The Sun.
London, England, 1860-05-19 00:00:00

NEWS FROM SEBASTOPOL.

The Polly Smith arrived in Hull on Monday last
from Sebastopol, with 102 tons old rope, ;:_; tons old
hen anchors, 147 tons old iron, 117 to Is old iron
guns, and 150 tons cattle bones. Ft sin Captain
Smith, who has been in Sebastopol two months, and
during that time has been frequently in the com-
pany of Col. Gowen, the American c ntractor with
the Russian Government for raising the sunken
ships in the harbour, we find that the accounts
which appeared in the papers a few weeks back re-
specting the scandalous state of the British grave-
yards, and the indignities therein exhibited, are
corroborated; the colonel having expressed his
deep regret at seeing a great many of the grave-
stones which marked the last resting-place of our
brave officers and soldiers scandalously disfigured.
The cemeteries present a forlorn and dilapidated
appearance. Colonel Gowen, it seems, entertained
an idea that it might be sailors who had so
wantonly disfigured the gravestones by cutting
them with sharp instruments and obliterating the
inscriptions ; but on being shown the improbability
of such an exhibition of feeling, he retracted that
opinion, and he subsequently expressed his opinion
that it was the Russians. At Cathcart's-hill, where
lie so many fine heroic officers and men who bravely
fell, and over whose last remains humble monu men ts
were placed, there is nothing but disorder and dila-
pidations to be seen, headstones and other funeral
ornaments which had been placed over and around
the graves having been removed and scattered
about in all directions. In most of the cemeteries
the walls have been broken down by the cattle
which graze within what should be the enclosures.
As for the monument, an obelisk 10 or 11 feet by 4,
composed of soft stone, which is nearly the only
stone to be got there, erected to the memory of the
British army, though having been spared in the
general demolition, an attempt has, nevertheless,
been made to obliterate the inscriptions on three
sides. It is of course presumed that the Russians
are the perpetrators of this base indecency, and the
Emperor of Russia's attention having been called to
the fact, he has at length issued a declaration set-
ting forth that all persons caught in the act, or
proved to have disfigured the gravestones of the
British troops who are buried there, will be severely
punished. Capt. Smith states that if something is
not done to protect the cemeteries, there will not he
a mark left in two years' time to show where any
of our brave fellows are buried, though Sebastopol
will undoubtedly bear signs of the besieging forces
for generations. Col. Gowen deserves the thanks of
all Englishmen, for he has been untiring in his
efforts to protect the gravestones and the ceme-
teries, and he has repeatedly caused some of his
men, superintended by himself, to rebuild the dila-
pidated walls. Col. Gowen, who has now been en-
gaged for a considerable time in raising the sunken
ships, has succeeded in raising all the Russian fleet
with the exception of 18 of the larger ships. More-
over, he has also 700 very heavy guns yet to raise,
and is waiting for heavier cable before he com-
mences operations. Meanwhile his men are actively
engaged in completing a patent slip for his pur-
poses. He employs between 200 and 300 hands, con-
sisting of American engineers, Russians, and a few
English and Irish labourers, the raising of the ships
and the making of the patent slip being about the
only work going on. A few of the residents, who
received a portion of the 1,000,000 roubles paid to
the people of Sebastopol, who lost considerable pro-
perty during the campaign, have commenced to
build a few houses, but beyond that nothing has
been done in the way of restoration. The hospital,
once such a magnificent building, is now completely
gutted, and the dwellings are miserable wooden
huts or houses, the primary element of which is
wood, with a little of the soft stone before alluded
to. The Russians are exceedingly jealous of all per-
sons, particularly the English, who visit Sebasto-
pol ; and no sooner does a vessel arrive in port than
a customs officer boards her, examines every bundle,
and seizes every printed book, So unscrupulous are
these officials, that Col. Gowen —though one would
imagine that, working amongst them, some latitude
would be extended to him—has had three boxes,
containing wearing apparel, &c., for himself and
wife, seized, and, without any ceremony whatever,
the contents, with the exception of a few trinkets,
sold. He was able to buy the trinkets and what
few things remained, but he had to pay an extra-
ordinary high price for them. The captains of Eng-
lish vessels are fined on every trifling pretence ; one
was fined 50 roubles because a dead mule was lying
alongside the morning after his arrival in the port,
and which the officials alleged he had shot. Capt.
Smith himself barely escaped being mulcted in the
same penalty, in consequence of claiming an anchor
which he had placed in the ground to moor to, and
which had been removed by a Russian. Newspa-
pers, of course, are strictly prohibited, and the only
means of communicating with friends there is to
send first to some one at Odessa ; by him it must be
forwarded to Col. Gowen, and by him transmitted
to the party for whom it is intended. We believe
that the search for bullets and guns is nearly at an
end, the iron and lead harvest being almost reaped.
—Eastern Counties Herald.

THE NEW MODE OF T.AKING THE CENSUS.

The following is an extract from a letter on this
subject which has been forwarded to us, but is too
long for insertion entire :
" The present bill simply proposes to ask each
individual to state his or her religious profession.
I object very strongly to this mode of taking a reli-
gious census, and believe it to contrast very unfa-
vourably with the course followed in 1851. The
primary object then was at once legitimate and im-
portant—to ascertain the amount of accommodation
for religious worship, its distribution over the face
of the country, the extent to which it was used,
and the deficiency to be supplied. These were the
chief objects ; and I think they were objects of con-
siderable public interest, and better of considerable
public utility. The account of the number of ad-
herents to particular bodies or communions was a
very subordinate object of the inquiry. Now, how-
ever, it is proposed to make that the sole object,
which was then the subordinate object—to gather
exclusively information of little practical value, and
to dispense altogether with the information which
is really useful. For my own part, if the choice
could be made, I would much rather have an inquiry
into accommodation and attendance, without dis-
tinguishing the sects, than an inquiry into religious
profession without any reference to the amount of
provision for religious worship, and the use made
of it. The results of the former investigation would
be of undoubted value to the community—the re-
sults of the latter, even if it were possible to obtain
accurate intelligence, would do little else than fo-
ment and intensify sectarian rivalries.
" If, as I assume, it is intended that the schedule
should contain a question as to the religious belief
of each individual—vs, e. y., To what religious
body do you belong ? ' I think such an inquiry,
would be both objectionable and futile. Multi-
tudes of persons would, I am certain, protest against
the'existence of any right on the part of the State
to put such an inquiry. The Government, they
would say, might as reasonably ask them about
their political opinions—whether they are Whigs,
Liberal Conservatives, or Reformers. lam inclined
to think that I should myself regard such an in-
quisition as an impertinence. It is all very well for
the Government to take notice, if its likes of what
I do publicly ; and if I walk openly into a church
or chapel, and thus proclaim to the world my reli-
gious inclination for the time being, I can have no
objection to be enumerated as an attendant at the
particular place of worship; but this is rather dif-
ferent from the Government requiring me, under
threat of a penalty, to state my religious opinions.
Theinquiry would also be futile, because the ques-
tion
in many cases does not admit of a definite reply ;
inwhile a great many other cases the definite reply
given would be of no value. For instance, what
could I insert in the column, who worship, indif-
ferently, sometimes with the Church of England
and sometimes with dissenters; and whose ecclesi-
astical position is perhaps somewhere between low
church and broad church, having much also in
common with nonconformists, and ready to co-
operate for good objects with either ? And there
are plenty in a similar position. Such persons,
therefore, and also those who object to the inquiry
itself, would be obliged to evade the question
which could easily be done), by inserting some un-
meaning general term, as ' Christian,' eclectic,'
unsectarian,' unattached,' or other equally am-
biguous and less serious phrases.
" The funny' answers to such a question would
be innumerable. But the most futile result (in
reality)swould be the positive statement of religious
opinion, which would undoubtedly be obtained in
abundance from multitudes who have no religious
opinions. You would get nothing but a great mass
of worthless figures. We know perfectly well that
hundreds of thousands of the lowest classes of the
population never sec tho inside of a church or chapel
from year's end to year's end, nor show in any other
way whatever an attachment either to the Estab-
..

lislied Church or to any form of dissent ; but it is
scarcely less certain that if the question were put to
them in the shape supposed, they would in most cases
think it more creditable to assume a connexion with
some form of religious belief, and would have no
difficulty in finding reasons to justify their state-
ments. But what would be the worth of such state-
ments, and with what confidence could any statistical
inquirer refer to such accounts ? Then, just think
the number of persons who cannot fill up their own
schedules ; which must, therefore, bo filled up by
others—in many cases by the enumerators, who
will sometimes be warm partisans of some particular
communion. Why, there would be all sorts of

efforts made to induce poor ignorant people to give
their votes for one sect or another. Fancy the
clerical activity which would be displayed in pro-
curing recruits. What pastoral visitations, with
benevolent offers to assist in filling up the schedules
of poor parishioners, and what rapid convenions.
The enumerators, too, having such powers and op-
portunities of persuasion, would themselves be the
the objects of strife, and appeals would be made to
the Registrar-General against the appointment of
this partisan of episcopacy, or that enthusiast for
dissent ; and charges of unfairness in the selections
would be thrown about in profusion. And after
all, the totals, when added up, would not, to any
candid mind, represent a sufficient body of facts to
justify the use of them—a result which could not be
otherwise than highly mischievous, as tending to
bring into discredit the whole management of the
census, and of similar official inquiries. It must,
at all events, be desirable not to incur a serious risk
of having the inquiry covered with ridicule.—Daily
I News.