The Sun.
London, England, 1861-09-05 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EV Ei;iiN 6, SEPTEMBER 5. 1861

THE SUN.

LONDON, THURSDAY, SEPT. 5, 1861.

Mr. FAIRBAIRN'S faith in iron is implicit. And
no wonder. If any one yet remains to be told in
this Age of Iron, what can be accomplished by
iron and with iron, we have only to say, in the
last word of WREN'S epitaph, Circumspice. Our
roads are of iron, mapping out the whole country
as with a network. The fiery dragons harnessed to
our cars, in lieu of horses—are of iron. Iron are
our great ships floating upon the deep : and iron
the terrible implements of war constructed to de-
stroy them. Iron, too, the formidable projectiles
hurled—to distances and with velocities that were
the ridicule of Yesterday—by those catapults of ,
modern times, our Whitworth and Armstrong Guns.
It was only the other day at the dawn of this
age of iron that our analytical chymists, apply-
ing their researches to the elucidation of some of
the mysteries of anatomy, demonstrated that iron,
as one of the constituents of the human blood,
courses through our veins at every pulsation.
Do any wish to have epitomised for them the
marvels accomplished of late years principally
through the agency of this wonderful metal P That
abstnict of the History of Iron and of its astound-
ing applications, may be turned to in another part
of our impression of this evening. And when turned
to we can promise confidently that to every
thoughtful reader it cannot by any chance prove
oVierwise than a source not simply of instruction
and entertainment, but of marvel and admiration.
It re:, \ds in parts like a fairy tale, that account of
the scientific achievements of the last half century,
delivered last evening at Manchester by Mr. FAIR-
BAIRN, in the shape of his inaugural address as Pre-
sident of this, the thirty-first annual meeting of the
British Association.

Not that the survey taken by Mr. FAIRBAIRN
in this inaugural address is to be regarded as having
been by any means restricted to a consideration of
the marvels wrought in iron during the present
genera tion and its one on two predecessors. That
survey ombracing within it, as it does, all the na-
tural sciences, may be said literally like " the
Poet's Eye in a fine phrenzy rolling," to
have glanced " from heaven to earth, from
earth to heaven." The last achievements of our
astronomers are taken into account by the newly
installed President of the British Association not ono
iota less carefully than our latest achievements in
engineering. Engineer though he is—what though
'mechanics constitute essentially his forte, and deal-
ing in iron at once his delight and his metier—Mr.
FAIRBAIRN treats upon the science of astronomy
with the gusto of a HERsCHELL, upon magnetism
with the relish of a FARADAY, and upon geology
with the rest of a MURCHISON. It is not until after
ho has traversed these magnificent fields of investi-
gation in retrospect; it is not until he has glanced
over the labours of an OWEN in zoology, until he
has tracked the footsteps of a LIVINGSTONE into
Central Africa in illustration of the development of
our geographical knowledge, until he has pene-
trated hither and thither in all the various depart-
ments of natural philosophy, that he at last fixes his
attention upon themes upon which he now speaks
with an authority perhaps beyond that of any man

yet living.
Before referring more particularly to this, to ou`...
thinking by far the most important, part of the
inaugural address of the new President of the British
Association, falling as it did from the lips of
WILLIAM FAIRBAIRN, it may be interesting to
notice allusions made by him to the dependence,
more or less, of ali our later mechanical im-
provements, unon those two great sources of
our national Nvealth, and those two great materials
for the display at once of our ingenuity and indus-
try—iron and coal. " We are highly favoured,"
says Sir. FAIRBAI-11N, and with reason, " We
[English] are highly favoured in the abundance of
these minerals, deposited with an unsparing hand
by the great Author of Nature under so slight a
covering as to bring them within the reach of the
miner's art. To them 'we owe our present high
state of perfection in the :iseful arts ; and to their
extended application hie may safely attribute our
national progress and wOalth. So that, looking to
the many blessings and hourly
whin. we daily
receive from
these sources alone, we are impressed
with devotional feelings
.Df gratitude to the AL-
MIGHTY for th e manifold b ounties He has bestowed
upon us." lle then comes to the uttoranse

of the name of that great material Benefactor of
our Country and of our Age—the TITBAL
CAIN of these later times—whose achievements,
could they but have been accomplished in the days
Foimsteient mythology, would have led to his deifica-
tion by the gratitude of his ignorant contempo-
raries. " Previously to the inventions of HENRY
CORT"—one feels shame somehow at the utterance
of that honoured and yet neglected name—the name
of one whose impoverished descendants have but just
now tardily obtained the merest dole in the shape of
a wretched little pension, in recognition of services
that have already enriched England by a sum com-
puted at the very least at £200,000,000 " Pre-
viously to the inventions of HENRY CoRT," says
Mr. FAIREAIRN, " the manufacture of wrought
iron was of the most crude and primitive descrip-
tion. A hearth and a pair of bellows was all
that was employed. But, since the introduction
of puddling, the ironmasters have increased the
production to an extraordinary extent, down to
the present time, when processes for the direct
conversion of wrought iron on a large scale are
being attempted. A consecutive series of chemical
researches into the different processes, from the
calcining of the ore to the production of the bar
has led to a revolution in the manufacture of
iron ; and although it is at the present moment
in a state of transition, it nevertheless requires
no very great discernment to perceive that steel
and iron of any required tenacity will be made
in the same furnace, with a facility and certainty
never before attained. These improvements," he
remarks later on, "in the production of the
material must, in their turn, stimulate its appli-
cation on a larger scale and lead to new
constructions." He then goes on to specify some of
the more remarkable among these modern applica-
tions of iron in various fields of human enterprize,

In regard to ship building, in regard to heavy ord-
nance, in regard to tubular bridges, Mr. FAIRBAIRN
speaks with an authority—especially upon the
particular subject last mentioned—in which he
stands forth, even amongst his most eminent con-
temporaries, in a manner unrivalled. Speaking of
the application of iron to our great ships of war,
for example, is it not profoundly interesting, and
not only interesting, but full of encouragement
to our patriotic hope s and aspirations when
we can hear a man like FAIRBAIRN ut-
tering confidently these words :—" I give no
opinion as to the details of the reconstruction of the
navy—that is reserved for another place—but I
may state that lam fully persuaded that the whole
of our ships of war must be rebuilt of iron, and
defended with iron armour calculated to resist pro-
jectiles of the heaviest description at high velocities."
Remember, these words are uttered by a man who
knows perfectly well what he is talking about.
They carry with them the weight derivable from
all his immense practical knowledge and ample
experience. He speaks upon this point, it cannot
fail to be remarked, as confidently as when refer-
ring to the length of span, in the construction of
our tubular bridges, that can be attained with
safety, but that cannot be exceeded with safety,
he says later on that not only may the span of
400 or 500 feet be considerably surpassed, but that
we have only to take care that we do not exceed a
span of from eighteen hundred to two thousand
feet,—beyond which alone, he tells us,
" the stru3ture would be destroyed by its
own weight." Among many most valuable prac-
tical hints that are thrown out incidentally, and
upon a remarkable variety of subjects, in the course
of this singularly comprehensive address, there is
one of a sanitary character that is peculiarly entitled
to notice—particularly by us Londoners.
It is a suggestion—the one we are now referring
to—that if but adopted, if but actually carried out,
would throw altogether into the shade thence-
forth the beneficent achievement of good Sir HUGIS
MIDDLETON. The utterance of that old Knight's
name will indicate at once that Mr. FAIRBAIRN'S
proposition has reference to the really vital
question of the water supply of the metropolis. It
is to the effect that we should emulate here in Lon-
don as has been already done so magnificently at
Glasgow, whither (or at least to a distance of eight
miles from Glasgow) the pure waters of Loch
Katrine have been brought through a covered tun-
nel 27 miles in length there (at eight miles from
Glasgow) to be emptied irate the service reservoir !
Thence to be conveyed across those still interven-
ing eight miles to the extent of 40,000,000 gallons
of limpid water per diem ! Mr. FAIRBAIRN pro-
poses now—in emulation of this accom-
plished achievement that a similar work
should bring the crystalline waters of Wales
home here to the houses of our 2,000,000
or 3,000,000 Londoners. He says, "We may look
forward to an extension of similar benefits to the
metropolis, by the same engineer [Mr. BATEMAN
the engineer of the gre‘at water works at Glasgow]
whose energies are now directed to an examination
of the pure fountains of Wales, from whence the
future supply of water to the great city is likely to be
derived. A work of so gigantic a character may be
looked upon as problematical, but when it is known
that six or seven millions of money would be
sufficient for the exeeution, I can see no reason
why an undertaking of so much consequence
to the health of London should not ultimately
be accomplished." Only £6,000,000 or £7,000m0,
for the securing of such a priceless boon as that to
our 3,000,000 Londoners ! Comparing the estimated
cost of the work with the work itself—it is the
merest bagatelle.

If upon another glance down those columns of our
journal which are filled this evening with this re-
markable address, if upon that renewed glance at
Mr. FAIRBAIRN's speech of yesterday, down at
Manchester, we only call to mind the amount
of solid information conveyed by it to his hearers
(who were counted by thousands), and to his
readers (who will be counted by millions)—every
one will allow the good and valid reason there
was for the resolution proposed immediately
after its close by Lord STANLEY, the
resolution expressive of the gratitude of the meet-
ing to its Chairman, the President of the British
Association, for the words be had just uttered.
11t,:gether this inaugural address of the President
will he found worthy of perusal from beginning to
end—for the simple reason that it is especially
worthy of the occasion and of the man.

" Piedmontese atrocities in Naples !" Such is
the announcement, not of Mr. BOWYER or Arch-
bishop CULLEN, but of a gentleman resident in the
country, and not willing to believe evil of the
better side. He has far better means of deciding

on the value of the evidence than we can have in

this country, and we therefore follow his account
with no more hesitation than the probability of
minor corrections being made in some of the details,
It is probably true that at Pontelandolfo " not one
of those who remained" in the town was spared;"
and that women and children, as well as men, were
murdered by the Bersaglieri, enraged by the
wanton butchery of their commander. It can hardly
also be doubted that General PIN ELLI, of whom
we have heard before from Mr. BOWYER, did shoot
48 of his prisoners in cool blood, and that among
them was one, himself the prisoner of the executed

brigands, and who in vein asked permission to show
that he was among them only perforce.
Another story, that of the 300 persons burnt in a
wood near Potenza, seems more likely to be
apocryphal, at least an exaggeration. "Woods will
burn more easily in Italy than in England, yet it
does not seem very likely that if small, 300 would
crowd into it for shelter, or that if large, they
could not escape from the flames, and even from the
smoke. The writer, however, though, as he says,
he " could not swear to these facts in a court of
justice," yet adds, " they are reported to me by
one who is as well informed as any man in Niples
who was long a sufferer in person under the late
dynasty, whose sympathies are strongly witi the
cause of a united Italy, and who closed his report
by saying—" the BOURBONS committed great cruel-
ties, but we must be silent."

Now, none can deplore more than we do, that
there should be every reason to believe that these
accounts are substantially facts. We may admit
that, men and soldiers being what they are, the
provocations on the side of the brigand reactionaries
fully serve to account for them ; but though
they account for them, they do not justify them.
It is acknowledged that CIALDINI and his subor-
dinates began only too mildly ; but it appears that
as the work went on they warmed in it. The
atrocities they met on all sides stirred up a feeling
common to all civilians as well as soldiers, with the
difference that the latter have in their hands the
means of gratifying their feelings. When we
remember the sentiments with which the most
peaceful of us regarded the atrocities of NANA
SAHIB and the mutinous Sepoys, we cannot be
surprised that Italian soldiers should be stimulated
by outrages equally maddening on the part of the
hired brigands of Naples. Not the less do we
regret that vengeance should have been indulged.
A noble opportunity has been lost of showing a
superiority to revenge, which would, we believe,
have done far more for the peace of the South than
the course 'actually pursued. The Piedmontese
should have proved to the inhabitants the diffe-
rence between themselves and Bourbons and
Austrians. They might have left to the latter
the reputation of wholesale executions, and of
murdering the innocent while executing the
guilty. It may be said that when once the con-
duct of a district compels a resort to martial law,
none at a distance from the spot can judge between
what is necessary severity, and what is cruelty.
But we can hardly assent to this. The NEBUCHAD-
NEZZAR and DARtus -like style of execution—
" with wives and children and all that they had,"
will never be endured by Christian civilisation ;
and we are, indeed, grieved that anything could
irritate Piedmontese to even such a feeble imitation
of Austrian butchery.
The real author of all, however, is the man on
whom the chief censure of Europe must
rest. That man is Cardinal ANTONELLI. The
man who wields the temporal powers of
the POPE the butcher of Perm/ie. this
is the wretch on whom the execrations of
humanity ought to fall. He it is who gives FRANCIS
11. a home and free quarters at Rome, who enables
him to supply the brigands with muskets and with
money, and with a refuge beneath the wing of the
POPE when they are in danger of being sur-
rounded in the districts conterminous with papal
territory. He does his best himself from the
papal treasury and arsenals, and he enables
FRANCIS 11. to do yet more. These horrid ac-
counts lead, therefore, to the same conclusion
with the circular of RIcAsoLI and the recent
Paris Pamphlet,—that Rome must be swept out.
That the ANTONELLIS must be ' rendered harm-
less, and the ex-Kings banished. If the tem-
poral power of the POPE were worth anything,
it is not worth the cost to Italy of a central focus
of reactionary conspiracies and savage cruelties,
gendering repressive measures too like those they
are designed to repress. Perugianism in Naples
will probably not cease till the blood-stained
author of the Perugian Massacre is stripped of
his power.

The Canadian brings us information of no move-
ment of importance on either side. All is still
watching and preparation. The last advices from
Washington represented the capital as almost in a
panic. The volunteers were hurrying up to order,
before their regiments were completed, and the

South was preparing to cross the Potomac into
Maryland, to seize Annapolis and Baltimore, and to
to return like an avalanche on Washington; and the
batteries, under cover of which the Potomac was to
be crossed, were in course of erection. This storm
would seem to have blown over. The Potomac has
been thoroughly examined, by order of the Navy
Department, and no signs of a hostile force have
been found. We suppose we are to assume that
there is no present danger therefore in that
quarter. It might indeed be difficult for a naval
examination to detect batteries masked by woods
on the banks ; but such an examination could hardly
have failed to detect boats and rafts which must
have been preparing in some creek or inlet had
preparations been in progress to transport a suffi-
cient body of men across the river. Most probably
the South cannot afford to run the risk of dividing
its Virginian army.
From Missouri the accounts were different.
There, probably encouraged by the retreat of poor
LYON'S small army to Rolla, the statement is that
the Confederates are preparing to invade that State
and to take the offensive. It would appear, by the
sad complaints made by General LYON, that the
Government either had not the means of strength-
ening the army west of the Mississippi, or that it
was strangely indifferent to its fate. The Sumter
privateer continues to defy the United States
navy in its own waters and to make prizes.
The only forward movement reported of the
Federalists is one of General BANKS, whom we
last heard of at Harper's Ferry, where he had
superseded General PATTISON—it is said that he
had advanced to take possession of Winchester, a
town in Virginia opposite, at about thirty miles dis-
tance, to Harper's Ferry, and connected with
.it by
a railway. PATTISON reached almost as far once,
but retreated. The army of the North, we are
told, is to be an army of
‘'
themselves bluejackewtso
only hope they will.;thy We
prove of
such a uniform.

however, been achieved
One decided success has,
by the North—if has captured every copy of the
New York Daily News. No less than one thousand
copies of it were for the South and West ; we may
conclude, therefore, that they were not filled with,
in the Northern view of things, patriotic matter.
The special charges against the edition seized have
not reached us yet, perhaps never may, so that we
are wholly unable to tell whether it was guilty only
of " bringing the Government into hatred and con-
tempt," or of the practical treachery of revealing facts
which were contraband of war between the North
and the South. Of another journal, bearing the
pacific name of the Christian Observer, the definite
charge is made of its containing a " virulent article
on the war." The paper is, we suppose, a peace
and compromise-at-any-price paper, and, like the
advocates of peace here, the member for Birming-
ham especially is fierce in the cause of amity. The

Press has bean long at the mercy of the mob-Royal
in America ; it seems now to be at the feet of the
President-Dictator.

L r/t E 8.

VIENNA, SEPT. 5.

The Emperor left Vienna yesterday evening, for
Ischl, and may be expected to return on Sunday
next, in order to receive the address of the Lower
House of the Reichsratb.

MADRID, SEPT. 4 (EVENING).

The Epoca of to-day contains a remarkable article,
in which it says :—" In view of the present state of
things in Europe it is necessary to evacuate Tetuan
on honourable conditions, in order to allow of the
concentration of the Spanish forces."

The Correspondencia Autografa of to-day, in
alluding to the above article, declares that no reso-
lution has yet been taken on the question, but that
it is not impossible that the Government entertains
those views.

WARSAW, SEPT. 3.

A solemn funeral service for those who fell in the
recent disturbances at Wilna was held today in
all the churches and synagogues of this city.
The people wore mourning bands on their hats
and the shops were closed.
The city is tranquil.