The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1839-09-10 00:00:00

CONTEMPORARY PRESS.

ENLISTMENT OF SEAMEN.—THE REVENGE.
—ANOTHER INSULT FROM THE FRENCH !
(From the Cork Constitution.)
England now feels the pinch of an ill-judged econo-
my. While offices are created that pride may be pam-
pered, influence extended, dependents provided for, and
indolence maintained in affluence, the public service is
starved, our commerce is cramped, the flag that ought
to protect it is dishonoured, and our ships, instead of
commanding the element on which once they rode in
triumph, are lying lazily in port begging for bands to
man them. Is this the way things ought to be in Eng-
land ? The Revenge has now been three weeks in our
harbour. How many seamen has she obtained ? How
many in Limerick ? How many in Waterford ? In
the first, the number, we believe, might be easily told;
and as to the two latter, let the following paragraph
from the Waterford Mail of yesterday answer :
" The enlistment of seamen for her Majesty's ship Re-
venge, 74, now lying at Cove, is going on at a sorry rate.
The tender to the Shamrock, revenue cruiser, now lying
opposite the. Custom-house Quay, is solitary enough ; and
though numerous rendezvous for the Revenge have been
established in Limerick and elsewhere, the officers belonging
to them possess something like a sinecure in that depart-
ment ; the men are not coming forward ; and this will be the
case as long as the Merchant service, or that of ' Brother
Jonathan,' present greater advantages than the British Ma-
rine. The refuse of the merchant ships, and in a very few
instances some good men may enter, but that 's all; A re-
course to the impressment system is rumoured in case the
several ships requiring it do not obtain their complement of
men : the remedy might be found even worse than the dis-
ease. The present system must be changed."
Yes, if we are to have a navy, " the system must be
changed." Impressment will not do. Apart from its
injustice and its cruelty—its outrage on the affections
and the relationships of private life, it will not do. It
is alien to the constitution and to the spirit of the
country. Nothing but the last extremity can justify it,
and even then its policy is questionable. It renders the
navy a terror to men for whom the cannon has no fear
—an object not of attraction but of repulsion—not of
exultation but of shame. Besides, it is an injury to
the service. Men cannot discharge heartily duties to
which they are fore*, and at the first opportunity they
will escape, and carry to other navies the skill which
they have acquired in our own.
Unfortunately there is no occasion for an impellant
such as this. In the last American war our desertions,
even where the sailors had entered voluntarily, were to
be reckoned by hundreds, and among those who fought
us most successfully were men who had been trained
on our own decks. So will it be in the next, should
another unhappily arise, for it will be impossible to re-
tain men in a service which, compared with the Ame-
rican, remunerates them so inadequately as ours. Let
any one look at Captain Marryatt's volumes, and see
the, to ti. 9, disgraceful disparity that exists. But Ame-
rica understands her business. She knows what men
are made of, and she knows that if their services are
required they must be paid for, and pay she does, and
with a liberal hand, Hence, though the sea is with
her own citizens anything but a favourite occupation,
she never wants a crew, and hence it is that our ships
are so often obliged to wait months together for hands
to navigate them, while those which a just rate of re-
muneration would so easily procure are carrying to
other lands the bravery, the enterprise, and the science
so much needed in our own.

•
And what is the result of this ? Why that we have
so much sunk in the estimation of the world that
scarcely an arrival from abroad but brings us an ac-
count of some fresh injury or insult. To the instances
already given, we have now to add another. An Ame-
rican paper contains the following. We copy it from
the Sun :
" Monte Video, June s.—The British packet from Rio
Janeiro (the Spider, Lieutenant O'Reilly,) entered this port
last night, and just as she was anchoring she was fired intb
(musket-shot) by the French corvette Le Perle, which broke
the arm of one of the seamen on board the packet. This
affair has created considerable excitement, particularly among
the British. The Frenchman has made lots of apologies.
We shall probably hear in a few days the result of the in-
quiry into the affair."

We have asked•repeatedly, how long are these things
to continue ? As to the " lots of apologies," they are
all very well from a Frenchman. They cost him little,
and will probably be deemed sufficient by Lord Pal-
merston ; but what avail they to the poor fellow whose
arm has been broken ?—what would they have availed
to him had his life been taken ? . There is no one more
anxious for the continuance of what is called a " good
understanding" between the two countries than we are;
but if it is to continue these outrages must be checked.
The Government may look complacently on, but the
country will not. British blood will not always bear
them. It has not long been inured to insult, and we
dare say it requires all the power of British discipline to
restrain it.

BRIDGEWATER HOUSE.—Lord Francis Egerton, before
quitting town for Worsley Hall, gave directions for the entire
demolition of this edifice, in order that the construction of
the new mansion may be commenced without delay. The
house is to be razed to the ground forthwith, and the internal
fittings-up, portico, &c. are to be sold in lots for building
materials. The splendid gallery of paintings, which formerly
belonged to the Duke of Bridgewater, have been removed
pro tern, to his lordship's brother's, the Duke of Sutherland.
INTERESTING TO SPORTSMEN.---A gentleman, a friend of
ours informs us, that as he was ascending Cheviot t'other
day, he descried three brace of red grouse to pass over him.
On reaching Hen-hole, he observed to a friend whom he met
with, " Upon yonder hill I saw plenty of red grouse, but no
black cook." "No ; that hill is solely possessed by red
grouse, who will not permit black game to reside upon it. I
myself one day came upon a red grouse and a black cock,
both so exhausted by fighting as to enable me to seize both."
This fact is the more remarkable, as the black cock is a much
heavier bird than the red grouse.—Staffordshire Gazette.
THE FALLING STARS AND AURORA BORE ALES.—Between
the hours of ten oh Tuesday night and three on Wednesday
morning, in the heavens were observed one of the most mag-
nificent specimens of that extraordinary phenomena the fall-
ing stars and of the northern lights ever witnessed for many
years past. The first indication of this singular phenomenon
was about ten minutes before ten, when a light crimson, ap-
parently vapour, rose from the northern portion of the hemi-
sphere, and gradually extended to the centre of the heavens,
and by ten o'clock, or a quarter past, the whole,,from east to
west, was one vast sheet of light. It had a most alarming ap-
pearance, and was exactly like that occasioned by a terrific fire.
The light varied considerably, and at one time it seemed to
fall, and directly after rose with intense brightness. There
were to be seen mingled with it volumes of smoke, which
rolled over and over, and every beholder seemed convinced
that it was " a tremendous conflagration." The consterna-
tion in the metropolis was very great, thousands of persons
were running in the direction of the supposed awful catas-
trophe. The engines belonging to the Fire Brigade stations
in Baker-street, Farringdon-street, Watling-street, Water-
loo-road, and likewise those belonging to the West of Eng-
land station, in fact every fire engine in London, were horsed,
and galloped after the supposed " scene of destruction," with
more than ordinary energy, followed by carriages, horseman,
and vast mobs. Some of the engines proceeded as far as
Highgate and Holloway before the error was discovered.
These appearances lasted for upwards of two hours, and to-
wards morning the spectacle became one of more grandeur.
At two o'clock this morning the phenomenon presented a most
gorgeous scene, and one very difficult to describe. The whole
of London was illuminated as light as day, and the atmosphere
was remarkably clear. The southern hemisphere at the time
mentioned, although unclouded, was very dark, but the stars,
which were innumerable, shone beautifully. The opposite side
of the heavens presented a singular, but magnificent, con-
trast ; it was clear to the extreme, and the light was very
vivid ; there was a continual succession of meteors, which va-
ried in splendour. They apparently formed in the centre of
the heavens, and spread till they seemed to burst ; the effect
was electrical , myriads of small stars shot out over the hori-
zon, and darted with that swiftness towards the earth that the
eye scarcely could follow the track ; they seemed to burst,
also, and throw a dark crimson vapour over the entire hemi-
sphere. The colours were the most magnificent that ever
were seen. At half-past two o'clock the spectacle changed
to darkness, which, on dispersing, displayed a luminous rain-
bow in the zenith of the heavens, but round the ridge of dark-
ness that overhung the southern portion of the country. Soon
afterwards columns of silvery light radiated from it, they in-
creased wonderfully,- intermingled amongst crimson vapour,
which formed at the same time ; and, when at the full height,
the spectacle was beyond all imagination. Stars were darting
about in all directions, and continued until four o'clock, when
all died away. During the time that they lasted, a great many
persons assembled on the bridges across the river Thames,
where they had a commanding view of the heavens, and
watched the progress of the phenomenon attentively.--Globe.