The Sun.
London, England, 1852-01-28 00:00:00

TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES.

Sir,—You have lately published so many anonymous
letters on the defenceless state of Great Britain, that I
hope you will not deny me, who have not been insensi-
ble of our danger, the privilege of submitting to the con-
sideration of your readers a few facts, the object of which
is to prevent the calamity of war, for which the country
is, all of a sudden, so loudly prescribing.
1. Only two months ago there existed between the
French and British people the most friendly relation:.
2. Since the 2d of December the English press has
done all in its power to insult and exasperate the French
nation. For instance, in the leading article of the Times
of yesterday it is stated—
" France has crouched before Napoleon the Second
without one of the excuses which palliated her submis-
sion to Napolean the First. The tyranny is not only far
greater, but its agents are incomparably meaner. The
Church has degraded itself by an alliance with those who
wield the powers of this ignoble tyranny. The army,
instead of the saviour, has become the executioner
of France. The middle classes are terrified, the lower
orders careless and acquiescent.",

3. Now, although In my Faggot I stated, "I am
firmly of opinion that, under a mild exterior, with
gentle manners and a benevolent heart, Louis Napoleon
is an honest, bold, highminded statesman, whose object
is to maintain the peace of Europe and the real glory
and honour of France," I most readily admit that ever
since the 2d of December he has been acting the part of
a despot; but I do not condemn him on that account,
because, from calm and attentive observation, and from
repeated conversations with people of the middle and
lowest classes in Paris, I confidently believe f hat it is the
desire of the French army, and of the French people, to
establish a strong despotic government as the only
means to free themselves trom the miserable results of
that self-government which, since 1848, has been aillict-
ing and desolating all classes of the community. I be-
lieve that if self-government were established in Eng-
land, long before three years' trial of it our men of pro-
perty, our middle classes, and, above all, our labouring
classes, would unanimously prescribe the same remedy;
indeed, in the history of mankind, it is recorded that it
is in the nature of a people to fly from the evils of anar-
chy to despotism.

4. Now, instead of insulting and exasperating the
French Church, the French army and the French peo-
ple, by repesenting them as a gang of slaves, " crouch-
ing" under the tyranny of one who, by a strange con-
tradiction of words, is sarcastically termed " Napoleon
the Little," surely the dignified course for the British
people to pursue is calmly and inoffensively to watch the
working of a system that must very quickly speak for
itself. If the French people approve of the sayings and
doings of the ruler whom by an overwhelming majority
they have, under univesal suffrage and by vote by ballot,
just elected, ho will remain in the Palace of the Tuile-
ries. If they disapprove of the Constitution he is cook-
ing for them, they will trot him in a police fourgon
to Ham.
b. But I submit that the insults which the English
press are daily offering to the French Church, army, and
people, are not only unnecessary, and, considering our
utterly defenceless condition, highly impolitic, but incon-
sistent with the course they but lately pursued.
In 1848, when the French people, all of a sudden,
determined to exchange their Monarchy for a Republic,
the English press very properly, and very powerfully,
preached non-interference with the concerns of our
neighbours, and accordingly the French nation, without
the smallest insult, was left to flourish or decay under
the Government of its choice. As soon, however, as the
French people resolved, all of a sudden, to abandon a
republican form of Government—in short, to fly from
anarchy to despotism, the English press has done, and
is doing, all in its power to provoke the President, the
army, and the people of France to war with Great
Britain!

It is with regret that I intrude upon your readers the
above facts and observations, but as I have just received
from Paris a letter from a stranger, who informs me he
has lived there some 18 or 20 years with his family, and
who states " The English press is awakening real hatred
among the Parisians," I feel confident that, as it is
easier to prevent war than to end it, yon will, with the
impartial justice which distinguishes your journal, give
insertion to this homely warning,—
" Those who in quarrels interpose
" Will often wipe a bloody nose."
I am, Sir, your constant reader,
And obedient servant,
F. B. HEAD.

Oxendon, Jan. 2 4.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES.

Sir,—ln the Times of the 19th you give a list of our
reserved steamers. It looks very well on paper, but
how, sir, are we to man them? We are now in the 37th
year of peace, and although our nursery for seamen has
been diminishing in the same proportion steamers have
been increasing, no Minister appears to have turned his
attention to manning the navy in the event of wat.
We have spent millions of money in building ships to
rot, but not a farthing in providing a systematic plan
for
manniug the fleet we have built. Ships, sir, without
men
are only empty floating barracks.
We have lately organized dockward battalions to assist
in defending the country on shore; but, sir, should we
be attacked'
we ought to meet the enemy on the water.
I therefore beg to suggest, through the medium of
your powerful
told
paeper that the whole of our dockyard
people should b
off to man the reserve steamers,
and practised in it. Engineers and stokers should be
furnished from the fact
ar-
tificers, riggers, and )ryand the smiths'shops. The labourersar-
should know the steamers
they belong to; and had
a all our labourers been seafaring
men, they would have
respectable and disciplined
to,der that was issued
body; and had the Admiralty
several years ago been attendeddorari many of our artifi-
-31;o:1:fa-II be posted to different
would
be eu and acquainted
with
heir
duhtaieves.been
rail
The Excellent men
steamers, and so ought the marines, so thaltnthaderdeitiwn
be no confusion in the hour of need.
this, the coastguard, with their officers, should knot:
what vessels they belong to, and be ready to join by
at a moment's warning. All the watermen and fisher-
men should be encouraged to give in their names; and,
last not least, volunteers should be called upon from the
seaports to complete their crews. The gentlemen of
Portsmouth, I will answer for it, would not be the last at
their
Rune, and no doubt the same enthusiasm and zeal
would be shown at the other ports.
If more officers were required, they should be taken
from the half-pay list, and at once appointed to their
ships. _ _ _

but I propose it as an auxiliary for",
fdo not propose this as our best means of defence,
and one that could
be had at a moment's warning, and on whose patriotism
and courage the country c)uld rely.
I remain your obedient servant,
Merchistoun, Jan. 24: CHARLES NAPIER.

One day last weekc—h ristopher Wilkinson .and
i his son Edward, a boy about 4 years of age, in the employ
of Messrs. Fenwick and Story
were on their way to Lumle;Y6asre
at Lumley, were both
brewers Chaster-le• street,
with ale, and in at-
tempting to cross the Wear by the
swollen at the time,
unfortunately drowned. The river Nv
and the old man was warned of the ca. several par-
had scarcely
ties. He, however, drove into the wsAerr, but -ioliottin
5,
and they
got into the middle when the horse lost its
were carried away by the force of the current.
yet been seen or heard of the bodies, but the
horse Nothing has
were shortly afterward' Rand ill Lanabton i'Ark in
cart

LONDON,

ROYAL MARIONETTE THEATRE..

The management of this theatre is evidently bent
upon sustaining the popularity already secured. On
Monday a performance that might have been thought
beyond the power of Marionettes" was attempted,
the success of which was as decided as that of the
previous pieces Well might the manager exclaim,
in his opening address, quoting the language of the
Chancellor of the Exchequer—
" There's nothing figures can't be made to show."
An axiom the truth of which forced itself on our
minds when we saw these well dressed puppets
suiting the action to the word in that bustling
burletta of Peak's, The Bottle Imp, missing no
point, overlooking no effect, and performing to a
nicety all those "magical tricks" which, not easy
to living actors, would appear impossible to their
wooden prototypes. The house was crowded with a
delighted audience.

CHARITABLE BEQUESTS.
By the will of Thomas Dickinson, Esq., late of Upper
Holloway, the contingent reversionary interest of 12,0001.
(in addition to 1,000/. immediate) is bequeathed to the
Governesses' Benevolent Institution, on the death,of his
daughter, Mrs. Henry F. Richardson. Mr. Dickinson
has also bequeathed (all free of legacy duty) 4,5001. to
the Animals' Friend Society; 1,0001. to the London Hos-
pital; 1,0001. to the Indigent Blind School; 1,0001. to
the London Orphan Asylum; 1,000/. to the Infant
Orphan Asylum; 1,000/. to the Marine Society; 1,000/.
to the National Benevolent Institution; 1,0001. to the
Destitute Sailors' Home; LOON. to the Deaf and Dumb
Asylum; 1,0001. to the Royal Free Hospital; 500/. to
the Holloway Dispensary; 5001. to the Labourers Friend
Society; 4,000/. to Whitechapel parish, the interest to
find twenty poor people with bread, potatoes, and coals,
who are constant attendants at divine service; 4,000/. on
similar conditions, to Holloway parish; 2,0001. to the
Idiot Asylum; 1,000/. to the Fistula Society; 1,0001. to
the Charing-cross Hospital. The legacies are of various
amounts, not exceeding 20,0001. to each relative, with
various legacies of 10,000/. and 5,000/. each to other
branches, with 10,000/. to his housekeeper. Mr. Dickin-
son was a merchant of eminence in Whitechapel, and a
member of the Court of the Drapers' Company, from
whom he received a testimonial, which he has be-
queathed to his daughter.