The Sun.
London, England, 1845-01-23 00:00:00

45.

.rte
NEW MERCHANT SEAMEN'S ACT
Since the Act to amend and consolidate the laws
relating to merchant seamen, and for keeping a re- ~/.0
gister of seamen, has come into operation, a great .1
number of foreigners have applied to the registrar of
the port of Londan for register tickets, which have
been in every case refused, the new law only autho-
rising the registrar to register seamen being subjects
of her Majesty. It is pe haps not generally known
that foreign seamen comprise about one-fifteenth of
our mercantile marine, and the new law has placed
them in a very awkward position. They cannot
obtain register tickets from the office, and masters of
ships must not take them to sea without one, believing,
if they do, that they are liable to heavy penalties. This
belief is founded in error. The 2d section of the 7th
and Bth Victoria, cap. 112, enacts that no master
shall carry to sea any seaman being a subject of her
Majesty until he shall have first obtained his register
ticket, which he is authorised to retain until the ter-
mination of the voyage. The 4th section imposes a
penalty of 101. on any master of a ship carrying out
to sea any seaman being a subject of ler Majesty,
without first obtaining his register ticket. The
20th section enacts that any person being a sub-
ject of her Majesty, intending to serve on
board any ship, shall provide himself with a re-
gister ticket ; and for that purpose to apply per-
sonally at the General Register and Record•oflice of
Seamen in London, or the custom-houses of the
several outports of the United Kingdom. It will be
seen, therefore, that the new Merchant Seamen's Act
only applies to subjects of her Majesty, and that there
is nothing to prevent the hiring of foreigners as here-
tofore. Yesterday two foreigners applied to Mr.
Broderip, at the Thames Police-court, for a summons
against the registrar of British seamen for refusing to
register them. One of the applicants stated that be
was a seaman, that he was born at Hamburgh, and
had been for twenty-nine years sailing in English
;hips. A great part of that time had been spent in
the service of the East India Company ; he had mar-
ried an English wile, by whom he had five children,
and when he was ashore he lived with her in London.
The last British ship he sailed in was the barque
Newton, Captain Dixon, and that gentleman had
furnished him with a flattering testimonial of good
conduct, sobriety, and steadiness. He had applied to
the registrar to send him a ticket, which he refused to
do, because he was not a British subject, but he eon-
sidered himself a British seaman to all intents and
purposes, and had adopted England as his country. lie
had obtained a ship which was about to sail from
London to Sydney, but the master would not take him
unless he was registered and would produce his ticket.
A Swedish seamen next applied to the magistrate, and
his case was a stronger one than the last. He had.
been away from his native country for forty-six years,
and had served in the Royal Navy of Great Britain for
thirty years, and in English merchant-ships for sixteen
more, and considered he was entitled to a register
ticket. 'Without one he could not obtain another
berth, and as to returning to the land of his birth,
where he knew no one, it was quite out of the ques-
tion. Mr. Broderip did not think he had any power
to interfere. The only question was, whether the
applicants were British subjects or denizens. Mr.
Symons, the chief clerk, and author of the work,
" The Law relating to Merchant Seamen," said the
Magistrate could not interfere with the registrar of
British seamen, who was an officer under the control
of the Lords of the Admiralty, and that he had nr,
power to issue tickets to those who were not subkcts
of her Majesty. The applicants seemed very Much
troubled at the answer to their applications, and said
they must starve, if no ship-masters would engage
them. The desire of foreign seamen to register under
the new law is very great—the pay in the British
service is greater, and the supply of provisions more
ample, than can be obtained in any foreign vessels. It
is a well-known fact that many foreigners, who halo •
been acting as seamen in British ships for many years,
have registered themselves as subjects of her Majesty,
and obtained their tickets.

MASONIC BALL.
Last night a grand masonic ball, in aid of the funds of
the Asylum for worthy aged and decayed Freemasons,
took place in Freemasons' Hall, Great Queen-street.
This fraternity has long since passed the rubicon of pub-
lic opinion ; to be a free and accepted Mason is to possess
a welcome passport in every quarter of the civilised
world. It is, therefore, peculiarly gratifying to find that
the asylum fund from year to year continues to accumu-
late and prosper. Through many " lets and hindrances "
Dr. Crucetix, the founder, has had the satisfaction of
seeing the good work proceed to completion. . The
offspring of our poorer brethren alone shall not be cared
for ; the aged and indigent. members alto demand our
sympathy, These feelings prompted the founder of the
asylum Rind ; last night he and the, ether promoters of
it had a gratifying triumph in the somber and brilliancy
of the company attendiug the ball; Among those pre-
sent were the bpanish Minister, br. Lane (President),
Brothers Shaw, liodgkinson, Field, Aspull, Bacon,
Barnes, Comins, Crucefix, &c. Dancing, under
the able superintendence of Brothers Carlin and
Marriott, who acted as masters of the cere-
monies, commenced about I nine o'clock, with the
pretty quadrille from Don Pasquale; then follovredl
Quadrille, Il Giuramento—Lancers, Prince of Wales--
Quadrille, L'Espagnole—Caledonians —La Polka and
waltz—Quadrille, Cracovienne—Quadrille, Les Gondo-
liers—Spanish dance, Double Pousette—Quadrille, Royal
Irish—Quadrille, Jullien's English—Caledonians, New
music—Quadrille, Le Postillon—Le Polka and Galope,
Cerito and Strauss—Quadrille, Bohemian Girl—Lancers,
Adams—Quadrille, 'lite de Bronze—Quadrille, New-
Scotch—Spanish Dance, Light of other Days—Quadrille,
Antiques, Vocal Finale—Country dance, Sir Roger 'de
Coverly. The celebrated band of Mr. Adams performed
during the evening with its accustomed ability. About
midnight there could not have been fewer than 350 ladies
and gentlemen present; the former brilliant in the ex-
treme, and there being a very numerous attendance A.
officers, most of whom wore their
,jewels and badges, the
ensemble at the above mentioned time was really magus..
ficent. Refreshments of the best order were liberally
supplied by Mr. Bacon, the courteous proprietor of the
tavern; indeed, everything was so well conducted, that
entire satisfaction appeared to pervade the asiembly, the
elegant hilarity of which was sustained till an early hour
this morning.

PREACHERS IN LENT IN THE
CITY AND SUBURBS.
The following is a list of the preachers appointed by
the Lord Bishop of London to preach in the city and
suburbs of London in Lent, 1845, on Wednesdays and
Fridays, in the following churches :-
ST. SEPULCIIRE'B.-Feb. 5, Ash Wednesday, Mr.
Hale, Archdeacon of London ; Feb. 7, Friday, Mt._
Letts • Feb. 12, Wednesday, Dr. Bird
,• Feb. 14, Friday.
Dr. Shepherd; Feb. 19, Wednesday, Mr. Lee ; Feb. 21,
Friday, Mr. Robinson; Feb..p, Wednesday, Mr. Short;
Feb. 28, Friday, Mr. Abbiss; March 5, Wednesday, Mr.
Harding; March 7, Friday, Mr. Gibbs; March 12, Wed-
nesday, Mr. Crosthwait ; March 14, Friday, Mr. Bean •
March 19, Wednesday, Mr. Crouch ; March 21, Goal
Friday, Mr. Wood.
ST. MAGNUS THE MARTYR, LONDON-1111IDGE.-Feb,
5, Ash Wednesday, Mr. Jones, Archdeacon of Essex ;;
Feb. 7, Friday, Mr. Sharpe ; Feb. 12, Wednesday, Mr.
Stone; Feb. 14, Friday, Mr. Lacy; Feb. 19, Wednesday,
Mr. Gelling ; Feb. 21, Friday, Dr. Burnet ; Feb. 26,
Wednesday, Mr. Goode • Feb. 28, Friday, Mr. Roberts;
March 5, Wednesday, Mr. Blunt; March 7, Friday, Mr.
Durham; March 12, Wednesday, Mr. Hutchins; Alarch.
14, Friday, Mr. Lupton ; March 19, Wednesday, Mr;
Johnson; March 21, Good Friday, Mr. Leigh.
ST. ANN's, Soto-SQUARE.-Fob. 5, Ash Wednemiay,
Dr. Burney, Archdeacon of St. Alban's; Feb. 7, Friday.
Mr. T. 11. Horne ; Feb. 12, Wednesday, Mr. Newhery ;
Feb. 14, Friday, Dr. Vivian ; Feb. 19, Wednesday, Mr.
Wix ; Feb. 21, Friday, Mr. A. Hollingworth ; Feb. 26,
Wednesday, Dr. Croly ; Feb. 28, Friday, Mr. Denham;
March 5, Wednesday, Mr. Rodwell ; March 7, Friday,
Mr. Hall ; March 12, Wednesday, Mr. Gibson ; March
14, Friday, Mr. Povah ; March 19, Wednesday, Mr..
Amiot ; March 21, Good Friday, Dr. Macleod.
ST. PETER'S, PIMLICO.-Feb. 5, Ash Wednesday, Mr.
Sinclair, Archdeacon of Middlesex; Feb. 7, Friday, Mr.
Ward ; Feb. 12, Wednesday, Mr. A. Cooper ; Feb. 14,
Friday, Mr. Bowers ; Feb. 19, Wednesday, Mr. Dale ;
Feb. 21, Friday, Sir 11. K. Dukenfield ; Feb. 26, Wed-
nesday, lion. Mr. Villiers; Feb. 28, Friday, Mr. Kepian ;
March 5, Wednesday, Dr. M`Caul ; March 7, Friday,
Mr. Tyler ; March 11, Wednesday, Dr. Russell; March
114 r, F da y
Jennings, M r; M.
C. J. LONDON,
MWar. lcVll.2El,lliGso;odAlFarreidhayl,9, Mr.iVied'ulnleesrd.
N.8.-Prayers will begin at eleven o'clock ; and 'here
will be a sermon every Wednesday and Friday An Lent
at the Cathedral Church of St. Paul.

ST. CLEMENT's SAVINGS' BANR.---Tho following
is a statement of the audited account of the money trait-
sections of this bank for the last year :—The amount re-
ceived of depositors during the year was 46,0091. Is. Bd.
The amount paid to depositors, including interest, was
a4ml,oluBnlLtedlB:o. 46d04.,1 whilst t. t hrla9l
There
endc
re
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stot fai
exceedingds m
dna uonrtaigenxge mcseot
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exceed
et
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536.:
21:159306
ddeeppoossiittoorrss,abwohvoes2eobl.
2naoho ocit vle ex 5c
seo
x.d t
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e x; c6e7e da i
bnsogo
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eli
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.s; 167 above 1001 and
aluindd 3nOofi treexnedeelydisnog-
coipeetniesacweeoruenatslstoodbeep4,
ossit4.or2s, showing the total number of
EXTENSIVE FIRE IN IIuNGERYoRD-MARRET.--
This morning, between three and four o'clock, an alarm-
ing fire was discovered among the loads of hay and
straw in Ilußgerford-rnarket, near the company's office.
Information was forwarded to the Chandos-street fire
station by the watchman on duty, and speedy assistance
was procured therefrom, as well as from other stations,
bat from the progress the fire had made previous to iti6
discovery the firemen were not able to subdue it till a
considerable portion of hay and straw had been ow.
sumed. A great mystery attends the cause of the fire,
but sufficient time could not be attained to ascertain its
origin.
ROYAL GENERAL PENSION SOCIETY.—Last evening
the usual general meeting of this excellent institution
took place at the board-room, in Chapel-street, Car_e_nr-
jdioshhn-slsqluoarrreis., it From
appearsthet reporthut there of a
rteh the
at secretary, Ms.
one hundred recipients of the charitLeufcoonre
and
dk
some of whom are upwards -of
six years, and many of t... 0 maleet huP
recipientswad o of
reachninet e
Indeed, one old lady is statedh tob
similar ago.