The Sun.
London, England, 1859-05-30 00:00:00

INATIOUR4TION OF NEW STEAM
LINES FROM MILFORD HAVEN.

A number of
.gentlemen connected with the
shipping
iifoirndt interests est s of
Saturday Southfor
tlierapl eusr
paons de
Ireland visited
of inspecting the capabilities of. the harbour, and
inaugurating the new steam-ship lines projected
from that port.
Mr. Lever, M.P., presided at the dinner.
The health of her Majesty and the Prince Con-
sort and the Royal Family having been drunk with
the usual demonstrations of loyalty,
The toast of the " Army and Navy" was re-
sponded to by Captain MAXWELL and Captain
RAMSAY, the latter gentleman proposing at tlie
same time the House of Commons, coupling-with
it the name of Mr. Roebuck, M.P.
Mr. ROEBUCK, in replying to the toast, said—As
a member of the House of Commons, I feel it a'great
compliment to have my name associated with the
toast which has just been proposed by My gallant
friend. The House of Commons I believe to be the
governors of England ; that is to say, we govern
ourselves, and if we govern ourselves badly it is our
own fault ; but I do not believe we do govern our-
selves badly. (Cheers.) I believe that in all which
has passed in my time—and a few things have
passed of very great importance—the House of ,
Commons has shown itself to be a fair type of Eng-
lish intelligence, has proved itself worthy of the
power and responsibility which the people of Eng-
land has cast upon it, and has shown itself a goo
governor of this great kingdom. (Cheers.) If ever
there was a crisis in which the House of Commons was
engaged it is the present one. We haveseen in our
time great changes. The world has been con-
vulsed, the House of Commons has stood firm.
England has been kept in her position by means
of the House of Commons, and if you are a happy.
people it is because you are self-governed. (Cheers.)
The gallant gentleman has stated that in the last
year the House of Commons has been generous in
support of the navy. The imputation by that asser-
tion is that before last year the House of Commons
was not generous. To that I give my most distinct
denial. There has never been a year in which millions
have not been voted for the defence of England, and
if there has been any deficiency it has been ,in the
Ministers of England and not in the House of Com-
mons. (Cheers.) Upon that I pledge thyself. I
wish it to go forth to the world, and I assert it
distinctly, that throughout the time of the Reformed
House of Commons the protection of England has
been complete and generous, and upon no one occa-
sion can you lay at the door of the House of Com-
mons any unworthy parsimony. But we have come
to a great crisis. The House of Commons has now to
deal with parties who have long go{rerned this coun-
try. What I now say is not merely addressed to this
table, but upon the wings of the electric telegraph,
I may say, it will be spread all over the world. The
coming House of Commons is about to enter on a
crisis which has occupied the .2onsideration of Eng-
land for centuries past. Europe i now in the midst
of war, carried on against a Power which can do no
injury to England, however it may injure other
cuuntzies. We shall bo called upon in this
probably about the 7th of next month, to decide
nether or not the English Parliament will :put
faith in the present Government, or that which is
looming its the future. And s hat is looming in the
future ? It is that which I have seen during my
PoP.',,ical life, now extending over more than 2G
.r --earQ viz., combined with the most violent profes-
sions of public policy, of regard for the public in-
terest, the most intense consideration for private
emolument, which is held out for us in exchange
from the present Government ? (Loud cheers.)
I know well the meaning of that cheer from
my friend, who is a supporter of the present
Government, and who is. glad of anything which
may be saiA. in their support. But, here lam
perfectly neutral, and I asked myself—What am I
to do ? You have led me into this—l did not. wish
to speak to-night; but you have led me into these
matters. We have to choose upon the 7th of June
whether we shall have Lord' Palmerston or Lord
Derby for Prime Minister. That is the question
which the House of Commons will have to decide.
I see before me the members for Galway and.
Merthyr Tydvil, who will be found in the Opposi-
tion camp when that decision is come to. And I,
in what camp shall Ibe ? I shall be in the camp of
the people of England, and that camp I sincerely
believe to be opposed to Lord Palmerston. (Cheers
and cries of Bravo !) Oh, there is no " bravo" in
it. (A laugh.) It is a miserable contingency
—it is like the war in Italy—whichever side is
uppermost mischief must come. (Cheers and
laughter.) What am Itodo ? lam a poor inde-
pendent member, and have to choose between one
side or the other, and I say that the least mischief
may come from not changing the Administration,
and, what is more, I believe that we shall succeed
in preventing that change. (Cheers.) I know
that there has been a combination, I know that
Cambridge-house has gone down to Pembroke-
lolge, and that the ladies have met. (A laugh.) I
know that peace has been made, but England has
been forgotten. The only consideration which is
regarded is that of the parties thernelves, but as an
independent member my consideration is England,
and for England's sake—l say for God's sake—
don't choose Lord Palmerston. . (Cheers,) I know
well what I shall encounter by saying this. I know
perfectly well there is no party so admirable in the
use of calumny as. the Whig party, and everything
that calumny can devise, or that lying can supply,
will be adopted by that party. (Cheers.) I full
well understand the case, and the words I am em-
ploying, and I believe that the result will be as I
now predict, that the House of Commons will not
change the present Administration against that
hurriel compact which is now pretended to be
made between Lord John Russell and Lord Pal-
merston. (Cheers.) Lord John Russell has in
time past so far demeaned himself as to take
advice from me, but upon the present occasion
he has carefully abstained from that course,
and not one word have I heard either from
him or his followers of the new compact made
at Cambridge-house. I have found that Lord
Palmerston is false and hollow, and that as to his
being a Liberal what his own Solicitor-general,
Mr. Stuart Wortley, said at the late West Riding
election, when some person called him a Liberal,
" Don't be too of sure that," applied to that noble lord.
(A laugh.) I was sure of it at once. lam now dis-
possessed of that belief, and lam convinced that the
great enemy of the Liberal party is now to be
found in Lord Palmerston, and upon that ground
I will oppose him. I have opposed him, and,, God
willing, we shall be successful. (Cheers.) Time
will show, it runs apace, and the 7th of June
will rapidly come, and then your friend and the
member for Merthyr Tydvil will have an
opportunity of showing what he thinks of
Lord Palmerston. He will then be enabled
to say whether he believes he is a Minister
who will properly conduct the affairs of England
to the interests of the county, and whether he
believes the combination between him and Lord J.
Russell is or is not a mere hollow truce, calcu-
lated to break up the power of England, and leave
us to the mercy of European despotism. Think
what would occur at the present moment. Europe
is at war, hostilities are raging in Italy, and if at
the present moment we get rid of Government
altogether, and have an interregnum, without any
power to govern or control this country, we should
be answerable, not only to the people of England of
the present, but to coming generations, for every
mischief that will follow. (Cheers.) My object is
to vindieate what I believe will be the course of the
House of Commons. I cannot believe that that
house will so far forget' its duty and forfeit its
power over the people of England as to return
into the councils for the Government of this coun-
try one so utterly inefficient as Lord Palmerston.
I was told by very high authority, before I left
London, that Lord John Russell and Lord Palmer-
ston had made up their differences, that Lord Palmer-
ston was to be Prime Minister, and that Lord John
Russell was to serve under him. In the present
condition of things I think that would be a great
mischief. Lord Palmerston's appearance as First
Minister of the Crown would be throughout the
whole Continent a torch of war. (Cheers and cries
of " Oh, oh.") War I object to, and I believe that
England cannot gain by going to war with any
Power on the Continent. Our great- interest is
peace. Let others tear themselves to pieces ; let
France and Austria fight as long as they please ;
but England to look on quietly if they wish to
destroy themselves, and should only be opposed to
any Power which may be thoroughly victorious.at
Suppose Austria was to be the conqueror, what
would be the result ? Why, that Italy would ever
be what she has been ever since the word began—
at the feet. of some other power. Look back either
be found the sign of any self-governflmoue
il'llit ishned iYn part
of into ancient or modern, Italy, and there waasinotatrot
of that country. Arts no doubt
otherwh
at side
wouldo f
middle ages. Italy was great,bgtraenadt, than ed
prevewonderfulnted
intellect of her people made
Take
the picture. Suppose France
united action and govt rnment:N
her
victorious,
and Savoy. I know that
you have ? You would have Frenchman governing
Etruria, Romagna, Naples,
Kossuth,' who has but one idea, says that the vic-
tory of Austria would be injurious to the other
nations of the world. But what have other nations
done for the world compared with that which Eng-
land has achieved ? England is now at the very
apex of civilisation—she is the torch of liberty.
All that is great and liberal in the government of
mankind has emanated from England, snd I cannot
but think that the victory of France over Austria
would, by being detrimental to the interests of
England, be injurious to the best interests of the
world. I know that Kossuth with his wonderful

Mr. HOLME, Mayor of Pembroke, proposed " The
Directors of the South Wales Railway and the
Great Western Railway Company."
Mr. BRUCE, M.P., in responding to the toast.
took occasion to state that as the cost of the
docks at Pennar, to which reference had been made,
would be not less than £300,000, afforded a reason
for inducing the company to pause before incur-
ring that expenditure. There had existed great un-
certainty as to when the terminus of the line would.
be required to be made, and it would have been
extremely imprudent, without some immediate
prospect of return, to embark a large capital in such
an undertaking. He' was glad, however, now to
be in a position to state that the directors of the
South Wales Company had taken, if not a positive,
at least a preliminary resohttion, with respect to
the policy of when the docks should be made.
(Cheers.) It was hardly necessary to state that, in
the opinion of the directors the success of the South
Wales Railway depended upon the development of
the line west of Swansea. (Cheers.) He saw no rea-
son whatever why Milford Haven should not be a
great port, and great advantages would result to
the manufacturers and employers of labour in South
Wales if a more extensive communication existed
between, Ireland and that port. He was himself
an employer of about 7,000 men, many of whom
were Irishmen, and a great portion of whose
provisions and articles of consumption might be
beneficially obtained from Ireland. (Cheers.) Mr.
Roebuck, who was well known to be a true
son of Ishmael, whose hand was against every-
laugh)—had made some remarks of
' a personal nature respecting him, and to some
he felt it necessary to refer. Like Mr. Roebuck, he
could not look with satisfaction at the success of
either France or Austria in the present conflict on
the Continent. (Cheers.) That was not, however I
the question which they would have to decide.in
the House of Commons. That question would be
Whether or not the present Ministers were entitled
to the confidence of the country ? That was the
issue upon which Loid Derby and his Ministers
went to the country, and that was the one which
the new House of Commons would have to
decide. He had always considered that though
Lord Palmerston had many qualities worthy of
consideration, Yet that his foreign policy was
always dangerous and intermeddling. and in the
treatment of small States it was not unfrequently
unworthy and pusillanimous. Not that he thought
Lord Palmerston was wanting in courage, because
he could not but recollect that he was ready enough
to beard France in the Syrian affair in 1840. That
Lord Palmerston became Prime Minister was not
simply owing to the affair of Pacifico, but to his
overthrow of the Government of Lord Aberdeen ;
and Mr. Roebuck had more to do with putting
Lord Palmerston at the head of the Government
than anybody else, and upon that occasion he
voted with Mr. Roebuck. He was not a blind
admirer of Lord Palmerston. He believed him
to be deficient of that one quality to which he
(Mr. Bruce) attached the greatest importance,
viz., earnestness and sincerity of motive,
and he would only be found among the fol-
lowers of that noble lord when he found that the
course
ought ewh
to pursue. (Cheers.) He did notich he proposed was one which the
believewon ldb thee tlei
at t tohf
Lord
Palmerston, Government
about
and to b
thought e mfor e d
that
he would occupy a subordinate place in the Cabinet.
Lord Palmerston had, to a great extent by his own
acts, forfeited the confidence of the country. He
certainly had no unworthy hankering after Lord
Palmerston. The path of public men was frequently
very intricate, and it often involved the utmost
trouble and consideration to arrive at a conclusion
with respect to the proper course to be taken. Mr.
Roebuck and himself were arrayed. upon different
gsiidve,
esthbeu h
mt
be
ottrhusteerd the
editforceameptianigly
asprehseonntestwoaunldd
independent men. (Cheers.)
Mr. ROEBUCK, in explanation, said that he was
glad to find that, at least so far as the question of
having Lord Palmerston at the head of the Govern-
ment was concerned, there was identity of opinion
between his honourable friend and himself.
Several other toasts were proposed, and the meet-
ing broke up.

It is reported that M. Benedetti, Director of the
Political Department in the French Foreign-office, has been
appointed to an extraordinary mission to the German Con-
federation.

THE LATE FIRE IN LIME-STREET.—At the in-
quiry this day into the circumstances connected with the
late extensive fire in the city, the jury returned the follow-
ing verdict :—" That the fire was the result of accident, but
the jury are of opinion that the quantity cf inflammable
material was excessive, and highly dangerous to life and
property, and that such trade ought not to be carried on in
a populous locality like that of the city of London.
His Excellency the Danish Minister has left town
to pass a short period at the baths of Malvern, Worcester-
alnre.