The Sun.
London, England, 1864-03-23 00:00:00

The Weather—. Sun Office, March 23, 1864.

THERMOMETER.
This day at Two o'clock .. 47

Barometer-30.12.
Wind—N.B.; moderate breeze, and fine.

HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.
!NIS DAY.—Morning, 2h. 20rn.—Afternom, 2h. 33m.
To-moßaovr.-Moraing, 2a. 49m.—Afternoon, 3h. 3m.

.41).4
rt.4cl4,OTA SITU

LONDON, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 23, 1861

A breathing time of a fortnight is now being
enjoyed by the House of Commons under the title
of the Easter recess, or holidays. Nearly two
months of the current session have already
elapsed. Nearly twice that number of
months yet remain to the Legislature, in
the ordinary course, for the transaction of
public business, before the approach of the com-
mencement of grouse shooting gives the annual
signal for the Prorogation. In the ordi-
nary course, we have said. But the question
still remains to be answered, Whether that
ordinary course, after all, is this year
to be followed ? Parties are so nicely balanced—
angry feelings have been so intensely uroused
between them, that is between the Government and
the Opposition—that it has at length come to be re-
garded as exceedingly problematical whether, before
this session has advanced much further, a Ministerisi
crisis may not just possibly arise. For ourselves
we certainly cannot but look upon the proba-
bilities tending to the bringing about of
such a crisis as very obvious and as
exceedingly imminent. We will even add,
quite frankly, that we cannot but regard such pro-
babilities with sentiments of almost supreme indif•
ference. As Reformers, as Liberals, we have had
our sympathies very painfully alienated from the
occupants of the Treasury bench now for some time
past—sad that, moreover, month by month, year
by year, increasingly. Nearly one whole lustre, as
the scholiasts have it, meaning simply j oat close upon
five disappointing years, have flitted by, daring
which, without any appreciable gain to the cause
of rational Liberalism—certainly without any
Reform of a perceptible kind, good, bad, or indiffe-
rent, having been secured to the country through
the intervention of this so-called liberal and
reforming Government being in power—Lord
PALMERSTON and his colleagues have occupied the
Treasury Bench. Until we have come at last to
realise a sense of weariness at their persistence, quite
deliberately, and even quite openly, in a dogged
do-nothing policy. A do-nothing policy at home—
a blended meddling and muddling policy abroa?,.
An obstructive, apathetic, indifferent no-polio, here
in the United Kingdom. And a fore-ign policy
about equally compounded of cop-loam and for the
most part vexatious, because at once fussy and yet
wholly inoperative despatch, writing, on the one
side, and, on the other, of alternate intervention
and non-intervention, Non-intervention in the
instances of America, of Poland, of Denmark—inter-
vention threatened at first in the instance of Mexico,
and then inconsistently a*Alm:led there even as a
design—intervention (partially) in China, where
English officers have been meddling in the civil con-
tests between the Imperialists;s--inter-
ventionTaepin and
of every flsgrant d f ELII even rightful character
in Japan, as evidenced in the burning and hem-
12.arding of that unhappy, far.
aetay city of Rego-
time. Such, in t ff:ct,
e been the injurious ten-
dencies of this medfding and muddling, of this fitfu
policy and no-policy, paltering in turn with every
~,irrinciple held most dear in the hearts of
Englishmen, that we don't wonder in th.,
least to find the Government at lengti,
begun to be looked upon esLasce even by their
apologists, whether within or without the walls oi
Parliament. For ourselves, being in no way what-
ever partime, we have come—out of our very re.
Gard to the cause so ostentatiously affected to bi
championed by the present Ministry at the date c'
its formation, a Cause, however, since then, by
that Ministry, as -
it does certainly appear
to us, systematically sacrificed—we have, out
of this very disappointment of our hopes.
rand the indignation th 1
ereby conselaent

excited, we have naturally, it might even be said
inevitably, come to regard with a sort of apathy,
with a wholly undisguised air of indifference the
imperilment of the power so long held, to no goud
end whatever that we can recognise, by the mem-
bers of the present administration. We have said
that such has been the influence exercised by the
simple recognition of all this upon the very
apologists hitherto of the Government,
that these apologists have at length had
their enthusiasm abated, and their political alle-
giance alienated. Insomuch that the thorough--
ving, reform-loving, Liberal Spectator has latterly
begun to look for ward almost with complacency to
the probable invigoration of the liberalim of the
Whigs by their transformation for a while from a
Cabinet into an Opposition. Insomuch that that
most devotedly Palmerstonian organ, the Saturday
Review, has of late frankly acknowledged
to have a hankering to witness the in-
fliction of some such well-merited penalty upon
a hesitating and vacillating Government. We look
to the coming contests, then, in the House of Corn-
mons, after the Easter recess shall have passed by,
with feelings, we repeat, of uper indifference—an
indifference arising out of our total want of sym-
pathy with our Administrators. It is not we who
have changed, it is they. They have ceased to
further the interests of reform, or of rational
liberalism, in any way whatever. They are, to
all appearance, utterly bewildered as to
aiy distinct policy on the Continent of
. Europe. Added to all this—it should at
least be said and understood :quite plainly, alike
abroad and at home, that Englishmen as a body
are not Mazzinians, are intensely and essentially the
very reverse of Mazzinians.

Among the many refugee that abound in these
days, there has been a new one started, which ap-
pears to possess considerable claims to notice,
The Home for Little Boys supplies a want that
has long existed, and to remedy which many
unavailing efforts have been made by well mean-
ing persons for some time. It may not be gene-
rally known that there is not an institution in
London which takes in boys under the age of ten
years. This fact in itself proves the necessity that
exists for something to be done. The Home for
Little Boys is especially intended for the reception
of this class of juvenile outcasts, who are shut out
from institutions, and yet require to be carefully
tended. Indeed, in some cases, it may be more
necessary to employ care and caution at an early
age, than when the habits are tnore formed, end toe
ideas more fined. A great deal more may be done
with young children than with those who are more
advanced in life, although they may still be of ten
der years. After the rage of ten the boy rapidly
develops into the youth, and this more decidedly in
a rank of life, and among a class which witnesses
such precocity in evil, and such aptitude to learn
mischief. Even the children of respectable parents
in comparatively comfortable circumstances, very
often astonish and distress the well wishers of the
family by their determined bent in the wrong
direction, and their obstinate and infatuated per-
sistence in evil practices. It is quite impossible for
those who have not studied the subject most atten-
tively, and made themselves familiar with the annals
of the poor to comprehend the insidious means which
are laid for these little pilgrims on life's highway. At
a time when the sons of those reared in affluence
are hardly fit to understand their daily tasks, the
children of want, the heirs of toil, are adepts in the
mysteries, and most adroit in the man ceuvres of craft
and cunning. To bring the subject home to the
mind of the reader, it may be as well to state that
during the year 1862 no fewer than " 311 under the
age of ten years were apprehended by the metropo-
litan police for various offences, and 179 of this
number were punished, while 232 were discharged
without hope of rescue from the vortex of crime in
which they seem to be hopelessly involved." This
fact speaks volumes for the necessity that exists for
the establishment of a refuge for little outcasts of
this tender age. Mr. HANEITRY, the president of
the institution, invited a party on Saturday to visit
the Home. He pointed out that the purpose of its
establishment was not to receive those who had
committed crime, but those who were in imminent
danger of falling into " criminal courses." Of
course the name of this class is "Legion," and there
can exist no doubt in the mind of any one qualified
to give an opinion, that however numerous such
establishments may be, they will soon be filled to
overflowing by the junior members of the overflow.
ing family of crime. In consequence of the ad-
dresses of several gentlemen, a large sum was sub-
' scribed to the further support of this estimable
undertaking. Nothing can be a greater mis-
take than to send back little outcasts into
the very jaws of destruction, as it were. They
will inevitably fall into the condition of that man
vvacse second state was worse than his beginning,
for the fascinations and allurements of evil are most
insidious, and the unwary child will not be likely
to exhibit sufficient force and determination to ex-
tricate himself from its dreadful vortex, or to quit
its pernicious precincts. It must be acknowledged
that the Home at Tottenham possesses every claim
on our regard that social advantages and public
moral attractions can combine to afford. There is
no better way to serve a Stare than to check the
progress of evil, and foster the growth of virtue in
its youth. These ignorant, untutored, little ones
will one day be the men who form the community
of the nation, and as they now advance or recede
in the way of right, so 7(111 the next generation be
blessed or cursed its experience. A better work
can hardly b effected than to prevent the youth of
a poir:aation from imbibing evil impressions, and by
rr,adering vice unfamiliar to them in an indirect
form, do great and good service to the cause of
virtue. In the sight of man such an establishment
is well qualified to command respect, and it mast
win the esteem and ensure the regard of all who
have the welfare of eosiety at heart, and at all mea-
sure the depths and heights of that dark abyss into
which these little wanderers must fall. This world
cannot see the end of the dark waters, the fruits
of the unholy labours whose origin is so
often so simple and apparently so harmless.
In the sight of GOD we may rest assured that this
scheme is a holy one, and that the efforts made in
the cause of regeneration will be precious in His
sight, who wills not that one of these little ones
should perish. There are many who lament
the state into which tho learns of indigence
fall, but they are very apt to forget that they
themselves share a part of the heavy responsibility
of their fall. No one whose position is society
gives him power, whose wealth affords a means, or
whose abilities impart an opportunity of rendering
!ervices to the cause of such institutions, and who
neglects to lend his hand to the good work, can be
celled guiltless, or lay claim to immunity from the
charge of indifference to the wants of those whose
eelplessness should prove an unfailing claim on our
:Attention. More cannot be said in favour of an
undertaking than that it promises to promote the
best interests of these little wanderers, that it
seeks to train them to be honest man and good
citizens, instead of becoming what the pure in heart
will shudder to name. To Mitigete the effects of
the evil, and palliate the prejudieia. workings of
sin; is all that in this confused state of society we

can accomplish, but those who fail in the attempt
may console themselves with the thought that they
acted for the best, while those who succeed may
surely rejoice to reflect that through their instru-
mentality these outcasts and wanderers have the
chance before them of leading a new life, and of
sharing the promises of this world and of that
which is to come.

While the American war continues to rage with
unabated force, it is natural that the public should
e, etch with some anxiety the progress of events iu
Lancashire. Even should there be a sudden cessa-
tion of hostilities in the transatlantic States, we
could not now hope for a large supply of cotton
from that quarter; and the immense number
directly and indirectly dependent upon the plen-
tiful receipt of the precious staple in this country
raises the question above a mere matter of commer-
cial requirement into a subject of vital and national
importance. Under these circumstances it is gra
tifying to find the sanguine anticipation farmed at
the beginning of the year fully realised, and a
steady decrease perceptible in the amount of
pauperism. Of course the advancing season is of
itself a powerful auxiliary; and although we must
not be disheartened should a temporary increase of
the numbers in receipt of relief indicate those fluc-
tuations in the trade of which the committee fore-
warned us long since, still all must acknowledge
that the best season of the year is at hand. Bitterly
have the London poor felt the inclemency of the
trying winter; and the increased demands which
such a season makes upon the struggling wretches
who can at the best of times only just keep their
heads above water, have been painfully impressed
upon us by the repeated deaths from starvation
and distress. While feeling painfully the incon-
sistency of such deaths accruing in the midst of
our elaborate and costly Poor Law system, how
grateful should we be to the body of gentlemen
who have stood forward in the breach of this
great national calamity, and by the excellence,
regularity, and order of their arrangements, and
the unflagging zeal and energy with which
they have devoted themselves to their self-imposed
duties, have saved us from even hearing of one such
case in a country which, under less vigilant care,
might well have chronicled thousands, It is diffi-
cult to overrate the judgment, the wisdom, and the
toleration shown in the dispensing of the relief, for
in such cases there are always clashing wills and
jarring opinions even amongst the most unanimous
in feeling and intention, The associations which
bend themselves together for any great public end
are too often hampered by private wishes and per-
sonal influence; too often individual likes and dis-
likes come into the scale, professional jealousies,
rivalries, partialities, and antagonisms come in until
the two great evils of cliquism and sectarianism
neutralise a great deal of well meant but ill directed
effsat. Whether the result is due to the national
character of the calamity or t o the individual charac-
ter of the leading members of the Committee, the
result in the case of the Lancashire Relief Fund has
been altogether different. From the noble chair-
man downwards, every individual of the Central
Executive Committee has appeared to be actuated
by only one motive—the prompt relief of the dis-
tress in the wisest and most comprehensive form.
Questions of detail may have been discussed and
debated, minor matters may have given rise to
some difference of opinion, but the marked success
which has attended their efforts has undoubtedly
been as much due to the high tone and disinterested
unanimity of feeling which they have exhibited as
to the practical excellence of their arrangements.
At the very outset of their operations, a question
arose which might have given rise to angry con-
tentions and jealousies. The existence of a
separate fund, under the control of the Lora
Mayor, was regarded by many with annoyance
and opposition. It was doubted in what way the
announcement of the continued existence of that
rued would be received by the Executive Com-
mittee. But when the matter was brought for warn
the Earl of DERBY, in his place aechairman, only
expressed his satisfaction at the extent of the na-
tional contributions, and his conviction that both
the subscribers and the dispeusers of the relief could
only be actuated by one feeling—the wish to
mitigate, as far as possible, the sufferings of the
people. At the meeting held on Monday, under
the presidency of Lord EDWARD HOWARD, Mr.
FARNALL remarked that during a recent visit to
London he had conversed with men of all shades of
opinion, and that one and all had declared the
surprise and satisfaction with Sz*hick they had
seen the result of the committee's labours. The
people, they said, had beet borne through a great
national calamity without disturbance or loss of
life, mainly owing to the judicious action of th
committee. Mr. FARNALL observed that it had
been proposed to organise a committee in the
metropolis on the model of the Lancashire Com•
mittee, with the view of reaching the cases of
destitution and necessity beyond the limits of the
poor law. But the northern association have had
to contend with difficulties which would never

present themselves with equal force to a metropoli-
tan society. They had to bear in mind the danger
of permanently pauperising the population—of
breaking down those barriers of self-respect and
honest independenc2, which are the proudest boasts
of English wcrking men and women. They had
to guard against the deception of practised im-
posers, at the same time that they took care not
to pass by those cases of silent suffering which
needed help none the less becauEe they would not
ask for it. The diminution now visible in the
weekly returns rewards alike the liberality of the
public, the labours of the committee, and the
patient endurance of the people,

Guard of Honour to General Garibaldi,