The Sun.
London, England, 1848-09-30 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON,__ SATURDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 30, 1848.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

Stit,—l observe a suggestion offered for our consi-
deration in the columns of The Sun yesterday, to the
effect that " preparation for war is the preservation of
peace;" but I cannot receive it in the character as-
sumed for it, viz., as "a truth." I believe (and this
belief was the mainspring of the late Congress at
Brussels) that Europe needs something very different
from its present armed peace; that it stands in immi-
nent danger of being strangled by the arm thrown
around for its pretended protection; and that it is
high time that public attention should be thoroughly
awakened, not in England only, but throughout the
continent, to the impolicy as well as the impiety of
settling international disputes by an appeal to brute
force, when Christianity and enlightened reason alike
point out the folly as well as the injustice of such a
mode of arbitration. It was once thought essential to
the security of every gentleman in this country that
he should carry a sword by his side ; but experience
has shown that life is far more secure now when not
one man in a hundred has ever handled a weapon.
Pugilism was once defended upon the plea that it pro-
muted English courage and spirit; but it was at last
reluctantly confessed that it was infinitely more pro-
ductive of blackguardism and bloodshed, and men are
fast losing their faith in the duelling pistol as the
genteel defender of the proprieties of polite society.
If these preparations for war have been parted with
without any detriment to the peace and good order of
the community, why should our sanity be doubted, or
our brains be deemed the haunt of marvellous delu-
sions, because we suggest the possibility and pro-
priety of nations availing themselves of their own
experience, and pursuing to its utmost limits a course,
every step in which that has yet been taken has
been proved both safe and advantageous. One ap-
peal from Brussels was not only to Governments
but to nations. We did not ask Cabinets to disarm
irrespective of the sentiments of the people, but as
the result of enlightened public opinion. From the
platform, through the press, by every available means,
we seek to awaken the attention of Christian com-
munities to the importance and practicability of
establishing peace—not the armed peace, recom-
mended in The Sun—but a peace consistent with the
growing intelligence of the age, and the spirit of that
religion which the nations represented or that Con-
gress profess. The enthusiasm of the friends of peace
does nut go so far as to lead them to expect any
sudden or immediate change as the result of their
labours. Experience teaches them that the only
danger is of nations moving too slowly in the way of
improvement. If the principle upheld is in accord-
ance with truth—if the object sought is calculated to
promote the glory of God and the happiness of man,
the only fear is, not that men will stumble in their
eager haste to embrace it, but that they will crawl so
slowly as to drop into the grave ere they reach it.
Fortified by the assurance of The Sun that we
" are enthusiasts in a good cause," I believe that we
shall not shrink from the odium or ridicule which may
arise from some misconception of the course which
we think it right to pursue.
There are better and stronger weapons for combat-
ing anarchy and ambition than the sword : those
weapons are suggested alike by the Gospel, whose
teaching we profess to reverence, and by experience,
to which we can all refer. I must, therefore, wait
for other argument than The Sun has brought to
bear upon the question before I receive as " a truth"
the proposition with which it sets out, that "prepara-
tion for war is the preservation of peace ;" and I have
yet to be convinced that we were either unwise or
premature in publishing the three propositions which
emanated from the Congress at Brussels.
Having been one of those alluded to in the article
in The Sun, I hope that I may be allowed to offer the
above remarks in explanation of the part I took in the
late movement.—.l am,
ONE OF THE LATE CONGRESS.
Birmingham, Sept. 29, 1848.

HORRIBLE SITUATION.—At Menheniot, on Friday,.
a young fellow named Hobbs, about seventeen years of
age, while gathering nuts, fell in with a boy aged about
eleven, called Hicks, who was also nutting. Hicks had
gathered four, while Hobbs had only two. Hicks, per-
ceiving him dissatisfied, gave him a nut to make their
success equal. Hobbs now began to play pranks with
him; having a rope, he tied it round him, called him his
horse, and began to drive and drag him about. He then
took a knife from his pocket and said, " Now, I'll stick
tha," and actually made a deep incision in his throat,
partly dividing his windpipe, held him down and caught
the blood in his cap till he thought life was extinct, then
threw him over a hedge, exclaiming at the same time,
" Thea't dead enough now," but still perceiving signs of
life, gave him several furious kicks in the mouth and
other parts of the face. The poor boy feigned death,
and the monster left him. Hicks shortly after got up
and dragged himself to his home, knocked at the door,
which was opened by the father, who did not know his
poor blood-stained and mutilated son. Medical assist-
ance was soon obtained, and it was thought he would not
long survive, but he is now pronounced out of danger.
Hobbs has since been committed to Bodmin, and will be
probably confined as a dangerous idiotic lunatic, which
he evidently is.—Plyniouth Journal.
TIIE MODEL REPUBLIC.--I have just returned
from a journey south, and was more than ever disgusted
with the "abomination that maketh desolate." I saw
scenes too awful to describe. A single specimen of Re-
publicanism. 1 saw a girl sixteen years old, blind, sold
for 160 dollars. They said she was " worth that to
breed." She was with child, and sold by a professed
Christian on the steps of £l. court-house.—E. W. Jack-
son to Elam Burrilt.

Lord and Lady Willoughby de Eresby and the
Hon. Miss Willoughby left the Terrace, Piccadilly,
yesterday, fur Grimsthorp Castle, Lieculushire. ller
Ladyship arrived from Drummond Castle early in the
week.