Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-08-05 00:00:00

TO THE EDITOR OF THE NORTHERN TIMES.

Sir,—ln a town like Liverpool,—if any such yetr can
dam—despite all the physical disadvantages jests=
pare:le from its outward and inward approaches by
water, se notoriously pre-eminent for the magnitude and,
performance of its shipping,—the efficiency of its seamen.
—the talent of the commanders and officers engaged in
the merchant service —and for the enterprising spirit of
its merchants and ship owners, any new eye`xm of Navi-
gation, propounded by what authority scierer, or any im-
provement in Ike old system, is sure to attract at'ention,
and meet with a dispassionate consideration at. the hands
nfthose whose interests are involved.
No .one will deny that the various sciences have tender-
'one a complete revolution, so to speak, within the past
twenty years. For instance, take the science of 'Cireenis-
wry, which 'in point of utility may rack asohiefrand wit-
ness with amazement the changes which it has undergone,
and the purposes for which it hss been used within the
limited period men'ioned.
It it mot many years since, as I can well remember,
that my text hook at school taught me " that element this
and element tha`," were simple 'bodies, which are at the
present day proved clearly to 'be, not elementary,
-but compound bodies, capable of being, 'with the
greatest facility, resolved into their compound,' ingredients.
The -science of astronomy, leo sever, second to none in
point of sublimity, and, perhaps, I may add, in point of
utility, cannot boast of any great improvement at the
hurtle. of our Modern Astronomers -since the days of the
ancient Egyptians or Cha'&es.
Sia,ter and motion seem to entirely engrose all the
mental energy of the present day. Heedless of those un-
erring laws that regulate and guide the latter, with
special reference to those celestial orbs, whose motions I
do not here pause to inquire whether they or we move
{this beisg immaterial to my purpose), in the -firmament
are so closely indented, and so irrtima'ely assoeiated with
`The beautiful science of practical navigation, that to ad-
-locate a discontinuance of their-ass were-saicidal to the
_primary cause of the admired greatness of this-csentry.
I am not a merchant, deriving wealth, ease, and dig-
nity, from traffic in the rich and rare pro luetions of dis-
- taut foreign climes, by 'nears of the present system of
navigation : I am not an astronomer; neither does my
presumption soar so high as to permit me to imagine my-
self a mathematician of even the shallowest water in the
presence of our luminaries of the day, whose memories
shall never die.
Granting you this much, M.:. Editor, please allow me
to arrogate to myself a " small sensation" of ocenesoresense
Now to business : I regret that what is about to follow
will nit square with your idea, as embodied in pur
paper of the 11th May las'.
A long leader in that number of your paper announces,
t) us little 'ens a new system of navigation-einem
.scripta ,maneiy—which may be used at any period, and for
any purpose.
I admit that the duties of as Editor are arduone, and

that they are important no one will deny. He writes not
for himself; he writes for the information of the mass of
his readers : to their coffee in the morning he supplies
an epitomised or summary account of all the transactions,
whether as to church, state, or crime, &c., of the day pre-
cedirg. This- is. perfectly legitimate; but an Editor does
not confine hims€-If to these provinces. He has another
and a more grave or onerous duty to perform : hie readers
look up to him as a shining light placed upon an immin-
ence far their guidance ; hence arise his responsibility,
the necessity of caution in his leaders, intended for the
edification not only of the present generation, but of
generations vet unborn.
I am not aware that Elitors claim infallibility to
themselves and for a very good reason, their humble
readers will not coneecle this point. They are like other
fre'l mortals liable to be imposed upon by plausibility and
specious a.gument.
I cannot boast of a -very retentive metnory, nevertheless

I have a faint recollection of a talented .cOteruporary of
your's in Liverpoo`,not many years by-gone, being mule
the dupe of a Chinaman. What new intelligence think
you the Editor of the, Journal communicated to na from
the celestial city ?
Greenwich date established by meant of a lunar dis-
tance and the nautical airnanack!! Novel information
for the nautical community of Eng:and ; but I regret to
say that the talented Editor of the journal, does not stand
singular in this respect. lam about to couple no less a
character than your " noble self" with him.
I am gat a red-hot radical reformer, at the same
time. I do , not deny that there exist many grievances
demanding refornr,tion, which would be glad to see
effected politically ; but this point I leave in the hands of
legislators, as falling immediately wi,hin their province.
I come now-to the sciences which are daily being rendered
more and mole subservient to the commercial purpos:s of
-this great o oantry, regulated, guided, and applied thereto
thr,oseh the.iugtrumentality of the human mind.
The mind--its flights and vagaries in the regions of
Trobibilities, know no chains of slavery. It is unfettered
in the bosom of the captive slave, the peasant, the peer,
ifrPonve tCorA
. .

conviction, and sometimes confusion, into the hearts
Aheir too credulous readers.

Now for Navigation by Manipttlatioe, as introduced by
Wr. Sean:, to the nautical intelligence of Liverpool,
whose views are endorsed by yourself in the paper already
specifi?.d.
I woald have been disnosed to pay no attention to this
salsvlangled_sys'em of2N-.v vier, we- e it not that I cannot
take ua a daily paper for the purpose of information,
without being confronted with ,the title, "Navigation,
Groat Circle Sailing, &e.," by Mr. Saxhy. He must be a
most extraordinary character. His antecedents are 'un-
known to myself, an .I believe, to the m)jarity of the
nautical profession ; to their shame, be it told, for he tells
us. through no less a medium than the Shipping and
liefercanlile-Cazette,.of therfith alt., that be has had much
experience;ia the them and practice of modern, as well
as early, navigation.
This salon of all ages quite bothers me. I have not
had an opportunity of devoting much attention to the
science of navigation, my sailings having been limited to
two or three trips hither to. Glasgow. It need not, how-
ever, happen necessarily that an individual must be a bona
fide sailor; to enable him to judge as to the properties of a
sphere or lines drawn thereupon.
In your issue of the 11th May last. you gave a great
lift to Mr. filaxby's new system of navigation. N
doubt a great deal of the greatness of our dearly beloved
country is attributable to the science of navigation. Con-
sequentlg, any party, how humble ,soever the exertion,
endeavoating to simplify the science, ought not to be
lightly es.teemcd.
But, Me. Editor, in your laudable desire to encourage
merit, you will not, with impunity, be allowed to lose sight
of discretion.

You appear to have -been filled with all admiration of
Mr. SaxWa "N.ivigation,by Mani pulation." Let us condes-
cend to grapple with facts, stubborn• though they be.
May not facts be represented by-figures as well as by
lines, whether ;linear or curved? Mr. Saxby does not
seem to believethis doctrine, but I challenge him to deny
.it. By some stran_ge fatality, he has succeeded in making,
as it were, a willing convert of yourself; and having so
far succeeded in getting yon to endorse his sentiments,
he unship you, after having used you is a stepping-stoce.
and fieds his coarse to the Editor of the Shiprizaw and
.Mercantile Gazette, kwilich.he appears to consider a in, re
befitting field than your -columns for the campaign. fide
Gazette of the Bth uit., but as I do not choose to plunge
into media., -res let me hive A ward or two with Mr.
83xby as I find him figuring in your pages, ere I follow
_him to the metropolis.
It would appear that be has conceived a new idea as to
the science of navigation without caleulation, and, non
,riz.://r/as mus nasceur, b,rought forth a something which,
no doubt, after mature deliberatioo, he bas been grac-
iously pleased to honour with the signifiCant title of
Sphereograph. Sphereography, Cosmography, as well as
.steno9raphy Jc., wh:ch may sc-und classically musical in
the cbane ears of reporters and editors,; but we—l beg
pardon-7I mean only myself, a desciple of the
lower school, cannot pretend to comprehend. This,
howeve-, I must set down as cause of regret as
affecting myself alone ; nor may I blame those whose
refined tastes and cultiatated minds render them .fi t subjects
for admission iLto the enellantiug fairy fields of scien-
tific sublimity. But, Mr% Editor, 'bad Mr. Saxby left
me siu3nlar, .to ,clod on in my humble way, „I would
not thus be after troubling yon. Bit excuse me, you
know not only as..weli, but better than I, that the great-
ness of Liverpool is :to be ascribed, not to sophistry,
neither to plausibility, -but to facts and figures.
Actual practical rentilts, but not the romantic vag-
avi,s of unfettered imagination regaling itself in the
delectable regions of theories' and, butterfly-like, charmed
with momentary phantoms lighter than air, constitute
the staniard by which the commercial and intelligent
portion of the community of this town regulate their
every day transactions This fact apparently annoys
Saxby.

He has introduced a new system of navigation; but
your ship-owners and merchants are too ignorant to com-
prehend and appreciate it. Your shir-masters are inca-
pable of either understanling or practising it ; and all the
rest of your community are callously indiffs.rent about it.
Therefore, in the estimation of Mr. Saxby, you are alto-
gether a set of "muffs"—nothing but a parcel of humbugs—
Oring for nothing WO corn and cotton ; and to yolc last,

ins shame it will stand recorded against yo a, that you are
about to allow Mr. Swill to depart fro! a amongst you
*laws et penates," unheeded a,nd unrewarded, to disp'ay
his miraculous Sphereograph to intelligence of a higher
order ; at whose hards he is certain of honour and im-
mortal fame.

Were it not desirable, Mr. Editor, me yon submit to
-such a public loss and disgrace, to take the trouble to in-
attire a little further into this oracul Ar Sphereograph ?
-You have a Local Marine• Beard—you have got competent
examiners, holding wtekfy exeminati ens, for the'parpose
of certifying as to the ability of your commanders in the
merchant service, with special regard to their knowledge
of nautical astronemy, ,calcalation, ligarithens, &c. Why
all this bother, (?) for Mr. Sax4y '„fella you that -not only
all the losses but double ate losses at sea occur in the, hands
of competent or passed masters! !"
Mr. Saxby is very inveterate rigainst this unfortunate
class of talented gentlemen.
His relentless ire dees not cease when they leave
Liverpool: deamonelike it haunts them until -same mis-
her befalls them. This is sacredly chronicled in the arch-
ives of the repository of novel navigation and 'patents, in
Strend-street ; 'for the similar purpose of imparting the
semblance of truth to alleg ttiona mate/and.
Don't mistake my meani .sg, Mr. Editor, fer'l have no
desire to mislead your readers. But I desire-Mr. Saxby
to explain to me the logic, 'sy means of which he saddles,
not only all the catastroph es at sea, but -double those, on
the shoulders-of 1- Certificated Masters " I can myself
readily account for the animous conveyed in this palpably
illogical language, and simply by stating that he feels
grieved because the Liverpool captains are too shrewd to
be gulled by sophistry, and therefore he is about to try
his hand upon the natives of a more southern and benignent
clime; whenlishall be glad to hear or his enjoying the
full fruition due to his abiltiy so unjustly denied to him
in contemptible Liverpool.
Navigation without calculation by means of a sphereo-
grapti maew; but stercograehle projection is not new
to a host of your readers, agansus igitur -rem pingne
Mike-rm. Though
"I would not be the first the new to try,
Nor yet the last the old to lay aside:"
25,000 miles, English, reduced to a ten inch scale, or
30.0 leg of ,Coo miles, geographical, each, and the 60th
part of the latter required to be ascertained by means
of a diagonal scale of equal parts, of, say 10 inches, for
the purpose of faciliting calculation or comparison.
360Jeg., give .36dege or 2,160 geographicel miles to

the linear inch, the 60th part of one of which will be

a second of longitude. You may safely and fearlessly
ball this multuns in parvo ; but this is what we are
required to cr dit by Mr. Saxby without figures. This
may suit the fine fingers and aquiline eye of Mr. Saxby
himself. But I fear that the hands of the generality of
sailors would not like to undertake the arduous task.
But let us see what the following advertisement, in your
columns, will bring to our aid :
" Wanted, immediately, a number of commanders to
take charge of large ships taken up by government, to con-
vey troops, stores, &e., to India. To prevent unnecessary
trouble, no one holding a certificate of competency need
apply, their having passed an examination being held as a
decided disqualification. Au intimate acquaintance, with
Mr. Saxby's rule of thumb system of trabereographic
navigation held as a sine qua non, and parties professing
the greatest amount of ignorance as to loaarithims and
figures in general, will, celeris paribus, have due pre-
ference. Application, by letter, to be made to the
undersigned."
I leave you now, Mr. Editor, to consider—or
rather to re-consider--this subject, and your remarks
thereunto. As lam going to London with Mr. Saxby to
spend a few days, and should the pressure of business
permit you to come up, please inquire for
me at 54, Gracechurch-street. I shall be extremely
happy to see you, and I am sure that Mr. S, will receive
you with cordiality.
I need scarcely say bow much pleasure your presence in
the Metropolis will afford to your respected cotemporary
—the Editor of the Shipping and Mercantile Gazette.
Mr. S. will, of course, favourably introduce you.
The science of navigation is sure to be the leading top's
of eon versation, after the usual formalities, the state of the
weather, &e., are disposed of.
I know that you are net a sailor—that you will not care
much about this briney subject. You would much rather
hear the subject of the Liverpool dock dues, trade and
commerce, law, telegraphic and rural intelligence, church
and state, the Indian revolt, &c., &c., topics familiar to you
as household words.
But never mind, all that you have got to do is not to
look sheepish, nor say too much ; and if you ac; upon this
advice, they will never discover that you are not a bona
4de R N.
They have already, as I have hinted above, nee a
" confab" on this important subject of praetic al navigation.
They promise to continue to discuss the subject until the
nation be thoroughly enlightened.
They have introduced the subject with " great circle
sailing."
But, unfortunately, my time, at present, will not permit
me to comment upon their lucubration 3 ; besides, it is
possible that I have already trespassed too far upon your
goodness, for which pardon me.
But if you just droip_rol_a or so, Artivpitrzb, •
give
azsTEtediTnirlaWs upon the subject, with which you can
amuse yourself in the train.—Meaatime, I remit', sir,
A, M. D.

INCOME TAX, &c. (LONDON.) —There has been published
a return specifying (among other things) the tot4l amount
of income tax, laud tax, and assessed taxes fur the city of
London, during the years ending the 5-h April, 1856, and
the sth April, 1857. The proceeds of the various taxes
are as follows : —lncome tax 1855, 1860,408 12s 10d ;
1856, 4862,578 14s 2d ; land tax, 1855, 151,820 12s 9i ;
1856, X 51,501 5s Id ; assrased taxes,• 1855, 446,821 17s
10d; 1856, L 47,418 63 Bd. The larg'st allowances re-
ceived by indiiidual collectors for collection of income tax,
are £1.750 ani 11,020, both of whom are employed in
other duties. The smallest is 426.

HORRIBLE ACCIDENT BY MACHINERT.-1 :very shock-
ing and fatal accident occurred at the saw mills, Thames
Bank, on Friday, by which one of the foremen, named
Thomas Thompson, lost his life under very dreadful cir-
cumstances. The unfortunate man was engaged in his
ordinary business at the mills, when by some means his
arms were drawn into the machinery, by which they were
literally torn from his body. The poor fellow was conveyed
to St. George's Hospital, Hyde Park-corner, but so dreadful
were the injuries ha received that no medical skill could
avail, and after great suffering he expired. The deceased
has left a widow and several prying children, but -Messrs.
Pelly, the proprietors of the establishment, will do some-
thing for the unfortunate family.
A COUNTY CONSTABLE NIPPED —Rumour tells the
following story :—The mwly appointed police at Chittle-
hampton and its neighbourhood aro like the rest of their
fraternity in the county, wide awake in the discharge of
their duties. One of these officials, it is said, met the other
night a poor rustic with a bag b erne upon his s houHer.
The policeman, in a loud tone of voice began—Where
are you going to ? Ot's that to yu. Where did you come
from ? Shan't tell'e. You are too impudent ; but I must*
know what your bag contains. What have you got there ?
Shan't satisfi'e. Then I must take away your b3g ; but
if you will let me feel what you have there it will satisfy
me. That thee mayst do, said the rustic, put thee hand in
than, cum make haste. In goes the hand of the detective,
no sooner in than out, for the bag contained a full-grown
badger, whose carnivorous propensities instantly caused it
to fasten on the top of three or the official's fingers, with
the view of having a feast.—Plymouth Journal.
THE COLLIERY EXPLOSION NEAR ASHTON-UNDER-
LYNE.—Up to' Sunday night thirty-one bodies had been
recovered from the pit, and as eight persons were still
missing, the estimated number of lives lost is now increased
to 39. There are still 40 men constantly engaged in
exploring the mine, and it was thought probable that the
whole of the bodies would be recovered in the course of
yesterday. The greatest precautions are necessary to
avoid the :after-damp, but there is otherwise not much
obstruction. It is now thought that the explosion took
place almost at the ex`remity of the workings. Ever
since the Moment of the explosion, the ground near the pit
has been thronged by bnudred3 of people. There have
been sad assemblages of auxins inquirers and of mourning
relatives, and the scene has ken one of distressing excite-
ment. Nothing is yet mentioned to give a clue to the
cause of the explosion. A number of lamps have been
round, bat all of them unopened. The shaft was sunk in
1823, but -the mine had then been worked for 30 years
from one of the other shaft,.

To create a secretary of state for Indian affairs is a
suggestion which we (Leader) think the Rouse of Conmvons
could cot for a moment entertain, since it is a propo3al
which would invest a corrupt cabinet with a power of
despotic patronage sufficient to taint every source of legis-
lation. The salaries at the disposal of the premier world
suffice to secure him—so long as politicians are to be
bought and srild—an amount of infleence which could be
tolerated in no constitutional country. Of what use
destroying Old Sarum if corruption is to riot in Bengal ?
A hundred golden prizes would be entrusted to the premier
of the day, and this we conceive is not a desirable result.
Yet there must be a responsibility, there must be patronage,
and it appears to many who have studied the exigencies
of our Indian empire, that the Board of Control might be
merged in a eonrt similar in constitution to that in
Leadeoball- street, bat appointed by parliament, and retiring
by rotation. An idea of this kind should be taken for
what it is worth; is obvious that the existing system
his failed,