The Sun.
London, England, 1852-04-30 00:00:00

and 700 acres in extent, and an exhaling' surface of
that extent, of which, mark this, the bulk remains
constant, are sent weekly to the Thames upwards of
8,000 loads of poisonous filth. After this statement,
can any one wonder that noxious odours pervade the
best squares and streets, and that no one can stand
without the annoyance and the risk of illness at a mo-
derate distance from any gulley shoot ?" Alluding
to the miserable children who are " dragged
up," according to poor CHARLES LAMB, and not
" brought up," in the lanes and alleys of the
metropolis, he described them, in the words of a com-
petent witness, as in appearance as pale, sickly, squa-
lid, irritable, diminutive, stunted in growth, branded
by the effects of disease, cadaverous. He depicted
the aspect among other localities of the place called
IJacob's Island, that foul and dilapidated suburb,
painted in such vivid colours by the master-hand
of " Boz," and regarded as little better than a
region as mythic as Cipango or Atalantis by
the intelligent and, sagacious Sir PETER Len-
JUL During the course of his remarkable
speech of yesterday, the Earl of SHAFTESBURY
entered more minutely, if possible, than ever into
those statistical statements which show the extent of
the wretchedness demanding alleviation. He pour-
trayed all the horrors of the garret-life and the
cellar-life of London, the dirt and privations to
which hundreds and thousands of our fellow-crea-
tures are unhappily habituated. He recounted many
of the more frightful consequences of that loathsome
kind of existence—the disease and depravity to
which the poor are driven by desperation.
Throughout the whole of these most lamentable
explanations, moreover, there was apparent the
humanity of the speaker's heart prompting his
voice to plead thus passionately for the very
lowly and degraded portions of the com •
munity. No marvel was it that, on the close
of the Earl of SHAFTESBURY'S address, the
Archbishop of CANTERBURY spoke in such fervent
terms of eulogium of his magnanimous and self-
denying philanthropy ! No wonder that the Earl of
DERBY bore equally ready testimony to the benevo-
lence which had originated the resolution then
before the upper branch of the Legisla-
ture ! If there is one man in the United
Kingdom whose labours in behalf of his fellow-
citizens are appreciated, if there is one man in
England whose humanity is this respect is de-
serving of appreciation—that man is the Earl of
SHAFTESBURY. Let us hope that the response to his
toils for the benefit of the poor may not be
restricted to panegyrics, which in that case will prove
to him only bitterly unacceptable. Let us hope that
the warning illustration of Dr. PRlCE—that sup-
posing for the sake of argument we sur-
rounded the metropolis with walls of brass,
so that no individual from the country could
enter within them, the whole population of London
would be extinct in half a century, may not be for-
gotten. Let us hope the writings of such men as Dr•
SOUTHWOOD SMITH, that the enterprise of such men as
Mr. G. A. WALKER, and that the persevering toils of
such men as the Earl of SHAFTESBURY may ultimately
rouse the constituted authorities to activity, eliciting
some large and comprehensive measure of sanitary
improvements from the hands of her MAJESTY'S Go-
vernment.