The Sun.
London, England, 1846-11-25 00:00:00

TO THE RIGHT HON. LORD JOHN
RUSSELL, M.P.
My LORD,—The sensible and well-timed remarks
which the Editor of The Sun has made upon Mr. Scrope's
letters to your Lordship render it unnecessary to reply
to them, but I wish to advert to another topic, clearly
proving that Mr. Scrope does not understand the real
evil which presses upon the population of the sister
kingdom: it is this, that Gentleman last session intro-
duced a Bill proposing to reclaim the waste lands in Ire-
land, by dividing them into farms of not more thana 100,ict
or less than 10 acres. Why the great evil which s
Ireland is the smallness of the farms—out of about
750,000 more than half are under 10 acres in
_exten.t,
and above than 300,000 are under 5 acres! N in
every country, and in every district, whe!e triallo.fwar,ms
are the rule and not the exception, periodical distress
does and must occur. The experiments in Holland, in
Belgium, the situation of the crofters in the Highlands,
and of the peasantry in Ireland, prove that the same cause
always produces similar results. In years of pleat)
produce is so cheap that rents are with difficulty paid,
and are often in arrear ; in years of scarcity the whole
crop is barely sefficient to provide the tenant and his
family with the means of existence. Can it be a matter
of surprise that such a population is at continual war
with the landlord and his agents?
The inevitable consequence of such a number of small
possessions is, that there is no such class as the agricul-
tural labourer, and the reason is obvious, there is no
regular demand for his services. A glance at the actual
position of one of these five-acre farmers is quite suffi-
cient to account for the Agrarian crimes which abound
in Ireland—take the case of a man with a family hold-
ing five acres, and surrounded by a population in similar
circumstances—his crop is sown, and both himself and
family desire employment, who is to furnish it? His
neighbours are also looking for work—none can be
found, and then may be seen lounging by the ditch side,
doing nothing, because there is nothing to do, the very
man who, if he were removed to Landon or to Liverpool,
or to any English or Scotch agricultural district, would
make a most industrious labourer, and one (I speak from
considerable personal experience) far more desirous of
task work than either Englishman or Scotchtnan. Re-
maining at home, the man becomes an idler, and soon
furnishes another example of the truth of the proverb,
" That the idle man tempts the Devil." His rent falls
into arrear—a process is served—he is about to be
evicted,, certain ruin stares him in the face, and his
landlord or the agent is murdered in mid-day, and the
assassin escapes by the connivance of his neighbours,
who know not how soon their arrears may be demanded.
Assuredly this is not the time to recriminate, or to
inquire how it has happened that landlords have per-
tnitted such a state of things to exist ? The fact is cer-
tain that they are now sincerely desirous of getting rid
of the evil of small farms. If actuated by no higher
motive, Irish landlords now perceive that their rental,
although nominally larger, is in reality much less than
it would be if their property was held by a respectable
tenantry, whose farms were cultivated by industrious
labourers. Witness the lamentations of -Lords West-
meath and Dysart—Arcades ambo—Tories both. They,
forsooth, require the Government to remove the super-
abundant population, and then they say all will be well!
In other words, they, or their forefathers, having, either I
from political or pecuniary motives, induced the location
of an excessive population, by the manner in which the
land has been set, they now demand to be exempted
from the inevitable consequences of such conduct, and
propose that all the evil shall be borne by their wretched
tenantry. This is impossible! Evil must be endured by
all parties who have been guilty of such imprudence,
but the greatest share must be borne by the landlord, for
he was the most imprudent, and he must be taught the
salutary rule, that "property has its duties •as well as
its rights;" and that the first of these duties, and the
first burthen upon land, is the subsistence of those who
have been bred upon the soil.
Let Irish landlords act upon this principle, and all
will yet be well, for the Government then will, with the
approbation of the entire community, cheerfully assist in
getting into a better state. The best, if not the only,
mode of effecting this desirable end, is to make the situ-
ation of the agricultural labourer better than that of the
occupier of one of these small possessions ; a work of
time, but most assuredly not of difficulty. How this
may be accomplished shall be the subject of a future
letter.

Bearing my humble tribute of admiration to the man.
ner your Lordship's Government have acted in this moss
trying emergency,
I have the honour to remain,
Your Lordship's most obedient servant,
The Right Hon. Lord J. Russell, M.P. R. W.

FRENCH CATTLE.—Within the past few weeks, the
Steam ships of the Commercial Company running between
Boulogne and London, have brought a few head of
cattle, generally comprising from ten to fifteen heifers,
and two and three head of horned cattle, bur an increase

has taken place in them this week to an extent which has
caused great surprise to those who were not prepared
for such an influx from that quarter ; the steamer Eme-
rald having brought, in addition to some packages of
live plants and vegetables„ and a more than usually
large cargo of French silks, wines, and other valuable
merchandise, 20 heifers, 51 sheep, 22 lambs, 2 calves,
and 17 cows, the production of France. It would ap-
pear from this, that France is destined speedily to follow
in the wake of Denmark, the Hanseatic Ports, and
Holland, already, the latter more particularly, so exten-
sively concerned in the supply of such productions ; and
if this unexpected increase in the supply of cattle, par-
ticularly of the larger description, is to be taken as a
criterion of what may be expected to take place from
other of the continental states, it would be difficult to
hazard a correct opinion as to what we may have to re-
cord at no very distant period. Another feature pre-
sents itself in this particular arrival, viz., that a new and
distinct branch of business is opened for the steamers
trading between London and Boulogne, which will in
some measure compensate them for the partial loss of
their passenger traffic, owing to many of the public pre-
ferring to avail themselves, by means of the railway, of
the more direct route to the continent.
FOSSIL RENL.IIIIS.—On Saturday last Professor
Owen (the British Cuvier) and Professor Sedgwick,
Woodwardian Professor of Geology, Cambridge, paid a
visit to the Dean of Ely, with whom having breakfasted,
they proceeded to the residence of Messrs. Bard, Fisher,
and Squib, to inspect their collections of fossil remains,
which have been greatly added to since the formation of
the railway commenced in this neighbourhood, and such
was the immense variety in the different collections, that
four hours were occupied in the inspection ; after which
they proceeded to Haddenham, the residence of the Rev.
Mr. Banks, to inspect the vertebrae, ninety in number, of
a plesiosaurus, which has recently been dug up at Went-
worth, and with it were found considerable portions of
ribs and phalanges, and there is every reason to believe
that, had it been known to Mr. Banks at an earlier
period, the entire skeleton might have been preserved ;
but sufficient has been discovered to show that it must

have belonged to an enormous-sized animal. Amongst
the remarkable specimens in the collection was a pubic
bone of a plesiosaurus, measuring 32 inches by 28 ; a
paddle bone, not quite perfect, measuring 22 inches by
9; as well as several bones of a small species of the sau-
rian tribe, the teleosaurus, rarely met with.—Cambridge
Chronicle.
We read in a letter from Riga of the Bth :—" The
corn harvest in Courland, where wheat is the chief pro-
duce, has been this year under the average, but it will
be sufficient for the home consumption. As to the pro-
vinces which have communications with Riga, the har-
vest has been good, particularly in wheat. Purchases
of wheat have been made in Courland at 00f. 50c. per
hectolitre, but the merchants of Riga think this price
too high, and expect a fall. The export duty is 4f. loc.
per last, or 33 hectolitres ; the freight in foreign bot-
toms is 2F. 50e. per hectolitre, for the Ocean ; to which
must be added 21f. per last for loading, &c., and 3 p, r
. cent. for commission, brokerage, Szc." From Palermo
the 2d, we have the following :—" The annual crop of
wheat in Sicily is 5,600,000 hectolitres, and that of bar-
' ley 2,750,000. The price of wheat for bread in the
parts from which exports can be made is 17f. 2c. per
hectolitre, and that of barley 12f. 64c.”
ROYAL ARTILLERY, WOOLWICH, Nov. 23.—A
few weeks since a Court of Inquiry, consisting of Lieu-
tenant Colonels Wells, Rowland, and Harrison, and
Major Cator, was appointed to inquire into certain'dis-
crepancies in the charges made for regimental neces-
saries with various battalions, amounting in some cases
to as much as 33 per cent. The result has been that the
Court has declared the present charges to be too high,
and has recommended that the system at present pur-
sued, of allowing non-commissioned officers to make
contracts, be discontinued, and that in future contracts
shall be thrown open to the public in general. It de-
serves to be mentioned, that a system has for a long
-time prevailed, highly injurious to the men, by which
some of the subordinates have been in the habit of re-
ceiving a heavy per centage from the tradesmen for
goods supplied to the corps, which has led to additional
impositions, so that knapsacks have been offered at
10-1. 3d., equal in every respect to those now supplied at
15s. 6d.
FOREIGN POTATOES.—The arrivals of potatoes from
the continent of Europe, during the week, have com-
prised the following, the enumeration of which will be
interesting and of importance, as showing the extent to
which their importation is carried at the present time :
The Magnet steam ship, from Harlingen, brought four
packages, and the Ocean steam ship, from Rotterdam,
eight packages, the producc of Holland ; the Jeune
Josephine, from Boulogne, a cargo comprising 36 tons'
weight. the growth of France ; the Jean and Jessie,
foom Dunkirk, an entire cargo, comprising the very
large quantity of 120 tons' weight, the produce of Nor-
mandy ; the Sir Robert reel, from Rotterdam, 10 pack-
ages of Dutch produce ; the Aid, from Boulogne, the
large quantity of 60 tons' weight, the production of
France • the Rainbow, from Rotterdam, four packages
of Dutch produce ; and the steam ship Emerald, from
Boulogne, 36 sacks, the produce of France. Of these
arrivals, the *suppltes from France and Normandy have
been of an increasingly extensive and important cha-
racter ; those from Holland being of a comparatively
trifling description, and calling for no particular re-
mark.
LEITH.—On Friday, the 20th inst., about six P.m.,
the wind andeenly veered round from E $ I,' to W N W"
and blew a storm. At midnight a small .sl4;op was. 'set;
sfroinkinin2gsatlom3oss tons, but
She has been a vessel
ut whether laden or light is as yet
unknown. At low' b
water, her mast is four or five feet
above the surface of the water ; but at high water it will
be invithle, and consequently very dangerous for boats
and ships, especially the former. This wreck lies in the
!astern part of Leith Road, Nelson's Monument about
half a cable s length open to the westward of North
'
ohnd Islantd:
ran o:
crew,
Leith Steeple, and the south end of
a line with Dalmeny House. Nothing ana
pired regarding the preservation of the2s yetbit y
the worst. The vessel had the letters C.ll. in her
fray
the vane.
The authorities at Leith wore instantly apprised of the
calamity by 'Mr. Vedder, tide surveyor of custom, in
order that a buoy might be placed over the wreck for the
safety of shipping.—Caledonian Mercury.

THE S

THE LATE GALES.
The storm on Friday and Saturday last, on many parts
of the coast, was the most destructive that has been ex-
perienced for a considerable period. Many of the
casualties were of the most appalling character.
The American ship Allen, Captain Heighten, laden
with cotton and other goods, from New York, in beating

up channel, encountered the gale on Friday, and was
driven on the French coast between F taples and Bou-
logne. It was four o'clock in the afternoon when she
struck. The men took to the rigging, in the hopes of
obtaining assistance from the shore. Ere, however,
many hours had elapsed, the heavy sea beat her so vio-
lently on the sands that she became a total wreck. Un-
fortunately, the captain, Mr. Heighton, and ten of his
crew were washed overboard and drowned. The re-
mainder, consisting of the mate and five seamen, preserved
themselves by swimming ashore, and were necessarily in
a very exhausted condition. The amount of her loss is
very heavy. Two other vessels, named the Devon and
Plymouth, and a Prussian ship, were drivt n ashore about
a mile to the eastward, where they remained with every
probability of becoming a loss.
In the north sea, off Yarmouth, the Humber, Whitby,
and other ports, many colliers are reported as lost, and
much excitement prevails as to the fate of the crews.
Our columns of Monday described several melancholy
wrecks under Tynemouth Castle. In the Leith roads a
sloop called the Carr Rock sunk, and the whole of her
crew went down with her. Off Hartlepool a large num-
ber of vessels were dismasted, and were knocking about
in a very disabled condition. Near the Hasborough
lights much damage was sustained. The Hasborough
sands were the scene of several shipwrecks, but the loss
of life Ras comparatively very trifling.
The destruction among the shipping of Milford was
enormous. It commenced to blow most fearfully on the
19th from S.S.W., and so continues, varying one or two
points, until Saturday. The damage to property on
shore has also been very p reat. More than twenty
vessels during the storm were driven into the harbour so
disabled as to render many of them almost perfect
wrecks. The coast for miles bears evidence of the
awful character of the gales, spars and pieces of wreck
are continually being washed up. In other parts of the
Welsh coast the losses were very heavy. At the
entrance to Lianelly harbour, two schooners, named the
Trader, of Milford, and the Dolphin, of Penzance, struck
upon the bar, and almost immediately foundered, every
one of their crews perishing with them. None of their
bodies have as yet been cast up. In the vicinity of
Padstow the gales occasioned much damage, and not
withstanding every precaution, much of the scaffolding
attached to the Trevose lighthouse was blown away. Off
Penzance similar effects were sustained. The pier of
this port suffered severely. A Bergen ketch from Irica,
laden a ith salt, was hurled on to the sands at Gunwalloe,
and in less than half an hour was completely lost. By
means of ropes thrown by the Coast Guard of Prussia
Cove station, the master and three of his crew were
preserved, the remainder (four), however, a ere washed
overboard and drowned.
A distressing wreck occurred under the rocks about a
mile westward of the Isle of Whisthorn, near the Mull
of Galloway ; the barque Helen and Elizabeth, of Bel-
fast, about midnight on Friday, was driven ashore,
where she totally broke up, every soul belonging to her,
amounting, it is supposed, to fourteen persons, meeting
with a watery grave. The Coast Guard, when apprised
of the occurrence, hastened to the spot, but the sea ran
so high that to render any assistance was impossible, and
by daybreak she had gone to pieces. None of the bodies
are as yet washed ashore.
PLYMOUTH, Nov. 21.—The storm continues with very
little abatement. A flag of distress has been exhibited
all day on the Eddystone Lighthouse, and in consequence
of the severity of the storm, Mr. Ditcham, the agent,
has not been able to hold communication with the light
keepers. An attempt to approach was made this after-
noon, in the Diligent tender, but the heavy Atlantic sea
and rising tide forced that vessel to put back as night
approached. - Intelligence has reached here of the loss
of the sloop Ellen, Captain Beach, belonging to Mr.
Clark, of Fareham, Portsmouth. She was consigned
from Perros, on the coast of France, to Mr. Attril, of
this port, with about 35 head of cattle and some poultry,
and unhappily went ashore on Friday morning, in Big-
bury Bay, a little to the west of Mothecombe. The ill-
fated vessel was quickly dashed to pieces, and all her
crew perished. One of the bullocks swam ashore, and
the body of one of the crew has been washed on the
beach. The Ellen was not above 50 tons burden, and
was consequently small for this description of trade at
the present season of the year. Nov. 22.—This morning
Mr. Ditcham, the agent for lights, made a more suc-
cessful attempt to visit the Eddystone. There is a
tremendous sea in the Channel, and the wind is
blowing strong from the southward. After approach-
ing the lighthouse as near as the boisterous state of
the weather would permit, the light keepers were sig.
nailed to throw out a letter in a sealed bottle; from this
it was ascertained that the distress flag had been kept
hoisted in consequence of the damaged state of the
lower part of the door of the basement entrance, caused
by the great weight of the water, which bad forced itself
into the lighthouse at the upper doorway during the
storm. Measures are to be immediately taken to repair
the damage.
LEITH.—On Friday, the 20th just., about six P.M.,
the wind suddenly veered round from E.S.E. to W.N.W.,
and blew a storm. At midnight a small sloop was seen
sinking almost instantaneously. She has been a vessel
of from 25 to 35 tons, but whether laden or light is as
yet unknown. At low water her mast is four or five
feet above the surface of the water, but at high water
it will be invisible, and consequently very dangerous for
boats and ships, especially the former. This wreck lies
in the eastern part of the Leith Roads, Nelson's Mo-
nument, about half a cable's length open to the west-
ward of North Leith Steeple, and the south end of
Cramond Island, on a line with Dalmeny House.
Nothing has yet transpired regarding the preserva-
tion of the crew, but we fear the worst.—Caledonian
Mercury.
At Newcastle, the Sceptre, Captain Ruddock, in taking
the bar, got on the point of the rocks, and came in
contact with the stern of the Britain, which was entirely
knocked in, and the Sceptre went to pieces in a very
short time. The crew were enabled to get on board the
Britain, but Captain Ruddock, in endeavouring to follow,
fell between the two vessels and was drowned. His
body was found within a few hours of the occurrence.
Scarcely a vestige of the Sceptre remains.
A large three-mast ship, with Indian corn, was wrecked
at Ballycotton, on Friday morning; nama unknown;
crew saved.
On Thursday night the town of Clonakilty was visited
by the storm. Several houses had their roofs stripped
of slates. All the streets were completely flooded, with
few exceptions, and the houses had three or four feet of
eater in their basement stories, causing much injury to
he property of the inhabitants.
It is reported that four turf boats were swamped in
,he Shannon, and all hands on board perished.