The Sun.
London, England, 1863-12-22 00:00:00

teered assurances, not only to the Imperial Senate,
but through the Senate of France to the Govern-
ments of all Christendom, the EMPEROR has, of his
own free will, gone out of his way to endorse, to
underline, to emphasise in the most distinct and
positive way imaginable the pacific assurances
so very recently addressed by himself per-
sonally, under his own hand and seal, to
each and all of the European Sovereigns.
And, not satisfied with even this as an intimation of
his earnestly pacific intentions, the Emperor of the
FRENCH recalls to mind the memorable words
penned by NAPOLEON the Great, when in exile at
St. Helena, that to fight in Europe would be to
make Civil War ! May not this great thought,"
asks NAPOLEON 111. directly of his Senate, indirectly
of all Europe, "May not this great thought [namely
that to fight in Europe is to make Civil War],
though an Utopia in the past, shortly become a
reality ?" To that end, to the end if possible of
rendering it so, of rendering this Utopian notion or
the past, a sacred reality of the future, and that by
an earnest effort in the present—the French
EMPEROR, only the other day, propounded to
Christendom his Arcadian proposition of a Grand
European Congress : what our own Laureate, as
a poetical political-day-dreamer sang of nearly a
quarter of a century ago, in his famous poem of
Locksley Ball, as "the parliament of nations, the
federation of the world!" Rebuffed though the
EMPEROR'S halcyon proposition has been in one or
two quarters, in one of them, especially, mean-
ing of course our own, with a singular and a
wholly uncalled-for discourtesy, the Imperial au-
thor of this great scheme of a peaceful Congress now
contents himself with saying, in words evidencing
on his part an imperturbable equanimity—
"lt is always an honour to proclaim a
principle tending to remove the prejudices
of another age. Let us unite our efforts for
this noble end, and let us only study obstacles to
vanquish them, and. incredulity to confound it."
The perturbation with which the coming Jour del' an
was beginning to be looked forward to, will surely
be in a great measure dissipated, even among the
class of,the Alarmists, by the reiteration by NAPO-
LEON M. of his pacific intentions thus pointedly
and emphatically through his Senate to all Chris-
tendom. _

There are few public gifts more appreciated by
the population of a large and crowded city than
parks arid open grounds. We all know how highly
our London parks are valued by our toilworn arti •
sans and busy trading community, while the
popular affection for Hampstead-heath, Clapham.
common, and many other such localities has often
been loudly proclaimed on occasion of the many
attempts made to encroach upon them. Such
places of resort are inestimable privileges to those
whose duty confines them to close and crowded
shops, offices, or workrooms. At least one day in
seven they can see something more than chimney
tops or bleak walls. At least there are some spots
within easy and uncostly reach in which, as one of
our popular writers says of the miners emerging
from their subterranean gloom, they can " breathe
the air of earth, and look upon the light of heaven."
The parks of London have been styled very aptly
" the lungs of the metropolis," and although a
great part of the vast city's inhabitants can only
breathe in this sense once a week, yet there is no
question that they conduce very much to the phy-
sical health as well as the social pleasures of the
people. In many of our great towns, sprung up
like volcanic islands from the fervid commotion of
manufacturing or trading life, similar advantages
are being provided for the people. A wise philan-
throphy looking forward as well as around, provid •
ing for the need of the coming years as well as for
rho wants of the generation that is passing, has in
many instances chosen this form of expending vast
wealth or embodying benevolent sentiments. If
he who plants a tree for the benefit of posterity
has a right to be called a benefactor of
his kind, most assuredly ho who opens so
delightful and healthful a source of recreation
to those who are to come after us deserves our
admiration and approval. Many of our wealthy
men in the leading provincial towns have greatly
interested themselves in any effort made towards
opening parks and pleasure grounds for the people.
Many of our large centres of industry possess such
an advantage, and it is heartily to be wished that
fewer were without it. Among those thus favoured
is Birmingham, whose beautiful Aston Park has
been the subject of much gratification to all classes
of visitors, It is with considerable regret, therefore,
that the public have recently seen some transac-
tions brought to light which appear to render doubt-
ful the right of the people to retain their park. It
seems, according to the correspondence lately pub-
lished, that when the park was first opened to the
public its proprietors were the members of a joint
stock company, formed not indeed for purposes of
profit, but with a view of securing the hall and
park, which had long been coveted by the inhabi-
tants of the city. One of the earliest public intima-
tions of the scheme was a letter addressed to the
Earl of SHAFTESBURY by Mr. RATCLIFF, then
Mayor of Birmingham, in 1853. This letter was
written with the object of obtaining her MAJESTY'S
promise to open the park in person, end the advan-
tages which the park opened to the large body of
artisans who thronged that thickly peeped district.
This letter produced a subsequent communication
from the Home-office, in answer to which the
Mayor entered very fully into the matter. This
reply, which was read at the meeting of the Bir-
mingham Town Council held last week, enables us
to understand the original aspect of affairs. Mr.
RATCLIFF tells the Home Secretary that the main
capital of the company was raised by means of
shares of 21s. value, issued to working men. Others
were donation shares, the holders of which claimed
',either profit nor privilege. The remainder of the
c3Pital was to be raised by the issue of a third class
of tear_
, es, which were chiefly taken by the middle
Classes for the sake of obtaining a voice in the
mane
g'lllent of the park. It was also provided in the
ra
deed of settlement that if the company should prove
unable to pm ed
with the scheme, they might
tender the whole to
the council of the borough upon
payment of the liabilities then existing. Such a
clause appears to off a
difficult;. Creditable solution to the
present J It appears that the purchase-
• never
was asked, with all the obtained, her
having been
fully
State, to open a place for
Pomp and circnme
was no
general
stance
tit:Anne
ceeeye ToYf
IYor, unwilling,
longer to be
hingular
recreation which inTatiefewpryeseeanrat m .
public
naturally, that
the
very the borough
should lose their treasured IlaHrtptosekontthhee
b.b.
step of addressing Sir C. B. P
- Jeet,
in order that the matter might reach the Quxtli
The reply to this communication contained a veil:-
merited reproof. It expressed her MAJESTY'S eel..
prise that she had not been correctly informed on
the matter, and expressed her expectation that the
citizens of Birmingham would not delay in securing
the park as a public possession. This very natural
and sensible advice does not appear to commend
themselves to the good people of Birmingham. The
royal hint has not been taken, and the members of
the Town Council seem to be decidedly unwilling
to fulfil the pledge partly given on their behalf by
their former Mayor, whose acts and writings on
I this matter they never opposed or oo,tradicted. At