The Sun.
London, England, 1857-01-13 00:00:00

1857.

Station. Number of Number Comple-
Ships. of Guns. ment.
East Indies, China, and Australia .. 27 427 4,462
Cape of Good Hope ...... • • ...... 5 58 804
West Coast of Africa • . 17 9G 1,791
South-East Coast of America 8 121 1,353
Pacific ....... • •
Noah America and West Imes ~ '25 469 4,905
Mediterranean • . • ....
Lisbon ......... ........... ..... 7 603 5,580
Plymouth .. • • ....... ........... 8 312 1,750
Portsmouth.... .. .... .. ..
Sheerness •,•,
Woolwich ,•
Pembroke
Cork ..
Particular Service. lO 37 964
Coast Guard Service • • ....... . 7 244 1,410
Surveying Service • ............... 11 61 585
Yachts ...........
Unappropriated and Sitting 0ut.... 17 292 3,849
Paying off ......
Ordered Home ....••......••••.. 26 544 5,345 -
Total .. .. .. 261 5,078 48,798
1858.
Station. Number of Number Comple-
Shfps. of Oun.. ment.
East Indies, China. and Australia .. 18 311 3,231
Cape of Good Hope
West Coast of Africa
South-East Coast of America.— 8 107 1,102
West Coast of America .......... 9 234 2,147
North America and West Indies• • •• 21 488 4,874
Mediterranean and Black Sea •• . • 69 1,123 12,774
Plymouth . •
Portsmouth..
Sheerness ..... ...... • .. • • ....... • 7 276 910
Woolwich ........ .... •• • • ...... 3 43 263
Pembroke .. 2 62
Cork 6 134 1,413
Particular Service•, . . .•
Surveying Service.• .... • • •• • • • • • • 5 22 303
Yachts „ 3 2 138
Unappropriated and fitting ont, in-
cludin; the Baltic Fleet
Ordered Howe
Total ................ 325 6,231 63,335

The difference between the war and peace fleet, accord-
ing to the above figures, is a reduction of 64 ships, 1,153
guns, and 14,537 seamen, marines, and boys.
The Dee steamvessel, Master Commander Pullen, left
Portsmouth yesterday afternoon with supernumeraries
for the ships at the eastward.
The Trident, 6, steamvessel, Commander Close, went
out of Portsmouth harbour yesterday morning and an-
chored at Spithead to take in her powder and shell. She
was expected to leave last night for the West Coast of
Africa station.

The !Algiers, 91, screw two-decker, was taken into
dock yesterday afternoon for repairs.
The Alban, 3, steamvessel, Lieutenant De Blaquiere,
arrived at Portsmouth at noon yesterday with supernu-
meraries from the westward.

The Antelope, 3, steamve-sel, Lieutenant Commander
Pike, went into Portsmouth harbour yesterday.
Her Majesty's iron paddlewheel steamer Oberon, paid
off on Saturday at Woolwich, was admitted into basin
yesterday to be put under necessary repairs.
The imperial steam yacht Imperador was hauled into
Woolwich basin yesterday from the river to be com•
pleted.
The screw steam storeship Hesper was hauled out of
basin yesterday at Woolwich, preparatory to being
docked.

Iler Majesty's paddlewheel steamvessel Spitfire was
ordered down to Woolwich yesterday from Deptford to
be repaired and put forward for service.
The paddlewheel steam-sloop Vixen, in Woolwich
basin, has had her repairs and alterations completed, and
is now ready for commission.
The freightship Clara Louisa, laden with ordnance
stores and ammunition for Malta, sailed from Woolwich
yesterday evening.
The Dorothy freight-ship having embarked a heavy
cargo of Ordnance stores in the West India docks went
down to Woolwich yesterday to fill in her magazines
with powder and ammunition for the island of Mauritius.
The following appointments have been made at the
Admiralty :

Clerk—Charles B. L. Brockman, to the Cornwallis.
Assistant Paymaster—William E. Allen, to the
Waterloo.
Assistant-Surgeons—Edward M. Morgan (Acting), to
the Victory ; Ffolliott C. Magrath, to the Simoom.

FATAL ACCIDENT.— A man named Lawrance Howarth,
of Newton Heath, was engaged with several others in
the employ of Messrs. Mackenzie, Ormerod, and Co.,
Adelphi-street, Salford, on the 3d November last, in
rolling a cog-wheel from the street into the works. It
was his business to put a wedge under the wheel, but
he did not do so, and the wheel fell off the incline, and
upon him. Both his thighs were broken, and he was
taken to the Royal Infirmary, Manchester, where he
died on Friday. Mr. Herford, city coroner, held an
inquest on Saturday, when the jury returned a verdict
of "Accidental death."
SHOCKING DEATH.—LIVERPOOL, Jan. 10.—A charity
schoolboy, named Williams, was on Thursday endeavour.
ing to take a piece of beef, weighing 151b.' from a copper
at the institution, when it overbalanced him, and he fell
into the boiling water and was so severely scalded that
be died yesterday. A verdict of " Accidental death"
was returned at the inquest to-day, coupled with a cen-
sure upon the authorities of the Bluecoat Hospital.
Sin ALEXANDER COCKBURN.—A. writer in the Edin-
burgh. Courant gives a pedigree of the present Lord Chief
Justice of the Common Pleas. He is of the old Scot-
tish family of Cockburn, whose originsl seat was at
Cockburn, in the Merse, where they are found as far
back as history or tradition extends. The representative
of the family was knighted in 1413 ; its present head is
the Dean of York, Sir W. Cockburn, Bart., whose
fourth brother, Alexander Cockburn, late British repre-
sentative at the State of Columbia and some of the Ger-
man Courts, was father of Sir Alex. Cockburn, Knight,
now Lord Chief Justice. It is rumoured (says the
Courant) that the Chief Justice is to be elevated to the
peerage. If this is so—and no title has been more
honourably achieved—we trust he will select the ancient
one of his race—Baron Cockburn of Cockburn and Lang.
ton ; for, although neither estate is now possessed by
his uncle and chief, they will ever remain associated with
his name, and it is the more especially desirable as he is
I now presumptive representative of that ancient fanlgy,
!

LITERATURE.

FL'orence Teiaplar. Smith and Elder.

This is not an ordinary production, it disp:ays
great kno ledge of character, and the
events of are so strikingly and vividly 'brought
before no, that they are invested with peculiar
attractions. The stay consists of the occurrences
that took pl ace in a little country town, called
" Templar Ccoss," in which dwells the family of
Mr. Wilson. His daughter narrates the various
fortunes of the Templar family, they were a
haughty rac,,, but all possessed some redeeming
qualities, with the• exception of Lady Templar, in
whom none suiemed apparent. By her harshness
she sacrificed her youngest daughter's life, and her
evil influence embittered the destinies of her son
and daughter, Florence. Florence Templar needed
no added obstacle to her career, she had enough to
contend with in her own pride and passion. Her
nature was noble, and her disposition generous,
but her prejudices misled her, and her temper was
ungovernable. Her mother fanned every angry
thought, that might otherwise have been checked,
into a flame, not that they came to the open rup-
ture that ensued between Sir Edward and his mo-
ther, in consequence of the latter having married
without her consent. Gordon Graham is a
masterly sketch of a clever unprincipled
man, gifted with persuasive powers, and
a peculiarly fascinating manner. In an evil
hour for Florence did he return from India
to his native place. He had by strenuous exertion
made a fortune, with which he hastened to redeem
the property of his ancestors from strangers, in
fulfilment of a vow made in boyhood. All this
invested him with something of the heroic and
romantic, which, to an enthusiastic mind like
Florence's, possessed manifold attractions, and
afforded a source of interest, doubly welcome to
one whose home was a misery, and whose life was
witbout aim or object. Charles Sutton, the cousin
of the Wilson's, was in every respect different to
the Nabob, as he was called. He was in the navy;
but during his frequent visits to Templar Cross he
met the families of the town, and became attached
to Florence. She; however, turned from the true
to the false, and forsook the sterling worth for the
specious semblance. At first " Jenny" (as the
writer of the tale was called) supposed that she
could be of no service to the bright and beautiful
high-born heiress. But time, the great leveller of
earthly distinctions, and the mighty subverter of
human charms, in a brief space changed the scene.
Florence, by an illness, lost her beauty—by a
change of things her mother's fortune was not left
to her—and in her hour of greatest tribulation she
would have been deserted, if she had not possessed
in her humble acquaintance what the world in her
grandest hour had not given to her—a friend.
Death had made havoc in Jenny Wilson's home
also, but hers were calm and holy remembranses,
and she could look back with peace, and onward
with faith. A short time of suffering removed
Florence Templar from the world she hal found
so dreary and bitter ; but her last hours were not
spent in repining at her trials, or murmuring at
her disappointments, but in a better and brighter
manner. The memory of her departed friend
could not vanish with her presence from the mind
of the mourner. In her happiest hours of after
years the thought of Florence Templar presented
itself. The retrospect of the events referred to is
painful in many instances, but to those who appre-
ciate the touching and the true, in dwelling on the
passages of existence, this record will be a welcome
one ; for in it sorrow is softened by sympathy, and
the greatest of calamities, to a casual observer, are
shown not to be exempt from a blessing in disguise,
while pride and passion are exemplified in their
depth and height.

Oliver Cromwell ; a Story of the Civil War. By
Charles _Edward Stewart. 2 vols. Smith and
Rider.

This, as its name implies, is a tale of the great
Civil War. Although historical novels are not un-
common, and the epoch of the Cavaliers and
Roundheads is a favourite one with novelists, it is
not often that we find a writer bold enough to in-
troduce the King and the Protector personally to
his readers. The singular coincidence of the
author's name cannot fail to strike the reader,
though his sympathies are not wholly enlisted in the
Royal cause. Indeed, the moderation of his views will
very probably offend the violent partisans of both
sides, while they will commend Itim to those who see
right and wrong in the pretension.; and actions of
each. The historical note at the conclusion takes a
brief and interesting review of the causes that imme-
diatelyled to the revolution, and expresses the author's
views in a clear and sensible manner. Of Oliver
Cromwell he entertains a favourable opinion, con-
sidering he has been much maligned by earlier his-
torians ; indeed, he remarks at the end, " to place
the character of Oliver Cromwell in a point of
view more true to history than that in which it has
been the fashion to contemplate it, has been one, if
not the prlncipal, of the objects that I have had in
view in the preceding pages ; and if towards tins
piece of historical justice, I shall have contributed,
even in a very small degree, it will be a reward for
some pains and labour." He admits that his am-
bition was great, but insists that the good of his
country was also a ruling motive. He condemns
him strongly, however, for not ameliorating the
condition of the king, when imprisoned before his
trial, and does not afford him the unqualified ap-
probation of some modern writers. The story is
secondary to the political interest, but it is pleasing
and attractive. An old cavalier and his son ;
an officer who serves with Cromwell's army,
but retires when the death of the King
is determined on, and his daughter Rachel,
a, fair Puritan, her attendant, are the chief
characters. A stout soldier, Elijah Gideon, and an
individual called Captain Slasher, are also remark-
able. Little is said of the Royal army, or the
Cavaliers, the interest of the story being chiefly on
the other side. The story opens when the dissen-
sions of the King and Commons are threatening
civil war, and soon result in the battle of Edgehill.
It closes a few years after the establishment of the
Protectorate. Though not possessing the vivid in-
terest and glowing reality with which some histori-
cal novelists have invested their characters, it will
attract the reader by the exciting events it chro-
nicles, and the moderation and simplicity with
which it is written.

LLOYD'S SHIPPING.—('phis Day.)

LONDON, Jan. 13.—Wind at noon N.—fresh breeze
and cloudy.
PORTSMOUTH, Jan. 12.—Wind S.E.—Sailed—ll.M.S.
Dee, for Woolwich.

PLYMOUTH, Jan. 12.—Wind S.—Arrived— H. M. S.
Tyne, from Rio Janeiro.
FALMOUTH, Jan. 12.—Wind S.S.W., fresh gale.—Ar-
rived—Huntley, from London, for Algoa Bay ; Dennis
Brundrik, Liverpool, for Valparaiso, with bowsprit and
jibboom carried away.—A. number of vessels, during the
gale of yesterday morning, drove foul of each other and
received more or less damage, and afterwards grounded on
St. Mawes Bank. The brig Harrison, of Sunderland, lost
rudder and had her stern and starboard quarter damaged,
&c.

DARTMOUTH, Jan. 12.—Wind S.W.—Arrived—Anita,
from Cuba, for Bremen ; Sheridan, Antwerp, for Now
York.

RAMSGATE, Jan. 9.—Arrived.--Caroline, from Ant werp,
for Santander.

THISTEE, Jau. 3—The winter has set in again with
frost and snow.

CAEN, Jan. 11.—The schooner Tucker, from Cork, was
totally wrecked about threo miles from Digesticham this
moring ; crow saved.

(13Y SUBMARINE AND BRITISH TELEGRAPH.)

GRAVESEND, Tuesday, 9.47 a.m.
Wind W.N.W.; last hour's ebb.
Sailed—Planet, stamer, for Hamburg.
DEAL, Tuesday, 9.2 G a.m.
Wind N.N.E., moderato.
Passed, Jan. 12—H.M.S. Dee, from Portsmouth, for
WJolwich; Sir William Wallace, London, Mogador ;
Pi ospero, London, Lisbon.
Sailed—Forest Monarch, for Glasgow ; Aries, Pentucket,
and Kenilworth, with all the outward bound, likewise the
homeward, for their destinations.

CUSTOM-HOUSE, LONDON, JAN. 12.
ENTERED INWARDS. The Tricolor, from Calcutta ;
Montezuma, Cape Town, Cape of Good Hope ; Blanche
Moore, Calcutta ,• Liverpool, New York ; Medemblik,
Antwerp ; Liberty, Antwerp ; Mary Ann Wilson, Cal-
cutta ; Win. Campbell, Demerara ; Mary Campbell, 13er-
bice ; Oscar Vidal, Moulmein and St. Helena ; Cumber-
land, Calcutta ; 'Warrior, Cadiz ; Brothers, George Town,
Demerara ; Radiant, Savanilla ; British Banner, Mauri-
tius ; Louis Charles, Leghorn ; Protege, Boston ; Essex,
Calcutta and Madras ; Hageemmeister Lunngsdorff, Dant-
zic • Sagittarius, Nauplia and Zante ; Libra, Chesnie,
Turkey ; Marie, Emden; Olive, St. Übes ; Ashberry and
Norman,Madras •
Volumnia, Taganrog ; Zephyr, Gravelines ; Alarm, St.
Michael's ; Annie, Kjoge ; Reine Hortense, Nantes ,
h a
Blanchel e s Crocker,
Moore for
Port ;
Nuevo San Pantaloon, Havannah ;
Gaon, Odense; Eclipse, Seville.
EDOII TW A R DDSe.u-fr
ahrea C.
E Mel-
bourneNTE it;
Philip ; Gondola, Brothers,Geelong ; dary Campbell, .
1) ,erbice ;
Maria, Hamburg; Wm. Campbell T .
Dunkirk. , rtnidad ; :Diamond,
CLEARED WITH CARGO.—The Lively,
Denmark, Rio Janeiro ; Aboo na for Cape Palmas;
, Pernambuco - Spit Fire,
Hong Kong and Canton ; Matai) 1
Jose-
phine, Santander; Fore Soskend, o an'Port
Philip;
Bergen.

VESSELS WITH.
The Better Luck Still, bSPOKENound south, Nov. 27, lat. 11 N,
long. 30 W.
The Ethelbert, Coquimbo for Swansea, Dec. 15, lat. 26
N., long. 36 W.
The Regina, Tuticorin to London, Nov. 26, lat. 28 S,
long. 8 E.
The Flora, Calcutta to Liverpool, Dec. 10, lat. 21 N,
long 25 W.
The Ottawa, Dec. 28, lat. 32 N, long. 29 W.
The Underwriter, Liverpool to New York, Jan. 5, off
Mine Head.

The ge_ •
Dead. Sebastopol,
Li
verpool to Bombay, Jan. 7, off Mine

AMERICAN EXPERIMENTS WI2 II RIFLED
SMALL ARMS AVD ORDNA 2170 E.

The following account of experiments made in
America with rifled sit ill-arias and ordnance has
been communicated by an American gentleman to
the Ailechaltics' 111 og‘ezine :
Having superintended the erection of steam ma-
chinery for pioclueingithe rifle used with the hollow
elcngated ball, and a series of experiments on the
form of projectiles ; and having had my attention
turned, during a number of years, to all the mo-
dern improvements, made and attempted, having
reference to rifled arms and ordnance, I am led to
the conclusion that where range and accuracy are
desirable, the rifled cannon will eventually, and at
no distant date, supersede the use of the smooth
bored gun, both for field service and in batteries,
and is therefore worthy the attention of artillerists,
both theoretical and practical—the suggestions of
the one being verified or condemned by the expe-
riments of the other.
The elongate. d projectile first suggested by
Hutton as a desideratum has but recently attracted
the attention of scientific men, although long in
use by the Swiss, and in the United States, and it
has been subjected to various modifications of form,
in the hands of De Lavigne, Minie, Pritchett,
Greener, and others. By comparison of these balls
and their appropriate rifles with the Swiss, I was
satisfied that, at and under 800 yards, the latter
had the advantage in accuracy, and required
less elevation. The objection to it, how-
ever, was the difficulty of loading as the ball
required driving down ; and after a few
dis-
charges the difficulty increases as in the rifle in
ordinary use. I found, however, that by dimi-
nishing the calibre and increasing the length of the
ball, that the ball, although as loose as the Prit-
chett and without any hollow in the rear, took the
grooves perfectly, and from being enabled to use a
greater charge of powder, and the ball offering leaf
resistance than ono of larger calibre and equal
weight, the twist required was larger. The curve
of flight was parabolic, and a much less accurate
knowledge of distance would suffice to insure its
hitting such objects as men, cavalry, &c. The fact
is, that the first impact of the gases from the ignited
charge upsets the lead at the rear of the ball before
the inertia of the forward end is overcome, and it
is forced into the grooves. By diminishing the
calibre and increasing the length of the projectiles
I 'found that larger charges of powder were of
course required, but the ball was of simpler con-
struction than the Minnie ball ; it offered less re-
sistance to the air, its flight more nearly resembled
that of the arrow, its initial and mean velocities
were greater, and its ricochet more serviceable.
By cutting channels around its periphery, the
swedging or upsetting can be carried well forward
in the substance of the ball, and the ball leaves the
muzzle of the rifle a perfectly compact mass, show-
ing only the grooves, the channels being obliterat-
ed. It may be objected that this ball would not
make so bad a wound as the Minie ball. It is
true that it would be more like a punctured wound,
but it would go through two instead of one, and
when it met with a positive check, such as a large
bone would offer, it would turn over and do equal
mischief.
The Government of the United States made ex-
periments with rifled cannon and oblong balls afew
years since, which were totally unsuccessful. Since
that time, however, practical men in that country
have constructed rifled ordnance, and have lately
succeeded in obtaining unparalleled ranges in their
experiments with guns loading at the breech. I
have witnessed some of these experiments, and have
seen their guns and projectiles. One of these guns,
constructed at the Novelty Works, New York, was
over 20 feet long, 12 or 14 inches diameter at the
breech, and its bore about the calibre of a 6-poun-
der. It was made in two pieces, bolted together by
flanges in its centre, for convenience of boring and
carriage. The projectile used was about five calibres
in length, conical at both ends, made of iron, and
surrounded by a leaden ring, of one-fourth of its
length, cast around its centre, and cast with fur-
rows and bands fitting to those of the bore, and at
the same angle of twist. The shot and service
charge were inserted at the breech, which was
closed in their rear by a tapered key, driven down
from above by a mallet, through slots in the body
of the gun, and having a projecting head extending
backwards. The key is raised by means of a short
curved crowbar, when a fresh charge is to be intro-
duced. Forward of the breech charge (which is
comparatively light) and shot are four chambers
screwed into it, called by the inventors accelerators.
They enter the barrel or bore at an angle of per-
haps 45 degrees, to its line of metal. These cham-
bers are loaded separately, with a small wad of
gun-cotton and charge of powder, and closed by
keys similar to the one already described. They
are placed two on each side, one pair a few inches
in advance of the ball, the second pair perhaps a
foot or more in advance of the first pair. The first
charge, on ignition, overcomes the inertia of the
projectile, and its flame ignites the four anterior
charges as the ball passes out. The report is a
single one, and the initial velocity, penetration,
and point-blank range obtained by these somewhat
complicated appliances, both on the small and large
scale, are incredible. With the gun just described,
in the first experiments they obtained a range of
nearly 5,000 yards, and expected a greater range
with increased charges ; and I have seen a small
shot of about 50-100ths of au inch in calibre driven
(by three drachms of powder arranged in like man-
ner) from a rifle barrel through 36 inches of board
and 8 inches of brick wall behind it.
From the results before stated, and many others
which it is needless to recapitulate, I am led to be-
lieve that important results may be attained from
rifled cannon, and that the present system of ignit-
ing the charge isincorrect in principle. The method
described is defective on account of its complication
of parts, the imperfection and weakness of a breech
formed by the key and slot, and the difficulty
which would occur in removing the keys after a
number of discharges. I believe, however,'%hat a
gun loading at the muzzle may be constructed in a
much simple manner to attain the same object, by
making it of comparatively great length and small
calibre, and igniting the charge of powder at its
forward end nearest the shot, either by placing the
vent iu that position, or by inserting wires into
the body of the gun, and using the electric spark,
when the use of that means is rendered certain.