The Sun.
London, England, 1861-04-01 00:00:00

771 E WEST INDIA, MEXICAN, AND

PACIFIC .31-4ILAS.

The Royal Mail Company's steam-ship Tas-
manian, Captain C. G. Weller, arrived at Southamp-
ton early on Saturday morning, with these mails.
She left St. Thomas's on the 17th ultimo, and expe-
Tieneed fresh westerly winds during the greater
part of the voyage, and for the last four days strong
winds from the north.

.•
The Tasmanian brought 123 passengers (viz., 66
'drat-class, 5 children, 21 second class, 4 servants, 4
naval invalids, 1 private 21st Regiment, and 22
distressed British subjects), among whom were Col.
..M'Gee, Lieutenant Kerr, 21st Regiment; and Dr.
Parr, Ist West India Regiment, from Barbadoes ;
Lieutenant Dent, R.N., from Vera Cruz, &c.
The general news by this arrival is very scanty
and unimportant, it appearing from our despatches
that the inhabitants of the various colonies have
their attention absorbed, to the almost entire ex-
elusion of all other topics, by the visit of Prince
Alfred to the West Indies.

His Royal Highness arrived at Barbadoes, as
announced by last mail, on the 21st of February,
and landed from the St. George on the 23d. After
participating in a constant round of enjoyments,
comprising levees, balls, official banquets, &c., and
meeting with a splendid reception from all classes of
the community, the Prince re-embarked on the
afternoon of the Ist of March, under a royal salute,
and the St. George sailed for St. Vincent. The
frigate arrived in Kingston Harbour at 9,30 a.m.
on the 2d, and, after the ceremonies of the day, his
Royal
Highness was entertained at a ball at Go-
vernment House in the evening. He left on the
4th, at 5 a.m., for the Soufriere, a volcano in the
north of the island, which he visited, and sailed
thence the same evening for St. Lucia. On the
sth, a little after 12 o'clock, the St. George arrived
at Part Castries, St. Lucia, and the Prince landed
between 2 and 3 o'clock the same afternoon, amid
the most enthusiastic demonstrations on the part
of the populace, and the firing of a royal salute
by a detachment of the Royal Artillery. A levee at
the Council Room was followed by a grand banquet
at the residence of Mr. Breen, the Administrator of
the Government, to which about 100 guests were
invited to meet the Prince. In proposing the health
of his Royal Highness the Administrator said :
"It is with no ordinary feelings of gratification
and pride that J rise to propose the health of his
Royal Highness Prince Alfred, who has conde-
scended to honour our island by his presence and
to became our guest. The Royal family, I may say,
has peculiar claims on the gratitude and loyalty of
the inhabitants of St. Lucia. You are aware that,
at the taking of this island in 1794, his Royal High-
ness the Duke of Kent, then an officer in the service
of his country, led the storming party on Morne
Fortune, and was the first to plant the British
colours on its fortress. I venture to express the
hope that his Royal Highness Prince Alfred will be
pleased to make known to her Majesty that the
inhabitants of St. Lucia cherish with becoming
sentiments the traditions of the gallantry displayed
on that occasion by the Duke of Kent and of the
distinguished part which he took in restoring the
colony to British rule. Gentlemen, I have the
honour to propose ' the Wealth of his Royal High-
ness Prince Alfred.' May his Royal Highness
become one day the glory as well as the ornament,
of the noble service in which he is enrolled."
The toast was received with the most enthusiastic
applause, and was taken up by the people in the
streets, whose cheering became so continuous that
the Prince was induced to appear at one of the
windows to gratify the public. At six o'clock his
Royal Highness and suite retired, and returned to
the St. George. The town was brilliantly illuminated
in the evening, and a display of fireworks took
place. On the afternoon of the 6th the Prince again
landed, and, after partaking of luncheon at the
Administrator's house, rode to Morne Fortune,
where the Prince had an opportunity of admiring
the scenery of St. Lucia, as viewed from Fort Char-
lotte, the very spot which has been rendered illus-
trious by the galLantry of his grandfather, the late
Duke of Kent. In the evening a grand ball was
given in the Government Buildings, the band of the
St. George being in attendance, and at 9 o'clock a
display of fireworks took place under the windows of
the ballroom. The royal party left soon after 12
o'clock, and re-embarked on board the St. George
amid the cheers of the people, and their fervent
prayers for his future health and happiness. On the
7th the St. George sailed for Martinique, Antigua,
and Jamaica, where his Royal Highness would
again meet Admiral Alexander Milne, in the Nile.
A letter from the British Consul at Port-an-Prince
states that official notice had been given to the
authorities at Hayti of the intention of his Royal
Highness to visit Port-au-Prince on his way to
Jamaica. Extensive preparations were being made
to give the Prince a reception worthy of his exalted
rank and of the high regard of the Haytian Govern-
ment for the British nation.

The St. George's Chronicle of the 9th ult. says :
—" Grenada is not to be favoured, at least this
year, with a visit from his Royal Highness Prince
Alfred—neither is Demerara, Trinidad, Tobago,
nor, perhaps, Dominica, and St. Kitts. This disap-
pointment will be greatly felt in all those islands,
as it but too certainly is felt in this."
At Jamaica the Legislature was still in session,
and on the Bth ult. his Excellency the Governor
gave his assent to several bills, including among
them an act to regulate controverted elections,
another to make further provision for the introduc-
tion of immigrants into the island, and another
authorising the importation of foreign molasses. It
appears that the Governor and the legislative bodies
could by no means agree on various points, and
wide differences continued between them. In the
Legislative Council, on the Bth, a resolution was pro-
posed by the Hon. Mr. Moncrieff, to the effect that the
Council, having passed under peculiar circumstances
a bill to enable the Governor to appoint to a judge
ship a barrister disqualified by the 19th of Victoria,
chap. 10, an Act assented to by her Majesty, they
record their inflexible resolution not in future to
accede to appointments which in their inception
abrogate the statute laws of the country. The re-
solution was carried, and the Hon. Baron von
Kettelhodt gave notice of a protest against it, but
a Message was agreed to that'a copy of the resolu-
tion should be sent to the Governor, requesting him
to transmit the same to her Majesty's Secretary of
State for the Colonies. Again, in the Assembly,
the following -Message from the Governor was pre-
sented by Mr. Smith :
"'t'he Governor acknowledges the Message from
the Assembly, requesting copies of certain reports
addressed to him by the principal officers of Cus-
toms, and the Governor begs that the Assembly,
with a view to the maintenance of the discipline of
the public service, and the discovery of an apparent
violation of official confidences, will acquaint him
with tha source from which the Assembly have
derived the information that letters from the prin-
cipal officers, numbered 30 and 33, have been ad-
dressed to him."

The Message was taken into consideration on the
succeeding day, and, after a very lengthy and ani-
mated debate, the following resolutions were car-
ried by 16 votes to 9 :

"Resolved,—That the House of Assembly ex-
Dresses its profound surprise and regret that his
Excellency the Governor has considered it becoming
in him to transmit to this House, in answer to its
communication of the 6th inst., a Message of so
unprecedented a character.

"That the House of Assembly, having the regard
to maintenance of its own dignity," and to the pre-
servation of the liberties of the people, incline to
communicate the information demanded by that
Message, and calls upon his Excellency for such a
pepelyf their former request it has a right to ex-
roux the
colony." representative of her Majesty to this

The 47th ii.oiti f flearly meeting of the shareholders
,of the Bank
aica was held on the Ist ult.,
when the direct .
„rerrt stated that nothing had
occurred during the
ltr requiring special men-
tion. The net profit 7 a
making provision for all
bad and doubtful debts,
amounted to £5,093 3s. 6d.,
-which enabled the dii.&o
: la:commend an in-
creased dividend of 4 per cent.
Cd. to be added to the resery .e fund, which
forfeited
, T 0; would
'then amount to £20,999. 19s. 104.
:shares had been reduced in the six,ion
.X 3,0124. A further sale was made in lauuiribyf
WO shares, at £6. The directora wereAolding ion,

- AI 7

remainder for a higher figure, and had refused BEM-
ral offers accordingly. The report gave great satis-
faction to the shareholders. The exports from
Jamaica during the months of January and Feb-
ruary amounted to 6 trs. 686 bags of coffee; 682
hogsheads, 121 tierces, and 108 barrels of sugar ;
318 puncheons and 1 cask of rum, 297 bags of
pimento ; 925 tons of dyewoods, 220 lancewood
spars, 290,000 oranges, 200 bunches of bananas ;
3,500 cocoanuts, 13 barrels of copper ore, 1 barrel
of beeswax, 1 box of tortoiseshell. Sales of coffee
had been effected at 41s. per 100 lb.; pimento, 1-1-d.
to 2d. per lb., very little at market; alewives, 225.
per barrel ; codfish, tierces, at 16s. per 1001 b.;
butter—Halifax is., Cork ls. 3d., American 10d.;
mess pork, 106 s.
The Council of Government at Trinidad met on
the Ist of March, when the correspondence between
the Governor and Major Cowell relative to Prince
Alfred was lead, and his Excellency stated that he
had received a private communication assuring him
that the Prince would visit the colony towards the
end of the year. A resolution was moved by Mr.
Spiers, that the Governor be requested to order for
the coming year 3,000 immigrants from India, and
to bring under the notice of the homy authorities
that the proprietary body of the colony was desirous
to receive immigrants from China ; that if possible
500 might be obtained next season, the same to be
deducted from the 3,000 coolies. An ordinance was
passed, constituting Mayaro a port for the lading of
goods. Her Majesty's ships Nile and Barracouta
arrived on the 3d, and the succeeding week was
devoted to festivities of various kinds, the climax of
which was a grand ball at Government-house, in
honour of Admiral Milne. The Sydenham arrived
on the 6th from Calcutta, with coolies. The
weather continued wet and unsettled. Sugar-
making was pursued under difficulties, and the
ruling rates for the staple were any thing but
calculated to make up for the troubles in manu-
facturing it.
At Barbadoes over 2,000 hhds. of sugar had
been shipped and several vessels were loading.
Exchange, 490 for 30 days' sight bills.
The Demerara Court of Policy sat on the 28th
of February, to conclude the framing of the annual
estimates. The Court had agreed to a proposition
made by Messrs. Sproston and Watson, to run a
steamer once a month between Georgetown and
the penal settlement, carrying free of passage
money all persons visiting the settlement on
public business, all prisoners, and the supplies
for the establishment. Great disappointment was
felt that Prince Alfred would not visit the colony.
The ship Victoria from Calcutta, with 355 coolie
immigrants, arrived at Demerara on the 23d of
February, after a passage of 100 days, and landed
320 souls. 35 deaths occurred on the passage,
including infants. She was followed on the 28th
by the Moresfort with 366 coolies from Calcutta,
after a passage of 80 days, during which five
adults and two infants died. The weather had
been very variable, in general showery, but with
a few bright days intervening.
From Hayti there is no news of importance. Last
year's coffee crop fell:very short of the estimate,
and the prospects for the coming crop are not less
unpromising. President Geffrard, in a circular of
the 19th of February, and the Secretary of State
for the Interior, in a similar one of the 16th, ad-
dressed to the Commanding Generals of Districts,
enjoins them again and again to stimulate the peo-
ple, by word and assistance, to devote all their ener-
gies to agriculture, especially to the cultivation of
cotton and ground provisions. The political saga-
city of the President foresees the eventual short-
comings of the supplies of cotton at the European
markets, and also the decrease in the shipments of
American provisions for home consumption by the
ultimate disruption of the United States of America;
and coming up to the simple notions of those he
wishes to impress, he warns them, in patriarchal
language, of the consequences for good and evil.
He says, in relation to cotton :—" This commodity
ought, by the facilities it offers for conveyance to
foreign markets, and to produce it in the interior, to
be specially recommended to the attention of a
country that needs an augmentation of its means of
exchange, and has not as yet all the indispensable
resources for the development of its prosperity. On
the one side, cotton, eagerly looked for by foreign
industry, affords a precious article of exportation,
while there is no fear for its abundance, as its con-
sumption, experience teaches us, increases with its
production. On the other hand, you know that
the culture of this plant requires by no means the
same care as the other staples of our exportation.
It needs no irrigation, thrives in secondary qualities
even in dry soils, can be produced on the smallest
scale, prevents not the simultaneous cultivation of
other commodities and vegetables, of which the
harvest is earlier. Besides these inestimable advan-
tages, eaten requires, save-and except the mill, no
peculiar tools nor factories, and consequently can
be managed with relatively small means. I remind
you here of the incentives held out by Government
for the furtherance of this particular branch of
industry, which will be increased if the results cor-
respond with its expectations. They consist in
rewards of which the scale is laid down in the de-
cree of the 27th February, 1860, and the gift of a
defined number of mills for such localities where
the culture of cotton assumes an adequate develop-
ment—a privilege already imparted to several com-
munities. Add to this the advertisement of the
Secretary of State for the Finances of the 30th of
January last, inserted in the Moniteur of the 2d
February, by which the Government offers to be
security to a foreign company for any utensils pit--
chased from them for agricultural purposes."

EXTRAORDINARY MURDER OF TWO
CHILDREN.

SUDBURY, SATURDAY.

A painful sensation has been created in Suffolk
by the murder of two children by their mother, at
Edwardstone, near Sudbury. The name of the
wretched murderess is Harriet Salmon, and she is
the wife of •a
coal carter residing in the village.
The victims are Elizabeth Salmon, a child of five
years, and. Susannah Humphrey, an illegitimate
child of the woman's, three years older. The chil-
dren were taken by her, together with an infant, a
distance of half a mile, to a thick wood where there
is a large pond 10 feetor 12 feet deep ; and here the
two eldest appear to have been forcibly held under
water till they were drowned. The infant was
destined for the same fate, but some bows stretching
ixto the wider below its little person, supported it,
and it was not sufficiently submerged to have its
existence terminated. The woman herself then
walked into the water up to.her neck, and taking
• the children ;oat laid them on their faces on the
grass by the side of the pond, She then went
home and told a neighbour that her three children
were drowned, but that she believed one was still
alive. At first it was supposed that the children
had met their deaths accidentally ; but the woman
herself subsequently made the following statement
to the police constable who was called in I took
the little girl (the youngest and surviving child)
and threw her into the pond, but she could not
sink because she hung on the boughs; and as
soon as I had done that I saw the other two
other little dears in the pond, and I rushed in after
them. As soon as I had got into the pond the cold
water struck me, and I came to my senses and
dragged the two children now lying dead out. The
little one I took out last. When I got it out I saw
it breathe." She also said she did not know which
way she went to the pond, or which way she came
home, adding :—" If I did do it, I don't know any-
thing about it." It will be seen from this that the
poor creature's language and demeanour is incohe-
rent, and she has been, it seems, in a high state of
nervous excitement for the last six months, imagin-
ing herself, without any definite reason, to be
labouring under various diseases. ne youngest of
the two dead children had a contusion on the fore-
head, and the arms appeared to have been squeezed;
there were no contusions' on the other one, but simi-
lar marks were observable on the arms as if they
had been pressed or nipped. The facts stated above
have been investigated by Mr. G. A. Partridge, the
local coroner, and a verdict of "wilful murder" has
been returned against the weman. - A warrant for
her committal to the county gaol at Ipswich has
been made out, and she now awaits her trial at the
Suffolk summer assizes. •

;,.

J`' ~ y

THY -R 12: 4.217 N 1 4 T.RAMTEVE-. SKIP.

The following letter has been addressed to the
editor of the 2%-mes

Sir,—OnlTriday week a question by Mr. Butler
Johnstone respecting the Britannia training ship at
Portsmouth elicited an answer from the Secretary
to the Admiralty and a few words from myself.
The subject,, however, is much too important for a
casual notice, and I shall therefore be obliged if you
will permit me to address a few observations to
your readers.
About the year 1820 a naval College was esta-
blished at Portsmouth, which produced some of the
most eminent men in the service, and promised the
best results. After a few years it was abolished,
and young officers were left to pick up their duties
as they best might, till about ten years ago, when
Admiral Berkeley tried the experiment of placing
some naval cadets on board the Illustrious, a ship
stationed at Portsmouth for the training of boys ;
and, as the trial answered, in 1858 the Britannia,
120 gunship, was devoted to the purpose, and she
has now 200 young gentlemen on board training
for the Royal Navy. Having visited the Britannia
since allusion was made to her in the House of Com-
mons, I can state her condition correctly. She is
a large roomy three-decker, well known in the ser-
vice as having been flagship in the Mediterranean,
and as far as a ship is fit for such a purpose no
better could be found; her decks are lofty, ventila-
tion good, and her arrangements in every way
most judicious and comfortable. The position; in
which she lies admits of some doubt, as she is in
the close vicinity of a large mud-bank which is dry
at two-thirds ebb. This proximity in a hot summer
cannot be wholesome, though for nine months of
the year it may be innocuous, and its effects on the
sick list hardly apparent. It must be kept in view,
howevrr, that the boys are a picked body, each of
them having been passed into the service by medical
inspection.
The educational and other arrangements for diet,
berthing, &c., arc exceedingly good. The ship is
commanded by Captain Harris, an officer who has
turned his whole attention to the subject of naval
education, and whose anxious and careful prose-
cution of a system which he has originated and
matured have raised him to a most eminent and
valvable position; in him and Mr. Nares, the Ist
Lieutenant, the service hold the most perfect
guarantee for the efficiency in the early training of
the young officers who from time to time recruit
the ranks of the profession. The educational
branches are ably presided over by Mr. Inskip,
assisted by men of great ability, and the results are
most satisfactory; the lads who are now introduced
into the service are mote perfectly grounded in
professional knowledge than they have ever been
before, and join their ships with the elements of
efficiency which only require to be kept up. So
far all is well, but the question arises, is the Bri-
tannia more than a temporary expedient ? And,
admitting what cannot be questioned, that as far as
the objects can be attained in a ship, she is in every
way perfect—is it right, in this great maritime
country, where there are various great and im-
portant military seminaries, that the education of
boys destined for the sea should be conducted in a
hulk instead of having a College, situated in a
healthy position, where a small training ship could
be anchored in the vicinity, where a daily class
could be exercised, and a vessel or two attached to
the establishment for summer cruising ? Such a
situation can be found on Hayling Island or at
Portland, though the former offers the greatest
facilities and advantages. _

Boys are sent to sea too early at present; no lad
ought to be entered to the College before 14, or join
a ship till he is 16, and a certain proficiency in classics
ought to be exacted ; the two years from 14 to 16
are most important, and they are thrown away under
the present system. If entry to College was so re-
stricted, boys would learn their duties more rapidly,
their muscular powers would be better developed,
and the country would save by the change. For
there is no doubt—whether it is the confinement of
a ship or the want of milk diet, so necessary to
growing boys, they are not the size they ought to
be.

My object, therefore, is to call public attention to
the necessity for a good naval College. which would
not only educate the aspirants to the Royal Navy,
but would also be available for the education of
young men destined for the superior class of mer-
chant ships. In the present staff of the Britannia
we have the whole machinery for such an establish-
ment in perfection. The purchase of a site and the
erection of a building in a healthy situation would
not be a matter of much difficulty. Such an esta-
blishment ought to be self-supporting in a great
measure ; it seems to be an anomaly to call on the
State to contribute to the primary education of
officers of the naval service; it acts injuriously in
various ways ; it introduces too many young men
into the service, who have not the means of main-
taining themselves without difficulty, and it fur-
nishes a pretext for the system of underpaying the
service on the plea that some part of the necessary
education is afforded at the public expense. It would
also introduce some irregularity into the education
of officers; at present great injustice is done by
young men who have never had the advantages the
Britannia affords ; who entered the service from
school, and have since spent their time on foreign
stations, where they could not obtain instruction in
the necessary branches, but are, nevertheless, sub-
jected to the same tests as those whose advantages
are so much superior.
By an alteration in the age of entry, and the
consequent extension of time for education, the boys
will retain more of the influence of home ties, which
are completely severed under the present harsh and
unfeeling system. Those who found the service
uncongenial to their tastes would have an education
which would enable them to enter other professions
with some prospect of success ; the office of naval
instructor, instead of being elementary, as at pre-
sent, would be of a higher and more important
character ; and if the same privileges of leave were
extended to officers in the navy that:are accorded
to the army, and every other branch of her Ma-
jesty's service, the effect on the young men in the
service would be most beneficial. This important
subject has so many bearings that it is difficult to
do more than to touch upon its most salient points;
but it forms no inconsiderable part of a reform of
naval affairs which is certainly impending, and
which will, I trust, result in sweeping away many
of the anomalies and abuses of the present system.
I remain, Sir, yours truly,
March 30. J. D. H. ELPHINSTONE.

TI3EREV C. . SPURGE()E'S LAST SER-
VICE IN EXETER HALL.

Yesterday morning being the last appearance of
this gentleman at Exeter Hall, previous to the
regular Sabbath services in the New Tabernacle,
though the weather was very unfavourable, the
hall was densely crowded.
Before naming the text, Mr. Spurgeon said, that
was the last occasion of worshipping there. They
were about entering regularly their new place at
Newington, and he blessed God they did so quite
free of debt ; they owed no man anything, but God
much, for his goodness; every farthing was paid,
even for the furniture, and the greater portion of
the seats was already let.
The Rev. Gentleman then proceeded with all his
accustomed fervency to dilate on the following ap-
propriate words, " And it came to pass, when the ark
was set forward, that Moses said, rise up Lord, let
Thine enemies be scattered ; and let them that hate
Thee flee before Theo."—Numbers x, ver. 35. This
prayer was alike befitting our own age as it was to
Luther when he attached his Theses to the church
door at Wittenberg, as to John Knox in Scotland,
to Whitfield and Wesley, to a solitary missionary in
China, and Livingstone contending with the dense
ignorance in Africa. He (Mr. Spurgeon) did not
kow when the Lord would come ; Dr. Cumming
might, it might be in 1866. The Scriptures said
the Lord would come; he would rather it should be
in 1861 that the Lord should make himself known.
Ignorance and iniquity were rife in the world ;
one country boasted of its liberty, in which
the lash was still covered with gore; another was
priest-ridden ; the words might well be repeated,
"Rise up Lord." The text was particularly refer-
able to their own case. They, as a Church, had to
wander from place to place; when they Went to
the Surrey Music-hall, Satan went too, but he fled
before them; the dreadful calamity there would
never be effaced- from their memory ; but under
the blessing of God, other' halls, theatres,
and cathedrals had since been opened which had
never been opened before for the people to
worship in. They were now about to go to,the
house God had given them. His desire was to stand
before the people as Moses did before the Israelites,
and say, " Let them that hate Thee flee before Thee."
They should have enemies to battle against. Close
by where they were going; scarlet Rome had built
her batteries, with the so styled archbishop. There
was also a special place for the display of infidelity.
In Rome there was something to lay hold of the
mind of man, but infidelity was bald and puny.
There, too, was to be seen close by the edifice, sin
in the worst forms ; but they did not intend to com-
bat these evils with some social system or political
economy, but by preaching Christ the Saviour of
sinners. _ _ _

-----
In the evening Mr. Spurgeon preached in his
new tabernacle to an immense congregation. The
doors were thrown open at six o'clock to ticket
holders; but long before that time a vast number
assembled. At a quarter past six the doois were
opened to the public, when some excitement arose,
simply from the fact that all wanted to be in-first.
The spacious building was quickly filled, not a