The Sun.
London, England, 1859-08-17 00:00:00

it to be renewed under other pretences ? We be-
lieve that the EMPEROR feels the difficulty as well
as the delicacy of his own position in respect to
what was agreed on at Villafranca. But
if he wishes to get out of a scrape
his only course now is to be firm, and insist on
amending the past by rectifying any inconsiderate
assent which he may have made to FRANCIS
JOSEPH'S propositions respecting the return of the
Austrian Dukes to break anew all the pledges
made or promised to be made. They hare no faith
in themselves, and the people have long lost all
faith in them. Let NAPOLEON take England's
advice, and leave Italy to the Italians. It is their
birthright, and ought to remain their heritage.

The undisguised ill-temper with which Sir
SAMUEL PETO replies to the statements put for-
ward by Messrs. EASTON, A3ros, and SONS, in
regard to the very questionable project (to say the
least.of it) for cleansing the water now in the Ser-
pentine, shews clearly enough that he is having
the worst of the argument. Whenever one of two
disputants loses his temper—a wise observer of
humankind has remarked—you may be quite cer-
tain that he is in the wrong. Here is a discussion
going on for some time back, first of all, in the
Press and in the House of Commons, and now
in the Press alone, Parliament being pro-
rogued. It is a question simply as to
facts. It is an alternative, the value of
which can be weighed, so to speak, by a simple
balance of figures. Upon one side we have Mr.
HAWKSLEY with his crotchet of filtration. Upon
the other we have Lord LLANOVER'S plan of empty-
ing a dirty bed like that of the ornamental pool in
St. James's Park—smoothing the bottom of the
cavity—lining it with concrete six inches thick—
and then briming it up again with clean water
capable of being replenished at will by other fresh
water to make up the deficiency caused by evpora-
tion. The scheme tried in St. James's Park
by Lord LLANOVER has proved eminently
successful. The proposition of Mr. HAWSKLEY is,
on the contrary, nothing more nor less than a
gigantic experiment. It is an experiment, more-
over, that involves an expenditure at its very com-
mencement of no less than £17,000 sterling. It
involves, however, beyond this expenditure, the
laying out at the head of the Serpentine of three-
quarters of an acre of ground to be employed
thenceforth permanently in the particularly plea-
sant process of filtration. A process so obviously
disgusting that the propounder of this extraor-
dinary contrivance, set forth in his elaborate
argument in its favour the advantages in the
way of cencealment, as to his actual doings there,
of a pretty little lodge-like cottage, surrounded by
shrubs and vases and other kinds of Cockney
garden ornaments, though at the same time, with
curious inconsistency, he insisted that there will be
really and truly nothing to hide ! If so, why go
to the absurdly unnecessary trouble and expense of
building that "lodge-like cottage," of planting those
shrubs, and dotting that sylvan Screen (toNothing)
with roses and statuary ? The anomaly presented
to our contemplation by these contradictory
remarks of Mr. HAWKSLEY can only be regarded
as in some way comparable to that still more glar-
ing one upon which we have already at sufficient
length commented. That point-blank assertion,
we mean, of Mr. HAWKSLEY'S, according to which
the water now in the Serpentine is " essentially
clear, sweet, and inodorous"—yet an assertion fol-
lowed up by Mr. HAWKSLEY, nevertheless, with
his wonderfully complex plan for pumping out
that " essentially clear, sweet, and inodorous"
water for the purpose of submitting it again and
again and again to an elaborate filtration.
We should certainly not have reverted to
arguments like these so glaringly and prepos-
terously inconsequential, but that Sir S. M.
PETO has to-day endorsed them by his high
authority. The Member for Finsbury is
still persuaded that Mr. HAWKSLEY'S plan
is one in every respect admirably designed. He
thinks it judicious. He conceives that it will be per-
fectly effectual in securing to the waters of the
Serpentine the advantages of purification. But
oddly enough to our mind (for we do utterly fail to
see the common sense of it), he cannot regard as
either impure or as unpleasantly odorous—to put
the matter in still plainer English we would say—
Sir SAMUEL PETO does not regard as either dirty
or stinking the water as it actually now is in the
Serpentine ! The honourable baronet says," Pardon
me for also observing that, as the water of the
Serpentine is not muddy, but merely discoloured
by vegetation, the only operation the pro-
posed filters will have to perform is the
removal of the colouring matters." Really—this
being the case—the water of the Serpentine
being at the present moment not in any way
muddy, being "merely discoloured by vegetation,"
we can't, for the life of us, see why such a sum as
£l7,ooo—(even supposing that to be all that Mr.
HAWKSLEY will require in carrying out his
Icrotchet—which would be an absurd supposition)
—why such a sum of £17,000 should be expended
in " merely removing the colouring matters"
from the water of the Serpentine. If the ques-
tion simply resolves itself into an artistic
question as to the colour of a sheet of water—it
surely were better to keep our £17,000 safe in
the Treasury, instead of wasting one sixpence
of it upon such an absurd enterprise as that
of abstracting from the Srepentine a certain
colour in no way pernicious, nay, we are
assured by Mr. HAWKSLEY himself and his sup-
porters, in no way disagreeable to taste, sight, or
smell. It is evidently with a jealous regard to the
integrity of his olfactory nerves that Sir S.
M. PETO has penned the last petulant
paragraph of that communication of his given else-
where in our impression of this evening. " I re-
side," says he, " near the Serpentine, and have a
business establishment immediately adjacent to St.
James's Park. I have cultivated a habit of obse ry a
tion, and I am somewhat accustomed to the conside-
ration of public questions of a practical character.
I therefore hold myself to be entitled to express
my opinions on these and other schemes sub-
mitted to the Government either in the House of
Commons or elsewhere, although I may happen
to entertain views differing from those put forth
by Messrs. EASTON, Amos, and Sons." All this is
perfectly reasonable, of course, but it is also evi-
dence of a singular amount of morbid irritatio
What Sir S. M. PETO claims for himself he will
surely allow to the mass of the population. He
himself can detect nothing disagreeable in the
atmosphere rising from the Serpentine as he passes
to and fro upon its margin—notwithstanding all his
cultivated habits of observation. Mr. STEPHENSON,
the world-famous engineer, protested exactly the
same on his own part. Thousands and hundreds of
thousands declare " all the year round," but par-
ticularly in the dog-days, diametrically the reverse.
We hardly conceive that it requires any extraor-
dinary perseverance in cultivating habits of obser-
vation to detect a stench that is felt to be intolerable
poor—by lies
ladies
aagneds
in
icrowding the roofs
i
by high and low, by rich and
gentlemen slowly mcauitnydcelreirnkgs
or of uonmdn
bh
ue gßesining—thbeYßayswater road—by nursery-
maids with their little charges clustering the green

expanse of Hyde-park—by exquisites cantering
along Rotten-row in the height of the season.
Everyone tells the same tale about the Serpentine
—everyone except the fortunate few whose noses,
happily for them, are impenetrable by disagreeable
odours, Mr. HAWKSLEY, Sir M. PETo, and Mr. STE -
PHENSON. The public, however, having noses that
possess the power of smelling, regard the question in
very different point of view—they want to have
the Serpentine cleaned, and what is more they
want to have it cleaned thoroughly. Hence our
reprehension of Mr. HAWKSLEY'S nasty puddling
process as wholly insufficient. We differ
from him throughout the whole of this
argument. We differ from him and his supporters
ab initio—and if not, as the phrase is tote
certainly tota aqua. To us and to the public the
water of that stagnant pool frequently smells
aloud—and it is precisely, we conceive, because
it " smells aloud," that it has grown to be a
Crying Nuisance.

The old-established banking business of Messrs.
Dixon and Co., of Chancery-lane, was transferred yesterday
to the Union Bank of London.
The Royal Mail steam-ship Shannon, which sails
to-day on her first voyage for the West Indies, takes
£151,970 in gold, of which £149,000 is for Chili. The
principal part of this sum was withdrawn for the purpose
from the Bank of England on Saturday last.
Speculative operations in the new Russian Loan
continue to take place at Ito premium, but they afford
little guide as to the price likely to be ultimately established.
This will depend on the amount of applications that may
be sent in on Saturday morning, and on the accounts of the
progress of the continental subscriptions.

- lt is said that Mr. Charles Capper, the manager
of the Victoria Docks, has made a proposal on behalf of
Mr. J. 0. Lever, M.P., to charter the Great Eastern steam-
ship for a voyage out and home—viz., from some safe port
in Great Britain to some safe po'-t in North America. The
terms offered are £20,000. The vessel to be provided with
accommodation for 2,000 passengers, and to steam 14 knots
an hour upon her trial trip. Mr. Lever to give satisfactory
security for the due performance of the contract.
In relation to contemplated alterations in our
smaller coins, a correspondent points out that a nickel
coinage has been employed for more than 10 years in Swit-
zerland, and more than two in the United States. He also
alleges that while nickel is perfectly distinguishable from
silver, it has been found in practice to possess in a superior
degree all the advantages of bronze, and that it is less cum-
brous, and at the same harder, so that the impressions
would be more durable. Nickel is about being adopted for
the lowest denothination of coins in Belgittm.
EXTRAORDINARY PHENOMENON.— During the
late thunderstorm an immense quantity of shells fell from
the clouds upon the grass plots in tho Library Square of
Trinity College. The grass at first was perfectly white
with them. They are chiefly of two kinds, the conch and
the common cornua. Some are without the living snail,
while in others animal life is existent. The walk between
the two plots had not a shell upon its surface.—Dublin
Times.
STRIKE OF COLLIERS.—The colliers employed at
the Westminster, Frood, Vrom, Brynmally, and Brymbo
Collieries are at present out on strike, demanding an ad-
vance of 6d. per day. Whilst the harvest continues the men
are not likely to give in, as plenty of work offers itself at
55., 65., and 7s. per day. Employers will for the present be
the worse off.—Birmingham Daily Post.
THE CHASSEURS OF THE ALPS.—The Unione
of Turin publishes the following communication from
Lovere :—" The corps of Chasseurs of the Alps is increas-
ing every day. A numerous band of young
.riflemen, be-
longing to respectable families of Como and Milan, have
passed this place on their way to Tonale. Another com-
pany of young men have also come from Urano
(Valteline)."
REPRESENTATION OF SOUTH SHROPSHIRE.—
Sir Baldwin Leighton, Bart., chairman of the Salop Quarter
Sessions, has issued an address to the electors, soliciting
their suffrages, in place of the late Hon. Robert Windsor
Clive (whose funeral took place on Friday last in the
family vault at Bromfield, near Ludlow). Sir B. Leighton
professes himself to be a Conservative, but raffling to adopt
all reforms which he sees necessary. He has for many
years past been an active magistrate for the county of
Salop, and has consistently advocated reform and retrench-
ment in the county expenditure, and his efforts have con-
tributed mainly to keep the rates very low. There is no
probability of any opposition to his return.
Her Imperial Highness the Grand Duchess Marie
yesterday honoured the establishment of Mr. Hancock, of
Bruton-street, with a visit, and was graciously pleased to
inspect his numerous works of art and taste in jewellery
and silver, including all the choicest articles from his
" atelier," which he had been collecting for the last few
days to submit to her imperial highness. Mr. Hancock has
himself had the honour of personally waiting upon all the
imperial family at St. Petersburg for many years. Before
leaving, her imperial highness was pleased to honour Mr.
Hancock with her commands.

DEATH OF SIR JOHN SLADE.—The death of
General Sir John Slade, Bart., G.C.8., removes the oldest
living member of the array save one. Had he lived but a
few months longer he would have completed 80 years of
military service, his commission, as cornet in the 10th Hus-
sars, bearing date May 11, 1780, and with the exception of
General John M'Kenzie, who wore the Royal uniform as
far back as the Ist of January, 1778, no officer of the army
can point to the same term of service. Sir John Slade
became a Major-General in 1809, exactly 50 years ago, and
commanded a brigade of cavalry in the Peninsula in that and
the preceding year, under Sir John Moore. In the subse-
quent Peninsular campaigns, under the Duke of Welling-
ton, he retained his command, covering the retreat to
Torres Vedras, and sharing in many cavalry affairs,
as well as in the battles of Fuentes d'Onor, Sahaque,
Benevento, and Busaco, for which, along with Corunna,
he had the gold war medal with one clasp, and the silver
medal with two clasps, besides being twice honoured with
the thanks of Parliament for his services. He became
colonel of the sth Dragoon Guards in 1831, which appoint •
ment is rendered vacant by his death. The deceased Gene-
ral belonged to a° Somersetshire family, was born in 1762,
and was in his 98th year. The baronetcy, which was con-
ferred upon him in 1831, is inherited by his eldest surviv-
ing son, Frederick William Slade, the well-known Queen's
counsel, who is twin brother of General Marcus Slade,
the Lieutenant-Governor of Guernsey. The next brother
is Sir Adolphus Slade, R.N., who, as Muchavar
Pasha, is the head of the Turkish navy. Of the male
branches of Sir John's numerous family the greater portion
are in the army, and nearly every one of them have earned
distinction in their profession. By the death of Sir John
Slade the colonelcy of the sth Dragoon Guards is placed at
the disposal of the Commander-in-Chief, and a vacancy is
caused in the fi.x.ed establishment of general officers by
which Major-General Straubenzee becomes a general officer
on the establishment. The new baronet was born at Salis-
bury in 1801. He was educated at Brasenose, Oxford, where
he graduated 8.A., 1824, and was called to the bar by the
Hon. Society of the Middle Temple in 1830. He became a
Queen's Counsel in 1851, and goes the Western Circuit. Sir
F. Slade is a Conservative, and for a short time represented
the borough of Cambridge in the House of Commons.

JERSEY, Saturday.—The Queen paid a flying
visit to this island to-day. At about 9 a.m. the Royal
Squadron came to anchor opposite Elizabeth Castle, amid a
salute from that picturesque old fortress, and the bailiff and
a deputation from "the States" having boarded the Royal
yacht, they brought back the news that her Majesty would
shortly. land. Accerdingiy at about 11 o'clock the Queen,
the Prince Consort, and the Royal party landed in boats
at the Victoria pier, a structure of solid granite, enclosing
one side of the harbour, a quarter of a mile in length, and
were received by "the States," the military authorities (ex-
cept the Lieutenant-Governor, who is not at present in the
island), and a vast concourse of people. After making a cir-
cuit of the principal streets the Queen proceeded to the
New Victoria College, where she was received by the
principal (Dr. Henderson) the Bishop of Winchester (who
happens to be visiting this distant part of his diocess), and
the principal inhabitants. Here her Majesty seemed struck
with the handsome design of the great hall (which con-
tains a good copy of her own portrait, by Winterhalter),
and the view from the window, but her stay was short ;
no address had been prepared, and after writing her name
on a piece of paper (no book could be found in the hurry of
the moment), the Queen and Royal party departed, made
another circuit of the town, and re-embarked at 1 o'clock.
Considering that the whole arrangements had been ex-
temporised the thing went off extremely well. The weather,
as usual, was splendid, and the scene at certain points, the
harbour and the college, are of great beauty. Not less
remarkable was the orderly good humour of the people.
Although there did not appear to be a single policeman in
the place (only a few gentlemen acting as special con-
stables), and the population of the character called " mixed,"
the contrast with a London mob was wonderful. There
was not a symptom of disorder, and, though a little exube-
rant and demonstrative in their loyalty, the spirit which
animated them was not to be mistaken, and her Majesty
and the Prince evidently appreciated the warmth of their
greetings.
FEARFUL ACCIDENT TO AN AERONAUT.— On
Monday evening Mr. Hall ascended in a balloon from the
Cricket-ground, Newcastle-on-Tyne, in the presence of a
large concourse of spectators. The ascent took place at 10
minutes to 7 ; at a quarter past that hour the balloon was
seen to descend rapidly in the neighbourhood of Boldon,
about seven miles from Newcastle, and fell in a clover-field.
The grappling-irons, however, did not keep hold of the
ground, and, some of the ballast having upset, the balloon
suddenly rose again, and, Mr. Hall being about to alight
from the car at the time the balloon rose, his feet were
caught in the ropes, and he was whirled suddenly into the 1
air. For a moment he hung with his head downwards,
when the rope got disentangled, and he fell a distance, it is
computed, of 120 feet. A farmer and his son who were in
a field close by came to his assistance, and he was found to
be sensible, but he soon after became unconscious. He was
removed to Scots-house, the residence of Mr. H. L. Patti-
son, where he was immediately attended by a surgeon;
and though he fell the fearful distance mentioned, it is
hoped that he will rec)ver. After Mr. Hall was thrown out
the balloon ascended to a great height, and was last seen
drifting out to the German Ocean. A little dog belonging
to the aeronaut was taken up in the car.
ANOTHER ATTEMPT TO MURDER A WIFE.—
SHIELDS, Sunday Evening.—" The moral lesson of the
gallows," at Durham, on Thursday, does not seem to have
had a deterring effect in the neighbourhood where Wilthew
murdered his wife, for another cruel murder very nearly
occurred at North Shields this afternoon. A steamboat
man, named Henry Whitfield, has a drunken out-of-the-
way wife, and on going home between twelve and one at
noon, and finding her drunk, he pulled out a largo Spanish
knife, and attempted to destroy her by sticking her in the
neck with it.
A meeting of the Bank of Egypt took place yes-
terday, Mr. W. Tite, M.P., in the chair. It was stated
that the smallness of the profits of the past half-year is to
be attributed to circumstances beyond the control of the
board. In answer to questions, it was stated that the cur-
rent expenditure in the past half -year was about £ll,OOO,
and that the reserve fund is not specially invested. The
directors did not propose to declare a dividend, but to adopt
the course successfully pursued by the Ottoman Bank under
similar circumstances, and to carry forward the whole
balance of £6,101. An amendment that a distribution be
made at the rate of 4 per cent. per annum, free of income-
tax, occasioned some discussion, but was eventually rejected
by a majority of 21 to 20. The report was then carried
unanimously.