The Sun.
London, England, 1854-01-12 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, JANUARY 12, 1854

CIVILISED VERSUS SAVAGE LIFE.

the destruction of the town of Winnebah ; the natives
at which place had treacherously seized and murdered
the governor of a fort by which they had been often
themselves protected, and which the British simulta-
neously demolished. On 7th Feb., 1813, at 7h.45 m.
p.m., being off the Iles de Los, the Amelia, with
an emaciated crew en board of 300 men, came to close
action with a French frigate, L'Ardthuse,* of 44 guns
(24-pounders on her main deck) and 340 men in the full
vigour of health ; and maintained it with an interval
until 11 h. 21 m. ; when the combatants separated, the
enemy with a loss of 105 men killed and wounded, the
British of 141 killed and wounded. After the conflict
had been raging for about two hours, Captain Irby
lhaving been obliged by a severe wound in the elbow to
quit the deck, the first and second lieutenants being
killed, and the crew falling fast, it was recommended by
the master and the third lieutenant, as the Amelia's fire
too had at the moment ceased, that her colours should
be hauled down. Scarcely had this suggestion been
made to the captain, when the third lieutenant, in as-
cending the quarter-deck ladder, was himself added to
the number of the slain. Just then Captain Irby, with
his arm in a sling, came on deck, and mentioliod the ad-
vice he had received—advice which was at the same time
repeated by the master, who stated that a fresh ship was
in sight, coming up on the Amelia's lee-quarter, and
that a renewal of the fight would but involve a useless
sacrifice of life. At this juncture Mr. Umfreville stepping
forward, promised that if the captain would allow him
gain to man the guns and resume the action, the ship
should never strike, but should go down first.' Being
told by Captain Irby to do his best, he set to work ac-
cordingly, and had the honour of fighting L'Arethuse
-for upwards of an hour, until indeed, at the time above
stated, the enemy, in the words of the official letter,
bore up.' Although he was thus the means of support-
ing the credit of the British flag, and of preserving to the
navy one of its finest frigates,+ Mr. Umfreville's gallant
conduct was not, that we are aware (and as it assuredly
ought to have been), reported ; nor was he alluded to
in his captain's narrative, in other terms than as a de-
serving and valuable officer?* He continued in com-
mand, as acting lieutenant, of the Amelia (deducting a
few days that it was held by Lieut. Reeve, an officer in-
valided from the Kangaroo sloop) until she arrived at
Spithead, 22d March, 1813. On the 25th of that month,
as he h'ad been the only passed midshipman in the action
he was officially promoted. His next appointment was,
14th March, 1814, to the Fly, 16, Captains Sir William
George Parker and John Baldwin ; in which vessel we
find him, 18th July, 1815, present, in company with a
squadron under the orders of Captain Charles Malcolm,
at the cutting-out, from the harbour of Corrijou, near
Abervrach, on the coast of Bretagne, of an armed cutter,
a praam brig, and a gun-vessel, together with a convoy
reposing under the protection of a fort, which was
stormed and carried. He left the fly 14th March, 1816 ;
:ind, with the exception of a few months, was afterwards,
from Bth Feb., 1821, until advanced for his services to
the rank he now holds, 29th Jan., 1838, employed either
in command of a station in the Coast Guard, or of the
Mermaid and Eagle§ revenue vessels ; and from 10th
Nov., in the latter year until 1848, again, as an inspect-
ing commander in the Coast Guard.
" Commander Irrafreville married, in Feb., 1817,
Miss Jane Clark, of Kingsand, Devon, the niece of a
'amous government pilot at that place, by whom he has
Lssue two sons and six daughters."

One of the essayists of the last century gives the jour-
nal of a citizen who, wearied with the selfishness, deceit,
politeness, and frauds of metropolitan life, resolved to
seek simplicity and peace in some rural retreat. The
result was unfortunate. He met with rudeness from the
clodhoppers ; he bought a horse, and was cheated ; he
asked the road, and was solicited for something to drink ;
he refused, and was misled ; his pantry was invaded by
enemies within, and his hencoop by enemies without ;
he was overcharged by his landlady ; he asked shelter
from the rain, and was inhospitably received. Every-
where he found that London and the country were
only two different versions of the same human nature,
whatever poets or philosophers might have written
to the contrary. Much the same disappointment will
follow the perusal of Captain Maguire's narrative, which
we published the other day, describing his dealings with
the Esquimaux at Point Barrow. Here, if anywhere,
virtue was to be found in its poorest, purest, coldest,
and simplest state. With the thermometer only occa-
sionally above zero, there could not be the same excuse
for the dagger as in Mexico or New Orleans. With
nothing to call property, except dogs, blubber, and skins,
there was little temptation to be dishonest ; and on the
shore of Vie frozen sea, in latitude 70 or thereabouts, and
no knowledge of the rest of the world, except what could
be got from vessels searching for Franklin, the simplicity
of a savage might at least be expected. But in this
remote, dreary, poverty-struck corner of the earth the
natives were found as selfish, malicious, fraudulent,
cunning, and sneaking as the worst rogues of this very
bad city. By the test of our police-courts, nearly every
soul among them, chiefs and all, deserved three months'
imprisonment or a month's turn at the treadmill. Whole
tribes appear to have been parties to the pettiest pilfer.
ing and purloining. The public opinion of the mass and
the dignity of the sovereign lord were equally compro-
mised for the sake of bits of sailcloth and the worthless
odds and ends to be picked up on deck. The curiosity
which might be supposed the sole attraction that drew
hundreds together to the ship, and kept them a whole
day on its decks, like a swarm of flies, to the serious
annoyance of the small crew, soon gave way to a
covetous hankering after whatever came within
the reach of the fingers or the edge of the knife.
The sailors were rudely handled for the sake of their
buttons, which somehow or other disappeared in their
furtive embrace, and a huge, ill-tempered fellow of a
chief, who chanced to have a gun, when once in the ship
could hardly be got out of it, but prowled about as long
as he could, in the hope of either a general sack, which
would certainly have ended in a massacre of the crew,
or some petty theft. Eventually, the intrusive savages
were compelled to keep their distance and restore the
stolen property by the terror of bullets whizzing over
their heads, and at length were brought to something
like decency and order.
By the side of these savages see the civilised man.
The captain and crew had to secure their lives and their
property against fearful odds of savages, whom they
nevertheless felt it their duty to receive and enter-
tain with the utmost possible freedom. Any measure
of defense, and any act of violenee, would have
been easy enough ; their only difficulty was to be
obliging, kind, and instructive, with personal safety.
They had to appear as the missionaries of civilisation, to
invite free intercourse, to show all the curiosities of a
fabric which was as a fairy palace to the eyes of their
visitors, to acquire information of the country, and of
such other ships as had appeared on those shores, to
traffic both in commodities and in ideas—all the time
dealing with a race of pilferers, whose knives were al-
ways ready, either to detach their booty or to threaten
the owner. This was a task peculiarly requiring the
disciplined temper and manners of British officers and
sailors, and they were tried in every possible form. If
the sailors were sent out to erect a tent on shore, or on
any other errand, they were beset and threatened. The
wood stacked on the ice was pilfered, and then set on
fire. Admitted on deck, the rude savages would penetrate
to every part of the vessel, in defiance of restrictions, and,
once on board, could not be got rid of. The argument
•f force was all that they could understand, and that had
to be used as sparingly as possible. But here came the
triumph of civilization and order : the largest mob was
got peaceably out of the ship, and the big chief, with
his gun, which he knew perfectlyhow to use, was bowed
out withotit so much as the show of weapons. The
whole tribe, or rather several tribes, were allowed to
visit the ship a boatfull at a time ; they were compelled
to restore all the articles stolen; some pieces of sailcloth
that had been pilfered with the cognisance of all the na-
tives, and extensively divided, were restored after much
delay and palaver, necessary, as it afterwards appeared,
to give time for " fine-drawing" the pieces to their ori-
ginal form ; free and peaceful intercourse was subse-
quently established ; a chief was visited in his icy hut,
and a picturesque Esquimaux interior described ; infor-
mation was obtained, showing the traces of former dis-
coverers, and the visit which had begun so disagreeably,
and which in ordinary hands might have ended in the
massacre of one side or the other, left nothing to be de-
sired for any good that could be expected from a meet-
ing between the extremes of civilization.
This is very creditable to civilization, so much abused,
and so often set down as a vicious development of human
nature. The state of nature, after all, is not that pure,
simple thing, described by remancers, nor, on the
other hand, is the British Navy a school for the
indulgence of the worst passions. Why, Captain
Maguire, his stout officers, his quiet, but rather
short-tempered quartermaster, and all the rest of his
crew, were angels of light and truth, compared with
these prowling, sneaking, treacherous, pilferink, mis-
chievous wretches. But is it not also some comfort
to us to find that Cape Barrow is quite as prolific in
crime, whether juvenile or adult, male or female, as this
much-maligned metropolis ? Lord Shaftesbury and Sir
John Pakington would find just as much employment
for their philanthropy in these regions of eternal ice and
snow as in London or Birmingham. It is not being
exposed to extraordinary temptations, or special facilities
for crime, or particularly bad parents, or no parents, or
life in the streets, or non-model lodginghouaes, or half a
life spent in gaol or penny theatres, or bad newspapers
and books, or anything peculiar to great cities, that
makes an incorrigible rogue. The weed will grow up
anywhere, and needs not even sun or soil. Wherever
man is, there is the material for the cowardly mis-
chievous villain—nay, more, for a generally debased
state of society. Perhaps we should also draw the not
very satisfactory lesson that we must never expect to
eradicate crime, and to reform beyond the need of
further improvement. The perpetual argument for new
schemes is, that matters are worse now than they ever
were. We wish we could believe London a more vir-
tuous city than it was ten years ago, but we cannot ;
for we really believe every one of the ten commandments
to be violated just as recklessly and extensively now as
it was in 1844. But how are we to expect any palpable
and demonstrable improvement ? We have not much
reason to expect it. It is in the people, not in institu-
tions. It is in the Londoner as it is in the Esquimaux,
and our civilisation, instead of vitiating and degrading
us, has really been the great reformer. But for it we
should be naked Picts or Britons,—animals, in their
time, we will venture to say, not very unlike Captain
Maguire's Esquimaux. —Times.

* L'Arethuse had been observed, the evening previously,
to be in company with'Le Ruble, a ship of similar force.
t The Amelia had on board a quantity of ivory and gold-
dust on merchants' account.
1: Vide Gazette, 1813, p. 583.
§ He commanded the Eagle from the 18th of March,
1834, until March, 1837.

SHEERNESS, JAN. 9.

COURT-MARTIAL ON AN UNLICENSED PILOT. THR
MEDEA, 6, PADDEE-WHEEL STEAM-SLOOP, COMMANDER
AUGUSTUS PHILLIMORE.—The Queen's pilot residing at
Deal (Mr. Richard Lambert), who had charge of the
sloop from the Downs for Hull, and afterwards to this
port (the sloop being ordered here in consequence of her
having been on shore), has this day been tried by a court
martial on board her Majesty's ship Waterloo, 121, flag
ship at the Nore. Captain-Superintendent Hope, of her
Majesty's ship Monarch, 84, guard-ship in ordinary,
presided. After hearing the evidence, the Court adjudged
the following sentence :—" The Court are of opinion
that the accident happened owing to the prisoner mis-
judging the distance he was from the Lights ; and 2
taking into consideration the very high testimonials he
has produced, and the favourable statement given by
the witnesses before the Court, they recommend him to
be more cautious for the future, and they hereby repri-
mand and admonish him, and he is hereby reprimanded
and admonished accordingly." The Medea will leave
here to-morrow for Woolwich, to be docked there instead
of at this yard.

SPORTING NOTES.

A i. PRETTY PIECE OF BUSINESS.

The Jpt ablication of the entries for the spring handi-
caps ha a been followed by no important movement in
the turf: market. Indeed, speculation is unusually in-
active, a► nd is regulated by an extreme and a significant
caution. Virago, although now backed with little appa-
rent ap i] it, is still the leading favourite for the Chester
Cup. somewhat powerful demonstration has, how-
ever, w i thin the last few days been made in favour of
his stal i le companion, Catspaw ; a proceeding which may
tempos lolly discourage the supporters of Virago.
Two , handicaps have been published for the Oundle
Steepl pehase ; one framed by the appointed handicapper,
Mr. T spham, and the other by the promoter of the
meetir lg. Much confusion and annoyance has conse-
quenti 37 been occasioned. On inquiry I was informed
that e Ir. Topham having neglected to forward the
.weight ►in time for publication in the early editions of
the Su a iday papers, the person above mentioned was
compe 1 led to make the handicap. Late on Saturday,
howes Mr. Topham sent the weights to Bell's. Life, in
which : paper they were inserted, 'greatly to the perplexity
of own, ors of horses who had previously received the
origina 1 handicap. It was, however, ultimately decided
to reit ct Mr. Tophain's handicap, and to accept that
fram id by the promoter of the meeting. Subjoined is a
copy a,f the two handicaps :

THE ORIGINAL AND ACCEPTED HANDICAP.

st lb
Pete r Simple ll 12
Om ►r ll 6
The Colonel
Plot ts :hboy lO 9
The General IQ 9
Melo a
Need wood lO 5
and• Half
Ma =rice Daley lO 3
Ga rfurth lO 3
Di: ula lO 01
Vi' :tress lO 0
Sin 2ple
Sat a Hood 9 13
Tht Tulip 912
Art ti san

MR. TOMAH'S RIL:
st lb
Pei ;er Simple ll 12
Os( ur ll 5
The; Colonel
The, General
Me lon lO 10
Ne, adwood' lO 6
Ha If-and-Half lO 6
Plo n'ghboy lO 6
Simple Peter lO 2
The. Tulip
Diana 9 12
Vic tress 9 12
Sam; Hood 9 12
Maut.rice Daley 9 12
Galli nth 9 12
Tuesday Night.

MALTON RAI

Notninations for the Mali
weights to be declared Feb.

Yrs
Hobby Horse 4
Vind,ex 4
Twinkle
Grapeshot
Daniel O'Rourke 5
Streatlam Fairy 3
The Event 5
Cabin Boy 4
St. Michael .
Catherine Parr 4
Little Fawn 6
Jetty Treffz 3
Colsterdale
Eleapy 4
Miss Sellon 3
Ammonia 5
Honey-dew 4
Cleveland 5
Lord Fauoonberg 4
Captain Cornish 4
Braxey 5
Billy Richardson 5
Antonia
Bracken
Ea Dorado
Brocket

st lb
Tomboy
Robin Hood 9 7
Blackwood
Bullfincher
A. Y
Sir Philip 9 5
Quasimodo
Barsell 9 2
Topsy
The Screw
The Old Rake 9 0
Reindeer
Edward of York 9 0
Cigar
Nelly Brown 8 10