The Sun.
London, England, 1859-08-20 00:00:00

THE FRENCH PRESS.

The Imperial decree by which the public journals
are exonerated from the effects of any warnings they
may have received is remarked on generally by the
Paris press in terms of great approbation. The
Constitutionnel makes the following observations:—
"The official journal has again pronounced the word
Amnesty. This time it is in favour of the press that the
Government is generous. Yesterday it forgot the faults of
party men ; to-day it consents to pardon political writers,
whose faults and simple errors were, for the most part,
' only of. gravity on account of the circumstances
of the moment. We sincerely thank the Govern -
ment for this generosity. Though only. applicable
to a small number of men, and concerning only re-
stricted interests,lhe decree of the 16th relative to tho
warnings received by the French and Algerian press will
not the less obtain general approbation. Relieved from
the disquietude which the penalties of the decree of 1852
caused them, the journals which derive most benefit from
the amnesty will, we are sure, be grateful to the Govern-
ment. Their convictions may remain unchanged, but they
will bring to the examination of political and administra-
tive questions the calm and the reserve which perhaps their
precarious situation prevented them from displaying."
The Debats merely says :-
- -

" It is easy to see that the decree has been conceived
with the same view, and will obtain the same approbation,
as that proclaiming the general amnesty. In fact, it only
extends the principle of the amnesty to the press."
The Siecle, after expressing its satisfaction,
touches on an incidental effect of the decree :

" In the opinion of a former Minister, M. Billault, warn-
ings to a journal were not a punishment. We maintain
the contrary, as it is impossible not to regard as a penal in-
fliction an act which, if repeated, empowers a Minister to
suspend a journal for two months. We are most happy
to see that the Minister of the Interior and the director
of the press adopt the opinion which we think the only
true one. The natural consequence to be drawn
from cancelling the warnings is that they are recognised to
have a penal character. Now that penalty, like all others,
as those for misdemeanours, may be set aside. We hope,
however, that the existing legislation, invoked in the de-
cree of amnesty, will be completely remodelled."
The following is from the Patrie
The bearing of this decree must be manifest to every
body; it is evidently another step towards free discussion.
We are the more delighted with it because this noble initia-
tive is no doubt connected, as the happiest of omens, with
the wise and straightforward policy of the new Minister of
the Interior, the Duke do Padone, and also with the new
organisation of the service of the press recently announced,
at the head of which the Emperor has placed a person so
remarkable for his liberal character."
The Presse, more than any other of the Paris
journals, enters into the question of freedom of
writing, maintaiaing that the government would
gain rather than lose by fair discussion. History,
it declares, shows that every attempt to shackle the
press has proved fatal to its author
The Convention," it says, " proscribed public writers,
and yet, although victorious in Europe, it was overcome
by general opinion, raised against it. The Directory pro-
scribed in one day 120 journalists, and it fell soon after in
the midst of profound indifference. Napoleon gained no-
thing by putting down the press ; Charles X. wanted to
sweep it aside, and he died in exile. The same experiment
was made in England. Charles I. attacked the liberty of
the press, and lit up the civil war in which he perished ;
the Long Parliament imposed silence on journals, and it fell
under the yoke of a despot ; Charles 11. enacted restrictions
for the press, and he prepared the destruction of his family.
Without liberty of the press, twenty Governments have
been shipwrecked ; who can say that it would not
have shipwrecked ? who can say that it would not have
saved them, and in every case nothing worse could
have happened to them with it."
The allusion to Charles the First's interference with
the general press may be questioned, as it was
against the pamphlets of the day that his Govern-
ment directed their enactments. The writer then
proceeds in these terms :
"It is not by its form, whatever it may be, that a Go-
vernment can preserve itself. Its only foundation is Labile
opinion, and without that co-operation there is no duration
possible, and there is no public opinion without freedom of
the press. A just and moderate authority is placed in no
more danger by liberty of criticism than is truth by free-
dom of examination. The English Government was never
shaken by Junius's letters. Measures which are good ap-
pear more so after they have been discussed, and their
credit is, on the contrary, compromised if the objections
against them are not allowed to be made known.
Before and since its revolutions, booksellers have been
prosecuted,
rprinterson
progress of beenruin cehdecankedd writerst
he march f proscribed—hasileas pre-
vented ? The silence of the press has for authority incon-
veniences of every kind. By rejecting freedom of discus-
sion the Government envelopes itself in darkness ; if its
agentsts
while
it bears the responsibility of their
same time frequently in ignorance
ae commitbeineg xcetstshe se,
a
of their existence. Liberty of the press renders such abuses
impossible ; it enlightens the Government when deceived,
and in all cases prevents it from voluntarily shutting its
eyes to what occurs. At present, consequently, the measure
of public security, of justice, and of the consideration of the
Government is no other than that of liberty."

APOTHECARIES HALL.—At a court of examiners
of the Society of Apothecaries, held on Thursday, the 18th
inst., the following gentlemen were admitted licentiates of
the society, viz. :—Messrs. E. G. Chapman, of Longfield,
Surrey; H. M. Fernis, of Yeldon, Bedfordshire ; N.
Heelas, of Wokingham ' • J. B. Jardine, of Chatham ; J. H.
Love, of Wolverhampton; H. T. Marsh, of Upton-on-
Severn ; and T. Miller, of Boyton.
The Ceylon Railway Company have arranged for
Messrs. Waring Brothers to send an agent to the island by
the present steamer, with the view to obtain a subsequent
tender from that firm for the construction of the line. An
agent on the part of Mr. Brassey will shortly follow under
like circumstances.
A petition in bankruptcy was filed yesterday
against Mr. John Edward Buller, of the firm of Smart and
Buller, solicitors, of 56, Lincoln's-inn-fields, who has_ab-
sconded with liabilities believed to exceed 1100,000._
_mi
It is
as
said he has misappropriated large sums intrusted hi
solicitor and trustee. Mr. Smart is in no way
in these charges.
CRYSTAL PALACE.—ONE SHILLING DAY:—
implicatedto
by season tickets, 340; total:visitors, 3,424
FRIDAY, Aug.l9.—Admissions on payment, t, 3,084; ditto,

TIDE SERPENTINE.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES.

As, however, Mr. Hawksley, in his letter which
appeared in your impression of the 18th, cannot
yet restrain himself from wandering into inaccura-
cies and untrue statements of what has really oc-
curred, we must again ask your permission for
space to set him right.
The misstatements we refer to are that the lakes
in Buckingham Palace Gardens and St. James's
Park are intended by our proposed arrangements
to be replenished by the overflowings of the Ser-
pentine. Now, as our various reports and letters
are before the public, we ask Mr. Hawksley, or
any one, to point out in which of them we have
mentioned such an arrangement. We may here; per-
haps, be permitted to remark that the suggestion.of
such a proceeding—viz., that of pouring clean water
into a dirty basin, and then allowing the overflow
to pass into other two basins at present clean—is
too much like a portion of Mr. Hawksley's plan
for it to have originated elewhere than in his own

I brain.
We believe that when the Serpentine shall have
been thoroughly cleansed and concreted, it may not
be found objectionable to allow the whole water
supply to pass through it, but we provide, by
separate pumps attached to our engine, for three
separate supplies to the Serpentine, Buckingham
Palace Gardens, and St. Sam4s's Park.
The second portion of what Mr. Hawksley calls
the sequence of our arrangements may appear at
first sight not to need a notice from us, as it does
not form a portion of our plan ; we must neverthe-
less quote it---Niz.,
" 2. This water is to be discharged into the head of the
Serpentine, and to be two months in making its passage to
the over low, during which time it will have received the
washings of 120,000 bathers, and have become clouded with
vegetation and effete organic matter."
We ask, who that perused Mr. Hawksley's state-
ment of Monday last in your columns, that at the
present time " the water of the Serpentine does not
hold much organic matter in solution, but, on the
contrary, is essentially clear, sweet, and inodorous,"
but must wish that the quality of the Serpentine
water could as easily be changed in reality as it has
been changed upon paper in only four days by Mr.
Hawksley, for the purpose of colouring an argu-
ment ?
With reference to the difference in the figures of
our two reports, we reply simply that our report of
the sth inst. was written immediately on hearing
of the vote having passed, and for the express pur-
pose of affording the Chief Commissioner the oppor-
tunity of a direct comparison between the relative
expense of the two plans.
As to Mr. Hawksley's last inaccuracy, that for
the supply of the quantities he names to the three
lakes our estimates will be found to exceed his by
sums which he hesitates to mention, we have only
to refer to our offer of guarantee, and to say that if
he be right and the cost should exceed our estimate,
the loss will fall upon us, and not upon the coun-
try.

We feel strongly that the thanks of the London
public particularly are due to you for the means
Ton have afforded for thoroughly ventilating this
important subject. We can have no interest in de-
siring to prolong the discussion, and we can as-
sure Mr. Hawksley that we hold it to be quite un-
necessary on our part to offer any remark upon
his opinions so long as he will confine himself to
truth in his premises. We are certain, however,
that we carry with us the hearty assent of all Eng-
lishmen when we protest against any man publicly
basing arguments on a public matter upon a false
statement of facts.
We have just seen Sir S. M. Peto's communica-
tion in the Times of this morning, and we open
our letter to add a few words.
In accordance with the promise we made you in
our last letter, we shall allow the question of whe-
ther the lake in St. James's Park does or does not
hold water to remain as it at present stands.
On the matter of the Serpentine supply, Sir S.M.
Peto quotes from our report to the Chief Com-
missioner of the 10th inst, that " We are willing
to obtain this quantity of water (1,000,000 gallons)
for the sum of £7OO per annum." This is quite
true : if, however, Sir S. M. Peto had continued
reading this same report he would have found that
in the next paragraph we say :—" We are satis-
fied that the 1,000,000 gallons per day will be
sufficient, but should it be requisite to work the
machinery by night in the summer, it could be
done for 40s. per night, and thus give 2,000,000
gallons per day, instead of 1,000,000."
Sir S. M. Peto says that he had only just perused
our report, and we are willing to think that he did
so hurriedly, for, from what we know of his cha-
racter, we do believe him to be incapable of know-
ingly suppressing a portion of our statement for
the purpose of drawing an unfair deduction.
The uninviting suggestion that the same water
shall be used a second time to supply the Queen's
garden and St. James's-park does not, as we have
shown, emanate from us.
We are willing to undertake to put the bot-
tom of the Serpentine into the same state as
that of the lake in St. James's-park, and
that the cost of the whole to the country
shall not exceed £33,000 beyond the present grant
of £17,000. There have been many exaggerated
estimates made of the cost of this operation ; Sir S.
M. Peto to-day says it will amount to £BO,OOO or
£90,000. We can see no occasion for this state-
ment, because it has never yet been suggested that
we are incompetent to fulfil our engagements.
Sir S. M. Peto would be rather surprised if we
were publicly to state our opinion that a railway
which he had contracted to construct for a given
sum of money would cost a great deal more than
that sum ; and we feel sure that after the above
figures he will see that it would be equally unrea-
sonable on his part to say anything more of the
necessity of spending £BO,OOO or £90,000.
In the year 1844, when we suggested the erec-
tion of the Government waterworks in Orange-
street, Leicester-square, the Treasury were in-
formed that we did not know what we were about,
and that we should not obtain the quantity of
water we stated. We met this by at once offering
to enter into a.contract to execute the works for
perfectly
satis-
fied the amount of our estimate, and to work
them for seven, fourteen, or twenty-one years for
the annual sum we had named. This silenced all
Forests,opposition
c;
expressedo tht h e
reasuryand
themselves Of fi eeo f s
e
; our offer was accepted, the works
carried out,
and have since been worked by us under contract.
In 1849 the works were extended by us, and a
new working contract made; and it is worthy of
remark that since that time we have been sup 1 -
ing six times the quantity
of water 13
we at first con-
tracted to obtain.—We are, Sir,
your obedient ser-
vants, EASTON, AMOS, AND SONS.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES.
theSir,—Permit
of r
you
tahide
me wotrhde‘
me to correct the effect of the mis-
placementp‘hoonnlyo'u'r to üblish in the
(my own error) in
Times of yesterday. When speaking of the exca-
vations at the Victoria Docks I intended to convey
the following information :—The quantity of water
found in the gravel was at first immense, and I had
to put down two very
large engines to with-
draw it : after, however, the accumnlated
water had been pumped out, the influx was
found to be so inconsiderable that one
engine, worked only
tom
occasionally,reove it ou
atand._thvenr very
half-
speed, was sufficient
faithful servant,

S. MORTON PETO.
8, Great George-street, Westminster, Ang. 19.

ICHARGES IN INDIA.—In the year 1857-58 the
charges of the civil and political establishments of India
amounted to the sum of £4,051,675 ; the judicial and police
charges to 2,657,214 ; buildings, roads, and public works to
£2,666,818; military charges to £15,963,094; the Indian
navy and other marine charges to £1,171,706 ; Mint
charges to £145,514 ; and the interest on the debt to
£2,196,672. The gross total amount of all these charges:
in India for the seven years from 1851-52 to 1857-58 (botlx
inclusive) appears to have been £147,581,257, making,
with the charges in England for the same septev nium,u
grand total of £170,345,917. The charges in Ensglfuld for
1857-58 amounted to £4,492,469, and for the sweeu y(:. us
to £22,764,660,

ISir,—We think your readers must have observed
that in the share we have taken in this controversy
we have abstained from advancing any theories• of
our own, and also from giving our opinion upon
those advanced by others, except so far as we have
done so by the statement of absolute facts, and we
do not intend to depart from this course. We have
endeavoured to deal as far as possible with facts
only, and in the one point where we have started
an opinion—viz. that the works we propose can be
. carried out for the amounts we name—we have re-
duced our opinion as much as we could to a matter
of fact by offering to make ourselves pecuniarily
liable for the result.
We feel that every man has a right to his opi-
nion, and that Mr. Hawksley's statements and ex-
planations of his plan may fairly be left to form
the measure of the amount of reliancegto be placed,
by the public upon his views of this matter. We.
are content, therefore, to give Mr. Hawksley the
full benefit of any weight that may be attached to
his opinions by allowing his statements, so far as
they are based upon truth, to pass without remark
from us.