The Sun.
London, England, 1859-12-02 00:00:00

~~

globe was affected by the terrible convulsion el
Lisbon little more than a century ago : 9
The great Lisbon earthquake was first perceived at. e „
am. convulsion, one of the most violent and Nridall
extended on record, produced terrible effects over a space
the earth's surface included between Iceland on the Worth,
Mender, in Morocco, on the south, Toplitz, in Boherpt
on the east, and the West India Islands on the
was felt in the Alps, on the shores of Sweden, in the We:
Indies, on the Lakes in Canada, in Ireland, 'Thuringia, ate
Northern Germany. Taking he area convulsed at 3,
miles long, and 2,700 miles wide, which is equal to 7,5001"
square miles, and supposing the motion
been to s
depth of twenty miles, there must have 150 milliou.s
of cubic miles of solid matter put in motion, a mass whit la
conveys to the mind a bewildering conception of the cuor:
mous power of the originating impulse. Actual shocks e
were not, however, felt over the whole of this surface ; u
some places agitation of the water, in lakes, canals,
The'
&c., being the only sensible effect produced.
west.
centre of disturbance seems to have been situ
ated beneath the Atlantic Ocean, a little west •of the
coast of Portugal. In Portugal itself, and especially
Lisbon, ost terrible destruction took place, VL„rt
owing, of toure to its contiguity to the seat of von3*'"
action, and partly to the nature of the earth's surface .
that place. The shocks appear to have been from west 'L
east, and to have lasted from one minute to ten minutes.
The calculated rate :of motion of the earth-wave was
7955 feet per second; at this rate the equatorial circumfer 45
,
ence of the earth would have been gone round in about,.
hours. At 10 o'clock on the same day, the north-vie!
portion of Africa was violently convulsed ; near Morocco 7.
mountain opened and swallowed a village, with 8000 nog
10,000 people. At 11.30 Milan was shaken, the laps
swung in the churches; and about the same time a n°::i
like that of a great wave breaking on the shore was 1104:
in Sweden and Norway, followed by shocks which 011.....°4"
the furniture in the houses. The springs in the PYrew°
were affected, and in the Alps some wells became salt.
The interest and respect attaching to the memory'
of an eminent writer recently departed,will induce_
most readers to turn at once to the page that been
the honoured name of Leigh Hunt. He has tt/k
up the cause of two of our old Esglish worthies-:
the father of English poetry and the singer of tn:
" Faery Queene,"—against no less an antageajj
than Cardinal Wiseman, who in his recent liter
lectures took occasion to censure these two grea,..,
writers for the immorality of some of their worn'
Leigh Hunt defends them vigorously against
attack, showing the purity and elevation of tel:
principles' they inculcate, while the faults of
are those of the age, and are by no means onlis..
to our two English celebrities. Another
tinguished name meets us among the contributere,
to Fraser, though happily still a name of the P.oa
sent, that of John Stuart Mill. His article is
" Non•lntervention," and his arguments disP d
his accustomed force and logic. After a clear
roe,
concise exposition of our present position
the merits of our policy and its faults and 'flriu-
sistencies, Mr. Mill goes on to consider the P...h,
ciples of non-intervention and their intrinsic Tiet:th
His remarks on this subject are well wursa
consideration, and he arrives at a sound fejt.
sensible conclusion. He insists upon the ese„roes
ness of the intervention of the military "Iry
of one ruler to aid another to repress the °Plod
tions of his subjects. " A people the most attaed• of
to freedom, the most capable of defending amble
making good use of free institutions, may be
lk-
to contend successfully for them against the Tor.
tarystrength of another nation much more 11°000.
ful." He goes on to say that the doctrine °lality,
intervention,tobe a legitimateprinciple of In" moo
must be accepted by all Governments. The desrfief
must consent to be bound by it as well as the side
States, or the result will be that the wrong the
help the wrong, but the right must not ilelPntiori
right. " Intervention to enforce non-interg:oys.
is always_ rightful, always moral, if not
prudent."
P°4
It might not have been right for England (eve
61(0
from the question of prudence) to have taken P'—ithe
Hungary in its noble struggle against Austria, e„°o •
the Austrian Government in Hungary was in some lions
foreign' yoke. But when, the Hungarians havilicissisli
themselves likely to prevail in this struggle, the A Lois,
despot interposed, and joining his force to that of foot
delivered back the Hungarians bound hand an' ur
their exasperated oppressors, it would have been an aye
able and virtuous act on the part of England o hrtiois
dared 'that this should not be, and that "":012111,,
gave assistance to the wrong side, England guest
aid the right. It might not have been c°•boati
with the regard which every nation 18 tb°
to pay to its own safety, for England to have takelle-' that
position single-handed. But England and France 7,4
could have done it ; and if they had the Russian ar1,3,1 wife
tervention would never have taken place, or Now" &too
been disastrous to Russia alone ; while
Powers gained by not doing it, was that they had rioter
Russia five years afterwards, under more difficult W
its logic, stances, and without Hungary for an ally. e
This article, from the force of -11r for
pay
terest of its subject, will well repay the roa-e,
its perusal. all that filo

Colburn's New Monthly Magazine. ot
A lengthened paper on China is a pro wed
feature in this magazine. It folle °
by the conclusion of the singular tbo
" Clara Lake's Dream," which, according ntl hie
writer, is founded on fact, but if so Inaeli;io,o
tales, as he asserts, are really drawn frotn " ughir
can only say the experience of the author or sl,bere.
ress, has been of a most unusual character. hick
is.an incident introduced into this story oul°
worthy of attention. A railway accident LA by
which should manifestly have been
prolleen'
the hoisting of the red light at the stlwe'-orest
danger-signal. Witnessess on both sides tatiotr
positively to the colour of the light. The %roof
master and many others take their oath ell
seen the red light hoisted. On the other
of
the engine-driver, and a respectable he llselear
living near, arc equally confident as to the %-o at •
ante of the ordinary green light. The tilo
last explained by an intelligent doctor, rate
covers tbat the en.ine-driver and his suP.,,Pi„ . to° '
affected by colour-blindness and are 11114"; ed
tinguish green from red. This is also asser;bilitf of
taken from life, but, in any case, the Pegs" of Or
such an accident is deserving the attention, Div
tion-masters. A notice of Mr. Redding, sper
graphy of Thomas Campbell" is esPeciabln Whet
priate in the pages of the New NonthlY • et, .
pages both are familiar names. The P° though
well known, was for several years its editor
enial
the post does not seem to have been eels entire
him. Mr. Redding, who undertook
management of the political department u."l writer•
reign, is well known as a voluminous aeriediscel
Sir Nathaniel's " Notes on Note-worthi
this month the labours and fortunes of Arnold4:.tooa
Brescia, pupil of Abelard, and self-coel'inAhieh
former of the Church of Rome; a veeetik-ent Ceo
brought him to the stake. W. Charles I. Ste'
tributes another of his picturesque series A(.) criPPlr
reoscopic Glimpses," entitled,
gate," in which the blind old poet is 'll
0 still 0
le
sitting at his organ enjoying the sens ,th excess
him, while the sightless eyes, " blinded Ifif seelcififs
of light," are mournfully upraised, as r and
his lost Paradise. An essay on "
Times" is chiefly founded on the work of Leto slit
Schmidt, and renders justice to the ehei:raphies,
elevated aim of the poet. Another bi(lbdifferehn;
paper discusses the peculiarities of a yenliit of tb.
"Milton %ova 0,..?
person, Madame Recamier, the fair presluu of t g
dais %rot
most fascinating salon of Paris in the,/ err 0
Restoration. The curious story of -ri-vibich_s, •
Mitterkamp is brought to a conclusi.ool LP
010 bot
readers will scarcely regret. There le brieto
bute to the late Mr. Stephenson, and. ations.
sensible paper on " Continental Compliea

AnivaarlticmleeroCi
ntosibtouhfrenth'
e MilitiarlzlUnited
voluntaryBevsl Commission''Ye e 9.- 0 a 511:0,
+Dna an fr
the r.
ballot. .It is followed by an able Paltrg-tiltiher:,
serve of Royal Naval Volunteers, Whic" "Thrtslins
sent moment is of especial interest and mP-opoiel"
While strongly approving of the object Pft eXogy
the writer doubts whether the best and ha
-. bee'
cious means for securinthat object bil''; tb•
g ..p 0
adopted. He finds something to censo‘-floriou-
regulations, and discusses separately t„.11°,0 011
paragraphs. The following passage sus care
of the conclusions arrived at after 6
analysis :—.. 101113°1g
Merchant seamen are now, whatever theYwerrt with the
a cool, calculating class. They will sniff the bait , ,
caution, but not the gullibility and voracity 0 mare, som
They will turn over the advantages and disadvao iriP
those who are learned in the matter, or think thertue b 11,!:
soon be found putting very puzzling questions to_ed t 08._,,
ping-master. There are certain conditions aric.;o, sfi.t,
vice in the navy, and also relative to the Pensi°d distrw"„4,
have already shown, calculated to excite alarm fi. . ~...2,
Five years exile from home and kindred Will
relsioer Is
lump when placed in the opposite scale to thelook uP°4,ll r
prospective pension. Three years they Will„,edlalit-100
en inevitable continency • although, as we "i"".neriod v"or
tember, there f so long' 3 r-, ne Y
ecessi y or
ed ut for Ide
demanded. The men should be call 0 ergo°
only, to bo increased to two, or three, if the eto „,
manded that servitude. which 74
Then, again, there is the imperative regulatiosiabwoji 0
eludes all but able seamen. Numerous fin© able whoarly
men, as we have already stated, might be enrolled, They
pursue their business as bargemen and vvate hie ne
of
have been from boyhood on the vvater, pit Per Idel/ cs
out of sight of land, and never rated able scanrbie. 11Aey
this kind would be at hand, and always aY"`;`,, Do ttei
the Admiralty still an eye upon the .4 aquatlefsriver ,lod
cmtemplate the re-organisation of a corps (f),his useta
foneible.or
, , why have they taken no heed 01. , the
efficient body ? towioPthot
But, notwithstanding its faults and shor
e,.., hope 10/'
Reserve scheme is a good move and We sincetro 17
getherlog
all parties concerned will pull harnioniouslY i disregsr ,
ing sight for a time of personal interests, au"
f it °v,
a little or may be a great deal of trouble.
10., _e . -
In alluding to the aversion so frequea. Wavy, qa;
merchant seamen to entering the 107
_13,, to tts
writer attributes much of this antll:l3l"gi syst,eo;
prejudices lingering since the pressgr.,oo art.l4,
It is a straightforward and sensibly 117,1'00 etilllol
throwing much light on the subject or 0
proseects,,.o
and
ment. A paper on. the position ~,ne o tos
the army medical department shows rill, pr.l9,„d
drawbacks and difficulties that attena i.ftecorap
of the medical profession in the army efortns
r, r
to the accounts given in this Palg