The Sun.
London, England, 1860-01-20 00:00:00

HIGII WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.
Tuffs DAY.—Morning, h. m.—Afternoon, 12h. 21m.
To-moßßow.-Morning, 12h. 50m.—Afternoon, lb. 16n.

From the above it will be perceived, as we took
occasion to intimate yesterday in our strictures
upon Lord NIELviLLE's speech at Edinburgh, that
Scotland has paid but small regard to the absurd

views entertained, in regard to the Rifle Corps
movement, by her redoubtable Commander-in-
Chief. While Lord MELVILLE scanning deri-
sively the agitation of this Rifle Corps movement,
after the fashion of Sir CHARLES COLVSTREAM,
sees really " nothing in it"—ScotlanLi ac-
tually takes more kindly and more :‹ea-
lowly to the movement than England and
Wales ! Insomuch that we find " Edinburgh
and Berwick, can boast of 11 volunteers to every
1,000 inhabitants, and the average for the whole of
Scotland is 5 per 1,000. Whereas no English county
reaches a higher proportion than 4-.1- per 1,000."
It is true that even the 11 per 1,000 of Edinburgh
and Berwick have been surpassed in Oxford and
Cambridge, where we find as many as 14 and 18
per 1,000 of the inhabitants enrolled as volunteers.
But, taken as a whole, the proportions are im-
mensely in favour of the patriotic ardour of the
Scotch. No English county, as we have seen,
attaining a higher proportion than 41 per 1,000,
while upon the whole of Scotland it is, upon a
broad average, as many as five for every thousand !
So much for my Lord MELVILLE and his super-
cilious and contumelious depreciation of the Rifle
Volunteers.

To the rest of the statistics compacted together
in this singularly opportune and most acceptable
pamphlet we heartily commend the attention of all
in any way interested in the progress of the Move.
ment. With regard now to the propositions put
forward in the sequel of his argument by Mr.
DUDLEY BAXTER, we shall content ourselves here
with one single quotation. The pamphleteer has
estimated, andwith reason, the probable aggregate
of the volunteers by next summer at 100,000. Cal-
culating the annual expenses of the whole force at
L 2 2s. per man,or at a total for the 100,000 of £210,000
—and taking the average cost of the rifle and artillery
corps at £5 ss. per man, or upon the total of
100,000 at £525,000, he observes, " A patriotic
movement which is likely to produce contributions
in money and equipmments of so large a value as
£525,000, and which will probably pledge itself
to an annual expense of between £lOO,OOO and
£200,000 ought not to be neglected, or treated
in a parsimonious spirit. That would be a
short-sighted, as well as an ungenerous policy.
If Me volunteers dwindle away, we shall never
again have 100,000 men on such easy terms. The
yeomanry cost £6 a man, and the militia cannot
be less than £4 per annum. The volunteers will
think themselves handsomely aided with £1 for
each effective member." Those words are surely
sufficient of themselves. They need not one
syllable of commentary for their enforcement.
All we need do now, therefore, is very earnestly
to commend them to the consideration of every
really patriotic member of the Lower House of Par-
liament.

When a Dissenter pleads his conscience as a rea-
son for declining to pay Church-rates, the High
Churchman turns round and tells him that his con-
science is in his pocket. Now, whether Dissenters
can fairly be suspected of pocket consciences, when
the " temporalities " in question are so small, may
well be doubted —and most candid persons will at-
tribute the objection to pay to the same sense of
injustice which resents so frequently the over-
charge of a penny, while the objector would freely
contribute his pound. But when a POPE pleads
his conscience against an EMPEROR, and uses this
convenient plea as the chief, or only one, for retain-
ing in his possession territories almost as large as
the entire native land itself of Ananias and Sapphira,
we can but feel that he has something in view
for which it may be worth while to imitate the
worthies on whom St. Peter himself inflicted such
condign punishment. Of course we do not doubt
that Popes are as conscientious as they are in-
fallible—only—in the eyes of carnal-minded lay-
men, when conscience pleads for temporal dominion,
wealth, and aggrandisement, these grand tem-
poral things hide conscience from their view.
When they see any man, and especially a man
who claims to concentre in his person the attri-
butes of the Great REDEEMER himself, eager to
govern all he can, and get all he can in the
worldly sense, they have need to be told that
"conscience" is the reason for it all, for they would
not guess it was there, were they not told it. They
do not themselves pretend to seek " temporalities "
for " conscience' sake," and it is only by a most
vigorous effort of faith—of faith against all their
own experience—that they call conceive even of
his holiness doing from conscience what they
always do from motives passable enough as the
world goes, but having no title to the dignity or
respectability of a conscientious paternity. But
the Pope, unfortunately, is under the strongest
temptation to affiliate his mental offspring to the
more respectable of the two fathers of all his
thoughts. Unfortunately,
we say, because the
world will think that offspring so like its own
must have the same origin.

Leaving, however, the conscience of his Holiness,
and letting it pass for what it is worth, we can
only apply to the case the ruder judgment of mere
laymen. We make a conscience of justice we hope,
though our claims to " Holiness" may be but small;
and in this balance by which laymen settle their
affairs we must weigh the claims of even his Holi-
ness, to the Legations. He puts rebellion into one
scale. We put the right of rebellion into the other.
When, then, we look at his weight and ours,
we see in his nothing but a word ; in ours some-
thing so solid that it has outweighed, at some time
or other, the mero word, in perhaps every State in
Christendom, or even in the world. England,
France, Germany, Italy itself, all are what

they are, in virtue of repeated rebellions. In-
deed
our snug little island itself was
once the fief of the POPE, but our
sturdy barons, like the sturdy Bolognese, saw fit
to rebel against his Legate. England had no fancy
to becoming or remaining a Legation—an outlying
dependency of his Holiness. Our patriots, like
those of Italy, rejected his temporal rule before
they repudiated his spiritual authority ; and his
temporal assumptions had much to do with our
discerning the absurdity of his spiritwil preten-
sions. Hit:Tilly probable is it that in Italy it will
be the same, and that his clinging to temporalities
will convince those who are now faithful Catholics,
that Popes cagoot be the successors, as the
Catholic Marquis D'AZEGLIO says, of Him who
said that His " Kingdom was not of this world,"
and of Apostles who certainly had no temporal
power to delegate.
All the free nations, and all the lovers of liberty
in Europe and in the world, are of one mind re-
specting the right of the Legations and of the
other Roman States too, to abolish at once and
for ever the temporal reign of. the POPE. Never
amongst all persons deserving the name of
freemen, was there a greater unanimity than on
the fact that the Government of the POPE
is amongst the scandals of civilization. We need
not repeat the results of M. ABOUT'S investigations.
The main facts had been known for years. The
very laws—witness those respecting the Jews, by
which Mr. LANGDALE has the effrontery to defend
that outrage on the most sacred rights of humanity
in the Mortara case—are, many of them, worthy
only of the darkest ages. But the administration
of them is a disgrace to the name of Government.
It is obviously such, without descending to de-
tails, that those who live under it would not
do so one moment longer, were foreign bayonets
withdrawn. What can the POPE'S foolish sup-
porters make of this undeniable fact ? Will they,
in this country at least, pretend that subjects de-
serve the name of rebels in any dishonourable
sense when their ruler cannot rely on a native
army ? What would they think of their own case,
if the Government of our QUEEN were such, that
she t3are not enlist Englishmen into her army, but
had to hire all the mercenary scamps of the Con-
tinent and make them her guards ; and had, in
addition, to ask our distinguished ally for some
100,000 men to prevent her subjects from sending
her back to Saxe-Gotha ?

As to the practical part of the case, however, we
suspect the conscience of his Holiness will be taken
little account of, whether a Congress meet or not.
Diplomatists look only at what can be done. Con-
gress, or no Congress, force is renounced. That
fact is the key to the whole question. Count
CAVOUR, the Italian patriot, is again in power.
GARIBALDI is exerting his influence again. BIION-
OOMPAGNI is writing earnestly for Malian liberty,
and doing something for it too. The professed respect
of Louis NAPOLEON for the treaty of Zurich is
a mere piece of verbal consistency ; the FACTS are
all working towards the independence of the Lega-
tions and of Italy, while the POPE and his Cardinals
have to be content with words ; the King of
SARDINIA evidently feels freed from his former
constraint; the Emperor of the French openly
fraternises with our Government, whose views are
sufficiently well known. The result we may hope
will be the certain freedom of the Legations, and,
if French soldiers leave Rome—which it is ru-
moured they will do, though we can hardly believe
it—the freedom of Italy from the Alps to Sicily.

THE EARL OF DERBY AT LIVERPOOL.

LIVERPOOL, JAN. 20.

One of the most distinguished companies that
ever aseembled to grace the civic board met last
evening at the Town-hall. The party was a pri-
vate one, being one of those genial and hospitable
reunions for which our chief magistrates are so
famous.

The guests numbered about 50, including the
Eafl of Derby, Lord Stanley, Sir Thomas G.
Hesketh, Bart., Mr. Thomas B. Horsfall, M.P.,
Mr. Joseph C. Ewart, M.P., the Hon: Algernon
Egerton, M.P., and Captain Mends, R N.
After dinner the usual round of toasts afforded
ample scope for the easy play of eloquence, which,
under the shelter of privacy, became, if not so
spirited, more sparkling,
The Earl of Derby, in a lengthy address, alluded
to the state of the political world. He expressed
a hope that the ensuing session would witness the
adoption of a Reform Bill. It was desirable that
the vexed question should be set at rest, and he
believed the Conservative party would offer no
factious opposition to the present Ministry in bring-
ing forward a substantial measure of Reform.

The liberal Ind manly tone pervading the speech
elicited frequent applause. Lord Stanley was also
happy in his remarks, which indicated sympathy
for progress in toleration.
The health of his worship, the Mayor, was pro-
posed by the Earl of Derby, and heartily received.
The company separated about 11 o'clock.