mounted on a gun-carriage of the general form used for field-guns, but of special construction in detail. The three guns at Shoeburyness have each ten barrels, and are of the respective calibres of .75 in., .65 in., and .42 in. The operation of working the gun is very simple: one man places a feed-case filled with cartridges into the hopper, while another turns the handle. By means of the gearing the main shaft is revolved, carrying with it the lockcylinder, locks, carrier, and barrels. As the gun is rotated, the cartridges, one by one, drop into the grooves of the carrier from the feed cases, and instantly the lock is moved forward to load the cartridges into the chambers of the barrels. By means of the cocking device acting on the lock, the cartridge is exploded, and, as soon as the charge is fired, the lock, as the gun is revolved, is drawn back, bringing with it the shell of the cartridge, which is dropped on the ground. It will thus be seen that, when the piece is rotated, the locks in rapid succession move forward to load and fire, and return to extract the cartridge-shells. In other words, the whole operation of loading, closing the breech, discharging, and expelling the THE GATLING GUN. empty cartridge-cases, is conducted while the barrels are kept continuously revolving. It is to be observed that, while the locks revolve with the barrels, they have also in their line of travel a spiral reciprocating movement; that is, each lock revolves once, and moves forward and back at each revolution of the piece. The gun can be discharged with great rapidity. The shots are delivered singly, in rapid succession, so that the tendency to recoil is only that produced by one shot, and this tendency is en tirely overcome, and the recoil absorbed, by the weight of the gun and carriage, and by a simple device attached to the trail. The method of feeding the Gatling gun from cases of cartridges, requires five men to work the piece. No. 1 man turns the crank; No. 2 inserts the cases into the hopper; No. 3 hands the cases to No. 2; No. 4 holds the case in position in the hopper until the cartridges are fed out; and No. 5 receives the empty cases. this method of working is greatly simplified But by Dr. Gatling's revolving drum-feed, which is mounted on one of the three guns at Shoeburyness. By this arrangement one man only is required to work the gun and adjust the feed, with an assistant who simply charges the empty drum with cartridges, while the one previously filled is being used on the gun. Besides the Gatling gun, we have a perspective view of the Fosberry-Montigny mitrailleur, which is likewise engraved from a photograph. This will enable a fair comparison to THE FOSBERRY MITRAILLEUR. be made between the two machine-guns as far as external appearances are concerned, while the relative merits of their constructive details can be readily determined by comparing the following brief description with that of the Gatling gun. The question of their relative merits in practice has already been settled by the statement of the ultimate results of the firing previously given. The Fosberry mitrailleur consists of a compound barrel composed of 37 rifled tubes, formed hexagonally on the outside, the whole being rigidly connected together in a cluster, and encased in an outer metal cylinder. The barrels are open from muzzle to breech, and the group is closed in the rear by a breech-block, which carries 37 firinglocks. To load the piece the breech-block is drawn back by a lever, and a plate-which is seen in the hands of the gunner in our engraving-carrying 37 cartridges, is inserted vertically in the space thus formed. The breechblock is then pressed forward, by which means the cartridges ought to be, but are not always, forced forward into the chambers of the barrels. In closing the breech-block the springs of the strikers are placed in tension, and are released by means of a serrated shutter which is actuated by a firing-lever. By bringing this lever down rapidly, the whole 37 cartridges are exploded almost simultaneously, while, by operating it slowly, single shots may be fired. It is at once apparent that with the mitrailleur it is not possible to maintain such a continuous, steady fire as with the Gatling gun, nor can any reliance be placed upon the proper insertion of every cartridge in its chamber. The vertical feed-drum consists of a metal framing of cylindrical shape, and having 16 divisions or slots around its circumference, and radiating from the centre. Each of these slots contains 25 cartridges, placed one above the other in vertical line. A hole in the centre of the drum fits over a pin on the outer casing of the gun, in front of which is the hopper through which the cartridges are fed. The latter pass to the hopper through an aperture in the bottom of each division in the drum. On the face of the casing, to the left of the hopper, is a rib which projects beyond the edge of the feed-drum when in position, and the drum has a series of thumb-lugs formed on its lower periphery. In firing the gun, the gunner, with his left hand, brings one of the lugs on the bottom rim of the revolving feed-drum coincident with the rib on the hopper face, while with his right he turns the firing crank. The cartridges fall into the hopper from one division, and, as soon as the gunner sees that one division is empty, he revolves the drum part, bringing the next lug over the rib, and at the same time the next batch of cartridges in the drum over the hopper. The feed is thus continuous until the whole 16 divisions in the drum have been emptied, when it is removed, and replaced by a charged drum. On the right of the drum is a locking arrangement for keeping it in position when not actually being fired. There is also a highly-ingenious automatic continuous traversing motion for giving the gun lateral play against an advancing body of troops. MONTALEMBERT, CHARLES FORBES DE TYRON, Count de, a French statesman and publicist, a theologian and man of letters, an ultramontanist and republican, born in London, May 29, 1810; died in Paris, March 13, 1870. His father was a French nobleman, an adherent of the Bourbons, who went into exile with them, and returned to France at the Restoration. His mother was the daughter of Mr. James Forbes, F. G. S., an English author and manufacturer. Young Montalembert was carefully educated as a strict Catholic, and, though he adopted the ultramontane religious doctrines of his father, he did not incline to his absolutist politics. His studies and principles early led him into intimate relations with Guizot, and subsequently with Lacordaire and the Abbé Lamennais. Associated with the two last named he founded in 1880 a democratic journal under the title of L'Avenir. The doctrines of this publication were condemned a year later by Pope Gregory XVI., the arguments for the separation of Church and State giving great offence to the ecclesiastical authorities. On discontinuing their journal, the three leaders, strangely enough, adopted other and changed views. Lacordaire (see LACORDAIRE, J. B. H., ANNUAL CYCLOPEDIA, 1861), on the condemnation of his paper, at once acquiesced in the Papal decision, retired into the privacy of his order, and devoted the rest of his life to his religious duties, and the interests of the Dominican order. Lamennais, Democratic party, with many avowals of republican principles, and was elected, on these declarations, to the Constituent Assembly, where he acted with the monarchical or moderate party, voting against the new Constitution, and for the restriction of the press. As time and legislation advanced, he became still more conservative in his views, and found his natural rival in Victor Hugo, with whom he engaged in several memorable debates. His liberal views were at this period, and for some time afterward, subordinated to the antagonistic principle of reverence for authority, which was at this time in the ascendant. He was the first to demand French intervention in favor of Pius IX., and to give his adhesion to the expedition to Rome. He also defended most elaborately, in the Legislative Assembly, the aggressive movements by which Louis Napoleon was already foreshadowing his coup d'état. After that event, he protested against the imprisonment of the members of the As too, expressed himself submissively on the promulgation of the Papal decree condemning his doctrines, but soon after betrayed his rebellious spirit, and completed an irreconcilable rupture with his church by the publication of his "Paroles d'un Croyant." It was condemned by the Pope, but had an immediate and unparalleled popularity in France and throughout Europe. Montalembert, on the contrary, assumed something of that character as a politician which his friends had hoped for Lacordaire. He founded with De Caux a free Catholic school in Paris, but this was soon closed by the police as an infringement of the ordinances of public instruction. He was tried and fined after defending himself in a speech still pronounced the most brilliant of his long career. The result of this trial appears to have had the singular effect of making him more conservative in politics, and the Papal censure of Lamennais's rebellion strengthened his attachment to the Church. On succeeding to his father's rank, 1831, and his rights as a member of the Cham-sembly, and remained for some years almost ber of Peers, Montalembert entered upon a political career, though he could not take part in the debates of the Chamber until 1835, in consequence of his youth. He occupied the interval in the preparation of his "Life of St. Elizabeth of Hungary, Duchess of Thuringia," which was first published in 1836, and has since passed through numerous editions, been illustrated, abridged, and partially rewritten. In this work he manifested a lively appreciation of the poetical aspect of medieval piety and asceticism. In 1843, on the occasion of the discussion, in the Chamber of Peers, of the relations of the Church to the State, he published his "Catholic Manifesto," which led to his immediate recognition by the Catholics in the Chamber as their leader. In 1844, he opposed, from its introduction, M. Villemain's project of secondary instruction (see VILLEMAIN, in this volume), and delivered his three addresses on the "Liberty of the Church," the "Liberty of Instruction," and the "Liberty of the Monastic Orders." In the last of these addresses he undertook openly the defence of the "Society of Jesus," and concluded with the words since so often quoted: "We are the sons of the Crucified; we do not retreat before the sons of Voltaire." The two diverse characters which he endeavored to unite in one, the ultramontanist, or consistent supporter of the Catholic faith and the dicta of the Pope, and the equally zealous Liberal, often involved him in trouble, and made him inconsistent, when he was carrying out his own deepest convictions. He was everywhere the advocate and defender of the oppressed nationalities, whatever their faith; Greece in 1831, Poland in 1832 and 1844, and the Christians in Syria in 1848, found him always ready to plead their cause with an eloquence which carried all before it; but he was not less zealous in his defence of the Hindoos, or of the real wrongs of Ireland. After the Revolution of 1848 he joined the alone in the opposition. At the elections of 1857, the Count de Montalembert found himself for the first time defeated, and withdrew thenceforth from public life. Twice (in 1854 and 1858) he was prosecuted by the Government of Louis Napoleon on the charge of having published articles in the journals calculated to excite hatred and contempt of the government of the Emperor. In the first instance, the Government withdrew the suit, in the second, he was condemned, but the Emperor, finding his prosecution impolitic, remitted both the fine and imprisonment. From 1857 he lived in retirement, suffering terribly from an incurable disease, and occupying all the time, which was sufficiently free from pain, in literary pursuits. He wrote frequently for Le Correspondant, the leading French Catholic review, published a number of brochures on religious and political questions, such as "Catholic Interests in the Nineteenth Century," "The Political Future of England" (in which he argued that the interests of Great Britain were identical with those of liberty), and "Pius IX. and Lord Palmerston." In a recent letter to Swiss students he made the following interesting comparison between the Republic of Switzerland and that of the United States: You, who live in a country which the friends of liberty love to cite at the same time as the United States of America, know, better than I, how far your noble country is still from resembling our model beyond the sea. When they read the discussions in your assemblies, and see the acts which emanate from them, they are stupefied at the great part which confiscation, prohibition, and proscription still play in them, as witness what has recently occurred in Thurgovia and the Berne Jura. Nothing could less reington and Franklin. These unhappy disturbances, foolish exclusions, and shameful anachronisms will, however, show you sufficiently what are the progressive measures, the urgent reforms, and the arduous champions, in order that, in the country of Tell and conflicts, of which you should be the indomitable Winkelried, that true liberty may reign which sooner semble the manner and customs of the sons of Wash or later will become the inalienable patrimony of her sincere defenders. Count Montalembert was one of the first among distinguished Catholics to take issue with the ultramontanists on their extreme views of infallibility, and, from a bed of sickness, wrote an earnest letter, in which he mainly advocated the ground at first taken by Bishop Dupanloup. Besides the works we have already named, the Count de Montalembert had published the following books: "On Catholicism and Vandalism in Art," 1839; the Duty of Catholics on the Question of Free Education," 1844; "Saint Anselme, a Fragment of the Introduction to the History of St. NADAL, Rev. BERNARD H., D. D., LL. D., a Methodist clergyman, author, and Professor of Church History in Drew Theological Seminary, born in Maryland, in 1815; died at Madison, N. J., June 20, 1870. In early life his educational advantages were limited. He graduated at Dickinson College, joined the Baltimore Conference of the M. E. Church in 1835, and for a number of years preached in Maryland, Virginia, and Delaware. About 1850 he accepted a professorship in Asbury University, Indiana. While there, Dr. Nadal commenced the publication of essays upon Church history in the Methodist Quarterly Review, of which Rev. Dr. McClintock was then editor, and in other Church periodicals. These writings made him widely known as one of the ablest theological writers of the Methodist body. He returned East after a few years, and preached, under the direction of different conferences, in Washington, Philadelphia, Brooklyn, and New Haven. At Washington he was for one session chaplain to the House of Representatives. Upon the organization of the Drew Theological Seminary, he became Professor of Church History, and, at the death of Dr. McClintock, became acting president of that institution. Dr. Nadal was a courageous and able exponent of the antislavery views held among his denomination at the North, and during his ministry South proved himself an able debater on that subject. He was a forcible writer, and was one of the principal contributors to the Methodist, besides frequently writing for other periodicals. He was also an acceptable preacher. NAVY, UNITED STATES. At the close of 1869 the navy of the United States consisted of 188 ships of all classes, calculated to carry, when in commission, 1,322 guns exclusive of howitzers. Since that time four small gunboats, the Seminole, Clinton (tug), Maumee, and Unadilla, have been condemned as unworthy and sold. The tug Rescue was sold, under an act of Congress, to the Republic of Liberia, and the tug Maria was run into and Bernard," 1844; "Some Counsels to Catholics on the Direction to be given to the Polemics of the Day, and on some Perils to be avoided," 1849; "The Monks of the West from St. Benedict to Saint Bernard," 1860-'70-five volumes of this had been published, but he had not completed it at his death; "A Nation in Mourning, or Poland in 1861," 1861; "Father Lacordaire," 1862; "A Free Church in a Free State," 1863; "The Pope and Poland," 1864; besides numerous articles in the Revue des Deux Mondes, the Encyclopédie Catholique, and the Correspondant, of which he was one of the most active editors. He was elected a member of the French Academy in 1852. N sunk in Long Island Sound, with a loss of four men. On the afternoon of the 24th of January, 1870, the steam sloop-of-war Oneida, carrying 6 guns and a crew of 176 officers and men, steamed out of the harbor of Yokohama on her return home after a cruise of three years on the Asiatic station. At seven o'clock on the same evening, in the Bay of Yeddo, about fifteen miles from Yokohama, she was run into by the English steamer Bombay, carrying the mails and passengers for the last-named port. After cutting down the Oneida and carrying away entirely a large portion of her stern, the Bombay proceeded on her way, leaving behind her in the darkness the unfortunate Oneida, which in less than fifteen minutes from the time she was first struck had sunk, and of 24 officers and 152 men but 2 of the former and 57 of the latter escaped. Thus reduced, the navy consisted, on the 1st of December, 1870, of 181 vessels, calculated to carry 1,309 guns; of these, 52 are of the iron-clad or monitor class; of the remainder 30 are sailing-vessels without any steam-power, and the balance steamers, or sailing-vessels with auxiliary steam-power; 45 vessels, including store and hospital ships, mounting 465 guns, are attached to the several fleets, and 4 others, mounting 7 guns, are on special service, which, with 6 receiving-ships at the various stations, and the tugs and small vessels on duty at the navyyards and stations, make the naval force then in commission. Ten other vessels, mounting 143 guns, were ready for sea, and would join the several fleets as soon as they received their complement of men. The whole available force of vessels, sail and steam combined, in commission, under repair, and laid up, is 53, calculated to mount 779 guns; 4 of these, intended to carry 92 guns, being built of unsound timber, and requiring great alterations, will never be of any use to the service. Out of the whole number, 24, mounting 362 guns, are under repair; this leaves 29 available sea-going vessels of sail and steam power, carrying 417 guns. There are six screw-steamers on the stocks, intended to carry 122 guns, and 4 heavy monitors, which, when completed, will be formidable vessels, capable of bearing armor that will resist the heaviest enemy's shot. They can also be arranged to carry 20-inch guns, throwing a weight of shot which few ships could resist. There are in commission 3 monitor or turret vessels, mounting eight 15-inch guns, and 19 laid up in ordinary, that could be made serviceable. There are 20 light-draught monitors, which are worthless as fighting-vessels, and 12 paddle-wheel steamers, only 2 of which are fit to go into action. Of 22 old sailing-vessels of various classes, used as receiving-ships, store-ships, etc., 11 are serviceable as store and practice ships, but are not suitable for other purposes. There are 35 tug and store vessels in moderately good repair, though not suited for offensive purposes, and 5 condemned vessels, including the New Orleans, 74, which is on the stocks at Sackett's Harbor. "Together we have," says Admiral Porter, in his report to the Secretary of the Navy, "a sum-total of 181 naval vessels, of which number only 49 are at present available as ships-of-war. "Many of the vessels on the register should be entered as 'hulks,' for at present they tend to deceive our own people with regard to the strength of our navy, while foreign powers are well aware of the value of every vessel in our service, as they have for years employed intelligent officers in this country to keep them informed in all particulars relating to our ships in commission or under construction." The marine corps consists of about 2,500 officers and privates, under the command of a brigadier-general. The number of seamen in the navy is limited by act of Congress to 8,500, which renders many of the vessels deficient in seamen, and causes the exercises in seamanship to be incomplete. The naval pension roll on the 1st of November, 1870, was as follows: 1,368 invalids, annually receiving.. $123,014 50 1,642 widows and children, annually receiving. 266,032 00 $389,046 50 3,010 persons. Total.. The whole actual expenditure chargeable to the naval appropriations for the year ending December 1, 1870, was $18,985,165.11, a decrease of $1,096,119.89, from the previous year. The appropriations for the current fiscal year ending June 30, 1870, are $19,994,637.17. The expenditure for the five months from the commencement of the fiscal year to December 1, 1870, is within the proportion of the appropriations applicable to that period, and shows a decrease of $2,488,585.30 from the expenditure of the corresponding five months of the previous year. The estimates for the general expenses of the service for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1872, amount to $21,638,417.77. Upon the death of Admiral Farragut, whose exploits at New Orleans, in the Mississippi, and at Mobile, won him undying renown, Vice-Admiral David D. Porter succeeded to VOL. X.-34 A the position of admiral, and Rear-Admiral Rowan, who had received the thanks of Congress for gallant services to the country, was appointed vice-admiral. While all foreign navies, since the introduction of steam-power into vessels-of-war, have adhered to the system of full sail-power in their ships, using steam only as necessity required, the United States have gone on, year after year, discarding sails and increasing the steam-power of their vessels. This course has greatly increased the expenses of the vesselsof-war, so that it has been estimated that, during the late war, the expenditure for coal alone was at least $18,000,000, not to mention the additional expense for engineers, firemen, and coal-heavers, and the wear and tear of engines, which last item is beyond computation. Besides the increase of expense, the disuse of sails has proved detrimental to seamanship. Since 1869 measures have beentaken to remedy these defects, and 26 ships besides those already existing have been equipped with full sail-power. At present there are no other than full-rigged ships in active service, with the exception of four or five iron-clads and a few side-wheel steamers used as dispatchboats and surveying-vessels. A system of exercises has been devised and put in operation, which has improved the discipline of the service and created a spirit of emulation, which has been very beneficial. In reference to these topics, Admiral Porter, in his report to the Secretary of the Navy, says: From personal observation I can assure you that there is now great economy in the sailing of our vesships were fitted with full sail-power. Comparatively sels-of-war compared with what there was before the little coal is now consumed, the engines and boilers are not worn out from constant use, the hulls of the ships are not heated and the wood thereby destroyed, and there is a reduction of four-fifths in the expenses of the engine-room and coal-bunkers. We In addition to the measures already taken to restore the former standard of seamanship in the navy, would strongly recommend the formation of a practice squadron, to be employed on our coast, which will serve the twofold purpose of a school for officers and mercantile marine during the inclement season. men, and, at the same time, afford assistance to our have now eight sailing-ships that will suit admirably for this purpose, viz., The frigate-built Sabine, Savannah, Macedonian, Constellation, and Constitution, and the sloops-of-war Dale, Portsmouth, and Saratoga. All these, with the exception of the Constitution, are nearly ready for service, and she can be prepared with very little expense. She is now at the Naval Academy, but is no longer needed as a school-ship, the midshipmen having been accommovessels heretofore used as practice-ships for the middated in barracks on shore. The place of the sailingshipmen can be supplied by the Tennessee, which vessel is well adapted for a school-ship, having a fair combination of sail and steam. The fitting up of the Mare Island Navy-Yard in San Francisco harbor, so that it shall be capable of fitting out and repairing all the vessels on the Pacific and Asiatic stations, is strongly recommended; this would save the expense and risk of a voyage around Cape Horn, or the Cape of Good Hope. |