The Sun.
London, England, 1852-04-10 00:00:00

LONDON, SATURDAY

THE • NEW NOVELS.
Now ready at all-the Libraries, in 3 vols..
ADAM GItA-E M E of . MOSSGR AY.
A Story of Scottish Life. .
By the Author 9f "Margaret Maitland," &e.
Also just publishd,
THE PERILS OF FASIIION.
ADVENTURES of a BEAUTY. By Mrs. Crowe.
Mr. WARBURTON'S DARIEN. Second Edition.
AURELIA. A Novel. (In-a few days.)
JACOB BENDIXEN. By Mary Howitt. . .
HEARTS and ALTARS. By-Robert Bell, Esq.
EMILY HOWARD. By Mrs, Dunlop.
Colburn and Co., Publishers, 13, Great Marlborough-street.

Now ready in 1 vol., with 15 Illustrations; 105. 6d. bound,
THE NINTH EDITION OF
MR. WAR BURTON'S CRESCENT
AND THE CROSS.
" Independently of its value as an or.ginal narrative, and its use-
ful and in cresting information, this work is remarkable for the co-
louring power and play of fancy-with which its descriptions are .en-
livened. Among its greatest and most lasting charms is its reverent
and serious spirit."—Quarterly Review. •
Colburn and Co., Publishers, 13# Gieat Marlborough-street.

SPERMATORRIREA AND STRICT:LTA%
Just published, Bye., in cloth, price 3s. 6d., by post (free), 45.,
A TREA'rISII: on the CURE off. STRICTURE
Tx. of the CRETIIIIA ; containing the True Reasons why that
D;seasr, so often assumes such an intraA..;table character; with Rules
and Instructions tor the successful Treatment a every Form of
Urethral Contraction, based .on the • results of extensive and pro
longed experience. To which is added, Practical Observations on
the Treatment of Spermatorrhcea by .Cauterization.
By r • B. CQURTENAY,
"These who complain most loudly are those only who know not
how to use the common instruments. . • . . The prac-
tice of surgeons has been Marked with all kinds of violence, and in-
difference about the simple cure •of diseases,- • and a passion for
operations, and all the excesses and horror of surgery."—John Bell.
H. Bailliere,2l9, -Regent-street, London.

?(ZUITABLE FIRE and NATIONAL LOAN
Li FUND LIFE INSURANCE CONJ. BANIES
26, COB/till ILL, .LONDI4N.'
• Dtkzarms.S. .
t*T. LA LE MURRAY, Esq., Chairman.
*W. I. B. Bennett, Esq. *Jcon Moss, Rsq.
t-*Flugh Croft,
M.D. t*John. Rawson, En.
t.J. Elliotson, M.D. F.KS. . *John Shaw,
,Esq.
t*Geo. Fuller. Esq. t "Edmond S. Symes, Esq.
*Ralph Gough, Esq..
t William Kennaway, Esq. tJoseph Thompson, Esq.
tsir Arnold J. Knight, M.D. t*Augustus Vigne, Esq.
*Sir A. W. Ilillary, Bart. tSamuel Walker, Esq.
*M. C. Maher, Esq.
* Fire.

t* Both.

SHOOS OF AN EARTHQUAKE.—KINGSTOWN, APRIL
6.—A few minutes before six o'clock, A. m., on Saturday, the
3d inst., a slight shock of an earthquake was felt in this
locality. Many residents at Clifton, Cotham, and Kings-
down, as well as in the city (Bristol), were surprised at the
shaking of their houses in so unusual a manner, and in con-
erlUMCO fan!! C11.1:30(.1 nmonq
but as there was nu rt,euricliQe of the bilu,k aii ;'ca:' was
speedily dissipated. The shock was felt not only at Bristol.
and VlClliity, but at Wells and Cbeddat,

SPIRIT of the PUBLIC JOURNALS.
FROM THE MORNING PAPERS OF THIS DAY.
TIMES.—We have already expressed, on more
than one occasion, the deep regret with which the
public ill this country has learnt the frightful cost of
life at which the reduction of Lagos was effected in
the month of December last by her Majesty's forces
on the West Coast of Africa ; and we have shown
from the papers recently taid before Parliament that
a more brutal and degraded rice of savages are not
now to be met with on the face'of the earth than the
King of Dahomey and his slave-hunting subjects, to
whom nevertheless the British Government has more
than once condacended, within the last few years, to
address a dispatch and to accredit an agent. Lieute-
nant Forbes's journal of his mission to Dahomey, in
May, 1850, when be witnessed what are termed the
" customs" of that kingdom, is certainly one of the
most extraordinary narratives we ever met with, and
the la sults of this mission may. be judged of by the fact
that eleven human victims' were butchered by way
of sacrifice almost under the eyes of the British
officers, who succeed d in buying off, for one hundred
stellate three of the miserable beings destined for
this sleughter. But, to give a more complete 'View
ef (be policy which , led --to the gallant attack of the
British forces on; Legos, and of the results to
be anticipated from the success of that achievement,
it is due to the officers who conducted that enterprise
to describe somewhat more fully their objects and
their motives. The labours of the Church Missionary
Society on the west coast of Africa enabled the chief
promoters of that :association to demonstrate to the
Government that on the frontiers of Dahomey, and
within reach of the attacks of its savage ruler, there
exists a people inhabiting the Egba province of the
Yoruba kingdom, who are in all respects the opposite
of their ferocious neighbours. Their chief town, called
Ahheokuta,contaites 50,000 inhabitants, and is situated
on the river Ogu, which is navigable 'for about 50
miles down to the sea at the island of Lagos. Their
markets are frequented by traders from the Niger
and the interior of Africa-. These Yoruba chiefs are
entirely opposed to the slave trade, and they live in
constant dread of the ~lave hunts and hoitilities of
their slave-dealing neighbours. It is a very remarkable
circumstance that several -hundred liberated Africans
bad found their way in vessels, procured and freighted
by themselves, from Sierra Leone to Badagry and
Abbeokuta ; and the English missionaries have un-
doubtedly succeeded in establishing there one of
the most successful missions we yet possess on the
Guinea coast. But, on the other band, Lagos, which
commands the mouth of the river Ogu and the trade
of Abbeokuta, was in the hands of a slave-trading
chief, Kosoko, .who had driven his relative, Akitoye,
from the throne; and the King of Dahomey, jealous
of the trade and independence of Ahhetikuta, bed re-
psatedly declared his intention to make war upon it
and to destroy it. These threats were soon realised.
In March, 1851, the King of Dahomey marched
against Abbeokuta to exterminate the British mis-
sionaries, and to reduce- the black population to
slavery. A severe action was fought tinder the
walls of the town, and in the presume of the Eng-
lish residents. The Dalicmeens were defeated, and
on the next day no less than 1,209 of their warriors were
found dead upon the field. This abortive attempt was
followed by other hostilities between the tribes in-
volved in this interminable African quarrel, which
placed the British residents and traders on the coast
in considerable peril, as Kosoko, the Chief of Lagos,
was known to be advancing to attack that settlement;
and it became apparent that the safety both of
the missionaries, the traders, and the liberated
Africans in these free districts, depended entirely
on the restraint which could be put upon the hostile
operations of the Chief of. Lagos. There seems
reason to believe that these operations were the result
of a preconcerted scheme, arranged and assisted by
the Brazilian slave-dealers, between the. King of Da-
homey end the slave-trading chiefs of the coast. Upon
the receipt of this information in September last,
Lord Palmerston ordered Whydah, which is the
principal port of Dahomey, to be strictly blockaded,
and the Commodore on the station was instructed to
consider the practicability of. sending a small force
into Lagos for the purpose of expelling the then chief
and the slave-dealers by whom he was supported, and
of re-establishing in his stead Akitoye, the former
chief, who was driven out by the slave-dealers on
account of his hostility to the slave trade. If these
orders could by eirecuted,;Loaralinereton added that
Lagos might become an important outlet for the
commerce of the interior, and a diffusing centre of
civilization, instead of a den of barbarism. Before,
however, the formal instructions to commence these
operations had reached the coast of Africa, Mr. Consul
Beecroft had in some degree anticipated their tenour.
He arrived off Lagos in her Majesty's steamer Blood-
hound on the 13th of November, and opened a
negotiation with Kosoko, then Chief of Lagos,
to induce him to renounce 'the slave trade. With
more zeal than discretion,- and without waiting for
the orders of the Commodore, the Consul, accom-
panied by Commander Wilmot and two other officers,
went up the river to confer with this hostile chief.?
The proposed terms were rejected, and as forts opened
their fire on the boats sailing under a flag of truce, it
was resolved that a somewhat precipitate attack
should be made on the position. The Bloodhound
unluckily ran aground; the fire from the mud forts
and stockades was more severe than bad been antici-
pated; the deft nce was skilfully conducted by about
5,000 men against a party of 160 or 180, who had
been landed, and it was-found necessary to recall
the forces, with a loss of two officers killed and tel
seamen wounded, after firing a part of the town.
The conduct of Mr. Beecroft in this affeir was not
approved either by the Commodore,
who arrived
on the coast a few days' afterwards, or by her
Majesty's Government, and it was distinctly
censured in a dispatch of Earl Granville
of the 24th of January.;. though no reflection can be
cast on the gallant, though unavailing courage, dis-
played by the crews of the-Bloodhound and the Har-
lequin in this attempt. But this failure, end the in-
structions which shortly afrerWards arrived from the
Admiralty, rendered it incumbent on Commodore
Bruce to take the earliest- opportunity of inflicting
summary retribution on the Chief of Lagos ; and in
less than a month after the first attack by the Blood-
bound 'his refractory chief was assailed by a strong
and violl-organized force, which led to the action of
the 24th and 26th of December, the details of which
have already been placed before• our readers. A more
desperate engagement has never been fought,' for,. as
the Commodore states in his. dispatch, " our peeple,
could expect no quarter, nor did they get any-
When the Teazer had unfortunately run ashore in
a position that exposed her to be destroyed •by
the enemy's guns, Captain Lyster made an heroic
rush into the midst of the armed hosts onshore, at the
head of his undaunted crew, spiked the guns,
and
turned on that point the fortune of the day. Bat the
loss of life must ever make the reduction of Lagos
one of the most dearly won triumphs of. the British
navy. The treaty which was concluded a feW days
later with the restored chief of Lagos, Akitoye, pro-
hibits the slave trade, expels the slave-dealers, secures
freedom of trade, puts down human sacrifice', and
protects the propagation of Christianity. If these
objects are really obtained, and if the territory of
Abbeokuta proves to be what it is represented by the
missionaries, a city of. peace, .of commerce, and in
pert of Christianity, an important step may have ben
made towards the improvement of Africa : but we
eonfess we look with little confidence on engagements
extorted from the barbarous chiefs of the African
coast ; and the interests of humanity we have under-
taken to defend at so large an expenditure of British
life and valour are still surrounded and menaced by
the worst 'passions of -a ferocious population of
heathens, who have learnt nothing from civilization
but increased sensuality, inflamed avarice, and im-
proved methods of destruction.
ADVERTISER.—THE BiinOr or LONDON AND
THE REY. Mn. GLADSTONE.—The metropolitan pre-
latic plot thickens. The troubles of the Lord of Lon-
don House increase and multiply. Charles James
seems born to be unfeittinate. One mishap follows
another in such rapid succession, that it is no easy
task for the public journalist to keep abreast with
gentleman
them. Yesterday we published a smart and instruc-
tive correspondence_ which bas just taken place be-
tween the Bishop of London and the Rector of Bow.
The Rector, as the personal friend and adinirer of the
Rev. Mr. Gladstone, -had invited the latter reverend
to preach for him on one of the week day
evenings on which he has worship during this eccle-
siastical season. Information of the fact having been
°°l3veYed to
preach in church..
House, his Lordship at once com-
manded the
uwi
hdeetbr, under pain of his prelatic displea-
sure, to
riw the invitation to Mr. Gladstone to
ch. It is true, that the Rector of
Bow event ally
succumbed to the Bishop, but not be-
fore he had expressd
tyranny
a free and fearless man-
merof Mr. Gladstone, though mi.Ginaydsatnd injustice which he was
respecting the
a tone, thatne.All this looks well. It
pmraayotbiseingtaorwdeadrdass
others will tread in the
Rev.
Gladstone Gentleman has shown. A few
such men 55 a'-a-cceseowould precipitate a crisis,
not only in the
domains.
of London but throughout the
Church's wide dotnic.o. When_ we first raw the Rev.
f'l,•
footstepscotirge th a d the
htnset, a,z 13.,t
wee' has
cy of our opinion m
served to test the acoUro • r. Glad-
caught a tartar. A.ll that has since trans h