The Sun.
London, England, 1850-04-11 00:00:00

A PRAYER FOR SABBATH OBSEVANCE BY EBENEZER

ELLIOTT.

Lord! grant to poor o'er-labour'd man
More leisure, and less pray'r;
More Church, less priest—aud homes for inns !
More libraries, and fewer sins;
More music, and less care!
And when the tardy Sabbath dawns,
Bid townsmen leave behind
The goldfinch, smother'd on his perch,
Gin-shop and chapel, jail and church,
And drink the mountain wind.
Or teach the artisan to seek
Some village house of pray'r,
And kneel (an apparition pale,
Amid the rustics red and hale),
And humbly worship there.
Or bid him (in the temple, built
By Skill Divine for all),
Expound to pallid listeners near,
While rose-chcek'd pilgrims stop to hear,
The words of Christ or Paul.

LOMBARDY AND AUSTRIA.
The following has been handed to us for publi.
cation :

To THE EDITuR OF THE MORNING CHRONICLE.

Sir,—When Baron Wesenberg made proposals to
the, Provisional Junta of Milan, the Lombards de-
clined to treat for their own independence, unless
their fellow-countrymen the Venetians were included
in that treaty. This noble act of self-denial, which
deserves the admiration of the world, is made a theme
of insult in your journal of the sth instant—insult
worthy of an Austrian partisan, worthier of the im-
partial Times newspaper.
I myself, a participator in the late fatal struggle of
the Lombardo-Venetians, and commanding a regi-
ment, can assert that the Lombards fought gallantly
on every occasion. Unfortunately, they placed re-
liance on Charles Albert, who, to say the least of him,
abandoned them to the overwhelming force of
their oppressors. Milan was handed over ; men,
women, and children were flogged, imprisoned, and
shot. Deep misery and despair is now the doom of
the land.

Is it just, generous, or English, allow me to ask, to
add contumely to such heavy misfortunes ?
I have the honour to remain, Sir, your obedient
servant,

CII. SCOTT,
Ex, Aide-de-Camp of General Pepe.

THE ROYAL MINT.
We understand that the Deputy Master of the Mint
has tendered his resignation, and that it has been wil-
lingly accepted by the Treasury, that functionary being
found the greatest obstacle to the reform of that estab-
liihment. Captain Harness, secretary to the Railway
Commission, has been appointed to succeed him.
We are also informed that notices are in preparation
at the Treasury to terminate the contracts of the
moneyers and melter, the Government being determined
to carry out the recommendations of the Commissioners
as to the substitution of fixed salaries for rates in these
departments.
This consummation has, in some measure, been has-
tened by the notorious fact of these parties receiving
from year to year enormous sums of public money,
while at the same time they have thrown all their duties
on subordinates and apprentices. The officials of the
Mint, who are supposed to have a control over these
parties, have attempted all through the inquiry to con-
ceal the fact of habitual non-attendance; but now it has
been elicited that often during. the greatest pressure of
business—as the re-coinage of light gold—the melter
and some of the moneyers were found absent from their
posts, and that with the full cognizance cf the governing
powers. Nor were sufficient precautions taken on such
to guard against loss and waste ; the paucity
consequent festive,sunervision, rendering
occasions,
hands,
and
dati care and: vigilance almost impossible.
The strict inquiry to be institotsu by Captain Har-
ness—, man very well chosen for this new appointment
—will prove what we are well informed of, that there
are officers in the Mint who have for years enjoyed such
lucrative sinecures, by the delegation of their duties to
others, that they are as practically ignorant as when
first appointed. These, no doubt, will be pensioned off,
and their places supplied by more active and useful men.
The whole establishment must be thoroughly sifted and
purged before it can be put on an efficient footing ; and
on the right exercise of
patronage
andwi will greatly depend
what the public look for—a better more economical
management of that important but expensive establish-
ment.—Morning Paper.

NINEVETI.—We hear that additional information
respecting the interesting country to which the researches of
Mr. Lavardy have of late directed so much attention, will
P. Fletcher shape of two volumes
, who resided some
years at Mosul, during
of travels,
labiyd
tbheefoir teev. the .
J.
üblic in the
his inquiries into the condition of the
Oriental churches. The travels will embrace not only
Nineveh and its antiquities but various new and interesting
particulars respecting the Yezidees and Oriental Christians,
as well as notices of the country between Mosul and Aleppo,
which has been explored by few European travellers. The
intimate relations with the natives of the country entered
3', have furnished
a vast fund of anecdote and
illustration. Much new information respecting
ibnitmo,blyvel‘airr.eFiolefotcrmheerd,,inwhiitsbofficial capacity,
the Nesto-
rians and the early history of their once widely-extended
church, with an account of the Kurdish massacre, and the
given; also disquisi-
tions, and on the suc-
cessive empires established between the Tigris and Euphrates,
causes
on whtibceh ancient led to it,
iittiese is
osfairldiesop will
Mesopotamia,
with remarks on the hypothesis advocated by Majorßawlin-
son as regards the early Assyrian Kings.

THE CONVICTS AT rORTSMOUTIL—The emeute on
board the Stirling Castle convict-ship, at Portsmouth, was
put an end to on Monday evening by the superintendent of
the ship seizing up and flogging several of the ringleaders.
On Tuesday morning several boats mates, with a guard of
marines, went on board the Stirling Castle. The emeute on
board the Stirling Castle, which commenced on Friday, was
followed by one on board the York, on Monday, when the
convicts refused to go to work, and commenced with the legs
of their stools to batter the bulkheads, and to use all sorts of
abusive language to their keepers; but Mr. Barrow (we be-
lieve), an old army officer, who has charge of the ship,
promptly seized two of the ringleaders; one of these men
received two dozen lashes, and he then asked for a glass of
water, which being given him, he told the officer he did not
care, and that he might flog away ; his request was complied
with, and he was ordered to receive two dozen more, when
he altered his tone and begged off. This prompt and decisive
conduct on the part of the superintendent crushed the 'emeute
in its bud.