The Sun.
London, England, 1852-07-20 00:00:00

"IP

HER MAJESTVS urst.
PORTSMOUTH, MONDAI.—This morning at six o'clock the
Royal steam squadron, which assembled in Cowes-roads yes-
terday, lighted fires and prepared for the voyage to accom-
pany tier 'Majesty to sea; nor were the preparations for a
display confined to the Royal naval vessels; moored in the
roads were numerous yachts of the Royal Yacht Squadron,
which gave evidence of a desire to accompany the man-of-
, war squadron, if a breeze favoured the intention. There
were some beautiful specimens of amateur sailing craft about
the station; among them Mr. Weld's late cutter (merged
into a fine schooner), the Alarm, altered to the lines of the
America, and made to resemble her not a little in hull; tb,e
Duke of Rutlaed's schooner Revolution, Lord Godolphin's
schooner Coquette, also the Snake, Mr. A. Hill's Orestes,
Ur. Gee's Gloriana, and Mr. Smith's Leda. These fine ves-
sels, moored in close proximity to the naval squadron, formed
as animated a marine group as any artist could picture.
At about seven o'clock all the vessels had steam up, with
the exception of the Royal yachts, which lighted their fires
last. The eatire force was under the orders of Lord Adol-
plans Fitzclareuce, who, being the senior officer present, was
the commodore of the Royal squadron.
At 8 o'clock the Victoria and Albert made the signal to
the squadron to d.-ess ship,"_ herself hoisting masthead en-
signs- As if by roes:',: the whole of the ships funning the
s im n squadronitahe
0(
ietxleye pmt.atdhee,
was
:till yv.:cr)h:ps)r:rito3i.sted flags and pen-
mans from ,tern to stern, slow and Moll. Tuts movement,
feature in the morn-
ing's preparations.
and
'Tr Leda
c3at. laoslroi lat.':cl andi 'en :d nur dresss
ed
ee nteolvoll taePt dl) °' Snake,r t
' Weigh," when all the vessels " uchored,- and proceeded
off Osborne to await the Queen's emb.arkation.
The Victoria and Albert moored oft' Mede's pier, under
Osborne, inside the line occupied by the ,Nquadron, and the
Fairy and Elfin moored close in towards ice pier. In this
position all the vessels lay to.
At half.paft 9 o'clock the Royal party, conflating of the
Queen, Prince Albert, the Prince of Wales, a'ud Prince
Alfred, the Princess Royal, and the Princess Helga, with
their respective attendants, arrived at the beach from Os-
borne, and were received on alighting from the carriages by
Lord Adolphus Fitzclarenee, Lord George Lennox, and ether
noblemen and gentlemen of the Court. Her Majesty, l'he
Prince Consort, and the Royal children then embarked in tLV
State barge, steered by Lord Adolphus Fitzclarence, for the'
Royal yacht.
At twenty minutes to ten o'clock the royal standard was
struck in the barge and hoisted at the mainmasthead of the
royal yacht, denoting the embarkation of her Majesty, when
a general royal salute was fired by the Baracouta, Retribu-
tion, Magicienne, Odin, and Sampson.
At ten minutes to ten the royal squadron got under
weigh, the Victoria and Albert having the royal standard at
the main, and the Admiralty flag at the fore. The line of
sailing then formed as follows, in the order named :
The Vivid packet, Master-Commander Luke Smithett,
leading as avant courrier, about a quarter of a mile ahead.
The Victoria and Albert, with the Queen and Court on
board.

The others formed two lines—
Starboard Division—Fairy royal yacht, Commacder Cris-
pin (Mr. Welch, Master, in charge), with the retinue; the
OLlin, 16, Captain W. H. Henderson C.B. ; the Sampson, 6,
Captain L. T. Jones; and the Retribution, 28, Captain the
Hon. J. R. Drummond.

Port Division—Black Eagle Admiralty yacht, Master
Commander Petley, with Rear-Admiral the Duke of Nor-
thumberland, First Lord of the Admiralty, or Rear-Admiral
the Earl of Hardwicke, Postmaster-General, on board (it was
not accurately known which of these noble and distinguished
officers had arrived at the time of making our inquiries);
Magicienne, 16, Captain Ramsay; and the Baracouta, ti,
Captain the Hon. S. T. Carnegie.
On the Royal yacht " opening" West Cowes Castle, the
Marquis of Anglesey (at present residing there) fired a
royal salute, which the Royal Yacht Squadron battery at
the Club-house took up, the front of the club being gaily
dressed in yacht pennants. On passing the castle, the men
(who had continued aloft all this time stretched out upon the
yards of the men-of-war) were piped down, and the colours
for dressing ship were taken in. At this point the royal
yacht was fully a mile and a half ahead of the squadron,
which appeared making all the way they could " in base."
The whole panorama was one of the most pleasing cha-
racter. We never remember before to have seen a squadron
177,9Tnuhgt
ehoEu tonight,tt
da
outside;
y thence,a tl h
dispatch
under weigh with ships dressed and yards manned.
We unuerstand the royal squadron will put into Dart-
s to-morrow,
t- yachtscmh o r
yrgoao wcthh, going
they
y an
proceed
Master
hiae
st
toer men-of-warß
Torbay,
Cowes, and returned to that haerbsoquuraa at
taw
es
lovme eo
commanding, accompanied th d Acting
The cruise of her Majesty •
Friday. is expected to extend till
cml .as I Plymouth,ifsr toom

INsTITUTION.
ROYALPOLYTECitzvic
Some months ego we noticed the good feeling
induced Mr. Pepper, the lecturer on chemistry, to showwhich
his audience some large lumps of gold from the Austra-
lian
colonies, in order to Promote the wish to emigrate
amongst those who could not succeed in their own
country. These lumps were kindly lent by Messrs.
Hunt and Ruskin, who have again enabled Mr. pepper
to exhibit some very large pieces of the precious metal
from Australia. The present lecture, as may be ima-
gined, was oue of the highest practical interest, being
" On the Australian Gold Districts, and on the means of
discriminating Gold from all other Metals and Minerals."
The lecturer commenced by detailing the chief facts
connected with the geology of gold•seeking, and gave
various useful hints from specimens, rocks, &c., which
would enable the emigrant to make a right selection of
a plot which might yield gold, and prevent a waste of
labour on barren and unprofitable . spots. The various
apparatus required for washing and preparing the drift,
such as cradles, mining tools, and a very good and
simple machine, washing a ton of earth, tan, clay, or
gravel, p:r diem, to be worked by boys or a man; also
an Australian tent, of very great convenience and ex-
ceedingly low price, were exhibited, and excited great
interest among the audience. Mr. Pepper then alluded
to the simple tests which would enable persons unac-
quainted with chemistry to detect gold from all other
impositions, as the " lirumm gem worthies" have al-
ready issued gold-brass nuggets so nicely made and
weighted that many persons had been deceived. These
tests were specific gravity; mechanical properties, such
as malleability, gold being easily beaten out on the
anvil, whilst copper or iron pyrites would break into
small pieces on account of their brittleness. They also
yielded a smell of sulphur when thrown in powder on a
red hot shovel, whilst gold did not produce any odour.
To distinguish brass nuggets or filings, a few simple
materials only were required, via, some acids, tinfoil,
end iron nails—the acids, aqua fortis, and spirits of
salts, being used as the solvent of the metal under exa-
mination. A solution of the tinfoil in spirits of salts
yielded a purple colour (the famous purple of ciui„)
with gold only; and the solution of iron in sulphuric
acid precipitated the precious metal as a brown powder.
These effects would enable the emigrant to make the
distinction in a very expeditious manner, the only appa-
ratus required being three four•ounee bottles and a
saucepan. The lecturer, in conclusion, observed that
full intormation on the subject could be obtained in the
large laboratory of the institution, where classes met
daily to learn the art of assaying and fluxing gold and
silver ores.

THE METROPOLITAN CATTLE MARKET

QUESTION.
On all sides there is an outcry against the formation
of the Metropolitan Cattle Market in Copenhagen-fields,
as we expected there would be as soon as the determi-
nation became known. Without meaning any disre-
spect, we must say that the Home Secretary of State
has not done his duty in the matter. Under any
ordinary Act of Parliament notices would probably
have been required, which would have brought the
intention prominently before the public, and would have
enabled those who were interested to object in time. In
the present case the public were supposed to be protected
a
as to the selection of a fitting site by requiring in
Act that it should be approved of by one of her
Ma-
jesty's principal Secretaries of State: there
the i
present
s no other
the
Act
whatever against the removal n r
market to Finsbury circus or the A r
if the
Artillery-ground, or
any other nice open site in the neighbourhood,
yet Mr. Walpole
Corporation could quietly buy it; and
Secretary of State to
said, it would be impossible for any Secretary
examine Witnesses,
take upon himeelt judicial powers,e
site
sad make such a survey of the
required? It was pointed
Why, then, was his approtvh.,a
church had been built,
out to him by deputation that
adjoining the proposed site,
squares commenced closely
_y,
d indeed, surrounded by a
and that the land I
las dense as the neighbourhood from
population almost
proposed
to remove the market; with this'
which it was bereas the inhabitants in the neigh-
bourhooddistinction, that, Vi
Smithfield had principally chosen their
of
in consequence of its contiguity to the
residence therevenient for their business, those residing
market, c
the neighbourhood of Copenhagen-fields had chosen
in, in consequence of its being a respectable and erns-
Lt lel neighbourhood, and in the full conviction that
in
Id not be disturbed by the establishment of a
they, would
their doors. Those citizens who
" e almost at very
"jag"
;„ leso petitione • ' a that the butchers might be forced to
,
h b• "K•h b•
their beasts at " h.nye ts rigg ( nig ts ridge),_or
kill
other place equally distant from the city, looked a
some
great deal further into the future than those who would
now remove the nuisance of Smithfield into Copenhagen-
fields. surrounded on all sides by houses, and towards
which the town tide is unquestionably setting in.--
Builder.

ST. PANCRAS. WRIT OF MANDAMUS. 011 SS"
turday, the 120 vestrymen, and 40 directors of the poor of
St. Pancras, were served by Messrs. Sharpe, Field, and Jack-
son, the solicitors to the Poor-law board, with copies of a
writ of mandamus, issued by the Court of Queen's Bench,
to compel the authorities of the parish to reinstate blr.
Eaton in his office of master of the workhouse, from which
he was dismissed some weeks since by the vestry, for
alleged misconduct, and without the consent of the Poor-
I law board.

ENDEAVOUR TO RAISE THE DUCHESS ON KENT
STEAMER.—During the week, and up to Saturday, the moat
strenuous efforts have been made, under the supenntendenee
of Mr. Green, the engineer, to float this vessel, which, it Will
be recollected, was run down off Northfleet some fortnight
since, by corning in collision with the Ravensbournei Antwerp
steamer. So far the only progress, made has she
has been got in shore about one hundred feet;
the materials
might have been raised by this time, had .pot
inerent strength
employed in the operation been found of iris
se
far satistac-
for the immense weight of the vessel.
Itbeyond all doubt that
tory that the divers have ascertained The Admiralty
no bodies remain in the unfortunate vessel.
'
with the materialrequired,
having been made acquainted t manner, given direc-
be;onsstiwy
have, in the most liberal and p I'
- r°lnoi the necessary tonnage,
tions for cables, as well as barges
the disaster. • of disaster. With these
to be forwarded to the locality .
floating
entertained of ultimately
adjuncts certain hopes are
the vessel. —At
MAIL SERVICE. the present time
THE INDIA employed to perform
ers the Indian
there are two steam
n Southampton and Alexandria. It is
mail service betwee
riental Company that onesteamer more
intended by the 0
the
service .
on the line shall do
resent o ' speed
rouble what it is at pr
.wing to the increase of
nd will be attained on that line. The Alex-
that has been and will
now
in-
' andrian steamers go out and return in a month,
._
eluding all acppages. At the present time the Indian mail
ent once a month from Southampton, next year it
is only s
I will be sent every fortnight. Upwards of sixty persons
1 have already taken berths in the Peninsular Company's
screw steamer Formosa, which leaves for Australia nest
incoth•