The Sun.
London, England, 1841-07-05 00:00:00

COURT CIRCULAR.

Despatches were brought by a Messenger to town on
Saturday night, conveying the mournful intelligence of
the demise of her Majesty the Queen of Hanover, the
aunt of her Majesty. The melancholy intelligence was
forwarded to the Queen ; and was notified yesterday
forenoon to all the Members of the Royal Family in
town.

Their Royal Highnesses the Duchess of Cambridge,
accompanied by the Princesses Augusta and Mary of
Cambridge. 1: he Duke of Sussex, and Prince George
of Cambridge, visited her Majesty and Prince Albert
yesterday at Buckingham Palace.
His Royal Highness Prince Albert, attended by Col.
Bouverie, visited their Royal Highnesses the Princess
Sophia and the Duke of Sussex, at their respective resi-
dences at Kensington, yesterday afternoon.
Their Majesties the King and Queen of the Belgians
visited the Dud-lass of Cambridge yesterday afternoon at
Cambridge House, and also paid visits to the Princess
Sophia and the Duke of Sussex at Kensington.
Viscount Melbourne had an audience of the Queen on
Saturday.
Her Royal Highness the Princess Royal was taken.an
airing on Saturday in an open carriage and four.
Her Majesty and Prince Albert, and their Majesties
the King and Queen of the Belgians, attended by the
Countess of Sandwich, Countess Vilain XIV., Hon. Miss
Paget, Hon. Miss Anson, Lord Byron, General Goblet,
Sir Robert Otway, Colonel Buckley, Colonel Bouverie,
and M.Van Praet, honoured the Italian Opera with their
presence en Saturday evening.
Her Atijesty the Queen of the Belgians, attended by
Countess Vilain XIV. and Lord Byron, visited and in-
spected the Thames Tunnel on Saturday.
The Duchess of Cambridge, the Princesses Augusta
and Mary of Cambridp, and Prince George of Cam-
bridge, attended Divine Service, yesterday morning, in
Grosvenor Chapel, South Audley-street. Lady Augusta
Somerset and Baron linesebeek were in waiting on the
Royal Duchess.
The Duke of Cambridge left town on Saturday morn-
ing on a visit to her Majesty the Queen Dowager, at the
Lodge in Bushy Park.

A-Cabinet Council was held on Saturday afternoon,
at the Foreign-office. It was attended by Viscount
Melbourne, the Lord Chancellor, the Earl of Clarendon,
Viscount Palmerston, Lord John Russell, the Chancellor
of the Exchequer, the Earl of Mint°, Sir John Hob-
house, Mr. Labouchere, and Viscount Duncannon.
The Council sat an hour and a half:
The Marquis of Norinanby left town on Saturday
morning, for his seat, Mulgrave Castle, Yorkshire.
The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council sat on
Saturday to hear an appeal from the Prerogative Court,
" Bateman r. Pennington." The Lords present were
Lord Brougham, Mr. Baron Parke, the Judge of the Pre-
rogative Court, and the Judge of the Admiralty Court.

THE PRESIDENT STEAMER.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
SlR,—The publication in The Sun of the Ist inst., of
an opinion by Captain Hosken of the "Great We'stern,"
that the President "is yet above water," ha,l3 given me
great gratification ; I have ever held the same,and expressed
it when the President has been mentioned by friends in
my presence. As my experience has been ether seas,
and not being at present actively engaged in steam navi-
gation, I felt that an opinion put forth by me alone might
appear presumptuous, and would have little weight with
the public, and as little effect in alleviating the agonizing
suspense of the relatives and friends of those on board
the President ; but not the less did I, and do I, believe
that they have been too soon consigned to despair. The
absence of public discussion on the subject by practical
men of local experience, with its tacit implication,
has hitherto prevented my obtruding an opinion ;
now, however, the appearance of an opinion from
an experienced and intelligent officer, employed on the
same line, has induced me to offer a few observations, as
I entirely agree with him in the conclusion he has come
to. • The result of the.investigation held at New York, is,
to say the least of it, vague and unsatisfactory, and
I agree with Captain Hosken that, without for
a moment questioning- the abilities or judgment
of Captain Cole and the other nautical gentlemen who
concurred with him as seamen, they may yet not be
competent
ejudges "in a steam-ship case." It is admitted
on all hands that Captain Roberts was an officer well
qualified for his command, nor is it indeed to be sup-
posed so important a trust would have been confided
to one who was not so. It is clearly ascertained
that the President was not folly loaded when she started
end on the evening of the 12th, when last seen, she must
lowYe been further lightened by a day and half's consump-
tion of coal. These are very material facts ; although
when last seen by Captain Cole the President ap-
peared to be labouring, and pitching heavily, and shipping
seas, yet it is fair to infer that she was not really
making such bad weather of it, as to cause any serious
apprehensions in the judgment of Captain Roberts, or
he would have borne up. Admitting that he would. tarry
perseverance as far as prudence would possibly permit,
it is not to be supposed he would have continued to
lush the vessel against what lie felt her to
be unequal to. As, therefore, there are grounds
for supposing that Captain Cole thought she was making
worse weather of it (when he last saw her) than she
really was, so also are there for belief that he may
be wrong in his other conclusions. It appears the
wind chopped round from N.E. to S.E. on the
morning of the 13th, causing a dreadfully confused
sea, in which, in all probability, the vessel was
disabled, though not, I yet hope and trust, lost.
My own view of what may probably have befallen
the President is as follows :—That in the con-
fused seao caused by the change of wind, some acci-
dent happened to the machinery, of a nature
which could not be remedied by the engineers
with the means available on board ; that she was
then hove to under sail ; and subsequently, in some
of the heavy rolls and lurches which she must have
made, one or more of her masts went over the side.
What means she had for getting up a jury-rig I do not
know, but it is certain that under the best that could
be expected, an immense hull like hers would
still be very umnanagable, and -in this state
she may have got entangled with the fields a
ice, which have spread so unusually this year over
the Atlantic. In such case, the probability of he;r being
fallen in with by other vessels was exceedinrd.y lessened,
as all who got sight of the ice naturally hvo-ided it ; one
vessel going out of her way one 'imndred and fifty
miles to do so ; and this nfight account for her
not having been seen 'oy any vessel. If she
had foundered anYwhn'ie near where last seen by Captain
Cole, it appears. 11"0 me almost impossible but that some-
thing beloni)-:iig to her would have been picked up before
this. In fo-Undering, such an immense hull, not held
together by so many decks as a sailing-vessel of equal
dimensions, would have soon blown or broken up to
an extent which would have covered the adjacent
spa with wreck and other articles, which could hardly
all have escaped the notice of vessels passing in the track.
Such, Sir, are some of the reasons which lead me also
to the same conclusion to which Captain Hosken has
come, that there is yet strong ground for hope that the
President is yet above water, and while no one
would more deeply regret the having raised fallacious
hopes, I am impelled to offer the above observations
from a strong belief that in this distressing case hope
has been too soon abandoned. •
As the public, before attaching any weight to the
opinion above given, will necessarily require to know the
qualifications for judging he who offers it may possess,
I beg to state, they are the result of six-and-twenty years'
active service in the India Navy, including the opening
st,am-communication between Bombay and Suez in
e3o, and eight years' subsequent experience in steam, navigation.

I am, Sir, your very obedient servant,
P. 11. WILSON,
Retired Commander Wian Navy.
llammersinith, July 2d, 1841.

We have received n letter by the overland
mail from Calcutta, stating that the cholera is raging
in that city and its neighbourhood ; that it has been se-
verely felt by the Protestant Ministers and Missionaries,
of whom at least one in ten has been taken off within
the last twelve-months.
MIDDLESEX.—BVWARE OF THE TORIES.
We understand that a meeting of the electors was held on
Thursday, for the purpose of taking into consideration
the propriety of starting a gentleman on the Conscr-
va,tive interest, as a candidate for the representation
of the county, in opposition to Mr. Byng. The pro-
ceediivs 4cose been kept a profound secret, and as soon
as we are at liberty, we shall make the result public._
Prikinnia (Tory paper). Liberals I forewarned is fore-
urrned.