The Sun.
London, England, 1863-08-24 00:00:00

THERMOMETER.

This morning
This day at Two o'clock 7a

Barometer-30.29.
Wind—S.-W. ; light and fine, but cloudy.

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LONDON, MONDAY, AUGUST 24, 1863,

The Princes of Germany are learning wisdom.
Truth, at last, is making itself heard in high places.
Not from without—not in the thundering accents
of popular revolution, but from within—from
within the sacred precincts of royalty, in the still
small voice of conscience-stricken conviction, comes
to-day the doctrine of reform and the promulga-
tion of popular rights. Magna est veritas, says the
adage. We have only to wait, and truth must
and will be triumphant. It is a triumph, to- day,
to those who, like ourselves, have so long and so
strenuously preached those popular doctrines
to witness the steady and rapid progress
of their diffusion even in quarters the
least to be expected. What says the King of
BAVARIA in his recent address to the Emperor of
AusTniA ? The King of BAVARIA, a Sovereign
himself, speaking in the name of an assembled con-
gress of Sovereigns, Princes and Potentates of the
proud German race, and addressing his words to
the mi ty Kaiser, the despotic head of imperial
Austria, the King of BAVARIA declares, in the
name of all these Princes, and the Emperor to
whom he speaks cordially agrees with him—" We
DO longer misunderstand that the basis (of the
constitution) needs to be developed agreeably to
the spirit of the age, and especially by the
organic introduction of a representation of the
various Peoples." Is not this a step in advance ?
A Congress of Sovereigns take into consideration a
representation of liloples ! They recognise the
existence—th© morel existence—of such bodies•
Not merely as " hewers of wood and drawers of
water"—not merely to labour and sow, to toil and
to be taxed, but—to be represented! The King of
BAVARIA is wise in his generation, but the chief
merit of his wisdom is due, no doubt, to a greater
and a yet wiser potentate—the Emperor of AUSTRIA.
He it is who, with a true prescience, has under-
stood the exigency of the hour. He has recognised
at once the Danger, the Difficulty, and the Oppor-
tunity of his position, and, like a skilful gene-
ral, availing himself of the Opportunity, has
set both Danger and Difficulty at defiance.
The Emperor of AUSTRIA has struck the key-note
to which his brother Princes have wiselji—how
wisely !—hastened to respond. Hence the liberal
declaration of the King of BAVARIA, who, in the
comae of hit discourse alludes more than once to
" the spirit of the age," and the desire of the Princes
to conform to it. Had such an appreciation of a great
truth dawned upon the benighted minds of CHARLES
I. and Louis XVI., the STUARTS might have gone
to their graves Kings of England, and the BOUR-
BONS at this day might have been reigning
still in France. Every rule, of course, must have
its exception, every otherwise unanimous body
must have its dissentient unit. The Happy Family
of prudent Sovereigns have one foolish and refrac•
tory Brother. The King of PRUSSIA is acting on
the principle of the naughty boy who sulks in the
corner and "will not" take part in the general joy,

The punishment falls where, obviously, it is justly
due, on himself and on himself alone ! So be it.

The liberal and enlightened Sovereigns of Germany,

from a mistaken and exaggerated courtesy, had in.
vited the illiberal and unenlightened King 01

I'RUSSIA to take paA in their deliberations. The
King of PRUSSIA knew better. What should he
do in such an assembly ? We ehould say to the
other Sovereigns, as we would say to the friends of
the refractory youth above-mentioned, who wish to

Conciliate and coax him from his corner—" Leave

...„. __-
him alone; he knows his.. right.. place. Let him
abide by his own wise decision, and—take the conse-
quences 1,. The deliberations of the other Princes
will be
deserra Watched with a very general and well-
,,lnterest in this country. "The end we
aim at,
the King of BAVARIA, " is clearly
Baybefore our :8
to it are nut
el, although the paths which conduct
from us." yetT eprepared, and are in part concealed
, however, is before them—the
development
s3t tll;:onstitution in accordance with
the spirit of the a
tared upon by thehe design so daringly adven-
FRANCIS JOSEPH i Inperor of AUSTRIA. While
8, for this _
in opposition to the fur, :rudent declaration, so
winning golden opinions tOle tenets of his race,
ta
the Liberals of this
country, some zealous politician
pent them of the indianct,:will, perhaps, re-
bestowed awhile ago u 'l°ll ao lavishly
pon Nil.
ROEBUCK.
He was among the first to recognise those
liberal indications on the part ut the Raiser
anti,
like all men who are beforehand with an'y ---1
dis.
covery or innovation, he met only with obloquy and
incredulities. He is now to a csrtain extent justi-
fied, and we trust that the future deliberations and
resolutions of the Congress will yet further gua.

rantea and yet further justify his hopes and ox.
pectations. " Let us engage in the work with
calmness and firmness," says the prudent King of
BAVARIA, " with a sincere and honest will ; then
the benediction of the all• Powerful will be with

us, and will crown our labours," to which aspiration
the Liberals of England will very fervently and

unanimously respond—Amen !

It is often easier to work an important change
than to rectify a mistake, easier to introduce e
startling innovation than to retrace the steps which
have been taken on the supposed road to reform.
Mtn will generally prefer to go A very long way

round to taking the short and simple path ba ck
again, which they have just traversed, thinning
they were making rapid progress. It is therefore
an unusual, as well as satisfactory event, to find the
Westminster Board of Works so frankly and so
promptly admitting the error into which they have
been led, and so readily taking measures t o put
matters right again. The outlines of the woe are
familiar to the public, and it is undoubtedly one of
great hardship. For many years past an array of
stall and truck-keepers have been tolere,ed in the
Broadway, Westminster, and severe.l adjacent
parts, as they are in Tottenham-cor4rt-road, the
New Cut, Clare-street, Camden-toNen, Islington,
and countless other places. Some -of these stalls
were, it seems, regarded as family possessions, and
in any case the owner's right to Ids stand and his
stall was unquestioned by any competitor. Many
of the occupants have held their posts for more
than 30 years, some of them being aged persons, who
would naturally be unfit for any other employment.
A regular al fresco market was thus carried on, the
activity of which any one may guess who has ever
passed through such a locality on a Saturday even-
ing. It needs the pen of a DICKENS to depict
The withre.
sufficient vivacity its busy and stirring life.
sgeuelma r,n
oj tradesmenobeet oi
of
nto
h
the n neighbourhood o urh
supernumeraryood
pur-
veyors, r
t w
veynoort clash.s,an A totally d
d it is indeedproiffbaebrelentt class
tatshs
wouldeirintersetsotps
do
at a street-stall, attracted by the cry
iv gs for a penny" from the customerswhofo choose wefrom
t
lhanatd tghree
emt yt
the
tee rpi oa bunchsusserae as
ts
onions
sle
ot the
ecabbages gaenrds
every corner of thefonont,op:tth,h, w,
s with
nottheaysesruy ikralnceelythtaot
each is " the last pe
prove dangerous rivals of the regular supply. The
system, although it undouttedly has its drawbacks,
fills a vacancy in our social life. It supports one
class and provides for another. It is indisputably
the market of the poor, and buyers and sellers, who
are all of the lower working order, would be heavy
losers by its suppression. It supplies the means o
regular and honest living to hundreds of poor hard.
working persons, who have probably neither expe-
rience, ability, nor, above all, capital enough to em-
bark on a larger scale. Oar sources of employment
are not so many, nor is our labour market so ill sup-
plied, that we should lightly talk of closing one honest
and useful means of getting a livelihood, and the
amount of distress, suffering, and indignation
caused in Westminster by the recent order for the
removal of the street stalls in the district may be
readily imagined. Acting, no doubt, from a mis-
taken wish to preserve public order and consult the
general convenience, the members of the Board of
Works passed a resolution at the close of last month
approving the report of their committee with
reference to obstructions on the footways and car-
riage-ways. Upon the passing of this resolution,
the Chief Commissioner of Police caused the stalls
to be removed, and loud were the lamentations of
the poor ruined stallkeepers. Who originated the
matter in the first instance we cannot say, but the
general impression on the part of the tradesmen
whether the result of deliberate conviction or of

,emporary compassion, appears to be in favour of
the maintenance of the old customs. How the dis-
placed vendors have occupied or supported them-
selves since the arbitrary decree that broke up their
ancient privilege we know not, but their time of
trouble has only been of short duration. Moved
by the distress and excitement felt throughout the
district, some of the residents in the neighbour-
hood took up the matter and exerted themselves to
obtain the rescinding of the proceedings. A body
was formed which was styled the Street Stall Com-
mittee, which has been actively engaged in the
movement. On Alonelay last a meeting of more
than a thousand persons assembled at the Temper-
ance Hall, Westminster, Cat which the committee
reported their proceedings, and a deputation was
appointed to wait upon the District Board of Works
and present a memorial asking for the return of the
stalls. In presenting this memorial, which was
numerously signed, the secretary to the committee
pointed out the hardship of the case, showing that
45 families, numbering 300 persons, had been sud-
denly thrown out of employment by the withdrawal
of a privilege which the costermongers had en-
joyed for the last 60 years. A licensed victualler
in the Broadway, who was also a member of the
deputation, testified, on the strength of 31 years'
experience, to the utility and practical service of
the street market to the families of the poor. An-
other tradesman, residing in Great Chapel-street,
gave satisfactory evidence as to the general feeling
of the locality; for he affirmed that having can-
vassed the neighbourhood for signatures to the me-
morial, he had only met with three refusals. Other
respectab",e shopkeepers expressed themselves
strongly in support of the memorial, and the de-
putation withdrew. The members of the Board
thereupon, with a candour and readiness that does
them honour, at once admitted that they had made
a mistake, and proceeded promptly to rectify it.
Having, of course, no personal interest in the mat-
ter, they had only endeavoured to carry out what
they believed to be for the general good ; but on
finding that the proceedings they had taken were
totally at variance with the feeling of the district,
and were the cause of much suffering to an honest
and industrious class of persons, they immediately
revoked the obnoxious resolution, and carried
a motion for the reinstatement of the
stalls. Mr. WHITE, of Parliament-street, the
original mover of the resolution, alone re-
tained his opinion unchanged, but as he did not
vote, not being ambitions of so isolated a dignity,
this solitary exception did not mar the unanimity
' with which the motion was carried. So that the
inhabitants of the Broadway and Chapel-street
will soon see the busy line of trucks fringing their
thoroughfares as of old, and the little community,
who probably regard their ancient positions with
as much pride and jealousy as the claimants to
larger domains, will hasten to repossess themselves
of the old time-honoured haunts. No sooner was
alter_
the good news wafted abroad thanif
byh magic,undred
asof ther
-
poor, we are told, assembled as ,
nately congratulating eachother,ancl bletshseinirg
joy,
the
authors of the change, and expressing
we may be sure, in sufficiently demonstrative
fashion. We are heartily glad that the affair has
terminated so satisfactorily, and we hope it will be
a caution to well-disposed but officious reformers
to pause before they interfere too lightly with the
resources of humble industry. The employment
and decent maintenance of several hundred fami-
lies is no light thing in this busy metropolis, where
want is so often the guide to crime, and the sup-
pression of any means of earning an honest liveli-
hood cannot be looked upon by the political eco-
nomist,
otheruenc e
thanthata 081:r e:
any less
i t
oury footways
is of I
se
hs so
loan conse-
quence•
obstruction t carriage roads should be free from
clear from mendicants an
:a:eh:l:h.:a:by the humanitarian, as
and thieves, and a little
outer decorum gained in
bY an increase in the
our thoroughfares would
be sadly compounded for
due to this
already overwhelming numbers of our criminal and
destitute population. Great credit is
District Board for so quickly atoning
for their
error, and still greater praise is duo to those gen-
tlemen whose active and untiring Efforts have won
the gratifying guerdon of succos, and have ob.