The Sun.
London, England, 1846-08-10 00:00:00

TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES.
Sir,—ln the course of the last ten years ieveral events
have occurred which have brought this country to the
verge of war—events equally unprovoked and unforeseen,
but which the most anxious desire for peace on the part
of England has failed to prevent.
In most of these cases, war has been avoided either by
concessions carried to the utmost limit, or by accepting
a very inadequate reparation for wrongs inflicted.
The unprepared state of England rendered any sacri-
fice preferable to war, for steam, as a new element of
warfare, has wrought a complete revolution, by depriv-
ing her of at least one-half the security hitherto afforded
by her insular situation.
There can be no question that the means of defence
to be derived from steam fleets bears no proportion to
the advantages which in a much greater degree it gives
to attack; but while France cultivates this arm with
startling energy, and maintains, under the " Inscription
Maritime," her whole seafaring population available for
the fleet en the instant, England has entirely failed to
realise the change in her own position, and to take
those measures which a large steam navy, 100,000 sea-
men, and 40,000 regular troops, across the water, have
rendered indispensable to her security.
With the exception of the part between the Thames
and the Land's-end, the whole coasts of England, Ire
land, and Scotland, lie completely bare to the attack of
an enemy; and of hundred of port., containing mil-
lions of property, not ten are capable of defence
against five steam-fiigates with as many thousan,
troops on board.
The very notion of preventin
force from the ports of France an
is ridiculous, and our ports must henceforward be pro
tected by works capable of repelling such attacks, and
an efficient land force, in addition to our wooden walls.
But, during the period mentioned, not only has the
navy been the only means of defence, but it has been in
general reduced to the lowest possible amount, and all
attempts to increase it to meet occasional emergencies
have proved wholly impracticable. In 1839 40, when
seven or eight line-of-battle ships were added to the
force, not one was manned within five months, and
more than a year elapsed before all were ready fur
service.
Thus, instead of a proof of preparation and efficiency
calculated to prevent hostilities, a deplorable spectacle
of weakness was exhibited, offering the most powerful
inducements to aggression. The prestige with which the
name of England was invested afforded the best security
for the peace of the world ; but she has suffered this
gradually to decline ; and a peace policy that consists in
neglecting the means of defence—in conceding every-
thing and enduring everything—must eventually cause
the evil it weakly endeavours to avert, and render it,
when it does occur, in the last degree disastrous.
The political horizon is at present without a cloud,
and this breathing time will be well employed in con-
sidering the events of the past ten years in connexion
with the preparation of the country for defence, and as a
means of snaking a better preparation for the future.
I propose to confine my observations to a branch of
the subject of inestimable importance—" The means of
manning the fleet"—a point in which we have hitherto
been utterly deficient, unless by means of impressment.
While most people believe that this method would fail
to supply our need in time, every one will agree that to
resort to it would be in the last degree disgraceful, see-
ing that during thirty years' peace a proper organisation
of resources would have rendered a recurrence to such a
system of injustice and cruelty wholly unnecessary.
The tyrant plea " necessity " can never be allowed
where the necessity is distinctly caused by a wilful and
obstinate refusal to adopt other adequate and effective
measures for securing the ends desired.
Of the 40,000 men now voted for the service of the
navy, nearly one-half are comprised under the heads o
officers, marines, artificers, servants, and boys, leaving
only about 20,000 seamen and landsmen. The whole
number of merchant seamen falls but little short of
400,000, and yet when a small increase for the navy is
required, no volunteers can be obtained. The navy is
manned by men who entered as boys, and have become
attached to it—by seamen who alternate between the
two employments and by landsmen.
The great mass of merchant seamen regard the royal
service with the greatest dislike, and may be said on
the whole to form a distinct class from those who man
her Majesty's fleet.
Here is, indeed, an anomaly in the utmost degree as-
tonishing and alarming ; the mere statement of the fact
is enough to create on the part of every Englishman the
most anxious desire for an explanation and a remedy,
but the more it is inquired into, the more true will it bo
found.
I, however, am clearly of opinion that at a trifling ex-
pense, and without the slightest diminution of the powers
necessary for the preservation of discipline, but by means
of a complete remodelling of our system, the navy
may bo made in the highest degreepopular, and from an
object of dislike may be in a short time rendered one of
general desire and competition to merchant seamen.
This expectation may appear too sanguine, but it is
to be remembered that one-half of our merchant seamen
have never even seen a man-of-war, and that all take
their notions either from the traditions of the last war,
or from deserters, who are not likely to trace their
offence to their own misconduct. Moreover, the men
who man the fleet, for the most part, continue to serve in
it by repeated re-entries, after the termination of each
period of three years, and this although in the merchant
service an able seaman receives 21. ss. a month, and in
the navy only 11. 14s.
The treatment endured in the last war is undoubtedly
a prominent cause of this alienation, which is kept alive
by the conviction that a similar course will be again
pursued, for seamen are well aware that impressment
has been relied on by every successive Government as
the sole means of meeting any emergency. However
painful it may be to open this sad page of our history,
it is necessary that it should be well considered, in order
that the future may be free from the same blot.
The practice was entirely destitute of the direct
sanction of the laws, and was carried into effect with
every mark of lawless violence. The community at-
tached the badge of slavery to a small but clearly dis-
tinguishable section, and tearing them from a state of
security and high pay, compelled them to defend the
country on wages a third part of what they were before
enjoying.
Thus were tens of thousands of seamen thrust on
board ships of war, and without a moment's notice
severed from their wives and families to serve for a long
course of years, without once visiting their homes, and
kept under by an iron discipline, rendered indispensable
by a system so unjustifiable.
During a war of long continuance, in which, for a time,
the very existence of England trembled in the balance,
these men served her with the most devoted and un-
conquerable spirit, and, lavish of life and limb, won for
her imperishable glory, and under Providence, secured
to her those blessings which have been so bountifully
showered upon her.
But if the war was brought to a triumphant issue by
men raised by a system so oppressive and unjust, the
advent of peace was marked by a cruel disregard of the
welfare of men on whom their country had inflicted so
much, and to whom sho owed all.

the egress of such a

At the peace of Amiens (1802) the fleet was reduced,
at one 101 l swoop, from 130,000 to 70,000, 60,000 men
being thus turned adrift to beg or starve, for that such
a multitude should suddenly find employment was out
of the question.
The same course was afterwards pursued. In 1814
the fleet was reduced from 140,000 to 90,000, and in the
beginning of 1816 from 90,000 to 33,000—thus throw-
ing, in the first instance, 50,000, and in the other 57,000
men into the labour market without the slightest means
or prospect of subsistence. What a catalogue of human
suffering is contained in these few words! Let us be
slow to blame our seamen for any want of patriotic at-
tachment, let the country rather blush for the past, and
no longer delay to organise measures for meeting the
hour of trial without a repetition of such injustice and
ingratitude.
Lest 1802, 1814, and 1816, should be forgotten, the
same thing was repeated on a small scale in 1841, when
3,000 or 4,000 men were suddenly paid off before the
period for which they entered was completed, and when
no employment could be obtained in the merchant ser-
vice. Those bitfrr months passed in a state of destitu-
tion, aggravated by the idea that faith had been broken
with them, have not been without their effects in
strengthening those prejudices which it is so essential to
combat. But it seems that in dealing with our seamen
every principle of equity and of sound policy is to be
alike subservient to the narrowest and most sordid
motives of economy.
Havint, alluded to the influence of the past in account-
ing for the alienation of the great mass of cur seamen, I
shall take an early opportunity of entering upon the
present causes, both in the merchant service and in the
Royal Navy, which tend to the same result.
I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
A CAPTAIN IN THE ROYAL NAVY.
July 24.

On Tuesday last a schooner, called the Maid of Erin,
put into Ramsgate harbour with the remains of her late
commander, who died raving mad. The crew had been
compelled to secure him for their own preservation. His
name was Gwelch. His crew gave him the character of
being a kind and quiet man when not intoxicated.—Kentish
Observer.

A fire broke out on the 12th ult. in the town of
➢lenemen, three leagues from Smyrna, and destroyed 600
shops in the bazaar. Twenty Turkish houses, two mosques,
and a public bath, were also destroyed. A quantity of gun-
powder blew up during the fire, but it doe. not.appear that
any lives were lost.

OXFORD, THURSDAY.—There is a report that George
Jelf, Esq., barrister-at-law, has acceded to the wishes of the
Tory electors, and will be put in nomination to succeed Mr.
Donald Maclean in the representation of this city, as soon as
the resignation of the latter arrives and a writ can be pro-
cured. The Liberal party are al .2.0 on the alert, and as the
registration is highly favourable little doubt exists of the
issue. A meeting of the Whig party will take place to-night
at the Wheatsheaf Inn, and measures for securing the seat to
a Liberal will be resolved on. It is said that Mr. Jelf has
taken an active part in defeating the of ortsof the inhabitants
of this city to form a General Cemetery for all classes, by
using the influence he possesses as secretary to the Church
Building Society, which has lent its aid to a rival scheme of
rarochid burial-grounds. his connexion also with the
University is an additional ground of objection, and will con-
tribute to secure his defeat, Should he be induced• tO
17 a lers minority,

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