“‘House of Commons, 7th August, 1855 “‘I agree with you that if Dundonald will go out himself to superintend and direct the execution of his scheme, we ought to accept his offer and try his plan. If it succeeds, it will, as you say, save a great number of English and French lives; if it fails in his hands, we shall be exempt from blame, and if we come in for a small share of the ridicule, we can bear it, and the greater part will fall on him. You had best, therefore, make arrangement with him without delay, and with as much secrecy as the nature of things will admit of.’
“Inasmuch as Lord Dundonald’s plans have already been deliberately published by the two persons above named, there can be no harm in now republishing them. They will be found in the first volume of ‘The Panmure Papers’ (pp. 340-342) and are as follows:
“‘(Enclosure)
“‘Brief Preliminary Observations
“‘It was observed when viewing the Sulphur Kilns, in July, 1811, that the fumes which escaped in the rude process of extracting the material, though first elevated by heat, soon fell to the ground, destroying all vegetation, and endangering animal life to a great distance, and it was asserted that an ordinance existed prohibiting persons from sleeping within the distance of three miles during the melting season.
“‘An application of these facts was immediately made to Military and Naval purposes, and after mature consideration, a Memorial was presented on the subject to His Royal Highness the Prince Regent on the 12th of April, 1812, who was graciously pleased to lay it before a Commission, consisting of Lord Keith, Lord Exmouth and General and Colonel Congreve (afterwards Sir William), by whom a favorable report having been given, His Royal Highness was pleased to order that secrecy should be maintained by all parties.
“‘(Signed) Dundonald
“‘7th August, 1855’
“‘Memorandum
“‘Materials required for the expulsion of the Russians from Sebastopol: Experimental trials have shown that about five parts of coke effectually vaporize one part of sulphur. Mixtures for land service, where weight is of importance, may, however, probably be suggested by Professor Faraday, as to operations on shore I have paid little attention. Four or five hundred tons of sulphur and two thousand tons of coke would be sufficient.