The Sun.
London, England, 1866-11-03 00:00:00

case there cannot be much of sentiment in it if he should
be called upon to part with his land at a fair price. I have
been charged very often—you know I have—with saying
very severe things of the English aristocracy. Now that
is not true in the sense in which it is imputed to me. I
have always said that there are many men in the English
aristocracy who would be noblemen in the sight of their
fellow men though they had no titles and no coronets.
There are men among them of as undoubted patriotism as
any man in this building or island ; and there are men
among them who, when they see a great public object is
to be served for the benefit of their fellow men, would
make just as great sacrifices as any one of us would be wil-
ling to do. lam of opinion, therefore—l may be altogether
mistaken, but I will not believe that I am until it is proved
—I am of opinion that if this question were discussed in
Parliament when next the Irish land question is there dis-
cussed, and if there were a general sentiment in the House
of Commons that some measure of the kind would be ad-
vantageous to Ireland, then I think that a commission so
appointed would find no difficulty whatever in discovering
noblemen and vary rich men in England, possessors of
great estates in Ireland, who would be willing to nego-
tiate for their transfer to the commission; and the com-
mission, by the process I have indicated, might transfer
them gradually, but steadily, to the tenant farmers of
this country. lam told that I have not been much in
Ireland, and that I do not know much of it. I
recollect a man in England, during the American war,
asking me a question about America, and when I
gave an answer that did not agree with his opinion,
he said, "I think you have never been in America,
have lyou 2" I said "No ;" and he said " I have
been there two or three times, and I know something
about it." He asked me if I thought the Yankees would
pay when they borrowed money to carry on the war. I
thought they would; but he thought that as I had not
been there and he had, his opinion was worth more than
mine. I said that I knew in England several people who
had been in England all their lives, and yet knew nothing
at all about England. (Laughter.) I am told that if I
were to live longer in Ireland among the people I should
hold different opinions from those which I now entertain ;
that I should think the small Church of a minority was the
honest thing in the face of the Church of the majority;
that it was not the fault of the landowners, but of the
tenants, that everything went wrong with the land;
and that I should find that the Government and the legis-
lation were mostly right, and the people mostly wrong.
Now, there are certain questions with regard to any country
which you may settle iu your own house, never having
seen that country, not even upon.a map. Thus you may
settle that that which is just is just everywhere, and that
men from those of the highest culture and of the most moral
capacity, whatever their race or colour, have implanted in
their heart by their Creator—wiser much than these men,
the knowledge of and the love for justice. (Loud cheers.) I
tell you that since the day when I sat beside O'Connell, nay,
at an earlier day, I had considered these questions of Ireland;
that in 1829 for several weeks in the autumn, and for several
weeks in the autumn of 1852, I came to Ireland expressly to
examine these questions by consultation with all classes of
the people, in every part of the island, and I will undertake
to say that I believe there is no other man in England who
had more fully studied the evidence given before the cele-
brated Devon Commission with regard to Ireland than I
had ; therefore I dare stand up before any Irishman or Eng-
lishman to discuss the Irish question. (Cheers.) I say
the plans and the theories and the legislation of my oppo-
nents on this matter have failed, deplorably, disastrously,
ignominiously—(cheers)—therefore I have a right now to
offer to-the people of Ireland, as I would to the people of
Great Britain and the Imperial Parliament, a new, a wise,
and a just policy for the people of this unfortunate coun-
try. I have attended great meetings iu England and Scot-
land during the last two months, and I think I am at
liberty to tender to you from those scores and hundreds
and thousands of men the hand of fellowship and good-
will. (Hear, hoar.) I wish I might be permitted when I
go back—and I think from this address lam permitted—
to say to my fellow-countrymen, that amidst all the fac-
tions by which Ireland has been torn, amidst, it may be,
the errors that have been committed, amidst passions that
have been excited, amidst hopes that have been blasted,
amidst the misery that has been endured, there is still in
this island, and amongst its people, a heart that can sym-
pathise with all those who turn to them with a fixed reso-
lution to judge them fairly and to do them justice. (Con-
tinued cheering.) Gentlemen, I have made my speech—l
have said my say—l have fulfilled my small mission, and
I thank you from my heart for the kindness with which
you have received me, and which I shall never forget ;
and as I have in past times felt an unquenchable sym-
pathy with the sufferings of your people, you may
rely upon it, if there be an Irish member to speak for Ire-
land, you will find me heartily at his side. (The hon.
gentleman concluded amidst loud cheers, having spoken a
little over an hour.)
Mr. Bright at once left the meeting for Kingstown, and
will return to England this day.

MISCELLANEOUS AMERICAN NEWS

Mrs. Elizabeth Cady Stanton has offered herself
to the electors of the Eighth Congressional District
of New York as a candidate for the coming Congress.
There is, it seems, nothing in the Federal Consti-
tution, or in any of the State Constitutions, which
says anything of the sex of a representative, and
as the district in which Mrs. Stanton appeals is a
somewhat Radical one, it is not at all impossible
that the Fortieth American Congress may be dis-
tinguished as the first representative body graced
by the presence of woman. In her address to the
electors this lady declares that she cannot represent
either party of the country. The Republicans,
whilst right on questions of personal rights, are, she
holds, narrow in their views of protection ; and the
Democrats, sound in their ideas of trade, hold views
-of " class and caste among men wholly at variance
with our free institutions, and fatal to a high civi-
lisation." Her " creed is free speech, free press,
free men, and free trade—the cardinal points of
" In view of the
factdem democracy." rh
aatc
tyh. ' Shefreedmen
fur
3,1 further
the
says,
South and the millions
of foreigners now crowding our western shores, most
of whom represent neither property, education, nor
civilisation, are all, in the progress of events, to be
enfranchised, the best interests of the nation demand
that we outweigh this incoming pauperism, igno-
rance, and degradation with the wealth, education,
and refinement of the women of the Republic."

Mr. Flint, to whom the fictitious despatch in the
Philadelphia Ledger was traced, was a war corres-
pondent for the Herald (New York) during the
late civil war, and was denounced at that time by
the Hon. Mr. Boutwell in the House of Represen-
tatives as a " rebel reporter." •

On the night of the 14th of Octiker and morning
of the 15th a terrible fire occurred in Quebec. It
began in a grocer's shop in St. Joseph-street.
The wind blew strongly from the east, and the
delay in getting out the fire brigade and pro-
curing a supply of water gave the fire great head-
way. The entire district west of Crown-street to
the St. Sauveur toll-gate, a distance of a mile, was
destroyed. Seventeen churches and convents and
2,000 houses were consumed, and 20,000 people
rendered homeless. The aggregate damage done is
estimated at from £500,000 to £606,000. Four
persons were -killed and several injured. The con-
flagration ceased at five o'clock in the afternoon,
nothing being left in the burnt district to feed the
flames. A public meeting has been called in Quebec

to raise money to aid thesufferers.
Great efforts have for some time been made to
introduce the growing of flax and the manufacture
of linen on an extensive scale into the United States,
but as yet they have not succeeded very well. In
this particular the Zritish North American pro-
vinces are far in advance of the United States, as
they now have in successful operation several large
linen factories.
The, Philadelphia Inquirer gives this sample of
how the election was conducted in the Fourth Ward.
On the morning of the election, before the polls
were opened, a gentleman, appointed by the Court
one of the inspectors to conduct the election, accom-
panied by a clerk, presented himself at the Sixth
Precinct House, in the Fourth Ward, and, after
making known his business, asked to be admitted to
a seat in the room set apart for the election officers.
The Judge at once denied him admission, notwith-
standing that he presented the order of the Court.
The election officers _did not .pay the slightest atten-
tion to the order, and would not even glance at the
document. The thought immediately struck th(
inspector that those selected to conduct the election
in this precinct were unable to read, and for theit
information he volunteered to read the order to
them. This excited their indignation, and the in-
spector was forcibly ejected from the Precinct House.
He soon after waited on the Sheriff and informed
him of the disgraceful proceeding,
and of the re-
fusal of the election officers to countenance the
order of the Court. The Sheriff would not inter .
fere with the business of the Court, and consequently
the Sixth Precinct was left without an inspector.
Such is a sample of how the election was conducted
in the Fourth Ward.
The name of Illinois originated in the following
manner :---A party of Frenchmen set out upon an
exploring
expedition down the river, which they
afterward named,
providing themselves with bark