The Sun.
London, England, 1861-11-06 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY E'ENING, NOVEMBER 6, 1861.

NARROW ESCAPE OF HER MJLJESTY'S SHIP
EMERALD.

The Emerald, 51, screw-frigate,lCaptain A. Cum-
ming, arrived in Plymouth Sound on Tuesday morn-
ing. Sho left Spitbead October sth, bound for
Halifax with Armstrong guns far -the fleet on the
North Amirica and West India ste tion. She ex-
perienced tliick foggy weather till she reached the
meridian of Cape Clear,.then met with strong wes-
terly gales. On reaching as far as 40 W., she expe-
rienced a very heavy gale on the 21st, 22d, and
23d, first front B;W., but which suddenly shifted
to the N.W. During the three days it blew
furiously, the ship labouring and straining very
heavily. During the, gale she lost her port quarter
boats and davits, had a closed reefed maintopsail
blown out of the bolt ropes, spare topsail yard
washed from the chains, close reefed fore topsail
split, foresail split, which was hauled up, but could
not be furled from the force of the gale; had a cutter
from her starbowxd quarter washed away. At times
had 10 or 12 inches of water on !aer lower deck,
which was scuttled to let the water pass into the
bilge; sprung her eutwater and stern post, and
had several ports kn6eked in; set the engines to
work to relieve the sliip, when the discharge pipe
was found to be brekon. With these damages sus-
tained, the captain did not think it :right to continue
to face the gale, so bow up for the eastward on the
evening of the 23d, when in about 47 N. and 38 W.
On the morning of the 22d she had, a narrow escape
of being run into while lying to, by a homeward
bound timber vessel. The Emerald'. went into har
bour at Devonport on Tuesday aftei•itoon to refi

ANOTHER ACCOUNT.
The screw steam frigate Emerald, 5.:1, Capt. Arthur
Cumming, which left Spithead 0 c tober 5, with
supernumeraries for Halifax, put ink ck damaged to
Plymouth Sound yesterday morning, as reported in
The SUN. She reached as far as the, banks of New-
foundland, where she experienced vi 3 ry heavy wea-
ther, and was compelled to bear up for the Channel.
The frigate has lost three quarter-b( )Etts, port davit,
spare topsail yard, and other spars. She has her
main yard sprung and sails split, stornpost sprung,
Bze. The engines and machinery were so much
damaged by the rolling of the ship that considera-
ble time was occupied in getting under steam.
Eleven days were occupied in returning to Ply.
mouth. One marine had his leg broken by the
shot which got adrift from the racks in the storm.
The principles of the various departtue nts connected
with the Devonport Dockyard went at noon in the
steamtug Pike to the Emerald, in the Sound, to
survey her defects. She will be taken into Hamoaze
for repair without delay.

In consequence of the representations made by
Vice-Admiral W. Hope Johnstone, Commander-in-
Chief at the Nore, to Col. Nedham, commandant of
the garrison at Sheerness, of several instances hav-
ing occurred in which the Royal Artillery troops
have neglected to pay the marks of respect to offi-
cers of the Royal Navy to which they are entitled
by the rank, Col. Nedham has issued a stringent
order on the subject. For the guidance of the Ar-
tillery troops in the district, the relative rank of
each grade of officer in the Navy has been published,
in accordance with the Admiralty circular of the
7th May, 1861.
The War Department transports Marlborough,
Petrel, and Bomarsund completed landing at the
Ordnance wharf, Chatham, yesterday, the guns,
shot, shell, and sea stores brought from the Orion,
89, Capt. Frere, which is ordered to be paid off at
the Nore. The Marlborough landed 840 cases of
the 8-inch Lancaster shells, together with three 68-
pounders, twenty 24-pounders, and seven 12-pounder
iron carronades, and seven 6-pounder brass guns
frem the pinnace and launches.
The Julia, screw gun vessel, belonging to the
first-class steam reserve at Chatham, having com-
pleted her experiments with the 68-pounder smooth
bore and the 100-pounder rifled Armstrong gun, to
test the merits of those weapons, has been placed in
the third dock at Sheerness, for the purpose of hav-
ing some repairs effected in her engines.
The Victor, 6, screw steam sloop, 350-horse
power, belonging to the steam reserve, has been
taken into the steam basin at Sheerness to be fitted
for immediate commission. According to present
orders, the officers and crew of the Flying Fish,
6, screw steamer, Commander W. H. Anderson, will
be turned over to the Victor, the Flying Fish re-
quiring some extensive repairs.
The Zebra, sorely despatch gun vessel, has been
placed in the steam basin, Sheerness, to be brought
forward for the steam reserve to supply the place
of the Victor, 6.
The Salamis, 4, paddle-wheel despatch-vessel, is
rapidly progressing in No. 1 slip in this yard. The
framing of the vessel is now nearly completed, and
the operation of planking will shortly be com-
menced. Sh'e is to be built on the system of
diagonal planking, and is expected she will be one
of the fastest vessels afloat.

The Lively, screw gunboat, 60-horse power, has
been admitted into No. 3 dock at Sheerness, for the
purpose of having her engines altered from high
pressure to condensing.
The Thames, War Department transport, has
arrived at Chatham, from Woolwich, with 600
boxes of solid shot for the 100-pounder Armstrongs
ordered to be supplied to the steam reserve, toge-
ther with a number of gun-carriages, and other
stores.

Steam was got np yesterday morning on board
the Albion, 90, in Keyham basin, Devonport, to test
her machinery.

The crew of the screw steam gunboat Skipjack,
at
ctu
Plymouth,en will be paid off to-day.
The r ion
80, went yesterday afternoon from
Hamoaze into Plymouth Sound.
The Conqueror, 99, and the Donegal, 99, at Ply-
mouth, have shipped some Armstrong guns:
The naval transport Rochester is loading at the
anchor wharf, Chatham dockyard, with old tanks
for conveyance to the depot, Deptford, whither the
whole of the tanks which have been in use, and
have, upon being taken out of different vessels,
been deposited at this dockyard, are now ordered
to be sent, on account of the lack of proper storage
accommodation at this establishment. This order
includes about 100 immense water-tanks, recently
removed from the Wellesley, 72, guard-ship of
ordinary at this port, which were taken out with a
view of lessening her draught of water.

The East India troopship Maria Soames, which
arrived in the Thames from Bombay on Monday,
with upwards of 200 British and East India troops
on board, disembarked her officers and men at the

Government-quay, Gravesend, yesterday. _The
Maria Soames sailed from Bombay on the 12th of
June, touching at St. Helena to take in fresh provi-
sions and water, the island being left on the 29th
of September. The passage from Bombay to the
Thames, including detentions, occupied 143 days.
The, number of troops who embarked at Bombay
was 205 men of all ranks, with 19 women and 27
children; belonging to the 3d (Prince of Wales's)
Dragoon Guards, 7th Dragoon Guards, 7th (Queen's
Own) Hussars, Bth Hussars, sth Bengal Light
Cavalry, Royal Artillery, Bombay Artillery, Ist
Bengal Fusileers, 3d Madras Fusileers, 4th (King's
Own), 7th (Royal Fusileers), 24th, 56th, 71st (High-
land Light Infantry), 79th (Highlanders), 81st,
89th, 95th, and 98th Regiments; the whole under

the command of Major Foster, 95th Regiment, with
Capt. Reed, of the Indian army, and Ensign Beere,
28th Regiment. Surgeon Bone, M.D., Royal Artil-
lery, returned in medical charge of the troops.
During the voyage there were eight deaths on
board, chiefly from illness contracted prior to em-
barcation. Nearly the whole of the troops have
been sent home to be discharged on the completion
of their period of service. After the troops had
landed yesterday they were forwarded to Chatham
garrison, where, on their arrival, they Were medi.

Last night a public meeting of the electors and
non-electors of the Borough of Southwark was held
at the Bridge-house Hotel, to hear from Mr. Locke,
M.P., one of their representatives, an explanation
of his parliamentary conduct. Dr. Challice occu-
pied the chair. There were upon the platform Mr.
D. E. B. Jones, Mr, Hawkins, Mr. Walker, Mr.
Rogers, &c.
The CHAIRMAN, in opening the proceedings, re-
joiced that the distinctive difference between the
two great parties in the state was every day be-
coming broader; that the opposition had thrown
aside the mask and declared themselves Tories, as
thereby the nation would get rid of a great amount
of confusion and deception which had been occasion-
ed by the use of that bastard expression—Liberal
conservatism. (Hear, hear.)
Mr. LOCKE, M.P., then addressed the meeting.
He had on every occasion that he had had the plea-
sure to address his constituents received their ap-
probation of the course which he had thought it fit
and right to pursue. He said that advisedly, be-
cause the generous constituency which he repre-
sented knew and understood the scope of the
constitution, and did not expect their representative
to be merely their delegate, but placed in his hands
not only the interests of the borough, but also those
of the country at large. It was, therefore, that he
had peculiar pleasure in coming before them to state
what had been done during the past session, and ,
what were their prospects for the future. Thom a
were many who considered that unless som ,e
startling measure which altered the state of t/ se
franchise was passed nothing was done for t
benefit of the people, but he would be able to
show that among the 134 acts of the session
there were many which redounded to the credit
of the government, and likewise to Vnat
of individual members. During the session he
had to appear before them for re-election on
being appointed Recorder of Brighton, but that,; was
a judicial office entirely independent of the Ci:own,
so that he was as clear of any connection with the
present administration as the talented leader of the
Opposition, Mr. Disraeli, himself. In saying this he
did not wish it to be understood that he deprecated
his colleagues taking office, for, on the contrary, he
considered that, as he had a great knowledge of
foreign affairs, it was his duty to afford the Queen
and the country the benefit of that knowledge.
Looking back, however, to the acts beneficial to the
public passed during the session, there was, first,
the consolidation of the criminal law, repealing 105
statutes, and assimilating the English and Irish
codes. There was also Mr. M. Gibson's measure for
the abolition of passing tolls. The abolition would
not be immediate, but the tolls would be applied to
the maintenance and improvement of harbours of
refuge along the coast. The next important mea-
sure was that for the equalisation of the poor's-rate
by extending the area over which it was to be
levied. It gave a man a settlement after three years'
residence instead of five, and threw the burden on
the union instead of upon the parish. (Hear, hear.)
He had moved in committee a clause under which
the metropolis would be treated as one union, for
it was monstrous that some districts should be
heavily burdened,' whilst others escaped scot free,
bat he did not succeed in passing it. It, however,
gave him the opportunity of bringing forward the
question in a practical point of view; and the only
objection he had heard urged against it was that it
proposed a great change which it was impossible to
adopt. The measure as it stood might inflict some
injustice upon the borough, as some of the parishes
within it were unions in themselves; but still it was
an acceptable act, inasmuch as it recognised a prin-
ciple on which the rating not only of the metropo-
lis, but of the whole country, would sooner or
later be based. Another important measure was
the repeal of the paper duty, in passing which
the House of Commons vindicated its honour and
dignity, and maintained the principle that it
alone had the power to tax the people. It,
however, experienced great difficulty in carrying
that measure, the rejection of which would have
thrown everything into confusion. (Hear, hear,)
They had had also an infinitesimal measure of re-
form in the Appropriation of Seats Bill. He was
one of the many who asked for a large meas ure,
and he believed that if such a one were properly
demanded it would be conceded to.the people. He
considered the working classes ought to be admit-
ted to the franchise, for in that class there were
men as respectable, as high in morals, and as trust-
worthy as any peer in the realm. He would, how-
ever, never allow that every man should have a vote.
(Dissent.) He could not consent that every fellow
who wont skulking about without a local habita-
tion, and almost without a name, should be admitted
to the suffrage. Leaving that a moot question, he
would merely observe that the difficulties which
that infinitesimal measure encountered ought to
show them how hard it would be to pass a larger
one. Each one had his own nostrum, and among
others the late Sir S. Graham, whom, however they
might differ from him in opinion, they would all
admit to have been certainly one of the greatest
statesmen who ever addressed the House of Com-
mots. (Hear, hear.) He united to the highest order
of intelligence, great industry and great honesty of
purpose. He judged of him by the brief period of
his career which had come under his own notice.
He was a man in whom he had always placed the
greatest confidence, and whose opinion he had
always been most happy to ask, for he was one
who never failed to give it in a free and frank
manner. Another measure of public importance
was the continuation of the coal and wine duties for
10 years, to be expended upon the embankment of
the Thames. It was for them to consider if they
would have an embankment upon the south aids
of the river, and upon that question their views
should be his. Of the Bankruptcy Act they had
heard usque ad nauseam. They saw the effects of
it in every day's papers, and he supposed that
making a great number of persons bankrupts
benefited somebody. Another measure passed
last session was one which he himself intro-
duced, and which extended to witnesses in
criminal cases the same indulgence as was enjoyed
by those in civil suits—namely, that of an affirma-
tion, when they had conscientious scruples to taking
an oath. It was a measure based upon the great
principle of respecting the religious and conscien-
tious opinions of every man, no matter what might
be his creed. The Post-office Savings Bank Act,
another measure of last session, would prove of the
greatest convenience to the working classes, giving
them a Government security for their deposits, per-
fect secrecy, and every facility. Leaving the cata-
logue of the measures they had passed, he had now
to call attention to one or two of those they had re-
jected. Chief of these was a bill promoted by the
Metropolitan Board of Works—(hear, hear)—in
which they sought to unjustly tax his constituents

most
f
the passengers
Esq.,
of
the
----
tand Miss Wood, his
w wasee
severelykplya i
injureddp tioB p
at he
ee
hrnwn. e
er,
wes Among
pita.J,p er Wood,,
daughter, who was travelling from Monmouth to
Merthyr when the unfortunate accident took
place. The gentleman sustained a very se.
vere contusion of the soft parts round the
right eye, and the whole of the right side of the
face was much swollen and discoloured and his
right knee and leg much bruised, but his own
injuries seemed to be forgotten in anxiety for his
daughter, a fair young lady, who, although escaping
with a contusion on the side of her forehead, was
otherwise so much shaken and alarmed by the acci-
dent as to bring on an attack of hysteria. The

greatest attention was paid them by the medical
man, and, as soon as practicable, they proceeded in
a fly to his residence, from whence, after a short

. -
stay, they posted back to Monmouth—and it was

the gentleman's intention to post the whole of the
distance to London rather than subject his daughter
to the painful anxiety which could not fail to be ex-

perienced in a journey by rail after such an accident
Mr. J. Meredith, schoolmaster, of Llangibby was
stunned and much shaken by the concussion, and
Mrs. Meredith was also stunned, and likewise suf-