The Sun.
London, England, 1858-06-24 00:00:00

TRH SUN, LONDON,

after a careful consideration of the sub- ,
ject. These opinions will doubtless be very
valuable. The Hon. Gentleman not only pos-
sesses abilities of a high order, but also influences
a considerable proportion of the independent
Liberals. His adhesion to either side is there-
fore a matter of no ordinary consequence, more
especially as he will unquestionably deal with the
matter fairly and justly without looking to its
consequences, either for or against the Cabinet.
He looks to measures, not men ; and would cer-
tainly not join in any factious movement, in order
to substitute Lord PALMERSTON or Lord JOHN
RUSSELL for the Earl of DERBY.
_ _

The matter has been fully ventilated, and
thoroughly discussed. Every Right Honourable
and Honourable Gentleman has had ample oppor-
tunities for obtaining complete information on
all point, and calmly and attentively deliberating
on the knowledge thus acquired. It is seldom
that any question can be discussed under such
favourable conditions, and we may therefore hope
that the enactments that may eventually receive
the Legislative sanction will be worthy of the
magnitude of the interests at stake.

Until the present session the affairs of India
never received proper attention in either House.
The moment the subject was introduced there was
a general clearance, and matters of vital import-
ance were debated before a " beggarly account of
empty benches." It was the constitution of the
Government that produced this anomaly. There
was no Ministerial responsibility, and conse-
quently no Parliamentary interest on a subject
that would be shuffled off on other shoulders
None could ascertain " under which thimble the
pea could be discovered," and they could not
listen to the prosaic harangues of Sir CHARLES
WooD, or the petulant effusions of Mr. SMITH, of
Cannon-row ; although he contrived to shirk the
most important part of the duty confided to his
charge, and to permit the Indian Budget to
remain hermetically sealed from the time of his
accession to office. But, now all this will be
changed. There is a competent and fully quali-
fied nobleman in office, and he will be entirely
responsible for every act relating to India. There
will be a strong muster both far attack and
defence. Every legitimate piece of Par-
liamentary strategy will be resorted to,
and the affairs of India will henceforth
be regarded as the source of the most interesting
and important matters that can be brought for-
ward in either branch of the Legislature.
The debate this evening will indicate the spirit
in which the chosen Representatives of the people
will deal with the all-important topic ; and we
hope and believe that it will be such as to reflect
honour on the Commons House of Parliament.

The state of that which was once " the silver-
winding Thames," a theme that attracted the song
of gifted poets, and the admiration of the more
prosaic members of the community, has forced
itself on public attention. Members of both
Houses of Parliament, notwithstanding the efforts
at deoderisation that have been made on their
behalf, and the chloride of lime and other disin-
fectants resorted to, are loud in their complaints,
while the Bench and Bar in Westminster Hall
feel that their arduous duties are greatly enhanced,
and their health endangered, by the footed nuisance
to which they are so improperly exposed. In the
Queen's Bench, the Lord Chief Justice of England
offered to adjourn the Court in consequence of
the poisonous state of the atmosphere. A re-
spectable medical gentleman who happened to be
present stated, on oath, that he "had been three
times compelled to leave the court in consequence
of the bad smells—that the atmosphere became
irrespirable, and it was quite as bad in the pas-
sages." He declared that "it was dangerous to
breathe the atmosphere, and that it was danger-
ous to the jurymen, counsel, and witnesses to re-
main, and that it would be calculated t 3 produce
malaria and typhus fever."

In the Court of Exchequer, the Lord Chief
Baron found it necer.,sary to cut short his " charge,"
"as from the intolerable state of the river, he felt
sure that the jury, in common with all who did
business on its banks, would be only too glad to
get away at the earliest possible moment," adding
that " he deemed it his duty to notice the con-
dition of the river and its effect on all around ;
that it was impossible to conceal the fact, that the
Court was sitting to try a most important

the midst of a stinking
nuisance." The administration of justice is thus
impaired. The parties concerned cannot discharge
their important duties without injury to their
health and. comfort. Nor is this all. There
has already been loss of life. A waterman
died of cholera, engendered by the pestilential
odours, and an unfortunate young woman, who
flung herself into the river, although rescued, was
nearly poisoned by the horrible dose.

Perhaps, when a plague has commenced, some-
thing will be done. When thousands, and tens
of thousands of our fellow.citizms have perished,
when many widows and orphans have been con-
signed to the tender mercies of the Union oik-
houses, Mr. THWAITES, and his coadjutors,
may be stimulated into some appei,rance
of activity, and the disgrace and odium of such
an atrocity may be removed from the British
metropolis. It is now a question of health that
affects "the select upper crust," the ten thou-
sand who call themselves " the world," as well
as the less wealthy members of the community.
It may therefore be hoped that something will be
done, and "if 'twere done well, %were well it
were done quickly."

GOVERNMENT EMIGRATION. --The Goverr•ment emi-
grant ship Joshua, 804 tons, Captain F,wler, which
oiled from S'ruthampton on the 314 of December, in
charge of Surgeon Superintendent William Arpthorpe,
with 30 married couples, 100 single men, 88 single
women, 21 boys between the ages of one and 12, 20 girls
between the same ages, and four male infants—making
a total of 293 souls, equal to 2681, statute adults—
arrived at Sydney, New South Wales, on the 6th of
April. One death (an infant) and one birth occurred
during the voyage.
IMPROVEMENTS IN THE POST-OFFICE BUILDINGS,
LOMBARD STREET.--The public have for a long time past
been greatly inconvenienced by the unbusiness-like
manner in which foreign letters have been received,
letters registered, and postage stamps sold at the Post•
office estAblishment in Lombard-street. All who did
business in Post-office-court had to stand outside, what-
ever the state of the weather, and scenes of annoyance
and confusion have frequently occurred from the influx
of people at particular hours of the day, of which the
improvements just completed there will prevent a recur-
rence. A spacious room has been erected running
parallel with and having two entrances from Post-office-
court, containing a longitudinal counter, guarded with
brass wire, behind which the clerks are enabled to ply
their business with alacrity and despatch. At this
counter there are four compartments for the reception
of foreign paid letters, one for the registration of letters,
and one for the sale of stamps. The receiving boxes for

foreign, colonial, and inland letters at each end of Post-
office-court in Lombard-street, and Kiag William-street
remain without alteration. _ _

THE ADELPPII ARCHES AND THE THAMES.—Laud Com-
plaints are proceeding day after day from the inhabitants
of the Adelphi, who are seriously affected by the pre-
sent pestilential condition of the Thames, as mach per-
haps as any class of persons residing on the banks of the
river. For some weeks past the river between Waterloo
and Westminster bridges has been in a most filthy state,
arising out of the enormous amount of sewage and de-
cayed matter of ail sorts whioh find their way into the
water through that worse than plague-spot, the dark
Adelphi arches. Some months ago the inhabitants of
Adelphi-terrace prosecuted a man who systematically
brought his filth to the wharves beneath and there
packed it off in barges to poison people somewhere else.
This for a while stopped the nuisance, a conviction hav-
ing been obtained. Thera seems to be little doubt in the
minds of those who reside in the neighbourhood, and
who are subject to the pestilential atmosphere which the
vast amount of filth conveyed through the dark arches
every night engenders, that very much of the horrible
condition of the Thames between the two bridges owes
Its origin to the foul trade which is carried on in these
cholera-breeding subterranean passages. The parochial
authorities of St. Martin-in-the-Fields have for a long
time past done their best to remedy the evils complained
of by sending large quantities of water down the arches;
and this, though an advantage, is one which does not,
of course, at all affect the river, and there is no check
at present to the vast quantity of putrid matter which
is every right thrown into its waters.
THE AUSTRALIAN ROYAL MAIL STEAM NAVIGATION
COMPANY.—Yes'erday a meeting of the shareholders of
this company was held—Mr, R. Sheppard in the chair—
when the report was adopted, and a payment ordered
of ss, per share in addition to the V. previously re-
turned. Since the last meeting two of the remaining
ships have been sold, leaving only the Victoria and Ade-
laide. The former is still in the employ of the European
and Australian Royal Mail Company, and the latter
has jost returned to England in a high state
of efficiency. The amounts standing under th
head of assets of doubtful value, consisting chiefly of
valances due from the estate of the late Melbourne
agents, as well as those under that of Government mulcts
have been written off, as, after making every endeavour,
he directors are of opinioc that no further shall of itn-
porta, ca will be rec,ived to the credit of these items.
With the view of simplifying the accounts, the reserve
fund ef 27,6301. has ales been written off in the balance
sheet, thereby reducing the cost of the two ships from
104,4211. to 76,7911. Some discussion took place upon
tle am unt to be returned per share, and an amend-
ment t, make it 105.,. and afterwards is. 6J., was re-
j scted by an overwhelming majority. It was explained
that, although the cash inland on deposit, &0., amounted
on the 13th of May to 26,464/ , the sum at present
immediately available for distribution is 17,462/ ,
And that the directors consider, under a'l the cir-
culistancee, with one of their vessels at the antipodes,
c Instantly driven at her fullest power, and working on
a service where so many vessels have broken down, it is
not prudent to retain a meager balance than 10 0001.
With a larger payment than s's. this cannot be effected.
A month's hire of the Victoria has also been kept back
for a period when she was laid up for repair. The final
winding up of the concern has not bsen lost sight of, and
every exeition will be made to secure that desirable

result.
IMPORTANT TO RAILWAY TRAVELLERS.—At the Ber-
wick County Court last week, a Mr. G. A. Grey sued
the North Eastern Railway Company for 81. 3e, being
his charge for a loss sustained by him in beieg detained
on his j iurney to the south through the delay of de-
fendants conveyance. It appeared that on the Bth of
April plaintiff left his home to proce,d from C irnhill
station by defendants' train to Tweedmouth, where he
proposed joining the express train intended to go to the
south, The train should have left C rrnhill at 10 30 a.rn.,
in terms of defendants' time table, and arr;v,d at Tweed-
mouth at 11.10, the express leaving at 11.25. The train,
however, did not leave Cornhill till 11.40, and did not
reach Tireedmouth till a period too late for plaintiff to
obtain the express, in consequence of which his numerous
arrangements of conveyance and business were all frus-
trated, and though he proceeded south by a later train
lie could not succeed in his ol.j,ct. In the defence
it was stated that the company did not guarantee to
pa,sengers that they would be forwarded to j
any particular train on another line. The delay
had been occasioned by an accident which
had ' occurred on the North British line, at
about a mile north of Galashiels. Here the axle-tree
of the engine had broken, and though the servants
had tel, graphed to Galashiels fer another engine they
could not obtain it early enough to enable them to keep
their time. The delay c f half an hour on the Kelso line
would lose the express to a passenger. The judge did not
think that an accident on the Nerth British line was a
sufficient!excuee for the non despatch of the train on the
rel'orth-Eastern line. Hs therefore gave judgment for the
i ff.—Seottish Press.
SCOTTISH LAW APPOINTMENTS AND CHANGES.-
- - -

Mr. Batlite, the present Suiicitor-General for Scotland,
will succeed Mr. Inglis as Lord-Advocate, and doubt-
less as M.P. for Stauff ,rd. Mr. Beillie is aristocrati-
cally connected, a respectable lawyer, and of gentle-
manly appearance and manners, and, having said this,
we have said all. His weight in the House and with
the bar wit be simply that ef his party and high office ;
hut from hands we need expect no social and legal
referees Ike those inaugurated by his predecessor, and
we fear in Parliament he will be deemed a very common-
place gentleman. The fact is, the Conservatives held
only one f rensic honour in their hand, and they have
played in and now they must work with small cards.
Mr. Binlie was the beet man they bad, and he had the
first claim ; but the learned gentleman must not
feel annoyed although be sees nem. roue inquiries in
the newspapers, " Who is Mr. Baillie Tire,e changes
will prebably lead to, if they do not neceseitate, others.
It is net likely that Lord Murray wi l choose to
continue on the bench under the presid-ncy of one
whom he hal known as a boy ; not from any
unkindly feeling, but from an apparent incocgruiiy
which every one- perceive-. Lord Wood will feel a
natural priele in the elevation of his son-in-law even
over his own head ; but his lordship was understood to
have consented to delay Lie retirement only until after
the summer session, that the second division might have
ib neeefi of his opinion in some important proceedings
which he had maturely considered, Should these re-
spected juiges retire two Lords-Ordinary will be trans-
ferred to the bench of the second division, and two gowns
will be at the disposal of the administration, With re-
gard to the Solicit. r-Generalship, the appointment is
chiefly important prospectively in its bearing on the
bench or on the office of Lord-Advocate. In the latter
respect it is important at present, as, unless a stipula-
tion to the contrary be made with Mr. Bailie, he will
undoubtedly claim the first gown, leaving Parliament
and the party to take care cf themselves. The car.di-
dates are said to be Mr. Archibald Boyle, a son of the
late venerable Loid President, Mr. D. More, Sheriff
Moir, and Mr. Geore Patton. We believe that Goeera-
went might of-ly toss for the winner ; all of them are
respectable lawyers—Parliament House clerks will even
assure you that you may sleep soundly with such men
for counsel, but n'iin.porte. Such may be taken as a
rapid &ketch of the cuanges of which the death of the
lets Lord Justice Cierk will be the occasion.—Scottish,
Press of Tuesday.
THE MANCHESTER POST<)FFICE.—The great question
of local interest in Manchester at present is, " Where
shall the new p‘nit-office he The business of the pre-
sent poet-office having outgrown the conveniences which
the premi-es in Bond-street aff rd, the Postmaster-Ge-
neral determined soma months upon the erection of a
new building, and the selection of a proper site was
given. to the corporation. The queeti, n led to a fierce
party etrineele in the Town-council. An influential party
in the Council suggested that the Town's-yard, now
used ae s station for the fire engines of the city, should
be sole to the Government, but the majeriiy were of
opinion that Marsden square, Market-street, was the
best site, and in order to defeat their opponents refused
to allow the Town's-yard to be sold. Throughout the
centreversy the gene al opinion has appeared to ho that
Mareden-square, being in the principal thoroughfare of
the city, was unquestionably the be.t site, tut the op-
ponents of the scheme relied upon the fact that as much
valuable property would have to be taken down in Mara
den-square, the cost of this site would deter the Govern-
ment from undertaking its purchase. Extravagant esti-
mates of the value of this plot of land and buildings
imtlhaaeddyeble,ioettn aaop,n,ptlyi,cairpdai
dtthe adtt\
ist,irebu withdrew
from the
e sti would be 7,0001. to
80,0001., and the result was that the Government, as
unary
r vthe
; but
but decided tow withdraw
ittimreteoyoe
wtt:ri
ooe
oanadtey;anor fnt,
t:thehat
this course
aouu, purchase Council for
ibt.feirinr
being adopted,
efeatsdatop,spili::::
selection of the site from the Town-council, and entered
a
ngy
tiuJha
avro.teh
AtnnholeDdt
iemearel
mtaofraonsnri
Mars-
den square site should be purchased by the town and
offered to Government for 40,0001. This motion was
I rought forward yesterday, and Mr. Reywood said that
the property could be bought for 55,0001., and as a por-
tion of would be for re-sale, and other portions would
be requireil for improvements cf the town, to be paid
for out of the gas profits, roc) loss would fall upon the
corporateaftunbioisth.
siAtefatearhaout7l gbe clet however,
withdrawn and it was
an en-
ag ,
deaveur should be made to fix upon a new one. It is
probable, thirslore, that the question will not yet be de-
cided for some time, and the agitation on the question,
which was beginning to excite strong feeling in the
town, will for a time subside.