The Sun.
London, England, 1864-12-09 00:00:00

DEC. 7.

The following promotions have been made :—Alr Thos.
henry Kitto to be Engineer in the Fleet, with seniority
of 30th NoveMber, 1864. Mr George Francis Sutton,
Mr Henry Hull, and Mr William Tottenham, to
be Engineers in the Fleet—Mr John Gordon, Mr Frederick
William Robinson, Mr William Chase, Mr Thomas Gray,
Mr William Hammond, and Mr William Birmingham
Outten), to be Acting Engineers in the Fleet.

BANKRUPTS.
That portion of the Gazette containing
not arrived when we went to press. the Bankrupts hid

Mont £42,000 in bar gold wad taken nto the

Bank yesterday.
The bulletin of the Paris Observatory gives the
following as the a!rr,nspheric state of Europe yes.
terday The fell in the barometer slowly con-
tinues on England, the l3ay of Biscay, and Spain,
and bad weather again becomes probable for the
west and north-west of Europe. Oa the Channel
and the French coasts of the Atlantic the winds
have already veered to the S. or S.W., and on all
those regions the weather is showery and the sky
cloudy. In Russia the rough weather is proceed 4
ing towards the Black Sea ; the barometer at Mos.
cow has fallen 13 millimetres, and at Odessa the
winds begin to veer to S.W."

Itr Seymour Fitzgerald, M,P, on public

Matters.

HORSHAM, Thursday.

The Horsham Christmas Cattle Show took place
yesterday, and was generally considered the best
that has been held. At the dinner, in the afternoon,
the chair was taken, as usual, by Mr Seymour :Fitz..
geral, M.P., and amongst the guests were Mr Cave,
M.P., Sir P. Burrell, M,P., Major Aldridge, Mr
Sanctuary, the Rev. S. Hodgson (the vicar), the
Rat. F. Vincent, Mr Cr. Fitzgerald, Mr C. S.
Dickens, &c.

The usual loyal and constitutional toasts having
been given,
Major ALDRIDGE proposed' The Health of the
Members for the rape of Bramber, Mr Cave and Sir
F. Burrell," expressing his regret at the unavoid-
able absence of the numbers for the western divi-
sion, Captain Wyndham and Colonel Barttelot.
The toast was acknowledged by Mr Cara and Sir
P. Burrell.

Mr CAVE then proposed " Th© Health of the
Chairman," which was received with great enthn.

oiaara.

Mr FITZGERALD, when the cheering had subsided,
said—l should be indeed insensible if I did not feel
deeply the kind way in which you have received my
health. This is, I think, the tenth or eleventh time
that from this place I have had to return thanks for
the same compliment. I have not had the privilege
and advantage of spending my summer, autumn,
and winter months amongst my neighbours and
friends; but I am certain from what has been said to
me that my family and myself have your sympathy,
as shown upon an occasion like this, when, notwith-
standing my inability to perform my duties as a
neighbour and friend, you receive me in that kindly
manner which does most unaffectedly touch me
in my tenderest affections. (Cheers.) As it is so
long since I had the opportunity of meeting you, I
must trespass on your attention, but do not intend
doing so at any great length. I have always found
a great difficulty in my communications with this
borough of Horsham. It is in itself a peculiar—one
may almost say a model borough. The communica.
tions between the members of this constituency and
their representatives are always few and far be.
tweet'. I believe I can safely say that which no
other member of that Government, or almost any
other Government could say, that during the whole
of the time I was in office, with the exception of a
small application for one little favour, I never was
asked for a single piece of patronage by any elec•
tor of Horsham, or by any one connected with any
elector of Horsham. (Cheers.) If you take any
borough, great or small, throughout the length and
breadth of the land, I do not believe there is any
other member of the House of Commons who can
make the same declaration. The infrequency of com.
munication between a member and his constituents
tends unfavourably towards the member to a cer-
tain extent, and it affects me in this way. This is
almost the only great public meeting that can take
place in this borough. Of course I am perfectly
aware that if I were merely to talk on farming topics
those around me would think that I was not per.
forming my duty, and was not doing that which
was fairly expected of me at a meeting like this.
Still, politics are forbidden, and I can only attempt
to perform my duty in this way, to avoid anything in
the nature of controversial politics, and speak only
on those public questions which are interesting alike
to both sides of the house. (Hear.) Now, some of
the questions that have come before Parliament this
year are of great interest and importance, affect.
ing both our foreign relations and our domestic le.
gislation. It has often been said to me that the
party with whom I act have done wrong in moot-
ing questions affecting perhaps our relations with
foreign countries—probably on questions affecting
our domestic interests—when we were not likely to
succeed. Now, permit me to say this—and it is an
observation which I may fairly make, both to those
who have supported me and to those who are op-
posed to me—that the position of thou who are in op-
position is as responsible a position, and one entailing
as high duties as those which fall upon men possess-
ing the confidence of the Crown and discharging the
highest functions of the State, because there are al-
ways two that must affect any man who takes a pro.
minent part in the discussion of public questions
in the House:of Commons. He must, on the
one hand, as far as he can, give effect to his
own convictions—convictions that he has an.
nounced, that he has never attempted to conceal,
which are patent to those who have sent him to
the House of Commons, in which to a certain ex-
tent, they are supposed to participate, and which, if
his opinions and convictions are worth anything, he

is bound as an honest man to endeavour to carry out.

But on the other hand, in the present state of the
country and of public opinion, and of the House of
Commons, this consideration must also weigh with
him,—whether it is always worth while to give
effect to those distinct convictions, seeing that such
a course may lead to a complication in public
affairs ? And, therefore, although he may still
honestly maintain his own opinions—although he
may still, to a certain extent, honestly and fear•
lessly express them—he may often not desire to
bring them to the test of a division in the House of
Commons ; because there always arises this great
question, which the Duke of Wellington proposed
to himself and his colleagues—How is the Queen's
Government to be carried on, (Hear, hear.) Now
I do hold, that while upon great and important

questions it is the bounden duty of every honest
man, who is a member of the Opposition, to give
. effect to the principles which he feels deeply and
knows to be right,—l think there aro often occasions
on which a high regard to great public interests may
load him not to pursue those questions to a serious
issue, and may induce him rather to give support
to the Government, although on general questions
he may differ from them. (Hear, hear.) I have
said that there are occasions when the convictions
of men are so deep, and the principles involved are
so serious, that although it may not be possible for
them to obtain a majority in the House of Com,
mons, yet looking to the character of the principles
which they support—lcoking to the nature of the
interests involved—and looking more to the effect
which discussion, debate, and a sifting of all the
circumstances and arguments may have on the pub.
lie mind—it is of the utmost importance that an
Opposition, although they may not achieve success,
should bring these great questions to an issue in the
House of 'Commons. (Cheers.) Now I am not
going to enter at any length into the Danish ques-
tion. If you were as sick and as weary of the
name of Denmark as I have been for many months,
when night after night we had to extract informa-
tion, to inquire as to the policy of the Government,
to keep the matter constantly before the House, you
would desire me to say nothing at all upon the sub.
ject. I am not going to enter into the merits of the
cause, but I wish to say a few words in order to
justify the conduct which I, as one of those prin-
cipally concerned in the matter, took with reference
to the Danish question in the House of Commons.
(Hear.) I have said elsewhere what I now repeat.
The question we decided upon placing before the
House was not the question whether it was desira-
ble to interfere between Denmark and Germany or
not. There is no doctrine that has been more coat•
gently held by the leaders of the Conservative
party—there is none which I myself have for years
more consistently advocated and urged. It was dig-
nified by the eloquence of Sir R. Peel. It received in
those days the full support of Mr Gladstone. There
h is been n o doctrine that has been more conspicuously
an element of Conservative policy than this principle,
that we should not interfere in the domestic affairs
of our neighbours, and that we should hold the
doctrine of what is called nonintervention. I claim
for the Conservative party that this doctrine was put
forward by them. I will not say first put forward,
because it was first put for ward by the illustrious
Lord Castlereagh and Lord Liverpool ; but in later
times I claim it for the Conservative party, because
for years before it was adopted by any other party
in the State it was one of the leading features of
their political creed. (Cheers.) But the ques-
tion we desired to raise before the House of
Commons was this—Whether the conduct pur-
sued by England was such as had fairly led the
Danes to expect assistance, and had led the rest
of the world to expect that we should inter-
fere? (Hear.) I will not enter into the question

at large, but I will say this, that it was one of
the remarkable features of that great debate, that
with the exception of one man, who made a halting
and a lame defence—half blaming, and not half
praising—there was not another man --)n the other
side of the house, with the exception cf the Minis,
ters thenisolves who defended the position in which
this country found itself. (Hear, hear.) We may
have been right or we may have been wrong; but
entertaining the opinions we slid, we should have
been wanting iu duty to the country, we should have
been wanting in respect to ourselves if we bad not
challenged not only the opinions of the house but of
the country on the issue which we desired to present.
(Cheers.) In the course of the debates, and in the
articles which I read in the newspapers, I see often
insinuated, often stated boldly, the vulgar insinua-
tion that any step that is taken in Parliament is for
the mere desire of place or power. Well, if it be an
object of just ambition to take the lead in the coon-
oils of the country, to direct its energies, to assist
in the application of its wealth, by means of its
great and varied influence to mould and guide the
opinion of other countries—if it be the object of
public men to make the influence, and the name,
and the character of this country felt, then I say
that is a noble ambition—(cheers)—and it is totally
different and diverse from the grovelling and low
insinuations which are made in public journals and
speeches only by those who are incapable of feeling
the higher ambition of the two. (Loud cheers.)
For myself I would say, that however humble my
position in the Government might be, I would
sooner have my name recorded in history as having
done ray best to develop the interests of the coun-
try—to promote liberal, true, and enlightened prin-
ciples
all over the world—to make the name and
reputation of this great country felt and respected,
than as having laid the foundation of the greatest
fortune ever raised in the land. (Cheers.) I have
said that our object was to obtain the opinion of
the country on the question to which I have
alluded. It is true that the opinion of the
House of Commons by a certain small majority was
against us. I will not enter into the party reason
which made the majority smaller or greater, or any
majority at all. This is not a question to be dis-
cussed here. But I will say this, that we did a
great deal of good, because I am sure that we elicited
from the country a decided opinion as to what should
be our future conduct with regard to foreign nations
and our future foreign policy, and that is et lesson
which no Minister can ever forget. 1 do not
say that in the sense in which it has been taken
up by Mr Cobden and others who have addressed
great publie meetings. They say that that debate
has constituted a new era in our foreign policy;
tbat for the future we are to remain isolated in the
family of nations, that we are to close our ears to
the complaints that reach us, that we are to shut
our eyes to the events that pass around ns, and that
so long as we can drive a big and thriving trade we
are to adopt the policy of not interfering in the
affairs of our neighbours, and to remain in strict
seclusion and isolation from the rest of the world. Now I
say, in the first place, that I believe that to be impossible ;
and then that if it were possible it would be mean and dis-
graceful. (Hear, hear.) It is a most inconsistent policy to
be advocated by men of such distinction as Mr Cobden
and Mr Bright, For what do they do ? They say we are to
remain in this isolated position amongst all the nations of
the world; and yet wherever they meet their countrymen
they do not discuss merely the question of cotton if they
are in Lancashire, or of oxen and sheep if they are in Sus-
sex, but they address themselves to great public questions
that interest the heart of England and of Europe too. And
having thus tried to educate public opinion—having con-
victions of their own, in some of which I cordially concur,
but from others of which I differ—they urge those convic-
tions with all the force of eloquence and all the influence of
character. They do their best to educate the public opinion
upon a given publie subject—they enlist the public sympa-
thy in the question on which they address their fellow-
countrymen—and then they think that it would be possible
for a Government to remain in a state of cold isolation, and
not be affected by that public sympathy which they them-
selves have been the first to raise and foster. (Hear, hear.)
Now, mind, I do not at all blame these gentlemen for taking
this position before their countrymen. On the contrary, I
think it is desirable that the public opinion of the country
should not only be brought to have its due weight and in-
fluence on the Government of the country, but that the
opinion of an enlightened nation such as this, holding the
foremost rank among the natious of the world, should
have its just, its legitimate influence and weight in the
councils of sovereigns, where it is required, and upon
the destinies of nations wherever it can be properly exer-
cised. (Cheers.) It is the doctrine of these gentlemen
that we are not in any way to in'erfere, because they
say that the expression of opinion, unless it is to be folio wed
up by active measures, is a course we ought to avoid. Now
it is there I differ from them. They say that we ought not
to have interfered with reference to the question between
Denmark and Germany. Now I do not agree with them.
What has been the result of all that has been passing on the
continent of Europe within the last few months ? Look at
Prussia. Prussia has one of the most intellectual people in
Europe, has a great army,
has an important strategic mili-
tary position, and is certainly a country that ought to be one
of the greatest leading powers, influencing the destinies of
the world. The people of that country—educated, intellec-
tual, and liberal in their aspirations, have long wished to
possess that great blessing which we now enjoy in the shape
of constitutional liberty ; and I am sure there is no English-
man here, or in any part of the country, who, valuing the
privileges which he himself enjoys, would not say, " It will
be a blessed day when these privileges are extended to other
parts of the world." (Cheers.) Now, the position of Prussia
before the recent war was th's. There existed every hope
that-a wider extension of constitutional government would
be given by the King of Prussia. But what has been the
result ? Every liberal aspiration is extinguished. There is
no hope of freedom at this moment in the length and breadth
of Prussia. Everything is under military rule. All that
they look at is an extension of territory, and an increase of
military prestige. Is that, looking in the widest and most
liberal sense upon the map of Europe—is that what any
Englishman would desire ? Go a letde further south. Look
at Austria. Some three short years ago we had every hope
of seeing a wide extension of constitutional privileges and
liberty in Austria. There was established a Parliament—l
will not say upon the model of our own—but yet having
similarities and traced out in some measure upon the shape
and form of our own. We saw that instituted, and we
entertained hopes that the effects of it would be great and
advantageous. But what is the result ? I will not say they
have gone back— because they have not—but every prospect
of progress is stopped. There is a direct, and close, and in-
timate union between the despotic military governments of
Europe; and that which promised the fairest fields for
constitutional liberty is now a blank desert, and none of us
can look to it with hope or anticipation. (Hear, hear.)
I am only pointing out those things as illustrative of my
own opinion, which I submit for your acceptance. (Cheers.)
And it is this —that while I hold it to be the bounden duty
of every man who holds an important position in the
councils of his country not to engage hastily, nor to pledge
the country by an ill-advised proceeding, by an ill-con-
ceived despatch, to interference in the domestic affairs of
another country—while we hold ourselves aloof as far as
we can from interfering in the affairs of those around us—
yet to sit down in a cold isolation,to say we will have nothing
to do with our neighbours, to tie up our knockers and close
our doors and say, " We will have nothing to do with you,"
is an impossible policy in the first instance, and would be
mean and degrading to us as a nation ; and beyond that,
looking to the interests which providence has committed to
our care—not only the promotion of liberty amongst those
around us, but the extension of liberty amongst all the nations
of the world—it is impossible for us to remain in that state
of isolation, and we must make our name, our character, and
our weight felt in every quarter of the globe. (Cheers.)
There is one other topic to which I will just refer, and that
is an important speech recently delivered by one whom I
am proud to have called in past times a colleague of mine,
and of whom I may say this—that it is only a very few
public questions at all that we have ever had the slightest
difference of opinion, but have been found acting together
in cordial harmony. The speech to which I allude was
that recently delivered by Lord Stanley, and he has ex-
pressed one opinion in which I cannot agree. He has said
that he viewed with no repugnance the establishment
of two great military monarchies in Germany in the place
of those which at present rule the destinies of that
country. For my own part I have never found, either in
history or in late experience, that a military monarchy,
which in fact amounts to nothing more or less than a mili-
tary despotism, is conducive either to the liberty of the
people or to the peace of the world. So far from that,
believing as I do that the development of constitutional goe
vernment among the nations of Europe is that which, as a
it is that for which we ourselves have struggled—we ought
principle, we are bound as far as we can to acknowledge—for
to look forward to their struggles with hope, and very san-
guine anticipations. Believing also that the existence of
constitutional government will go farther to secure the
peace of Europe, and consequently the spread of all its bless-
ings amongst the nations which obtain that constitutional
government, I deprecate as far as I can any transaction
that shall establish in the heart of Europe those two great
military monarchies, because I do not believe them likely
to conduce to the welfare of Europe and the peace of the
world. It has been said that, with the exception of that des
bate, that the session was a dull one, and that we did very
little. It is not for me, or for any member of Parliament,
to say what good we do ; but of this I am quite certain,
that the public are wrong in judging of the value of the
labours of members of l'arliareout by an test of the great

and important divisions and party questions that may arise. /
There is a vast amount of legislation quietly carried on, to
which some of the most intelligent, energetic, and active
minds in Parliament are constantly devoted. A great de-
gree of attention is required to those subjects on the part of
every man who seeks to gain anything like an important
position in Parliament, of which the public are totally un-
aware, but which is of the greatest value to the public inte-
rests ; and I am perfectly sure of this—although at the
present time there is a wide distinctien between both silos
of the house—there are a groat many questions affecting
the interests of the country to which the minds of men on
both sides are directed,and in respect of which the public
are indebted to them for their constant and incessant la-
bours, and their best and most devoted energies. Passing
from last year, let me say a word or two as to the future.
We are tcld that next year—because we are going in a
short time to present ourselves to our constituents, probably
in the middle of the next summer—that the next session
will be one which no great questions will be discussed, and
that it will be a humdrum, short, stupid session, something
like the latter days of an old man who sits in his arm
chair reading the newspaper, and does no good with re-
gard to anybody. (Laughter.) That is said to bo our
position. Now Ido not believe it. I believe there are ques-
tions that may probably come before us of the greatest im-
portance to every one of us—questions which I do not think
will raise much difference between the two sides of the
house so far as principle is concerned. 'We are told there is
to be great retrenchment in the public expenditure. Well,
I suppose we aro all taxpayers, and there is no man who
pays taxes who does not wish to see those taxes reduced.
(Hear.) There is not a single man throughout the country
who does not feel acutely the demand made upon him by the
tax gatherer for the immediate payment of a tax. (Hear,
hear.) We are told the reductions are to take place with
regard to the army and the navy. Now I wish to say a word
or two on that subject. There is no one who is not aware
of this fact that the matter does not rest with the opinions
of members of Parliament, but that Parliament being the
reflection of the opinion of the country, it rests with all of
you who aro taxpayers to say in what respect retrenchment
shall take place—how far they will approve of it, and how
far they disapprove of it. I will first take the case of the
army. lam one of those who sit side by side with other
members on the front benches of the Opposition in the House
of Commons. We have been of opinion for some:years that
the military expenditure of the country might have been re-
duced without in the slightest degree endangering the effi-
ciency of that branch of our establishment. I believe that to
Le the case at the present time, and I am certain there is not
one man amongst those who take a prominent and leading
part in the debates in the House of Commons on our side of
the house, who will not be found ready to support to the very
utmost any ouch reduction in the estimates for the army as
shall not interfere with the efficiency of that most important
service. (Cheers.) It has been pointed out over and over
again that the great expenditure incurred is not in the main-
tenance of an efficient army or equipping it in a proper man-
ner; neither is it in the cost of those great works which have
been undertaken for the fortification of our harbours and ar-
senals, respecting which some difference of opinion existed.
These are not the points where there is any possibility of
great retrenchment. For I defy anyone to look into our
military establishments and not to see this—that one great
source of expenditure, which is not the hundreds and
thousands, but the millions, that disappear in the most ex-
traordinary manner is in keeping up not an army of soldiers
but an army of clerks. (Hear, hear.) Ido not believe that
the time will ever come when this country will be saved by
an army of clerks, and I hope the time will never arrive
when it may be necessary to save it by an army of our gal-
lant defenders in the field, but if money is to be expended—
if the taxes are to be raised—if you are to feel the pressure
of maintaining the efficiency of our military establishments,
let it be in providing an efficient army, and not in providing
an army of clerks. (Cheers.) Well, now with reference
to the navy. There I think the case is different. I do not see
my way to any great and important reduction in that ser-
vice. I believe that a certain economy may be judiciously
exercised, but our navy is in a state of transition, and I
think no Government in this country ought to be satisfied
until we have upon the seas the most perfect and efficient
navy that modern science and the resources of the country
can provide. (Cheers) That navy we do not possess at
present. 'We have one or two fine vessels, but it is very
doubtful whether these will be the type for the construction
of.our fleets for the future. We do not possess the best artil-
lery that should be applicable to the purposes of warfare at
sea, and until we possess the finest vessels in the world and
the finest artillery also, we ought not to falter in our course
or haggle about money. but use our utmost endeavours to
plaee the country in thatposition which she has always occu-
pied, and which I hope she will still continue to occupy.
(Cheers,) There is one other subject on which I should like
to say a word, not with the view of intimating my own opi-
nion so much as with the desire of meeting insinuations or
objections that have been directed against those with whom
fur many years I have had the honour to act. The time
may be near, may be very near, when again the question of
representative reform may be introduced to the constituencies
of the country. lam Rot going to enter into the merits of
any past scheme or to bore you by any practical reference to
that question ; but at the present moment this tone is taken
by men who address great public constituencies and meet-
ings in the country. They say :—" The country at the
present time may not be active in demanding Reform, but
what we desire to point out is, that the aristocracy and the
dominant class desire to keep the working man from the
enjoyment of his rights and privileges," and they try by
that means to raise a class feeling on the part of the working
men against the aristocracy, the landed class, those who
are placed over them in this country. What I wish to say
is this, that there never was a greater libel uttered against
the leading and higher classes in this country than such
an insinuation. (Hear, hear.) I will ask you to look
through the history of the last few years and say whether
it is a fact that the landed gentry, the aristocracy, the
clergy, have shown themselves adverse to the rights of the
working classes. Take the instance of the committee which
is now distributing the magnificent bounty of the nation to
those who are suffering from poverty and distress in Lan-
cashire. Who is it that is devoting not merely hours but
days and nights to the constant and most laborious inves-
tigation of every case—to the investigation of figures the
most minute—to labours which gentlemen engaged in com-
merce would shrink from attempting ? is it one of them ?
Is it the gentlemen who are agitating on public platforms
and saying we are the masters of the working men ? No;
it is the man who is in the proudest position as regards
rank and wealth, who only the other day was Prime Mini-
ster of England, and who at this moment holds as high a
place in the affections of the working men of Lancashire as
he does of respect and admiration among the higher classes
of his countrymen. (Loud cheers.) I wish not to throw a
slur on those who are connected with the great com-
mercial transactions of the country—on such men as
Sir W. Brown, Sir Frank Crossley, or Sir David
Baxter—men who have made their wealth by the toil
of their artisans and workmen, and have spent their
money in a munificent and princely manner for the
benefit of those around them ; who have earned some of
the highest distinctions which the Sovereign could confer
upon them, and the greatest respect amongst their own class.
I am not claiming any undue merit for the landed gentry;
but there are agit: tors who go among the working classes
and tell them that the higher classes are interfering between
them and their natural rights. (Hear, hear.) Why, who
was it that in past years secured for the working class—for
the women and children throughout the manufacturing dise
tricts, a diminution in the hours of labour ? Was it these
men who are now agitating on every platform in England?
No ;it was the landed gentry who took the lead--it was the
aristocracy—those who are held up as the enemies of the
working man, who secured for them the:benefits which they
now enjoy. (Cheers.) I do not intend to enter into the
question of Representative Reform. I hope no one will
make this question of Reform, after it has been dropped for
years, the stepping-stone to popularity, in order to agitate
the country in the expectation of an election, in the vain
hope, as I believe, of continuing themselves in power by ap•
pealing to prejudices and passions which may easily be
worked upon, particularly at a time when there is great dis-
tress existing. (Hear, hear.) I will only say this, that I
believe there is no class of men more anxious to have a just
extension of the franchise consistent with the Conservative
institutions of the country than those who have so long been
the leaders of the Conservative party, But the difficulty is
that no plan has yet been proposed for the enlargement of
the suffrage, which, while extending it to a lower class,
should not extend it so largely as to enable that class to
sweep away all the other interests of the country. lam
not going to have anything to do with a Reform Bill. But
it is for the Ministry which stakes its reputation upon giv-
ing this bows to the working classes to show that it can be
given consistently with the maintenance of those institu-
tions which one and all are determined to uphold. (Cheers.)
I am ashamed of having spoken so long; but as I have
not had the opportunity of addressing you recently, and
i as I shall not be able for some time to take up my resi-
dence amongst you, and profit by that constant inter-
I change of opinion with those whose confidence I
t have enjoyed for so many years, I have ventured to trespass
more at length than I have done on previous occasions. But
I I trust that nothing I have said has grated upon the feeling

of any one, although he may differ from me in political

opinion ; for that was not my object in the remarks which
I have addressed to you. (Hear.) I have referred to the

state of Europe. I believe we are approaching serious times.
The differences between nations are now likely to ba not
quarrels upon political circumstances or events as they have
been in past times, but they are likely to be differences
arising from diversity of origin, from matters of religion,
and from other questions of great principle. Ido look for-
word to the growth of the military spirit on the Continent
with great apprehension and alarm. I look forward to this
intimate understanding between great military Powers
with more than alarm. I think there are dark and gloomy
days before us. But I believe, it this country is true to
itself. whatever storms may arise, however the winds may
blow from every part of Europe, whatever the dangers that
may menace us, this country can hold its own, as for many
a year it has held its own, and that its reputation and influ-
ence with the world will remain as paramount as ever it
has been in years gone by.

The hon gentleman resumed his seat amidst loud and pro-
longed cheering.

Several other toasts were afterwards given and responded
to, and the party then separated.

Court of Common Council,

A Court of Common Council was held yesterday at
Guildhall. The Lord Mayor presided.
THE TRAFFIC OVER SOUTHWARK-BRIDGE.

Mr LONGDEN inquired of the Chairman of the Bridge
House Estates Committee whether any steps had been taken
to ascertain the amount of increase of traffic over South-
wark-bridge consequent upon the abolition of the toll.
Mr WEBBER, the Chairman of the Bridge House Com-
mittee, said that a return had been furnished to him, by
which it appeared that on the first day of the opening of the
bridge 12,000 foot passengers passed over it, and on the
sixth that number was increased to 15,900. For the same
period the number of cabs was respectively 931, and 1,615 ;
of single-horse carts 411 and 859; and of two-horse carts,
60 and 134. These numbers, he was informed, had, since
that period, considerably increased; but he thought it right
to inform the Court that the returns were supplied to him
by persons employed by the bridge company, and ha consi-
dered it would be as well that persons should be employed
by the Corporation to check the future returns.
In answer to a questbn put by another hon, member, as
to the amount of heavy truffle that passed over the bridge,
Mr WEBBER said that only five four-horse waggons
passed over the bridge on the first day, and six on the
sixth.
THE PROPOSED:NEW COURTS OP JUSTICE,

The RxMEMBRANCER reported to the Court that he had
reeeived from the Government the drafts'of two bills in-
tended to be introduced into Parliament in reference to the
erection of new courts of law, and as to the mode of raising
the means to defray the cost thereof. The Government
were very anxious to proceed with the matter,and the drafts
of the bills had been sent thus early in order that the Con
poration might have an opportunity of expressing their
opinion upon the subject.
The matter was referred to tho City Lands Committee.
INSURANCE OF CORPORATION PROPERTY.

Mr R. J. CHAPLIN brought forward a motion that it
should be submitted to the City Lands Committee to take
into consideration whether it would not be advisable that the
valuable property comprised in the Guildhall and the sur-
rounding buildings
_should be adequately insured against
any loss by fire.

Deputy BONE said that the Corporation had hitherto
always been their own insurers, and he doubted the pro.
priety of altering that system. If they insured the Guild.
hall they must insure all the other property belonging to
the Corporation, and thus a very large outlay would :be
incurred. He suggested, therefore, that the matter should
be referred to the City Lands Committee for them to con-
sider whether it would be advisable that any alteration
should be made.

Mr CHAPLIN said he had no objection to this being done.
His only object was to let it be known that the whole of the
valuable property in the Guildhall, and the still more valu-
able property contained in the Mansion-house were en-
tirely unprotected by an insurance against fire, and the
Court would deal with the...matter as it thought best.