The Sun.
London, England, 1854-07-15 00:00:00

.RECOMMENDATION TO OPEN THE CRYSTAL

PALACE ON SUNDAYS.

REPORT OF THE PARLIAMENTARY COM-
MITTEE ON PUBLIC-HOUSES.
Tho select committee of the House of Commons appointed
to examine into the system under which public-houses, coffee-
houses, and other places of public entertainment are now
regulated, have agreed to their report and laid it before the
house.
The committee, referring to the e.,viclence which they have
taken, notice the great advantage which had been derived
by the public of Dublin from the opening on Sundays of
the grounds of the Zooliogcal Society, in the Phoenix
Park, at a charge of one penny for admission. Further
on the committee say- -" A working man living in the
neighbourhood of the Crystal Palace, states that there is
great drunkenness on Sunday night in the public-houses
at Norwood ; a great number of people corns down to see
the building during the Sunday and stop at the public-houses,
where they get intoxicated, and make a great disturbance
during the evening. This is precisely what in the neighbour-
hood of Chatsworth used to happen during the period the
grounds remained closed, and from his experience on that
occasion, Sir Joseph Paxton apprehends persons going to see
the Crystal Palace would in the first place be too tired by
their exertions iu going round it to have any inducement to
go to the public-houses to drink. Their wish would be to
take recreation and see the beautiful objects which the place
contains ; and when they had been there several hours, he
does not think there would be a tendency to stop and drink.
" The prevention to the admission of the public to the
Crystal Palace on Sunday arises from the act of George 11.,
which prohibits money from being taken for admission to any
I place whatever on the Sunday; the act is evaded at several
music saloons, tea gardens; die., by the sale of refreshment
tickets being made to cover a nominally free admission.
"Your committee cannot but remark upon the impolicy
of suffering the continuance of a law which is preventive only
to those who will not stoop to devices for its evasion, and
who, from the excellence of their object and the superiority
of their position should, of all others, be exempt from re-
strictions. The inconsistency that suffers the singing saloons
of Manchester and Liverpool, and Cremorne and the Eagle
Tavern gardens to be open on the Sunday, and shuts in the
face of all but the proprietors, and those who have free ad-
mission, to the gardens of the Zoological Society, and the
vast and varied school of secular instruction provided within
the grounds and building of the Crystal Palace, is too glaring
for continuance. There can be but few who will contend
that it better becomes a Christian observance of the Sunday
that people should be congregated, drunken and brawling,
outside the Crystal Palace, than that they should be en-
gaged in the contemplation of the thousand beautiful and
thought-exciting objects within its walls. But there are
other places of public instruction, the complete
closing of which throughout Sunday seems to your
committee less excusable. The National Gallery, the
British and Geological Museums, the exhibitions at Marl-
borough and Gore House, are paid for by the nation ; there
is not au individual, however poor, that in the consumption
of taxed products does not contribute his quota to the sup-
port of these institutions, and it therefore does not seem to
your committee a policy that admits of defence that these
places should be closed upon the only day that it is possible
for the majority of the population to visit them without seri,
ous loss. It is seldom possible for working men, or any con-
siderable part of the fully employed population, to visit the
National Gallery, the British Museum, or other national in-
stitutions, unless at the cost, to them a serious one, of a day's
wages.
" It is, however, objected that to have the several national
and other exhibitions open on the Sunday must of necessity
deprive the servants of those establishments of their day of
rest. Your committee are by no means satisfied that this
need be the case : there are numbers of persons who, if it
were open to them, would gladly, at a moderate remunera-
tion, volunteer their services for the Sunday after two o'clock,
the hour at which it is proposed that all such places shall be
opened ; and your committee are not aware of any serious
difficulty in the way of a register of persons so willing to
serve being kept at the several institutions, or of their attend-
ing for a time as probationers, in order to make themselves
thoroughly conversant with the requisite duties, and it would
not oven be needful that the same persons should attend on
consecutive Sundays."
Tho report generally reviews the licensing systeni, and the
following are the

RESOLUTIONS OF THE COMMITTEE.
No intoxicating drinks to be sold without license.
Licenses to be issued by magistrates at sessions held for
that purpose.
There shall be one uniform license for the sale of intoxi-
cating drinks, that shall be open to all.
Persons obtaining licenses shall be bound, and the sureties
shall be bound, for their due observance of the law.
The lowest amount to be paid for a license in rstral
parishes and small towns, shall be 61. in towns of 5,000 in-
habitants; and not exceeding 10,000, the license to be 81.,
and so on, but in no case to exceed 301.
Inspectors of public-houses to be appointed, to report upon
the condition and conduct of such houses.
Coffee shops, temperance hotels, and shell fish shops, to
be required to be licensed, and visited and reported upon in
the same manner. The license to bo issued for 21.
That, with the exception of from 1 to 2 in the day, and
from 6 to 9 in the evening, public houses be closed on Sun-
days ; and on week days from 11 to 4 a.m.
That it is expedient that places of rational recreation and
instruction, now closed, should be opened to the public on
Sunday afternoons, at the hour of two o'clock, and that so
far as any such places are now closed by the operation of the
law, such laws should -be so far amended as to enable the
Lord Chamberlain, or other competent authority, to deter-
mine what places should be permitted to be so opened, and
for what length of time.
That the several laws relating to the regulation of licensing
of beer-shops and public-houses, and places of entertainment,
and the several provisions of the Police and Excise Acts ap-
plying thereto, should be consolidated and made in accord-
ance with these resolutions.

TEE "COURT"-EOUS SPY!

(From the Daily Noes.)
If any sober Danish soldier, at the time of Alfred's.
visit to the Danish camp, had proposed to his drunken
chieftain the summary ejection of the fascinating harpist,
he would probably have been knocked on the head for
his pains. He would, at least, have been called a low-
bred personage, one who could not understand the claims
of hospitality, or recognise the indubitable merit of It
good fellow. Nevertheless, every note on Alfred's harp
was the death-toll to the hopes of the revellers. While
his fingers were engaged his eyes were open, and the
knowlege that he obtained, says the legend, contributed
to ruin the Danes. It was thought impossible that so
boon a companion could he a traitor, so Alfred took the
measure of his enemies, and made such peculiar use of it
that he crushed them all.
There is an enemy in the camp in England: He may
certainly be very harmless, but he is a Russian. He
may be all that his friends say of him, but nothing can
wash away the Russian taint; and while England and
Russia are waging deadly war, we want no Russians
walking about our streets of London, and becoming ac-
quainted with many things which the Czar would be glad
to hear. Is the Czar famous for his courteous treatment
of Englishmen in his dominions ? Does he not, in vio-
lation of contracts, try to detain English engineers in his
country, fearful that they should publish reports of what
they had seen ? Has he not refused even to exchange
English prisoners, for the same cause ? We do not wish
to copy his brutalities, but we wish politely to decline
having Russians amongst us. Count Pahlen is a Rus-
sian subject, and if he had the good taste of a gentleman
he would have taken his departure long ago. Yet at
a time when the vessels of the two countries have
orders to sink, burn, and destroy each other, he is jaun-
tily mixing with English society, where secrets of State,
which are ever oozing out, are sure to appear first. He
gets a Cabinet Minister to introduce him to one of the
best attended of our clubs. It is idle to say that he has
not the opportunity of acquiring, by these means, much
knowledge that the open and declared foes of England
would be glad to learn. But, even if this were not the
case, Englishmen have several remembrances of the way
in which the Russian Emperor and his generals have
treated English subjects. Lord Malmesbury spoke of
the spirit of chivalry and Christianity displayed by
General Osten-Sacken and his " most amiable wife" on
behalf of the English made prisoners at Odessa. Why
did he not enlarge on the spirit of " chivalry and Chris-
tianity" manifested in the way that those prisoners were
captured ? How very chivalrous and very Christian to
attack a stranded and utterly helpless ship with red-hot
balls ! How chivalric and Christianlike the " victory"
of Sinope ! There are a few other incidents of the war,
which we may say has only commenced, which incline
Englishmen to be rather sore when they see a Russian
nobleman diving into the recesses of society here, on
his way to St. Petersburg. The public opinion is ex-
pressed rather warmly, and then Lord Granville comes
forward with what he considers an " explanation" of the
affair, and the Russian advocate in the press bullies those
who have manifested a distaste to the company of a Mus-
covite. What does Lord Granville's defence amount to ?
Count Pahlen, he says, is a highly respectable Russian
nobleman, greatly esteemed by many distinguished persons
in the country. He might say the same of half the Russian
noblemen who have ever been introduced into English
society. Lord Aberdeen would say as much of Nicholas
himself. Lord Malmesbury did say as much and more
of Osten-Sacken. Count Pahlen is possibly an interest-
ing personage, but he is a Russian. But Lord Gran-
ville tells us with a sneer he did not introduce Count
Pahlen into English society. At the time of his lord-
ship's birth the Count was the intimate friend of his
lordship's father, of the Duke of Wellington, Lord Grey,
and of others. So again, it may be said, were a host of
Russian noblemen now alive ; but they are not the less
bound by their allegiance to their Sovereign to consider
themselves enemies to the English now. But this has
nothing to do with the case. The true question is, did
Lord Granville's father, or the Duke of Wellington, or
Lord Grey, ever make it their business to strew flowers
in the path of the natives of other countries with whom
their own country was at war? There is very little
doubt that the Queen, in the exercise of the rites of hos-
pitality, gave the Emperor of Russia a hearty welcome
when lie carne over here. This, however, does not pre-
vent her preparing for him a " warns welcome" of a dif-
ferent nature, should he ever venture out of the o t
which, at present, appear hermetically sealed. P
r 8
Count Pahlen, when ho returns to his own country,
will, it is presumed, have an audience of his own Sove-
reign. From all that we know of Nicholas, have we any
right to suppose that the Emperor will be delicate in
putting on the screw to obtain whatever news it may
have been the Count's lot to gain while in England ?
The Czar is a despot, and Count Pahlen is the Czar's
property. Count Pahlen is not a free man. He is the
subject of an Autocrat, and must do the Autocrat's will.
The Count can scarcely wish, moreover, to keep back
any information likely to be of service to his own coun-
try, and injurious to ours. If he refused to tell all he
may learn, he knows very well that the road to Siberia
is open day and night for noblemen and others who do
not exactly agree with the Czar, and this knowledge
would assuredly induce him to comply with the Czar's
wishes to the utmost of his ability. If he has any eyes,
while in England he will use them. If the information
he acquires by this means be of use to the Czar, it will
be certain to he reported.
It is, then, to say the least of it, a grossly indelicate
Procedure on the part of a "Cabinet Minister" to appear
publicly patronising Count Pahlen in the way which
Lord Granville has done. The whole House of Peers
(Peers, as a rule, sympathising with despotisms) may
come forward and give the Count a good character ; but
this will not do away with the indiscretion of a Cabinet
Minister's publicly receiving and associating with a
nobleman from an enemy's country. Count Pahlen
himself is a sharer in the obloquy whieh must attach to
such indelicacy. If it was necessary that he should
come here at all, be should have done it quietly and with-
out ostentation. His noble friends would have acted
more consistently themselves, and better for him had they
told him to remain quiet, and not parade himself inso-
lently before the eyes of the English people. We have
gone to war sorelyfagainst our wishes, but yielding to the
inevitable exigencies of the case. Now we are engaged
in war, we accept the heavy responsibilities which it im-
poses upon us without reluctance indeed, but with a
feeling of solemnity. The death of thousands, and utter
dissipation of immense resources, are not matters to be
lightly treated. It is an insult to England that subjects
of the very nation which has imposed this responsibility
upon us should be allowed to walk from club to club,
from soirée to soirée, as if there was no reality in the fear•
ful contest that is raging. It is more than probable that
half-a-dozen Count Pahlens would never be able to do us
ranch harm, but that is no reason why we should be in-
sulted by his presence hero. We don't want him or the
Russians in England until their Czar and proprietor
has been made honest, and an honourable peace
has been secured. We shall be very willing to
shake hands with the Russians after their Autocrat
has been well set down as he ought to be, but, till then,
let them keep their distance. The Times, which sees
nothing but evil in the fact of French and English dining
together to celebrate their alliance, has not a word to
say against English and Russian noblemen performing
the dearest rites of friendship in time of war. The good
sense of Englishmen will detect the absurdity in either
case, and insist upon the absence of hostile noblemen,
who have all the opportunities (if not the will) to beoome
spies.

(From, the Morning Herald.)

The question connected with Count Pahlen cannot be
got rid of so easily as some of our contemporaries appear
to imagine. We earnestly hope that Mr. Butt will vin-
dicate his character for sincerity by asking the opinion
of the House of Commons upon that question ; but
whether he does or not, the Times may restassured that
the public will not be satisfied with the very dexterous
raillery by which our contemporary attempts to avert
attention from the true point.
To talk of this case as ono involving any question of
civilising the w=ages of war is absurd. The question is
this, and this only :—Are we to allow the subject of a
hostile power to come into this country, not for the pur-
pose of residing in this country as a, refugee from his own
Government, but with the avowed intention of returning
to his own nation in a few weeks? Lord Granville has
asserted for Russia the unlimitud right of sending any
number of agents into this country. If Count Nicholas
Pahlen can come without any licence from the Govern-
ment—any other Russian nobleman is equally at liberty
to come. If Lord Granville may domicile one Russian
nobleman in his house, any other British gentleman is
at liberty to invite over any Russian friendt
issue,
em he
may happen to know. The true question
repeat, is this—whether Russia is at liberty a
to send we
any
agents
shenominally at
warleasewithintos R
this country while this nation is
1
With reference to Count Pahlen himself,
greatim con t'tu•lf, it is, we
think, of high importance
from any considerations o
chef°
nthat l
tqhuaetsht iiosnadis m raised.irers in
tional question at issue shfotuhlde
pbeerkeeenpatlpeehrafercateltyerdiesftitnhcte
lis.not, than,
we
Suppose Count
individual in iwNhiooshenliaenstpana
the
Russia he is the enemy of England. The
House of Lords deßscuriebseiahaiem
a.
s
not a traitor to
*sts exalt his character higher his panegyrists the more do
presume, returning to e
they establish the case that he is an unfit guest of an
English Minister. A high-minded subject of the Czar
is now our bitter enemy—the more high-minded he is
the more bitter is his enmity, and all the eulogiums that
were so largely heaped upon Count Pahlen on Thursday
night tended, in truth, to establish that he ought not to
be suffered to be here.
But, let us say—and it is well that the truth should
be known —that the whole truth of the case was
blinked in the House of Lords. Not a single noble
lord ventured to allude to the fact stated by Mr. Butt
in the House of Commons—that Count Nicholas Pahlen
is the brother of a gentleman who was the Russian Am-
bassador at Paris, and who is at this moment holding
official rank at St. Petersburg. This fact at once dis-
poses of all the sentimental cant that has been talked.
As none of the friends of Count Pahlen have denied it,
it is admitted. It is, indeed, toe notorious to be denied.
'We ask of the English people to weigh this fact, and to
remember that a Minister of Queen Victoria has had
domiciled in his house the brother of the Minister of
Nicholas.

The impulse of every one will ba to ask the ques-
tion, whether Lord Granville has deserted the Queen,
or Count Pahlen abandoned the Emperor of Russia !
One or other of these things seems necessary to have
happened. If Queen Victoria and Nicholas be really
and in good earnest at war, it seems very difficult to be-
lieve that the true rninister.of the one and the true sub-
ject of the other could live very comfortably under one
roof.

The relationship of Count Nicholas Pahlen to a high
Banjul Minihter wail A ;natter not considered worthy of

.......m......•
inotice in the House of Lords. Another incident in Count
Pahlen's history appears equally to have been overlooked.
He has not come here from Madeira; he has spent, if we
are not misinformed, the last four months in Madrid.
'- ' Now we know that it is the general belief that Russian
agents have been engaged in getting up recent disturb.
ances in Spain. It is, at least, a singular coincidence,
that this very same Count Nicholas Pahlen has been in
' Spain exactly at the time when Russian agency is said
to have been in mischievous activity there, and comes to
England when all the mischief that could be done in
Spain has been done.
This is a fact easily capable of ascertainment. Has
Count Nicholas Pahlen been any time in Spain 1 If it
be true, as we are assured it is, then comes the startling
question, why has this been"concealed from or suppressed
by his friends in the House of Lords. Lord Granville
distinctly stated that " he came here not from the Con-
tinent of Europe, but from Madeira." Now, if it turns
out that be came here, from Madrid, the very place where
Russian intrigues are said to have been most active of
late—the suspicion, strong enough in the bare fact—be-
comes doubly so when we find that in Lord Granville's
apology the fact of the visit to Madrid is altogether sup-
pressed.
Not one word has been said in the House of Lords in-
consistent with the allegation that Count Pahlen mune
here charged with a secret mission. Lord Aberdeen de;
Hied that he brought any mission "to him ! 1" Nobody
ever asserted that he did. Lord Aberdeen is not one of
those upon whom Russia throws away a special embassy.
Russia is quite sure of him already. If Count Pahlen
he an emissary cb' Russia, it is not upon friends of forty
years' standing that his mission is intended to have effect.
Let us ask why, if there be no object concealed be-
neath this Russian's visit, he has not himself so stated t
Nothing could have been easier than for Count Pahlen
to have given his host, Lord Granville, either a verbal
or a written assurance that his mission to England was
wholly on his own private business, and entirely uncon-
nected with politics ? He has not done so. More than
this, Lord Granville has not ventured to tell the House
of Lords that he asked his guest for any such assurance.
In what position, then, does the matter stand? A dis-
tinguished Russian nobleman, connected with a family
high in the Imperial favour, arrives in London. One of
the Queen's Ministers immediately asks him to his house.
He does so without any explanation as to the object of
his visit. He does more. Lord Granville vouches. for
him'at a club of English gentlemen as a fit person to mix
with them in their most unguarded moments of social
intercourse.
Those who will believe, after this, that Lord Granville
is really sincere in making war upon the country and the
Sovereign of Count Nicholas Pahlen have a credulity
that we may admire, but cannot envy. Men may talk
of precedents as they please ; but never before in Brit-
ish history did an English Minister receive into . his
home as his honoured guest-the subject of a Sovereign
at war with England, who came here with the avowed
intention of returning to the country which claims his
allegiance, and, therefore, his hostility to ours. _
But, we say, at all events let two facts be Bleared up.
Is it true that the elder brother of Count Nicholas
Pahlen is the distinguished diplomatist who some time
since represented Russia at the French court ?
Is it true that he has come to England, not from
Madeira, but from Madrid /
The general principle is, indeed, untouched by these
facts. That principle is simply this—that Russia ought
not to be permitted to send agents into this country at
her pleasure. If Earl Granville has done nothing wrong
in his treatment of Count Pahlen we know not where
the permission is to stop. No one will certainly be able
to say that it is without precedent if next week we dis-
cover that Prince Menschikoff is a visitor in the house
of Lord Aberdeen.

TILE TWO NAPOLEONS ; OR, FIFTY