The Sun.
London, England, 1860-06-28 00:00:00

over immediately, Her moorings, however,
snap like pack-thread—the ship swings round

upon the instant, reversing her position entirely.
Then—let the eye-witness relate the immediate

result in his own graphic language—" comes a
shock which shakes the vessel fro an stem to

stern ; a second, which brings the saloon sky-
light crashing into the cabin ! Again, again, again,
and lamp after lamp is shivered to pieces. We are
on the reef, and the rocks are smashing in our plates
one after another !" The vessel is in five distinct

compartments—two abaft and two before the
engines, which occupy the fifth or intermediate
compartment. Although—directly after the snap-
ping of the hawser—the skipper (Capt. GRAINGER)
is on the bridge, although the engineer is at his
post—their presence is in a manner valueless at the

moment, for the steam is not up, and with every
swell the huge ship " crashes and crunches" upon
the hidden crags over which she is swinging by

her best bower cable. Let that cable (thinks the

correspondent who writes the narrative of this
disaster) " drag but six feet and the engine com-
partment will be smashed to pieces : let those
heavy engines descend with all their weight on these
pointed rocks, and our vessel must split in two. A
double danger then awaits us : we shall be blown
into the air by collapse of the boilers, or down we
shall go among the sharks and the breakers !"
Fortunately the 30 cwt. anchor holds ; the
best bower is true in the tenuity of

THE ROYAL VOLUNTEER REVIEW.

The Secretary at War has issued the following
circular to the Lords-Lieutenant of counties :
WAR-OFFICE, June 27, 1860.

I have the pleasure of enclosing a copy of a gene-
ral order, in which his Royal Highness the General
Commanding-in-Chief has been authorised to ex-
press her Majesty's admiration of the soldierlike
bearing of the Volunteers reviewed by her Majesty
in Hyde-park on Saturday last, and the deep im-
pression made upon her mind by the loyalty and
devotion evinced by the Volunteer force throughout
the whole country.
In communicating this document to you, and re-
questing you to enclose copies of it to the command-
ing officers of the various corps in your county, I
avail myself of the opportunity to express to you
the high gratification with which her Majesty's
Government have witnessed the rapid success of
the Volunteer movement, and the degree of efficiency
to which the corps present at the late review have
attained.
The zeal and public spirit of the Volunteers have
added a new and valuable element to our means of
defence, and have earned for them the approbation
of their Sovereign and the gratitude of the country.
I have, in conclusion, to convey to you the thanks
of the Government fur the assistance which you
have afforded me in the raising and organisation of
this force, and for the zeal with which you have
discharged the onerous duties which have devolved
upon you in connection with it,—l have the honour
to be your obedient servant,
SIDNEY HERBERT.

every strand. And more fortunately still,
at the critical instant when all seems to be
hopelessly jeopardised, the wind veers back once
more to the south, the squall abates in its violence,
and the Malabar swings clear of that sunken reef,
which must otherwise in a few more seconds have
proved her inevitable destruction. As it is, the
battering the good ship has already endured is
such that when the pumps are first sounded they
show three feet and half of water in the first com-

ONCE UPON A TIIIIE.

BY ELIZA Coox.

(From " Once a Week.")
Only look at Gaffer Grey
Creeping slowly on his way,
With a staff to help him stand,
Leant on with a shaking hand ;
With a step that fears to meet
The pebbles of the village street ;
With a cheek that falleth in, •
And a very peaked chin ;
With a forehead made of wrinkles
Carved in crosses, cranks, and crinkles,
And a voice so thin and mumbling
That his glee might pass for grumbling.
See his eyes so blear and dim,
And his beard so grey and grim ;
See his legs, all lean and lank,
Dwindled down to skin and shank.
Poor old Gaffer Grey is labelled
With th 3 words that tune my rhyme :
Read him over—you'll discover
Nought but " Once upon a time."
I wandar'd to a spot of earth,
Where Fame had crowaed the ruin-crags,
Where ravens in their shrieking mirth
Flapp'd their black wings like conquerors' flags
Waving above a battle-field ;
Where bat and lizard had allied,
With mole and owlet by their side,
And forced the bulwark foe to yield.
Some phantasy beguiled my sight
With vision of a gorgeous story,—
Of jewell'd roof, of halls of light,
Of purple woof, of walls of might,
Of pillar'd temples, thrones of state,
Of pomp and palace, grand and great,
Of people's shouts, of feasting kings,
And all the myriad dazzling things
That haunt the place of faded glory.
—I started, for a friglaten'd thrush
Flow from a tuft of sedgy rush,
Then, gazing down, I stepp'd aside
To let the toad crawl back and hide ;
A squirrel brood ran up the larch
That sway'd within the oriel aroh,
And then my tread disturb'd the rest
Of a wild rabbit in its nest.
I trampled through the dank thick grass,
To catch the bindweed's trailing flowers,
That tied themselves in tangled masa
Across the cracking turret towers.
The topmost battlement was lying
Co-equal with the buttress pile :
And dolefully the wind was sighing
Through festive court and priestly aisle.
Time's robe of green was flung about
The mammoth skeleton of strength ;
And scatter'd bones of granite stones
Told of its giant breadth and length.
I stood upon a scatter'd heap
Of fragments of the watchtower Keep ;
I wander'd on, and atroll'd across
The banquet-hall, laid down with moss ;
I climbed some steps shut out from day,
Till dust and nettles choked my way ;
I saw a mushroom springing up
Where royal feet had led the dance ;
I saw the foxglove's swinging cup
Where knights had hung their banner'd lance ;
And as I gated I saw a hand—
A wither'd hand —stretch forth and write
A short text fraught with holy thought,
Easy to read by dullest sight.
'Twas plain and terse, but sacred page
Gives nought more simple and sublime,
It soften'd youth, it solaced age,
It mock'd the hero and the sage
In these words—" Once upon a time."
'Twas but yesterday I found
A score of letters, closely bound :
Some were torn in treasured pieces,
Some were worn in careful creases,
Ink had faded, seals had crambled,
And my heart felt sad and humbled ;
For I knew the thoughts, the hopes,
The earnest wish, the brilliant tropes
Those letters hasten'd to reveal
Were symboll'd by the ink and seal.
I opened one--my pulse grew quicker,
My eyelid fell, my breath came thicker ;
I traced its lines, close, firm, and clear,
Tolling how deeply, fondly dear,
The being was for whose loved sake
That letter came, with such a cake.
It gave report of Pincher's health,
It told of Muff's increase of wealth
In five young r Lbbits, all milk-white,
That. Gyp and Dobbin were " all right,"
That Midsummer would quickly come,
And then for holidays and home.
I gave a gasp, half sob, half sigh,
While Memory's flood-wave filled my eye,
And folded from my misty gaze
My
look'd uponanother
mother and my h
schoolgirland days.
I
Bold, free, and dashing in its form ;
And then I saw the lee-shore strand,
And heard the passion of the storm
That torn the right arm from its hold,
And flung it nerveless, still and cold,
Upon tho rocks, no more to send
Its tidings full of life and joy,
And cheer his childhood's playmate-friend
With letters from the sailor boy.
Another and another scroll
I opened—one by one I read :
I gazed as they who may mired
A shroud to look upon the dead.
Love, with its ardent vows, was there,
Friendship, that promised to be true,
Words that like summer light and air
Fill'd my heart's world with gold and blue.
Where was the lover ? Where the friend ?
The bond that was to know no end ?
Where was the promise and the vow ?
Alas, a yawning gulf of gloom,
Bridged only by the dark grey tomb,
Had open'd wide 'twizt then and now.
A muffled sound seeiu'd breathing round,
A mingled tons of merry chime
And funeral knolls, but all the bells
Gave chorus of the theme which tells
Sad tales of " Once upon a time."

partment, and five minutes later five feel
.

is announced. "Before us," quoth the eye-witness,
" is the bay with its roaring swell ; behind, at
400 yards distance, tie fort, with the sea dashing
over the rocks which jut into the water, and
breaking in tremendous spray right against the
parapet wall." Even when the worst perils of
the hurricane are over, when the squall has
abated, when the wind had chopped round again to
the south, when the vessel has swung clear of the
appalling reef, the after compartments are found to
be filling rapidly, and the Malabar is visibly
settling by the stern. Immediately there
arises a life and death contest between
the getting up of the steam and the rush
of the water into the ruined compartments. Gal-
lons of oil are poured on the coals to ensure their
more rapid combustion ; but the water is rising,
rising from below yet more rapidly. In the midst
of the general panic there is a rumour afloat that the
captain is bent upon going out to sea for the purpose
of more effectually working the pumps, and of so
saving ship, cargo, and passengers. At the
whisper of this rumour the chief engineer is almost
distracted. "In the name of GOD, captain," he
cries, "don't proceed to sea ; we are in a sinking
state ! Beach her at once !" Meanwhile, there is
the British Ambassador to China, the Earl of
ELGIN and KINCARDINE seated quietly upon the
poop, watching the course of :events—cool as
a cucumber ! At the report of the cap-
tain's intention of going out to sea, there
appeals addressed to Lord ELGIN by various pas-
sengers :—" Will not your lordship order the boats
to be lowered ?" " Will you not protest against
going to sea ?" " Will you not speak to the cap-
tain ?" The incident is worth recalling, it is so
characteristic of the cool, dare-devil pluck of
Englishmen. " Lord ELGIN," writes the eyewit-
" steadily refuses to interfere with the cap-
tain in the discharge of his duty, but sends Colonel
CREALOCK with a message—‘ Lord ELGIN presents
his compliments and wishes to know if you are
going to sea.' Going to sea !we are going down."
As they were obviously, steadily, unmistakeably
with every throb of the ship's chronometer. Mean-
while the steam has at length been got up in ear-
nest—the anchor is weighed, the men work with a
will, and no wonder, for it is for their lives—the ship
moves a-head at the first revolution of the screw
propeller. It is a race now across the harbour to
the beach. "Keep your eye on that mast,"
quietly remarks an old sailor to the eye-witness ;
"I don't expect we shall get across, and if we
sink it may be above water." In:the occurrences
following hard upon the eventual sinking of the
Malabar, two widely contrasting incidences are par-
ticularly deserving of commemoration. One of these
incidents relates the gallant advent of succour
brought to the vessel's side by two brave captains
who brought their boats thither with imminent peril
to themselves—one a Frenchman, the other an
Englishman. The Frenchman CH. MESSEMACCHER,
Capitaine au Long Cours, and his ship is the Paul
Auguste, of Dunkirk. The Englishman PETER
UPTON, commanding the barque Waverley, of New-
castle! In contrast with which gallant tars of
France and England, to whom the thanks of the
British and French Ambassadors were returned in
the names of their respective Governments—comes
the record of the other incident in which two men
try to save themselves by meanly jumping into
the women's boat—the first leaping " for the stern,
where he tumbles among the ladies and nearly
capsizes the boat ; the second for the bow, which
he misses, and takes a header right into the
water." Neither of the poltroons, it is delightful
to know, being English or French—one, in fact,
proving to be an American skipper, the other a
Dutch engineer. Altogether the loss of the Mala-
bar turns out to be the loss of everything but the
lives of the crew and passengers. Cargo, lug-
gage, state papers, ribbons of the thistle
and the bath, badges of honour, plate,
and trousseaux, all are sunk into the deep
with the Malabar : in the narrative of the wreck
of which noble steamship it is pleasant to note the
chivalrous coolness manifested throughout by Lord
ELGIN and Baron GRos, the worthy representatives
of the allied French and English Governments.

ness,

Come, I will write my.epitaph •
In letters shadowy and dim,
And though the young strong man may laugh,
'Twill shortly serve as well for him.
Just heap the clay where frost and sun
May help the ivy leaf to climb,
And all I've said, and all I've done,
And all I've lost, and all I've won,
Tho struggling race that I have run
Shall find full record on the stone
In these few words of solemn tone,—
" Once upon a time."

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read himself in on the following unday morning.
VOTES FOR DISQUALIFIED CANDIDATES.. .This
bill, brought in by Mr. Butt, recites that a candidate in a
minerity is often eventually declared elected in consequence
of his opponent being found incapable of sitting, of which
fact the voters were warned, but had no sufficient opport u-
nity of ascertaining the truth of the statement. The Bill
therefore proposes to enact that such votes shall not be
deemed thrown away or null, unless it appears, from the
nature of the disqualification, its notoriety, and the circum-
stances, that the voters wilfully and perversely voted fur a
person who to their knowledge was plainly and manifestly
incapable of being elected ; but the bill is not to render valid
the election of any person which would have been invalid if
the bill had not passed.
RAILWAY ACCIDENTS.—It appears by a recent
return that in the five years between 1854 and 1858 inclu-
sive 408 accidents occurred on railways under the jurisdic-
tion of the Board of Trade, being at the rate of nearly 82
annually. Of the total number of accidents, 203, or nearly
half, were collisions, and in 85 cases the trains left the sails.
Ten accidents occurred at level crossings, 13 from entering
stations at undue speed, 29 at facing points, 17 from explo-
sions, 12 from fractures, 15 from persons in trains striking
against bridges, &c., and 22 from miscellaneous causes.
Not only are collisions the most numerous class of acci-
dents, but they are the most serious in their effects, 1,611
out of 2,068 sufferers in the five years (exclusive of servants)
being classed under this head. In other words, 80 per cent.
of railway accidents and
nearly 80 per cent. of railway ca-
sualties arise from collisions.

I ATEST

Mr. Reuter's office :

CALEDONIAN BALL.—The Paysaune quadrille—
one of the chief attractions at this ball on Monday evening
—was by a lapses pen;sx described as having been arranged
and led by the G. unless of Essex, instead of the Countess
of Eglinton, to whom the exclusive merit of this beautiful
quadrille is justly due. We are informed that it is in con-
templation to re-form the fancy quadrilles which excite I so
much admiration at one of the forthcoming Almack's sub-
scription balls.

THE COMMITTEE ON TAXES BILL—The Tax
Bills Committee sat again at noon yesterday, in the
Library of the Hens?. of Commons, for the purpose of pro-
ce,iding with the consideration of their report.
SALE 01? .SHAREB.—A portion of the share pro-
perty of the late Mr. John. Holmes, of Co ham, the gentle •
man who was the anonymous contributor of £3,000 towards
the erection of the new chapel for the BAN. C. H. Spur-
geon, was sold by auction yesterday by Messrs Targas, of
Bristol. The following prices ware realised :—.P.,800 of
Bristol United Gas Stock sold at 180 per cent. ; £1,500
ditto at 179 i ; and
£1,030 at 179. Ten shares in the
Somerset Coal Canal company fetched £4l each; five
ditto, £42 each; and four ditto, £4O 15s. each. £4,757 New
Granada Stock, Active and Deferred, and £285 Venezuela
Stock were told for £lB5.

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, JUNE 28, 1860.

JUNE 20.

NE

The following telegrams have been received at

PARIS, JUNE 28.

The Moniteur publishes the convention between
England and France relative to the division of cap-
tures in China,

The Moniteur also announces that the funeral of
Prince Jerome will take place on Tuesday next.

VIENNA, JUNE 28.

The official Wiener Zeitung of to-day, says :
" Strict military inquiries relative to the embezzle-
ments of the late General Equatter, have proved
that no charge of dishonesty can be raised against
any other functionary in his department."

NAPLES, JUNE 26.

The following concessions are announced :
A constitution, an amnesty, an alliance with Sar-
dinia, the adoption of the tricolour flag, and a mi-
nistry under Commander Spinelli. Analogous in-
stitutions for Sicily under a viceroy.

GENOA, JUNE 27.
Advices from Palermo state that the Government
has published an electoral law.
Prince Torrearsa and Signors Pisani and Guaneri
have resigned.

CONSTANTINOPLE (via Marseilles),

Yesterday 2,000 soldiers were sent to Beyrout.
The garrison of Damascus have committed acts of
pillage. The Governors of Damascus, Aleppo, and
Smyrna have been deprived of office.
The Christians received with joy the intelligence
that the Porte was instituting an inquiry into the
recent disturbances.

The troops which have been sent to restore order
are, however, insufficient, and massacres are always
feared.

The Christian inhabitants of Cyprus are emigra•
ing en masse to Greece.

Hassan Bey has been sent on a tour through the
Empire, in order to institute inquiries.

The Marquis de Lavalette has given 3,000 francs
to the sufferers from the late fires.
To-day the fire recommenced for the eleventh
time since first breaking out, but now shows signs
of subsiding.