The New York herald., 1870-07-31
ENGLAND.

The War Scnre-Frcuch and German Inter
ests in London-,Change Damaged Heavily
Panic and Down with a 'Run."
LONDON. July 16, 1870
London is at present full OF foreigners. but with
the exception OF score two Of your cOuntrymen,
Including the omnpresent Mr. Motley, very few were
present at the ceremony OF the Thames embankment
opening The fact Is that the has, so to speak,
scared all the many French and Germans now among
us. 1t may be true, as the correspondents OF the
newspapers make out that In France war with
Prussia would be popular: but with those now In
London there can be no doubt that the prospect
OF campaign on the Rhine Is hateful to the thou
sands OF Napoleons subjects who live among us, and
? gain their hyings more or less by trade or CON-
merce IL has not only overset their calculations
for the coming year, but will wipe out their profits
for the past six months. The London season. which
is now about to close, has certainly been
a much more profitable one than was ex-
lpected. or these advantages "Moosoo," as
the London street Arabs call every Frenchman,
has reaped a fair share. But il taxes IN his own
1and are be increased; II those OF his sons and
tbrothers-perhaps himself-who deemed them
Fselves free from future service IN the army have
lagan to shoulder the musket, what will be his
gains ,ou ,u.
fhe damage done has been immense. Long before
these lines are printed In the HERALD you will have
known for certain whether there is there Is not to
be war on the Continent OF Europe But no matter
how events may turn out there have been large Tor
tunes osa already on she LONDON S1ocx Excmange "a
Father when the determined warlike words OF Mon
sieur de Grammont the French Foreign Minister;
burst upon the world, nearly the whole
pf the street jobbers in London had
been specuatng for rise in "a, The funds
every Thing went down with rum To-day, the
i4th, Is the halfmonthy settlement, and many q
nna vuhn Nvoa yUnl IN nd vUn
thought Of will be obliged to declare himself de-
faulter. Never, since the memorable "Black Fri.
Overend 4 Gurney's house created such panic in
monetary circles, nave such long faces been
Seen In the London haunts OF MammOn's worship |
pers as was witnessed the three first days OF the
past week, and the three last days of this. And the
speculation was only just commencing to recover
from the blows 1t had received during the past four
gears Englishmen are not (" 90 ahead enough In
exchange lasts not for days or weeks or months but
as many years as it would do hours with you. We
are given to speculation, but we are not bold. The
least reverse makes us run away.
Since the Overend. .Gurney business four years ago.
tew II any, persons Of means really laid themselves
out to speculate, In securities that safe
as the Bank OF England. 1t was only what you on
the other side Of the Atlantic call the "bogus spe-
culators the men whose motto Is 4" heads win,
tails you lose ''whO really went I'm for large specs.
Latery however, the markets had begun to recover.
To-day was looked forward TO as likely Co be very
healthy settling the Stock Exchange, whereas 1t Is
very certain that II VIII turn out exactly The reverse
The Thames Embnnkment Opening-Qmeen
Victoria Unable to be Present-Thc Prince
of Wales Ofciates for His Mother-One Of
the Princesses Assists-Who Were There
The Ceremonial.
LONDON, July H. 1870.
Never having been in America, l cannot COM
pare your public ceremonies with those have
witnessed in Europe. But this much | can say
that in England we do not and more particularly
when compared with France or Germany or Italy
excel in these matters. Whether it is the climate
or the effect that beer produces the brain, or a
want oftaste, or want of public organization in
all that regards the public in general, l am un-
able to say But this much is certain-namely,
that even in our very best got up public cere-
monies there is taint of tawdryness that per-
vades all our ornamentatons, and mixture of
sweldom and misery that are brought side by side
that help greatly to marin fact, they entirely de-
stroy-anythng like the spirit of rejoicing among
the great mass ofspectators Either for my own sins
or those of what the Scotch would call my "fore-
bears (meaning thereby my forefathers, but a
man who does not own houses or lands in England
has right to suppose that he ever had fore
fathers), have attended public professions or
ceremonies functions for the last score Of
years and never came away from one in London
without sorrowful feeling-a sort of feeling
which can imagine man has when he discovers
that very dear friend is afflicted with incura
BILE malady. The reason, or at least the chief rea
son, is that on all these public occasions in Eng
land misery seems all the more miserable because
it is brought into nearer and closer contact with
wealth, and, on the other hand, wealth seems all
the more wealthy because it is brought into closer
contact with misery for in England our riches
are very rich, and our poverty is terribly poor.
A GREAT WORK WELL DONE
confess that, for once, have to record an
exceptional case. The opening Of the Thames
embankment yesterday proved to be bright and
cheerful gathering of the multitude. II Misery
was present he was kept in the background and
Wealth was not so obtrusive as he generally is in
this country. But before attempting to describe
the ceremony let me tell your readers
WHAT THE THAMES EMBANKMENr is.
More than two hundred years ago it was first
proposed to build along the banks of the Thames
solid wall quay or embankment, by which
vast deal of land, utterly useless in its present
condition, might be recovered and used. At the
same time the river itself would be deepened,
because it would be narrowed, and great deal
of the filthy mud, 80 hdeously visible at low or
even at half itide, would be done away with. But
it takes long time to make Englishmen believe
in anything new. 1t took some forty years of
writing in the press during the present genera
tions lives to cause any action to be taken in the
matter. Some teny years ago, however, Parliament
first and then the Board of Public Works took up
the subject in earnest. All the ratepayers of
London have been taxed for the last eight years
in order to furnish the funds for this undertaking,
and yesterday we had the formal opening of the
embankment by his Royal Highness the Prince OF
Wales and his sister, the Princess Louise.
THE QUEEN VERY UNwELL.
The opening ceremony of the embankment was
to have been performed by her Majesty, the
Queen, but at late hour the day before yester-
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