The Sun.
London, England, 1857-12-22 00:00:00

LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING-, DECEMBER 22, 1857.

MONT BLANC IS OPEN TO-NIGHT.

CHRISTY' -t MINSTRELS, POLYGRAPHIC.
HALL. King-William-street. Strand.
TIIE ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-THIRD ENTER-
TAINMENT.

Seventh week of the JULLIEN BURLESQUE, received nightly
with shouts of laughter. Doors open at half-past 7, commence at 8.
stalls, 35.; area, 25.; amphitheatre, Is.; Private Boxes, IL Is.
Seats can be secured at Mr. Mitchell's, 33, Old Bond-street, and at
the Hall. On Thursday and Saturday, a Morning Entertainment,
commencing at 3.

PROFESSOR WILJALBA FRIKELL.
ST. JAMES'S THEATRE.—PHYSICAL and NITURAL
MAGIC.—TWO HOURS OF ILLUSIONS.—Saturday Afternoons
at 3, and Every Etening at S (except Thursday and Friday, Eec.
24th and •25th). Stalls, 55.: balcony Stalls, 45.; Boxes, 35.; Pit,
25.; Gallery, Is. ; Private Boxes, two guineas: one guinea and a-
half, and one guinea.—Places to be secured at Mr. Mitchell's, Royal
Library, 33, Old Bond-street.

rDELAIDE GALLERY, Lowther Arcade,
Strand.—Great success of M. Lamotte's Havelock Schottische.
and Grand Fantasia from " Ii Trovatore," ani the New Caledonian
Quadrille by Charles HAI. Principal cornet-a-piston, M. Boulcoart.
Open every evening at half-past 8. Dancing commences at 9. The
Argyll Band is to be engaged for private Balls. - R. R. BIGNELL, Ma-
nager.

DR. KAHN'S MUSEUM AND GALLERY
OF SCIENCE, 3, Tichborne•street, facing the Haymarket
This Institution presents entirely new features and offers unpre-
cedented attrictions. Its object will be to combine Natural with
EXPERIMENTAL SCIENCE, and to show the connection be-
tween the functions of the Human Body and the great Forces of
the Universe. Amonwit the numerous novelties now added, may be
named the large Oxyhydrogen Microscope, GUENAL'S AP-
PAREIL (JR ANOGRAPHIQUE (now first introduced). The latest
improvements in Electric and other Apparatus (including RUHM-
KORFF'S WORLD-RENOWNED COIL), Illustrations of Micro.
sconic Anatomy, Dissolving Views of Physiological Phenomena,
upon a principle never before attempted, &c. Lectures are delivered
daily on the various branches of Science, and their application to
the Human Frame, the Laws of Life, and the Preservation of Health,
by Dr. Kahn and Dr. Sexton. The Institution Is illuminated outside
with DU BOSQUE'S MAGNIFICENT ELECTRIC LIGHT.
Open (for Gentlemen only) from 12 till 5, and from 7 till 10 o'clock.
Admission to the whole Building, One Shitling. Illustrated Cata-
logues, Sixpence. Programmes and Lectures gratis on application,
or by Post free for six stamps.

COMMERCIAL TRAVELLERS' SCHOOL
for ORPHAN and NECEiSIIOUS CHILDREN, PINNER'

PATRON—His Royal Highness PRINCE ALBERT.

The ANNIVERSARY DINNER to celebrate the foundation of
this Institution will be held at the LONDON TAVERN, Bishops-
gate-street, on S TURD kY, the 26th of December. W. M.
TIIACKERAY, Esq . has kindly consented to take the chair. Mr.
Alderman and Sheriffs Lawrence, and William Roupell, Esq.,
ALP., have promised to attend. Tickets, One Guinea each, to be
obtained from any of the Stewards, or at the Offices of the Institu-
tion, 81, Cheapside.

ALFRED LENCII SAI7L, Secretary.
December 21,11157.

COMMERCIAL TRAVELLERS' SCHOOLS
for ORPHAN and NECESSITOUS CHILDREN, PINNER.

Patron, His Royal Highness Prince ALBERT.

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN, That a GENERAL HALF-
YEARLY COURT of the Governors of this Institution will be held
on MoNDAY, the 2iitti inst., at the London Tavern, Bishopsgate•
street, to commence at 11 o'clock in the forenoon, when an Election
of Children (six boys and four girls) will take place, when all
such questions and matters as may be lawfully brought before the
Court will be discussed and decided.

ALFRED LENCII SAUL, Secretary.
81, Cheapside, Dec. 21, 1857.

diminution to the privations, of many a straitened house
the apparently immaterial alteration of a word has made.
The statistics in Thom's Almanac shows that the y early
dividends of the Bank were it no time less than 5i per
-qa., except in 1783-4, when they were 5, and in 1792-3,
when they were 213. From 1800 to 1814 they were 7, 74,
and 76 ; from 1814 to 1829 10 per cent.. excepting two
years ; and since 1829 until the last 12 months they
have been 8, 81, and 9. Besides these dividends the pro-
prietors at different times have received bonuses
amounting to 800,0001. A bonus of 5 per cent. was paid
i❑ January, 1856.

MR. SMITH O'BRIEN ON SELF-BELIAIVCE,

A few days ago Mr. W. S. O'Brien made his first
appearance as a public lecturer before the Limerick
Mechanics' Institute of that city;
and right well did
Mr. O'Brien discharge the duty which devolved
upon him as the speaker of the inaugural address
of the session of 1838. His remarks upon the vari-
oui topics which he brought under the notice of his
audience were mostly characterised by sound sense,
and by an avoidance of all reference to the Utopian
schemes which had hitbdrto formed the staple stock
of those patriots who had traded extensively upon
Irish grievances and their remedy.
Self-reliance, in
Ur. O'Brien's view, should be the beginning of the
moral revolution whichi would raise Ireland from a
state of mere provincialism. " Instead," he justly.
remarked, " of considering what we can do for our-
selves, we are always inclined to inquire what can
others do for us ?" And by way of illustration he
observed

"I shall only add one word more, by way of exhorta-
tion to the young men of this cCiuntry, for the purpose
of endeavouring to induce them to abandon the habit,
which unfortunately prevails to a great extent, of seek-
ing to obtain situations under Government. This habit
does not exist so much among the working classes as
among the middle classes and among the wealthiest
ranks of society. Such a disposition of mind tends much
to degrade thecharacter of this country and to check the
natural energies of our people. I am confident that it
would be found upon inquiry that for every appointment
under Government conferred upon an Irishman there are
at least 20 competitors. Now if this be the case, it is
manifest that upon the occasion of each vacancy at least
19 persons must be disappointed ; and these 19 persons
are for the most part induced to bang on, re ying upon
a vague hope, in a listless state of expectation, instead
of exerting their natural energies to make an independ-
ent position for themselves in the honourable occupations
of industry or commerce. This system of expectancy
tends also to degrade the character of our public men.
It is well understood at the Treasury that pa'ronage is
given only to those who are prepared to, offer an equiva-
lent for it in the support afforded to the Government of
the day. Hew is it possible, then, that a representative
can maintain his Parliamentary independence if he be con-
staialy urged to solicit situations for his constituents I
These remarks do not, however, apply to a system of pro-
motion dependent on competitive ex Arnination.' If such
a system could be universally established and acted upon
with integrity, the acquirement of a situation under
Government would be honourable to the successful
and even those who might fail would hive the advantage
of an educational preparation which would he highly
useful to them in whatever path of life they might sub.
Bequently choose. But I fear that we are still far from
the estat lishment of a system of promotion which would
depend wholly upon merit; and I speak not with refer-
ence to changes which may possibly hereafter occur, but
with reference to what actually exists.
"Few living men have mingled with so many different
grades of society, or have seen so many vicissitudes of
life • and this experience has taught me that moral worth
andintellectuel prowess are not the exclusive) inheri-
tance of any particular class. On the contrary, I am
convinced that there is often to be found in the breast
of an industrious mechanic snore of genuine dignity
than inhabits that of the haughtiest peer. I have
dwelt in lordly mansions and in thatched cottages, and
this experience has convinced me that genuine happiness
is as often to be found beneath the lowly roof as in the
regal palace. Among the men that I have known who
have obtained the highest success in a professional or
commercial career the greater part have been the archi•
tects of their own fortunes : have owed everything to
their own abilities and perseverance. lam able therefore
to speak in terms of encouragement to the young
mechanics who have done me the honour to ask me to
address them to-night, and to assure them as well as the
classes to whom Fortune has been more propitious, that
both individual advancement and nation it greatness can
under the blessing of Providence be secured only by
cherishing the manly sentiment of self-reliance. We ought
not, indeed, to reject the co-operation of those whose
sympathies we are entitled to elaim. On the contrary, I
have endeavoured to show to-night how many useful ob-
jects might bepromoted by the combieation of those whose
interests are identical; but we oughtdio practise the habit
of considering, not what might be done fiiiimbroaresw,
but what we can do for ourselves. By acting upon
this principle the inhabitants of Ireland have it in their
power to make this country a realm whose name shall
be mentioned with honour throughout all ages and
among all nations of the earth. Since we cannot erase
from our annals the pages which tell of dissension, and
suffering, and degradation, let us at least pray that our
postern), may hereafter enact and record, a history that
shall reelise our fondest aspirations."

MORTARS AND MORTARS.

_ -
In the naval and military intelligence of Saturday it
was announced that the 36-inch mortar designed by Lord
Palmerston had again been subjected to trial and again
shown signs of defective construction. The association
of the Prime Minister's name with this monster cannon
is no doubt duo to its having been ordered by him on
his own responeibility, without the previous sanction of
the War Department and the Woolwich authorities. The
latter are probably anxious to have it clearly under-
stood that they have had no share in recommending the
construction of so useless a piece of ordnance. They
may oven quote it as a set off against the still more
conspicuous failure of the Lancaster gun, for which
they are undoubtedly answerable, and the manufacture
of which, after an enormous expen
fiture, has been
finally abandoned. In truth, whether the public looks to
the existing state of artill-ry science at Woolwich, or to
the experiments which have found promoters there, or
to those which have been forcibly thrust upon the War
r
office by the pressure of inventors out of doors, the re-
sults hitherto realised have been equally unsatisfactory.
The Russians did,
indeed, cover the humiliation of their
retreat from the south tide of Sebastopol by calling the
fire of their opponents a "feu d'enfer," but can we take
much credit for the compliment implied in that term
Toe late war clearly
enough dernonetrated that the Bri-
tish army has not, as it undoubt.dly ought to have, any
conspicuous or decisive Superiority ove r those of other
countries in the artill ry arm,
and that a monstrous
wastefulness of ammunition and materiel, which in
the strictest sense of the words means money—a
wastefulness preposterously out, of proportion to the
destructive effects produced is common to all.
It being proved, therefore, that we are only on a par
with other European States upon this point, and that
the existing system is very far short of what it should be
in effectiveness, we now find ourselves called upon to
cenfess, at the end of several years devoted to experi-
ment, that our attempts
at improvements have not been-
successful ; that Na•myth's wrought-iron gun, Krupp's
steel gun, Mallet's huge mortar, Lancaster's rifled can-
non, and many more of the same class, have failed ; and
that we have very little to show for the money expended
in these abortive schemes beyond the knowledge that
we cannot violate the laws of mechanical construction
and of chemical science with impunity. Whether the
new rise, of ordnance was favour-d at the War-office, or
the Horse Guards, or down at Woolwich, or by the
Prime Minister, the result has still been of the same un-
fortunate character. The Russians, with their superior
quality of iron, can at least equal, if they do not sur-
pass, us in the size of their heaviest ordnance. Our allies
the French claim to be more effective than we are upon
the all-important point of field artillery. Are we, then,
to submit to this dangerous equality, and do our un-
rivalled mechanical resources offer us no escape from a
position which the backward state of artillery science
throughout Europe only renders the more humilia-
ting ? The answer cannot be doubJul ;i ndeed, if we are
not mistaken, the question has already found its proper
practical solution. W e must give up all attempts to set
the laws of the material world at defiance—to rifle can-
non so that they must either burst themselves or their
shells—to cast and to weld iron in masses which far
transcend the limits hitherto attainable consistently with
sound workmanship--to achieve by a tour de force what
can only be obtained by the regular graduated advance
of judicious and well-directed experiment. This succes-
sion of failures ir. the Woolwich marshes only illustrates
sameone-h esimpleeconomic
superiorto t h
ter uthe
waggon,
the narrow-guage
which place a limit to
the size of the London dray-horse—which makes the
to the broad-guage for goods traffic, which compelled our
mechanical engineers to seek by the fast action of ors cart
per•
fectly forged parts in their marine engines for the power
which the size and consequent imperfections of larger
parts working at slower speeds could not maintain with-
out the risk of constant breakdowns.
While some men of really inventive talent and a
great many charlatans have been permitted to
waste the public money in y trying vainly
to improve
our artillery, it seems passing strange that it should
not long ago have been discovered how impossible
it was to hope for successful results in the direction
in which they were working. It was clear that while
increased range and precision of firing were wanted, it
was nearly as important to bring the charges of ammu-
nition and the weight of rceral in guns into more manes
geablo proportions to each other, and to the facilities for
transit on active service. No sensible man can have
witnessed the frightful damage done to the efficiency of
our army in the Crimea by the exigencies of the siege-
orain during the winter of 1854-5 without being im
pressed with this conviction. The principle of the rifle
offered an obvious suggestion for the proper means
wore issg out the foregoing problem, but then for artil
lery rifling by grooves would not do without the use of
a pliant metal in the projecille, and the cost of- lead ren-

dered its application to that purpose impracticable. It
was necessary therefore to alter the existing mode of rift-
ing, an' to modify the boreof the cannon, so tuat an iron
projectile could be discharged from it rotating on its own
axis in the line of flight. This reFtft once secured, it is
of ♦ions that a field piece or gun of position would become
- a rifle on a large scale, and that the same immenseincrease
of range end of penetration which had been realised by the
smaller weapon as compared with Brown Bess would be
placed at the command tif the artillery. It is consolatory,
a fter a series of failures worthy even of Brunel in launch-
ing the Leviathan, that the country has al lait the well
grounded hope of an improvement by which our ord-
nance may be placed on a proper footing. In pursuing
those careful experiments which be undertook for the
Government principally to improve the rifle, Mr. Whit-
worth, the eminent machinist, adopted a polygonal
spiral bore of a uniform pitch, but more rapid than
could be attained by grooves. This bore has enabled him
to surpass immensely the range and penetration of the
Enfield rifle ; but even these advantages, important as
they are, scarcely surpass those which it places within
the re ‘ch of our artillery service. The strain of the pro-
jectile being distributed evenly over every side of the
polygon, iron can be substituted for lead in the projectile,
and this simple but beautiful mechanical appliance at
once becomes availabte fur cannon. Moreover, Mr.
Whitworth has discovered in the course of his ezperi- ,
ments that according to the quickness of the turn in the
polygon is the length of the-projectile that may be fired, so
that 241 b. and 481 b. shot have been seat to extraordinary
ranges with halt the usual charge of powder from an ordi-
nary 12-pounder howitzer. Here, then, is at once the so-
lution of the whole question which has troubled the
brains of so many inventors, real or pretended, foryears.
The artilleryman at one stride resumes the relative
position to the soldier of the line which the Enfield rifle
had so perilously deprived him of, and this mechanical
country, after finding herself on the level of France,
Russia, and other European States, is once more, as
daring the Peninsular campaigns, enabled to assert her
natural superiority in the manufacture of cannon. We
trust that no petty jealousies on the part of narrow-
minded officials will be allowed to interfere with the course
of Mr. Whitworth's experiments, and that the encourage-
ment which he is now receiving from the Minister at
War And the Commander-in-Chief will enable him, at no
remote date, to realise for the benefit of the army and
the nation that revolution in gunnery which the results
already obtained by him promise.—Times.

THE W A RDMOTES.

The following is a complei
oilmen elected yesterday :
ALDER

Messrs. R. Beeley
De Jersey
Goodman
Wood ward
Mr. Laws,

ALD,
Messrs. R. B. Whiteside
J. Turnley
R. C. Bucknall
R. Osmond
Mr. R. B. Wh

Its list of the Crnmon Conn

ISGATE.
Messrs. Lawson
J. T. Norris
J. Wood
R. Chaplin
lit Deputy.

Messrs. B. Blrnell
J. Htic.kon
H. Hill
A. Luiik
Deputy.

Messrs. Britton
W. Lister

BASS]

SHAW.
Messrs. C. E. Fuller
A. Locke
Mr. BrittOu, Deputy.

BILLINGSGATE.
Messrs. B. B)wer 1 Messrs. G. C. Graves
J. Roberts "Ben." Slowman
W. Williams f W. Bousfieli
J. Canston ! R. Westall
Mr. B. Bower, Deputy.

BISHOFSGATE.

Memo. T. S. Owen
T. Fricker
J. C. Edmiston
G. Kerry
W. Jones

Messrs. M. Horgood
W. A. Peacock
W. H. Pdcher
J. R. Carr
R. Ashby

. _
J. Warren C. Gilpin
W. Stevens I G. Taylor
Messrs. Stevens and Peacock, Deputies.

BRE.UI-STR6ET.

Messrs. W. Havdrey I Messrs. J. J. Millard
N. Maughan F. Maynard
D. Laurie 1 W. Patten
3. P. Snell I I. M'Cutchen
J. Smith

Mr. ilawt:rey, Deputy.
BRIDGE.
Memo. C. Whethara
J. Arnold
T. Johneon
W. Dray
Mr. Pewtrets, Deputy.
BROAD-STREET.

Messrs. Pewtrees
J. Hill
H. Matthew
J. Low

Mows. T. Corny - Mauro- T. Abraham
C. Warton Her tridge'
J. Humphreys S. H. Waterbw
W. Cox, M.P. J. O'Neill
Mr. T. Corney, Deputy.
CIA.NDLBWIOI{.

Mauro. T. Dakin
J. H. Elliott
F. R. Frinnely
Mr. T. Dal

Messrs. J. Matthews
R. Rowe
J. G. Marratt

in, Deputy.

CASTLE

e s s re . Lon gden
Hicks
T. Parker
G. J. Cockerill

ATNARD.
MeearP. F. Farrer
C. Odell
Adlard
C. Hawkins

Mr. Hicks; Deputy.