The Sun.
London, England, 1850-06-04 00:00:00

CONDITION OF EMIGRANTS ON
SHIP-BOARD.
A meeting was held yesterday in St. Martin's Hall,
Long-acre, for the purpose of improving the condi-
tion of emigrants, and for their protection on the
voyage to the British colonies south of the line. The
Earl of Harrowby took the chair at two o'clock.
On the platform were the Bishop of Norwich, Lord
Lyttelton, Mr. Napier, M.P., Mr. A. Stafford,, M.P.,
Mr. Mill, the Rev. Mr. M'Kenzie, the Rev. Mr. An-
derson, and numerous ether gentlemen and clergy-
men. The proceedings were opened with prayer by
the Rev Mr. M'Kenzie, vicar of the parish.
The Earl Of HARROWBY then addressed the meet-
ing. He said that the people of this country, to
which had been imparted the privilege of as it were
founding new worlds, had been content hitherto
with merely, populating, neglecting to Christianise
those new countries. Too much stress had been laid
upon the mere commercial statistics of exports and
imports, but at length the attention of the Govern-
ment had been called to the necessity of providing.
something more than the mere' means of
transit for the great stream of emigrants.
Much, however, was still left for individual exertion
and it was he thought, well in some respects that it
was so. In alluding to what had already been
done in this cause, he thought much was due to the
efforts of the Rev. Mr. Childs, of Plymouth, who was
almost alone in the work, until the Society for the
Propagation Of the -Gospel had turned its attention
to the subject. - The object of the meeting to-day
was not only to furnish spiritual aid to the einigrants,
but also to furnish them with employment while in
in that particular condition in which their minds
Were, by a consideration of their helpless and unem-
ployed state, most fitted to receive good impressions
and acquire good habits. Such objects as these, ac-
ceptable to all men, must be doubly acceptable to all
true members of the Church • and he' was sure that
they would be heartily responded to by all true lovers
of their country.
The Bishop of NORWICH moved the first resolution—.
" That, as the welfare of a colony depends to a great
extent upon the religious and moral character of its
earlier settlers, every effort should be made to improve
and elevate the condition of emigrants from this
country."
He congratulated the meeting upon the recognition of
the principle which was contained in this resolution.
Up to this time the colonies of this country, instead
of carrying with them the beautiful and humane
spirit of the Gospel, had often been the corruptors of
the simple savages among whom they had penetrated.
Let them look to the West Indies, - and there they
would see colonies formed out of two • distinct races,
the emigrant and the negro, torn from his own land
to be transferred to a life of toil, which, however, was
not blessed with any of those Christian and religious
acquisitions which it was the duty of those Christian
colonists to have imparted to them. ' Other colonies
had been formed out of classes_ which were
deemed too vicious to be kept in this country.
It was, then, the duty of every man who had the in-
terests of his .religion and his country at heart to be
ready to come forward to improve the condition of
the emigrant, and, as he considered that this resolutiOn
was one step towards the .attainment of this object, it
was with great pleasure that he proposed it.
Mr: NAPIER, M.P., seconded the resolution which
was carried .unanimously.
Mr. ARTHUR MILLS, in the absence of the Bishop
of Oxford, moved the second resolution—
" That it is highly desirable that every body of emi-
grants, especially of such as are about to proceed on
long voyages, should be accompanied by a chaplain, or
lay-teacher, to superintend the religious service, and to
set on f)ot classes for the instruction of adults and
children."
Hs observed that the interest which he took in this
subject was the result of his own personal experi-
ence of the ill-effects of desultory emigration of un-
educated persons, who had had no provision made for
their proper management on their passage and on
their arrival. believed it impossible for persons,
who lived in an old civilized country, to appreciate
the extreme miseries which were undergone by those
who were landed in a new country. Government
measures were, to a certain extent, unable to accom-
plish their objects, and it was a great stimulus in the
consideration that so large a field was open to private
efforts. The Hon. Gentleman concluded his remarks
by reading extracts from the diaries of several gentle-.
men who had gone out as schoolmasters on board
emigrant ships.
Lord LYTTELTON briefly seconded the resolution,
because be believed the duty of a country to its emi-
grants and of a church to its folloviers bore a very
close analogy to the parental relation of father and
child. He thought that the present movement was a
most admirable one, and it,was with the greatest con
diality that he gave it his support.
Mr. BYRNE supported the resolution, and insisted
upon the necessity of forming a committee to impress
upon the Government the necessity of some penal
enactment to restrain the immorality of officers of
emigrant ships, and of -there being a clergyman and
schoolmaster on hoard each ship, at the expense of the
colony to which the emigrants were proceeding. IL
considered that sufficient encouragement was not given
by the Government to the emigration of clergymen,
who he considered were decidedly the best class of
emigrants.

The resolution was then put and carried.
Mr. STArroan, M.P., proposed the next resolution—
' " That, with a view to the improvement of the habit',
moral and industrial, of the emigrants, it is expedient
tnat each ship should be furnished with a suitable library
of books and maps. as well as with tools and materials
for maraud employment."
He consi lered that the objects of this- resolution
were of the highest importance, and thus would reach
the emigrant on board ship at that moment when the
sorrow natural to a man leaving his native country
must be greatly increased by the feelings of forced
idleness which would beset him at this moment. He
did not wish to allude to politics, but since a certain
new idea had taken its ground in 1846, and by
which our colonies were thrown open to the
world, it became necessary that whatever their
opinions might be on the old or new idea, that we
should be doubly anxious to fortify our colonies, that
either they might be ready to start fair with us in a
new race of glory, or be able to withstand the storm
of calamity which might speedily fall upon them.
The duty of every man vies -to give these emigrants
leave ever to remember with gratitude the old coun-
try, England, and to teach their children to pray fur its
welfare, not as a country from which they were alto-
gether separated, but with which they still retained
some tie.

The Rev. Mr. CHILD seconded the resolution, which
was carried unanimously.
The following resolution was then proposed by the
Rev. Mr. HENDERSON

" That the committee of the Society for the Propaga-
tion of the Gospel, firmed' during the past year to raise
a fund fur providing the means of religious instruction
for the emigrants, having already sent out no fewer than
25 chaplains and lay instructors, is entitled to our sup..
pert; and that all aontributions towards the funher-
ance of the designs contemplated in the firegoing
resolutions he confided to that committee."

After which the meeting separated, having passed
a rote of thanks to the Chairman.

DARING BURGLART.-Ori Tnursilay, between the
hours of one and two A.M., a most daring outrage was c'om •
mitred in the dwelling-house of Mrs. Christiana Waters, in
the parish of Stanford Rivers, in this county. It appears
that at the hour above named Mr. Charles Clarke, brother to
Mrs. Waters, and residing with her, was awakened by hear-
ing some person in his bedroom; on asking who was there
he received no reply, and on attempting to get out of bed
he saw a man standing in the room in the act of pointing a gun at him, at the same time saying, " If you don't lie still I
will blow your brains oat." The fellow almost imme-
diately fired, severely wounding Mr. Clarke in the left ar'n
and face, the shot tearing away a large portion of the
flesh on the upper part of the arm. Notwithstanding this,
Mr. Clarke courageously grappled with the ruffian, and
held him till.the arrival of his two nephews, who slept in
another part of the house and had been aroused by the
report of the gun. The robber proved to be a young mall
named William Green, a loose character from Ongar, who"
was convicted of felony at the quarter sessions in January
last, and sentenced, to three months' imprisonment. The
gun urd by Green
.was the property of Mr. Clarke, and had
been placed in one of the lower 'roorni through which the
fellow passed on big way tipsairs. Whelprisoner was stfortly
after given into the custody' 'of i'S'apernitindent Flood, by
whom he was taken" before IX-rigl.4, and, Mr.
Clarke being unable' to, Wes agiiiiaiit • be. was re.
Dasuclul t 9 EPPiDB eitia4y4e4-acklpffoid.Chithticte.

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