The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-11-06 00:00:00

WRECK OF THE ROYAL GEORGE.

(From the Hampshire Telegraph.)
Colonel Pasley's operations at Spithead terminated on Sa-
turday the 24th ult., when the divers were employed for the
last time, after having recovered a considerable quantity of
wreck in the course of the week, the neap tides and the mild-
ness of the weather having favoured their exertions. Amongst
the fragments got up were several stanchions of the orlop
deck, a complete floor timber (the only piece that had not
been broken by some of the numerous explosions), and a
very substantial half timber of the same description; also
some carlins and parts of beams. The whole of the wreck
got up within the last three weeks was piled in front of the
lead-house, in the dockyard. On Monday, the 26th, the
Success frigate hulk and the two mooring lighters or lumps,
Nos. 4 and 5, were towed into harbour by the Echo steamer
and the pensioner seamen were paid off the same day, whilst
the Portsmouth riggers returned to their duty in the dock-
yard. On Tuesday afternoon the stores supplied from Ports-
mouth yard having been landed, and the remainder put on
board the Lightning navy steamer, commanded by Lieutenant
steamer, Col. Palley, with all the Royal sappers and miners,
the divers and their assistants, and the Chatham riggers, who
had been employed at Spithead, embarked in the same vessel
and were landed in Chatham-yard next day, about two o'clock
p.m. Thus his operations have closed for the present sea-
son, but not with so much success as the colonel had antici-
pated, for he had sanguine hopes of clearing away the whole
of the wreck before the beginning of November. This has
not been accomplished, for the shoal of mud noticed in one
of our former numbers, in which the remains of the wreck,
and guns to the value of nearly £lOOO. are still buried, has
been ascertained to be about 150 feet from east to west (this
having been the direction of the ship's length), and from 120
to 125 feet in breadth from north to south ; its extreme height
above the general level of the anchorage is 9 feet 6 inches,
but its average height is much less, and it slopes away gra-
dually on all sides. These dimensions are according to the
soundings taken by Serjeant Major Jenkin Jones, of the
Royal sappers and miners, and Mr. Clewitt, leading rigger in
Portsmouth-yard, on the 23d ult., in Colonel Pasley's pre-
sence ; and they suffice to prove that at least one-half of the
mass of mud covering the wreck has been washed away since
Lieut. Symonds and Mr. Clewitt sounded over it on the Bth
of August last, when it measured 200 feet from east to west,
and, on one part, nearly 300 feet from north to south, its ex-
treme height being 14 feet. Thus the half-anchor creeper,
substituted for the rake, by partially raising the timbers
which it gets hold of, and enabling the diver to sling, and the
workmen to weigh them, disturbs the mud, and gives greater
effect to the continual action of the tides, which washes it
away. Last year when Col. Pasley commenced his opera-
tions, several parts of the wreck stood 33 feet above the level
of the anchorage, for the stem was perfect above the level of
the lower deck, as well as the stern, and the whole starboard
side was standing to nearly the same level, the larboard side
having fallen over; whilst the fragments of the upper decks,
consisting of massy beams, &c., whose fastenings have been
eaten away by the worms, lay in a confused mass over all.
Colonel Pasley, ,on breaking up his establishment for the sea-
son, expressed his extreme satisfaction with all the men em-
ployed, whether divers and their assistants, riggers, sappers
and miners, or seamen : and he has expressed himself parti-
cularly pleased with the zeal and efficiency of the pensioners,
nearly 40 of whom have worked under him during the whole
of this season, and has declared that he will be happy to re-
ceive any of them next year, if not better employed. Many
officers are of opinion that men of war may anchor over the
wreck of the Royal George, in its present state, with safety,
because none but broken fragments of large timbers or light
pieces have been found lately, which have not consistency
enough to carry away a ship's anchor, or break a chain cable ;
but the natural action of the tides, by washing away the mud
which now covers them, will lay the remaining floor-timbers
and guns bare, which will be an impediment hereafter, so
that the anchorage can scarcely be considered in a safe or sa-
tisfactory state, until the whole of the present shoal of mud,
and all that remains buried under it, shall be reduced to:the
level of the bottom around it. When this shall have been
accomplished, the tides will have no tendency to effect any
further change ; and if any fragments should still remain be-
low that level, they may be disregarded, if small, or broken
to pieces by new explosions in the course of next summer, if
large. The necessity of such very great explosions as have
repeatedly taken place hitherto is not, however, anticipated
for the future.

ANTIPATIIIES.—Certain antipathies appear to depend upon
a peculiarity of the senses. The horror inspired by the
odour of certain flowers may be referred to this cause.
Amatus Lusitanus relates the case of a monk who fainted
when he beheld a rose, and never quitted his cell when that
flower was blooming. Scaliger mentions one of his rela-
tions who experienced a similar horror at seeing a lily. And
Montaigne remarks, that there are men who dread an apple
more than a musket-ball. Zimmerman tells us of a lady
who could not endure the feeling of silk, and shuddered when
touching the velvety skin of a peach. Boyle relates the case
of a man who had a natural abhorrence of honey. Without
his knowledge some honey was introduced in a plaister ap-
plied to his foot, and the accidents that resulted compelled
his attendants to withdraw it. Hippocrates mentions one
Nicanor who swooned whenever he heard a flute. Boyle
fainted when he heard the splashing of water. Scaliger
turned pale at the sight of water-tresses. Erasmus ex-
perienced febrile symptoms when smelling fish. The Duke
D'Epernon swooned on beholding a leveret, although a hare
did not produce that effect. Tycho Brahe fainted at the
sight of a fox ; Henry the Third of France at that of a cat,
and Marshal D'Albert at a pig ; and the horrors that whole
families entertain of cheese- is well known. Julia, daughter
of Frederick,King of Naples, could not taste meat without
serious accidents.

A TRUE JOHN BULL GEOLOGIST AND THE
HIGHLAND GUIDE IN ARRAN.

Another rara avis landed in the shape of a roast beef and
plum pudding, jolly, elderly-looking gentleman—open coun-
tenance, ruddy complexion, and cheerful—every way well-
conditioned in body, but rather unwieldy and short-winded
for mountainous pursuits. Having enjoyed his sail of 60
miles, escaping sea-sickness, and got his appetite well
whetted, his first attraction was Mrs. Jamiesou's comfort-
able hotel, which he breathlessly reached, and found, in per-
fection, abundance of substantial belly-timber. Contentedly
enjoying and refreshing himself, and thus missing his ac-
quaintances, who had gone on scientific researches, he had
to sally forth attended by Sandy Crawford, the well-known,
shrewd, cautious, polite, intelligent, and auld farrant"
guide, to " see what was to be seen." Off he courageously
started to ascend Goatfell, and try to fall in with his friends ;
puffing and blowing like an old broken-winded horse, and co-
piously perspiring, he laboured hard to keep pace with Sandy
during half an hour, when, getting exhausted, he hailed him
to halt. " Hooch no, Sir, it's no juist tune yet, but gif
ye're out o' wun an' dry, ye sud wat your whustle wi' the
whisky, and tak' aff your coat." He did so, and resumed the
new task of ascending—but he bad soon to give in and moor
himself among the tall heather. Well, friend, just tell me
now what is to be seen where we are, for I can go no farther ;
and the truth is, I am only a plain, blunt, true Englishman,
and don't understand one word of all the Latin and other
cursed lingo about them here stones, formations, stratifica-
tions, and other-ations ; but since I have been fool enough,
for fashion's sake, to come here, I'll reward you if you try to
show me something worth while talking about when I get
home to wife and family, and visit club. Daughters told me
to bring a piece of the stone cow, left here since the flood,
and here's the hammer, old boy.' Ou aye, preceesely, I
understand ye perfectly noo, said Sandy, knowingly—lt's
the peter-fashion, (petrifaction, petrified,) coo ye mean, ou
aye, it's no juist finished. and canna weel be seen yet—ane
o' the horns and a piece of the tail, an' ane of the hind
cloots is no juist hardened eneuch, an' it will be neist moon
afore the lime glacy dues, and the other stickan things fa'
plenty eneuch to perfite the hail brute. Besides, its our far
awa' for ye the day, being ayont yon heigh hill, in an awfu'
luckin' sheugh, an' the fairies and witches hae some ban'
in the wark. But if ye wad tak my advice, tak ye anither
stiff drap o' the whisky, an' I'll show you a wonder o' a stane
which nane o' your learnt friens ken ony thing about, its a
secret; but os ye'ere a decent, kind gentleman, and has nae
pride, I'll conduct ye.' Still puff, puffing, and breathless, the
adventurous gentleman- followed Sandy, curiosity now les-
sening his fatigues, to a remote elevated spot, where stood an
immense large isolated granite stone. "fhis is the deaf
stane.' Deaf, deaf, what do you mean ? " It's a queer
stane this. Climb ye on its top, an' while I'm standing
below, I 11 cry and roar to ye, baith in Gaelic and English,
an' I 'll be bound ye 'll no hear as woad, ye 'll be sae deaf,
but only for the time.' The stations being accordingly taken
with due solemnity on both sides,-Sandy gesticulated, opened
his mouth wide, and seemed to bawl, roar, and halloo tre-
mendously—but uttered not a word or sound of any kind,
only mimicking. The stranger stood, ' like patience upon a
monument,' listening, in every attitude, with intense eager—
ness, bawling to Sandy to cry loud—but no sound did he
hear. Descending at length in a passion, he scolded Sandy
for not speaking louder. I heard,' he said, ' the wild fowls
screaming, the din of cascades and waterfalls, and the bleat-
ing cry of the sheep distinctly enough—but one word from
your cursed Highland mouth I could not hear.' Dinna be
sae angry. I telt ye ye could not hear the human voice—ye
wad be clean deaf to it—an' I 'm no a wild fowl, a linn, or a
sheep ! " Determined not to be imposed upon, and laughed
at for his credulity, he ordered Sandy to mount the stone,
and he would vociferate—Sandy did so, and acted his part as
listener to admiration. The would be geologist exerted his
lungs to the utmost, roared like ,a boatswain, stamped, cursed
Sandy, and swore lustily. Sandy, meanwhile, holding down
first the right ear, then the left—making signs, pointing to
his ears, and shaking his head most mournfully—all in token
of absolute deafness. After repeated trials, and plentiful
libations of mountain dew, and with the same results, the
traveller implicitly believed that the stone actually possessed
the quality ascribed to it, and hammered off some large spe-
cimens to enrich his private museum. The subject is worthy
of an " illustration" by Cruikshanks, the celebrated Lon-
don artist. The corpulent and credulous London citizen,
and Sandy, the Highland guide, in their respective ludicrous
positions and attitudes, with a sketch of the mountain, bay
beneath, &c., would afford excellent materials for a bunion-
rous picture.

INTERESTING DISCOVERY OF ANCIENT

REMAINS.

On Thursday, the 22d of last month, a fragment of an an-
cient helmet was discovered by some labouring men in a pit
near Cherry Tree, on the Preston Old Road. Even in its
present corroded state this relic of another age presents evi-
dence of superior wormanship. It forms the scull-cap, or
outtr portion, of a helmet, in all probability once belonging
to an officer of rank, slain in the unhappy wars which deso-
lated Great Britain in the reign of Charles the First, or du-
ring the Protectorate of Oliver Cromwell. Originally the
helmet has been highly gilt and ornamented : on each side of
the crest are several lines of gilding, which are repeated on
the lower part, and between the two:springing from behind
forwards, is an elegant twig or branch of laurel, formed like-
wise of gilt-work. This helmet is of the same structure as
those worn during the great civil wars. When complete it
has clearly had a vizor, as one of the hinges by which that
portion was fixed still remains, and on the opposite side are
several of the rivets and rivet-holes, by which it was attached.
There is also at the back part and on the left side a tube for
the insertion of the plume. A helmet resembling this in ge-
neral, appearance is figured in " Meyrick." From these cir-
cumstances it is evident the helmet in question once formed
part of the armour of an officer, that of the common soldier
being simply a skull-cap, with a peak in front and sometimes
behind, and entirely destitute of ornament. But the ques-
tion now suggests itself—if the helmet of an officer engaged
during the great civil wars, how came it in this pit at Cherry
Tree ? Probably thus—During the year 1643 there were some
sharp skirmishes in these parts, between the Cavaliers, under
the Earl of Derby, and the Republicans. But as no mention
is made of any officer having fallen, we are inclined to fix a
later period as that when the relics of which we speak were
thrown into the pit whence they have recently been exhumed.
The bloody battle of Preston, or Ribbleton Moor, was fought
in 1649, between the Royalists under Sir Marmaduke Lang-
dale and the Duke of Hamilton, and the Parliamentarians
under Oliver Cromwell, ending in the total defeat of the
former. There can be little doubt that, on the routing of
the Royalist army, many of the troopers would endeavour to
make good their retreat by the moors and unfrequented
country in this neighbourhood, many of them mortally
wounded in the battle. It may be that some officer, high
in command among the Cavaliers, died on or about this spot,
and that his followers threw his body into the pit to prevent
its mutilation by their pursuers. It is here assumed that the
owner of the helmet belonged to the Royalist or losing party.
Of this there seems little doubt, for if an officer of the
Cromwellian or victorious party had here died of his
wounds, he would, however low his rank, have been ho-
noured with all the pomp of a military funeral, and not
hastily flung into such an unhonoured grave as a pit by the
road-side. What strengthens this opinion is, that at the
same time and place several bones were found, some of
them being the bones of a man and others the bones of a
horse. It is also worthy of observation that a few years ago
a quantity of horses' bones were found in Tockholes, at no
great distance from the pit where these other remains were
discovered : with them there were no human bones what-
ever. Hence they may be referred to the earlier of the two
periods of which we have spoken, and were probably depo-
sited there after one of the skirmishes in 1643, in which the
men of Blackburn largely partook. It is not unlikely that
both men and horses were left dead upon the field—the lat-
ter would be thrown into the nearest pit or quarry, and the
former carried off and interred in consecrated ground by
their surviving friends.—Blackburn Standard.

EXPERIMENTS WITH THIRTY-TWO-POUNDER
GUNS AND SHELLS.

Wootwieft, Nov. 3.—lt is a curious fact, although not
generally known, that a 32-pounder ball of nearly six inches
in diameter, when fired through the timbers of a ship,
scarcely makes a hole larger than might be momentarily re-
paired by the carpenter with a piece of wood of the thickness
of a middle-sized walking stick. This is accounted for by
the velocity of the ball in passing through, causing the wood
to collapse to nearly its original state. It was announced a
few weeks ago that the French had been trying experiments
with a ball or rather shell, which on its entering the side of a
vessel, tore the timber to pieces in all directions, and they
prided themselves on the idea that they would, by this means,
have great advantages over the English in the event of actual
hostilities commencing between France and Great Britain ;
this country is better prepared to meet them on this identical
point, however, than they are aware of.
It is now about eight years since a very scientific gentle-
man, who has made many improvements in fire-arms, tried
experiments which convinced him that it was possible to
make shells of such a construction that they would explode
the moment they came in contact with the object aimed at,
whether it was at a distance of 50 or 500 yards, or any range
within the power of the gun from which the shell might be
propelled. This gentleman submitted his views in 1832 to
the Board of Ordnance ; but, as the country was at univer-
sal peace with the world, and no prospect of any difference
with the other great powers, the members of the board did
not consider themselves justified in recommending the ex-
pense that would be incurred, though it might be but trifling,
for the purpose of perfecting the plan submitted to them.
Highly to the honour of individual liberality, a gentleman of
fortune, to whom the subject was mentioned, offered the use
of a range of three miles on his grounds, and stated that the
invention should be perfected if it cost £30,000. The inventor
accordingly set to work, and succeeded to the utmost extent
of his wishes in making a shell which had the desired effect
on its striking the object with one of its sides, which it in-
variably did. But as the peace of the country and friendly
assurances from foreign powers were secured without having
recourse to arms, the invention has remained dormant for a
considerable period. Recent events have, however, changed
the aspect of affairs, and the Board of Ordnance, have in the
course of the last few weeks had several experiments made
with this description of shell, and its effects have exceeded
their most sanguine expectations. The only reason for fur-
ther experiments being necessary previous to its general
introduction as an engine of destruction, for the use of the
British army and navy, is a desire on the part of the Board
of Ordnance to have the shells of a spherical shape as that
form would answer the purpose much better, being more
familiar to the men employed on large guns. The inventor
has acceded to the wishes of the board, the members of
which have given orders for the construction of a new target
at the butt in the marshes, 16 feet larger than the one for-
merly in use, and of the strongest materials. They have
also given orders that some of the most able and experienced
gunners of the royal artillery be in readiness to accompany
the inventor, and assist in the experiments about to be
made in the course of the week. If the weather proves
favourable, the experiments will be made from 32-pounder
guns, a new battery having been erected, on which six of
these pieces of ordnance have been mounted, as they are
most generally used in the British service. The inventor is
perfectly satisfied of being able to effect the object desired
by the Board of Ordnance, and has no doubt the shells will
answer equally well in a spherical form as those already com-
pleted. Those only who have seen the effects and the shat-
tered state of the best and hardest timber, on being struck,
could believe such damage could be done by such apparently
simple means.

PRESENTATION OF PLATE TO THE REV. JOHN JONES,
meeting of the subscribers to
CURATE OF DENBIGH.
the plate to be presented to the Rev. John Jones, in token of
their respect and gratitude forhisefficient services as curate
years, was held at the
of that parish, for upwards of fourteen
Town-hall, at Denbigh, on Saturday.
George
reaylor,
Sheffer,
opened
thetii e
senior churchwarden, having taken the chair,ir
o Pnesaetnt the plate to the
Esq., of Plas
business of the meeting ; and
Clough, having kindly consented i,
rev. gentleman, addressed him in a
speech which was
equally well responded tu. The articles of plate consisted of
a larger and smaller silver salvers, cake basket, chased coffee
twotw twelve
pot, soup ladle, two gravy spoons, six table s
dessert spoons, twelve tea spoons, two sauce II:d:8
spoons, twelve large silver forks, and twelve smaller ones.
They were much admired for chasteness, and elegance
design, and were manufactured by Messrs. Worervneea.nodf
Mayer, of Lord-street, Liverpool, The following Isefhe in.
scription upon the large salver:—" Presented, with
h
plate, value 120 guineas, to the Rev. John Jones, curate of
Denbigh, by his congregation, in token of their esteem, and
as a rateful acknowledgment of benefits experienced during
a long, zealous, and faithful ministry. September, 1840."