The Sun.
London, England, 1857-01-06 00:00:00

LOWERING SHIPS BOATS AT SEA.

Whilst our columns are full of the melancholy details
of shipwrecks and their sad accompaniments, exposure
and loss of life, we are glad to have it in our power to
give publicity to any means that can help to alleviate the
misery of our fellow creatures ; and it is to be hoped that
those whose duty the Legislature has made it to see that
necessary precautions are taken, and to apply remedies
for known evils, will act with equal alacrity, and see
the same enforced.

The Admiralty, alive to the importance of a simple
and practical means of lowering ships' boats at sea,
which, once applied, would prevent half the loss of life
that occurs, have had repeated trials made of Clifford's
new apparatus, which have been attended in every in-
stance with perfect success. The last and most severe
test was made only on Saturday last, in the gale then
b'owing, by Admiralty order, from H. M. store-
ship Dee, Master Commander Pullen. In our naval
intelligence it will be seen that "shortly before she was
brought to anchor, and while she was steaming at full
speed, her starboard cutter, which had been fitted with
Clifford's lowering apparatus, and was hanging immedi-
ately abaft the paddle-box, was manned with her full
oresv (nine men), was instantly and safely unlashed,
lowered, and entirely freed from the ship, by one of the
crew only in the boat. It was scarcely possible to sub.
ject the plan to a more severe trial, from the severity of
the gale, which was blowing at the time, and which was
expressly chosen. The result has been pronounced ex•
tremely satisfactory, not a single drop of water having
entered the boat."

UNCONTROLLABLE CIRCUMSTANCES!

(Iron thx Examiner.)

We respect Lord P'annture. Ho is an able and honest
man, somewhat opinionated and obstinate, perhaps—orrors
on the right side of earnestness. Generally, whatever he
says boars the stamp of conviction, and, whether right or
wrong, it is felt that he speaks what he thinks. An excep-
tion to this impression must have struck every reader of
this passage in his speech at the Forfar dinner respecting
the Crimean mismanagement :
"I saw, as others did, the state into which, from cir-
cumstances over which no man had any control, the army
in the Crimea had unfortunately fallen, but I saw, too,
that that army was rallying from these circumstances.
And I had such reliance on the British soldiery, and
on the intelligence and energy of the officers of the
British army, that I was quite sure any responsibility I
might have with regard to the army itself would be light
if I would only trust to the army and those who composed
it. There were circumstances certainly connected with the
army in the Crimea which called for immediate and active
measures. I have stated to you, and Sir J. Ogilvy has re-
peated it, that the army in the winter of 1854-55 had fallen
into a condition which aroused the indignation and excited
the deepest sympathy of the British nation. No man
seemed well to know to what circumstances to attribute so
heavy a disaster, and I made it my duty, with the consent
of my colleagues, to send out two gentlemen to inquire into
the nature of these circumstances—not for the purpose of
seeking victims for public indignation to punish, for I
think that has been somewhat misconstrued, as the inten-
tion of the appointment of Sir J. 31'Neill and Col. Tnlloch
—but to gain information, so that we might know the
errors which lhad been committed, and be able to avoid
them on all future occasions. Gentlemen, the people of
England are not naturally a vindictive people; they desire
to see public men properly discharge their public duties;
they desire to see the officers of the army discharge their
duties efficiently ; but they can make allowances for diffi-
culties. And now that these circumstances have passed
away I trust that justice Will be done to the officers, for I
do believe that every one of these things in the Crimea arose
from circumstances over which no man had control; and I do
hope, now that they have passed, and that we haVe read
the lesson, and studied the lesson, the people of England
will let the matter drop asleep, and not avenge on a 'single
individual that which was the result of a system rather
than the fault of any single individual. I have not had
any opportunity of recording in public the approbation of
the Government of the report of these two gentlemen.
The information in the report was accumulated under
many difficulties. made with great fidelity, made, not with
the intention of injuring the feelings of any British officers,
but of telling the truth. And neither Sir John 21`Neill
nor Colonel Tulloch, in placing the statements in my
hands, and before the British public, had the slightest in-
tention of injuring the feelings of any one."
It would appear from this statement that Lord Panmure
bad come to the conclusion that the disastrous circum-
stances of the Crimean campaign in 185 t 5 were circum-
stances over which no one had any control, before he sent
out the commissioners, Sir John and Colonel
Tullooh, to gain information as to the facts. Wanting
this knowledge, let us ask, by what process had Lord
Panmure arrived at the conclusion that no one was to
blame, and the system only in fault ? Whether this was
true or not, it was rather soon to discover it, before the
information was obtained for which the commissioners
were sent out. There was a foregone conclusion. It was pre-
settled in the mind of the Minister of War that no one was
in fault for the everything that was wrong in the Crimea.
Sir J. 111'Neill and Col. Tulloch might have received
their commission couched in these words, "Go and find
what is amiss, and that no one is answerable for it. Tell us
all that is wrong, and that every one has done his best in
bringing about a disastrous resell."
The commissioners, however, did not find blame imper-
sonal. They found men at fault as well as the system, and
Lord Lucan's subsequent publication shows that they ra-
ther understated than overcharged the representation of
mismanagement and culpable remissness.
The public, Lord Panmure truly says, is not vindictive.
It does not call for punishment; it only protests against re-
onoured,
wards ot the unworthy and incapable. It sees with profound
disgust all thechiefactors inthe Crimean tragedy honoured,
which
promotn
i, and placed in stations of command I
they may continue their ill offices to the iservice.
erndt The peo-
plereorepstass,leif, a,s,
Lord p
of England are traitors to their own
hle men are bla.z-
Bygonesncannot
bygoneshhoepes ,- they " let the
while incap mater
incomparably worse'
entrusted with duties upon which t
ing with decorations, and, whathei
efficiency of the service
it was faulty,
t't will n t t t 1
e consen oet them
depends. The public would willingly have consented to let
down thesemisdoers bu t
possess who succumbed
t di
P fure 'agape-goat
oa
system,
no doubt, but what spti
weakconducting or working a
up easily. As forthe old.
•
of the old system, if they did not pro-
under the defects
..
duce its failure by truswoa‘ing it.
better system can those men
And Nally this blame of the system, and nothing but
the system. had nothing better than a cant. Was it the
system which assigned a yacht in Balaklava harbour to a
• G l as h'
04 igadier- c,nera quarters, seven miles from his
troops, liable to be called out at any moment to take the
field against the enemy? And are the pledges for the im-
proved now system the Quartermaster-General and Inspec-
tor of Cavalry ? Out upon it.

The Board of Customs have appointed Mr. Ccolibbott
to the vacant office of Chairman of Surveyors in the
port of London. This is a post of some importance to
the mercantile-community, as a large number of clues.
dons, bearing upon the importation of foreign goods,
which arise not only inLondon, but also in the whole of
too outports, are constantly being referred to the c'nor
mar, by whose practical knowledge the commissioners
must in a gnat measure be guided. Mr. Cuckshat was
the first to bring the decimal system of weights hit°
practical operation-iii this country by its partial intro•
duction into the Customs, a step which has given great
satiefaction.

LI TERATURE

Shadows. By H. C. Bennett. B3gue, Fleet-

street.

In these festival days, when amusing and un-
numbered annuals, with illustrations, embellish-
ments, designs, and drawings, aro plentiful as plum
puddings at dinner and headaches at breakfast, it
is very rarely we meet with a production evincing
much original quality ; but Mr. Bennett has most
agreeably astonished us in this little boon of
pictures. He has struck out into a new path, and
evolves his artistic imagination in a series of figures
• representing " Shadows" of every-day realities,
with wonderful effect and power of expression.
We see a policeman stealthily stooping to look into
.the kitchen department, and his " shadow" on the
wall is cleverly identified with the shape of that
much-maligned blessing to cooks, " A Cat." A
young lady in fashionable bonnet and mantle
affords the unquestionable resemblance of " A
Little Duck." An elegant edition of Mrs. Caudle,
seeming thoroughly qualified for the situation of
domestic whipper-in, with closely folded robe de
chambre, keys in hand, and chamber candle
lighted, casts a length of gloom behind her in
the verification of "An Extinguisher." Some two
dozen subjects are portrayed in the genuine spirit
of fun and satire, without any violent exaggeration
of fancy, or outrage of delineation ; and one of
them, -deserving especial commendation, is the
figure of a poor seamstress sitting in a ribbed-back
chair, and stretching her tired arms in utter ex-
haustion over " band, and gusset, and seam." Her
attitude painfully demonstrates how "weary and
worn" she is over her midnight labour of shirt-
making ; and on looking at the wall behind her, we
see her "shadow is falling there" in the moral
sublimity of " A Skeleton." We shall certainly
abstract this from the set, and append it to Hood's
immortal song, as an exquisite and earnest illustra-
tion. Mr. Bennett is beginning to be well known
as a skilful draughtsman ; but this, we believe, is
his first entirely self-produced publication. If he
performs what his work promises here—if he fre-
quently attaches his name to things that " come
like shadows," they will not "so depart," but
steadfastly remain, and afford their author an
abiding and enviable fame. _ _

There are few amongst us who have not beguiled
some of childhood's moments by making " rabbits
on the wall." Our individual recollection is strong
on the point. How distinctly we can see the old-
fashioned parlour on a winter evening, with the
couple of lighted moulds placed in symmetrical.
and proper order on the crimson table cover. An
instigation from one of the numerous " olive
branches" set all hands going, until the oaken
wainscoat became a perfect warren ; and could
our limning digits have transferred colour as well
as form, doubtless many a lop-eared " bunny "
would have been a splendid " double-smut."
Those " shadows" were very beautiful, although
they were generally dispersed by a parental box on
our auricular organs, when the unceremonious dis-
placing of candles and distribution of grease had
exceeded all parental endurance. We instinctively
remembered all this when we glanced into these
pages, and heartily congratulate Mr. Bennett on
his novel development of our juvenile sport.

A Digest on Pure Bread. By E. Stevens.
W. H. Myers, `Yhitechapel•road.

This little pamphlet is worth looking into. We
hear, and have pretty good reason to believe, that
our " staff of life" is commonly adulterated with
alum, chalk, plaster of Paris, bone ashes, and other
equally nourishing substances. We read in these
pages that if the public want good and pure breal
they must not regard colour too scrupulously. For
our own cart we have long had a conceit that a
very white loaf is in close conjunction with a very
blue devil, in the shape of dyspepsia ; and that it
would be wiser to consult the eye less and the
stomach more. The testimonials and analyses
given by the most eminent of our chemical pro-
fessors, relative to the bread manufactured by Mr.
Stevens, and herein published by him, afford satis-
factory warrant for its excellence ; but there is
an old saying, that " the proof of th pudding (we
presume loaf also) is in the eating ;" and the rapid
demolition of the sample bread forwarded with the
pamphlet is the most conclusive evidence that Mr.
Stevens produces a genuine and palatable article
of food, which is " a consummation most devoutly
to be wished" in such a staple article of household
consumption.

The London General Railway, Steamboat, and
Omnibus Guide. H. Elliot, 475, New Oxford-
street, and at all stations, (17c.

This is a most useful little work, of the greatest
advantage to all whom business or pleasure com-
pels to ti averse the streets of London. To visitors
from the country it will be invaluable, while few
of the residents of the metropolis will not find its
multifarious information of great service. It gives
a complete list of the routes of the different omni-
buses, with their fares, their dis!.inctive colours,
their hours, and correspondence. This very
necessary department is usually neglected in
works of this character. The Suburban Rail-
ways are next in the catalogue, and a list of the
stations, times of starting, and fares are given.
Steamboats on the Thames, Continental steam-
boats, ships for America and the colonies, all find
a place in this useful little traveller's manual, while
a list of the telegraph stations, club-houses,
and places of amusement, will prove use-
ful to those unacquainted with the metropolis.
It is to be published monthly, giving the various
alterations that may be made in the different modes
of transit. All this information is to be obtained
for twopence ; and we trust it may obtain the en-
couragement it deserves.

The Journal of Agriculture. Blackwood. '
This quarterly has its usual variety-of charac-
teristic information, especially suitable for those
who pursue agriculture in its higher branches, and
are desirous to avail themselves of the scientific dis-
coveries and improvements recently made. A paper
on the "Mechanical Aids to Steam Culture," by R.
S. Burn, engineer, is likely to be of practical ser
vice to the experimentalist. It takes a review of the
inventions of late years, and is illustrated by dia-
grams. An interesting article on "The Sciences Ap-
plicable to Agriculture" follows, and treats of the pro-
gress and practical benefit of the study of Geology.
The fifty-fourth number of " The Farmer's, Note-
Book," in its review of Page's excellent works has
also some remarks on the advancement of this now
popular science.
"Of late years almost every branch of Natural History
has made remarkable progress. Little more than a
quarter of a century ago, it had only a few scattered
disciples, working laboriously each in his own favourite
department, with very imperfect aid from books; for even
when these existed, they were too often inaccessible from
their expensive nature. If there was any exception to
this, it was in those branches--such as botany—which
were required for certain, professions ; and in such cases
they were for the most past studied only in their profes-
sional bearings. Nay, scarcely could the student de-
vote his attention to what are called the lower forms of
natural objects, without running the risk of being re-
garded as an imbecile or a trifler • and when he had any-
thing on such subjects 'to lay before the public he had
usually to accompany it with some apologetical expla-
nation for making them the object of his, regard. In the
present day not only have the effects of this ignorance
and prejudice happily disappeared, but the tide has set
in with au opposite current, and even the obscurest
forms of animal and vegetable life have assumed the
character of popular studies."
" Geology is one of those branches whose progress has
been most rapid. The true aims of the study, and modes
of prosecuting it, were long obscured by fanciful theo
ries, either based on a few insulated facts, quite inade-
quate to admit of wide generalisation, or on views purely
imaginary. Speculation has indeed been the bane of geo-
logy; with men of genius it has ever been a field for
displaying their ingenuity or exercising their fancy
while those who show themselves most ignorant of com.
mon things, never seem to have any misgiving as to their
ability to explain the formation of a world. No sooner
were the observation of facts, and reasoning from them
according to the laws of correct induction, substituted
for these as the true basis of the science, than it began
otrhaperidibty which
ranches—thhaes
Atollai
eddy atnocseo with
mane amnienveerrari,elavxeegde..
table and animal—and affords a congenial pursuit to al-
most every one who has entered on the study of any part
of natural history. It adapts itself to every variety of
capacity or acquirement. The humblest collector of
fossil shells or mineral specimens may render useful ser-
vice ; the comparative anatomist, physiologist, chemist,
Stss, will find ample materials for his investigatlona ;
while the exposition of the general laws and phenomena
requires the exercise of the highest powers that can be
applied to the subject. Toe relations also which it bears,
iu an industrial point of v.ew, to many trades and occu-
pa'ions afford ether itv.4ucemen's to the study, and have
helped to recommend it to gs neral favour."
The agricultural summary for the quarter,
and the tables of the average prices of grain,
foreign markets, &c , will be useful to the
farmer. The Report of the Transactions of
the Highland and Agricultural Society of
Scotland contain, among other subjects, a paper
" On the Chemical Principles involved in the Re-,
clamation of Waste Land," by Professor Anderson,
M.D., 'and another of a similar character by Mr-
Urquhart Fraser, "On the Improvement of Waste
Land."

BRUTAL CONDUCT ON BOARD AN AMERICAN SHIP.—.
On the arrival at Liverpool on Friday of the American
,
ship Potomac, from New Orleans, a number of seamen
proceeded to the police-office and charged the second
mate with having caused the death of one of the handy:,a
man named M'Mahon, during the pas=sige-
They also
complained of gross ilt-treatment of themselves, and
some of them bore marks of brutal violamo upon their
faces and head,. The matter will be brought before thi
American Consul (Mr. Nathaniel. Hawthorne) for the
purpose cf seeing what stets he will take in Via matter.

NOTES OF A TOUR FROM MO3CO W TO

THL2 CRIMEA.

( From Special Correspondent of the Times.)

At half-past 11 o'clock at night Tula seemed the
last place in the world to suggest comparisons of
either Sheffield or Birmingham. It was as silent
and as lifeless as a village on the steppe, and almost
as dark. As our carriage rumbled, creaked, and
jolted through the long, broad, straight streets, the
faint and infrequent lamps by the kerbstones only
revealed the white walls of the long lines of two-
' storied stucco houses, some mouldering and splatchy
with decaying window-frames and ricketty doors,
others rejoicing in the hollow glories of a new coat
of plaster, and displaying new rampant lions and
griffins and eagles in plaster on their portals, which
the action of a few winters will reduce into the most
unintelligible, terse, and fragmentary chaos. Not
a soul was visible eiscept the usual watchmen rous-
ing out of his box as the tarantasse came near, and
shouldering his halberd and tittering strange chal-
lenges' with a poor affectation of vigilance as we
passed. No glare in the sky, reflected from active
centre of life anti heat below, spoke of skill and
industry still working, watchful and energetic ; no
long tongues of flame from slender-necked chim-
neys licked the heavens into a fiery glow ; no dull,
heavy thud or ponderous anvil pulse warned
that the heart of labour was heating strong, full,
and honest in that wide expanse of human habita-
tions ; in fact, anything so unlike Sheffield as
as Tula could not be imagined. We had a long
gingling drive through any numher of versts or
muddy streets, and teen a sudden halt at a huge
and prison-looking building, at which our courier
dismounted from his cold perch, and frern
which emerged a hairy-hooded mujik waiter, the
staple of whose conversation was the eternal"Niet,
niet ' (No !no !). Indeed if it be true that
the first notion of a Frenchman on gaining
possession, temporary or in permanence, of the
smallest patch of terra firma, is to stick up a hoard
with " C'est defendu de," something or other upon
it, there is a sort of moral link between him and
the Ruski, whose ruling principle is contained in
the word " Niet" (pronounced Kneeate), which
serves him every whereforthe obstruction ofliberty,
progress, travelling, civilisation, and comfort.
Here it succeeded for a short time. We were told
there was a " Holshoi Gortiunitza" further on,
and we resumed our track through the mud pro-
found till the tarantasse arrived at a narrow lane
—the first we had seen for some months—which
absolutely refused to receive the work of the Mos-
cow Long-acre within its aperture. The driver per-
sisted for sonic time in his efforts to force a taran-
tasse some six feet wide into a space only five feet
wide, but suddenly it seemed to strike him as a
difficult thing to do so early in the morning, and
he pulled his horses up short at the opposite side of
the street. The result of a desperate consultation
in German was that we should drive back to the inn
we had left, for coacliee did not know where the
big hotel (or the Helshoi Gortiunitza) was situated.
and we could, see no one to ask. Indeed we just
recollected that one piece of advice given to us by
a Russian was never to ask any questions if we
wanted to see anything or do anything, for we
should be sure to be stopped or refused,but that if
one acted in Russia as if he had the right on his
side, every one would suppose he had, and no man
would presume to stop him. Through deep pools
of mud and lifeless streets w• worked our way, and
pulled up once more at the entrance to the hotel,
from the first-floor windows of which there was a
feeble gleam of lights. As we walked up the stone
staircase, greasy and covered with mud, there was
a feeble attempt to arrest us by some man who
lived ix a hole at the basement, but we paid no at-
tention to him, and succeeded in groping our way
into the eating saloon, from which the light pro-
ceeded, guided thereto by a clink of glasses, and a
strong odour of tobacco. It was a long room, fur-
nished with a table in the centre, 2 or 3 small side
tables, and two straight-backed stiff leather sofas.
The table was covered with a cloth foul from the
stains and exuvias of many meals ; the floor was
strewed with papiros (cigarette) ends, and was so
dirty that it was impossible to ascertain whether it
was wood or stone. At the sides of the table were
seated some half-dozen persons-a-two of them offi-
cers, eating their supper, smoking lustily, and at
the end of the room a small family party were en-
gaged at tea, the prominent member of which, a
baby in full cry, maintained its position with un-
flagging spirit—as we found out afterwards—till
an early hour in the morning. The first care of
the long-booted waiter was to tell us we could not
sleep there ; his second was to signify that we
could get nothing to eat. . However, with that
courtesy whiich is, I am bound to say, unfailing
among educated Russians, one of the officers came
to our help, and, addressing us in French to ascer-
tain our wants, soon caused the Tchevelek to eat
his words, and ourselves to get a supper, which
was hot and welcome—even although it consisted
of cabbage soup and tough pig. In the midst of
it our courier came in to inform us that the taran-
tasse had various strains which would require
caulking, and divers injuries demanding immediate
repair. Soon after midnight the company was re-
nforced by the arrival of a party who had just
arrived in post carts from Kharkoff, and who
seemed jaded and dirty, and soen proved that they
were hungry. One of teem, an elderly man, after
a long scrutiny, addressed us in English, and began
an interrogatory conversation in a style not un-
common in Russia and America—" Are you going
South ?" " Yes." "To Kieff ?" "No." "To
Kharkoff, then ?" " Yes." " Ah, and are you
returning to Moscow ?" " No." " Ah, then,
you are going to Odessa?" and so on till it was
our turn to ask questions, and we found out
that he i was an Englishman long settled in
Ressia, ; So long, indeed, that he had forgot-
ten his country, but without acquiring any
love for that which he had adopted, 'although
he had a great notion of her power and of
her future destiny. Still he had been so twitted
' by his Muscovite friends about the failure of our
assaults on the Redan that be was very anxious to
know the cause of our want of success, for, said
he, " though I know the Russian is brave, and
will light till he is shot or bayonetted, I think an
Englishman with fatr play, and, above all, with
such good arms as he has, will always be mere than
a match for him." Again, there was a little out-
burst of nationality when he asked " Why did you
make peace so semi ? Another year, and Russia
would have been driven to the last extremity, for
she would have bad no clothing nor arms for her
soldiers ; her trained men were being fast used up,
and the pressure for men and beasts of burden was
& ginning to be insupportable just as you mAde
peace." Ile told us he had been twice in the
Crimea during the war ; at one time just after the
Lattle of Balaklava, and he was " shocked' when
be saw English dragoon helmets hawked as trophies
about the towns of Southern Russia, and heard the
enemy's account of our charge. These dragoon
helmets must have belonged to the heavy cavalry-
men who were dismounted by the fire of the Rus-
sian artillery early in the morning, and who threw
them away as the cavalry retired out of range. He
described the approaches to the Crimea as pre-
senting scenes beyond conception or description,
and, judging from our subsequent experience, he
had good reason for what he said. Our friend was
apparently a cavalry contractor, or something of
the sort, for he was very " horsey" in his talk,
and described the condition of the poor quadrupeds
iu moving terms. " The nobles and serfs were
alike distressed and miserable ; the prices of food
were rising every day, and as for the houses; it was
really dreadful." The roads had become like the
bottoms of half-drained canals, and the whole coun-
try was cut up for miles by the passage of carts and
beasts of burden in search of firm ground, anti better
tracks to and from the Crimea. According to him
the Perekop route was the most frequented, as the
country near Tchongar became so deep after a few
months' traffic, or a few days of bad weather,
that it was impossible to use it. Only eeuriera,
Government messengers, and ,light carts traversed
it till the country dried up, or was hardened by the
frost or the sun. It was his opinion that there was
a considerable difference made in 'he treatment of
the French and English prisoners in favour of the
former, and that it was in cerasequence of orders
from head quarters, and done with a purpose, and
this assertion was corroborated by rep its which 1
heard afterwards at Odessa. All this, and much
more, was doled out to us in broken words, anal
with many glances at his companions and at the
rest of the people in the room, and tee poor roan
would have been horribly fright sned had he known
he was talking to your special correspondent, but
he had no cause to fear, for I could give him a
most satisfactory certificate of attachment to the
Russian Government, although lie did not like
their habits of procrastination in the matter of
roubles or the smallness of their pay in public
departments. I might have learnt much snore
from him, but that the, honses of his vehicle were at
the door, and he had to continue his journey to
Moscow. The rest of the company retired to bed,
with the exception of the baby and its immediate
farnily circle, and we were left to shake down on the
rigid sofas with hard and slippery leather covers,
which were much more severe than the floor, but
the latter was impossible on account of the dirt,
and so, with bones sore all over from humping in
the tarantasse for two days over a rough causf way,
we stretched ourselves on our coats, propped our
heads on writing desks or boots, and were soon
sound aeleep—ae sound indeed that; as we heard
next day, three Russian officers, who arrived about
tin the morning, complained to the waiter that they
cuuki nut eat their breakfast, we snored so loud
This may account for the fact that, as we 'rubbed

our eyes, and looked out from our sofas on