The Sun.
London, England, 1841-01-14 00:00:00

CHARTISM.

We recommend those persons who have taken up at
second-hand and on credit opinions about Chartism and
the doctrines inculcated by Chartist speakers, to read
with attention the following brief outline of an address
delivered by Mr. Collins at Loughborough, in Leicee
tershire, on Monday, to a meeting held there in favour
of the convicted political offenders :
Mr. COLLINS said he was glad to see that notwith-
standing the taunt of ignorance which their enemies had
thrown out against them, they began to manifest a pro-
per knowledge of the manner to manage the business
for which they were assembled. They would recollect
that in the Market-place he endeavoured to reply to
some of the objections that were urged against the
emancipation of the people from slavery. The extreme
inclemency of the weather did not permit him to enter
fully into the matter ; he should, therefore, avail him-
self of the present opportunity to resume the subject.
One of the principal objections made was the ignorance
of the working classes. While he maintained that
those classes were no more ignorant than any other,
he maintained that he was entitled to a full measure
of justice, whether he were learned or whether he
were ignorant ; that the right to freedom was not de-
pendent on the degree of intelligence he might pos-
sess, nor on what religion he professed, nor on what
part of the land he might be born in, but he maintained
his right to freedom and justice because he was a man.
It was ridiculous for those men to tell them that if they
possessed the suffrage they would not know how to
use it. He wanted to know who had enabled them to
see into futurity ? How could they tell whether he
should use it right or wrong? Who was to be the
judge of his own interest but himself? Who was to
tell whether he voted right or wrong but. himself ? He
could not imagine how their opponents could tell how
they would use the franchise until they bad used it. He
wanted to ask if the poor did not manage their sick
societies in a proper manner ? If a rogue was dis-
covered in the committee, or a knave in the society,
did they not turn him out? Look at the manage-
ment of the Odd Fellows Society throughout its
various ramifications through the kingdom, and tell
him if the manner of conducting their affairs
did not prove them capable of managing the
franchise ? If a man wished to raise his fellow
man in the scale of society, did he begin to tell him
that he was dishonest, and ignorant, and brutish ?
That was not the way to raise him. They must take
him by the hand, and treat him as a brother ; they
must show that they have respect for him, and he will
then begin to have respect for himself. When a man
loses the respect of his neighbour, he soon loses all re-
spect for himself ; he thinks he may as well be as bad as
he is thought to be, and becomes a degraded and use-
less member of society. He could illustrate the subject
by a thousand circumstances, but one would suffice.
Suppose a man goes out in the morning with his shoes
nicely blacked, he will take particular care to keep out
of the dirt. But see him after walking about all day. He
finds it impossible to keep them clean, and, becoming less
careful, he dashes through thick and thin. But they
were not only charged with ignorance ; but were also
charged with immorality. That was a charge which
required the serious attention of the working man.
To a certain extent immorality did prevail among
the working classes, but he denied that it prevailed
more amongst them than amongst the aristocratic and
middle classes. He had no hesitation in saying, that
when he was in Warwick Gaol there were as many
committed to that place of middle class men as of work-
ing men. There are men in every commercial country
who neither belong to the middle nor working classes,
who are able to get their living without work or any
honest means, but who go about from fair to fair and
from races to races, seeking whom they may devour.
He considered that they did not belong to the working
classes any more than to the middle classes. Deducting,
therefore, the thimble-rigger and his fellows, there were
as many of the middle class as of the working class com-
mitted to gaol. Having had for a father a man who
was a most ingenious mechanic, and being afterwards ap-
prenticed to a trade which gave him a knowledge of all the
mechanical power of the kingdom, he was enabled to
obtain a good living for himself and family, but when
he saw those around him who were as industrious as
himself, as good neighbours, as good husbands and
fathers, enduring wretchedness and misery, he could not
bear it. He had seen in the house of the working-man
a pittance so small as not to be enough to satisfy the
wants of his family. He had seen the wife, prompted
by her affection for her husband, end by the desire that
he should hive sufficient to keep up his strength to work
for his family, eat far less than was needful to support
nature. He bad seen the husband act the same part
that the wile might have rather more to support her
while giving suck to her child, and through this struggle
of affection, a portion of the meal which either could
have eaten, has been put away. Was that a proof of the
want of social feelings ? Was that a proof of the want
of humanity ? Yet that was a common occurrence.
When the poor man has striven hard to get a larger
pica, to make his friends comfortable at a holiday time,
is not a portion of it always sent to his poor or sick
neighbour, who may be in distress ? Was that a proof
of want of benevolence, or watt of humanity ?
(Cheers.) If the rich man gave a guinea to erect a
church or support an hospital, his name was emblazoned
:n gold letters on a black ground, and his fame was
spread as a pattern of generosity, although he only gave
out of his superfluity. But who inserted it in the news-
papers when the poor woman, who had been labouring
hard all day, went to watch all night by the bed side of a
(tChie lee
crosC)ntry, and yet Yes ! In every
poor neighbour? Who published that? Yet such things
itlvaemreleott,' etvieilrlyagdea,y
aonccdurroevyncne.l7-n
they have the unblushing
man
effrontery to say the work-
ing is inhuman and immoral.--(Shaine.) They
slander the people because they cannot persuade them
to love slavery. He was bold to say, they might fortify
every city with soldiery ; they might fill every town
with blue-coated gendarmerie; they might turn the
peaceful vales of England into one great military ar-
senal ; and yet they would not be able to put down
the rising spirit of liberty:—(Cheers.) They might
fill their dungeons with victims, and the abode of the
poor man with groans, and tears, and sighs, but they
would never make him friendly with slavery.--(" No,
no," and cheers.) Annual Parliaments are objected to
because if a fresh Parliament were elected avers' year,
they would not be able to mature their plans,' nor
bring a
change of servants every year, for if
iorinngoatnyiltnhpiinyz to perfection. But Annual Parliaments
change every year ? He
they had been good servants they would be employed
ttaleletuyree if they changed their
again. Did they enrage their stewards or domestic ser-
they were only engaged s3.,,c,aornuvtilsidnf otasrs
kl
everyi ?e
waoltleekßr
~unat did
although
riu
for short periods ? No ! When that period expired they
*aid nothing about change if they were good servants, but
just went on as usual. If a man had a bad servant
would he be plagued with him any longer than he could
help? He would say, that if their representatives
were good servants, they would be glad to shake hands
with their constituents every year. But there was
another objection that the having of elections
every year would keep the country in a continual
ferment ; the turmoil of one election would not
cease before another came. Now that was not a fact.
They bad plenty of turmoil and party disturbances
at elections at present, but that was caused by their
taking place so seldom. It was worth the while of
those gentleman to bribe and purchase voters, be-
cause when once elected they had them for a long
period. But would they be so anxious to carry on
corruption if nothing was to be gained by it ? He had
heard an anecdote of a little boy who had been much
neglected by his friends, and allowed to run about the
streets covered with filth, This boy was taken pity of
by some kind person and thoroughly cleansed, and his
hair combed. On the next day he was seen with his
hair as rough as usual, and on being asked why he did
riot comb it, replied, " He was not going to have it
combed at present, because it lugged him so the day
befo•e."---(Laughter.) He did not know that frequent
combing would prevent the lugging. It was a simple
truth that " short reckonings make long friends." From
the time of Alfred the Great to the betrayal of this
country by the clergy to William the Norman, falsely
called the Conqueror, they had annual parliaments.
Now, the taxes are indirect, yet every man pays
them, and ought to be entitled to vote. When the
taxes were direct they were put on according
to the abilities of the people to pay them,
and every man knew how much he paid. But enough
could not be got by this direct tax, so they tried the
power of fraud, and introduced indirect taxtaxation. He
would next say a little concerning the abolition of the
Property Qualification for Members of Parliament.
When the Act was passed in the reign of Queen Anne
an immediate change took place in the Parliament. In-
stead of being an assembly of wise men it became one of
rich men. He could perceive a great difference in its con-
stitution, and he denounced it as an encroachment on the
liberties of the nation, which ought not to have been sub-
mitted to. Then if they did not send rich men, they”say the must
pay poorer persons to represent them. " Oh
objectors, " can you imagine that men of high intel-
lect,submit to receive wages'? They would think they
unblemished honour, and keen sensibility, will
should not be looked on with so much respect." H. e
would ask whether the Judges would be looked on with
more respect if they "
there is so much knowledge
required in a Judge, were not paid for their services ?
" Oh !" say theye, both of the laws and human na-
ture, that it quite alters the case." Then they meant
to say it required less knowledge, philosophy, and
attention, to make the laws than to administer them.
—(Laughter.) Those gentlemen who have such fine
the Highlander who applied
feelings and keen sensibilities as to refuse to be paid
servants, have no objection to paying themselves,.
and that pretty smartly too. It was something. like
gentleman in the
Lowlands for employment, and being, asked what
• t replied, " I winne truble ye
wages he should expec , .
for musket wages as I can aye be pick. np eneuch.
for mysel."—(L
aughter.) Now that is
.tne way with
these gentlemen, they would like to be picking up for
themselves.--(Laughter.) These then were the dread-
fulto a
doctrines of the Chartists ! lie recommended them

to talk of them when in their shops at work, or taking
their walk on Sunday with their friends, or at home with
their families. He never advocated violence, but he
sympathised with those who were goaded on by the
miseries they endured, to acts of violence, and he felt
the more when he took into consideration the state of
education in the country. In their childhood they
had little guns and pistols put into their hands to play
at French and English ; books were put into their
hands, inculcating the same sentiments, and when
they walked out they had the same feelings put into
their heads by Nelson monuments and streets, and
Wellington-squares ; they had thanksgiving mingled
with their public services, because thousands of wives
were made K idows, and children fatherless, and prayers
were offered up for the success of armies; if they went to
social meetings songs of war were sung ; so that, whether
in their childish plays or in their devotions, or in their
walks in the streets, or in their hours of recreation, mili-
tary glory was the continual theme ; while the names of
such men as the philanthrophic Howard, or Pestalozzi,
were scarcely ever heard. Then if a man thus educated,
who saw his wife and children starving with cold and hun-
ger, had recourse to those military means to rescue them
from their condition, he was the greatest brute in exis-
tence. Though he was sorry that such means should
ever have been resorted to, he could not help pitying
those who had thus been led on. Had those present
had the means of providing comfortably for their fami-
lies, he might have come there for nothing, and until
that took place, they might attempt to put down
Chartism in vain. No one who went to prison for
Chartism, ever came out less a Chartist, than when he
went in ; for the mind of man could not be acted upon
but by the force of reason and argument. Poor and
despised as the people were, neither the Whigs nor
Tories could call a public meeting in any part of the
empire, and carry their resolutions.

THE LATE CAPTAIN HEWETT,

OF HER MAJESTY'S SHIP FAIRY.

" TO THE EDITOR OP THE ' HAMPSHIRE TELEGRAPH.'
" Portsmouth, Jan. 6, 1841.
_ _ _

" Sir,—l have been requested to solicit the advantage
of your colamns, to circulate a knowledge of the dis-
tressing case of the widow of the late Captain Hewett,
who was lost in the Fairy, surveying vessel, in the great
gale of the 13th of November last ; and I feel confident
that the friendly feeling that you bear to the service,
will prompt you to render your powerful aid in so good
a cause.

" Were the case an ordinary one, I might have hesi-
tated to intrude it upon the public attention, however
deeply I might have been interested in the parties ; for
I hold that appeals of this nature should never be made
on light grounds. Unhappily there is nothing uncom-
mon in the widow of a gallant and highly meritorious
naval officer being left with eight children almost entirely
unprovided for ; but it is seldom that an instance
occurs, which has such strong claims on e public
favour as the present.
" That an officer who has devoted his whole life to
the execution of his professional duties, and has at last
perished in their actual performance, is well entitled
to our respect, no one will deny, nor that his destitute
widow and orphans are objects of our compassion.
Still, unless he shall have performed either some bril-
liant or some useful public service, his family can
claim little more than our sympathy, and must be left
to the care of those who are nearest and dearest, aided
by the casual assistance of others whose generous na-
tures judge of such matters by their own intrinsic dis-
tress.

" The case of Mrs. Hewett, however, and her eight
delicate children (three of whom are at this trying mo-
ment very ill), stands on such very different grounds,
that I cannot doubt, when the services of her late hus-
band become generally known, she will be promptly and
effectually relieved by the public.
" When an officer distinguishes himself in battle, the
country is never slow to acknowledge their sense of ob-
ligation to him and to reward him for augmenting the
national renown ; or if he should fall in action, sound
policy inclines them to provide for his family. But
there are other services fully as beneficial to the coun-
try, and as essential to the advancement of its true
glory, as those which figure in the Gazette, and which,
therefore, are no ►ess justly entitled to public favour.
Of these the silent, unseen, protracted, often perilous,
and always ardous labours, of the maritime surveyor,
are entitled, on many grounds, to a high place in our
esteem. There arc perhaps no exertions of any of her
Majesty's servants, which produce more decided prac-
tical bent fits to the community—none of which
the good is more substantial at the moment, or
more permanently useful in its character—none of which
the results are more readily available in practice—nor
any labours which require, at every stage of their pro-
gress, more skill, knowledge, patience, perseverance,
and above all, good faith and genuine public spirit,
than the works of the hydrographer. This will be un-
derstood when it is recollected that in the course of
almost every other branch of the public service occa-
sional inaccuracies or neglects may occur without essen-
tially vitiating the result. " Success," said Lord Nel-
son, speaking of war, " hides a multitude of blunders."
But this will not apply to surveying ; for no eventual
gloss or pretension, no elegance of execution of the maps,
will make up for the smallest antecedent blunder in the
details. Accordingly, a conscientious surveyor, like
Hewett, makes it a sacred duty to superintend every
cast of the lead, to verify every compass bearing by his
own eye, to regulate and employ his chronometers with
his own bands, and to observe the celestial bodies with
instruments the merits of which he has himself proved.
Finally, out of an immense mass of carefully accumu-
lated materials scientifically reduced, he has to lay down
his charts, that is, to adapt his work tcrthe common use,
not only of his own trading countrymen, but of the ma-
ritime world at large.
" It will scarcely be asked, what is the use of all this
minute care? or in what way are the public concerned
in it ? or why should they owe so large a measure of
gratitude to this particular officer, as to be called upon
to assist his widow and orphans ? I shall, however,
now show what has been the extent and the nature of
his public services, of which their very great utility de-
pends upon the zeal and fidelity with which they were
carried on, The character of the surveyor, indeed, is
the only guarantee we can have for the correctness of
such a work, and it is upon this well-established reputa-
tion that any claims of his family can rest.
" I pass over Captain Hewett's surveys of Rio de
Janeiro, Pernambuco, and other distant places, because,
though admirable in their way, and very useful to those
who trade with those nations, they are less calcu-
lated to make an impression on your readers, and,
in point of fact, are less extensively useful than his
labours nearer home. In all the wide circuit of waters
navigated by British ships, there is, I believe, no
region more sailed over than what is called the North
Sea, lying between the east coast of Great Britain and
the Continent, nor any with which it is more important
to the mariner to be well acquainted. It is thickly
strewed over with dangerous shoals, many of them out
of sight of land ; some lying directly in the fair way of
navigation, and others far to the right and left of it,
but not the less dangerous on that account to vessels
driven out of their course by stress of weather.
" In 1818, Captain Hewett commenced the gigantic
task of surveying this immense network of shoals, and
he followed it up with a minuteness and an exact.
ness heretofore unequalled in this or any other country
In the process of this most useful undertaking numerous
dangerous banks were for the first time examined, and
their places correctly ascertained ; others, which had
no existence but in the fears of fishermen and traders,
were swept off our charts. All the passages among
the shoals were carefully sounded and rendered avail-
able by means of intelligible sailing directions—innu-
merable buoys were laid down, and lighthouses erected
along the coast, to guide the mariner by day and by
night ; and I have just learned that the Trinity-house
have borne honourable and substantial testimony to
the value of Captain Hewett's suggestions on these
points, and to the singular clearness and seamanlike
precision of all his operations, by awarding 2004 to his

widow.
" In the midst of this career of public usefulness Cap-
tain Hewett was suddenly cut off, and the great work
which he had almost completed most unfortunately in-
terrupted. And here it may be interesting to pause a
moment to consider how different the positions are in
which an officer in command of a ship may be placed.
There is not in the world a more glorious situation, or
one upon which the country at large looks with greater
admiration, than that of a captain leading his ship into
action, it may be to death, it must be to honour. On
the other hand, what stretch of imagination can reach
or sympathy embrace the anguish and horror of a com-
manding officer in the situation of Captain Hewett in
the gale when the poor Fairy foundered ? All the skill
and fortitude which had availed him so often in rescuing
his crew from perils he now sees to be utterly useless ;
wave after wave beats over the devoted ship, tearing
the masts away,and washing all his gallant companions
overboard ; finally, the swamped vessel completely over-
whelmed, sinks under his feet.

" May we not well suppose that along with his last
mortal agonies, and the deep sorrow at being thus
wrenched away from the world in the prime of life, he
might yet feel supported by the reflection, that, as he
had always done his duty by his country, and contri-
buted materially, by his ind►vidual exertion, to its inte-
rests, his country would not now desert those whom
he could no longer assist ; and that, though no human
hand could dry his widow's tears, it might still make
her heart to sing for joy,' by rendering the office of ' a
father to the fatherless.'

" As, however, it forms, comparatively, an inconsider-
able part of my present object to work on the feelings
of your readers, I shall not pursue this subject further,
nor intrude unnecessarily on the sacred privacy of the
desolate widow's grief, except to state, that her eldest
son, a midshipman, and her brother, the master of the
ship, perished along with her husband in the Fairy.
" It is enough I hope, for mo to state in conclusion,
which I do upon the best authority, that her means, even
with the highest, pension that the rules of the State allow,
must prove totally inadequate to maintain her in the po-
sition which, as an officer's wife, she has hitherto been AC.

custorned to enjoy. Neither can Mrs. Hewitt, unless as-
sisted by the pull, e, hope to bring up her children as they
would have been brought up had their father's life been
preserved to them and to his country. Let it be re-
collected also, that although this appeal is made in part
to the generous sympathies of the public, it is not less
directed to their sense of justice. For, if it be true,
as I pledge myself it is, that Captain Hewett has ren-
dered very important and permanently useful profes-
sional services to the nation, without his ever having
had either time or the means of laying up any provision
for his family, they are certainly well entitled to protec-
tion, and to the heartiest assistance we can render them.
It is gratifying to be able to communicate, that two
gentlemen have already come forward to assist Mrs.
Hewitt, one with the offer of a cadets'aip, the other
with a presentation to Christ's Hospital, for her sons.
" Subscriptions for Mrs. Hewett will be received by
Captain Beaufort, Hydrographer-office, Admiralty ;
by Captain Drew, of the Trinity-house ; Mr. Thomas
Lawrence, Post-office ; and by the London and West-
minster Bank, Waterloo-place, and Lothbury, London ;
also, by Lieutenant Cook, R.N., Addiscombe ; and I
shall be happy to receive and transmit to the Commit-
tee of gentlemen acting on behalf of the widow, any
subscriptions which may be forwarded to me at Pot►s-
mouth. I have the honour to be your obedient servant,
BASIL HALL, Captain, R.N."

" P.S. Jan 9.—1 copy the fallowing paragraph from
a circular which has not been published Subscrip-
tions will be thankfully received at the bank of
Messrs. Drummond, Charing-cross ; of Messrs. Wil-
liams, Deacon, and Labouchere, Birchin•lane ; of
Messrs. Martin, Stone, and Stone, No. 68, Lombard-
street ; also by Mr. Robert Miller, Blackheath-park ;
Mr. Thomas Lawrence, General Pos'-office ; Captain
Drew, Trinity-house ; Mr. John Walker, hydrogra-
pher, India-house ; Major Robe, R. E., Tower ; Mr.
Thomas Chapman, Lloyd's ; Mr. George Babb, Great
Grimsby, Lincolnshire ; Captain Basil Hall, R.N.,
Portsmouth ; and Lieutenant Cook, R.N., of Addis-
combe College, or at No. 32. Sackvillc-street ; from
whom any further information may be obtained.
" The Earl of Galloway, Colonel Conolly, Comman-
der R. M., Woolwich, and Mr. Charles Brodrick,
have very kindly consented to their names being given
as trustees, for payment into the Bank of England, on
account of Mrs. Hewett, of such sums as shall be re-
ported to them by the above bankers, on or before the
Ist of May next, to be payable on her account. Re-
mittances before the Ist of May to the said bankers
should be made ' to the Trustees in behalf of the Widow
of the late Captain Hewett, R.N.'"

ESCAPE OF GAS AT STRASBURG.

A melancholy accident occurred at Strasburg a few
days since, in consequence of a great quantity of gas
escaping from a faulty pipe into the rooms where a
tradesman and his wife, with their servant and three
children were sleeping. All except the father and
mother were suffocated. The Courrier of Strasburg
gives the following particulars of this occurrence, which
it states has thrown the whole town into alarm :
" About ten o'clock on Saturday morning M. Horst,
a teacher of the piano, uneasy at finding that the house
in which he lived was infected with a strong smell of
gas, sent for the chief agent of the Company to ascer-
tain the cause. They began by, examining the ground-
floor, and on coming to the kitchen of an apartment
occupied by the family of M. Beringer, a dealer in
glass and other articles from the Black Forest, stifled
groans and other sounds of a dying person were heard
from the adjoining room. It then occurred to M.
Horst that, although the day was so far advanced,
not one of this family had been seen stirring ; he called,
therefore, for assistance, and had the room whence the
ominous sounds issued forced open. It was in darkness,
the shutters being still closed. - When light was ad-
mitted the following horrible spectacle presented itself :
Six persons were lying in different positions, either
dead or in the last agonies. M. Beringer was lying
in the middle of the chamber with his face to the ground,
entirely dressed except his coat and waistcoat. Near
him, and in front of a stove, lay the servant, a young
woman, completely clothed. The wife, who was also
dressed, was lying on her bed, with the youngest child,
a little gill seven years old. On a mattress, near the
window, was one of the two sons, fifteen years of age,
with his drawers and waistcoat on, and near him,
on the floor his brother in his shirt. All were foaming
at the mouth, had their features contracted, and of a
violet colour, and their limbs distorted and stiff, as if
they had been suffering from violent convulsions.
Not one of them showed any signs of life except the
father, the rattling in whose throat had given the
alarm. Medical assistance was given, but all were dead
except the father and mother. It was afterwards
found that a considerable issue of gas had taken place
from the pipes into the house, and had no doubt caused
the accident. In the evening M. Beringer was still
alive, but was not expected to survive ; his wife re-
mained in a state of delirium."

FURTHER PARTICULARS.

The Courrier du Bas Rhin gives the following fur-
ther details of the recent melancholy accident at Stras-
burg :—M. Beringer died on Sunday morning. The
post inortein examinations of the five dead bodies—the
servant, the three children, and their father,—made
by several of the faculty, have established beyond all
doubt that they died from suffocation. Mine. Berin-
ger has recovered her senses, and appears out of danger,
but has one of her sides paralysed. She has
bean able to give the following account :—ln the course
of Friday (New Year's-day) the whole family became
indisposed, without being able to attribute it to any
cause. They were attacked with giddiness in the head,
and the little girl with voinitings. She and her children
always slept in a chamber above, and M. Beringer in
the room en the ground floor, adjoining the warehouse ;
but, as they were unwell, and there was a fire in the
room, they resolved to pass the night together down
stairs. At eight o'clock the children were put to bed,
and Mme. Beringer was preparing to do the same,
when she was seized with a violent vertigo, and was
laid by her husband and the servant on the bed, from
which moment she lost all sensibility. It appears that
the lives.of herself and M. Beringer were preserved till
the next morning only by their having afterwards fallen
on the ground near the kitchen-door, under which a
small stream of air was able to enter."