The Sun.
London, England, 1859-12-03 00:00:00

DISCIPLINE IN THE NAVY.

The following letters on the above subject appear
in a contemporary :
Sir,—For mouths past papers and periodicals
, have been teeming with letters, and pamphlets have
been written by people of all classes, respecting that
all-important topic, " Manning the Navy," which,
.by common consent, is now being regarded by all
true Englishmen as one of the most vital importance
to the safety of our country. All writers acknsiw-
' ledge its difficulty, and attribute it to the " unpo-
pularity of the service ;" but the cause of that
unpopularity is not so well known. Some attribute
it to one thing and some to another, some are pretty
near the truth, but most are wide of the mark.
Strictness of discipline, overbearing and tyranni-
cal conduct on the part of the officers, is more than
hinted at as the great cause. This, however, is a great
mistake, and it is only right that the public should
not be misled, and that the officers should not be
belied. Officers nowadays rre neither tyrannical
nor overbearing, and when the service permits are
as glad to see their men enjoying themselves ; as
they are keen for enjoyment themselves; but
it is this vexed question, " when the service per-
mits," on which the difficulties of both men and
officers hitch—this it. is that brings on the officers
a heavy load of odium which they do not deserve.
But Jack is not very far-seeing nor very discrimi-
nating. He sees only the officers who command
him, and he receives all grievances through them.
Within the last few weeks we have had a gross
case of mutiny on board a line-of-battle ship in
Portsmouth harbour, and on reading the details we
find that the crew asked leave, and reasonably
enough, one would suppose. We find also that
Captains Baillie and Josling (than whom two more
kind-hearted men never lived) treated their men on
this occasion with their usual kindness and con-
sideration and forwarded their request; but the
service, _it seems, would not permit that all
should go, even though they had been years
from their homes, their families and friends,
whom they saw for the first time that day ; half
were allowed to go anti half were to stop ; then
came a mutiny and a row, which no one can defend;
but it must be remembered that Jack has a large
heart, and but a poor head ; it was hard that there
should be a general holiday, and yet that he should
be denied the pleasure which all others enjoyed--
of going home with his friends. This, too, after
his long_ absence.

It becomes us now to inquire whether be was
fairly dealt with in being refused, and whether
there was anything unreasonable in the request for
leave. The officers, Captains Baillie and Josling,
saw nothing unreasonable in it, for they forwarded
the request. Nevertheless, it was refused, or par-
tially refused. Why, is best known to the gallant
old officer who refused, who doubtless has given a
most satisfactory reason to their lordships. Still,
with the exception of a small guard, every man in
that ship might have gone on shore and enjoyed
himself without detriment to the rervice. The ship
was alongside the jetty, moored head and stern,
and far better secured than many vessels that had
no men on board. But the men were kept on board,
and the consequences we have seen. Was it so
very wonderful there was a row P The day the
request was tendered was a holyday in the yard,
the next day (Saturday) little work could have been
done, and on the next Sunday it would have been
positively cruel and vexatious to keep these men
from their families.

Captains Baillie and Josling cannot be blamed
for the disturbance which occurred on board the
Princess Royal. They were neither tyrannical nor
overbearing, and did all they could for the comfort
of their men. The refusal of leave must have been
most vexatious to men who had been so long away.
This is no isolated case, and we have heard of it
at last. It is not the officers who immediately
command the men who make the service unpopu-
lar, but those old heads of departments, who are
only heard of on such unfortunate occasions
as the present. Let no man wonder, for
the future, that the service is unpopular or
prate about the difficulty of getting men. While
we have admirals afloat who treat men like chil-
dren, so long will this difficulty remain. But, on
the other hand, let the mutineers be punished ; mete
out jestice to them, and punish them as they de-
serve ; but, for God's sake, let us have a change,
let us learn to treat our sailors as our fellow crea-
tures, and give them credit for the ordinary feel-
ings of our nature.—l remain, Sir, yours,
Brighton, l)ee. 1. A SAILOR.

Sir,—Among all the numerous suggestions for
the more effectual. manning of the Royal Navy
with which your columns have recently been filled,
I have looked in vain for one that boldly grapples
with the chief cause of discontent.

I have no hesitation in expressing my conviction
that punishment by the lash has been, is, and will
be, as long as it continues, the main obstacle to
success in securing the services of good seamen ;
nor have I any hesitation in adding the expression
of my belief that the time has now arrived when
both humanity and policy dictate the wisdom of a
change ; and if it be necessary to make daily ap-
peals to the patriotism of the maritime population
of Great Britain, and to bid high for willing hands
and hearts, we must 'consign to oblivion a
method of punishment so little suited to the encou-
ragement of the good, so hopelessly useless in the
reformation of the bad.

I have the honour to be your most obedient ser.
vant, S. T. CARNEGIE, Captain R.N.
London, Dec. 1.

Sir,—As the evidence now stands before the
public, two things are made manifest: The first is
that there was a mutiny on the part of the men ;
the second, that this mutiny was caused by punish-
ing innocent men for the fault of guilty men. It
is admitted that the liberty men who had reached
the dockyard gates, where their wives and sweet-
hearts were waiting for them, were in no degree
implicated in the insubordination evinced by that
portion of the crew which had not obtained leave ;
but, on being recalled to the ship without having
committed any offence, their sense :of the injustice
done them appears to have made them take the
lead in the disturbances on board. They have been
tried by a jury of captains, assisted by a legal ad-
viser ; while, on the face of the evidence, given in
your columns, it doos not appear that the de-
fendants were allowed legal assistance in cross-
examining the various witnesses against them-
Mutiny is so grave an offence that I do not seek
to palliate it ; but I do think that the welfare
of our navy demands nothing like injustice should
be tolerated towards our seamen.

I read in to-day's paper that in one of our courts
of law a jury was sworn to try two men for assault-
ing and intimidating Messrs. Trollope's workmen.
On the jury being sworn, one of them got up and
said to the judge:—
" My lord, I object to try these men."
" Why .9".
" Because I am a master builder."
" It is very honourable of you to have mentioned
the fact. I will take care that when the trial
comes one you shall be excused."
There has been no announcement of any public
inquiry into the conduct of the Admiral and the
Captain of the Princess Royal for thus punishing
the innocent for the fault of the guilty.
Meantime, the seamen of the Princess Royal are
dealt with as severely as the workmen of London
out on strike would probably have been dealt with
had they been tried in the heat of the late strike
by a jury of master builders.
Surely this is not the way to make the naval ser-
vice popular with intelligent and reasoning men !
Punish mutineers with severity and publicity ;
but, at the same time, punish with increased severity
and publicity the officers whose want of discretion
engenders mutiny—the higher their rank the more
signal their punishment—otherwise our ships will
not be easily manned. H.
Dec. 1.

SUDDEN DEATH OF A GENTLEMAN AT EUSTON-
STATION.—A most lamentable instance of sudden death
occurred at the London terminus of the North-Western
Railway on Thursday afternoon. Mr. J. Corsbie, a medical
man residing at York, had in consequence of the delicate state
of his health come to town for the purpose of consulting an
eminent London physician. He went in a cab in company
with his nephew to the station, with a view of returning to
York by the afternoon train. On getting out of the cab he
complained of feeling unusually ill, and sat down in the
waiting-room. Shortly after, the nephew observing a pecu-
liar change in his appearance, Mr. Skelding, of Euston.
square, the surgeon to the company, was sent for, but the
unfortunate man expired shortly after his arrival. Mr.
Corsbie was shout 60 years of age, and it is believed that,
the heart being diseased, the excitement of the journey and
its object was the cause of death.
REMARKABLE CASE OF SUDDEN DEATH. The
well known adage, " In the midst of life we are in death,"
was exemplified in a very melancholy and striking manner
at Lambley on Sunday last, by the sudden demise of the
Rev. Halstead Elwin Cobden Cobden, the respected rector
of that parish. The rev. gentleman on the morning of that
day delivered a very forcible and impressive discourse in
the parish chum(' on sudden death, and the wisdom of
being prepared for that event whenever it might happen,
and announced his intention of preaching a funeral sermon
in the evening, on the death of one of his parishioners, who
had expired very suddenly a few days previously. Little,
it is to be presumed, did the reverend gentleman anticipate
that before evening arrived he should be no more, for he at
in his usual state
mace ho partook
othfahteatlimthe. wAfast,etropaelrlfoormutwinargdthapepmeatfrainancge.,se
of a hearty dinner, and did not complain of being unwell,
until after three o'clock, when he said he felt a violent
pain at his stomach. Mr. Osborne, surgeon, Epperstone,
who fortunately happened to be in the village at the time
waste r calleds
in, and administered remedies which had the
effect
the reverend gentleman of the pain, but
it again
_ returned. Deceased speedily a• a
of
short relieving
rtime
e
be-
came insensible, and death ensued in the course of a few
minutes,-117otttngham Journal.