The Sun.
London, England, 1860-03-28 00:00:00

TEE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, MARCH 28, 1860.

(IIIRISTY'S MINSTRELS, Polygraphic Hall,
\-J King William-street, Strand.—Farewell Season in Lon-
don.—Every Evening. at 8, and every Saturday Morning* at
3 o'clock. Tickets and places may be secured at the Ball
from 11 till 4, and at Mr. Austin's West-end Box-office, St.
James's Dail, Piccadilly.—Sole Proprietor and Manner,
Mr. J. W. RAYNOR.

THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY ROOMS,
NIGH HOLBORN.
This Establishment, pre-eminently distinguished for the
elegance and matchless beauty of its decorations, combined
with the perfection of its management is OPEN EVERY
EVENING. The celebrated hand, under the direction of Mr.
W. M. nicker, plays a nightly-varied velection of the mrt
approved classiest and modern music. Doors open at half-
past 8. Overture at 9. Closing at 12. :Admission, One
Shilling..

ARGYLL ROOMS, Windmill-street, Picea-
dilly.—Open every Evening, with thecelebrated.Band
conducted by Mons. Lamotie (chef d'orchestra to the Em-
peroi Napoleon). A mafmiftccnt SMOKING SALOON
added, to this Establishment. Doors open at S o'clock. Ad-
mission, is.

WEDDING STATIONERY, including every
requisite.—Beatitiful and elegant designs by DE LA
RUE and Co. A sample packet and pricelist sent free. No
charge for carriage on orders over 20s. The London Depot
for De La Rue and Co.'s manufactures—HENßY GOOD'S,
60, Moorgate-street, E.C.
Card plates and crest dies engraved in the first style. and
note papers beautifully embossed in coloured relief, or if plain,
stamped:without charge. Au illustrated catalogue will be
forwarded free on application.

PRESENTS.— ORNAMENTAL and SCIEN
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. Mr. Tennant arranges elementary collections of SHELLS,
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Just Published, in 1 v01.,' Byo. with numerous Anatomical
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VITA VITALIS. - A NEW MEDICAL WORK
on the NATURE, TREATMENT and CURE of
SPERMATORRHCEA, and other URINO - GENITAL
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fection.

BY A PHYSICIAN, &c., Ac. (reeistered under the New
31cdical Act). Address, Mediate, 19,i-Berners-street„) Oxford-
street, London. Sold by J. Allen, 20, Warwick-lane, Pater-
noster-row, and all Booksellers in Town and Country.

111 E _NAVY.

A letter from Gibraltar, dated March 21, says :

—" The squadron tinder the command of Rear-Ad-
miral Mundy, C. 8., now in these waters, consists of
the Hannibal, 91, bearing the Rear-Admiral's flag;
the Renown, 91 ; the Agamemnon, 91 ; the James
Watt, 91; the Doris, 32 ; the Scylla, 21 ; the
Scourge, 6 ; the Vulture, 6 ; the Mohawk, 4; the
Firefly, 4; the Quail, gunboat, and the Redpole, 1.
The masts of the sailing sloop Arachne, 18, Com-
mander Mongomerie, at Devonport, have been taken
out, and she is now at the Dockyard jetty. Her
crew will he paid off to-day, and she will be placed
in ordinary; the internal fittings will notberemoved.
Greenheart timber having been used for several
years with advantage in private building establish-
ments, the Lords of the Admiralty some short time
since determined to test its qualities in the naval
dockyards, and, in consequence of its extreme dura-
bility, length, and size, -they have now entered into
a contract with Arr. Joseph Scales, of Nymouth,
for the supply of 3,500 loads, the produce only of
the British colony of Guiana, shipped from the
rivers Essequibo and Demerara. The bark Success,
Capt. Thorpe, is now discharging at Devonport the
first cargo under the new contract.
. A letter, dated Calcutta, Feb.ls, has been received
at Plymouth from a young officer on board the Lady
Ann, Capt. Sinclair, belonging to Mr. Dunbar of
London. It states that that ship, after a passage
of six weeks from Adelaide, had discharged, with
one exception, safe and healthy, a cargo of horses
on Government account, and was continued in that
employ for the conveyance of 60 horses and 100
Sikhs to Hong Kong, where the troops are to be
mustered. The Minden and Hougoumont, also be-
longing to Mr. Duabar, are chartered for the same
purpose. A superior military commander was about
to leave for China in a small double-funnelled screw
steamer, brig rigged. Mr. Green's Agamemnon
was dropping down the river with a full cargo for
London.

The Supply, iron screw storeship, Master-Com-
mander Balliston, arrived at Spithead yesterday
morning from Malta and Gibraltar.

The Howe, ship of the line, launched on the 7th
inst. at Pembroke Dockyard, is in the hinds of the
seamen riggers, who are actively employed in fit-
ting up jury-rigging, preparatory to havigating her
round to Plymouth, where she will receive her
engines, of 1,000-horse power, from the hands of
Penn and Sons, of Greenwich. The Howe will not
be ready for a fortnight, when she will leave under
the charge of Mr. Paul, the Assist.-Master-Attend-
ant of Plymouth, who has 160 seamen landed from
the Sanspareil, 70 guns. The Howe is a very hand-
some ship, built from the designs of Sir Baldwin
Walker, K.C.B„ and laid down during the Crimean
wai., when she was put in frame by superannuated
shipwrights temporarily called in. She_was then
intended as a sailiag vessel, but while in frame was
lengthened and otherwise altered to receive the
screw ; since then she has been pushed forward
with all despatch, the workmen being frequently
employed until 10 o'clock at night upon her. She
is now the largest vessel in the British Navy, and
is larger by 100 tons than the Victoria, sister ship,
recently launched at Portsmouth. The following
is her armament :—Lower deck, 32 guns, 8-inch,
65 cwt., 9 feet ; middle deck, 30 guns, 8-inch,
65 cwt., 9 feet ; main deck, 32 guns, 32-pounders,
58 cwt., 9 feet 6 inches ; quarter deck and fore-
castle, 26 guns, 32-pounders, 42 cwt., 8 feet; pivot
gun, 68-pounder, 95 cwt., 10 feet. The figure-head
is a three-quarter length figure of Admiral Lord
Howe, in the old naval uniform, standing about 15
feet in height.
The following vessels are now in the steam basin
at Portsmouth, receiving their machinery ; Vic-
toria, 121, screw; Prince of IVales, 131, screw;
Duncan, 101, screw;
Sutlej, 51, screw; and Rinaldo,
Nelson, 91, screw; Immor-
talintec,allsl, screw;

17, screw.
A letter received at Plymouth from an officer
belonging to the Donegal states that she, with
the Royal Albert, the Aboukir, and. another, was
appointed to leave Lisbon on the 26th inst. to take
a short cruise, and to arrive at Plymouth about the
sth of April.
In consequence of the reduction in the estimates
voted for the forthcoming year a large number of
the hired artificers and labourers not forming the
permanent establishment of Woolwich Dockyard,
are ordered to be discharged, at the rate of 35 per
week. The permanent establishment, exclusive of
the factory department in the dockyard, consists of
a total of 1,322 men of all classes, and the hired
establishment 950, consisting of shipwrights,
caulkers, millwrights, painters, [sawyers, smiths,
plumbers, labourers, &c., 450 of which are ordered
to be discharged. Notwithstanding the reduction,

the following. are ordered to be commenced as soon
as the necessary vacancies ecrur in the building
sheds :—A 91 screw line,•of-battle ship, to be named
the Caledonia, to be built on the slip at present
occupied by the Anson, now under construction ;
two screw steam corvettes, 13 carry 21 guns each,
to be called the Alligator and the Ontario; and a
gun-vessel to carry six guns. A portion of keel
to commence the Caledonia is already in hand.

The hired transport Nautilus yesterday went
alongside Woolwich-pier; and commenced ship-
ping an 18-pounder battery for Bristol, and will
fill in with merchandise 'rom the docks, after
which she will ship ammunition and stores for the
service of the battery. The royalist and the Robert
also hauled alongside the pier, and commenced

shipping war stores.
The fore and main mast; of the Russian screw
steam frigate Askold, whici arrived at Plymouth
ou Monday, arc sprung. 3he is bound to Cron-
stadt, and awaits the brtking of the ice in the
Baltic before departure. the Askold mounts 46
guns, and has a crew of 40) men.
The following naval cadets passed out from. her
Majesty's ship Britannia on the 23d. instant for
sea-going ships W. IL Roberts, presented
with a -Copt's revolver (firs place in mathema-
tics, navigation, and seamanship combined), also
with a telescope (first in seamanship) ; 31r. G.
A. Grey, presented with a telescope (youngest
cadet passed with first class) ; Messrs. C. A. Nichol-
son, D. Brown, L. L. llevtn, R. B. Evans, J. N.
Mercer, T. G. Powell, E. V: Smith, H. H. Gillum,
R. R. Jaffray, R. Foster. G. C. Young, J. Brown,
K. Gander, F. R. Kemp, J. E. Sullivan, C. G.
Hunt, G. H. Verner, C, E. Napier, A. Hutchinson,
T. G. Musters, IL F. Meade, F. G. Dundas, J. W.
Jenkins, H. S. Chown°, 0. B. Niven, J. IL Hodg-
son, G. It. Bromley-, W. F. Snowden, E. G. Law,
A. W. Brabazon, T. D. Maycocir, H. R. Welby, J.
R. Napier, S. A. Johnson, M. .H. Smith, J. L.
Smith, F. G. M'Clintock, A. H. Boldero, H. J.
Pugh, H. W. Newell, F. W. Praed, P. H. Gedge,
J. J. Campbell, 7. King, R. F. Castle, G. Stopford,
G. C. St. John, S. J. Wild, H. Smith, A. R. Body
dam, W. E. Ileathoote, E. I. Calcraft, M. C.
Osborn.

in 1841. He had received the silver war medal and
four clasps for his services in the Peninsula, and
had received also the Order of Military Merit of
Prussia, and the Orders of St. Anne and St. Valdi-
tnir of Russia, for services before the enemy. He
for some years held the military appointment of
chief magistrate at Gibraltar, aud was one of the
Grooms of her Majesty's Privy Chamber. He at-
,tained the rank of lieutenant-colonel in the army
in February, 1823, and retired en half-pay in 1830.
The let battalion 11th (North Devon) Foot, un-
der the command of. Lieut.-Col. E. Moore, arrived
at Portsmouth yesterday from Aldershot, and
marched into the quarters vacated by the let bat-
talion Rifle Brigade.

Staff Assist.-Burg. Falwasser, R.A., has been
ap-
pointed to the medical department of the Arsenal,
Woolwich, vice Staff Assist.-Burg. Coleman, whose
term of service will expire on the 31st inst.
A guard of honour, consisting of 100 rank and
file, under the command of Capt. Jordan, Lieuts.
Fox and Blockley, was furnished by the Hon.
Artillery Company, on the occasion of his Royal
Highnus the Prince Consort, Captain-General and
Colonel of the corps, visiting the Clothworkers'-hall
yesterday. THe field officer and adjutant in waiting
were Major Robinson and Capt. Brinewood Potts.

ROYAL VISIT TO TILE CLOTH-
WORKERS' COMPA NE

A banquet on a grand scale, at which his Royal
Highness the Prince Consort was a guest, was last
evening given by the Master and Court of Assis-
tants of this company. The inauguration of their
new hall in Mincing-lane furnished the occasion ;
and of this fine edifice itself it may be not unac-
ceptable to our readers that we should give a brief
description before alluding more particularly to the
ipstival by which its career in the annals of civic
hospitality was commenced.
' Tho new hall stands upon the same site as the
ancient structure, which was purchased by the re-
presentatives of the company in the remote days of
Henry VI., and which was, at the time of the great
fire of London, rendered somewhat remarkable as
forming the utmost boundary on that side of
the city to which the conflagration extended.
" Strange it is," writes Pepys, " to see Clothworkers-
hall on fire these three days and nights in one body
of flame, it being the cellar full of oyle." The
building which thus comes in for notice in the
quaint and amusing diary of Pepys--himself a
clothsvorker—was not, however, completely de-
stroyed. The hand of the renovator was applied to
it, and the old hall restored has for some two cen-
turies been the scene of the charities and the hos-
pitalities of the company. It has in its turn given
place to a structure better adapted to the require-
ments of the present day. The new ball, which has
only just been erected, is one of the finest of which
the city can boast. Boldly carved enrichments
adorn the facade, which is of the Italian style of
architecture of the Renaissance period. The arms
of the company surmoint a lofty portal, with bronze
gates in the centre. This leads to an arched cor-
ridor and vestibule, which form the approach to the
entrance and hall, over the doorway of which are
four relievi, executed in Caen stone, by Mr. C.
Kelsey, representing the attributes of the company
j' oyalty, Integrity, Industry, and Charity. From
the era':
nce hall—from which it is partially sepa-
ed columns—springs the grand stair-
rated by conk_
case. On each sit:; of it on the ground floor are the
several offices of the comt'anY
he culinary departmentfor the purpose of busi-
ness. This floor contains also ssi
—essential portion ofa civic hall—
on I he construction
and arrangement of which no orditOT amount of
care and skill has evidently been bestowej• At the
foot of the grand. staircase are two bronze s:iffins,
admirable both for execution and design, the wo:11
of Mr. Kelsey. On the first landing are to be seen
the Royal arms in alto relievo, and in all the pro-
priety of heraldic emblazonment. A lofty pen-
dative dome surmounts the staircase itself, which
Dads to the piano nobile, where, as in Italian
palaces, are the State apartments. Here are to be
found the reception rooms of the Livery, and a draw-
ing-room for the Court of Assistants and their guests.
Here also stands the banqueting-hall, the chief
feature of the building. It is a room of noble pro-
portions and perfect harmony of design. In ex-
treme length it is 80 feet; 40 feet wide, and 40 feet
in height. Corinthian engaged columns of Aberdeen
granite, highly polished, and resting on granite
pedestals, with a stylobate of richly-veined Devon-
shire marble, divide it into five bays at the sides
and three at the ends. Above the entablature sur-
mounting these columns is an attic, from NfiliCk
springs a coved ceiling. Of this ceiling the cove is
pierced with semicircular windows, filled in with
stained glass, in which are represented the arms of
the 12 great city companies, beautifully execated by
Mr. Lavers. Female figures in ilto relieve, emble-
matical of 12 of the principal commercial cities •f
the empire, adorn the spaces between these win-
dows. On the north end of the hall are two niches
one of which holds a statue of James 1., who was a
member of the company. In the other stands the
statue of King Charles, his son. Both being ex-
quisitely carved in wood and richly gilt are among
the chief ornaments of the new, as they were of the
old hall. Five large windows filled with stained
glass, on which are emblazoned the arms of some of
the more prominent of the members and benefactors
of the company, occupy the east side of the room.
In the list of those whose memory is thus per-
petuated are the names of Samuel Pepys, who was
Master of the company in 1677, and who pre-
sented them with au elaborately chased silver cep,
said to be the work of J3envenuto Cellini; of the
Countess of Kent, Lady Ann Packington, Lord
Lynedoch, the late Sir R. Peel, Mr. Justice Willes,
Sir J. Musgrove, Alderman Humphery, and
others. The general effect of this portion of the
building is somewhat like that produced by the
gallery of the Hotel de Ville, in Paris. It cannot,
however, as yet be seen to the utmost advantage,
as the completion of the gilding and enrichments
of colour with which it is proposed to adorn it has
been postponed to a future day. It nevertheless,
even in its prsent unfinished state, reflects the
highest credit upon the professional ability of the
architect, Mr. Samuel Angell, who has not only
constructed for his brother Clothworkers a ban-
quctting-hall imposing in appearance, but has se-
cured the additional success of having rendered it
in point of acoustic capability all that could be
desired

Here the Master and Court of Assistants of this
ancient company, whose charter of incorporation
dates as far back as the reign of Henry IV., as-
sembled last evening to dispense to his Royal
Highness the Prince Consort and about 150 other
guests that hospitality of which by no means for
the first time Royalty has partaken. A guard of
honour, consisting of a captain, a lieutenant, and
100 rank and file of the Hon. Artillery Company,
of which the Prince is Captain-General and Co-
lonel, were drawn up outside the building to await
his coming and lined the corridor through which
he had to pass. His Royal highness arrived
shortly before seven o'clock. The Master (Mr. C.
J. Bloxam), accompanied by the wardens of the
company, received him at the portal. Thence he
was conducted through the entrance-ball—which
was profusely decorated with flowers and brilliant
with lights—to the reception-room, where he was
presented with the freedom of the Livery, and the
one name more was added to the list of Royal
Clothworkers. This ceremony having been con-
cluded his Royal Highness proceeded totheban-
quetting-hall, where a numerous company awaited
his arrival. Among those presentwere
te Duke of
theßel-
gian Minister, M. van do l
y,b,taEnlaeryl, SLtoain.d-
hSoopmee,rstehte,
Earlthe Maafr
Romney,ui sof S aLI
ai srbdu r
Chelmsford, Sir Charles Wood, General Peel,
Mr. Disraeli, Mr. M. Gibson, Mr. Kin-