The Sun.
London, England, 1852-03-22 00:00:00

THE SUN,

MONDAY EVENING, MARCH 22, 1852.

OUR NATIONAL DEFENCES.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

Siu,—Tbe remarks you have lately so judiciously
made on a Memorandum published by Ridgway, on
the necessity of a Minister of War for our defensive
as well as offensive operations, have drawn my par-
ticular attention to the subject ; and I find, on read
ing over some of the old reports of Military Com-
missioners, that as far back as 1837 it was reported—
That " if the military defence of the empire is to be
conducted upon a footing of economy and efficiency,
it is necessary that it should be managed upon one
general and comprehensive system, having reference
to the exigencies of the service both at home and
abroad. The whole amount of force which is re-
quired to be kept up is determined, not merely by the
quota necessary for the defence of each colony, and
by the demands for home service, but is also affected
by the description of force assigned to the several
stations, and the nature and situation of the
barracks provided, the arrangements respect-
ing reliefs, and those of the commissariat
and medical departments, on which the efficiency of
the troops so grea:ly depends. Such being the case,
it appears obviously expedient that there should be
some one member of the Government particularly
charged with the duty of exercising a general super-
intendence and control in all these matters, and to
whom it should more immediately belong to take the
pleasure of the Crown upon annual establishments,
and to be responsible to Parliament for the advice so
given by him." And yet, Sir, so little attention has
been paid to this important matter, that in 1852 we
find ourselves without defence, and the people called
upon to turn out as militia men. In 1850, that is
ten years after the necessity of reform in our naval
and military administration, we find Earl Grey
quietly stating in his evidence—
" I certainly think the present system a very im-
perfect one ; but I am not prepared to say that I
think it is one of the defects which are most
pressing for correction. There have always been
subjects, I think, of still more pressing im-
portance before the public hitherto." Of course there
have my Lord Grey—it is necessary to say that to
excuse the great culpability of the neglect paid to
this recommendation of ten years' standing ! "It is
a subject," adds his Lordship, " that cannot be dealt
with without an Act of Parliament; it would lead to
very lengthy discussions; and, looking at the general
state of things in this country, I do not think that it
has hitherto been a subject so pressing as other inte-
resting, though subordinate subjects, with which we
have been dealing."
Indeed, my Lord; then it is high time that it
should be considered of more importance. And now
you are out of office, perhaps you can find time to
draw up this Act of Parliament, for it is no joke for
the country to pay 16,000,0001. and upwards, and
then be without internal or external defence.

I hope, Mr. Editor, you will strongly protest
against this Militia Bill, and warn Earl Derby in
time, for I know, from information I have, that the
men of the north will not turn out for a militia. We
all agree with you in a desire to give the present
men a fair trial, but we want no militia.
I am, Sir, &c.,
JOHN WILSON.

Bolton, March 12.

PRIEST-WORSHIP versus THE
WORSHIP OF GOD.

TO THE EDITOR O. THE SUN.

Sin,—On the eve of a general election, I trust you
will think it opportune to gibbet, in your admirable and
most extensively read columns,.ithe subjoined morceau
of correspondence, extrtacted from the columns of the
Puseyite Oxford Herald, of the 13rb current. If Pa-
seyism could ,iprevail, the Test and Corporation Acts
would be repealed, public penance revived, and all the
enormities of Roman Catholic discipline and intolerance
go forward, till civil war relieved us, or the Inquisition
rivetted our chains. No less results are involved in any,
however temporary, success of the bastard Roman Ca-
tholicism, which triumphs in " Churoh discipline," and
all the devilish et cceteras of Tractarian treason.
"RESTORATION OF CHURCH DISCIPLINE.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE OXFORD HERALD. -
" Sir,—A circumstance occurred during Morning
Service at Littlemore Church last Sunday, calculated
to gladden the hearts of all who are interested in the
restoration of Church discipline. This was the public
restoration' of one of ,the puriohioners who had been
suspended from Holy Communion during the period of
more than a year and a halt, and who, having given
every sign of true penitence, was thus formally re-
admttted to that blessed privilege.
" His offence had been of a nature to cause much
scandal in the neighbourhood, and it was con-
sidered that unless his repentance was also open
and manifest, the requirements of the_ Church,
as expressed in the Rubric before the office for Holy
Communion, could not be satisfied.l,The Lord Bishop of
the diocese, to whom the notice of the suspension had been
previously given, concurring in this opinion, a shortform
of re-admission was drain up by the Incumbent of the
parish, the Rev. G. W. Huntingford, and read by him
instead of a sermon. The sources from whence it was
taken were a form sanctioned by Convocation in 1714,
the second part of the Homily on the Right Use of the
Church,' and Bishop Wilson's Form of admitting Pe-
alien's.'

" The Penitent knelt at the entrance to the Church, and
his replies to the questions put to him, which were from
Bishop Wilson, were distinctly heard by the whole con-
gregaiion. Then, having received a solemn blessing
trout tbo officiating priest, the whole was concluded by s
short t xhortation to all present, and the latter part of
th. Commination Service' was read, beginning with the
blBt Biala), said kneeling.
•' Tito ceremony was very impressive, awl will, it i•
ped, have a lasting eff, ct upon those who witnessed it.
" Yuur obedient servant,

" J. V.,,
After this small sample of Puseyite doings, and their
inevitable tendoncies, will the Protestants of Carlisle
ever elct the Puseyite Sir James Graham ; or Protes-
tants fito)where bupport in any quarter a Tractarian
Temple March 20, 1852. NO ISCARIOT.
your obedient servant,
?—I am, Sir,
candidate,

E OF LIBERTY.
TouhsaLtmo?cNomnPopiliaciened to the magistrate that
he, killtia the H
-office one day last week
a free-born Britit.h subject, had been sold into
slavery by a sea captain, with whom he bad engaged
as a steward for wages. He exhibited his register
William
ticket as a " seaman, , No. 548,818, and stated that
he was born in Gibraltar in toe year 1810, his father
a native of San Domingo, and his mother a London
woman. About thirteen years ago, when settled in
Liverpool, he shipped in the Broad Oak, at Liverpool,
-five dollars per month. Toe
casapottaeiwn,asrdn,amfoerwtwasenty
Joseph
. bil..Coy. On the arrival of
the ship at New Orleans the vessel was sold, and the
captain took him on shore and sold him to an Ame-
rican, by whom he was taken to a place called Tri-
cupo, in St. Matthew county, where he remained in
bondage for five years, when he found means to com-
municate with a lawyer. His owner, baying learned
that measures were about to be adopted for his libe-
ration, put him in irons, and sent him back to New
Orleans, when his owner's cousin, a surgeon, Charles
Le Blond, tood charge of him, and sold him for a
good price to one Henry Board tnan;an American, who
kept a kind of public-house in New Orleans, but did
not keep him long
in consequence of his threatening to
appeal to the British consul. He was nest bartered
to Henry Lynch, an Irishman, who let him out on
hire to a Captain Willis, by whom he was engaged to
serve as a drummer in the American army, under
two years, was engaged in the war with the Mexi•
Generalcans,
and
re Taylor.ee ivHe remained with the army for
e d
a
sabre wound on the head at the
battle of Monterey, and was wounded in the right leg
by a shot in the engagement of Bums Vista. He was
laid up in the hospital at Tampico for seven months,
and on his return to New Orleans cured of his wounds,
the marks of which were still visible, was sold to John
Rustno, a boarding-house keeper, who would not de-
tain him as his slave, on discovering that he was free-
born and a British subject, but put him in gaol, and
sued Lynch, the Irishman,
for the purchase-money.
After remaining in prison for twelve months, the
sheriff of the place took him out and conveyed him to
prison, where he remained two months, and
accordance with the laws of the state, he was
sold again
to another Irishman named Gardner, of St.
Charles-street,
t ben another
in
n
was appropriated towards the expenses of his main-
New Orleans, and the purchase-money
tenance in gaol. He again claimed his privilege as a
British subject, and Gardner sold him to a lawyer
named John Howard, of Baker street, New Orleans,
to whom he also communicated that he was a British
subject. Howard did not keep him long, and disposed
of him to Mr. Bsrher, a Scotchmsn, of Natches. He
was only with Mr. Barber one hour when he was again
sold to a Mr. Lapiere, and he informed him that he was
a free-born man from England, and asked him when
he was
going out of town. Mr. Lapiere replied, at
5 o'clock in the evening, and he requested his name
and address, and an order to get his clothes from Jobn
Howard. Mr. Lapiere gave him his name and address,
and the order, with which he immediately posted off
to Mr.
M 43 hew, the British' consul. Mr. Mayhew
questioned him upon his adventures, and put the case
into the hands of a lawyer, who took him before a
judge, and he made oath that he was a British sub-
ject. After that was done the British consul said he
must again remain in gaol till the business was
settled, and he was consigned to the hands of Sheriff
LewiLewin,v% ho kt pt him in gaol for one 3 ear and three
months, acting as cook end whitewasher.
Fearing
again, and in less than half an hour after its de-
livery
livery the consul came to him and asked him if he
that the consul had forgotten him, he wrote to him
_
was ready to go home to Europe that night ;
.to which
he replit-d in the affirmative. He was immediately put
on board the ship Ann Doherty, bound to Liverpool,
where he arrived on the Ist of January last. He left
Liverpool towards the end of last week, and walked
up to London, where he arrived on Tuesday night, in
the hopes of obtaining redress. The magistrate,
having elicited from the complainant that the captain
who had thus wronged him
was not in his jurisdic-
tion, and that complainant had no Idea where be mg,
could give him no redress.