The Sun.
London, England, 1846-11-23 00:00:00

L. 'SULLIVAN,

MANNING THE FLEET.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE TINES.

Sir,—The vital question of providing men for the fleet
in the event of war deserves the most anxious considera-
tion of every Englishman, particularly of those who
exercise a powerful influence over the public mind. No
Government can propose efficient measures until the pub-
lic is awakened to the perilous deficiency. Hitherto
there has been an astonishing apathy on the subject, and
in the House of Commons any naval question is the
signal for a holiday, and great difficulty is experienced
in getting together enough Members to form a House.
Yet it is a question that does not require any kn
ledge of seamanship, and Mr. Ward was just as fit to
grapple with it while in opposition as since he has be-
come Secretary to the Admiralty. During 30 years of
peace no single step has been taken towards the aboli
don of impressment—a system which all who have pro-
fited by it condemn, and which never can again supply
the means of defence in the hour of need.

The alarming deficiency can only be supplied by a
steady and consistent line of policy persevered in for a
course of years, during which our resources may be
gradually organized, and the safety of the country esta-
blished.

The evil is too deeply rooted to be remedied in a few
weeks or by any single measure; and that leads me to
what is at present almost a fatal obstacle—the constitu-
tion of the Admiralty, which is entirely changed with
every Administration; and no new Admiralty can be
expected to see with the same eyes as their predecessors.
Hence is the right arm of the country paralysed; and
there is scarcely a possibility of a remedy for evils so
deep-seated as to require, not a single Admiralty cir-
cular, but a firm and steady adherence to a wise and
far-seeing course of policy.
I believe the present Admiralty to be composed of ex-
cellent men, well disposed to give attention to this sub-
ject; but how long will they bold office? and if they
commence a system of the character I describe, they
full well know that it will be thrown overboard by their
successors. Thus is the navy a political shuttlecock,
bandied backwards and forwards by party; and a fatal
inconsistency marks the whole conduct of naval affairs.
Until the country realises the dangers to which she is
thus exposed, there is little hope of remedy; and it is
earnestly to be hoped that the Times will not cease to
urge it on the mind of the public.—Yours, &c.,
Nov. 18. A CAPTAIN, R.N.

A
SLAVERY IN AMERICA.-- n important case, as
bearing on American slavery, has just been decided in
New York. A boy, who was a slave in the State of
Georgia, managed to make his escape, and hastening to
a ship bound for New York, concealed himself in the
hold of the vessel until she had gone beyond the juris-
diction of the State of Georgia. He then presented
himself on deck, when the captain fearing that on his
return to Savannah he would be imprisoned and his
vessel forfeited, on a charge of assisting in the escape of
a slave, caused him to be put in irons, with the intention
of taking him back to Savannah. On the vessel reach-
ing New York, the boy's cries were heard, and the cir-
cumstances having become known, the Anti-Slavery
Society procured a writ of habeas corpus, and the boy
was tried by the county judge—Judge Edmunds. He
decided that the boy was illegally detained. and ordered
him to be set at liberty. He was, however, again ar-
rested by order of the mayor ani other authorities of
New York. A second trial ensued. The trial lasted
three days, Judge Edmunds again presiding, when the
boy was again declared to have been illegally arrested.
He was accordingly once more set free, amidst the
deafening plaudits of congregated thousands. By this
important decision, the great point is decided, that no
slave escaping to the State of New York can again be
sent back to bondage.—Morning Advertiser.
Thursday, information was forwarded to the police
establishment in Scotland-yard of several robberies of
mks, committed at the Western Literary Inititution,
Leicester-square,