The Sun.
London, England, 1860-12-21 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 21, 1860.

far from constituting any ground of uneasiness to
any other country, ought, on the contrary, rather
to produce general confidence. (Cheers.) The
elements of discord are rife. I trust no serious re-
sults may arise from what is going on in various
parts of Europe,—indeed, I may say of the world
at large; but of this I feel confident, that, as far as
we are concerned, never, in my time certainly, and
I believe never in the recollection of most of those
whom I address, have we had reason to feel more
confidence in our power and strength than at the
present moment. (Cheers.) We are justified, I
repeat, in coming to that conclusion, not only from
the state in which I believe the army is, but from
the general feeling of the country, the determina-
tion evinced by the nation at large to maintain in-
violate the high position we have held for so many
years. (Cheers.) That conviction is particularly
impressed on our minds by the history of that
great movement which has recently been going on
—I mean the Volunteer movement in this country.
(Cheers.) This country is not a military nation ; in
spite of this, however, it has a large army, but that
large army is not at home. It is scattered broad-
cast over the face of the world, and a very large
portion of it is necessarily engaged in countries
that are remote and difficult of access. What, then,
have we to' look to at home but to the spirit of the
people, which has displayed itself so admirably and
effectually in the Volunteer movement? (Loud
cheers.) We are, therefore, in a position to say to
our neighbours, "We wish you no harm. We
hope that you are as anxious as ourselves to live on
good and friendly terms with one another, but at
the same time you see by the firmness and de-
votion our fellow citizens have evinced in this
matter that we are perfectly determined to hold
our own—(loud cheers)—and that no other country
shall interfere with those principles and those views
with which this country has so long been identified,
and by which she is resolved to stand." (Cheers.)
These principles are distinct and decided ones, and
it is only by decided principles that a great empire
ought to be or can be governed. My noble friend,
Lord Elcho, who will afterwards address you, has
deserved well of the country for the prominent part
he has taken in this movement. (Cheers.) There
is but one hope I would express before sitting down,
and that is that the Volunteer movement, which
has become so universal throughout the country,
will not in any way be taken as the indication of
a desire to put the army on one side. (Cheers.) I
am sure that is the last thing the country would
wish. (Cheers.) It would be the most unfortunate
thing that could take place. (Cheers.) I think the
Volunteers are in their natural position as the con-
stitutional and proper auxiliaries of the army, and
in this way they cannot but form an important
element in the national stability and power.
(Cheers.) The city of London has at all times been
ready, whenever occasion offered, to express its
sense of high military, naval, or civil merits, and I
am sure no juster compliment could be paid than
that which you have this day awarded to my noble
and gallant friend Lord Clyde. (Cheers.) You
could not do honour to a better soldier—(cheers)—
or one more deserving the approbation of the coun-
try. (Loud cheers.)
Sir L. MTLINTOCK briefly returned thanks for
the Navy; but we regret to state that not a word
of what fell from the gallant officer reached our
ears. Indeed, from the position assigned to the
press it was with the utmost difficulty that we
could ever collect the general purport of a speech.
Lord ELCIIO, who was much cheered, thanked
the Lord Mayor for having associated his name wih
the Volunteer service. Nowhere in the kingdom,
and from no person could the Volunteer service be
more appropriately toasted than by the Lord
Mayor in the city of London. His Royal High-
ness, as Commander-in-Chief, in the admirable
speech he had just delivered, referred to the noble
regiment of Volunteers belonging to the city of
London, of which he is the honorary colonel, and
of which Lieutenant-Colonel Hicks is the acting
colonel. That regiment was second to no other
in efficiency and martial bearing, and it would ever
be to him a source of satisfaction that he had the
honour of assisting at the meeting in Guildhall to
form it; but there was another regiment in Lon-
don, the oldest in the service, he meant the Hon.
Artillery Company, who recently celebrated their
250th anniversary. (Cheers.) That regiment was
the representative of the famous old trainbands of
London, and it had kept alive the Volunteer spirit
which had sprung up and borne such fruits in our
own times. The Lord Mayor and His Royal
Highness the Commander-in-Chief had spoken of
the Volunteer service in such complimentary terms
that it was not for him, a Volunteer, to dwell on
the subject. He must be permitted to say that the
danger of the Volunteer service was lest it should
he spoilt by the favour with which it was received.
Since it had sprung into existence it had been
specially honoured by her Majesty, associated, as a
standing toast with the army and navy, both sexes
vieing with each other—the prettiest speeches
being made by the prettiest lips—who should pay
it most honour. (Cheers.) He only hoped Volun-
teers would persevere, not thinking themselves
such fine fellows that they had nothing to do or to
acquire. He confidently believed the movement
would progress, and that it would be found of the
utmost value to the country. It was not for him
as a Volunteer to descant on the value of that force.

That was a matter for the Ministers and persons

in high places to judge of. It was for them to
say whether it had not been the means of com-

bining all classes in the defence of the country,
and almost extinguishing the trade of agita-
tors who went about setting class against class
—(cheers)—it was for the Ministers to say whether
the movement had not given them such an exhibi-
tion of the spirit of the English nation as enabled
them to deal with those critical questions of foreign
policy which lately agitated the country. (Cheers.)
There was one representative of the Cabinet pre-
sent, and he hoped, as Parliament was about to
meet, nothing would be wanting on the part of
Ministers to render the Volunteer force efficient
and permanent. (Cheers.) They did not want to be
anything but a Volunteer force, but there were
many things in which the Government might and
he hoped would assist.them ; and he felt confident,
looking to the spirit the country had shown with
reference to the Volunteer force, that whatever the
Government would do the people through their
representatives would liberallyprovide for. (Cheers.)
His Royal Highness had said he hoped the people
of this country would not rely on the Volunteer
force alone, but look still to the army for its chief
and main defence. It was not for him to put him-
self forward as speaking for the Volunteer force,
but speaking as an individual, and he thought he
spoke the sentiments of most Volunteers, he would
say they looked upon themselves as the humble
auxiliaries of the regular army—(cheers)—and he
hoped and trusted that, whatever the strength and
efficiency of the Volunteer force, it would be always
looked upon only as secondary and auxiliary; but
he should like it to be efficient, so that, if need be,
the regulars being sent against the foreign enemy,
the Volunteers might be the home army. (Cheers.)
It would indeed be strange if the most cordial feel-
ing did not exist between the army and the Volun-
teers, all parties connected with the army, from his
Royal Highness the Commander-in-Chief down to
the drummer boy, having done what they could to
teaeh them their drill and promote their efficiency.
(Cheers.) In conclusion, he could not help observ-
ing that their distinguished guest, Lord Clyde, was
hon. colonel of the London Scottish Volunteers, and
therefore it was not only a pleasure, but a duty on his
part to attend on that occasion upon his own com-
manding officer, (Loud cheers.)
The LORD MAYOR then called for a bumper in
honour of their most distinguished guest, Lord
Clyde. (Loud cheers.) He was sure that every
British heart would rejoice in the honours that had
that day been conferred on Lord Clyde and Sir
James Outram. He deeply regretted that the ill
health of Sir James Outram did not permit him to
be present on that occasion. (Loud cheers.) He
had, however, written a letter in which he expressed

some of the sentiments he would have given utter-

ante to had he been permitted to be present. It
was 52 years since their noble guest embarked for
the Peninsula. Ho went with Sir Arthur Welles-

ley, and commenced a series of services which put

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