The Sun.
London, England, 1849-04-16 00:00:00

APPOINTMENTS.

Commander—W. S. Thomas, to be inspecting officer
of the Large district, in the Coast Guard Service.
Lieutenant—Charles Edward Powys, to command
Elmly Ferry Station.
PASSING DAY AT THE ROYALNAYAL COLLEGE.--The
following Acting-Lieutenants and Mates passed on Tues-
day last:—W. Bowden, G. Tyler, J. R. Alexander, J.
H. Cave, A. Mitchell, J. Packwood, S. Twyford, E. B.
Hopkins, J. H. Glover, P. B. Showell, J. Ward, and C.
E. Sidebottom.

ADMIRALTY VISIT TO SHEERNESS.—The Lords of the
Admiralty arrived at Sheerness on Friday, and landed
at one o'clock from their steam-yacht Black Eagle, under
the usual salute from the flag-ship, and a guard of honour
of the 72d Regiment. Their Lordships were received
by Vice-Admiral the Hon. G. Elliot, K.C.8., port-admi-
ral, and the other officers of the port and dockyard. The
board mustered the men in the yard at three o'clock,
after which they inspected the establishment.
The speed of La Hogue, 56, steam guard-ship, on her
trial from Sheerness harbour to the Mouse Light, is
fnrnished us as 9f knots per hour. Her engines
and machinery are by Seaward and Co.
The North Star, 26, Master Commanding J. Saun-
ders, will be taken out of dock at Sheerness this day, and
towed to Deptford, where she will ship the stores, pro-
visions, &c. she is commissioned to carry to the suc-
cour of the expeditions in search of Sir John Franklin
and party.
The Dasher, steam-vessel, Lieutenant Parks, will
leave Sheerness to•day for Scotland.

Lightning, steam-vessel, Mr. Petley, master, RN.,
commanding, has embarked Vice-Admiral the Hon.
G. Elliott, K.C.8., Port-Admiral at Sheerness, for
Grimsby, at the opening of whose docks the Admiral
will officiate.

THE REDUCTION OF THE FLEET. -- The Penelope,
steam-frigate, Captain L. T. Jones, will be paid off at
Portsmouth to-day. The St. Vincent, 120, Captain
Dacres, has been stripped, and, hauled alongside the
jetty, at Portsmouth, where she will be paid off to-mor-
row. The officers give their late Admiral and Captain
Dacres a farewell dinner on shore on the paying off.
The Queen, 110, Captain Bruce, is on her way home
from the Mediterranean station, to Devonport, to be
paid off. The Grecian, 16, Commander Tindal, is daily
expected at the latter port, from the Brazils station, to
be paid off there. The Calypso, 20, Captain Worth, is
expected this month at Portsmouth, with freight, after
which she will proceed to one of the eastern ports to be
paid off. The Hibernia, 104, will be home this month
from the Mediterranean, to be paid off at Plymouth.
The Favourite, 18, Commander Murray, is daily ex-
pected at Portsmouth, to be paid off at the eastward.
The Nimrod, 20, Commander Belgrave, is also daily
expected from the Cape, to be paid off.
PORTSMOUTH, SUNDAY.—Tho stripping of the St.
Vincent, 120, Captain S. C. Dacres, was completed on
Friday night, and yesterday morning she was warped
up alongside the sheer jetty to get her masts out. This
was effected in the course of the day, and thus has this
enormous ship been completely stripped, masts out, and
reduced tc a hulk, in somewhat less than five days! The
whole of her stores are returned.

When the Vanguard arraitvtehdheaaasrrtabatPoemuloyrnm,goounth,from Gib-
raltar, a few weeks since, a very large quantity of Ca-
vendish tobacco, illegally imported, was found on board,
and seized by the Customs' officers. The arrival of the
Plumper, Reynard, Sidon, St. Vincent, and Polyphemus,
from the same port, causd the Customs' officers at this
port to keep a sharp look out, and upwards of 20 seishures
of considerable quantities of cigars,otfob4adct.chotn
number
tu c4mi,2bd
e.
rap have
hence the
bi inducement u
foundce me nsto for
me ready
ehaed
t
been made, and several convictions, in penalties of 1001.,
have taken place. The tobacco seized is known as Ca-
vendish, and is purchased
pound at Gibraltar;
sea-
menforeign
goannnsd w
stations,mh osrienroa9eo
assihpweiigyulsaintte:
arrival from
purchase and carry. en shore the tobacco offered then at
a small profit. It is fully believed that the ships above-
named have landedon in this harbour nearly 10,0001bs. of
we believe, should nave been
tobacco, thoeudTUuty:
SUNDAY
mnitlii cold rainy
3:
iin'ado
sni: To
Nusl
WooLvvlcu, APRIL 15. FIVE P.11.—N.E., unsettled
expected trial of speedwe:tio--Ithwltireins itnnteenjaesdilitshkaatntdbeNliognegr
reara sloops, the tormer fitted with paddle wheels and the
latter with a screw propeller, shall take place on Tues-
day, the 17th inst.
The Monkey steam vessel, Master Commander Bryant,
was engaged the greater part of yesterday in laying
down moorings to hold the convict ships now used for
the convicts allotted to the Doyal Arsenal instead of the
Justitia, from which they were removed shortly after
the cholera broke out in her. The convict ships Sul-
phur and Hebe are at present moored off the dockyard,
but they will be removed in a few days to the new moor-
ings opposite the Royal Arsenal, as more convenient
for getting on shore to their work.
His Highness the Pacha of Egypt's 50 gun frigate
fitted with engines of 550-horse power and a screw
propeller, by Messrs. Miller, Ravenbill, and Co., at
Blackwell, at present in the East India Docks, is to be
tried down the river on Monday or Tuesday week.
There are five engineers going out in her from this
country, and they are to have 20/. each per month of
pay, in addition to their rations, consisting of an ample
supply of beef; mutton, and flour, with the usual liquors
used in England.
The Randolph, hired convict ship, left Woolwich yes-
terday afternoon for Port Philip, with 300 good-conduct
' convicts on board, who are to receive free tiekete cm

their nrriv,3l in that p of th? world. There were five ' (4,
onnv-tA the W:irrtor emnvict ship apposite
d.n• . and onP, a sailor nq.med Cumming who had

been einploy,ii tor many years as waterman betwixt the
Unite and Wye, convict-hospital ships, and the Royal
Arsenal, to convey the medical men and others back-
wards and forwards from the vessels to the shore, and
invariably conducted himself with such propriety as to
have gained the esteem of all who knew him. The
clergyman and medical officers of the convict ship sta-
tioned here went on board the Randolph yesterday, pre-
vious to her sailing, to give Cummings a good character,
and personally request that every indulgence should be
granted to him consistent with the rules relative to well
conducted convicts. It may be in the recollection of
many newspaper readers, that Cummings is the sailor
who was tried for cutting off the head of a boy to whom
he was greatly attached, and the only reason he could
ever give for that deed was, that he considered the boy
too good to live, and that he could not control his actions
on that occasion—the only crime he had ever committed.
THE ORDNANCE EsTraaaTEs.—An inspection and re-
turn was made during the last week of the number of
guns and stores kept in the grand depot at the Wool-
wich, always ready for service, for the information of
the Committee appointed to examine the Ordnance esti-
mates, of which Lord Seymour is chairman. It is ex-
pected that the evidence given by Major- General Sir J.
F. Burgoyne, K.C.8., Inspector-General of Fortifica-
tions, before the Committee, will cause an addition to be
made of three or four companies of Royal Sappers and
Miners, each company being in the opinion of the Gal-
lant General able to effect a saving of 1,0001. per annum
on the public works on which that branch of the Ord-
nance service is employed, compared with what similar
works would cost it contracted for, and executed in an
efficient manner, besides giving the Government the be-
nefit of an excellent body of men trained to the duties of
soldiers.

The saving is calculated upoa the comparatively mode-
rate pay of the Royal Sappers and Miners, including
working allowances, to that which good mechanics and
artificers receive when the public works are executed by
contract.

_
'FHB LEGAL TITLE ASSURANCE
COMPANY.
(Provisionally Registered, January 17, 1849.)
Capital, 2,000,00C1., in 80,000 Shares, of 251. each.
Preliminary Deposit, 25. 6d. per Share
Prospectuses and full information may be obtained at the Tempo-
rary Offiles of the Company, 13A, Cannon-row, Westminster, on ap-
plication to

G. F. HOVTE, Hon. Sec., pro tem.

Now ready, at all the Libraries, in 3 vols.,
rHE NEW NOVEL, ROCKINGHAM;
OR, THE YOUNGER BROTHER.

(Extract from the " Quarterly Review," ja,t published.)
"We beg to call our readers' attention to Rockingham ; or, the
Younger Brother'—a book which, from internal evidence, must have
been written by a person constantly mingling in the highest English
society. The work abounds in interest. and, indeed, we should be at
a loss to name another recent novel that shows anything like the
same power of painting strong passion." —Quarterly Review.
Henry Colburn, Publisher, 13, Great Marlborough-street.