The Sun.
London, England, 1850-07-11 00:00:00

stitution, seconded the motion, which was unanimously
agresd to.
Lord MONTEAGLE then moved the srcord resolu:ion,
to the Effect that the experisnee derived from the wcri:-
ing of the institution durir;g the period schich it had
b, en openid Lai confirmed the mcctirg in the belief that
the institution possessed strong claims upon the Fubldc
for continued and increased stippot t.
The Rev. C. BARING sccosded the resolution, which
Waft also unanimously agreed to.
On the motion of Earl NELSON, seconded by the Hon.
T. TALBOT, the thanks of the meeting were unanimously
accorded to the Rev. C. Baring, the chaplain, and the
various medical officers who had given their assistance
and support to the institution.
The Bishop of MANCIIESTEIL moved, and W. Bonin,
Esq., seconded, a vote of thanks to the Noble Chairman
for his able and courteous cznduct, and the meeting
broke up.

THE NEW MAIL SERVICE TO THE

\VEST INDIES.

SOUTILIMPTOS, JULY 6.—Od tho 6fh of May we
announced that the Lirds of the Admiralty had con-
cluded tln arrangement for the rc-or;aniz ttion of the
contrLct mail service between Erigland and the West
Indies and Central America.

We have on prtvims occasions fully explained and
developed the necessities fur a speedy alteration in the
routes of the royal mail steamers—a change impera-
tive both in the interests of British commerce and for
enabling the English steamers to meet their American
rivals in the sttam carrying trade of the Great West
on more equal terms.
Hiving been favoured with an official table of the
routes now to be pursued, we subjoin for the infor-
mation of a numerous class of our readers interested
in this question, an mitt statement of the arrange-
ments which have been ordered to be at once put in
force by the Lords of the Admiralty.
It is definitively fixed that the new arrangements
(so far as concerns the routes) shall come into opera-
tion on the 2d of August. The steamer leaving
Southampton on that day will, therefore, proceed di-
rect to St. Thomas and the Isthmus of Panama, in-
stead of taking the course to Bermuda and the Gulf of
Mexico, as heretofore.

We must, however, premise that the arrangements
for traversing these revised routes must merely be
considered as preliminary to the more rapid system of
steam communication which will be consummated
when the new and powerful steam-ships about to be
constructed have been placed upon the main line be•
tween Southampton and Chagres.
The immediate change of routes thus comtemplated,
and which are to be performed by the existing
steamers, it will be seen, will have the effect of
greatly improving the communications to and from
the many important parts of the world comprised in
this scheme; but it vkill not be till steamers of much
greater power and speed have been completed, and
have actually performed the through voyages, that
the great and ultimate acceleration of communication
can be experienced.

Some little modifications in the originally pro-
posed scheme and of minor points of detail, with re-
ference to stopping places, have been sanctioned by
their Lordships. In affording accommodation, we
believe, the utmost attention has been paid to the in-
terests of the various colonits and ports, according
to their position and relative political and mercantile
importance.

From the 2d of August next there will be a semi-
monthly communication opened with the isthmus of
Panama and Spanish Main, _ instead of
,monthly
as heretofore, and the packets will leave on the
2d and 17th of every month for Chagres,
taking their course to St. Thomas, Santa
Martha, Carthagens, Chagres, and Greytown (Mos-
quito). Homeward the route will be precisely the
same, excepting that the call at Santa Martha will
be omitted. The time to be occupied on the
voyage to Chagres is fixed at 23 days and 23 hours,
including all stoppages. Homeward a similar period
will be occupied. The time allowed at Chagres for
preparing return mails, transferring and receiving
cargo, inclusive of the time necessary for the packet's
trip to Grey Town, will be 14 days 8 hours, making
the course of post between Southampton and Chagres
624 days. The voyages to Chagres have hitherto ex-
tended over a space of 35 to 37 days, and the course
of post has been about 80 days, so that at least 10 or
12 days will be the saving in time both on the out
and home trip, and the course of post will in conse-
quence be diminished about 20 days.
The tables of routes are calculated upon a sup-
position of an average speed of nine knots for
the main line steamers, and a nearly equal rate
of steaming for the branch and intercolonial
packets. The stoppages are to be curtailed where
practicable, in the event of a necessity arising by
reason of decreased speed on the voyages, b..d
weather, or other causes. It remains to be seen
whether all the vessels of the Royal M.til Company
will be enabled to maintain the proposed average
speed required to enable them to fulfil the work set
down.

Tne mails for the Gulf of Mexico are to be dis•
patched on the 2d of every month from Southampton,
and, after arrival at St. Thomas, will be conveyed, via
Jamaica, by a branch steamer, calling at San Juan
(Porto Rico), Kingston (Jamaica), Vera Cruz, and
Tampico. The same route returning. The time
out to Vera Cruz will be 26 days 16 hours • home, 26
days 18 hours; time for- preparing replies, eight
days 20 hours—making the-course of post 62i days.
In case of late arrivals outward-, or detention at
Tampico, the stoppage at Vera Cruz is to be cur-
tailed, so that the ship may leave precisely at the
appointed time. A saving over the old plan of the
Mexican mail service is here exhibited of at least ten
days both out and home; and the course of post is
diminished about 18 or 20 days.

On the 17th of each month the mails for
Havannah will be dispatched, and are to be conveyed
from St. Thomas' by a packet calling at Porto
Rico, Jacmel (H.ayti), Jamaica, Havannah,
and Honduras. Homeward by the same route.
The voyage out to Havannah will occupy 24 days 22
hours ; h ‘me 25 days 16 hours ; and, with 11 days
allowed for the return correspondence, during which
the packet will proceed to and return from Hon-
duras, the course of post will be 621 days. In the
Havannah route no great saving appears at present to
be effected over the old plan.
Mails made up on the 2d and 17th of each month
for Jamaica will be delivered at that colony respec-
tively in 201 days. This is a considerable improve•
ment on the old scheme, which never used to supply
Jamaica with its correspondence under 28 to 30 days.
The mails for St. Thomas, Tortola, St. Kites,
Montserrat, Nevis, Antigua, Guadalope, Dominique,
Martinique, Sr. Lucia, Barbadoes, Demerara, Berbice,
French and Dutch Guiana, St. Vincent, Grenada,
Curac)a, Trinidad, and Tobago, will be made
up and dispatched on the 21 and 17th of every
month, and their conveyance from St. Thomas' will
be accomplished by intercolonial pickets especially
appointed for that service. The time cccupied in
reaching Demerara (the extreme point of the route)
will be 21 days 21 hours, homeward in 221 days, a
little over three days being allowed for replies, thus
making the course of post 471 days. Trinidad will be
reached in 21 days 17 hours, while the homeward trip
will occupy 221 days, three days being allowed for
replies, thus making the course of post also 471
days. The saving to the whole of these colonies
will be about a we,k each way, as well as shortening
the communication with Europe a whole packet. The
intermediate colonies between St. Thomas and
Guiana will, of course, receive and transmit their
mails in proportiunately quicker time according
to their respective geographical positions, and
will have a greater period allowed for their return
correspondence, while the course of post will remain
the same; thus Barbadoes will be reached in 20 days,
St. Kitt's in 174, Antigua in 181, and so on.
For Nassau (Bahamas) a mail is to he made up on
the 17th of each month ; the time occupied via St.
Thomas being 24 days, and the course of post 621
days.

It will be observed by the foregoing that to Vera
Cruz, Tampico, Hsvannah, Honduras, Hayti, and
Nassau there will be only one mail each month, while
to the whole of the remaining ports, including
Chegres, Grey Town, Carthagena, and Santa Martha,
formerly touched but once a month, a semi-monthly
mail will be maintained.
The homeward steamers will be due at Southamp-
ton at midnight on the Ath and 19th of every month.
The packets arriving on the 4:h and 19th will bring
mails from Chsgres, Grey Town, Carthagena, Santa
Martha, Jamaica, Porto Rico, Demerara, and all the
Windward and Leeward Islands, while the mails
from Vera Cruz and 'fampico will only be received
by the packets of the 4th ; and the mails from Hai tip
Honduras, Nassau, and Havannah, will reach Eag-
land by the packets of the 19th only.
It is provided that in the event of either of the sup-
plementary or intercolonial steamers bringing mails
from the Gulf of Mexico, Havannah, Demerara, &c ,
not reaching S. Thomas at the estimated tim, the
homeward Atlanic steamer is to await the arrival of
the missing vessel seven clear days, if necessary,
after the hour appointed for her departure for
Southampton.
By the tables of routes it would appear that
Mebile, Bermuda, S.
°Lip de Cuba, LaGuayra,
Puerto Cabello, Madeira and Fayal, seven ports
hitherto touched by the royal mail steamers, have
been excluded as places of call under the new ar-
rangements.
There can be no doubt that the advantages thus
contemplated of a quickened communication to
and from the West ludia and Spanish American
ports will prove of vast benefit to the mercan-
tile community, not only of this country, but
of Europe generally. At the expiration of
a year, however, a further improvement will
be effected, by means of which the voyages to St.
Thomas, now to occupy 16 days 18 hours, will be
performed in 12 days, and the Isthmus of Panama
will be brought within 18 days of Southampton, in-
' stead of 24 under the contemplated, and 35 days