The Sun.
London, England, 1855-07-19 00:00:00

LONDON, THURSDAY, JULY 19, 1855.

This evening the division on Mr. ROEBUCK'S
motion, or rather on General PEEL'S amendment,
will unquestionably take place. It is probably
the last opportunity which Honourable Gentle-
men will have during the present Session of vin-
dicating their own characters, and exonerating
themselves from auy complicity with Ministers in
conduct which has proved alike disastrous and
diicreditable to the country. We fear, however, ,

that, like many others, it will be disregarded, and
that nothing practical will be effected. The se-
called independent members are already affected
with the listlessness inseparable from the season.
They are longing for the arrival of the vacation,
when they can separate in pursuit of their respective
hobbies. At such a time they will not tolerate any
proceedings that may increase their labours or
procrastinate the anxiously-looked-for moment of
" breaking up"—more especially so if the pro-
posed course may possibly lead to the much-
dreaded " appeal to the country," and the turmoil
and expense of a • sharply-contested election.
However palpable the public benefit to be derived
from any suggestion it will not compensate for
the private inconvenience and the loss of the
coveted holidays. Thus it is that, as we recently
explained, there have been " a series of compro-
mises" lately. That Sir E. B. LYTTON was
mollified by the sacrifice of Lord JOHN RUS-
SELL, and thereby induced to let the " insig-
nificants" GREY, WOOD, and LEWIS escape
scot free, while Ministers are contented to
get rid of Mr. ROEBUCK'S damaging motion
by an undignified resort to " the previous
question," satisfied to let the inculpatory verdict
remain on record against them, provided the
punishment remains in abeyance and they be dis-
charged on their own recognisances to appear to
receive sentence whenever called on.

We do not, howevet, believe that the nation
will be satisfied with these " compromises " or
the truckling spirit exhibited by those who, al-
though nominally their representatives, are not
animated by the same unflinching determination
and patriotic devotion as themseliies. The Eng-
lish people have indeed exhibited unquestionable
proofs of their earnestness in the sacred cause in
which they have embarked. They have freely
accepted every bill drawn on their resources—
have assented not only to a considerable
addition to the onerous income tax, but to
further charges on malt and spirits, on tea, sugar,
and coffee. No credit that was asked for has
been denied. The only complaint has been that
sufficient efforts have not been made to conquer
an honourable and enduring peace, and to achieve
a decisive triumph for "right over night."
The members of both branches of the Legisla-
lature may well profit by this salutary example.
When they see the middle classes not only pa-
tiently, but enthusiastically submitting to this
serious and wearisome burden, they should surely
be contented to make some personal sacrifices—
might, for instance, surrender for a season, or
even postpone for a few weeks, their amuse-
ments. Might they not, for instance, in
order to save the effusion of British
blood, and the expenditure of British treasure,
proclaim a "grouse jubilee" for the month of
August, and delay their crusade against red and
black game until the month of September? Might
not the yachts be kept at their anchorage or on
the cruising ground without the presence of their
owners for a few extra weeks, or the enjoyment
of rural festivities be deferred ?

This evening these interrogatories must be an-
swered. The undignified and discreditable compro-
mise must be either accepted or rejected. We con-
fess that we should consider any decided course
preferable to that which conveys a tacit censure
on the conduct of every member of the Aberdeen
Ministry, although not in such terms as to pro-
duce any tangible results, which can only be com-
pared to the verdict of the Hibernian jury,
which declared the prisoner not guilty, but
earnestly admonished him " not to do
so again." If Ministers do not merit the
grave accusations framed by one of their own
most decided partisans, and unceremoniously
adopted by the Committee, let the motion be met
by a direct negative, and unequivocally rejected.
If, OR the other hand, it appears that the verdict
was in strict accordance with the evidence—that
the parties responsible for the sufferings and pri-
vations endured by our gallant army have been
only too leniently dealt with by the Committee,
then let the House vindicate its own reputation,
and pronounce the well-merited censure on the
parties really responsible ; and that, although it
gives a partial, or even a complete, amnesty to
grouse and black-cock during the present autumn.
As we have already stated, " England expects
that every man will do his duty ;" and woe to
those who, from any selfish or personal motives,
disappoint the reasonable anticipations. Their
punishment may be delayed, but cannot be
averted.

Publi3 attention is at last attracted to the state
of the Thames. What we and others predicted
would come to pass, Professor FARADAY, by a
simple and conclusive experiment, has shown to
have taken place. Day by day, and week by
week, the entire drainage of London has been

precipitated from innumerable outlets into the

noble stream, and day by day, and week by week
its pollution has been growing more and more

perceptible, and its atmosphere more and more
unhealthy, until now the stench arising from it
has become so offensive even to the rudest sense,
and the fatid current so palpably thickened with
filth that nobody attempts to deny the magnitude
If the evil, or refuses to join in the desire to have
something done for the sake of the public health.
This state of the river is a very different sort
of thing from what we were promised. Scientific
engineers, dosy officials, fussy sanitarians, and
other insane persons, pointed out in the river a
natural and a most magnificent outlet for the im-
purities with which the cesspools of this getat city
were charged, and when the possibility of the
stream being polluted was hinted at laughed the
notion to scorn. No matter what the volume of

,he sewage might be, it had only to be discharged

into the Thames to be borne down with the stream
tnd disembogued into the sea. To dream of its
being brought regularly back twice a day
iavoured of insanity, and to speculate on the
effect of the steam-boats ploughing incessantly its
waters wildness in the extreme. And yet science,
fanaticism, and authority were, after all, as we
have seen, quite wrong, and committed, after
fair warning, a most miserable and dan-

:emus blunder—a blunder, too, that has

led to the poisoning of other streams in various
parts of the country, and must either be produc-
tive of an enormous waste of expenditure, or of
great injury to health, and loss of life.
It avails little to reap up the past—scientific
men and bran new philanthropists ought, how-
ever, to take a lesson from this affair, and not be
quite so rash in their conclusions, and so posi-
tive in maintaining them, and men of sense deter-
miner for the future to surrender their judgment
as seldom as possible to others, however loud be
their professions.
The, great thing now is to have the evil reme-
died, am d this we are happy to feel assured is by
no mean s impossible. The sewage must be di-
verted fi •om the river—not merely carried lower
down, nit diverted altogether, and discharged
into so mo receptacle where it may be converted
into sa.teaMe manure. By this means, and this
only, cArt we look for the restoration of the
Thames 1 o comparative purity, and the prevention
of pestilE ,nce from the noxious feculence existing
in it. T. fie difficulties in the way, it would appear,