The Sun.
London, England, 1853-09-15 00:00:00

NAVAL INTELLIGENCE.

PLYMOUTH, SEPT. 13.

A two-decked man-of-war, under topsails, topgallant-
sails, and royals, and a frigate, under same canvas, were
observed at two o'clock this morning reaching in towards
the Bolt ; they then tacked off to the south. They
showed no colours. The frigate fired 14 or 15 guns.
They seemed to be part of the Channel fleet exercising.
Wind, S.W., very light.
The crew of the Philomel, 8, Commander Skene, were
paid advance of wages to-day, and she sails on Thursday
for the coast of Africa.
The Daedalus, 20, Captain G. W. Wellesley, was paid
off alongside the jetty in the dockyard to-day.
The crew of the Harlequin, 8, Commander A. Wil-
mot, were inspected at the great gun exercise yesterday,
and sbe was towed by the Confiance from the Sound into
harbour. Her sails have been unbent, topgallantmasts
struck, and spars returned. The guns will be taken out
on Wednesday, and the crew will be paid off on Satur-
day. _

The merchant ship Pegu, four months from Moulmein,
which left this port yesterday for London, spoke on the
13th of June, in the south-east trades, the Cleopatra, 26,
Captain T. L. Massie.

The bark Sir John Rae Reid, Captain H. Dyson, from
St. Kitts, the Ist of August, was off the port to-day.
On the 7th inst. signalled the bark Anglesea, 300 tons,
homeward bound. Off the Dodman, 3 p.m., the bark
Palm, 48 days from Antigua, and the ship Delta, Capt.
Dennis, 118 days from Callao, both for London.

SEPT. 14.

The Lords of the Admiralty, Sir James
Dundas, Captain Milne, with Sir B. Walker,
Co!onel O'Brien, and Colonel Jebb, arrived this morning
in the Black Eagle steam-yacht. Colonel Greene, Capt.
Hamilton, and Mr. Berkeley came by train last night.
Their lordships commenced their duties to-day by in-
specting the steam-yard at Keyham and the gun•wharf.

WOOLWICH, SEPT. 14.

The Cyclops steam-frigate, in charge of Mr. Alexander
Pope, assistant to the master attendant at Sheerness
Dockyard, left Woolwich in the forenoon of to-day, with
the boilers and engines of the Nile, for Devonport.
The Admiralty have decided on discontinuing the
Dover mail packet service, and that the mails between
England and France shall be carried in future by con-
tract steam-vessels. The present Dover mail steam-
packets are— the Garland, Lieutenant-Commander Ed.
Wylde ; the Onyx, Acting Second Master E. C. Rutter;
the Princess Alice, Acting Second Master John War-
man ; the Violet. Lieutenant-Commander Henry P.
Jones ; the Vivid, Acting Master Luke Smithett ; and
the Undine, Acting Second Master Edmund Lyne, all
paddle-wheel steamers. Four of these vessels it is con-
templated to dispose of, and reserve two for further ser-
vice as tenders at some of the naval ports. It is also
said that Captain Smithett will be appointed to the com-
mand of the Black Eagle, Admiralty steam-yacht, at
Woolwich ; in that case her present commander, Mr. J.
E. Petley, will, in all probability, be appointed Super-
intendent of the Compass Department, which has not
been filled up since the death of Captain Johnson.

DEPARTURE OF THE EARL OF ELGIN FROM

CANADA.

The Quebec Morning Chronicle, in giving an account
of Lord Elgin's departure, describes the gaiety of the
scene as painfully contrasting with the sadness of the
occasion. " From the Government-house to the Queen's-
wharf the streets were lined with troops, evergreens, and
the great unwashed multitude. The band and a guard
of honour of the 71st Highlanders were stationed at the
Government-house, and presented arms as his Excellency
—after having been waited upon by the judges, the cor-
poration, and some of the principal citizens—emerged
from the building, followed by the Cabinet, the heads of
the military departments, judges, aides-de-camp, &c., to
embark on board the Trinity steamer Doris, where Lady
Elgin was already seated on the quarter-deck with Lady
Elma Bruce and her other children." His Excellency
walked down bareheaded, and was received by a guard
of honour from the 66th Regiment, and by the merchants,
bankers, and many respectable inhabitants of Quebec.
The corporation and others presented addresses. The
corporation stated that his Excellency would have the
satisfaction to know that he left the country in profound
peace and quiet, and in a state of advancement and pros-
perity it never knew before. " For all this," they
added, " the province is indebted to the policy and en-
larged and comprehensive views of your Excellency in
everything which can conduce to its welfare and best
interests." In his reply, Lord Elgin said, "During a
period of upwards of six years, and those neither the
least eventful or agitated of my life, the welfare of the
people of this province has been the object of all my
thoughts, and anxieties, and hopes. I have sympathised
with them as they passed through the gloom of commer-
cial depression, and I have had cause, thank God, to re-
joice when they emerged from it into the sunshine of
prosperity. However circumstances may change, the
interests of Canada can never cease to fill a foremost
place in my affections. I am unwilling to accept all
the credit which your partiality prompts you to ac-
cord to me for the improvement which has of
late taken place in the condition and pros-
pects of the province. The destinies of an intel-
ligent people exercising powers of self-government must
ever be mainly in their own hands. To direct public at-
tention to worthy and useful objects—to allay animosi-
ties—to offer encouragement at seasons of despondency,
and warning at periods of excitement, are among the
humble though not unimportant duties which devolve on
those who are charged with the administration of public
affairs. But whatever the cause, and whoever, under
Providence, the instruments, I am content to believe that
Canadians feel now, more sensibly than they ever felt it
before, that those interests which they have in common
are more important than those which divide them, and
that a faithful allegiance to the Queen is not incom-
patible with the exercise of those faculties and the indul-
gence of those aspirations which in communities as in
individuals are proper to maturity. It is the prevalence
throughout the province of sentiments so just and sound
which leads me to cherish the belief that the prosperity
and contentment to the present existence of which you
bear such cheering testimony, will prove enduring."
When the Doris cast off, the Durham-terrace battery
saluted, the bands played " Auld lang syne," the people
cheered, his Excellency waved his hat, and Lord Elgin
was gone. General Rowan is now de facto Governor.