuation of the fortresses of Pes-
chiera, Mantua de Leguand, and Palma Nova.
These different places were consigned by the Aus-
trian Commander into the hands of the General,
who then delivered them, in the name of the Empe-
ror, to the care of the Municipalities. This double
operation was effected with perfect order, and in
the four cities in question the Municipalities charged
General Lebceuf to convey to the Emperor the ex-
pression of their homage and gratitude.
The official paper also publishes a letter from
Berlin, dated October 1, which states that recent
events will give a great impetus to the productive
resources of Prussia, who will be able to send her
productions to the European markets upon favour-
able terms. The letter adds that Prussia will have
possession from the dispossessed Governments of
various productive mines, and that she will be able
to work the railways under advantageous circum-

stances.
The French Government has received a communi-
cation from the Emperor Maximilian, in which he
expresses his earnest desire to make any sacrifice to
fulfil his engagement towards France, and particu-
larly to the holders of Mexican securities. In order
to effect this object a portion of the Customs
Revenue is to be devoted to the payment.
A letter from Rome says :—" The malady with
which the Empress of Mexico is afflicted has caused
the most painful emotion here. The cause of the
malady was the disappointment which attended her
mission to the Pope, increased by the fatigue of a
long voyage. The object of her Majesty's voyage
was to arrange with the Pope the basis of a Concor-
dat, the principal clause of which was to authorise
the sale of ecclesiastical property. At the first
audience which the Empress bad with the Pope, his
Holiness made her Majesty understand that her
mission would be a failure. Instead of words of
consolation, the Pope spoke with great bitterness
of the policy pursued by the Emperor Maximilian
in regard to the clergy, and even went so far as to
threaten her with the Divine anger. The interview
had a very painful effect upon the Empress. On
the third day of her sojourn at Rome she went

twice to the Vatican, and in the evening an apart-
ment was prepared for her. It was then she lost
her senses. She had an idea that there was ail in-
tention to poison her, and she would not take any
nourishment except from the hands of her lady at-
tendant. The Empress walked about the streets of
Rome with a silver goblet in her hand, and drank
water from the fountains. Great sympathy was
manifested towards her when she left Rome, ac-
companied by her brother, the Count de Flandres."
The fine weather has again departed. It began

to rain at mid-day, and it has rained heavily up to
the hour of post. The illoniteur, in a review of the
events of the day, says that the evacuation of the

fortresses of Venetia continues without incident.
Each of the strong places is delivered up to the
local authorities.

The official paper proceeds to give an explana-
tion of the policy of the French Government in
regard to the events of the Crete. " Affairs there
have become appeased. In the presence of the dif-
ficulties which arose the Emperor remained faithful
to the conservative and:progressive policy which he
has always pursued in regard to the events in
Greece. When the Cretans made known their
grievances the French Ambassador at Constantinople
was instructed to examine into them and to give as-
sistance, should their complaints prove to be well-
founded. The Marquis de Moastier gave his opinion
to the Cabinet of Greece with friendly frankness.
His advice was received with gratitude. There is
now less agitation in the Hellenic provinces adjoin-
ing Crete, and the Cretans are more disposed to
attend to the conciliatory advice given to them by
the Porte."

The Prince de la Tour d'Auvergne, the French
Ambassador to the English Omit, who is now in
Paris, will return to London in the course of the
week.

The chief. event in the fashionable world of Paris
is the marriage of the Marquis de Saillant with
Mdlle. Clemente de Pre. Ministers and many

ladies of title were present at the Church of St.
Philippe, where the marriage was celebrated. A
paper affecting to give fashionable news says that
the head-dress of the bride was " marvellous," and
that the Nilette of the Countess de Talleyraud, blue
taffetas, covered with Valenciennes lace, was much
remarked. General Gontald, aide-de-camp of the
King of the Belgians, was among the company, and
many eminent personages from Belgium.
The journal La Patrie has been purchased by a
society of capitalists for 1,500,000 f., at the head of
which were the principal directors of the Credit
Fon tier.

A letter from Florence speaks of an alliance be-
tween Prince Humbert and the daughter of the
Archduke Albert, Mathilda-Mary-Aldegonde-Alex-
andra, born on the 15th July, 1845.
The autumn steeplechases at La Marche on Sun-
day 'next promise to be attractive. Twenty-nine
horses are entered for the Prix d'Automne (handi-
cap). For the Free Handicap 25 horses are en-
tered.

Marshal O'Donnell is expected in Paris, some say
with an important mission in reference to Spain. I
cannot learn anything about it in the quarters where
I usually apply for political information.

LATEST INTELLIGENCE.

(REUTER'S TELEGRAMS.)

SAXONY.
LEIPSIC, Oct. 19

At a meeting of 400 members of the National
party in this city a committee was appointed,
which, in the event of the continued resistance of
the King of Saxony to conclude peace with Prussia,
is to solicit King William to order new elections of
members of the Saxon Chamber of Deputies, who
will then have to represent the interests of the
people of Saxony as opposed to the particular inte-
rests of the Saxon Governmeilt.

PESTII, OCT. 19,
The cholera is greatly diminishing in this city,

MORAVIA.

BRUNN, Oct. 19

The Emperor has ordered the completion of the
Moravian railway system to be carried out with the
greatest possible expedition, and the execution of
public works in Moravia to the amount of one mil-
lion of florins during the current year. His Majesty
has remitted 10,000 florins to be distributed among
the poor of Brunn.
Dr. Giskra, Mayor of Brunn, has been decorated
by his Majesty with the Cross of the Order of
Leopold.

PORTUGAL.
LISBON, OCT. 18

The King, Queen, and suite went to Oporto this
morning in order to be present at the inauguration
of the statue of Dom Pedro IV., which is to take
place in that city to-morrow.