The Sun.
London, England, 1859-09-12 00:00:00

(

c'c 6

BANK OF ENGLAND, SEPTEMBER 8, 1859.
THE COURT OF DIRECTORS of the
GOVERNOR and COMPANY of the BAN K of ENG-
LAND give notice that a GENERAL COURT will be held
at the Bank on THURSDAY next, the 15th inst., at fwelve
o'Clock precisely, to consider of a dividend. This will also be
one of the Quarterly General Courts appointed by the charter.
JAMES STEWART, Secretary.

short ieterval, during which the white steam still
obscured all aft the funnel, Capt. Comstock, who
was on the bridge, tried to see what had occurred,
but he could only ascertain by peering over the
edge of the paddle-box that the vessel's sides were
uninjured, and the engines still going. Gradually
then, as the steam cleared off, the foremost funnel
could be seen lying like a log across the deck, which
was covered with bits of glass, gilding, fragments
of curtains and silk hangings, window frames,
craps of wood blown into splinters, and a mass of
fi agments, which had evidently come from the
cabin fittings of the lower deck, beneath the grand
saloon. In the middle was a great heap of rubbish
where the fnnnel had just stood, from which the
condensed steam was rushing up in a white, ant
therefore not hot, vapour, but enough to hide com-
pletely all that had happened below. In another
minute all the passengers came rushing towards the
spot. The 20 or 30 who had remained at table in the
saloon next that which blew up came on deck also,
and it will give your readers some idea of the gigan-
tic strength of the vessel when I tell them that these
litter until they actually saw the smash were almost
unaware of the terrific explosion which had oc-
curred beside them. It was only the dull heavy roar,
followed by the rattling of fragments as they rained
down on and through the skylights which warned
them that something dreadful had occurred. Still
none knew what had really happened or what injury
the vessel had sustained. Capt. Harrison, who was
aft at the moment, rushed forward, and, seizing a
rope, lowered himself dossn through the steam into
the wreck of the grand saloon, and calling to six
men to follow him, began a search among the ruins
for those who might have been below. The only
one in the apartment was his own little daughter,
who had just arrived at the after part at the mo-
ment of the explosion, and who, completely shel-
tered by the wrought-iron bulkhead, had escaped,
by a miracle, totally unhurt. Captain Harrison
merely gave the order to pass her up through the
skylights, and continued his search. This was no
easy matter. The wreck and rubbish piled in all
directions in the ladies' small saloon, forward of the
funnel, made it difficult to move about. The steam
hid almost every object ; the place was broken, the
floor in parts upheaved and riven, so as to show a
still more frightful smash in the saloons and cabins
below. Through these apertures the bright glare
beneath the lower deck of all showed that the fur-
nace doors had either been blown open or blown
away, and the funnel being gone, the draught was
down the remains of the chimney, forcing out the
flames and ashes in a fierce and dangerous stream.
This, as the embers touched water, sent up a close,
suffocating air—half steam half gas—in which it
was difficult to see and almost impossible to breathe.
In the meantime most on board, including the visi-
tors, took steps to restore order and confidence. As
I have already said, there were fortunately no holi-
day tourists there, or the matter would have been
much worse. Some of the ablest engineers and
machinists were on deck, who could pretty well
guess what had happened and what worse might
follow. A funnel, filled similarly to that which
had blown up, was evidently getting intensely hot,
and of those present none knew to what extent its
" jacket," or outer casing, had been damaged or
how soon it might explode. Mr. Scott Russell, fol-
lowed by one or two engineers, at once went below
to the furnaces of these boilers, and ordered the
steam to be blown off, the speed of the engines to be
reduced, and every precaution taken to guard
against mishap. Mr. Campbell remained calm ant
collected on deck, getting the crew forward and pre-
venting any unnecessary alarm. Some of the men
instantly went below to search for those employed
in the stoke-holes, whom it was now evident must
be fearfully injured, if indeed alive. At this moment
a cry was raised of a man overboard. Some of the
crew and many of the passengers went aft, when
something like the figure of a human being was
visible among the waves. Life buoys, gratings, and
bits of timber were thrown over all at once, and two
gentlemen were endeavouring to lower a boat when
it was stated that the alarm was a false one. Un-
happily, however, it was but too true, as was after-
wards ascertained. The man was a fireman, and
when the explosion took place he rushed, to avoid
the steam, to the aperture out of which the ashes
were emptied, and from this jumped and caught at
a beam under the " sponson," in front of the paddles.
To this, it is said, he hung for a few moments,
when, probably weakened by the explosion or
scalded by the steam, he relaxed his hold, and fall-
ing under the paddles was, of course, instantly
killed by them, and so floated past astern. All that
I have stated occurred in the space of three or four
minutes. Mr. Trotman, with one or two others,
went below to the lower deck cabins, where one at
least was known to be covered by the wreck, while
Captain Harrison came on deck and ordered the
ship's course to be altered towards the land till it
could be ascertained that there was no immediate
danger from fire or injury to the frame of the vessel
below. The latter risk appeared to be most immi-
nent, as the flames were still rushing fiercely from
the furnace doors. The hose was therefore ordered
to be laid on, and instant preparations made for ex-
tinguishing the fires. During this time some gallant
fellows among the crew had gone down to the
stoke-hole to see after those below, and bring the
poor firemen who were on duty near the funnel at the
time on deck as quickly
as possible. It was said that
only two or three men were below, and that these
men were but slightly injured, though it was, un-
fortunately, soon found that there were not less
than twelve more or less hurt. Two or three of
these poor fellows walked up to the deck almost, if
not quite unassisted, and this may have led to"the
belief that their injuries were slight. Their aspect,
however, told its own tale, and none who had ever
seen blown-up men beforo could fail to know at
glance that some had only two or three hours to
live. A man blown up by gunpowder is a mere
figure of raw flesh, which seldom moves after the
explosion. Not so with men blown up by
steam, who for a few minutes are able to
walk about, apparently almost unhurt, though
in fact mortally injured beyond all hope of
recovery. This was so with one or two, who, as
they emerged from below, walked aft with that
indescribable expression in their faces only re-
sembling intense astonishment, and a certain falter-
ing of the gait and movements like one that walks
in his sleep. Where not grimed by the smoke or
ashes, the peculiar bright, soft whiteness of the face,
hands, or breast, told at once that the skin, though
unbroken, had in fact been boiled by the steam. One
man walked along with the movement and look I
have endeavoured to describe, and seemed quite
unconscious that the flesh of his thighs (most
probably by the ashes from the furnace) was burnt
in deep holes. To some one who came to his
assistance he said quietly, "I am all right. There
are others worse than me. Go and look after
them." This poor man was the first to die, Another
stoker was brought up with the scalp hanging in
raw strips from his head. One of the crew went to
assist another fireman, and caught him by the arm,
and beneath the grasp of those who thus aided him
the skin peeled off the poor fellow's hand and armlike
an old glove, and this, too, without the sufferer
apparently feeling or knowing it. As fast as the
men were got up they were taken aft to the infir-
mary, where cots were prepared, Drs. Slater and
Watson, the surgeons of the ship, with one of the
visitors, Dr. Markham, of St. Mary's Hospital,
were at once in attendance, and everything which
unremitting kindness or medical skill could suggest
was at once done for their relief. It was, however,
seen at once that but little hopes existed for many,
if not the majority, of the sufferers, who were 12
in number. Most of them seemed very restless,
and almost if not quite delirious ; but a few of
those whose injuries were likely to be more imme-
diately fatal remained quiet, half unconscious
or at most only asking to be covered up, as if they
felt the cold. For these latter all knew nothing

THE GREAT EASTER

TERRIBLE EXPLOSION ON BOARD.
(From the Special Correspondent of the Times.)
PORTLAND, SEPT. 11.
Before this reaches your readers most of them
will have heard, by rumour or otherwise, of the
shocking accident which occurred on board this
vessel while off Hastings on Friday evening. The
most exaggerated and often contradictory accounts
both as to the cause and extent of the calamity are
already in circulation, the killed and wounded vary-
ing in the reports from 4to 40. What the actual
loss of life will prove ultimately to be it is at pre-
sent impossible to say ; four of the poor firemen and
stokers have already perished, and three or four
remain in such a state as leaves but little hope of
their lives being saved. The explosion which has
now cast so sad a gloom over the trip round to
Portland took place in the forward funnel, which
passes through the grand saloon and lower deck
cabins to the boilers. It was probably one of the
most terrific which a vessel has ever survived, and
which none in the world could have withstood save
a structure of such marvellous strength and solidity
as the Great Eastern. The strongest line-of-battle
ship would have had her sides blown out by it, and
must have gone down like a stone. The Great
Eastern not only resisted it, but, in spite of the
dreadful nature of the catastrophe, it made so little
difference to the movements of the vessel that her
engines were never once stopped, and, save for half
an hour, her course was never altered from its ori-
ginal destination to this harbour. In order fully to
understand as far as it is yet known the cause of the
accident, it will be necessary to say a few words on
the peculiar construction of the two forward funnels
for the paddle boilers. In the first plans for the
vessel it was determined, in order to economise the
heat given off by the funnels, and to keep the
saloons through which they passed cool, to fit them
all with what is termed " a feed-pipe casing," rising
from the boilers to about eight feet above the
under deck. This feed-pipe casing is simply a
double or outer funnel for the length we have
stated, the inner one, as usual, carrying off the
smoke and flame, and the space between it and the
outer casing being filled with water. The water is
pumped in at the top of the casing while cold, and
gradually passing down into the space round the
furnaces, becomes greatly heated, when it is dis-
charged into the boilers by means of an ordinary
stop-cock. A plan by which so much coolness is
supposed to be gained in the berths and saloons,
and so much fuel saved by the ample supply of hot
water to the boilers, promises such obvious advan-
tages that for the last 10 years attempts of every
kind have been made to carry out the principle suc-
cessfully on board most of the seagoing steamers. In
no one instance has the plan ever yet succeeded.
In but too many cases the funnels have done what
the funnel of the Great Eastern did on such a colossal
scale last Friday evening. When such an accident
has not occurred the pressure of the column of water
upon the base of the funnel near the furnaces has
been so great as to cause them, when strained in bad
weather or worn by loug use, to leak into the fires
and extinguish them more or less rapidly. Any one
the least conversant with boiler mechanism will see,
too, at a glance, that the safety of the whole affair
depends upon the stop-cock which lets off the water
into the boilers being watched with unremitting
vigilance. The neglect of this for half an hour would
allow steam to generate in the casing, which would
then, in plain terms, become a gigantic boiler, with-
out a valve or any means of letting off its steam,
save by blowing up. This was the apparatus which,
as I have explained, in order to economise heat and
cool the saloons, it was proposed to introduce on
board the Great Eastern in the three funnels to the
screw engine, and the two forward funnels for the
paddles. Messrs. Bolton and Watt were intrusted
with the construction of the screw engines and
boilers, and they at once firmly refused to have any
such casing round their funnels, or attached to their
engines in any way whatever. lam not aware of
the precise reason on which they grounded their re-
fusal, though doubtless they rested mainly on the
obvious fact, that the plan had been tried over and
over again and always failed, with more or less of
inconvenience or disaster. The plan, however, was
adopted for the two paddle funnels, though at about
that time the Collins line of steamers, which had
tried the plan for nearly three years, discarded it as
often dangerous, and always worthless. Who is re-
sponsible for its being fixed to the paddle funnels, or
for the manifest defects which, after the explosion,
it is stated were found to exist in the stop-cock for
letting the water into the boilers, is not now known.
A strict inquiry will doubtless be instituted by the
Board of Trade, and pending that examination it
would be both unwise and unjust to express any
opinion on facts, which at the best, are at present
but imperfectly known. All that has yet been as-
certained is that there has been neglect somewhere,
and that the stop-cock for letting the water off into
the boilers was either incapable of performing its
duty properly, or was not attended to at all. The
casings of the two forward funnels of the Great
Eastern held each about seven or eight tons of
water, and the forward one, at least, it is now, evi-
dent, might have exploded at any moment during
the voyage, and when the grand saloon was filled
with the visitors on board to listen to the admi-
rable music of the ship's band. The splendid per-
formances of the ship during the cruise down
channel on Friday, her unrivalled power, speed, and
steadiness, can be referred to hereafter. It is best
to relate at once the unhappy accident, which it is
much to be feared may, though most unnecessarily,
make the public timid about the success of the
noblest ship which the world has seen. The visitors I,
who were passengers on board numbered about
100, and, as may readily be believed, included
among them some of the most distinguished navi-
gators, engineers, and scientific men in Em ope All,
as usual, were assembled at dinner at about half-
past 5 o'clock on Friday, when before the dessert
came on two gentlemen left the chairman's table to
look at the coast near Hastings. Mr. Campbell, the
Marquis of Stafford, Earl Mountcharies, Lord A.
Paget, and a few others followed, without waiting
for dessert. The departure of these gentlemen from
the saloon, as it happened, broke up the dinner
party, and instead of retiring to the grand saloon,
as usual, nearly all the visitors came on deck, and
went right forward in the bows. About 30 re-
mained at table—a few were on the bridge with
Mr. Campbell, and thus, by a most merciful inter-
position, it happened, for the first time during the
voyage, that there was no one sitting in the grand
saloon, and no one on the little raised deck round
the foremost funnel. One or two gentlemen were
congratulating Mr. Campbell on the almost mar-
vellous success of the ship, when in the space
of a second there was a terrific explosion. The for-
ward part of the deck appeared to spring like a
mine, blowing the funnel into the air. There was a
confused heavy roar, amid which came the awful
crash of timber and iron mingled together with
frightful uproar, and then all was hidden in a rush
of steam. Blinded and almost stunned by the over-
whelming concussion, those on the bridge stood
motionless in the white vapour till they were re-
minded of the necessity of seeking shelter by the
shower of wreck--glass, gilt work, saloon orna-
ments,
raine n t si,
na na
ldl
dpiecesireet
ioofn wood, o o d,
Thewhich
lbo
ne ggaend t
col
af at
tl le
rlike
rain in all directions. The prolonged clatter of
these as they fell prevented any one aft the bridge
from moving, and though all knew that a fearful
accident had occurred, none were aware of its ex-
tent or what was likely next to happen. After a

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whatever could be done, as, in fact, they were then
dying. In the meantime on deck the hose had been
got at once into play, and a stream of water was
poured down into the stokehole beneath the lower
deck, so as in a few minutes to quench the fire in
the furnaces, and put at rest all fear of danger from
that source. Within 20 minutes after the blow-up

the real cause and nature of the mishap was known,
and the total safety of all the engines and after
boilers was definitely ascertained. Fearful as was
the explosion, it was seen that, owing to the im-
mense strength of the ship, its violence had been
entirely confined to the compartment in which
it bad occurred. Beyond this no injury was
done of any kind, excepting a stray piece
breaking Portland. a s
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r Hawkins,
one of the boatswains, had discovered that Mr.
Rawlinson, one of Mr. Gray's assistants, who was
in a lower-deck cabin, was completely buried, and,
in fact, suffocating beneath a pile of lumber of all
kinds. In an instant men were set to work to free
him, who dragged away the wreck and splintered
glass and wood by handfuls, till Mr. Rawlinson
was caught sight of and pulled out by main force, a
good deal shaken, contused, and cut about the
head and face, but not dangerously. All danger
from fire or another explosion beirig now at an end,
those who chose were enabled to go down and ex-
amine for themselves the scene of the disaster. The
litter on the deck showed that in the compartment
in which it had taken place, and where it was
confined by the wrought-iron bulkheads, it had
been wide and general. The fore part of Mr.
Crace's beautiful saloon was a pile of glittering
rubbish, a mere confused mass of boards,
carpet shreds, hangings, mirrors, gilt frames,
and splinters of ornaments ; the rich gilt
castings were broken and thrown down, the brass
work ripped, the handsome cast iron columns round
the funnel overturned and strewed about. In the
more forward part, a State sitting-room for ladies,
every single tbing was destroyed, and the wooden
flooring broken and wrenched up. As one gazed
on the evidences of the appalling force of the explo-
sion it was recollected with profound gratitude to
Providence that the accident occurred at the only
single moment when the grand saloon was empty,
and the berths on each side were unoccupied.
What the consequences would have been if it
had taken place an hour later, when the visitors
would be sitting in the saloon, is almost fearful
to think upon. But the damage in this part
seemed a mere bagatelle when compared with the
ravages among the lower deck cabins beneath. It
was difficult to go down there, for the whole place
was filled with fragments of boards, chairs, beds,
cabin fittings, broken steam pipes and syphon tubes,
torn-out rivets, and masses of the inner and outer
funnels rent to pieces like calico, and lying about
like heaps of crumpled cardboard. Everything
was in literal fragments. The course of the
explosion could then be seen at once. The water,
or rather steam, in the casing had crushed in the
inner casing, blowing up the funnel above deck,
while both funnels below it were torn to pieces and
hurled about, sometimes in single rivets or
scraps no longer than one's hand, sometimes
in crumpled up lumps weighing several hundred-
weight. Beneath this deck, towards the stokehole,
where the remnants of the funnel left a yawning
hole like an extinct volcano, the force of the
explosion was still more manifest. Not only
was the iron compartment nearest to the boiler
partly rent and pushed back, but one of the main
deck beams, an enormously massive wrought-iron
girder about two feet deep, and strengthened with
angle irons, was wrenched back and nearly bent
in halves. The ruin here would be an instructive
sight for engineers to witness. It would be still
better if medical men could inspect them and solve
the problem of how it can possibly have happened
that men who stood round the base of the funnel
when it exploded, and when tons of iron were
torn up and cast about, were not only not killed
on the spot, but scarcely one was unable to walk,
and not one has sustained a fracture or dislocation.
This is at present an inexplicable circumstance.
In some parts the explosion seems to have acted
with the capricious violence of lightning. Thus, in
the grand saloon the two largest mirrors on each
side of it, running fore and aft, were quite unbro..
ken, though the silvering was boiled off the backs of
both by the heat of the steam. By the side of these
glasses cast-iron columns were bent and broken, and
mirrors at four times the distance from the seat of
the disaster were almost pulverized, and their
framings even destroyed. The beautiful oak stair-
cases descending to the saloons were blown up like
cardwork, yet not a book on the library shelves
clo eto the funnel was stirred. At the bottom
of the stokehole 1 found one of the gilt framings
which were placed round the windows of the
saloon ; it was perfectly uninjured. For your
readers to understand this singularity they mist
suppose one house—say number eight—to have had
an explosion in its cellar, and among the ruins is
found uninjured a drawing-room picture belong-
ing to the next-door neighbour at number nine.
The boiler, as far as can be judged from a super-
ficial examination, stands firm ; a close scrutiny,
however, will be necessary to enable the engi-
neers to determine whether any part of it, n ore
especially its tubes, are injured. It seems almost too
much to hope that when such a severe concussion
was experienced, it can have escaped entirely with-
out injury. Near and upon the boiler lie scraps
and morsels of the funnels, which show where the
first tearing away commenced before the inner
casing was blown up to the deck.
This, as far as the most diligent inquiry and
close personal observation has enabled me t 3 ascer-
tain, is a fair and candid account of the accident.
It is difficult in mere words to fall into any exag•
geration in describing the effects of such great ex-
plosions. I have said no more than the circum-
stances warrant, to say less would be equally
wrong. As far, then, as this short cruise is
concerned, I have up to the present given only
the dark side of the picture. In candour to the
public, and in justice to all connected with this
noble vessel, it is right that the bright side should
be told as well. Every engineer on board knows
that no wooden vessel that ever swam could have
resisted the tremendous violence of the explosion
for a second. Whether it had happened to the
Royal Albert or the General Admiral, the result
would have been in each case the same ; they would
have gone down, perhaps without even time enough
to lower a boat. The Britannia Bridge is a struc-
ture of almost unknown strength; engineers calcu-
late that the Great Eastern is ten times as strong.
Yet even the ablest engineers on board were as,
tounded at the slight effect produced when the tre-
mendous nature of the explosion was considered.
Again, the vessel never once stopped either
screw or paddle engines, though of course after
this most unfortunate mishap the forward pair
of boilers were instantly put out, while the after
pair to the second funnel were worked slowly
and easily. The only difference this made was
that the screw engines were required to go
faster, and faster accordingly they went, and did
all that was wanted to send the huge ship through
the water "at the rate of knots," as sailors say.
Any ordinary vessel, even those nominally built of
iron, which only mean an outer metal easing with
all the rest wood, must have been burnt by the ex-
plosion. Yet it is not too much to say that all on
board almost smiled at the idea of fire in a vessel
subdivided in every direction into a series of iron
cells, Had fire been possible, the mass of water
that was instantly at hand from large hose con-
nected with the donkey engines would have sufficed
to put out a small volcano.
The accident might and most likely would have
occurred to any vessel fitted with double casing

Wit.

' Vii t; 1? b PER
_____4 ek srA.
NNAv,"I.4.. Sx_ PEAT _
-- --3,4i7.& .ki_e:,,\
1
.-• ':' A4k4,1;;;7,45' 12-1
, '7V.-314‘,1,,,,,-- ,
~,,.. , , t
_.: 1* E.,1 13.y.:',i
a piece of i:d , lei- ti. la ."ii. 1t,.,t)1.tri.,Ppp,:44,14.4v
mended theni, iitstcai ef ie,lu'l.g.itit,tJivt-iiiipilliifee
fantasy, to go and serve on railcvay-cWmi 11w,, ta
a course far more likely to benefit- bollithemselves
and thei:. country. Against this practical and
commonplace suggestion they indignantly rebelled,
and yet it woald have been better, atter all, if
they had taken the . hint, for the Young England
doctrines survive now only. ill- --a miff -- a g't eoOle
novels, whereas the public interests have been
affected to an incalculable extent by the railway
legisla.tiopfof 1345. Alr. Bright, no doubt, Would
he dreadfully shocked it and Body were to compare
him with those young gm-Olen-len who held that
Britain was to be regenerated by medimval mantle] s
and white waistcoats, but his politics arc as unprac-
tical as, theirs, though not as ridiculous. He per-
sists in 'striving after one object, and one only.
To be sure, it is a mighty one, and would, if
attained, embrace, perhaps' most other objects pre-
sent to his imagination. Precisely in the same
way would the philosopher's stone, if discovered,
have dispensed with all other methods of money-
making, and the elixir vitce have superseded all
other medicaments of physicians. Unfortunately,
these marvellous inventions could never be per-
fected, and men at last learnt the wisdom of work-
ing for practical purposes with ordinary means,
instead of consuming their talents and opportunities
in pursuit of some phantom of power.
We remarked the other day that if some Re-
former of eminence—Mr. Bright, for instance—
would but give his energies a practical direction by
elucidating the mysteries of our naval expenditure,
an immense public benefit would be the result. If
£5,000,000 conid be knocked off from dockyard
charges, and one-fifth part of the saving invested
in a good reserve of seamen, would not such a
success be infinitely gratifying to the country and
honourable to the statesman achieving it P -We
thought so, certainly ; but so commonplace a job is
far below Mr. Bright's idea of political occupa-
tion. He will look at nothing short of a grand
Parliamentary Reform Bill conceived upon his own
principles. That is the talisman which will eradi-
cate all abuses, rectify all errors, and establish ex-
cellence in all departments of the Administration.
Once get that, and everything else will follow.
There is the object which statesmen and patriots
should keep,inqssantly before them, without allow-
ing their thoughts to be diverted 'by small details
of public-businesS: To this we must needs reply,
that it is exceedingly doubtful whether the talis-
man in question would work these wonders even if
it could be acquired, and perfectly certain that if
Mr. Bright waits till he acquires it he will never
do his countrymen any service at all.
Take his own view of the matter, as delivered on
Thursday at Huddersfield. He is free to confess
that the course we suggested in the administration
of the Navy " would be a great deal better than the
course now taken," and he evidently doeS not think
that we have exaggerated the dimensions of the
object. On the contrary, -he is full of admiration
for the speech of Lord C. Paget, in which this waste
was denounced, and which he characterises as a
speech of " great ability, and, what is of far more
importance, let me tell you, also a speech of great
accuracy and great honesty." That is to say, he
really believes that five millions or so of the public
money might be soon saved in this branch of our
expenditure, and such a prospect we should
imagine, would be considerable enough to engage
the attention of the most exalted politician. But
what does he reply to our suggestion that he should
take this practicable piece of business in hand
and turn it out handsomely finished ? He tells
US that, as the House of Commons is now con-
stituted, it is perfectly useless for him or any
one else to attempt such a task, and that we
know it to be so. He says that opposite to him
in that house there sits a phalanx of Tory
members, who gain so much from the public
taxes that thew will never vote for the diminu-
tion of their own patrimony by making those
taxes less ; and that until we come to the point
that Parliament shall not be the instrument of a
class, but a fair representation of the people,
there is no remedy for the grievance of which we
complain."
Now, to this piece of extravagance and exaggera-
tion we might easily reply by denying its assertions
point after point. It is not true that half the House
of Commons gains by the taxation of the country.
It is not true that the House, as now constituted, is
disposed t• encourage dockyard expenditure, for
there is no subject which is more earnestly handled,
and Lord Clarence Paget probably owes his place in
the Ministry to the popularity of his onslaught on
the estimates. It is not in the smallest degree
probable that Mr. Bright, if he took up this subject,
would meet with the rebuffs which he professes to
anticipate; on the contrary, if he could show how
the navy might be made more effective at a less cost,
he might reckon on cordial support and approba-
tion from all parties in the House. But, passing
over these points, is it within the bounds of proba-
bility, or is it even compatible with our knowledge
of mankind, that such an event as a Parliament
after Mr. Bright's heart should ever be realised ?
It is easy to discern what le wants from this very
speech; indeed, we must do him the justice to say
that his views are never disguised from the public,
though we doubt if he feels their full import him-
self. He desires that. " the people should govern,
instead of a class." But what is a people except an
aggregate of classes ? If a Reform Bill could be
carried without compromise on Mr. Bright's prin-
ciples, the country would be then most undoubtedly
governed by a class—that is to say, the class of
working men, whose votes would outnumber and
outweigh all others. 'Whether the results of such a
government would quite accord with Mr. Bright's
expectations is another matter, but that it would be
government by a class cannot be doubted. It is amus-
ing to see in the speech before us how candidly or how
insensibly this eloquent orator discloses his ideal of a
House of Commons. He knows what his own opi-
nions are, and what he would like to see done. He
beholds around him a respectable and tolerably
numerous assemblage of listeners, many of whom
share his views, while all for the moment are pleased
with his address. From this position he takes a
tremendous jump to the conclusion that, except
for some " 400 great families," every creature in
the country would think and wish just as he and
his audience were thinking and wishing at that
moment. " Those things are not done," says he,
" which you, the liberal people of Huddersfield and
England wish your Government to do." " I ask
you," he continues, " who arc a fair representation
' of the people of the West Riding of Yorkshire, as
the West Riding is a fair representation of the in-
-1 telligence, virtue, and greatness of the people of
England," and so forth. Here, in the plainest form,
Anr.dßderrisgfiheti'dss,idreepalrePseanrtlaiatimveeisita—ll
Bcornigstbitiusfteast
b
_iaslel lliino.
lease England from the government of a class,
the consummation which would clearly re-
' It is really surprising, notwithstanding the self-
delusions to which earnest theorists are always ex-
posed, that so clever a man as Mr. Bright should
net discover that while he appears to be contending
for the commonwealth against a class, he is actu-
ally only contending for his own class against all
others. It is. not in the nature of things or of men
that the ideal unanimity which he has conceived in
his imagination should ever exist. Opinions will
always differ p society will always crystallise into
classes, and the wisest men with the firmest con-
victions must be prepared to see ,ollies occasionally
get the better of them, if they mean to accomplish
any practical good in this world. No doubt, Mr.
Bright is sincere, and the people of Huddersfield
are intelligent, but intelligence and sincerity are to
be found in other places also, and, what is more,
under other forms of expression. The people of this
country, though they may be animated, under
strong impulses and with certain high objects, by a
single spirit, will never think so exactly alike as to
furnish Mr. Bright, under any system of voting,
with his perfect House of Commons. He would
always encounter, in some shape or other, the
" stolid phalanx" of an Opposition—perhaps a more
troublesome one than de finds now. The division
and conflict of parties are at least as violent in
America, under a Republic and the ballot, as they
are here. These thing are, in reality, plain enough
to be truisms, and our moral is that Mr. Bright had
better give his countrymen the benefit of his abi-
lities in the sphere which he finds than consume
his energies in the vain endeavour to create a new
one for himself.— Times.
___.

,)wr,;

funnels on the same principle. It. ,is almost
needless to say that the only one which now
remains thus fitted will be instantly altered, the
easing removed, and everything restored to the
ordinary arrangeMents of the Cunard and Collins
line of packets. The pity of the matter is, that
just at a moment when the vessel had shown the
greatness of its success an unfortunate casualty
should have occurred, which for a time may shake
the confidence of some in a work which, from its
magnitude of conception and completeness of de-
tails, was regarded as a national triumph, and one
of which the country was most justly proud. The
Great Eastern, in spite of all that has happened,
still remains the finest vessel that was ever built,
and one over which, notwithstanding all that has
been predicted to the contrary, the sea seems to
exercise no influence. I brought the narrative of
her voyage down to her anchoring at the Nore On
Thursday night. During the passage down the
river only the speed had been ascertained, and this
was shown in a way which, when her trim was
taken into consideration, must have surpassed the
most sanguine expectations. But as the night fell
on Thursday, after anchoring at the Nore, there
seemed a fair chance of seeing next day how she
would comport herself in a smart sea down Channel.
The glass fell as the wind and sea rose. The scud be-
gan to fly across the moon, a misty sleet drizzled at
intervals, and the tightened shrouds began to hum
with a sharp noise,as if the very rigging was waken-
ing up for a conflict with the elements. Gradually
the sky grew overcast, not with clouds, but. a uni-
form thick tint, as if sea, sky, and air werepainted
a dull slate colour. Taken in the aggregate, there
were the premonitory symptoms of a " dirty night"
in the Channel, and there was reasonable expecta-
tion of a still " dirtier" day. The dawn disappointed
no one who wished, to know how the Great Eastern
would behave in a seaway. The anchor was got up,
and the run clown Channel commenced, the Girdler
Sands being passed soon after 10. The breeze kept
freshening, till it amounted at times to a gale, and
the old music among the shrouds and rigging be-
came louder and louder. Margate and Ramsgate
and the North and South Forelands were passed in
that hazy watery scud. when the sea and sky are
so mingled together that it is hard to tell where
the spray ends and the clouds begin. In the Downs
the wind freshened considerably, coming dead
a-head, and for the first time a fair comparison of
the Great Eastern with other ships could be made at
sea. A heavy swell was running, and large vessels
were lying•to under close-reefed topsails, pitching
deeply to the sea, and sending the spray in clouds
from their bows. At this time the Great Eastern was
as motionless as a rock. Now and then heavy rollers
passed her, but their size and action could only be
known by observing their effects on other ships. A
number of the passengers went forward to the ex-
treme end of the bows, and remained watching the,
stern of the vessel by comparing it with the line of
the horizon to detect a movement. Only by such a
rigid test as this could it be discerned that the Great
Eastern was moving gently now and then, scarcely
more than a foot along her entire length, as the
waves rushed under her. . Off Dover a sharp quick
steamer, very much resembling the handsome boats
of the Dover packet service, came out to see the " big
ship pass." Quickly as she went, and with-the advan-
tage of a long stretch down from land, she made no
sign of coming up with the Great Eastern ; on the
contrary, as it opened towards the swell she pitched
and flew about like a cork-, taking in green seas
over her bows, and making such bad weather of it
that after a half-hour's waiting race, she seemed
glad to go round on the other tack and run in for
Dover. Shortly before this, Lord Alfred Paget's
yacht Resolute, which, in spite of the weather, had
held her course alongside in a way that well became
her name, was obliged to part company and bear
up for Margate in the best way she could. It was
calculated that the surface of the Great Eastern
opposed to the wind was equal to an adverse pres-
sure of upwards of 1,200 tons, and made a differ-
ence of between three and three-and-a-half knots
an hour in her speed. Yet, with her paddles only
going six or seven revolutions, and her screw from
25 to 30 (which was exactly what is called half-
speed), the mean average of her pace gave more
than 12 knots an hour. After passing Dover the
weather began to clear, and the afternoon became
so fine that some of the passengers, as I have al-
ready said, were tempted up from dinner to look at
the coast near Hastings. Off this town the acci-
dent took place, an accident which all must deplore,
and not the less so as being likely, for a short time,
to make people distrust what, in fact, will prove
the safest vessel in the world. The accident was a
very bad one ; but it should no more affect the'
sound principle on which the Great Eastern has
been constructed than if a tipsy pilot was to run
her ashore, It was only off Beachy Head, when
the tiller-ropes broke, and the vessel, left to itself,
began to move to the swell, that those on board be-
came for the first time aware that she was really
moving like another ship. The motion, however,
was slight, and of course stopped the instant chains
were rove through the tiller and the steering re-
sumed. No arrangements are yet made for the de-
parture of the vessel on her trial trip, but there is
no doubt that it must be postponed for many days
11 later than was originally intended.
The following are the names of those killed and

injured :
Mr. William Briscoe, engineer; slightly injured.
John Boyd, fireman ; dead.
Michael M'llroy, fireman ; dead.
Michael Mahon, fireman; dead.
Edward Patrick Gorman, trimmer ; jumped over.
board.to escape the steam, and lost.
William Tait, trimmer ; expected to recover.
John Yoxon, trimmer ; expected to recover.
Richard Edwards, fireman ; dangerously burn
and scalded.
Robert Adams, fireman ; ditto.
William Sparks, fireman ; ditto.
Walter Woodward, fireman ; ditto.

~~

WEYMOUTH, SEPT. 11.
Of the unfortunate men injured by the explosion,
William Sparks, John Yoxon, and William Tait
were removed' to Portland Hospital this morning,
and are progressing favourably.
Robert Adams and Richard Edwards remain on
board in a very precarious condition.
The bodies have been removed on shore, and the
inquest will take place to-morrow.
In connexion with the killed and the surviving
sufferers we subjoin the following official statement
from the dirctors and medical gentlemen, drawn up
yesterday, soon after the Great Eastern reached
Portland Harbour :
" Great Eastern Steamship,
" Portland Harbour, Sept. 10, 1859.
" Yesterday, at six p.m., an accident occurred on
board the Great Eastern. The feedwater casing of
the foremost chimney collapsed, owing to some
neglect. Several stokers are seriiusly s e
calded ;
three since dead. No passengers njured. Th
ship and machinery are uninjured except main cabin
fittings, which are damaged. The working of the
engines continued, and the ship proceeded uninter-
ruptedly on her voyage to Portland.
"J. SCOTT RUSSELL, J. E. M'CONNELL,
R. P. BRETON,
BRERETON,
F. P. SMITH,
W. SMITH,
W. WOLLASTON BLAKE."

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COCOA.—This esteemed
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