The Sun.
London, England, 1867-03-08 00:00:00

/1 77 /

_A°
,/

ER
47in
Z(01HS1 ,410-r
!AiftiV
GPunaterdirlanosrab
usnce teohethperongner 11';
of the managers should be nominated. Not a word
had ever fallen from him against any of the gentle-
menooffin
cwehoofmghuaardddiaensvolovfedththeezopro. nsioblne atnhde &ffi
con-
trary, he fully appreciated the difficulties with
which they had to contend, and had always ab,
stained from saying a word that could possibly
give pain to a single person. It was true he had
stated to a certain extent his view as to the ex-
pediency of appointing nominee managers. In the
west part of London no doubt there might be found
many ex officio guardians and justices of the peace
who might form part of the Board if they plea•-ed.
That could not be in the case of the parish of St.
James, bee tuse that parish was under a local act ;
and with respect to local acts it could not be denied,
whatever might be the case with regard to their
parish, that local acts did form an impediment to
the proper working of the poor-law. With respect
to th., framing of the bill he did not think it, ought
to offend the susceptibilities of any one. The sub-
stanc.~ of the bill left the relative powers of the
parish and of the Board exactly as they were now.
If, for instance, it was shown that the provisions
of the workhouse were inefficient, it was in the
power of the Board to say to them that they must
make the necessary alteration ; but up to last year
the Board had no power to enforce upon them the
making of those alterations. It was most unrea-
sonable that the Poor-law Board should have the re-
sponsibility of calling upon boards of guardians to
perform certain works without possessing the power
of enforcing them. It was therefore proposed to put
the expenditure upon such a footing as would force
the guardians to make the required alterations. His
object was not to take the initiative, but rather to
point out what was necessary or beneficial to be
done. With regard to the question of the approval
of the plans for the requisite buildings, a very com-
petent gentleman would examine the plans sent up
to the Board ; but it was never proposed that the
Poor-law Board should take upon itself the erection
of buildings or the preparation of the plans. With
respect to the power exercised by the Board in issu-
ing orders in regard to building, those orders were
never issued until the guardians had failed to com-
ply with what was required of them. The form of
the bill did not alter the law on that point in any
respect. With respect to the collection of the
proposed common fund under the bill, the only
action of the Poor-law Board would be that
the receiver of the fund would be in communi-
cation with the Board, and have the power of .
checking the items. It was, in fact, simply a method
of carrying out the act without going to the Metro-
politan Board. A time, however, must come very
shortly when there must be for this vast assemblage
of the poor, the sick, the lunatics, and other objects
of public concern, one great representative Board for
the whole of the metropolis. When once that Board
should be in existence the parishes and unions would
be able to make use of it, but till then they must
avail themselves of other aids. He begged to be
clearly understood on this point—his great wish was
to pass a bill which should as little as possible disturb
all existing local management. He might have pro-
posed taking powers to supersede local management
altogether, but it was his desire not to do so ; and
every time he had interfered with those local autho-
rities it was with pain and reluctance that he did so,
and then it was that he found himself at a dead-lock,
inasmuch as the Poor-law Board had the responsi-
bility thrown upon it without possessing the power
to enforce its authority upon the guardians. He re-
peated that he had no wish to take any power out of
the hands of the .guardians if they would act con-
sistently with their duty to the poor and to the

ratepayers.
After some conversation the deputation withdrew.

The Glory of the Vine.

A great vine in perfect health, venerable with
age and honourable for its fruitfulness, is one of the
noblest objects iu the gard3n. It is a question of
some importance whether the restrictiop to a few.
square yards of root and branch is a judicious pro-
! cedure in the cas3 of a plant which possesses such
enormous vigour of growth, and, eefris paribqs, is
, the mere healthy and productive the more it is
allowed to range far and wid,3 in the light of heaven
and the nourishing darkness of the earth. The
guide books and the annals of horticulture furnish
numerous instances of ancient and enormous vines
that produce superb crops of grapes ; and it belongs
to history, and not to fable, that a king's table in
quite recent times has bsen supplied with grapeS
from au open wall, which for beauty and
flavour were equal to the best produc-
tions of the hothouse. 'One feature is common to
all the fashions of the present day, and that is haste.
We cannot wait for anything as our forefathers did.
We cram the minds of children with syntax and the
" ologies" before their bodies are half-grown, to
make them clever prematurely. Oxen and sheep go
to market prodigious in bulk of meat at ages which
not long since were considered infantile. The lambs
of our forefathers are the muttons of to-day as re-
spects actual age in weeks or months ; and the use
of quinceand paradisestocks enables us to take peari
and apples from miniature trees that are scarcely
larger than the grafts that once were used when men
expected to wait for a return for their labours, and
planted oftentimes rather for their posterity
than themselves. Let us be thankful for the quick
methods of production science has placed at our
command; but at the same time let us always be
sure, if possible, that there is no deterioration of
quality to leisen the maximum of advantages
•re-
sulting from forced precocity. It is customary now
courseto force u
fyao
few
wg iunnetshisnftrou fm
ruiting tti
inzectohnedi
eyestion
are in tputhe
in, so that they show fruit before they are a year
old.
e ,rpiplaecnesthaerier
sup-
pliedwith a fresh bate , an
year. andL'Suaalrlye
'thtehnesdeeasrterohayi.elodw;etdht°eir
practice. It is very pretty practice, and we respect
Now, no one can deny that this is pretty
the
skill that insures constant success without
respect to the varying influences of the seasons;
but it is a question if in the end there is any
substantial gain by this forcing progress.
We see oa these young vines large bunches and
handsome well-coloured berries, but we see the same
on vines of great age, and that try the strength of
walls and rafters with their enormous weight of pro-
duce. There is one difference as to the two uses ;
the young vines require constant watching, and are
in a certain sense costly toys; whereas the great
old vines generally take care of themselves; as is
the wont of those who have arrived at years of dis-
cretion. We are not to be supposed desirous of
turning aside from their enjoyment of the practice
and its fruits those who grow young vines for one
crop and the muckpit; but there are always a few
persons to be found who prefer simple utility at the
least possible cost, and we think we may safely re-
c immend these to lay out their vineries in such a
way as in the end to appropriate great spaces to a
few vines rather than a contracted space to many.—
Gardener's Magazine.

SALE OF MOUNTED AND UNSET JEWELS.— On
e
Wednesday, the 6th instant, an auction was held at
Messrs. D Benham, S torr,
and Sons' auction rooms, of a
costly collection of jewels, &c.; the more important lots
realised as follows ;—Lot 6-19, a superb brilliant brooch, of
beautiful floral design, composed of a number of fine stones,
£B6 2s. ; 651, a lustrous pear-shaped brilliant drop, of fine
spread, £33 175.; 665, a 'eery beautifully designed brilliant
and pearl brooch, - of the choicest quality, £l6B ; 672, a
single low necklace, composed of 193 choice Oriental pearls,
£27 55.; 676, a splendid brilliant cross, of 17 beautifully--
cut and lustrous brilliants, and diamond loop, £132 65.;
681, a superb diamond necklace, composed of a profusion
of stones, 3 Pendants, nod pair of ear-rings, en suite, £215
Ss.; 699, a magnificent brilliant, of great lustre, weighing
28 grains, mounted as a stud,
£ll5 10.; ; 694, a superb
m
emerald and brilliant bracelet, the &tob] in centre being
remarkable for depth of colour, £142 165.; 697, a costly
Oriental pearl necklace, designed in 5 rows, containing 364
pearls, £236 12s ; 698, a large single-steno brilliant ring,
£36 152 4 ; 705, a sumptuous graduated brilliant collet neck-
lace, composed of 44 finely cut stones, of the greatest
lustre, £39410x.; 706, a splendid single-stone brilliant
ring, of the finest quality, £56145.; 709, a sultana's superb
brilliant collet necklace, of 44 graduated stones, of very
choice quality and cut, with 11 pendants attached, £714 ;
715, a pair of magnificent brilliant drop ear-rings, with
centre pendants, £213 ; 732, a fine spread brilliant, of ex-
traordinary qualityand lustre, weighing 10 carats (less 1-8),
£931 10s. 733, a magnificent brilliant cross, composed of
of fine quality, £153 Gs.; 751, a splendid
slinglalrXtostnoonbesrilliant ring, of fine water, 3 carats 1-16, £73
10s. ; and, 752, a pair of beautiful gold bracelets, of Indian
workmanship, set with rubies, pearls, cats'-eies, sapphires,
and diamonds, Sozs. ldwt., 4126,