The Sun.
London, England, 1870-06-02 00:00:00

LONDON, THURSDAY, JUNE 2, 1870

NAPOLEON the GREAT, in one of his most stinging
mots, dubbed this, the most formidable of his enemies,
a nation of shopkeepers? Are we nowadays to regard
ourselves as—worse even than that—a nation of dis-
honest shopkeepers. The falsification of weights
and measures systematically—and this, as a rule,
always in the poorer neighbourhoods, in localities
like the New Cut on the Ratcliffe Highway—has,
unhappily, been quite clearly proved and demon-
strated under the operation of a recent Act of Par-
liament contrived with a view to its suppression. The
adulteration of food, of almost every article in
common use, of eatables and drinkables alike—of
our very drugs and medicines—all this has, long
since, again and again, been, in its turn, too,
quite clearly proved and demonstrated.
A commission was appointed, several years
ago, for the purpose of carrying out a
series of searching investigations. A mass of evi-
dence was thereby accumulated. That evidence was,
in due course, given to the public. Our medical con-
temporary, the Lancet, covered itself with honour by
originating this very important and eminently prac-
tical commission. By presiding over its labours,
Dr. HASSALL acquired for himself an eminent repu-
tation. And yet, in spite of all these most praise-
worthy endeavours to mitigate the evils that were
shown to be so rife and so wide-spread—practically
speaking nothing whatever has been done, all this
A bile, by the Legislature, with a view to the sweep-
ing away of this most unwholesome and rascally
system of adulteration. To the end of bringing about
some change for the better in regard to this subject,
we are glad to observe the significant fact that an
organ of the cause, entitled the Food Journal, has
very recently been commenced. Incidentally, too,
the subject of these disgraceful adulterations has
bee❑ revived, or, as the Parliamentary slang
is, "ventilated,' within the walls of the Legisla-
ture. One of our representatives, having "the courage
of his convictions," shrank not from entering into de-
tails to his half- amused and half-disgusted listeners
in the House of Commons. Hearkening to him, one
thought of the sanctimonious grocer in the old-
fashioned farcical-comedy—a sort of SNAWLEY—who
calls out to his apprentice, " Have you watered the
vinegar ?" " Yes, sir." " And sanded the sugar ?"
" Yes, sir." " And damped the tobacco ?" " Yes,
sir." " Then came to prayers." One seemed to hear,
again, the bandit in one of GILBERT ATECKETT'S
burlesques, as he smacked his lips over a cup of tea,
declaiming the sonorous couplet—

" 'Tis pretty fair, as Twankays go;
Pm always quick in finding out the sloe."

In that recent speech in the House of Com-
mons--a speech studded as thickly with abomi-
nable instances of adulteration as a Christmas pud-
ding is with plums and currants.—we heard
with a shudder of coffee flavoured with filth; of blue
pills rendered at once gritty and cadaverous with
slate-filings; of ale (but that is an old story), poi-
soned with salt, and colouring matter, and cocculus
indices. Against the possibility of the adulteration
of beer, Mr. BASS, as ba ame him, at once, then and
there, protested loudly and emphatically. An ana-
lytical chemist of some eminence has answered Mr.
BASS'S denial of the charge by evidence as irrefrag-
able as the following --" With the object," he
writes to the Times," of ascertaining whether the
beer sold in London was genuine, I some time ago
obtained six samples in the west district and six in
the south. It was purchased, without selection, of
large and small public-houses at the workmen's din-
ner hour, and was immediately sent to be analysed.
Out of these 12 samples seven were salted, 11 had
colouring matter (five in large quantities), and in all
there was an extra amount of water. Setting aside
the best sample as too good for an average," he adds,
" and the worst as too bad, the remaining 10 gave
1,180 gallons as originally made by the brewer
from 10 quarters of malt to which 1,064 gallons of
the New River bad been added, for which excellent
artistically coloured water, the consumer was charged
£l2O, while the cost of the raw material, the malt and
hops, for the whole 2,244 gallons was doubtless less
than £4O. But," he feels constrained to admit, "it
was only a fraud—for no cocculus indicus or any sub-
stance positively injurious to health was detected."
Mr. SMEE, the writer of this statement, with
a touch of sly humour, goes on to remark,
"Mr. BASS may say the analyst did not under-
stand his business. He, however, examined a sample
of ale brewed by Messrs. BASS and Co., and found no
salt, no colouring matter, and no water added—in
fact, perfectly pure beer. May I ask, was that also
an error ?" If only the retail purchaser could go
direct, for their supplies, to the wholesale manufac-
turers, to our BASSES and our ALLSOPPS, to our
BARCLAYS and our GUINESSES, we should have no
more of these abominable and deleterious adultera-
tions. Until they can, however, do this—will not
the Legislature in some way interpose for the safety
of the health and the pockets of the general
community ?

THE public will not have forgotten the catastrophe
of April 21st in Greece. The information has cm*
to hand very tediously, and startling events has e
happened in the meantime; but an occurrence in whicl
the honour of the nation is so completely involved
must not be hastily dismissed. The last batch ofletters
and documents throws a little more light on the
extraordinary proceedings of the Greek officials pre-
vious to the massacre. Suspicion has from the first
rested upon Colonel THEAGENIS, the officer sent out
by the Greek Government to treat with the brigands,
and who commanded the troops. A. short letter from
Mr. FRANK NOEL amply justifies the presumption
that the behaviour of this officer was the
immediate cause of the murders. Mr. NOEL
relates that on Tuesday, the 19th of April, he
visited Oropos, arriving there late at night,
and had an interview with the captives the next
morning. It may be well to note, en passant, that
Mr. EnSKINE, the English ambassador, had
some days before written out a telegram
asking Mr. NOEL'S assistance. The Greek
War Minister, Soutzos, took charge of this message,
which was never sent, It was only by accident that
Mr. NOEL heard of the brigands being at Oropos, and
he immediately set out, arriving, as we have said,
late on Tuesday night. The next morning,
Colonel THEAGENIB himself arrived, and the two
conferred with the brigand chiefs. The instructions
of the Greek Government were read to the robbers.
They contained a Provision to the effect that the

brigands must not leave Oropos until the terms were
arranged, otherwise the Government could not
guarantee their immunity from attack. Exasperated
at this announcement, the chief pulled out a letter
he had received from Mr. ERSKINE. It declared
that the amnesty could not be granted; but that the
King and the Chief Minister had guaranteed the
safety of the brigands until the terms were settled.
"How," exclaimed the brigand chief, "can I
place faith in the Greek Government ? Do
you think we should have come into the village of
Oropos, had it not been for the promise given by the
Ambassador ?" Colonel THEAGENIS had nothing to
say to this. Then and there he was given to under-
stand that if the troops molested the robbers,, the
prisoners would be murdered. With this assurance
he departed—and led his troops to the attack the
very next day.
Mr. NOEL remained at Oropos the whole of Wed-
nesday, and left on that memorable Thursday
morning. Before he departed the brigand chief made
further concessions, promising to give up the idea of
an amnesty and accept the alternative offered—
receive the ransom, embark on board an English
ship, and leave the country. Mr. NOEL at once tele-
graphed to Mr. ERSKINE to insist on the withdrawal
of the troops, as the robbers bad come to terms.
"About four o'clock I received an answer, saying
that the Government had consented not to attack the
brigands at Sykamenos, and asking me to return to
treat with them for their embarkment on board an
English man-of-war." Mr. NOEL prepared to return
to the brigands at once; but, owing to the heavy
sea, he could not get off until the next morning.
If he had it would have been of no avail. The attack
had been made and consummated, and the English-
men were murdered. Why the attack was ordered
remains a mystery to this day. But that Colonel
THEAGENIS should have been present at the
interview with the Greek chiefs, that he
should have been aware of the promise
of security given to the brigands whilst the negotia-
tions were going on, and that he should have heard the
threat of the chief to murder his prisoners if the
soldiers advanced, are a combination of circumstances
which decisively attribute to him the onus of
inexcusable folly and mismanagement, or worse.
The horrible muddling away of life appears in a
worse light as each successive fact comes out. T 9
insist upon the terms of a Constitution, which has
been set at nought at the will of any triumphant
political party, as a reason for not grant-
ing an amnesty was a foolish and hazardous
formality. But to afterwards suddenly assail the
robbers, after a solemn pledge of safety had been
given them, and after the English representa-
tive had succeeded in obtaining better terms,
was sheer wickedness. It was likewise
another display of Greek imbecility, for the
advance of the soldiers could never have suc-
ceeded, unless the brigands had been completely sur-
rounded. This object Colonel THEAGENIS did not
effect. His advance, whatever may have been the
motives which prompted it, proved a failure in every