The Sun.
London, England, 1856-01-11 00:00:00

LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, JAN UARY 1, 1856.

hill—Measures and Men—Hits and Skiti at Everything and
Everything—lnns and Outs— Shoe-black Brigade—A Polished
Gentleman—Comic Dust between the Clown and a Blacking-
Bottle —Howlett's Hair Dye—A Dyer's Material—A Dire Art
for Falsehood framed— Coloured Imitations—The Sydenham
Trousers—Height of Fashion—Genuine Malt and Hops—All-
sopp's Pale Ale—The East and the West—Scott's Lot, and a
Race fdr Public Favour.

NUMBER O"E, LONDON.
A Visit to Dakin's Tea Establishment, St. Paul's—" In to
apes est"—Bohemians and Teetotallers—Great Drawing Mate-
rials —The Magic Chest and the Enchanted Teapot—Clown
gets Tea in it, and Pantaloon gets into Hot Water in conse-
quence—Omnibus Companies on the Old System and the New
System, and the System that don't assist 'em—Strong Opposi-
tion, and final discovery of the " Right Men in their Right
Places"—Whack, bang, flip-flap, hey, presto, and Change to
" LAST SCENE OF ALL that ends this stratrze eventful
History."
Doors open at Half-past Six, and commence at Seven.

PUBLICATIONS.

THE NEW NOVEL,

A U It A G A Y,
Is now ready at all the libraries, In 2 vole.

" We have read novels of scenes and incidents more exciting than
this, but rarely one written with finer taste. or affording deeper
interest by the power of unaffected and attractive expression, used
in narration, colloquy, arid d,scription. The author is a man o
elegant and manifold accomplishments, versed deeply and eaten•
iively in art and literature, and by no means unacquainted with the
worth' of politics and tashion. Laura Gay and Charles Thornton are
admira le chara ite-s, admirably portrayed."—Observer.
Hurst and IVackett, Publishers, successors .to Henry Colburn.

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Maps, price 12s. 6d ,
ANS.IDE S,EBASTOPOL.
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MR. RUSKIN'S NEW VOLUME.
On ,he 16th instant w.ll be published,

THE THIRD VOLUME of MODERN
PAINTER A.

By Joror Rusxtx,
Author;of " Stones of Venice,"' Seven Lamps of Architecture." &c.,&;c
With 18 Illustrations on Steel, from drawings by the Author.
*,,* Vol IV.. will appear in February, and Vol. V., concluding
the work, in the course of next year.
London : :Truth, Elder and Co., G 5, Cori hill.

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Just published, price Is.,
THE RECONSTRUCTION of the CIVIL
SERVICE under a Council of Onlola' Control,

By ;V. BOUL NOB.
Thomas Hatchard, 187, Piccadilly.

T" QUARTERLY REVIEW,
No. CXCV., will be Published on Wednesday neat.

CONTENTS:-

•
I. Table Talk.
If. Reformatory Schools.
111. Menanaer.
IV. Henry Fielding,
V. Landsca•)e Gardening.
VI. The Neolocy of the Cloisters.
VIE. The Zoo!ogical Gardens.
VIII. Results and Prospects of the War.
John Murray, Albemarle-street,

Tvir AD AM E JENNY GOLDSCIIMIDT-LIND.
i EXET i,.:R-HAL,,—MENDELSSOHN' ELIJAH.
Mr. Mitchell respectfully announces th et Mendelssohn's Oratorio
cf Elijah will be repeated at Exeter-Hall, on MONDAY EVENING,
Jan. 21, 1856, in which Madame Goidschmidt will sing the principal
oprano part.
The Chorus and Orchestra will consist of more than 600 performers:
Conductor, M. Benedict.
Prices of admission. Stalls (Numberrd and Reserved), One
Guinea; Uunreserved seats (Body of the Hall), 10s. 6d. ; West Gal-
lery, 10s. 6d.: area 'under West Gallery), is
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Application for Tickets to be made at Mr. Mitchell's Royal Library,
3E, Old Bond-street.

%TR. ALBERT SMITH'S MONT BLA.NC,
kY TO-NIGHT, and every evening (except Saturday), at 8
o'clock, and Tuesday, Thursday, and. -aturday Mornings at 3.
Stalls, Zs.; area, 2s. ; gallery, Is. —Egyptian Hail, Piccadilly.

RGYLL ROOMS.-LA URENT'S CASINO
NOW OPEN for the winter season. Principal Come,
a Piston, %4 tionlcoart.—Doors open at 8. Admission f)ne rihillinyc
Lament's new Varmoviana every right.

31 R. W. S. WOODIN'S OLIO of ODDITIES,
Fifty instantaneous Metamorphoses of VetPe, Character,
and Costume, concluding with an ImpPrsonation of Mile. Rachel, as
Camille in Les Horacen.” Every evening, at X. In consequence
of the vest success that attended his two Morning Performances
and the disappointment experienced 1)y many families unable to
obtain admission on those occas'ons, %Tr. W. S. Woadin is induced
to give Two Extra Morning Iteivesentations, to take.place on Satur-
day next, Jan. 12. and Saturday, Jan. 19, at Two o'clock. Private
hox•s ani stalls may be secured in advance, without extra charge.
Polygraphic-hill, King William- street, strand.

DR. KAHN'S CELEBRATED
ANATOMICAL MUSEUM', 4, Coventry-street, Leicester
s :ware, opal for gentlemen only (the rarity and completeness of
whose contents have alr. ady acquired for it an Europ,an reptstatio,
and obtained the warm commendations of the press, in tills a- al
other countries) 1, now open daily. A New -cries of original Speci-
mens and Models, embracing some most impor, ant and curious.
features, illustrative of the wonders and secrets of the human stric-
ture, has just been added to the ollection, which now stands wholly
unrivalled in the world. Medical practitioners and students, and
the public at large are invited to visit the Museum, where Lectures
are delivered during the day; and a neiv and peculiarly interesting
one is deliveret by Dr. Kahn, at half-past eight o'clock every even-
ing, on the Reproductive Functions in Man. Admission, One

Just Published. price One shilling, Free by Yost (Gratis to Visitors
to the Museum) a New Edition of Dr. Kahn's Treatise, TED.
SHOALS and QUICKSANDS of YOU fit," an Essay, spec's'''.
intended to avert dangers to which the young and susceptible are
peculiarly liable, and to arrest the progress of evil.

OTTOMAN CLUB, 14, Regent-street, 31st
December, 1855. - At the General Meeting of the Member-
held this dav, au explanation was given by the Proprietor of th.
position and future pro pects of the Club, which was considered
satisfactory. Certain alterations in the Rules of the Club were the
propose 1, and the sleeting IVA+ atijo•irnrd till the list of January
next, at 3 o'clock p.m., for the purpose of confirming them, it
approved.

By order of the Committee.
C. A. CETItwOID. Hon. FiPe

LOAN.—The NEW RIVER COMPANY are
prepared to receive TEN,►flItS for SUMS of MONEY (raised
under the provisions and requirements of their acts of 1852 and
1.54) on Bonds o. not less than 500/., for three, five, or seven years
at 4X, per cent. intereet, pay ,ble halt-yearly.
Further information may be obtained, it required, of the under-
signed, at the New River Office, New River Head, Clerkenwell, be-
tween the hours of Teu and Four, to whom Tenders are to be addressed
for the Directors.

By crier. FRED. INGLIS, Clerk.
,INew River Office, Nov. 30, 1855.

IN THE HIGH COURT OP CHANCERY.
4RIESEIVJAR.—On the 29th of May, 1855, an
5 injunction was granted by the High Court of Chancery, awl
on the 11th of June following was made. perpetual, against Josept,
ranklin and others, to restrain them, under a penalty of one thou-
4and pounds, from imitating this Medicine, which is protected 193
Royal Letters Patent of England, and secured by the Seals of Hu
Ecole de Ph trmacie de Paris. and the Imperial Wiese of Medicine.
Vienna.

TRIESEMAR, No. 1,
's reme.cy for Relaxation, Roermatorrhess, and all the distressing
consequences Arising from early abuse, &c., and its effects are effi-
cacious in youth, manhood, and old age ; aid t, those, persons who
are prevented entering the, married 11.1iLE1 from t •-• results of earl}•
errors it is invaluable.

TRIESEMAR, No. 2,
i'ectually, in the short spate of three days, completely and entlrei
adicates all traces of those Disorders which Cepalvi and Cabeh,
we so long been thought an antidote for, to the vain of the healtt
a vast portion of the population.
TREE:IRMA% No. E.
is the great Continental Remedy for that class of Disorders, whit,
unfortunately the English physician treats with Mercury, to the in-
evitable destruction of the patient's constitution, and which all th,
sarsaparilla in the world cannot remove.
TRIESEMAR, Nc s. 1,2, and 3, are alike devoid of taste or smell
and of all nauseating qualities. They may lie on the toilet taitl
.Ithout their n•e being suspected.
TRIEE VAR, Nos. 1,2, and 3, are sstd in tin case!, price lls., or
fbur cases in one for 33s , which saves I Is.; and in 51. cases, whereby
there is a saving of 11. 125.; divide.; mi s ,4. ate doses. as adminis-
tered by Valpe...., I,,lemand, Roux, !ce.,ste.
To be had Wholesale and Retail in Londe n of Johnston, fis
0-4-nhill; Hannay and Co., 63, Oxford-street: and manger. 150, Ox-
ford-street ; It. H. Ingham, druggist, 41i. Aarket-street, Manchester ;
LI. Bradbury, bookseller, Deansgate, Bolton ; J. Priestly, chemist, :12,
Lord-street, Liverpool; Powell, bookseller, 15, Westmoreland-street.
Dublin ; Winnall, bookseller. Hlgh-street, .trinineham

T SECRET INFIRMITIES e'F YOUTH AN I MATURITY.
~,st published, price Is., illustrated with cases, tree by post to, 14
stamps,
ERVOUS DEBILITY:
1.1 Its Causes, Symptoms, and Cure.—An Essay on Spar:
atnrrho3at with Practical Observations on a safer and more
neefessful mode of treatment of the diseases of the Generative
vstem, obtained by the use of the Microscope in detecting and
lic.inguiehing, by urinary examination, the real cause and effect o*
every variety of complaint, whether arising from solitary habits
!ye/rises, accident, or climate, followed by practical remarks, founcle
in twenty years' experience in the treatment of Impuissance
* erectus Debility, Local Weakness, Apermatorrhcea, &c. To whici,
0 added, Commentaries on the Physiology of marriage, with pre-
nutionary hints on the evils emanating from empirical prhetics,
cid on the dangerous remedies advocated by various writets or
:hose important disorders.
By SAMUEL LAIL isNT M.l).
17, BEDFOR D-S QUA lE, LONDON,
D .ctor of Medicine, Matriculated Mambo of the University of Edin
burgh, Honorary Member of the Lundon Hospital Medical Society
Licentiate of Apothecaries' Hall, London, ;i.e., "A.
Lime essential object of this treatise is to point out the fearful con-
;licences resulting from certain habits, irregularities, and excesses,
,hich have produced more misery in Youth, degradation in Man-
ycd, and premature decay at all stage, of Life, than, perhaps, ant
;iter class of disease known to modern pathologists, its perusal
,rticularly recommended to perverts en crtaining secret doubts o'
air physical condition; and who are conscious of having hazarded
..0 health, happiness, and privileges to which every human being if
entitled.

absolutely necessary that all won should know, that there ar.
nc pies of personal management which cannot be violated without
..rring grievous penalties, and when wisdom and regret succee
aeyday of inconsiderate self-indulgence, how these penult',
!ie mitigated, hew the sting of their bitterness may be remove':
low the evil and its consequences may we avoided, and above al",
:Li. there is scarcely any degree of physical infirmity or functionA
augement t,o which the timely aid of Pet.cllCO cannot apply a cure.
Author ham for a aerie. of years beer. angegeti in an extensive
~..etice in the treatment of these, delicate complaints, which hay.
',..,ortunately beer. too generally confided ts the cure of igncrir~.
erniiiiics, who inflict grcsi i i.picv on those wi:o are traduced to plac,,
in th.eP ore.tei,sinf' Fe

WKEVOUS DEBILITY ay be hal. tirice Is, of Messrs. Sher-
wood auu 10, +'Ater,c6ter.ruv. danuay, 63, Oxford-street ;
fi. we, 33, 'LANeester-square; `viann, 39, (A01)11111; or trot ray poet for
14 4 ,tupe f;.• teeth the 4otnor'4 rewdenc •„ *7, Bed-

At home SOT eenSultatiOn daily from eleven till two, and Irom six
tll 'tight.

UNSEAWORTBY AND ILL-MANNED

There has been much discontent, and many complaints
have been made lately by seamen of having been compelled
by the local magistrates in the sea-parts to go to tea in ships
which were unseaworthy and ill-manned, after signing ar-
ticles, or be treated as deserters and committed to prison.
The subject has been brought under the notice of the Board
of Trade by a petition to the Queen, signed by the seaman
belonging to 27 ports, and has further been illustrated by
an extract from a report made
.by.the Inspector of Prisons
in the southern and western districts.
The Board of Trade has submitted a case to the Queen's.
Advocate and the Attorney and Solicitor General. The
petition of the seamen and the report of the Inspector of
Prisons wore enclosed ; though, with regard to the petition,
the Board of Trade observed, the ease mentioned did not
bear out the complaint to the full ettent ; and that upon
further inquiry the facts in that case seem to be less fa-
vourable to the ease of the complainants than appears upon
the face of the petition. The enactments bearing upon the
subject are 11th and lsth Vie, cap. 104, secs. 243, 246,
247, and 218, which provide for the apprehension and
punishment of deserters ; and sec. 149, which provides for
the proper signature of articles in a form sanctioned by the
Board of Trade, and which requires that one of the terms
in the articles shall be the number and description of the
crew, specifying how many are engaged as sailors. A copy
of the form of articles sanctioned by the Board of Trade
also accompanied the case.
The opinion of the Queen's Advocate, the Attorney and
Solicitor General, was requested upon the following
points :-
1. Whether, when a seaman is engaged, there is or is not
an implied condition on the part of the shipowner that the
ship shall be seaworthy ?
2. Whether, if the ship is not seaworthy, and the sea-
man refused to go to sets in heriiii thaitroUnd, be can be
treated as a deserter, or punished under the Enactments
above referred to, or otherwise?

3. Whether, if a seaman is apprehended on the ground of
desertion, and alleges in his defence that the ship is un-
...eaworthy, it is the duty of the court which hears the ease
to examine into the question, and to receive such evidence
as it may be possible to procure of the truth of the allega-
tion ?

4. Whether, if the ship is not seaworthy, and the sea-
man refuses to go to sea in her on that ground, and the
master and owner refuse to deliver any clothes or effects
which the seaman has on board, the seaman can bring an
action to recover them, or to recover damages for the de-
tention ?

5. Whether, if a seaman serves in a ship which is sent
to sea in au unworthy state, and the ship is lost in conse-
quence, and the seaman thereby suitirs damage by loss of
his clothes, or by injury to his person or otherwise, he has
any remedy against the owner ?
"6. Whether, when a seaman is engaged, there is or is
not an implied condition on the part of the owner that the
ship shall be adequately manned (i. e., manned in such a
manner as would under ordinary circumstances be sufficient
obe eniploofyel
h )s
condition is for the safety and proper navigation of the ship on the
and, if so, wile-
i
tvhoeytage on
or
not
at-
tended by consequences similar to those which would at •
tend the non-performance of the implied condition that
the ship shall be seaworthy, assuming such last-mentioned
condition to exist ?
th whiche nonperformance she
is t

"OPINION.

"1. We aro of opinion that there is an implied condition
on the part of the shipowner that the ship shall be sea-
worthy.
"2. A.nd that if the ship is not seaworthy, and the sea-
man refuses to go to sea in her on that ground, he cannot
be treated as a deserter, or punished under the enactment
referred to. But the harden of proof will lie on the sea-
man; be must establish the unseaworthiness of the vessel.
" 3. If the seaman apprehended fur desertion alleges the
unseaworthiness of the ship in his defence, it will be the
duty of the court which hears the Case to examine into the
question, as it would so on any other disputed question of
fact that might arise before it; and it must dispose of the
question on such evidence as may be laid before it, bearing in
mind, as we have before said, that the burden of proof is
on the seaman.

"-t. We think that the seaman is justified in refusing to
go to sea in tile chip on the ground of her uuseaworthi nem',
and may maintain an action to recover his effects if de-
tained.

"5. On the authority of the case Priestly v. Fowles'
(3 M. and W., p. 1), we are of opinion that a seaman pro-
ceeding to sea in an unseaworthy ship, and sustaining in-
jury in consequence, could not maintain an action, and
would be without a remedy against the owner.
"6. We are of opinion that there is an implied condi-
tion on the part of the owner that the ship shall be manned
by a crew sufficient to navigate her with reasonable safety,
and that if she be not so manned the con.4equences will
ba the same as though the ship was unseaworthy.
" J. 1). H ARDING.
• "A. E. COCKBURN.
"RICHARD BETHELL."
"THE MEMORIAL OF THE SEAMEN OF GREAT BOTAIN TO

HER MAJESTY.

" TO HER MOST GRACIOUS MAJESTY THE QUEEN.

"May it please your Majesty to receive the humble com-
plaints of as loyal a body of subjects as there is to be found
within your realms, and to listen to the prayer of the sea-
men of clreat Britain.

" Your memorialists have to complain, that of late years
the course of legislation has been the indirect means of les-
sening security of life at sea. 1. By the excessive compe-
tition of British with foreign shipping. 2. By compelling
owners of ships to employ masters or mates, in whom -
although they may have certificates of competency—they
have no faith as good seamen. 3. By destroying the
nationality of a ship's crew, and thus permitting an unli•
mited employment of enfeebled Lascars and foreigners under
the British flag, speaking various languages, and rendering.
liscipline not easy of accomplishment, and the word of
command more difficult to be understood. Your memo-
rialists, in part confirmation of what is here advanced,
would direct your Majesty's attention to the Register of
Wrecks' published by the Lords Commissioners of the Ad-
miralty, by which it will be seen that the wrecks and
casualties on the shores of the United Kingdom were, in
Wrecks. Loss of Life.
1853
1854
showing an increase in the loss of ships, 155; and in the
sacrifice of life, of 832 persons.

. -
" Youremernorialists, from the dangers always attending
the navigation of the seas, from tempests and those unfore-
seen calamities over which man has no control, du not ex-
pest from the hands of legislators any impossibilities ; they
pursue a dangerous calling, and bow with submission to
the acts of God, but they humbly ask the intercession of
your Majesty against their being compelled to sail iu an
ameawerthy vessel. The law holds them to their agree-
ment after having signed articles to serve in a ship, and in
,everal recent instances crews of ships have been taken
before a magistrate for refusing to go to sea in vessels in
en unlit state to encounter the perils of the ocean, and sent
to prison for periods from a month to three months, with
hard labour, under the plea of disobedience of orders or
desertion. The attempt to lay their grievances before one
of your Majesty's justices of peace has been construed into
desertion ; and several of the class to which your memo-
rialists belong have, as we conceive, been most unjustly
punished.
" Your memorialists, therefore, humbly pray that your
most gracious Majesty will use your high prerogative, and
shield them from the real-administration of the law. That
the law is unjust or corruptly administered your memori-
alists can prove by many reports of trials ; but they will
only cite one. In the latter end of April the brig Rachel
was loaded for sea in the River Tyne. The vessel was
leaky, aud, according to the judgment of the crew, unfit to
proceed on her voyage. Tue crew protested against going
to sea in the vessel ; but, under threat of 12 weeks' impri-
sonment, they consented to leave port. Four days after the
said brig foundered at sea from leakage, and the crew were
htaovtle inig lost all their clothes and
Lords Committee of Privy
ascertain whether the Merchant Sea-
remedy for the loss of their pros
bpsaleevrdnetdy'dsi Council.
gw
Actfi
ot
My lords gave
TheylTo rrad difficulty,
appliedehreferrede to n
u y
them to a court of common law.
They carried their case to the Newcastle Assizes, and were
nos tea on the 3d of August, thus establishing the feet
`that
British seamen are compelled to sail in au unsea-
worthy vessel; and they have no redress at common law
for any injury they may in consequence sustain.
" Your memorialists would further direct your Ma-
jesty'scomparison of the law in England
and ateUtennittu to a
eiodStates.Williarn Robertson, a seaman,
summoned the master of the brig Active before the ma-
gistrates at Hartlepool on the 18th of July. The master
knocked the said seaman down several times' shook him
violently, dashed his head repeatedly against the windlass,
then kicked him down the hatch, and it was only from the
cry of ` Murder,' and the interference of the mate that in
all probability his life was saved. After this brutal treat-
ment, Robertson was landed at Christiansand for medical
advice. Underbg stluileyfieoanrsofwtehree mpausttetrohheiwmasbfyritghhotened
to make a complaint, lest he should be sent on board the
vessel again. No
Bri-
tish Consul, and the conversation between the master and
the consul was carried on in the Norwegian language, not
wagesseamand
leftne up tofi ntdh the
ipse r i
wayod
understoodotof dEingeghl,ainrgde
bayt t werehiliespBEVidUreauxn. pdlet'nhhseee . This case was dismissed
by the justice of the peace, J. P. Denton, Esq. (a ship-
owner), after consultation with the clerk of the court, also
a shipowner. Had this case happened on board a vessel
of the United States, the following consular laws would
have been enforced :
„`Section 15. And be it further enacted, that no consul
or commercial agent of the United States shall discharge any''
mariner, being a citizen of the United States, in a foreign
port, without requiring the payment of the two months'
wages to which said mariner is entitled under the provisions
of the act of Feb. 28,1803, unless upon due investigation
into the circumstances under which the master and ma-
riner have jointly applied for such discharge, and on a
private examination of such mariner by the consul or com-
mercial agent, separate and apart from all officers of the
vessel, the consul or commercial agent shall be satisfied
that it is for the interest and welfare of such mariner to be
so discharged; nor shall any consul or commercial agent
discharge any mariner as aforesaid without requiring the
fnll amount of three months' wages, as provided by the
aboveenamed act, unless under such circumstances as will,
in his judgment, secure the United States from all liability
to expense on account of such mariner.
" `Section 18. And in any action brought by a mariner
to recover the extra wages to which he is entitled under
the act of February 28,1803, the defence that the payment
of such as ages was duly remitted shall not be sustained
without the production of the certificate in such case re-
quired by this act, or, when its non-production is accounted
for, by the production of a certified copy thereof, and the
truth of the facts certified to, and the propriety of the re-
mission shall be still open to investigation.'
" Considering that the vessels of the United States are
gradually appropriating to their flag the trade between
England and America, and have monopolised the South
Sea whale fishery, and that there is a large exodus of sea-
men from this country to the United States, your nienio-
rialists cannot believe that it is to the interest of the na-
tion that British seamen should be so oppressed by class
legislation, and treated better under the United States
flag than on board British vessels.
" Your memorialists have seen the want of prescience
exhibited by your advisers in the conduct of the war, and
pray that more fatal experience may not be demonstrated
from other quarters. Those proud armaments, now so

defiant in the Baltic and the Black 'Seas, are not proof
against the elements of fire and water, either in engage-
ments or storms, and it is on the body of merchant seamen
your Majesty has to lean for protection of the over-sea car-
rying trade of the United Kingdom, and as a reserve, in the
event of disaster.

" While, therefore, owners of vesseli (as in a case at the
last Northern Sessions) are sentenced to penal servitude for
endeavouring to destroy their vessels to gain the money for
which they are insured, and Parliament is nearly Fvery
session striving to give greater security to passenger ships,
we humbly pray that your Majesty will recommend to your
faithful Commons the propriety of allowing the masters,
mates, carpenters, shipwrights, seamen, and others, who
form the crew of a ship, the right,' by law, of demanding a
survey on au unworthy sea vessel or her equipments, und,
by so doing, protect the helpless emigrant.
"Your memorialists. do not ask that owners shall keep
their vessels iu port. They only ask to be relieved from
their engagement if a vessel is proved to be unseaworthy,
and that other seamen may take their berths, and venture
their lives, if they so please.
"And your memorialists will evrir pray.
"God save the Queen."

The subjoined is an extract from the " Report on Prisons
n the Southern hnd Weitern Districts—Cornwall, 1855."
" FALMOUTH BOROUGH GAOL AND HOUSE OF
CORILEC 110N._

"The following prisoners were in confinement on the
last day of inspection : .
Males. Females. Total.
Summarily convicted
Remanded - . . 0 3
For trial at Sessions

15 2 17
Nine of the convicted prisoners were under sentence of 12
weeks' koprisomnon,t for hexing desartecilheir shipi or re-
fused to in them -after having signed 'articles)3f agree-
ment, the ground of their refusal having been the unsex-
worthiness of their ships, or the .fact of their having on
board an insufficient number of üb!o seamen to work them
with a due regard to the safety of the ships and crews.
From the want of adequate accommodation, six of these
men wore lodged, at the time of my inspection, in two
cells, each of which had only a single bed large enough
for one person, and the other tutee; wore obliged to be
continually locked up iu the damp and smoky room before
alluded to.

"The frequent occurrence of commitments under the Mer-
chant Seamen's Act in this and other seaport towns has lad
me to bring the subject under the notice of the Secretary of
State in a special report, from a feeling that the adminis-
tration of the I,w affecting -merchant seamen is attended
with an amount of hardship to that class of persons not
contemplated by the Legislature.
" A very large number of merchant seamen are com-
mitted summarily to the prisons of seaport towns for re-
fusing to proceed to sea after having signed articles of
agreement, the grounds of their refusal being, as stated
above, the alleged unseawoi thiness of their ships, or the
insufficient complement of ' able seamen' among their
crew. The first of those objections is in many cases noto-
riously well founded, more especially at the present time,
when the great and sudden increase of trade to the Aus-
tralian colonies and chew here has led to many ships being
taken up for services, to the requirementi of which they
are quite unequal. With reference to the last ground of
complaint on the part of the seamen, I am credibly in-
formed that such is now the facility of finding persons
anxious to work their passage to the several colonies that
a much greater proportion of these inexperienced persons
than forme, ly are infused into the crews of most of the
merchant ships, and that much danger is thereby incurred
to the ships, and much increase of labour to the s'ole set-
men results, especially in the fist weeks of the voyage,
from the total inexperience of their shipmates. Whether
the circumstances hero alluded to may throw any light
upon any of the numerous mischances that have occurred
of late to merchant ships I am not qualified to judge ; but
I have the best reason to know that the prisons of several
seaport towns in my dis,rict are continually supplied witu
seamen committed under the circumstances referred to ;
the good character of many of whom, obtained both in
the navy and merchant service, leads to the strongest pre-
sumptions in their favour. Persons well acquainted with
the character and habits of sailors find it difficult to be-
lieve that men who hare served many years with credit in
the navy and elsewhere would be likely to sacrifice all the
good opinion they have gained by inventing stories of inse-
curity of ships which, being iu harbour at the time, might
easily be inspected by a sum veyor on the pal t of the owner or
agents, to the immediate confusion of such tales. Another
circumstance which stronglycontradicts the presumption of
an evil design on the part of the sailors is, that they generally
leave behind them property far exceeding in value the ad-
vance of wages which have been made to them ; and one
case has lately come to my knowledge where a carpenter
has preferred the loss of a chest of tools, of the value of
30/., to the risk of losing his life by sailing a second time
in a ship which had put into port on !account of its un-
seaworthinees.

" The above remarks apply to all prisons with which I
am acquainted in seaport towns ; but in the c ►se of that
which forms the subject of this report a peculiar hardship
is inflicted on the prisoners by the closeness of confine-
ment and the very defective accommolations."