The Sun.
London, England, 1860-04-16 00:00:00

NEW WRIT.

On the motion of Mr. BRAND, the Speaker was directed
t issue a writ for the election of a burgess to serve for the
borough of Harwich, in the room of the Hon. W. F.
Campbell, raised to the Upper House.
CIRCULATION OF BANK OF ENGLAND NOTES.
Alderman SALOMONS gave notice that he would ask
the Chancellor of the Exchequer a question relative to
the extraordinary diminution of the number of notes in the
Bank of England, as shown in the Gazette of Friday last.

THE REFORM BILL.
Mr. MASSEY gave notice that; on the second reading
of this bill, he would move that it be referred to a select
committee.

NAVAL EXPENDITURE.

On the motion for going into committee of supply,
Sir C. NAPIER drew the attention of the house to the
expenditure that had been incurred in making the
alterations on the ships of war which had been going on
for some time. An accusation had been made against
the surveyor of the navy, to the effect that that expen-
diture had been recklessly carried on, and no doubt some
investigation should take place in reference to charges of so
serious a character, and ample opportunity should be
afforded to the officer accused of vindicating himself. There
could be no doubt that in the alteration of the vessels
of war into screw ships a large expense was
involved, and nearly £20,000 had been expended from
1830 to 1843 in effecting the alteration re-
quired. The amount of alteration that had been
effected in this particular was most desirable, for
in case of war sailing vessels were no longer useful, and the
Emperor of the French had a large and powerful steam fleet.
He contended that the Government could not look forward
to effecting a diminution in the naval expenditure next
year, but that they must maintain the same amount of out-
lay as in the present year. With regard to the Channel
fleet, they had a number of vessels, but they had to contend
with the same difficulty which they had previously to en-
counter, namely, the want of a sufficient number of petty
officers. Those who had experience in these matters must
be aware of the vital importance of these officers in carrying
on the disciplinl of a fleet. These men were indispensable.
Notwithstanding that, after the late war these officers ware
discharged, and it would require a considerable time before
the fleet would be placed iu the same state of
efficiency as in 1857. Not only were these
men discharged in the wholesale way, but when in the ser-
vice they were not treated in a manner calculated to make
it agreeable to them. Having quoted different statistics in
support of this position, the hon. and gallant member thou
adverted to the mutinies in the navy which had recently
taken place, and which he traced to the mismanagement of
the Government. He said is was a very novel and a very
serious feature in these mutinies that the marines were
concerned in them. He was not one of those who consi-
dered that corporal punishment could be abolished in the
navy, for ho considered at present it was indispensable
to the preservation of discipline. That opinion he
had advocated on the platform, notwithstanding
that it was opposed to the views of his consti-
tuency at Southwark. However, it was his honest
conviction, from the result of long experience as an honest
man, he was bound to give utterance to it. However, he
strongly objected to the arbitrary powers vested in captains
of war vessels with reference to the dis• rating and the
punishment of sailors, and he considered that the men in
1 the navy who were charged with offences on which the

Chester 1
Doncaster Spring 8
York Spring 10
Salisbury lO
15
Bath

,Tu
Ascot
Hampton l3
Newton 13
Odiham 19
Beverley 2O

Harpenden lB
Epsom ..22
Manchester ..30
Hungerford

Bibury Club 20
Stockbridge 2l
Winchester 22
Chelmsford 26
Newcastle 26

SENTENCE OF DEATH FOR MURDER.—At the
Perth Circuit Court, on Thursday, Bridget Kiernon, of
Dundee, was charged with the murder of her child, a girl
aged seven months, by means of poisoning. The alleged
motive for the crime seemed to be that the child was a bur-
den to her, as she was in receipt only of ss. 9d. a week, out
of which she paid 2s. Gd. a week for lodging and the nurs-
ingof the child. The defence set up was, that although
the vitriol was administered by the hand of the prisoner,
it was not administered with any murderous design, but by
mistake. The jury, by a majority, found the prisoner guilty
as libelled ; but on the ground of her ignorance and previ-
ous affection for her children, they unanimously recom-
mended her to mercy. Sentence of death was pronounced
by Lord Dean, the execution being fixed for Tuesday, the
Bth May.
PUGILISM AND ROYALTY.—The last Prince of
Wales once attended a fight, though he professed to have
no stomach for its brutalities. his very presence, however,
was warrant that the pastime was fashionable ; and when
the allied sovereigns and
treat "turn up' generals came over to England,
on the Continent, Loid Lowther
,
boxing
-matches his
in house couldafter tthhei a of no more acceptable treat to those august per-
"nteesri than
aof a
bo breakfast
inPall-mall,
followedTh
by a a
drawing-room.
picked athletes of the day "set to" in their very best style,
and the Czar, with all the illustrious strangers, so appre-
ciated the exhibition that, within a day or two, it was re-
peated in their presence, amidst the loudest demonstrations
of applause. Ibe graceful and manly Jackson so delighted
the spectators, who, for the first time, saw all the pugilistic
qualities united in one man, that Jack sorr—ex-Ceelin‘y
builder, Surrey innkeeper, and protege of Colonel Ilarve2,-
As.ton—became the hero of the day, gave lessons to Byron,
was painted by artists, was be •written by biographers,
:tud pocketed, as a professor of the art, an amount of guineas
from noble pupils which could not have bees acquired in ten
times the period by any ten professors of philosophy. The
last interview between pugilism and royalty—when they
may be said to have shaken hands and parted—was at Coombe
Warren, in Feb., 1817, when the Czar Nicholas, attended
by Lord Yarmouth, witnessed the fight between Fisher and
Bone. The former was the conqueror, and at the close of
the fight his second, " Bill Richmond," presented him to
the Czar. Nicholas took off his hat to the bruised and
bleeding victor, who held out a puffed hand, which the au-
tocrat condescended to touch with and shake between his
fingers. Since this grand presentation pugilists have been
foreign to the air of courts, except those of the "county,"
" sessions," and " assize."—Athenxunt.
ROYAL FREE HOSPITAL, GRAY'S INN-ROAD.---
The number of patients relieved at this hospital during the
week ending April 14, 1860, is 2,5,53, of 'which 651 were
new OM,