The Sun.
London, England, 1842-03-07 00:00:00

qbt o§ults

• LONDON
MONDAY MORNING, MARCH 7, 1842.

The public will have read with much satisfaction the
observatiom on the Navy made on -Friday night in the
House of Cornmon,. •At length that service seems to
have found in Sir C. NAPIER a zealous and enlightened
advocate. The Gallant Officer justly reprobated the
plan adopted by the late Administration, of sending
ships to sea incompletely manned, and properly com-
plimented-the: present Admiralty on having increased
the number of seamen on board our ships. As
the great want in time of war is spawn, as
officers are always abundant, and there is.. never
any want of ships, sound policy requires that ships
be rather over than under manned during peace. The
expense ;of a few hundred or a few thousand seamen
with no additional officers„ and no additional expense
for the, wear and tear of ships, is a mere trit*; and if
by such an expense we can, on any sudden emergency—
drafting the additional bhie jackets to other ships, and
completing their complements by marines and landmen—
install:ly increase our effective force by one-third or
more, why. should it not be incurred? So to act
would obviate all pretext for having recourFe
to impressment on the breaking out of war ;
That thiS plan has not before now been adopted is a
disgrace' to the Admiralty, but it is a greater disgrace to
the country that it has so long allowed the Admiralty, on
every emergency which has arisen, to flee at once to the
brutal praetke of impressment.

But professional men have not yet attained a due con,
viction Of the injustice and injuriousness of that custom,
Even Sir C. NAP/En spoke of it too lightly when h.
praised Sir J. GRAtt.tat's Bill, though it gave "the
seamen only four or five days to decide whether
they wouid serve their country as volunteers or be
liable td impressment." This practice lies at the bot-
tom-of ell the evils of which the navy has to complain.
It injures. zll
ryparties ; it violates the personal liberty
and ther4toperty of the seaman. It is worse than the
slave-trOe: for that was practised on strangers, while
this is }practised' on subjects by the Government which
exists owlytO protect the rights it violates in their per-
sons. >K I it greater crime than carrying off the ne-
groes into slavery,' inasmuch es it adds to kidnapping
free mep,ite, grossest breach of lilts% In our judgment,
therefotriitAshould never be spoken of but in terms of
indignattipt and abhorrence.; and the manner in which
it was spien, of by the Gallant COMMODORE is one of
the few,POints in his speech on Which. we cannot accord.
him our unqualified praise.
The Gallant Officer said most justly that " they ought
to makl.the seamen understand that the service of their
country was a good. service." -With that view he pro-
posed to improve the condition of the seamen. But how
can the Seriice be made to appear beautiful as long as
it is practically stigmatiied to the whole community as
a service of slavery ? The Gallant Officer must be well
aware that the.use.of such a method of procuring men
brands the navy as something hateful, or why employ
such a harsh method to force men to serve in it ? On
his own principle of making the seamen believe well of
the naval. seniec, he ought to condemn impressment as
most injurious to that navy. whichlle loves, and to which
he is an honour.- ,
seiO,s
Thou* the practice has not yet been publicly aria 'di-
rectly git#On up, it has been' indirectly stigmatized by the
Legislature in' other eases. The Legislature has de-
dared man-stealing in Africa piracy, and it cannot
again practise it in England. Very recently our Go-
vernment has given harbour and shelter to the
negrod who carried the Creole into Nassau,
though the death of their oppressor was the conse-
quence of their mutiny. By the greatest law authorities
their conduct has been justified. The LORD CHANCEL-
LOR, or - LORD CHIEF JUSTICE, Lords COTTENHAY,
BROUGHAM, and CAMPBELL, all declared that the Go-
vernment has no rower or jurisdiction over them to
bring them to trial, or to give them up to the American
GovernMent. If the negroes,:kept in slavery, have a right
to set Ahemselves free, so must 'impressed seam; n,
According to the doctrine of t: ose great Lawtords, im-
pressed men, all of whose natural and social tights are
*.elatel by the Government, 1611.1)6 justified in taking
youlg actor at the ',Dhe
sesespoolf•at:
..ASTER OWEN, 1 lIAA ET —The debut of this
possession of the vessels in which they are embarked,
andt carrying them into the harbours of the United Richard the Third, d the notice...of the in-
aiTtihtreaactr.tee in the character of
‘s where, the GOvernment might with as much pro- habitants there, as to call for his performance, by the particular
priEetoyrtpluire4teteetilythvoetnaua desire, and under
England protects runaway ne oes.the patronage of the Miyot of Devonport, in
gr the character of Hamlet this evening. Mrs. Owen, his mother,
We are not now at war—we do not appear, itl Gertrude.

MEMORIAL OF THE POLISH AS-
SOCIATION TO THE KING OF PRUSSIA.
Literary Association of the Fiiends of Poland,
30th January, l 84•2.
SIRE,—The acts of your Majesty's reign evincing an earnest
and enlightened solicitude for the welfare of all those under
your dominion, of whatever class, denomination, or persuasion,
while they have conferred important benefits on your subjects,
have excited the admiration of the whole world. That por-
tion of the Polish nation over which your Majesty rules, has,
since your Majesty's accession, enjoyed a degree of happiness
to which it had long been a stranger; and your Majesty's
beneficence, displayed not only by public measures but also by
kindness bestowed in the most delicate and truly generous
manner on individuals, has called forth the eulogies of the
good in all countries.

These considerations embolden us to hope that your Ma-
jesty may deign favourably to consider the humble request,
which, in the name of the Literary Association of the Friends
of Poland, we venture to prefer to your Majesty, on behalf of
some of those persons whom the vicissitudes of a great and
noble but unhappy nation have cast on the shores which now
rejoice in the august presence of your Majesty.
The Literary Association of the Friends of Poland, com-
posed of men who, although belonging to different awl oppo-
site parties in polities, unite in feelings of deep interest in the
fate of Poland, and honoured by the patronage of his Royal
Highness the Duke of Sussex, has for many yeas laboured by
every means within its reach to relieve the wants and mitigate
the sufferings of the Polish Refugees. We have thus sought,
in an humble sphere, to form the complement of that design
of the British Parliament, as well as of her Majesty's Govern-
ment, which is indicated in the annual appropriation of a sum
of money for their relief. But we are far, and must ever re-
main far, from the full attainment of our thject. The melan-
choly extent of distress in this country. while it prevents the
augmentation of the grant on the one hand, tends greatly to
limit the assistance to be derived from individuals, and on the
other renders it extremely difficult for foreigners to obtain em-
ployment. Thus many persons of birth, character, and edu-
cation, though earnestly desirous of occupation, finding no field
for their talents or industry, and having nothing to subsist on
but the allowance afforded them by the State, which is wholly
inadequate, are reduced to the most lamentable condition of
mental and physical destitution.
In the Grand Duchy of Posen, where their own langnage
is spoken, and with whose habits they are familiar, which is
e.,
an
d friends, otfhtehye i country,
would
retiniarne and n wherenassistance, they haveand
in
nelatfaivet a portion
would live with comfort to themselves, and be no burden to the
public. Your Majesty, in gracieusly condescending
to direct
your Minister to grant passports for that part of
nions to such Poles as, being desirous of
should be in a condition to produce proper testimonials with
regard to their conduct and character, would bestow on them
a benefit of inestimable value; while your Majesty would, at
he same time, confer a favour on the Association thus ven-
turing humbly to plead in their behalf, which would inspire
every one of its members with feelings of the deepest gratitude.
May it please your Majesty to pardon our boldness in thus
presuming to trespass on your Majesty's valuable time, and
to permit us to subscribe ourselves with sentiments of the
most profound respect,
Sire, your .Majesty's most obedient,
Most devoted, and most humble servants,
(By order of the Council)
DUDLEY COUTTS STUART, Vice-President.
M.