The Sun.
London, England, 1864-09-02 00:00:00

217, 219, and 251, Regent-street.

COALS.—The LILLESHAL L COMPANY'S
COALS.
Direct from their own Collieries.
Itrarquis'. 235. per ton. I Double.. 20s. per ton.
Top 222. „ Deep 212. „
*Nell screened and delivered within five miles of their De-
Westbourne Park-road, W., and 17, South Wharf,
vaddington, W., and Maiden-lane, N.
Best Coke
Terms cash.
JOHN SCOTT, Sole Agent.

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HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.
THIS DAT.—Morning, 2h. 50m.—Afternoon, 3h. 3m
fo..monaow.-Moraing, 3h. 20m.—Afternoon, 3h. 33m,

,
,
Zjilt 7-4* ow. Slat,

LONDON, FRIDAY, SEPT. 2, 1864.

Mr. ROEBUCK is busy enough during this recess,
• but his speeches, short or long, are always worth
attending to, and his discourse at the Sheffield
Cutler's Feast was no exception to the rule. There
vas great truth in his observations on the impore
tact position occupied by a Member of Parliament ;
and when, in his quaint way, Mr. ROEBUCK took
himself to task, as it were, for his temerity in long
years past in entering the House, many must have
acknowledged that it is an error often committed.
Few among those who so eagerly exert themselves
to obtain seats in the Legislature really reflect upon
th e nature of the work before them. All their de-
sire is to gratify ambition, achieve distinction, ole-
tale. a position of prominence, or fulfil a hundred
othez desires. The hon. and learned Meniber for
Sheffield has learned wisdom in his long career in
that House, where he occupies so distinguished A
place as an orator. He tells us that the House of
Commons forms the most important part of the
Government of this country, and how true is that
definition of it. Jt would be well if they, who
this session so wantonly trifled with their respon-
eibilities and threw away their chance of rightly
influencing events for the sake of party and the
love of place, were to ponder a little upon the
earnest and emphatic language in this oration be-
fore us. "Wherever the name of England is
heard, the influence of the House of Commons pre-
vails, wherever men are working for liberty there
the English House of Commons is cited, and wher-
ever they are endeavouring to free themselves from
the fetters which commerce has imposed upon them
there the voice of the English House of Commons
is heard." This is not exaggeration, but simple
fact, yet surely such an assertion carries with it
many solemn reflections. It is not the province of
an assembly possessed of such awful powers
for good or for evil to waste them by misuse
Or abuse them by selfish and careless manage.
ment. Perhaps nothing nowadays is more to be
regretted than the supineness which has stolen over
the popular branch of the Legislature. Its fire
seems extinguished, or very nearly so, and in lieu
of the spirit and energy of olden times the benches
seem occupied by Ministers who will sacrifice every-
thing to keep their places, and members who count
all loss gain if they preserve their seats. It is well
that a stirring speaker like Mr. ROEBUCK should
come forward and tell the case plainly before those
who may affect to be too ignorant to know by in-
stinct or too inexperienced tofind out for themselves,
the decadence into which they are lapsing. It is
true that he who utters such glaring words and
high phrases often falls short of the mark himself;
how many nay be great adepts in finding oat the
faults of others who seem unable to prevent them-
selves from committing serious blunders. There
was wit and wisdom in the remarks, boldly uttered
and sedulously put forth by Mr. ROEBUCK. He
declared that there was much to learn before a man
could be considered a legislator. Other pro-
fossions require certain forms to be gone through,
" but it would seem a legislator is what I have heard
of the gig-driver, it comes by instinct." This is not
what should be, though it would be difficult for
those indignant at the supposition to disclaim the
correctness of it, or deny its likelihood to fact. The
three things that Mr ROEBUCK considers as men.
tial to success in a member of the House
are very likely characteristics to be required
by all in that important capacity. He
mentions first, appropriate knowledge; next,
honesty ; and thirdly, courage. The absence of
any one will nullify the other two, we are told;
and Most probably will be the case when the expe-
riment is made. ,s I found that you could have
perfect knowledge, that you could have a desire
to do well, but that, if you had nut courage to face
the diffieulties, the thing fell before you," How
often has this been proved in life—public, private,
and political! The lack of firmness has made the
possessor of great and glorious gifts the tool of those
who did not comprehend his high inspirations nor
fathom his deep resolves. There is no quality so
nsefal in life as decision, and its absence makes the
dictates of conscience go by unheeded, and the
warnings of reason altogether disregarded. In the
House of Commons, for instance, no man can
achieve eminence if he cannot originate; he may
be the favourite of the day, the idol of the hour, but
he never can really influence men in the struggle
flea impress his memory on the mind of his gene.
ration. It was well said in " Coningeby," in an
allusion being made to the age not believing in great

men, that the spirit of the age was the very thing
that a great man changed. Mr, ROEBUCK seems to
take a lofty view of the position of a member of
the House of Commons, and we are indebted to
those gifted with his powers of oratory for using
their facility of expression, and employing their
foresight, experience, and description to put foymard
plain truths in a striking fashion, and to reveal the
high purposes of every-day existence and the
great ends which should be worked out
amid the heat and the turmoil of public
life and political eareers. It is refreshing
now-a• days to find public speakers discoursing on
such things, for it is too much the fashion amid the
hurrpscurry of existence to look around and riot
before, tot to reflect upon the consequences of
things, but merely to study the expediency doctrine
of putting off the evil day, and only providing for
the exigencies of the moment. Such a course of
proceedings has done more than anything to de•
teriorate the character, injure the influence, and
stultify the efforts of the Legislature, than any
think else of late years. The Parliament of England
has not always had much time to encounter, " It
has been cradled in adventure and nursed in good
men's dread." It has to defy the en4roachments of
the Crown and to resist the tyranny of the nobles.
It was hard to contend occasionally with the infatu•
ated desires of the people it represented, but still it

had triumphed over all; it has shared in adversity,
bat prosperity is sometimes the most dangerous of
the two. It behoves the real leaders of the house,
the men of thought, genius, and energy, to warn
the indifferent and rouse the indolent, so that it

may not lose the lustre of its fame and be shorn of
its hard earned reputation that have come down
from sires of renown, and should not be thrown

away by degenerate sons.

It is a relief after the painful details of uproar
and riot that have latterly reached us from the sister
kingdom, to find the principal news from Ireland
relate to agriculture. The annual show of the
R3yal Agricultural Society opened on Wednesday
at Sligo, attracting large numbers to the spot. The
extortionate demands of the householders for tem-
porary accommodation militated a little against the
success of the affair, a guinea a night being esteemed
a somewhat extravagant charge. That trouble, like
other troubles, having been encountered and left be-
hind, the visitors had cause to congratulate them•
selves on the favourable weather under whose aus-
pices the exhibition opened. For a day or two pre-
viously that part of the country had been sustaining
the reputation of the " Isle of Showers," and some
misgivings had been felt on the score of a threatened
outbreak of rioters. Due precautions were taken
to avoid any disturbance, and happily the alarm
proved to be groundless. The show itself was of
fair average merit, having no specially noticeable
features excepting that the show of horses did not
Come up to the requirements of the.country. Gene-
rally speaking the stock of horses owned by the
farmers and in the vicinity is poor, and
greatly needs . improvement. The moat inte-
resting aspect of the show is the fact of
its being held in a remote part of Ireland.
Agricultural exhibitions have long lost their novelty
among us. They are extending now to very retired
districts, which start a society for the encourage.
ment of their own industry and an incentive to their
own energies. But there still remains a great deal
to be done in this respect for Ireland, and the more
such shows and exhibitions are encouraged the
better. No people are more sensitive to praise, none
more sensible of the distinction of success, and con-
sequently they would not be disposed to under-
value the rewards of such competition. The more
the attention of the people is turned in such pacific
directions the better fur the happiness and prosperity
of Ireland, and of all connected with her, but the
people have undoubtedly much to contend against,
and we must not underrate their difficulties. We
must not fall into the mistake of most moralists who
make goodness and respectability hopelessly dull.
The good little boy of the story books seldom suc-
ceeds in arresting the attention of the juvenile
reader, his interest is excited by the adventures
which befall the refractory but daring spirit that
is held up as warning. In our dealings with the
quick witted, excitable Milesians we should guard
against enforcing that dreary monotony which to
Englishman is less tedious, less oppressive, so as to
convince them that they need not lay down all hope
of diversion and variety with their shillelaghs, and
that amusement and snterest may be found in other
places than Donnybrook Fair,

The reports received from different quarters by
the Cotton Supply Association continue on the
whale to be most encouraging. The experiment
has been made in the most widely separated cm.
tries by people of various nations under different
forms of government. With the singular inconsis-
tency often perceptible in the administration of
British affairs—thanks, more especially, to the
deadly influence of routine—our own possessions,
scattered though they are throughout the most
varied zones, have not been the most prominent in
the competition. Egypt has outstripped India, and
the republics of South America have set an example
of promptness and energy to many of our depen-
dencies. Some valuable information was read at
the last weekly meeting respecting the growth of
cotton in Bokhara. It seems that large quantities
are exported from thence into Russia, and that the
amount has been yearly increasing; and this year
the prospects are so good that it is reckoned that no
less than twenty million pounds, of the value of
£1,650,000, are expected to be furnished. It is
satisfactory to find the Government of Bombay
making application for Peruvian seed for experi-
mental cultivation in Scinde and the surround-
ing districts. The Indian empire embraces
Et o wide a range of locality, soil, and climate,
that there is room for a long course
of experiments if the authorities had energy or
enterprise enough to take the matter properly in
hand. The French are wiser, and are making great
efforts to encourage the cultivation of cotton in
Algeria, offering premiums and affording every
inducement to the colonist to grow it. Unfortu-
nately, the heavy charges for transport, and the
uncertainty as to prices, damp the spirit of specula•
tion in the colonists, who otherwise have a fair
prospect, as the soil, is good and the climate favour-
able. The produce of 1853 was 879,8001b5. of cheap
cotton, and this year from two to three times that
quantity is looked for. We are glad to find some
intending English emigrants making application
for seed, which they intend to experiment upon in
Queeneland, whither they go with a view to cotton
cultivation. Our energies must not slacken with
the lessening of the need, since when the cultiva-
tion is fairly established the expenses will of course
bo greatly reduced, and there is no reason why
there should not be competition in the cotton mar-
ket as well as elsewhere.

ATTEMPTED SUICIDE OF A BETTING MAN.—
Yesterday a most determined attempt at self-des
straction was made by Captain Jervois, a gentleman well
known in sporting circles, at his residence, Nutford-place,
Edgware-road, On his servant taking him up a letter about
9 o'clock he found his master lying across tie bed with the
blood flowing
from a fearful wound which h e had inflicted
on his throat with a twor. Surgical assistance was ob-
tained, and the
wound dressed, tut it is doubtful if he
will survive. Extensive losses on recent racing events in-
tlttcyl the rash attempt.