The Sun.
London, England, 1861-04-29 00:00:00

PETITIONS.

Several petitions were presented praying for Parliamen-
tary reform, in favour of the budget, and reduction in the
national expenditure ; for the appointment of Roman
Catholic chaplains in workhouses, and for improved educa•
tion of Roman Catholics in Ireland ; for the sale of a single
bottle of spirits or wine by wholesale dealers.

THE CONFEDERATED SLATES OF AMERICA.
Mr. W. E. FORSTER asked the hon. member for Gal-
way (Mr. Gregory) whether, after the news which had
been received in this country from America, he intended
to persist in the motion of which he had given notice for a
recognition of the confederated States.
Mr. GREGORY said that he had received a letter from
the noble lord the Foreign Secretary stating that it would
be inconvenient to the public service if he brought forward
his motion as he proposed to do to-morrow. He begged to
say that he would postpone it fora fortnight. (Hear.)

NEW WRIT.
On the motion of Col. TAYLOR, a new writ was ordered
for Montgomery, vacant by the decease of the late member,
Mr. Pugh.
THE BRIBERY AT BERWICK—PERSONAL
EXPLANATIONS.
Mr. HODGSON asked the Attorney-General if the Go-
vernment had formed ajudgment on the report of the com-
mission appointed to inquire into the alleged corrupt prac-
tices at. Berwick-on-Tweed election. He had been reported
guilty of bribery at that election, because he had subscribed
00 to enable those sitting members to collect evidence to
defend their seats. The hon. member entered into some
further explanation, and concluded by repeating his
question.
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL said that this morning
he had received a letter and a pamphlet from the hon.
member (Mr. Hodson), and if the hon. member wished
him to read these before he answered him he would repeat
his question to-morrow. (Laughter.) The Government
gives no direction on these subjects, and it would be on hie
own responsibility that any prosecution would be instituted,
and if he did not prosecute :it would be his (the Attorney-
General'e) hult. (Laughter.) lle referred to the report,
which he had carefully analysed, and he found that the
alleged bribery of the hon. member rested upon the evi-
dence of a witness who had absconded, and who, if he could
be found, he (the Attorney-General) could not make him
speak. (Laughter.) The next ground of accusation
against the hon. member was the statements made by him-
self to the commissioners; but he could assure the hon.
member that as he had no expectation of obtaining a con-
viction against him, he should abstain from any prosecu-
tion. (Renewed Laughter )
" THE I.lrtA.,Raßctle
altf
Sir F. SMITH asked t
rto the Admiralty
wheU he WRICI UPOil ittO table et the heAse
a copy of

.. i

the correspiindence that may have taken place between the
' Admiralty and the contractors who built the Warrior, in
reference to the non-fulfilment of the contract within the
stipulated time, such copy having been ordered by the house
on the 18th of March?
Lord C. PAGET said, that her Majesty's Government
proposed to lay the correspondence on the table that evening.
WAYS AND MEANS.—ADIOURNED-DEBATE.
the
Mr.
in resuming the adjourned debate on
into committee of ways and means,
said that the budget of the present year had a feature simi-
lar to that of last year, as it contained a proposition that
was agreeable only to a small section of the house, but
which was not acceptable to the majority, or in accordance
with the feeling of the community. Besides, in reference
to that proposition for the remission of the duty on paper,
they had the decision of the House of Lords -against it,
and there was no urgency in regard to the repeal
of this tax that would justify the government in supposing
• that the House of Lords would be' induced to:vome so sud-
denly to the adoption of what they -had rejected in so
marked a mannerlast year. He objected to the conclusions
as to the surplus of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when
he recollected the, unfortunate surplus promised last year.
They were promised the latter by the reduction of the ex-
pense in respect to China, and the surplus for the present
year was to be obtained by means of an indemnity of
£750,000 from China, which he believed they would never
receive. (Hdary hear.) He considered that the Chancellor
of the Exchequer had been guilty of a fatal error in re-
peating an experiment that had been admitted last year to
be a mistake, in which the feelings of the country
had not been consulted, and another opposition with
the House of Lords was to be apprehended. (Hear, hear.)
He described the *posed repeal of the paper duty as a
mere link connecting Birmingham and Tiverton. He also
objected to the mode in which the resolution for the
• repeal of the duty on paper was to be sub-
mittedito the Houte of Lords, which would throw
up that
et
hh e
oh onus°
;? the
ofthree sEp
xo ne
ha i
et yr
po
rf
orpe jo es ce tdintog
rtehmei
tb
dd eo t.
u
:the income tax • hit suppose instead of taking off the duty
another
wouldld.,or
byQn paper,
removing he
the reduced
dutythfarlemtax by
tea and sugar,
he not be acting more in conformity with the
sentiments of 99 out of every 100 in•the vihole community.
(Hear, hear.) ,He, denied that the conclusions as to a
continuance of peace on the continent was justified by
-events, and described all Euroree as a vast camp, and
referred to the tatatement of the Prime Minister at the
commencement of , the session, to show that that
noble lord did not partake in the feeling of security in the
maintenance of peace throughout Europe, of which some
honourable members were so very sanguine. He
contended that in the present state of Europe no one was
desirous of removing the Government at present;
and that their defeat on a single resolution of this budget
did not necessitate their resignation. He did not wish un-
necessarily to draw the attention of the government to
their misfortunes, but he could not help reminding them
that they had already sustained a defeat. (Hear, hear,
and laughter.) He thought that Lord Palmerston would
not act in so undignified and so unpbilosophic a manner as to
resign his office, merely because a rash colleague had not
been able to carry out a speculative financial object.

LLE:FT SPEAILING.]

HEIGHTS OF MONUMENTS AND PUBLIC
BUILDINGS.

For purposes of-reference and comparison, a re-
liable statement of the heights, in English feet, of
various lofty monuments and public buildings,
would be of great interest, if not of considerable
value. Different authorities d'o not agree, however,
as to the height of ,various well-known buildings,
and this is almost equivalent to, the fact that the
heights of such buildings are not exactly known.
Considerable confusion has undoubtedly arisen in
consequence of the different standards of measure-
ment adopted by various authorities,.there being at
least a dozen different standards of the " foot," some
of which vary two or three inches from the British
unit. If we are lo credit history, the Tower of Babel
at Babylon was the highest artificial structure ever
erected, its altitude being stated as 680 feet, while
the Tower of Belus, also built in Babylon, is re-
ported to have been 666 feet high. The Great
Pyramid at Gizeh .is generally believed to be the
highest artificial structure in existence. This
belief has been founded on the statements of mea-
surements by M. Jomard and Mr. Perring, who, in
addition to the present actual height of the pyra-
mid-450ft. 9in. above its true base observed that
the casing stones, which are still perfect at the
bottom, would, if continued to the apex, have in-
creased the height to 479 ft. according to M.Jomard,
and to 480 ft. 9in. according to Mr. Perring.
Whether the casing was ever actually completed is
doubtful, and the heights of 480 ft., or thereabouts,
is therefore a trigonometrical presumption, if we
may say so ' • but, at all events, not a present reality.
In its actual present height, as measured even from
its true base (which "is considerably below the ordi-
nary surface of, the ground), the great pyramid
stands fifth or sixth in the list of the lofty build-
ings in the world. Before proceeding further it
may be as well to state that there are at least three
buildings in an uncompleted state, if not in actual
progress, the intended height of which, when
finished, will greatly exceed that of any
completed building now standing The cathedral
at Mechlin has two towers, each 348 ft. high, but the
original design included a spire upon each tower
so as to increase their height to 640 ft. The Wash-
ington monument, at Washington, U.S., has been
for some years in progress, and its intended height
is 517 ft. The cathedral at Cologne will have, when
completed, two spires, each 511 ft. high.
The highest existing structure is, probably, the
cathedral spire of Strasburg, the height of which is
given variously as 465.9 ft., 468 ft., and 471 ft.
English. The least of these measurements is that
adopted by the French Bureau of Longitude, and we
are to suppose that this is the height measured
above the ground, and not from the foundations,
for, in the latter case, the chimney stalk at Messrs.
Townsend's Chemical Works, at Port Dundas, Glas-
gow, would be actually the highest structure in the
world, being 468 ft. above its foundations, and 464
ft. above the ground. The chimney of Plessrs. Ten-
nant's works, at St. Rollox, near Port Dundas, is
447 ft. 6 in. high from its foundations, and 432 ft.
6 in. high above the surface of the ground.
The spire of St. Stephen's Church, at Vienna, is
stated, on the authority of the Bureau of Longitude,
to be 452 ft. 9 in. high. Other authorities have
given it a few feet more, and its height has, indeed,
been generally belived to be 465 ft. It is to be
regretted that this fine old spire has been lately
found defective, and it is not improbable that it may
have to be taken down. The height of St. Peter's,
Rome, from the pavement to the cross, is understood
to be 458 ft., while the Bureau of Longitude give
its height, " to the ball over the dome," the 433 ft.
only. At all events, St. Peter's, Strasburg spire,
St. Stephen's, and Messrs. Townsend's chimney are
all higher than the great pyramid, whether the
measurement from the foundations or that from the
surface be adopted. It is questionable even if the
spire of An t werp Cathedral be not as high as the great
pyramid, notwithstanding that the height ef the for-
mer has been variously stated from 360 ft. to 466 ft.
Even the spire of St. Michael's, at Hamburgh, has
been 'stated to be 456 ft: high. The Bureau of Longi-
tude gives :it 130 metres, and Antwerp' spire 120
in height ; but the rotundity of such numbers is
somewhat suspicious, and suggests approximation
merely. In the same way St. Paul's is set down
at 110 metres, or 360 ft. 11 in. in height;
whereas its actual total height from its foundation
is understood to be 404 ft., or the same as Salis-
bury spire. We are proceeding too fast, however,
for the spire of St. Martin's, at Landahut, is re-
puted to be 450 ft. high (the height of the great
pyramid again), although other authorities make
it only 375 ft. If the height of an aqueduct, cross-
ing a deep ravine, can be compared to that of a
church or a chimney, the ancient aqueduct at Spo-
letta, which is 426 ft. 6 in. high, may be named
here. Amiens spire is 420 ft. high, and the prin-
cipal spire of the cathedral at Chatres,itself on a hill,
is 403 feet. The two spires of the church at Lubeck
are reputed to be 416 ft. high each. The tower
of the Hotel de Ville, at Brussels, including
the statue of St. Michael, which sur-
mounts it, is 400 ft. high. The spire of
Freiburg, in Ba4len, is variously stated as 330 ft.
and 3,'?0 ft. high. The dome of the Cathedral at
Florence is believed to be 380 ft. high, and the
highest part of Milan Cathedral 370 feet high. The
lai et v ed to
Bologna,be ft.3n7o2w
2 sh6i high,
and
i
tower,
high, was, before its partial overthrow by an earth-
quake, considered to be as high as that at Cremona.
Me height of the spire at Nordlingen is stated
sbelieved
variously as 345 ft. and 370 ft. That of St. Mi-
chael's, Coventry, is 363 ft. high. St. Barberas
spire, at Breda, is believed to be 362 ft. high; and
the Shoomadoo Temple, at Pegu, India, 361 ft.
high. The Victoria Tower of the Houses of Parlia-
ment is 340 ft. high over all, the clock tower being
320 ft. St. Andrew's spire, at Brunswick, is 318
ft., and that of Norwich Cathedral, 315 ft. The
tower of Lincoln Cathedral is 300 ft. high. None
of the other English cathedrals, besides those
already named, have spires as high as 300 ft.—
The Engineer, April 26.