The Sun.
London, England, 1869-03-26 00:00:00

LONDON, FRIDAY, MARCH 26, 1869.

The recurrence within these last few days of that
deplorable casualty more or less frequently disgrac-
ing this vast and wealthy community, compels us to
express, not inappropriately on Good Friday, our
earnest hope that the right hon. gentleman, the Pre-
sident of the Poor-law Board, will in no way relax
his efforts to recognise, as rapidly and as comprehen-
sively as may be, the notoriously faulty and inade-
quate system of affording aid to the very destitute
among the humbler classes of our population. The
miserable announcement we are now referring to is
so often made in the columns of the public newspapers,
in our own columns, and in those of our numerous
contemporaries, that it behoves the State and the
Nation, the People, and the Parliament, the public
out-of-doors, and the two Houses of the Imperial
Legislature, to bestir themselves at last in this matter
of vital import to the whole community—if only to
the end, if that may really be iu any way possible,
of preventing the repetition-of a species of calamity
which is a disgrace to our civilisation and an outrage
upon our Christianity. Death from absolute starva-
tion ought, in truth and in reason, to be a thing im-
possible within the area, or even within the vicinity
of a capital like that of the British Empire. So far
from being an impossibility, however, it is a calamity,
as we have said, and, as every one amongst us but too
well knows, of frequent occurrence. Scarcely a single
quarter elapses without one or two of these afflicting
announcements. Some wretched tenement, perfectly
well known to be inhabited in its immediate neigh-
bourhood, is suddenly observed to be shut up for two
or three days together. Entered by the police—an
emaciated body is found in one of the unfurnished
rooms—the very cupboards are seen to be empty ; not
a particle of food, scarcely a stick of furniture,
I hardly a rag of clothing is anywhere discoverable in
the house from roof to basement. It was precisely
thus in the particular instance to which we are here
referring. On Tuesday morning, the 16th in-
stant, a policeman on duty in Cross-street,
Sudbury, Suffolk, had his attention drawn by
a crowd of people there assembled to a dilapidated
cottage, on entering which there were found two
emaciated corpses—one the corpse of an old woman
of seventy years of age, MARY READY by name —the
other the corpse of her daughter, aged thirty-four,
MARY ANN ALETHEA READY—both of them poor
needlewomen or stayinakers. Here is the police-
man's evidence as to the condition in which be found
those dead bodies—" The body of the daughter was
lying upon the floor naked, with the exception of an old
cloak tied round her soulders, a bonnet, stockings,
and a golosh on her left foot. The body was lying
near the street door, which opens into the room.
The body of the mother was lying under an old cover-
ing, in the front room of the cottage. There were
no other clothes but the old covering on the body.
The body was cold, and it appeared to have been laid
out by some one soon after death. The witness
searched the house, but could not find any food or
firing of any kind. There was a little water and
about a handful of salt on the table downstairs." It
is a very old story this—occurring though the par-
ticular instance under notice did as recently as on
the IGth of this present month of March. It is old,
we mean in this sense, that it has been related so
often before in nearly precisely the same way,
with merely a difference of names, and dates, and
localities, that we know it, as the phrase is, by heart
—and it makes our heart ache within us all the more
grievously with every repetition. Reverting to the
report of the inquest, which took place only the day
before yesterday, at Sudbury, we find from that re-
port that " Several other witnesses were examined,
who deposed to the eccentric habits of the deceased.
They had been in business and comfortably off,
but of late had been in great distress, sell-
ing gradually every article of furniture they pos-
sessed, ani gaining a precarious subsistence by
working as stayniakers. They begged occa-
sionally, but were too high-spirited, , one of
the witnesses said, to apply for parochial
relief." That last touch is a reminder of old Betty,
in Mr. CHARLES DICKENS'S last great serial story of
1 " Our Mutual Friend" —the good old dame, who had
such a mortal horror of ever going to the *Work-
house, and who, dying at last in the open air (not
in the Workhouse), has her poor head lifted in her
last agony—" lifted as high as Heaven." If in no
—oiu et,
likeo of our
these common
twomn
poor
other way, we would have all others like poor Betty,
oeh
charity
tshoanrabiseedlefutp to die, needlewomen
of Sudbury, of sheer starvation.

THE maintenance of our navy must ever be, in
branchsomew hchr
thee
os pf eaciidt srministrationi
stheh mostov eur
isnn ms
oa
eft
ni setfgauchataloslt
opproodrbet lm
with
importance and
at the same time presents so many difficulties. The
conditions of excellence are subject to such repeated
changes, the science of naval warfare makes such rapid
progress, that the best directed efforts can attain but a
relative degree of perfection. The discoveries of a
single year may render a whole fleet obsolete. It is
always an open question whether the theory which
has been followed in the construction of a fleet is the
best ; with an ironclad navy, consisting mostly of
broadside vessels, it is more than doubtful whether
we should not be best served by turret-ships ; and
even when we are satisfied as to theory,
there still remains the stern test of prac-
tice. In the midst of this Sisyphus labour a
partial consolation is welcome. It is satisfactory to
learn that the Channel Fleet has triumphantly
undergone the test of sea service. The best principle
of construction may not have been originally followed;
but there can be no doubt that our ironclad
ships, such as they are, are seaworthy, and
display good fighting qualities. The cruise of
the Channel Fleet last summer was not entirely con-
clusive, as the weather was mild, and no heavy gale
of wind was met with. Nevertheless, the admiral
and captains are able to report favourably
on many important points. Admiral WARDEN
divides the squadron, consisting wholly of broadside
ships, into four classes. Of these, the Bellerophon,
which forms a class by herself, is deemed the most
valuable vessel. She has the most powerful battery
under the thickest armour, is readily handled under
steam, and quite capable of fighting her guns in a
moderate seaway. The Minotaur, Achilles, and
Warrior form the class of longer ships, averaging a
hundred feet in length beyond the rest of the fleet.
Short vessels are deemed the best for handling, both
under steam and sail ; but these three colossal iron-
clads are pronounced " unrivalled and unsurpassed
by any ship that has ever been built " in respect of
their fighting qualities. They are superior to the
rest of the fleet in the invaluable quality of steadi-
ness, and this alone is greatly in favour of lengthy
vessels. A ship which will combine the steadiness
of the longer class with the handiness of the shorter
is pronounced to be the beau ideal of a broadside
ironclad. Of the third class, the Prince Consort
and the Royal Oak, the admiral can say only that
they are as good as could be expected. They were built
as makeshifts, being wooden vessels cut down, and
are not likely to be imitated ; nevertheless, they are
not without their good qualities. The fourth class
consists of the Defence and the Pallas, of which the
former is a fairly good ship, but the latter worth-
less. It is not difficult to deduce a general
verdict from this evidence. So far as broadside
ironclads go, England possesses some of the most
formidable war-ships afloat, and can in this respect
compete on at least equal terms with any other
maritime nation in the world. And, as the turret
principle has yet to be fully supported by practical
tests, there cannot, with just vigilance for the future,
be the slightest fear for England's position as a naval
Power.

But it is also clear, from the testimony of these