The sewage of the metropolis : a letter to the Right Hon. the Lord Mayor / from W. Hope ; inclosing correspondence with Baron Liebig.

  • Hope, W. (William), 1834-1909.
Date:
1865
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The sewage of the metropolis : a letter to the Right Hon. the Lord Mayor / from W. Hope ; inclosing correspondence with Baron Liebig. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    might seem to reflect slig-hting-ly upon your Lord- ship or the Corporation, I trust you will forg-et them, and look upon them as merely arising' from the necessities of a severe and keen Parliamentary contest, which would never have taken place, for your Lordship's opposition never would have been created, but for the intervention of a distinguished foreign chemist. He it was who first began the controversy by an unprovoked onslaught on our scheme, supported by all the powerful literary wea- pons of offensive warfare at the disposal of one of the most subtle intellects in Europe, but based, as we have proved, by proper leg'al evidence before Committees of both Houses of Parliament, upon false information, false data, and false deductions. We had a hard and uphill battle to fight. Baron Liebig condemned us ; and who were we who ven- tured to question his facts and gainsay his opinions ? He pronounced our scheme to be hke a soap- bubble glistening with bright colours, but inside hollow and empty. He asserted that there is not the slightest doubt that every penny expended in that frivolous undertaking' would irretrievably be lost. The carrying out of this scheme would not only be a squandering of an enormous amount of money, but before long- would also be looked on as a national calamity. This was violent language, unmeasured assertion, an unqualified judgment — coming from such an authority, and upon his own special subject, or what