The Sun.
London, England, 1845-02-22 00:00:00

ROYAL ADELAIDE GALLERY.

We were much pleased, on visiting the Adelaide
Gaiety yesterday, with a lecture on Atmospheric Rail-
ways, delivered by Mr. W. J. Hay. This gentleman
not only possesses a vast fund of iiirosmation on the AO
ject himself, but he also possesses the power of commu-
nicating that information in a clear and understandable
form to others. The lecture is illustrated by a model of
a railway, on which the carriages are propelled on at-
mospheric principle. On this model a small carriage
drags a load of half a hundred weight up an incline of
1 in 6, with the greatest ease, and without any apparent
loss of speed. Several gentlemen present put questions
to the lecturer as to the principle of atmospheric propul-
sion, and as to the advantages which it possessed over
the system at present in general use, all of which were
answered satisfactorily—indeed, Mr. Hay throughout
co.irted the fullest inquivr. During the present mania
for railway speculatiena, this lecture cannot fail to prove
attraeti. e.

NEW SETTLEMENT BILL.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

Sut,—The Tories, for electioneering purposes, made the
first new Poor.law Act the stalking hobby—the " Bowl and
Skilly" horse—upon which to ride. Mark their political
vill—y ! Ever since they regained what they wanted—
power, and to " landholder" legislate as, for years, they had
done—directly we had additional new poor-laws ! Not con-
tent with this, the Tory Government are now actually hatch-
ing a furilmr poor-law, the effect of which will be to remove
every chargeable poor person to their place of birth ! The
Bill I have perused most attentively, and the more I reflect
upon it the more the blood runs cold within my veins. Good
God 1 every chargeable poor person to be removed to his
birth-place ! Surely, for the sake of humanity—for the sake
of Christian feeling this Bill will not pass hito law. I hope
every honest Member in Parliament will oppose its progress
—" obstruct," as the Tories did any good measure of the
Whigs—obstruct its progress in the Commons ; and if they
see it is creeping its ugly length along continue to obstruct
and retard, as much as possible, so as to afford the public
an opportunity of petitioning against it. Should this out-
rageous Bill become a law it is impossible to foresee its con-
sequences. I am, Sir,
Feb. 18. AN ENEMY TO OPPRESSION.

P.S. No Tories running about and getting spurious signa-
tures now against the poor-law. .oh, no ; their " friends"
are the poor-law enactors now ; so that makes all the dif-
ference.

OXFORD CON VOCATION.
LETTER FROM MR. WARD.

Eall'ol C 'liege, Feb. 13.
Mr. Vice-Chancellor,—l entertain so much respect for the
authority o' the House of Coivocation, when acting within
its legitimate province, that I think a statement cf the rea-
sons which led me to consider ir:,posit'on in the University
morally unaffected by what has 2essed to-day, is due to you
and to all those sv..ao have been instrumental in promoting
the censure voted against me. U: course lam not now re-
ferring to the act of degradation, the validity of Wei will
be the suoject of leg. • decision. I refer to the former of the
two resolutions passed in convocation ; a resolution which,
as it in effect pronounces certsin theological propositions '
published by me (and to which I firmly adhere), inconsist-
ent with the Thirty-nine Articles, might seem, at first sight,
to impose upon me the obligation of voluntary retirement
from all those rights and privileges within the University,
for winch subscrin lon to the Thir:y-rive Articles is a quali-
fication. Could Iba satisfied that convocation the true
"itnnonens" he A• titles upon mem eis cf the University,
•soasto be car Ole of au.bmitatively e::ermining the sense
in which they oaght to be subscriber; I should rot be dis-
posed to inquire how tar stfx,cription necessarily to be con-
sidered a continuing act, no: should I hold myself at liberty
to subscribe any longer the sense which convocation has
repudiate(:. I ,Liould in -that case at once relinquish my
position hi the U.iversi-ty. •
But 1 think will be obvious to every one, that my duty,
uncle: such ci-cumstances, must depend essentially upon the.
queslon, woet'2er convocation is the true imposer and the
competent in-te.2re:'er of subscription, or not. If not, it is
plainly beyond tz.!e power of convocation, either by the ge-
neral contlenitlil..ion of any pat titular modes of interpreting
the Articles, or by the exn-ress condemnation of that sense in
which I myself subscrloe; to acquire any moral authority
over my conduct in this respect.
If convocation cannot rule affirmatively the sense in which
metrhei•s of the University shall, subscribe, it necessarily :01-
lotrs convocation cannot rule negatively the sense in
eiliben of the Ur iversity shall not subscribe. Now
it is weit known that the crestion, whether convocation is
legal 'y capaole of requi:•ing members of the University to
declaie ~bat they suosci•ibe the Articles in a particular sense,
has been lately Vie sabj.-ct o: consideration by legal authori-
; and it has IL:•,an held by those authorities (nor, as far as
I hes .eel disputed by others) that the Articles are
imposed; and e sense of subscription determined, by the
law of .:ae land; end that the judges of ecclesiastical courts
alone have the power authoritativey to declaie that sense,
wale the Suoreme Legislature alone has the power of alter-
ing or adding-to it. Under these circumstances, great mid
since: .e as is my respect for the House of Convocation, I can-
' not ieel that any obligation whatever is laid upon me, in
consequence of the events of this day, to act for the future
upon a-1y different view of sub:c-:iptiOn to the Articles, from
that on which I have bither.o acted, and which is expressed
in my woi•k and pamphlets.--71 remain, Mr. Vice-Chancellor,
your :aithful servant,

WILLIAM GEORGE WARD.
OXFORD; FEB. 14.—Mr. Frederick Oakeley, Senior Fellos.
of BaViol College. has addressed the following letter to the
Vice-Chancellor, in connexioa with these proceedings :
" Balliol College, Oxford, Feb. 14, 1845.
" Mr. Vice-Chancello ~--sTbe vote of convocation upon the
two propositions submitted to it at the meeting of yesterday,
seems o male it inoperative that I should address a few
words to you Cal the view of clearing my position in the
University.
" I am anxious then to draw your attention to the follow-
ing passage in the preface to a pamphlet wnich I forwarded
to you about six weeks ago, and which you acknowledg6d by
return of post with that courtesy and kindness which I have
ever experienced at your hands :
" I have no wish to remain a member of the University,
or a minister of the Church of England, under &lie colours.
I claim the righ welch has already been asserted in another
quarter, of holding (as distinct from teaching) all Roman doc-
trine, and that, rotwithstanding my subscription to the
Thirty-nine Articles.'—(Subject of Tract XC. historically
examined. acc. Preface, p. :iii.)
" In a Tract which I put out during the last fortnight, I
have stated that these wo •Cs were published' with the fullest
deliberation.'* I appropriated and repeated them in that
Tract ; and here, with the same teliberation'and distinct-
ness, I again appropriate and rept.: them.
" A statement on the subject of subscription tantamount,
in substance, to the above is made, as I need hardly say, in
the course of the extracts from ' The Ideal of a -Christian
Church,' upon which convocation yesterday expressed an
opinion. And, as it must also be unnecessary tor me to ob-
serve, it is to this statement that I refer in the above passage
where I speak of the right which 1 claim 't!eving been 'already
asserted in another quarter.'
" This right having been apparently called in question by
the vote of yesterday, it seems to me quite necessary, with
a view to the defence of my own position, that I should
publicly state in what light I regard that vote.
" I consider it, then, as expressing a certain opinion upon
a series of extracts from a particular work, comprehending a
variety of statements, my agreement with which I am in no
way called upon either to affirm or deny, except in the single
instance, relating to the question of subscription to the
Articles, in which I have already declared that I take pre-
cisely the same view o':t!le case with Mr. Ward. Had the cen-
sure of Mr. Ward been limited to the single point of his state-
ment upon the subject of subsdription to the Articles, the case
(as far as this part of my argument is concerned) might have
been otherwise. But as this statement is only involved in a
commendation with a variety of others, it itr impossible, as I
conceive, to determine wnether, in the minds of the proposers
and ratifiers of the measure, all the extracts are considered
to be at variance with the' good faith' of the author's sub-
scription, or only some of them, and if some only, then which
in particular of the whole number. I consider, therefore, that
convocation, in expressing an opinion upon these passages,
has by no means necessarily made any declaration with re-
spect to the question of subscription in particular, so as to
affect those, who, like myself, while appropriating Mr.
Wards's view of subscription, do not appropriate (nor yet
disclaim) other sentiments expressed in the selected pas-
sages.

But if, in the judgment . of the Board over which you
preside, and of the House of Convocation, I have rendered
myself personally liable to penalty by the declarations above
sited, I am anxious' not to shelter myself' (as I say in my
pamphlet) ' under the cover of supposed differences, as to
this matter of subscription, from others who have been di-
rectly assailed.'—(Preface, p. xii.) If, on the other hand,
I am allowed, after this plain and public declaration of my
sentiments, to retain my place in the University, I shall re-
gard such acquiescence as equivalent to an admission, on the
part of the academical authorities, that my own subscription to
the Thirty-nine Articles is not at variance with good faith.'
" But I am here arguing upon- the assumption that the
House of Convocation has a power to determine in what sense
members of the University shall, or wall rot, subscribe the
Articles. I wish it, therefore, to be distinctly understood
that my argument so far has been purely one lad homines.'
I reserve to myself the power of disputing, if necessary, and
at the proper time, any such claim on the part of convoca-
tion. I consider myself to receive the Articles at the hands
of tbe University, solely as an organ and representative of the
Church of England, and, inasmuch as the Church of England
has nowhere declared against the sense in which I claim to
subscribe them, I accept them under no other limitations than
those which are imposed by my own conscientious belief
of their grammatical meaning, and the intention with which
they were at first put out, and are now proposed to me by
the Church of which I am a member.

" It is necessarily difficult, as I am sure yeu will perceive,
to word a document of this nature so explicitly as its very
purpose requires, without the appearance of presumption as
well as disrespect. I assure you that I would gladly have
embraced a different alternative, bad any one presented
itself, which seemed to me equally consistent with duty both
to the University and to myself. But I am deeply and
deliberately satisfied that the course of frankness, whatever
present inconveniences or miscontructions it may entail, is
at once the kindest, and the fairest, towards all parties, as it
is undoubtedly also that which is most agreeable to my own
feelings. And I hope that this course will at least have the
effect of clearing from the very suspicion of insincerity, those
assurances of personal respect towards yourself with "which
lam most conscientiously able to accompany it.—l have the
honour to be, Mr. Vice-Charcellor, your faithful humble
servant, " FREDERICK OAKELEY,

" Senior Fellow of Balliol College.
"The Rev. the Vice-Chancellor, &c."

* A Few Words to Members of Conv.ocation, on Mr. Ward's Case.

---
PALL OF PART OF AN IRON ROOF.—Considerable
alarm was excited in Salford, on Saturday morning last, by the fall
of the grdatest portion of the roof of one of the buildings of the Man-
chester Bonding Warehousing Company, Chapel-street, which for
many years was used as the cotton warehouse, in connexion with the
mill of Messrs. Philips, Lee, and Co. The gable-end of this building
fronts Chapel-street. The building is about one hundred and twenty
feet in length and forty feet wide. The roof was an old cast-iron
one, much decayed, and was supported by two ranges of iron columns
(the building .bel, g fire-proof ), dividing the building longitudinally
into three bays. These columns were very slight, and from iron
cnps, let into the top of these pillars, very light principals of cast-
iron were carried, .at a shallow spring, to support the roof, or
rather roofs, for it was in three divisions. Several workmen
and others were upon the roofing, which was undergoing re-
pairs, when about twenty Initiates before eleven o'clock, the
whole of the division next the yard of the premises :fell at
once, with a loud crash, and this dragging the tie• rods down,
dislodged the pillars on one side of the centre bay, about a third of the
roof of which next fell, followed by a rather larger proportion of that of
the other outer bay ; so that, in all, about two-thirds of the roofing
fell. Fortuflately, no one was in the uppermost room, which was
quite empty. It was also fortunate that, a short time since, this
room had been celled with plaster, the ceiling supported by beams,
&c., wholly independent of the roofing, so that this broke the fall, and
rendered it less destructive to the floor than so great a weight of iron
must otherwise have proved. One man, named James Liptrot, a
hired porter, was much hurt, receiving several cuts, wounds, and
bruises, about the head and face. Amongst the individuals on the
roof was a clerk of Mr. A. Mills, architect, who escaped without
injury. U.on inspection, yesterday, it was found that nearly all the
cast Jr:al:cups in one range of pillars had been cracked or torn, appa-
rently for a long time, by some severe shock or strain, and one of the
principals was also broken. The cast Iron beams were exceedingly
slender ; and being only an inch and three-quarters deep, half uu
tack thick, and Wm foot is 101i5t4.7-0“/Ick4Or