The Sun.
London, England, 1854-05-11 00:00:00

THEATRE ROYAL DRURY LANE.
Lessee, Mr. E. T. Smith.
THIS EVENING, Max 11,
Will be performed DER FREPCIIITTZ. Characters by Madame
Caradori, and Mdlle. Sedlazek; Herr Reichardt, Herr Formes, and
Herr Holzel.
Followed by a BALLET DIVERTISSEMENT.
Prices--Stalle, 7s; Dress Circle, 53.; Boxes, 3s. ; Pit, 2s. ; Gallery,
Le. ; and Private Boxes, One, Two, Three and Four Guineas. The
Box-office open daily from Ten till Six, where places may be
secured. Private Boxes and Stalls to be had ef Messrs. Leader and
Cock, 63, New Bond-street.

THEATRE ROYAL HAYMARKET.
Under the management of Mr. Buckstone.
THIS EVENING, MAT 11,
Will be performed the new comic drama, called RANKLAGII.
Characters by Messrs. Vandenhoff, W. Farrell, Buckstone, Tilbury,
and Rogers; Miss Reynolds, Mrs. FitZWiiliaM. &c.
After which, the entirely new and original extravaganza, entitled
MR. BITCESTONE'S VOYAGE ROUND
P THE
he l GLOBE (IN LE-
CESTER-SQUARE), written by J. R. lanc Principl
characters by Mr. Buckstone, Mr. W. Farren, Mr. Clark, Mr. J.
Marshall, Mr. H. Marshall; Mrs. FitZWilliftln, Mrs. Caulfield, Miss
E. Grey, Miss Lydia Thompson, Miss Laura Morris, and Miss
Featherstone.
To be followed by HUSBAND AT SIGHT.

ROYAL PRINCESS'S THEATSE, OXFORD-STREET.
Under the Management of Mr. CRAW.= KsAw.
THIS EVENLNG, MAT 11.
Will be performed THE MARRIED UNMARRIED. Char
Heath and
acters
by Messrs. W. Lacy, Ryder, and Cathcart ; and Miss
Murray.
Followed by FAUST AND MARGUERITE. C
and Miss C.
Characters by
Messrs. C. Kean and David Fisher ; Mrs. Winstanley

Lederer].
After which, AWAY WITH ILELANCHOLY. Characters by
Messrs. Meadows, D. Fisher, and Baker and Misses Murray and
Daly.

THEATRE ROYAL ADELPHI.
Proprietor, Mr. 13. Webster.—Directress, Madame Celeste.
THIS EVENING, MAT 11,
Will be performed TWO L
an
!Dalin
Webster,
Supported boy.
OVEBient
Messrs. C. Selby, Leigh Murray,
Smith ; Miss Woolgar and Madame Celeste.
Followed by TILE MOUSTACHE MOVEMENT. Principal cha-
racters by Messrs. 0. Smith, Keeley, and ?untie; Mrs. Keeley,
and Miss Mary Keeley.
After which, THE OVERI, tND .TOCTRITEt TO CONSTANTI-
NOPLE, AA UNDERTAKEN BY LORD BATEMAN, WITH
NTERESTING PARTICULARS OF THE FAIR SOPHIA.

ROYAL OLYMPIC THEATRE.
Lessee and Manager, Mr. A. Wigan.
THIS EVENING, Ms! 11,
win be performed FIGHTING BY PROXY. Characters by
Robson and Wigan; and Miss E. Turner.
After which, THE HAPPIEST DAY OF MY LIFE. Cha-
racters by Messrs. F. Robson, J. H. White, Leslie, and Vincent;
Mrs. Chatterley, Miss P. Horton, and Miss Marston.
To be followed by TO OBLIGE BENSON. Supported by Messrs.
Emery, Robson, and Leslie; Mrs. Stirling and Miss Wyndham.

STRAND THEATRE.

Sole Lessee Mr. F. W. Allcroft.—Directress, Miss Rebecca Isaacs.

THIS EVENING, MAT 11,
Will be performed NELL GWYNNE.
The ZULU KA.FIRS, as they appeared at St. George's Gallery.
After which, SUMMER FLOWERS, In which the French Ballet
Troupe will appear.
THE THREE TURKISH RAZOR GRINDERS.
Stalls, 55.; Boxes, 3e.; Pit, Is. 6d; Gallery, 6d.; Private Boxes,
£1 l Is. 6d., to be had of Mr. Allcroft. 15, New Bond-street.

ASTLEY'S EUROPE'S NATIONAL ANIPHITHEATRE.
Lessee and Manager, Mr. William Cooke.
THIS EVENING, 3Liv 11,
Will be presented the new grand Nautical and Equestrian spec-
tacle, embodying n ivel and extraordinary effects (written by Mr.
Nelson Les), entitled A TALE OF THE SPANISH WAR; or,
The Horse of the Wreck. The horses expressly trained by Mr. W.
Cooke.
Followed by an entire change of the Scenesof the CIRCLE, Intro-
ducing Miss Emily Cooke.
Mdlle. Blanche, the celebrated Continental Artiste, on the
TIGHT ROPE.
To conclude with a Grand Ballet, entitled THE STAR OF THE
RHINE.
Box-office open from Eleven till Four. Stage Manager, Mr. W.
West.

HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.
TEM DAY —Morning 42 min.after 12 1 Evening 5 min.aft. 1
T3•Moaßow—Morning 21 min.after 1 1 Evening 43 min.aft.. 1

THE WEATHER.--Suis Orrica, MAT 11.
THERNOMHTEB, IN TRH SHADS.
61—highest since noon yesterday.
48—lowest this morning and during the night.
60 —this day at noon.

BAROMETER, 30—falling.
WIND, variable from S.W. to W.—Light breeze, with
cloudy weather, and glimpses of sunshine.

Z:1) t 7
3

LONDON, THURSDAY, MAY 11, 1854.

It may have been a blunder, so far as official
etiquette is concerned, the honourable member
for Louth putting those inquiries to the First
Lord of the Admiralty in regard to the supply of

steam gun-boats in the Baltic, for the aid of the
Anglo-French fleet in shoal-water navigation. It
may, we say, have been an error of judgment, so
far as official etiquette was concerned, but at any
rate it has been advantageous, for inasmuch as it
has ventilated the subject within the walls of
Parliament. It has effected more good results
even than this, seeing that it has fixed the atten-
tion of the public generally upon a matter of the
gravest importance, and one which cannot now un-

der any circumstances be cushioned by the Admin-
istration, A letter, reprinted in our columns else-
where, has been addressed to a morning contempo-
rary, in consequence of the incident already referred
to as having taken place in the House of Commons
on Tuesday evening—a letter from one whose opi-
nion on the subject of these steam gun-boats is en-
titled to no ordinary amount of consideration—a

letter through which Mr. SCOTT RUSSELL virtually
endorses everything implied by the queries perti-
nently put to the First Lord of the Admiralty by
Mr. TRISTRAM KENNEDY. The communication is
altogether one deserving the attention of every
intelligent member of the community. It is
of importance, if only as a statement made
by the builder of those two remarkable
steam gun-boats mentioned by him significantly
as now in possession of " certain foreign Govern-
ments." Speaking directly in regard to these re-
markable vessels, the writer observes that they
were "entirely designed, constructed, and equipped"
by his firm—then known as the house of ROBINSON
and RUSSELL. The "certain" Foreign Power
alluded to previously by Mr. SCOTT RUSSELL
meant, of course, no other, in this instance, than
that very power against which in the waters and
along the coasts of the Baltic Admirals NAPIER
and DESCHENES Will have to bring forward the
whole of the might of their noble maritime
armaments. The names of these two notable
steam gun-boats have been neither mentioned
in the letter of Mr. SCOTT RUSSELL, nor in the in-
quiries of Mr. TRISTRA.3I KENNEDY ; but We be-
lieve we are correct in stating that they were no
other than the Nix and the Salamander. The re-
presentative (now the head) of the firm by which
they wero built, says of them : "They have now
been about three years in service, and have com-
pletely answered all the purposes for which they

Were designed ; and it is not impossible, though I
hope improbable, that they may yet be among the
vessels Sir CHARLES NAPIER may have to encoun-
ter in the Baltic."

Now, according to all that we can possibly
learn in
regard to these English-built steam gun-
boats, now in the service of Russia in
the Baltic,
. " they
precisely are, everything considered,
of the very very character required for
the assistance
havethe combined fleets so soon as
those fleets shallocome up to such a formid-
able stronghold as
push forward towar4stautelifeCronstadt, and, eager to
capital, shall find them-
selves obstructed
the difficulties of a very
shallow navigation.
Now, in illustration of the exceeding import-
ance of having our fleets
properly supplied with
steam gun-boats like those already mentioned,
vessels having a very light draught of water, we
would here recall, we cannot but
think
what aptly, a rather curious some-
incident to
the popular remembrance. Unless we are
mar-
vellously mistaken, it so happened that not
many years ago, one of our diplomatists, then
on his way to the Russian capital in his cha-
racter as her Britannic IVlinsres Ambassador,
found, after traversing nearly the whole length
of the Gulf of Finland, that it was impossible for
him to advance further than Cronstadt, although
it was peculiarly desirable, of course, that he
should have arrived at St. Petersburg on board
•:- of a British man-of-war. And this actually came
to pass, although an English steam-ship—called, if
we remember rightly, the Lightning—accompanied
the frigate which carried his Excellency as far as
Cronstadt with all desirable pomp and cere-
LoonY. But now mark this ! as it 0
chanced that this steam-vessel drew about 1
ten feet of water, it was discovered impossible
for her to ascend the Neva, that river being only