The Sun.
London, England, 1841-10-09 00:00:00

EVENING SUN

• VICE-AbIiIIRA L SIR EDWARD
OWEN, R.C.13., COMMANDER-IN-
CHIEF IN TIIE MEDITERRANEAN.
So important a command as that of the Mediter-
ranean Fleet having been transferred into new hands,
it is but reasonable that Englishmen who are beyond
the pale of naval circles should desire to be somewhat
acquainted with the officer to whom it is entrusted.
Sir Edward Owen is the son of the deceased Captain
Owen, R.N., who lost an arm in the service of his
country. He was educated at Chelsea, and became a
Lieutenant in 1793. Fire years after he was advanced
to the rank of Post-Captain. His first appointment of
importance was to the Immortalite frigate, about
May; 1802 ; and soon after the renewal of the war, we
find that ship, in company with the Jalouse and Cruiser
sloops of war, driving le Commode, and l'lnabordable,
a French brig and schooner, each mounting 4 guns, on
shore near Cape Blanc Nez, where they were taken
possession of by the boats of the squadron, under a
heavy fire from the enemy's batteries.
In 1803, Dieppe and St. Valery en Caux were bom-
barded by a sma!l force under Captain Owen's orders,
and considerable damage, it was supposed, was done to
those towns.

l
-'rom this period Captain Owen kept the French
coast in a continual state of alarm ; and l'lmmortalite
was well known to the inhabitants for the daring man-
ner in which, in spite of banks and batteries, she ep-
preached their shores. The character she had gained
along the French coast was indeed very high, and
Count Dumas bore testimony to her bravery. "Le
Capitaina Owen," he sayF, in his Precis des Evene-
mons,' " Commandant la fregate l'lmmortalite, fit ad.
wirer son audace et sa perseverance sous le feu des bat-
teries de la rade."
In the month of July, 1804, Captain Owen pur-
sued a number of large brigs and luggers on the Bou-
logne coast, caused many of them to founder and
others to be stranded ; and the French account admits
that upwards of 400 soldiers went down in these ves-
sels, and many others perished. The weather was at
the time severe, and the French writers ascribed their
losses entirely to the storms. Napoleon, from the heights of
Boulogne was himself a spectator of the scene, and i:
we are to credit the French writers, evinced much sen-
sibility on the occasion. Her no doubt, was taught a
lesson by the chaster, seeing that the weather, as well
as the British cruisers, might foil his attempt to invade
Great Britain. -
Boulogne -being then the head-quarters of the French
armament, the British squadron carefully-cruised about
that place, and while the main body usually lay at
anchor out ten miles N. W. of the port, a division offive
or six vessels, commanded by Captain Owen, generally
cruised just out of the range of the enemy's shells.
During the month of August, great bustle prevailed in
the road of Boulogne, Napoleon being there at this
time in his barge, attended by his two Generals and
Admiral Bruix. Captain Owen, with the squadron
under his orderr, was, during this period, engaged in
several sharp skirmishes with the French batteries, in
one of which the Immortalite was twice struck by
shot in the bull, and had four men wounded.
On the 23d of October following, Captain Owen,
standing off Cape Grisnez, gave chase to three prams,
seven brigs, and fifteen luggers, and kept up a running
fight till te falling tide obliged him to haul off, with the
loss of one man slain, and a lieutenant of the Banc de
Laice and ten men wounded, three of whom died soon
after. Captain Owen, in his letter to the Rear-Admi-
ral, says----" From the manner in which our grape-shot
covered the enemy's vessels, their loss in men must
have been very great. I never saw guns pointed bet-
ter, or so coolly." Early in the ensuing year the Im-
mortalite captured El Entrepreda Corune, a Spanish
privateer, of 14 guns and 66 men ; and on the 18th of
July, 1805, Captain Owen had a most severe mour•
ter with a part of the Boulogne flotilla, by which the
enemy's loss in shipping and men was very great. On
this occasion the Immortalite had her foremast, main-
topma,t, spanker-boom, and three boats shot through ;
her rigging and sails much cut, her lull struck in seve-
ral places, two carronades disabled ; 4 men killed and
12 wounded, several of them severely.
During the summer of 1806, hostilities against Bou-
logne were suspended ; but, on the Bth of October, the
Earl of Lauderdale being then known to have quitted
Paris re infect°, Commodore Owen immediately seized
the opportunity of making trial of Mr. (subsequently
Sir. W.) Congreve's rockets, which had been just in-
vented, and created much excitement.
Accordingly Commodore Owen stood for Boulogne
Bay, and -Sittwithstanding the faultiness of a first
apprenticeship, not less than 200 rockets were dis-
charged is half an hour ! and in about ten minutes the
town appeared on fire ; while such was the panic on
shore that not a shot was returned from the batteries.
The efficiency of the weapon, and the vulnerability of
Boulogne were suffiCently ascertained. The fire
blazed from two A.M. tll the evening, many vessels in
the harbour were destroyed, a considerable range of
buildings, apparently barracks or store-houses, burnt,
the ruins of eight of which were discernible from the
Clyde, the vessel in which the Commodore's broad
pennant was thin flying
This is by far the most memorable and most distin-
guished portion of the Gallant Officer's career. Being
engaged with the enemy almost in sight of our own
shores, and the communications with the flying squa-
dron he commanded being uninterrupted, the papers
were filled almost every day with accounts of his various
encounters and attacks on the French gun-boats and
batteries. The public attention was almost concen-
trated on Boulogne, and the Gallant Commodore was,
we well remember, the hero of the hour. His un-
daunted bravery was the continual theme of applause.
The daring of the Immortalite and Commodore Owen
filled the whole community, from the Deal boatmen to
the Aberdeen burgher, with wonder and admiration.
The advantage of his deeds to the country has been
called in question. Not a few lives were sacrificed,
and no inconsiderable expense incurred. At die same
time the French flotilla was kept its check, and Napo-
leon was continually and practically convinced, if he
ever entertained the idea of invading England—that
the enterprise would be one of imminent danger and
great loss. Commodore Onen was, however, highly
applauded by the country ; his services were, on this
particular occasion, of great value ; but we may be
permitted to doubt, whether the kind of insensible
courage for which he was distinguished, be of the high-
est order even of naval talents.
Commodore Owen appears to have been engaged in
no other memorable matter till the mouth of August,
1809, when he assisted in the Walcberen expedition at
the siege of Flushing. The capture and evacuation of
Flushing, as appears from Sir Richard Strachan's des-
patches to the Admiralty, were, in no small measure,
effected by the valour and bravery of Commodore
Owen. Three consecutive despatches all bear testi-
mony to his zeal and gallantry ; the last in an especial
manner, it runs thus !--" It is my duty to draw their
Lordships' attention to the excellent conduct of Com-
modore Owen in the discharge of the various and
arduous duties he had to perform ; and I beg, in the
most earnest manner, to eecommend to their Lordships'
notice, the zeal, bravery, and perseverance of the cap-
tains, officers, and seamen, composing the flotilla under
the Commodore's orders."
Commodore Owen next hoisted his broad pennant on
board the Inconstant frigate, in the Gulf of Mexico,
where that dreadful scourge, the yellow fever, carried
off many of his officers and crew, about the month of
April, 1811. Subsequently he has commanded the
Cornwall, of 74 guns, employed in the North Sea ; and
at the close of 1813, distinguished himself by his ex-
emplary conduct at the head of the Royal Marines,
which were landed from the British fleet to co-operate
with the, Dutch Royalists in the Island of South •Beve-
land, which was soon freed from the presence of their
quondam allies.
For .his services Commodore Owen received the
command of a royal yacht. He was nominated a
K.C.8., Jan. 2, 1815 ; obtained a Colonelcy of Royal
Marines, July 19, 1821 ; and in Nov 1822, hoisted
broad pennant on board the Gloucester, of 74.gunia' id
nd
which ship he proceeded to the West
was for some time Commander-in- bi-futer: that
C fieAssembh, at
station. During this period, the House of his prompt
Jamaica passed a vote of thanks to qi
hi'
interests while
attention to their commercial and naval big return to
he was commanding among then?.h
the insignia of a
this country he was invested with
Knight Commander of the Most .
many
ems'
Order of the Bath, in consideration of his Honourable Military
nent services.
Sir Edward Owen
pi
laerofoerlts.ihdcomacfeott.adttaio.eslrgil was connected
and was, we believe,
Administration prior to te nnected with the Tory
Hef
entered the Hou-e of
it
which was called in 1826,
bold his seat till the period of Re.
and continued to
on his
form. We can bestow no. approbation. senatorial
He rather distinguished himself as the advo-
cateand spoke more. than once in favour
SCuormveloonrsoinththecOrradrnlaisarnce;
coebfFu'l outrage to all humanity—that most
profession, however,
en-stealing, the practice of nn-
brutal
naval officers
Yyr tnoletheeseytbesat ofth ehhisulk of the
is unfortunately a venial offence. Commodore
that
Napier
are
Tories, and that Sir Edward Owenj •
is a
Tory partizan—to which circumstance, we presume,
he owes his appointment—will be no disparagement
amongst his brother Tories. Accordingly the Vice-
Admiral's appointment has given great satisfaction
ion in
naval circles. Her Majesty's ship Queen is now fitting out with all expedition to ea
rryhis flag to the Medi-
terranean.

MANSLAUGHTER AT WEST RETFORD.--•
Thomas Ward, a farmer's son, at the end f l week,
rode down, while in a state of intoxicationo twoast female
servants of that place, named Mary Ann Simpson, and
Ann Moss, aged 2S, the latter of whom has since died
from the injuries received. An inquest was held on the
body on Tuesday, and a verdict of manslaughter returned
against the prisoner, who was committed to take his trial
at the next Nottingham Assizes.
The ;inquiry into the death of James Carroll, a
police constable of the H division, was continued last
night at the London Hospital. After some further evi-
dence had been given, the inquiry
till this evening. was again adjourned

RADICAL REFORM

The following is the petition for Radical Reform, See.
from the Cobbiet ;b, which Ives 2rese ntee on Ti urs
day to the House of ClaMu lOS hy Mr. 1. Due:eerie:,
who did everything that the very stringent rules of the
House weuld allow to bring the matter contained in it
plainly and clearly before the Members. At any rate
its cirulation through the Press will place some very
important facts before the country, and will, in that
quarter at least, have a very beneficial effect :
To the Honourable the Commons of the United King-
dom of Great Britain and Ireland, in Parliament
assembled.
The Petition of the Cobbett Club of London, unani-
mously agreed to, at a meeting of that body, on
the Ist day of September, 1841.
Humbly showeth,
1. That your petitioners, in their great anxiety to see
a restoration of the freedom, the greatness, and the power
of this country, so that it may again take its proper
station amongst the nations of the earth ; and, knowing
that this can be effected only by the people having re-
stored to them the power of exercising their ancient
eons.titutional rights, have frequently petitioned former
Parliaments to grant Universal Suffrage, Annual Par-
liaments, and Voting by Ballot. And they are daily
receiving fresh evidence of the necessity for these things,
gee granting of which would have rendered it wholly
finneoessary for them now to trespass upon your atten-
tion, and occupy the pub'ic time ; a great deal of which
has been (as it appears to your petitioners) hitherto
spent, not in matters calculated to benefit the people,
but in party squabbles, having for their object the turn-
ing out of one set of men, whom the Queen had se-
lected to be her servants in the Executive, and the
putting another set of men in their place; not because
the Queen had no confidence in those her servants ;
but, because your Honourable House, forsooth, a se-
parate branch of the Legislature, had not confidence
in them I Thus leaving it almost doubtful, whether
the Ministers are the servants of the Crown, or whe-
ther they are the servants of the House of Commons !
2. Thar, your petitioners have always understood,
that the Twee Eeztes of this Realm have separate and
distinct duties and privileges, which the Constitution
has plainly defined for them ; and, that, beyond the
limits thus defined, neither the one nor the other has
the power of passing ; and this not merely to secure
the harmonious working of the whole, but to ensure to
the people the benefit of the separate and independent
working of each Estate.
3. That, amongst those duties and privileges,
your petitioners believe that the Crown, that
is to say, the Highest Estate, has the prero-
gative of selecting its own servants, or Ministers, who
are to be those whom the Crown wills to be of its
Privy Council ; who are, therefore, "a noble, honour-
able, and reverend assembly," whose duty it is to
" advise the Crown to the best of their cunning and
discretion." The prerogative of the Crown, in choosing
this body of men, cannot be interfered•with by either
House of Parliament," or it must cease to be a prero-
gative. All writers upon the Constitution, declare,
that, " Parliament ought not to deal, to judge, or to
meddle with, any prerogative of the Crown ;" that they
can "increase the prerogative of the Executive, but
they cannot invest themselves with it : they have it not
in their power to command its motions ; they can only
unbind its hands :" that Privy Councillors are made by
the Sovereign's nomination only, and that the will of
the Sovereign is their so'e constituent : that "the
dissolution of the Privy Council depends upon the plea-
sure of the Sovereign, and that he may, whenever he
thinks proper, discharge any particular member, or the
whole of thorn, and appoint others ; and that the Con-
stitution has provided a remedy at law, either by im-
peachment or by criminal information, for their delin-
quencies : that " neither House of Parliament has a
right to animadvert upon the Sovereign, nor have any
jurisdiction over him in civil matters, as that would be
to devroy one of the constituent parts of the Sovereign
power ;" that is to say, would be a lopping off of one-
third part of the Constitution at a blow, sinking the in-
dependence of the Crown, and making it a mere tool in
the hands of the other two parties, who may strip it of
all rem pining power, and leave it as an useless and de-
spicablo, bauble.
4. That your petitioners, believing that these
opinions are in unison with our ancient Constitution,
cannot avoid stating them to your Honourable
House; and they beg also to be permitted to make
another statement, which they take from the
" Act of Limitation of the Crown ;" it is this, " that
as person who holds any office, or place of profit, under
the King, or who is receiving a pension from the Crown,
shall bo capable of serving as a Member of the House
at Censmons ;" and which, although your petitioners
are not igncrant of the adroitness with which it is
evaded, is a most wise, just, and wholesome law, which
they hope soon to see rigidly reinforced.
5. That the consideration of these things has brought
to your petitioners' recollection, a long list of most
grievous innovations upon the Constitution of our fore-
fathers ; each of which has been an abridgement of the
%Jody ut ram people or niece realms,
anethe effect of the whole, united, has been to leave the
main part of the people with scarcely more political
rights than are possessed by the people of Algiere, of
Egypt, or of Turkey.
6. That the first and greatest of these innovations,
may it please your Honourable House, is the one from
whence all the others have flowed ; namely, the with-
holding from the mass of the people their ancient right
of suffrage. This your petitioners believe to be the
great master-evil that has produced consequences most
fatal to the well-being of the people, of which every man
must be convinced, when he reflects that from this
source alone has been produced—
The dividing the Church and Abbey lands amongst
the aristocracy, and compelling the people to
maintain the poor, instead of their being main-
tained out of the tithes and revenues of the Church ;
The throwing the Church-rate; upon the people, in-
stead of causing the Churches to be repaired and
maintained out of the fruits of the livings ;
The appropriating the property of the Guilds and
Fraternities, and Charitable Bequests, amongst the
aristocracy and teeir dependents ;
The uniting of parishes, and amalgamating the pro-
duce of the livings, and giving them to one man,
instead of permitting each parish to have its sepa-
rate priest ;
The giving a plurality of votes, at a vestry, to rich
men, and thus destroying the weigkt of the vote
of the poor man ;
The inventing and introducing the cunning and in-
quisitorial Excise system, illorder that the taxes
should be taken from the people in a manner that
they cannot resist, any more than they can resist
the robber who has his hands in their pockets,
after having first blindfolded and bound them ;
The establishing, first triennial, and then septennial
Parliaments ; which, down to•the period of any-
thing-but." glorious Revolution of 1688" had been
annual ;
The taking from the Crown its landed estates, and
dividing them amongst the aristocracy, and making
the Sovereign a sort of pensioner, to be maintained
out of the taxes raised upon the people ;
The leaving, in innumerable cases, the convicting and
punishing of persons at the discretion of men who
are appointed by, and removable at, the pleasure
of the Minister of the day ;
The trying, and imprisoning of men without trial, by
jury, for simple trespass, in treading on corn-fields
and protecting rich men fro-such law, when,with
from
-such and dogs, they sport upon these' same'
cora-
fields.
The eerrine:*-',eg auiretiptieje.tfi theiy aged parente, their'
id to h in d
ivied:e:l their'
fence of
.the country ;to submit tr are ilit "
us-
cipLae, a'd...l3ll.nihnl.7eetsfe.jueeeflkiwulirer,set,
vice, whilst
boiflaotretbeersy,
am! to tee's. their it
are refused the right of voting at elections, on the
ground that they have no stake in the country ;
to three men, who are called " Poor-
The delegating
law Commissioners," the power of making laws to
bind the people of this country I a circumstance,
the existence of which is almost sufficient to make
the dry bones of our brave and free forefathers to
rattle in their graves, from shame and indignation
at the tameness and baseness of their degenerate
sons.
7. These constitute a mass of grievous innovations
n the !;berty of the people, may it please ycur Hon.
House, the smallest of which would never have existed
f the people had not been robbed of the power of re-
turning Members to their own House of Parliament ;
which power they had exercised for so many ages;
and the continuance of the possession of which would
have prevented the hands of power from grasping many
other things unjustly, amongst which are the Army, the
Navy, the Colonies, the Diplomatic Affairs, the Col-
lages, yea, everything, to which are attached great heaps
of mousy, it enclosed in this unrelentinggrasp ; and this
same Polio, now, by means of the " New Poor-law"
(which was passed " to bring the people of England, by
degrees, to live upon a coarser sort of food"), hopes to
grasp some twenty, or thirty, millions more a-year, out i
of the wages of the labouring part of the people—from
th't part,of the people, who arc, at this time, in such of
state of poverty, that the agonizing cries for bread, o
millions of them, are piercing our ears and harrowing
our hearts, and exciting in our minds grief and shame,
and a burning and inexpressible rage, when we reflect'
on the causes of such sufferingstbat ; aaindth,oumohre ebsepe-
cially, when we find
sufferings were long g. t se
agaend,fonroetoldh, nothing was
;
done to prevent them w t at they present
themselves in such fearful array before us, we are
ickened to the soul at the almost total absence of any
efforts to remedy them, or cf any sympathy for the
sufferers, being evinced by those who have the power to
relieve them.
8. Your Petitioners therefore Pray that your Ho-
nourable House, without any moi:tboe-eurtist,e of the public
time in ueprofitable discussion
dance" in her Majesty's servants, will Ca' want of confi-
dence that law to
be put in force which will remove her Majesty's ser-
vants from the occupying of seats, end voting in
Honourable House ; and, also, that you willittaruourt
have, in this
removing those grievances which they