The Sun.
London, England, 1856-10-21 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, TUEStfi Y EVENING, OC ; OBER 21, 18,“1.

hearers as any body has had before. Let Mr.
Spurgeon be at least content with as many as the
Surrey Music-hall was intended to hold, sitting in
comfort and with sufficient means of exit. It ap-
pears that he has the means of controlling the ad-
mission, since his own special flock is secured places
before the proselytes and strangers are let in. He
can charge a shilling a seat, and, if that is not
enough, half•a-crown ; in which case he will have
some hearers who would not venture to push their
way through a mob let in free. We do not say
this from any desire to stint Mr. Spurgeon of his
audience. We have no wish to criticise his style
of oratory, which severe critics affirm to be of the
familiar, bold, and irreverent sort. On the con-
trary, we are delighted to hear that there is
one man in the metropolis who can get people to
hear his sermons from any other motive than
the fulfilment of a religious obligation. The
men who have awakened slumbering generations,
who have began mighty movements, shaken idols,
or Popes, or huge vices from their throne, have
no, been uniformly characterised for severity of
language, sobriety of illustration, and chasteness of
style. Luther, Latimer, and many others, were
remarkable for the contrary. Mere faults of style
are no concern of ours, and apparently are tolerated
by the British pub] c when the substance finds an
echo in their understandings or their hearts. But
there is a certain moderation, as we have said, to
be observed in all things—even in the size of con-
gregations, little as we are accustomed to think of
restricting them. Woald Mr. Spurgeon be so good
as to attend to the subject at once ? Next Sunday,
instead of 20,000, the Surrey Gardens will be
blockaded from 4 o'clock by at least 50,000. They
will expect to hear, not only Mr. Spurgeon, but
also a sermon from him on the sudden fate of the
victims last Sunday. The prospect is rather a
serious one, and if this gentleman and his friends
Lave the means of providing against a crush, or
eeffect of a panic, they will be held responsible
for omitting to do so.

(From the Daily News of this day.)

Perhaps the most deep-thoughted of Chaucer's
Tales is one in which he illustrates the unexpected
manner in which Death steals upon us. Three
roysterers in a tavern hearing of the death of a boon
companion, ask who killed him, and are told it was
nobody but Death. In their drunken bravado they
set out iu search of this Death, to revenge them-
selves for the loss of their comrade by killing him.
On their way they meet an old, old man, who,
in reply to their inquiries, tells them that Death is
on before. By the way they find some money,
which they agree to conceal and share among them-
selves. A sequestered nook is sought out where
there they may divide the treastire unseen by any-
body. One of them is despatched to the town to
bring food and wine. Avarice tempts him to put
poison in the viands that he may obtain the whole.
Meanwhile his fellows have entered into a simi-
lar conspiracy against him, and on his return
embrace an opportunity to stab him. They
then partake of the poisoned food and
die. The old man they met was Death,
who-is often nearest to us when there is least show
of his presence.

Of the immense multitude which flocked to the
Surrey Gardens on the evening of Sunday last,
there was probably not one who had the slightest
presentiment that he was about to witness a scene
as appalling and scarcely less fatal than a battle.
Some went in search of instruction ; others in
search of excitement; others, again, in the faint
hope of ridding themselves of ennui. But none
dreamed of danger. Even among those who are
prone to make the uncertainty of life their theme
of conversation, there was not one in all likelihood
who applied to himself the words of Scripture—
This night thy soul shall be required of thee."
All are hushed throughout the immense hall, save
the preacker, upon whose accents they hang in
breathless silence, when a slight tinkling is heard
—the vibration, we are assured by one who was
present, of a glass shade over a more than usually
powerful jet of gas. Two or three of the audience
cry out " Fire 1" At this ill omened sound the
bulk of the congregation loss all self-possession.
Each feels his own alarm heightened by contagion
from his neighbours. Some cry out, " The roof is
falling." The human mass heaves and surges like
a tempest-tossed sea ; mad rushes are made to
doors, windows, and staircases ; the weak are
borne down by the pressure, and in the intensely
selfish agony of fear the rest trample over them ;
others crowd into narrow passages or frantically
precipitate themselves from high windows; the
wailing of the wo.unded, the clamorous shrieking of
those who are separated from their friends, heighten
the madness of the moment ; and, after an aimless
struggle of less than an hour, eight mutilated
corpses are discovered by the dim light, while
many maimed for life halt away, or are borne off by
the survivors. Ind all this fatal panic was utterly
causeless. There never was any appearance of
fire; the roof and walls of the building are still
'compact and strong as when the builders ceased
from their labours. Thus Death steals upon us
when least in our thoughts, and effects his purposes
with weapons incognisable to mortal sense.

But men are not satisfied with such a view of the
matter. They mint have some one to be angry
with • some one to blame for causing the mischief.
Accordingly we find Mr. Spurgeon and his friends
attributing the alarm to a plot of the swell mob,
seeking to create confusion in order that they might
have an opportunity to plunder. The tinkling of
the over-heated glass shade appears to have sug-
gested this idea. They magnified it into the sound
of a bell, and the sound of one bell they speedily
magnified—as in the story of the three black crows
—into the sound of many bells. Mr. Superinten-
dent Lund has disposed of this fallacious notion.
He, who knows from long experience the habits of
thieves, remarks that the alarm was given by per-
sons in the very centre of the assembly, and that
swell mobsmen would have selected a position near
the door, as favourable to the exercise of their
peculiar industry. But Mr. Lund is in his turn
equally infelicitous in his attempt to explain the
origin of the panic. Without condescending to
assign any reason for his belief, he attributes the
alarm to some enemies of Mr. Spurgeon, desirous
to annoy that gentleman by dispersing his hearers.
It is really too much to call upon us to make such
an uncharitable assumption without offering one
iota of evidence. Nor is it at all necessary. History
is full of precedents of fatal and unreasoning panics
produced withtut any adequate cause. The obvious
aim of the authors of the two explanations to which
we have adverted is to place Mr. Spurgeon and
his friends in the attitude of martyrs to the cupi-
dity or of others. On the other hand,
voices aro already raised imputing the whole cala-
mity to these gentlemen. It is asked why they
collected such a miscellaneous crowd together in
circumstances so favourable to the excitement of a
disastrous panic ; and comments the reverse of
flattering are made on the composition of the as-
sembly, andon their motives fordrawingit together,
and the means they resorted to with a view to the
accomplishment of that object. We aro quite as little
disposed to join in this cry as in that raised by
Mr. SpurgeOn or by Mr. Lund. A similar accident
might have happened at a play, or a concert, or a
crowded political or philanthropic meeting. Are
we to be told that men ought never to b 3 allowed
to gather together in great numbers because of some
rare accident ? It is true we do not regard the
crowds attracted by Mr. Spurgeon, or his mode of
attracting t hem, as tending to edification ; but our
liking or disliking has nothing to do with the ques-
tion. He and his friends, we have no doubt, sin-
cerely believed that they were working for goad,
and there are some who conscientiously look on
plays and political meetings as %bominationi.
But while we exonerate Mr. Spurgeon and his
friends from the blame of causing the catastrophe,
we are by no means disposed to blink the question
of their conduct after it had happened. Unless
they are grossly misrepresented, it was irrational
and callous in the extreme. Mr. Superintendent
Lund—who is obviously the reverse of unfriendly.
to Mr. Spurgeon—has stated that he had the great-
est difficulty in inducing him to desist from preach-
ing. Now, what was one of the topics said to have
been insisted upon by the rev. gentleman amid the
appalling scene that was being enacted around him ?
That it showed the necessity of having a chapel of
their own ! Would the disaster have been less in
a chapel calculated to contain 12,000 people ? But
the crowd tad been assembled to collect a subscrip•
tion towards the erection of such a mammoth
chapel, and Mr. Spurgeon and his friends were un-
willing that the opportunity should be lost. There-
fore
this untimeous reminder ; therefore Mr. Spur-
goon's
exclamation to the panic stricken fugitives,
that they were more afraid of temporal than eternal
death ; therefore the indecent rattling of money-
boxes in their ears. We might go furthrr, and
remark on the callous manner in which Mr. gpur-
geon and his friends left the meeting, without one
attempt to aid or soothe the sufferers ; but we are
willing to make allowance for the bewilderment
which such a spectacle was calculated to produce.
Two morals we are disposed to draw from this
calamitous event. The first is, that every one be-
fore mingling in such a dense and excited crowd S 3
that of Sunday evening should cautiously estimate
his powers of self-preservation in the event of a
p tuic. The man who without being able to swim
should. plunge into a deep and billowy tide or
rapid torrent would warrantably be accounted mad.
But tides and torrents are not more deaf or resist-
less than a closely lacked crowd wildly struggling
under the excitement of panic. The second is,
that all who take upon themselves the charge of
education ought incessantly to impress on the
mduintydsooffptrheoseserveignntrusted to their charge the moral
calmness and self-possession in

crises of real or apparent danger, and to seize every
opportunity of training them to such habits. The
most pacific pursuits are not exempt from sudden
danger, and men should be prepared beforehand to
encounter it at any moment. In conclusion, we
may add that though crowded assemblies cannot
always be dispensed with, they ought never to be
congregated without some adequate cause and due
preliminary precaution. Let Mr. Spurgeon and
his friends ask themselves whether the congregat-
ing of immense nocturnal crowds is really calculated
to promote true religion. And let the proprietors
of places of public resort take care that their halls
have' sufficient means of egress. We make this
last remark with no reference to the Hall of the
Surrey Gardens, which appears to be unusually well
provided in this respect ; but only think of such a
panic occurring in Exeter-hall or almost any of our
theatres, with their narrow and tortuous passages !

iIttLASD.

DUBLIN, MONDAY MORNING.
THE CRIMEAN BANQUET.

There was a full meeting of the committee on
Saturday at the Mansion House. Isaac Butt, Esq.,
M.P., presided. Among the members present
were Gen. Lord Gough, Lord Talbot de Malahide,
Lord Dunally, Sir T. M.P., Mr. Justice
Esq., O'Brien,P., Lieut.-Colonel
Browne,Koogh,. P. O'Brien,
e.
Mr. Butt, M.P., brought up the report of the
sub-committee, •the paragraphs of which were read
seriatim, and fully discussed with closed doors.
A deputation was then appointed to wait on the
Lord Lieutenant for the purpose of laying the pro-
gramme before his Excellency, according to the
usual etiquette in such matters, for his approval,
after which it will be published.
Everything promises that the banquet will pass
off with decided eclat. A vigilant and clever com-
mittee, with abundance of money at command, can
de a great deal in such cases.

METROPOLITAN BOARD OF WORKS.

Yesterday a speclal meeting of the Metropolitan Board
of Works was held in the Council Chamber, Guildhall ;
(11r THWAILES i❑ the chair.

The minutes of the last board were read and caifirmed.
The board then proceeded to consider, in the first in-
stance, a statement submitted, showing the financialcon.
dition of the several parishes and districts, with tiwpAr-
ticulars of outstanding loans and mortgages, andan esti-
mate of the sums to he raised by the board for the year
ending 31st Dec., 1856 ; to assess such sums, or such
other sums as the board shall deem necessary, on the
various parts of the metropolis, and to direct the issuing
of receipts for obtaining payment of the sums assessed.
The names of the parishes were here given in detail,
with the sums that would be required from each, which
have already been published, making a total of
136,2281. Bs. 10d. _

A deputation from Kensington attended with a memo-
rial from that parish, praying the board to relieve the
memorialists and the parishes of Chelsea, Fulham, and
lip.mcnersmith, from having to bear the whole cost of
constructing the Counters Creek drainage works, in ad-
dition to their proportion with other metropolitan pa-
ri,hes of the costs incurred in carrying out the general
scheme.

Memoria!s were also presented from Chelsea, Fulham,
atd Hammersmith.

Mr. HAWKES moved that the prayers of the memorial
from the inhabitants of Kensington and others be com-
plied with, if the board had the power to do so, or could
obtain power for the purpose.
M. D'IFFANGER seconded the motion.

Mr. TURNER moved an amendment to the effect "That
the memorial be received, and the prayer thereof be taken
into consideration, when the board shall be called upon
ti deterrnive in what proportion the various districts or
parishes or the metropolis shall contribute to the main
drainage."
Mr. SNOW seconded the amendment.
Mr. HAWSES having replied,
The CHAIRMAN pat the question, when there appeared
For the amendment 2O
Against it... 3-17
Upon a division being called for; there appeared—
For the amendment . . 23
Against it 3-20
Mr. STEVENS then moved another amendment, to the
effect that the prayer of the memorial be referred to the
Committee of Works and Improvements, to report the
result to the board.
Mr. WRIGHT seconded the amendment.
Mr. Deputy HARRISON supported the amendment.
Messrs. Hows, Doulton, and Leslie objected to the
referring this subject to a committee.
The amendment was put and negatived.

Mr. H. L. TAYLOR then moved another amendment :
" That the memorials be referred to a committee of the
whole board."
Mr. SAVAGE seconded the amendment.
Mr. TURNER objected to the amendment.
The CHAIRMAN then put the question, when there
appeared —.

For it
Against

. 11-2

Mr. LESLIE then moved an amendment, " That the
memorials be printed and circulated among the members
of the board."

Mr. TURNER seconded the amendment, which was
put and agreed to.
Mr. ROBERT TAYLOR presented a memorial from the
parish of Lambeth, praying the board to suspend the
issuing of a precept, until an inquiry has been made as
to the sum said to be due from that parish. He com-
plained that the late commissioners of sewers had con-
structed a long sewer through the whole of Garratt-lane,
Tooting, in which, through its entire length, there was
but one house, while the populous neighbourhood of
Clapham-road had no sewer up to the present time,
although the inhabitants of that part of Lambeth had
over and over again paid the amount that would be re-
quired. He concluded by moving that the prayer of the
memorial be printed.
Mr. BRISTOW would put it to the chairman, as a mat-
ter of order, whether the motion could now be put, as
Mr. R. Taylor had given no notice of that motion, but
merely that he would present a memorial?
The CHAIRMAN conceived that the motion could not be
put, as notice had not been given.
Mr. R. TAYLOR said after the ruling of the chairman
he would not of course press his motion, but should move
that the memorial be now received, which .was put and
agreed to.
Mr. TURNER said, to save the time of the board, by
entering into a long discussion on the various parts of
the financial statement, he should move, " that, in the
first instance, the opinion of the board be taken upon
the column having reference to the rateable value."
Mr. DALTON seconded the motion.
Mr. BRISTOW moved, as an amendment, " that the
whole of the financial statement be referred to a com-
mittee of the whole board."

Mr. Doimos seconded the amendment, and said that
until this ponderous statement of figures was presented,
the parish of Lambeth had looked for sard to bim and his
brother representative for Lambeth for a cheque for a sum
of 15,000/ , which they believed to be owing to them by
the late Commissioners of Sewers, but instead of that
happy state of things they were now called upon for a
contribution of 10,1421.
Mt-. H. L. TAYLOR opposed the amendment.
Mr. DIFFANGER was strongly opposed to referring
the subject, or any other, to a committee of the whole

board. It ought to be discussed in public, so that those
who would have to pay the rates should know from the
transactions of the board why they were called upon to
ply them.
Mr. Deputy HARRISON objected to the delay that
would be created if they adopted the amendment, and
they were not to suppose that expenses would stand still
by such a course. He thought the act of Parliament wax
explicit as to the rateable value of the property, and they
were:required to rate the property on the basis there
pointed out. He altogether objected to deferring this
question, considering that the board was at the present
time going on upon borrowed capital.
The amendment was then put and negatived, and
afterwards the original question was put and carried,
there being for it, 16 ; against it, 7.
Mr. TURNER then moved that the first column be re•
ferrad back to the finance or some other committee, with
instructions that they do not examine the property-tax
returns for the City of London.
Mr. LESLIE seconded the motion.

This subject led to a long and uninteresting conversa-
tion, and on a division, the motion was negatived by a
majority of 13 to 8.
Another division took place on the question of ad-
journment of the board, which was carried by a majo-
rity of 14 to 8:

Tne board then adjourned at a quarter-past 4jo'clock.

DARING ATTEMPT AT MURDER AND

ROBBERY.

---
Last night c9nsidorable sensation was created in Par-
liament-street at•d its neighbourhood by. a murderous
attack on the assistant of Mr. Barry, the jeweller, of
53, in Parliament-street.

It appears that Mr. Berry does not attend personally
to his business in Parliament-street, he having another
establishment at Pimlico, which he conducts. The for-
mer shop is left to the care of an assistant, a most re-
spectable man, residing in Hendon-street, Pimlico. His
name
a t the is
house Cope,
and
in
Parliament-Street
it w
r li
a Ineans t
-Street customaryufor hn to r
until about
t half-past en ;dn
nine o'clock at night, when, to guard against robbery,
he took away to Mr. Berry the more valuable conteuts
of the shop.
between him
mystery. and
,he unfortunate
first
Lelaessting nigahtnlanbnouetntaerged uatrhtee s
rohfeavnihnotpirarbleisfonlreentth-setrteineite
of ,
assistant
what
remainstranspired
that was obierved was the injured man being murder.
ously assailed by the man referred to, with a heavy
weapon. Two or three casual passers by saw the assault,
and one of them, a milliner's porter, of the name of
for the present in
George Lerings, rushed to the door and gave the alarm.
He states that the man was violently striking Cope on
the head. The latter crouched down behind the counter,
overcome by the repeated attacks of his assailant.
The man then rushed from the shop, stooping to pick
up, as is thought, a small parcel. He pushed by Lerings,
ran up Cannon-row, across Bridge street, by the opposite
court into Palace-yard, where he was seized by a police-
man on duty, having on his way knocked down the page
boy of Fendall's hotel, who attempted to obstruct him
in his escape. He was at once taken to the police sta-
tion in King-street. _ _

The unfortunate man Cope was in the meantime found
to be desperately injured about the head, the blood from
the wouuds having literally deluged the shop. He was
insensible, and in that melancholy state was conveyed to
the Westminstsr Hospital, where it was discovered by
Mr. Legge, the house-surgeon, that his skull was dan-
gerously fractured, and that he was in a most precarious
state. _

in an impudent tone, that his name
He is a well-dressed, slightly-built
The prisoner, to the question of the Inspector on duty
min, apparently about 34, and from his uiscourse seems
to be an Irishman.
A body of police were instantly despatched to endea-
vour to find the murderous weapon be had cast away in
awtatsh
jeohn station,
Jenkins. said,
his flight, but up to 11 o'clock their search bad proved
futile. . .

On inquiry at the hospital at 11 o'clock last night Mr.
Legge declined to allow any of the relatives of the unfor-
tunate man Cope to see him. That gentleman also stated
it was very doubtful if ho (Cope) could survive the severe
injuries he had sustained on the head. Cope was then
totally senseless, and beyond attention to the wounds all
medical skill was of no avail until a partial return of
ct n ciousness.

The drivers upon the New York and Erie Railroad
struck in a body on the 4th, in consequence of the re-
ideal of the directors to modify the rule making them
raAponsible for running off at a switch where their train
was to stop. Their places were filled promptly and the
trains were runninv as usual.
[A DVERTISEILENT.] - Holloway's Ointment and Pills
never-tailing remedies for Bad Legs.—Extract of a let-
t,d. from Mr. William Mabson, druggist, of Great Yar-
ns filth. "To Professor Hoiloway. Sir,—Samuel
\Veils, mariner, had a very bail leg for nearly three
years ; he obtained the advice of several medical men,
and tried various medicines, but instead of deriving bene-
fit therefrom his leg continued to get worse, which pre-
vented him from following his employment ; he was then
induced to try Holloway's ointment and pills, which
have been the means of effecting a perfect cure."—Sold
by all medicine vendors throughout the world ; at Pro-
fessor Holloway's Establishments, 244, Strand, London,
and 80, Maiden-lane, New York; by A. Stampa, Con-
stantinople ; A. Guidicy, Smyrna ; and E. Muir,
Malta.