The Sun.
London, England, 1854-07-31 00:00:00

TESTIMONIAL TO LIEUT. HAMILTON.

The seamen and marines of her Majesty's ship Bellero-
phon, 78, Capt. Lord George Pauiet, anxious to testify
their high esteem and regard fur Lieut. Hamilton, late
lieutenant of that ship, but now of the 50-gun frigate
Leander, have forwarded the undermentioned useful ar-
ticles as a testimonial for his acceptance :—A. cocked hat,
dress-sword and belt, a pair of epaulettes, and a hand-
some silver tobacco-box, bearing the following inscrip-
tion :—" Presented to Lieut. John C. Hamilton, by the
seamen and marines of hor Majesty's ship Bellerophon,
as a token of their esteem."

DEA.TH OF COMMANDER EAGLES.
By advices received from the Blauk Sea, we regret to
hear of the death of Commander Thomas Eagles, of No.
43 transport, off Varna. He fell avictim to over-zeal in
the discharge of his duties on behalf of the Government,
and died after a short illness, although every aid which
the medical skill of the army and navy could afford
was rendered.

MAIL FOR THE BLACK SEA.
The following notice has been posted at the principal
gate of Woolwich dockyard :—" Letters for the Black
Sea Fleet will be despatched by her Majesty's steam.
vessel Industry, on August 4, for Devonport. Letters
for seamen, marines, anal boys serving in the Black Sea,
will be forwarded by this opportunity if posted in time,
and marked by !aer Majesty's steam•ves el Industry.' "
The postage of one penny must be paid on the letter at
the time of posting it. •

I,:rir a letter received 'from the Jiiinna hare .yesterday
tncrning, dated the 24th instant, in.Ki,ge Bay, she was
then most unexpectedly ordered to return to England
immediately, after sending seine particular mails home
via Copenhagen and Hamburg. Time was not even
allowed to give notice to the officers and crews of
the squadron that there was an opportunity to send
letters home, such was the urgency of her departure.
Nothing whatever is known to the officers through-
out the squadron as to their final destination. The
squadron had a tedious passage nut, owing to continual
calms, and were considerably detained in consequence
of the St. Vincent being such a slow sailer. The
Bull Dog fell in with the squadron about 100 miles
below Kioge Bay, and with all her steam up she
could not tow her more than five and a half knots. The
entire passage out was accomplished by steam. On thy
21st instant considerable alarm was created on board
the Commodore's ship, the Hannibal, by the appearance
of a decided case of small-pox amongst the French sol-
diers. Happily, up to the time of our leaving there has
been no further case. Every precaution was taken,
every man has been medically inspected throughout the
ship, and the greatest cleanliness is observed, and a free
ventilation is enforced The utmost harmony exists
among the officers and men with the French troops.
The offices of the Hannibal are very much disap-
pointed at not being permitted to pay a visit to Copen-
hagen, a boon that has been granted to the officers of all
the other ships of war, both English and French whilst
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SHIPS IN CO
NI &c.
The following are the only men-of-war of a sea-going
character now in commission at Portsmouth :—Power-
ful, 84, fitting, Captain Elliot ; Colossus, 80, screw
Thereßobinson
are;
also andin commission
steam-ship,
h7oer' Captaineyera CaptainsGml aanl lenaß. Sm-vessel s, but the most powerful
is the Dasher, 2, Capt. Lefebre, the others being
yachts, &o.
We have several other steamers getting ready foi sea,
Har-
rier, 16, screw-sloop ; Swallow, 8, screw-sloop ; Centaur,
among which are the CTuriiace owai.lo3loe,
osferethwe-sfrt:gvaetsesels are
complete &mca.chinery, and will soon be ready for
cs6i):l3.apdledtle,

Portsmouth Dockyard has not been so "slack of work"
as at present for 25 or 30 years, so far as the fitting out
of ships is concerned. This inactivity for the exigencies
of war, however, admits of a larger nutuber of tnen being
placed upon the ships building and re-fitting. There are
four three-deckers in course of construction en adjacent
building slips in this establishment:—.The Marlbo-
rough, 131, screw ; Prince of Wales, 120 ; Royal
Sovereign, 120 ; and Royal Frederick, 110. The last
named has been ready for launching for several years,
gjhu juxtaposition with
txtapher ship-room
but being on the sailing principle, and a sister ship to
the Queen, it has not been deemed advisable to float
her
worth
Ithug we should
something, h
her decay if in the water, perhaps amounts to nothing.
The Marlborough is being got out of hand as fast as pos.
ctu that,
iat h,
apv le ace td hoil
sible. The Shannon, a 60-gun frigate of 600. horse power, is
also being got on with as fast as possible, considering
that much delay has been caused by the slip not being
long enough, which defect is now being remedied by the
addition of more flooring to the basement. The three-
deckers Royal Sovereign and Prince of Wales are newly
up in frame, and have had no hands employed upon
them for some time. But it is in the outfit of a &et
that Portsmouth Dockyard excels, as We have seen in
the equipment and storing of the great armaments that
have sailed for the purposes of scientific trials or warlike
demonstrations during the past ten years. The excel-
lence of the work, and the expedition with which it is
done in this yard, in every department, have assisted
materially in maintaining for the British navy that cha-
racter for durability, strength, and perfection of fitting
that makes it present so gratifying a contrast to the
Russian and other navies.