The Sun.
London, England, 1865-05-23 00:00:00

SCIENTIFIC AND ORNAMENTAL PRESENTS.

ORNAMENTS for the Drawing-room, Library,
aid Dining-room, consisting of a new and elegant assort-
ment of VASES, Figures, Groups, Candlesticks, 0 belisks, Ink-
stands, beautiful inlaid Tables, Paper weights, &0., in Italian,
Alabaster, Partin, Marble, Bronze, Derbyshire Spar, &a
Imported and manufactured by JAMES TENNANT, ?dine•
ralogist to her Mekiesty, 149, Stand, W.C., London.

Mr. Tennant arranges elementary collections of ROCKS,
II IN E RAM, and FOSSILS, to illustrate the new edition
of Lyell's Elements of Geology ; they will greatly facilitate
the interesting study of MINERALOGY and GEOLOGY,
and can be had at 2, 6. 10, 20, 60, to 100 guineas each.
PRACTICAL INSTRUCTION in GEOLOGY and MINE-
RALOGY is given by Mr. TENXAN at 119. Strand.. W.C.

ROYAL FREE HOSPITAL, Gray's-inn-road,
in the immediate vicinity of the Great Northern Hall-
way Terminus, King's-cross.
This Hospital, founded in the year 1828, the first to estab-
lish the principle of free admission to the sick poor, without
the delay and difficulty of Governors' orders, is whol:y de-
pendent for support on voluntaryoontributions and legacies.
It affords relief to a large number of in-patients, and, in
ciddition to this, the average number of attendance of the
destitute sick has for a con -iderable period averaged between
3,000 and s.OOO weekly.
The Committee earnestly solicit the ASSISTANCE of the
benevolent, as the premises of this Hospital are 'capable of
containing several hundred more beds, had the Committee
the requisite funds to maintain them.
•-- -

Contributions are received by the Treasurer. Edward Mae-
)errnan, Esq., Nicholas-lane; also by Messrs. Coutts and Co.;
Co.;Drummond and Co. ; Glyn and • Harries and Co. ; Ransom
and Co. ; Prescott, Grote, and Co. ; Smith, Payne, and Co. ;
Barclay and Co. ; Williams,Deacon, and Co. ; Overend, Gur-
ney, and Co. ; Nisbet and Co.. Berners-street ; I. Barned and
IlivPrpool ; aad at the Hospital. from 10 till 5.
STANFORD SMITH, Secretary.

BONUS YEAR, 1865.

NORTH BRITISH AND MERCANTILE
INSURANCE COMPANY,

The SIXTH SEPTENNIAL DIVISION of PROFITS
takes place on 31st December next
The Fund then to be divided will consist of the Profits
which have Accumulated since 1858.
All particip .ting Pond( s opened before that date will share
in the Division.
During the six years prior to the last Divi-
sion the Annual Average of Sums assured
amounted to
Dur lig, the last six years-1859 to 1861 Motu-
kive—the Annual Average has amounted to 70%655 0 0
Being an increase of 133 per cent.
During the years 1863 and 1861 the Company has issued
2,311 NEW POLICIES, assuring very nearly
TWO MILLIONS STERLING.

In 1861 alone 1,210 Policies were issued. as,'
owing £1,034,578 0 0
NINETY PER CENT. of the whole Profits divided among
the assured. _ _ _

FIRE DEPARTMENT.

PREMIUMS for 18431, less Re-insurances.... £210,235 10 8
Being an INCREASE over those foe 1.853 of 51,013 2 5
INSURANCES granted at lIOHE and ABROAD on the
most liberal term?.

ACCU3IIILATED FUNDS at 3 at Decem-
ber. 1, 61 . £2,304.51.! 710
ANNUAL REVENUE for all Sources 533,158 10 -2
This Company grants the public Ilia full value of thu
REDUCTION OF DUTY, and issues Policies free of ally
Charge for Stamp.
Forms of Proposal, and full information may be had at the
Head-Offices. or from any of the Agtnts throughout the
Kin 4 dom, Colonies, tO.
CHIEF OFFICES.
London . 6l, Threadneedle-street.
West-End Branch; (secretary, A. J. Bussel,)
8, Waterloo-place, Pall-Mall.
By order, F. W. LANCE, Secretary.

The Prince of Wales at the Sailors' Home.

From the High-street, Whitechapel, down to the
river side, yesterday, it may be fairly said there was
a general holiday to welcome the Prince of Wales
on his way to open the new building in extension of
the Sailors' Home, in Dock-street and Well-street,
London Docks.

Long before one reached what may be called the
scene of action there was visible signs that Eastern
London was determined to cast aside its business
cares and interests, and to give itself up unre-
servedly to the rare enjoyment of a visit from
Royalty, having for its object the welfare of a class
by which that important district of our great metro-
polis, with its almost Imperial dimensions in num-
bers and extent,
is so materially benefited. The out-
lying approaches were very fairly ornamented by
flags and banners, but on turning down Leman- street,
High-street, Whitechapel, which leads direct to the
Sailors' Home, the spectators for the first time
became aware of the excitement and the intense
interest which the anticipation of the Prince's
visit had created. Most of the shops were
shut. The windows of the houses on each side were
filled with ladies ; the sidepaths crowded by less
fortunate sightseers, and the pathway from side to
side made brilliant by flags and banners over-
head, and which, even in such sunshine as is
permitted to lighten up Whitechapel, imparted
vitality, raciness, and enjoyment to the • scene,
such as we imagine has rarely been experienced
in the district. As you neared the Home itself,
the display of bunting became " thick as leaves
in Vallambrosa ;" and on the new front of the
building itself there was a perfect efflorescence
of the "flags of all nations" from top to bottom.
The tops of the houses, mills, and factories were
crowded, as well as the windows : and the waiting
crowds, by their patience and good behaviour, in
presence of the hope deferred that maketh the heart
sick, might have converted even some of the sturdiest
opponents of the extension of the suffrage into the
belief that after all the English working man is not
the revolutionary animal—the bogie—which some
" Liberal" M.P.'s hold up, in terroreni, to the other
classes of society.

About half-past 2 a guardof honour, formed by the
Hon. Artillery Company, preceded by their band,
took uptheir position in front of the Home, and were
Naval Reserve from
joined by the m
heroi Majesty'se
slopof
President,t he Royal
with their band, the
latter of which enlivened by various performances
the long interval which intervened between the time
appointed for the arrival of his Royal Highness and
the actual fact. Three o'clock was the hour named,
but it was not until 20 minutes to 4 that the guard
bplae
of honour " dressed," and prepared to salute the
the National Anthem
rs ofcarriage.
hisy
Highness on
Royal Prince,
as
he w
d ro
vi with
ut hp
toei r and playing
in a close car-
gtrance
the main car-
riage, amid loud cheers, which must certainly have
been engendered by faith, not sight, as the only in-
dications of Royalty were the scarlet liveries on the
frontu ge
s
We venture to
g
these occasions that, especespeciallyon-such a bright day
sandtto thet h e back
advisers
v i os f e the
as yesterday, the absence of an open carriage and
the want of punctuality are calculated—slight as these
things may be in themselves—to seriously detract
from the popularity which his Royal Highness de-
serves from the painstaking and genial spirit in
which he discharges the multifarious duties which
devolve upon him in consequence of the persistent
manner in which the Queen holds aloft from the
discharge of these duties. Meanwhile, the addi-
tion to the Home, which is in the front of the old
building, and which has a really handsome archi-
tectural elevation to Dock-street, became more and
more crowded, by ladies especially, who filled the

lofty dormitory, four storeys, or rather galleries
high, from floor to roof. The dormitory is named
after the late Admiral Sir Henry Hope, K.C.8.,
and has at the top part his coat of arms and
motto, beautifully emblazoned with an inscription to
commemorate the fact, that he " was a great bene-
factor to the institution and to the cause of seamen
generally." The oblong dormitory, with its galleries
and its separate entrances to each individual sleep-
ing-berth, together with the simple but very effec-
tive methods of securing a thorough ventilation,
appears to us to reflect very high credit upon the
architect, Mr. E. L. Bracebridge, and when tested,
as it was yesterday, in an almost tropical heat,
by an assembly such as can rarely if ever meet in
it again, it may be safely said that it came
triumphantly through the ordeal. The band of
the Royal Naval School was in attendance, and
whiled away the long hours of waiting by the per-
formance of very well-selected music. At last,
when the Prince arrived, he was received at the
principal entrance by a distinguished company, and
passing through the entrance-hall up the main stair-
case, took his place upon the dais, immediately
under the memorial to Admiral Hope, while the
choir sang the National Anthem.
At the close of the anthem Admiral Sir W.
BOWLES read the following address :
" May it please your Royal Highness,—We, the
patron, president, vice-presidents, treasurer, chair-
man, and directors of this Sailors' Home, desire to
express our deep sense of gratitude to your Royal
Highness in condescending to open the new building
added to this establishment, and thus identifying
your illustrious name with the history of a benevo-
volent institution which, for the last 30 years, has
been a home not merely to the sailors of these realms,
but to those of all nations.
" This home is the parent institution—the first
great and successful attempt to improve the careless
habits of the sailor—and owes its origin to the de-
voted energies of three naval officers, Capt. Robert
Jas. Eliot, R.N. (now deceased), Admiral Geo. C.
Gambier, and Capt. R. Justice, R.N. Its object is
to provide a home—combining protection, comfort,
instruction (religious and professional), with rational
amusements, and opportunities to economise—for
sailors when on shore.
" The dome was established in 1830, and opened
in 1835. Its receipts, which vary from £7,000 to
£9,000 per annum, are derived from money received
of the sailors for board and lodging, annual sub-
scriptions, legacies, and hitherto from stock which
benevolent friends had contributed, but which is now
absorbed in the erection of this new building. For
the remarkable success which, under Providence, has
attended its operations, and the no less striking favor
with which its benefits have been appreciated by the
1 sailor, we humbly beg to request your Royal '
High-
ness's considerate attention to the following statis-

tics :
"'Since the year 1835 the home has accommo-
dated 158,525 sailors, including many of her Ma-
jesty's navy-134,885 belonging to the United
Kingdom and to her Majesty's possessions abroad,
and 23,640 to the various foreign countries with
which England has maritime and commercial inter-
course. Out of an aggregate sum of £1,263,893
lodged by the sailors in the bank of the home,
£711,560 has been drawn out; £452,610 has been
remitted to friends and relations, and £46,400 in-
vested in the Home and Board of Trade Savings
Banks.

" So rapidly of late years have the advantages of
this institution grown in the estimation of the sailors
that although the original edifice was capable of
affording 328 sleeping berths, the pressure for ad-
mission reached such a crisis that it became impera-
tively necessary to erect this additional building,
the chief stone of which was laid in August, 1863,
by Lord Palmerston. The design, in its admirable
adaptation to and union with the original structure,
will give 174 additional beds (special provision
being made for officers of the mercantile marine),
making in the aggregate sleeping accommodation
for 502 persons.
" The contributions received from the public in
aid of the undertaking amount to £4,741, which,
with the stun'of £9,419 transferred from the funds
of the institution, make a total of £14,160. The
expenditure has been £13,508, with liabilities for_
fittings and furniture .amounting to £4,233 more,
leaving a deficit of £3,581. Considering the con-
fidence inspired by the operations of this home in
the sailor, the force with which habits of economy
and principles of religion are pressed upon his atten-
tion, and the increased facilities which the enlarge-
ment gives for extending these beneficial and salu-
tary influences, we are led to hope that a Christian
public will acknowledge this debt as their own.
" Your Royal Highness will permit us to add
that your late lamented father, the great and good
Prince:Albert, was not a stranger to this institution,
for in May, 1846, his Royal Highness was graciously
pleased to lay the foundation stone of the Seamen's
church adjoining, which it is gratifying to say has,
since its opening, been attended by 170,000 sailors,
many of whom, it is believed, have had cause to
bless his memory.
" In conclusion, we again offer to your Royal
Highness our loyal and grateful thanks for the
national importance your presence and countenance
on this interesting occasion gives to a most useful
institution, and we are confident that this most
gracious action will tend to strengthen and perpe-
tuate in the minds of the sailors belonging to the
mercantile marine those sentiments of loyalty and
devotion to the Throne which it is our desire to
foster and cultivate."
His ROYAL HIGIDIESS, who had listened through-
out with marked attention to the address, replied as
follows :—" Sir William Bowles, your Excellencies,
pay Lords, Ladies, and Gentlemen,—lt is very gra-
tifying to me to comply with the invitation I have
received to take a part in this day's proceedings, and
to preside at the opening of your new wing. The
beneficent results attending the establishment of the
Sailors' Home for our immense mercantile navy are
shown by the statements and figures which you have
now given, and which establish in the most satisfac-
tory way the necessity for having the original build-
ing. The interest taken by my lamented father in
the religious welfare of this institution, evinced by
his laying the first stone of the Seamen's Church
adjoining, will, I trust, be not less in his son, who
is well aware of the sentiments of loyalty and of
devotion to the Throne which distinguish the mer-
cantile navy of Great Britain."
The Bishop of OXFORD, assisted by the chaplain
of the institution, the Rev. D. GREATOREX, said
appropriate prayers, and a part of the 107th psalm
was said by the people and the chaplain alternately.
The hymn, " How are Thy servants blessed, 0
Lord," followed, and his Royal Highness then, in
his usual clear and distinct voice, declared the build-
ing opened. The Bishop of Oxford offered up
prayer and pronounced the benediction, and the
Danish National Anthem having been sung by the
choir, the Prince left the dais, accompanied by his
suite ; and the patron, president, and several of the
directors proceeded to inspect the entire building,
and left the principal entrance amidst loud and
hearty cheers.

WAGES MOVEMENT /IN THE LONDON BUILDING
TRADES.—A movement is now on foot amongst the work-
men in several branches of the building trade in London
for the purpose of procuring an advance of 6d. per day on
the present rate of wages, based on the following grounds:
the increased and increasing cost of house and room rent; the
high juice of butcher's meat and other provisions ; the
general prosperity of the trade ; and the fact, that in nearly
all the provincial towns the wages of the building operatives
have been advanced from 2s. to 3s. per week, in many cases
bringing up their wages to tho standard paid in the metro-
polis. Tho initiative in this movement has been taken by
the stonemasons, who have adopted a memorial, to be sent
to the master builders of the metropolis, requesting an ad-
vance on their present rate of wages of threo farthings per
hour, or about 3s. per week. A reply to this memorial is
requested by the 26th inst. Other trades are moving in
the same direction.

Sir RODERICK MuncnisoN, the President, then pro-
ceeded to deliver the annual address on the progress of
geography. It was a very elaborate, and in-manyrespects-
an interesting document, occupying about two hours in
the delivery, and hero a summary of it is all that can be
expected. He commenced with short sketches of the
lives of the deceased Fellows during the year, noticing
especially those of the Duke of Northumberland,
Admiral Fitzroy, and the lamented Spoke. He then re-
viewed at great length the condition of geographical science
and discovery when the society was established, and dwelt
on tho extent to which the range of geographical knowledge
had been augmented in tho 35 years of its existence. With
the progress of exploration (said Sir Roderick) nearly two-
thirds of Australia had now been either settled or partially
explored, while the population, which in the year 1830
amounted only to about 50,000, has risen to near 1,500,000
of inhabitants. With establishments at Cape York, Van
Diemen's Gulf, and I hope also soon to add, at the mouth
of the Northern Victoria River, and, thanks to our admir-
able naval surveyors, with a secure passage laid down for
all vessels navigating northwards within the barrier reefs
of the east coast, by Queensland to Torres Straits, this gene-
ration will not pass away before a brisk intercourse will be
established between Australia and our East Indian posses-
sions, China, and Japan. I now see rapidly approaching
that consummation which some of my less sanguine friends
looked upon as a dream, when in a former address I said,
" I have little doubt that the time will soon come when al
minor difficulties will disappear before the energy of Bri-
tish colonists, in their endeavours to connect their Austra-
lian possessionB with the rich marts of the eastern hemi-
sphere." Having adverted to many of the leading geogra-
phical advances made by our countrymen since the origin of
this society, let me say that great as these steps have been
they still leave countless unexplored fields for the labours
of ourselves and successors. Although a very large portion
of Australia has in comparatively few years been more or
lessexplored, yet we knowthat the spaces which lie between'
the routes taken by various travellers in tho interior of that
continent are of vast width, that an enormous region en-
tirely unvisited separates the colonies of South and West
Australia, while'a largo portion of the north coast, with its
fine bays and headland, has still to be surveyed in detail.
In America much stout "work remains to occupy for many a
year the most ardent explorers. For, although much has
been done by the enterprising travellers and geographers of
the United State; and the groat territory of the Hudson
Bay Company has been so much and so well examined since
the days of Mackenzie, we have recently seen how an un-
assisted young English nobleman and his companion could
bring to us fresh knowledge respecting the western side of
the Rocky Mountains and a portion of British Columbia.
As to South America, we obtained proofs at our last meet-
ing but one of the imperfect acquaintance we possess with
important parts of New Granada, now styled the United
Republics of Columbia. Mr. Oliphant, indeed, recalled our
attention to the often-disputed question as to the best
and most feasible passage for ships or by rail across the
I Central American Isthmus, and made us regret that in the
very parallel where the Atlantic and Pacific approach
nearest each other there—i.e., between the River Bayanos
and Mindinga Bay—no European had traversed the inter-
vening short space of 15 miles. If we turn to Asia--tho
cradle of the human race—even that continent presents to
the eye of the geographer as ninny term incognitm as Aus-
tralia, Africa, and America( In the huge 4s-rnpfror-of Ohin.
and its dependencies what numerous journeys plust yet be
made to test the value of the recitals of Klaproth and other
Chinese scholars respecting regions not visited by Europeans
since the days of Marco Polo, except in certain, lines by
Hue and Gabet, whose works, however interesting in other
respects, have failed in affording us sound geographical
knowledge. Among the undescribed tracts dependent upon
China is, for example, the great peninsula of the Korea lying
between China proper and Japan. Twice conquered by the
Japanese, the Koreans are now tributary to China ; ingot;
furs, and other articles, being annually sent as tribute to
Pekin, with which capital they also keep up a trade in cart;
which travel round the head of the great gulf of Lootung.
With regard to other parts of Asia, I may first point to NeW
Guinea, and here express my thanks to Sir Charles Nichol-
son for having specially called our attention to the impor-
tance of extending a survey of the accessible parts of this
vast but little-known land, lying within a few hours' sail
of the eastern promontory of Australia. The next ne-
glected country to which I would call your attention is the
small group of the Philippine; consisting, according to
Spanish estimate, of 400 inhabited islands, one of which is
one-half larger than Ireland, and the whole containing (ex-
clusive of mountain negroes) # population of the Malayan
race, amounting to 5,000,000, very tolerably civilized and
converted to Christianity. Concerning this mighty archi-
pelago of the Philippines, which is within a couple of days'
steaming of China, of five days' steaming of our own settle-
ments,'and with which, exclusive of the Indian trade, we
carry on a direct commerce of the annual value of above
,C 2,500,000 there is not a single paper in our records.
Finally, the empire of Japan remains for exploration, with
its computed 30,000,000 of people, the most ingenious and

industrious of all the nations of Asia next to the Chinese.
Our direct commerce with Japan is already of the value of
£1,500,000, the Japanese exports consisting chiefly of tea
and silk—commodities which the Japanese never exported
before, and which must, therefore, be considered as the
offspring of their newly-stimulated industry. The perusal
of the excellent volume which Livingstone is just about to
issue, with the assistance of his brother Charles, and the
natural history details and descriptions of Dr. Kirk, and
the geology of poor young Thornton, will show you that
there are still great unknown regions in Southern Africa.
What we have now to hope for is that the vigorous and
devoted Samuel Baker shall have been enabled to work out
in the interior one great foaturo of the geographical problem
which Spoke believed he had solved. When last hoard of,
Mr. Baker was at Unyoro, and wo most earnestly hope that
ho may have been enabled to settle the question as to the
southernmost origin of the waters which flow westward of
the Upper Nile of Spoke and Grant, which descends from
the elevated plateau in which the great Lake Victoria
Nyanza lies. In the meantime, however, it has been deemed
highly desirable to endeavour to determine the real water-
shed of South Africa by an examination in the first place of
the region lying between the Lake Nyatsa of Livingstone
and the Tanganyika of Burton and Spoke, by sending a
well-considered expedition to that part of Africa. Advert-
ing next to the projected expedition to the North Pole, Sir
Roderick said—Desirous of ascertaining the opinion of
that eminent Russian circumnavigator and Arctic explorer,
Admiral Lutke, President of the Imperial Academy of
Sciences at St. Petersburg, I begged him to lay our pro-
ject before the body over which he presides. In this way
a committee of distinguished philosophers, all of them
great travellers, drew up a report, which was cordially ap-
proved by the Imperial Academy, and communicated to me
by the perpetual secretary, accompanied by a most encou-
raging letter from the president himself, who assured me
that the Imperial Geographical Society and the president,
the Grand Duke Constantine, also warmly approve the pro-
ject. The Academicians of Russia conclude by expressing
their belief in the force of the sentiment to which our
Council has given utterance, that this survey, in addition
to keeping up the spirit of adventure in our navy, will be
the best possible preparation for the future exploration of
those Antarctic lands, on which, in 1882, the transit of
Venus over the sun can alone be observed with accuracy.
Fortified by such powerful support, I have, on the part of
the Council, appealed to the First Lord of the Admiralty
and her Majesty's Government, enumerating the advan-
tages to be derived from a North Polar expedition, and at
the same time have transmitted copies of all the various
supporting documents from other societies, together with
the reports of our own discussions, in the earnest hope that
the numerous and powerful reasons assigned may bring
about a successful issue. But if, after an our offoi Ls, we
should fail in obtaining our request, we shall enjoy the
satisfaction of having been sustained by the science of
Europe, and of having been opposed only by masses—alas!
too numerous in this age—who see no merit in any ad-
vancement of knowledge if it does not carry with it politi-
cal or monetary profit.

At the conclusion of the address, on the motion of Sir
IL RAWLINSON, the thanks of the meeting were most cor-
dially voted to the President. The meeting then separated.
In the evening the members of the society and others to

The CHAIRMAN proposed the toast of the evening—" the
Royal Geographical Society," connecting with it the names
of Captain Montgomery, RE., and Mr. Samuel Baker, to
whom the gold medals of the society for the year had been
awarded, lie next gave " Sir Rutherford Alcock," dwel-
ling upon the great public services he had rendered in tho
Empire of Japan, and upon his having the true interests of
geographical discovery at heart. Sir Rutherford Alcock
replying to the compliment, observed that to some there
might seem little affinity between the diplomatic service
and geographical discovery, but to his cost he had found
there was a close affinity, for it was geographers who
found out new lands and diplomatists who occupied them.
His destiny now took him to China, and any follow
geographer who might visit him in Pekin would always
find a hearty welcome. The remaining toasts were "the
Lord Mayor of London," given in complimentary terms
from the chair; "the Chairman," proposed by Lord
Houghton ; and " The Travellers in Distant Regions,"
with which the names of Dr. Livingstone, Mr. M'Dougal
Stuart, Mr. Palgrave, and Mr. Vambery wore connected.
Dr. LININGSTONE, who was much cheered, said he did
not forget those compliments when ho went into the wil-
derness. When he was about to start on his last expedition
her Majesty the Queen was pleased to say to him, "My
good wishes will follow you." He had always remembered
that saying, and if he had the vanity to choose a coat
of arms that would be his motto. lie had no doubt some
criticisms followed him also, but of those he had no fear,
provided they were honest. He proposed now to go to the
river Roovooma and try to get round the north end of the
lake Nyanza, and then round about the lake Tanganyika.
But he did not like to say much about his intentions. Ho •
preferred to say what he had done than what he was going
.to de. The Royal Geographical Society conferred great
advantages on travellers by receiving and perpetuating
their discoveries. His object in going forth again was
partly geographical, and partly with the view of opening up
the country to commerce and to Christian missions. They
had seen the slave trade at its very commencement, and ho
believed the horrors of the slave trade on the ocean were
not to be compared with the horrors of it inland. Ho hoped
in that way to do some good in his day and generation.
The company separated about 11 o'clock.

Railway and Other Companies.

SCOTTISH NORTH EASTERN.

A special meeting of this company was held at
Aberdeen on Thursday—Mr. J. Stirling in the chair.
On the motion of the CHAIRMAN, the arrange-
ment for the purchase of the Carmyllie line, six
miles in length, for £12,000, and of the plant
for £950, was approved and confirmed. The
directors were also authorised to raise £lBB,OOO
by the issue of new 5 per cent. preference shares,
and to borrow on mortgage £53,600.