The Sun.
London, England, 1862-09-18 00:00:00

to offer a reward next year with that object. In
South Bucks we have introduced such a prize, and

it has worked extremely well, and has hid a very
good effect. (Hear, hear.) There has been a great
effort of late years, and a most successful one, I am
happy to say, to improve the dwellings of the poor.
I should say, taking a general view—:or upon these

subjects you must take a general view, or you can-
not arrive at any result—that in this country the
improvement that has taken place during the last
quarter of a century in the dwellings of the labourers
is very great. In South Bucks a cottage with a
thatched roof can scarcely be found, and in the
northern part of the county no doubt you have all
been benefited by the example set in a neighbour-
ing county by the Duke of Bedford. The associa-
tion before us is carried on with great spirit, and

from your enlisting so much of the sympathy of
the youth of the country, there is no doubt that
that that spirit will be maintained; and I augur from
the operations of the society the most beneficial re-
sults to the district ; and although the central
society does not at the present moment exercise
so much influence in the county as it did, that
is to be attributed, I am bound to say, not so
much to want of energy and resources on the
part of the association, as to the conviction

in every part of the county—which, although
not very large, is, from its geographical formation

very long—that it is necessary to make more local

effort than heretofore, and that a central society,
however well managed, can, after all, only exercise

an influence over a certain area.

'therefore we see

in the extreme south of the county, as in the north-

west, societies have been established which work

admirably. (Hear.) Let me congratulate my friends

_ .
before I sit down on what I think I may venture

to say, so far as the country of Bucks is concerned,

is a very prosperous harvest. (Cheers.) It may
not perhaps through every part of England, but I
hope I may say that those gloomy anticipations,
which were entertained in the early part of the
summer, have disappeared. As regards the county
of Bucks we have good reason to feel grateful to

Providence for the lot that has fallen to us. In the

south the harvest has been exceedingly successful,
and from what I have heard from my friends to-

day, I should hope that the contrast between the

north and the south of the county is not very
considerable. I think, therefore, we have reason
to be thankful for the bounteous in-gathering we

have experienced. But I cannot but be reminded,
when referring to this subject, of the contrast that

exists at the present moment between the agri-
cultural world generally and another great class
of the labourers of England. (Hear.) This is a
subject which I am sure must occupy the most
anxious attention of us all. (Hear.) It is impos-
sible for us to contemplate the condition of the
manufacturing population in the north of England,

at a moment when we ourselves are experiencing the
great blessings we daily feel, without a conviction
that the time may come when it may become
our duty to advance to assist our fellow-coun-
trymen. It is quite unnecessary, on this occa-
sion, to speculate on the causes of that unex-
ampled distress ; but it is a distress which we
must remember has not been occasioned in this in-
stance by any follies of their own or by any visita-
tion of Providence, but by the passions of men. I
would not presume, under any circumstances, to
offer any opinion as to the probable duration of
the terrible cause of their unexampled vicissitudes,
still I cannot but remember that at all times civil
wars have been very long wars, though all wars
in history partaking of the character of civil wars
—as, for instance, the thirty years' war, or the
struggle between Athens and Lacedamon, were
wars of unexampled duration. Wars that begin
for indefinite causes and ,without any precise ob-
ject, are the wars that generally last the longest.
(Cheers.) Hitherto the manufacturing population
of the north of England have, in their great cala-
mity, been sustained by the beneficial action of the
existing law, and by the natural and spontaneous
charity of those who are locally connected with
them; but if the war continues, it is impossible to
conceal from ourselves that there must be an appeal
to a more extensive area than those who are merely
locally connected with Lancashire and part of York-
shire. lam sure that if that occasion should arise,
the great landed interest, in all its classes, will re-
member what they owe to their suffering fellow-
countrymen, and that they will not, under the cir-
cumstances, only consider whether they were their
best customers, but will remember that they are
their brethren in misfortune—(hear, hear)—and in
so doing they will prepare not only to fulfil the
highest duty, but to experience the noblest gratifi-
cation. (Cheers.) In the present position in which
we are placed on this subject with America, I think
it is impossible as Englishmen to view what has
passed in this country without feelings of more than
ordinary emotion. Far be it from me to make use
of any expression, here or elsewhere, which might
be offensive to either of the parties, either here or
in America, that are embarked in that fearful and
almost unprecedented struggle which is now taking
place. But whatever happens, whatever may be
the fate of the United States, this may be said, that
they have certainly increased our confidence in the
energy of human nature, and that is a great ex-
ploit to have performed. (Hear, hear.) But, gentle-
men, I think we must all feel that their history has
taught us that for a powerful and enduring commu-
nity something else is wanting than confidence in the
energy of human nature. I think that Englishmen
cannot but remember at this moment that while
those who preceded us have achieved as great re-
sults as ever were accomplished in America, our
predecessors established this state and this society
on sounder and truer principles. (Cheers.) Happy
the land, gentlemen, where freedom and reverence
go hand in hand—(hear, hear)—and proud may
England be at this moment, when experience has
proved in so transcendent a manner that we have
solved the most difficult problem of politics, and
have combined, not only freedom with order, but
progress with tradition. (Hear, hear.) This has
been the source of our strength ; and although it
does not become us in an ostentatious manner to
proclaim it to America while we treat them with
respect in their fearful struggle, let us as English-
men be proud Of the strong society of which we are
members, the strength of which can only be attri-
buted to the wisdom of the principles on which it
is established. (Loud oheers.)
gave the health of the borough
responded on
MASIIAM
mMemrb.BerS.B.
H. Verney. He re-
ferredSthlre last session, instance
behalf of him-
self l‘ larn. Hat 0
absentu
tnh ne i t l i tegDei'soMllal et.Paiogn'ueo,f
ing the Highways Bill and the Parcchial Assess-
ments Bill as successful and useful measures which
would be likely to benefit the country. He also
spoke of the proposition made by himself to the
House of Commons for the m ore equitable adjust
ment of the income tar, observing that whenever
()lutist it that ar-
argument was brought forward against'
gument refuted itself. Though his proposal was
defeated in the past sessior, he promised that hav-
ing entire faith in its soundness he would renew it
in the next. The cause of our excessive expendi-
ture was war; but although the expenditure was
high and the taxation was heavy, the country had
never been in a better position to bear it. The
national wealth was increasing at the rate of from
£60,000,000 to £BO 000 000
, , a vear, and although the
expenditure amounted to £70,000,000 it was clear
the country could afford it. It was true, we were
not at war, but the apprehension of
the possibility
of war was sufficient ground for providing against
it, and there was no saying how soon the sus-
picion and jealousy with which this country was
regarded in America might involve us in some way
in the conflict now going on between the Northern
and the Southern States. Last year he had ex-
pressed an opinion that the struggle on the other
Bide of the Atlantic would not be a long One ; hut
although he had been disfippoin tea, ho was dispoped
to renew his prophecy, and he did so under the con-
viction that the exhaustion of the Northern States
in men, money, and munitions of war, would
fender it impossible fcr them much longer to con-
tinue the struggle. America was not like Switzer-
-Ind, where all the
people were soldiers, but their
ttoopa were composed, for the most part, of Irish-
,
men, Germane, and other foreigners, whose ser-
iieeg -would fail when the money failed. The South
had proved its power of self-goverPraent, and of