The Sun.
London, England, 1870-12-19 00:00:00

ME SUN, LONDON, MONDAY, DECEMBER 19, 1870.

tion, westwards and not eastwards, across'
the Atlantic, and not upon the borders of
Asia, a sect whose name, here in England, has, ever
since it came to the fore, been a byword of derision, ,
the eccentric religions community known in America
as that of the Shakers, have set a wise example to
the world in their domestic economy, an example
that, instead of laughing at, we should be •
acting only wisely if we systematically emulated.
Describing a Shaker's house. in "New Ame-
rica," Mr. IlzPwolall DixoN says of it
—" My room was painfully bright and
clean. No Haarlem vrow ever scraped her floor
into such perfect neaiviess as my floor ; nor could the
wood of which it is made be matched in purity except
in the heart of an uncut forest pine." He describes
how everything about the room was scrupulously
clean ; how the "Shakers" having no doctors among
them, smile at our manifold ailments, at our head-
aches, fever, colds, and all the rest of them; taking
a close and scientific care of their ventilation. Every
building on Mount Lebanon, according to his
account—farm, granary, mill, and dwelling—is pro-
vided with shafts, fans, flappers, drafts, and vents.
The stairway, he says, is built as a funnel, the vane•
as an exhauster. Fresh air, in half a dozen words,
is the Shaker medicine. Referring to this, and
evi lently bearing in mind the prevalence, now, in
midwinter, in December, of such deadly maladies
as scarlet - fever and small-pox; an earnest
correspondent of the Lancet, in its issue last
Saturday, quotes yet further from Mr. DIXON'S
account of the Shakers :—" Antionette led me over

it (the dwelling house) from the fruit cellars to the
roof, shewing me the kitchens, the ladies' chambers,
the laundries, the meeting rooms, and the stoves. My
friend, WILLIAM HAYWOOD (Civil Engineer to the
City of London) and his wife were with me. The
engineer was no less smitten by surprise at the
singular beauty and perfect success which the
Shakers have attained in the art of ventilation than
the lady was charmed by the sweeetness, purity,
and brightness of the corridors and rooms." Hav-
ing quoted this passage from "New Americs,"
the correspondent of the Lancet, while re-
gretting that Mr. DIXON does not give
us an insight into " the mechanism as
to how these excellent sanitary engineering
arrangements were carried out with such excellent
perfection as regards ventilation, heating, &c., &c.,"
adds, " it is to be hoped that his friend Mr. HAY-
WOOD has not forgotten the cardinal points of what
he observed, and that he will induce the authorities
of the City of London to carry out, wherever they
may have an opportunity of doing so, these unex-
ceptionable sanitary arrangements in the dwellings of
their poorer brethren." In truth, the national foot
is as yet but a very little more than upon the lowest
rung of the ladder of sanitary improvements.

TOPICS OF THE DAY.

THE FORTHCOMING CONFERENCE.

The Conference upon the Eastern Question wil
probably meet in the middle of the ensuing month
and there is good reason to believe that efforts wil

he made to extend the action of the Conference to
the Luxemburg question, and even to that of Alsace
and Lorraine. If the French GoNernment do not
ask M. Thiers to be their representative once more
at the Congress, it is most probable that M. Tissaud,
who is acquainted with all the phases of
the Turkish difficulty from his long residence
in the Levant will be asked to accept the position. It

is not unlikely, moreover, that the Provisional Govern-
ment will nominate as M. Tissaud's colleague, some
French diplomatist decidedly of their own colour,
as they are very tinxious lest any arrangement should
bo proposed with the tacit consent of the exile at
Wilhelmshoe for securing a member of the conference
who might hold Imperialist views.

reEponsibility of the defence of the nation. He
referred to Switzerland, which was able at the first
_ _

intimation ofvvax to send on her frontiers 40,000 men,

and could send out 200,000 men ; but it was doubtful
if a country which was considered one of the greatest
of Europe could effect anything like this in the same
time. General Wilmot expressed a hope that some
system might be adopted which would attain the
desired results of an organisation, without interfer-

ing with industrial arrangements.. England had no
desire to follow the Prussian system, but she

required something suited to ber mercantile cha-
racter as a nation. On the same occasion
Colonel Chesney delivered an interesting
lecture 'on the "Reform of Prussian Tactics,"
in connection with the events of the pre-

sent war. Ile shewed that the military history of
Prussia illustrated the importance of the active study
of military science by her officers. Ile hoped that
in future no brigadier would be appointed to the
command of troops until he possessed a thorough
knowledge of artillery.