The Sun.
London, England, 1865-01-12 00:00:00

according to the leaders of both sides, must be the
exhaustion of one of the combatants, it is time for
England to step boldly forward and carry out in
her policy that principle which is older than any
modem theory of non-intervention—the recogni-
tion of the right possessed by every free and intelli-
gent people to choose their own ruler and their own
form of Government.

At the eleventh hour Mr. AYRTON has addressed
his constituents, and it certainly would have been
a pity if they had lost his sensible and sound speech,
which entered so fully into many important subjects,
and embraced so many topics in its discursive

range. The hon. member made some very sugges-
tive allusions in regard to many local matters, and

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among other domestic questions pointed out the
most unsatisfactory state of the poor in this country.

He truly styled it a national disgrace that there
should be so many " chargeable poor, and at such a

tremendous cost of maintenance." Perhaps one of
the best explanations of this state of things was
given by Mr. AYRTON, when he attributed it mainly
to the prevalent practice of infant labour. The
report of the commission of infant labour showed
that " mere infants were kept at work for ten,

twelve, and fourteen hours a day." When we find
that children of five years of age are thus employed
it is only wonderful that greater evils and more
grievous results do not follow as the natural
sequence of such an anomalous course of action.

Those who think that business must be attended to
whatever else happens, will do well to ponder upon
the passage in this speech, in which such
bartering of health and strength are compared
to the traffic in slavery, so repugnant to
English ears, and so revolting to English prin-
ciple. " Slavery, whether of adults or children,
was a moral pest, which brought in its train

ignorance, poverty, and crime." That the deadly
harvest of such a poisonous seed is being reaped
in this country at present many could now attest ;
and surely it is the duty of all to endeavour to
mitigate the extent and lessen the evils of this
practice of children's labour. As Mr. AYRTON
remarked, those young ones thus treated in their
turn reared a generation like themselves, and
hence no end or limit could be found for the evil.
There is no doubt that the numerous cases that

meet the eye, in workhouses and other institutions
and asylums of deformity, imperfect intellect, and
confirmed afflictions of a painful nature, originate
in a great degree from the pressure of work, of
so hard a description, at a tender age. In the
course of his remarks, Mr. AYRTON touched upon
the education grant, and declared his belief that the
sums were not properly applied, like many others.
He stated that Mr. LowE had not beeil well used
by the Government, for he had done good service
in the cause, in many instances and in various ways.
It is to be regretted that the hon. member did not
show the same discernment in his remarks on foreign
affairs as he did in his discussion of home questions.
There is never any use in attempting to make the
best of things when facts are too stubborn to be
controverted, and the arguments too tough to bear
any moulding into a convenient form and suitable
shape. Thus expressions of dissent were made in a
decided form when Mr. AYRTON said that the United
States had not made more sacrifice of life and pro-
perty than had this country at the time of the
Crimean War, " considering the number of the
armies fighting on both sides." Such an exposition
is quite irrelevant, and not at all to the purpose. It
is a relief to find, at the conclusion of this speech, a
home thrust at head quarters, when the hon.
member said that Reform had been placed in the
background by those who had actually been placed
in office under the supposition that they were its
best friends. When he said that "it was the duty
of a Government to lead, and not to lag behind, and
that he for one should not respond to the cry of
PALMERSTON for ever,' while all reforms were
shelved and shirked," he gave utterance to
opinions that many entertain who have not the
honesty to make them known, or are wanting in the
spirit to do so.

The banquet to the Recorder and Bar of
Southampton was a very successful entertainment;
and the speeches delivered on the occasion possess
more than the average interest of those generally
made at such affairs. The Rev. Dr. BRADSHAW, in
his short address, made some effective allusions to
the duties of those in a responsible position ; and,

although speaking at a festive gathering, he endea•

voured to improve the occasion by a word in season,
and to draw the attention of his hearers to elevated
subjects and improving contemplations. After
remarking that the many who had passed away
from that place to their long home led to serious
reflections, he appropriately added that wherever
they looked at arts and sciences, at the works man's
mind had composed, or even at a tree or plant,

God was in them all. "It was by teaching such as
this that men might be led forth to love nature, and
say all these beauties are mine, because he could
raise an unpresumptuous eye to heaven, and, smiling
say, 'My Father made them all." Certainly a
discourse like this is not often read at a public
entertainment, but it is not unsuitable that occa-
sionally a higher tone should be infused into such
assemblies, and the mind led to dwell upon loftier
themes than the politics of the time and the fancies
of the hour. The Rev. J. ADKINS also spoke in a
suitable style, and expressed his satisfaction that no
exclusiveness had been shown in the manner in
which the toast of the day had been proposed, for
although differences of opinion were sure to exist
hatred need not accompany them. Major ROSE, in
returning thanks for the volunteers, contrived to
make this hacknied theme more stirring by his apt
representation of the chief circumstances of the case.
Thus, he said that, by the Volunteer movement, it
had been well exemplified that they all recognised
and also appreciated their blessings and advantages
in living in this free country, and truly declared
that the chief advantage of the Volunteer movement
would be to put a stop to the " panics" that ever
and anon were wont to come when any great con-
vulsion perplexed foreign affairs. The Sheriff, in
proposing the health of the Recorder, was enabled
to make the usual complimentary address without
having recourse to flattery to aid him in his course,
and stimulate his flow of eloquence, for the subject
of his discourse well merited all the encomiums
passed upon him, and in his brilliant career had
given satisfactory proof of his zeal and ability. In
testimony of the very comprehensive form in which
his duties were fulfilled, the Sheriff said that, when
Lord Chief-Justice COCKBURN was their Recorder,
his decisions " never gave more satisfaction than
those of the present occupier of that office." Mr.
MONTAGUE BERE, the Recorder, made a brief but
very effective spdech, in which he said that speaking
was his trade, and so he would not avoid it on the
present occasion ; and he then, as most men do with
a grave subject, before them, made a jesting
allu-
sion to his duties in that place, by saying that he
would not be looked upon as merely a
" criminal lawyer, " whose province it was
to take orders at certain times for the
administration of justice, but as one who took a
deep interest in the welfare and interests of the
place. Mr. Alderman RosE, in his discourse, ap-
propriately brought in the interesting circumstance
which had dietinguiehed hie mayoralty—namely,