The Sun.
London, England, 1844-04-11 00:00:00

SAFE RETURN TO MALTA OF
THE XINTIHAN EXPEDITION.

The Xanthian party, after contending with almost
insurmountable difficulties, from the destruction, by a
deluge of rain, at the very moment they were most
wanted, of the newly constructed roads and bridges,
finally mustered, with the collected treasures, at the
mouth of the river, on the 19th of March, when her
Majesty's
.ship Medea, Commander Warder, ran over
from Macri to take in her valuable cargo. Comman-
der Warden, for some five weeks previous, 'Tad been
indefatigably engaged in personally superintending
the packing and removal of the markles from the val-
ley, where they have lain strewn about and undis-
turbed fur centuries, save by the hand of time ; but it
came on to blow so heavily, that in towing the lighter
over the bar, the hawsers parted, and the pinnace and
two cutters got swamped and beached. Several of the
party got thrown out of the boats by the sea, and Mr.
Hore, a mate of the Queen, and three men were,
with difficulty, rescued from a watery grave. Un-
able to proceed with the embarkation, or even to com-
municate with the shore, the Medea had to retrace
her way back, leaVing some thirty officers and men
with the ships' boats, besides the exploring party, on
the sands, exposed to the inclemency of the weather
without any other shelter than the bushes there-
abouts (fur all but two small tents hal been already
shipped), until the 15th, when the weather lulled
sufficiently to enable the steamer to return, and by
the 18th every one was snugly housed on board, with
twenty cases of marbles and casts, leaving on the '
beach some other seven cases containing the unwieldy
portions of the horse and chimera tombs, which must
remain u.ptil such time as a larger vessel is sent to
hoist them in. It is currently rumoured that the
Warspite, 50, has proceeded from Athens' for this
purpose;
The steamer then"steered for Macri, to water, and
on the 20th she hove to off Rhodes, where the Cap-
tain and Mr. Fellows landed, to return the Paella •of
the place the acknowledgments of the British Go-
vernment, for the facilities and protection he had
afforded the expedition, the Xanthus district forming
a portion of the pachalic of Rhodes, where also the
lighters were left.
On the evening of the 20th the steamer again pro-
ceeded on her voyage, intending to make the best of
her way to Malta; but on the 21st, in consequence
of a gale of wind from the south and westward, she
was forced to put into Suda, in the island of Candia,
and did not leave until the 24th. Throughout the
25th, and a part of the 26th, she encountered quite as
strong a gale from the northward and eastward, when.
she made fair way at the rate of ten miles an hour;
but on the 27th and 28th the wind headed her, blow-
ing excessively hard from the westward, and,
although she made Malta soon after noon on the
latter day, it was not until ten at night that she came
to an anchor, owing to the heavy cargo of marble she
had on board. _ _

The vessel has suffered considerably, and will
require a thorough overhauling before she proceeds,
as it is said it is intended she shall, to England.
Hawkins, who has proceeded to Smyrna overland, in
hopes of meeting with objects of interest for a future
campaign, is the only one of the party, besides two
who have died, who has not returned.
Great praise is due to Captain Warden and the
officers of his vessel, and the expedition under his
command, for having so satisfactorily perfornied this
arduous service; and it will, no doubt, afford the
friends of another zealous officer, Commander Graves,
of the Beacon, some satisfaction to know that his
plans and suggestions for the carrying the same into
effect have tended, in a great measure, to the attain-
ment of this happy result.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
SIR,—As a friend of the Rev. C. J. Scratchley,
and an attentive listener to the wk ole of the evidence
adduced in the case of suicide in Fleet-street, last
week, I feel it right to express my unqualified dissent
from your very harsh attack upon that gentleman.
Your reasons for this censure may be thus briefly
summed up :
First,—That Mr. Scratchlev tried to draw from
deceased a confession of a misdeed of which no proof
was adduced in the evidence.
Secondly,—That his language towards deceased
(as overheard through a partition-wall) immediately
before she destroyed herself, was of a " brutal and
callous" character.

Thirdly,—That the whole story, as given by Mr.
Scratchley himself, confirms his heartlessness and
cruelty; and,
Fourthly,—That he admitted,
" coolly
deli-
berately,'having had connexion wit deceased
arid
pre-
vious to his entering the Church.
To your first reason I answer, that the words of
Mr. S. e‘ If you confess that you have robbed my
brother, I will see what I can do for you") were no
more than any person would have used, if convinced
of the guilt of th 6 party addressed ; that the charge
was substantiated by the production of fifteen pawn-
broker's tickets found on deceased, all of which were
obtained on Dr. Scratchley's property; and that there
was no intention to • prosecute deceased, since a sove-
reign was given her the day before for the purpose of
redeeming some of the property.—(See the Coroner's
notes.) I may add, that no person in his right senses
would prosecute, or allow his brother to prosecute, a
person who held his reputation in her hands.
Your second motive of censure hangs upon a con-
versation heard through a wall, the witness acknow-
ledging that the person accused spoke so low
that she could not distinctly hear his words. Need
I add more on this head ? I will, however,
testify that ten years' knowledge of Mr. S. would have
made me look narrowly to the evidence of any witness
who swore to having heard harsh language from him,
even without the intervention of a wall.
_ .

. _
To the third point I reply that the story was not
given by Mr. Scratchley, but by Rebecca Griffiin,
sister to the deceased, a respectable person, mistress
of the diocesan school at Canterbury, who, when exa-
mined, and cross-examined, stated that Mr. Scratch-
ley's conduct towards her sister had been one of uni-
form kindness and generosity beyond his means ; she
moreover, testified tO that gentleman's going down to
Canterbury a week previous to her sister s death,
and, after mentioning the unfortunate habits she had
fallen, into, conferring with her (witness) on the best
method of reclaiming her sister, offering at the same
time to provide for her maintenance in any respect-
able house they should fix upon for her residence.
Does this look like heartlessness and cruelty?
As to the fourth accusation, that Mr. S. " coolly
and deliberately" admitted having had connexion
with deceased previous to his entering the Church, I
contend that such confession was absolutely necessary,
that it was incumbent on him to lay the truth, the
whole truth, before the public, and thus clear (!) his
moral character as a clergyman, even though by so
doing he left a stain on his younger days.
It is not my purpose to attack the verdict found by
the jury, as I understand that Mr. Scratchley is about
to publish the whole of the evidence, and then trust
to the opinion of the world for removing the odium
cast on him by such public censure.
Allow me, however, to mention one fact (omitted
in the papers), that after the reading of the verdict one
of the jury rose, and protested against " the censure
passed on the conduct, of Mr. C. Scratchley;" and I
know from subsequent inquiry that he did not stand
alone in his dissent.
Trusting toyour feelings of justice for the insertion
of these remarks,
I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
London, Aprilliraa,4. E. SPENCER.

[We publish Mr. Spencer's letter in our usual de-
sire to act, to the beAt of our judgment, with strict
impartiality in all cases where the moral conduct of
an individual has been inculpated. Of the letter, as
any justification or defence of that conduct in Mr.
Scratchley'sealewe can only say " valeat quantum."
Belotrt umpr . Spencer
o must excuse us if we rely much
more upon the solemn opinion of the Coroner and the
jury, on evidence so recently heard by them, than on
of a professed friend of the party re-
buked and the Coroner's commen-
tbluie kedby casuistrythefr
finding
and
In these we se but too grave a corroboration
which we felt it to be matter of public duty to
of those remarks,--termed •by Mr. Spencer " an at-
tack,'
the report of the inquest.—ED. Suit.]
offerta ek,
on'

FATAL ACCIDENT ON 'TILE DOVER RAILWAY.—
On Monday afternoon a fatal accident occurred on the
above line to a poor fellow named Nunn, an under-
guard. The man, it appears, was proceeding with his
train from Dover to London, and while passing under
one of the arches at the Maidstone stat:on, he got up,
and his head came in contact with the brickwork, kill-
ing him instantly. When the train arrived at Tunbridge,
his mate discovered him lying on the carriage where he
had previously sat, his head being literally dashed to
pieces. lie was married, and was a sober and steady
man.—Brighton Guardian. •
SINGULAR ESCAPE OF A CIIILD.—WhiIe the up
mid day train was passing along the North Midland
Railway, near the Rotherham station, on Saturday last,
a little boy suddenly darted from his father's arms over
the side of one of the second-class carriages. The train
was going at full speed at the time, and it was with
difficulty the father could be -restrained from leaping
out of the carriage, so great was his anxiety to know
the fate of his child. The circumstance having been
communicated to the guard, he ordered 'the train
to be put back for nearly two miles for that purpose,
when, strange to say, the poor little fellow was perceived
on the embankment, unhurt. On seeing his parent, he
laughed and exclaimed, "Father, father, I am not hurt.'
It turned out that he had fallen on the verge, of the line'
and fortunately rolled down the embankment, which
thus broke the shock that he roust have,.perhaps,,fatally
experienced had he come in sudden contact with the
level ground.—Leicester Chronicle.
There stood in Fryitp, Tway Whitby, the king of
that and the surrounding dales, rnea--
alis, the pride of
suring in eireemferenee 14 yards at the bottom of the
trunk ! The age of this monstrous tree isi of course un-
know% blit it is suppostll to har© responded to the vege-
tation of spring for about one thousand years ! Forty
years ago it gav 1 bloom to its last foli4ge• .