The Sun.
London, England, 1862-11-08 00:00:00

711 E NAVY.

711 E
Vice-Admiral the Hon. Sir Frederick W. Grey, Major
-General Bloomfield, the Inspect° - General
R.C.8., and Rear_Admiml R. S. Robinson, Control- of Artillery, accompanied by Col. Henry C. 8., has
ler of the Navy, yes-terday made an official inspec- I returned to town from a visit of inspe. ion in the
tion of Woolwich dockyard, and, having examined South-Western district. The gallant General in-
the progress made by the factory department in spected the B battery of the Royal Horse Artillery,
affixing the armour-plates amidships on the Cale- commanded by Captain Paget, on Tuesday at Dor-
donia, in, dock at Woolwich, they witnessed a series chester ; and on Wednesday went over the new
of tests and experiments by the application of heavy artillery works on the breakwater at Portland.
weights of pig-iron, to prove the endurance and effi- The bursting of a 40-pounder Armstrong gun took
ciency of the huge rudder applied to the ship. After place yesterday in the proof-cell in Woolwich A.r-
the trials, which were perfectly satisfactory, they seual. The gun had been used for proving Tents,
inspected the timber-sheds, fitting basins, and dock- and had fired 1,058 rounds. The ammunition ex-
yard factory.
pended was upwards of 10,000,b., and the weight of
Her Majest:(B steam store-ship Fox, 1,131 tons, shot upwards of 42,0001 b. As the charge employed
Master-Co:nmander Pullen, was yesterday hauled in proving vents is extraordinarily heavy the burst-
into the basin at Woolwich, to make good defects inn of the proof weapon occasions no surprise to
occasloned by the late gales in the Channel on her those employed in the department- The gun is ex-
voyage up from Plymouth ; after which she will pected to give way after a certain number of rounds,
ship boilers and machinery for the west. and an occasional failure, as above stated, is in no
The weight and measurement of the three rival wise looked upon as any detriment to the credit of
ships' pumps, tested on the preceding day at Wool- the gun for the public service or the system of its
wich dockyard are given as follows :—Roberts's, 2 manufacture.
cwt. lqr. 201 b ; Gossage's, 3cwt. 2qrs. 71b ; and 4
Stone's, 3ewt. Oqr. llb. ; and their capacity
Roberts's, 326 in.; Gossage's, 332 in. ; and Stone's,
402 in, It is probable that a further trial will be
ordered.

THE FREE NEGROES AT PORI' ROYAL.

The following is an extract of a letter dated Port
Royal, South Carolina, Oct. 14:—
« On Sunday the negro church at Hilton Head
was dedicated to Divine service. General Hunter
authorised the construction of the building, and be-
fore he left the work was nearly finished. The
situation of the church is good ; the appearance is
neat, though plain as a Quaker meeting-house, and
in all respects the building meets the requirements
of the case. Three hundred persons may be com-
fortably seated. The pastor is a black man from
Savannah, named Abram Murchison, who has been
in due form ordained a Baptist minister by the army
chaplains, and installed in office. Abram, though
able to read and write, is not polished in his man -
ners ; but what he lacks in culture is more than
compensated in earnest eloquence, a vigorous and
clear expression of his views, deep piety, and a
powerful influence over the coloured people. The
dedication exercises were interesting in themselves,
being conducted by Rev. H. N. Hudson, chaplain
of the New York Volunteer Engineer Regiment, an
elocutionist of celebrity. General Mitchell was
present, with the members of his staff, and by in-
vitation addressed the audience. His remarks were
pointed, impressive, and instructive. They were
listened to attentively, and endorsed with nods of

The Flying Fish, 6, screw, Commander W. H.
Anderson, came into Portsmouth harbour yesterday
from Spithead. The engines broke down, when she
Was assisted by the tender Bee, and hauled along-
side the dockyard. She will be taken into dock to
he examined, and see what damage was done to her
keel on going on shore on Newton-bank, in the
Needles passage, as noticed in The Sun of Friday.
The Hero, 89, screw line-of-battle ship, Capt. A.
Ryder, sailed at daylight yesterday for Sheer.
ness to be dismantled and pay off,
His Danish Majesty's screw corvette Dagmar, 16,
Capt. Seidelin, sailed from Spithead yesterday
morning at daylight for Gibrallar. Captain Seidelin
and the Vice-Admiral dined with Admiral Sir H.
Bruce on Thursday evening at the Admiral's resi-
dence.

The ;crew steam corvette Barossa, 21, Capt. W.
M. Dowell, which put back to Plymouth Sound
leaky on Sunday night, has since been in No. 1
dock in the Devonport yard, with Et view to the dis-
covery of the leak. She was removed on Thursday
evening, without any positive conclusion on the
subject being arrived at. The defect is supposed to
arise from the condition of her Kingston valves,
which have, of course, been thoroughly overhauled.
The corvette left Plymouth on Friday, Oct. 31, for
the East Indies and China, where she will be sta-
tioned. Under steam and canvas an offing of about
150 miles was made, when the engines were stopped,
the fires let down, and she proceeded under eanvas
only. Some time after, to the surprise of all on
board, the pump well being sounded as a part of
the routine duty, as much as 4ft. 6in. of water were
found in the hold. All hands were set to work
immediately with the ordinary pumps, but, not-
withstanding their most strenuous exertions, the
leakage increased five inches in one hour. Mean-
time every effort was used by the engineers to get up
the fires below. This was a work of no little diffi-
culty. The water was as high as the powder maga-
zine, and when the ship rolled it washed up to the
men's knees. Providentially the weather was not
stormy. Notwithstanding the wetness of the fuel,
fire was at length got up under the boilers, and,
the aid of the donkey-engines being thus 'btained,
the leakage diminished rapidly, and the engines
being kept going prevented its recurrence. There
were only 10 inches below when she anchored in
Plymouth Sound, and—what was very remarkable
—no leakage whatever occurred while she lay
there. On Monday afternoon Captain Astley Key,
C. 8., who is at the head of the steam reserve LA
Devonport, went with the engineer officers from
lieyham-yard to the Barossa,and she steamed out-
side the breakwater; still there was no renewal of
the leakage. The engines were then stopped, the
ship was put under canvass only, and allowed to
roll about in the trough of the sea, when she began
to leak immediately, and the next morning was
placed in dock.
On Thursday the screw steam-frigate -Phalle,
51, Captain Fortescue, made a trial of her engines
outside Plymouth breakwater, and returned to the
Sound.
The paddlewheel steam-frigate Leopard, 18, Cap-
tain Leckie, was placed in No. 1 dock in Devonport
dockyard yesterday (Friday), for the examination
of her bottom and valves. She will probably vacate
it again to-day (Saturday).
The screw steam-sloop Rosario, 11, Commander
S. Graham, sailed from Plymouth for Jamaica yes-
terday (Friday), taking with her disposable men for
ships on the West India station.
The Lily, 4, screw steam despatch vessel, 200-
horse power, and the Jaseur, 5, screw steam gun-
vessel, 80-horse power, both in the first division of
the Sheerness steam-reserve, have been officially in-
spected by Capt.-Superintendent C. Wise and the
dockyard officials, and are declared to be quite ready
in every respect for commission. The Lily is to take
the place of the Vigilant, disabled by being on shore
or. the Gunfleet Sands ; and the officers of the Vigi-
lant are to be turned over to that vessel.

approbation from young and old. I do not think
that a portion of a paper could be better filled than
with this frank and unmistakeable expression of Gen.

Mitchell's views on the slavery question. He said :
" I have been requested to say a few words to you by
your teacher, who is a good man. Any good naan I
like, regardless of colour. I respect him as much
whether he is black or white. If he be a bad man I
shall treat him as such whether he is white or black.
Most of you know I have talked to all my soldiers
since I came here, and now I am talking to you who
are another set of soldiers, who have not yet arms
in their hands, but who are under my protection
and guidance, and in whom I take deep interest.
With your past life I fully sympathise. I know and
understand it all. I was reared in the midst of slavery,
born in Kentucky, and know all about it. While
there are many things connected with it which are
pleasant, to which you will testify, there are vast
many other things which are not pleasant, and I
think God intends that all men shall be free, be-
cause he in tends that all men shall serve Him with
their whole heart. But in any condition we can all
love and serve God. That privilege cannot be taken
' away. I care not how savage and wicked the master
may be, he cannot prevent you from praying in the
midst of the night, and God hears and answers the
prayer of all, slave or free. But it seems to me that
there is a new time coming for you coloured people;
a better day is dawning for you oppressed and down
trodden blacks. I hope that the door is being opened
for your deliverance. And now, how deeply you
should ponder these words ! If now you are unwil-
ling to help yourselves nobody will be willing to help
you. You must trust yourselves to the guidance of
those who have had better opportunities and have I
acquired superior-wisdom, if you would be carried
through this crisis successfully. And I believe the
good God will bless your efforts, and lift you up to
a higher level than you have yet occupied, so that
you and your children may become educated and
(industrious citizens. You must organise yourselves
into families. Husbands must love their wives and
children, clinging to them and turning from all
others, and feeling that their highest object in
life, next to serving the good God, is to do all
they can for their families, working for them con-

Yesterday afternoon, as the Thistle gunboat was
returning from the coal ship in the harbour at
Sheerness to her duties in connection with the dock-
yard, from some cause or other not yet ascertained,
the man-hole covering of the boiler was blown off,
causing great consternation among the persons hav-
ing charge of the engines. Signals of distress were
immediately made, which, being observed by the
other ships in the harbour, together with the large
volumes of supposed smoke which was seen escap-
ing, led to the supposition that the Thistle was on
fire, and telegraphs to that effect were made for the
fire engines and other help. Capt. Wise, Superin-
tendent of the dockyard, who happened to be on
board the Lily, 4, screw gunvessel, put off at once
with other officers for the distressed gunboat, and,
on arriving, discovered that the accident was of
minor importance, and that fortunately no injury
had been sustained by any person on board.

A court-martial, of which Capt. T. P. Thompson,
of the Cumberland, 70, guardship of the Chatham
steam reserve in the Medway, was the president,
assembled on Thursday on board the Formidable,
84, flagship of Vice-Admiral W. J. H. Johnstone,
Commander-in-Chief at the Nore, for the trial of
Mr. Thos. Booth, acting first-class assistant-eugi-
beer, serving on board the Vigilant, 4, 200 horse
Power, for having, on• the 20th October last, ab-
sented himself without leave from the naval bar-
racks in Sheerness dockyard, and not returning un-
til the 29th October. Commander Lord W. B. El-
-1,.-instene of the Vigilant, prosecuted ; and Mr.
-K-juii_ight, solicitor, of Rochester, officiated as Deputy
age-Advocate At the termination of the case for
the e . •
cation the prisoner handed in a written
of defence,character and
with a large number of certificates ,
he haa 1: and service from officers under whom
some time tthrneerlY served. After deliberating for
sentenced etoourt found the prisoner guilty, and
assistant
e"n'anlinut f
of orfeit all seniority as an acting
the first class, to be severely
reprimanded, and d
of £5 ss. to forfeit out of his pay the sum
The following apj,,i t
day at the Admiralty iTnts were made yester-
the Meg(nra ; John D. sw4t. George W. Hind to
surgeoer, master to the Lily ;
Frederick L. Leonard,
nard T. Colley, paymaster, to `o the Lily ; Ber-
M. Carey, Philip W. Banking,tged Lily ; William
nor, and James Bedingfeld, iniaZa,ta W. Tur-
Euryalus ; David Brown, midshipmX4ite,n' ~to the
pard ; John Wendover, supernumerary in. !`'
Leo-
to be first-class assist.
-engineer; and Be " Asia,
11.1funin r_
wick, clerk, to the Lily.
11,-; following appc'intments have been made in
the Royal Naval Reserve :—To be Lient,
jlnien (lin:Nett
to he boh-Lient., Fred. Anderson.
;

[AnvEnTlSEMENT.]—Holloway's Ointment and Pills,—
Coughs, Intl uen za, —The soothing!, properties of these medi-
caments render them well worthy of trial in all diseases of
the lungs. In common colds and influenza the pills inter-
nally and the ointment rubbed externally are exceedingly
efficacious. When influenza is epidemic this treatment is
easiest, safest, and surest. Holloway's pills and ointment
purify the blood, remove all obstructions to its free circula;
tion through the lungs, relieve the over•gorged air tubes
and render respiration free without reducing the strength,
irritating the nerves, or depressing the spirits. Such are
the ready means of saving suffering when afflicted with
colds, coughs,s bronchitis, and other chest complaints, by
whichit:ato,m any are seriously and permanently afflicted