The Sun.
London, England, 1844-11-23 00:00:00

TII SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, NOVEMBER 23 IM4.

VAN DIEMEN'S LAND.
(From Sydney Papers of July 30.)
The Lady Grey, from Hobart Town the 25th inst.,
has brought our files of papers to the 19th, inclusive.
Intelligence had been received of the safe arrival of
Sir John Franklin and lady at St. Helena, on the
28th of last March.

His Excellency Sir Eardley Eardley-Wilmott
opened the Legislative Council on the 17th instant;
which, from a few remarks made by the Colonial
Secretary at the close of his Excellency's speech, was
expected would be again adjourned sine die in the
course of a fortnight.
The following is the opening speech :
" Gentlemen,—l have the pleasure of meeting you
earlier in this year than in the last, owin6 to the late
period of the year in which I then arrived in this
colony ; and I hope it will not be necessary to detain
you long from your domestic avocations.
" The interval since we last met has been one of
trial and of gloom ; but I believe a brighter day is
now breaking upon us.
" The time for forming accurate conclusions, as to
all the causes which have mainly contributed to pro-
duce the present state of the colony, has not yet ar-
rived. Much less are we in a position to pronounce
with confidence what their permanent results will
be. Still there may be an advantage of no trifling
amount in endeavouring to survey, even at the
present time, the condition at which we are arrived,
and the prospects which appear to be opening upon
us; and the more particularly do I wish to do so,
because, distressing as these reverses have been, they
have always appeared to me to have been regarded
too gloomily ; owing greatly, I believe, to the present
state of the colony having been referred, by a false
standard of comparison, to a former period of prospe-
rity, created by fictitious causes, and to an unex-
pected concurrence of events which are not again
likely to happen.
" The two great staple productions of this colony
are its wool and its wheat ; and ih proportion as these
are encouraged, and bear a remunerating price, will
the bonds which have fettered the energy and the in-
dustry of the colony be loosened, and the weight
which has pressed down to insolvency many deserving
persons be ultimately removed.
" The fleeces of Van Diemen's Land were never in
greater repute than they are at this moment; and
though they may not realise so high a price as they
did in former years, yet it is certain that the latest
accounts from I:ngland are most encouraging as re-
spects this important branch of our trade. ..

" The price of wheat has been for some time un-
deniably low—so low, indeed, as not to pay the cost
of production ; but severe as the misfortunes are
which have in consequence befallen so many settlers,
yet I cannot regard the prospects of the agriculturists
as dark and forbidding, so long as the merchants can
make shipments to England, and so long as the ad-
vance on Van Diemen's Land wheat in the market of
that country continues.

"The real and inexhaustible mine of wealth in such
a colony as this, is its agriculture; and it is to this
and an improved system of cultivation, assisted by
extensive irrigation (which alone is requisite to give
to our alluvial soils their full measure of fertility),
that we must look for p2rmanent prosperity; and it
is on steady remunerating prices we must depend, and
not on temporary though immoderate profits, for-
merly derived from the fitful demands c;ccasioned
from time to time ia New South Wales by unpro-
ductive harvests. We must look to the dawning
pro,pect, now IK.fore us, of becoming producers of
grain for the consumption of the mother country,in-
stead of being dependent on markets never opened to
us by our neighbours, except by the inclemency of
seasons, or by their own misfortunes.
" To hazard the opinion, that under the circum-
stances which I have mentioned, prosperity will im-
mediately visit the colony, I am far from wishing to
be understo,A. But to affirm, that, in a time of uni-
versal peace, with every advantage of soil and
cli-
mate, with labour at command available during the
whole year—in %%inter as in summer, and whey,
freight to any reasonable extent may be obtained
at a moderate rate, a British colony, capable of pro-
ducing wheat and wool of the finest quality to an un-
limited amount, does not possess within itself the ele-
ments of prosperity, as well as inducements for the
investment of capital, is an assertion which no one
versed in the history of nations will venture to make,
and no one with a knowledge of this colony can suc-
cessfully maintain.
" Causes unforeseen and accidental may retard this
advance indeed; and causes of depression affecting
individuals may offer temporary obstacles; but they
cannot ultimately prevent a development of success,
which is as inevitable as it is desirable.

" I have mentioned the two great productions of
our agricultural industry as relating to our exports ;
but 1 cannot omit also the many means we have
of supplying our own consumption with the neces-
saries of life. The cultivation of barley—even
now sufficient to supersede the use of sugar in
an Englishman's beverage—and the growth of gravi;es
'lnd green food, to supply our markets with native
meat and cheese, are open to us; and there only
want energy and example to bring the riches of out

soil into the coffers of the industrious. I cannot ex-
pect to witness this country's united enterprise ; all
I can do is, to awaken science from her sleep, and
lead her to the threshold of industry. I must leave it
to another generation to enthrone her in the temple.
" The true solution, gentlemen, of the present
state of the colony, seems to be this : the temporary
occasions of unnatural prosperity have passed away,
and the degree of its future condition must depend
upon the premature relations which it can establish
with the English market, where I think it will be
able to secure regular but moderate profits, sufficient
to reward the industrious, though not perhaps to
satisfy the desire of those who wish to be immediately
wealthy.
" In connexion with the well-being of the colony, I
feel one duty to be especially incumbent on me ;
namely, the protection of life and property ; and as
some misapprehension still appears to exist on this
point, I wish it to be distinctly understood, that when-
ever any criminal shall be sentenced to death for
having broken into a house and used actual violence
towards its inmates, I never shall interfere with the
due execution of the law, unless some legal doubt shall
be brought under my notice.
"I am happy to say that criminal offences are at
the present time few; and though, in such an im-
mense convict population, occasional outbreaks and
violation of the laws must be expected, yet I think
that far fewer crimes are committed than could be an-
ticipated.

It is not my intention to lay before you many
Bills during the present session, for I am averse to le-
gislature on paroxyms of national difficulty, finding
by experience that partial tamperings with such mat-
ters aggravate the disease instead of remedying it, and
frequently create relief in one quarter while they in-
crease distress in another.

" The estimates are now in preparation, and when
I am about to present them to you, I shall enter upon
the financial condition of the colony, especially as
bearing on the revenue.

" E. EARDLEY-WILMOTT."

EXPERIMENTS IN WARFARE.

A second series of experiments in warfare was exhi-
bited on Tuesday at Mulgrave House, Fulham, for the
purpose of bringing into notice the inventions of the
Duke of Normandy. A considerable number of gentle-
men assembled in the grounds, among whom were Lord
Ranelagh, Sir John Hare, and many naval and military
officers and men of science. The experiments com-
menced with the almost simultaneous explosion of a
bomb shell placed eight feet under the water of the lake,
of a similar shell buried underground, and of a rocket
fired against a bulk -head. The rocket was first fired,
and as soon as it struck the bulk-head it exploded, and
appeared to ignite two other rockets conducted by wires
to the invisible shells, which both exploded with loud
reports. The one underground threw up the earth to a
great height and made a large excavation ; the water
shell carried a mass of water into the air resembling an
immense fountain. Two rockets without sticks were
then fired at the bulk-head cased with iron, being
directed to the mark by wires stretched horizontally
for a distance of about two hundred yards. The in-
stant they struck the object the rockets exploded,
tore away the iron casing, and carried off portions
of the thick plank behind. A bomb shell was next
allowed to drop into a bole within a strongly con.-
st: ucted hut put together as firmly as possible. The im-
mense force exerted by the composition employed was
evident from the complete destruction of the structure,
pieces of which were carried to a great height, and one
of the timbers was actually driven through the brick
wall of a building about one hundred feet distant, and
was left sticking in it. For the purpose of showing the
safety with which these shells may be used, one of them,
0 which a percussion cop was fitted, was made to fall
a hole dug in the ground, when the caps exploded,
a quantity of gunpowder was ignited without ex-
ing the shell. An :aeration having been then made
le cap, by removing the guard, the slillexploil‘d
terrific effect. 11, eket3 on a similar principle wer!.! '

,fterwards fired by throwing them on the ground,
though when protected they might he knocked about
without danger. One object for which these rockets
are intended is to protect merchant ships from the
attacks of pirater, for by throwing the rockets from
the mast of one ship on to the deck of another
it would be directly cleared. An exemplification
of the force of the explosive compound was given
,'raring the explosion of one of those rockets

at rather alarmed a portion of the company
part of the Wo'.,4:Crl rocket case was propelled with
.clt v(ilocity into the air towards the spot u here many
intlemen were standing, and it struck the ground be-

hind them. Some hoinharoing rockets, without sticks,
were also fired from a rocket case, which was pointed to
an angle of seventy degrees, to prevent the rockets from
going across the Thames. The first rocket took a very
steady flight, and fell in the middle of the river, where it
exploded on coming in contact with the water. Two
others did riot fly so steadily ; they fell within the
grounds, and exploded on touching the earth. The ex-
periments concluded with the firing of the non-recoil
cannon, which was fired by several gentlemen whilst
holding it in their hands, without any rebound Leing