The Sun.
London, England, 1855-06-14 00:00:00

and respectful attachment to the person and family of the
beloved Sovereign of these realms.'
His ROYAL HIGHNESS replied in the following terms :
" My Lord Mayor and gentlemen, accept the expression
of my hearty thank 3 for your kind welcome and for the
gratifying assurance of your loyal and affectionate attach-
ment to the Queen and her family.
" I have been much pleased by the opportunity which
your kind invitatisn has afforded me of seeing and ad-
miring this great work which you this day open, to the
public—a work which not only deserves admiration in
itself on account of the excellence of the arrangements and the
magnificence of the design, but which will I trust be found
eminently conducive to the comfort and health of the city
of London.
•

" That its success will be commensurate with the
spirit in which it has been undertaken and carried out, I
cannot doubt. A certain dislocation of habits and interests
must inevitably attend the removal of the great city mar-
ket on the site it has occupied for so many centuries,
and this may possibly retard for the moment
the fullest development of be undertaking.
But any opposition arising from such causes will
soon cease, and the farmers will doubtless soon learn to
appreciate the boon thus conferred upon them by the
landed corporation in the increased facility which will be
afforded to them for the transaction of their business, and
the comparative security with which they will be enabled
to bring up and display their valuable stock in this Great
New Cattle Market. "

His Royal Highness and suite then partook of an ele-
gant cold collation (supplied by Messrs. Staples, of the
Albion, in their usual excellent style).
The Right Hon. the Lord Mayor presided, and was sup-
ported on his right by Prince Albert, and among the dis-
tinguished eouipiny present were—Sir George Grey,
Home Secretary, Sir Cornewall Lewis, the Chancellor of the
Exchequer, the Marquis of Abercorn, Marquis of Breadal-
bane, Earl Spencer, Lord Stanley of Alderley, the Belgian,
Bavarian, Sicilian, American, and Prussian Ministers,
Viscount Monck, Viscount Duncannon, Rear-Admiral
Berkeley, Duke of Newcastle, Marquis of Salisbury, Mar-
quis of Westminster, Earl of Macclesfield, Earl of Yar-
borough, Lord Redesdale, Lord Berners, Lord Southamp-
ton; Lord Feversham, Lord Portman, Lord Wenlock, &c.
The LORD MAYOR, in appropriate language, proposed
the "health of the Queen,"—(cheers)—followed,by that of
his Royal Highness Prince Albert, and the other members
of the Royal family. (Applause.)

His ROYAL HIGHNESS, in rising to acknowledge the
toast, was again most enthusiasticallyreceived. He said—
My Lord Mayor and gentlemen,—For the very kind and
flattering manner in which you have received this toast I
most sincerely thank yon. I assure you it has given me
great pleasure at being able to accept the kind invitation
of the Lord Mayor, and to be present at the opening of this
splendid and useful work—(cheers)—and I beg to assure you
that the oftener the Lord M...yor will invite me to similar
ceremonies the better I shall be pleased. (Renewed
cheers.) Such works can only be undertaken by public
bodies and carried out with success by public spirit
—(loud cheers)—and I hail the present instance as an
earnest of your (the Corporation's) determination to ac-
cept the duties which your position has imposed on you,
and as success in all things depends on the manner in
which it is undertaken and carried out, I beg to propose
" the health of the Lord Mayor and Corporation of
London." (Cheers.)

His Royal Highness and the other distinguished visitors
then retired, and the proceedings terminated.
Tho weather, which at the commencement of the day
was rather unpropitious, as the morning advanced cleared
off, and the sun, which shone out at intervals, continued
to do so till the termination of the proceedings.
During the morning the bands of the boys of the Cale-
donian Asylum, the boys from Chelsea Hospital, and the
Foundling Society were in attendance, and played various
airs and pieces of music in a very masterly manner.
The proceedings terminated about five minutes to three
o'clock.

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

( From the Times of this day. )

Through a strange omission in some quarter or another we
have not had the opportunity of giving' till now a most in-
teresting, though very short, speech by Prince Albert at the
annual dinner of the Trinity Corporation last Saturday.
" Brevity is the soul of wit," and his Royal Highness has put
more point into an address that cannot have taken three
minutes to utter than some of our Parliamentary orators can
accomplish in two hours. The Princejudiciously confined him-
self to one topic, and that a topic of the greatest importance.
He compared the operation of a constitutional and of a des-
potic Government at war with each other. The comparison
indeed is forced upon us by the facts, and is very striking.
There cannot be a more singular contrast. On the one hand
we see a profound policy, which we may suspect, but cannot
ascribe to Russia, till the Czar himself blabs it out, and puts
the world on its guard. We see unknown and infinite accu-
mulations of stores as if by the hands of Genii, or from the
subterranean workshops of the Titans and Cyclops. We see
myriads of armed men suddenly presenting theraselves through
the morning mist, whence and how convoyed no man can
tell. We see a vast fortress garrisoned by men whom we
once despised, but showing not only the desper ,te courage of
fanaticism, but the inspirations of genius and the depth of a
groat system. The conduct of the war on the part of our foes
is subjected to no canvass, and has not even the benefit of an
historian. A few scanty notices in the Invalide Russe are
all that posterity will read of the heroism and the talents of
great armies. From that field of glory every ray of light is
concentrated on one mind. Ono man has to endure all the
uncertainties, all the suspenses, all the mistakes, and all the
disappointments of the awful conflict. On our side everything
is the contrary. Virtually, the whole British public fill the
amphitheatre, and surround all the arena of the war. We
hear and see everything; we discuss the programme ; we
Icanvass the behaviour and the plans of the generals ; we criti-
cise, wo condemn, and, what is more, we inform, we advise.
We care not who listens. It is the British people that carries
on the war, and they will have it in their own hands. Such
is the comparison which the Prince makes, more briefly and
more tersely than we have done, between the character and
position of the two parties in the present war, and he draws
the very proper conclusion that we ought to show great con-
Isideration for the Government which has to carry on war
under such manifest difficulties—that is, a public against a
secret power, which is much as if a being of common mortal
mould had to wage a desperate battle with an invisible
demon.

Such comparisons force themselves on the mind, and sug-
gest so many reflections, that the power of making them is a
great help to the understanding. An Englishman might be
at a Joss to describe the conduct of the war by his own coun-
try, and a Russian might see little that was distinctive or
worth particular notice in the military administration of his
own Government. But place these two things side by side
and they instantly become the measure and test of one another.
We see, then, what neither the Englishman nor the Russian
alone does, and we immediately arrive at a high degree of
negative knowledge. We see at once, for example, that Rus-
sia
has not newspapers, in our sense of the word ; it has not
" correspondents ;" it has not public committees of inquiry,
changes of the Ministry, debates on negotiations for peace,
and discussions before the eyes and in the hearing of the whole
world as to the best mode of carrying on the war, the proper ,
objects of that war, and the terms we might possibly accept
'from the foe. This is, perhaps, only negative knowledge,
for, after all, it does not give us the true rationale of
either side in the comparison. But it is an immense
help to what may be called the infirmity of human knowledge
to have such a contrast, and to make one side the foil of the
other. Plutarch's Parallels has been a favourite book with
thousands in every age who would otherwise have cared little
to explore the several characters compared. What perhaps I
is not always observed, but which impartslhe principal charm
to these contrasts, is that the imagination assists at the pro-
cess, and gives a sort of dramatic affinity and likeness to the
two subjects of the comparison. We put them in one an-
other's place, to see what they would do with a transposi-
tion of cirenmstances. We imagine, in this case, the Emperor
of Russia harassed, anticipated, compelled to change his Mi-
nisters, defend his policy, announce his plans, define his ob- I
jects, and lay down his principles, by the public opinion of
his subjects. On the ether hand, we imagine the British
Cabinet wielding immense armies with an unlimited power of
conscription, with privileged eecresy, and an utter absence of
responsibility.
The purely dramatic parallel wll satisfy few minds. It
will tempt them to that more particular study of each side,
which is necessary to a just and useful comparison. It is
true that we may learn something from the contrast, but so
also may the Czar. It is true that constitutional government
is tried iu these days, but so, also, is despotic. Publicity
has its dangers, but, if it occasionally helps a foe, it is neces-
sary to a friend. Commissaries, Quartermasters, Generals
will not tell the truth either to War Ministers or to Empe-
rors ; so, while the British authorities at home are learning
the approach and progress of their disasters in the newspaper",
the Russi m Government only discovers them too late even for
mitigation. In this country grand schemes of po/fey are
*divulged, ventilated, condemned, and possibly prevented. In
Russia they run their course to actual catastrophes. An im-
mense secresy protects the designs and the administration of
Russia, but it protects those designs to the ruin and death of.
their author, and that administration to its final breakdown.
The Emperor does not even know the strength or the
weakness of his own army, and learns only to distrust
all returns with no other warrant than that of his
own servants. It is true that our councils of war are very

public, and our loyalty candid ; it is true that wo expose our
omen sores to the eyes of all the world ; but to that publicity
alone WO owe the correction of our errors, the present suffi-
ciency of olk armies and their supplies, and even, perhaps,
the defeat of Russian diplomacy. Possibly to her own in-
scrutable policy avd impenetrable secresy Russia now owes
that she has not oue slip afloat in the Black Sea, nor more
than one fortress still in her hands. In this country it is,
indeed, rather the whole people' that carries on war than the
Sovereign or the Parliament. Thus far, that people need not
be ashamed to compare its performances with those of its Im-
perial antagonist. Even by tho te?t of success the people
wages war better than the despot. But success is not the
only test, for failure also is an hour of trial. We have already
turned our failures to good account. Will the Czar, like us,
have either the necessaryknowledge or the means to profit by
his failures, to reform either his policy or his administration ?

(From the Morning Herald of this day.)

We cannot help recurring to the absolute necessity of some
independent member of the House of Commons moving for
the secret despatches now openly acknowledged to have been
sent to the admirals in command of our fleets in the Baltic
and Black Seas, whereby instructions, superseding, and di-
rectly contrary to those which were professed to contain the
intentions of the Ministry, were conveyed, and of necessity
acted on.
Be it remembered, that these secret despatches being of a
nature which the admirals were bound to conceal, but to
obey, directly put an end to Cabinet and Ministerial responsi-
bility, the very names of which become a mockery while a
system is allowed to exist by which Ministers can profess one
object, then positively prohibit its being carried out, and
throw the whole onus upon the unfortunate officer in com-
mand, by recalling him as a scapegoat at the end of the cam.
paign, and refusing him an inquiry,
The public must now take care of itself, and declare its
opinion so determinately, that independent members ap.
pointed to investigate shall not find that they have screened
the i
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carry g theout inquiry
our r e theyader
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mhoastve member that this present Government is composed
who were colleagues in the Cabinet with those of men
ac-
knowledged themselves as implicated in lle
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dan-
gerous maciinations, and as we cannot suppose that indivi-
dual members of any Government would dare to act in the
manner in which Sir James Graham is supposed, on good
grounds,otter Lord
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