The Sun.
London, England, 1861-08-31 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON,

THE SUN.

F.DON, SATURDAY, AUGUST 31, 1861.

The Oracle has again spoken. Another French
Pamphlet has just issued, hot pressed, from the
great official publisher's. Another little chicken of
the Gallic Cock (or is it Eagle ?) has just chipped
the shell and is singing like chanticleer. The
Emperor, Rome, and the King of Italy. That is
the title of it. And it is certainly a title epigram-
matic enough, and, at the same time, comprehen-
sive enough for every purpose. It hits the sore
place at once—this keen shaft seemingly thrown
at random. Nay,the pen of the pamphleteer not only
touenes the gangren&l wound upon the very title-
page of the brochure, but in that single touch
probes it down to the bottom. Opening the
-pages that lie underneath—the " Oracle" for
once, speaks out very plainly indeed, directly
to /he point, and not in the least in the
old .oracular way, that is—ambiguously. Direct-
ing, as it were, the dexter finger of his left
hand pointedly at Rome, the Imperial pamphleteer
writes, in fact, in words as plain as plain can be—
" France is about to withdraw her troops." That in
itself might be regarded as sufficient : but no—
more follows immediately—" and the principle of
non-intervention will be strictly maintained." It
is added, thereupon—of course for the encourage-
ment or re-assurance of the Catholic Powers—
that " There is not a single guarantee, either
moral or material, which has not been offered
by the Italian Ministers [that is by the
Baron RICASOLI and his colleagues] for the
independence of the Sovereign Pontiff." Ob-
serve, " for the independence"—not of the earthly
prince, not of the master of 2,000,000 or 3,000,000
of men ! The line of demarcation is drawn here,
more sharply and distinctly Him ever it has been
drawn yet during all this war of independence—
betwleen the temporal and the spiritual authority
of the Government at Rome. It is " the independ-
ence of the Sovereign Pontiff " that is said to be
ensured thus by every conceivable moral and mate-
rial guarantee. The intimation that follows imme-
diate:l upon this must surely be allowed by
everyone—by Ricisont and MERODE, by GARI-
PALDI and ANTONELLI, by " Brigand " and
" Sardinian," by Reactionist and Revolutionist
alike,— to be at length coming point-blank
to the very root of things: not any longer,
as the phrase is, beating about the bush, but
fairl y tearing it up by the roots ! We have already
yen it announced "France is about to withdraw
" We now have the passage about the
" guarantees " before-mentioned, followed at once
by this perfectly clear, perfectly deliberate, and
perfectly comprehensible announcement—" If the
Court of Rome obstinately persists in refusing, an
appeal will be made to the Roman People." And
more—" The Plebiscite will take place under the eyes
of the French Army." And finally, our more than
Delphic Oracle observes, in what constitutes quite
a little resume of the programme row before Italy
and Europe, " If VICTOR EMMANUEL is called upon
to reign on the following day the French troops
be relieved by the Italian troops—[there is no

her troops.'

shil:y-shallying here : the day and the movement
.are both indicated quite plainly beforehand]—and,"
it is added, " the King of ITALY will publish
the accordance agreed upon between him
and the Catholic Powers, with a view to
the independence of the Holy See." The pamphle-
teer hereupon adding—in a sort of lady's postscript—
"Th e POPE may then act as he pleases." So much
for )4. DENT-CS new official brochure—i3sued.not
as tarrni.,rly under the grandiose signature' of M.
le Viseonate DE LA GUERRONIERE, but like tho last
"rare few,' of these wonderful pamphlets—"under
aspiration"—that is the courtly phrase—of a
certe an high Personage.
rote E.4rePe has this time the satisfaction
of km swing that "he" has at last spoken out—
and, for once (so far as it goes), quite plainly.
Still b e has given us such
serious reasons be-
fore this to regard even his seemingly frankest
wor 3s and his apparently most disinterested acts
with, suspicion that—we ask ourselves next—ls this
reall 7 all? Has this new pamphlet actually said
ever,yti !ling that there is to be said upon the sub-

the 17

j ect of these fresh arrangements for the indepen-
dence of Italy. How about The Island of Sardinia ?
Nay—remembering that in truth never-to-be-for-
gotten affair of Nice and Savoy—Now especially is
of all times the time when a jealous and watchful
regard ought to be kept upon the every turn,
upon the every suspicion of a turn, in the policy of
the French Government. Never yet has the
French EMPEROR done an act of disin-
terestedness, but that it has directly after-
wards proved to have brought him some par-
ticular and positive gain in the shape of
what we politely term " a consideration." Was
he not the very QUIXOTE of Liberators in Lom-
bardy ? And did he not, immediately afterwards,
pocket, with the dirtiest trickery and in the slyest
fashion—Savoy and Nice ? Just before taking
which provinces to himself in payment for his
magnanimous (!) and disinterested (!!) aid to the
Italians—he had again and again, through
his Ministers, by word of mouth, and
by written and printed documents, yet
to be referred to, asserted in the most solemn
manner, that he not only had not arranged to:have
this very cession made to him, but that he had not
even the, intention of ever arranging it. Directly
after -..hich—Hey ! Presto ! Savoy and Nice had
been fassed by a sleight of hand dodge" from the
Royal CrOwn of Sardinia under the more capacious
diadem of France ! What was the use of quarrelling

then under the circumstances ? It was only a de-
lightful display of adroitness by the most
skilful of Imperial thimbleriggers ! Bat now
—lt is suspicious that we have only just a few
days since been reading in the columns of the 211oni-
teur again one of those excessively solemn and
deliberate, and positive assurances that France
has not the evil-intention that is rumoured. It

is suspicious, how very much like an echo of
the disclaimer about Savoy, was this last disclaimer
a day or two ago about Sardinia. France, it told us,
had not arranged to take the Island of Sardinia :
nay, France had never even thought of doing so.
The words sound too familiarly not to waken our
curiosity at once, not to pique our curiosity upon the
instant, not to rouse us forthwith to the keenest and
the most vigilant observation. Particularly now
that this last official and oracular pamphlet comes
forth from the Imperial press at Paris immediately
afterwards—just, too, in the very nick of time !
When all the world is scattered upon its holidays.
When everybody's attention is distracted by plea-
sure-seeking. When the English Parliament has
been more than a month prorogued. When there is
no longer that Argus-eyed British House of Commons
sitting at Westminster. Above all, one cannot but
see that this new Halcyon Project of NAPOLEON'S
comes to us smiling in so very questionable
a shape—remarking, as we cannot but remark,
how it places his policy (his policy ! the
policy of this filcher of Savoy and Nice, as the
price of Lombardy !) in that old illusory guise
of extravagant magraminity and exaggerated dis-
interestedness ! It is not a rumour of yesterday,
mind ! that—As Savoy and Nice were the price paid
down for the liberation of Lombardy—so has it long
been an understood thing (all the virtuous
indignation of the Moniteur to the contrary,
nevertheless, notwithstanding!) that in return
for the evacuation of Rome by the French
troops, the French EMPEROR is to have ceded
to him the Island of Sardinia. Now that Par-
liament is up, now that even the Cabinet is
for the most part scattered—let Ministers
look well to it that things do not fall
' out—as Mr. ROEBUCK only the other day declared
there was danger of their doing—as we ourselves
long before then had intimated they would do, in
these columns, again and yet again very nearly
in the same identical words. Viscount PALMER-
STON and Earl RUSSELL—but particularly Viscount
PALMERSTON,. in his capacity as Prime Minister
—will be held responsible by the House of Com-
mons for the preservation of the Island of Sardinia
to Italy.

A capital letter has been written to our chief
morning contemporary by Mr. THOMAS ALCOCK,
the Member for East Surrey. It has reference to
the subject of our Metropolitan Improvements.
The hon. gentleman begins by asking serio-comi-
cally, but really with some show of reason,
whether it may not be that we are suddenly
inspired by the brilliant example of the Emperor
NAPOLEON in Paris, in setting to work, as we
unquestionably are doing, to accomplish similar
improvements here in our own metropolis ? Time
enough certainly it is that in this way we should
bestir ourselves, and that in earnest. And that
we are virtually bestirring ourselves at last, Mr.
AtcocK takes occasion at once to place beyond the
further possibility of d,aubt in our own minds by
enumerating a few of the great public works al-
ready commenced, or that are upon the very eve of
commencing. For instance, he says—" A Thames
embankment projected 36 years ago by Sir F.
TRENCH is about to be commenced ; a great scheme
for the drainage of the capital is in progress ; new
Government offices are promised ; railways are in
course of construction, which will facilitate metro-
politan locomotion ; Westminster-bridge is nearly
completed ; a new bridge at Blackfriars is to re-
place the existing structure, and the old horse-ferry
at Lambeth is to be superseded by a suspended
highway." Very wisely the Member for East
Surrey says nothing at all about the changes for
the better that might be looked for among our
London street statuary. For really if they were
to be looked for, where in the name of PHIDIAS or
of the ELGIN Marbles are they anywhree to be
found P Not assuredly in that copper-coloured
effigy, shining with as brazen a face as a new
tea-kettle—that eccentric effigy of the brave
HAVELOCK, in which the General wears a cloak as
no sane man would ever dream of wearing a cloak
under any conceivable combination of circumstances.
Certainly a metropolitan improvement of this kind,
that is to say, an improvement of a sculpturesque
character is not to be looked for in that extraordi-
nary effigy of Fame or Honour, or some such
allegorical personage crowning (literally crowning)
the Guards' memorial in Waterloo-place. The
back view of this same memorial, by •the way, is
grotesque enough in itself to demonstrate at once
the folly of looking there for the improvement.
But, after all, perhaps, the best view of any that
can be obtained of the figure of Fame (we were
going to say the figure of Fun) at the top of it—is
when the spectator, haying walked westwards from
it along Pall-mall, to a sufficient distance, turns
upon his heel to contemplate Madame Fame, or
Honour, or whoever she may be, anew. The ob-
server will there find from that point of view (it is
because of this we strongly recommend it) that the
allegorical young lady, with her arms extended,
appears literally to be performing a perillous rope
walk a la BLONDIN, upon the electric wire stretch-
ing across the roadway. A sketch of the Spectacle
ti; us brought to light would not be unworthy of the
per cil of one of Mr. Punch's delightful caricaturists.
We hereby offer the hint, in fact, to our merry
little friend, with our politest compliments.

The metropolitan improvements alluded to by
Mr. ALCOCK, thefefore, have nothing at all to do
with our London statuary. They are of the broad
and comprehensive character specified in the list we
have already quoted from the hon. gentleman's letter

to our contemporary. Having enumerated them,
however, the writer goes on to comment upon that
extremely fruitful theme for disquisition, the room
there is for others—in too many instances the
urgent necessity there is for others. He sets
out with the well known fact—a fact that
reveals not so very much disproportion between the
results after all, if we will but bear in mind the
different dimensions of the two rivers—that
" while Paris, with a population under 2,000,000,
possesses 24 bridges, London, with its 3,000,000
inhabitants, has only 8 bridges, and of these but
three are free to the public." The member for
East Surrey hastens to remark at once that
"Waterloo-bridge is, indeed, an honour to the archi-
tect, as being the finest structure of its kind pro-
bably in the world;" but, he adds, and with reason,
" it will continue a disgrace to our Government so
long as it is subject to toll, which operates as a
cause of obstruction in the parts contiguous to the
free bridges."
Again—while we are yet upon this subject of the
toll-bridges still difiguring London—it may be as
well to quote precisely in Mr. ALCOCK'S own words
what it is he says about the iron bridge situated
between London and Blackfriars-bridges. He writes
thus upon this point—" Southwark-bridge is stil
sealed against the public because the City authorities
cannot agree with the proprietors as to its price, and
while these two bodies are haggling about a few
thousand pounds (instead of referring the matter to
arbitration) the traffic between Middlesex and
Surrey is impeded, and the character of the City
and of city men is damaged." It is only after he
has written all this, that he comes at length to the
object of the communication in which it occurs.
He offers to the public at large his own suggestion
of yet another improvement for the metropolis, and
an improvement, too, that will hold out the tempta-
tion of giving very fair promise indeed of proving
eventually remunerative.
The price of land in London he sets down as at
(upon the average) £lOO,OOO the acre. He then
enumerates the expenses involved in the construc-
tion of the different bridges of late years—viz.,
£3 ss. per foot for the new bridges at Westmin-
ster and at Blackfriars, £2 ss. per foot for the sus-
pension bridge at Battersea, and so forth. He after-
wards writes—" Let us suppose, then, a foot bridge
to be built at St. Paul's or Charing-crose at a cost
of .X 2 per foot, including a glazed roof. Such a
structure, 1,000 feet long and 30 feet wide, afford-
ing a free thoroughfare 14 feet wide, and stalls on
either side 8 feet square, would cost £60,000. Let
us suppose further a series of shops on either side of
this viaduct (250 in all), and that the rent of each
was £5O a-year, this would produce a revenue of
£12,500, which affords a profit of above 20 per
cent., or, at £3O rent, £7,500, equal to 123 per
cent. on the total outlay." "In fact," he says—
" my proposition in brief is, to create cheap land
by means of Bazaar Bridges, which shall, gra-
tuitously to the public, connect Middlesex with
Surrey, and shall prove a remunerative specula-
tion to any company embarking in such a project."
The idea is really, we cannot but think, a very good
one. It is certainly quite good enough to be en-
titled to serious. examination. In this age of
crystal roofs, and iron girders, and above all of
engineering skill and commercial enterprise, we
don't by any means despair of yet witnessing the
realisation of the picturesque day-dream of the
member for East Surrey. The realisation of a day-
dream, in point of fact, that would come admirably
well in aid of the Thames Embankment.

A NEW GUN.—Messrs. Deane and Son, of Lon-
don-bridge, have patented a gun, combining the novelty of a
breech and muzzle loader in the same piece, which appears
to us to be not only a very ingenious, but also a most im-
portant and excellent invention, and one that can scarcely
fail of being highly appreciated in the sporting world, as it
offers advantages in the field possessed, we believe, by no
other weapon of its kind. Its appearance is that of an ordi-
nary muzzle-loading fowlingpiece, the nipples occupying
their usual position in the patent breeches, and is dis-
charged, whether loaded at the breech or muzzle, by that
universal favourite, the percussion cap. To load at the
breech it is only necessary to move a small lever placed in
the locality of the trigger guard, which unbolts the barrels
and allows them to be pressed down for the reception of
the cartridge, which is easily inserted. The cartridge is of
the simplest construction, being a paper tube filled with
powder and shot, having a muslin end to insure ignition.
DR. CAPLIN'S CASE-BOOK.—This volume is pub-
lished by Mr. Balliere, and the object the author has in
view is to show the efficiency of his recent discoveries in
electricity as a curative agent, in opposition to the usual
mode of treatment adopted by the medical profession in
many of the various diseases to which flesh is heir to. The
cases quoted slid the cures recorded are very surprising,
and cannot fail to bring vividly before the imagination of
the thoughtless the dangers encountered in leading a life
of irregularity. The technical style in which medical
works are generally composed is in the present case entirely
avoided, and a well-written, plain, and comprehensible
volume is the result. Even a casual reader cannot rise
from its perusal without being a wiser man ; and that
being the case, it deserves a wide and extensive circulation.
A DANGER6IJS PLACE TO SLEEP IN.—A lament-
able accident occurred at Nice some days since, on the
occasion of distributing prizes to the pupils of the Christian
Brothers. The ceremony took place in the Theatre
Tiranty, and a M. Gilly, accompanied by a friend, had the
imprudence to place himself beside the ventilator in the
ceiling, where both of them fell asleep. On awaking, about
eight o'clock in the evening, Gilly, not remembering where
he was, turned over, and was precipitated into the pit from
a height of forty-five feet. His groans being heard, he was
removed to a neighbouring house, and medical assistance
procured, but he died two hours after.
A BOY DROWNED IN THE RIVER.—An inquest
was held on Thursday night at the Essex Head public-
house, Essex-street, Strand, before. Mr. Payne, coroner,
on the body of Joseph Carpenter, a boy aged nine
years. It appears from the statement of a boy, that
he and the deceased were playing in a boat on the lower
side of 'Westminster pier, when it capsized and they fell in
the water; he laid hold of a rope, and was fortunately saved,
but the tide carried the deceased away, and before any
assistance could be rendered he sank and was drowned.
A waterman's apprentice, named George 'Wilson, found his
body floating by the Temple-pier, and brought it ashore.
The jury returned a verdict of accidental death.
THE CHARING CROSS RAILWAY COMPANY.—
Yesterday Mr. Coombe gave his decision in this case,
which was a dispute as to the loss Mr. Howard woulJ sus-
tain in removing from his house, which was required by
the railway company. Mr. Rice, the claimant's valuer,
thought he was entitled to about £9OO. The company
offered £270 for loss of business, and £lOO for removal of
stock, as the claimant was but a yearly tenant. The magis-
trate thought that £370 was a fair equivalent. Both parties
were ordered to pay their own costs.
THE PROPERTY OF THE MURDERED MRS.
EMSLEY.—Yesterday Mr. Woolrych, the magistrate of the
Thames police-court, ordered the whole of the property in
the possession of the police belonging to the late Mrs,
Emsley to be delivered to Mr. Peachey, who had been ap-
pointed by the Court of Chancery to." receive the rents and
profits of the freehold and leasehold estates, and also to col-
lect and get in the outstanding debts to her belonging."
A CLERGYMAN CHARGED WITH ROBBERY.—The
Rev. Henry Holloway, a clergyman of the Church of Eng-
land and stated to have been formerly Chaplain to the
Hospital of St. Cross, Winchester, was taken into custody
a few days ago and charged at the Westminster Police
Court with stealing a reticule from the first-class waiting-
room of the Chathan. and Dover Railway, at the Victoria
station, Pimlico. It appeared that from certain circum-
stances coming to the knowledge of Mr. James Broderick,
the station-master of the London, Chatham, and Dover
Railway, placed a reticule in the first-class waiting-room
on the previous evening, while the prisoner was there,
and shortly afterwards it was missed. Prisoner was then
followed out, and upon its being inquired whether he
had any objection to a large leathern bag which he
carried with him being searched, milled, "not the least."
'Upon its being opened, the reticule was discovered, and pri-
soner declared he was not aware that it was there. In
answer to the charge when before the magistrate on the
first occasion, the accused said that he had put a number
of papers out of his bag in the waiting-room, and having
occasion suddenly to leave it, requested a gentleman, who
was with him there, to replace them in his bag, an 1 the
gentleman must also have put the reticule in, considering
that it belonged to him. Mr. Carpenter, the superintendent
of the London and Brighton Railway Police, yesterday
attended with several witnesses, who distinctly swore that
no other person but the prisoner was in the waiting -room
when the reticule was stolen. The prisoner was again re-
p manded, and as other charges were memioned against him,
tUe magistrate refused to accept bail for his appearance,