The Sun.
London, England, 1849-01-02 00:00:00

FrVI -4! t
r!'
4: "At JANUARY 2, 1849,
11-=-

The Nimrod, 18, Commander Be!grave, Cape of Good
Hope station. Ditto, Nov., 1845.
The Pandora, 6, Commander Wood, Pacific station.
Ditto, Feb., 1845.

The President, 50, Commander W. P. Stanley, Cape
of Good Hope station. Ditto, Aug., 1845.
The Queen, 110, Commander Bruce, M 1 diterranean
station. Ditto, April, 1845.
The Rapid, 8, Commander Dixon, Coast of Africa
static,n. Ditto, Dec., 1545.

,
The Rinv;dove. 12, Commander In71,41(.1(1, Est India,
station. Ditto, I)ec., 1845.

• _ _
The Rodney, 92, Commander Collier, Mediterranean
station. Ditto, Feb., 1845.

The St. Vineant, 120, Commander Dams., Lisbon
station. Ditto, Nov., 18.15. •

The Scourge, 2, Commander Wingrove, West India
station. Ditto, Nov., 1545.

The Terrible, 21, Commander Ramsay, Medierranesn
station, Ditto, Dec., 1545.

. ,
The Vanguard, 80, Commander Rich, Mediterranean
station. Ditto, Feb., 1845.

The Viper, 6, Commander Bernard, West India
station. Ditto, Dec., 1845.
The official Nary List, published this day, gives the
actual number of ships, of all classes, borne as belonging
to the Royal Navy at 671.
The Hon. Captain Berkeley, C. 8., M.P., and Mr.
Ward, M.P., have returned to the Admiralty.
WRECK OF TILE MUTlNE.—Official reports have
reached the Admiralty of the wreck of the Mutine, 12,
on the coast of Venice. The commander had gone ashore
with dispatches, when a terrific gale came on. The lieu-
tenant in charge, Mr. A. J. Curtis, tried every means to
recover the ship at her anchors, by cutting away the
masts, but having parted with both chain cable and haw-
ser, a gun having been bent on to the latter, to save his
ship's company he preferred to run the vessel on shore,
when all the crew were saved, with the exception of
three, one of them Mr. Whiting, the acting mate. The
Ardent, steam-vessel, has taken the surviving officers and
crew to be tried by court-martial. Nothing could exceed,
it is said, the intrepid ability of Lieutenant Curtis during
the whole affair.

The follovvicg is an extract from a letter written by
an officer on board her Majesty's ship Ardent, dated
Trieste, Dm 24, 1848: •

" We are hero on a sad occasion; just arrived from
Venice (where we are stationed), with the surviving
crew of the brig Mutine, which was lost on the 21st off
Venice. Only five lives were lost, four officers and one
marine; it is a perfect miracle that so many were saved
considering the dreadfully severe weather we have had.
A great many are frost bitten, but it is hoped all will
recover."

THE FRENCH MAILS BY BOU-
LOGNE AND CALAIS.

We extract the following article from the Impar-
tial of Boulogne, of 28th December:—
" We repeated, in our last number, an article con-
cerning the mission of the English Postmaster-General,
Lord Clanric';rde, to Paris, from the Morning Chronicle.
The Constitutionnel, of the 22d, copied the remarks of
the Morning Chronicle, with the following reflections
upon them :-
- • We it ,:gine the Morning Chronicle to he misin-
formed regarding the motives which prevent the Frcnch
Government acceding to the wish ot the English Govern-
ment to run all the mails via Bouto;F.ne. Theso motives
originate from necessity. At certain times it is very
difficult to enter 'Boulogne harbour ; this difficulty be-
comes almost an impossibility during the winter
months. So recently as in the commencement of De-
cemer the mail steamers from Dover to Boulogne had
to put into CAleis eight times in a single week. Better
daily delay of a few hours in receiving the letters than a
chance ot their arrival being altogether suspended in
rough, weather.'

" We cannot help replying briefly to these reflections
of the Constitutionnel.

" 1. his an evident error, whether involuntary or
voluntary, to state that Boulogne harbour is, when cer-
tain winds prevail, difficult to enter, and almost impossi-
ble to enter in winter. The preference it receives from
the great majority of travellers proves undeniably the
erroneous nature of this statement. Only one day has
passed since the Ist of October in which several steamers
have not entered, and on that very day, the 4th of De-
cember, two steamers went out, notwithstanding that a
strong west wind rendered it more difficult to go out
than to come ie. The real truth is, that west winds
blow on shore at Boulogne, and when they prevail it is
difficult for vessels in the anchorage to communicate
with the shore at low water. At Calais the same cir-
cumstances arise when easterly winds prevail, as the an-
chorage there is unprotected towards the eastward.
" 2. We cannot let the assertion pass that Calais is ab-
solutely speaking a better port than Boulogne. Both have
particular advantages resulting from their geographical
position. It is true, the advantage is temporarily on the
the side of Calais, but it is well known that some years
since vessels of a certain draught of water could enter
Boulogne at low water in the same tide that there was
not water enough for them to get in at Calais at high
water. This enormous advantage resulted from the
fact of their being no sluices or back water at Calais,
while although those at Boulogne were insufficient, they
were powerful enough to maintain all the advantages
gained by the construction of the new piers in 1835. But
three years since a set of sluice gates much more powerful
than those at Boulogne were completed at Calais, and
have gained for that port a depth of water at least equal,
if not superior, to that at Boulogne. At Boulogne, on
the contrary, the present sluices have not been worked
for a year, in consequence of the works going on to con-
struct a new and much more powerful set. These will
very soon be completed now, end then Boulogne will
more than regain its former advantage over Calais.
" The Constitutionnel was still worse informed when
it stated, that in the early part of December the Bou-
logne mails were obliged to run for Calais eight times
in a week. In the last three months these mail-packets
only went to Calais instead of Boulogne five times, viz.,
29th and 30th November, sth, 6th, and Sth December.
By the declarations of the captains, it appears that fhey
did not go to Calais from the impossibility, or even
difficulty of making Boulogne ; but simply because
from the length of passage, or delay in leaving
Dover, they would have been too late for the 3 50 A.ar.
mail train from Boulogne, and could get to Calais
for the .6 A.m. train, which arrives at Paris before the
next train from Boulogne, which only starts at twelve,
noon. It appears, then, that in one week only three of
the Boulogne packets went to Calais, instead of eight.
Indeed, it would hare been difficult for eight to do so in
a week, as there are only six from Dover each week.
Oa the other hand, the Conetitutionnel has not probably
been informed that since October 1 the mail bags have
been delivered at Calais seventeen times too late for the
train; namely, nine times in October, three in November,
and five in December, and these delays would not have
(sutured if the captains of the French steamers to
Calais had followed the course pursued by those of the
English steamers to Boulogne, and run for Boulogne,
where they would have arrived in time, when they found
the wind likely to render the passage to Calais very
lengthy.
" The Constitutionnel comes nearer the truth when it
adds—' It is not in removing the mails from one station
to another that a question can be resolved of so much
imprtance as this, affecting the most important com-
mercial relations of England and France (more particu-
larly of England, which communicaees with all the con •
tinent through France). Either Boulogne must be ren-
dared accessible at all times, and in all weathers, or
Calais must be brought nearer to Peris than it now is by
railway.'
"It appears that, after January 15, all the mails will
go through Calais, and it is proposed that, to regain
some of the time lost in consequence, they should be
conveyed between Calais and Paris by express train.
This will partly compensate the excess of distance of 105
kilometres (65 miles). Nevertheless aelays will arise,
which it is not likely trade will quietly submit to ; and
the Boulogne and Amiens Railway Company have
offered to take the mails between Paris and Boulogne,
likewise by express train, if paid their expenses. They
do not want a centime of profit, and the Government
could hardly offer them less than their expenses. If this
were done, two hours might be added to the time at pre-
sent allowed for the passage across the Channel, and the
cause of nearly all the delays that have occurred during
the past year would be removed.
" While speaking of delays or irregularities during
the year of trial of the present arrangements for con-
veying the mails by Boulogne, let us inquire if Boulogne
is ready in this respect inferior to Calais. Since Jan.
1, 1848, the dispatches via Boulogne have arrived fifty
times too late fur the mail-train ; four must be deducted
from this figure of fifty—viz., once a delay occurred from
the Princess Alice breaking down on leaving Dover, and
three times the mail-train was sent before its time, and
at irregular hours, during the events of February.
There remains, therefore, 46 delays, attributed rightly
or wrongly to Boulogne. Since the beginning of the
year the dispatches via Calais have missed the mail-train
37 times. There appears, therefore, a balance of 9 in
favour of Calais. But we ask any impartial person
whether there is anything surprising in this result,
when it is considered that-1. When the mails are
landed from the anchorage in boats, it is always by day
at Calais, and by night at Boulogne. 2. During six
months no boats for this service were stationed at Bou-
logne, although Calais had been provided with every-
thing calculated to facilitate operations for years past.
3. The mails on the Boulogne station are commanded by
very experienced captains, but who have never been on
the station before; while those at Calais have been ac-
customed to enter that port for years past by night and
day and in all weathers?
" And if half the sums had been spent at Boulogne
that have been laid out at Calais, it would before now be
accessible at all times the of tide and in all weathers. It
is difficult to understand why our successive Ministers of
Public Works have overlooked Boulogne, while on the
other side of the Channel such important works are being
executed at Dover and Folkestone. It cannot have been
forgotten that when the concession of the Boulogne and
Amiens Railway was voted, the proposition to allow the
company a subvention of 3,000,000 f. was only put aside
en the ground that that sum could bo better employed
for the interests of the company and the public on the
port of Boulogne, which it would suffice to render ac-
cessible in all weathers and at all times of the tide.

ANOTHER ENLARGEMENT or THE WEEKLY DIS-
PATCH.—This Journal, at present the largest in exist-
ence—unrivalled for its early intelligence and uncom-
promising advocacy of the Rights of Mankind—will be
enlarged, on and after Sunday next, the 7th of January,
to sixteen pages, containing sixty-four columns, of the
same size and form as at present, without any extra
charge. By its zeal in the cause of progress, and its
staunch devotion to the interests of the people, the Dis-
patch has become a terror to the upholder of abuses,
and a powerful auxiliary on behalf of the oppressed,
whose wrongs will always meet with sympathy and ex-
posure. Encouraged by their success, and anxious to
extend the sphere of their political influence and social
utility, the proprietors have resolved on the proposed
enlargement of the Dispatch, which hereafter will
answer the purpose of four newspapers, and thus accom-
modate four readers at one and the same time. The
columns of the Dispatch will still continue to be enriched
by the powerful contributions of "Publicola," ..Caus-
tic," " Censorius." Eliza Cook, and other writers emi-
nently distinguished for their literary attainments, apci
whose opinions hare ever advocated the cause of
people, in opposition to tyranny and injustice..s Ivee
_tY_
also be observed, that the poor man will alrwus,
.. ;is".
legal advice and assistance, as heretofore, In the
editionwhich
patch. A beautiful new type has been.
in
town and eosnotw.
h" l k every Saturday
the Dispatch is published at flhvue 4?
the Dispatch will this year be pri,nctoned
first train and morning
morning, for trausnaissionsbi vnt
ai oin towns 250 miles from
.An of
mails, so that persons r 0
sa„,rne
even
g.
i To prevent
London may receive it h
0 ta.lis
toruelet be given early to Mr.
London, to whom post.
payable, or to anyof
Rd i
iscahpaprod Wood,m t, ,
139, ordle,rise
the news-
office orders may be madeunpry.
ill, for the purpose of
of the above society was held at the Bakers'
ASSOCIATION.—Last night
vonLdoetirsl;
Provident
Institution,
a meeting
of the several delegates appointed
ow BAKEtts Assize A
re-
ceiving the reports
,t
nofthCel e
delegatesr lt
de.egates appointed
throughout the metropolis to further the interests of the
chair.above association; i,ltvi oerii.L Dlr. 0
rt
s Butler,frt
enw e ll'
iu
having the
bees received, the whole of whichof
were a most satis-
factory character, Mr. Brookes, es, the secretary, read
letters which he had received from several branches of
the society; after which thanks were voted to the chair-
man, and the meeting separated, subscriptions from
Weetminster and other places having been previously
received.

" The Battle of riexham," a song made in the time
of Edward the Fourth, and lately discovered among
some ancient documents at Hexham, has just been re-
printed in the old English style with illuminated initials.
The quaint spelling of the period is preserved through-
out, but, where necessary, an explanation is given in the
margin.—Actecastle Journal.