The Sun.
London, England, 1855-11-23 00:00:00

NATIONAL SWNDAY LEAGUE.

With a view to facilitate the co-operation of the pub-
lic in the action of the Sunday League, its committee
have prepared three forms of petition, general and spe-
cial, of which we subjoin copies. In their prospectus
the committee say :—" It is not anticipated that the re-
sults of this movement will be confined to metropolitan
institutions only. The inhabitants of our large towns
have also their museums, their picture galleries, and
botanical gardens ; and it is presumed that the impetus
once given in London, its effects will be felt to the re-
motest corners of the empire. The support of the pro-
vincial seats of industry to the metropolitan movement
will be the surest means of completing an undertaking
which claims for itself the title of ' National."'
The following are the petitions referred to :
"Petition for the opening of Museums, Picture Galle-
ries, and Botanical Gardens throughout the United
Kingdom on Saturday afternoon.
" Your petitioners take it for granted that museums
and other collections of a similar character are established
for the instruction and moral improvement of the people ;
and that in proportion as such institutions are made
available for popular education do they fulfil the pur-
poses of their origin.
" That the labours and necessary avocations of the
great body of the community leave little or no opportu-
nity of visiting such institutions during the week, when
they ara open to the public, and hence the main object
of their formation is lost to those whom they are in-
tended to benefit.
" The Sunday, as a day of rest and pleasure, when
the thoughts of men, released from the engrossing la-
bour of mere existence, turn naturally to the beauties of
the universe and to its Creator, is the time most fitted
for the exercise of the reflective faculties ; and your pe-
titioners being firmly convinced that all true education
must tend to the reverence and love of the Deity, be-
lieva that if such institutions as above enumerated were
open to the people on Sunday afternoon, it would be
an inestimable boon to the labouring population, would
raise up an opposing principle to intemperance and im-
morality, and in every way advance the condition of the
people.

- "Your petitioners therefore pray that all restrictions
and impediments may be removed, so that museums,
picture galleries, botanical gardens, and similar collec-
tions generally of parochial or municipal foundations
throughout the United Kingdom, be opened to the pub-
lic on Sunday afternoon.
.. . .

" And your petitioners will ever pray, &c."
" Petition for the opening of the Crystal Palace on Sun,
day afternoon :

" The petition of the undersigned showeth :
" That among all classes of her Majesty's subjects
there is felt to be a necessity for providing means of
healthful and innocent recreation on Sunday, in a man-
ner consistent with the religious feelings of the people.
" That after labouring hard for six days in the week,
it is no rest, but weariness and vexation, for the work-
ing-man to be confined on Sunday to the scenes and cir-
cumstances of his accustomed toil ; and that while the
rich have ample facilities at their disposal, there is a
lamentable deficiency of means of relaxation adapted to
the physical, intellectual, and moral needs of the farni-
lies of the poor.

" That the Crystal Palace, so splendid in its architec-
tecture, so rich in its accumulation of natural and arti-
ficial objects of extraordinary beauty and interest, and
with its healthful and magnificent gardens, affords the
noblest provision for the recreation of the people which
any age bath seen ; and your petitioners believe that the
opening of this great institution on Sunday afternoon
would have the happiest and most beneficial effect, and
would be an inestimable boon to the working popula-
tion, whose imperative duties will not permit them to
devote any portion of the week to visiting it without a
very heavy pecuniary loss, which they cannot aff. rd.
" Your petitioners therefore pray that your honour-
able house will effect any changes in the law as may en-
able the Crystal Palace Company to open that institu-
tion on Sunday afternoon.
" And your petitioners will ever pray, &c., &c."
" Petition for the opening of the British Museum, the
National Gallery, Marlborough-house, and other na-
tional institutions to the public on Sunday afternoon :
" The petition of the undersigned showeth :
" That the British Museum, the National Gallery,
Marlborough-house, and other collections of art and
natural olj cts, being the property of the nation, and
maintained at the public expense, should be readily
accespible t) the people.
" That under the present arrangement the great mi.-
jority of the people are unable to profit by the means of
iestructiou there accumulated for their use.
" Your petitioners believe that if the above institutions
were opened to the people on Sunday afternoon they
would render invaluable aid to public instruction,
greatly lessen the inducement to seek objectionable
means of relaxation, and by providing innocent and
healthful recreation, more effectually render the Sunday
a day of rest for the millions who toil throughout the
week.

" So far from leading to an increase in the hours of
labour, as has been objected, your petitioners believe that
which they pray for (by giving to the people a know-
ledge of the benefits arising from instruction and intel-
lectual recreation) would have an exactly opposite ten-
dency.
" Your petitioners are fully persuaded that, so far
frem operating to the detriment of true religion, such a
proceeding would largely tend to its promotion, inasmuch
as by rendering4he lessons of nature and of art acces-
sible to the people, they would be taught more deeply,
because more intelligently, to reverence the Creator.
" Your petitioners therefore pray that, in order to
promote the moral and intellectual improvement of the
people, the British Museum, the National Gallery,
Marlborough House, and other national collections, be
opened for public inspection on Sunday afternoon.
" And your petitioners will ever pray, &c."

HO fr TO MAKE CRIMINALS.

The following letter has been addressed to a contem-
!wary :
i area
seantnfrploemefthteheSuseassexes
—The following extracts, taken •
tEhxapSt :rrue .3'
usually
oa fi 1
yS aatruerdbaryo,
uNg
ho
tv N.
before the magistrates in petty
urn of any of the
country papers :
44 REIGATE.—John Humphrey, servant, for ridingotntle
the turnpike road without reins—fined 205. and2o-n
costs. James Bull, workhouse boy, aged 12, for Stealings.
11 apples on the 9th of August ; received a good horsewhipping at the time—fined ld., and Id. the value o;
the apples ; costs 15s. James May, for stealing
of potatoes, value 2d.—fined (including costs and value
of potatoes) 11.
" DOEKING.—William Sawyer, for stealing one gallon
of potatoes, value 4d.—fined 108., and 9s. 6d. costs.
" blthuunst—Alfred Pwyer, aged 11, for stealing
10 carrots—fined 16s. ed., value of carrots and costs."
Now, by what rule of proportion these costs are regu-
lated, or why it should take 15s. to place a young urchin
before the magistrates and convict him for stealing a
pennyworth of apples, while another, for pilfering four
pennyworth of potatoes, costs ss. 6d. less, I will not
atop to inquire, but the case of the waggoner is one of
very great hardship. This poor fellow pleaded in excuse
that he hail been out all night with his team and was
very tired, but this excuse did not avail him, and he was
mulct in the penalty of 205., and 20s. costs, or 14 days'
hard labour. Now, as no very great outrage had been
committed on society by this,„poor tired and jaded man
waggon without reins in a lonely country
wouldouldhave thought that a fine of ls. and a
cautionroadna one
is
have stetiefied the ends of justice, instead
of (4s probably is the
county gaol. Of what came) kicking his heels in the
are
earthly use is it trying to reform
our criminals if they
manufactured wholesale out of
such trumpery cases as these
.......„____ - • J. M.

The Taunton Courier mentions that the hills in the
neighbourhood of Coombe St. Nicholas, Chard, Somer-
set, were covered with snow to some depth OLlWednes-
..
0.1 • % . .
day morning, the 21st inst.

Naval and

Ltelligence.

Her Majesty's steam-transport Urgent, Commander
Phillips, went into Portsmouth harbour yesterday morn-
ing to disembark her passengers and invalids, consisting
of Lieut.-Colonel Cobbe, of the 2d West York Militia ;
Captain M'Naghten, of the Bth Hussars ; Lieut. Fane,
of the 54th Regiment ; Ensign Cunliffe, of the 3d Royal
Lancashire Militia (in charge of invalids) ; Lieut. Pal-
mer, of the Impregnable ; Mr. Thomas, Master of the
Impregnable, and the navigating party, who took the
receiving-ship Hibernia, 104, from Plymouth to Malta ;
Mr. Reynolds, surgeon, from her Majesty's ship Niger,
on promotion ; Mr. Inches, Assistant-Engineer, R.N.,
to join her Majesty's ship Fisgard ; Lieut. Ozzard,
R.M.,_ invalided from her Majesty's ship Princess Royal;
the Rev. Chas. Moore (garrison chaplain at Gibraltar),
son, and daughter ; Mrs. Seagrave ; Mrs. Buckley ; 1
sergeant and 5 privates of the Royal Lancashire Militia,
to join the depot ; 2 warrant officers of the Royal navy;
26 naval invalids; 3 distressed British seamen ; 10
women, 13 children, and military invalids, consisting of
18 of the Royal Artillery, 1 of the Ist Royal Regiment
of Foot, 4 of the 54th, 5 of the 66th, 6 of the 94th, 1 of
the 95th, 26 of the West York Militia, and 12 of the 3d
Royal Lancashire. These poor fellows were miserably
off on board the ship, owing to her taking in water at
the scuppers and scuttles, and thus saturating their
decks ; the troop-deck was constantly wet, and the
roundhouses on it were useless and incapable of afford-
ing accommodation from that cause ; men, women, and
officers had to make use of others on the upper deck in
consequence.
The 50-gun steam-frigate Shannon will be launched
to-morrow from Portsmouth dockyard, at 11 o'clock.
At Spithead—The Caesar, 91, Capt. Robb ; the Hast-
ings, 60, Capt. E. Gs Fanshawe ; the Russell, 60, Capt.
Francis Scott ,• the Blenheim, 60, Capt. W. H. Hall ;
the Hawke, 60, Capt. Ommanney; the Ajax, 60, Capt-
Warden ; and the Edinburgh, 58, Capt. Hewlett. The
last named is ordered to have her defects made good with
all speed and proceed to Kingstown (Dublin), not
Queenstown, as before reported.
The Gorgon steam-sloop, 6, Commander R. B, Craw-
ford, arrived at Memel on the 17th inst., having in tow a
large coasting-sloop, of about 150 tons, one of four of
that class which her boats (under the command of Lieut.
Michell) succeeded in cutting out from a Russian port,
near Riga, on the 26th of Sept. During the time the
Gorgon has been in the Baltic (not four months) she has
succeeded in capturing and destroying no less than 40
small vessels, chiefly employed in conveying grain from
ports in Esthonia to Stockholm, and returning with salt
and other necessaries of life ; these cargoes average in
value about 401. each, but from the nature of the service
the Gorgon has been employed on it became imperative
to destroy them ; it is hoped, therefore, a grant will
eventually be made for arduous service of this nature.
An experimental mortar-boat arrived at Portsmouth
yesterday from Liverpool, in tow of the Uncle Sam tug.
She is built of iron by Laird, of Birkenhead, on an en-
tirely new principle. She carries her mortar amidships,
and has the most ample stowage below. She draws at
present but two feet of water, and when mounted and
munitioned her draught, it is estimated, will not be three
feet. Her name is the Cupid.
The Perseverance, steam transport No. 7, Captain
Haines, was ordered yesterday to be turned. over by the
Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company
(who have been working her since her outfit) to the Asl•
miralty, as she will henceforth be a naval transport, com-
manded by Commander Crang and a man-of-war crew
and complement of officers.
The following are the latest appointments made at the
Admiralty :---Commander J. H. Crang to the Persever-
ance ; Lieut. G. M. Comber to the Perseverance; Lieut.
A. Dent to the Basilisk ; Lieut. W. W. Oke to the
Royal William ; Lieut. J. Moore, to the Salamander ;
W. H. T. Green, Master, to the Perseverance ; Edwin
M. Stone, Paymaster, to the Perseverance ; John R.
Starling, Assistant-Clerk, to the Perseverance.
The following gentlemen passed for direct commissions
in the Royal Marine Corps at the Royal Naval College,
Portsmouth, yesterday :--11. C. Bowker, H. J. de Kant-
zow, S. T. Bridgford, W. J. W. O'Grady, G. Hewlett,
H. M. Kay, N. F. Way, and E. A. Macey.
At Portsmouth yesterday the following ships were on
station and in progress of refit, &c. :
In the Harbour.—The Victory (flag), Captain G. T.
Gordon ; the St. Vincent, 101 (ordinary flag), Captain
G. A. Elliott, C.B. , the Calcutta, 84, Captain J. J.
Stopford ; the Excellent, 46, Captain Sir Thomas Mait-
land, C.B. (gunnery training ship) ; the Illustrious, 72
(novices' instruction ship), Captain Harris ; the Victoria
and Albert (the Queen's state yacht), Captain the Hon.
Joseph Denman ; arjd the Fairy; Elfin, and Osborne
tenders ; the Perseverance, troop-transport ' • the Arro-
gant, 46, Captain Yelverton ; the Basilisk, 6, steam-
sloop, Commander Jenner ; the Fire Queen and
Sprightly steam-tenders, Master Commander Paul and
Acting Master George Allen ; the Urgent, steam-tran-
sport ; the Fanny and the Portsmouth sailing-tenders ;
and the Polyphemus steam-sloop, Commander Warren,
which was taken out to Stokes Bay yesterday for trial
of her machinery.
In Ducks.—The Bellerophon, 78, fitting for a receiv-
ing ship at Portsmouth ; the Thalia, 42, fitting for a
Catholic floating chapel at Portsmouth ; the Fox, 42,
fitting for a screw steam-transport ; the Marlborough,
131, fitting her machinery, which will be ready for trial
in the basin on the 3d of December, and for a trial out-
side on the 10th ; the Hind and the Biter steam gun-
boats under refit ; the latter will be out of the engineer's
bands on the 15th proximo ; and the Blake, old 74,
being broken up.
In the Basin.—The Salamander steam-sloop, Com-
mander Mecham, nimplete in the engine department,
and ready for trial ; the Prompt, Blazer, Havoc, and
Porpoise mortar-vessels, under refit; and the Stork and
Swinger gun-boats also refitting. The Stork will be
out of the engineer's hands on the 30th inst., and the
Swinger on the Bth of December.
In the Steam Basin.—The Repulse, 90, shipping her
machinery; the Sampson, 6, steam-frigate, Captain
Hand, which will be ready for trial to-morrow; the
Transit steam troop-ship, Commander Johnson, ready
for sea, except spare piston ; the Isflexible, 6, under
refit, will be read for trial by the Ist of December ;
and the Fury, 6, paddle-sloop, under refit.
As may be imagined, with this work on hand, and the
amount daily increasing by fresh arrivals, all the de-
partments are in full work the usual and extra hours.
The port steam-tender Lizard, Second Master Winni-
cott, arrived at Portsmouth yesterday from the east.
ward with supernumeraries, and left in the evening with
others for Plymouth.
The steam-transport Niagara, from Ireland, with 84
officers and men of the 69th Regiment, and the West-
meath Rifle Militia Regiment, arrived at Plymouth yes-
terday afternoon. The 69th were landed for trans-ship-
ments to the West Indies. The Rifles continued on
board for disembarkation.
When the screw steam-ship Hogue, 60, Captain Ram-
say was placed in dock at Devonport on Wednesday it
was discovered that, in consequence of her having
grounded in the Baltic, she had carried away her fore
foot and a considerable portion of her falsekeel. Upwards
of 50 fathoms of fishing nets were attached to her keel.
The steam gun-boats Badger and Redwing were
placed in dock at Devonport on Wednesday to have de-
fects made good.
The Castle Eden convict-vessel arrived yesterday morn-
ing at Woolwich from Deptford to embark convicts for
Bermuda. She is to ship some stores from the Royal
Arsenal, and will likewise take thence ammunition for
the gun on board. Two convicts managed to effect their
escape yesterday morning from the guard while the
gangs were employed in their ordinary labour in Wool-
wich Arsenal yard. The first, named James Leishain,
is 27 years of age, and is a native of Dundee. When con-
victed he was a hawker. He was under sentence of
penal servitude for 64 years. The second, belonging to
a separate gang, named Wm. Buckengshaw, is 20 years
of age. He is a native of Sheffield, and wandered about
the country as a knife-grinder. He is supposed to have
dressed himself in one of the labourer's brown overcoats,
which is missing, and to have carried off a cotton um-
brella. He was condemned to penal servitude for life,
and most probably contrived in this disguise to elude the
examination of the police and inspectors at the gates.
The sailing-transport Eden, which arrived last week off
Woolwich dockyard with 82 guns captured at Bomar-
sund, yesterday discharged the last of her cargo. Same
few of these guns are broken at the muzzle and trunnions,
and several of them are still loaded and spiked. An order
has been transmitted from the Ordnance-office to keep
the uninjured portion in reserve, and the damaged ones
are to be broken up and consumed, when mixed with
our native metal, for the purpose of casting mortars.
The Wahrendorff projectiles are about to be forwarded
to Shooburyness, with some experimental rifle guns for
proof practice.
There are no transport vessels off Woolwich Arsenal at
present, but the contract bargee are engaged alongside
quay four deep. They are being laden with shot, shell,
and ammunition, and a number of cases of horse litters
and pack saddles, to be reshipped on board vessels lying
in the London ocks for tke Crimea.
A naval court-martial assembled on board the flag-ship
Impregnable, in Hamoaze, on Wednesday, to try Lance-
Corporal Wm. Everest, Royal Marines, fur having stolen
upwards of 601. from Ellis Jackson, engineer, while on
service in the Baltic in the gun-boat Magpie. The Court
considered the charge proved, and adjudged the prisoner
to be mulct of all pay due, to be imprisoned for 12 months,
and then dismissed from her Majesty's service.
It is in Contemplation to augment the corps of Royal
Marines. A number of recruits were received during the
last month at head-quarters dt Woolwich.
Lieut. Robert W. Ellis, 52d Regiment, has obtained
leave of absence from the 24th of November to the 21st
of July, 1856.
nr, tieo
Staff-Assistant-Surgeon Armstrong is relieved from
duty at Chatham, to proceed to Winchester, to do duty
Chiath
witht
t unromureeddthtehactsen a new the depot battalion.
k Corpcorps iospteon bteo
f torh em Pe do
ae
st
in England and elsewhere.
A Clonmel paper says :—" There have been repeated
countermandings in reference to the troops ordered to
occupy this garrison. The Tipper •
ary Light Ifant got the route for Tralee, but t •
heir departures ry
has been
postponed, and it is now thought they will be left for
the winter in quarters where they have been so success-
ful in procuring recruits. The West Middlesex were
upder orders for Clonmel ; so were the Antrim Rifles ;
and the last-named corps is not to relieve the sth Lan-
cashire Militia, which is said to have left. Aldershott
Camp for this garrison."
It is stated that 28 officers and 512 non-commissioned
officers and privates of the 2d Somerset Militia have vo-
lunteered for service in the Mediterranean.
Lieutenant Lionel S. T. M. Cary, of the 2d Battalion,
Rifle Brigade, died on the 9th inst., at ma,
&La on his
way borne fram the Crimea to England. He was
wounded on the Ist of September, which, with exhaus-
tion from exposure in the trenches, brought on his fatal
illness. He was in his 19th year.
Mr. Clarkson's patent cork life-boat was exhibited
again yesterday at Portsmouth dockyard, to show its