The Sun.
London, England, 1861-08-02 00:00:00

The power of steam labour would seem to be cape:
ble of an almost indefinite expansion. No matter
how special and intricate are the mechanical difficul-
ties of the task—no matter how entirely its com-
pletion, as we think, may depend on the employ-
ment of skilled labour of the highest class, there
is hardly any possible branch of manufacture which
steam machinery is not capable of bringing to its
greatest perfection at a mere tithe of the time and
cost consumed by hand labour. The ingenious
combinations of mechanism which are termed
" labour-saving machines" have become a distinct
class of invention, claiming to accomplish nothing
new, but merely to do better, quicker, and cheaper
what has before been done by costly, slow, and
sometimes bad,though always uncertain, handwork.
With pcarcely an exception, all the most important
of these labour-saving machines have come from
America. The want of skilled labour and the
almost exorbitant price it commands, have driven
our Transatlantic cousins to the invention of these
beautiful mechanical aids ; just as the demands on
our own manufacturing skill have led our engi-
neers to almost confine their attention to the
greatest and simplest developments of steam machi-
nery, as applied to locomotive and marine engines.
In England steam is a power—in America it is
rather a slave, always driven at high pressure ; or
a domestic household drudge, hemming the towels,
pumping the water, washing the linen, or even
sending up the plates and dishes at all large hotels
and very many private houses, too. These self-
acting machines were thought to have attained
their perfection in the superb collection of auto-
matic implements manufactured in America, and
now set up at Enfield, and employed in making the
rifles by thousands weekly. Lately, however,
another and still more curious and profitable com-
bination of steam machinery has been brought to
this country by the inventor, Mr. Nathan Thomp-
son, for the purpose of building boats by steam.
Now, if there is any class of work which espe-
cially demands the most skilled artisans, it is
boat building. The curves in the shears or
planking have to be so truly made, the edges of all
parts so carefully beveled and fitted, that it has long
been regarded as hopeless to expect further aid from
steam than that of merely turning the curvilinear
saws by which the simplest of the curves are cut.
All else is of necessity done by hand, and the coat
is in proportion to the labour and delay. Thus to
make a line-of-battle ship's launch, 32 feet long,
requires at the ledst from eight:to 10 days, andtcosts
for labour alone, exclusive of material, from £l2 to
£l6. By Mr. Thompson's machinery the same boat
can be completed from the rough timber in five
hours and a-half, and at a cost for labour and
machinery of from £1 15s. to £2.
The combination of machinery by which this
enormous saving of time and money is effected is in
some details merely a novel application of old prin-
ciples, though as a rule all the chief implements are
perfectly new, and of their kind the most wonder-
ful samples of mechanical skill probably ever seen
in this country. The factory at which the specimen
machines have been erected is near Victoria Park,
and half the most distinguished naval and military
authorities and our foremost mechanicians have
seen their operation'.with perfect astonishment. It
is very difficult indeed by mere verbal description
to convey to the public anything like a clear idea
of the modus operands of complicated pieces of
machinery. The reader, therefore, will best realize
the nature of Mr. Thompson's valuable inventions
from a brief account of the chief processes of manu-
facture, and of the machine by which each is
effected. The first step is to take the rough timber,
which is cut either straight or in taper form into
the various requisite shapes by an ingenious im-
provement on the circular saw. A number of
planks, afterwards to be cut up into ribs, are
steamed into a semi-flexible state, and in this con-
dition are bent over iron frames representing the
outer sections of a boat's side. Held firmly in
this shape they are dried, and retain for ever
the curve or form to which they have been moulded.
In the workshop are kept certain standard patterns
of boats of all sizes made by the machinery, each
part of which is numbered, and perfect accuracy
with the outline and form of which is required in
all portions of boats of the same size. In fact,
these parts form in some portions of the manufac•
ture the models, as in the celebrated copying
machines at Enfield and Woolwich, the only novelty
in these machines made by Mr. Thompson being
that they work rather quicker, and the principle on
which the implements act is capable of such an
extension that the same steam cutter which bevels
a lath for the side of a Thames outrigger is capable,
by the most trifling alteration of the angle of incli-
nation at which the knives work, to fashion a 50-
feet oak plank for the side of a 100-ton yacht or a
Margate fishing smack. The machine for sawing
the ribs in
parallel lines, with a true bevel as to
c u r curve,curious
is entirely new and simple ; one of the most
curvilinear saw, giving to
the inner and outer side planks the varied local
curvature required for each different part of a boat.
from the numbers on the wit- th, and marked in chalk
figuresTheplafomnrkis
Isatwo nB, to
stan-
dard boat in the workshop. This passes through a
double cutting and planing machine. The cutters
are conical in shape, the upper being convex, and
therefore grooving out the plank concave, and the
lower vice versa. These are laid horizontally, but
on a moveable axis, capable of being turned back-
wardsn o.thec
and forwards on an index scaled from 1
tenter o 8 ,
taccordingi
naes. t
The
1l ticsh, abl
by figures ,in the plankutte
s r
g hNtv,h boul
et
tranverse to the plank the curve is is
turning them longitudinally gives thslei
depth, and so a rough board passes rapidly in
at one end and emerges at the other curved
and outward with mathematical certainty, and
not only curved but planed and beveled at the
edges. Such a machine up to the present time has
been deemed almost a mechanical impossibility, and
the search for its discovery as futile as that for the
philosopher's stone. By the present hand method a
skilled workman would turn out four such streaks
of planking a day. The machine completes 30 feet
of oak plank in four minutes, or 150 streaks for the
day of 10 hours. On the same scale, a workman
only completes 20 beveled ribs a day, while the
machine turns out 500, with only two persons to
Superintend it, who, so far from being skilled work-
men, may
be mere boys, to step start the steam.
The diagonal cutters for forming the irregular
bevels of any angle, for the stern-pieces, stem, &e.,

are equally quick with their work, doing in one
minute what requires two hours_ to accomplish by
manual labour. The gratings are cut out of any size
or width by the motion of what is called a " drunken
saw." This is simply a circular saw fixed at what-
ever angle with its axis it may be required, and
which, with its teeth 'arranged in four different
ways, cuts at any inclination, either simply sawing
through a plank when straight or making :a gap
two inches wide if necessary. In fact, the whole
machinery possesses the same superiority over
hand labour that the power-loom has over the
bygone system of knitting. It is a locomotive
versus stage coaches—the now old story of a man
working 10 hours on wages against a machine
that works day and night and costs nothing but
a little oil. Of course, therefore, before long
all boats will be built by steam machinery ;
and, making every allowance for wear and tear of
plant, cost of setting up material, and hire of labour,
it is computed that a saving of at least from 40 to
even 50 per cent. will be effected to consumers at the
very outset. Beyond this, however, the invention
possesses other advantages, such as that of making
any number or size of boats in a few hours, making
duplicate pieces of those parts of the craft most ex-
posed to wear and injury, and above all enabling every
vessel to carry complete boats in pieces, capable of
being easily stowed away, yet put together in half
an hour in case of emergency. The number of boats
built in the United Kingdom each year amounts
to upwards of 21,000. By this new machinery,
erected in a building 100 yards long by 50 wide, it
is stated 60,000 boats of all sizes, from an outrigger
up to a line-of-battle ship's barge, could be com-
pleted in one year. Whether the increased facili-
ties in the way of cheapness and quick manufacture
will stimulate the boat consumers to a larger con-
sumption remains to be seen. Whether it does or
not they must be immense gainers in getting
stronger boats at less than half the present prices.
This much Mr. Thompson's beautiful machinery
seems certainly able to effect, and such a profitable
result in itself almost repays the 18 years' hard la-
bour he has had in gradually bringing his mecha-
nism to its present perfection.

211 E SCIENCE OF PROJECTILES.

At the meeting of mechanical engineers at She,
field, Sir Wm. Armstrong, president, after sketch
ing the history of steam inventions, said :
In thus glancing at the history of mechanical
science during the last 80 years we see how entirely
our successes have been based upon the possession
of that metal which the Author of nature has sup-
plied us in the greatest abundance. Without iron
all our skill and ingenuity would have resulted in
comparative nothingness; and had it not been en-
dowed with that singular property of hardening by
sudden immersion after previous conversion into
steel, we should have been deprived of the means
of cutting and shaping it to those accurate forms
which our mecnanical constructions require. Its
property of welding is almost equally essential to
its utility, and the combination of these remarkable
qualities in one metal, coupled with the fact of
its natural localities Iseing generally identical
with those of coal, affords the most striking in-
stance of adaptation to the purposes of man that
can be found in the mineral kingdom. It is the iron
and not the golden age which is the true age of
civilisation, and England has led the way in the
march of progress, chiefly through her skill and
energy in producing this metal, and applying it to
mechanichl purposes. Iron, unlike all other metals,
has three phases of existence—cast iron, wrought,
iron, and steel, each equally useful, and yet so diffe-
rent as to be virtually separate metals. In the ma-
nufacture of steel the town of Sheffield enjoys an
unrivalled eminence, and our discussions on this oc-
casion will naturally be directed to those various
questions of peculiar interest which at present ap-
ply to that most useful product. I have hitherto
spoken only of the mechanical arts as applied to the
purposes of peace, but I have yet to refer to the
darker side of the picture in speaking of their ap-
plication to the purposes of war. IV e shall all agree
in condemning war• and deploring the suffering it
entails ; but we must not regard it as destitute of all
admixture of good. The conquests of ancient Rome
scattered the germs of civilisation over the whole of
the then known world, and similar effects have at-
tended many of the conquests of more modern times.
War also affords a field for the exercise of some of
the noblest attributes of our nature—courage, pat-
riotism, self-devotion, and honour have found their
brightest examples among those who have followed
the profession of arms ; and the homage which is
universally paid to military distinctiod shows how
contrary to our instincts are the tenets of those
moralists who place war and crime in the same
category. But, whatever opinions may be held on
this subject, it is useless to take Utopian views of
the duties of nations and the principles which
ought to regulate their intercourse. We know that
nations, like individuals, are liable to quarrel, and
when they do so, having no common jurisdiction to
control them, they resort to arms. So long, there-
fore, as any one nation maintains its armaments, it
is an absolute necessity that others should do the
same, unless they choose, by their inability to re-
sist, to tempt a rupture, and are content to succumb
to the event of its occurrence. Our warlike neigh-
bours, the French, always forward in everything
appertaining to war, have of late years devoted
their energies to two most important subjects—the
rifling of ordnance and the application of defensive
armour to ships. Their advances have necessitated
similar steps on our part, and we have certainly no
reason to suppose that we are behind them in the
race. With the first of these subjects I have been
personally much concerned, and I have also had
opportunities of observing the merits and defects of
the various natures of armour plates, with which
experiments have been made by the direction of
her Majesty's Government. I need scarcely say that
up to the present time cast iron has been almost
exclusively employed in the construction of heavy
ordnance ; but guns made of that material have
not been found adequate to resist the more severe
strain incident to the use of elongated rifled projec-
tiles. This inadequacy of strength becomes the
more decided as we increase the magnitude of the
gun, and since a growing demand exists for more
powerful artillery, the use of cast iron for its con-
struction seems to be entirely precluded. It is said,
and I believe with truth, that in America the manu-
facture of cast iron ordnance has been so far im-
proved by applying water to cool the casting from
the interior as to enable serviceable guns of this
material to be produced of much larger bore than
have been made in England. But it appears that
these guns have not been rifled, and are only intended
to be used with hollow projectiles. This success,
therefore, affords no reason for coming to a diffe-
rent conclusion as to the unfitness of cast iron for
the construction of rifled guns designed to project
solid shot, especially when the dimensions are large.
Even when strengthened by wrought iron hoops,
the tendency of cast iron in a gun ;is to become
weaker by every succeeding discharge. This is
owing to minute fractures occurring in the bore,
generally in the vicinity of the vent, and gradually
extending until they terminate in the rupture of
the gun. If, therefore, cast iron guns are to be
utilized at all as rifled ordnance, it can only be by
confining their use to hollow projectiles and light
charges ; but if the same indulgence were extended
to wrought iron guns, equal efficiency would be
obtained with half the weight of metal, and on this
ground alone the superiority of the latter is deci-
sive. Wrought iron made either from " bloom" or
" puddled ball" must necessarily consist in the first
instance of a congeries of welds or joinings. The
smaller the mass and the more it is reduced under
the rolls or hammer, the more perfectly will it be
united, but when a large block is forged from an
aggregation of blooms, it is almost impossible to
render it homogeneous throughout. The flaws in
such a forging will generally be drawn out by the
process of hammering in the direction of the length,
and will therefore not materially affect its strength
in reference to longitudinal strains. But if the
mass be subjected to an explosive force acting from
the interior, as in a gun, the presence of such flaws
becomes fatal. Wrought iron, therefore, applied
aso b
a solid block to the construction of guns, I hold
to be even more objectionable than cast iron, for,
although a
wrought iron gun thus made, if it
happen
to be sound,mayalwayspossess
b be
greater
more
subject powers
thanof
resistance, yet it must
tnbe and
malleable treacherous.
form,
cast iron to concealed flaws, and on that account be
eoluflidrobn
fused,e after
allits
emoonly.eerusniocnerttoai
welds would be obliterated, and
the mass ren-
dered uniform throughout. Such a material would
merit the appellation of " homogeneous iron,"
but the metal which now bears that name is of
a different nature, but merely a species of cast
steel. The crystalline form assumed by steel in
solidifying from the liquid state always ren-
ders the material in the first instance hard and
brittle, and it is only under the subsequent pro-
cess of hammering that it acquires duotility and
toughness. This alterative process of hammering is
perfectly effectual when the thickness of the steel
is small, but when it is required to be forged into a
large mass it appears to be a matter of the
It utmost
difficulty to Effect the requited change. is sel-
dom that the enterprise of English manufacturers
is exceeded by that of foreigners, but in the pro-
duction of steel forgings of large dimensions lirupp,

of Essen, has taken the lead of all steelmakers in
this country. He has met the difficulty of tough-
ening large masses of cast steel by using hammers
of extraordinary weight, and I believe that equal
success will never be attained in England without
adopting similar measures. It will be a great era
in metallurgy when a material possessing the
toughness and ductility of wrought iron, combined
with the homogeneous character of a cast metal, can
be economically supplied in large blocks. But,
whatever the march of improvement niay effect, I
doubt whether such blocks can yet be produced
at a cost which would admit of their extensive ap-
plication. lam glad, however, to see that papers
are to be read at this meeting which may be ex-
pected to bear upon this important subject ; and
among the names appended to those papers we are
fortunate in having that of Bessemer, whose exer-
tions in this field of inquiry have attracted so much
attention. The preceding observations on the ap-
plication of iron to the construction of artillery
would not be complete without some allusion to the
system of manufacture which I have myself adopted,
and which may be designated the coil system.
When malleable iron is rolled into bars its crystal-
lisation assumes a fibrous form, causing the bar to
resemble a bundle of threads, strongly adhering to
each other, but possessing their chief tenacity in
the direction of their length. The compressive
power:is also such as generally to eliminate all im-
perfect welds, or, if any remain, they are drawn
out parallel wills the fibre of the iron. To realise
in a cylinder the advantage of this fibrous struc-
ture it becomes necessary to coil the bar into a
spiral, and to unite the folds by welding. The
lines of welding will then be transverse to the
' cylinder, in which direction they have little ten-
, dency to weaken it when exposed to a bursting force,
even should they not be perfectly sound. There is
1 a limit to the thickness of bar, which it is con-
venient to bend into a spiral, and in making a gun
on this system the required diameter is made up
by applying successive layers of coils, each layer
being shrunk upon the one beneath. This mode of
construction has the advantage of affording the
opportunity of discovering and rejecting all defec-
tive parts as the work proceeds ;and guns may
thus be built up to almost any size without encoun-
tering any of those difficulties and liabilities which
are met with in forging large blocks, whether of
steel or iron. With regard to the great question
of the ultimate effect of artillery against ships
protected by defensive armour, I believe that,
whatever thickness of iron may be adopted, guns
will be constructed capable of destroying it. At
the same time I am of opinion that iron-plated
ships will be infinitely more secure against artillery
than timber ships. The former will effectually
resist every species of explosive or incendiary pro-
jectile, as well as solid shot from all but the heaviest
guns, which can never be used in large numbers
against them. In short, it appears to me to be a
question between plated ships or none at all ; at any
rate, so far as line-of-battle ships are concerned.
With respect to the quality of the material best
adapted to resist the impact of shot, this subject is
engaging much attention in the town of Sheffield
and the iron districts generally. So far as my own
observation and experience go, I may say that hard-
ness and lamination are the conditions most essen-
tial to avoid. In striking a plate the tendency of
a shot is to fracture, rather than to pierce, the
material. When penetration is effected, the hole is
of a broken character, and not such as would be
made by the cutting action of a punch. The softer,
therefore, the iron, the less injury it will sustain,
and I apprehend that steel, in every form, will,
from its great hardness, be found less effective than
' wrought iron, while its cost will be very much
greater. As regards lamination, it has been clearly
ascertained that a given thickness of iron made
up of successive layers of thin plates is very
much weaker for the purpose of armour
than the same thickness in the solid form.
But a laminated plate, by which I mean a
plate having the layers composing it imperfectly
united, must be regarded as an aggregation of
separate plates, so that ;the strength derived from
continuity is wanting. If this tendency to lami-
nation could be obviated, rolled plates would in my
opinion, be preferable to forged, since the iron,
would acquire a more fibrous condition, but the
existence of this liability appears to turn the scale
in favour of forging. I hope the time is far distant
when these great questions concerning attack and
defence may receive a practical elucidation in actual
warfare ; but I trust that in the course of our efforts
to solve them discoveries may be made which will
be as useful for the purposes of peace as for those of
war. lam tempted to advert, before I conclude, to
a subject intimately connected with mechanical
progress, but upon which much difference of opinion
may exist. That dauntless spirit which in matters
of commerce has led this country to cast off the
trammels of protection has resulted in augmented
prosperity to the nation, showing the injurious ten-
dencies of class legislation when opposed to general
freedom of action. Would that the same bold and
enlightened policy were extended, in some degree
at least, to matters of invention. Under our present
patent laws we are borne down with an excess of
protection. We are obstructed in every direction
by patented inventions which will never be reduced
to practice by those who hold them, but which em-
brace ideas capable of useful application if freed
from monopoly. The merit of invention seldom lies
in the fundamental conception, but is to be found
in the subsequent elaboration, and in the successful
struggle with difficulties, unknown to the mere
theorist, and often requiring years of labour,
blended with disappointment, for their removal.
Nothing can be more irrational, therefore, to give
I equal privileges to the mere schemer and to the man
who gives actual effect to an invention. Primary
ideas ought to be the common property of all in-
ventors, and protection, if we are to have it at all,
should be sparingly awarded to those persons alone
who, by their labour and intellect, give available
reality to ideas. Apart from the impolicy of our
present indiscriminate system, its operation is un-
just. Philosophers who furnish the light of science
to guide to useful discovery go altogether unre-
warded and unrecognised. Practical men, who, like
Watt and George Stephenson, devote the best part
of their lives to perfecting inventions of immense
importance to the world seldom derive from pats nts
any greater emolument than would flow to them
without the aid of a restrictive system, while they
are frequently inv lved in tormenting litigation
about priority of idea. On the other hand, we see
numerous cases of disproportionate wealth realised
by persons whose only merit has been promptitude
in seizing upon and monopolizing some expedient
which lay upon the very surface of things, and re-
quired no forcing atmosphere of protection for its
discovery. Finally, injustice is doue by the exist-
ing law to those men who have no desire for
monopoly, but who are compelled to become paten-
tees for no other purpose than to prevent their being
excluded from carrying their own ideas into prac-
tice. For my part, I incline to think that the
prestige of successful invention would, as a rule,
bring with it sufficient reward, and that protection
might be entirely dispensed with. On this point,
however, I speak with hesitation ; but it is, at all
events, certain that extensive reform is urgently
required in this branch of legislation, and that the
advance of practical science is now grievously
intended
to by those very laws which were
to encourage its progress. Having now called to
your remembrance the triumphs which have already
been accomplished in mechanical science, and hav-
ing directed your attention to some of the subjects
which at the present time merit your consideration,
it only remains to express my hope that the genius,
enterprise, and intelligence which have hitherto
distinguished your profession may continue to bear
fruits worthy of the past, and that the proceedings
of this institution may serve to guide and stimulate
the € fforts of its members.

THE MAILS.

MAILS DUE.
Australia' Ceylon, and Mauritius (via South-
ampton) ..
Do.
Brazil and Cape Verde .. • •
Buenos Ayres, Monte Video, &c.
Cuba and Mexic) .. Aug. 13
Canada, &c. (via L'derry) „„ .. Overdue.
Cape of Good Hope, &c. • • .. .. Sept. 1.
China, Penang, and Singapore (via S'ampton) Aug. 2.
Do (via Marseilles) Aug. 12.
Gibraltar (via Southampton) .. Aug. 2.
India (Calcutta), Ceylon, &c. (via Southampton) Aug. 2.
Do. (via Marseilles) Aug. 12.
India (Bombay), (via Southampton) .. Aug. 10.
Do. (via Marseilles) .. Aug. 4.
Lisbon . • • • • .. Aug. 1.
Malta, Egypt, and Adon (via Southampton) .. Aug. 2.
Do. (via Marseilles) .. Aug. 4.
Vigo, and Oporto .. Aug. 1.
United States, California. &e. Aug. 7.

Aug. 18

(via Marseille:). AAuugg..
412..

SUDDEN DEATIL—On Tuesday evening Mr. John
Brewster, an eminent solicitor of Nottingham, who has
held the office of Deputy-Sheriff of Nottinghamshire for a
great many years, met his death under very shocking cir •
cumstances. Early in the evening Mr. Brewster had wit-
nessed the performances of Blondin at the Barrack-yard,
Nottingham, and, after returning home, partook of supper
as usual. He remained in conversation with his family
until about 11 o'clock, when his sons bade him " Good
night" and retired to rest. Almost immediately afterwards
they were aroused by the shrieks of their sister. Upon
going to the spot they found their father lying at the bot-
toeof the steps leading into the garden, his head being
fearfully bruised. A surgeon was sent for, but the unfor-
tunate gentleman never rallied, and expired half an hour
afterwards. A coroner's inquest was held yesterday (Wed-
nesday), and from the medical testhnoney adduced it was
supposed that the deceased was seized with an effusion of
blood to the head, which caused him to fall down the steps,
and a verdict to that effect was returned. Mr, Brewster
' WAS 61 years of age.

AUSTRIA AND HUNGARY.

(Rom the Correspondent of the Times.)
PESTH, JULY 28.
Up to last evening it was fully expected that the
Chamber of Deputies would hold a private sitting
to-morrow, but this morning we learn that such
will not be the case. It is presumable, therefore,
that the joint committee has not yet finished its
work, but the delay is not likely to be a long one,
and the general belief is that in the course of the
week now commencing, not only a private sitting,
but also public ones, will take place, and that we
shall be made acquainted with the nature of the
next step in the long proceedings between Pesth
and Vienna. M. Deak has been very busy draw-
ing up the new Address, of the adoption of which
little doubt seems to be entertained, and it is also '
thought that the union of parties and smoothing
down of points of difference, which have been among
the most notable consequences of the last Imperial
Rescript, are likely to be prominently displayed in the
next debates of the Deputies. Concerning the Address
itself nothing positive is known, but report says that
it will reply point by point to the Resoript, and will
be of a very cogent and decided character. All the
information that reaches me is to the effect that the
Hungarians are more than ever determined to pt►e-
sue a policy of resistance, that not a resignation
will be sent in, and that deputies, obergespane, and
county authorities will all remain in their places
until ejected from them by force. An important
piece of intelligence, in the correctness of which I
have rather strong reasons to confide, is that, as a re-
sult of recent communications between the different
parties concerned, a perfect understanding has been
come to between the Czech and Polish deputies to
the Reichsrath and the Liberal portion of the Croa-
tian Diet on the one hand, and the Hungarians on
the other, and that future harmony of action has
been arranged. If this be a fact its importance
needs not to be enlarged upon.
In a recent letter I referred to a warning respect-
ing Hungarian affairs said to have been received in
Vienna from Prince Richard Metternich, the Aus-
trian Minister in Paris. I should, perhaps, have
explained that this warning was contained in letters
addressed by him to influential .members of the
Aulic Council. In strong terms, it is said, he urged
an amicable and speedy arrangement of the pend-
ing question with Hungary, as a measure which he
considered dictated by urgent necessity. Thus far
the statement rested on the authority of papers
favourable to the Hungarian cause, which did not
f it to point out that Metternich, in his central posi-
tion at Paris, and with the opportunities he there
enjoyed, was likely to be better informed than the
Vienna Cabinet of the designs and intrigues of
Austria's foes. Information of a private nature
tends to confirm the newspaper statement that Prince
Metternich has written to friends in the sense above
stated. lam assured that, in a recent audience of
the Emperor, one of those friends spoke to his Ma-
jesty of the opinion his Ambassador had expressed,
and that the information appeared to make an im-
pression upon Francis• Joseph, who is reported to
be much harassed and made very anxious by' the
difficulties of the Hungarian question.
Less than two miles up stream from the magnifi-
cent suspension-bridge that connects Pesth and
Buda, and before the straggling buildings of the
latter place have ceased upon your left handy you
come to a long green island, so thickly fringed -with
trees that at this season nearly all that can be dis-
cerned of it is an irregular mass of foliage. Th is is
the Margaretheninsel (Margaret's Island), so called
from the patron saint of a monastery which stood
upon it centuries ago, and fragments of the ruins of
which still remain. It was once a pheasant pre serve
of the renowned Hungarian King Matthias Cor-
vinus, the most distinguished warrior and law giver
of his time, whose exploits in defence of his cci =try
against the continual attacks of Turks and Aus-
trians, Poles and Bohemians, and other neigh bour-
ing foes, to this day furnish topics for the pencil
of Hungarian artists and the songs of Hungarian
bards. Having come into the hands of the Inuni-
cipality of Pesth, by this city it was presented to
the Archduke Palatine of Hungary. But, like
many other pleasant spots of earth, it seem s be-
loved of churchmen, and to have a tendency to get
into their hands. The brothers of the Ordier of
Mercy, who have a convent in Pesth, rents it of
its present owner, the Archduke Stephen, and
maintain a small floating colony upon it. There is a
commodious house there, where bishops and other
church dignitaries sometimes take up their summer
residence, and where even laymen may find accom-
modation for a due consideration ; and from another
house, although it be not strictly an inn, creature
comforts, both solid and liquid, may without diffi-
culty be obtained at no exorbitant charge, the wine
being the produce of a trim vineyard which occu-
pies the centre of the island, and readily yields in a
fair average year its 1,800 dozen of light but very
agreeable liquor. In the interior of the island are
found forest trees and thickets and green sward,
flower-beds, orchards, and kitchen-gardens. There
is an agreeable mixture of wilderness and cultiva-
tion—sylvan ruggedness but partially overcome by
spade and pruning hook. The pheasants which sup-
plied King Matthias with sport in the short intervals
of his frequent campaigns against Turkish pashas
and Transylvanian Voivodes have disappeared, but,
in their place, peacocks strut across the lawns and
stand sentry, with discordant challenge, at the en-
trance of woodland paths. There is no lack of
animal life in the island, or of that ample provision
for the larder which has often irreverently been con-
sidered peculiarly to characterise conventual estab-
lishments ; compact bodies of ducks and geese and
fluttering squadrons of fowls range in the vicinity of
the farmhouse, and calves, very much fatted, go in
troops at eventide to their watering-place in the
Danube. The police of the island, detective and pro-
tective, is confided to a number of powerful dogs, who
roam about at night and deter marauders. There is
but one vehicle on the territory of St. Margaret's ;
it is of simple form and fashion and capable of con-
taining four human beings—the consent having
been previously obtained of a steady-looking insular
donkey, the parent of a playful young ass which
' kicks up its heels in a fashion that would have
delighted the poet who sang of that interesting
animal. In the evening the big Danubian
fish leap and splash about the banks, and the
gnats and midges arise in myriads and bloodily
assault the visitor. Were St. Margaret's isle in
the Thames instead of in the Danube, as near to
London as it is to Pesth, and with its present capa-
bilities, some enterprising genius would assuredly
get hold of it and convert it into an establishment
which would utterly destroy Cremorne. As it is,
people do go from Pesth to stroll and sup upon it,
but the journey is a double one, by steamer and
row-boat, and it is but little frequented in compa-
rison with its merits. This island, according to
to day"s Pester Lloyd, " was recently thoroughly
searched by the police, in quest of a personage
whose name has in recent times been often men-
tioned, but who assuredly must be very far from
the lovely Danube island." The Pesth journal gives
this as something more than mere rumour, and,
indeed, it has been most confidently asserted
that the search was made by a whale company of
Austrian soldiers, and that the person sought was
General Turr. The natives of the island, however,
perhaps with truth and perhaps from prudential
motives, will not admit that any such military visit
has been paid to them, and it is ridiculous to sup-
pose that the Austrian Government would seek
Turr in the vicinity of Pesth, when assuredly they
must know by their agents the exact place of his
whereabouts abroad. For searches and arrests of
a political nature the Austrians now employ the
troops. Their own police here is chiefly for secret
purposes of spying—that is to say, the town police
is Hungarian, and so the military must be em-
ployed, however arbitrary and unconstitutional such
a course may be, in matters relating to political
offenders. Thus, at noon on Friday, a party, con-
sisting of six soldiers and no less than four officers
repaired to the hotel of the Golden Eagle in the
Inhere Stadt quarter of Pesth, and, while the
soidiers remained in a street opposite and two of
the officers below, the two others, a captain and a
lieutenant-colonel, entered the house and went
straight to a room where three gentlemen were
sitting, whose names they demanded. One of these,
who gave the name of Nagy, was declared by the

Yesterday morning, about 8 o'clock, Tooley-street
and Dockhead, Southwark, were the scene of an-
other terrible fire, which up to noon had laid in
ruins property valued at several thousand pounds.
This fire commenced on the premises of Messrs.
Curling and Co., wharfingers, running from Tooley-
street into Dockhead. The buildings were better
known to the public as forming a portion of Davis's
Wharf, while on the western side stood Mark
Brown's Wharf, only separated from the premises
of Messrs. Curling by an extremely narrow cartway.
The building in which the disaster commenced was
200 or 250 feet long by 60 broad, and contained an
immense quantity of goods, including 8,000 bales of
jute, &c. The premises termed Mark Brown's had
over 10,000 casks of tallow and grease deposited in
them, and an immense quantity of cocoa-nut oil.
The eastern end was termed Hartley. Wharf, in
which naphtha, oil, turpentine, resin, and other
ignitable articles were stored. The last-named
buildings were erected especially in a peculiar
manner to resist, if possible, the ravages of a fire

breaking out near them.
The discovery appears to have been made by an
officer of the M division, who, according to his own
account, noticed smoke pouring out of some of the
windows facing Mark Brown's warehouses. The
officer at once sent off to the Tooley-street station
of the Fire Brigade, and also to the rains of the
great fire close by, for proper assistance to come
immediately. During that time men employed on
the wharf and a number of strangers, by great ex-
ertion and no little personal risk, managed to get
out of the warehouses several hundred bales of jute,
bnt that which could not be reached blazed up like
a furnace in full operation. Information was sim-
ultaneously despatched to the Southwark Water
Company's offices, apprising the secretary of the
outbreak, and in the course of three or four minutes
Mr. Quick, jun.,, the engineer, assisted by Mr.
Restler, the chief inspector, attended. The fire by
this time had got the complete possession of the
building containing the jute, and, although it was
daylight, the fire rose high, and spread a grand
light over the neighbourhood. Mr. Superintendent
Brandford, and Inspectors Reid, Moore, Turpin,
Mackintosh, Mackenzie, and Mr. Superintendent
Evans, of the Thames police, had a number of boats
moored along the front of the wharves, manned by
nearly 50 constables, to protect the property of the
sufferers, there being not less than 50 men trying
in boats to steal the salvage.
The engines of the parish, under Mr. Squires,
and the London Brigade, under Superintendents
Henderson and Fogo, and Engineers Perryer,
Flinn, Gerard (superintendent of the steam engines)
and Mr. Hodges, the distiller, with his powerful
brigade, were quickly on the spot and at work,
owing to the good supply of water, and the judi-
cious directions given by Mr. Shand, of the firm of
Shand and Mason, and Mr. Birkbeck, a son•in-law
of the late Mr. Braidwood; the land steam-engine
and the powerful floats were called into requisition,
but the fire for hours continued to extend, and
at one period it was feared that it would have
communicated with Mark Brown's Wharf, and
also the extensive premises of Messrs. Hartley,
whose name is so well known in the shipping trade.
Fortunately such was not the case, and by noon the
firemen appeared to have confined the flames to
about 200 feet of the wharf. However, an immense
body of fire still remained under the heaps of jute
&c. Mr. William Hodsoll and Mr. Closs, two gen-
tlemen who are assessors for various fire insurance
companies, were present during the whole day, and
by their directions the extension of the fire was cut
off in the road lesAing towards Mark Brown and
Hartley's wharves.
The fire, how ever, continued to burn throughout
the day, and was not entirely extinguished at 9
o'clock last night . One of the hand engines of the
brewery drew wt Lter out of a well on the premises
280 feet deep, anti worked from an 18 inch stroke,
and 61-inch bar rel. Mr. Charles White, of the
County Fire-offici:, and Mr. Green, Superintendent
of Mark Brown's warehouse, were indefatigable in
their exertions tc awards getting the fire subdued.
Messrs. Leach an d Neal's private engines, furnished
by Mr. Merrywes .they, of Long-acre, were also found
to be of great use in getting the fire extinguished.
The jute on the pi emises having been tightly pressed
upon the bandages, if such they can be called, be-
coming iguited, i t expanded to such an extent as to
cause the walls of ' the wharf to get out of the per-
pendicular, as wt Ls the case at Scovell's wharf and
depot, where Mr. • Braidwood unfortunately perished.
The police of the M and A (reserve) and Thames
divisions were ob liged to be kept on duty until a
late hour.

OFFICIAL REPORT.
" 8 A.M.—Dail is's 'vVharf (land side), Potter's-
.fields, C. Curling and Co., proprietors.—Cause of
tire unknown. Buildings insured in the Sun,
Phcenix, Guardian, and Manchester ; the contents
insured in the Manchester Office.
"The fire was extinguished by firemen and the
Southwark Company's and Thames boats. The en-
gines present wexe three of A district, two of B, four
of D district of the London establishment, three
private, and Cou: rage and Donaldson's steam-engine,
as well as the 1 and engine of Messrs. Shand and
Mason (steam), and the upper steam float. A shed
and brick buileiing, about 200 feet by 60, lettered
D 1 and D 2, containing about 8,000 bales of jute
and hemp, all 'out destroyed.
" Ditto—A. Johnson and Co., merchants—Con-
tents insured In the Manchester Fire-office. Similar
damage.
" Ditto—Messrs. Raible and Brothers—Contents
insured in theßoyal Exchange and Imp rial Fire-
offices. :Building of one floor, 200 feet by 60, nearly
destroyed.
" Ditto—Messrs, Curling, wharfingers—ln-
suranee unknown. Building lettered D 3, contain-
ing jute, contents damaged by water and removal,
communicating with D 1 and 2.
" Ditto—Building insured in the Sun and other
fire-offices.—Build ing lettered 821 and 23. Ditto,
lettered B 1 and. 2. Fronts severely damaged by
heat."
The premises in which the disaster occurred were
erected as recently as 1859 and 1860. They were of
substantial brick tend timber.
The Royal Society's fire escape conductors were
present, and rendered essential aid to the firemen,
As to the origin of the fire nothing is positively
known, only that :it commenced in D 2 warehouse,
rapidly extending to D 1, and thence to the other
warehouses.
Destructive fires; also broke out yesterday on the
premises of Mr. J. Raby, Oxenden-road, Lower-
road, Islington ; a i those belonging to Messrs. En-
fe it work proprietors ; and on those
Thite Hart- court, Charter-house.
Nofeorntiera.onilfdihßjoeomilifywe:.R.l3 extinguished until a great deal
of property had. b een destroyed.

CAANADTAN MA ILS —The Montreal Oeean Steam
skip Company's steal 'whip Nova Scotian sailed from Liver-
pool yesterday for Montreal and Quebec. Besides the
usual Canadian mail (s, the Nova Scotian took out about 60
cabin passengers, a 4 d had also upwards of 26,000 in gold
oh freight.

4+~~.Jialb.

An extraordinary else is now standing for judg-
ment in the Court of Arches, bearing strongly 11P°11,
many of the points involve': in the " Essays ana
Reviews." The promoter of the suit is the Bishop
of Winchester, through his secretary, Mr. Jelin
Burder, of Parliament-street, and the defendant is
the Rev. Dunbar Isidore Heath, 1V1.A., formerly
Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, and neW
vicar of Brading, in the Isle of Wight, a benefice to
which he was appointed by his College in 1816'
The proceedings were taken under the Act of Queen
Elizabeth, "An Act for the ministers of the Church
to be of sound religion," and the defendant is se;
cused of having " printed, published, dispersed, and
set forth a certain book or pamphlet containing 3
course of sermons, 19 in number, and of having
therein advisedly maintained and affirmed certain
positions or doctrines directly contrary and repur
nant to the doctrine of the United Church of Eng'
land and Ireland as by law established, and esPe"
cially to the Articles of Religion?' A large number
of passages from Mr. Heath's published volume et
sermons are quoted to sustain the articles filed agni.esi
him. The following article contains the prinellis
charges which Mr. Heath had to meet :
" And we article and object to you, the said Pell;
bar Isidore Heath, that you did, in the passage„
hereinbefore recited, being portions of the said bool'
or pamphlet, or course of sermons, advisedly mall 3
tain or affirm the doctrine that the idea and phrase
' guilt of sin' are not only absent from Scripture,b. r
darken and confuse the clearest of the otherW
most intelligent and comforting statements of 1101
Writ, the said doctrine being directly contrary atci
repugnant to that part of the second of the said
Articles of Religion, which affirms that Christ-an."
fered, was crucified, dead, and buried, to be a saerari
free not only for original guilt, but also for act
Il
sins of men ; and that you did therein also advisedlyd
maintain or affirm the doctrine that the ideas and
phrases ' going to heaven,' going to hell,' are fuse
only absent from Scripture, but darken and eerl",,a
the clearest of the otherwise most intelligible re,
comforting statements of Holy Writ, the said u°st
trine being directly contrary and repugnant to that
clause of the Creed of Athanasius which declares 0
to be part of the Catholic faith that they that ba
done good shall go into life everlasting, and they lo
have done evil into everlasting fire ; and that L.,
did also therein advisedly maintain or affirm the,'+l:o
trine that the idea and phrase immortality 0' ir',o
soul' are not only absent from Scripture, butdarDlo,
and confuse the clearest of the otherwise raeSdt n'ip
telligible and comforting statements of J. 174
Writ, the said doctrine being directly contraild
and repugnant to that clause of the td,
creed, commonly called the Apostles' Cr-na
which declares our belief in the life everlasting, and
to that clause of the said Creed of Athanasius
declares it to be part of the Catholic faith that t.
that have done good shall go into life everlaalr;
and they that have done evil into everlasting ,•01
and to that clause of the said Nicene Creed we'itio
declares that we look for the resurrection °hot
dead and the life of the world to come ; Lou 'tlie
you did also therein advisedly maintain or atfir°, ste
doctrine that the idea and phrase' satisfaction
and
not only absent from Scripture, but darken
confuse the clearest of the otherwise most in
ble and comforting statements of Holy Writt
said doctrine being directly contrary and repugi,"eie
to that part of the 31st of the said Articles of Poo
gion which declares that the offering of Christ
offered is the perfect redemption, propitiatiee,,d
satisfaction for all the sins of the whole worle'joei
there is none other satisfaction for sin but that s"00:
and that you did also therein advisedly maieteleeer
affirm the doctrine that the idea and phrase ?tore,
sary to salvation' are not only absent from Ser'lltter,
but darken and confuse the clearest of the evol
wise most intelligible and comforting statoneecor
Holy W, it, the said doctrine being directl374
trary and repugnant to that clause of the saidng
of Athanasius which declares that to believe rte,
the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ is
sary to everlasting salvation, and to that elite',
the last mentioned creed which declares that e 9 a,
cannot be saved except he believes faithftny
Catholic faith, and to the 6th of the said Artielcoir
Religion, which declares that Holy Scripture tot
taineth all things necessary to salvation, s°,ol
whatsoever is not read therein, nor may be :011,
thereby, is not to be required of any wan ogll'
should be believed as an article of faith, or tiPt
requisite or necessary to salvation ; and 1111;,,
ttie
did therein also advisedly maintain or avir'Y
doctrine that the word merit' is an incomPreor,
sible and unscriptural word, which darkens e
thing, the said doctrine being directly contraritelr
repugnant to the 11th of the said Articles of or
gion, which declares that we are accounted rim
ous before God only for the merits of our Lot 14
Saviour Jesus Christ ; or that you did t'',so6
advisedly maintain or affirm doctrines to the
purport and effect respectively." lifer
It is expected that Dr. Lushington will de for
judgment before the breaking up of the Court
the long vacation.

CO UNTR Y MARKETS.

MANCHESTER—Auct. 1. ff de4h;
Our market this morning was but moderately a.-ef t-1
Best samples of English wheat brought the prieeo rejto
previous week for best qualities ; inferior sorts oti.ecttd
2d to 3d higher, with a slow business. Sales resgits ter),
the finest sorts of flour, at previous quotations• v
oatmeal in limited request. Beans were the WO
your of buyers, but Indian corn was 6d dearer.

LYNN —JULY 30. to
Old white
Barley. s3s to 56s I Old red ......... ...
4ss
Beans too.lo
28s to 32s I Oats.. ......... t°
Beans .4os to 46s I Peas ........... j

PLYMOUTH—JULY 30. cel lii
'*7lo
,
The market was inactive, with a small atteno*9
paices were about last week's currencies—Eilg',l clol,i
wheat, 60s to 61s ; red, 56s to 57s per qr ; Freoc,;„, od
36
to 625; American, 61s to 63s ; Spanish, 74s tog to
sian, 60s to 625. Barley in good supply, at 5 Igo;
qr for malting ; grinding, 32s to 36s ; oats, 24s t°
beans, —s to —s; flour, 44s to 46s 6d.
,I,

. .
The following wereCORK—JULY the quotations3l this rnortlirleY
wheat, 27s Od to —s 01; white, 28s 6d to —s °a;
6d to 18s Od ; oats, 13s Od to —s Od.

EDINBURGH GRAIN—JULY 31' 9011;01
Os ,o 0
Wheat on the top os tip,
Barley on the top Os Gd down average oa
Oats on the top Os 3d down average 19 ga
Beans on the top is Od up.... average Is

. .
Averages per Imperial quarter. cos
'W heat ..
New wheat .... .... .... £2O
'lO3 00 100:Nris
Barley 1 12 2 1- *ll5
Oats 1 10 7 61.20
Beans - --
Total Supply and Sales. ce
'Wheat .1960 qrs sold 14;0 ,' qrs
Barley... 3lO qrs Sold 1, l'' aro
Oats
Beans 122 qrs Sold lu` -

DERBY SMITHFIELD—JuLY 30;01,1%
A small number of fat beasts to-day, but a:„ ti
only only of the middling sort. The best quality ';'. ply; '
inferior a heavy sale. Sheep and lambs were 11
bet'
supply. An average show of fat pigs and 5°lCl t4.l'
,
good supply of calves. 6(1 .to ':
Beet 6d to 71d Veal . ......... • 6cl ,ioo`
Mutton ... N S
dto 74d Pork ........ •., t'
Lamb Bd to 84d Rough fat, 4s ',.1,1 u'fr.
1
Hides, 3d to 4-1 d ; calf skins,
6d to ii
--.......• eel,
_--
....... 0
to 4
[ADVERTISEMENT.] Holloway's rills' att"K
Changes.—rhe electrical conditions of the,dtl3,4r
exercise a powerful influence over the human ."--001/,‘
headache, lassitude, and feverishness affect 0 ,0 a
sons prior to &thunderstorm. They would seeel ideoS:
the health by affecting the nervous' centres, an,".110 ifejlej
the balance of the circulation. Holloway's 1 lad frA
adapted to rust ,re order and rescue the weak a i 00,
~
from the relaxation caused by excessive heat,
tration tration which invariably occurs when the ier;it
irritated and discomposed, whether by attneolo/V,
fluences or by other causes. These Pills at on!e'ro,
the appetite and digestion, render the nervous q‘ele)
vigorous, diminish excessive sensibility, render LIE',
far more agreeable, and invigorate the museuler/r,
d
u

G 1 •nonEfieuNraia
rr e
,Iou e
Frederica
daughter.r
: vd
0...........-- .
BiltT HS. 4.illite‘
BAGOT.—On the 30th ult., at Blithefield, Staffol {,
Lady Bagot, of a daughter. of
_On the 31st ult., at 51, Green-stretet:oi°l' i
le-
DALE —On the 28th ult., at Lee, Kent, the vil e
all
_ricia4are, the wife of the Rev. John D. ae '
Esq., of a son.
Pt
Ownri.—On the Ist inst., at 2, Winch!. 4 ' °s(l' .s.ei -I
G. Owen, of a son. j
tor
ossfir.R\ivc.hEar.ditOorulseebaßr
MARRIAGES. t.,./!;
eernieloacks,
t.Rjicohhanr,d
youngestOrlebar Editsti,ill'e, of i
ORLEBAR—BOUGHTON,-011 the 30th ult., l'olpi
OuEgshcito'no,f
Bilarint.wick' 11°::bet41:4;
RowF
.—HAMMOND.—On the 25th inst , 5-4.0 '.'
Church, Mr. Thomas Rowe, of Carnbricige!jer
daughter of the late Mr. John Hamraond,°' Ot
Norfolk, /
I) E A T H s. Se 3
CHAMBRES.—On the 27thult., P lt n..cullr ,f,'
at oo 0
Win C. Chambres, Esq., aged
74. JP° 0
in A ?
GitovEß.—On the 30th ult., at New Peclata- 'ti b-'4,01,,,
Grover, Esq., of Bedford-row, solicitor, agfage, j:2',f
MANGLES.—On the 31st ult., at Fairfield C?tle., are, ',"'
hill, Robert Mangles, Esq., of Sunninruf' gOtiblP
ONSLOW.—On the 30th ult., at Woodbrid:i•-p d'
Guildford, the Hon. Edward Mainwariagit''' red,
aged 62. oil
i sll'
1-, olar. I .at
PROUSE —On the 27th ult.,' ati 10, Felr-„r„,, 0 ,Ar
sington, W., William Henry Prouse, -r-A ''' '
,4tior
head, aged 29. 1)4
STEDMAN.—On the 27th ult., at Horshata•
Esq

41,
,00 IrOcOtr I
"--
LONDON : Printed and Published by 3113 ' .
'0.1,P
No. 112, Strand, Printer, at TIIE SUN Nicely et
in the Precinct of the Savoy, in the Coull"
Friday, August 2, 18$31.