The Sun.
London, England, 1825-04-11 00:00:00

SHIP CANAL.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
" Hie niger est."—HORACE.
t 1 That man is a coal merchant! "

Stu—lf there is any one circumstance which •
4.l:bitters the life of the peasant in the West of England, it is
the want of feel. The in of those districts in which '
the collieries are situated can scarcely form an idea of the niisery
ruperadded to poreety which is universally felt whenever the
meeked with an unusual severity of season. Indepen-
dent of this natural evil; the supply of coals in all inland situa-
torse rests solely with the monopolist, who, •by the power of
....eneive capital, and by possessing likewise the means of
~sort, can regulate the price of this imnortant'articlefxictly
,nay suit his own interest, and irthus enabled to levy eespe-
,ies of tare upon the whole population.. It is, therefore, no ways
entewordinaty that the agitation of such a measure as " The
!:Testern Ship Canal" should create an alarm in a quarter •
where the whole internal trade of Somersenshire has been en-
grossed-for so many years past; and the opposition which has
been attempted tends more than any other fact to establish the
utili•.7 of this truly national undertaking.
Witriont referring to the towns of Taunton and Bridge-
water, both of which must experience an incalculable increase
of commerce, if we survey that part of the country through
which the summit level is proposed to pass, and continue on
towards the southward, it will, perhaps, be difficult to find a
district in England which more requires the advantages of in-'
land communication. The various towns and villages 'in the
centre of Sornersetshire are full of labouring poor, unemployed
in manufactures, exposed to all the miseries of a rigorous cli-
mate, without the means of obtaining fuel, and subject to all
those disadvantages which must ever result from an overstocked
and increasing population. In treeing the river Axe to its con-
flue:ice with the sea, we find a beautiful valley, on which it may
be said, that Providence hes doer every ainc, and man nothing.
Blessed wi.h a fertile soil, a delightful climate, and easy com-
munications with the capital anti the north of Somersetsitire, it
may .fairly be asked,. why it should exhibit such universal
symptoms of decay and want of improvement? The answer is,
I nem the absence of that grand stimulus to commercial enter-
prize, internal navigation, and from the resident Landowners
on both banks having hitherto been satisfied with living in a
somi-baronical state, receiving rents from their tenants as they
weald homage from their vassals, and withholding those ad-
vantages u-hich the increased progress of civilization and know-
ledge has effected in other parts of England.
These observations will appear the more forcible from the
probability that the port of- Moridurtitn, under the Romans, was
'situated at the mouth of the Axe, and from the vestiges of
buildings at this moment allowed to he covered with a mass of
shingle. If the public works of that great nation may be al-
lowed to influence our judgment, we may conclude that, in
this instance, they exhibited their usual good sense and know-
ledge of mechanical' principles. How sadly has their proverb
" Naturans segnere," been perverted in the present day !- The
natural course of the stream is permitted to lose its original
force by its rectangular windings; and the result of all the arti-
ficial means hitherto employed has only produced a depth of
about eight feet, high water spring tides. In place, therefore,.
of those advantages which this river possessed thirteen centuries
ape), .we now only find an expenditure without return— a liar-
bon r without water.
On the opposite side of this beautiful bay, nature has formed
-3- Cove, cf all others best calculated for the construction of a
harbour. Independent, therefore, of those advantageS,
so
clearly detailed by Captain Nicholls, the employment of a po=
aoalation of 1,890 souls, and the introduction of those habits
which must arise from a well regulated commerce, and an ex-
tension of the fisheries, these must be allowed points of so im-
portaet a consideration, that the formation of a port at Beer is
alone more than ten time: equivalent to all the imagined evils
complained of by a few interested ope one its, aided and abetted
by monopolists of any description.
Great and striking as must be the advantages of this truly•
national work, it is the more necessary that the public should be,
aware of-the obligation due to that highly respected Nohleman
whose sanction has been so freely given, and under whose aus-
pices the Undertaking cantot fail of success. To him no per-
sonal inducement of the most distant profit can ever be attri--
bitted ; and, by allowing the Company to avail themselves of
his private Act for the 11-arbour at Beer, his memory must
desetnul. to future ages as a public benefactor of his country_. •
Amongst "the sapient ten," whose resolutions have been given •
to the world at the last .Chard l‘lecting, it is a matter of great'
regret to find the name of a worthy Magistrate to whom the East
of Devon owe many obligations. No man, by actual experience
better knows the wants and necessities of the lower classes ; no
man is more aware of the evils occasioned by their want of em-
ploymente That he should . coalesce with coal jobbers, lime
bizeni.rs, and internsted attornies, against the public good-.
that he should oppose. himself to the general voice expressed
fry every town in his vicinity—that he should not have tact
ennttgh to see.be has united with a beaten party—these are cir-
ca:l:stances not at all consistent'with the usual tenor of his con-
To classical scholars, classical allusions are always ac-
teptable, and it is a satisfaction to know that, like the superan-1
eloated Prium in Virgil's Oncid.
Tt•lurn imfidle sine ictu.

Oon,;ecit.
in odrer words, as translated for the benefit of Country
en tlern en,
" Every effort to oppnee the Canal ha: been intfectual."
I-low far the sapient ten are entitled to tho character of wis- 1
-dom. tbcir own report, as analized in your last Journal, fully
CY.O mph fies One inconsistency is, however, so glaring, that
2..10 ough it has been frequently alluded to, it seems to demand
universal publicity and explanation :—lf the Canal is to prove
"w id and visionary" in its expected revenue, it is to be pre-
stimt d it will not be used; and if it is not used, how can-the
nurse yof seamen be impeded ? The absurdity of two such
oppoAte assertions must be self-evident. It requires, however,
no great prophetic powers to be enabled to predict, that, on the
eoutrary, the Canal will prove a new opening for the most ex-
• tended commerce, and that himdreds of sailors, who are now
mere navi.gaters of the Bristol Channel and the coasts of
Wales, will find an employment never before laid _ open to
tli-_m, by an additional outlet leading to the coasts of France,
the Netherlands, and even to the Baltic.
In order to enlighten the framer of this sapient Report, I
I shall terminate as I began, with a quotation from Horace—
() te, .#*"4** cerebra.

" Oh ! there has been mach throwing about of brains."
HA MLET, Act 3, Sec. C.
I have the honour, Mr. Editor, to sign mysc.df.
NALITICUS.

Taunton, 28th March, 1825.

Duti.PitsvittiTED.—Satiirday mornin,g;,betwoon
five and Aix o'clock, as a party of the road patrol were coming
oir fluty at their station near Clapham-Common, they observed
tour ceriages draw up, froal which several gentlemen descended,
and immediately walked to a retired part of the common. The
petrol, suspecting that thcy_were about to proceed to hostilities,
directly followed them, and on coming up, one of the gentle-
Men appeared to be measuring the ground, whilst another was
engaged in loading a case of pistols. The conductor of the
patrol on perceivin!, these insignia of warfare, jumped over the.
wall which divided him from the combatants, and, in the King's
name, charged them to desist. One of the principals (as he
proved to be; questioned the officer's authority, when thedatter
produced his staff, and giving a pre.concerted signal, the remain-
der of the patrol jump e.l in, and the four persons actually con-
cerned, namely, the principals and seconds, were taken into
custody, and were subsaqa;ently bound over to keep the peace,
-before George Harrison, Esq. a Magistrate of the County. The
•rinzipala were, T. Fetherstone, Esq. and Capt. Lawrence,
R.N. The former seconded by Mr. T. Irvine, the latter by
• Major Jones, of the East India Company's service.—(Morning
• Part!.
ATTEMPTED SUICIDE• - Yesterday morning,
about half past six o'clock, a waterman named Peek, of
Waterloo-'bridge, bed his,attention attracted by a young wo-
man, who, after walking backwards and forwards on the
bridge 'in a very melancholy mood, rat-Int:l the balustrades,
and precipitated herself into the water. He instantly -made
an alarm, and with another waterrnan named Fitzgerald, pro-
ended to her assistance in their boats. They commenced drag-
ging for the bode, and in about tan minutes succeeded. in
getting her oat of the water, in a .tote of insensibility, but 1),:;,
proper remedies being resorted to she was soon recovered, wheat
she cried very Match and said, that she had been driven to the
. rash attempt upon match,
life through extreme distreas, and Shu
would rather die that' live, as life had heeome a burden td•lier.:
She stated, that sl:e'liaed in Druryaane, where she had a thflii
which she was una'ole to support. The waterinanwPWK,
'hamanely accompanied her -home, and delivered her' to her,
, another, a poor aged woman, who was excessively overcome; by
, grief when informed of her daughter's rash determinatio4.anti•
she was left tinder her care in a weak condition. y•
A. circular has been received at, the different-
. Police Offices of the. Metropolis, from the Secretary of the Home
Department, orde:irg a return of the number aof persons aim-,
initted as vagrants for the last 12 months from their respective
establishments.; ankalso a specification.of the different crimes,
the perpetration of which has made them amenable to the pe-
nalties of the Vagrant Att. •
.Nire understand these returns have
-been ordered preparatory to some contemplated alteration in the
~present Act.