The Sun.
London, England, 1844-10-30 00:00:00

LITERATURE.
IVELSoNS DISPATCHES AND LETTERS.

Vol. I. album, London, 1544.
The great success which the dispatches of the Duke
of Wellington, as edited by Colonel Gur wood, have
lately met with, no doubt suggested the idea of the
present publication, which refers to subjects of equal!
national importance, and bids fair to obtain an equal
measure of popularity. In the volume before us we
have a sketch of the public career of Lord Nelson,
from the year 1777 down to the year 1794—a period
of unceasing toil and anxiety to the hero, when he
was fighting his way to fame, amidst a host of obstacles
which would have crushed the energies of an inferior
mind. But the victor of the Nile and Trafalgar,
notwithstanding the cloud that too frequently over-
cast his prospects, in the earlier portion of his naval
career, when acting under the orders of Lord Hood
in the :Mediterranean, seems never to have given way
to despair, but uniformly to have maintained a stout
heart, and trusted, like Napoleon, to his star. His
dispatches, dated in the year 1794, when he was en-
gaged in operations cuff Corsica, give abundant proofs
of, his well-regulated confidence in his own powers of
mind, and his conviction that when called on to play a
ading part, he should not be found wanting. Yet
there is nothing of boastfulness in his private letters
and official communications at this period; he writes
with uniform modesty and propriety ; and when he
ventures upon a decided opinion in opposition to those
under whose orders he is acting, he takes special care
to give reasons for the faith that is in him, and argues
Is point with an ingenuity that cannot fail to extort
the reader's respect awl' admiration. There is
one peculiarity in Lord Nelson's dispatches, which is
equally remarkable in those of the Duke of Wel-
lington. There is nothing cloudy or diffuse about
them .
, they deal in no circumlocutions, but come
direct to the point in a concise, nervous, business-like
worthy of all praise. He who runs may read
them, which is not uniformly the case with the official
communications of military and naval men, who are
usually more ready with the sword than the pen.
The Editor of the volume before us, who has exe-
!uted his task in a careful and diligent spirit, observes,
in his preface---" Every letter of Nelson, whether
Official or private, is placed according to its exact date,
so that the thoughts and duties which occupied his
tad each day, and even at various times of the same
day, may be traced ; and these transitions are often
extremely curious. This arrangement has a great
advantage over any mere classification, not only be-
"use the chains of thought and of events are alike
roe
lanb I', 11, but the dry professional details of a public
!dispatch are often relieved by the more attractive con-
Lents of private and familiar communications." The
editor's arrangement of the " Nelson Dispatches," to
l'hieh he here modestly alludes, deserves every praise
for its
skill, and enables us to trace the hero step by
step through his arduous career, and gives us an in-
a'ght into the thoughts and feelings of which his
mind was full, while steadily and perseveringly fight-
Mg. his Way to fame. We quote one of his private
communications to his wife, dated from Corsica, in the
/ear 1794, previously to that melancholy separation
her, which was brought about through the in-
trigues of Lady Hamilton :
" Off Bastin, February 28th, 1794.
"My dear Fanny,—l write literally to say lam well,
llfv ee better, and in active servi which 1 like. Lord
Hood expresses himself on every ce,
occasion well pleased
_With conduct. lie is come on this side himself, but
Would not bring an older captain than me; therefore the
v.,al service at Bastia is entrusted to my direction,
onnurer his Lordship. I have now six frigates with me.
Il; little brush last Sunday, happened at the moment
hills over
part of our army made their appearance on the
over Baatia, they havin marched overland from
St,
Fiorenzo, which is only twelve miles distant. The
-Yeneral (Lieutenant-General Dundas) sent an express to
• !`)rd Hood to Fiorenzo to tell him of it. What a noble
sigtht it must have been! indeed, on board it was the
vaeclest thing I ever saw. if I had carried with me
a,ve hulAred troops, to a certainty I should have stormed
tovvn, nd I beli it m keen carried.
•La.ea 9.
r • -
'es go so slow, thateve seamenight thinkhave they never mean
tc? Set forward; hut I dare say they act on a' tnrer prini•
'ipele, although we seldom fail. You cannot think how
fastased Lord Hood has been with my attack on. Sunday
en: or rather my repelling of an attack which the
sannfmchtne:sunlade on me. He is gone to Porto Ferrajo for
large pplies, but will return in two days. I an! t.o
r, to have communication with the army. Bastia
there g; town, and populous, having 10,000 inhabitants ;
which sia fine mole for shipping. If we take Corsica, of
••eep
natives seem
the smallest doubt, I hope we shall
The .
seem to hate the French, and are a brave
elll3 e, and free.
aeareßructistra"liisC The attachment of the Corsicans to
wonderful. When 1 took Miomo,
am a , the Corsicans all declared
.for the English;
Neat gentleman came down, and said, '1 can now
av4re to say, how attached* I am to Paoli ; upon
kiss 4 taking a miniature of him from his bosom, be
beg. and hundreds on their knees immediately
a theis be't
thing
do the same. This is pure affection. Paoli
.10,, to give them, nor any honours to bestow. It
Btterz:riblte of a generous people to a chief who has
live t everything for their benefit. I hope he Will
111,4
Well cultivated, but the produce has been kept under
ziersu!nerous detachments of French soldiers. Their
interfered with those of France, and in consequence
Zexportation was almost prohibited. Should it bo-
fet,%ls, it would soon be a rich country ; but would
materially hurt the Italian powers.—Yours, &c.
HORATIO NELSON."

-
-"AND.BooK FOR LIVERPOOL.
The strang Lacey, Liverpool, 1844.
ier in Liverpool will derive as much local
nformat:on as he can possibly desire from this little
ork, which is got up with singular care, is emb.el-
"lied w
with a variety of illustrations, and gives descry-
. nsof every p!ace and public building of importance
in Liverpool and its immediate vicinity.

TH

E FRE.I.3 CIIURCH.
(From the Monthly Statement.)
Our attention has been called, of late, by com-
rnunications from various quarters, to a matter of no
small importance, as regards the comfort and usefulness
'of ministers in country congregations, and even in
:some towns. It ought to be borne in mind that the
w.e.6Pend of the minister is understood to be derived
eonu r atl separate and independent sources—the
Sustent2tion Fund on the one hand, and the
oLocal Sustentation Diond on the other. The Central
and is made up of the contributions from the vari-
associations accumulated in one fund, and divided
ecialalY among the ministers of the Free Church,
Inder the arrangement of the General Assembly.
iFrhe payments or dividends allowed to ealch minister,
half this Central Fund, are received by-him a the
Iti;"Yearly terms of Martinmas and Whitsunday.
e are desirous, however, of calling the attention of
the
duetaycons' Court in each of our congregations to
which is incumbent upon them, to appro-
rate the Local Sustentation Fund, which is derived
t:.°4l the Sabbath-day collections at the church doors,
veits important and legitimate object, that of sup-
_ethenting the minister's stipend. One case has been
ntioned to us, in which a minister of a country
eeloregation, amounting to 800 or 900 persons, has
race
.duriinved no supplement from the Deacons' Court
g the past year. The clergyman now referred
" has
a large family and yet the deacons, with a want
of consideration which we should hope is rare, have
the debt of the church. Such an alienation uf *he
hurch door collections from their proper object is is
distinct opposition to the Act of the General Assem-
bly,. on
the subject, which provides that "the ordinary
eis°,lections at the church doors shall be administered
1.1 the deacons of the congregations (after deducting
ell-duties, insurance, and the ordinary expenses of
I.4he\pla.ce of worship, where not otherwise provided
nor place
in increasing the stipend of the minister," &c.
I-he supplementing of the minister's stipend, then, is
the very first object contemplated by the Act of
Assent bly in the disposal of the Local Fund after
Paying I:ecessary expenses ; and it is the imperative
duty of the Deacons' Court to fulfil that object, and
it is the duty of the Presbytery of the bounds to see
that that object has been fulfilled. To pay off debt
from the collections at the church doors is, in other
words, to burden the minister with the payment of
the debt. Nay, we have known one or two instances
in which the proposal has been c3olly made, that the
deficiency of the association funds should be made up
`from the Sabbath collections. And what is this in
pt~ in language but to propose that the minister should
pay into the Central Sustentation Fund a portion of
bia stipend, that the want of vigour and energy on
the part of the association may be concealed from the
view of the Church generally. These abuses, we
conceive, require only to be hinted at. They are a
Plain departure from the arrangeznents of the Church,
and we trust vbat Deacons' Courts on the one hand,
and presbyteries on the other, will take care that, in
every case, the evils be remedied promptly and effec-
tually. The best arrangement, perhaps, would be,
as the grants to the ministers from the Central
Sustentation Fund are made at Whitsunday and
%Martinmas, the grants from the Local Fund should
ll' 3 made at Candlemas and Lammas. The whole
av\luld thus be brought into regular operation, and
the minister would be able to count upon a payment
ac.%,`l quarter from the one fund or the other.—Ber-
icich -Advertiser.

---
THE
CONVICTS BARRER AND FLETCHER.—Ac-
tounts recent,i Y arrived in London state that in the ves-
sel which tool. out the above convicted w ill•forgers a
fever has broken slut to which several of the crew have
fallen a sacrifice, Csnd some of the convicts and
among others Barbe,-- He has, it is said, left behint:
- him some important m emoirs connected with the extra-
% ordinary will forgeries.
INDUSTRY or Bu .—The postmaster at Evanton
three hives in his gantm this season. Each hive
ea, it twice, and pr, duced Q?slb. of virgin honey.
Chi 9of the casts weighed 681 b. of honey, and sold for
10e . per lb., realizing 2/. 16s. Bd., giving daily income to
the owner of 9d. per day, for 75 days, being the exact
aunt `)er of days from the time it east until taken down.
vs-shire

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