The Sun.
London, England, 1850-09-25 00:00:00

The Marchioness of Douglas hired vessel left Moul-
mein in March last with a cargo of teak for this
dockyard, but she has not arrived at her destination.
Letters have been received from the Rosalind at St.
Helena, and she had not heard anything of the Mar-
chioness of Douglas, although she had left Moul-
mein about a month later with a cargo of teak for
Bristol.
The steamer Viceroy, which was recently wrecked
off Halifax, Nova Scotia, is likely to prove a profitable
investment for those who purchased her when she was
on the rocks. They paid about 2,000 dollars for her.
The engines have been taken out without having
sustained any damage, and it is now expected, as her
ponderous machinery is removed, that the hull will
be got off and repaired at a trifling expense. The
engines alone are worth 50,000 dollars.

DISCONTINUAN CE OF THE ADMIRALTY
SEMAPHORES.
In consequence of the facilities now afforded to the
Board of Admiralty and all the Government depart-
ments in transmitting and receiving expresses from
one end of the country to the other by the electric te-
legraph, the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty
have determined upon discontinuing the old sema-
phores, which will be a great saving to the public, as
each of them was attended by a lieutenant of the
Royal Navy and assistants. The former have retired
on half-pay with an increase, and the latter have been
pensioned off. The great advantage of the electric
telegraph over the old system is well known, as by the
present one dispatches can be sent off and received at
all times, night and day, and no matter what weather,
whereas the former telegraphs could only work by
day, and that in fine weather, which was a great in-
convenience to Government, especially the naval
department, which had only one line—from the Ad-
miralty, Whitehall, to Portsmouth ; whilst now orders
can be transmitted in a moment to the Royal Ar-
senals of Woolwich, Chatham and Sheerness, Ports-
mouth, Plymouth and Devonport, Pembroke, &c.;
and no doubt, by the improvements making in
electricity, in a short time by a submarine telegraph
to Ireland. The following are the semaphore stations
which have been done away with :—That at the Ad-
miralty, Chelsea, Putney, Kingston, Cooper's-hill,
Ether, Claatley-heath, Cobham, Pewley-hill, Guild-
ford, Bannicle-hill, Godalming, Haste-hill, Haile-
(
mere, Halder-bill, Midhurst, Beacon-hill, and Comp-
town-down; Petersfield, Portsdown-hill, Bedharnp-
ton, and Portsmouth. Not only is the electric tele-
graph of great importance to Government, but to our
merchants and shipping interest in the announcement
of the arrivals and departures of the foreign and
colonial mails and vessels from all parts of the globe,
the last prices of the markets and stocks, Parliamen-
tary Bills, and every intelligence of what is passing
in both Houses of Parliament during the session,
courts of law, &c. On the continent the electric
telegraph is becoming more and more general, and
several contracts have been entered into for laying
down various lines so as to unite one country, with
the other.

GOUGH-STREET THEATRE.
An amateur performance of considerable merit
came off last night at this very pretty and commo-
dious theatre, and to an old "theatrical observer"
it
was a matter of much gratification to witness so re-
markable an example of the improvement which of
late years has taken place in this class of entertain-
ments. Unquestionably the young men of the me-
tropolis in the present day are vastly superior in elo-
cution and dramatic taste to the amateurs of twenty
years ago—thanks, probably, to the elocution classes
and the critical lectures at the wide-spread literary
institutions in every direction. The performers last
night were the Old Western Dramatics, and the benefi-
ciare was Mr. H. Green, their skilful stage-manager.
The tragedy of John Savile was creditably presented,
the hero (Mr. C. Wilson) being much applauded.
But the most agreeable feature of the evening, to an
observer accustomed to private theatricals of the old
school, in which the wish was always to " out-Herod
Herod" in " doing" the burlesque, was the really
careful and moderate manner in which the extrava-
ganza of Bombastes Furioso was enacted. The
General, by Mr. Bellarno, was a racy, and, at the
same time, a finished performance, sufficiently broad
and laughable, but nicely kept within the bounds of
toleration. Mr. J. P. Montague was a capital Fusbos,
exquisitely ludicrous, equal to most burlesque efforts
on the public boards, and quite original. The King
was deserving of equal praise in the hands of Mr.
Percy Melville, who also displayed great talent for
the burlesque in the concluding piece of Guy Fawkes,
in which also Mr. W. Blanche distinguished himself
creditably as Lord Monteagle. The tragedy, as has
been said, went off well; so did the farce, A Lover by
Proxy. But the performance of the burlesque was
the most decided evidence of vast improvement in
private theatricals.

THEATRE ROYAL, HULL.
La Sonnambula—that master-piece of BeMill's—.
although it has been so often represented on the Hull
boards, was witnessed by a crowded house on Wed-
nesday evening. Abounding with exciting incident
and fine vocal and scenic illustration, it was well
chosen to bring into notice, not only the operatic) company, but the capabilities of the theatre. Mr.
Harrison ably sustained Elvino. As the plot de-
velops the apparent guilt of Amine (Miss Pyne) his
relinquishing his faithless betrothed was finely de-
picted ; and such was the enthusiasm following the
duet and chorus, " Such return for love," at the con-
clusion of the second act, that an universal call for
Elvino and Amine to appear before the curtain en-
sued. The scena, " All is lost now," and that
charming aria, " Still so gently" ( encored), were
sung by Mr. Harrison with much feeling. Mr. H.
Corti, as Alesso, again created roars of laughter by his
truthful personation of the part of the rejected
lover; and Mrs. IVeiis, as Liza, was all that could
be desired. Of Miss ne's acting and singing we
must again speak in terms of commendation. From
the opening of the piece, where in her joyousness she
maniftsts such an ardent passion for Elvino, to whom
she confides all, to that unhappy discovery menacing
her future prospects, and which appears likely
to blast the happy dreams of her first love,
there was a natural and truthful delineation
of those lofty passions of cur nature which
such trying circumstances evoke. The scene in which
she is discarded by Elvino—where her whole powers
of persuasion are exercised for the proving of
her fidelity—was immense. The whole soul ap-
peared to be poured out in the concerted piece " Hear
me swear, then," to convince his stern and unrelent-
ing nature. Strikingly effective as was the piece
throughout, the finale, " Ah do not Mingle," was a
worthy conclusion. While recounting her troubles,
in a state of tomnatnbulism, Miss Fyne charmed the
house by her brilliant warbling (introduced, in part),
which, with its artistic execution, was much ad-
mired. A hearty encore, such as we have seldom
heard, and in which Miss Pyne introduced a change
of variations, concluded one of the best versions
of Sonnambula we have witnessed for some time.
We have only space to add that last night's opera,
The Crown Diamonds, gave not less satisfaction than
the foregoing. The brilliancy and precision with
which Miss Pyne attacks and conquers the most diffi-
cult passages may be approached, but not excelled.
Mr. Harrison is still suffering from relaxed throat.
Each evening the party have been called before the
curtain to receive the tribute of a delighted audience.
The lessee, Mr. Caple, is certainly worthy of exten-
sive patronage for securing such talent, and we feel
convinced that those of our readers who have not yet
witnessed the performances of this party will do so
previously to their leaving Hull. A better opportu-
nity than the benefit of Mr. Harrison and Miss Fyne
this and to-morrow evening—the last nights of their
performance—could not present itself.—Hull Ad-
vertiser.

THE BALLAST-HEAVERS OF THE PoRT OF LONDON.
-Last night a public meeting was held in Hawkstone-hall,
Waterloo-road, to adopt measures to remedy the evils aris-
ing from the middleman system employed in ballasting
ships in the port of London. The chair was taken by Mr.
Thomas Flyn. The meeting was addressed by kr. J.
Howard, Mr. Green, and several other speakers, 'who detailed
the evil➢ under which the ballast-heavers laboured, all of
which are ascribed to the middleman system. On the mo-
tion of Mr. Green, it was resolved to adopt a petition to the
Privy Council of the Board of Trade, to introduce a bill into
Parliament to establish an office for the hire of ballast-heavers,
or if that was impracticable to introduce a
.clause in
the Coal Whippers' Act, bringing the ballast• heavers within
its provisions. A memorial to the Trinity-holve Brethren,
praying them to support the prayer of the petition to the
Board of Trade was also adopted, and it was resolved that
Alderman Sir James Duke, Bart., MP., should be requested to present the same. Ihe petition was signed by all pre-
sent, thanks were voted to the chairman, and the meeting
separated.

RHUDDLAN ROYAL EISTEDDVOD.-ThiS 1011g-
talked-cf festival commenced yesterday, in the court-yard of
Ithuddlan Castle, which has been specially fitted up fer the
occasion. Lord Moatyn was unanimously chosen president
of the Eisteddvod, and in his opening address strongly advo-
cated the maintenance of the Welsh language. The bards
were then called upon, and recited their poetical addresses in
Welsh. The meeting was afterwards addressed in an elo-
quent manner (in English) by John Jones, Esq. (the bard
Talhaiarn). The speaker dwelt upon the historical events
applying to the Welsh nation in a strain of the most fervid
el( quence. The Very Rev, the Dean of Bangor next ad-
dressed the Eisteddvod, and was loudly applauded. The
Rev. T. I'. Edwards then read a special communication.
The successful candidate for the grand prize was then in-
ducted into the hardic chair by two graduated bartis. Rhud-
dian is all life and gaiety.
A vesE(l from Calcutta has brought fifty hogsheads
of brandy as a portion of her cargo. We have never known
an importation of fortis spirits to this ext,e4t Leforo from
;1W /441 A 4lttios.

from the Plymouth division for service in the
Bellerophon.
The Teazer steam-vessel, Lieutenant-Commander
Selwyn, was taken into the basin to-day, and will be
paid off there on Friday next.
The Firefly and the Monkey steam-vessels were
taken out of the basin to-day, and the former will
leave Woolwich to-morrow for Greenhithe, Plymouth,
and the coast of Africa.