The Sun.
London, England, 1844-08-09 00:00:00

NAVAL INTELLIGENCE.

PORTSMOUTII.—The Collingwood, 80, Captain Eden,
is detained at Spithead, awaiting final orders to proceed
to the Pacific. Rear-Admiral Sir George Seymour is
expected next week. She received a fine draft of men
from Plymouth, brought by the Mercury tender, during
the week.

Sir David Milne's flag was still flying on board the St.
Vincent, 120, Captain Rowley, in Plymouth Souhd, on
the 3d inst. ; and there was no present probability of the
ship returning to her anchorage at Spithead, as reported.
It is not intended to re-commission the Vernon, 50,
at Sheerness, as reported.
The Royal steam-yacht Victoria and Albert, has been
taken into the basin to be completed for sea service, and
is ordered to be rigged and stored by the crew of the
Nautilus, 10, Lieutenant Tringham, which vessel is re-
called from the coast of Sussex for the purpose. Cap-
tain Lord Adolphus Fitzclarence having made some ne-
cessary arrangements relative to the yacht, has returned
to London. Her carved work is being regilded.
The new steam-ship Firebrand, at this port, is at
length to be commissioned, and it is generally believed
that Captain James Hope will have the command of her.
She is taking on board the necessary quantity of fuel
and seagoing stores.
Vice-Admiral Sir Charles Adam, K.C.8., was at
Halifax on the 20th July, with his flag flying on board
the receiving frigate Pyramus ; the Illustrious, 72,
Captain Erskine, having been dispatched to the Havan-
na'', but was shortly to return, when the Admiral was to
proceed in her to Jamaica. The squadron continued
very heal thy.
The brigs Waterwitch, 10, and Pantaloon, 10, will be
completed this week, when it is expected the whole
experimental vessels will be commissioned for a trial of
their respective qualities.
The Madagascar, 44, Captain Foote, recently returned
from the West Coast of Africa, is paid off in Hamoaze,
and the Vindictive, 50, Captain Toup Nicholas, will be
put out of commission in this harbour on Tuesday.
The steam-vessel Meteor, Lieut. Butler, has passed by
this port, for Cork, to join Sir Hugh Pigott's squadron,
and the steamer Dwarf, Lieut. Chamberlain, is gone to
Woolwich, to have her boilers inspected, &c.
At Spithead—Collingwood, 80.
In Harbour—Victory, Queen, Excellent, Vindictive,
Echo, Comet, Fearless, Victoria and Albert, and flag
tenders.—Brighton Gazette.

DEURT-LANE.—A sumptuous dinner was given on
Tuesday last, at the Trafalgar, at Greenwich, by the Com-
mittee of Drury-lane Theatre to Mr. Bunn, their lessee, who
intnuted from the Continent for the occasion, the chair being
occupied by the Earl of Glengall.
A LONDON GIN PALACE.—There is not in all
London a more melancholy and spirit-depressing sight
than the area of one of the large gin palaces on a wet
night. There, the homeless and houseless miserables of
both sexes, whether they have money or not, resort in
numbers, for a temporary shelter—aged women, selling
ballads and matches, cripples, little beggar boys and girls,
'layering idiots, pie-men, sandwich-men, apple and
orange-women, shellfish-mongers, huddled pell-mell, in
draggle-tailed confusion. Never can human nature, one
would imagine, take a more abject posture than is exhi-
bited here. There is a character, an individuality, a fa-
mily likeness, common to the whole race of sorts. The
pale, clayey, flaccid, clammy face, pinched in every fea-
ture ; the sweeping, ferret-like' lack-lustre eye, the
unkempt hair, the slattern shawl, the untidy dress, the
slipshod gait, too well betray the confirmed drunkard.
The noises, too, of the assembled topers, are hideous—
appalling, even when heard in an atmosphere of gin—
Imprecations, execrations, objurgations, supplications,
until, at length, the patience of the publican, and the
last copper of his customers, are exhausted, when, rush-
ing from behind his counter, assisted by his shop-
keeper, ho expels, vi et armis, the dilatory mob, drag-
ging out, by the heels or callers, the miserable drunkards,
to nestle, as best they may, outside the inhospitable
door.—Here, unobserved, may you contemplate the in •
finite varieties of men self-metamorphosed into beasts—
soaker, tippler, toper, muddler, dram-drinker, beer-
swiller, cordial-tiller, sot. Here you may behold the
barefoot child, hungry, naked, clay-faced, handing up,
tip toe, that infernal bottle, which made it, and keeps it,
what it is, and with which, when filled, it creeps home
to its brutal father, or infamous mother, the messenger
of its own misery. Here, the steady respectable sot,
the good customer, slides in, and flings down his throat
the frequent drum ; then, with an emphatic " halt" of
gratification, drops his money, nods to his friend, the
landlord, and, for a short interval, departs. Here you
may behold, with pity, and as much superadded virtuous
indignation as the inward contemplation of your own
continence may inspire, the flaunting Cyprian, in over-
dressed tawdriness, calling, in shameless voice, for a
quartern of " pleasant-drinking gin," which she liberally
shares with two or three gentlemen, who are being edu-
cated for the bar, at the Central Criminal Court. You
may contrast her short-lived hey-day of prosperous sin,
with that row of miserables seated by the wall, whose
charms are fled, and whose voices are husky, while they
implore you to treat them to a glass of ale, or supplicate
for the coppers they see you receive from the barman ;
and who are only permitted that truly wretched place of
rest, that they may beg for the benefit of the publican,
and for his profit, poison themselves with the alms of
others.—Bentley's Miscellany.
THE BoDMIN MURDER.—BoDMIN, TUESDAY.—
Matthew Weeks, who was convicted here on Friday last of
the wilful murder of Charlotte Dimond, has since his convic-
tion made a full confession of his guilt. He declares that it
was not a premeditated act, but that when on the moors she
stated to him that she was fonder of Prout than of him, and
he then says that upon her telling him this he was seized
with a sudden impulse that he would never allow her to have
any other than himself, and he then cut her throat. He ac-
knowledges the justice of his sentence, and conducts himself
in a very becoming manner. He is to suffer on MOndky e Xt.
CURIOUS ARTICLE OF EXPORT.—The steam-ship
Acadia, which departed yesterday for Boston, had on
board a magnificent white satin gown and train, three,
yards long, recently worn by her Majesty the Queen,
which is intended to be introduced into some public ex-
hibition in America.--Liverpool Albion,