The Sun.
London, England, 1847-02-15 00:00:00

COURT CIRCULAR.

The Queen held a Court on Saturday afternoon a,
Buckingham Palace.
The Earl Spencer, Earl of Hardwicke, Earl of Lin-
coln, Lord Portman, the Right Hon. Sir James Graham,
Bart., and the Keeper of her Majesty's Privy Purse,
were introduced by Lord Campbell, the Chancellor of
the Duchy of Lancaster to her Majesty, and took the
oaths as members of the Council of the Duchy of Lan-
caster. Mr. Danvers, the Clerk of the Council to the
Duchy, attended.
Senor Toro had an audience of the Queen, and pre-
sented to her Majesty his credentials as Envoy Extra-
ordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary from the Republic
of Venesula. His Excellency was introduced by Vis-
count Palmerston, G.C.8., her Majesty's Principal
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, and conducted
by the lion. Sir Edward Cust, K.C.11., the Master of
the Ceremonies.
Her Majesty was attended by the Lord Chamberlain,
the Earl of Morton, Lord in Waiting ; the Vice Cham-
berlain, and Sir Frederic Stovin, Groom in Waiting.
The Queen, attended by the lion. Miss Paget and
Colonel the lion. Charles Grey, visited her Royal
Highness the Princess Sophia, on Saturday, at her re-
sidence at Kensington.
His Royal Highness Prince Albert, attended by Mr.
G. E. Anson, went on Saturday morning to the office of
the Duchy of Cornwall, in Somerset House.
Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent and her
Royal Highness the Duchess of Cambridge, accompa-
nied by the Princess Mary, visited her Majesty on
Saturday.
The Royal dinner party at Buckingham Palace on
Saturday included her Royal Highness the Duchess of
Kent, their Ro) al Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of
Cambridge, his Serene Highness Prince Frederick of
Hesse, Count Alexander Mensdorff, his Excellency
Count de St. Aulaire, the Duchess of Sutherland, the
Duke of Wellington, Lady Fanny Howard, Lady Au-
gusta Cadogan, Baroness de Speth, Earl and Countess
of Clarendon, Lord Robert Grosvenor, Lord George
Lennox, and Mr. Edmond Mildmay.
Yesterday morning the Queen and Prince Albert, her
Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent, the Ladies and
Gentlemen in Waiting, and the domestic household at-
tended Divine service in the private chapel at Bucking-
ham Palace. The Hon. and Rev. C. Leslie Courtenay
officiated.
His Serene Highness Prince Frederic of Hesse was
present at the Queen's Levee on Friday. Colonel J. G.
Griffith, Bombay Artillery, was presented to her Ma-
jesty at the Levee, on his return from India, by the
Right lion. the Earl of Clare, K.P.
Lady Caroline Cocks and the Hon. Miss Paget have
succeeded the Hon. Misses Stanley and Dawson as the
Maids of Honour in Waiting to the Qneen.
Their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Dnchsss of
Cambridge and the Princess Mary attended Divine
Service yesterday morning in Grosvenor Chapel.
A Cabinet Council was held on Saturday afternoon, at
the Foreign-office. The Ministers present were Lord
John Russell, the Lord Chancellor, the Marquis of
Lansdowne, the Earl of Minto, Sir George 'Grey, Vis-
count Palmerston, Earl Grey, the Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer, the Earl of Auckland, Sir John Hobhouse,
Lord Campbell, the Earl of Clarendon, Viscount Mor-
peth, the Right Hon. T. B. Macaulay, and the Right
lion. 11. Labouchere.
The Council sat two hours and a half.
The Earl of Stradbroke, the Earl of Auckland, and a
deputation, had an interview with Lord John Russell, on
Saturday, at his official residence in Downing-street.
Mr. John liornby, M.P., and Mr. F. S. Head, had an
interview with the Right lion. E. Strutt, on Saturday, at
the office of the Commissioners of Railways.
Mr. Cross had an interview with Sir George Grey on
Saturday. The Rev. W. Thursby had also an interview
with the Right Hon. Baronet on Saturday, at the Home-
office.
The Duke of Wellington attended the early service
yesterday in the Chapel Royal, St. James's. The Rev.
Dr. Wesley officialed, and preached the sermon. At the
daily service, the prayers were read by the Rev. Dr.
Knapp, and the lessons by the Rev. Dr. H. Dakins.
The sermon was reached by the Rev. Dr. Sleath. The
anthem was " God is our hope" (Greene). Sir George
Smart presided at the organ. The Marquises of Salis-
bury and viaanbd Fortes.eue, Listowel, Granville,
De Muuley, Vi, and Ebrington, were among the
nobility present.

tide.
By Captain Cl!Ans—You have stated that at 5 o'clock
yougave orders for engines to go as slow as
- possible, and
be kept off; was that done?--TshtreurekhetTwileas eastand b '
following notice is posted on the door of Christ (,lurch, ship'sUl head
to be
concerned; they were • es, as far as
" WITHOUT MONEY AND WITHOUT PRICE."—The
"gnusthe ship's head was not kept org as
slow
as
to Mr. Davis, at the Montpelier Library, every day, Cheltenham :—"Applications fur Fars or sittings to be made .
Sundays possible, but
i Do you, from your own knowledge, know that the engines
were going slow P—lt was reported to me.
admitting to all the services of the day, at I • iiii. rickets I know it
was so.
for single services, Is. each."
excepted. Day tickets may be obtained__' .atishe_ s.am:i..p
rickets
Ilow
What rate do you suppose she was going when she struck?
quartermaster
HORRIBLE DESTITUTION --A gentleman,
recently
-' —Under five knots.
from the west coast, assures us that a family in Kishorn,
Lochcarron, have subsisted for several weeks this season onafterwardsv-a
boiled grass and nettles, without tasting any other species of north. )
food. He adds, that nothing whatever has been done for By Captain MILNE—Did the master take the bearings of
the paupers a few bolls
the poor by the parish beyond giving the Start at 7, and the Portland Lights at 12?--Yes, I be-
srielpeorrtheedadto'"m.beenthshast
of meal, and thinks that, ere summer, Jeantown will_ be hove so.
as utterly destitute as Skibbereen, in Ireland.—Bo • -slure Did he give tho compass bearings, or were the bearings
Advertiser. corrected for the deviation of the compass ?—The bearings by
SINGULAR AND FATAL ACCIDENT.—An accident standard compass. Ido not think they were corrected.
of a very uncommon kind occurred at New Bridge, near , Will you produce to the Court the table of deviations fur-
Snaith, 01 Friday last. Mr. Joseph Bays, farmer, was nished to you by the officer who swung the ship ?—I cannot.
ploughing in a livid in his occupation, and had finished all the There is a correct copy (put in).
field but a narrow slip by the aide of a drain, when, it is sup- By Captain KtsccomE—When you left the deck at three
posed, owing to the restiveness of one of the horses, the o'clock at what distance do you suppose you could see a
plough was overturned into the drain, and, unfortuaately, light at the Isle of Wight ?—Eight or nine miles. Could see
the deceased with, it, and he was drowned...Doncaster a ship one and a half or two miles oil.
Cht onicle,

PET4RITARI 15,

Was it reported to you when it became thick P—No.
By the PRESIDENT—Did you leave any night orders at
eight o'clock ?—Yes.
What were they ?—To call me on all occasions of change
of weather, and the officer of watch to keep his watch. The
night channel orders were—that I never could be called too
often if anything occurred.
Who did you leave those orders with P—l think the gunner.
He was on the bridge with me for some time.
To the Master—Do you wish to question any part of the
evidence which has been given P—No. All is perfectly
correct.
It is therefore unnecessary to give more than two items of
the master's evidence.
By the PRESIDENT—Had there been a cast of the lead at
four o'clock would the Sphynx have got on shore ?—I do not
think she would,
Cross-examined by Commander Cragg—Did you not
alter the course on your own responsibility ?—I did, at five
o'clock.
Mr. John Jones, the gunner; Lieut. Marryat, Mr. William
Cavendish Spencer Sullivan, acting mate; Walter Hall and
John Vincent, quartermasters; Mr. George William Burnby,
midshipman; Mr. Pemberton, first engineer; Mr. Oultine,
engineer •f the middle watch on the morning in question ;
and Thomas M'Gellon, engineer, were all examined ; but it
is unnecessary to give their testimony. This concluded the
prosecution, and it now being five o'clock, the Court adjourned
until the following day to hear the defence.
At 10 o'clock on Saturday morning the Court re-as-
sembled, when Mr. Hoskins delivered a most eloquent de-
fence on behalf of Commander Cragg, but which, we regret,
is too lengthy for our limited space. The prisoner's certiti-
ficates were of the most satisfactory character, some of the
most distinguished officers in the service having warmly tes-
tified to his merits. The master made no set defence, but
also received an excellent character, from Captain Chads and
other officers.

The Court was then cleared, and after two hours' delibera-
tion, agreed that the charge had been fully proved against
the said Commander John Bettinson Cragg and Mr. Joseph
Wallis (the Sphynx having been run upon the shore in con-
sequence of the lead not having been attended to), and did
adjudge the said Commander J. B. Cragg, in consideration of
his previous high character and length of service, to be only
dismissed from the command of the said steam, sloop Sphynx,
and to be placed at the bottom of the list of Commanders of
the Royal Navy; and the said Mr. Joseph Wallis, in conse-
quence of his subsequent gallant conduct in saving the lives
of part of the boat's crew of her Majesty's ship Scourge, to
be only dismissed from the said steam-sloop Sphynx, and to
be reduced from the rank of master of the Royal Navy, and
to serve as a second master in the Royal Navy, and not to
be eligible to be promoted for the space of ene year from
the day of the date hereof; and the Court agreed that the
charge had not been proved against the other officers and the
ship's company who formed the crew of the Sphynx steam-
vessel when she ran ashore, and did adjudge them to be ac-
quitted.
Commander Cragg has been 38 years in the navy (although
only five years a commander), and, during 33 years of that
time, has been actually at sea, and mostly employed on f -
reign stations. He entered the service in 1809, on board the
Lavinia, Lord William Stuart ; was midshipman of the Marl-
borough, at Cadiz ; and in North America during the war,
with Admiral Sir George Cockburn ; in the flag-ships of Ad-
mirals Sir Pulteney Malcolm and Plampin, at St. Helena, and,
Lord Aurelius Beauclerck ; a second time he joined Admiral
Plampin, who, when he struck his flag, promoted hiM to
the rank of lieutenant, in May, 1828. In 1829 he was
flag-lieutenant to Rear-Admiral Sir Charles Paget, and
commanded the tender to the Semiramis, and, during that
time, captured a smuggling cutter on the coast of Ireland;
he was afterwards in succession lieutenant of the Talavera,
Malabar, and Cornwallis, and joined a second time with
Sir Charles Paget, for the West Indies, in 1837, where
he was placed in command of the Charon steam-vessel,
and on her being paid off, was appointed to the Dasher ; from
her was removed to the Hecla, which he commanded nearly
three years in the West Indies. During the latter command
in 1841, the yellow fever broke out on board, and the surgeon
died on the fifth day, and she was at sea eleven days without
a medical man, during which time Lieutenant-Commander
Cragg personally administered to the whole of the officers
and crew, who were all suffering from the fever, but not one
died. On arriving at Barbadoes, a week afterwards, the
fever- again broke out in the vessel, when every officer, ex-
cept Itir. Cragg and one enoineer, together with a great pro-
portion of the crew, died ; and there were upwards of 34 in
the hospital. During the time Lieutenant Cragg served in
the West Indies he always acted as pilot, having no officers,
a master's-assistant being lent him from the Rover to take
charge of the stores. On paying off the Hecla he was pro-
moted to the rank of commander, having been 31 out of 33
years actually at sea, and was appointed to the command of
the Sphynx on the 29th of June last.