The Sun.
London, England, 1848-05-24 00:00:00

TRIAL OF MR. MITCHEL.

The grand jury of the city of Dublin this day returned
true bills avainst Mr. Mitchel. The accused has given
up the intention of defending himself, and entrusted the
conduct of his case to Mr. Robert Holmes, the father of
the Irish bar, and one of its brightest ornaments, not-
withstanding his advanced age, which is upwards of
eighty years. This fact has inspired the friends of Mr.
Mitchel with more confidence than they posSessed when
he declared his determination of addressing the jury
himself, and of repeating the political sentiments fur
which he is prosecuted.
After some proceedings in court,
Sir C. O'LoaBLEN applied 'to the Court as a matter
of favour that Mr. Mitchel should not be called on to
atuaninne.misoorise.th, anTneornae.W
plead until the following morning, inasmuch as • he then
intended to apply to the Conk to quash the ndictment
altogether. The ground on Which- he meant' to rest his
application would be this, that there were twndistitiet
charges for felony contained in the indictment, whereas
and
do
iethwaargseasa—ttioactne,ptrhacattitclete, ttrhaavterwsherereendoveaovehouraerdg
an indictment, to be a legal document, should not con-
y levy
o the r
application against
he
or fM thei ttrYa vehre sr ell r
awaya the style, honour, and royal name of her Sorereigin
soughtl dy the Queen of Britain; and the other for
,haviiig
elrhetwpore'cisiesntiinaiCitiedscicht:rgenest of felony;
embraced •
noobjectti9oule
in a single indictment,
that that indictment
was bad. lie therefore
General that he would, on
notice to the Attotaey-
to the Court to quash thenintdh? following morning, u.pply
indictment.
,esierso,ua.nnsedi
The ATTORNYINGENER etas wtaekre
A÷ having stated that he had
being acceded to,
The CoMIT appointed ten O'clock
for hearing the arguments
of to-morrow morning
THE PROCESSIONISTB. Thacounsel.
office of police, this day, dismissed of the head
gal practising of military evolutiorti ! charge ;of " ille-
the leader of one of the clubs, a at ' brougb,t against
his company yesterday. rrested at thie head of
REPEAL ASSOCIATION.
•
The weekly meeting of
attended. fir'
and was most wretchedlypiece te-d a y ,
nell, Mr. J. H. Dunne, and Mr. J. Gal .oh o °
C -
wa.,,,, were the
principal parties. present.
The chair was occupied by Mr. JOHN 'FITZGERALD
(the foreman in the late prosecution against the Member
for Limerick), who informed the meeti.ag that the
second dissentient juror in that case was, :he understood,
a Protestant.

Mr. O'CoNNELL then laid an abstract. of the receipts
and expenditure of the Loyal Nationa.rl Repeal Asso-
ciation, from last audit on the 31st of December,
1847, to the Ist of May, 1848, being fo':tr months, before
the Association, and called on subscri;bers in arrear to
pay up.

After the transaction of' some ordint.ry business,
Mr. GALWAY gave notice of a motion for the next
day of meeting., to call the attention of the Association
to the conduct of the Crown in !rocking juries in the
late prosecutions, and also the triall, that are about to
take place.
At half-past four o'clock the rent was announced to
be 25/.

An accident, attended with fatal consequences, took
place at twelve o'clock, on Sat urday, on the Cork,
Blackrock, and Passage Railway, near Downdaniel
Castle. Several men were em ployed in the excava-
tions in Mr. Spencer's grourld, close to Blackrock
Church, and had undermined a bank, the top of
which they did not take prec cautions to remove. The
consequence was, that the bar ik of earth gave way and
fell ou three of them, one of whom was killed on the
spot, while the other two were so severely injured
that slight hopes are entertained of their ultimate reco-
very.

On Tuesclaamorniug last, a little girl ca e out of a
gateway_ netirrrummery, ,on the Ulster ' way, and
while attempting to cross.' the li was ci En by
iliCten o'clock up train, /whicri sad over r neck,
and severed her head iron the ho . An inquest was
held by Mr. Jackson, the coroner, and the jury returned
a verdict of m tnalaughte / against the engine-driver, who
was committed for trial,
GREAT SOUTHERN Ni) WESTERN RAILIVA r.---The
umpire appointed to tit tide between the Post-office and
this railway, has awu rded 22,0001. is year fur the car-
riage of the mails.

NAVAL INTELLIGENCE.
THE NEW STEL% M-BASIN Al' PORTSMOUTH,
The authorities Li Portsmouth have commenced is-
suing cards of admi:ssion to the booths to witness the in-
terestitr proceedi,,eg on the Royal opening of the new
steam-basin, to-m.:.rrow, by her most Gracious Majesty
the Queen. On t:Lie reverse of the cards is a small plan
of the basin, 511051 ing the area of the basin to be seven
acres ; the width, across to be 400 feet ; and the length,
ut the extreme point, to be 900 feet ; and the depth of
water, at sprin g tides, to be 26 feet six inches. The
first booth is s ituated on the north side, at the corner of
the north inle ;, where the last stone of the work re-
mains to be Itslaced ; the second booth is on the south
boundary wal 1, where the brass foundries and the sinithe-
ries are are e rected ; the third booth ranges the whole
length of the outer sea wall, or pier, on the left, leading
from the cot: ailed up to the first booth, and running the
entire lengtl . of the western side of the basin, booths, tier
above tier, from four to 21. On this side the factory the
building is, united, and behind it a timber shed and
smithery. On the outer sea wall, on the western side of
the basin, -forming the entrance on the right, is the sa-
luting ba',;:.ery. Mr. Peter bolt, the contractor, has also
prepared cards of admission for his friends, on which are
printed some very interesting details of the measure-
ments ot the stone and wood which have been consumed
in the eioastruction of this massive work.
A is .ege number of hands are still employed in making
prepar:ations for the grand ceremony of opening. The
outer pile darn, which was composed of large balks of
timber dowelled and confined by string pieces and caulked,
and which was placed across the entrance of the basin for
the 'protection of the caisson while building, was re-
mov•ed on Monday. Holes were cut through the
bari.s, and three large lighters were brought to the
da in at low water and hove down to it. As the tide
re ae and lifted the vessels, the dam, after u treinen-
d Sus strain, was brought on the chains, lifted, and
e nine up en masse. Yesterday the caisson was pumped
mit and removed, and the lighters brought to bear on the
inner dam, which was removed in one mass, in a similar
manner at high water, therefore the basin was full. On
Monday evening the Dockyard Battalion was drawn up
in double file round the margin of the basin, and occu-
pied nearly the whole four sides. The men will be drawn
up in their uniform, in a similar manner, on the day of
opening.
The Vulture, steam frigate, Captain 11`Dougall, re-
ceived orders, by electric telegraph, on Monday after-
noon, to proceed to Sheerness to be paid off, and she
sailed from Spithead accordingly.

APPoINT3IENTS.
Assistant Surgeon.—James Stuart has been confirmed
to the Mariner, 16, on her way to the East Indies,
seniority. John E. Palmer (acting), to the Victory,
flag-ship, at Portsmouth.
Midshipman.—G. P. Cunliffe Owen, to the Victory.
Master's Assistant.—John Rogers, to the San Josef,
flag-ship, at Devonport.
Naval Cudets—C, P. Steward, to the Howe, 120, at
Portsmouth ; Edward Parey, to the Scourge, steam-
sloop, at Portsmouth.
Clerk's Assistant—J. W. Monk, to the Hastings, 72,
fitting at Portsmouth.
Engineer—First-class acting assistant Joseph Sweal,
to the Lucifer, steam- vessel, coast of Ireland.
Boatswain—James Stuart, confirmed to the Illustrious,
depot ship, at Portsmouth.
PRIZE-MONET FOR THE ACTAION.—Mr. Chippendale
has given notice to Captain Mansel, and the officers and
company late of the Actaeon, that a distribution of the
net proceeds of the Olivia, captured on the 23d May,
1846, will be made at No. 10, John-street, Adeiphi, on
the 30th May. Proportions—Captain, 131. 9s. 1 Id. ;
first-class, 3/. 2s. Id. ; second, 1/. 17s. 3d. ; third,
01. 18s. 7d. ; fourth, 01. 12s. sd. ; fifth, 01. 6s. 2d. ; sixth,
01. 4s. Id. ; seventh, 01. 2s. Id.

DESTRUCTIVE FIRE IN HUNGERFORD MARKET.—
Last night, about a quarter past eleven, a fire broke out
in the eastern gallery of liungerford -Market, in the
Strand, which for nearly two hours burned with great.
vehemence, destroying in its progress a large amount of
property. The flames commenced in the hay stores be-
longing to Mr. Milligan, immediately over a number of
fishmongers' shops. The engines were early in arriving,
and no time was lost in setting them to work; but not-
withstanding the immense torrents of water scattered
over the fire, it continued to progress most fearfully, and
having burned away the doors of the Dolphin Tavern,
the total destruction of that spacious building appeared
inevitable. The firemen, however, kept to their posts,
and confined the flames to that portion of the market in
which they originated; but they were not extinguished
until the whole of the stores from the northern tower to
the Dolphin was totally destroyed, and the tavern seri-
ously damaged. The premises, occupied severally by
Mr. Dorey, Mr. Ball, Mr. lowell, M
immediately r. Brown, Mr. Gil-
son, and Mr. Gould, under Mr. Milligan's,
have received serious injury by water, fire, and hasty
removal. The origin of the fire is unknown; but from
the tact of a fire having broken out in the same portion
of the market a few days since, strong suspicion is en-
tertained that it was the work of some vile incendiary.
I The property destroyed, tis understood, was insured.