The Sun.
London, England, 1850-04-23 00:00:00

TUESDAY EVENING,

ment. dated November 30, 1849, with which we have'
been from the Ordnance Office, will be read with some
interest:—
A momore.ndum states that all steamers having pad-
dle-box boats of 0 feet 4 inches beam (as they are ca-
pable of carrying 24-pounder howitzers) are to be supplied
with the armament marked Class No. 1.
First-Class Boats—Fifth-rate paddle steamers, having
two bcati capable of carrying ordnance, beside the paddle-
box boats—total, 5 pieces of ordnance, viz.:—
Two 24-pounder howitzers, 13 cwt., for the paddle-box
boats with top and under carriages ; one 12-pounder
howitzer, 6i cwt. (light), for the barge, with top and
under carriages; one ditto for the pinnace, with field,
top and under carriages, one 6-pounder gun, 6 cwt.,
fcr short practice, &c., from the ship or boats, with
top and under carriages. •
Second Class Bows-sth and'6th rate paddle steamers,
and steam-sloops, having one boat capable of carrying
~rdnence besides the paddle-box boats, 9 feet 4 inches
beam—tota, 4 pieces of ordnance,: viz.:—
Two 24-pounder howitz ,rs, for first class; ore 12-
pounder howitzer, 61 cwt. (light), for the pinnace, with
field, top and under carriages; one 6-pounder gun as

for first class.
Third Class Boats—All steamers having paddle-box
boats incapable of carrying 24-pounders, but capable of
carrying heavy 12-pounder.:—total, 4 pieces of ord-
ranee, viz,:—
Tw0.12-pounder howilmrs, 10 cwt. (heavy) for the pad-
dle-box boat!, with top and under carriages. One 12-
pounder howitzer, 61 cw:-. (light), for the pinnace,
with field, top and under carriages. One 6-pounder
gun as for Ist and 2d cies:.
Fourth Class Boats—lf, atter actual trial and official
report, the paddle-box boats of any steamer should be
found incapable of carrying 24-pounders, or heavy 12-
pounders, light 12-pounder howitzers are to be supplied
—total, 4 pieces of ordnance:—
Two 12-pounder howitzers, 61 cwt. (light), for the pad-
box boats, with top and under carriages. One 12-
pounder howitzer GI cwt. (light), for the pinnace,!with
field, top, and under carriages. One 6-pounder gun as
for the previous classes.
Fifth Class Boats—When steam-sloops or gun-vessels
have no other boat capable of carrying ordnance beside
the paddle-box boats, then 3 pieces of ordnance as fol.

low:
Two 12• pounder howitzers 10 cwt. (heavy), for the
paddle. box boats, with top and under carriages; one 6-
pounder gun, 6 cwt., as a field piece and for short prac-
tice, &c., f.-oui the ship or boats, with field, top, and

under carriages.
Sixth Class Boats—When steam sloops or gun-vessels
have no other boat capable of carrying ordnance beside
the paddle-box boats, and those are unable to take the
heavy 12-pounders—total, 3 pieces of ordnance as
folio ws :
Two 12-pounders howitzers, 61 cwt. (light), for the
paddle-box boats, with one field,,two top, and two under
carriages; ono 6-pounder.gun, as for the Ist, 2d, 3d,
and 4th classes.

THE COMING OF SPRING—APRIL.
(From Eliza Cook's Journal.)
Again the Spring, shedding soft dews from her
ethereal wings, sweeps over the earth, once more made
beautiful. The skirts of the departing winter have dis-
appeared, and already in fancy we feel the warm breath
of summer in our face. The earth is putting on her
garment of green; the meadows are thick with the
bright young grass—that perfect mark of the beautiful
sQusun; the trees, the bushes, and the hedgerows, are
spreading out their crisp fans of foliage; buds are leap.
ing into flowers, which start up along the footpaths, to
beautify the feet of the wayfarer; andt colours, gay and
brilliant, everywhere coming out from the winter cham-
bers, in which they have been sleeping, towards the glad
light of the sun, which leeks down upon them from a
sky of blue, wooing them forth to meet him.
The mornings are now clear, fresh, and joyous. Night
melts suddenly into day, and the stars wane gladly be-
fore the light of the sun, as he comes dancing up the
east, driving the fleecy clouds before him; all things
seeming to rejoice in the innocent brightness of the new-
born day. And towards evening, as the sun goes down
and the glowing clouds linger about his setting—when
the d4's purple eye is closing with the flowers of the
spring—and the God-built sky, rising like a mighty
dome, is sparkling with its millions of stars—the gems
set by the Creator in the hour of night; then does a
silence seem to steal over the earth—a slumber so pro-
found, so deep, so vast, that—
" Even the motion of an angel's wing
Would interrupt the intense tranquillity
Of silent hills, and more than silent sky."
The great charm of Spring is in its sunshine—whether
as glinting down through the branches of lofty trees,
whose leaves are still young and fresh, or peeping into
the cool grots and caverns of the earth, or creeping in at
latticed windows through a framework of roses and
drooping woodbine, or throwing its long line of beams
upon the waters, making them to dance and sparkle
with delight, or shedding its magical radiance over hill
and dale, over stream and meadow, which drink in the
pure flood of light. Beautiful sunshine! we can feel it
as it beams upon us, and shines along our path. The
lark flies up is the early morn to hail it, and makes the
heavens ring with her carol. It lays its glorious pencil
on the meadows, and straightway primroses and lady-
smocks, columbines and red peonies, viplets and butter-
cups, come out to gild the season with their beauty.
Even the April shower cannot pass without reading its
beautiful lessen to us from the clouds. How finely does
thet true lover of nature, Leigh Hunt, remark—that
there is a moral as well as a material beauty in colour,
an inherent gladness, an intention on the part of nature
to share with us a pleasure felt by herself. Colours are
the smiles of nature. When they are extremely smiling,
and break forth into other beauty besides, they are her
laughs, as in the flowers.
The mind of man is, in spring, more than at any
other reason, disposed to be gay and happy. The heart
leaps with joy at the beautiful aspect of nature. The
sense of joy passes into the soul at every inlet of feel-
ing. Man can no longer be sad : to ba so would he out
of harmony with nature—like a mourner at a marriage
festival. Spring brings youthful and pleasant associa-
tions with it—makes us to feel young, and live our early
thoughts over again ; and the same spirit lives through-
out universal nature, it turns all creation to love—love,
the universal feeling. To see the buds and leaves come
forth, like light into the world—to hear the small birds
singing to their happy mates—to watch the curling
smoke rising up from a far•off valley—to view
the gnats , thin dancers on the air, tripping
it on a merry sunbeam—to admire the silver-
tipped clouds as they float along in the vaulted
azure—to walk along some secluded field-path or green
lane, decked with primroses and wild flowers, starting
the hart from her seat, and the partridge from her nest;
what can he more delightful than such occupations of
leisure at this season, trivial though they may appear
to be. _ _

Now do troops of little children in the country betake
themselves to the fields, and gather daisies and prim-
rose!, the elders filling their baskets to prepare the old-
fashioned cowslip wine. Now do the followers of Isaac
Walton drag out their fishing-rods, baskets, and nets,
from the closet, and dress up 4. killing" flies, in prepa-
ration for the first fine morning following a shower of
rain. Now do the lovers of country in towns bethink
themselves of a pie-nic in the woods, and the omnibus
or car is bespoken for the first fine day. But, ab, fickle
April! a shower of rain or sleet, following these bright
sunshiny days, damps their hopes, and forbids their
too sanguine expectations. April resembles the lover—
the tears succeed the smiler, the clouds the sunshine, in
rapid alternation. But the rain passes, the wind abates,
the rainbow spans the heavens, and spring is in all her
beauty again.
The birds are now fast returning from warmer climes
to their summer-home in England. The swallow sits
twittering in the eaves, or skims the river and the lake
in the evening, catching its food or picking up from the
banks the bits of clay and straw with which it builds its
wonderful nest. The cuckoo now makes the woods re-
sound with his notes; and the yellow wag-tail, the red-
start, white-throat, wry-neck, and black-cap, have all
returned. The blackbird's mellow, flute-like voice rings
in the covert. Who so gay as the lark now, which
springs up to the heavens, singing its love and joy with
full-throated melody? The less musical rook caws
away among the lofty trees, on the topmost boughs cf
which it builds its nest. The wren is busy forming its
house in the stump of a decayed tree; the sparrow is
already laying her eggs in her nest, which she has con-
structed in the thickest part of a high hedge; the bittern
sits in her seat among thick reeds and rushes; the owl
lies snug in the hollow of a ruined wall; while the lin-
net, a true lover of nature, has found a retreat in the
midst of a snug green copse.
Gaudy butterflies begin to appear, and excite the
chase of the happy children, who thus begin the sport
of life. Flowers are blooming everywhere, in the gar-
den, in the fields, on the waters. The water-hen sails
about among primrose-coloured water-flags, and water-
lilies in clusters, almost buried amid their large, shield-
shaped leaves. Early and late is the cottage gardener at
work among his flower-beds and his kitchen-stuffs. He
watches the growth of his star of Bethlehem, lady-
smock, and virgin's bower, with an almost paternal soli-
citude. lie boasts of his violets and narcissuses, praises
his anemonies and lady's slippers, as if they weare part
of his family. He has an eye, too, to " the substantiels."
He watches the blossoming of the fruit trees, and gets in
his cabbages, peas, and:early potatoes. His soul is full
of hope, ho labours with joy, for the prospect of another
abundant harvest is before him.
The spring has in it a power, more than.perhaps any
other season, of attracting man from the mere material
earth, to rise up to the enjoyment of the spiritual beauty
in which the earth has been created. We feel a longing
to be away from the stir and fret of the busy world.
There is a thirst to be among the field-paths, a wish to
have the wings of the bird, to fly far away from the
feverish hum of the city, to find refreshment with nature
in the silent woods, and under the shade of green and
over-arching trees, to muse and meditate till the spirit of
peace and love flows into our soul like a gale from
Heaven. Away, away, ye pent-up denizens of crowded
cities! Go out among the spring haunts, and see how
the earth and the sky aro now holding jubilee. There
you will observe the evidences-of the perpetual youth
and beauty of creation; your hearts will be awakened to
a sense of deep joy, and your minds influenced for years
to come by a holy communion with nature.

CAPT. REID'S " RIFLE RANGSRS."—Of this new
military work, the Britannia observes—" Since Mr. Rux_
ton's vivid scenes of ad‘renture in Mexico, we have not met
with a work of such exciting interest as these adventures of
Captain Reid. The picturesque scenery of the wild luxuri-
ous
country in which his soluier's duties lay, the thousand
peculiarities of character, custom, and costumes of its inha-
bitants, his own personal experience of pleasure and danger,
as well as the stirring incidents of many of his comrades'
lives, are all worked into a tale replete with incident and
interest."
Baron de Menneval, formerly privat3 secretary of
the Emperor Napoleon died at Paris on Friday evening, in
tae 70d year of as Age.