The Sun.
London, England, 1850-11-02 00:00:00

etenina

LONDON, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 1850.

Among the many admirable arrangements made
with a view to perfect next year's Exhibition, one has
only very recently been announced, which promises
to complete the excellence of its character. It is
proposed by a clergyman of the Church of England
to give a prize or prizes, amounting in all to one hun-
dred guineas, for the ablest essay or essays on the sub-
j oioed argument :—" In what manner the Union of
all Nations at the Grand Exhibiticn in 1851 may be
rendered the most conducive to the glory of GOD in
promoting the moral welfare of mankind." A sug-
rstion more munificently in accordance with
the intentions of the illustrious originator
of the whole enterprise could scarcely have
been devised, and hence we are in no degree asto-
nished to find that the proposal has met with the cor-
dial and immediate approbation of his Royal High-
ness. By carrying the notion into effect, its generous
author will b 3 most effectually forwarding those
philanthropic :principles which are the best anodynes
for the ills of mortality, and the best talismans of
modern civilization. We look forward, consequently,
to the result of the proposition with a confidence in
its ultimately proving in the largest sense of the
word beneficial—beneficial not only to the competitors
for the proffered guerdon, but likewise and in a
particular manner to the general public, in whose
hands will be placed the result of the competition.
A nobler or more suggestive theme could scarcely have
been selected for philosophical discussion, or one
which, if properly debated, could prove more hu-
manising in its tendency. Such projects as these, to
our thinking, present a striking contrast to the idle
and preposterous schemes of those pacific Quixotes
who are for bringing about the union of mankind
by preaching the impracticable doctrines of arbitra-
tion. Instead of adventuring upon any such frivolous
undertakings, the competition for the prize essay on
the Exhibition would be arguing on solid grounds
for the universal amelioration of the community.
Under the guidance of the Commissioners we feel
satisfied that the ideas broached in this manner by
the clergyman referred to will be carried into effect
with the most judicious regard to the required
arrangements.

Another subject for congratulation in reference to
the approaching year of Exposition, is a sense that,
generally speaking, the preparations have even now
been commenced, so that no burry or carelessness will
be manifested in the proceedings of her MAZESTT'S
Commissioners. Neither for that reason can there be
any of those unseemly omissions which must other-
wise have marred the various regulations and have
reflected discredit upon the community. By the ap-
plication of one common energy to the building up of
the Crystal Palace, that extraordinary edifice has
already far advanced towards its completion, so that
a comparatively short time longer will witness its
rapid decoration. Frcm all these considerations, it
must be manifest that tho difficulties so long said to
present insurmountable obstructions to the carrying out
of the plans of the Exhibition existed only is the
imagination of men incapable of energetic exertions
themselves. Working, as all the parties engaged in
the enterprise have done, from the period of its
very commencement, " with
.a will," more has been
accompliehed, within the mace of a few weeks, than ,

could have been effected
circumstances.

In the recent impressions of this journal we devoted
considerable space to the consideration of subjects
affecting the moral, social, and intellectual condition
of the Irish people. We gave expression to our feel-
ings of deep condemnation of those bigotted reli-
gionists—whether of England or of Rome—who
would perpetuate that system of sectarian exclusive-
ness which all good and wise men point to as the
chief cause of Ireland's wretchedness. After cen-
turies of barbarism, ignorance, and misrule, Go-
vernment has placed within the reach of all
classes► in Ireland the means of education based upon
principles calculated to produce social results of in-
calculable good; and we trust the people of that
country will not be deterred from the full enjoyment
of such a salutary boon ; we trust that the educated
Catholic, the liberal and enlightened Protestant, the
patriotic and intelligent Presbyterian will form a united
and determined phalanx to oppose any malignant
influence that may be interposed to prevent the youth
of Ireland from enjoying the kindly intercourse of
literary communion. We trust the middle classes in
Ireland, of all religious denominations, will stand by
and support their educational institutions—their
national schools and colleges, despite of every mis-
chievous opposition, proceed from what source it
may, whether from the Roman Propaganda, the
Synod of Thurles, or the silly declaimers of Exeter-hall.
We turn for the present from this important sub-
ject of national education to one of no less moment,
the physical wants and resources of Ireland; for
the people must be fed as well as educated. We
have been led to the consideration of this
subject by seeing the triumphant results of
Mr. OWEN'S experiments on Irish peat. It will doubt-

less be in the recollection of our readers that at the
close of the Parliamentary session of 1849 it was
announced in the House of Commons, on the autho-
rity of Lord ABUILEY, that Irish peat was convertible
into what then seemed to the uninitiated very extra-
ordinary products, and which would produce to the
adventurous speculator large if not enormous profits.
It was asserted to be proved by actual experiment
that Irish peat was convertible into sulphate of am-
monic, acetate of lime, n3ptha, paraffine, volatile and
fixed oils. Yet, though Lord ASHLEY'S honour and
veracity were beyond doubt, though Mr. OWEN'S
respectability was unimpeachable, and notwithstand-
ing that the Honourable Member for Eonis at-
tempted to illuminate the dark infidelity of the House
by the light of a candle, the materials for which, he
assured Honourable Members, were extracted from
the bog peat of his native land, still the smile-of in-
credulity might be seen on many a senator's counte-
nance, and Mr. OWEN'S project was looked on as the
hallucination of a benevolent minded gentleman; out-
side the House of Commons scepticism and want of
faith very generally prevailed, and the columns of
most of our contemporaries teemed with a great deal
of doubt, mingled with somewhat of the ridiculous, at
the notion that the Irish bogs could be converted
into commodities of such commercial importance and
value.

We were not, however, deterred from giving the
project all the support and encouragement in our
power. The experiments then made were no doubt
on a very small scale, but we could see nothing
to prevent the same proportionate results from ex-
periments on a larger scale. The failure of the Dart-
moor Peat Company, which was put forward as an
argument against Mr. OWEN'S scheme, we demon-
strated to hare arisen entirely from mismanagement
and misconception.

The most eminent chemists tested the comparative
value of the peat of the three kingdoms, and unani-
mously decided that Irish peat yielded these valuable
products in greater quantity than the others, and
had the Dartmoor Company acted on the knowledge
of this fact, and proportioned their lavish and ex-
travagant expenditure on machinery to the mere re-
quirements and extent of their operations, they would
have succeeded, as:Mr. OWEN has done, in realising
more than one hundred per cent. on their capital.
The satisfactory and conclusive results of the ex-
periments of Mr. OWEN'S project, which we have now
the pleasure to lay before the public, have been

carried on in Ireland under the superintendence of
Dr. HODGES, Professor of Agriculture in Queen's

College, Belfast, and in London on the premises of
Messrs. Corm and Sons, engineers, who have certi-
fied the correctness of the following estimate :

EXPENDITURE.
36,500 tons of peat, at 2s. per ton #3,650
465 tons of sulphuric acid, at 7/ 3,185
Wear and tear of apparatus, &c. 7OO
Wages, labour, &c 2,000
Cost of sending to market, &c.
Profit
11,908

.C 23625
Thus, upon an outlay of 11,717/., Mr. OWEN,
has
realised within little more than a year the enormous
sum of 11,908/., or more' than 100 per cent. The
produce consisted of—

365 tons of sulphate of ammonia, at 121. per ton #+4,380
255 tons of acetate of lime, at 141. per ton ......... 350
19,000 gallons of naphtha, at 5,. per ga110n.,,...
4,750
109,500 pounds of paraffino,.
at ls. per ga110n5,475
73,000 gallons volatile oil, at Is. per gallon ..... 3,650
36,000 gallons fixed oil, at ls. per gallon ........ 1,800

£23,625
It is a source of deep gratification to us to find the
hopeful anticipations in which we indulged so fully
and satisfactorily realised; and we congratulate Mr.
OwEN on the triumphant success of his benevolent
and spirited undertaking.

In the estimate of the profits no account has been
taken of the value of the land reclaimed, which
would, of course, be considerable ; and in the extrac-
tion of the substance called paraffine, which is used in
the manufacture of the best candles, a quantity of
inflammable gas is obtained equal in value, as fuel, to
20 tons of coal for every lOb tons of peat, and which
would admit of the production of peat charcoal as a
further considerable source of gain. We believe,
however, there is at present a very respectable com-
pany under the management of Mr. Roozas, the
eminent engineer, in successful operation converting
Irish peat into charcoal, the extraordinary deodoriz-
ing effects of which Mr. ROGERS has frequently de.

Lths, under ordinary

Earnestly do we trust that no diminution of the
• energy already displayed may creep in, so that, be-
fore the close of 1850, the principal part of the work
will have been perfected. By this means, and by this
means alone, will the Commissioners be enabled to de-
velope to their full extent the projects connected with
the Exhibition in all its different departments. Act-
ing otherwise they will find their labours lapsing into
a deplorable and inextricable confusion. What under
the present system of management is simple and com-
prehensible enough would speedily become a maze of
difficulties, baffling all efforts at their disentangle-
ment. The reasonableness of our opinions in this
regard must be at once apparent, when it
is only borne in mind that to the
novelty of the entire enterprise must be added its
intricacy and its magnitude. It must be remem-
bered, for example, that the scheme necessitates in
the first place negotiation, more or less direct, with
all the nations and governments of the habitable
globe, in the east and in the west, in the north and in
the south, in the tropic of Cancer and in the tropic of
Capricorn. Out of this labyrinth of corre-
spondence, the only means of facile extrica-
tion is discoverable in regularity and promptitude.
Upon the union of these two qualities in the
supervision of their arrangements, her MAJESTY'S
Commissioners have resolved at all cost of time,
labour, attention, and convenience. That in fact is
the secret of the success which has hitherto attended
their exertions. They have allowed no obstructions
to accumulate ; but have reaped them down as they
have arisen. The reward of this judicious vigour is
visible in the forward state of the preparations. No
other stimulus, we are convinced, is henceforth in
any way requisite. A knowledge that the regard
of all their countrymen is concentrated just now
upon their efforts, and that their movements are
also, in a greater or less degree, subjects of interest
and speculation to the peoples of the four continents,
must prevent the Commissioners from relaxing in an
activity hitherto so visibly advantageous, and from
this time forth, until the end of their labours, more
than ever necessary to the completion of the under-
taking. One consideration is fortunately apparent to
themselves, and to the rest of the community—
namely, that from a sense of what has already been
effected there can no longer be any doubt that the
enterprise will be prosperously conducted to a con-
clusion.