The Sun.
London, England, 1847-03-25 00:00:00

NAVAL CAPITAL OFFENCES.

The following is a list of " Crimes punishable with
death " in the Navy ; being the '2lst clause of the Mu,.
tiny Bill now before the House of Commons:—
" That if any person who is or shall be commissioned
or in pay as an officer of Royal Marines, or who is or
shall be listed or in pay as a non-commissioned officer,
drummer, or private man in her Majesty's Royal Ma-
rine Forces, shall at any time during the continuance of
this Act, while on shore in any place within the said
kingdom, or in any other of her Majesty's dominions,
or in any foreign parts out of such dominions, or on
board any transport ship or merchant ship or ves-
sel, or any ship or vessel of her Majesty, or on board
any convict hulk or ship, or any other ship or vessel,
or in any place whatever, where or while being in
any circumstances iu which he shall not be subject
to, or not be liable or punishable by, the laws
relating to the government of her Majesty's forces
by sea, begin, excite, cause or join in any mutiny or
sedition in her Majesty's marine or other forces, or
shall not use his utmost endeavours to suppress any
such mutiny or sedition, or, coming to the knowledge
of any mutiny or intended mutiny, shall not, without
delay, give information thereof to his commanding offi-
cer, or shall misbehave himself before the enemy, or
shall shamefully abandon or deliver up any garrison,
fortress, post, or guard committed to his charge, or
which he shall be commanded to defend, or shall com-
pel the governor or commanding officer of any garrison,
fortress, or post, to deliver up to the enemy, or to
abandon the same, or shall speak words or use any other
means to induce such governor or commanding officer,
or any other, to misbehave before the enemy, or shame•
fully to abandon or deliver up any garrison, fortress,
post, or guard committed to their respective charge, or
which he or they shall be commanded to deteed, or
shall leave his post, before relieved, or shall be found
sleeping on his post, or hold correspondence with, or
give advi;:e or intelligence to any rebel, pirate, or
enemy of her Majesty, either by letters, messages, signs,
tokens, or any other ways or means whatever, or shall

treat or enter into any terms with any such rebel, pirate,
or enemy, with the license of the Lord High Admiral ot•
the said Unitvd Kingdom, or the Commissioners for
executing the office of Lord High Admiral aforesaid
tin• the time being, or shall strike, or use, or offer any
violence against his sup. rior officer, being in the exeeu-
bon of his office, or shall disobey any lawful comJnind
of his superior officer, or who, being confined in a mili-
tary prison, shad (4Er any violence against a visitor or
other officer being in the execution of this office, or shall
violate any law or regulation of or relating to any mili-
tary prison, or shall desert her Mujesty's service, every
person so offending in any of the matters before men-
tioned, shall suffer death, or such other punishment as
by a Court-martial shall be awarded."

FOOD OR FAMINE.
TO THE EDITOR OF IHE SUN.
Stn,—We, throughout these realms, have met this
day to acknowledge that the famine of the past year is
beyond human control, and the deep reverence with
which it has been kept indicates the universal belief
that in Providence lies our only hope for its alleviation.
Insect plagues have formed, from the earliest times,
the immediate cause of the destruction of vegetable
food, and the consequent production of famine. In this
respect our present disaster differs not from thst of ante-
cedent periods of scarcity, and that which has been
formerly due to the locust, cockchafer, and caterpillar,
is now to be attributed to the vastatu and other species
of aphides.
As far as my observations extend, no vastatu is now

living out of doors, and no person can tell whether this
plague has passed away, or is again about to recur.
Fear of the disease must not, then, make us abandon
ourselves to despair, and leave our land uncultivated, as
that which is unsown cannot be reaped, that which is
not planted cannot afford fruit.
Famine now exists. Its subsequent pestilence is be-
ginning to appear. It is, then, now high time, not only
to regard scarcity, but to look to the probability of
future want. Our land is untilled in many parts of the
country, seeds cannot be procured in others, and the
potato crop, the great resource of Ireland, is abandoned,
as though it were to fail for ever.

There is no evidence to show that the potato, rather
than the wheat, carrot, or any other plant, will perish
this year; and from the great produce which the potato
affords, and the poverty of the land which suffices for its
culture, it forms a very eligible crop to be planted to the
ordinary extent.

Potato tubers are now scarce, and high in price. Any
attempt to buy, them extensively for seed, would double
or treble thrir cost, unless those who still use this
vegetable will cease to employ it for food. It becomes
now, then, highly desirable that all who use putatoes
should at once abandon them tor this season.
By ceasing to use potatoes, they would preserve that
which should yield food and prevent famine next yfar,
and by eating them they are tending to aggravate the
scarcity, and cause the death of numbers by destroying
their food.

Let every householder at once substitute other food
for the potato this year, for if there are none to buy
there can be none to sell, and there are now a sufficient
abundance of good tubers for planting if no snore be
used. Their present application for food should be pro-
hibited, if not by an Order in Council or Act of Purlia-
ment, by that which is more powerful than law—universal
public opinion. The preservation of the lives of our
fellow-creatures is at stake, and I feel confident that all
will abstain from potatoes when they hear that such
abstinence is eminently calculated, at this season, to
prevent the poor from perishing from want next year.
Having stopped their employ ment as a luxury at this
time, they should be sent directly to Ireland, and freely
distributed among the poor for planting; and the sorts
now to bo met with in the London market are far
superior to those heretofore cultivated by these unhappy
people, and are far better adapted to resist the ravages
of the vastatu, should it unfortunately again appear.
Sets from former healthy plants I%hich I have culti-
vated this year in my friends' greenhouses are now per-
fectly healthy, showing that healthy sets and absence of
the vastatu will ensure the usual abundant produce.
In the event of the reappearance of the destroying in-
sect, I trust and believe that, under the blessing of Pro-
vidence, I shall be enabled to give a simple and effectual
plan for its complete eradication.
I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
ALFRED SNIEE.
7, Finsbury-circus, March 24, 1847.

MURDER or M. D'OSERY.---The French Govern-
ment has received information from the Consul at Lima of
the assassina ion of M. D'Osery, who went on a journey of
disc very to South America with M. Castlenau. The expe-
ditic n arrived at Lima in the summer of 1846, and, after a
stay of some months there, MM. D'Osery and Castlenau
separated, for the purpose of reaching the Amazon by
ndif-
ferent routes, the former embarking on the Maranon, and
the latter taking his route by L'Ucayale. Thß:osinet intended
to meet at the confluence of these rivers. 7%
Lima at the beginning of November, and lii'_rre.(3l a..ribeonadrt:whiadth
four boatmen to descend the Maranon.bc
h journey alone;
warned him against setting out onDie such
after embarkation
but he laughed at their fears.
he was murdered by his boatmenifaib:s
thei. to gain possession
pass of Jusamaro.
The motive for this deed was
of the traveller's property; 1; ro
bat particulars of the event
are given.
SUPPOSED ERUPTION MOUNT lIECLA.—Ai'.
counts from the Faroe Isles state that on the 14th and 1513/4
of January afa
fine ashes took place there. It was fir ,t
observed onthelwool of the sheep; but was very slight em. I.
pared with the falll of
of ashes in 1845. Yet, as the wind wt,,
blowing south and south-east at the time, it is supposed thsit
m considerable eruption of Mount Ueda was the Cause tic
some
phenomenon.--Prussian Gazette.