The Sun.
London, England, 1850-05-09 00:00:00

TO THE EDITOR OF THE PILOT.

Sir,—Having noticed in your paper yesterday a re-
port that information had been received by way of
St. Paul, in Minnesota,, that a dog train had ar-
rived there from some distance above Lake Supe.
ricr, with letters stating that Sir John Franklin
was found and safe, I regret to say there is no founda-
tion whatever for the statement, which appears to hare
originated in the arrival et St. Paul of an express sent
thither by the Hudson's Bay Company's officer at Rei
River, conveying the reports of Captain Pullen and
Mr. ltae to the Loids of the Admiralty, which reports
are to the effect that nothing had been discovered throw-
ing any light on the f'at• of the missing expedition.
Captain Pullen, who fat her Majesty's ship Plover
at Wainwright Inlet, reached the Hudson's Bay Com-
pany's post of Fort Good Hope, on the M•lienzie
River, on the 14th September, and thence he came up
that river to the post of Fort Simpson, where he is
passing the present winter, with the intention of proceed-
ing to York Factory, on Hudson's Bay, at the opening
of the navigation, in3order to take his passage to
England in one of the Hudson's Bay Company's ships
thence next autumn. It is possible, however, that in-
structions from the Admiralty, which were transmitted
to me here about two months ago, and were immediately
forwarded to Capt. Pullen by express, may detain him
during the ensui►ig summer and winter in making a
further examination of the Arctic ccast, in connexion
with the Hudson's Bay Company's parties employed
upon the same service.
I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
GEORGE SIMPSON.
Hudson's Bay House, Lachine, April 12, 1850.
GREAT CIRCLE-SAILING.

e latttely-
maTl,,he whyco;dpetarifaultilyot a-dq,.furiecyk
hvaoayaalgveakteoneAddpeulabildie a
ea
Great Circle-sailing. Yester-
day numerous assembly of ladies and
the ordinary meeting of the
gentlemen
practice of Great Circle-sailing was read by Mr.
a gentleman to whom, some
Society of Arts, when a paper on the history and
evenin
evening
took a very
place at
Towson, of Davenport,
ago, the honours of the same
four-and-twenty yeadrs
for his well-known exposition
cf the general principlescertainly due the merit of dis-
and to whom isf involved in the present ques-
tion,omposite Great Circle-sailing.
'Towson with a few com-
plimentaryintroduced the name ofM
Great Circle-sailing, though
csevirtingwtehree tarwuatlridoe
remarks.
_ess
practised, was, the
Mr Hope presided ovcer_trh.eTmeeting, and fittingly,
little known, and even 1
means a novelty, since
lec urer observed, by no
great
as the fifteenth century, and was familiar
centuries.
envigators of the sixteenth and seventeenthd .lllthe
way
of
in principle it was known and enunciatteadtialse early
The difficulties, however, which stood
its general adoption were numerous ; and though by
the progress of science many of them had disappeared,yet the use of ordinary navigators' charts was a great
stumbling-block, and distorted men's conceptions of
the actual truth. For it was known to all scientific
seamen that the rhomb line, or the apparent course
upon the chart, drawn from one place to another, was
not the shortest in reality, but that the shortest line
that could be drawn between any two points on the
Lsurfacepassed 0
throughoi
nf
etihdeeg‘ll
:be
tthhetwa s a
them
the great
arcboth, The
circleTc il eth
unless
rhombgreatss b
olcitiahr
ac
ol :fat
uthhladet
points through which it passed lay on the equator or
on a common meridian. If we compared, he said, any
number of arcs, segment of various radii, all having
the same chord, it would be found that the segment of
the greatest circle would be the shortest line. The
three points in the elucidation of his subject,
which Mr. Towson wished particularly to im-
press upon the meeting, were, first, that that arc

which deviated the least from a straight line was
the shortest route on the earth's surface ; second,
that the larger the radius of a circle the shorter
would be the route by any of it. arcs ; and third,
that no circle could he drawn on a sphere whose
radius exceeded that of the sphere, that sphere being
denominated a great circle, and, therethre, that that
ship only which sailed on the arc of a great circle
could be said to sail directly to her port. These
points, which at first appeared somewhat abstruse add
unsuited to a popular
i lecture, were, however, iilus-
trated and amplified n the most satisfactory manner.
Diagrams were provided, and by lucid explanation no
doubt or misapprehension seemed to be entertained by
the audience of the mathematical truth of the prin-
ciple on which Great Circle-sailing is based. In the
discussion which followed the lecture, several gentle-
men took a lively part, one or two of whom, from
long experience in the practical part of navigation,
said they could testify to the application of the prin-
ciple, and particularly of composite Great Circle. sail-
ing, to the every-day purposes of trade. Mr. Scott
Russell gave, in conclusion, a very concise summary
of the lecture, which relieved Mr. Towson, and was
well received by the meeting. A vote of thanks to the
lecturer, proposed by the chairman, was cordially re-
sponded to, and the meeting broke up about ten
o'clock.

LAW INTELLIGENCE.
COURT OF QUEEN'S BENCH, May 8.
(Sittings in Banco.)
TUE QUEEN V. LATIMEB.
Mr. COCKBURN stated that in this case a rule had
been obtained, calling on the defendant, the publisher
of a paper at Devonport, to show cause why a crimi-
nal information should not be filed against him for the
publication of a libel on Miss Sellon and the Sisters
of Mercy. The libel, after referring to some alien-
tions being made in S'. Peter's Church, alterations
which the writer thought were of too Puseyite a cha-
racter, and which he described as " monkeyfying”
the churches, the paragraph went on thus :—" A very
handsome service of silver-gilt communion plate has
been presented to the church as a thanksoffering for
delivery from cholera, -and rumour says that this will
be found entered as an item of expenditure on the
credit side of the 14,0001. which the Sisters of Mercy
have received from the public." He desired to do
perfect justice to these ladies, and to disclaim in the
strongest terms any intention on the part of the de-
fendant to ascribe to there any misapplication what-
ever of the funds which they had received. The
utmost intention of the writer of this article was to
allude to the gift as a mere error in judgment in
spending money on church ornaments, in which he
thought there was now too much a taste for profusion.
Nothing further entered his mind. It was impossible
not to be aware that the new doctrines with respect
to Church subjects had become, and perhaps properly
become, the matter of observation for public jour-
nalists, who, in their observations, gave expression to
what they believed to be public opinion. The de-
fendant had intended to comment on this subject, but
not to do more. He never had the slightest intention
of charging misconduct against these ladies. He
disclaimed it in the most positive manner ; and hav-
ing done so he submitted to anything which the Court
might think fit to order. It could not be imagined
that these ladies had any wish to net vindictively
towards the defendant; they could only wish to vin-
dicate themselves from an imputation which the de-
fendant most distinctly disclaimed any intention of
casting upon them.
Lord CAMPEELL—Whatever use may be made of
this rule it is not for us at all to consider ; but I am
clearly of opinion that the rule ought to be made ab-
solute. The article complained of does not confine its
observations to ceremonies, as to which there may be
a diversity of opinion, hut it imputes a piece of gross
misconduct. (Ills Lordship real it.) Would nut that
be a piece of gross misconduct on their part to
affect to make their own offering, and really to
take it from the fund which they had received for
the purpose of charitable distribution ? Ido not see
anything which should shield the defendant from the
oonsettaences of this publication. He now says that
be has reason to believe that the remarks made were
sot trae—they might have been pure. invention. The
affidavit on which the rule was obtained showed that
he was applied to, and then he said, " Oh, do you
deny
e naCan
the truth
ito b fte laid
h e
downremarks,
asanda
I rulewill
thatpublish
sucha
the
d
course of conduct is sufficient ? Suppose this had
been an imputation not on the honest discharge by
these ladies of a public duty, but on the individual
chastity of a particular lady, must she deny the truth
of the imputation in order to have it contradicted ?
There is no reason for refusing to make this rule ab-
solute.

Sir F. THERIGER said that as the only object of
these ladies was to vindicate their character, and as
they did not indulge in any angry feeling towards the
defendant, but merely sought to clear themselves from
an imputation which might impair their usefulness
in the walk of life they bad chosen, and as the de-
fendant had most distinctly disclaimed any intention
of casting any imputation on them, he (Sir F. The-
siger) thought ho should best show their feelings by
consenting, if the defendant would pay the costs
which had been incurred, to allow the rule to be dis-
chargad._

Lord CAltrisLL said that that was most fair on
their part.

Mr. COCKBURN said that he had communicated
with his Learned Friend Sir F. Thesiger, and had
said what course he intended to pursue, and that
his Learned Friend intended, had his Lordship
given time to him to do so, to accept the apology
which had been offered, and to take the course now
adopted.
Lord CAMPMRLL said it was very charitable of
these ladies. The defendant appeared inadvertently
to have published what he now disavowed.
Rule discharged on the defendant's payment
of costs.