The Sun.
London, England, 1824-03-02 00:00:00

UNIVERSITY INTELLIGENCE.

OXFORD, FRB. 28.—Thursday, Feb. 26, in Con Vocation, the
Rev. Robert Stephen Stevens, 111:A. Senior Fellow of Wadhani
College, was elected and presented to. the Vicarage of South-
Petherwyn and Itewen, in the County of Cornwall, in the room
of Dr. Shaw, deceased, and in the patronage of this University.
On Thursday last the Rev. Charles Saunders Skelton Dupuis
was elected a Fellow of Pembroke College,
Ecclesiastical PrefiTtnents.—=-The Reverend A. Grayson,
M.A. Principal of St. Edmund hall, has been instituted
.by the Lord Bishop of Winchester, to the Vicarage of
Bramley, in Hants, on the presentation of. the Provost.
and Fellows of Queen's College.—The Rev..). Brocklebank,
13. D., Chaplain to the Bishop of Ely, and Rector of Tavers-
ham, presented by his Lordship to the Rectory of Willingham
vacant by the death of the Rev. Sir Ilenry Bate Dudley. Bart.
—TheGeorge Ipteeew,
Archdeaconviiin,, Wrangha and the Ilan. and Rev.,
to be Prebends in York Cathedral.

F olt •ritE su N.

NAVAL DRY ROT.

To Sir T. B. MARTIN, Comptroller of the Navy, &c,

Sin,—l have always respected the freedom of
Debate in the Senate, as a Constitutional Privi-.
lege, granted by His MAJESTY, of inestimable

value.

However, on reading the Iteparts of yonr
Speech last night, k the newspapers this. morn-
I lament the gross accusation or attack you
made against me, where I have no power to offer
any answer.
_ _

The language you have used', in such most un-
qualified manner, never came in contact with Me
before, and I cannot let the matter pass silently,
for very serious reasons, in justice to this nation,,
and as a duty I owe to myself. _

I therefore resort to thil only channel that is
always open (pro bon° publico) to state that the
NATAL DRT ROT is a subject that. has most irk-
somely engaged my attention and endeavours for
several years, at considerable expence, to seek
practical and safe remedies against that existing
tiational.calamity, withoUt damages to tanners,
land-owners and consumers.

Permit me, Sir, ott
,these grounds,. to put a, few
plaitt.questions, viz
ht. Whether former Navy Boards did, or did not, allow 71
per cent. extra, for winter hewn oak prior t 0•1792

2d. Whether the Montague. of '74 guns, was,, or was not,
built between 1775 and 1779, with oak hewn in winter, when
the usual allowance was made for the bark (which is then use-
less to tanners) and not broken up till 1818, after a period of
39 years service or duration ?

Whether the frau* was built at Deptford in 1793, with
timber cut in spring (on one side) at bark harvest, and the
other side with oak that had been barked three years before it
was felled in :tinter, from the same estate as that which was.
hewn in spring, and whether both sides did not appear ecittally
rotten when broken up in 1803, or only ten years afterwards ?
4th. Whether usual allowances haYa been made for the bark
since 1792, or whether any winter hewn oak has.been receiyed
since that era from Royal Forests, dc.c.
If these three. first questions. be actually. an-
swerable in the Ittlionalive, and' the last in the
negative, sorely there cases decidedly prove, from
6 4 the fruits of .experiencc,” that winter hewn oak
(with the bark -on) is exempt from dry rot, and
that summer hewn oak is subject to it, in spite of
all experiments, and consequently that it is luau-
rallY impossible for the'navy, built i•ince 1814,
to endure .:longer than the. Hawk, which was
built before the French Revolution, because they
have-ull,niost unfortunAtely,been built.with simi-

lar oaks- &lied at. the wrong' season.
I therefore refer to my Petition, which was
pi'esented to .the notise'Af:commonslest. Session,
fer inwartial Inquiry into the origin and remedies
dij-Vkif;..fOi'll:oniide<that it is every, Briton's
day, t 4 use 113,1,141-4 for the protection
of the -Biltish;Navi,ll9(ll-ern quite satisfied •to
Parliamentary
and. tilf• then-1.; (init that the public will
thaly you -have. done, for one
oacttr;ilno-e g
yr,v4eesne ycroot,utsali,.3,
Ei!) qfida'eit.:
I conceive this most- vital liminess to Great
longer exist. under fatal
Britain cannot possibly
ing you will soon he:undeceived, if. you iniagine
`414.1i°115 °T-e'll'erinlvilt-f1414.A: conclude by liop-
that :coal tar, salt water, or
building under cover,
has. cured., or ever will 611 e„,,
the.: dry rot;.fOr its.
ravages are stiii„imost notorious.. and alarming, as•
witnessi the Genoa, Queen Charlotte,Phaeton, kc.
Perhaps you.will condescend' to explain how
it happens--that the Queen Charlotte,. after un-
dergoing expensive repairs about Oct. 18'2'2, is•
already found unfit,even for harbour service ?
Why, Sir,: is the safety and durability of the
British navy now systematically dependant- on
experiments, mere whiCh our ancestors held too
sacred .and precious.to be committed to chances for
for success or ruin, who eagerly gathered''" the
fruits of experience," 'which are now totally
neglected ?
I am too well aware that the present'system
was introduced, at. anew era,. when sAios and
leather wero demanded for warlike purposes
on great emergencies, but this affords no. •xa
cuse or reason for continuing a mostdangerous,
expensive, and ruinous sy tern, during a profound.
peace, .in which it will be found, I fear, that
land possessed many more sail of the line in
1793 than in 189.0 although the tonnage is consi-
derably greater now.
The Navy. appears rapidly decreasing. by the
dry-rot, which never disappears • till-the ships do
also.

It is very easy for any Gentleman to make
bold or untrue assertions, but recollect, Sir, facts

are •too stubborn to bend to any apse dixit. •
Again, I crave public inquiry by a survey of-
the whole Navy, for I. consider that the roots or
prosperity of British ships, seamen, colonies, and
commerce, are eminently endangered, and may
be ruined, if the Legislatiire do not forthwith
reform our dock-yards by rebuilding with winter
oaks, according toold customs, when our navy was
trulil celebrated under the proverbial title -of
" Old England's Wooden• Walls."
I am, Sir,
Your most obedient. Servant,
JOHN BURRIDGE.
Nelion.squale, Feb. 21.

A curious circumstance, we have beeti told,
happened at Gravesend last week. Captain- KIRNAIRD
Saii•ru. of the ship
.11111iam was.taken.by the Custom-
house officers, and brought tothe Custom-house, on suspicion of
smuggling ; where the contents of his pockets were examined.
—But it turned. out that instead of contraband goods, they
contained—a tongue, and . a couple of boiled fowls ! Ex-
pecting;the.company .of -some ladies, he had ordered dinner
to be prepared on board, but wishing perhaps to regale some one
else on land, he took the above articles from the pot, and -thrust
them in his pockets ; the immense size of Which hadawakened the
suspicion ot• the. officers. We recommend the passengers on
board to look sharp after. their dinner, for should - this mania
seize lint often, they will have a long Lent to keep during the
voyage.—( Indian Otservcr.