The Sun.
London, England, 1845-12-25 00:00:00

THE MILITIA.

, ---
The following circular has been addressed by Sir
James Graham- to the Lords Lieutenant Of the several
counties in Great Britain, in reference to the appoint-
ment of adjutants and the filling up•of the other va-
cancies that exist at present among the commissioned
officers of the various regiments of militia:—
" Whitehall, December, 1845.
"My Lord,—l have the honour to inform your Lord-
ship that her Majesty has been graciously pleased to
signify her commands that the permanent staff of the
several regiments, battalions, or corps of the militia of
Great Britain, should be completed to the number pre-
scribed by the. Act of the sth and 6th William IV..
cap. 37.
" A communication has already been addressed by the
Secretary at War to the colonels of regiments of militia,
respecting the" sergeant-majors and sergeants, with a
view of supplying any vacancies that may at present
exist, as well as for discharging such of the sergeants as
have been found by the recent inspectors to be totally
unfit for the peiformance of any duty whatever, and also
conveying to them a suggestion for a prospective dis-
charge of those who, although they have been reported
unfit for duty when the militia shall be in an enrolled
state, are nevertheless competent to the performance of
local duties connected with the billet, enrolment, and
training of that. force. It being of considerable import-
ance that the full establishment of officers in the several
regiments of militia should be completed to the extent
prescribed by .law,_ I beg leave to call your Lordship's
attention to thitt:subject, and to suggest that in the event
of there bein4
•_any vacancies (that of paymaster ex-
cepted) in the regiment of militia in your county, such
vacancies should be filled up before the spring of the
ensuing year.
" I have the honour to be, my Lord, your Lordship's
very obedient servant, " J. G. GRAHAM.
" Her Majesty's Lieutenant of the county of —."

NAVY OF ;LIE UNITED STATES.—The total num-
ber of sailors in„the United States' navy is 6,100, of whom
about 960 are native-born Americans, the rest being prin-
cipally English, with a few Swedes and Hanseatics. Their
pay is fifteen dollars a month, and two dollars per month
additional, if flay don't draw any grog ration. This is fully
equal to three pOunds ten shillings per month. Without this
high rate of wages it would be next to impossible for the
Secretary of the. Navy to man the ships. The navy of the
United States is very respectable. Taking their navy list, it
appears that they have of all classes of ships, old, rotten, or
on the stocks, on their rivers and lakes, in China and the
Pacific, a grand 'total of seventy-six, namely, ten line-of-
battle ships, twelve frigates of the first-class, two of the
second class, twenty-three sloops of war, eight brigs, eight
schooners, eight steamers, together with four store-ships and
brigs ; but it may be safely reckoned that between forty and
fifty of this list are really superior, formidable vessels, and
immediately available for any service or emergency. Five
ships of the line, alongside of which they say, our Victory
looks like a frigate, might be ready for sea in a month, and
about six first-class frigates, rated as forty fours, but really
more resembling our razee Warspite, which may be con-
sidered one of the best ships of her class. The Americans
have only one razee, the Independence, fifty-four, a descrip-
' tion of ship that hitherto has not been seen in any of our
navy yards, hut which we shall soon have to exhibit in a
few razees noweonstructing out of some old first-rates that
have not seen much service.
NORFOLK RAILWAY.—FATAL ACCIDENT. - We
regret to learn that an accident occurred on this line on
Tuesday, which' occasioned the death of the engineer, and
will probably ppove fatal to the fireman. It appears that
the train which ileft Norwich for London at half-past eleven,
got off the lineinear Thetford, owing, as is supposed, to the
great speed at which it was travelling, and the engineer
and fireman were thrown under the engine. The former was
killed on the spot, and the latter had both his thighs and an
arm broken, ad now lies at Thetford in a dreadful state of
suffering. Two Or three of the carriages were overturned,
but the passengers were not seriously injured.