The Sun.
London, England, 1863-01-27 00:00:00

NAVAL INTELLIGENCE.

stoVresALhEipT,TALJpapnl.y,22A,—Ht ee rr
. Colmajmesatnya'seriroßnallsicstroenw,
and the Meanee, 60, Capt. Wodehouse, have not
1a s-
A
yet arrived here from England, although the former
left Woolwich on the 28th, and the latter left Ply-
mouth on the 29th ult., for Gibraltar and Malta.
The Massilia, which arrived yesterday, brings the
news of the Meanee's arrival at Gibraltar on the
12th. Her Majesty's paddlewheel frigate Magici-
enne, Capt. his Serene Highness the Prince of Lei-
ningen, has been expecting for the last two or three
days orders to proceed to Messina, but it is now be-
lieved she will be detained till the arrival of the
Plmbe, Capt. T. Fortescue, expected to return on
the 23d inst. from Syracuse, where she has been on
a cruise. Her Majesty's screw gunboat Alacrity,
Commander J. Baird, will leave for Beyrout on the
26th inst., and Mr. V. 0. Johnson, master of the
Malacca, 'will proceed in her to joitrhis vessel on
the coast of Syria. -No changes have taken place
in the ships of war in port since the departure of
the last mail, and the only arrival to be announced
is the Swedish corvette Nayaden, 16, Capt. R. Van
Falitzen, on the 16th inst., from Milo. On entering
the harbour she exchanged the usual salutes. Her
Majesty's ships here are the Marlborough, the
Hibernia, the Magicienne, the Medina, the Firefly,
the Alacrity,the Psyche, the Boxer, and the Growler.
A letter just received, dated Kalamaki, lan. 14, says
that her Majesty's ship Queen, 78, Captain Hillyar,
has been making a tour along the coast of Greece,
with Mr. Scarlett, late her Majesty's Minister at
Athens, on board. She arrived at Paron on the 3d,
and sailed again on the morning of the 6th for
Nauplia, where she arrived the same evening. She
afterwards left for Kalamaki, which she reached on
the night of the 13th inst. The same letter says—The
Foxhound, 4, Commander the Hon. A. Hobart, has
left the Pitmus for Rhodes (touching at Nauplia),
to look for pirates. The Pol:ean, 17, Commander P.
Brock, remains at Smyrna for the same purpose. A
pirate boat has been doing a great deal of damage
lately. Besides the Pelican and Foxhound, the
French paddlewheel sloop Mouette and the Aus-
trian gunboat Mael are in pursuit of them.
Her Majesty's screw line-of-battle ship Mars, 80,
2,573 tons, 400 horse power, Capt. I. N. Strange,
from the Mediterranean, arrived at Sheerness late
in the afternoon of Sunday last, having been ex-
pected some hours previously. The Mars left Ports-
mouth on Friday, and had rough weather on her
passage to Sheerness, which was the cause of her
being so long in performing the voyage. She saluted
the flag of Vice-Admiral Sir J.W. Hope Johnstone,
K.C.8., Commander-in- Chief at Sheerness, on Mon-
day morning, and was soon afterwards inspected by
the gallant Admiral, who pronounced the efficiency
of the men and condition of the vessel to be most
satisfactory. The Mars was fitted out and commis-
sioned at Sheerness in 1859 by Capt. J. N. Strange,
and has been serving on the Mediterranean station
since that period.

Letters received at Chatham state that the
Meeanee, which left Plymouth on the 30th ultimo,
during her progress across the Bay of Biscay en-
countered very severe weather and started a great
deal of her rigging, much of which was found to be
very rotten, from the shiphaving been for two years
in the Steam Reserve.

The massive wrought .iron sternpost for the iron
frigate Achilles, building at Chatham, having been
successfully lowered into the dock a few days pre-
viously, was fixed in its place on Saturday afternoon
without the slightest accident having occurred. A
considerable portion of the broadside of the Achilles
is now covered with the 18 inch teak planking, and
in a few days will be ready for the reception of the
4-1 inch armour plates, a number of which have been
bent by the hydraulic machine, and are now under-
going the polishing, planing, and baring processes
in the factory adjoining the dock. On Saturday
workmen commenced laying down a portion of the
tramway on which will be placed a couple of
Taylor's patent steam travelling cranes, to be used
te
r
in lifting the slabs of iron which will be bolted to
e ship's
the broadside of the Achilles. Cranesreceivd her the
h samep's
of
Rdeosycrar Oak,
platingionhainvethbeee,nnexutseddocink,thweerethey where
e
of h
found to work well.
Her Majesty's iron paddle
Caradoc, commissioned by Lieut.-Commander Wil-
kinsonja n, at
an
crew, consisting of 100 seamen, from the flag-ship
rd -wheel despatch vessel
Marines. She is now in dock, preparatory to being
coated externally with Peacock's composition.
The paddle-wheel steam sloop Geyser,Commander
Colin Campbell, laden with stores for the Channel
Fg
fleet, yesterday sailed from Woolwich for Ports-
mouth. Woolwich,o nec
or p yesterdayoral and nine privates., Royal

On account of the increasing accumulation of
drifted mud and river refuse under the wharf and
along the approaches leading to the dockyard at
Woolwich all communication with the flag-ship
Fisgard and the ships in commission and receiving
hulks moored in the offing is daily barred during
the low tides. The inconvenience thus occasioned
to the general business of the yard is at times of
great importance, as the shipment of stores and
necessary arrangements for the despatch of vessels
under orders for sea are frequently deluycd• A
slight liberality on the part of their Lordships, is
providing an additional dredging machine, Mould
remedy the evil.

On Sunday morning, the body of Mr. C4corge
Wickersley was found on' the
,
quarrymaster,
Midland line near Holmes Station. The head of the de-
dissevered from his body, and was
ceased was completely
lying a short distance from it, and his right hand was like-
wise dreadfully mutilAted. It is supposed that on Satur-
day evening the deceased left Sheffield by the 8 30 train,
which reaches Rotherham at 8 50, and that he then wan-
dered np the line, and was killed by the train on its returq
to Sheffield,

•,The VTEATHEIL—Sun Office, Jan. 27, 1863.

THERMOMETER.

Highest since Noon yesterday
Lowest during the night
This day at N00n.....
__ _ _

Barometer-30.03.

Wind—West; blowing fresh, with fine weather.

HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.

T tit 191 1) , 7h. 21m.—Aft ernoon, 7h. 47m.
Nt oitnow.-Morning, Bh. 16m.—Afternoon, Bh. 48m.

2:-
kft
ratiol4-11..A
111:, oto
‘-fiA1111L411.1,741P11.41 lON

LONDON, TUESDAY, JANUARY 27, 1863.

" In the multitude of councillors there is wisdom,"
is a common saying, but, like many other sayings
not always correct. Take the worthy governors of
St. Thomas's Hospital, for exam2le. Of their num-
ber there is no end, nor of their decisions is there
any conclusive settlement. These consist of a gene-
ral body, divided into a grand committee, a sub•
committee, a❑d a treasurer's committee, which last
seems to rule the roast. Now, in all this there must
be a great variety of opi❑ion, and not a little jea-
lousy. The hospital is richly endowed, and is per-
haps the wealthiest in the metropolis. Its princely
income increases with the progress of time, and the
march of improvement serves still more to contri-
bute to its fortune.

its situation near London-bridge, on the Surrey
side, is contiguous to the terminus of both the
Brighton and South-Eastern Railways. Some time
ago the directors of the South-Eastern having occa-
sion to extend their line further westward, required
a corner of the ground on which the hospital stands.
This corner seemed of little value, nor would the
intended railway alteration intrude but slightly on
any portion of the buildings. But no. The hos-
pital would surrender no particle of the ground.
The railway mu3t take all or none. The ground
was about four acres—but the railway did not
know what to do with so much. They offered
a fair price for the small corner required, but
it was declined by the Governors of the
hospital, who demanded the modest sum
of seven hundred and fifty thousand pounds, or
three-quarters of a million starling, for their valu-
able trust. Here was a demand large enough to
stagger the conscience of even a railway company.
Recourse to law became the order of the day, and
eventually St. Thomas's Hospital was awarded to
the Railway Company for £296,000. Thus what
was deemed public utility triumphed over private
cupidity under the mask of a public charity—so the
wisdom of councillors did not benefit much by the
motion.

The Governors seem now to he as much at sea in
the choice of a new habitation as they were per-
plexed in disposing of the old one. If there was a
great deal of " bad blood" exhibited in the one case,
there seems no better understanding in the other, if
we may judge by the acrimony of repeated " con-
sultations," and yet there is no decision, save that
the disease is " local"—but where ?

"Who can decide when doctors disagree?"

At one time there was an idea of going into the
country
for a change of air, the patient being dis-
satisfied with a residence in town—but this was
objected to by the faculty as prejudicial to their
fees. Then, to compound the difference, why not
have a town and country house also, for expense
was no object. True, money might be no object to
the Governors, but time was a great objection to
the doctors. In this dilemma more consultations
were held, for the " irritation" was becom-
ing more alarming than ever, and each
proposed prescription more objectionable, than
the other, for none suggested any remedy of a " seda-
tive" tendency—and the question became, " Who
can administer to a mind diseased ? " " Send him
to the Bethlehem," said one; "Why, the Treasurer
has been in `Bedlam'
already !" exclaimed another ' •
While a third hinted that Doctor's Commons
might suit him better. Thns every -wiseacre's
remedy was better than his rival's, but the disease
still lingers on without a "local habitation and a