The Sun.
London, England, 1868-01-13 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, JANUARY 13, 1868.

FA2AL EFFECTS OF IMPURE WATER.

Kingship—the royal hereditary power posses-
sed by the crowned and anointed leaders of the
nation—is becoming every day less honoured, less
influential in Europe ; its essential character is
changed:; government is shifting its basis ; power
is passing from the King to a certain class in
the nation. This class is not conservative in its
instincts like the highest, nor destructive like the
lowest, but it is influenced by either and partakes of
the character of both. This great middle class in
Europe preoccupied with its own business and
ignorant for the most part of politics, allows in
most of the countries of the continent the most
incapable or the most ambitious or the most in-
triguing of itsmembers to become its spokesmen
and electors ; and these, in their turn, areeasily
swayed by popular demagogues, by self-consti-
tuted leaders, by organized societies, open or
secret, and by the Press. Acting upon such mate-
rial, the Press creates a public opinion, which ex-
presses neither the wishes nor the interests either
of the bulk of the people or of its most cultivated
classes ; but before the dictates of this fictitious
public opinion, law, legitimate rights, constitu-
ted authority, and religion itself are expected to
give way. Society in Europe—those who govern
and give the initiative to action—are falling more
and more under the power of the Press ; it is
therefore, to say the least, a curious study to watch
and note, each one in his own circle, the influence
and character of these irresponsible guides of the
people, these teachers (of the intellectual Gospel
of the nineteenth century, these priests and kings
of modern society.
In England the great organ of the unthinking
multitudes in the reading classes is the Times. It
cannot be called a representative paper, for it re-
presents no class, no principle; no opinions save
the fluctuating opinion of the moment. Now
Tory, now Whig, now Puseyite,now Broad Church,
it is the great political and religious weathercock
of the country. It is quick in catching the breath
of every wind, and glides gently round from point
to point without resistance or regret. In the days
when the Puseyite movement was taking the lead
i
THE PRODUCTION OF A PERSON NAMED IN A LEASE Op in the country, the Times was only too glad to
LlvES.—Viee•Chancellor Stuart had before him a motion place its columns at the disposal of the great leader
on behalf of the trustees of St. John's Hospital, Cirencester, of the movement. Indeed the influence of the
for au order to produce a person named in a lease of lives, Times, or moreproperly speaking its power of
dated in 1839. The motion was made under the statute of pleasing, arises from the fact that it is the reflex of
Queen Anne. It was stated that the person referred to current opinion, and finds arguments to enable
was some years ago convicted of felony; that after being
men to justify to themselves the opinions they
released from prison he worked at hisArade of a carpenter
at the Crystal Palace, Sydenham, and that he kept up a wish to hold. The conversion of the Times is not
correspondence with his friends at Cirencester, but that hi infrequent. Sudden events happen which cause
1855 he discontinued such correspondence, and had not a revulsion in public opinion; this revulsion from
since been heard of. It not being known whether the per- one point to another, as it is sharp and quick, de-
son named in the lease was living or dead, this motion had minds an almost instantaneous justification
become necessary. The Vice-Chancellor ordered the lessee There is no time for those gentle gradations
to produce the person referred to to the steward of the which the Times delights in, and which it is so
trustees at the door of the parish church of Cirencester that consummate a master of. An instance of such a
day month.
POINT UNDER THE CRIMINAL LAW.—.In the matter or sudden conversion occurred only the other day
Under the pressure of the Clerkenwell outrage and
the Queen v. Brown, an application was made to the Court of
Queen's Bench for an order, commanding the Commissioners of the necessity of justifying the severe measures
of the Central Criminal Court to present the case for the of repression which public opinion loudly de-
consideration of the court. The Attorney-General had manded, the Times penned the followihg sound
granted his fiat for a writ of error, and a record had been and anti-revolutionary declaration :—" The fact
made up, but not the proper record. Brown, with others, is, we are reminded by this outrage of a truth
was tried fur larceny in stealing and receiving silk. which has, perhaps, been too much forgotten—
Objection was taken that the counts for receiving had not
we mean that treasonable conspiracies, with ex-
been proved, as they did not allege the property was the
same as that stolen. The Recorder, after considering the ceptions which cannot be taken into account be-
forehand, arc not only the highest offences against
point, said the prisoners must be acquitted, and the deputy
clerk entered the verdict not guilty. The Recorder then the bond of society, but actually bring in their
directed the prisoners to be detained in custody, and a fresh train the worst kind of ordinary crimes."
indictment was preferred against them. On the second trial This just and forcible condemnation "of trea-
theypleaded that they had before been acquitted, andon the sonable conspiracies as the highest offences againts
production of the minute book it was found that the entry of society," might have been copied from the late
the verdict of not guilty had been altered by the Clerk of Papal Encyclical or Syllabus, but sounds strange
Arraigns, and upon that the court declined to receive the in the mouth of the Times—the great supporter
plea, and the prisoners were tried, found guilty, and
of treasonable conspiracies at Rome, the defender
sentenced to penal servitude. The learned Recorder had
of Garibaldi and the red-Fenian. of Italy—men
refused to strike out the interpolation and return the record
of not guilty merely. The court held that there was no who laid barrels of gunpowder in the drains under
- the hospitals, and who blew up the Barracks in
pretence for the application.
'TIE BASTES RAILWAY COMP ANY.--In the I Rome. But public opinion in England required
Court of Exchequer a motion was made, on behalf of the that Garibaldianism should be supported in Italy
Railway Clearing Committee for an order calling on one and Fenianism denounced in England, and the
Mr. Plowden, a shareholder in the Bishop's Castle Railway 7'imes was equal to the task.
Company, to show cause why he should not pay £545, the Such a paper cannot properly be called a repre-
amount of a judgment obtained against the company. In
sentative paper ; it represents no principles, no
answer to a writ is red against the company, the sheriff
fixed opinions ; it merely reflects, though with sin-
gular accuracy, the passing changes of opinion in
of Moutgomerysnirc, wh_re the company carried on
business, wrote all the effects of the company had
been sold a month before. Various persons were sent there the popular mind. Such a course of conduct in the
and the adjoining county to see if there was anything be-
Times, though wanting in morality, is profitable,
longing to the company upon which a levy could be made, and its multitudinous readers are not ashamed of
and they reported that nothing could be found. The themselves or of their organ. On the other hand,
under-sheriff also said that all the surplus lands of the the Daily News is a true representative paper. It
company had already been seized. The court granted the has views of its own in which it believes and which
application as against Mr. Plowden, and also a similar under all circumstances it consistently upholds.
motion against another shareholder of the company. Although utterly differing from its principles and
SHAM COMMISSIONAIRES.—At the Marlborough-street
from its liberalism, which is closer to the conti-
PeliCe-COUrt, a man was brought before the magistrate
nental type than is to be found elsewhere in Eng-
charged with acting and dressing as one of the London
Corps of Commissionaires without being enrolled in land, there is pleasure and profit in reading such a
that body, contrary to the provisions of the Metropolitan paper, not only because it is ably conducted, but
Traffic Regulation Act. It was stated that although because it represents truly and fully the views of
there was no desire to prevent men from earning a liveli- its party.
hood as messengers or shoeblacks, or to establish a monopoly The Pall Mall Gazette, the best purveyor of
by means of licenses, the protection of the public required
news in England, is, as far as it goes, a represe-
that such persons if not in the corps must not wear the
uniform of those who were. The magistrate (as the proceed-
ntative paper. It represents intellectual unbelief.
ings were taken to establish the law and not to punish) But it would be unfair to put down all of its very
inflicted a nominal fine and costs. numerous readers as supporters of its principles. A
THE LATEST SWINDLE.—At the Westminster Police- certain number, it is to be hoped, seek only its ex-
cellently digested news, and do not share its esuurt, a young man named Thompson was charged with
un-
obtaining money under false pretences. The wife of a
Christian ethics.
Saturday
Review, again, is the most widely-
butler at a gentleman's house said that the prisoner came
to the house and left a letter addressed to her master,
spread and most popular of weekly papers among
marked on the top, " Overland Route. Foreign dispatch,
the educated classes, but it can scarcely be called
ss. 9d," It was marked " Private "on the back. The
prisoner produced a ready-made written receipt, receipted a representative paper, or said to be influential in
it, and took the ss. 9d. As he was leaving the place wit- creating a school of thought, or of effectually sup-
ness's husband returned, and she gave him the letter, and porting any definite system. Its principles, and
be, having an idea that it was a swindle from what he had the conclusions it draws from facts as they arise,
read in the newspapers, broke it open, and found it con- are too contradictory and uncertain to create a
tained a piece of old newspaper and an old envelope. lasting impression on the minds of its readers. We
find, side by side in the same number, or
He ran after the prisoner, who ran away, and, having often
caught him, took him to Walton-street police-station. .
in closely consecutive numbers, views and judg-
Prisoner was searched, and a dozen letters were found on
him, addressed to noblemen and gentlemen out of town. meets diametrically opposed to each other. Now
The prisoner said he knew nothing about the affair, ex. we are gratified by a just and thoughtful dis-
cept that he was sent to deliver the letters. He was re. quisition on the truths of the Christian religion or
manded for a fortnight. the beauties of Christian ethics, and now we are
THE ALLEGED MURDER BY A BOY AT FINSBURY.— startled by the avowal of atheistical propositions
James Loader was charged before the magistrate at Wor- or offended by moral discussions bordering on the
ship-street, with having caused the death of John Strange- indelicate. • Now De Maistre is praised, and no%
ways, aged 13. The particulars of the case have already
Voltaire. The Saturday Review is like an unre-
appeared, and the facts having been proved, the prisoner
flective man lost in a forest in an unknown land ;
was remanded. it makes explorations innumerable in various direc-
tions, but works on no settled plan, pursues no
consistent aim, and, consequently, arrives at no
conclusive results. The sum-total of the effect it
produces, where it does not simply lead to mental
dissipation, is an unsatisfied intellectual craving
and a hopelessness of results which is near akin to
scepticism.
The Spectator, on the other hand, has definite
aims in view, which it pursues with vigorous,
almost ruthless logic. Every line that it writes
converges to one end, and there is nothing written
between the lines. It represents ideas, which it
follows out on every occasion; it is a powerful,
because a consistent ally of its own school of
thought. It is a representative paper, and, there-
fore, more influential in forming the mind of the
country than journals of a far wider circulation,
which have no definite aims, or are subject to the
action of contradictory principles. The English
Press lias no abler representative than the Spec-
tator of the growing intellectual unbelief of the
day. Pity such powers are devoted to such a
cause !
And here we ought to stop, in our brief review
of representative and non-representative papers, did
it not seem incumbent on us to make a few re-
marks on our Catholic journals. We have, in reality,
no representative paper. The Tablet is the best
known and the oldest established paper, and it has
earned for itself an honourable character foricon-
sistency as a political partizan ; but, in a body so
divided on politics as the Catholics of England
are, this very partizanship of necessity limits its
influence. Besiaes the party questions to which
it is chiefly devoted ate of too narrow an issue to
entitle the Tablet to rank as a representative paper.
the Weekly Register and Catholic Opinion are little
more than industrious if somewhat indiscriminate
purveyors of Catholic news and of other men's
knowledge. Of the WESTMINSTER GAZETTE it does
not beseem us to speak, if for no other reason that
?re are now only engaged in laying down plans for
an extensive scheme, the results of which have yet
to come, In the meantime we can only ask the

REPRESENTATIVE AND NON-REPRE-
SENTATIYE NEWSPAPERS.

A. fortnight ago eight or nine men of the Plymouth
livicion of Royal Ilarine Light Infintry, stationed at
3tonehouse Barracks, died within a short interval of each
)they from fever of a typhoid character. A circumstance
so unusual caused much anxiety, and a medical court of
:nquiry was held, under the presidency of the acting
zolonel-commandant, when five or six medical gentlemen
zonnectecl with the division and the military hospital
made an investigation concerning the outbreak. It was
ultimately found that the deceased men had been living in
the recently-erected wing of the barracks, the men in
which were supplied with water by a pump connected with
a hit ge reservoir or well beneath a portion of the barrack-
yard, which reservoir was formerly used for the purposes
Jf a brewery standing on the site now occupied by
the bc.rracks. 'This water has been highly prized as
beilg beautifully sparkling and pleasant to the taste, so
much uo, that it was supplied on special occasions to the
tables of the officers' mess. The court of inquiry, how-
ever, came to the conclusion that this water contained
organic matter and gases detrimental to health, and
srdered that tho pump in question should not for the future
be used. This order has been in force for nearly a fort-
night, and it is satisfactory to note that there has not been
since that date a single case of typhoid fever in the bar-
racks. Meanwhile some of the water from the well which
is supposed to have caused the mischief has been sent to
an eminent analyst. A theory may be suggested to ac-
count for the presence of organic matter in any deep well
in that part of Stonehouse. It is h fact better known
to the past than to the present generation, that beneath
a large portion of the township a vast cave or caves
exist in the limestone rock. These caves haye often
been explored for hundreds of yards from various direc-
tions, and records of some of these explorations are con-
tained in the numbers of the European Magazine pub-
lished at the close of the last century. One of the notable
features of these recesses were two or three wells of pro-
digious depth, and of admirable water. For the past fifty
years the entrances have been closed, but when houses
were first erected in Stonchouse some of the builders com-
pensated for the absence of any system of sewers by
making openings into and draining into these subterranean
chasms, and we be'ieve that to this day some houses in
that manner dispose of their sewage. It is easy to sur-
mise that the accumulated sewage of generations may
have percolated through the limestone into any well bored
n the self-same rock.—Western Morning News,

LAW AND POLICE.

MUNIFICENCE OF THE BECKETT-DENISON FAMILY
AT LEEDS.—A very handsome church has been erected
and endowed at Leeds, at a cost of about £15,000, by
Mr. E. Denison and his son, Mr. E. Beckett-Denison,
Q.C., and was consecrated on Saturday by the Bishop of
Ripon. This is the third church built by the members of
this family in Leeds within a few years. The last edifice
has been called the Church of St. Chad, and is a very
noble addition to the ecclesiastical architecture of the

distract.
PICKPOCKETS AT A ROYAL ]ALL.—.A couple of
swell mobsmen eluded the vigilance of the doorkeepers
during the grand ball to the Royal visitors at Liverpool on
Thursday night, but were identified in one of the drawing.
rooms by Detective•of6cer Carlisle, who was himself in
full evening dress. The officer watched them for some
time, until, having seen them pick the pocket of a well.
known local lawyer, he quickly arrested them, and had
them locked up in Bridewell. The prisoners were brought
up before the Liverpool stipendiary on Saturday. and
remanded.
STARVATION IN WEST NORFOLK.--Two shocking
.aces of death by starvation have occurred within a
day or two of each other ; one in King's Lynn
and the other about six miles in the country. One
was the case of a poor woman named Ann White,
aged 67 years, who was in the receipt of half-a•crown
a week, pari-h relief, out of which she paid ls. a
week for rent, so that gie had is. Gd. a week to'find her
food and clothes with. The evidence at the inquest shewed
that she had been in the habit of sleeping on some mate
and straw having no covering save an old sack or two.
The medical man described the body as being in a state
of the most extreme emaciation. The stomach and intes-
tines were empty. Death was occasioned by bronchitis,
accelerated by want of the necessaries of life. The other
case was that of a man named Robert Hudson, a sawyer,
who was found nearly dead, lying on the snow by the side
of the road, at Tottenhill. He was proved to have lived
at Watlington, where he was found by the police officer
lying on a bunch of straw—there being no bed or furniture
in the house. Deceased left to go in search of work, and
would seem to have fallen down from exhaustion by the
tide of the road. The post-mortem examination shewed the
existence of pneumonia ; and the jury returned a verdict
" Died by the visitation of God, death being accelerated
iv privation and exposure."