The Sun.
London, England, 1853-12-22 00:00:00

NAVAL INTELLIGENCE.

PORTSMOUTH, DEC. 21.
The Sprightly steam tender, Mr. George Allen, Acting
Master, conveyed a Queen's messenger to Osborne, on
his arrival from London after dark last night.
The Dauntless, 31, screw frigate, having been rigged
ready for commission by the officers and men of the steam
reserve, was taken out of harbour to Stokes-bay to-day
to try her engines and speed, which are reported as very
satisfactory, _ _

The convict ship Sea Park, Captain Spedding, sailed
last night from Spithead to Portland, Plyfilouth, and
Swan River.

The Russian corvette Navarin, 22, after a thorough
refit, was got out of dock this afternoon. She is now
shipping her sea stores again, and will be at sea within
24 hours. While the public eye has been kept upon this
vessel and the frigate Aurora, another Russian appari-
tion on the Gosport side has hitherto escaped notice.
The Russian yacht RogniCda (well known in English
waters as once the Earl of ilton'sV Circassian, a schooner
of the Royal Yacht Squtdron), now the property of
Prince Nicolas Labanoff de Rostoff, sailed a few days
since from this harbour, but so quietly that no remark
has beer! made about her. She sailed with sealed orders
-from-the-Russian Government. This fine fast sailing
schooner has been heavily and well armed in all respects.
She was bound ostensibly for the Pacific, but more truly
her commission is a roving one. The Prince has lately
rebeived a commission appointing him a Lieutenant-
Commandant in the Imperial navy._ Among other im-
provemeuts fitted to this craft is Cunningham's patent
sell-reefing topsail, which renders a less number of hands
necessary for working the vessel than Ni_orild otherwise
1 ' he required, leaving.,-confiequently, a large' ropoftion of
fighting men.

PYMOUT, DEC. 21.
The merchant ship Minerva, LCaptain JoHhnStone, from
Madras, Aug. 30, and St: Helena, Nov. 1, now in the
Sound, spoke Nov. 9, the screw steam-ship Australian,
22 days from London fur Sydney, all well.
and
The Royal
George, 120. screw, Captain Courington,
22 screw-steamer, aptain Goldsmith, ar-
rived in the Sound last evening from Sheerness. The
Royal George will be manned at this port. She saluted
the flag of Admiral Sir John Ommanney, which was rer
turned by the Impregnable flag-ship.
The Hecla, Dutch steamer, arrived in the Sound yes-
terday from Batavia, hound to Holland. She had her
starboard paddle-box carried away in a gale, and has
other defects.,.
The Algiers,.9o, screw-ship, will be launched from this
dockyard on the 26th January.
The Rifleman, 8, screw-sloop, Lieutenant Christian,
arrived in the Sound from Portsmouth yesterday. She
has drawn a whale boat from this dockyard. The Rifle-
man is bound for the Brazils station, and has despatches
for the Commander-in-Chief, and letters for the officers
and crew of the squadron. She will sail probably to-day.

SHEERNESS, DEC. 21.
The Melampus, late 42 guns, in charge, pro tem., of
Mr. Jackson, Assistant Master Attendant at this yard,
arrived here from Woolwich yesterday, at 1.15 p.m.,
with the whole of the machinery, boilers, &c., belonging
to the new screw steam-ship Majestic, 80 guns. The
Melampus was taken into the fitting basin, and berthed
alongside the Majestic, under the masting-shears yester-
day's tide. The engineers and millwrights are all ready
to commence setting up the engines, affixing machinery,
&c., with all possible despatch, agreeable to an Admi-
ralty order issued to-the contractors. In consequence of
the tide not serving to put the Melampus out of the
basin at Woolwich, the steam tug-vessels Monkey and
Zephyr did not succeed in towing the Melampus beyond
Greenhithe on Wednesday evening, where she remained,
and was got under weigh in tow at daylight yesterday
morning.
The Cressy, new screw steam-ship, of 80 guns, has
this day been commissioned here by Captain Richard
Laird Warren. She is to have a complement of 850
officers and men, including marines, marine artillery,
seamen, gunners, &c. An extra number of mechanics of
every description have been put on to facilitate her early
fitment.
The paddle-wheel steam-yacht Black Eagle, Master-
Commander John E. Petley, on paising up Sea Reach,
on her return from Grimsby to Woolwich, took' the
ground on the Nore Sand, a short distance above the
white buoy off the Nore, and remained for the tide. The
Spit to the west-north-west of the white buoy has, for
some time past, been gathering up very considerably,
and of late several loaded ships, upward and downward
bound, have grounded thereon, at a time when not ex-
pected to do so by the depth of water shown on the
charts. Assistance was promptly sent franx.here by the
authorities;aurt fortunobely-not required. At tide time
she floated off and proceededfor Woolwich, without any
apparent damage either to hull or machinery.
The paddle-wheel steam-sloop Driver, 6 guns, in
charge of Mr. Cornelius Fox, Master, R.N. (borne out
on the Horatio), got up steam this morning, and pro-
ceeded out on her usual trial of machinery. She had not
returned urg, to the time of forwarding this report.
The Diamond, 28 guns, Captain William Peel, has had
her compasses adjusted, and her crew are now engaged
bending sails. This ship, both intide and outside her
hull, is a perfect yacht, all extra decorations having been
done at the expense of her highly esteemed captain in
command, and as regards her rigging she is a perfect
model in every respect, although in strict accordance
with the Admiralty instructions.

WOOLWICH, DEC. 21.

APPOINTMENTS.
Commander John W. Dorville (1853), recently pro-
moted from First-Lieutenant of the Rattler screw steam-
sloop, on the East Indies and China station, to the
Cressy, 80, screw steam-ship at Sheerness.
H.
Excellentßeamisli (gluBesn3e),ryr.sehcie?
pnlayt
Li
promotedeuten Lieutenants,—Henry tse
from
—Ayeetneryef
Portsmouth, is appointed one of the Lieutenants of
that ship, vice Tumour ; Henry Clavering (1847), re-
cently borne on the books of the. Victory flag-ship, at
aroBetn4l9(o7
;Bue4fder7eof)nre
1, sott
from
hwtmeini
aeE; t
CxeNeroeeifleslhtsehyonelt;a slit
LeooEg
utuhdie:-
Portsmouth, for particular service, to the Hogue, 60,
ILescrersvaws
yeßr steam;srteAuerrki
nt
iieTu (rel guard-shiprsie3el)v: par(
rrl
Henryof
th
the Cumberland,
Second-eArisa; ter
to the Cressy.
SeAcof
unll'll.baerrtiiannd( 87503, ) ,
flag-shipprom o te dOnfrtoltine
North America and West Indies station, to have the
Charge of the Rosamond, 6, paddle-wheel steam-sloop,
of 280-horse power, stationed as an advanced war steamer
at Sheerness ; Robert Studwell (1840), to the Cressy.
Second-Masters.— Rohm t Smith (1846), to the Cyclops
steam-frigate at Sheerness ; Robert E. Jones (1852),
front the Vulture paddle-wheel steam-frigate to the Bos-
cawen' 70, fitting at Chatham for the flag-ship, on the
North America and West Indies station ; Samuel Win-
necutt (1850), from the Waterloo, 120, flag-ship at
Sheerness, to the Lizard, iron paddle-wheel steam-vessel,
of 150-horse power, at Sheerness. ,
t
Masters-Assistants.—John J. c oNeye,
Inry
the Saracen
brig at Devonport, for surveyingsrvie
at
Devonport.
Clerk.—Henry ;
'to the Sidon paddle-wheel steam-frigate_
H nry M. Moore (1847), Clerk-in-Charge of
the Crescent,42, receiving-ship at Rio Janeiro, to the
paddle-wheel steam-frigate flag-ship on
Centaur pa
south-east coast of America station.
u
G nner—Henry Williams, to the Cressy. cn 0",:. CM
Boatswain—lsaac Poole, to the Cressy. . .
Carpenter—John Harvey, to the Cressy.
CHRISTMAS HOLTDAY AT WOOLWICH—An order has
been received here from the Admiralty that the whop
of the workmen
in the dockyard will be allowed a holy-
day on Monday the 26th inst., in consequence of Christ-
mas-day falling on a Sunday this year. The Board of
Ordnance, by an order dated the 9th inst., have an-
nounced their intention of granting a holyday on the
26th inst. to all the workmen in the Royal Arsenal.
The Onyx Dover mail steam packet, Second Master
Commander E. C. Rutter, will be ready by the end of
the week to return to Dover to resume her duties as a
mail packet on that station.

The Monkey and Zephyr steam-vessels have returned
to Woolwich, after towing the Melampus, 42, frigate,
to Sheerness, with the machinery of, the Majestic, 80,
on board.
The Royal George, 120, screw steam-ship, being short
of her complement when she left Sheerness for Devon--
port, a number of seamen-riggers were lent to her from
Sheerness Dockyard to assist in navigating her to no.,
vonport. The patent trunk engines, of 400-horse power,
by John Penn and Son, worked to the entire satisfaction
of all on board, and the engineeri who worked them,
and stokers who attended to getting up the steam, state
that they never served in a ship so well ventilated and cool before. The great breadth of the ship has allowed
of the furnaces being constructed so as to give a space of
12 feet between the six furnaces on each side, and they are so arranged that an ample supply of pure itir'lS *ex-
perienced, although the mouths of the furnaces are nearl
60 feet below the upper deck. The average spec d
attained, as near as possible, 101 knots per hour, ha s
fully sustained the result given of, her trial between th e
Nore and Mouse lights before she left for Devonport.

on the WTI Wind so
01 I
R4AttewOIADyE.NT ON THE LONDON AND SOUTH•WESTZRN
rterdbraa ynmcboronfintlae faLtaolnadcocni d eanntdoccurred
in the \Vindo branch of London and South-
Western 'Railway, by which a person, named Allen, in
the employ of the company, unfortunately lost his life.
It appeared that the unfortunate man had charge of a
waggon filled with timber, and, in order to get it pa st
the platform, it was necessary to employ a horse to
draw the same along the metals, and in so doing he w as
either knocked down or slipped, owing to the wet state
of the rails. He was found lying across the rails, with
the waggon upon his abdomen. Upon assistance arriv-
ing, the man was still alive, and a powerful jack crane
having been procured, the ponderous vehicle was lifted
off the deceased, when he was found bleeding most pro-
fusely from various parts of the body. He was at once
placed in a carriage, and conveyed to London, and from
thence to St. Thomas's Hospital, but life was extinc t
before he had arrived there.
- CAPTAIN WARNER.—The reported death of Captain
Warner, which has been going round the papers, i s
believed to have befin a gross fabrication.

LONDON, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 22, 1853.

The intelligence received to-day from the East,
and published elsewhere in this impression of
our journal, is sufficiently extraordinary.
It intimates, through despatches coming to us
by way of Vienna, that the combined fleets of
France and England, accompanied by the mari-
time armament of the Turks and Egyptians, had
actually emerged at last, on the 10th instant,
from the Bosphorus—directing their course across
the Black Sea in a line that, if followed up, would
lead them in a brief interval to Sebastopol.

It announces a series of remarkable victories
won by the soldiers of the SULTAN on the Asiatic
continent. .

it informs us that the province and city of
Erivan had been voluntarily delivered up to the
authority of the Sublime Porte by the inhabitants,
and that Erivan had thereupon been at once occu-
pied by the troops of MEHEMET PACHA, the
General of the Division of Bayazid.

It declares that the Russians had been
effectually repulsed at Goumri by the Turkish
forces under AHMED PACHA, the President of the
military council of Anatolia—that they had been
repulsed, indeed, so effectually as to be driven back
into the capital of Alexandropol.
It adds, moreover, that Paskoff had been seized
by the Moslem—the Muscovites having been
triumphantly repelled by a strong body of the
Bachi Bouzouks and several battalions of re-
gular troops led by ZARIF MUSTAPHA, the com-
mander of the corps d'armee of the frontier of
Akhaltzik.

Victories, all of these, very gratifying-, to hear
of, after the disaster of Sinope, and the deplor-
able excitement of feeling thereupon naturally ap-
parent at Constantinople.
Additional particulars in reference to the above
intelligence must now b© awaited with some
anxiety—especial regard being had to the con-
firmation of the news coming from Vienna, to the
effect that the combined fleets had on the 10th
instant started from the Bosphorus for Sebastopol.
It would be a wonderful combination of circum-
stances if the only sign of vigour manifested by
the Coalition were to be witnessed only on the very
morrow, as it were, after Lord PALMERSTON'S re-
signation. It would, in fact, he a combination
of circumstances about as marvellous as that of
the Noble Lord the Member for Tiverton being
rumoured to have withdrawn from the councils of
his Sovereign on the plea that too considerable
measures of Parliamentary Reform were contem-
plated by a Cabinet of which, nevertheless, the
Right Honourable Gentleman the Member for
the University of Oxford continues to be one
of the prominent members in , his capacity as
CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER. Surprising
though the confusion of parties undoubtedly has
been of late years—it is absolutely as nothing
when contrasted with the confusion of events
""nsetluent upon that chaos among the elements
making up the framework of the Administration.
Here, for
example, we are told that reforms which
are quite reasonable to a Conservative like Mr.
GLADSTONE, are
too much altogether for a Re-
former like Lord PALMERSTON. So reasonable to
Mr. GLADSTONE that he continues to be a Member
of the Coalition. So .unrea.sonable to Lord PAL
NERSTON that he abruptly, and
up the at a most critical
juncture, throws name-Secretaryship.
Here, again, we witness the perseverance in the
most craven policy towards Russia during eight or
ten months consecutively by the Cabinet of Lord
ABERDEEN—the Noble Viscount the Member for
Tiverton being all the while a leading member of
that Administration. But no sooner has the Noble
Lord, the late Home Secretary, tendered his
resignation to his Sovereign, than we are informed
that the combined fleets of France and England,
in conjunction with those of Egypt and Turkey,
have entered the Black Sea at last, and have pro-
ceefted in the direction of Sebastopol. As if
the signal for this astounding information—
astounding as a sequel to the past foreign
policy of the Coalition—comes the resigna-
tion of Viscount PALMERSTON. Everything
indeed satisfies us that the news here adverted to 1

requires confirmation. Everything justifies us in
waiting with watchful anxiety for additional par-
ticulars before we venture to exult over the
reported abandonment of the laissez faire system
hitherto persevered in with such deplorable perti-
nacity by the ABFZDEEN Government.

Whatever may be the next accounts furnished
to us from Constantinople, of this we may rest
perfectly well assured, that England, and
France, and Turkey, must, if they act at
all by sea against Russia, act with a will,
as the sailors say, with all their strength,
promptitude, and determination. There must be
no more sending of frigates to pick up scraps of
information. There must be no more forwarding
surgical assistance to the wounded—no more lock-
ing the stable door after the steed is stolen—no
more "feelers," thrown out to discover the inten-
tions of Russia, after the forces of the CZAR have,
been, carrying fire and sword to the Turkish ports,
aw desolating the coasts of their enemy's country
with slaughter and conflagration. IF warlike mea-
sures aro really adopted at last against the mili-
tary or maritime armaments of the AUTOCRAT,
they must bo not partial, but complete and
thorough. That compensation at least may be ex-
pected after this terrible, and lamentable, and as
yet most disastrous delay, of retribution. It
cannot be surprising, however, if, after all we
have said, we acknowledge that wo cannot
place any reliance whatever in the energy or
sagacity of the present Government. So long as
the Earl of ABERDEEN continues at the head of
the Cabinet, it would be simply absurd to look for
either of those qualities in the Administration.
This we reiterate with all possible deliberation—
now—at this very moment, when we are told that
the combined Fleets have left the Bosphorus for
Sebastopol.

A very creditable attempt is being made to
sol'ie one of the most difficult, as well as one of
the most important, social problems of the day—
juvenile delinquency—the discovery of the means
best calculated to effect the reformation of a large
proportion of the wretched children who are
called on to answer for offences against the laws
of their country, are indeed topics of no ordinary
interest, affording ample materials for discussion,
and on which great differences of opinion prevail
among persons conscientiously desirous of amelio-
rating the existing system. We confess, that we
are somewhat sceptical as to the benefits to be de-
rived from the labours of those who arrogate to
themselves the title of " prison philanthropists,"
and who fondly imagine that they are rendering
meritorious services to the community by devising
new and stringent punishments for criminals—
punishments calculated to harden their hearts
and brutalise their natures, and of which
the best that can be said is, that they
may work upon the fears of • offenders by
making them feel the terrible consequences of
crime, and rendering existence intolerable to
the habitual violators of the law of the land. But
the subject which has called together the Birming-
ham Conference is of a very different character.
The noblemen and gentlemen who assembled to-
gether in the capital of the midland counties are
indeed engaged in a labour of love and mercy,
and an effort to redeem some of those miserable
and degraded creatures who, from being left with-
out care and instruction iu their early years, have
become, or are likely to become, outcasts from
society—outlaws, whose hands are against every
man, as every man's hand is against them.
Whether the attempt be successful or otherwise,
all honour, we say, to those with whom the idea
originated, and by whom it is being carried out,
who, as members of society, endeavour to dis-
charge the duties which it owes to those against
whom it rigorously enforces its rights.
A great diversity of opinion, unfortunately,
prevailed at the meeting ; but this only proves the
necessity for further investigation, and for calm
and mature consideration. The public discussion
will, by directing attention to the subject and
showing the conflicting views entertained, even-
tually lead to sound conclusions. On one point
there could be no difference. There was the most
perfect unanimity as to the necessity of affording
power " to send children convicted of crime or
habitual vagrancy to reformatory establishments
for sufficient time for their reformation or indus.-
trial training, or until sufficient sureties be found
for their future good conduct."
This is, indeed, an indispensable preliminary to
any improvement. Whenever it appears that the
infant offenders are deprived of parental supervi-
sion, or that their natural guardians, through evil
example or culpable negligence, have disregarded
their duties, thereby becoming direct or tacit parti-
cipators in their crimes, it is essential that the
State should interpose its authority, and give to the
badly taught or neglected a sounder education, ac-
companied with more wholesome discipline than it
could obtain at home. And it is equally essen-
tial that the parent should, so far as practicable,
be made to suffer for his or her apathy or indif-
ference, by being compelled to pay, so far as prac-
ticable, the expenses of the child's maintenance
and training—that a badly-disposed person should
not, by conniving at offences, get rid of his
responsibility, or shift it on to the commu-
nity at large ; but that, on the contrary, an err-
ing and criminal child should be a greater
expense to those liable for its maintenance than
one properly conducted, who receives education
and instruction suitable to the station in which it
was born, and in which it is expected to live.
On such a point the mere question of expense
appears to be quite a secondary consideration.
The greatest possible outlay that could be applied
to the wholesome instruction and amendment
of a young person in danger of being led astray,
would,
comparatively speaking, be sound economy.
This apparent paradox will at once be explained
if we take into consideration the real cost of an
incorrigible thief—of one trained up in predatory
habits, ready to take advantage of any and every
opportunity for plunder that may arise. It is
not merely the value of the articles that he may
purloin during the course of his mischievous
career that must be taken into account--although,
on a very moderate calculation, they would amount
to ten or twenty fold the cost of his training
of
suffering
in a reformatory school—but we must also look
to the expenses of the various prosecutions and his
expenditure, proportion of the prison
main-
tenance of additional policemen, &c.
by
the
If we ran
through the various items occasioned
juvenile offenders to spring up into profligate
adults, we would find it a hundredfold that re-
quired for the more benevolent treatment of those
who should be regarded ratheras objects of pity than
of condemnation. But it is not a mere question
of X. s. d. There are other and higher motives that
should influence the members of a Christian commu-
nity—which should teach us at any price to bring
back the wanderers from the fold—to rescue from
depravity and misery the unfortunate infants who,
in the eye of a discriminating and disinterested
Judge, may be regarded as " more sinned against
than sinning 1"

" Are you tired of playing yet ?" Can we
feel any doubt or difficulty as to the nature of
the reply elicited from the " inexperienced" youths
of both sexes who constitute the great majority
of the audiences to whom clap-trap interroga-
tories of the above description are addressed ?
" Play" at any price, or on any terms, will be
accepted—" play," although it involves not merely
the sacrifice of future prospects, but also of pre-
sent happiness,
and renders necessary the endur-
ance of privations and sufferings of no ordinary
intensity,
Few of those who have not yet ar-
rived at what the law designates as " years of
discretion," have sufficient fortitude to pursue the
stein paths of duty in preference to the more in-
viting ways of pleasure.

The absence of labour the avoidance of that
which to many lazy and idly-disposed.
persons is
the most terrible result of poverty, would alone
be sufficient to insure the enthusiastic response
required by the wily delegates, who see in the

maintenance of the agitation the continuance of
comfortable stipends for themselves—far more
than they could earn in the pursuit of their
ordinary avocations. The boys and girls whose
minds they are exciting, and whose permanent
misery they are occasioning, are not " tired cf
playing yet ;" nor will they be tired so long as
they can, by any means, obtain sufficient to keep
body and soul together. Such feelings are not
peculiar to the factory operatives—they are com-
mon to juveniles of every station and class in
society—to those of high birth, aristocratic con-
nexions, and large fortunes, as well as to the chil-
dren of toil who earn their daily bread by their
daily labour.

The great difficulty experienced by parents,
guardians, and masters, is to keep the minds of
their children or pupils steadily directed to the
performance of their daily tasks. Any distin-
guishing influence that prevents the moulding of
the ductile masses into proper forms is regarded
with a degree of dread almost amounting to
horror. The tempters who endeavour to seduce
them from the straightforward course are avoided
with the most determined pertinacity, and the
rising generation energetically cautioned against
being led astray by their pernicious counsels.
Now, these temptations vary according to the
station and position of those to be affected. In-
ducing persons, who, under ordinary circumstances,
would be compelled to live by their labour, to
abstain from work, and to fall into habits of in-
dolence, teaching them to live by begging (for,
after all, the high-minded operatives of Preston,
who refuse to work, are only mendicants on an
extensive scale), or by parochial relief, in place of
by honest, painstaking industry, may be as de-
moralising as it would be to lead those of wealth
and station into scenes of the most degrading pro-
fligacy. In either case the mind would be un-
hinged, and unfitted for the discharge of its ordi-
nary functions ; it would be taught to detest
wholesome, exercise, and to crave after unhealthy
excitement—to (as we have already stated) " dis-
count future happiness on the most usurious terms."
What, then, can be said of a cause in which
such an argument is resorted to by the acknow-
ledged leader ? where the persuasion and induce-
ment held out to the younger portion of the audi-
ence to persevere in the demands put forward,
not by them, but on their behalf, is the living in
idleness, the waste of time in amusements and
sports, still fascinating, though pursued with
bun gry bellies and half-naked backs, but
which eminently disqualify them for the
discharge •of their tasks on future occa-
sions. As the promised prize of victory, to
the more mature, is associated with " jerry shops,"
in which they are to be perpetually singing that
"Britons never shall be slaves," so to the pre-
cocious youngsters, play, play, play—constant
unceasing play—is the anticipated reward.
Experience teaches us how hard it is to reclaim
those who have once taken to mendicancy or
" cadging," as it is termed, for a livelihood. It
is described as the most fascinating of all occupa-
tions, and those who can thus obtain even a crust
will scorn the comforts derived from following
any laborious trade or employment. Time will
tell the results of the sixteen weeks' cessation of
labour that has already occurred. It will be seen
how far those who, with yet unformed habits and
principles, have been so long " at play"—will be
enabled to go back to work, and to discharge the
laborious duties required at their hands ; and
whether, when the disputes are arranged, and the
factories reopened, a large proportion of the turn-
outs may not be disposed to tell Mr. COWELL, and
other de:egates who may seek a continuance
of their stipends, that they (the operatives) are
" not tired of playing yet."