The Sun.
London, England, 1844-07-23 00:00:00

(From the Times.)
When the John o'Gaunt came abreast the battery, being
at a distance of about a mile and a-half from shore, a Union
Jack, the signal agreed upon, was hoisted on the flagstaff, to
intimate to Captain Warner that he was now to destroy the
ship in the wake of the Sir William Wallace, on board of
which he himself was, with his implements of destruction. A
short delay took place, and the Uniou Jack on the steamer's
mast, which it was arranged should be hauled down previous
to the destruction of the pursuing ship, was re-hoisted half-
mast high, to indicate, as we understood, that some obstacle
was in Captain Warner's way. We have been since informed
that a cutter kept hovering in the John o'Gaunt's track, in
a direction very dangerous to herself, and this prevented
Captain Warner's immediate operation. At last the Union
Jack was fairly lowered, the steamer's head was turned
somewhat towards the shore, and the devoted John o'Claunt
followed in her wake. We may say without exaggeration,
that the suspense of all present was painful—the silence was
deep and unbroken. A smoke seemed suddenly to envelope
the John o'Gaunt, her mainmast shot up perpendicular from
her deck, no noise save that of the rending of timbers was
heard, and on the apparent smoke's clearing away, the
smitten ship heeled over to port and sank We say appa-
rent smoke because we have since ascertained that what we,
and a majority of those present, apprehended to be smoke,
was in reality displaced water sent up in a huge column into
the air. A similar phenomenon was reported to have been
exhibited in an, experiment performed by Captain Warner
before Sir Robert Peel, Sir George Murray, Sir Henry
Hardinge, and others, in the year 1842. When the John
o'Gaunt heeled over on her larboard side, we saw through
a powerful telescope, and Captain Dickeson stated to us
that he saw the same, through the main hatchway, the
sea on the starboard side—a plain proof that the ship's star-
board bilge was carried away. The decks, however, were
not blown up, but remained entire when the ship sank—a
clear proof that the force, whatever it was, and from what-
ever quarter it proceeded, was external, and not from within
the cavity of the ship.
We notice this as a fact from which important conclusions
may be drawn ; but we will not imitate the example of many
around us in this scene of excitement, and hazard conjectures
of our own. To this fact we can bear testimony—the swift,
and sudden, and complete destruction of the ship ; and we are
authorised by Lord Ingestrie and Captains Dickeson and
Henderson to give their decided opinion, founded upon an
examination of the vessel and the facts displayed in the
course of the experiment, that the cause of destruction was
exterior, and not intrinsic. The applicability of this terrific
power to purposes of actual warfare must be tested by the
competent and constituted authorities, but of its existence in
the possession of an individual there is now such evidence
that an omission on the part of Government to sift this
matter thoroughly would be culpable in a high degree. We
understand that since the accession of Sir Robert Peel to
power various negotiations have been instituted between
Captain Warner and the Government, all which have gone
off or been suspended, on the ground that his experiments
are too costly. We are always advocates of economy of the
public money, but parsimony is sometimes the worst af
economy, and whatever affects the maritime supremacy of
Great Britain is of such stupendous importance, that no
pecuniary consideration of an ordinary amount ought to
stand in the way of a proper investigation of any matters
affecting that supremacy.
When Captain Warner a few years ago announced that he
could send a line• of-battle ship or a whole fleet to perdition
in a moment, annihilate a castle, a fort, or a town, with equal
fulminis opera cunt," said they, but really
leoasnge
iaaonwd.exp,elnitrionn, the public thought he was drawing the
this is too great a demand upon our credulity. Thereupon
Captain Warner was compelled to make a demonstration of
the destructive power of hie " invisible shell," or bottled
lightning, but his experiments being conducted before few
witnesses, and though successful, somewhat involved in
mystery, found the public mind to a great extent inacces-
sible to conviction. Sir R. Peel,indeed, having witnessed the
tearing to pieces of a ,strong boat filled up with timber, at
Wanstead, in the spring of 1842, went so far as to say that
Captain Warner certainly did possess a fearful power of the
easy and practical applicability of which he required fur-
ther proof. It will be recollected, that shortly after the
present Premier came into office, a commission was ap-
Wpointed to investigate and report upon the merit of Captain
Warner's discovery. That commission consisted origin-
ally of Admiral Sir Byam Martin and Admiral Sir
Edward Oweii ; bat the latter being ordered to the Mediter•
ranean, Sir H. Douglas was appointed in his stead. Some
contrariety of opinion led to the retirement of both these
commissioners, and they were succeeded by Colonel Chalmer
and Captain Caffin. Meantime Captain Warner had urges'
upon the Government the purchase of his secret, and offered
to exhibit its effects on a large scale, if the GOvernnient
would defray the expense. He was then requested to send
in an estimate of the expense, which he did, but the Go-
vernment offered no more than one-fourth of the required
sum, and the intended, demonstration was therefore not
made. No more was heard of the matter, and people put
the " itiVisibie shell'' as beings hea.otid Ft doubt, in sseploded
affair, until the fact was reported that a London shipowner
had presented Captain Warner with a large vessel with a
polite request that he would do him the favour to blow her
to atoms if he could.
John o'Gaunt was the the name of the devoted ship
She was a barque of 900 tons burden, three-masted, tall, full.
bowed, strong, and seaworthy. She had recently returners
from the Levant, whither she had been with Government
stores, and was, it was said, to have gone out again on a
similar errand. By direction of Mr. Somes, the donor, she
was given up to Captain Warner in the early part of the
present mouth, and on the 10th instant sailed from the
Thames, but on her arrival at Gravesend, the crew having
learned her destination, most of them deserted, under an ap-
prehension that they might share her fate. After some
delay, other men were procured, and she was piloted for
Brighton, where, as will be recollected, it was announced
that she was to be blown up on Saturday, the 13th instant,
and several noblemen, officers and gentlemen proceeded
thither on that, day only to be disappointed, an adYerse wind
having Compelled het to anchor In the Downs. This eir,
cumstance revived. public distrust to a certain extent, atid
many persons who had come from London returned with a
lurking suspicion that they had been hoaxed, and that such
was the only way in which the "invisible shell" would ever
go off.
On WOdnesclay last, hoWeter, the John oidatint was
towed by a steamer to Shoreham-roads, off Brightoti, and
moored there, the knowledge of which fact, and the renewed
assurances of Captain Warner that he would fulfil his pro-
mise, excited the public curiosity afresh, and on Saturday,
be at Brighton. The beach, the cliffs, the houses fitting the
the day appointedfor the explosions all the world seemed to
sea, the chain pier, the steine, in tact the *hole range of the
coast from Shoreham to the upper 'extremity of Brighton,
soon after noon presented a truly gay and animated appear-
ance, being lined with crowds of persons, who were flanked
by a row of carriages and other vehicles. There was an at-
tractive attendance of ladies, whose generally fashionable
attire, as they were seated at the windows and in the coaches,
coupled with the elegant equipages interspersed, greatly en-
livened the scene ; and the weather was extremely fine.
Among other distinguished
persons present were, Earl Man.
vers, Lord Brougham, Lord Comberwere, Viscount Ingestre,
P. ; Lord s Rowfapi eor Marquis of Douro, Lord J. Beresford,
at
Ord Southampton, Marquis of Exeter,
Lorne, Lord Alford, M.P. ; Lord Hungerford,
t3hie.
Lord 3
W.
q uci
Lord Lovaine, Lord Aylmer, Lord Ternpletown, the Bishop
of Oxford, Lord Tadcaster, Mr. M. Gore, KP., Mr. Mac-
kinnon, M.P., Mr. Tomline, M.P., Mr. Lindsay, M.P., Mr.
Neville,
Yorke, M.P., Hon. Mr. Fitzroy,
Mr. Lyall, atp.
Mr. Cole, M.P., Mr. Eaton, M.P.,
Captain lold.P e'ro'
—P., M. E. Tennent, M.P., Hon. Captain
Murray, R,N., Colonel Dundas, Captain R. Burton, R.N.,
Hon. Sydney Pierrepoint, Chevalier Benkhausen (the Rus ian
Consul), Captain E. Lloyd, R.N., Sir M. Cholmondeley, Sir
IT. Whichcote, Captain Henderson, R.N., Captain Dicke-
son, R.N., Captain Stevens (Marine Artillery), Hon. General
Upton, Captain Britten, Colonel Sykes, Mr. W. Peel, Mr.
Somes, &c., including several Directors of the East India
Company.
The battery, which is' about the centre of the steine, was
the grand position ; there most of the elite of the nobles, pro-
fessionals, and fashionables took up their position ; and it was
curious to observe them leaning across the long guns, with their
telescopes pointed towards Shoreham roads, where the devoted
barque was lying, and whither two steamers, the Sir William
Wallace (on board of which was Captain Warner) and the
Tees had gone. It was expected that the explosion would
take place at three o'clock,but it didnot until three hours after
that time, and the delay produced considerable dissatisfac-
tion, and doubts were audibly expressed that, after all, there
would be no explosion but of popular fury. More than an
hour was passed in the removing from the ship cordage and
other stores which were not necessary for the experiment,
and in raising and detaching the anchor and cables. This
was a slow process, and unintelligible to the majority of the
spectators, who resolutely held up their glasses, which
gleamed in the sunshine like files of musketry, until they
fatigued,
and impatiently wondered what in the world
and his people could be about. Lerd
expressed his suspicion that the
affair would end in nothing but smoke, and there would be
Brougham became
Captain
I v
undiscuisaY
no explosion. "You never intended to do it," said he to one
of Captain Warners friends. "is it not extraordinary," he
asked, " that with a fair wind and two steam-boats, they
cannot bring the ship up that short distance?" But every
one is not so rapid in his movements as the Noble and Learned
was only giving utterance
to the general who,ere it must be admitted,
1 feeling. But the fact was that there were not
bands enough employed to do the work quickly. Lord
14
Brougham said he should go, and he would have gone, but
just then Lord Ingestre called out that the ship was in mo-
tion. This was about five o'clock; but the tow-line had not
gen
yet been attached, and the vessel swung round and was
movement afterwards, however, her retrograde was observed
drifting away with the tide towards Shoreham. Shortly
to receive a check, and the immediate appearance of a rope
reaching from her bow to the Sir William Wallace, which
was ahead, indicated that at last her tardiness in going to
the place of execution would be overcome. Meanwhile some
of the few men who had been left in charge of her descended
into a boat and rowed off, as if for their lives, to the Tees,
which followed astern for the purpose of keeping off any
persons who might be influenced by their curiosity to come
within range of danger. The tide, as is obvious from what
was said before of her drifting, was against her, and the
distance she was to be brought between four and five miles,
so that it was nearly six o'clock before she was fairly towed
to the position she was to occupy, about a mile and a
ill nu ar
rgi ee
dheereht eelfmb,
eorr,
adnoda nwyetehtme gff eilns eat hbaete
tmwi
with
quarter from the battery. Now two men
.who had remained
possible, than their shipmates had
beon nbeoeaereed
etroym,
between Lord Ingestre and other offi-
cers
until those on shore should
itieeleradeelyxb.eependiatigrone,edif
l
thflyeintigagstaff on:the battery, at any
acetrtehaenind
asCat-phtaeaind lAef.Tatnbieere,tteemhatehewsbheonuldbehowisete areUednyioten Jeapcek.
select, which would be replied to by Cap-
tain Warner hauling down his signal, and then immediately
iaemtiese,t
they
idyekcieehenops
jtehateaot signal
t
the operation would take place. The Sir William Wallace
having let go the tow line returned abreast of the John
o' Gaunt for a few moments, but for what purpose we could
not 3iseover ;" she than took up her position about a quartei
of a mile ahead of the ship, while the Tees went rather fur-
ther astern. Captain Warner's signal had been flying some
time before it was anwered &eta the battery, and then arose