The Sun.
London, England, 1866-02-05 00:00:00

repeated the required number of times,:according to
the number of plates under trial, concludes that part
of the test applicable to the guns, the other part
being the less exciting one of the measurement and
comparison of the results on the face of the plates.
Messrs. Cammell's plates on Saturday passed
through their trial successfully.
The Cumberland, 24, Capt. G. Randolph, guard-
ship of the steam reserve squadron in the Medway,
had her crew paid down to 12months, on Saturday,
after which a large number of the hands were granted
leave of absence for various periods, for the purpose
of visiting their friends, the liberty men leaving for
London by an early train in the afternoon.
The screw steam frigate Doris, 30, having had her
bottom cleaned and valves overhauled, was removed
from No. 1 dock in Keyham steamyard on Friday
and placed in the lock. This week she will be re-
moved to mooring in Hamoaze, preparatory to her
being put in commission by Capt. Vesey.
The screw steam frigate Liffey, 39, having been
overhauled in Keyham steamyard, was removed on
Saturday into Hamoaze, preparatory to her being
placed in Devonport dockyard, in order to be pre-
pared for the first division of the steam reserve.
The screw steam corvette Rattlesnake, 21, Com-
modore Eardley-Wilmot, C. 8., recently returned
from the West Indies, was placed on Friday under
the sheer hulk in' Hamoaze, where her masts and
bowsprits were removed. She is now alongside the
Devonport dockyard to complete dismantling, after
which her crew will be paid off.

The Liverpool screw wooden frigate, 35, Captain
Lambert, sailed from Spithead at noon yesterday
for Plymouth Sound and the Mediterranean.
The military invalids brought to England from
Hongkong and the Cape of Good Hope in Messrs.
Teighe and Smith's ship Gresham were disembarked
on Saturday and forwarded to the Royal Victoria
Military Hospital at Netley. A board of officers,
consisting of Rear-Admiral Wellesley, Col: Shad-
well, Adjutant Quartermaster-General, Dr. Tunes,
the principal medical officer of the S.W. district,
and other officers, afterwards assembled on board
the Gresham to inquire into the causes of the ex-
cessive rate of mortality which had prevailed among
the troops during the voyage home, upwards of 40
men, women, and children having died on board
since the vessel sailed from Hongkong. The report
of the board was to the effect that the large number
of deaths was solely attributable to the weak and
sickly condition of the troops at the time of embar-
cation at Hongkong, the accommodation afforded
to the troops on board the ship, the height between
decks, and their thorough ventilation, proving the
Gresham to be a ship of unusual excellence for troop
carrying duties. The officers accompanying the
troops on the voyage expressed themselves in terms
of warm admiration of the conduct of the comman-
der of the Gresham, Mr. Brayley, and especially
with the manner in which he endeavoured by every
means in his power to anticipate the wants of the
sick during the voyage. The Gresham is bound to
London to discharge her cargo, but was detained at
Spithead up to last evening by the rough weather.
The 17th Lancers, who have occupied the cavalry
barracks at Colchester since their return from India,
have received orders to hold themselves in readiness
to proceed to Aldershot, and it is expected that they
will take their departure some time in March. It is
understood that they will be succeeded at Colchester
by the Ist Dragoon Guards, which regiment will
shortly arrive in England from Madras.
E ear-Admiral Robert Spencer Robinson is to be
Controller of the Navy for a further period of five
years ; his appointment is to date from the 17th
instant.

The following appointments were made on Satur-
day at the Admiralty :—Lieut. Lawrence P. Wil-
lan, Lieut. Henry Fox, and Lieut. W. Thresher, to
the Doris, commissioned ; and Lieut. J. Buchanan
to the Gladiator, vice Croke.

The Late Mr. Gibson.

(Front. the Correspondent of the Times.)
RO3IE, Jan. 30.

On Saturday it was my melancholy duty to re-
port the death of our distinguished countryman,
John Gibson. I have now to describe the honours
which were rendered to him on the occasion of his
funeral, which was solemnised yesterday at two
o'clock. No sooner was the sad event known than 1
a general desire was felt and expressed to mark in
some peculiar way the respect which was felt for a
great artist and a good man, and a hurried meeting
of his friends was called at the English Academy of
Arts on Saturday evening. A considerable number
attended, and the Hon. Mr. Walpole having been
voted to the chair, the Dean of Down and several
other gentlemen addressed the meeting, some of
whom were of opinion that a public character should
be given to the funeral. As some difference of opi-
nion existed from a regard to the well-known un-
ostentatious character of the man whom all wished
to honour, and perhaps from a fear of meeting with
opposition on the part of the Government, it was
decided to leave the arrangements in the hands of
Mr. Penryn Williams and Mr. Spence, the attached
friends and Roman executors of the deceased. Mr.
Macbean and Mr. Ercole, the bankers, at the re-
quest of the executors, conducted the arrangements
for the funeral. Invitations to attend were issued
to the members of the Art Academies, to the Em-
bassies, to the English residents and visitors, and
to many foreigners ; while placards announcing that
the funeral would take place on Monday at 2 o'clock,
were posted in the English church and other public
places, the clergyman of the American church
reading it from the pulpit. The body was re-
moved from the house early on Monday morning,
and taken very privately in a hearse to the English
Protestant burial-ground, where it was deposited in
the little chapel erected there. It was a lovely
morning when we drove out of Rome to pay our
last homage to our friend—just such a morning as
an artist might have desired on which to sink to
rest after life's long toil. Before us and behind us
were carriages full of ladies and gentlemen, and
many persons on foot—the healthy and strong, all
tending to the same spot as ourselves. " Five-and-
forty years have passed," said one of my compa-
nions, Mr. Severn, " since I travelled the same
road to attend the funeral of my friend Keats, be-
tween whose imagery and the creation of Gibson I
find no slight resemblance." On approaching the
cemetery it was evident that a large crowd of per-
sons had already assembled. Outside the gate was
a platoon of French soldiers, whose officer was
placed for the time under the direction of the Eng-
lish authorities. 'With a courtesy and kindness
which cannot be too highly appreciated, General
Montebello accorded this mark of respect to our
deceased countryman, who had been honoured by
the Emperor with the decoration of the Legion of
Honour. Artists were in great force ; all the resi-
dents and visitors among the English and Ame-
ricans of any consideration ; many of the French
and Germans, and not a few of the Romans were
there assembled, and, as was very evident, not
merely to do honour to the man who had attained
the highest eminence in his profession, but to mani-
fest their regard for one who was as much beloved
in private as he was respected in public life. I never
witnessed so large a crowd so fully impressed by one
deep sentiment. It is a beautiful spot is the Eng-
lish Protestant ground in Rome, lying as it does
close to Monte Testaccio on the one hand and to
the Aventine on the other. The very irregularities
of its surface add to its appearance, and relieve it
of that dull uniformity which usually marks the
resting-place of man. Tall, sombre-looking yew-
trees on one side stand there, the silent and perma-
nent mourners for the dead, while flowers, the
flowers of spring, which seemed to have stolen im-
perceptibly on winter, seemed to say that genius
and virtue can never die. By 2 o'clock nearly all
had arrived, and on the order beinr, given the com-
p(l)vn either
eain3eyrofth sFeriench soldiers marched in'and took its place
fidersotf tphaertpaotfhtiw:ehicsehrvleideeiiwitoastthoe
be
ohapel
per-
formed. By the side of the coffin, covered with black
cloth, stood two ladies in deep mourning ; there
were the pall-bearers, too, and others of the more
intimate friends of the deceased; and outside were
massed a crowd of friends ready to fall into the pro-
cession.

The Rev. Mr. Watts, the resident curate of the
Protestant church, read the service, and on the con-