The Sun.
London, England, 1844-01-08 00:00:00

THE ROYAL NAVY.

The total number of vessels of every grade and description
in the navy is 609, viz.-98 line of battle ships, 102 frigates,
172 sloops, &c. , 111 steamers, 10 troop and store ships, 1 gun-
nery ship, 38 receiving ships, 2 hospital ships, 4 yachts, 8 coal
depots, 19 quarantine ships, 17 convict ships, 15 coast guard,
33 floating chapels, 2 tank vessels, 2 mooring vessels, 1 sheer
hulk, 1 diving-bell vessel, 1 Thames-police, 1 alien service,
and 1 Marine Society.
O fthe 98 line of battle ships 11 are in commission, including
the flag-ships of the Commanders-in-Chief at Portsmouth,
Plymouth, and the Nore, 68 are in ordinary, and 19 are build-
ing or ordered to be built.
Of the 102 frigates 30 are commissioned, 58 iu ordinary, and
14 to be built.
Of the 172 sloops til9 are in commission, 60 in ordinary, and
23 building.
Of the 111 steamers 77 are in commission, including the
various packet boats, steam tugs, the Bee for the use of the
students on board the Excellent, and the Royal yacht; 18 are
in ordinary, and 16 are building.
Seven of the 10 troop and store ships are in commission, and
the other 3 in ordinary.
There are 11 of the 38 receiving ships in commission, in-
cluding those of the admirals and captains-superintendent of
the various dockyards.
The other vessels in commission are the Excellent, gunnery
ship ; the Minden, hospital ship ; and the Fawn, tank vessel,at
the Cape.
Altogether there are 228 vessels in commission, which are
distributed as follows:
_

Mediterranean-4 line-of-battle ships, 4 frigates, 6 sloops,
&c., 10 steamers, and 1 receiving ship.
hina and the East Indies-2 line-of-battle ships, 5 frigates,
15 sloops, Sze., 3 steamers, 3 troop ships, and 1 hospital ship.
West Indies and North America-1 line-of-battle ship, 4
frigates, 13 sloops, 3 steamers, 1 troop ship, and the Imaum
receiving-ship.
Brazils-2 frigates, 11 sloops, 3 steamers, and 2 receiving-
ships.
Coast of Africa-1 frigate, 11 sloops, and 3 steamers.
Cape of Good Hope-4 frigates, 3 sloops, 1 steamer, and 1
tank-vessel.
Pacific-5 frigates, 3 sloops, 2 steamers, and 1 store-ship.
Torres Straits-2 sloops.
Azores-1 steamer.

Lisbon-1 frigate.
Lakes of Canada-1 sloop, and 2 steamers.
Jersey and Guernsey-2 sloops.
Coast of Ireland-1 line-of-battle ship, 2 frigates, 3 sloops,
10 steamers, and 1 troop ship.
There are 1 line-of-battle ship, 1 frigate, and 2 sloops fitting
For sea at the various ports.
. .

The other vessels in commission consist of the flag-ships of
the Port-Admirals, the ships of the Admirals and Captains-
Superintendent, the various tenders, &c. ; the brigs employed
as the Falmouth packets, and the steamers employed at Dover,
Weymouth, Portpatrick, Liverpool, and Holyhead, for the
conveyance of the mails.

MORTALITY in the METROPOLIS
The following are the results of " A Table of Mortality In
the Metropolis, showing the Number of Deaths from all Causes
Registered in the week ending Dec. 30, 1843." The Table is
issued from the Office of the Registrar-General:—
Weekly
Average
1838-9-40-1-2

_ . Total.
Five Five
Autumns.lYears
Epidemic, Endemic, & Contagious Diseases 196 183 182
Diseases of the Brain, Nerves, and Senses 157 140 148
Diseases of the Lungs, and other Organs of
Respiration 290 278 268
Diseases of the Heart and Blood-vessels
Diseases of the Stomach, Liver, and other
Organs of Digestion . 70 59 62
Diseases of the Kidneys, &c
Childbed, Diseases of the Uterus, &c l3 10 9
Diseases of the Joints, Bones, and Museles 3 6 6
Diseases of the Skin, &c — 1 1
Diseases of Uncertain Seat lO9 106 105
Old Age, or Natural Decay 73 69 68
Deaths by Violence, Privation, or Intem-
perance
Causes not specified
Deaths from all causes
Average Weekly Deaths

CAUSES OF DEATH.

.. 46 24 25
17 8 5
..1007 - -
908 903

Population
merated
1041.

Average Death
Weekly in
Deaths the
1838-9-404-2. Week.
West—Kensington, St. George
( Hanover-square), We stm in- Five I Five
ster, St. Martin in the Fields, Years. Autumns.
St. James
North—St. Mary-le-bone, St
Pancras, Islington, Hackney 365,660 162 162 184
Central—Saint Giles and Saint
George, Strand, Clerkenwell,
Holborn, St. Luke, East Lon-
don, West London, City of
London 373,806 184 183 225
East—Shoreditch,Whitechape ,
Bethnal Green, St. George
in the East, Stepney, Poplar 392,498 203 206 232
South—St. Saviour, St. Olave,
St. George( Southwark ),Ber-
mondsey, Newington. Lam-
beth, Camberwell, Bother-
hi the , Greenwich . ..... —.438,060 219 227 242

1)IST KILTS.

Total 1,870,727 903

908 1007

7•
It is slated that under the term Metropolis are comprised the
32 districts herein mentioned, which include the City of Lon-
don with an() without the walls, the City and Liberties of
Westminster, the out-parishes within the Bills of Mortality—
and the parishes of St. Marylebone, St. Pancras, Kensington,
Fulham, Hammersmith(Chapelry), St. Luke (Chelsea), Pad-
dington, St. Mary (Stoke Newington), St. Leonard (Brom-
ley), St. Mary-le-bow, Camberwell, Greenwich, St. Nicholas
and St. Paul (Deptford), and Woolwich. The population, as
enumerated in 1831, was 1,594,890 and in June 1841, was
1,870,727. The weekly average for 1838, 1839, 1840, and
1841, was obtained by dividing the deaths in the four years by
208, and the deaths in the four winters by 52.
General Register Office, Jan. 4, 1843.

CORONER'S INQUEST.—On Friday afternoon an in•
quisition was taken before Mr. Baker, at the Bluecoat Boy,
Dorset-street, Spitaltields, on view of the body of John
Clark, aged 73, a hawker of lucifer-matches, whose death
arose under the following melancholy circumstances of des-
titution, at No. 1, Little Paternoster-row. The late abode of
the deceased, when viewed by the coroner's jury, presented
the appearance of the utmost destitution. The Coroner re-
marked, that he bad never seen a human being in such a
state of emaciation, and the jury expressed their condemna-
tion of the parish officers for not having attended to the de-
ceased, in his miserable state. John Cowley, living in the
same house, said, that he obtained a precarious existence
by selling shavings. The deceased had occupied the same
room for some weeks, and was latterly so exhausted that
he was unable to eat. He was an out-pensioner of the
parish of St. Leonard, Shoreditch, from which he received
a loaf of bread and ts. 6d. a week. Deceased bad strong ob-
jections to entering a workhouse ; his pallet consisted of straw,
on which he lay sxt night, but he had no bed-clothes to cover
him. Deceased paid Is. 2d. a week for the room. Witness
contributed 7d. towards the lodging. Last Wednesday after-
noon witness went out, leaving deceased sitting is a chair.
He complained of a swimming in his head, with which he had
been troubled some days. When witness returned in the even-
ing deceased was lying on his wretched bed ; life was extinct.
In answer to a juror, the witness said that no surgeon was
called in, and that his bed consisted of shavings. The Coroner
observed that the deceased possibly might have lived if he had
had the power to take his food ; but it appeared that his
stomach was too weak. It was remarked by some of the jut y
that there were many similar cases of distress in the parish,
and that when so much was paid in rates towards the relief of
the poor, their cases should be inquired into.—Verdict, " Found
dead."
DEATII OF COUNCILLOR MICAULAY.—We regret
to announce the death of this gentleman, which took place on
Friday night, at his house in Windmill-street. He had been
in delicate health for a considerable time past, and for
the last two weeks was confined to his bed. He had been
a member of the Council for the last five years, and for
sever. years was a Commissioner of Police, He could
not be properly classed as a member of any of the parties that
divide our municipal politics, but his sympathies for the poor
could always be calculated on. His exertions to ameliorate
their condition were unceasing; and not content with being a
member of committees formed for their benefit, he administered
frequently to their necessities with his own hands. He was a
prominent member of the Committee for relief of the unem-
ployed poor, when it was first formed, and in that capacity
attended daily in the meadows and superintended their labours ;
but it is not so generally known that he also formed, at his
own risk, and almost at his own expense, a fund for the em-
ployment of destitude females, whom he employed in the
making up of old garments in a house of his own in Adam-
square. Since the prevalence of the fever, Mr. Macaulay
was amongst the foremost in striving to alleviate the suffer-
ings of the porer classes. In particular he had for months
past aroused the attention of the citizens to the condition
of convalescents from the fever, many of whom, when
dismissed from the hospital, were without a home, and
nasally clad. With the view of succouring these for-
lorn objects, Mr. Macaulay collected a great quan-
tity of old clothes, &e., from his fellow-citizens, and it was his
daily employment to distribute these among the recipients of
this charity, accordin.; to their respective wants. Ilis death
was caused by typhus fever, which, it is conjectured, was caught
in the course of his visits among the destitute and diseased
poor.—Edinburgh Courant.
BruTisu ANT) FOREIGN INSTITUTE.—This new
Literary Association opens on the 15th, under the auspices of
his Royal Highness the Prince Albert, and the Presidency of
the Earl of Devon, with a thousand members on its registry,
and the probability of a large accession to its numbers u soon
as town begins to fill with the opening of the two Houses of
Parliament,

WINTER ASSIZES.
NORTH WALES ClRCUlT.—Chester, Jan. 5.
William Venables, aged 31, was indicted for having, on the
27th of September last, at Sandbach, killed his father, John
Venables.
On the day named, the races of Sandbach took place, and
the deceased kept a house for the sale of beer in that township.
The prisoner and a man named Sutton were in the house, and
commenced fighting; two brothers of the prisoner separated
them. The prisoner still persisted in fighting, and at length
his father came to endeavour to restore peace. Immediately
upon seeing him, the prisoner exclaimed, " You old
rogue, are you coming ?" and struck at his father. The bro-
thers again got hold of him, and the old man fell on the floor.
The prisoner then gave his father a savage kick in the belly,
which so much injured the old man, that .he died the next
day. From the evidence of the surgeon, who examined the
body, it appeared that death had been produced by the rup-
ture of one of the large intestines, and there was a discoloura-
tion of the Outer cuticle of the belly, produced by external
violence.
The principal question put by the Learned JUDGE to the
jury was, whether the rupture had been occasioned by the fall
or the kick. If the former, the case would be of accidental
death ; and if the latter, of manslaulhter.
The jury, after a short time, gave- a verdict of Guilty, but
recommended the prisoner to mercy.
Mr. Justice WIGHTMAN asked on what ground they recom-
mended him to mercy ?
The juryman who had assumed the functions of foreman re-
plied, " We think it was an accident."
His LORDSHIP, evidently taken by surprise, said, if that
were the case, they had better reconsider their verdict, and
make up their minds as to whether they thought the death
of the old man had been brought about wilfully or by acci-
dent ; because, if it were an accident, the prisoner must be
acquitted.
The jury did not seem much inclined to adopt his Lordship's
suggestions. The foreman said they thought that death had
been the result of accident. They, however, did retire, and,
after A short absence, returned a verdict of Not Guilty.