The Sun.
London, England, 1864-03-10 00:00:00

LONDON, THURSDAY, MARCH 10, 1864.

The happy ceremonial which has taken place
this afternoon in the Chapel within Buckingham
Palace will inaugurate, let us hope, a new
epoch of domestic happiness for the Royal
Family of these realms. Any attempt at fore-
casting the future of the infant heir to the
Heir Apparent were, of course, worse than idle.
It is, nevertheless, a most consolatory reflection, a
reflection full of encouragement to every patriotic
citizen owning allegiance to our beloved and revered
SOVEREIGN, that never in the history at this
country has the first•born son of the heir apparent
to the Crown
'b-on christened under the torgis
of so complete and universal a loyalty
a loyalty so securely based upon the affections of
the whole population. There is even the added
sentiment of a great grief still poignantly remem.
bere I by the English People to enhance their sense
of personal attachment to the CtueEN herself, in her
own august character as the most deservedly-
beloved of all our Constitutional Sovereigns, and,
through her MAJESTY, of personal attachment also
to her children and her children's children. Nearly
seven-and-twenty years have now elapsed since
the accession to the throne of Queen VICTORIA
on the nth of June, 1837, as the successor to
King WILLIAM IV. Already, therefore, the
Present reign has more or less exceeded the
duration of the reigns respectively of the fourth
WILLIAM and of the fourth GEORGE, of the
first cf the Hanoverian Kings of that name,
of ANNE and WILLIAM of ORANGE, of the two
JAMESES and the first CHARLES, of MARY and of
EDWARD VI., of HENRY VII. and RICUARD
TIL, as well as of tea Out of the seventeen

preceding Monarchs, dating from the Nor-
man Conqueror, and including amongst those
ten the Conqueror himself, Ia effect out of the
thirty-six Sovereigns who preceded Queen VICTO-
RIA on the throne of England since the date of the
Conquest, there have been only eleven who have
reigned longer than her MAJESTY has reigned even.
now. HENRY I. reigned only eight years longer,
HENRY 11. calf eeven—EDWARD I. also but seven
years longer. HENRY VI. but twelve years
longer, HENRY VIII. eleven, ELIZABETH
fourteen and a half. CHARLES 11. nominally
owned the Crown but nine years longer, even
if we so calculate the duration of his reign, at
an extravagant excess in the computation of it, by
irmorinm the whole existence of the Commonwealth.
GEORGE 11. reigned altogether no more than sixteen
and a half years longer than Queen VICTORIA has
reigned already. By a well-known coincidence in
our national annals, the three longest reigns of all
have been those cf monarchs, each the third of
his name, viz. HENRY 111., EDWARD 111.,
and GEORGE 111. EDWARD 111. reigning
altogether twenty-three and a half years
longer, HENRY 111, twenty-nine years longer, or
more than double the duration of her Majesty'e
reign even so far as it has by this time extended—
GEORGE 111., her Majesty's grandfather, whose
reign was the longest of all the reigns of all our
sovereigns, exceeding the duration already attained
by her Majesty's reign by an addition of no less
than thirty-two years and a half. But then, while
we are in the midst of these curious historical
calculations, it ought, as a matter of course,
to be borne in remembrance, here, that many
of the closing years of the protracted reign of King
GEORGE 111. were passed by that afflicted monarch
in complete darkness both of mind and body—in
total blindness and utter bereavement of intellect.
Already, then, the longest reign saving eleven out
of the thirty-six reigns dating from VICTORIA
back to WILLIAM the Conqueror—the present reign
shines already conspicuously, shines, rather, it
should be said, pre-eminently in our annals as the
happiest of all, the most prosperous, the most
tranquil internally, that is among the people of these
islands—and all this because, under the blessing of
GOD, the reigning Sovereign has proved herself,
beyond all manner of doubt and question, to be the
most constitutional Monarch who ever wore the
crown or held the sceptre of EGBERT, doing so not
only as the Ruler of the State, but, as such, is the
fullest and noblest meaning of the words, as the cus-
todian of the rights and liberties,ot Englishmen.

The report of the joint committee of the two
Houses relative to the various metropolitan railway
schemes was not suffered to pass without some
comment and opposition. A good many of the
arguments now brought against the decision of the
committee might with equal reason have been urged
against the appointment of a committee at all. One
hon. member, whose connection with the City of
London rendered his views of some importance, has
indeed suggested that a committee of inquiry
should be nominated before any new works should
be undertaken in the metropolis. It was of course
intended that this committee should be formed of
men who, by natural ability or long experience,
should be able to deal with the matter as
a whole, to combine practice with theory, and
a duo regard for architectural beauty and
permanent utility,with public convenience and busi-
ness purposes. Such an assembly would, no doubt,
deprive the designs of directors and shareholders of
many of their angularities, would demur to unneces-
sary bridges and viaducts, and object to anything
that tended to the obstruction or disfigurement of
any locality. There might under its agency be
developed some harmonious scheme in which sim-
plicity should take the place of confusion, and unity
of competition, but the proposal of such a committee
was open, as Mr. 'MILNER GIBSON showed the other
night, to a very serious objection. Its decisions
would be purely visionary. It might indicate what
in its opinion was the wisest course, and recommend
that railways should be laid down in certain direc-
tions, but unless the whole system of railway legis-
lation were altered it would be powerless to carry
those recommendations into effect. It has always
been a principle of our Constitution to allow as
much scope as possible to private enterprise, and
unless the executive were prepared to reverse this
custom, and take the whole work of railway con-
struction into its own hands, it could not enforce
the recommendations of the committee. It could
not compel shareholders to subscribe, directors to
come forward, and a railway company to start into
existence at the time and place indicated. The
matter, too, pressed for consideration, and the
public were impatient to have some guarantee that
London should not be absolutely converted into a
network of iron rails, and the interests of the eager
candidates for Parliamentary favour deserved acme
consideration. Under these circumstances, the
somewhat exceptional course proposed by Mr.
MILNER GIBSON was perhaps one of the best that
could have been adopted. The labours of the
joint committee, if not lengthy, have been assi-
duous, and the time which, day after day,
they gave to the subject was exclusively
devoted to its consideration. There was no time
lost by putting irrelevant questions to witnesses,
or by hearing long speeches from counsel, says
Mr. GIBSON, and it must be remembered that the
lords and gentlemen who formed that committee
were selected by reason of their fitness for the office.
Under these circumstances the report might safely
be agreed to, especially as it by no means commits
the House to the acceptance of all the bills which it
suffers to proceed another stage. The noble lord
the member for King's Lynn, whose good sense and
judgment render him an authority to whom all sides
seem disposed to refer in such a matter, pointed out,
in answer to some objections raised against the
report that the committee had not taken upon them-
selves the responsibility of absolutely approving, or
of absolutely condemning, any of the competing
schemes. They could not, indeed, have done so
without entering into a long and tedious investiga-
tion, in the course of which justice would have de-
manded that the arguments on all sides should be
brought forward, thereby entailing the necessity of
hearing a number of counsel, and occupying an in-
calculable period of time. The result of this would,
of eourae, have been that all the bills would have
been postponed until next year, a proceeding which
would have been looked upon with disfavour in
many quarters. It would besides have been enter-
ing upon matters not properly belonging to the
jurisdiction of the committee, whose office was
merely a preliminary one, to ascertain which
schemes had sufficient show of reason and utility
upon their side to warrant their appearing before
the ordinary
tribaual. Lord STANLEY, in remark-
ing that he and his
associates had only acted on the
principle of striking out those bills which
did not appear to
advised press
urgently for con-
sideration,the Rouse to avoid the
hopeless task of discussing
the rival merits
of proposals whose effect could only be rightly
appreciated by a careful study
of mans and plans.
One important point to be born •
° • mind in con-
nection with the metropolitan rail • aYs is the relief
they:afford to some densely pecked and overcro wdeo
localities by enabling persons, •
weoee presence in the
Cif
y or elsewhere is indispenfp.,bic doting business

hours, to have their place of residence beyond the
magic circle. The facilities afforded to the labour-
ing classes by their means of obtaining better and
cheaper dwellings in healthier spots than the courts
and byways of the city is a matter of very great
importance. The engineer of the Commissioners of
Sewers, when examined by the committee, observed
that since the populatio❑ of London doubled in 37
years, and that the demand for means of transit was
constantly on the increase, there must be an increase
in the railways to meet the demand. The distance
at which the crowded state of tho City compels
many of those engaged in it to live, was another of
the arguments which imposed upon the committee
the propriety of not putting a summary and con-
clusive negative upon al, the schemes for additional
metropolitan railways. The unreasonable number
and extent of these schemes, and the extravagance
of some of their pi ojects, have gone far to neutra-
lise the public confidence in the benefits they confer,
but that there are advantages as well as drawbacks
to a system of metropolitan railway communication
must be apparent on very slight consideration.
That both sides of the question have been fully and
fairly weighed by the committee is apparent by the
number of the bills rejected and retained, and we
are glad that the House has approved the substance
of their Report, leaving all subsequent details to
be worked out in the ordinary course.

Several cases in Bethnal Green have lately at-
tracted attention and called forth censure, but the
last one recorded is about as painful as any that
have ever come under public notice. The adjourned
inquest on the woman S ARAH DOVE revealed a
story that was awful in its consequences and most
irritating in its details. The result of a post mortem
examination proved that the deceased had died from
want and privation. Owing to local occurrences
the Coroner very properly called in another opinion,
but the evidence adduced by the referee was, if
anything, still stronger and more condemnatory
than the previous report. Mr. GATT, the patho-
logical anatomist to the Royal Free Hospital,
declared that the body of the unfortunate woman
was " extremely emaciated," and that, all the facts
being taken into consideration, he gave it as his
opinion that the deceased died from sheer exhaus-
tion, consequent upon continued want of food and
clothing and the chief necessaries of life. Further-
more, he said that if she had been admitted to the
Infirmary a week previous to her death, she would
not only possibly but probably have rallied, being
very healthy. The facts were that Dr. MooRE
had given an order for her admission into the In-
firmary of the Workhouse some days previously,
but owing to gross mismanagement the order was
not carried into effect. Instead of admitting the
poor sufferer, the relieving-officer came to the house
where the family resided and told the husband that
he had brought an order for himself, wife, and two
children to go into the 'Workhouse. The man very
11 naturally replied that this did not suit his wishes,
for he earned two shillings and sixpence a day, and
he did not want his children to go into the Work-
, house. To this it is alleged that Mr. CHRISTEY
replied, that "all should go in, so that you, DOVE,
can work in the House to help to support
your wife and children." Was ever anything
more inconsistent. Things have come to a pretty
pass if relieving officers are to be allowed to settle
the terms upon which alone admission can be
granted to paupers. The sequel to the sad tale is
sufficiently tragic to arrest notice, and the fact that
the suffering subject of this debate and altercation
died in her miserable home a few days after can
surprise nobody. A mare direct case of faulty in-
terpretation of the law has seldom been witnessed,
and SARAH DOVE will long live in the recollection
of her neighbourhood as a victim to the insane
notions that prevail in the minds of some officials,
who carry out their own pet projects to the detri-
naent of all around them, and count life itself so
light in the balance when compared with the due
observarce of absurd customs, and the maintenance
of self-imposed or imaginary restraints. The idea
of compelling a man who was earning 2s. 61 a day
to enter the workhouse seems alike devoid of com-
mon sense and common justice, while the manner in
which the unfortunate woman was treated was a
violation of all the dictates of good feeling and con-
sideration. At any rate the scheme for inducing
the husband to coma into the House was but a
crotchet, and for the sake of carrying it out what a
price hes been paid, and what a sacrifice has been
offered up. It comes to this that human life must
pay the penalty for non-conformity to the hard
rules and harsh decrees of a prejudiced partisan.
Comfort and convenience are inadmissible terms
when applied to the claimants who turn in hunger
and nakedness to the refuge provided for them by
the laws of the land. It is one of the greatest hard-
ships imaginable that an ablebodied man should
be compelled to become a pauper for the remainder
of his life, perhaps, in order to satisfy the scruples of
official and parochial routine. Above all, it is a
monstrous thing that a member of the community
should literally perish of starvation and exposure
with the means at hand that would have saved her
life, perhaps, for many years, and the only reason
that can be adduced should be utterly unfounded as
the one here cited. It is very satisfactory that the
jury returned so strong a verdict, and surely it
must have some effect upon the Poor Law Beard, to
whom at their request it has been forwarded. This
is not the first complaint that has been made con-
cerning Mr. CIIRISTEY, and nothing but his imme-
diate dismissal from a post for which ho is so
eminently unfitted can consort in any measure with
the principles of justice and mercy, which by his
conduct he has so greatly transgressed against.
Some blame attaches itself to those who have so
long persisted in retaining him in his position. TO
do this, after a man has proved himself unfit or
unequal to the duties of the peculiar vocation, is a
cruelty to himself and a wrong to those over whom
he exercises authority. The present system of rating
is very bad, and surely when so many deaths have
attested its inefficacy, and so
many wretched lives
bear witness to its hardships and horrors, something
different will be adopted. To equalise the burden
and make some rich perishes who at present pay
little or next to nothing share the burden with the
less opulent neighbourhoods, who are worn down
by the pressure of their heavy rates, would be a
boon of inestimable value to all concerned. Evil is
wrought by want of thought as well as by want of
heart, is as true a saying
as any that poet ever
penned and philosopher gave utterance to, and
there must be many well-intentioned persons at
present connected with the Poor Law Board who
would take up the matter heartily, if only they
were able to appreciate its necessity and recognise
its importance. The evils of a system go
on unchecked because custom sanctions every-
thing, and use makes us conform to
strange and most inconsistent forms, but soon
or late, as the case may be, the truth dawns
upon the mind of those who at one time lent an
unwilling ear to the claims of some and the com-
plaints of others. There are many interests at
stake in this affair of the poor rates, and a better
adjustment of them will bestow satisfaction on
many hardworking members of the community,
and, better Still, Will shed a ray of light over the
where poverty cannot win its
pinthing poverty is sapping the
dzilkyen berded: dwellingsw ereli