The Sun.
London, England, 1865-07-11 00:00:00

liIGII WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.

THIS DlT.—Morning, 3h. 40m.—Afternoon, 4h. Om.
To-Itionitow.-Morning, 4h. 20m.—Afternoon, 4h. 42m.

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LONDON, TUESDAY, JULY 11, 1865.

Although the doings of yesterday will be totally
eclipsed by the excitement of to-day, still, compared
to ordinary occasions, much took place to attract
attention and create interest. The nomination-day
is always a very unsatisfactory affair to all con-
cerned, and very little reliance can be placed upon
the expression of opinion that then and there takes
place. The City of London was the scene of anxious
and eager excitement yesterday, but all the proceed-
ings went on in a peaceable manner considering the
circumstances of the case. A rule was made that no
one should speak for more than ten minutes, which
was a very admirable one, as lengthy orations are
quite out of place on such an occasion, and only
give rise to clamour and provoke irritation. Mr.
13rxToN, in proposing Baron ROTIISCIIILD, made a
speech very much to the purpose in some respects,
but in his endeavour to prop up the Ministry he
went too far. When he came to notice the foreign
policy of the Government, he was met by cries of
""Oh," and " Denmark and Prussia."

Nothing new was said by any of the candidates,
but some hits were made by both sides in the dis-
cussion, and an amusing by-play went about the
" old, old story " of Reform, After this subject has
been tabooed for so long a period by all parties of
prominence there is now a regular scramble taking
place as to who shall have the credit of inaugurating
the matter. Mr. GOSCIIEN resolved to take up the
affair with a high hand, and denounced the
policy of the Conservatives. He said "Lateral
Reform " was a quack experiment, and the
homoeopathy of politics. To this stricture Mr.
LYALL very properly retorted that the supposed

Liberal party had not even achieved a measure of
" homoeopathic reform or drawn themselves to the
homcepathic reformers." " They obtained power
under the pretence of carrying a Reform Bill. They
brought in such a bill, but they never seriously
attempted to pass it, and they never, at the same
time, proposed to resign their offices."

At Westminster great excitement prevailed, and
the Conservative candidate appeared to be in great
favour. Mr. MILL'S few remarks were much to
the purpose, and Mr. SMITH'S speech was a very
practical one, and he truly observed that
men of business could be of great ser-
vice in Parliament. Captain GROSVENOR'S ob-
servations were to the point, especially when he
retorted on those who called him a stripling, by
saying " that it was well to work whilst the spirit
was willing before the flesh was weak." If it be
true, however, what he declared at the conclusion
of his address, that the " determination of the
Liberal party to move on_ had been the means of
raising this country to its present high position," then
we are in a very unsatisfactory condition at present,
because they are decidedly standing still.
Mr. ROEBUCK has been bestirring himself in
Sheffield, and made a very striking speech. The
hon. and learned member has been roused up to dis-
play his old animation by the unfair criticism and
virulent opposition which he has met with, and his
speech may, therefore, in some measure be re-
garded as a reply more than in the light of an
election address. It refers more to the past than
to the future; but it will be found to contain some
startling truths, more profitable than pleasant for
some parties to dwell upon. Recommenced by re-
ferring to the long years during which he had served
his country with zeal and devotion, and he truly
declared that it was unfitting and unseemly for him
to be treated with insults now. This reproach was
well merited, and nothing can possibly excuse or
exculpate those who take advantage of the confu-
sion prevailing at election times to annoy and
offend a tried servant of the public, and
a valued agent in the cause of Reform.
Mr. ROEBUCK told his hearers that such treatment
as he had received was enough to disgust any one,
and might well induce many men to retire altogether
from public life, and to relinquish their endeavours
to represent a constituency which tolerated such a
course. " What has been my life,?" he exclaimed.
" When I began public life liberality was not so rife
as it is now." In enumerating his acts, the hon.
and learned member showed what arduous tasks
he had had to perform. Changes in those days
were not wrought so easily and quietly as at pre-
sent. There was a stand-up fight for everything,
and strong and uncompromising opposition as-
sailed those who attempted to inaugurate
any necessary reforms. So it was with
Mr. ROEBUCK, in the eventful years when he ap-
peared as the pioneer of progress in a community
wedded to old-fashioned customs, and pre-deter-
mined not to admit of any improvement being
made. The first struggle was the liberty of the
Colonies, and he was hooted as an enemy to Eng-
land, although everything he then proposed has since
been agreed to and become law.

In the Crimean War the exertions of the hon.
and learned member were very strenuous. " I
turned out a Ministry, I damaged a policy, I re-
lieved the Army of England," he exclaimed in in-
dignation and reproach, and certainly he did great
things in that epoch of shameful neglect and dis-
graceful indifference in high place and
at headquarters ; and now, forsooth, he is
to be treated as a man of very bad
character, or rather without a character at all.
The last notion is that he has been bribed by the
Water CoMpany. In answer to this extravagant
idea he said, " Geptlemen, I have been before the
public for thirty-three years, and have been subjected
to greater influences than the Water Company ; I
have withstood all temptation, and here I am plain
JoHN ARTHUR. ROEBUCK." One consolation re-
mains, however, for those so unjustly attacked and
calumniated, and that is, that those who advocate
grand new ideas are sure to make enemies, and as
Mr. ROEBUCK truly declared he has been a forward
man all his life, one in advance of public opinion ;
and when this is the case, fools and wiseacres are
always ready to hoot.
As for his opinions about America time has more
than justified Mr. ROEBUCK in all that he said, and
in his masterly exposition of his views he pointed
this out. When it was asserted that the Federals
were against slavery, and the South in favour of it,
he had said that if there was one thing that the
Federals hated more than slavery, it was the black
slaves. At this moment there are constant fights
going on in Washington, because the poor black
man desires to ride in an omnibus. Surely this is a
sufficient reply, and a powerful vindication of the
truth of the statement made by the hon. member,
to the effect that, if things had gone on quietly,
liberation would have taken place "carefully and
wisely for the American and the negro."
Mr. ROEBUCK has come forward manfully to speak
for himself, and has confronted his slanderers with
us straightforward statement and decided demea-
His speech was worthy of himself, and his
opportunity in accordance with what should be the
words of an old and tried servant of the commu-
nity of time-honoured reputation,. seeking the suf-
frages of his countrymen on the eve of a great
election. Affairs would be very different now if,
in the dark days of intolerance and bigotry, men
like Mr. ROEBUCK had not come forward as the
champions of popular rights and the advocates of
enlightenment and progress. The electors of Shef-
field should remember this when the time of trial
comes, and show that they appreciate the merits, as
much as they admire the abilities, of their old mem-
ber, who is, in some respects, a national represen-
tative, for he displays, to a great extent, that scorn
of oppression and love of freedom which have been,
from time immemorial, some of the most glorious
characteristics of the English people, honoured and
upheld wherever their race has wandered, from the
rising of the sun to the setting of the same,

nour.

Foremost among the men wh9 have been the
leading spirits or professions must be ranked the
name of JOSIAII WEDGWOOD, and it is no great
wonder that the county which is indebted to him
for its most flourisning business should desire to do
honour to his memory. Within the last year or
two his career has been brought into prominent
notice by. the eloquent address of the Chancellor of
the Exchequer, and by the interesting memoir of
Miss METEYARD, and the particulars of his laborious
and honourable career have been more widely known
than they were previously. In Staffordshire, how-
ever, there was little to tell, for the services which
WEDGWOOD had rendered there were so well
appreciated that some years ago a public memorial
of him was resolved upon. In 1859 a meeting was
held under the presidency of the late Earl of
CARLISLE, at which it was resolved that some sub-
stantial erection should commemorate the name of
JOSIAH WEDGWOOD, and the whole population of
Burslem and its vicinity took up the idea most
heartily. In the metropolis and in other parts of the
country the project was also received with favour,
and the Public Libraries and Museums Act gave
further encouragement to the scheine. The Wedg-
wood Institute, as it is called, is, in every respect,