The Sun.
London, England, 1870-08-01 00:00:00

; 1870.

THE AmusTErts Air FILE MA NSION
11OUSE.

On Saturday evening the Lord Mayon gave a banquet at
the Mansion House to her 111 ajesty's Ministers and a party
of 230 guests. Mr. Cardwell returned thanks for " The
Army, Navy, and Volunteers," with some remarks as to
the deadly nature of the strife in which the hosts now
opposed were about to engage. He declared his belief that
the army, navy, and reserve forces, in number and
efficiency, one and all, may at the present moment
challenge a comparison with any former times.
Mr: GLADsToNE replied to " The Health of Her Ma-
jesty's Ministers." He commenced by a reference to the
work of the session, and expressed his satisfaction at the
safe passing of the Land Bill, and at the prospect that in
a few days the Education Bill would receive the sanction
of the Queen. The Premier then in mournful terms
alluded to the war :—I do not desire to step, and
I hope I do not step, beyond the province that be-
longs to the Minsters of the Crown of England.
I do not pronounce or seek to pronounce any judgment,
or to anticipate in the slightest degree the verdict
of history and posterity upon the rights and wrongs
of the great quarrel which we now see coming to an issue ;
but in the name of wounded humanity, in the name
of grieving civilization, in the name of our religion,
afflicted with what it witnesses, I do record
that nothing more deplerable, nothing more dismal
has marked, perhaps, the history of mankind, and
certainly the history of mankind in our time than
this, splendid indeed it may be, but awful spectacle, in
which nations of the highest civilisation, with institu-
tions the most perfectly developed, with celebrity estab-
lished in every department of history, with the first
position in the civilised world to which it is possible for
any nation to attain, are pushing on their troops by
hundreds of thousands, and rlmost by millions, for deadly
conflict, for causes which it is very difficult to appreciate.
(Loud, cheers.) It is quite impossible, my Lord Mayor, to
resist the impulse which drives one to the expression of
the sentiments of grief and regret which lacerate the mind
and heart of every intelligent man when he beholds such
a spectacle as this ; but we must also recollect that our
interest is not alone that of spectators. (Cheers.) The
ideas that necessarily occur to the mind of an English
Minister when unhappily he arrives at one of these dread-
ful crises of European affairs, are these—security and neu-
trality. (Cheers.) It is his business—it is the business of
a British Ministry, whatever be its political colour, at all
times, but especially at such times as these, to inspect its
establishments as they are, and, if anything be wanting,
then by judicious measures to propose and provide that
this country shall, humanly e, be made secure
from contingencies which may arise. And I think there
never was a period at which, whether we look at the con-
dition of the great establishments of the army and navy
of the country, with the auxiliary forces, or whether we
look at the united temper and feeling of the country,
there never was a period at which a task of this kind,
painful as in some respects it must be, on account of the
circumstances out of which it has arisen, could yet be met
by a Government with a greater security, or with agreater
conviction that, whatever might arise, this great nation
would be found equal to its duties. But, my Lord
Mayor, what are those duties ? Those duties, setting aside
anticipations of events that have not arisen, and that
I trust may not arise, are to maintain a just, absolute,
impartial, and dignified neutrality. (Cheers.) And
why is it that we are to maintain that neutrality ?
It is not on account of our want of sympathy with our fel-
low-creatures who are suffering in this awful struggle ; it
is not on account of and principle of selfish isolation ; it is
not because we think it possible for the United Kingdom
of Great Britain and Ireland to isolate itself, and to sever
itself from the concerns and interests of civilised Europe.
It is on other grounds—it is because the very first duty
that commends itself to the minds of rational and prudent
men is that the evils and mischiefs and miseries that be-
long to this war should be circumscribed within the nar-
rowest circle ; it is because the suppression of partial
judgmenrs, leaning to the one side or the other, is the best
method for other nations not engaged to adopt' to prevent
the extension of the circle of these miseries and afflic-
tions; it is because we hope that opportunities will
arise amidst the vicissitudes of conflict at which the
friendly voice of those who have done nothing to for-
feit the confidence of either side, may be heard for the
purpose of being ministers of good and may do something
in favour of suffering mankind. And yet, my Lord Mayor,
let it not not be supposed that the maintenance cf neutra-
lity :5, for this country at least, an easy duty. (Cheers.)
On the contrary, it is anxious, and it is arduous, to a de-
gree perhaps only second to the conducting of war itself.
Were we a people dependent only upon ourselves, and a
people having none dependent upon us ; were we a people
whose territories were surrounded by a wall of brass;
all of whose wants and all of whose desires were satisfiied
from wsthin the circuit of our own dominion, the case
would be diffesent ; but, on the contrary, there is scarcely
a square yard of the surface of Europe with which Eng-
land has not relations—relations of commerce and of inte-
rest, involving us at every point in transactions that, in
the interests of both these Powers, place us in contact with
them under circumstances the most trying to patience
and to goodwill, both on the one side and on the other.
Let us only endeavour to nourish that calm and practical
spirit, that love of impartial justice, that sentiment of ex-
pansive charity towards our fellow-creatures and fellow-
Christians on whom this deadly scourge has come.
If we hear - the words of anger, let us meet them
with the spirit of patience—let us rest confidently on our
desire to act rightly by the one and by the other; and
be assured that, even if a moment's misunderstanding
should prevail, that misapprehension will be for a moment
only, and when it has passed away the rectitude of our
intentions will be acknowledged, and full confidence in
our conduct will be felt. (Cheers.) My Lord Mayor,
perhaps it is too bold to speculate upon the time within
which it may happen that the good offices of neutrals may
be made useful in this deadly controversy. We have
seen that the deadliness of wars has been intensified in a
degree almost beyond conception by modern science; we
have seen, also, that their duration has been considerably
abridged. But we must not be too saugnine. We must
not presume too much upon a partial experieece in antici-
pating the time when, as we fondly hope, this conflict may
be brought to an end ; but it is our duty, at any rate, to
take care that, be it long or be it short, we may havedone
nothing, when the time of reconciliation comes, to
forfeit the friendship and the good opinion of any of
those who are engaged in this conflict. (Cheers.)
It is some comfort to find that there is a recognition of a
common interest among civilised and Christian nations.
The people of England believe that the strength and
wealth of other countries are their strength and wealth
also, and that it is a sad and lamentable thing
for them, when other countries are wasting their
resources, not of wealth only, but of precious
human lives, in these deadly conflicts. And, my Lord
Mayor, I venture to hope this, that there is an opinion of
the civilised world, not of this or that country of it in
particular, but of the civilised world it large..., which is
gradually moulding and forming itself, and coming from
year to year to speak with more authority upon the con-
duct of each particular country, and to exercise'a greater
and greater power of control over that conduct. We may
even perhaps notice that in the first heat and agony
of the controversy that plunged France and Prussia into
the present conflict, each of these Powers at every
moment shewed an intense anxiety to find the opinion of
Europe upon its side. (Hear, hear.) Rely upon it that
as the struggle proceeds that anxiety on the side of each
Powor will become deeper and deeper, and the legitimate
moral authority of that judgment which may be passed
by detached and impartial countries will have more and
more influence for good. Let us endeavour, my
Lord Mayor, so to comport ourselves in our diffi-
cult 'circumstances as to restrain the expression
of hasty opinion, and to prove the reality of our sympathy
with both these sufferers on a giant scale, so that we
may be able to contribute somewhat to the weight of
that voice of civilised mankind which, as we hope, may
exercise a great; and possibly even a commanding influ-
ence, first in narrowing and restraining the sphere through
which human misery is to be spread ; and, secondly, in
bringing to a close the operations of the calamitous
energies which are given to the conflict of war.
I can assure yDu that, in the generous appreciation which
you have made of the views and intentions of her
Majesty's Government, you have not gone beyond the
truth. They are men who will not forget the honour of
their country in attempting to discharge their duties, but
they will recognise, and they do recognise, as the dominant
sentiment of their mind at this painful crisis,
first, the deepest grief at the calamities which
they see are about to desolate one of the
fairest portions of the world, and, secondly, the earnest
hope that it may be be reserved for friendly intervention,
or for such other means as it shall please Providence to
select, to find an opportunity of putting an end to scenes
which, whatever the justification that one party or the
other may think they find in the incidents of the case,
must, nevertheless, in the judgment of history, and in the
judgment of posterity,. be regarded as amongst the most
mournful and most miserable that ever presented them-
selves to the view of mankind.

The Lord Chancellor responded for the House of Lords,
and Mr. Bruce did the same for the House of Commons.
Mr. Lowe gave " The Ladies," regretting that the Mar-
quis of Hartington, who had the rare distinction of being
the only bachelor in the Cabinet, had not been permitted
to do justice to the subject.

The Admiralty, it is said, contemplate proceeding
against the late dockyard clerk who obtained £2,300 from
the Admiralty as commutation in lieu of pension, although
no pension had been awarded him. He was discharged
from Devonport Dockyard, as he alleges, illegally, for a
breach of rules in communicating facts relating to the
service to newspapers and others. The Admiralty yes-
terday telegraphed to Devonport that all witnesses who
could testify to the facts were to proceed to London imme
diately.

The trial of Sir Henry Edwards, Dart., of Pye
Nest, near Halifax, is at length fixed to take place at
York Castle, on Friday next, at the summer assizes.
The charges against the honourable baronet at
the instance of the Crown are, having through
his agent bribed some half-dozen individuals, in
sums varying from 15s. 6d. to 235., at the Beverley muni-
cipal election of 1868, with a view to influence the parlia-
mentary elections. Within the last few weeks the govern-
ment officials have sobpcenaed additional witnesses to
those on their list for the spring assizes, to give evidence
againo the hon. baronet, and the special jury has already
been summoned for the 4th proximo.

i) UNA,' 11. LE and Co., Belfast, are the largest holders
of whisky in the world. Their Old Irish Whisky is r ommended
"y the medical profession in preference to French brand . Sup-
. Lied in casks and cases for home use or exportation. Quotations
on application to Messrs DUNVILLE & Co. Royal Irish Dis-
tilleries, Belfast ; or at thei London Offices. 4. Beaufort Buildingq
Strand. W.C.