The Sun.
London, England, 1852-12-30 00:00:00

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THE FIELD ; OR COUNTRY GENTLEMAN'SNEWS-
PAPER, with occasional Illustrations ; devoted especially to

HUNTING, SHOOTING, YACHTING,
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FISHING, ARCHERY, FARMING,
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Agricultural and Health• giving pursuits generally. With a Com-
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PUBLISHING - OFFICE, 4, BRYDGES -STREET, COVENT GARDEN,
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TO MANUFACTURERS of MATS, RUGS,
and MATTING.
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN', That the existing CONTRACT
for the Labour of a portion of the Prisoners confined in the Middle-
sex House of Correction at Colcibath-fields, in manufacturing the
above-named articles, will TERMINATE on the 14th of February
next, and that th, Visiting Justices are desirous of RECEIVING
PRO VOSALS from persons willing to ester into an agreement for a
period of five years from that day, for teaching, instructing, and
employing in such manufacture not less than 60 prisoners.
Provided by the county, lathe workroom set apart for the pur-
pose, are 12 looms, with mat frames, wheels, and requisite appara-
tus, of which the Contractor will have the use, together with a store-
room for depositing the goods when manufactured.
The form of Proposal, with a blank schedule of prices to be filled
in, may be obtained upon application to me. The Tenders or Pro-
posals must be sealed, and delivered at tee Sessions House, Clerken-
well, on or before Thursday, the 6th of Janaary next, and they will
be opened and examined by the Visiting Justices at 3 o'clock on the
following d ,y, at the said /douse of Correction.---Dated this 23,1 day
ox December, 1852,

CHARLES WRIGHT,
Clerk to the Visiting Justices.

UNITED STATES EXPEDITION IN SEARCH OF
SIR JOHN FRANKLIN.

At a recent meeting of the New York Geographical
and Statistical Society, the Hon. George Bancroft in the
chair, Lieutenant (late Dr.) Kane, U.S.N., read a highly
interesting paper on " Access to a North Polar Sea,
viewed in connexion with the Search after Sir John
Franklin."
"Down to the present time," said the speaker, "the
North Pole has been regarded with mysterious awe. All
investigation seems shut out, and all curiosity repressed
by a a barrier of eternal ice." Dr. Kane then proceeded
to an interesting critical examination of the theories
of ancient and modern navigators respecting the Polar
Sea, referring frequently to maps of his own' construction,
a number of which were affixed to the walls. "To make
the north-west passage has been the favourite dream of
navigators, but to this day the attempt has always been
attended with failur6. Parry, a late navigator, with a
daring unequalled, attempted to cross the ice on sledges,
but his attempt was wholly unsuccessful. Recent disco-
veries render it beyond a doubt certain that Sir John
Franklin wintered at the mouth of Wellington Chan-
nel. This has been ascertained by recent discoverers,
and, among others, by Captain Penny, an enterprising
whaler ; but, alas ! here all trace of him is lost, and
nothing remains but the lonely graves of his companions.
The squadron of Sir Edward Belcher, which is on a
voyage of discovery, may do much, ,but I confess that I
am not sanguine as to the result. The Hon. Henry
Grinnell, the president of this society, has done me the
honour of appointing me to the command of one of his
vessels, the Advance, and I have in contemplation a new
expedition. My plan of travel is based upon the exten-
sion of Greenland to the far north, and, though this
hypothesis is not sustained by all geographers. yet recent
discoveries all tend to confirm it. Believing in this ex-
tension, and feeling that the approximation of the meri-
dians would make access to a great Polar Sea far more
easy, I propose this as my plan of search :—My party
will consist of 30 picked men. Our provision will be
composed of pemmican, a preparation of dried deer's flesh.
The brig furnished by Mr. Grinnell is admirably fitted
for our purpose, and peculiarly adapted for the exigen-
cies of our expedition. On our route we take in some
Esquimaux dogs, together with sledges, and a few natives
to manage them."
This is not merely a voyage of search. The vast
advantages which will accrue to the cause of science
from this expedition cannot be too highly estimated.
Dr. Kane concluded the reading of his paper with a
complimentary allusion to the course pursued by the
Secretary of the Navy with reference to his contem-
plated expedition.
The Rev. Dr. HAWKS then rose and made a brief
but pertinent address.—" Every one," said he, "must
feel an interest in this expedition. Lieutenant
Kane is to embark upon no holyday voyage ; he is to
venture upon an unknown sea, encompassed on
every side with difficulty, danger, and death,
and I know that there is not an American heart which
will not join in the prayer—God speed ! I feel proud
of my countryman; he has proved his claim to the respect
of his country by his labours in the great cause of
humanity." Dr. Hawks then read the following resolu-
tion :—" That the society regards with grateful interest
the exertions of the Secretary of the Navy in advancing
the knowledge of physical geography, and that they
especially tender their thanks for the liberality with which
he has lent his aid to the expedition destined for the
Arctic Seas. That the society appoint a committee of
five for the promotion of the interests of the expedition,
and that they be instructed to confer with the Secretary
of the Navy and the Smithsonian Institute." The above
resolution being seconded and adopted, the society ad-
journed, after a vote of thanks to Dr. Kane for his able
and interesting paper.

MELANCHOLY GUN ACCIDENT.—A young lady, named
Pring, daughter of a respectable farmer, living near
Honiton, Devonshire, was accidentally shot by her
cousin, on Christmas-day. The deceased was standing
in the porchway of her father's house, .Co
being about
visit her grandfather, to spend the Christmas-day in
company with her relations and friends, when a young
man—her cousin—discharged a gun (which he had been
examining) from the kitchen, the contents of which en-
tered the young lady's head, causing instant death.
There were two ladies standing by her side, who received
slight injuries. The young man did not know the gun
was loaded ; and, as might be imagined, was over-
whelmed with grief at the fatal and distressing accident,
of which he was the unwitting instrument.
ANOTHER LAMENTABLE GUN ACCIDENT.—We take
the following from the Madras U. S. Gazette of Nov.
26 :—" In our last we announced the death of the young
Marquis of Lisboa, a midshipman of her Majesty's ship
Hastings, from the effects of an accident when out
shooting with a brother midshipman, Prince Ernest of
Saxe Leiningen. The jury brought in a verdict at the
adjourned inquest on Wednesday, that the deceased
met his death "of homicide by misadventure." Wit-
nesses proved that the unfortunate young gentleman,
before they entered the house, after their sport, dis-
charged both barrels of one of the guns which they had
been using, and brought it in, and that Prince Ernest,
when he took a gun up afterwards, supposed that it was
the one which he knew to have been discharged. Un-
happily it was the other, which had been placed in a
corner of the room in its loaded state. After death the
injury sustained was found to be so extensive as to have
precluded all chance of recovery, the bones forming the
socket of the right eye being fractured by the shot, and
points of bone driven inwards, whereby the brain itself
had become extensively infl lined and disorganised, and
there were two dots of effused blood pressing on the
brain."
DEATH OF KOSSUTH'S MOTHER.—The above highly
respected lady departed this life about nine o'clock on
Tuesday morning in her temporary residence in Brussels.
She had been seriously ill for some weeks but yesterday
some strong hopes of her recovery were entertained by
her medical attendants, one of whom was Dr. Perkins, a
long-established English resident, and who is distinguished
by his kind attentions to the various exiles in this city.
Some unpleasant rumours are afloat respecting the refu-
sal of the Belgian government to allow of her son's
coming over to this country, unless he consented to be
constantly accompanied during his stay in Belgium by
a police officer. It is understood that the venerable lady
herself urged her illustrious son not to submit to so de-
grading a condition. For the sake of the Belgian go-
vernment, and for the honour of Belgium itself, it is to
be hoped that those rumours are exaggerated.