The Sun.
London, England, 1862-11-12 00:00:00

such is not the case in any assemblage of English.

men that may, perchance, on whatever occasion, be
gathered together from one end of the country to
the other. Under whatever circumstances it may
occur, never can the toast of the army and navy of
England be proposed without a perfect certainty on
the part of him who proposes that it will meet
with a reception not merely formal and decorous,
but as hearty and enthusiastic as that given to the
name of the Sovereign herself. (Cheers.) Well,
gentlemen, such being the case with those distin-
guished services, so well tried in other tames
and in our own, and never found wanting on
trial—(oh)—we have now to direct our attention
for one moment to that special occasion which brings
us here to-night. We meet to celebrate—in some
sense to enjoy, but we meet to celebrate—the in-
stitution of that volunteer force which is not less
characteristic, I will venture to say, of this country,
and perhaps not less conducive to its permanent
security than even the more:regular, or at any rate
more maturely or more liberally organised services
of the army and navy. I won't pretend to say that
I am able to form an opinion that a reason for the
existence of the volunteer force is to be found in
the special dangers besetting the country. I may,
perhaps, be too sanguine. lam certainly not one
of those who believe that the curse of war has dis-
appeared from the face of the earth. If there be any
among us who have cherished such fond delusions,
unhappily we have but to look to the land inherited
by our kith and kin in order to see that the horrors
of war, unmitigated in their character, and almost
unexampled in their extent, still affect branches of
the human family, with which in blood and feeling
we are most nearly associated : but yet I do venture
to believe that some progress is being made by the
mutual intercourse, by the kindly offices which
commerce begets, by the facilities of communication,
by the increase of national education, and by the
tree
circulation of the knowledge of public affairs
which has become to us almost a portion of the
atmosphein
an;rwhich we breathe. Without indulging
over-sanguine cireams,lcannot but hope that
at any rate
a
grant that this side of the Atlantic—and God
there is gradually
also prove so on the other—
men some dearelell
spreading° through the minds of
viction, or, at all events, some
fuller glimpse of
the
great truth that the interests
of men are in anion
and
tear-
ing one another to concord, and not in tear-
the forest. (cbeeropieces like the wild beasts of
same to anticipate '
the tilt still we must not pi-0-
R is to arrive at all, and we cannot
knows whether
nierot
arrive very soon—when hope that it will
and convert the spear lay aside arms
think it is the
into thri
the sword into the Pl"ghslaare.Pcnning-hook and
universal conviction in this conetr4
utterance when I say that the naan3ne°r I gi"
call has been met during the last in which the
effort on the part of English citizens i,years for an
Y their own
personal exertions, and also no small amount
of
personal sacrifice, to supply the country with e.
ne
arm of defence, of all others the most constitution:,
of all others the least likely to create alarm abroad,
because of the most essentially defensive manner in
which the call has been met, has given us a new
assurance, if any assurance were wanted, that--
whatever may be the effects and fruits of peace
among ourselves _the ancient spirit of Englishmen
still continues to animate the breast of every man,
in whatever class of English society, and will in the
hour of need be found equal to whatever emergency
may arise. Gentlemen, it is not for me to speak to
you in detail on the prospects of the volunteer force.
There is no doubt that it is no easy matter to main-
tain a permanent force of this description. This
is
not a case where we can proceed as in the regular