The Sun.
London, England, 1859-01-15 00:00:00

THE ARMY.

The experiments which have been made at Chat-
ham with the model of the newly invented breech-
loading cannon, the invention of Mr. Robt. Parry,
armourer to the 3d battalion at that garrison, hav-
ing been attended with complete success, orders
have been given for the manufacture of a breech-
loading cannon on a much larger scale, so that the
same may be tested by a committee of scientific
_officers connected with the. Royal Artillery and.
Engineers. The new gun which is now being
made will be 18 inches in length, the barrel alone
being of the length of 16 inches from the breech
to the muzzle. As it is intended to put the
"gun to a series of very severe tests, the utmost
care is being taken in its ,manufacture at
the establishment at Brompton. The barrel, which
is of great thickness, is to be made of brass, with
wrought-iron casings and the entire weight of the
gun 101 b. The ball to be used in the experiments
with this new piece of ordnance will be the newly
invented elongated rifle shot, the invention of Capt.
Norton. This rifle bullet is stated to possess several
important advantages over the conical rifle ball now
in use, there being no " plug" in the base, and the
ball being coated with paper, the great amount of
friction which prevails in tbeo propulsion of the
bullet from the barrel is considerably lessened.
The new breech •loading cannon is so constructed
that it can be elevated or depressed to any sight,
while, by a simple contrivance, the muzzle may be
pointed in any direction without moving the car-
riage. The inventor expresses his confident belief
in being able to throw 10 balls per minute a dis-
tance of 2,000 yards. It is stated that the first
model breech-loading gun made by him repeatedly
sent the balls into a target placed at 100 yards'
distance, the shots being fired at the rate of 50 per
minute.

TEE REG:ENT OF PRUSSIA'S SPEECH.

(From the Morning Advertiser)

The speech of the Prussian Regent to the Cham-
bers confirms to the letter all we have written
on his character from the day he assumed the reins
of government. The case is precisely as we fore-
told, contradicted though we have been by many
of our contemporaries : the Prince, the firmer he
finds himself in power, the more unmistakeably ex-
hibits his true despotic nature. The harangue
before us, we think, will dispel the last lingering
doubt among those who hoped better things from
Prince William. In matter, as well as in style,
this effusion vividly reminds us of similar produc-
tions of the now demented Monarch, who once was
such a mighty stickler for Right Divine, intact and
uncompromised. It is curious to observe how the
Regent—who, with all his absolutist tendencies,
did formerly but little garnish such aspirations
with flowers of speech—now also breaks out in a
flight of those bombastic inflated tirades which his
eccentric brother, Frederick William IV., so fre-
quently committed. To read the address of the
Prince to the Deputies, it would really appear as
if things had. gone back to the year 1847, when a
haughty monarch—insane with his arrogant ideas
of " Kingship by the Grace of God"—strutted
about the White Saloon, buttoned and buckled in
full regimentals, and browbeating the representa-
tives who had come at his summons.

To the general reader not conversant with the
famous stock tags of the lunatic King, many ex-
pressions of the Regent will lose their peculiar
haute gout. Germans, however—or such among
ourselves as have followed more closely the course
of things in Prussia—will at once observe that
Prince William, remarkably enough, has thought
proper to introduce into his speech several cele-
brated mots, by which Frederick William IV.
rendered himself on many occasions sufficiently
notorious. This is a fact worthy of attention. It
shows that the Regent has already so far deve-
loped his audacity as to openly make sport of
the liberal expectations that were once formed
of him. Thus, in the very first instance of the
speech, he is reported to have said that " he re-
quests the Deputies to assist Government with
their judgment and devotion in the course which
he has taken in regard to the policy of Prassia, its
glorious history, and its patriotic traditions—a
course which he is determined firmly to pursue,
within limits immoveably fixed." This dynastic
finality doctrine has been often broached, in the
same words, by King Frederick William. It is a
defiant throwing down of the Royalist gauntlet in
the face of every species of Reformers. It is tanta-
mount to declaring that the condition of the people
in Prussia is to remain henceforth, and for ever,
confined within the iron circle which the egotistical
and narrow wisdom of any obfuscated crowned head
has thought proper to forge.
The sentence immediately following is another
reproduction, word for word, of an ill-renowned
phrase used by Frederick William IV. in his me-
morable harangue of 1847. " To preserve to the
King," says the princely speaker, " the prerogative
of the Crown unscathed is one of the chief missions
of my Regency." This again is synonymous with
a refusal of all practical development of Parlia-
mentary institutions. It means the maintenance
of the absolute Royal power, as hitherto practised
by the irresponsible rulers of Prussia. Similar
expressions are to be found pervading the entire
speech. Those who know the peculiar turn of
mind and the specific phraseology of the King,
might well believe that he had again returned to
the scene. In fact, the threatening allusions to his
formidable army, so extensively dealt in ; the stress
laid on the care the Regent intends to take of pre-
serving undiminished the " Royal dignity ;" the
Quixotic flourishes about the black and white ban-
ner •, the adoption of the Kreuz-Zeitung's parole of
a " kingdom by the. Grace of God ;" the emphasis
given to the " old Prussian spirit" which " finds its
expression in shouts of 'Long live the King !' "
and the studied silence on every topic referring
to real amelioration and political progress : all
these features are so eminently characteristic of
the family oratory, that the resemblance in the
speeches of the two brothers is all but identical..
Nay, to complete the delusion, the Regent even
apes such ridiculous,, spasmodic expressions of the
King's, as, for instance,—" Forward! help me to
hold high that banner ! He who follows it, follows
Me !" and other melodramatic rant, long since the
jest of all sensible men in Germany.
This Royal oration is altogether a sorry produc-
tion. Not a single proposition does it contain of
efficient reform ; not a solitary hope does it hold
out of a better future. All that the Deputies are
expected to do is, that they will " readily vote the
supplies for increased outlays," which the Regent
considers " are required for the maintenance of the
Royal dignity, for augmenting the military forces,"
and so on. " You will perceive from the Budget,"
says he, " how much attention I have constantly
devoted to the improvement of our army, which
has always, with unshaken devotion, struggled for
and maintained the honour of Prussia, as well in
war as in peace." A pretty prospect truly, for the
unfortunate tax-paying public ! And a singular
praise of the Prussian soldiery ! It hadbeen thought
by some that the army had madeitself of late rather
a little too conspicuous " in peace ;" that its Junker
swashbucklers had shown themselves somewhat too
prone to interfere with the liberty—and, in some
cases, with the personal security—of the citizens, to
ethat
rs_
th'eati the Government be thus bedaubed with gratitude for their magnani-
mous services "in peace
e. ' It was fondly assumed—
notncludeoeurin•smelevnest
of
amongtheßeg
v
be-
vo
abate this dragooning preponderance, and resettle
the State on a civil basis. But such flatterinc,
dreams are now rudely dispelled. The army is
publicly thanked for the laurels won "in peace." It
will here be remarked also that the Royal • •
praise
and gratitude are confined entirely to the regular
army, and in no way extends to the ranks of the
Landwher,—a circumstance telling pretty plainly
that this latter popular branch of the military or-
ganisation is destined to be speedily abolished.
The paragraph referring to the German Duchies
of Schleswig-Holstein we need scarcely dissect. It
contains nothing better than what the French call
la blague. On the northern frontier of Schleswig-

Holstein, the splendid Prussian army" would find
an appropriate camping ground ; but there it is not.
to be seen. All the talk- about "the efforts of
Prussia to obtain, for the:German provinces under
Danish rule, the full exercise of those rights to
which the Federal laws and treaties between the
German Diet and Denmark give them well-founded
claims." is sheer rhodomontade. First of all, those
very treaties, brought about as they. were by the
treachery of the Prussian Court, arc not the guaran-
tees, but a positive 'encroachment on the indepen-
dence of Schleswig-Holstein. In the second place
—even assuming them to be of any value—they
are at this moment violated by the Danish King in
the most barefaced manner. Only a few days
before the Regent made his Speech, the Court Of
Copenhagen issued a first mufti ordinance, prohibit-
ing all "Schleswig-Holstein societies," even though
they simply- were of a literary, artistic, or agri-
cultural character. • And, in the face of such facts,
the Regent does not scruple to talk of his efforts for
the Duchies, and of the " honour" of the Prussian
Army!
The harangue winds up.with another trumpeting
forth the praise of the Army, which is declared to
be " Conscious of Victory, Justice, Truth. and Fear.
of God !" It would appear the peculiar i•-pecialite
of Prussian Rulers to launch out into such rhetorical.
absurdities. Enough, however, of verbiage so
sickenine, to common sense. We will content our-
selves with calling the attention of the reader to
the fact that strict.Miiitary and Dynastic Rule—
arid'not Parliathentary Government—is now pro-
fessedly
the aim of the Regent. We, on our part,
never expected better things of him ; but it is well
that the eulogists of the Prince William who
laboured to lead public opinion astray, should now •
be convicted out .of the mouth of their idol.

TESTIMONIAL AND DINNER TO MR.
ROBERT BIGNELL.

On Wednesday, Mr. R. ilignell, the proprietor of
the Argyll Rooms, was entertained at a complimen-
tary dinner, by a considerable number of his friends
and neighbours, desirous of testifying their satis-
faction at his having obtained a renewal of his
music licence, and of expressing their appreciation
of the admirable manner in which his establish-
ment is conducted. The entertainment was given
in St. James's Hall, the tickets being a guinea
each. The subscriptions to the testimonial, which
is of the value of three hundred guineas, were ad
libitum. At six o'clock about one hundred and forty,
gentlemen sat down to an admirably-served bait-
quet, presided over by Lord William Lennox ; and
the style of the repast, and the excellency of the
wines, elicited universal commendation. Upon the
removal of the cloth, "For, these and all thy mer-
cies given " was finely sung by Miss Ransford, Miss
Eyles, Mr. G. Genge, Mr. W. E. 'Ransford, Mr.
George Perren, and Mr. Ransford, the latter of
whom had the conducting of the musical part of
the entertainment, the whole of which gave the
utmost satisfaction.

The noble CHAIRMAN having proposed the usual
loyal and patriotic toasts, in brief and neat
speeches, at length rose to propose the toast of the
evening, " The health of Mr. Bignell, and success
to the Argyll Rooms," the enunciation of which
was received with long-continued demonstrations
of applause. His lordship said, he had been asked
to take the chair upon this occasion, and he had
consented to do so, without the slightest hesi-
tation, although he was not unaware of the obloquy
to which he exposed himself ix so doing. (Cheers.)
He saw no reason to hesitate, and when he made
up his mind to a thing, feeling that it involved the
violation of no moral or religious obligation, he took
his own course, turning neither to the right nor to
the left to avoid any malignant or silly things that
might be said of him. (Hear.) Before he proceeded
further, however, let him say, that he came there
—and he believed he might speak for the whole
company—in no spirit of triumph or exultation, at
having achieved a victory. (Hear, hear.) They felt
that Mr. Bignell had sustained a wrong and an
injiry in the withholding of his licence for a whole
year, at a great pecuniary loss ; but he (Lord Len-
nox) did not feetilisposed to-attributtany improper
feeling to those magistrates who had withheld it.
Men might, and he believed did, conscientiously
differ upon subjects of this kind ; and it was enough
for them to know that the right thing had now been
done, and he doubted not would be done in future.
(Cheers.) With regard to the toast he had risen to
propose, he doubted not that it would be heartily
drank and responded to. (Cheers.) He (Lord Len-
nox) had been introduced to Mr. Bignell, at Don-
caster, by a nobleman of the highest rank and the
most unimpeachable character, who spoke of him as
an upright, enterprising, and honourable man, and
in all his intercourse with him he had found him to
be so. (Hear.) The way in which he conducted his
brilliant establishment was beyond all praise. The
entertainment itself was of a very high order, and
the utmost proprieties were observed. (Hear.) He
was extremely glad that the magistrates had re-
vised and reversed their decision of the previous
year, for places of this kind were much to be de-
sired, especially in a place like London, where per-
sons were mostly confined to their business all day,
and had to battle with the anxieties, and, many of
them, with the difficulties of life. In such places as
the Argyll Rooms, they could shake off the cares
of the day, and enjoy a healthful recreation ; and
he believed that, when well conducted, as this was.
they were of great benefit to the community.
(Continued cheering.) He feared that there was
too stroNg a disposition prevalent to interfere with
and put down the amusements of the people. Those
who entertained such a position should remember
twat " All work and no play makes Jack a dull
boy ;" and they might depend upon it, too, that if
they deprived persons who required it of public and
rational amusements, they would drive them to
secret and surreptitious indulgences, by far more
likely to corrupt their morals and impoverish their
pockets. (Cheers.) In conclusion, the noble lord
again expressed his admiration of Mr. Bignell's
character and undertaking, and said he had great
pleasure not only in proposing his health; but in
presenting to him the very splendid testimonial
which stood before him, and which had been pur-
chased by the subscriptions Of his neighbours and
friends, as a substantial expression of the esteem in
which they held him. The noble lord resumed his
seat amidst great applause, and the toast was drank
with great enthusiasm.

[The presentation, an exquisite silver centre-piece, manu-
factured by Mr. Hancock, of Bruton-street, and of the
value of three hundred guineas, is one of the most classical
and elegant designs we have ever seen. The grouping of
the figures, the boldness and beauty of the chasing, and the
tout-enseinble excited the utmost admiration. The base is of
black ebony, and the inscription is as follows :—" Presented
to Mr. R. R. Bignell, by his friends and neighbours, at a
complimentary dinner, at St. James's Hall, January 12,
1859, as' a token of their esteem, and to mark their satisfac-
tion at his having obtained a renewal of his music licence."]
Mr. BIGNELL, in returning thanks, said he was
not a man to make a long speech, but he could
assure his friends that what he said came from his
heart. (Cheers.) He felt very much indebted to
the noble lord for having so kindly and promptly
consented to occupy, the chair upon this occasion.
He felt very much indebted to the magistrates of
the county, who had renewed the licence for his
rooms ; he felt very much indebted to many of his
neighbours, including some of the vestrymen of the
parish, for the efforts they had made to relieve him
from the stigma under which he had been unde-
servedly placed ; he felt very much indebted to Mr.
Seale, his solicitor, for the admirable way in which
he had managed his case—(eheers)—and he certainly
felt indebted to all present, as well as to many
others, who would have been present, had they not
been kept at a distance, for the honour they had
done him in wishing him health and prosperity.
He did not see how he could have deserved such
an expression of kindness, unless-it was in conduct-
ing himself in everything in a straightforward
manner, in all his transactions. (Cheers.) He
hoped he should ever continue to do so, and convince
some of those who had opposed him, upon mere
hear-say or false representations, that he was far
from being hurtful to them, while he was doing
the best he could for himself. (Cheering.) In
conclusion, he begged to propose the health of Lord
William Lennox, who had kindly presided upon
this occasion, and had thus greatly augmented the
pleasure and the honour of their meeting.—The
toast was drunk with long-continued applause.
The Noble CHAIRMAN returned thanks.

The CHAIRMAN then proposed " The health of
M. Lamotte," the musical director and conductor
of the Argyll Rooms, which was drank with much
enthusiasm.
M. LAMOTTE thus replied, in French :—" Gen-
tlemen, some years ago, Mr. BignelV sustained
courageously =4 had almost said heroically—a noble
self-imposed task,that of transferring to tLe Adelaide
Gallery the enterprise which the refusal of the
'licence hindered him from continuing at the Argyll
Rooms. The sudden closing of that establishment
might have resulted in the entire ruin of Mr. Big-
nell. lle knew it, but it did not check, the greatness
.of -his generosity. Any other proprietor, in his
place, would, undoubtedly, have bowed fiis head
in silence under the unexpected storm. In a word,

any other proprietor. in Mr. Bignell's place would
have discharged his orchestra, and all in the service
of his establishment; and, without doubt, 'in the
unfortunate attendant circumstances, no voice could
have been raised in blame against him—no hand
could have cast a stone at him, for Mr. B. would
have been acting in strict justice had he done so.
But, gentlemen, what did Mr. B. do ? Listening
only to the dictates of his own heart, his courage
and his humanity, during a whole year, week after
week, month after month, we 'have seen him sup-
porting, with his money, 100 families of artists and
servants. Every evening, at the Adelaide Gallery,
brought with it enormous losses; but no matter, he
continued his philanthropic work without cessa-
tion, without a murmur, and without discourage-
ment. That, gentlemen, was admirable—that
conduct was worthy not only of all our admiration,
but also of the admiration of all honest men. For
twelve years I have been chef-d'orchestre, and
in my whole career as artist, in Paris as in Lon-
don, I never met with' such an instance of self-sacri-
fice and abnegation in any other proprietor. Let
us, then, gentlemen, do honour to Mr. Bignell—
honour to his courage, honour, and philanthropy.
Let us repay, his devotedness with our warmest
gratitude, and give our sincere thanks to the magis-
trates, whose sense of justice rewarded his admirable
conduct, by re-opening the doors of the Argyll
Rooms. Mr. Bignell has had the benedictions of
all the distinguished artistes confided to my direc-
tion, no less than my unalterable attachment to him'
personally.
- Several other toasts were drank and spoken to,
amongst them " The Ladies ;" and 'Mr. STRONG, a
member of the St. James's Vestry, having been
called upon acknowledged the toast, and in the
course of his speech he said that he was himself
indifferent as to the construction which some people
might put upon his motives' and conduct. He
should not hesitate to support and applaud what-
ever he believed to be upright and honest. He
would do his duty, without favour or affection ; and
he did not hesitate to, say, after some observation
and reflection, that the Argyll Rooms conferred a
great, benefit* on the 'neighbourhood and parish.
(Cheers.) It was to the benefit of all that the
Argyll rooms should be licensed; and a resolution
had been passed in the vestry that the licence should
not be opposed again. (Renewed cheering.) - In
point of fact, had a free discussion of the subject
been had, there never would have been any opposi-
tion to it—(hear, hear)—for those who were opposed
to it would have found, from the testimony of those
most competent to speak upon the subject, that,
instead of being an injury to the locality, it con-
ferred great benefits upon it.
The proceedings terminated at a late hour in the
evening, with thanks to Mr. Donald, for his libera-
treatment and excellent arrangements.

METROPOLITAN BOARD OF WORKS.

The weekly meeting of the Metropolitan Boardof
Works was held yesterday, in the Council-chamber,
Guildhall ; Mr. J. Thwaites in the chair.

The financial statement showed the following
balances :---In the hands of the treasurer, £38,386
10s. ; cheques not presented, £12,568 10s. 6d. ; net
balances, £25,790 19s. 6d. ; deposit accounts,
£245,000; and a total balance of £270,799 19s. 6d.
A deputation of the inhabitants of Wandsworth
attended the board and presented a memorial on the
state of the Heathwall sewer, with a plan for re-
medying the evil complained of, which was referred
to the engineer of the board.
Some discussion took place in reference to the
salaries paid to the accountant of the board, the
chief engineer, and superintending architect, with
a view to their increase, but the various motions
were withdrawn.