The Sun.
London, England, 1844-02-06 00:00:00

IM4 IA I p

ROUSE OF LORDS, Feb: 5.
„Their Lordships assembled at Five o'clock.
41-hat MAJESTY'S. ANSWER TO TUB ADDRESS.
The L 011,1) CHANCELLOR communicated to the
noose her.A.faiesty's answer to the address presented by
the House on Saturday. The answer was as follows:
:xf,Y Lords, I thank you for your loyal and dutiful
'ress. The first -object of my wishes is to promote
the welfare of my people, and I rely with confidence on
Your assurance of support in framing such measures as
11
e interest of the countrymay require?'
9n the motion of
she Earl of SRAFTESBURY, her
-41.esty
s most gracious answer was ordered to be en-
tered on the Journals of the House.

TT," al-S-15FST. ASAPII AND BANGOR.
The Earr of POWIS presented four petitions
tgainst the unions of the two Sees of St. Asaph and
ror. The Noble Earl said he should, on an early
trY brillg the subject under the consideration of the
-40u56..

SLAVERY.
Majesty's
BROUGHAM wished to put a question to her
Government. A great deal of anxiety and
%new ness had been excited amongst persons who wished
or the-abolition of the slave trade, in consequence of
ik)ttiree report respecting negotiations that were at present
, oing Place with respect to the treaties of 1831 and 1833
'weep England and France on the subject of the right
did Pendingany negotiations, he (Lord B.) certainly
ie,not wish to press for any information that it might
',neonvenient to the public service that the Noble
Earl shot, •
, nu give. Perhaps, however, his Noble Friend
41,6" t be able to say a few words that might answer the
thrPoee he (Lord Brougham) had in view by allaying
cone anxiety, the great anxiety, which prevailed in the
11,1t7 upon this subject.
The Earl of ABERDEEN said he should have been
thtd if
-- he had been in a position to give to his Noble
(14,:4,earned Friend the fullest information he might
1);Lre• The subject was undoubtedly of a very weighty
lam
but from the part taken by his Noble and
allied Friend on this subject for so many years, it
toss natural he should show great interest in reference
to
Govern-
ment it. It was perfectly true that the French
h, ad expressed a desire that such modifications
the introduced into the treaties which established
light of search, as without impairing their efficiency
tight render them more conformable to the feelings of
" Preach people. It was not for him (Lord A.) to say
and Learned
wonld be the result of such propositions, but his Hon.
th;Learned Friend, and the House might rest assured
it 4 nothing should be done that in any degree might
Pair the means of suppression of the abominable traffio
1111.314" S• He could assure the House that the French
Ministry was as desirous of the total aholition of the
slave
:s trade as he (Lord Aberdeen) was, and this would
te,ltePt in view by them in any propositions they might
he
to us. With respect to the right of search itself,
„e had witnessed with some regret that it had been
-°tnetimes referred to in a way tending to con-
A
the unwarranted and calumnious representa-
tirt, o, 3 which had been made respecting it on the
othe
r side of the water. It had at times been repre-
,p,at:d in this country, as it had been constantly over the
riviar' that the real object of England in the
~(4 search was to degrade and insult the
tio -e" marine, and to obtain certain informa-
-1 nor''speeting French ships, in order to turn it
;)et , °wn advantage. Incredible as thi• might appear,
,yaii4'es it certain that such a notion extensively pre-
to NOW it was not very likely we should attempt
With a degradation upon another nation that might,
for five-fold weight, be retaliated upon ourselves ;
,th certainly the right of search being mutual.
ere
one French cruiser might be subjected,
th: English ones would be subjected also. In
ports of France, so near to us, surely we could
Re-t
did we desire to do so, far better and fuller infor-
einfor-
mation as to the French marine than on the distant
Abre! Where the right of search existed. He (Lord
spoejueen n ) had sometimes seen the right of search
abe,t of as a great good in itself. It no doubt
ae be made an available means of narrowing the
lestable slave-trade, but of, and in itself,
Qwil
looked upon the right of search as a great
obiL and only to be justified by the great
co;V",,t they had in view. There was nothing else that
tri'l justify so great a sacrifice on the part of his coml-
. Be of course was not prepared to say what might
to the
these result of the negotiations for the modification of
treaties, but he hoped the few words he had now
feri,red would allay any anxiety that might have been
st "Y. his Noble and. Learned Friend or other old and
4tolins.,ch friends of the abolition of slavery.—(Hear, hear.)
fu BROUGHAM said he should be very unreason-
ablefr indeed if he were not satisfied with what had fallen
It°lo the Noble Earl, and he could add that he agreed with
Ito
rdeutto giving the fullest credit to the Govern-
% of France for its hearty wishes to put down
4erodetestable traffic. There certainly was a feeling
ti,,t ad in France that the mode of putting it down was
di- ecaisisrent with their feeling :4 of national honour and
PitY• His Noble Friend had given an unanswerable re-
to this by reminding their French neighbours that we
Qually conceded the same right on our parts, and as
we gawp the right of s..ardi over five or six ships for one,
hot in, up more than they did ; yet we did
he the slightest .degree consider ourselves disho-
iatged, ~13Y it- He entirely- agreed with the Noble Earl
alx-ing that instead of its being a desirable arrange-
!), meet or a good per se, he wished that some mode could
devised for repressing the slave-trade without it, as he
Theed on it rather as an inconvenience than a burden.
in Tust always keep in mind one of two propositions
le,
sling with this question. One of these was, that
hide,and had entirely abolished her own slave
ehad done nine parts out of ten of what was
own duty, and that, strictly speaking, it was that
alone which she could be called on to do, anything beyond
that being in the nature of a work of supererogation.
God forbid that they should in the slightest degree re-
lax fiom their efforts to repress the slave trade, and
that having washed their own hands of the stain, they
should not for the sake of humanity and of Africa,
seek out • other nations to do so also. One thing
they must also always bear in mind, that though
they were philanthropists and statesmen legislating
for Africa, they were also European and English states-
men, and that their primary object must now be the
reservation of peace among the nations of Europe.
the
must not risk that first and greatest blessing for
Ine ti.ke of any work of supererogation or humanity.
To do so would be the most preposterous attempt any
great nation could engage in.

S T It
t '4

MITCHELL'S SCREW-P-4. 7-;:-7-----A,'
'---k---.
BATTERY. . /_-_, -:'''')--. .. ,4,-,,\... d
Since we noticed the evidence of hi4-6ace :the„'ee?-1141;i:re:"Ye ;
Duke of WELLINGTON to the urgent importance oC47:lzi'''' )''lii
providing, not only " Harbours of Refuge "\beteveeri :e---M't /
Portsmouth and the Downs, but also of crect*JVaic..."%,'
r:/.---";•
near the stations to be selected for such hart ethi,:-i' S'
forts to protect the trade of London, entering or de-
parting from the mouth of the Thames ; we
have carefully perused Messrs. MITCHELL and
SoN's " Description and Sketch of a Pa-
tent Screw-pile Battery and Lighthouse."
Having already demonstrated that the prodigious
commerce of the port of London must, in the event
of a "maritime" war—(to preserve the distinction
so justly enforced by the Duke in the evidence
alluded to)—and the continued deficiency of such
protection along the coasts,-,aof that portion, more
especially—of the Channel, be always liable to ducal .
culable injury from the armed steamers of any naval
enemy (for this species of force can readily navigate
in those shallows which, as to other craft, are among
the natural defences of our shores) ; we need not
further insist upon the vital policy involved in the
speediest possible reparation of our long-enduring
negligence.
The sort of screw-pile battery and lighthouse
which Messrs. MITCHELL and SON modestly but
powerfully recomniend, has the invaluable advantage
of being easily erected on sea banks—on banks even
of loose sand, ". at a distance of many miles from this
nearest coast ;"—of being inconceivably streege to
resist the action of high winds, . tempestuous :sew,
and the rolling swells which break outside •so
many of our great estuaries ; and of being very
economical in its construction. These admirable
properties have been excellently tested, and we may
add, triumphantly confirmed. The pamphlet before
us is illustrated by two sketches—the one representing,
in perspective, such a battery and lighthouse " can-
atructed entirely of malleable iron, and having its
screw-pile foundation firmly planted on a bank beneath
the sea." The other, showing au elevation view of a
screw-pile battery of twenty-eight guns, with a
vertical section of the bank, in which the screw-piles
are fixed. Now, as to " the principle of such founda-
tions," it is gratifying to know that it has been
" well tested both on the east and west coasts of Eng-
land, off the shores of which have been erected
screw-pile lighthouses, that have now withstood Cie
storms of several winters without exhibiting the
slightest symptom of insecurity or decay."—" That
the first of such foundations was fixed on the Maplin
Sands" by these engineers (Messrs. MITCHELL and
SoN), in the summer of 1838, by order of the Corpo-
ration of the Trinity House, at the recommendation
of their engineer, Jemrs WALKER, Esq., F.R.S.,
&c. &c., " who has since erected on it the Maplin
lighthouse ; and though it stands upon a bank of
loose sand, many miles from the near,lst coast, and
" exposed to the swell from the German Ocean, yet
it is as stable and as likely to endure as if.based upon
a rock."—" But the first lighthouse of this, 'Or indeed
of any description, that has 'ever- been based upon
a submarine sand-bank was erected entirely by Messrs.
MITCHELL and SON, after their own designs, in the
winter of 1839, at the entrance of the sea reach -lead-
ing to the town of Fleetwood-on-\Vyre. It has now
been standing nearly four years, having been first
lighted on the Gth of June, 1840 ; and, though the
material is principally wood, a little paint is all that
has been requisite to keep it in perfect condition,
since its erection, though exposed on the north and
west to the swell of the open sea ; the tide rising on
the columns upwards of thirty feet."
The stability of these screw pile structures is stated
by these engineers to depend—first, on the firm hold
which the broad screw takes of the ground, by being
forced far beneath its surface ; secondly, on the solid
part of the building being placed above the reach of
the highest sea, no broad surface is opposed to the free
passage of the waves, which consequently do not affect
the structure. It is necessary to bear these two
causes of stability in mind, when contemplating the
engraved view of the battery and light house, in order
to overcome the distrust which one would otherwise
naturally entertain of a surhase represented only by
one and forty narrow pole-like stems of iron, severally
insulated, and at first sight seeming to mock the
volume and the velocity of a tempestuous sea by a
frame-work of such contrasted apparent fragility and
inadequacy. But this inadequacy and fragility are
only apparent. There can be no sort of doubt, upon
the result of the most severe experiments, that the
Duke of WELLINGTON'S anticipation "that places of
defence can possibly be constructed on the Goodwin
Sands" may be realised by the erection,
on that perilous bank, of a, battery, light-
house, and barrack of the most enduring
and substantial description, on this screw-pile foun-
dation. Let us take the case of the Maplin light-
house. Its foundation consists of " nine spiral
flanches, each of 4 feet diameter, keyed on the foot
of as many wrought-iron piles : these were screwed
into the bank to the depth of 22 feet, and from the
nature of the ground, might have been sunk to a
much greater depth, had it been considered neces-
sary." Now Messrs. MITCHELL and SON properly
enough cite the high authority of the Duke of
WELLINGTON for the necessity of raising works of
defence off certain points of the coast on similar
principles of construction. " Disclaiming for our-
selves," say they, "all pretensions to military engineer-
ing, we venture confidently to propose a screw-pile
foundation as the best means, yet known, by Which
batteries could be erected on sub-marine sand-banks
exposed to the storms and swell of the open sea. To
render our plan more intelligible, we subjoin an ele-
vation view of a screw-pile battery, of 28 guns,
with a vertical section of the bank in which the screw
piles are fixed." From this description, and that of a
model prepared by them, it appears that the proposed
battery would be supported as we have described it
" on 41 malleable iron piles, placed in five parallel
rows, the three interior ranges consisting of nine, and
the two exterior of seven piles each—the platform
being oblong, having the angles cut off." This last
feature, on the analogy of our round-stern men of
war, strikes us as very judicious, being calculated to
throw off the strength and fury of the waves. From
the measurements given, it seems that the extreme
length of pile from screw foundation to foot of plat-
form would be 71 feet—diameter of pile at surface of
bank, 12 inches • at screw foundation and at platform,
10 inches; and Of the screw itself, 4 feet. This screw
would be imbedded to the depth of 30 feet in the
bank ; the platform would rise above the bank 41
feet, and above spring tides 22 feet. Diameter of
horizontal bracing would be 8 inches, of single ditto,
4. The whole length of the platform would be 120
feet, by 60 broad; of the barrack-rooms, 90 by '3O ;
the lantern to save of roof 13 feet high, by 12 broad.
The engineers observe—" As compared with ships,
the risk to such batteries from hostile attacks appeer
trifling ; the narrow surface and rounded form of the
piles and each part of the frame-work rendering it
nearly ball proof ; for, unless struck in the direct lire
of the centre, shot would glance off from their curved
surface; and even bar or chain-shot could have nu
effect on the main supports of the building, owing to
their great strength and weight. We would recom-
mend iron alone to be used in the upper
works." . . . . " The efficiency of battery
guns as compared with those afloat, needs no com-
ment, and in working them a small garrison is ell
that is required." . • • . " The whole
weight of the structure, including guns and military
stores, would be about 1,000 tons, or something less
than twenty-five tons upon each pile ; a mere fraction
of what those piles would be sufficient to supports
We are of opinion that a battery and lighthouse of
the proportions before described, could be completel
for about 25,0001."
These are important and highly interesting par-
ticulars, to which we have no exception to take, ex-
cept that they do not seem to contemplate the great
exposure of both battery and barrack, in a po3ition
thus advanced, as it were, into the sea, from the greet
guns of first or second class men-of-war, for example.
Nor do they allow, we venture to suggest, for the
facility with which enemies' steam ships-of-war might
run under the guns and close in to the frame supports
of the battery, so as to lie there with comparative im-
punity, from the impossibility of the garrison bring-
ing its guns to bear directly down upon them; whilst
their own heavy metal, and even mortars might be
played at any required elevation, with terrible effect
on the works above them. A military friend, who issin-
pressed with the highest opinion of Messrs.tMastrsclrea
and Sox's scheme and pamphlet, remallis,h we :we,
battery might *easily surmount. the dangers
thus hintedat,by being supplied with an effiCent furnace,
metal, and materiel for heating andi throwing red hot
balls ; from the effect of which
.next neither steamers nor
line-of-battle ships would find it very practicable to
preserve themselves.
We once more strongly commend the preparation of
those coast defences to the earliest and most seriou.
attention of Parliament.