The Sun.
London, England, 1849-01-04 00:00:00

N 3- A IT Alt V 4, IMO.

DISASTER AT SEA.

PLYMOUTH, J11:-. 2.—The schooner Cygnet, 44
tons, Captain Goss, belonging to Messrs. Parker and
Gleeson, of St. John's, Newfoundland, left that port
on the 234 of November last, bound for the Herring-
ground in Fortune Bay. She had in all seven bands
—viz., five seamen and two coopers. When lying to
off St. Peter's, on the 4th of December, &..e was over-
takr:n by a hurricane from the north-north-west,
which carried away all her rails, stoncheons, covering
boards, boats, &c., swept the deck, opened her seams,
and compelled the crew to let the ship scud before
the wind under a part of her three-reefed foresail.
She leaked considerably, and it was only by ba-
ling water out of the cabin that she was kept afloat
by the crew, whose only food was biscuit soaked in
salt water. In this condition they scud:led a distance
of about 1,000 miles in seven days, The barque
gin,ntin Matsys, 414 tons, Captain Nitchelsen, of
and for Antwerp, left Havannah on the 15th of
November, laden with sugar, 50 casks of
honey, and a small quantity of tobacco. On the
10th of December she rxperienced a tremendous
storm from the north-north-west, which carried away
her foretopmast-yard, and sails, jibboom, flying
jibboom, mizen, and ali sails and rigging attached,
hove the vessel on her beam ends, roA forced the
crew to throw part of her cargo overboard. While
in this act, on the 12th of December, in latitude 37
30 N., longitude 30 40 W., they providentially des-
criedthe Cygnet bearing down, and lay to fur her
under close-reefed maintopsail and spencer. The
schooner got under the lee of the barque, dropped her
canvass, and one of the crew hove a fishing lead and
line on board ; to this the barquc's studding-sail
halliards were fastened, and the Cygnet's crew, after
throwing off their heavy clothes, fastened the halliards
round their waists, and were in succession drawn on
board the barque, with the exception of Edward Oats,
33, a cooper, who had been speechless, insensible, and
in a dying condition for three or four days previ-
ously. Great danger was incurred while the two
vessels lay so near together in a heavy sea; the
schooner's stern was once so close as to carry away
the barque's iron outrigger on the starboard quarter.
The Cygnet' crew were benumbed, frostbitten, and
unable to stand for ten days after joining the barque.
Captain Mitchelsen and his people, like true Samari-
tans, chafed their swollen limbs with brandy, anointed
their wounded feet with ointment, supplied them
with clothing and nourishing diet, and brought them
safely to this port. Senor Antonio Ferser and his
lady, who, with their two children, are passengers to
Havannah, confirm Captain Goss in his expressions
of gratitude towards the humane and kind-hearted
Belgians belonging to the Quentin Matsys.

THE LATE CALAMITOUS FIRE

IN GRAY'S INN-LANE.

Last evening a very numerous meeting of the inha-
bitants of St. Andrew's, Holborn, and other ladies and
gentlemen who had contributed to the fund raised for
the relief of the sufferers at the above calamitous tire,
assembled at the inquest-room in St. Andrew's, Hol-
born, for the purpose of receiving the report of the
committee and treasurer, relative to the fund, and to
arrange the final distribution thereof. Mr. J. H. Taylor,
the treasurer, presided.
Mr. W. ELLIOTT, the Honorary Secretary, then read
the report, which set forth that the sum of 1151. Ils. 10d.
had been contributed. From the above sum had been
awarded to Mr. and Mrs. Cullen, who lost all their fur-
niture, the sum of 25L; to Mr. J. J. flogg, who lost all
his tools, the sum of 20/.; to John Thackeray, the fa-
ther of the poor man who lost his life, 5/.; smaller sums
to Policemen 90 V, and 91 E, and others, for their ex-
ertions in the preservation of life and property on that
occasion, which, after paying for printing and other
necessary expenses, left a balance of 32/. 12s. lod.,
which it was proposed to invest in a local savings' bank
for the benefit of Ann Cullen, who, at the risk of her
own life, so nobly succeeded in saving the lives of no
less than three chiidren.

The report was then adopted.
The respective sums were then raid to the respective
parties. Ann Cullen was present, a pretty-looking girl,
but a short slight figure, and by no means indicating the
possession of that energy and courage she so eminently
displayed.
On the motion of T. Y. 11PCHRISTIE, Esq , (the bar-
rister), seconded by Mr. TARLTON, thanks were una-
nimously accorded to the chairman, which having been
briefly acknowledged, the proceedings closed.

THE NORTHERN COUNTIES ONE

HUNDRED AND SIXTY YEARS SINCE.

A large part of the country beyond Trent was,
clown to the eighteenth century, in a state of barba-
rism. Physical and moral causes had concurred to
prevent civilization from spreading to that region.
The air was inclement; the soil was generally such
as required skilful and industrious cultivation ; and
there could be little skill or industry in a tract which
was often the theatre of war, and which, even when
there was nominal peace, was constantly desolated
by bands of Scottish marauders. Before the union
of the two British crowns, and long after that union,
there was as great a difference between Middlesex
and Northumberland, as there now is between Mas-
sachusetts and the settlements of those squatters
who, tar to the west of the Mississippi, administer a
rude justice with the rifle and the dagger. In the
reign of Charles the Second, the traces left by
ages of slaughter and pillage were still distinctly
perceptible many miles south of the Tweed, in the
face of the country and in the lawless manners of the
people. There was still a large class of moss troopers
\ hose calling was to plunder dwellings and to drive
away w hole herds of cattle. It was found necessary
soon after the Restoration to enact laws of great
severity for the prevention of these outrages. The
magistrates of N orthumberland and Cumberland
were authorised to raise bands of armed men for the
defence of property and order; and provision was
made for meeting the expense of these levies by local
taxation. The parishes were required to keep blood-
hounds for the purpose of hunting the freebooters.
Many old men who were living in the middle of the
18th century could well remember the time when
those ferocious dogs were common. Yet even with
such auxiliaries it was often found impossible to track
the robbers to their retreats among the hills and
morasses, for the geography of that wild country was
very imperfectly known. Even after the accession of
George 111., the path over the fells from Borrowdale
to Ravenglass was still a secret carefully kept by the
dalesmen ; some of whom had probably in their youth
escaped from the pursuit of justice by that road. The
seats of the gentry and the larger farmhouses were
fortified. Oxen were penned at night beneath the
overhanging battlements of the residence, which was
known by the name of the peel. The inmates slept
with arms at their sides. Huge stones and boiling
water were in readiness to crush and scald the plun-
derer who might venture to assail the little garrison.
No traveller ventured into that country without mak-
ing his will. The judges on circuit, with the whole
body of barristers, attorneys, clerks, and serving men,
rode on horseback from Newcastle to Carlisle, armed,
and escorted by a strong guard under the command
of the sheriffs. It was necessary to carry provisions ;
for the country was a wilderness which afforded no
supplies. The spot where the cavalcade halted to
dine, under an immense oak, is not yet forgotten.
The irregular vigour with which criminal justice was
administered shocked observers whose life had been
passed in more tranquil districts. Juries, animated
by hatred and by a sense of common danger, con-
victed house breakers and cattle stealers with the
promptitude of a court-martial in a mutiny ; and the
convicts were hurried by scores to the gallows.
Within the memory of some who are still alive, the
sportsman who wandered in pursuit of game to the
sources of the Tyne found the heaths round Keeldar
Castle peopled by a race scarcely less savage than the
Indians of California, and heard with surprise the
half-naked women chanting a wild measure, while the
men with brandished dirks danced a war dance.—
Macaulay' s History of England.