The Sun.
London, England, 1859-09-03 00:00:00

THE CUTLERS' FEAST.

This annual celebration was held at Sheffield on
Thursday evening, under the presidency of Robert
Jackson, Esq., who has been re-elected Master
Cutler. Among the guests present were Lord
Milton, the Hon. H. Fitzwilliam, the Right Hon.
James Wilson, Sir LW. Ramsden, M.P., T. Bazley,
Esq.; M.P., Mr. Hadfield, M.P., &c. Mr. Roebuck
was not present.
After the loyal toasts, the Master Cutler proposed
" The Army and Navy," enforcing the necessity of
making ourselves secure in our national defences.
The healths of the noblemen residing, in the
neighbourhood were drunk, after which—
Mr. Alderman MATTHEWS said it had fallen to
his lot to propose " The Health of a worthy and
esteemed guest, the Right Hon. James Wilson."

(Cheers.)
The Right Hon. J. WILSON was received with
loud cheering. He said,—l am sure every gentle-
man will well understand what must be my feel-
ings, almost a stranger in your town, after yon
have received me in so kind and indulgent a man-
ner, to have to acknowledge it. I rise as well as I
am able. I assure you the observations of the gen-
tleman who proposed it, and the manner in which
you have received it, have made on me the deepest
impression, I say, without exaggeration, that I ever
experienced in my life—(loyd cheers)-7-the deepest
impression, not only from the kindness of your re-
ception, but from the grave and momentous sub-
jects to which reference has been made. lam sure
those gentlemen I now address will well under-
stand the hesitation which I must have felt in un-
dertaking those responsible duties to which I am
appointed in our Indian empire at such a time and
under such circumstances. I can assure you that
nothing but the deepest sense of duty could have
induced me to relinquish the position which by the
kindness of my countrymen I have enjoyed at home,
and undertake duties the most grave at a period so
extraordinary, attended by so much uncertainty of
success:. But when I saw the great efforts that had
been made by our countrymen—effortssuch as were
made by the officers and men of the 84th Regiment
already adverted to—the difficulties under which
Englishmen of every station were placed in India,
when it devolved upon them to make the utmost
efforts to save to this empire the brightest gem in the
British crown—it would have been selfish in me, if
those who were responsible for the government of
India thought I could be of use in that part of the
world, had I declined to place my humble
services at their disposal. (Cheers.) Ido not
wish to dwell on matters personal to my-
self. They are unworthy of this occasion. If a
man enters public life he must makeup his mind
to serve his country in any capacity, in the best
way he can. It is not for us to choose, but for the
public service to direct, and whatever capacity a
man can best serve his country there he can best
honour himself. (Cheers.) From the moment I
made up.my mind to accept that responsible duty-
I determined to make myself personally acquainted
with the trading and commercial connexions of
this country, with India. Gentlemen, finance is
not mere arithmetic. Finance is a great policy.
It lies at the bottom—at the root of government in
every country. Without sound finance no good
government is possible. Without sound policy no
sound finance is possible. Therefore, the first con-
clusion I arrived at was that I would devOte every
day I had in England to personally knowing and
understanding the commercial relationships of
England and India. (Cheers.) I have long held
the opinion, which cannot be strange to this com-:
pany or to Englishmen at large, that in the com-
mercial and fiscal policy of a nation are involved
the Jiappiness, prosperity, and welfare, not only of
the working classes, but of all classes. I have
ever been unable to distinguish between the in-
terests of the one and of the other. I have been
unable to see how in any capacity labour and
capital could be separated—how in any way the
workman and his employer, or those who are in-
debted to the employer for thAprofitable occupa-
tion of their capital, can have the slightest diver-
sity of interest. On the prosperity of each one,
rely upon it, depends that of all. On this broad
ground I have for many years advocated those
principles of free trade which fortunately have
at last come to be the acknowledged policy of this
country, not only, I may say, by the universal
assent of all parties, but even of those most
strongly opposed to it a few years ago. Now,
gentlemen, I know no principle that is good in
England which is not good also all over the world.
(Cheers.) There may, indeed, be very striking dis-
tinctions of race and nationality. There may be a
variety of reasons why the same principle should
be carried into operation in different ways, but a
sound principle here is a sound one everywhere.
I believe the principles by which the prosperity of
the people of England has been advanced are the
principles on which the welfare of any people in
any part of the world may be promoted. It has
been with that view that I have sought to under-
stand the commercial relations of the people of India
with this country. And lam proud to say one of
the first opportunities offered to me has been in a
visit to this town. You have a member who adds
this to his numerous good qualities, that he never
forgets the interests of Sheffield. Hardly was it
known ix the house that I had accepted an appoint-
ment to go out to India when your hon. member
applied to me to pay a visit to the manufacturers
of Sheffield. (Cheers.) I am deeply indebted to
the Master Cutler for the invitation to be present
on this occasion, because on no occasion could I
have had a better opportunity to visit your town.
,I have already heard to-night, in the toasts pro-
posed, the happy relations that subsist between
you and great numbers of the aristocracy in this
neighbourhood, and in every one of those names I
have been happy to recognise houses which have,
for the honour and industry of England, done all
in their power to promote the free trade policy.
They have known what a grace it lends to the pri-
vileges of their order to encourage the substantial
interests of labour and industry. And some of
, them have been the foremost in promoting those
measures which have given so great a development
to our commerce and industry. Perhaps you will
permit me to refer, in a few words, to the peculiar
circumstances of our Indian empire at present.
(Hear, hear.) One of your hon. members, whom I
regret not to see present, has distinguished him-
self, both in writing and speeches, by describ-
ing, in -very vivid language, what constitutes
' an English colony. He has painted in bright
colours the English colonist carrying with him the
habits, the notions, the institutions, and the reli-
g,ion of his country. That is not the case with our
Indian empire. We have had a committee sitting
on the subject of the colonization of India during
the last two sessions. They have just presented
their report, and they call attention to the distine-
' tion existing between India and our colonies.
There seems to be no chance of settling in the East
colonies in the ordinary sense of the term. We
find 'a religion there altogether different from our
own, laws unknown to us in England, and almost
antagonistic to our own; a dense population, ad-
mitting of little further increase, and working at a
low rate of wages inconsistent with the settlement
there of European labourers and artisans. But we
have an empire of not less than 200,000,000 people.
On England rests the responsibility of the well-
, being of that empire, and it is for us to say if we
will shrink from it. I will not now inquire as to
the wisdom of this acquisition. We have it, and
with it we have received a responsibility from
which we cannot shrink. It may be, in the hands
of Providence we are to be the instruments of
spreading a higher civilisation there. It may be
that we are to be the means of diffusing a better
religion than the races of India have before pos-
sessed. But, whatever the result, we are the rulers
of an empire of 200,000,000, and we cannot shrink
from the duty of doing the best in our power for
them. (Cheers.) That being the case, let us never
forget that the duty we owe to them is irrespective
o
the interests of the British empire. I believe the
twointerests, well understood, are identical, and
that to develope Indian interests will best promote
our own. Be that as it may, we have undertaken a
great duty, and that duty we must perform. It has
been well observed by Sir Sohn Lawrence, that
wherever Burin; the late mutiny, the power
of the British Government was withdrawn'
anarchy at once
prevailed. Village fought
against village. Old feuds, angry discussions
passions, Which had slept for many years,
again broke out. That proves what would be the
case if the ruling hand were withdrawn for one
hwahviechthhats a
moment, or if we slackened the discipline
been successfully exerted. Seeing we
duty to perform, it becomes us to take the most
enlighten ed view of it. Great discussions have
arisen in Ibis country as to the extent to which the
Government should interfere with the religions of
Indi t. I believe almost all right-minded men are
agreed that while it is our duty- to give unlimited
opportunities for the spread of the Christian reli-
gion, yet it -would be,heither wise nor prudent far
the Government as such to interfere with the reli-
gions of the people. (Cheers.) I believe that if
you have a great duty to perform in a country like
India, it would be best discharged by example, by
showing that -we have a religion higher and better
than theirs--(,cheers)—by impressing them with
proofs of the justice of our laws, by liberality in
our conduct towards them, by that intercourse
which may be ascribed to low motives, but perhaps
is one of the Mt-3t ,effective, consisting in a free ex-
change of our mutual commodities in;the operations
of commerce. Well, then, gentlemen, what we have
to look to is to develope the resources of India. No