The Sun.
London, England, 1866-06-07 00:00:00

The MAYOR (Mr. G. Parker) said he had acted
according to the best of his judgment, and refused
to ask for another show of hands. (Groans, hisses,
and cheers.)

Several fights took place before the crowd dis
persed.

Royal Botanic Society of London.

The second summer show in the gardens of this
society in Regent's-park took place yesterday, and
was in every way a success. The afternoon, al-
though somewhat threatening at times, was free
from rain, and the visitors were consequently enabled
to enjoy the beauty of the grounds, which may
be now said to be in their prime. The show of
flowers took place in the large marquee, and was an
excellent one, and the brightness of the colours on
entering was almost dazzling. There was a good
display of miscellaneous greenhouse plants, Cape
heaths, variegated and fine foliaged plants, exotic
and English ferns, which being tastefully arranged
in groups among the more gorgeous plants afforded
relief to the eye, and at the same time added much
to the general effect. The pelargoniums, which were
in large numbers, were unusually fine; they were
of great size, and covered with well-opened and
perfect blossoms. The light varieties were best re-
presented by Crystal Beauty, Delicatum, Fair Ro-
samond, and Desdemona ; while for bright colours,
Conflagration and Lord Clyde attracted most at-
tention. There were also many well-grown azaleas,
adding much to the sweetness of the scene, and the
roses were in perfection. Amongst the variegated
plants we may mention—Phormium tenax, or New
Zealand flax, variegated yellow ; variegated meadow
grass, very white and pretty ; maize or Indian corn,
the leaves striped white ; some fine begonias, with
their silvery red leaves; a fine collection of agaves,
or the American aloe. There were also a very large
and choice collection of orchids, which delight the
eye by their curious forms, and fill the air with
choice colours. The bright lselias Cattleyas, den-
drobiums, plalanopsis, and the very curious urope-
dium Lindenii, and selinipedium condatum, were as
fine as could be wished. The fancy-leaved horse-
shoe geraniums, now so much in favour, attracted
much attention. There was a nice collection of
bedding geraniums from white to scarlet, and
very well grown. Among the many new rare
and curious plants the following deserve men-
tion :—Paulonia imperials, a new hardy tree
from Lord Macclesfield's gardens, with magnifi-
cent bunches of flowers, some eight inches high,
of a delicate purple colour and fine cents ; fine
blue clamatis flowers, quite 5 inches across, called
Velutina, purpurea and Magnifica ; a curious Indian
radish, the seed-pods, 3 feet long—they are said to
grow 2 or 3 inches in one night ; a new variegated
vine ; pelargonium album plenum, or double
flowered white pelargonium ; aubrietia Campbellii,
a pretty little plant for rock work, covered with
violet flowers ; and the ornithogalum thyrisordis
alba. Messrs. Veitch and Son had a large stand of
curious plants, the names of a few of which we have
only space to mention. The cut roses, panzies, &c.,
were much admired, and the fruit was well grown.
Mr. Waterer's American plants are quite an exhi-
bition in themselves, and well worth a visit. We
understand they will be in full perfection for some
days, and the society have decided upon opening the
gardens to the public on this day, to-morrow, and
Saturday. The Princess Helena,-attended by Lady
Barrington and General Gray, and also the Duchess
of Cambridge, honoured the gardens by an early
visit, and among the company we noticed the Bishop
of Winchester, the Brazilian, Swedish, French,
Austrian, Spanish, and American ambassadors. The
bands of the First and Second Life Guards, per
formed during this afternoon.

School Ship Society.

The sixth annual meeting of this society was held
yesterday, at No. 24, New-street, Spring-gardens ;
Sir John Pakington, M.P., in the chair. Mr. Stephen
Cave, M.P., the honorary secretary, read the report
of the committee, which stated that the progress of
the institution continues sound and satisfactory.
The number of boys on board the reformatoryschool
ship Cornwall, now lying in the Thames, off Pur-
fleet, Dec. 31, 1864, was 140 ; in 1865 the admis-
sions were 77 ; the re-admissions from license, 2 ;
a total of 80 ; there
hadfrom
beenabsconding
64
disci ;
discharged ;making 156 boys in the
ship on Dec. 31, 1865. The steady increase of ad-
missions, which rose from 25 in 1863, to 50 in 1864,
and 77 in 1865, showed that the value of the insti-
tution was becoming more and more appreciated,
and the conduct of the boys after leaving the ship
bore equal testimony to the efficiency of the system
carried out on board. The behaviour of the boys had
been during the year satisfactory, and their general
health good ; but there had been one death from con-
sumption, of a lad who was in bad health when he came
on board. The balance-sheet was more unfavourable
than that of last year. The boys were still very far
short of the full complement. This had added ma-
terially to the expense ; but the most serious cause
for anxiety was the state of the ship itself, the upper
deck of which was in a very rotton condition when
made over to the society. The rigging now requires
refitting, and portions of it have to be replaced ; the
upper deck must be caulked and repaired ; the cook-
ing apparatus was completely worn out ; the hull
required caulking outside, and a considerable outlay
would be necessary in future for general repairs, in
order to keep the ship sound and dry. Forty-six
boys had visited the Cornwall during the year, hav-
ing either returned in their ships from foreign voy-
ages, or being otherwise in employment ;
written, and of many others satisfactory reports d
thea
been received. The character maintained by
was
boys had been such that the difficulty many
had
whichment had
once experienced in finding them e
entirely passed away. The
and up to
admitted to the end of last year wa
The receipts
the same date 227 had lefti balance
eeship.
total nsmu4mP47b7er of boys
fi4Bo on the pre-
of the year, including a
credit of £l6B 9s. 4d. in
the expenditure showed
vious account had amoubn'tlead to £3,642 18s. 9d., and
d were estimate
favour of the societyd, aawthios,e6sassleBtss. aatgathinestsaeperio
the report, remarkedC hairm an;hiant itsmoving
-
scription of the ship somewhat reminded hirn of the
the lia-
bilities
adoption
d of
po
tr
0in4602f 4ts.
h.
Irishman's knife, for when the repairs were effected
there would be very little of the original vessel left.
The presentation took place when he was at the
Admiralty, and as it had certainly been far from his
intention to present the society with a rotten ship,
the present state of things, he thought, ought not to
be allowed to continue. HQ regretted to find that
the society received no support 'from the Middlesex
magistrates, nor did he like the idea of a
society like this becoming a begging society,
but DWI he could not help being struck by the

man in the moon for years to come. The Liberal
party, which he should support, represented prin-
ciples which had triumphed all through the history
of this country, and they met the wants of the age ;
the Conservativ es, on the contrary, stood still, and
the consequence was—like men who stood still on
the strand, neither looking to the right or the left—
they got knocked .down. (Laughter and cheers.)
Ilis opponent was prepared to follow the example of
the old Egyptians, who embalmed the human frame
and bequeathed the mummy to posterity. (Cheers.)
In conclusion, he called upon his supporters to be
early at the poll on the following morning.
A show of hands was then taken, and although it
was apparent that it predominated on the side of the
Liberals, the Mayor very unexpectedly declared that
it was in favour of Mr. Patton. (Cheers and hisses.)
Mr. JAS. SULLY (one of the leaders of the Liberal
party) complained that the proceedings had not been
conducted impartially ; it was clear to every one
who had eyes to see with that there were at least one-
third more hands held up in favour of Bagehot than
for Mr. Patton.