The Sun.
London, England, 1861-04-02 00:00:00

EVENING APRIL 2, 1351.

• - •
From the Wier part of that gentleman's letter: I differ in
tote, wherein he advocates -the dispensing with spar deck
batteries, making the deck buliarks " sufficiently thick
only to resist a rifle ball." • My 'reasons I stated in the
letter of March 25, which you published.
In reference to the liability toi catching fire action,
I have 'Ong Wondered why some kind of pipe was not
laid around the ship's frame, say under or beside the spar-
deck covering board,t through which water , might be
thrown in , case of -.emergency doWn through; the timbers
and. frame,_ delaying,. the , seat the fire; stopcocks
might be placed at, intervals Of every ten or twelve
feet, by dosing which the whole body of water in the.
'pipe could be thrown down between the timbers' at that
particular spot;or by leaving thern!all open the water could
be carried- completely round the 'ship ;. conneetingrpipei.
might alsolead.up behind the Masts to a certain height.
In conclusion,, while agreeing cordially, with, Capt. Con.
‘‘ that we have notraore to appreheaclfrom. the effects,
of shot' than did ourforefathersefold," I think we should,
"add; that even if we do have more 'fear of " we itui:st.
try and not haVe it, but must trust snore to the pluck and :cool intrepidity of our men.,as tbey did, than to aught else
therefore we should have as I 'before said, low-sided,
broad-beamed.,. fine-bottomed, single-decked frigates,. of 16
to 40 guns, well manned, steaming an average or 12- -or .14
'knots, anf we need fear no " casings," or no "liquidfire.",
.-With such, Jet a cool head,, quick eye, and a firm hand,
deliver his broadsideor two. and then, with a full head of
steam,.sound -the old. charge of 1( boarders away 1" and t
he
result would notlong-be doubtful.
• :114 'cl.k4Pra,of the navy are all right, as are also the men,
both str4v.iPgi tas. they.: ever ,do :abroad, to maintain the
h,ottOjir, of 014 Eitgjapo; but unless you give the ,right
tools to. work with, and. let them work in the right way,
you will soon discourage both officers and Men, and the Old'
wooden walls will soon be " to let!!

_.r.„ • . .
PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION OF CANDIDATES FOR
, .• : •., . , ,
HOLY OREIER.—The universities had for ages sent forth
then-who hai adorned' the pulpit, the senate, the-bar," anti
alniost everi branch of human knowledge, and one niiglif
well pause before presuming to suggest even a doubt that systems which had produced such great and varied,. excrl-,
lence could be deficient, in one, efthe chief means for quali-.
fying the student for any department of -public life. • All
this was riadily edmi.tted—the great value of elassieetand mathethatical studies as disciplining the mind Otte; Undis-'
acranes
puted—and thsj-uniiersities defeided against the popular,:crY of their noit !Wing:equal to the,requirernents of the age.
But still _the warmest
gexranisttingthardtriereef.
things must, if candid, pp
b ue compelled theto
existed some serious' defect in any system of edination-
whioh, while-Sending out a few brilliant stars, left the ii:eai
mass of its, men but verrindiffetent workers in those purr'
suits which were, to b 4 the .business of their lives. *,:-Trth..4 it'
:the special. duty of our univ-ervitti,este produce classicatattl,
MitheniatiCal professors and teachec,s, tossessing not merely ,
g critical but a hypercritical knowled q of their. subjects,
the pi-esent,systeu; -woad -sAbur"ndinit:al.4y .calculated- to
fulfil. the - end in view: ;When, hoWeirer, it was remei4e:iecf.
... '
that nearly.all the colleges bore some such designation a.,-
mien. of ---- 99 Wives
the " ancient and religious fonn‘.l, . )
clearthat they were intended by their founders as training
SchAS for'thdclergy ;,and when the universities rimegnised'
the fad that the education given was not simply prepara-
tory,- but to a certain extent professional, by their institu-r,
tier} of divinity. professershipstind• by requiring the attend-'1
apce of • theological students not- iinly at lectures bittlkt.'
ekantiatios,iticoulcl not but Ie felt as somewhat extraor-1
angry and ineensistent that ncworision had been inade'llor
Crtek is a;ining Ili quit language in /ple:i-ch. the future elergy-'
„kin was' to aikli'eis idifloM---fo'r systematic instruetion;in
,the composition anti i;eliv'ery iof sembisj, and for distinct and
yr eeeted reading ofithe.Churgh-sertice.—.l3' Orsey's` t e'e.- ture at the Royal lustitution. , !
1.. ' THE REVENUE.--The revenub accounts hilie'
created
.satisfietion, the apprehended deficiencyi being
limited to about 49,00,900, and various further heaiiy are-
,-alSOf gold ipad]to the imprersion that the Bank rate of
7 discothit Must speedily undergo - a further reduction. It
appears from. the revenue table -that the Government have
sold £1,Q00,090 Exchequer-bids to the Bank to meet the '
principal part of the demand occasioned by -£1,109;000. of
tky,Marchdpsßip,tiops having just been sent in for repay.
ment. It' would
.afse, seem that of the £2,000,000 which
-the Chancellor-Of the Exchequer watt empowered fp raise
by Eichequer-bonds the bank have taken 5Z94,000, so that
reckoning the £1,000,000 -taken some months back by the
savings. banks, only £106,000 remains to be put out:. The
£209,000, raised in annuities on. account of fortifications IS'
believed to have been furnished by,the savings banks.- -•-:- .
WREOK. QF A. LARGE PRUSSIAN EMIGRANT-SET'
ON TliE ISLAND or SANDAY, ORKNEY.—LIVERPOOL, Men.
day.—The Orkney Islands have been ebrouded in thick fog,
with much rain, for a number of days. On the morning:of
Wednesday last; the 27th of March, the first
through
tiuteliigenoetzef,
a large snip belng'en Shore on Sanday spread
Nandi and word_of theCatastroPhe was instantly forwarded
to_F-irkwall.. The following is all that had reachei the
a wilian cfflce on Saturday :--" The ship Johannes, Capf:
. on Pritzen/ from Bremen, for Baltimore, with 137 Ger:
.: ..tutS' and a.,Teneral cargo, stranded at Airaby,
Letw€;e:?. Newark and Tressness, Sanday. She came on
.shore about 9 p.m.; Oh.Tueaday, the 26th inst., in a thick
fog, and is likely to become a total wreck.. Emigrants and
crew landed safe; and hoped of tho safety of thp cargo are
also entertained."

FATAL SUMP FROM A RAILWAY TRAIN.—On
Saturday owning a man named John Down took a ticket
' at the railway station at Prymenth for Tavistock, but by
mistake got into, a truck of an Emetet' train. On finding
out his error at the junction of the Tavistock and South
Deven lines, about three miles from Plymouth, he jumped
oat of the truck while the train was in :notion, and received
such injuries that ho clad on Sunday evening.
. general fienry, Director general, des Hatits, has
66ided that all the draught horsc..;:i heneefertli purchased
for the imperial stables rauSt have 'been bred in Franci%
This deeision'has bCen adopted in Orden to encourage the ,
breed of horse§ threng-hout thiprevinces. ,
A 'correspondent intiirrns -as (A r2)ty .and Wavy
Gazette) that Liont.-Gen. Sir John Pennefather, K.C.13,,
brnted battle-field of the late eampaigitt in Italy, with a '
i
visie7nv Visiting ;Magenta, Solferino and the other cele-''
f reprodncing. the principal mn.vententa in the re-
views of the forthcoming. season at the great camp of in
straCtion at Aldeishot, . 1

-- -
..i4p.27 cAoED AF, HIES%
loaf
~.'il;t:
tb '
'".e RokriVS'ar, 4reAS4d..th,; foiloWin,g letter 2 ikk con-
ti
- • .—, .
11 fihiift.dgLe' ii;'J7V:.i:.l:. Cap-: air. Connolly iu;lls;osi .6.1. i-tiz'
:: ,A`' i ••• . ' ~ . .
reliiarko in your paper ol to-dalY, thsre see one cr twe poatts
,
„on which Idiffer frcm. him. - ~
1 . .., 4,•,:•
~ It-seems to me that it is, SO far as yet asoertained, impos,
sible to combine wool with iron in constrncting cllii.
. war, by casing them with iron 41itIer extern'allYOr internally,
or by intermediate bulk haads of iron between -, tke outer
and ittnirrr pla'nlxin:'.,.; ; &At of all, from the fact of wooden'
Pearls reqUizing to, be, caulked frequently; nag - Pie con
sequent difficulty, and., expanio of removing `the casing
t p.get at.the ;wood, to say notl4i.r, of the damage caused by.
bathing out rivets,,and
~the,, heressity for increasing ;the
..
diameter the nevi raitenin ,soas to fill well the old
riieir-hi)le, whiCh has miturall b-..come enAreed. ' 'Again,
whothei the casing lie direCtlyion the wood or St Ffir.o `.::7-..
tance off from it, the cileraleal action prod LIA 'by contact
of iron; with salt water must inevitably injure both the
planking and the caulking. If fastened on to the wood, the
iron plates will corrode the ends of the fastenings 'Of the
planking ; and if there be a spa.ca 'betvieen" the Ale and
the casing, this space will, be little better thai, a recep-
tacle for moist and very detritnental gases that ~vill seen
produce rot, to say nothing of the necessity 'which' there
will be Of tearing the ship almost to pieces to recanlk. her
Seams or effect repairs to her hull. There is also another
objection, and an equally serious one, to be found, 'in the
absolute necessity which exists for exposing wood work, as,
much. as possible; under proper tresorvatlyes, to the action of
light and air. Even so thin and bight a covering as paint must
yield the palm to good oil or varnish as a preseiver and non-
Helier of wood, for the oil need in forming paint soon Washes
or evaporates away;leaving merely the earthy or miner&
part of.its. donaposition to. do ,more harm than good by
communicating 'moisture to the iwood, and admitting of the
fiction of neither light nor heat to facilitate its, evaporation.
.We all know,that. it is far better to scrape wood-work of
ships bright, before repainting, and to the old custem 'of
varnishing do the Dutch owe the reputation for neatness
and durability 'which their yessels enjoy. 'Againj, any
*serious accident happening td an iron or iron-cased
ship abroad . involves almost either total abandon-
ment 'or a voyage home, probably from the. .An-
- tipodes, to have repairs done; from the simple fact
that the facilities out of , England for boiler and
engine work in general, at sea-ports, are very, very scanty.
To illustrate, I knoW at this moment of five' or six 'iron
vessels belonging to the Italian navy, which have been for
some months, and are yet, almest .wholly useless fez._ the
want of repairs that could be done in, a week or ;ten days
here in England. •
For these and many other reasons that I Could cite I
submit. that the question lies radically between the '.utte
of all iron or all wood, and that the joint employment'
of the two is inexpedient and impracticable from
reasons of economy and :durability; if actions
on water always happened under cicumstances where, )2re-
aision of aim was reduced to a theory and a certainty, well
and good ; but when we know that hardly one shot in a
hundred tells with any effect, it must be evident that ifter
all we must rely on, our old custom of carrying by Voarding.
The inventions and improvements of Captain Norton iir
shells and-destructive missiles are beyond doubt of & won-
derful nature, and evidence great genius and great
practical knowledge; but I -hardly believe, them suscepti-
ble of being brought into general or very advantageous use
on board
,ship for many reasons—one, among others, that
their very great destructive properties Will necessarily in-
volve an increased amount of danger to veaSela that carry
them over the ordinary missiles; the handling, stowage,
and care. of, live shell requires very great circumspection;
but not one-tenth of what would have to be beitowed an
liquid fire-shells ; and I-quite agree with Captain Connolly
that " it, will be, a long time, if ever, before the present
broadside gun and spherical projectile are entirely super.
seded."

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1

TELEGR
1 hi
APHIC INTELLIGKNCE.

VIENNA, APRIL 2.

The Minister:al crisis is ov..u. The present
Ministry -7e main provis,iohally in- eV& -
On Sunday evening last riotous asembin,ges

took place in Agram.
, The windows of the police-office were patashed
by the people, and the Imperial Eagle 1,7Q5 torn
sown from fne Government buildings.

ROME, MARCH 30.

Last night 40 waggons of the Sardinian army
Sardinian army
were -observed aear. -Rome, coming from Gaeta.
Gen. Goyon ordered—their immediate departure
icy Feral, under an escort of gendarmes.

Tho Municipality of Roma sent yesterday to
General Lamoriciere a magnificent gold' niedal
which had been struck in his honour.

POSEN, MONDAY EVENING.
Riots tool: place yesterday at Kalisch.

A multitude of about 3,000 persons made a- noisy
and insulting demonstration (Katzenmusik) before
the" house of the Captain of the district. The
windows of the house- were smashed, and the
Captain fled to the Cadet School, amid the shouts
and yells of the pe0p1e.....
His deputy was likewise insulted.

• Similar demonstrations afterwards took- place
before the houses Of the 13r4Esident of the. Tribunals
and the Inspector of Schools.

Order was re-established ,by the military.

; TURIN, APRIL 1.
The official Gazette announces that a conspiracy
has been discovered in Modena and the Romagna,
in which some dis6anded Volunteers from the army
of Southern Italy are implicited. -

The object of the conspiracy was to engage in it
conflict with
.the Austrians.;