The Sun.
London, England, 1850-09-03 00:00:00

MISCELLANEOUS.

Among the periodical light literature of the day,
there are so many as to render a detailed criticism of
each impossible, but very few of such inferiority as
to deserve no mention whatever. It is, therefore,
only practicable to evade the difficulty which must
obviously arise from these two facts by a sort of
monthly omnium gatherum. Almost each profession
and nearly every class of the community has its se-
parate organ, and to each and all these respective
organs must be especially interesting. The maritime
reader, for instance, may always derive instruction
from the pages of the Nautical Magazine, and ladies
receive the most useful and delightful hints in
regard to the toilet from the elegant designs of Le
Follet. The lover of religion must ever find his
tastes gratified by the contents of the Church of
England Magazine, and these who are solicitous in
regard to the dependencies of England obtain all re-
quired information from the Colonial Magazine. The
agriculturist will of course turn immediately to the
Farmer's Magazine for his facts and figures ; while
the frequenter of the turf will linger longest over the
lucubrations of the Sportsman. In the cur-
rent number of the last-mentioned publica-
tion, we observed some excellent contribu-
tions by Craven, Castor, Venator, Druid, Saron,
Foxglove, Ramrod, Oxonian, Gelerti and, " last but
not least," by Harry Hieover. Among those periodi-
cals which appeal to no particular section of the com-
munity, to all alike, we must refer of course espe-
cially to our old favourite' Chambers's Edinburgh
Journal, to the amusing and bountifully supplied
Belle Assemblee, to the doubly popular miscellany
called the People's and Howitts Journal, and to
another elegant adnition to the table of the boudoir
or the drawing-room, the Ladies' Companion. One
of the most estimable of the cheap periodical pub-
lic3tions is the Household
puarpreernec
ea;
whichdensinaEllvtehnets'ocac transpirednarr
o during compass
rit e
month just concluded. Another
aerial,
though of a
ghawveiNthairrnaative of Current

different kind, of extraoldlnant cheapness, is that of
the Penny Maps, published by Mes,,rs. Chsptnan and
Hah, and engraved by Mr. J. )t-ph L•,wry,
Tne s,cond part, just couTries inqs of Eng-
land, Ir,land, S::!otlaftd.

TUESDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBEit 3, 1850.

SIR CHARLES NAPIER.

TO THE EDITOR OF TOE TIMES.
Sir,—lt is lloW Weil knoe. n that Sir Charles Napier
has tendered the resignation of his' command in India,
but it is not known why; and in that country and in
England inaccurate tales are rife as to the causes of
his quitting an office to which be was called by the
united voices of Sovereign and people when India was
thought to be reeling, and he the fittest man to pre-
vent it falling.
Some of the causes assigned are idle attempts of
Indian editors and correspondents to account for what
they do not understand, but others have been con
cocted with a view to repetition in this country, with
foul additions and arguments, to effect the dishonest
purpose of prejudicing the public mind against a Ge-
neral whose faults are that he has gained great battles,
governed a large province with ability, and vigour-
ously commenced a military reform, admitted by all
to be needed, but which few would have had the
judgment and courage to attempt. All this has given
offence to conceited power and private interest.
It has been said that a difference has arisen be-
tween him and Lord Dalhousie, because of some bar-
rack building—because of his disbanding the 66th
Regiment without reference to the Governor. General
—because he desired war, it is not said with whom,
and that Lord Dalhousie desired peace—because the
Commander-in-Chief attempted to usurp the power
of Governmen', and when mildly corrected replied
with intemperate language, and resigned.
These mixtures of a little truth with great false-
hood have been commented upon with all paid-for
malignancy in certain journals whose vulgar enmity
to Sir Charles Napier on forther occasions has been
exposed and rebuked. Wherefore, knowing how
true the Chinese proverb is, that though lies have no
legs to stand upon, they have wings, and fly a great
way, I, in defence of an absent brother, beg, through
the medium of your universal journal, to state-
1. That it is true Sir Charles Napier has tendered
his resignation on account of a difference between
him and Lord Dalhousie ; but it is not true that this
difference arose about barrack building—or from any
desire to make war—or because he disbanded the
66th Regiment—or that his language was intemperate
and unbecoming—or that he resigned peevishly.
The real cause of that step was a diff rence between
him and the Governor-General on a vital point of
public interest, accompanied by circumstances which
rendered it imperative upon Sir Charles Napier to re-
sign the high office conferred on him by his Sove-
reign; and he is prepared to justify his conduct to
that gracious Sovereign and to the public, proudly
confident that he has served both well, and would
have served them better, if he had been permitted to
combine such service with that self-respect which no
man can relinquish without dishonour.
W. NAPIER, Major-General.

IRELAND.
HARVEST PRQSPECTS.

' DUBLIN, MONDAY MORNING.—Again is it the
, pleasing task to announce that t►il the last reports are
highly favourable, and that it is not presuming too
much to anticipate the certainty of an abundant ar •
vest. The accounts of the potato blight every day
are becoming more rare, and, although there is no
doubt that a portion of the crop is unfit for use, the
quantity that will remain for consumption far ex-
' ceeds the expectations of all who, but a few weeks
since, entertained such dreary views with regard to
the prospects of the ensuing year. North and south
pauperism is rapidly diminishing, and other symptoms
of improvement among all classes are gradually mani-
festing themselves. A moderate Conservative journal
(the Downpatrich Recorder) has the following re-
marks upon the subject :
"It is gratifying to consider that,:nt present, there is
much general comfort, even among the lower classes,
arising from the improving state of several branches of
trade, and the moderate prices of the necessaries of
life. Pauperism is on the decrease. It appeared from
the usual return of the state of our own work-
house last week that it contained then but 450 paupers,
though it was built to accommodate I,ooo—that is
to say, it is not half full. It is the same with re-
spect to other workhouses; their inmates are diminish-
ing in numbers. This diminution does not arise so:ely
from the employment required at the harvest, as it was
going on gradually for several months past. Now, if
pauperism be on the decrease, it is not only a blessing to
those who were paupers themselves, but it indirectly—
almost directly—benefits both farmers and the whole
ratepaying community; fer it diminishes poor-rates, and
consequently strikes off a part of the heavy burden with
which the trl per and middle classes aro chiefly saddled.
The diminution of pauperism is also attended with ano-
ther consequential advantage, namely, the decrease of
crime, which is alike an annoyance and a source of loss
and expense to the honest portion of the community.
But while prices are reasonable to the consuming
classes, they are at the same time such as to encourage
the farmer. The prices of new grain in our markets
are surely calculated to give him cuafidence. We
see that new oats have opened at from ss.
to 6s. per cwt.; wheat, from Bs. to Bs. 10d.; while
an advance in barley has lately taken place. Why,
we remember oats 41. to .4s 6d per cwt. at the com-
mencement of the season, in corn-law times too, and the
crop not better than it is at present. If 4s. per cwt. was
the occasional price, under such circumstances, surely
the present prices, from ss. to 65., with oats an abundant
crop and trade free, are not to be despised. We are
strongly of opinion tbat the advantages of corn-laws
were over-estimated, and that too great a panic was ex-
cited by free trade. Both landlords and tenants have
suffered by what was called protection. War prices, and
subsequently protection prices—for when the stimulus of
war was removed the stimulus of corn-laws was substi-
tuted—led to high rents; high rents led to improvidence
and extravagance, the consequences of which have been
partially seen, and only partially, in the Encumbered
Estates Court."

The Drogheda Conservative states that the wages
of labourers in that district average Is. 6d. a day,
and that harvest operations have produced their
effect on the pauper population, which is vastly de-
creased in the union workhouses. Out and in-door
relief is not one-half of what it was this time twelve-
month.