The Sun. — 1844-11-12 (London, England)

FALSE LIGHTS. (From the Berwick Advertiser.) Since our last we have had very boisterous weather. The wind which blew freshly from the east on Wednesday last week, continued for several days increasing in fury, and at intervals was accompanied by heavy rains. The sea became more and more agitated with the continuance of the high winds, and, from Thursday last week until yesterday, our harbour was all but inaccessible. With the exception of a foreign galliott ►which entered on Tuesday and encountered very great risk, there were neither arrivals nor de. partures at our port within the period mentioned. The Manchester steamer, which left London on Thursday morning, arrived in the bay at two o'clock on Saturday morning, but the state of the sea on the bar prevented her from entering the harbour, and the violent gale rendered it dangerous for her to remain in the bay, so that after firing a signal, she ran for shelter to the Frith, and came to a safe anchorage opposite Charleston, where she remained until this day, and is at present hourly expected here. .On Wednesday afternoon the Tweed showed symptoms of flooding, and the several vessels in the harbour increased their warpage, a precaution the necessity of which was proved next morning, when the river was swollen and rolled along with great impetuosity, strewed with pieces of timber, bushes, and other articles, showing that the water in its course to the sea had risen above the usual limits of the river. On Wednesday night the wind seemed to have exhausted its fury; it was then succeeded by a very heavy rain, and next morning was exceedingly mild. The wind veered slightly to the south, and the storm on the coast gradually abated. No serious disaster is ascertained to have occurred. On Sunday there was picked up by some fishermen on the Magdalen fields shore a piece of the stern bulwarks of a vessel, having the name " Era" on it ; and on Wednesday night a similar plank was also there picked up with " Harvest" painted on it. This latter appeared very old, and as if it had been long in the water: and we trust they are not indications of any recent shipwreck. We have in another paragraph noticed a vessel dismasted in the Fair-way, opposite the Fern islands. Besides that loss, the brig Iris of Whitby with grain from Dantzic suffered shipwreck at Boulmer at 5 P.M., of the 2d instant. The crew were saved by means of the life-boat through the exertions of Lieutenant Brunton, of the Alnmouth coast-guard station. The schooner Graham, of Perth, Sweeny master, bound to Blythe from Rouen in ballast, came on shore north of Wark worth at 8 P.M., of the 3d instant, crew saved. Portions of wreck and a boat came on shore at the Craster station, and are supposed to have belonged to the Elizabeth, of Moulden, W. Cole, master. The materials found are very old. At the caves near Emanuel Head, at Holy Island, portions of wreck and a boat have come on shore. They have no name nor mark on them, but are supposed to have belonged to a foreign vessel. Rumours of other wrecks have been current, but the above comprise all that have been communicated by the authorities at the coast-guard stations, and we are disposed to conclude they are all that have occurred on our coast. We have heard that on Saturday, Sunday, and again on Wednesday night, two lights were observed on shore near Hudshead, which were calculated to mislead persons in charge of vessels at sea, and give rise to serious consequences. We therefore hope the circumstance will be inquired into, and that the parties showing these lights, through inadvertence it may be presumed, will be made aware of the fault they have committed, and the necessity of guarding against it in future.  of what he intended to express was this: that he had been suspected of writing a letter in a newspaper, respecting the state of the regi:nent, some two or three years ago, and that he had ever since undergone such unremitting persecution, as rendered life intolerable, and he therefore, by the commission of this crime, hoped for death, as a termination to his sufferings. He did not name any one as his persecutor, but intended merely to remind the court, that rational beings were not in the habit of acting as he and others had done, without some cause. This man was sentenced to eight years' imprisonment with hard labour, and a month's solitary confinement every four months. Had private H-- committed suicide, instead of making a show of striking his captain for the purpose of being put to death, a coroner's inquest would, I think, have returned a verdict of temporary insanity. It is notorious that this man sought death as a release from continued suffering. Flogging has been long the principal secondary punishment in the British army. In the early part of the last century it was inflicted by means of rods, and by hired executioners ; but that mode having fallen into disuse, the present system was adopted, namely, by drummer with the cat-of-nine-tails. During the rebellion in Scotland in 1745, the cat was much employed by the army, to extort evidence, as well as to punish soldiers. We learn by the Jacobite memoirs, that a sentry, who had been convicted of allowing a prisoner‘ to escape,..repeived 500 lashes with it. The -punishment '6f flogging has Nen employed and defended, apparently as if it were calculated to expiate or atone for crimes. Flagellation was no doubt approved by public opinion, so long as it was in accordance with the prevalent religious ideas. The Church pointed out corporal inflictions as a means of salvation ; and the repentant sinner believed, that by penance and bodily suffering, he should recover peace of conscience.