The Sun.
London, England, 1859-07-27 00:00:00

THE BOMBAY MAIL.

The Orissa arrived at Southampton yesterday
with the heavy portion of the Bombay mail. Her
dates were : Alexandria, July 13 ; Malta, 17 ;
Gibraltar, 21. She brought 122 passengers, amongst
whom were Lord. Charles Scott, R.N., Sir James
and Lady Cochrane, Colonel Colborne, Lieutenant-
Colonel Graydon, Major Earle, Captains Bannister,
Shackerley, and Comyn ; Lieutenants Milman,
Leeds, Byam, and Waller; Doctors Williams and
Collins, &c. Amongst her cargo were 705 bales of
silk and .5 packages of specie. The Orissa ex-
changed signals with the Peninsular packet Alham-
bra on the 21st inst., and. with the India packet
Pera on the 23d inst. Her Majesty's ships Marl-
borough, Hannibal, Hibernia, Exmouth, Conqueror,
Princess Royal, Renown, Orion, En-yalus, Doris,
Intrepid, Lapwing, Banshee, and Hearty, were at
Malta. The St. Jean d'Acre, Brunswick, Victor
Emanuel, and Assurance were cruising off Malta.
The Vulture and Quail (gunboats) were at Gibraltar.
The Taurus, an English steamer purchased by the
Spanish government,had arrived atCadiz from Liver-
pool, laden with naval stores for the arsenal there.
The Violet, with 140 English convicts, had arrived
at Gibraltar. From Cadiz, two ships of war and
the war steamer General Alava had put to sea ; the
war sloop Ferrolano, with troops and settlers for
Fernando Po ; the war corvette Colon, for Cartha-
gena ; and the transport ship Quita, for Porto
Rico. The Russian ships of war Retvisan and
Gremoboi had left Cadiz for the Baltic. The Rus-
sian steamer Argonaut, the French steam-sloop
Tanger, and the Spanish steamer San Bernardo,
left Gibraltar on the 18th. The fallowing British
merchant steamers and sailing ships touched at or
passed Gibraltar between the 16th and 21st inst.,
viz. :—The steamers Vulture and Britannia, and
the sailing ships Earl Mulgrav'e, Albion, Henrietta,
Leonard Preston, Mirabita, Convivial, Eliza,
Richard Brown, Equator, William West, Fanny,
Agnes, Forest Queen, and New Teresa. Several
of the crew of the wrecked steamer Alma were ap-
prehended on their arrival at Southampton in the
Orissa, on a charge of robbing the passengers and
breaking open a box belonging to Sir John Bow-
ring, late governor of Hong-Kong, on board the
Ottawa, while on her passage down the Red Sea.

THE FORTIFICATIONS OF DOVER.—The fortifica-
tions of the citadel of Dover are about to be enlarged, and
the estimated cost of the works is £150,000. The walls
round the ramparts inside and outside will be raised many
feet, the ditches will be considerably lowered, while on the
sea front will be erected a large bastion for officers' quar-
ters, on the top of which will be a very strong battery,
heavily mounted with first-class ordnance. In the centre
of the citadel will be a signal tower, while lower, and over
the reservoir, will be placed all the necessary buildings
required for such a place, between which and the guns
facing outwards will be a covered way to protect the
military passing to and fro. The improvements will ex-
tend from the citadel to the drop, at which places, and at
the head of the military road will be constructed new draw-
bridges of great strength.—Maidstone Journal.
VOLUNTEER RIFLE CORPS.—On the 25h inst.
an influential and numerously attended meeting took place
at the Lecture-hall, Blackheath, on the subject of raising
a volunteer rifle corps for that locality, Mr. H. B. Farnall,
of Manor-house, Lee, in the chair. Upon the platform
were: Lieut.-Col. Dawson;C.B., Lieut.-Col. Smith, Mr. F.
South, Mr.J. F. Turner Mr.'F. Gossett, Capt. Jackson,
Messrs. Hart, Smith, D'rury, Harding, Whittaker, and
others. The chairman addressed the meeting, and laid
before them the rules and regulations which have been
sanctioned by Lord Sydney, the Lord Lieutenant of the
county of Kent, and by which, in conjunction with the
44th of George 111. cap. 54, the Blackheath Volunteer
Rifles will be governed. The meeting was al3o addressed
by Colonel Dawson, C. 8., Mr. J. Flint South, and others,
when it was unanimously determined that a corps should
be forthwith raised ; and after the appointment of a comr
mittee, consisting of 24 gentlemen, with Mr. H. B. Farnall
as their chairman, and with Mr. J. F. Turner as their
hon. Secretary, upwards of 40 names were at once entered
on the list of effective members of the Lee and Blackheath
Rifle Volunteers.

THE AFRICAN SLAVE TR2D-E RE-
VIVED BY THE FBENCIi.

Yesterday a public meeting was held at the Spa-
fields Chapel, Exmouth-street, Clerkenwell, to hear
a statement made by Stephen Beckley, a coloured
youth, formerly in Lady Huntingdon's School, at
Sierra Leone, respecting his escape from the French
settlement of Cayenne, where he had been kept in
slavery for three years.
Mr. GEORGE THOMPSON, formerly M.P. for the
Tower Hamlets, was unanimously called to the
chair, and said that they were assembled there
for two purposes—the first to receive information,
and the next to use that information in the most
efficacious manner for the extinction of one of the
most vicious systems with which the earth was
cursed. There was a feeling on the part of many
of the nations individually, and he feared also with
a common understanding amongst many of them
collectively, to re-introduce the African slave trade,
which was the disgrace of this country until
within the last 25 years. The United States had
lately introduced several cargoes of slaves, and
some of the states had declared, in violation of
every treaty and the law of nations, that they
would import these slaves from the west coast of
Africa if they thought proper. There was the
French nation, who had been inveigling the natives
into contracts for five years, which they did not
understand the nature of, and which was, in fact,
only another name for slavery. (Cheers.) The
youth on the platform had been a victim to that
species of slavery, and would give 'them an account
in his own way of what he had undergone, and that
would be a fair sample of what his countrymen
were suffering at the present time.
The Rev. Mr. THORESBY then stated that as the
youth spoke English imperfectly he would question
him as to his statement.

William Beckley, aged 19, then stated, in answer
to questions, that he was born in Freetown, Sierra
Leone. His father's name was William and his
mother's name was Elizabeth. His father was a
printer and worked in the Government printing-
office, under the secretary of the colony. He went
on to state that he had been educated at Lady
Huntingdon's School, Zion Chapel, at Freetown, and
was taught to read the Bible. He was there till
he was 14 years of age. He then wished to be
taught navigation and become a pilot. About that
time a screw steamer came to Sierra Leone, by the
name of Lionne. The captain's name was Cheval-
lier, and he, the father, and the youth, went into
the office and signed a paper, which he believed to
be an agreement for the captain to teach him navi-
gation. He also got his ticket to prove he was a
free man, and set sail, as he was led to believe, to
run between Martinque and Sierra Leone. Instead
of sailing to Martinique the vessel went to the
coast of Monrovia, in Liberia, where she took in a
large cargo of blacks, the men with their hands
tied behind them, and the women with children in
their arms and their hands not tied. After being
21 days on the coast they got a full cargo and set
sail for Cayenne, where they arrived and were then
taken on shore. They were put into a large tent,
and were then taken by different masters. The
blacks were crowded in the vessel, and many died
on the voyage, and were thrown overboard. He
then went on to describe the work the negroes had
to do on the plantation, and how they were flogged
by their masters. He ran away several times and
went to the governor, but he told him that he
could not send him home, or if he did he must pay
the same money to Bozanet (his master) as Bozanet
had paid to the captain for him. His ticket of free-
dom had been taken from his chest, and he was
claimed for a slave. He was sent back to his mas-
ter and was whipped. He went several times to
the governor, and at last told him he was a
free negro from Sierra Leone. He was sent
back to his master, but Madame Bozanet told him
he must do his work, and that he would not be
whipped again because he came from a British
colony. Shortly after this he was sent to the
plantation with sugar, and there saw an American
ship, which he paddled out to in a little boat, and
got on board. He was taken to Salem, and sent by
the captain of the American vessel to Boston, where
the British consul, Mr. Francis Lousada, treated
him most kindly, and by direction of Lord John
Russell forwarded him to London.
The Rev. Mr. THORESBY then stated they were
now training this youth for a schoolmaster, to send
him back to Sierra Leone as a native teacher in
Lady Huntingdon's School. It was necessary to
have native teachers, as so many of the missionaries
had died there lately. He said he had every con-
fidence in the boy's statement, for he knew the
friends of the schools they had established there,
and was, in fact, one of the society's scholars in
that colony. This information had been taken
down at the Foreign-office, and the Government
would take further steps in the matter.
The CHAIRMAN said he had watched the lxy's
statement very narrowly, and from the beginning
to the end he had not discovered one discrepancy
in the narrative. His case was but one of about
seven millions of human beings. He expatiated on
the evils of slavery, and argued that no legislation
would ever be able to put it down. Monday next
would be the twenty-fifth anniversary of the aboli-
tion of slavery in the British colonies, and would be
celebrated by a meeting, over which Lord Brougham
would preside.
The Rev. Mr. THORESBY then stated that the
boy had first thought to be a mason and go back to
Sierra Leone to build houses there, and then to be a
plumber, as there was not one there, and it would
be so glorious to carry leaden pipes over the tops
of the houses and give the people fresh water; but
when he learned that it would take some years to
learn those trades, he r.t once gave up the idea, and
decided to be a schoolmaster, provided they would
send him home within a limited period. The com-
mittee of the school had undertaken to do so, and
in the meantime were laying the groundwork of a
good education, which would be completed there.
The Rev. W. WOODHOLTSE moved, and the Rev.
F. W. WILLcocKs seconded, a vote of thanks to the
chairman, which was carried enthusiastically, and
the meeting separated.

EXTRAORDINARY SCENE AT THE
SURREY MUSIC HALL. •

A great " concert and fete" was given on Mon-
clay night at the Royal Surrey Gardens, in aid of
the Lambeth Choral Society. The names of the
lsading vocalists—Mr. Sims Reeves, Madame
Anna Bishop, Mr. Montem Smith, Miss Dolby,
and Mr. Thomas—at the ordinary shilling adriiis-
sion, attracted an immense audience. By eight
o'clock there could not have been less than six or
eight thousand people in the music hall and
grounds. The spectacle of so great a concourse
assembled for enjoyment so innocent and elevatio?;
was more than pleasant ; but it suddenly became
varied by an uproar nothing less than disgraceful.
The first piece set down for Mr. Sims Reeves was
"Fra Poco," which he sung with only too great
effect. He left the orchestra amidst great ap-
plause, which, as usual, was' extended to a vocife-
rous encore. le did not respond, and the continued
cheering became mingled withi hisses. The band
conductor, Mr. H. Schallehn, attempted to proceed,
but was deterred by fiercely reiterated cries of en-
core. After the lapse of some five minutes a gen-
tleman presented himself to offer an explanation.
But the malcontents had:now waxed so furious that
they refused him ; and the good sense of the
majority expressing itself in cries of "Hear him,"
" hear him, an obstinate contest arose. At length,
the explanation was suffered to be heard, and it was
to the effect that Mr. Reeves having to sing two
other pieces he could not repeat so trying an effort
as that just made. This ought to have satisfied
everybody and. did otisfy all but an excited mino-
rity, who, in spite of pverwhelming cries of en-
couragement to the conductor to proceed, perse-
vered in hissing, groaning, any
hooting. Th
an is n
hour,
dis-
graceful scene lasted about half Z.' d was
only terminated by the performane6—despite all
demands to the contrary—of the WeddL3' March,
in " Midsummer Night's Dream." The drums,
trumpets, and violins had fairly the best of it, ,2nd
the proceedings were tranquil enough till Mr.
Reeves made his second appearance. Volleys of
hisses, groans, and catcalls mingled with the vehe-
ment applause that saluted him. For some minutes
he took this unusual reception in good part, bowing
and smiling at every outburst of the popular hu-
mour as if it were unmixed flattery. But this sort
of thing soon gets beyond a joke, and when it was
evident that a mischievous few, at various entrances
of the building, were determined Mr. Reeves should
not be heard, a contrary resolution was expressed
with equal decision. Deafening peAls of cheering
were kept up in order to intimidate the disturbers,
but still they held out. In vain the great singer
tried the effect of his soothing art upon the dis-
turbers. They broke him down in the second verse
of " When thou wilt be my bride." In vain he
bowed in his sweetest notes, "My breast doth swell
with pride." His offended admirers answered with
implacable derision. Clenching his music scroll, he
exclaimed, " I am too much of an Englishman to be
beaten !" and coolly took a chair. All the previous
efforts of the majority were as nothing to the enthu-
siasm now evoked. Angry demands were made for
the expulsion of the offenders, and Mr. Reeves
himself set the example of pointing out two
.cr
three, who were forcibly removed, and saluted
by the victorious vocalist, as they made their igno-
minious exit, with a kiss blown from his gloved fin-
gers. Thus by degrees the tumult was subdued,
the song was recommenced, and Mr. Reeves re-
tired amid a tempest of unqualified applause. Half
an hour later he sat down to the piano to sing " My
Pretty Jane." The cheering that followed was
mense, but scarce a single voice ventured to ask a

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repetition. To the universal surprise and delight,
the exultant tenor came back and sang to his own
accompaniment the " Bay of Biscay." Of course this
completed his triumph, and Mr. Sims Reeves finally
retifed from the orchestra a greater favourite than
ever.

THE NA VY.

A part of the Channel fleet, consisting of the
Royal Albert, 131, screw, bearing the flag of Rear-
Admiral of the Red Sir Chas. H. Fremantle, K.C.B. ;
the Algiers, 91, screw, Capt. G. IV: D. O'Callag-
han ; the James Watt, 91, screw, Capt. Ed ward
Codd ; the Hero, 91, screw, Capt. G. H. Seymour ;
the Emerald, 51, screw, Capt. A. Cumming; the
Pioneer, 6, screw, Comirtander C. H. May; and the
Flying Fish, 6, screw, Charles W. Hope, hove in
sight under canvas at 9.30 a.m. yesterday off the
east end of the Wight ; and at 11.30 the leading
ship Royal Albert hauled up vnind the Nab light-
ship for Spithead under all plain oail. The Emerald,
with two of the liners, had to shorts n canvas to keep
in their proper position astern of the Admiral. By
4.15 p.m. the whole of the ships had taken up their
berths at Spithead, where the fleet comprises, in
addition to the ships above named, the Edgar, 91,
screw, Capt. Katon, carrying the flag of Rear-
Admiral of the Blue John E. Erskine, second in
command of the fleet, the Neptune, 91, screw, Capt.
Sir W. Hoste, Bart. ; the Mersey, 40, screw, Capt.
H. Caldwell, C.B. • and the naval apprentice brig
Rolla, Lieut.-Com. Nelson—these latter vessels fly-
ing the blue ensign under Rear-Admiral Erskine.
The Russian frigate Polkan is also at Spithead.
The Neptune, 91, screw, Capt. Sir W. Hoste,
Bart. made her official trial of speed at the mea-
sured in Stokes Bay on Monday evening, un-
der the supervision of Commander Gardner, of the
Steam Reserve, Mr. Murray, of the steam factory,
and Mr. J. Downie, Acting-Inspector of machinery
afloat. The machinery gave the greatest satisfac-
tion in its working. The result of the trial gave a
mean of six runs, 10.905 knots. Draught of water
—aft, 26ft. 3in. ; ditto, forward, 25t. 4in. Revolu-
tions of engines—maximum, 63}; mean, 63/. Pres-
sure of steam. 201 b. Vacuum—forward engine, 24 ;
after ditto, 25. Pitch of screw, 19ft. 9in. ; diame-
ter of screw, 20ft. The Neptune swung compasses
at Spithead yesterday.
The Imperieuse, 51, screw,‘Capt. R. Maguire, has
moved her berth from alongside the Malabar coal
depot in Portsmouth harbour to alengside the Prince
Regent hulk, preparatory to proceeding to Spithead.
The Hood, the Queen, the Mars, and the Amphion
are being fitted in the basin at Sheerness. The Clio
is in No. 3 dry dock at Sheerness, all of which ships
are progressing rapidly in their equipment for sea.
The Cossack, 21 guns, at Sheerness, has hauled
into the stream. Her complement is now nearly
complete, but a few vacancies remain unfilled.
Lieut. Hatchard has taken up his commission and
joined as First Lieutenant.
The screw steam-gunboat Jackdaw, tender to the
Hogue, Coastguard-ship, left Plymouth on Satur-
day evening for Greenock.
The crew of the steam sloop Gladiator, 6, Com-
mander Hickley, were paid advance of wages at
Plymouth on Monday.
It was expected at Plymouth that the screw
steam-frigate Diadem, 32, Capt. W. Mocirsom, C. 8.,
would leave the Sound yesterday for Spithead.
The U.S. sloop-of-war Plymouth, Capt. Craven,
left Plymouth Sound on Monday evening for Brest.
The paddlewheel steam-sloop Virago, 6, Com-
mander Dunn, from Portsmouth and Portland, ar-
rived at Plymouth on Sunday with Mr. Paul and a
party of seamen. She made a short trip outside the
breakwater on Monday to test some parts of her
machinery, supposed to be defective.
Mr. W. H. Ward, of Auburn, United States of
America, yesterday exhibited in Woolwich dock-
yard, by permission of the Lords of the Admiralty,
his patent invention for transmitting messages and
carrying on correspondence of any length from ship
to ship, becalmed, or sailing within telescopic sight
of each other on the ocean, with equal facility t°
that of the electric telegraph on land. The exhibi-
•
tion was witnessed by Commodore the Hon. J. R.
Drummond, C. 8., aide-de-camp to the Queen, in his
official capacity as superintendent, attended by the
entire body of officers representing the various de--
partments of the yard. One of the instruments was
erected at either end of a long enclosed lobby ad-
joining the dockyard factory, when a length- .
ened test of messages and replies was satisfac-
torily carried out. The experiment was extremely*
interesting and conclusive as to the merits of
the apparatus, the result of which was promptly,
transmitted to Lord Clarence Paget by speel9'l
direction of the Commodore to that effect, the in-
vention having been pronounced one of the most
important of the kind hitherto produced, and likely
to be productive of immense benefit to the entire
naval and merchant service afloat. The weight of
the instrument, which is of the simplest construc-
tion, does not appear to exceed 141 b. It represents
the form of a cross, exhibiting five alphabetically
marked lamps. which are worked by a process re•
sembling the keys or notes of a piano slowly de--
pressed, and at the termination of each sentence the
lights are clouded. As regards the working of the
instrument, the principal officers of the Fisgard
who yesterday attended the experiments affirmed
without any hesitation that any boy of her Majes-
ty's fleet could obtain a perfect mastery of the sys-
tem by a couple of evenings' study.
Commander W. R. G. Palliser has been appointed
, Inspecting Commander of the Coastguard, vice
Commander De Vere.