The Sun.
London, England, 1868-05-14 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, MAY 14, 1868.

pant this year, and it is quite well for those who are
beginning to realise the mischief it is making there
to turn round upon their opponents and say, the
fault is yours for making a stand against us ; you
ought to have got out of the way before.
The country has seen quite enough of
Liberal virtue in Opposition, and Liberal
vice and at least inefficiency in power, and the
Conservatives cannot justly be blamed for resisting
the oppression of their opponents and resolving to
take their chance, and not to die easily. It would
be quite as well for the cause in hand, and much
more consistent with the dignity of the statesmen
engaged in its furtherance, to let personalities
drop for the remainder of the session, and attend
to what must be done. I'bat abuse is not argument
is well known, but people choose to forget it occa-
sionally, or appear to do so at least. At any
rate fur the sake of consistency let us hear no
more of the virtuous horror expressed at Mr. ID's-
EAELI desiring to step in against all sense and
reason, when, by his resigning, he would merely
have exhibited a spectacle of temerity, yielding to
the clamour of a faction, whose mode of attack had
taken every one by surprise, and confounded
sober-minded individuals who ;judge to-day by
yesterday, and fully believed that nothing out of
the way would take place this last session of the
old Parliament. Mr. GLADSTONE'S course of action
must be looked upon quite apart from his policy,
and who can conscientiously say that he is acting
a patriotic part in foteing angry discussions in the
House, and putting his own claims to office before
the House at the expense of all other subjects of
importance ?

Yesterday the House of Commons was engaged
in discussing a measure of some interest, namely,
Mr. EwArtfs bill for introducing the metric sys-
tem of weights and measures into this country.
We are glad that the louse agreed to its second
reading, notwithstanding the vehement objections
of Mr. BERESFORD HOPE. Mr. CAVE expressed his
concurrence with the principle of the bill, as he
felt certain that the metric system would be sooner
or later adopted in this country. This bill proposes
that after so many years the only measure of
length shall be the metre, and that a " metric
standard" shall be prepared by the Board of Trade,
to be verified by comparison with the original stan-
dard in Paris. The permissive use of the metric system
is suggested by the bill for a certain time, and after
that it is to be made compulsory. For many rea-
sons it is desirable that this plan should be adopted,
and as for the arguments used against it they may
with equal force apply to all improvements that are
suggested. The inconvenience will be merely tem-
porary, and such a consideration should not be
weighed against a decided benefit to the community
—such as a remedial scheme of this sort is likely to
impart. The more simple and convenient things
are the better, and if we conform to the
same standard as the French do, it will
insure co-operation in our dealings with them, while
those best informed on the subject are well aware
that the French are before us in such arrangements.
The decimal system bas long been acknowledged
greatly superior to our own, and it would be well
if a change could be made in that direction also.
It seems something gained that the House of Com-
mons has allowed the second reading to take place
of this bill of a metric system and weights, and Mr.
EwAwr deserves great credit for the perseverance
he has shown in the matter, and the ability he has
displayed in bringing it forward.

The glowing sunshine of yesterday added the
proverbial brilliancy of " Queen's weather " to a
scene which, under any circumstances, would have
possessed an especial interest to her MAJESTY'S
loyal subjects. The occasion of her reappearance
amongst them was of itself an interesting one, since
St. Thomas's Hospital has always been ranked
among the noblest of those charitable institutions
of which England is justly proud, and it promises
to rank in its new form among our first public
buildings. The selection of its site was a matter of
considerable difficulty, since there were so many con-
siderations to be borne in mind both for the require-
ments of the establishment itself, the wants of
the crowded and busy localities for whose
benefit it was originally intended, and the
needs of the sufferers who were likely to
seek its aid. All these various claims were at last
happily adjusted by the selection of the site now
chosen for the new St. Thomas's Hospital, whose
first stone was yesterday so auspiciously laid by the
QUEEN herself. The building, when completed,
promises, according to the design, to enhance con-
siderably the appearance of the Embankment on
the southern side of the river. It will be erected
with all due regard for those advantages of space
and ventilation which modern science insists upon.
Ibis is more easily accomplished on the present site
than in the vicinity of the old hospital, where an
addition to the building was made some years back
at the cost of £69,000 an acre. On the old spot,
however, though the neighbourhood was densely
crowded, the utility of the institution was in a mea-
sure impeded by the close vicinity of Guy's Hospital,
while at Stangate the closely-packed population
of the district are without any hospital accommoda-
tion, and indeed the whole Surrey side of London
has had reason hitherto to complain of neglect in
this important particular. When the Thames Em-
bankment is completed, as sanguine minds begin to
dream it one day may be, the access to the new
St. Thomas's will be easy and rapid from all parts
of southern London. The principal entrance to
the buildings will be in the centre, and open into
Palace New Road, but there is to be a separate
approach from 'Westminster Bridge to the Trea-
surer's residence. The Hospital is to consist of
eight blocks, the six central pavilions, as they ar e
the Hospital itself, and they are
so called,constructed
comprising
that each block forms a separate
ahte,nisn, ltihnee ne
vreonotmosf,
aa
nny
contagious malady d
hospital in itself, with kitchens,
every other necessary , so that,
appearing in the ward its com-
munication with the others can be cut off. The
tt
length of each is to be 120 feet and the width 28
feet, giving a cubic space of 1,800 feet for each
patient. Already this fine building is in progress,
since the foundations—which have taken upwards
of twelve months to construct—have been recently
completed at a cost of about £40,000, a change
from the day when some 300 years ago the lease
of the whole premises of St. Thomas's was pawned
for £5O !

The presence of her MAJESTY the QUEEN at yes-
terday's ceremonial happily inaugurated the actual
construction of the building itself. The QUEEN
has always manifested a kindly personal interest in
such charitable and humane institutions, in addition
to that degree of royal patronage and favour which
is expected from her position. Her long retirement
from all public spectacles and displays rendered
her promise to inaugurate St. Thomar.'s
hospital especially welcome to the public at
large, as well as to those more especially connected
with the event of the day, and the loyal enthusiasm
which greeted her must have repaid her for the
efforts of testifying the warmth and sincerity of her
subjects' attachment. From a very early hour
throngs of eager spectators lined the streets, while
within the vast amphitheatre itself the visitors, in

every shade of brilliant attire, gathered as early as
nine o'clock, and waited with unflagging eagerness
until the arrival of the QUEEN and the royal
family. The concourse within and without was
very large, and one and all joined with true Eng-
lish heartinesss to welcome her MAJESTY to Stan-
gate. The National Anthem, which was sung on
the QUEEN'S arrival, was joined in by the com-
pany, as was the fine Old Hundredth Psalm, sung
with great effect at the close of the day's
proceedings. The President of the hospital
presented her MAJESTY with a loyal address,
thanking her for her presence, and congratulating
her upon the recent escape of the Duke of EDIN-
BURGH, to which her MAJESTY returned a brief but
suitable reply. After this the usual ceremony was
attended in due form, and the whole pro-
gramme of the day was gone through with uninter-
rupted success and brilliancy. One incident served
to vary a little the ordinary routine of taking
places, marshalling visitors, &c., before the arrival
of her MAJESTY, and that was the enthusiastic re-
ception given to tLe Prime Minister on making his
appearance in the amphitheatre. To judge from
the heartiness of the cheers which yesterday greeted
Mr. DISRAELI, the suffrages of the public at large
are not so exclusively with his great rival as some
would have us believe. Altogether, the affair was
one of the most brilliant and successful of the kind
on record.

LATEST INTELL MENCE.

(REUTER'S TELEGRAMS.)

BUDGET OF THE NORTH GERMAN
CONFEDERATION.

BERLIN, May 14.

The Federal Budget for 1869 was brought in at
the sitting of the Federal Council yesterday. The
total expenditure is estimated at 72,734,601 thalers,
of which the ordinary Budget amounts to 68,683,817
thalers, viz., for the Federal Chancellery, Federal
Council, and North German Parliament, 198,913 ;
for the Consulates, 217,650; for the Federal Army,
66,340,275; and for the Federal Navy, 1,868,979.
The extraordinary expenditure is calculated at
4,050,784 thalers, viz., for the Federal Chancellery
and Council, 150,000 ; for the General Post Ad-
ministration, 27,999; for Telegraphs, 322,780 ;
and for the Federal Navy, 3,550,000. The expen-
diture will be covered by revenue to the amount of
50,477,743 thalers, and by the contributions of the
Federal Governments to the amount of 22,256,858
thalers.

CORRESPONDENCE FROM PARIS.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)
PARIS, WEDNESDAY, May 13.
_

The debate in tne Corps lAgislatif was renewed yester-
day by M. Jules Brame, who also espoused the Protec-
tionist cause. He said that all went well from 1852 to 18615,
when a sudden and violent economic change was made ;
and in spite of the warnings of those who affirmed that
France had not a large colonial empire such as England
had, free trade was forced upon her. The result
was an instant declension of trade. At first
it was said that this was merely the inevitable result of an
organic change which would soon pass away ; but instead
of diminishing, the evil had increased. At the same time
the treaty was condemned even on the very grounds for
which it was established. The imports, which between
1853 and 1860 had augmented 62 per cent., between 1860
and 1867 had augmented only 51 per cent. During the first
period the exports increased 66 per cent., during thesecond
only 27. Therefore the treaty had really restricted trade.
111. Brame excited a good deal of laughter by declaring
that at Bordeaux, the headquarters of free trade, it was
asserted that trade had increased everywhere under the
new r(pirne excel t at Bordeaux, and by adding that he
was reminded of the trader who incurred a loss upon every
transaction and yet made a profit on the whole. He
then gave some figures to shew how ruinous free trade
had been to French manufacturers, and mentioned,
among others, that an iron foundry at Roubaix,
which had cost £64,000, had been sold for £14,000.
Ile then rebuked the Government for having done
nothing to reduce the cost of transit. He declared that
formerly a foreman might rise to be -a master, but now a
man must be a millionaire to found a manufactory. He re-
minded the Chamber that the Revcclution of 1789 had
repealed a similar treaty enacted in 1786; and he repeated
the words of the first Napoleon " The English desire a
treaty of commerce ! Rather than sign one I should
prefer to see them on the heights of Montmartre.
I should at least have the honour of driving them away."
He concluded : " What I now counsel is, renounce the
treaty and return to the Custom-house laws. France will
then be prosperous ; r, if you prefer it, her future will be
safe, and herself grateful."

M. Arman made a very short speech in reply. He said
that what the country really wanted was increased means
of internal communication, so that coal which cost at
the pit's mouth 10f. should not cost the manufac-
turer 27f. He declared that "in commerce and in
manufactures, in shipping and in politics, the union of
France and England cannot but assure the peace of the
world." M. Liegeard confined himself to the iron trade.
He attributed the present depression to several causes.
Production bad exceeded the demand ; at the same time
the price of coal had increased, so that while iron had by
a glut of the market. diminished in value, the cost of pro-
ducing it bad augmented. A still more potent cause was
the traffic carried on in drawback warrants. These
warrants, which date from 1836, allow foreign iron to be
imported free of duty provided it be manufactured in
France and re-exported. Originally only the identical
material was allowed this privilege, but now the principle
of equivalent was substituted for that of identity. This
has led to a traffic in warrants which, while favourable to
the manufacturers of the south and the centre of France,
was unfavourable to those of the north. Another cause
was the uncertainty of political events, and the appre-
hension of war with a neighbouring State. It was
useless to deny that manufactures languished, that
food was dear ; but the remedy was to be sought, not in
the restoration of protection, but in the multiplication of
communications and the abolition of the import duty on
coal of If. 20c. per ton, and the better regulation of the
drawback system. What was wanted was not the abolition
of the Treaty of Commerce, but a revision of tariffs.
M. Auguste Chevalier, brother of the well - known
political economist, then took up the cudgels in
favour of free trade, and his speech gave rise to a lively
scene, 51. Tiers continually interrupting and contra-
dicting the speaker. M. Chevalier completely denied the
statements that had been made as to the decline of trade
since the introduction of the treaty. He gave figures to
prove the reverse. If manufacturers were in such a bad
way, how came it to pass that when a cotton factory was
burned down a short time ago and the owner had an
opportunity of retiring from the business by pocketing the
insurance money, he, instead of doing so, built his mill
again ? The fact was, that it was only those who had
speculated in cotton who were complaining. If
food was dear, was it likely to be cheaper if restrictions
were placed upon the import of cattle? The value of the
imports in cattle had increased during the last fifteen
years from 6 millions to 123 millions. Since 1860, wages
had risen, and the working classes had been able to pur-
chase meat. France had a population of 33 millions, and
were 35 millions of them to pay tribute in the shape of
protective duties to the three million manufacturers and
artisans ? "Tf France wishes to pay such a tribute to
protectionists, I have nothing to say to it ; but, at least,
she should know what she is doing."

This afternoon, M. Tillers made a long speech against
free trade, of which I will send you a summary to-
morrow. There was an enormous crowd to hear him. He
had a huge bundle of papers, and said that he should
divide his speech into two parts, which would occupy two
days. He seemed very tired, and was not heard as well
as usual. He disclaimed the idea of prohibitory duties,
but asked for a revision of the tariffs favourable to
France.

Eumour says that the recent quarrel between M.
Rouher and M. Pinard, respecting the dismissal of M. de
Saint Paul, went to such lengths that both Ministers
wrote to the Emperor coffering their resignation. His
Majesty, who must have quite enough to do just now in
soothing his irritable councillors, wrote a pacifying reply
to the two disputants ; the result of which is, that both
remain in office. It is, however, commonly believed that
M. Pinard will not long remain at the Ministry of the
Interior, but that he will be succeeded by the Marquis de
Lavalette, who will be able to assist M. Rouher essentially
at the elections.

The Etendard announces that the commission on the
Budget have agreed to allow the £B,OOO demanded by the
Minister of Instruction for additional payment to the pro-
fessors of the superior schools. This is well. It is to be
hoped that the commissioners, having yielded on this
point, will have obtained a counterbalancing compensa-
tion by insis,ting upon a reduction of the military expen•
diture.

A Florence correspondent sends me the following par-
ticulars of the quarrel which has arisen between our
Minister, the Baron de Malaret, and the Italian Premier,
General Menabrea :—" M. Martin, the Under-Secretary
of Foreign Affairs, is a native of Nice, but after the
annexation he retained his Italian citizenship. He has
for a long time shewn a particular dislike to the French
Ambassador, and has used every opportunity of treating
the latter with marked discourtesy. This behaviour hr,s
of late become so conspicuous that M. de Malaret thought
himself obliged to complain to the Minister. An
inquiry has been ordered, which, it is asserted, is likely
to result in a report unfavourable to M. de Malaret. The
French Ambassador is a gentleman of undoubted ability
and many excellent qualities, but his character has a
je ne sais quoi that makes him often appear nervous and
juvenile, and in sheer kindness of heart he sometimes does
very foolish things. He is now in Paris."

The savings bank returns just published by the Moniteur
certainly do not hear out the unfavourable accounts of the
state of France given in the Corps Ugislatif. The number
of current accounts has increased during the year by
104,211, and the amount due to depositors by nearly a
million sterling. In the Department of the Seine, which
includes Paris, the depositors are one in seven of the
population.

General Failly has been making a speech at the camp at
Chalons, which certainly does not sound very pacific. Ad-
dressing, the troops, he said : " We shall this year lay aside
the instruction in details, and shall devote ourselves to
the evolutions which are befitting war. As war is a thing
possible, our labours will be scr:oui, but simple and
continuous."

Stephen Golesco, Minister of Foreign Affairs for Rou-
mania, and President of the Cabinet, has resigned, nomi-
nally on account of ill-health. It is believed that a
Ainisterial reniodification is imminent.

The fetes are all over, and the nzaurt:s (part d'heure
has come. Some one will have to pay a heavy bill. That
Florentine hotel and carriage keepers will at all events be
able to pay their share of it, for what with the natural
rise of prices and excessive extortion, they have netted
.7,400,000. What has teen sport for the many has been
-xceasively hard work for the few, and even, it iF
)clieved, death for one person. An unfortunate Court
functionary, having in one day written sixty-seven notes,
changed his dress nine times, been in eleven different
vehicles, and
entitled to repo7,e, and was permitted to go home at mid-
night on condition that he should come on duty again not
later than seven in the morning. He has disappeared,
and tic-3,- have been dragging the Arno for his body.

The Prince of Prussia is gone, andhal left a most flatter
ing remembrance behind him. Baron Malaret, the French
Ambassador at Florence, has left for Paris, where he will
have to explain the excessive popularity of the Royal
Highness of Prussia and the equal unpopularity of the
Imperial Highness of France. It is said that there have
'been some sharp words lately between the Baron and
General Menabrea, the Premier. Certainly, between
France and Italy there not much love lost just now. It
is generally understood that the Prince of Prussia went to
Italy in order to chew France that slo could not count
-Ton the support of that country in the event of a war
with Prussia.

THE METROPLITAN FREE lIOSPITAL.

Last evening about 150 friends of this excellent
institution dined at the London Tavern. The chair
was occupied by N. de Rothschild, Esq., M.P.,
who was supported by his Grace the Archbishop of
Westminster on the one hand, and J. Gurney Fry,
Esq., the chairman of the managing committee, on
the other.

The Metropolitan Free Hospital, situated in
Devonshire-square, Bishopsgate-street, was insti-
tuted in 1836 for the immediate gratuitous relief of
the sick poor of every nation and creed, without the
delay of a letter of recommendation. The densely-
populated district in which this hospital is situated
at all times furnishes a large number of applicants ;
but the knowledge that its doors are open
to all without any recommendation occasions an
overwhelming flood of applications from the desti-
tute sick, not of the metropolis Merle, but of the
suburbs also, the class of persons chiefly seeking its
benefits being unable, by reason of their extreme
poverty and friendlessness, to obtain the necessary
introduction to other more conveniently situated
hospitals.
The CHAIRMAN, in disposing of the usual loyal
toasts, alluded to the laying the stone of St.
Thomas's Hospital by her Majesty, and concluding
which he proposed " Prosperity to the Metropo-
litan Free Hospital." He said that those who had
been his predecessors in the chair had had the com-
mand of eloquence to urge the claims of
the institution, but he was reconciled to his
position by the feeling that he required no
extraneous aid to heighten the great benefits it
already had conferred upon suffering humanity.
The Metropolitan Hospital had now been in exist-
ence 30 years; it possessed a distinctive character
peculiarly its own ; its doors were always open ; no
letter of any kind was required to insure admission,
and the faith of those applying for relief was never
questioned, and every inmate had full opportunity
to receive religious consolation from ministers of
their own religion. '(Cheers.) The situation of
the hospital was amongst the very poorest class of
the community, but that was an additional reason
why the greatest help should be extended to it, be-
cause most of the direful epidemics which had
caused so much misery and death usually
first developed themselves in crowded and poor
localities. That ought to be a circumstance alone
sufficient to insure an ample incense, because the
more health they gave to their poorer brethren the
more they secured for themselves. (Cheers.) Last
year the hospital had spent about £4,000, and at
the commencement of this year the committee in-
curred a liability to a great extent without having
funds to meet it. He added that the utility of the
institution was shown by the fact that the num-
ber of patients had increased from 20,000 in 1851
to near 80,000 last year.
A list of donations, amounting to £2,500, was
announced by the secretary, and this sum included
£5O from the chairman and £5OO given anony-
mously by a lady.
His Grace the Archbishop of WESTMINSTER then
said he rose to discharge a duty for which he de-
rived no authority from the chairman, yet he felt it
would be none the less acceptable, and he had good
reason for believing that it would call forth unani-
mous cordiality. It was to propose the health of
Nathan de Rothschild, Esq., M.P. for Aylesbury
—their excellent chairman. (Loud cheering.) He
had reminded them that the day had opened
with a most beneficent act on the part
of the Royal widow, who had in the
morning laid the foundation stone of a noble hospi-
tal immediately opposite the Palace at Westminster,
from which all the justice and legislation of our
realm had proceeded for many years. (Cheers.)
That act was at once a beautiful and graceful one,
performed as it was by that Royal widowed lady,
who had felt as keenly, tenderly, and profoundly
the great affliction that had befallen her as would
the poorest widow in her realm. Their chairman had
set before them that noble example, and he could
only say that so beneficent and good a one was more
than wot thy the imitation both by high and low,
rich and poor. (Cheers.) The City of London was
world-renowned for its deeds of goodness. (Cheers.)
It was behind none in acts of kindness and charity.
(Cheers.) The traders in that vast community of
wealth and power did not forget their poorer brethren,
and those in possession of the riches of the world
did not forget the sufferings of othars.
cheering.) It was a spirit of charity that
bound them together, and although there were
causes which led to diversity of opinion, charity
drew them closer towards one another in heart and
thought, and they were that night working together
as friends and brothers. He took it as an augury
of good that their excellent chairman was a young
man, yet during the time he had occupied a seat•;
near him bis eye had not failed to observe how very
many young men then surrounded him, full of
freshness and vigour, and it was a pleasing thought
to reflect on, that in that great emporium of com-
merce, where the dust of the world sits heavily on the
hearts of men, that so many young men of the City
of London should meet together for the good and
Christian duty of gathering alms for suffering
humanity. (Cheers.) He drew a further augury
from that, and it was that when they who
were oldest amongst them should have passed
away there iwould still be left men to
fill their places perhaps more worthily than they had
done. When he heard that that hospital which had
no foundation had relieved in oue year upwards of
78,000 of their suffering fellow-creatures he felt
that a great work was being done, which ought no
longer to remain unhoused as now. (Cheers.) The
hospital had been in the first instance founded by
a body of earnest men, and the good it had done
must be to them a feeling of unspeakable plea-
sure and thankfulness ; and without pretending to
possess the gift of prophecy, but taking into con-
sideration the daily increasing wants of those who
stood so much in need of help, he thought the day
would come when the Sovereign of the realm would
have to lay the foundation-stone of another splendid
edifice in the east of London—(cheers) —when
their noble work would receive from the country
that favour it deserved by its greatness. He re-
presented amongst them the poorest class, but he
begged to tender his grateful acknowledgments
to all those who had extended their acts of charity to
those with whom he was more immediately con-
nected. When the scourge of cholera was striking
down so many amongst them, and so grievously
afflicting the land, the City of London nobly did all
in its power to check the progress of that great
calamity, and he gladly availed himself of that op
portunity—the first that had presented itself to
him of publicly thanking the Lord Mayor, the alder-
men, and all who bear rule in it, for the charity
shown to his poor flock. Their chairman's charity
was large and active, but it was both generous and
secret, and it was only by accident that it came to
light; and then only was it that he became aware to
how large an extent he was indebted to their chair-
man for the deeds of munificence he had extended
to those under his (his Grace's) charge. It was
effected with so much generosity and delicacy that it
was rendered doubly grateful, and not days, scarcely
hours, elapsed between his becoming acquainted
with acts of charity performed by the chairman to
those who little thought they were worthy of his
notice. (Immense cheering.) He therefore pro-
posed the health of Nathan de Rothschild, Esq.,
and he felt they would all heartily unite with hint in
doing honour to it. his Grace resumed his seat
amidst enthusiastic clieeriug.

The toast thus proposed by his Grace having been
duly responded to,
The CHAIRMAN thanked his Grace for the man-
ner in which he had introduced it to the company,
and said he should always feel it a pleasure to be
associated with his Grace in acts of charity.
It was then announced that through the instru-
mentality of the Messrs. Defries, who take so great
an interest iu the success of the hospital, that his
Royal Highness the Prince of Wales bad consnted
to become its president.

The health; of the treasurer, governors, their
Hebrew friends, &c., having been responded to, the
Chairman, his Grace, and the principal part of the
company retired.

II ER MAJESTY.

BUCKINGHAM PALACE, May 13.

The Queen, accompanied by Princess Chris-
tian and Princess Beatrice, drove out yesterday
afternoon in a carriage and four.
Prince Le9pold went out driving.