The Sun.
London, England, 1847-04-22 00:00:00

his duty to his SOVEREIGN, has had his character for
benevolence wantonly impeached, simply in con-
sequence of the defective and indiscriminately limited
system of regulations which has hitherto prevailed
for the suppression of naval offences. The Admiralty
are, therefore, entitled to great praise for having in-
troduced the measure in question. It is a proof of the
earnest desire by which they are animated to do all
in their power to redress the grievances which have
been reasonably complained of, both before and since
their accession to office ; and that these have not been
light cannot be questioned. Captain PECHELL, him-
self a naval officer, yesterday acknowledged, in the
House of Commons, " his wonder how the sailor
formerly bore the grievances to which he was sub-
ject." The sentence of imprisonment in solitary con-
finement for 28 days, which it is intended to authorise
commanders to pass, cannot he carried into effect, unless
it be first approved of in writing by the chief com-
manding officer at the port, place, or station where
the ship to which the offender belongs may happen to
be. This is a proper check and commendable
guarantee for securing the sailor against the exercise
of undue severity, or unjust treatment. Whether
this provision should not be hereafter enlarged, so as
to protect the accused against imprisonment unless
sanctioned by a court-martial, is a point which will
fairly admit of future consideration. The Admiralty
have a great responsibility, and whilst they are pro-
ceeding in a right direction, and making benevolent
experiments in accordance with the public feeling,
we think they are to be praised for framing their mea-
sures with due caution. Too precipitate a relaxa-
tion of power, in the first instance, might have
the effect of defeating the very object which we
believe is entertained by the Admiralty, in common
with the mcst philanthropic of the nation at large,
that of improving the general condition of all the
subordinate ranks in the navy, and of removing, es
speedily as possible, the various causes which have
hitherto rendered a severity of punishment indis-
pensable. We certainly deem it desirable that naval
and military punishments should be assimilated as
closely as may be feasible, and we except altogether
to the practice of the lash being applied, as it now is,
with greater severity to the body of the sailor than
to that of the soldier. There should be no difference
in the cat•o'-nine-tails in either service; neither do
we see why the instrument should be wielded by
a powerful boatswain in the navy, when, in the army,
it is placed in the hands of a drummer. If the ser-
vices of a boy are sufficient in the one case, they
ought to be considered equally so in the other. At
any rate, were there to be no difference permitted in
the severity of the lash, naval or military, it would
scarcely, we presume, be contended that the services
of a boatswain in the navy, and of those of a boy in
the army, would be justified by any assumed differ-
ence in the relative physical strength of the sailor com-
pared with that of the soldier. Other matters were
elicited in the course of the debate which redound to
the credit of the Admiralty. As soon as ever the
public finances will admit of it, they intend
to increase the pay of the petty officers, and likewise
to introduce some honorary distinction. They have it
also in contemplation t' give rewards to sergeants
of marines, whose services for the preservation of
discipline received from the Secretary of the Ad-
miralty a just tribute of admiration. Altogether, it
is manifest that the present Lords of the Admiralty
are not men who hold out expectations to the public
which they suffer to sink into oblivion with the ter-
mination of a debate in St. Stephen's. The country
will feel grateful for the zeal and activity with which
they have applied their minds to the important duties
incidental to their high office.

There are few persons who are at all acquainted
with public affairs, or were in the habit of reading the
public journals some fifteen years since, who must
not have fully in their recollection the daily accounts
of tumultuous assemblies, and too frequently of san-
guinary conflicts taking place in Ireland, occasioned
by the attempts then made by the titheowners of
that country to collect the compositions established
in lieu of tithe from the occupiers of land. What was
termed a passive resistance was organised. No farmer
or cottier paid the portion chargeable on his holding,
without, in the first instance, opposing the recovery
of the demand in every manner possible. Every de-
lay permitted by the law was interposed ; every
means of opposition that legal ingenuity could devise
no matter how vexatious or expensive it might be to
the parties, was had recourse to before a decree or
order could be obtained ; all the machinery of the
- law was brought into operation by the litigants on
either side. No tribunal throughout the land, from
the highest to the lowest, from the Court of Cnancery
to the magistrates at petit sessions, was
free from tithe cases. Bills were filed in
Chancery and in the Equity Exchequer.—
proceedings instituted and nisi prius records made
up from the common law courts—processes before
the assistant barrister at quarter sessions, and sum-
monses at petit sessions, were all in turn adopted,
and in almost every instance successful in obtaining
favourable decisions for the plaintiffs. But that
which usually terminated the difficulties of creditors
in ordinary cases proved, in these instances, but the
very beginning of their trouble. The payments could
not be enforced by any power that could be made use
of. If a small party attempted to take the
goods of the debtor they were beaten off
and compelled to relinquish their seizure, and fre-
quently considerably injured by the assailants. If a
larger force was employed, and the aid of the civil
power invoked, blood was shed either on the side of the
police:or the people—the enforcers or the opponents of
the law. Gortroe, Carrickshock, and many other
places obtained an infamous celebrity for the fearful
scenes enacted, and numerous widows and orphans
had to lament the loss of their protectors, whose

lives were sacrificed, and who became the
victims of the state of demoralisation and
opposition to the law, so universal throughout the
island. The military were called in many instances,
the troops in addition to their ordinary duties were
converted into tithe proctors and bailiffs, to compel
submission to the law. Captions were effected and
triumphantly borne to the neighbouring towns, and
there offered for sale by public auction, in order to
realise the amount of the debt and costs, but the result
was scarcely more favourable for the claimants. True

it was that the overwhelming force employed
prevented the assembled multitudes from using open
violence, or attempting the rescue of the goods by the
strong hand ; but thousands flocked in from every
side of the country, and with folded arms and lower-
ing brows regarded the progress of the sale, and
curses both loud and deep were uttered against every
person participating in the proceedings. Bidders
could not be obtained on any terms ; fat cattle were
knocked down and sold for as many pence as
they were worth pounds, but they had previously
been branded so as to indicate that they had been
sold for the payment of the obnoxious demands, and
the purchaser could not avail himself of his bargain,
or make it in any degree useful, for it was followed
from place to place, and looked upon as something
unholy, to call down the vengeance of Heaven on its
possessor ; while he himself, in his person and pro-
perty, was made to expiate the offence he had com-
mitted in at all meddling. He could not safely show
himself at fair or market; his house and the produce
of his farm were consumed by the acts of incen-
diaries, his cattle houghed or butchered in his fields,
and everything belonging to him devoted to destruc-
tion.

In the meantime the persons who were dependent
on the collection of the tithe composition for the
means of livelihood were reduced to the greatest dis-
tress. Not only were their usual and ordinary sup-
plies withdrawn, but they were further impo-
verished, by being obliged to defray the legal
expenses of the proceedings they had insti-
tuted. Parliament came to their assistance, a loan
of one million pounds sterling was first voted on their
behalf, which was subsequently converted into a gift
from the State to those whose legal rights it was un-
able, with all its power, to enforce, and Parliament
acknowledged that all its authority was set at nought
by the wide-spread, the universal organization and
resistance. The titheowner was compelled to sur-
render a certain portion of his income, in order
to obtain payment of the residue. A bonus of 2.5

per cent. was given to the landlords, in order
induce thorn to tako upon themselves tho I;atstlity
for the balance, and the Act was passed for the abo-
lition of compositions in lieu of tithe and the substi-
tution of a rent-charge in place thereof. By that