The Sun.
London, England, 1853-04-13 00:00:00

1311 x

LONDON, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13, 1853.

Several admirable results have already sprung
from the nomination of Lord PALMERSTON as
Home Secretary. It would appear, indeed, that
the Noble Viscount resumed his labours as an
administrator in an entirely new capacity, with
the motive of proving to the country his aptitude
to conduct other toils no less energetically than
he had so long and so frequently conducted those
of the Foreign Department. Of this the com-
munity might have felt assured from the com-
mencement. PALMERSTON'S reputation as a
statesman is not of yesterday. It extends over
the principal portion of the first half of the nine-
teenth century. It is associated with the suc-
cesses of more than one memorable Government.
It has been celebrated already by more than
one eminent historian. It is conspicuous among
the political recollections of the present generation.
But, hitherto, the ministerial abilities of the
Noble Lord have been almost entirely restricted
to the guidance of the intricate mechanism of
diplomacy. It was reserved for the Earl of ABER-
DEEN to afford his illustrious rival another oppor-
tunity of revealing his wisdom as one of the ad-
visers of his august SOVEREIGN. That opportunity
seems not likely to be thrown aside or neglected.
As Home Secretary, Viscount PALMERSTON pro-
mises—so far as we may calculate upon his avowed
intentions—very considerably to enhance the po-
pularity he had long since acquired in his repeat-
edly renewed position as Foreign Secretary. This
is well. It is peculiarly so, when it is remembered
that in the existing situation of affairs, the skilful
direction of the duties of that particular depart-
ment is, perhaps of all, at this moment the most
proMinent necessity—visible even I
to the least
reflective member of the population. f no-
thing else could incite the people to look
with anything at all like complacency upon
the future destinies of the Coalition, this
infusion of energy into the operations of the dif-
ferent officials acting under the Home Secretary
might most unquestionably. It were scarcely
possible, indeed, to regard this movement with
apathy or indifference. For that matter we are
altogether too deeply interested in its immediate
consequences. We have too much depend-
ence upon the development of the policy in-
augurated by Lord PALMERSTON not to watch
the various indications of its progress with
a most eager and vigilant solicitude. It in-
volves, among other things, the better organisa-
tion of the national defences, and the onward or
retrograde course of the sanitary movement--for
the quieta non movere principle cannot, here, be
viewed as in any way applicable. Those two
great questions—questions of such especial ur
_ _

cytgheenreselavnd importance—would
esteindueet be sufficient
more n
g negligent
of
observers in the three kingdoms to consider atten-
tively the results of the remarkable enterprise
already evinced by her MAJESTY'S principal Secre-
tary of State for the Home Department.
Bearing in mind the circumstance that another of
the most eminent administrators of our time has been
appointed by the Leader of the Coalition Ministry
to preside over the Board of our maritime Lords
Commissioners, and remembering the comprehen-
sive improvements, in reference at once to the
manning of our fleets, and the management of our
dockyards, recently announced by the Hon. and
Gallant Gentleman, the representative.of the county
of Middlesex, we may, with some show of reason,
acknowledge ourselves to have become somewhat
more sanguine as to the probability of seeing
these islands more effectually guarded, before very
long, from the perils of invasion, even though that
invasion were suddenly conducted by the most
lawless depredator in Christendom. It is hardly
extravagant to think thus hopefully when we
have the Admiralty under Sir JAMES GRAHAM,
and the Home Office under Viscount P —LMERSTON.

Naturally, of course, we should have witnessed
with more complacency the selection of some dis-

tiny ished Sea Captain as the chief administrator
of the affairs of our marine and peculiarly na-
tional profession. Under ordinary contingencies,
however, that choice seems to be scarcely capable
of attainment. England appears to be doomed
to find her gallant sailors commanded
by
some black-coated civilian instead f
o by some
flag-officer wearing the blue cloth and the
epaulettes associated with so many glo-
rious achievements. Red-coated officials are
deemed indispensable enough at the Horse
Guards, the military service very reasonably re-
quiring for its Commander-in-Chief some one who J

has I tad a good sword (and no mere court-foil)
chinl ling at his thigh, if he has never on the
f 01; ghten field" led on the charge and snuffed
the ." sulphury siroch" of gunpowder. Not so
with the Royal Navy of Great Britain. It is
considered fortunate in the acquisition of some
merely political skipper as First Lord of the
Adrriralty—some one so entirely innocent ofnautical
information as to resemble that excellent old lady
mentioned in COOPER'S romance, who expatiated
on the delight of sailing over the blue-green of
the deep when " the ship was cutting the waves
with, her taffrail." Happily, such being the des-
tiny of the maritime profession, it has at any
rate secured, for this while at least, the great
administrative powers of a no less eminent states-
man than the Right Hon. Baronet the Member for
Carlisle. Under his auspices, let us hope that
the defences of the country may at length
bo more judiciously organised, more .confi-
dently, seeing that Sir JAMES GRAHAM will in
this matter have to co-operate with Viscount
PALMERSTON as Home Secretary.
Uncertainty, it must be admitted, still continues
nevertheless to darken our prospect of efficient
defence for England in the shape •of apparently
warlike but really (in their ulterior • purpose)
pacific preparations. It is otherwise, we rejoice
to think, in regard to the probable advance of the
sanitary movement. There it is, more obviously
than in reference to any other question, that we
recognise the happy fruits of Lord PALMERSTON'S
nomination to the Home Department. Since
the names of himself and his colleagues
were first published in the columns of the
Gazette, as another Cabinet of All-the-Talents,
that energetic Statesman has given repeated evi-
dence of his determination not to allow the sani-
tary question to stagnate in. the deplorable man-
ner tolerated by all his predecessors. As conclusive
testimony of this, his conduct in relation to the
London graveyards is more particularly entitled
to popular consideration. In the House of Com-
mons, as recently as the sitting of the Bth inst.,
the Noble Lord took occasion to announce that
he had instructed competent medical officers to
make an inspection of all the graveyards in the
metropolis. " These inspections;" said the HOME
SECRETARY, " are going :on as fast as circum-
stances will admit of, and I believe the result
will be as in other cases, where I have had to
apply for an Order in Council to shut up grave-
yards. I think the probability is that the same
course will be followed with regard to nearly all the
graveyards in the metropolis." Nearly -all ! Why
not all without exception ? Ultimately we shall
arrive at the recognition of the entire principle.
Here; at least, are the preparatory measures lead-
ing, we doubt not, inevitably to that grand and
comprehensive improvement. Hitherto we have
been subjected upon this matter to disappoint-
ment after disappointment, simply because we
have relied exclusively upon vamped-up Bills
hurried in a slovenly way through the Imperial
Legislature. It is barely rational to rely upon
sources of help of that description in cases, like
this, of real emergency. Nil picas timidus navita
puppibus fidit. Viscount PALMERSTON is evidently
conscious of the truth, otherwise we should never
have seen him resorting to Orders in Council for
aid in a difficulty which had baffled so 'often the
devices of Parliament. From energetic proceed-
ings such as these we feel disposed, therefore, to
augur well for the future progress of the sanitary
movement. An augury for which the country
has reason to be thankful to the wise resolution
of the noble Lord, now fortunately Chief Secretary
for the 'Roane Department.

It is time that " the Dead-man's Question"
should be finally disposed of—that further agita-
tion. on this interesting and important subject
should be for ever set at rest. That agitation can
never cease while intramural interments are
tolerated within the limits of the metropolis, or a
single corpse can be added to the festering
remains that have so long polluted the atmo-
sphere of the modern Babylon, endangering, and
seriously deteriorating the health of its inhabi-
tants. • Thanks to the exertions of Mr. G. A.
WALKER and other sanitary reformers, the
atrocious system of burying the dead at the very
thresholds of their surviving friends and relatives
was clearly and kmequivocally exposed in all its
enormity. It is unnecessary to enter at any
length into the revolting details. Suffice it to
say, that a full knowledge of the subject produced
an unparalleled concurrence, and brought the
voice of public opinion so strongly to bear on the
subject, that further neglect or apathy was no
longer practicable—the Ministerial attention being
imperatively drawn to the subject.
Unfortunately, however, the matter was not
dealt with in an enlarged and comprehensive
spirit. The Board of Health interfered, and a
course of jobbery was attempted highly prejudicial
to the felicitous solution of the interesting pro-
blem. Much of this, we regret to say, was ascrib-
able to clerical influence, exerted to insure a tax on
the body of every person dying within the limits of
the metropolis, although removed for interment to
a considerable distance beyond its limits. " Let us
retain our graveyards !" "Let us opposer with al]
our energies, every plan for the establishment of
Extra-mural Cemeteries unless we are authorised
to levy toll, ay, and good heavy toll, too, on
every burial. We want a perinanent tax of Gs. 2d.
on each body. The bereaved relatives will not
at such moments think of complaining of a little
pecuniary extortion. Many will not have energy
sufficient to contest our demands, which will
be paid, and that is all we require. The disgust
and indignation that may be excited when
the matter is considered at greater leisure is of
comparatively trivial importance. "Non, old
numus.". The money will be as useful as
if it had been obtained in the most legitimate and
praiseworthy manner." Other parties, too, were
anxious to obtain their share of the spoil, like
human vultures, to prey upon the dead for their
subsistence. In place of one general and well-
devised scheme, calculated to meet the wants of
the entire metropolitan districts—the organisation
of the burial arrangements were left to the dis-
cretion and judgment of the different parish
boards the BUMBLES, and other " porochal"
authorities, wishing to be permitted to intermed-
dle in every subject in any way connected with
their respective districts, no matter how totally dis-
qualified they might be for the duties they desired
to have confided to their hands. We had thus
no fewer than 176 different bodies all desirous of
carrying out their own private views, no matter
at what degree of inconvenience and expense to
the community; and
_each having existing preju-
dices and powerful influences in full operation to
control their decisions.

What was however left undone by the Govern-
ment and the Legislature was in a great degree
supplied by private enterprise. A large extent
of land was purchased at Woking-eommon,
" amply sufficient," as Lord PALMERSTON last week
justly remarked in the House of Commons,
`
meet all demands of the metropolis for a
good
time time to come." A very good time, indeed, inas-
much as it appears from the excellent letter of
Sir RICHARD BROWN--Which
another part of this
which is well worthy day's liinillprbesesi foonu,ndanidn
of perusal—that there
is an " existing virgin grave accommodation
in our eight cemeteries and one necropolis, for
upwards of six millions and a-half of bodies—a
space which it would take upwards of 100 years
to cover with one layer of corpses at seven feet
deep, burying yearly from 60, 000 to 70, 000 ;
200 years to cover with a second layer at six feet
deep ; and 300 years to cover with a third layer
at.five'feet deep."
When we consider the spaces that have hitherto
been available for these purposes, we must be

satisfied that there can be no necessity for addi-
tional cemeteries for several centuries, and that,
therefore, the parochial interference is worse than
useless, whether we regard the matter in a sani-

tary point of view or as connected with the re-

speetful interment of the dead, or merely as a
matter of s. d., the existing accommodation, as

set forth in the very able andconclusive document
o which we have referred, abundantly fulfils the

public requirements in every particular. Any
trifling departures from the original scheme will,

we have no doubt, be repaired, so as to establish

the project in all its integrity, and give the ful
advantages originally contemplated to the eel'
munity. Let us hope, then, that some'
thing will be done, and that speedily, to
have the matter placed upon a satisfactory basis•
We believe that Lord PALMERSTON is fully aware
of its importance, and that his views are perfectly
correct. We would only urge expedition;
The great evil to be averted is " procrastinatioi2.
What is to be done should be done quickly..