The Sun.
London, England, 1854-08-16 00:00:00

SIR BENJAMIN HALL.

By a curious coincidence, nearly all the morning papers
yesterday, devoted an article to Sir Benjamin Hall's ap-
pointment to the office of President of the Board of
Health. There is a great unanimity, not
only among
our contemporaries, but in the public mind, as to the
exceeding fitness of the Hon. Baronet for the important
and honourable situation which he has accepted. We had
the satisfaction of being the first of the-London journals,
to express our gratification at Sir Benjamin's acceptance
of an office which he is so well qualified to fill, under the
new constitution of the Board of Health. The situation
will be one in which the party
filling it, will have great
influence for good or evil ; and therefore the metropoli-
tan community may well share the gratification with
which we announced the appointment of Sir Benjamin
to that ofice. He is thoroughly conversant with all
matters pertaining to the sanatory and other subjets
with which he will have to deal ; and fortunately, his
connexion as representative with the largest borough in
the world—the borough of Marylebone, for the period of
seventeen years, has furnished lam with opportunities of
satisfying the public, that his views are in perfect ac-
cordance with those of the more intelligent and liberal
part of the community.
There is another circumstance of encouraging augury
in connection with Sir Bnjatnin's a pp ointment to the
office of Minister of the New
Boa d- of Health. He
has been induced to accept that office solely from a sense
of public duty. He is not, and never has been, a place-
hunter. His principles and his position alike put that
out of the question. The salary attaching to the office
which he has accepted,ganyhaonthdrmien, pwuibilliocolnifset,i
though it would be everything
the slightest degree with him. His salary, indeed,
t couldnte n
o notadequatehave weighedo o
m pe in
sat on hand
me,
domestic comforts which he will have to
forego. In the fact, therefore, of the hon. Baronet's
accepting the office, under the circumstances we have
mentioned, we have a strong presumptive rof that
he will devote his whole energies to
the conscientious
and laborious discharge of the arduous duties which will
devolve upon him.
on o
Sir Benjammain,
de in addressing the vestry of St. Pancras
nday, announcements which will be
sgariadtifithceatihoon: baronet,
but by the metropolitan
not wily by hie own consti-
public at large. "Of
" he had to assure
them—that the dnties of his office should be ever trans-
acted with a view to the upholding of the
power whatever over the me-
principle of
tholounaceielaneltdfsas,cwetlift:overnment, as contra-dinguished from that
of centralisation, and to place the departen on such a
footing as to command the respect of all parties. The
of the
except as regarded the provisions of the
Nuisance Removal Act ; but he should be glad at all
times to do all he could by way of suggestion."
The assurance on the part of Sir Benjamin which has
appointmenttropo lie, gave him no
his office will be
and so consistently been the thdeutupholding
principle
of local self-government, as contra-distinguished from
that of centralisation, was hardly necessary, because he
transacted
given, w , 1
tthh that
viewall tthoe
and the
advo-
cate of local self-government, _ opponent of cen-
tralisation, that no one would even for a motnent have
has so long, so ably,
regarded a deviation from the
within
he has hitherto
pursued on these questions, asw
this the
Pale of proba-
bility. Still, though not needed,
of his attachment to the principle of local self-govern-
ment, and of his hostility .
towards that of centralisation,
will be received by the public with great gratification.
The Government, we say, once for all, could not have
made a better selection then they have done for the
office of President of the new Board of Health ; and we
feel confident that before many months have elapsed, the
metropolitan community will have such practical proofs
of the fact furnished to them, as will more than justify
a •
the universal approbation with which the appointment
Advertiser.
has been received.—Morning

THE CHOLERA V. THE LIVERPOOL ASSIZE COURTS Alll3
BAR. —The removal of the assize courtsfromSt.George's
Hall to the Sessions House, at Liverpool (the decora-
tions of the former approaching completion), having
given rise to much comment in the House of Lords, we
think the following paragraph, extracted from the Liver-
pool Albion of' yesterday will amuse if not interest our
readers :—" The Old Courts.'--Notwithstanding the
amount of abuse which has been heaped upon the old law
courts, and the choleraic character given to them by the
highest judicial authority in the kingdom, no cases of
the prevailing epidemic have yet been reported. We re-
gret, however, that premonitory symptoms appear to
have manifested themselves in a learned serjeant, whose
antipathy to the old courts' is of no, recent date. On
Saturday morning, soon after the commencement of
business, a tumbler about one-third filled with a suspi-
cious-looking liquid, in colour much resembling a prepa-
ration of chalk and tincture of rhubarb, was brought in-
to court and passed to the learned gentleman, who swal-
lowed the draught with legal alacrity. We trust that
the specific was taken in the syirit of the axiom, that
' prevention is better than cure. Indeed the resignation
with which the patient waited for the dose confirmed us
in the conviction that this really was the case."