The Sun.
London, England, 1870-11-12 00:00:00

MR. C. GILPIN, M.P., ON THE WAR._

The usual banquet to celebrate the election of Mayor
of Northampton, took place on Thursday night, at the
George Hotel, in that town. Upwards of two hundred
persons were present. The newly-elected Mayor, Mr.
Pickering P. Perry, presided, and he was supported by
Lord Henley, M.P., Mr. Charles Gilpin, M.P., and a
large number of the Aldermen, Town Councillors, and
leading tradesmen of the town. Mr. C. Gilpin, M.P., in
reply to the toast of the " House of Commons," alluded
to the disastrous war now raging on the Continent.
He contended that the present war was the
work of M. 011ivier, one of the greatest Radi-
cals in France. The honourable gentleman de-
nounces Napoleon as a despotic tyrant, and said the
hireling soldiery were no use in the face of an unpaid
citizen army, who fought for something which they under-
stood. He condemned standing armies as being provoca-
cive of war, the tools of tyrants, and not the defenders of
the people. At the same time he was desirous of sup;
porting the Government, in keeping our defences in a
proper condition. He endorsed fully the policy pursued
by the Premier, and the Foreign Secretary. Mr. Gilpin
then alluded to the Education Act ; and said he had no
doubt but that it would be a national benefit, when it was
in thorough working order.

SEVERE STORM IN WALES.

Our Llandudno correspondent telegraphs that a severe
storm is now ,raging at that place. At one yesterday
morning the breakers were terrific, and extending for half
a mile, accompanied by vivid flashes of lightning, not-
withstanding the moon was shining brightly. The .wind
is bitterly cold from the north-east.

The Prince and Princess of Wales are•expected to
visit the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough at Blenheim
in the first week of December.

Maclaine Balfe, the wife of the late talented and
popular composer, M. W. Balfe, left London last night
for Madrid, on.ayisit to her daughter, Victoire, Duchess
de Frias.

CRYSTAL PALkCE.—One Shilling Day ; Friday.
Nov. 11, 1870. Number of visitors by season tickets, 953
ditto on payment, 517 ; total visitors, 1,470.

THE ENGLISH COLLEGE AT ROME.— A corres-
pondent, who is usually well informed, writes tons to say
that he is enabled to state, on the best authority, that the
English College, if not already broken up, must be shortly.
Weekly .Register.

TESTIMONIAL TO MR. M. T BASS, M.P. FOR
DERBY.—The inhabitants of Derby are about to do hon-
our to their senior representative in Parliament, Mr. M.
T. Bass. It is intended to invite him to a dinner, when
his portrait, painted by a first-class artist, will be presented
to him.

The Birmingham Daily Post states that the
bishopric of Madagascar, has been offered to`and accepted
by the Rev. R. H. Baynes, vicar of St. Michael's,
Coventry. Mr. Baynes (who was for some years vicar of
Holy Trinity, Maidstone) is the author of the " Canter-
bury Hymnal," " Lyra Anglicana," and other volumes of
Church poetry. _

LONDON SCHOOL BOARD.—A large and influential
meeting of the ratepayers of Marylebone was held last
evening in the spacious school-room of Brunswick Chapel,
Milton-street, Dorset Square, to hear an address from
W. Whelpton, Esq., of Belsize Park, a candidate brought
forward by the Wesleyan body for the school board for
the district of Marylebone. Mr. Whelpton was supported
by the Revds. W. Jackson Wray, George Burgess, S.
Woolmer, H. E. Gregg, W. S. Nichol, C. Haydon, N.
Bishop, M.A., H. Burton, 8.A., and Messrs. R. Bentley,
F. C.Turner, —Jones, J. Nurton, &c.
Mr. Whelpton will firmly support the introduction of the
Bible into Board Schools as the one source of good morals,
and the surest means in the hands of carefully selected
teachers of making the scholars the good citizens of 'the
future. A unanimous vote of confidence was passed, and
the meeting pledged itself to vigorously support the can-
didate.

OUR WINTER GIIESTEL—With November the
vagabond mendicants return to town. During the sum-
mer and autumn months they migrate, in imi-
tation and pursuit of their betters, to country quarters.
Those who are disposed to work can generally
get it in the harvest-fields and hop-gardens, and
for the larger class which cares only for re-
creation and excitement there is a tolerably continuous
series of fairs, fights, and races provided. But with the
return of chilly days and long nights the country ceases
to offer any attractions, and the tramps betake them-
selves to town, testing the hospitality of each workhouse
on the road thither. With November, therefore, the
resident in London ought to
.make up his mind how he
will meet those " casual" demands upon his pocket
with which he will be beset for the next six
months. It is not everyone who can adopt Arch-
bishop Whately's rigid rule, and consistently
turn a deaf ear to the most plausible appeals ; nor
is it likely that the efforts after such fortitude will be
assisted by the re-enactment of the statute of 1535 (37
Henry, VIII., c. 25), which forbade giving alms to
beggars' on pain of forfeiting ten times the amount
bestowed. Harsh as that statute may sound, i
was absolutely necessary, in order to check the
blind eleemosynary habits which had been fos-
tered by the Church, and which had proved
the cause rather than the cure, of beggary and
wretchedness. And although it is, of course, idle to wish
for the revival of such a law, we cannot help thinking

that. if people would act upon its principle
and fine themselves for indulging in an indolent
abuse of almsgiving, the individual and the com-
munity at large would be equally benefited. Such a
fine, we would suggest, might be paid in the form of a
donation to some other agency of established reputation ;
or, better still, it might be commuted by serving
for a certain period as almoner to such a society or as
guardian of the poor in a London parish. By these
means a man would not only have the satisfaction of

knowing that his bounty was well bestowed, but he would
learn the extent and some of the causes of the misery
around him. Such knowledge, we are sure, would at
least convince him of the mischief of indiscriminate alms-
giving, if it did not suggest also some practical scheme
for solving the most formidable social problem of our
time. —Pall Mail Gazette.