The Sun.
London, England, 1854-03-15 00:00:00

SOLDIERS' CHILDREN.

Lord St. Leonard's presents his compliments to the
editor of The Sun, and requests him to give insertion to
the inclosed circular. He hopes that the editors of other
papers will be so good as to afford it the benefit of their
circulation.
Boyle Farm, March 13, 1854.

" The plan adopted in Thames Ditton, and by several
other parishes, is to place the children in small numbers
in the several parishes and villages in England, with
respectable elderly women, to board, lodge, &0., to
let them attend the school gratis, and to give them
the benefit of the dispensaries, and to place them
under the supertitendence of the committee to be
formed. After the plan bad been started in Thames
Ditton a general subscription was raised there in a
few hours—the servants and the very school chil-
dren voluntarily subscribing—and three more children
have been sent for. This plan takes away all appear-
ance of charity, and renders any expense for buildings
and officers unnecessary, and his the merit of not
bringing the children together in large numbers. At
present prices it would not be safe to estimate the ex-
pense under 10/. per annum for each child ; the clothing
1/. a year. The plan indirectly assists the mothers, by
relieving them from the care of their children, and en-
abling them to obtain their own livelihood, It is not
intended to sever the tie between mother and child ;
the mothers will be at liberty to visit their chil-
dren, and the committee will once a quarter inform
them of the condition of their children. It is also
intended to assist the plan by taking children into
the industrial schools at 8/. a-year. This is a great benefit.
They who want children may apply to Captain Arthur'
Pack, Deputy-Assistant-Adjutant-General, Horse Guards
who will afford them the necessary information, and they
who want funds in aid of their local subscriptions may
apply to the association which lately met at Willis's
Rooms, although it is not known what scheme they may
adopt. The plan has met with the approbation of the
General Commanding-in-Chief and of the Secretary at
War, and it is under their authority that the references
may be made to the Horse Guards. A general meeting
is to be held at the Town-hall, Kingston-on-Thames, at
11 o'clock, in support of this plan. It should be added
that the South-Western Railway Company have kindly
consented to carry the children gratis, and it is hoped
that the other railway companies will follow this ex-
ample."

SUDDEN DEATH OF A RETIRED BARRISTER.—This
morning, Thos. Wakley, Esq., received information of
the sudden death of Robert Chambers, Esq., Hamp-
stead, under the following circumstances :—lt appears
the unfortunate gentleman went ou i n his usual health,
while walking down Southamptot street, Hampstead-
road, he was observed to stagger at I fall; the policeman
near the spot ran to his assistame, in the meantime a
medical gentleman was sent for, who, on arriving, pro-
nounced life to be extinct. The unfortunate gentleman
had amassed e. large fortune by his extensive practice.

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[PRICE SD.

THE DEPARTURE OF THE BALTIC FLEET-
DINNER TO SIR CHARLES 11 'A

We believe we are correct in stating that the fleet in-
tended for the Baltic will quit our shores this day. If
we cannot without emotion contemplate the departure
of so many noble ships and gallant men, the feeling is
accompanied neither with depression of sprit nor fore-
boding of evil. Humanly speaking, Sir Charles Napier
goes to assured victory. The circumstances and con-
ditions under which we enter into this contest are
totally and auspiciously different to those under which
Nelson sailed for Trafalgar. By a strange destiny
the heir and nephew of our most powerful enemy
at that time is now our close and trusted ally. His
empire, though not invested with the dazzling glare
of conquest, is as potent as the first, and far
more firm, because it is avowedly based on the
foundations of justice and respect for the rights of
weaker States. It is this which gives to Napo-
leon the Third the moral force which, quite as
much as his undoubted abilities and his organised
power, has acquired for him the respect of nations, and
enabled him to take such a marked and leading part
in the affairs of Europe.
The English people are just, and now, when they
aro reaping the benefits of the French alliance, they
will not forget to whom it is mainly due. They will
remember that, when Sir James Graham and Sir
Charles Wood were insulting the French Emperor by
ribald abuse before tumultuous and bacchanalian as-
semblies, Lord Malmesbury, the Foreign Secretary of
Lord Derby's Government, had frankly recognised the
imperial authority of Napoleon, had discovered the
capacity fur sovereign rule which he has since dis-
played, and calculated on the good faith which his sub-
sequent acts have verified.
Nor will it be forgotten that the predecessor of Lord
Malmesbury—at once the most brilliant member of the
Coalition, and the least acquiescent in its policy—ceased
to belong to the Whig Government, because he also had
expressed confidence in the ruler of France. Lord Pal-
merston, at the banquet given to Sir Charles Napier, in
proposing the health of the Emperor, said :
We havo had to do, during now more than a twelve-
month, with a most difficult and complicated negotiation
with the Sovereign of France. We have been met on his
part with the greatest straightforwardness—(loud cheers)—
with the most perfect good faith—(cheers)---with a single-
minded sincerity, and with an energy of purpose and a
community of determination which have inspired in our
minds the same full confidence in him that I am proud to
say he has always expressed in us. (Loud cheers.)

Lord Palmerston could say with pride as well as truth,
but it would be curious to know with what feelings it
was listened to by his colleague, Sir James Graham.
His experience may have brought with it mortification,
but it had not taught him prudence, as his subsequent
speech attested. The inopportune hostility of his gibes
at our ally was replaced by maladroit congratulations on
the party advantage of having two "Reformers" at
the head of our national armaments. To narrow his
position further, by distinguishing himself from
another Reformer his Leader in the House of
Commons—he even went out of hie way to empha-
sise the confidence which he himself felt in the
" discretion" of Sir Charles Napier. He stopped short,
indeed, of the climax, that a greater gain to Reformers
was the consequence of his own countenance of their
" large measure," in the acquisition of his own adminis-
trative discretion at the Admiralty. From these paltry
pretensions we cordially turn to that which a party
may remember with j uster satisfaction. We may not
be able to boast that Conservative admirals or Conserva-
tive Lords of the Admiralty are to have the exclusive,
or indeed any, share in the triumphs of the coming
war. But this circumstance will neither diminish
the alacrity with which Conservatives will do their
best for the common cause ; nor will it lessen
their pride that they were deprived of their fair
official opportunities by the policy to which it is
now recognised that this cause is indebted. Others,
including reforming Secretaries of the Admiralty, may
reap the advantage of a position they have done their
best to undermine ; but for the alliance which is invalu-
able at this moment we are indebted neither to them
nor generally to their reforming colleagues, whether
Whigs or Peelites, but to the statesmen they opposed,
and to the Ministry they supplanted,—Tke Press.

TILE PRESTON STRIKE.

MONSTER MEETING AT HOGHTON.

PRESTON, MARCH 13.—Large as was the gathering
which took place at Hoghton on Saturday, the meeting
held yesterday at the same place was far more nume-
rously attended, having probably bad no rival since the
Chartist assemblies at Blackstone-edge, on the borders of
the neighbouring counties,. For several hours previous to
the time appointed for the commencement of proceedings
(3 o'clock), the various roads leading to Hoghton,
and especially those from Preston and Blackburn, were
thronged for miles with pedestrians of both sexes and all
ages. The ordinary trains on the East Lancashire
-Railway conveyed large numbers to the scene ; and, be-
sides these, there was a special train from Preston, con-
sisting of about 40 carriages, which were crowded to
excess, the roofs of some being occupied as well as the
interior. People were present from all the manufac-
turing towns within a circle of about 20 miles, of
course not a tithe of the vast multitude could hear the
addresses delivered on the occasion, but they seemed
contented to look on. Mr. K. Smith, of Old-
ham, having been called to the chair, the meeting was
opened with the singing of an " Operatives' Hymn,"
commencing :

" Assembled beneath Thy broad blue sky,
"To Thee, 0 God, Thy children cry."
The CHAIRMAN then offered a few introductory re-
marks, after which,

Mr. MATTHEWS (of Heywood) said, there was a class of
people in the country who declared their opposition to war
and who professed to be in favour of arbitration. Yes,
they approved of arbitration if it was between the Em-
peror of Russia and the Sublime Porte, but, if it was
between the factory operatives and their employers, it
then became a very different thing in their eyes, and
they would ask,—" What right has any body to inter-
fere ?" The speaker condemned the proceedings of the
local authorities, and observed that the operatives, with
their pence, were willing to fight the manufacturers with
their pounds, but they would not bare their breasts
against the bayonets of the soldiery. (Applause.)
Mr. SYKES announced that he had that day brought
2501. from Stockport, and intimated that, so long as
this strike continued, he could guarantee that that sum
would be forthcoming weekly towards the maintenance
of the people of Preston. (Applause.)
Mr. LAWLESS (of Warrington) remarked that they
were again met to express their sympathy with the brave
and heroic people of Preston. Miles had they again
walked to show forth to those who were opposed to them,
and to the world at large, that charity still reigned
paramount in their hearts. The bonds of sympathy
were growing wider and wider, and the power of the
people would every day be more felt through the medium
of such monster gatherings as that. Too long had they
been sunk in the depths of degradation and slavery !
Too long had they borne the proud man's contumely
and the rich man's oppression ! Too long had they
sat and winced and writhed, humbled and cast down
in spirit ! But now they begun a new era ; they
had at length determined to gather up their strength,
to husband their might, and to come forth in their
thousands, and proclaim before men that they would,
they dared be free. (Cheers.) Oh that the poet could
look upon that vast meeting ; he would say in his soul—
" Gather ye, gather ye, come o'er the heather,
Flock in your tnyriads from mountain and glen,
Number like trees of the forest together—
Counsel your union—be brothers, be men."
In this question of life and death, of justice against in-
justice, of liberty against oppression, they must, they
would be more than men. If they wished to exercise
their power, now was the time to lay the foundation of
that power. Thousands of pounds had been sent to
Preston ; let thousands more be rolled in ; for every man
in that assembly must know the great fact, that money
was the sinews of war. The fiat had gone forth—the
people's mandate had been issued—that they would never
resume work until justice, long withheld justice, had
been done to the men and women of Preston. To those
who admired the heroic fortitude evinced by the people
of Preston throughout this protracted struggle—to those
he appealed ; and he would say to every man, woman,
and child, who had a penny to spare, let it be thrown in
at the altar of liberty. He would conclude in the lan-
guage of the poet—

" Arouse, ye toiling, bleeding slaves !
Unite, unite ! why stand ye tamely by ?
In voice as loud as ocean's rolling wave,
Proclaim your will through earth and sea and sky."
(General applause.)
Mr. COWELL said, he was firmly persuaded that if this
struggle were lost by the factory operatives of Preston,
it would ultimately affect the entire working population
of the British dominions ; whereas, if it were brought
to a successful issue, they might depend upon one thing,
that lock-outs would for ever be at an end in England.
After taking a show of hands in favour of persevering
in the contest, Mr. Cowell concluded by announcing
that the income from the various districts that day
amounted to about 2,2001., the following being the chief
contributions :—Blackburn, 6601. ; Stockport, 2501. ;
Preston, 1211. ss. ; Ashton-under-Lyne, 1401. ; Glossop,
1301. ; Over-Darwen, 1231. ,• Oldham, 1021. ; Tintwistle,
60/. ; Staleybridge, 60/. ; Great Harwood, 631. 14s. ;
Church Parish, 55/. ; Accrington, 371. 10s. ; Compstall-
bridge, 321. ; Heywood, 30/. ; Durnley, 23/. ; Droylsden,
231. ; Chorley, 221. ; Clitheroe, 20/. ; and Littleborough
fullers and weavers, 281. 10s.
The other speakers were Mr. Walton and Mr. Bar-
low, of Blackburn ; Mr. Swinglehurst, of Preston ; and
Mr. Grimshaw, of Great Harwood, who stated that be-
fore long they would convene a meeting at Blackstone-
edge, and summon the labourers of Yorkshire and
Derbyshire to the rescue. Mr. Ernest Jones attended
the meeting for the purpose of advocating the " mass
movement," but the Operatives' Committee would not
allow him to take any part in the proceeding, being re-
solved to keep the wages' question distinct from all
others.
Another hymn having been sung, the proceedings
were brought to a close at 5 o'clock. A. collection made
among the crowd realised about 71.

4Z