The Sun.
London, England, 1862-11-20 00:00:00

711 E NAVY.

very commencement of the works, have been more
than verified by the results, the treaohei otts and
The Alfred target frigatc,, at Portsmouth, is hay- yielding nature of the soil Ott which the forts are
ing a number of armour plates affixed to her sides to be erected presenting apparently insurmountable
for testing by th,:, Stork's 68-pounder, in Porches- obstacles to the repeated attempts to fiaid anything
ter lake, unde-i, the superintendence of Capt. R. S. like a solid foundation on which to ta ar the enors
Hewlett, C. 8., and the staff of the Excellent gun- mous mass of granite and brick which will compose
eery ship, at Portsmouth. The plates comprise one the batteries. The foundations have been destroyed
from the Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Com. on two occasions from the sudden bursting in of the
pany, one from Mare and Company, and one from water and the yielding of the ground, and although
Messrs. Hill and Smith. that part of the undertaking has been many months
The Resistance, 164 iron ram, Capt. Chamber- in progress, it is still far from being complete.
lain, steamed out ei Portsmouth harbour yesterday, With the repeated failure and sinking of the faun-
and, taking in powder and shell at Spithead, sailed dations before a single stone of the superstructure
for Lisbon. During the stay of the Resistance at has been laid, it becomes a matter for serious con-
Portsmouth she has been refitted in a very com. sideration whether there is not too much reason to
plete manner with Mr. Gurney's oil gas apparatus fear that, even supposing the fort should be com-
for lighting up her engine-room, stokeholes, ght will cause a yielding
&e, pleted, the enormous wei
The system has been tested on bard the ship dur- of the foundations and the consequent giving way
ing the time she has already been in commission, of the entire mass. As soon as the severe frosts of
and has been attended with such satisfactory results winter have set in, the whole of the works now in
that she has now been supplied with the retorts progress at the several batteries will be discontinued,
and gasometer and fitted in a more complete and by which a twofold object will be gained—that of
perfect manner ttan previously. The manufacturer maintaining the foundations in an uninjured con-
of the gas so far on board has been effected at a less dition during the worst of the winter, as well as
cost than a..tended the use of the old oil lamp, while allowing time to settle substantially on the piled
at the sr,,rne time there is no possible comparison to bases on which they rest.
be drawn between the brilliancy of the one light The following promotions and appointments were
and the murky dimness of the other. Gallipoli oil yesterday announced at the Woolwich division of
used to produced the gas, but it is calculated that Royal Marines, consequent on the sudden death of
petroleum could be advantageously substituted, the Capt. Mansell, commanding the detachment of
cost being much less and 'the petroleum giving 40 Royal Marine Light Infantry doing duty on board
per cent, more gas frrm a corresponding quantity the flagship Royal Adelaide, vice Admiral Sir
of liquid. As the apparatus is fitted on board the Houston Stewart, which occurred on Saturday last,
Resistance, it is, estimated that an apparatus capable at Devonport :—First Lieut. and Adjt. Charles
of supplyinpo 24 jets could be put up for about £2B. Buller Hugh Mitchell, of the Woolwich division, to
The eTart of inquiry held at Portsmouth last be Capt., at the Plymouth division, vice Mansell ;
week 'relative to certain transactions or dissensions First Lieut. Alexander Bassett Stephen Shairp, of
saiti to exist between Capt. Chamberlain and one the Plymouth division, to be Adjt. at the Woolwich
of his officers has, we are informed, resulted in the division, vice Mitchell, promoted ; Second Lieut.
exoneration of Capt. Chamberlain from all blame Henry Ainslie Alfred Turner, of the Plymouth
in the matter. division, to be first Lieut., vice Mitchell, and ap-
The Fervent screw gunboat, 60-horse power pointed to the same division.
(condensing engines), rigged and armed in readi-
ness for commieftion, has sailed from Portsmouth to
join the first-.class reserve at Devonport.
The Urgent screw troopship, Capt. H. W. Hire,
dismar.tling at Portsmouth, is ordered to be paid
out of commission on the 27th inst.
The Egmont, sailing line-of-battle ship, converted
by Messrs White, at the Medina Dockyard, Cowes,
to a storeship for service at Fernando Po, is com-
pleted in her standing rigging in the steam-basin
of Portsmouth Dockyard, and is drawing closely
towards the completion of her outfit by the ship-
wright department. She will shortly leave for her
destination.

UNIVERSITIES' MISSION TO CENTRAL
AFRICA.

A meeting in connexion with the Oxford, Cam-
bridge, Dublin, and Durham mission to Central
Africa, was held yesterday afternoon in St. James's-
hall, Piccadilly, Mr. J. B. Beresford Hope in the
chair.

The large hall was well filled by a highly re-
spectable cpmpany, among whom were many ladies.
The proceedings having been opened by prayer,

The CHAIRMAN said he had to apologise on behalf
of the Central African Mission for having called a
public meeting in London at this unusual season of
the year, late in autumn, instead of early in spring,
when halls like the present were best filled, but the
work in which they were engaged was one that

The repairs of the Curacoa screw frigate have
been tommenced at No. Bdock (uncovered) of Ports-
mouth dockyard. A weather housing has been
erected over her upper deck to protect it from the
weather during the time her repairs are being car-
ried out.

would not bide the seasons of fashionable life. In
that work they must be up and stirring at all sea-

New York papers received by last mail contain
an account of the trial trip of the Paissac turret bat-
tery, built on the plan of the Monitor, carrying two
guns in her turret, one of llin., and the other of
loin. bore, the latter being the largest piece of ord-
nance that has yet been mounted on board any
vessel. The following are the dimensions of the
Pair,sac's monster gun :—Maximum diameter, 48in.;
minimum do. (rough), 38in.; minimum do. (finished)
; bore, 15in. The length of the gun is 13ft.
7in.; the weight of rough casting 68,0001 b. ; of the
finished gun, 42,000 lb; solid shot, 4601 b. ; and of
the shell, 330 Th. Thy maximum or service charge of
powder is 351 b. The speed attained by the Paissac
on her trial trip was only five knots.
Her Majesty's steam storeship Rhadamanthus,
Corn. Sturdee, was yesterday warped in the outer
basin at Woolwich, to undergo an examination of
her boilers and machinery, preparatory to her usual
Winter voyage. The Rhadamanthus will ship two
two boilers, weighing 30 tons each, which will be
secured on deck ; also armour plates and capstans
for the iron-eased ship Ocean, in course of construc-
tion at Devonport, as well as the huge Horsefall
gun. for Liverpool, weighing 22 tons 14 cwt.
The screw steam storeship Fox, Commander T.
Pullen, has completed repairs at Woolwich and is
ready for sea. Her cargo consists of boilers and ma-
chinery for the screw steam frigate Curacoa, at
Portsmouth, recently returned from the south coast
of America.
The following appointments were made yesterday
at the Admiralty :—William F. Parsons, master,
to the Meeanee ; William M‘C. F. Castle, midship-
man, to the Forte ; Dr. E. H. Cree, surg., to the
Saturn, for Pembroke Dockyard; Dr. J. Andrews
(b), surg., to the Meeanee ; Michael O. Hurlstone,
assist.-surg., confirmed in the Cockatrice; William
T. Ryall, assist-surg., confirmed in the Orlando;
Dr. G. B. Beale, assist.-surg., to the Meeanee ; Dr.
Adam Robertson, acting assist.-surg., to the Mee-
ar,ee ; Timothy T. Jennings, paymaster, additional
to the Fisgard ; Stephen Fisher, paymaster, to the
Meeanee ; Alfred H. Piddeil, assist.-paymaster, to
the Sutlej, to be Secretary's clerk; Frederick
Parker and Edward B. Pillans, assist.-paymasters,
to the Meeanee ; and Archibald Court, assist-clerk,
to the Meeanee.

sons alike, and he had therefore to congratulate the
mission that at this usually dull period of the year
that vast hall—the largest, he believed, in London
devoted to meetings of this sort—was filled, area
and galleries alike. (Cheers.) They had met, not
to inaugurate any new scheme, nor to assist at the
anniversary of any long-established society, but to
promote, perhaps, the most truly missionary so-
ciety that had ever assembled in London. Their
object was to throw in fresh blood into the Central
African Mission. They all knew a Christian mar-
tyr's blood had been shed in Central Africa for the
Gospel of Christ. That good, fine, holy, earnest,
single•hearted man, Bishop Mackenzie, had died at
his post, doing his work on a pestilential island in
a Central African river, and they had now to send
out his successor. The work was independent of
time and charge—it was God's work, and must be
done in God's strength. Humanly speaking the
mission was in great straits. Bishop Mackenzie
was dead, Mr. Burrup was dead, and the mission
had been obliged to retreat further down the river,
and they had simply to put it to the meeting
whether that mission, which had been undertaken
by the Universities of the land, those old institutions
which the piety and munificence of their ancestors
had founded—undertaken on the impulse of the
generous enthusiasm which Dr. Livingstone's simple
, narrative had created—should be given up at the
first serious difficulties which had presented them-
selves. That work was a holy and Christian work.
The command to go and teach all nations was as
binding on the 19th as on the first century of the
Christian era, and without looking to any great
material success, without any flourishing reports to
present or conversions to marshal, they must go on
step by step doing a work which, in proportion as
it was done in simplicity of heart, in faith, and
humble dependence on the Divine strength, would
receive the promised blessing. (Cheers.) They
had lost the first head of the mission, but those who
supported the mission felt undiminished confidence
in it. They were determined to hold on, andit was
for such a meeting as the present to give them the
means of doing so. The progress of British dis-
covery, emigration, and colonisation had been most
beneficent. Too much could not be said in praise
of British enterprise. Steamers had even been
started on some of the African rivers. But he con-
ceived the Universities had wisely and well con-
sulted for the altered circumstances of the times by
coming forward as the foster-mothers of such a mis-
sion as this. At any rate, they had done so when
• others held back, The credit was theirs; the re-
sponsibility was theirs also; but it was for the
meeting to lighten that responsibility. He did not
encourage them to look for any very brilliant re-
sults. Brilliant results could not be expected to
flow from the small subscriptions that had hitherto
flow( d into the coffers of this mission. Humanly
speaking, brilliant results were out of the question.
All they could do was to sow the seed; the crop
might not spring up in their own or in their chil-
dren's lifetime. They were not there to rake up
past grievances, or to sit as a commission of in-
quiry whether what had been done during the last
12 months had not better been left undone. What-
ever might have been Bishop Mackenzie's policy in
Africa he would not discuss. Bishop Mackenzie
was a devoted servant of the Lord—engaged in a
holy mission, and he lost his life while so en-
gaged. Let his memory rest in peace. (Cheers.)
They were there to bid God-speed to the new
I bishop, and he hoped they would give him such
a welcome that would convince his rev. friend, and
those others who were about to join the mission,
that they might rely on their Christian sympathy
and support. (Cheers.) He should now call on the
Bishop of Oxford to move the first resolution.

(Cheers.)
Theßishop of OXFORD said the resolution he had
to move was in these terms—" That this meeting
cordially sympathises with the exertions of the
Church of England to extend the blessings of the
Gospel of Christ to the benighted regions of Cen-
tral Africa." The simple wording of that resolution
expressed at once all that he wished in his present
address to bring before the meeting. This was dis-
tinctly a movement of the Church of England
which it specially behoved every attached member
of that Church to help forward; first, from its con-
stitution, and, secondly, from the particular object
which it set before itself. From its constitution—
for he quite agreed that it would be wholly im-
possible in the present state of the Church to dis-
charge our bounden duty to the heathen world ex-
cept through the agency of Church societies, and
therefore he rejoiced to see such Church societies
flourishing, their efforts and subscription lists in-
creasing day by day, and even holding their own,
in the present distressed state of a great part of the
country. He was sure that the very last purse that
oughtt to be dipped into in order to relieve that dis-
reniggaawra offeringasthatto which contained tai nedthe comparatively
for the extension of his
there B.
kingdom,
(Ch
beer acid above those settled societies
Church
thut
OveerP., It was of extreme use to the
of the great nttaiselves forth from the warm heart
sparks
casting
them efforts of a more special kind—
the Church than fallianag"ithing
the. groove of mere
and feeling. Therernwa" Chrimetoiraendianntgelelri
must be the
routine, and coming thrountoh
actifon.its`The
ness to a lower state of
result when men contented themselves
miserable guinea subscriptions whiehesthewith the
grudgingly, perhaps, directed their bankers tyorpastyhet:
perpetual
sogauenincet:-: