The Sun.
London, England, 1855-05-07 00:00:00

(Prom the Daily News of this day.)

In all our mere recent popular agitations, the acces-
siona of the merchant princes of London has been hailed
as an assurance of success ; but, in general they have
allow, d themselves to be waited for. In the Reform
Bill struggle the men of Birmingham complained of the
difficulty of moving the citizens of London ; in the Anti-
Corn-law struggle a eimilar complaint was made by the
men of Manchester. It is not that our sagacious citi-
zens are less liberal in their principles, or more timid in
asserting them ; but the enormous maenitude and
en-
tirelycoin-
that they are apt t) rest satisfied with expre,ssieg
plexity of their mercantile operations absorb them so
approhation of any political movement, and to leave it to
others to take the labouring oar. This habitual
City demonstration of Saturday, The necessity must
wariness and tardiness importi, tenfold weight to the
indeed be urgent which spites such men to initiate
an agitation. Whoever was presieut in the London Ta-
vern on Saturday could not fed to he struck, not, only
with the class of men who crowded the eisacious ball,
but with their apparent ages. To those who viewed the
meeting looking down from the gallery few of the men
who posed it appeared to have numbered less than
five and composed i o r
yeare The opinions and sentiments ex
pressed by the speakers and embodied in the resolutions
must therefore
be regarded as those of men who have
outlived the excitability of youth, and whose engage-
ments are such as effectually t preclude their taking
part in any woven:eta the 01,jectsi of which they do
not feel to be of life-and-death interest, and certain
of attainment. Government, Parliament, and the Na-
Ptoorse4proving ointment,
Na-
tion may rest assured that having laid their hands to
the plough nothing on earth can oblige these men to
toantyheorpreur
turn back until their ends are accomplished. Where
it might seem in-
and yet we believe we only echo the sentiments of every
person present when we say, tle t the opening address
of Mr. Morley, the chaartean--.0 full of weighty matter,
so temperately firm, so devoid of all mere oratorical
allvid
isopuoskre)
trick—left upon his audience the impression that he had
wsinelglleanodut
caught a reflection of the spirit of those intellectual giants
who took the lead in the great struggle of the 16th cen-
tury—all whose actions were inspired by a profound re-
ligious conviction, and regulated by a surpassing practi-
cal judgment. Nor must an incident of the day, which
has a meaning beyond what at first appears, b- passed
over unnuted. So numerous were the applicants for
admission that the surplus whO could not obtain entrance
sufficed to form aneteer crowded end most respectable
meeting in the Guildhall, the use of which was pronept:y
and liberally granted by the Lord Mayor for
ele purpose, at the first application. Our memory recals
nothing similar to this in the history of popular move-
ments, unless perhaps at the banquet in Mechester
which originated the Anti-corn law League. On that
occasion the. night was far spent before half the'sPea kers
had been heard ; but the enthusiaim of the c y
was unabated, and the worthy chairman proposed that
the proceedings should be aljeurned till next Evetth
The proposal was eagerly caught at—not the less ea''' * that there was something piquant and amusing
in the
idea of an adjourned banquet. The experiment was
triumphantly successful, for the interest of the* second
night's proceedings fully equalled that of the first. We
accept the somewhat atialosous incident of S
~tureay's
double meeting as an omen that success, equal to that
which crowned the efforts of the
League, awaits the
labours of the Administrative Reform. Association.
The London meeting of Saturday has given articulate
voice to thoughts and feelings, which at this moment fill
the minds of men in every quarter of the land. A re-
sponse of loud and encouraging adhesion will forth with
he heard from all the provinces. Indeed the mere an-
noUnCenierit that such a meeting was to be held Lai al-
ready elicited premonitory symptom% We were enabled