The Sun.
London, England, 1862-05-29 00:00:00

like' red sharks,' as they always do from the well-
directed fire of our brave sailors. Not one shot
damaged us up to the end of an engagement.
" The action at Fort No. 2 commenced about
one o'clock, three-quarters of an hour after we
had silenced the first battery. In this fort we
found a more formidable opponent than the first.
It mounted twelve guns, and after an hour and
fifteen minutes' bombardment, eleven of them were
silenced. The remaining one fought us for an hour
afterwards, making this bombardment of two hours
and fifteen minutes' duration. The gunboats Aroo-
stook and Port Royal were with us, but did not
take an active part in the engagement, though they
did some execution with their long guns.
" The rebel gunboats Jamestown and Patrick
Henry were lying under the guns of the second
fort, but, instead of assisting in its defence, they
got up steam and ran away with all speed towards
Richmond. Our damage in the engagement was
small. One shot struck the Aroostook, and went
through her bulwarks under the hammock nettings.
No one was injured. One or two shots struck us
but they only left their mark on our iron mail, and
glided off.
"After passing the second fort we started up the
river, but the buoys bad been removed, and there
we stuck hard and fast, waiting for high tide. The
batteries silenced were called the Upper and Lower
Shoal Batteries. Great praise is due to Captain
Rodgers, First Lieutenant Newman, and Engineer-
in-Chief Thompson"

From Norfolk there is no news of importance.
The following is the latest from Fortress Monroe to
the 15th :
" General Wool also visited Norfolk to-day. All
is quiet there. Orders have been issued by General
Wool prohibiting the sale or distribution of news-
papers in Norfolk or the surrounding country; also
prohibiting the transportation there of supplies or
merchandise of any kind, whether by sutlers or
otherwise ; and also prohibiting officers, s:',ldiers,
and citizens from visiting the city except on busi-
ness connected with the troops belonging to the
department of Virginia. We uuderstand that the
embargo upon travel to Fortress Monroe from Balti-
more will soon be removed, and free transit to and
fro resumed."
The following official order has appeared :
WAR BULLETIN.

" Washington, May 16.
" The skilful and gallant movements of Major_
General John E. Wool, and the forces under his
command, which resulted in the surrender of Nor-
folk and the evacuation of strong batteries erected
by the rebels of Sewall's Point and Craney Island,
and the destruction of the rebel iron-clad steamer
Merrimac, are regarded by the President as among
the most important successes of the present war.
He therefore orders that his thanks, as Commander-
in-Chief of the Army and Navy, be communicated
by the War Department to Major-General John E.
Wool and the officers and soldiers of his command,
for their gallantry and good conduct in the brilliant
operations mentioned.

"By order of the President.
" Made at the City of Norfolk, on the 11th day
of May, 1862.

" EDWIN M. STANTON, Secretary of War."
The Senate has confirmed the nomination of Gen.
Wool to be Major-General of the army.
A special despatch to the Tribune from Cairo
says :—" The steamer Gladiator, from Pittsburg,
has arrived. There was a rumour that General
Beauregard had sent a flag of truce to General
Halleck, asking an armistice of 10 days. This was
subsequently corzoborated by deserters, who said
the matter was under consideration when the
Gladiator left."

The Teresa has arrived from China with 380,400
pounds of tea.
The Sagittarius, Captain Provo, from London,
sailed from Dartmouth on the Gth of August, for Shangha e,
and not having since been heard of, is now considered at
Lloyd's a lost ship.
CRYSTAL PALACE.—ONE SHILLING DAY, Wed-
nesday, May 28.—Admissions on payment, 2,187 ; ditto
by season tickets, 789 ; total visitors, 2,976.
THE SPITHEAD FORTS.--The report of the Com-
missioners on National Defences, on the question referred
to them as to circumstances whether the action between
the Morrim.. ft.a the Monitor in Hampton Roads were
not such as to modify their opinion respecting the adapta-
bility of forts for the defence of Spithead was issued yes-
terday. The report goes over a variety of considerations
on the question which, say the commissioners, "lead us to
the conclusion that fortification is a necessary element in
any arrangement for our permanent security, and that the
construction of forts at Spithead is essential for the protec-
tion of that anchorage. In proportion to the development
of the power of artillery the value of the forts will be in-
creased and the space to be defended by floating batteries
diminished. But whatever the space may be, the support
of forts is necessary to give the defence a slperiority over
the attack. We therefore adhere to the opinion expressed
in our report of 26th February, 1861, appended hereto, that
the combined system of forts and floating batteries therein
recommended will be not only the most economic] but the
only really efficient mode of providing for the deence of
Spithead."
SHOCKING ACCIDENT IN A BREWERY.—A, S'aOck-
ing accident, attended with fatal results, occurred yestE.day
morning, at Mr. Roberts's brewery, South-street, Gr6en-
heys. A young man, named Richard Clements, Ras
engaged in whitewashing the ceiling of one of the upper
rooms. On the floor below a man, named Thompson, was
superintending the hoisting up a number of boxes. Hear-
ing an unusual thumping noise, he was induced to look up,
and, to his horror, perceived that Clements had been caught
by the shaft of the hoist, and was being whirled round by
it. The engine was stopped as soon as possible, and the
poor fellow was extricated, his head and arms having been
beaten to pieces by dashing against the wall. He died be•
fore a surgeon could arrive.—Manchester _Examiner.
DUBLIN, WEDNESDAY.—The Special Commission
for the trial of the persons accused as the perpetrators of
the recent outrages in the counties of Tipperary and Lime-
rick has been issued from the Hanaper office, but neither
the time at which the trials will commence, nor the judges
who will preside, are as yet known with certainty. All the
twelve judges are named in such commissions, and they,
by private arrangement, appoint two of their number. It
is considered probable that the duty will devolve upon
Baron Deasy and Judge Fitzgerald. Fifteen days must
elapse between the issuing of the precept to the sheriffs and
the opening of the commission, which cannot, therefore,
take place before the 12th or 13th of June. Yesterday
being the first day of Trinity Term the courts were opened
with the usual formalities. In the course of the day a
meeting of the bench ers was held, at which Mr. O'Connor
Morris was appointed Professor of the Law of Real and
Personal Property, and Mr. J. A. Byrne Professor of Con-
stitutional and Criminal Law, Mr. Morris was called to
the Bar in 1854, having obtained a certificate of honour of
the first class at the Inns of Court in London in 1853, and
second class in classics at Oxford in 1844, and a scholar-
ship there in 1644.

Private letters in London from America speak
of the more recent events as favourable to Confederates, and
also represent the anti-Northern spirit in the South as more
inveterate than ever. The Confederates had obviously
eo
ceased to have any chance of success in. districts within
irnetaecrhioorfogf uthnebioraotws,nansdta,
tbeys,wrehtreerae there
re in
is n good order to the
water carriage,
where the roads are bad, and the population hostile to the
" invaders," they adopt the tactics which will best baffle
their opponents. Persons who have lately been at Rich-
great secret that M. Mercier,
y from Richmond convinced
mond report the population to be as one man in their intense
It is
hatred of the North, and. the women especially as being ab-
ttsil:elautFttehrleYenSfeehercoleciciiieonruissat,ceoru' came aw ald only be brought back into the Union
by being reduced to a state of slavery as absolute as that
WELSHksi TRAGEDY.--About ten days ago the
M.. George Ward, a printer, in Welchpool, Mont-
shire,
.-was arrested on the charge of robbing a
tqhuaatntthi. quantity
very
yf robberysto
gowofiniftAeheeorfyb
draper's shop in that town. The search which the police
made .at her house resulted in the discovery of a large
stolen
fpthr
systematically.oi
spes rhtoypa,
nba
dyn furtherdthhaedprisoner
been
had
carried inquiries
beeno snh
forow econ-
ductedadvery long time. The police also took into custody the
mother of Mrs. Ward, who was charged with receiving
some of this property knowing it to bo stolen. Both pri-
soners were committed for trial, bail being taken for their
appearance. 'When Mr. Ward was made acquainted with
this he became very nervous and very desponding, the:
shock being very great, inasmuch as he occupies a highly
respectable position in the town. On Tuesday the neigh-
bourhood in which they lived was aroused by the alarming
cries of his niece who lived with them. She ran out into.
the street imploring assistance, as her uncle and aunt had
cut their throats. On the arrival of the neighbours it was
found that both had dreadful wounds in their throats, and
the medical men give little hopes of their recovery. It is
believed that the man intended to murder his wife and then
cut his own throat afterwards,

We (Manchester Guardian) believe there is no
foundation for the report connecting the name of Mr.
Massey, M.P., with the vacancy caused at the War•office
by the death of Sir Benjamin Hawes.