The Sun.
London, England, 1864-11-14 00:00:00

phor, showing that to suppose the Augustan age
produced the greatness, was as if anyone attributed
all the glories of autumn to that season, forgetful
that spring and summer had also contributed their

share to those juices and fruits which are so strong
at their close. " And that autumn in which those
fruits are produced in which we find the grape so
luxuriant, and the olive so abundant, has preceded
the winter during which all these fruits wither.

and disappear." A good illustration of the fallacy
of supposing that violent demonstrations and nn.
bridled fury can cure and check the progress of
evil, was given by the noble lord in his
remarks upon the death of CAESAR• In this, as he
said his assassins neither served the " Republic,
liberty, nor the world." " When the spirit of
liberty has been overpowered by a lawless soldiery,
and sunk in the vices of a corrupt people, it can-
not be restored by the dagger." This is a very
true reflection, and it would be well for many

nations if they recognised its truth and acted on
its principle. It is in the constitution of a State
and the character of a people that we must look
for the germs of impending revolution, and the
promise of future stability, and the exaltation of
this great genius, or the destruction of that great
tyrant will not prevent the one nor produce the
other condition. " What was required," said the

noble speaker emphatically, " was not the death
of a man but the regeneration of a people.' He
also showed the incalculable mischief produced
by such license given to desperate acts,
If you sanction BRUTUS, how can you accuse
RAYAILLAC ? So that if mankind leaves the adju-
dication of affairs to assassins, as different ideas
prevail upon the subject of tyrants, they may in-
violate all, like WILLIAM of ORANGE, "seeking to
deliver a people from the chains of tyranny ; or,
like HENRY IV. of France, opening the wa:s of
pr ace and prosperity to a people." When the noble
lord left ancient for modern topics he was neces•
sarily more confined and cautious in his remarks,
for, as he aptly declared, he was treading upon
perilous ground, and "there were ashes but a
short way beneath the surface, which be might
fiad to be burning under his feet." He made
some decided statements, however, which bore
reference to the great improvements that have
blessed and benefited the whole human race
since those long past days when, if empires
flourished in the magnificence of their might, they
did not possess the advantage of the corresponding
influences which strengthen and solidify the pre'.
sent foremost nations of the world. Civilisation is
everywhere driving barbarism before it, and thus
we need not now dread that a great country will
fall before the invasion of hordes of barbarians, as
did the mighty city of Italian fame. As for repre•
sentati►e government, Lord RUSSELL thinks that
that form has also spread to a very considerable
extent ; and thus we may see one of the chief
sources that give strength and Necurity to our own
highly •favoured land extended to other countries
hitherto not so benefited with the blessing. For
the African race the noble lord declared that there
is hope, and he quoted an anecdote very much to
the point, that when SYNDEY SMITH heard a gen-
tlemen once declare that it was useless to talk of the
Africans becoming civilised, he observed to him
as they came out " Well, you made an excellent
speech, but it was just such a speech.as a Senator
of Rome would have made to prove that it was
quite hopeless to civilise the Britons." This is a
very good reproof to those who will not allow that
others may march on in the path that has led
them and their forefathers to riches and renown,
but which they entered upon as ignorant and
helpless as those they now decry. Lord Itusssm,
said that if there was any bright spot in
the darkness now existing on the continent
of America, it was for the African race. The noble
lord truly said that our finite capacity is apt to
forget that in the sight of the ALMIGHTY a thousand
years are but as a single day, and that we should
not measure progress by our limited standard, but
compare it with the doctrines of the human race, as
it will effect or influence them in the spread of
events to the end of time. The conclusion of this
speech was most excellent, and worthy of the
speaker and the occasion, when he told his hearers
that as many opinions prevailed so there should be
tolerance exercised. The words of the Apostle
should be remembered in dealing with the different
sentiments that animate mankind, " Faith, hope,
and charity ; bat the greatest of these is charity."

The great question of the possible utilisation of

the m3tropolitan sewage is at last likely to be
brought fairly under notice, and the city of London
has the credit of inaugurating the inquiry. The
matter has indeed been for many years openly die•
cussed and examined into by enterprising and

scientific men ; the one class with a view to improve

ing the producing power of the soil, the other in
their pursuit of scientific knowledge. Baron
LIEBIG, the great authority on all points of practi-
cal chemistry, declares that he has ever since 1810
been earnestly endeavouring to direct public atten-
tion to the benefits they are wasting, and many

,andowners and occupiers have been making ex-

periments in dressing their land with sewage

manure during the last few years. There has even
been a Royal Sewage Commission and a select
Parliamentary Committee on the subject, and it is
therefore quite time that we had some practical re•
suit of all these preparations. Of late, however,
the question has fallen rather into the shade, and
has ceased to occupy so much attention. In
1858, indeed, we all had cause to remember
that not only did we fail to put the metropolitan
sewage to profitable use, but we d:sposed of it in
a manner positively injurious. Since then we have
mended matters a little, but if, according to the
opinion of well informed practical men, the sewage
of the metropolis alone is worth between two and
three millions a year, and that amount could be
d:sposed of to the relief of the ratepayers, the ques-
tion is really worth looking into. The report of
the Coal, Corn, and Financial Committee, presented
to the Cour, of Common Council on Saturday last,
enters very fully into the whole matter, but it is
felt to be so important and comprehensive in its
character, involving so many wide and complicated
interests that the committee are reluctant to advise
the council to deal with it singly, and recommend
the institution of a thorough and searching investi.
gation into the whole of the schemes proposed and
experimented upon, such investigation to be con-
ducted under the sanction either of Parliament o:
of the Executive. The Report of the Parliamentary
Committee was referred to the consideration of the
gentlemen comprising the Coal, Corn, and Finance
Committee of the Common Council, wha in their
turn referred it to a select number of their body.
This select committee have since devoted much time
and attention to the study of the subject, and have
invited the co-operation of Lord R. MONTAGU,
M.P., and Dr. BRADY, 11. P., who, having both oc-
cupied the post of chairman of the House of Coma
mons Committees on the utilisation of sewage, were
well qualified to assist their investigations. It ap-
pears as the result of their inquiries that the avail-
able sewage of the metropolis contains fertilising
matter equivalent to 212,842 tons of Peruvian
guano, and would, taking the present price of Peru•
vian guano, be worth £2,899,972. The committee,
after stating these remarkable scao;nts, very natua