The Sun.
London, England, 1859-08-15 00:00:00

PROROGATION

PARLIAMENT.

HOUSE OF LORDS-(SATURDAY).

The ceremony of proroguing, the Imperial Par-
Ii intent, by Royal Commission, took place to-day
with the usual formalities.
Shortly after two o'clock the Lord Chancellor
and the other peers named in the Commission
entered the house in their scarlet robes, and took
their seats in front of the throne.
The usual preliminaries having been gone_
through, •
The LORD CHANCELLOR then directed the
Usher of the Black Rod to summon the "faithful
Commons to the bar of their lordships' house to
hear the Royal assent given to certain bills, and
also her• Majesty's most gracious speech proroguing
Parliament."
The Vsher of the Black Rod then retired, and in
a few minutes the Speaker and a number of the
members of the House of Commons appeared at the'
bar.

The Royal commission having again been read,
the Royal assent was then given to' the following
bills :

Income Tax Consolidated Fund (Appropriation) ; Stant)
Duties; Military Savings Bank; Universities Incorpor4-
tion Act Ainendment ; Queen's Remembrancer; Countfr
Cess (Ireland) ,Acts Continuance; Universities (Scotland);•
Constabulary Force (Ireland); Manufactories '(lreland)
Acts Continuance ; Cambridge University Commission
Continuance ; Law of Property and Trustees Relief Amend-
ment; North-Western Territory, (British America) Coinage;
Probate and Letters of Administration (Ireland.). ; Turn-
pike Trusts Arrangement ; Railway Companies Arbitr4-
tion ; Marriages (Lisbon) ; Imprisonment for Small Debts ;
Militia Law Amendment ; Bankruptcy and Insolvency
(Ireland) Act Amendment; Customs (No. 2) ; East India
Loan ; Militia Pay ; Reserve Volunteer Force of. Seamen;;'
Government of India Amendment ; Inclosure Acts Amend-
ment; Stock-in-Trade Exemption; Ecclesiastical Jnris -
diction Continuance; Episcopal and Capitular Estates
Act Continuance ; Corrupt ,Practices Prevention Act
(1854) Continuance; Weights and Measures Aot Amend-
ment; Turnpike Act Continuance; Dublin. Police ; Chari-
table and Provident Societies ; Inclosure ; European Troops
(India) ; Divorce ; Sale of Gas ; Charitable Trusts A t
Continuance; Sessional Division; Law Ascertainment Sq-
ciety; Poor Law Board(Paymentof Debts); GalwayHarbonr
and Port Amendment; Fishing Vessels passing the Nora;
Chester and Holyhead Railway; Westminster New Bridge;
Newcastle-under-Lyme Burgess Land ; Bombay, Baroda,
and Central India Railway ; Chichester Harbour Embank-
ment; Herne Bay and Faversham Railway (Margate Ext.;
Lancashire and Yorkshire, and East Lancashire Railway
Companies ; Leeds, Bradford, and Halifax junction;
Nuneaton and Hinckley Railway; Victoria Station and
Pimlico Railway ; Berks and Hants Extension Railway ;
British and Canadian Telegraph Company ; South Staf-
fordshire Railway ; London and North-Western Railway
(Denton to Staleybridge) ; and several other bills.
The LORD CHANCELLOR then rose and read
HER MAJESTY'S SPEECH.

‘‘, MY LORDS AND GENTLEMEN,
" We are commanded by her Majesty to release you froin
further attendance in Parliament, and at the , same time lo
convey to you her Majesty's acknowledgments for the zeil
and assiduity with which you have applied yourselves to
the performance of your important duties during the sessidn
of Parliament about to close.

" Various circumstances have occasioned inter-
ruptions, and prevented the completion of important mea-
sures which her Majesty pointed out to the attention of
her Parliament at the beginning of the present year, lint
her Majesty trusts that these matters will be taken into
your consideration at an early period of the next session.

" The war which has broken out in Northern Italy hav-
ing been brought to a close by the peace of Villafranca,
overtures have been made to her Majesty with a view to
ascertain those held by the great Powers of Europe, for the
purpose of settling arrangement.; connected with the pre-
sent state and future condition of Italy, a plenipotentiary
would be sent by her Majesty to assist at such conference,
but her Majesty has not yet received the information ne-
cessary to enable her Majesty to decide whether her Ma-
jeity may think it fit to take part in any such negotiations.
"Her Majesty would rejoice to find herself able to con-
tribute to the establishment of arrangements calculated to
place the general peace on satisfactory and lasting founda-
tions.

"Her Majesty, in accordance with the stipulations of the
treaty of Tiensiag, has instructed her plenipotentiary in
China to repair to the Imperial Court at Pekin; and her
Majesty trusts that such direct communication with the
Imperial Government will have a beneficial effect upon the
relations between the two countries.

" Her Majesty commands us to inform you that she
looks forward with confidence to the continued mainte-
nance of those friendly relations which so happily subsist
between her Majesty and all foreign Powers and States.
" Her Majesty is glad to be able to congratulate you on
the complete restoration of tranquillity in her Indian do-
minions.

" It will be her earnest endeavour to promote their in-
ternal improvement and to obliterate the traces of those con-
flicts which her Majesty witnessed with such deep concern.
" The financial arrangements of that portion of her Ma-
jesty's empire will continue to engage her Majesty's serious
consideration.

" 4er Majesty has had much satisfaction in giving her
assent to the bill which you presented to her for the forma-
tion of a naval and military reserve force. A complete and
permanent system of national defence must at all times be
an object of paramount importance.
" Gentlemen of the House of Commons,-
4, Her Majesty commands us to convey to you her cordial
thanks for the readiness and zeal with which you have
provided the necessary supplies for the year.
My Lords and Gentlemen,—
Her Majesty commands us to express to you her heartfelt
gratification at witnessing the general wellbeing and con-
tentment. which prevail throughout her dominions. The
happiness of her people is the object dearest to her heart.

At the termination of the reading of the Royal
Speech,

The LORD CHANCELLOR said—By virtue of
the commission which has just been read, I declare,
in the name of her Majesty the Queen, that this Par-
liament is prorogued until Thursday, the 27th day
of October.

During the proceedings few visitors were pre-
sent.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.-(THIS DAY.)

MARLBOROUGH-STREET.

OBTAINING GOODS UNDER FALSE PRETENCES BY A
NOBLEMAN'S COACHMAN.—Henry Fimion, coachman to
Lord LUrgan, was brought up on a warrant by Shillingford,
an officer of this court, and who had apprehended him at
his lordship's estate, Lurgan, County Antrim, charged
with obtaining a lady's side saddle, from Mr. Peter Worsley,
saddler, ST, South Audley-street.
It appeared from the evidence that the prisoner in May
last . was in Lord J. Manners' service, in Brook-street,
Grosvenor-square, and without any authority from his lord-
ship he went to the prosecutors, and by saying that he was
sent for it he obtained a lady's side saddle. When Lord J.
Manners was spoken to about it he denied having sent the
prisoner for the article. Prisoner had since ' obtained
another situation in Lord Lurgan's family.
Lord J. Manners' steward said his lordship,;for the benefit
of his health since his accident, had gone to Malvern.

Prisoner was remanded for the attendance of his lord-
ship.

THIS DAY'S SHIPPING.

LONDON, Aug. 15.—Wind this day at noon, North-
Westerly ; fresh breeze, with fine weather. It rained
heavily in the night and morning.
PoRTSMOIITIf Aug 14.—Wind N.W.—Sailed—Her
Majesty's ship Pigmy, for Portland.
PLYMOUTH, Aug. 14.—Wind S.W.—Sailed—Her
Majesty's ship Cameos, for Monte Video.
SwANsEA, Aug 14.—Wind S.S.W.—Arrived—Ford-
mill, from Quebec.

(BY BLECTRIC TELEGRAPH.)
LIVERPOOL; Monday Morning.

Wind N.N.W.
Arrived, August 14—Kelpie, from Cameroons ; Equity,
from Galvestton.

(BY SUBMARINE AND BRITISH TELEGRAPH.)
GRAVESEND, Monday morning.
Wind W.; tide, two hours' flood; weather squally.
Arrived, Ang. 14—Derwentwater, from Ostend.
DEAL, Monday Morning.
Wind S.W., strong, with rain.

TRINITY-HOUSE PlLOTS.—Copies of the memo-
rials and correspondence relative to the application of cer-
tain free watermen of the port of London to the Trinity-
house and the Board of Trade to be examined as to their
competency to act as pilots in the said port of London, and,
if found competent, to have permissive (not compulsory)
licenses granted to them, were published on Saturday, on
the motion of Mr. William Ewart, M.P. The Board of
Trade decided (in June, 1858) that-1. That se far. as re-
gards the capability of the memorialists to act as pilots in
the Thames, their case appears to have been yrovided for by
an Order of Council, passed upon the application of the
Elder Brethren of the Trinity-house on the Ist of_M
1855, a copy of which is eclosed. 2. That as
further question of granting special licences
acts- in the showing their competency totcfewgaardterms the
minanteriagereem. ent of vessels in the Thames,do
certainth e Lords could not

TILE iS,EI3P.E.N,7.INE.rop:

TO THE EDITOR 01. THE
Sir,—As the engineer employed by:the Govern-
ment to eleanse the water of,the Serpentine, I have
hitherto. felt myself precluded from taking part in
the singular controversy now raging in your co-
lumns.' 'As; however, some. Of your correspondents
are—apparently from mere excess of 4iireStrained
vivaeityLL-beeOnhing very personal towards". myself,
and Mr. John. Lilwall especially so,, I may, perhaps,
be permitted to correct them and several
important Particulars. .
-First,•us"regards my profession; Mr. Lilwall corn-
MUnicites to the public the following gratuitous and
as he evidently
,imagines; very damaging,informa-
tign Personally I know nothing of MiN Hawks-
,ley.7—this compliment I can truthfullyrecipriocater—
" but I venture to suggest that to censultflarat gen-
' ilenian, himself 'a contractor, Upon various papers
•
relating to the purification of the Serpentine was,
to say the least, to place hiai iii most undesirable
position. Clearly his interest lay in" the. opposite
direction of deciding in favour, of any plan not his
own. Than this no systeni.• could well be worse,"
&c. Now,.although I ain'very happy to agree with
the principle enunciated by Mr. John, Lilwall, I
arn'under. the unfortunate necessity of &senting
from' his facts. I am .not a contractor, nor ever was
a contractor, nor have I ever been concerned or in-
terested, directly or indirectly, in any contract what-
ever; on the contrary, I have for the last 30 years
been occupied in the practice of my profession as a
civil engineer, and most extensively in designing
'and superintending the construction of waterworks
at home and abroad; 'under circumstances in. which
the purification of water by the means about to .be
adopted at the Serpentine are more erlesa
.etten-
sively employed. I am, 'therefore, just the-Sort of
person to whom Mr. John Lilwall would adViSe the
Government to refer ; and it, was, probably, because
the Government haVe by anticipatien coincided
with Mr. Jelin Lilwall that.' had the honour to be
asked to make a report. - Mr. John Lilwall's other
Statements,.plausible , as they. appear' 'are unfortu-
nately equally dashing, and for the most part
equally wide' of the truth. Their WeVht, and au-
thority are entirely derived from theprominent
place with which you have honoured theM in your
journal.

Having notoriously made a T greater number of
hydraulic works than any other living per Son, I may
be expected to have acquired at least some reliable
knowledge of the expenses attending the, pumping
and filtering of water. If I have possessed myself
of this knoWledge, and provided alWays, I were
that sCandalum magnatum the " contractor"
that Mr. John Lilwall incontinently asserts me
to be, but which I am not,—by the way; the
most indignant of your correspondents, affection-
ately quoted by Mr. John Lilwall as the firth which
is willing and anxious and endeavouring to, effect
the same purpos-:, in another fashion,'happens to
be in that identical position—l Should venture to
undertake to perform the whole operation in respect
to which that gentleman cites such formidable
figures for the comparatively small remniieration
of £3OO per annum.
On the general subject the truths of .the'matter
lie in 'a very narrow compass, and are mainly these :
—That the vast deposit at the bottom of the Ser-
pentine, black and deep as it is, does not affect the
condition of the supernatant water; thafthe*Water
of the Zerpe ntine does not hold mmilii)-Organie
matter in solution, but; 'on' the contrary,3lS- essen-
titilly clear, sweet, and, inedoraus—let fhere be no
mistake on this subject, for' am speaktUg.'of the
water ;—that it is, nevertheleas, to sonic extent
loadedwith confervoidal and other forms of vegeta-
tion of a very primary and' harmless Character, com-
mon to and well known in most waterworks, and
in exposed lake waters generally ; that these can
be very readily removed by filtration, and that as
they will become reproduced Under the 'favouring
action of summer light and heat—and they would
be just as rapidly produCed in other water added
to the Serpentine as in the water now therethey
can be again as easily removed, and so froin time
to time when and as the occasion may require, -
I may further remark that the very simple and
effectual operation now about to be performed is
entirely independent of the removal of the mud
or of the formation of an art'ficial beach-for the
benefit of the bathers ; and that it would Wjust as
necessary for the preservation of the incumbent
Water, after these alleged improvements hid been
made, as it now is.

If your somewhat excited correspondenta•Will not
take offence I will, with all deference tot their
imaginative opinions, venture to recommend, them
to go to the house of the Royal Huhiane
Society, on the north' bank of the Seitentine,
there borrow a glass or a bottle, take a boat and
pull off from the side, then (if their prejudices will
allow them, for they need not be alarmed) view,
taste, and smell thC water; afterwards Alter some
of it through a piece of white blotting paper (this
can be obtained properly folded at any respectable
druggists's) ; put some that is filtered and some that
is unfiltered under a good working microscope, with
Dr. Carpenter's or some other standard work on
microscopic forms by their side ; evaporate a quart
or more of the water very slowly, and it a low
temperature, so as to bring down all' the inorganic
salts and all the organic matter ; weigh the dry
residue in a small platinum crucible, ignite and
weigh again (the difference of the two weghings
will consist of organic matter and some-go:sea com-
bined with the inorganic salts), and yotii Corre-
spondents will then, it may be, learn wliat they do
not seem to know, that neither sensibly nor che-
mically is there much that is wrong with the greatly
abused water of the Serpentine, and that the little
that is wrong may be readily set right by the
simple process of filtration. That the water 'of the
Serpentine is preserved fresh and sweet is' a -natural
consequence of its magnitude and depth, and the
same result is observable in all large sheets of
Water, while the contrary effect is experienced in
all small sheets of shallOw, depth. The reason is
almost too obvious to mention ; the depth retards
the depuration of the mass, while the extent of
surface affords facility for agitation and the conse-
quent combination of the water and, its , devitalised
organic contents with that all purifying -relement
oxygen.
For the information of your readers generally, I
may also state that the proposed constructions will
be of a decidedly pleasing charactei, that the
filter-beds will create neither a nuisance nor an
eyesore, and that the public may safely trust the
First Commissioner, whose heart is in the matter,
to tolerate nothing either in the design or the work-
ing operation which can' afford ground of,offence to
the most fastidious taste. The general effect will be
that of an Italian flower garden, with fountains
and vases, and four ornamental sheets of water.
The machinery will be noiseless and smokeless ' • it
will be placed in a lodge-like cottage, forming 'also
the attendant's residence, and will be' disposed
among the large trees at some.little distance from
the other works. While on -the one hand there
will be nothing pretentious- or obtrusive, so, on the
other hand, there will be nothing to hide ; and if
my ability be equal to the task I have undertaken
I shall succeed in combining, without sacrifice, the
useful with the agreeable. The soiled sand (which
will be insignificant in amount) will be hand-
carted in the early morning to the machinery, by
which it will be washed, and the small quantity of
water dirtied in the process will flow off into the
adjacent Ranelagh sewer. The filthy duck-pond,
one foot deep, at the head of the Serpentine will
be obliterated, and the stagnant portion of the lake
above bridge will hereafter be fed with a consider-
able stream of purified water.
With your leave one word of the " contractors,"
Messrs. Easton, Amos, and Sons. It appears that
these gentlemen have for many years past-been in
the habit of forcing their own u interested" propo-
sitions on the attention of the Government, and
that they seem to think they have a vested right in
all works for water supply undertaken by the Go-
vernment ; so much so, indeed, that they have
angrily resented an official negative to an unasked-
for proposition. Now, of these gentlemen's schemes
I never so much as heard till some time after my
report had been sent in and adopted, and then only
because Messrs. Easton and Amos forwarded a
letter to the First Commissioner almost, if not quits,
rebuking that important officer of the Crown for
being so adventurous as to accept my professional
views in preference to their trade propositimis'
and
nAinrmeocomess,sawan
(See hereon their own letters published by them-
selves). I then, however, for the first time became
acquainted with Messrs. Easton and
for I was
end all I can say in relation
to any one's sug-
gestions—is, scheme,
not called in to sit in judgment n_
that if my powers_
insinuates, included those
have awarded the prize to
competitors, I should not
ofalinaoda'rasbiytMerrbLetiwiweaelni
loyseexdpevenicseiviseViankminyg
Mdeelisbsresr.atEeaosptoinnioann,
into account), based on false pre-
misesworking charges
influence it would have
well in Duck Island,
Serpentine and the quantity of
exercised
consequences of no small
water to be obtained
and
e rta bothinontaos
produce
the
c on
magnitude in and around St. James's-park. Had
Messrs. Easton and Amos received the commands
of the First Commissioner I should. certainly not
have considered it my duty to interfere publicly or
priately With the performance of their appointed
functions. It may, however, well be that " contrac-
tors " and professional men regard such interfe-
rences from very different points of view.—l am,
Sir, your most obedient servant,
T. HAWKSLEY.
30, Great George-street, Westminster, Aug. 13.