The Sun.
London, England, 1850-08-14 00:00:00

THE. SUN,

ventilation, an intelligent engineer has observed, in a
tecent, treatise on the lett* subject (p. 182), " The
Christian minister should remember that he has no
right to expect his congregation to give lively atten-
tion to the subject on which he may be descanting,
while they are subjected to the influence of an
atmosphere body and soul depressing."* Again, as
to the want of proper drainage in crowded localities,
such as the various districts of the metropolis, that
necessity is one crying loudly fur the interposition
of the Legislature. It has been insisted upon by
Lord EBRINGTON, ever since 1845, that conspicuous
among the causes of urban insalubrity is the accu-
mulation of putrescent matter in large quantities.t
By a most preposterous arrangement the river
running through our capital is employed as a
means of stirring up this putrescent filth
of the metropolis by the tidal influences
affecting its current. In a recent disquisition on
malaria we are gratified to observe the following
()pinion advanced by Dr. UZIE (page 33) :—" The
city of London would be thoroughly cleansed by
the abstraction of its putrescent offels, and its noble
' river might resume its pristine poetical title of the
silver Thames: nor does there seem to be any insu-
perable difficulty in the present state of scientific
skill and bold enterprise among our illustrious
engineers which could not be certainly overcome."-it
But, chief of all the principal wants of the multi-
tude in the way of sanitary improvement, is
that of a sufficient supply of pure water,
for domestic consumption. At present the water
imbibed by the inhabitants of the metropolis is of
such disgusting and baneful impurity as to be
scarcely worthy of the name, a name signifiing some-
thing more salubrious and pellucid. Insomuch that
almost every citizen might exclaim against the Go-
vernment as against a body most culpable in its long
indifference to the requirements of the people in this
particular.
" Quid prohibetis aquas ? usus communis aquarum est;
Quas tamen ut detis, supplex peto. Non ego nostros
Abluere hic artus, lassataque membra parabam;
Sed relevare sitim. Caret us humore loquentis,
Et latices arent, vixque est via vocis in illis.
Haustus aqua milli Nectar erit."

Not only do the obstacles in the way of obtaining
the advantages of a proper urban irrigation arise
from the enormous quantities of putrescent matter
thrown into the river ; but likewise, also, and in a
very great measure, from the injurious nature of the
minor channels employed for the conveyance of water
throughout the metropolis. Foremost, perhaps,
among the reasons of this supplementary contamina-
tion is the poison of lead, a quality absorbed by water
from the surface of pipes and cisterns. Of the pre-
valence of this poison in the water used for domestic
purposes many startling and rather depressing
testimonies have lately been collected together in
a little pamphlet, well deserving the attentive
perusal of all aspirants for sanitary improvement, a
pamphlet which we can commend with justice from
its evidently conscientious accuracy and pervading
intelligence.§ Another consideration affecting the
subjects of irrigation, ventilation, and sewerage puri •
fic ition should, together with those already referred to,
be carefully borne in mind—namely, that the prin-
cipal cause of all malaria is the presence of sulphe-
retted hydrogen in the common atmosphere.
It should be remembered, also, that this de-
structive gas arises continually in the most horrible
abundance from stagnant cesspools, from over-
crowded graveyards, from the streets and from the
river, from putrescent matter allowed to accumulate
in all directions—and that this is permitted to be the
case, notwithstanding the declaration of the illus-
trious LIEBIG that " sulphuretted hydrogen produces
immediate decomposition of the blood when admitted
to the lungs." From all we have here remarked, it
will be sufficiently evident that little or nothing
has yet been achieved in the way of sanitary
improvement, in spite of all that has been
said upon the matter both within and without the
walls of Parliament. The secret of this is, as we
have before attempted to intimate, the confusion in
which the whole subject still continues, and the
necessity existing that it should be marked out in se-
parate departments.

Never, perhaps, was any act of Government re-
ceived with greater joy than the virtual suspension
of the unjust and impolitic law of 1844, by the
Ministerial letter of the 25th October, 1847, to
which we alluded in our impression of Saturday last.
It is true, as we have already stated, that many grave
objections were entertained with respect to the previ-
sions contained in that letter. The enormous and
usurious rate of in terest—theminimum terms on which
accommodation could be afforded by the Bank, being
8 per cent. per annum, which might be considered as
equivalent to 12 or 15 per cent. from other establish-
ments,—was felt to be a serious drawback. But still
money could be obtained, although at a heavy
sacrifice, by those who had unquestionable secu-
rities, and that was felt to be an inestimable
boon at the moment. Heavy losses would un-
doubtedly be submitted to, but ruin and bankruptcy
might be averted, and sincere gratitude was felt to
Ministers for what was thin supposed to be the large
concession made to the interests of the commercial
community. This feeling might possibly have been
changed if it had been fully ascertained that it was
merely to save the Bank itself from stoppage, at a
moment when it had no less than eight millions of
gold and silver coin and bullion in its vaults, and
thus to prevent the natural consummation of that
iniquitous law, and the folly and incapacity of its
authors from being manifested to the country.
The clause that provided that the extra profits
derived from the measure should be carried to
the account of the national Exchequer was also
deemed unworthy of the Government of a
mighty nation, as evincing a petty and grasp-
ing disposition, a paltry meanness, highly un-
becoming a statesman. But, with all its faults, the
measure was truly acceptable, and not the less so
because it was considered as fatal to the Act of 1844.
In this opinion all classes concurred. Tnere was an
almost unparalleled unanimity in the press. Even
the great organ of the bullionists, the most strenuous
advocate of the Bank Charter Act, of the "apprecia-
tion" in the value of money thereby occasioned, and
of banking restrictions, admitted that the days of the
existing law were numbered, and that it would spee-
dily be erased from the national statute-book.
That journal stood almost alone in condemning the
suspension a 3 being too precipitate, but it entertained
no doubt as to the effect of that suspension—that it
was a virtual abrogation of the Act, which thereby
received its coup de grace.

Meanwhile the operation of the suspension pro-
duced the most astonishing effects. The most san-
guine anticipations were more than realized. The
intense fears, the wild and unreasoning panic, that
had prevailed in every quarter were immediately
allayed, and comparative confidence was restored.
The moment the Bank was empowered to issue
money the great demand for it ceased. The notes
hoarded by bankers and commercial men to guard
against anticipated dangers, which had been esti-
mated by Mr. S. GURNEY to amount to no less than
4,000,000/. sterling, were at once released from
their confinement and restored to general circula-
tion. Mr. GLYN subsequently, in his evidence, clearly
explained this operation. The Honourable Gentleman
said, " It produced the same effect as if the Bank of
England had made an issue, because it brought out
the hoards of notes, and they went into circulation.
It thereby added to the circulation of the country,
and it removed the cause of the panic, which is stated
to have arisen from the Act of 1844." The same in-
telligent and trustworthy witness declared that " the
letter of the Government stopped the crisis and
abrogated the Act," and another witness (Mr!'
BROWNE) considered the letter to have " virtually
condemned and annulled the Act of 1844." Even
the Governor of the Bank himself, although an
earnest supporter of the Act, acknowledged that " all

"Practical Ventilation as applied to Publie, Domes-
tic, and Agricultural Structures." 1 Vol. By Robert
Scott Burn, Engineer. Blackwood and Song, London
and Edinburgh: 1850.
t " Lecture on the Unhealthiness of Towns; its
Causes arid Remedies," delivered in the Jlechttnics' In-
stitute at Plymouth, in 1645, by Viscount Ebrington,
,M.P.t Charles Kni_ ht, London: 1846.
" The General Malaria of London, and the Peculiar
Malaria of Pimlico, Investigated, and the Means of their
Economical Removal Ascertained." By Andrew Ure,
F.R.S., &c. Orr and Co., London: 1850."
§ " Some Rt-marks on the Contamination of Water
by the Poison of Lead: and its Effects on the Human
Body." By Junes Bower Harrison, M.R.c.s.L.
Churchill, London; 1850.

LONDON,

harm appeared to have ceased on the issue of the
letter," and subsequently stated, in his evi- '
dence, that " what restored confidence was
the letter of the Government, allowing the
Bank to make any advances, without reference to the
Act, at a given rate of interest. We did not so much
want the money, but we wanted a certainty that if we
did want it we could get it." A former Go-
vernor, also, Mr. 1./OMELET PALMER, more
than corroborated this view. " The demand for
assistance," said he, " was so much increased as to
place the Bank in imminent danger by granting it,
and which NOTHING could have relieved short of the re-
laxation of the law which took place."
But why multiply evidence on a question so
generally acknowledged as to be almost indisputable ?
The effect of the letter was immediate. Mr. S.
GURNEY, in the morning of that day—the 25th
October, 1847—had applied to the Governor of the
Bank, stating that his firm would require 200,0001.
The amount was large in the then conditio❑ of the
Bank, and, although the security was of the most satis-
factory description, the board took time to consider
the application until two o'clock. At one o'clock,
however, the Ministerial letter authorizing the relaxa-
tion was made generally known, and before the ap.
pointed time, within a single hour, the accommoda-
tion was no longer required. Mr. GURNEY himself
gave a graphic description of the operation. He said
—" Those who had sent notice for their money in the
morning sent us word that they did not want it, that
they only ordered payment by way of precaution, and
after the notice we only required about 100,0001. in-
stead of 200,000/. From that day we had a week of
comparative ease ; the alarm lessened, and by the
end of the week we had to ask as a favour of the Bank
to be allowed to repay the money which we had bor-
rowed of them." The relief, however, was not limited
to the metropolis. Similar results were perceptible
throughout the entire country ; and the tide
of national prosperity, that had so long been
ebbing with fearful rapidity, at length turned
and began to flow in a constant and steady
stream, in which it has since continued, although the
iniquitous Act that caused the national distress and
produced the commercial crisis still, unhappily, re•
mains the law of the land.

We shall, on a future occasion, fully explain the
disreputable manner in which the Government evaded
an itnmediate decision on the condemned law—
which we may style the new Bank Charter—and
placed the question, towards which the public mind
was intently directed, on the shelf, until the excite-
ment had terminated, and thus maintained the
hideous monster i❑ all its natural deformity.

THE FRENCH REPUBLIC.

We have received the iarii journals of yesterday.
The Presse announces that the illustrious repub•
lican ALPHONSE DE LA.MARTINE is about to visit
London for the purpose of raising capital and pur-
chasing implements, for the cultivation of the large
territory in Asia Minor which has been conferred on
him by the SULTAN.

The banquets at the Elysee to the non-commis-
sioned officers have aroused the suspicions of General
CHANGARNIER, who, according to the Credit, remon-
strated with the PRESIDENT of the Republic on the
subject, and denounced them as subversive of
all military discipline. The PRESIDENT made no
reply to these remonstrances, bilt the banquets
are to be continued. The Pouvoir declares that
the society of the 10th December is an association
for merely charitable purposes (like the societies in
our English boroughs for distributing beef and
blankets and money among poor freeman probably),
but the Presse and the National consider it as a
political conspiracy. The latter thus denounces it
A society has been founded with the avowed object
of enabling M. Bonaparte to break his oath and to de-
stroy the Republic, to which he owes his position. We
would wish, for the sake of M. Bonaparte himself, that
he had put down this society, or protested against it as
an enemy to the country and to himself, and that he
had repelled as a mortal affront this pretension to the
empire from which he is separated iore,his oaths, his
honour, the country's benefits to him, his own history,
and even his title of President of the Republic, given
him by the people and the Constitution. But since he
is so weak as to allow this society to exist, and since
this coterie, aided by reactionary journals, does not cease
toenvelop him in shameful plots, we will, for the sake of
the Republic and of society, expose these disloyal
manoeuvres, this permanent conspiracy, and it is with this
view that we shall render a daily account of the Presi-
dent's itinerary."
The suspicions entertained of treasonable designs
against the Republic on the part of the Bonepartists,
are strengthened by the fact, that the Prefect of the
Cote d'Or has ordered that the arrangements for the
reception of Louts NAPOLEON shall be copied from
those made for the reception of the EMPEROR, by
the Imperial decree of 24th Afessidor XII. The
following official account of the progress of the Pita.-
SIDENT has been published :
" The President of the Republic lett the ElyFe yes
terday morning at half past six, accompanied by the Mi-
nisters of War, Public Works, and Commerce, Colonels
Vaudrey, de Beville, and Ney, and Captain de Toulon-
geon, his aides-de -camp and orderly officers, and M.
Mcequart, the chef du cabinet, and arrived at the termi-
nus of the Lyons Railway at a quarter before seven.
The Vice-President of the Republic, the Minister of the
Interior, the Prefect of Police, and several of the re-
presentatives of the departments of the Yonne, the
Nievre, the Cute d'Or, and the Rhone, were there in
waiting. He was received at the entrance of the building
by the engineer-in-chief; M. Jullien, and others en-
gineers attached to the service of the line. After ad-
miring kr a moment the interior of the extensive and
magnificent building, the Prince got into the carriage
prepared for him, followed by M. Boulay (dela Meurthe),
the Prefect of Police, the director of the railway, M.
Lucien Murat, General Rebillot, and several representa-
tives. The Count do Montalembert, who bad been in-
vited for the journey, left the evening before for Dijon.
The inhabitants of the Faubourgs, who had assembled
near the railway terminus, saluted the President with
loud cries of ' Vice Napoleon.' The train left at great
speed for Tunnerre, where the Prince was to stop. At
the three intermediate stations of Montereau, Joigny, and
Villeneuve-sur-Yonne, the people had assembled from
all the country round, and hailed the presence of the
President with great enthusiasm. The municipal
authorities, the National Guards, and the clergy,
were at the head of the crowd. The President several
times expressed his regret at not being able to make a
longer stay in the midst of the good and loyal inhabit-
ants of the country; but he made the best use of the few
moments he had to communicate with them to learn
their wishes and their wants, and to distribute assist-
ance to such as were in distie se. At Tunnerre, the
mayor, at the head of the municipal council, the prefect
of the Yonne, and the sub-prefect of the arrondissement,
ieceived the Prince at the temporary terminus. The
first magistrate of the place expressed the sentiments
which animated the inhabitants at the presence of the
Chief of the State, whom they had been anxious to re-
ceive last year at the inauguration of the railway.
The President replied in a few words, full of kindness
for the country which was the first, by a spontaneDus
outburst of patriotism to call him from exile by
naming him representative to the Constituent As-
sembly. Accompanied by the Ministers, the pre-
fect, and the general commanding the department, M.
Carlier, the Prefect of Police, and the municipal autho-
rities, the President of the Republic went to the Hotel de
Ville, where he received the civil tribunal, the juges de
paix of the arrondissement, and all the authorities. He
afterwards received the National Guards, the depots of
the llth and 12th Dragoons and the Pompiers, and ex-
pressed himself well satisfied with the soldier-like,
bearing of these troops. The Prince received with
much warmth some old soldiers of the Imperial Guard.
The President, after having visited the hospital,
where he left many unequivocal proofs of his
usual munificence, proceeded to the hotel of the
sub-prefecture, where a collation had been prepared
for him. On leaving the town he presented the
mayor with a sum of 1,0001., to divide amongst the un-
fortunate families who had suffered from the cholera
last year. The Prefect of Police, who had accompanied
the President as far as the confines of the Yonne, his
native department, presented to him some men who had
sacrificed everything to oppose demagogical tendencies.
of
The clergy anxionsly took part with the authoritte,
The
the town in the reception of the Chief of the State.
President then left the railway, which had broughthim
to the place in three hours and a half,under the guidance :
es
of M. Charlet, the chief of the working department,,r
had driven the engine on this occasion. The 1 idwb
ent
charged
histhe
satisfaction Minister o f Publicall
tWorksthe
trto
i t ngexpresseuie
1t
s.
tto 11Ift.
Jullien
would be impossible, in fact, to desire to have a service
better or more promptly organized than was done
here
thish
occasion. The President then left for Dijon, weree
was expected to arrive at ten o'clock last night."
tions made for the reception of the Pa
The Courrier de Lyon thus describes tEhsemprrespTaraii;
that city :
ne;bTewheovfistiht
ewEhimehpetrhoer, Pisreashidouent tteopf Republic,sthyotoo
na-
turally causes a strong feeling of emotion among
l
the hear:s to beat of all the old servants of the Emperor,he
u our citya tl
the'the
but it is more naturally calculated to cause
of all the re:ired officers in whose eyesgenius—w
personification of military glory and
and who respect,
hider him as their chic fur their model,
retired
there-
fore,
Napoleohnoiscetn.
at the same time, in his nephew, the heir of a great name,,
fore, heard, without astonisensen
and the providential elect ofl,Franteteh.
the neighbour-
hooddiers who reside in Lyons and
of the visit •
e
of Louis
at‘Nt e have,
ret i
-1) conformity with
Bonaparte to make a maeifestatio
The delegates of
their souvenirs and their sympathies.
have resolved to take advantage
to make known their determination to make a collective
President, not flow. an idea of vain
demonstration to the ebe
this honourable category of citizens have requested us
nephew of the Emperor, that in case of
Republic, to the
parade, but to make known to the first magistrate of the