The Sun.
London, England, 1860-03-24 00:00:00

fIE NAVY.

Capt. W. H. Stewart, C. 8., of. the flagship Im-
pregnable, 104, at Plymouth, is, it is said, to be
flag captain to Vice-Admiral Fanshawe, C. 8., in
the Mediterranean. Capt. Stewart will be suc-
ceeded at Plymouth by Capt. Lord Federick H.
Kerr, of the Marlborough, 131.

The screw steamship Centurion, 80, Capt. George
E. Patey, is expected at Plymouth.
The French steam vessel Le Corse, 2, Commandant
L. de Lavaissure de Lavergne, from Dartmouth, on
Thursday morning, arrived at Plymouth in the
afternoon, to watch the French fishing boats.
Her Majesty's screw steamsloop Osprey, 4, Com-
mander Henry J. Blmfield-, from the Mediterra-
nean, commissioned in March, 1856, having been
stripped and clismasted in basin at Woolwich, was
yesterday paid off. The orderly and neat appear-
ance of the crew, and the clean condition of every
portion of the ship elicited a high eulogium from
the Commodore-Superintendent.
The Princess Alice, iron paddlewheel steam ver-
se), in command of Mr. John W. M. J. Hall, at-
tached to the Fisgard for the instruction of novices,
yesterday proceeded to Sheerness, conveying 50
lads and a number of supernumerary seamen, from
Woolwich, for the Formidable, guardship of ordi-
nary. An officer of the factory department of the
dockyard accompanied Mr. Hall for the purpose of
making an official report of the operation of Mr.
Chanter's smoke-consuming apparatus erected on
board the Princess Alice for the approval of the
Board of Admiralty.
The paddlewheel steam sloop Devast4tion was
yesterday hauled out of basin at Woolwich, and
despatched to Deptford to be completed for service,
the basins and docks at Woolwich being crowded
and engaged throughout.

The iron paddlewheel steam vessel Weser, having
a rudder fore and aft, prepared for the river Plate,
was yesterday docked at Woolwich for examination
and repair.
. . .

The following ships were yesterday taken up by
the War Department to embark war materials from
the military store department of -Woolwich Arsenal :
The 'John Bril, Prospero, Robert Hay, Premier,
West Indian, Persia, and Heather Bell.
The screw line-of•battle ship Conqueror, 101,
Capt. Sotheby, and the Centurion, 80, Capt. G. E.
Patcy, left Portland on Thursday morning under
canvass for the westward.

The screw steamship Hero, 91, Capt. G. IL Sey-
mour, which arrived in Plymouth Sound on Thurs-
day afternoon, left Lisbon on the 14th inst., under
canvass, and experienced strong breezes from
W.N.W. to N.E. In the Bay of Biscay a calm pre-
vailed for 36 hours, followed by a formidable breeze
from N.W., which carried her until off Plymouth
at 8 o'clock on Thursday morning, when steam was
got up, the wind having veered to the north. Seve-
ral vessels were seen, but the only one that showed
her number was the Fanny Chapman, of Bristol,
lat. 45.20 N., long. 11.5 IV., steering about N.E. by
E. The Hero has some defects to make good, and
her machinery requires to be overhauled. She was
appointed to leave the Sound yesterday morning
for Devonport dockyard, where a party of riggers
woild be in attendance to receive her. On the 14th
inst., when the Hero left Lisbon, there were in the
Tagus the Royal Albert, Donegal, Queen, Mars,
Edgar, Algiers, and Melpomene.
The screw steam sloop Desperate, 8, was taken
out of No. 1 dock at Keyham steam-yard on Thurs-
day, and placed under the sheers.

rfke laiinch of the Frederick -William, 86, will
take place this day at noon at Portsmouth,
(weather permitting). The Countess of Bernsdorf,
the wife of his Excellency the Prussian Athbassa-
dor at the Court of St. James's, will perform the
ceremony of christening the vessel. The Frederick
William has been on the stocks some years, having
been designed by the late Sir W. Symonds as
a sailing three-decker, on the same lines as
the Queen. She has lately had her upper deck re-
moved and her stern taken down and rebuilt to
adapt it to the screw propeller. The following are
her principal dimensions, armament, and power of
engines :—Length extreme, 251 feet ; ditto between
perpendiculars, 214 feet; ditto of keel for tonnage,
174 feet 01- inch ; breadth extreme, 60 feet; ditto
for tonnage, 59 feet 2 inches ; ditto moulded, 58
feet 4 inches ; depth in hold, 24 feet 33 inches ; bur-
den in tons, 3,240 48-94. Armament—Lower deck
—3O eight-inch guns, of 65 cwt. each, 9 feet in
length, main deck 32 32-pounders of 56 cwt. each,
9 feet 6 inches ; upper deck, 22 32-pounders of 42
cwt. each, 8 feet in length, and two 68-pounders,
95 cwt. each; pivot guns on rear check carriages.
Her engines are of 500 horse power, by Maudslay,
Field, and Sons.

The Sutlej, 51, screw steam frigate, will be floated
out of No. 9 dock at 'Portsmouth on Monday, after
having completed her lengthening and conversion
from a sailing to a screw frigate. Her engines,
which are ready for shipment on the quays of the
steam basin, are of 500 horse-power, from the manu-
factory of Messrs. Maudslay, Field, and Co.
The Octavia, 50, sailing frigate, will be brought
down the harbour and placed in the dock vacated
by the Sutlej, the same tide, if possible, to undergo
similar alterations and lengthening to a screw fri-
gate. Both vessels are of recent construction, and
have not as yet been put in commission.
The Rinaldo, 17, screw steamer, which has been
constructed from designs approved by Sir B. W.
Walker, K.C.8., in No. 9 Dock, at Portsmouth,
will be floated out at high water on Monday. The
Rinaldo's principal dimensions, armament, and
horse-power of engines are as follows :—Length,
extreme, 185 feet 1 inch ; length of keel for tonnage,
164 feet 1 inch; breadth extreme, 33 feet 2 inches ;
breadth fur tonnage, 33 feet ; breadth moulded, 32
feet 4 inches ; depth in hold, 17 feet 51 inches ; bur-
den in tons, 950 54-94 ; armament, 17 8-inch guns ;
horse-power of engines, 200 nominal, by Messrs.
Humphrey and Tennant.
The Chanticleer, 17, screw steamer, of precisely
the same dimensions as the Rinaldo, given above,
will be laid down at once on the slip vacated by
the Frederick William. The greater portion of the
Chanticleer's frame and timbers are already in a
forward state in the adjoining building shed.
The East India troopship William Drowse, Capt.
Williams, for the safety of which so much anxiety
has been felt, arrived at Gravesend from Madras on
Thursday, having been 154 days on the passage
home, the vessel experiencing a great deal of rough
weather when near the Cape of Good Hope, and
afterwards a series of calms. She has brought
home 215 sick and disabled troops.

EXTRAORDINARY DISCOVERY OF A
STOLEN CHILD.

-
An extraordinary case of child-stealing, and re-
covery of the stolen child, has just occurred in Kent.
In the month of April of last year, a man named
Hall, residing at Canterbury, gave shelter for the
night to a travelling woman and child of tender
years, the woman pleading great distress, and that
she had no means of obtaining a lodging. The next
morning, at an early hour, Hall went to work, and
on returning to his breakfast, found that the woman
lie had befriended had taken her departure with her
child, and also his (Hall's) daughter, six years of
age. Every endeavour was made ,by the police
authorities to trace the whereabouts of the woman
and lost child, but without success .A few days ago,
however, a woman with two children, aged respec-
tively seven and two years, became chargeable to
the parish at Brighton, the woman being near her
confinement. The authorities questioned the woman
as to her place of settlement, but could obtain
no satisfactory explanation. The girl, however,
when questioned, clearly gave them to understand
that the woman was not her mother, but that the
woman who had given the name of Priscilla Frank-
lin, had taken her from her father's house, and that
her name was Hall. The woman, on hearing this,
did not attempt a denial, and said she had married
the son of George Hall, of Church-lane, Canter-
bury, but added she was unaware where the hus-
band was to be found. The parish authorities of
Brighton, acting upon this information, at once
wrote to Canterbury, and on Mr. Superintendent
Hall, Clements being communicated with by he (the
oncea s t o
aconcludedw
atsh atthtaht e
we hhtilodh,
swulpioerwinatse ndde secnrti)b eadt
had so long been lost. Inspector Dodd was accord-
ingly despatched to Brighton,a
s onewhe of the
re the
immediately identified him
Canter-
bury police, and gave her
onfamanedEhaliszanoHwablle.enSrhee.
swastoreadt toonhceertaaknexn chargeious father; and from the state-
ment she makes it appears, that the woman had
been travelling with her and the other child
throughout the country as beggars, sometimes
sleeping at the different union houses, and at other
times sleeping in the open air. The child also
states that she had often been severely beaten by
the woman when she was unsuccessful in obtaining
money, and that it was through fear she had not
before told any one that she had been taken frem
her home.

The
heartless woman who has acted in so cruel a
manner has since been delivered of a child at
Brighton, and as soon as she is sufficiently re-
covered will be prosecuted for the offence of child
stealing.

THE CASE OF THE REV. JAMES BONWELL.—Sur-
prise: has been expressed in connexion with the abandon-
ment, or at all events suspension of the proceedings against
the Rev. James Bonwell, the rector of St. Philip's Church,
Stepney, against whom some time since the Bishop of Lon-
don issued a commission. The commission reported that
there were prima facie grounds for further proceedings, but
were puzzled to prove that actual adultery had been corn..
mitted within the diocese of London, over which alone the
Bishop's power extends. Several weeks have elapsed, and
the Bishop has taken no step to prosecute Mr. Bonwell ;
meanwhile the rev. gentleman continues to be rector of St.
Philip's district, although he doo 119 t at MOW 9fficiate,