The Sun.
London, England, 1867-03-05 00:00:00

LONDON, TUESDAY, 3LIRCII 5, 1867.

Last night in both Houses Ministerial explana-
tions were given, that in the Lords being of the
two the more definite and explicit. Lord DERBY
entered into as elaborate a statement as he possibly
could under the circumstances, and in a great mea-
sure, if not altogether, cleared away many of the

There seems reasen to hope that we shall, at least,
have to thank Lord DERBY'S Government for a
practical endeavour to adjust some of the inequalities
of our Poor-Law system. We are glad to find that
the measure proposed by Mr. GATHORNE HARDY is
likely to receive a very general support, especially
from those gentlemen who have long interested
themselves in endeavouring to ameliorate the con-
dition of the sick poor. Of course the new bill
leaves something to be desired. There will still be
glaring inequalities in the rates, and there will be
many respects in which the management of the sick
poor might be improved. Nevertheless, the bill
will do a great deal, and its recognition of the dis-
tinction between the infirm and afflicted, who are
physically incapable of earning their own living,
and the idlers and vagrants who are aro glad to
live at any one's expense but their own, is almost
its most important feature. The necessity of such
a distinction has always been insisted on
by those who are familiar with the mixed
population of our large workhouses ; but
it is the very point on which the present Poor
Law and its predecessor both erred—the one from
excessive leniency, the other from excessive seve-
rity. The juste milieu is still to seek, and we hope
that Mr. HARDY has at last entered on the right
path for arriving at it.
The deputation which waited on the President of
the Poor-Law Board on Saturday was anxious to
to persuade Mr. HARDY to add to 'he provision

of his Bill, while at the same time they were de-
sirous of thanking him for its general character.
The gentlemen present represented the Tower
Hamlets and Metropolitan Associations for the
Equalisation of the Poor Rates, and among them
were several guardians and others from the East-
end parishes; and these gentlemen expressed their
satisfaction with the proposed separation of some
classes of the sick poor. One of the principal ob-
jects of the visit was to request that these classes
might be increased, and to suggest that in the sec-
tion of the bill relative to m?,dical relief the neces-
saries given to the sick under medical orders should
be included so as to come out of the common fund.
Mr. DONOVAN, Secretary of the Tower Hamlets
Association for the Equalisation of the Poor Rates,
observed that in many cases such necessaries were
more required than medicines, and were taken in
that way so that they could be included in the bill
without infringing its principles. To this proposi-
tion, however, Mr. HARDY did not assent, as he
thought there were great difficulties in the way of
classifying nourishment of any kind with drugs.
Ano:her proposal made by the deputation was for
the establishment of a rate in aid over the
whole metropolitan area, to meet cases of sudden
and exceptional distress, such as was produced by
the visitation of the cholera last summer. Mr.
HARDY, it will be remembered, when he introduced
the subject in the House himself, expressed a wish
that something of the kind might be attempted, but
he shrinks from appending it to the present mea-
sure. He evidently fears that if he proceeds too far
he will excite a powerful opposition among the
West-end ratepayers, and may possiby endanger his
whole bill. No doubt, if once the principle of a
common fund be admitted, and be proved to -work
satisfactorily, it will be easy to add such
a provision ; but no doubt Mr. HARDY,
who has the difficult and ungracious task of
putting theory into practice, is wise not to act
hastily. The guardians present seemed to be a
little apprehensive of the cost of the new building,
and one gentleman expressed a fear that although
Bethnal-green would be relieved to the extent of
£5,000 per annum by the change, the extra cost of
the buildings would run away with nearly the
whole of the saving. He forgot apparently that
allowing the cost to be as great as he feared it
could not be continued, and therefore if
the savings were absorbed by it at first the
parish would still profit materially by the
change in the long run. The President,
however, showed that the case of the buildings had
been overrated. It would not, he explained, be
necessary in all cases to have new buildings, and as
for the dispensaries they were generally hired houses,
whose expense was very trifling. The hon. gentle-
man admitted that it would be necessary to con-
struct new buildings for the sick, and said that he
could not agree to charge them upon the common
fund, because several parishes had already incurred
great expense in erecting suitable establishments,
and it would be unfair to make fresh demands
upon them. There is evidently a necessity for
considerable improvement in the buildings for the
sick, since all the medical opinions coincide upon
this point, and one of the main changes insisted
upon by the inspectors is a better system of ventila-
tion. If the buildings are to be used as hospitals,
they ought to be constructed on the principles
which regulate hospitals, and though it seems hard
that the poorer parishes should have the burden of
constructing fresh establishments, yet, as we have
said, the expense will be only temporary, while the
relief will be perpetual.
There will still be many minor points to consider,
and we hope that some decisive steps will be taken
to secure a better system of nursing. One of the
greatest and most intolerable hardships of the sick
poor is the want of care and kindness. The ap-
pointment of ignorant, rough, and often drunken
women to the superintendence of the sick and
suffering is an outrage to common reason and
humanity, that, looked at in the abstract, seems
almost incredible. It is allowed on all hands that
the able-bodied persons in workhouses are generally
of the lowest class, both morally and mentally.
How, then, can they discharge the difficult and
delicate duties of a sick nurse with judgment,
skill, and tenderness? Most assuredly those
who know most of the requirements of sick-
ness would not rank the duties of a
good and efficient nurse so low that they could be
attained by a rough, illiterate, and indifferent per-
son. We cannot believe that this grave abuse of
a national trust will be longer tolerated, but are
confident that the whole system of pauper nursing
will be subjected to the thorough revision and re-
formation it so urgently requires.

CORRESPONDENCE FROM PARIS.

PARIS, Monday Evening.

It is stated in the Moniteur that the Chamber of
Deputies of Belgium, at its sitting on Saturday,
unanimously agreed to the project of law for a
grant to the Count de Flandre of 200,000 f. on the
occasion of his marriage.
The Commission charged with the examination of
the project of law for the abolition of imprisonment
for debt have given an opinion adverse to that re-
laxation of the law. It is well known that the Go-
vernment has long been desirous to abolish imprison-
ment for debt. Last year every effort was made by
it to effect that object, but the commercial interest
is opposed to the change, and at present, perhaps,
that interest is too powerful to be vanquished. M.
Josseau, the president of the Commission, says :
" The rapporteur regrets to be obliged, upon this
point, to take a different view from the Government,
but he is anxious to state that the discussion has
nothing political in it. The Chamber, which possesses
in the highest degree the knowledge of the wants and
wishes of the country, can give its final decision
upon a subject which involves such great interests."
The projects of law relative to the press and the
right of meeting will probably be presented to the
Chamber on Thursday. M. Thiers is rather indis-
posed, but should his health be improved by that
time, it is supposed he will on the same day deliver
a long harangue upon the subject of foreign affairs
generally.
Garibaldi is on a sort of tour through Italy. He
was received very enthusiastically at Venice, and
has made speeches which the Italian papers describe
as of two kinds, poetical and political. At Chioggia,
for instance, there was a procession of the wives of
boatmen, dressed in their picturesque costume, and
the General said to them, " I am a son of
the people, a child of the sea. I was born in
the midst of the waves of the bitter waters,
and more than once my face has been
washed by the sea." In talking to the electors of
Chioggia, Garibaldi changed his tone and became a
little more practical. Ile said that if the electors
had not got a favourite candidate, he could not
recommend them a better one than Count Lorenti
Rohandi, a son of Nice, a citizen of Turin, a man
of great riches, and consequently a man of inde-
pendence. It may strike some as rather strange
that a Democrat like Garibaldi should consider
riches as an indicator of independent principles.
At the moment when the people were rushing upon
the Place Sc. Mari, at Venice, to receive Garibaldi,
Prince Amed6e entered on foot. Ho was sur-
rounded by the crowd and greeted with immense
enthusiasm, and cries of " Long live the House of
Savoy !" " Long live the soldier of Custozza !"
The young Prince was much affected by these tokens
of affection. The crowd insisted upon accompany-
ing him home to the Palace. One of the papers in
reference to this fact urges that the union between

free Italy and the house of Savoy is as firm as
ever.

The regattas of the Parisian Sailing Club are
now fixed for the 9th, 12th, 16th, 19th, and 23d of
May. They will take place at Argenteuil, not far
from Versailles.

The masked ball given on Saturday night, at the
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, by the Marquis and
Marchioness de Moustier, was the most brilliant of
the season. They did the honours with much cor-
diality and grace. The Emperor and Empress were
present, but 'being in domino were not greeted, it
being understood that they wished to preserve the
incognito. Prince Napoleon Jerome was in a fancy
Italian costume. The ladies wore allegorical
dresses. Peace and War were personified by the
two sisters, Madame d'Erlangar and Miss Slidell.
These costumes were very brilliant, and strikingly
illustrative of the subjects they were intended to
represent. Among the Ambassadors present
were—M. Mon, Ambassador from Spain ; M.
de Goltz, the Prussian Ambassador ; and
Djemil Pasha, the Ambassador from the
Sublime Porte. The Prince and Princess Met-
ternich were prevented from being present in con-
sequence of the recent death in the Austrian Royal
family. After the supper, which was extremely
splendid and abundant, dancing was resumed, and
was not concluded until 5 o'clock in the morning.
The weather to-day was much the same as yes-
terday. A tremendously cold north wind prevailed,
but the sun shone uninterruptedly to-day and not
a cloud was to be seen. The procession of the
Boauf Gras was again very attractive. The route
was changed, and there was some variation in its
features.

The steamer Seine et Tainise, which makes the
direct passage from London to Paris, is now moored
off the Quai Voltaire. She has brought from Wool-
wich arsenal a cannon for the Exhibition, which
weighs, it is said, about 46,000 English lbs.

Proposed Legislation on Sunday Trading.

The following is a copy of a bill to amend the laws
relating to selling and hawking goods on Sunday,
broughtinto the House of Commons by Mr. Thomas
Hughes, Lord Claud Hamilton, and Sir Brook
Bridges :

" Whereas the practice of Sunday trading pre-
vails extensively in various parts of England, and
the law is insufficient to prevent the same, be it
therefore enacted by the Queen's most excellent
Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the
Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons in this
present Parliament assembled, and by the authority
of the same, as follows :

"1. No person shall, on Sunday, hawk, cry, sell,
offer, expose for sale, or deliver in the way of his
trade, or cause to be hawked, cried, sold, offered,
exposed for sale, or so delivered, any goods, wares,
merchandise, or other things whatsoever (except as
hereinafter excepted) ; and any person who shall
commit any such offence, and shall be convicted
thereof before a police or stipendiary magistrate, or
before any two justices of the peace, shall forfeit
and pay any sum not exceeding 20s. nor less than
55., as shall be adjudged by such magistrates or
justices ; provided always, that no person who has
not before been convicted of any offence against this
act shall be liable to more than one penalty for any
offence against this act committed on one and the
same day.

" 2. The provisions of this act shall not apply to
the selling, offering, or exposing for sale or delivery
of any article or thing for medicinal purposes ; nor
to the selling, offering, or exposing for sale, with-
out public cry, nor to the delivery, of any meat,
fish, poultry, game, or vegetables, before the hour of
nine o'clock in the morning ; nor to the selling,
offering, or exposing for sale or delivery of any milk
or cream before the hour of ten o'clock in the morn-
ing or after the hour of one o'clock in the afternoon ;
nor to the selling, offering, or exposing for sale
without public cry of any pastry, fruit, or any
beverage which may lawfully be soli without a
license before the hour of ten in the morning and
after the hour of one o'clock in the afternoon;
nor to the selling, offering, or exposing for sale,
without public cry, nor to the delivery, of any
periodical publication before the hour of 10 o'clock
in the morning ; nor to the exercise of the ordinary
business of a keeper of a cook shop, eating house,
or coffeehouse before the hour of ten o'clock in the
morning, and after the hour of one o'clock in the
afternoon ; nor to the exercise of the ordinary and
lawful business of a baker, licensed victualler, or
keeper of any inn, tavern, hotel, public house,
house licensed for the sale of beer or of excise-
able liquors.
" 3. If any person, having been once convicted of
an offence against this act, shall be again convicted
by any magistrate or justices of the peace of any
such offence, such person shall for every such sub-
sequent offence forfeit and pay any sum not exceed-
ing 405., nor less than 205., for every separate act
of selling, offering, or exposing, for sale or delivery
on one and the same day, as shall be adjudged by
such magistrate or justices.
"4. In all cases in which it shall be sought to
prove any previous conviction against any person
under this act, a certificate containing the substance
and effect only (omitting the formal part) of the
record of the conviction of the previous offence,
purporting to be signed by the proper officer having
the custody of such record of conviction, or a certi-
ficate of such previous conviction purporting to be
signed by the person who shall have acted as clerk
to the justices or magistrates before whom such pre-
vious conviction shall have taken place, shall, upon
proof of the identity of the person of the offender,
be sufficient evidence of the previous conviction,
without proof of the signature or official character
of the person appearing to have signed the same ;
and if any person whatsoever shall wilfully and
knowingly offer a false certificate of a conviction for
a previous offence against this act, or if any other
certificate as such
officer or person act-
ipnegr s
ao
sn ,sontehhe re
ltehr
ka
sshuaclhl ps
irgonp
suche r
proper officer or person acting as clerk, every per-
son so offending shall be guilty of a misdemeanour,
and, being convicted thereof, shall be liable to im-
prisonment, with or without hard labour, for any
period not exceeding six months.
" 5. All penalties or sums of money ordered and
adjudged ,Aithin the city of London or liberties
thereof to be paid under this act, and not otherwise
appropriated, shall be payable to the chamberlain of
the city of London, in aid of the funds of the said
city, and all penalties or sums of money ordered
and adjudged within any county, city, borough to be
paid under this act, and not otherwise appropriated,
shall be payable to the treasurer of such county,
city, or borough, or other person duly authorised to
receive the same, in aid of the funds of the said
county, city, or borough.
" 6. All prosecutions for offences punishable by
this act shall be commenced within seven days next
after the commission of the offence, and not after-
wards.

" 7. This act shall not apply to any city, town,
or hamlet containing at the last or any subsequent
census a population of less than 10,000 persons.
" 8. This act shall apply to England only.
" 9. This act shall come into operation on the 7th
day of October, 1867."

MR. GOLDWIN SMITH AND THE FREEHOLDERS.—
The Rector of Chalfont writes as follows to the Pall Mall
Gazette :—" Mr. Goldwin Smith has instanced this parish
as a proof that the freeholders are not in possession of land
—not 'independent yeomen cultivating their owe land.'
He asserts that in this parish there is ono squire. Tho fact
is that there are four gentlemen's houses occupied by their
owners, with 726 acres of land cultivated by them. lie
asserts that tho freeholders are holders of houses and small
pieces of land. The fact is we have 10 homesteads with
716 acres of land occupied by their owners. He asserts
there are 30 freeholders, 18 of whom are non-resident. The
fact is there aro 29 resident freeholders. Moreover, ho
asserts that Milton fled from the Tory mercies of the Re-
storation.' I don't know if Mr. G. Smith calls the plague a
Tory mercy, but in Milton's daughter's ' Diary,' in 'New-
ton's Lifo of Milton,' and in 'Ellwood's Life' it is stated he
fled from the plague to Chalfont. I think the Act of In
domnity was in 16G0, which would save Milton from Tory
mercies better than in a flight to Chalfont. These appear
to me to bo random assertions in good earnest—three of
them to strengthen an argument against the Chancellor of
the Exchequer, and one to bring odium on Tory mercies.'
As Mr. G. Smith has thought fit to instance this parish, I
feel myself bound to data what I believe to be the truth.''

L A TEST INTELLIGENCE

(REUTER'S TELEGRAMS.)

AUSTRIA.

VIENNA, March 5.

Herr Louyai, the Hungarian Minister of Finance,
has been summoned to Vienna, to confer with the
Austrian Cabinet upon the financial condition of the
Empire.
Count Taafe has been appointed Privy Councillor.

The press of to-day publishes advices from Con-
stantinople, according to which Prince Michael of
Servia has been invited by the Sultan to proceed to
Constantinople in or3er to settle verbally the ques-
tion of the evacuation of the Servian fortresses by
the Turkish troops. It is expected that the inter-
vention of the European Cabinets will determine
the Prince to a conciliatory attitude. The decision
of the Prince is not yet known.

HUNGARY.

PESTII, March 4 (Evening).

The Upper House of the llungarian Diet met
this evening, and agreed to the resolution of the
Lower House, authorising the Ministry to collect
the taxes upon the present system until the end of
the current year.

MARSEILLES, March 11.

The Messageries Imperialcs steamer Said arrived
here at 7 p.m. to-day with the India, China, and
Japan mails.

MALTA, March 2.
11. M. ship Royal Oak has arrived here from
Cephalonia.
The French, frigate Eldorado has arrived from
Toulon and Algiers with 800 troops and 61 horses
for Alexandria.