The Sun.
London, England, 1859-06-01 00:00:00

THE.: SUN, LONDON, WIiDNESDAY EVENING, ,TITNE 1, 1859.

OPAL FREE HOSPITAL, Gray's-inn-road,
-1-1) The 7;IIIRTY FIRST ANNIVERSARY FESTIVAL
in aid of the fundsof this Hospital will take place at the
Albion Tavern, Aldersgate-street, at 6 o'clock, on WEDNES-
DAY, the Sth June. •

The Right Hon. the Earl of CARLISLE, K.G., in the Chair,

QT. GEORGE'S VOLUNTEER- RIFLE
CORPS.—To the Parishioners of St. George's, Hanover-
square, and others interested.—A MEETING will be held at
the HanoVer-square 'Rooms on SATURDAY EVENING
next. June 4, at eight o'clock precisely, to :take into cousider
ration the Formation of a Local Volunteer Rifle Corps—
Lieutenant-General Sir DE LAC.Y., EVANS, G.C.8., 31. P.,
in the Chair. .

fIONSERVATIVE • LAND SOCIETY.
kJ Investment of Savings and Capital for all Classes. The
rate of interest on completed Shares, and Shares paid a year
in advance and upwards is now Five per Cent. per annum.
The rate of interest on Deposits has been .raised: ftom Three
to Four per cent per annum. Prospectuses sent free.
- CHARLES LEWIS GIWNEISEN, Sec.
Offices, 23, Norfolk-street, Strand, W.C.

I[ETROPOLITAN, COUNTIES,- AND
GENERAL LIFE ASSURANCE SOCIETY,
27, Regent-street, Waterloo-place, LondOn, S.W.
Life Asturance, Anpnities, and Endowments.!i • •
. Loans on real and persOnal security. " •
F. FERGUSON CA3IROUX, Manager.

BANK OF DE-POSIT,
Established A.D.'1844,
3, PALL MALL EAST, LONDON.
Capital Stock, £lOO,OOO.
Parties desirous of investing money are requested to ex-
amine the Plan of the Bank of Deposit, by which a high rate
of interest may be obtained with ample security.
Deposits made by special agreement may be withdrawn
without notice.
The interest is payable in January and July,
PETER 31ORRISON, Managing Director.
Forms for opening accounts sent free on application.

LAS LIFEASSURANCE.
. Office—Plea-street London.
23d May. 1859.

the provisions of the Theed 'or Selflenient, A GEN RAE
MEETING of the Proprietors will be held at the Society's
Office, Fleet-street, London, on FRIDAY, the 24th day of
June next, at twelve o'clock at noon, precisely, to elect hive
Directors and Two Auditors, when those wilt, go out of office
by rotation will be proposed for re-election ; also to elect one
other Director, in lieu of William Vizard, Esquire, deceased,
who would have gone out.of office by rotation ; and one other
Director in lieu of Francis Smedley, Esq., deceased ; and for
general purposes.
The Director to be chosen in the room of Francis Smedley,
Esq., deceased, will remain in office until the 24th day of June,
1861, and the Director to be chosen in the room of William
Vizard, Esq., deceased, will remain in office until the 24th day
of June, 1863.

By order of the Directors,
WILLIAM SAMUEL DOWNES, Actuary.

EPSOM RACES.—The New Route from
Waterloo-bride Station to Epsom direct. Derby Day
(Wednesday), and Oaks Day (Friday). A Special Express
Train will leave Waterloo-bridge Station at 1'45 p.m. pre-
cisely each day, arriving at Epsom in time for the race.

BANQUET TO SIR J. TV. RAMSDEN AND

MR. F. CROSSLEY, AT LEEDS.

On Monday night a grand banquet was given in
the Victoria-hall of the Town-hall, Leeds, to Sir J.
W. Ramsden and Mr. Frank Crossley, members for
the West Riding, to ,celybrate their recent return to
Parliament; The magnificent hall was tastefully
decorated with flags and banners, and the chair-
man's seat was surmounted by a canopy, bearing a
scroll, on which was emblazoned the numbers Which
each of the members polled at the recent election—
" Ramsdell, 15,978 ; Cressicy, 15,401." About 600
gentlemen sat down to' dinner ; and the platform
was set apart for ladies, a number of-whom were
present after dinner. , Mr. H. S. Thompson pre-
sided.

The usual loyal and patriotic toasts having been
proposed and duly honoured,
The CHAIRMAN proposed " The Members for the
West Riding," and, in doing so, alluded to the gra-
tifying manner in which the Liberals of the West
Riding had worked together at the recent election.

The toast was 'drunk' most enthusiastically.
Sir J. RAMSDEN, M.P., on rising, was received
with prolonged cheering!, When it had subsided he
spoke as follows :—Gent,lernen, in acknowledging
the honour I have just• received at your hands—and
not merely the honour -'itself, but the most kind,
and cordial, and warm-hearted manner in which it
has been conferred—l have a higher duty to per-
form than merely to return formal thanks for the
conventional honour usual on such occasions as this.
For both the purpose for which we have met and
the time which has been most opportunely chosen
for assembling here render our meeting one of more
than ordinary interest to all, those whoni it con-
cerns. (Hear, hear.) • For we are met here not to
inteichange any niciirferslal compliments—not

advantage—but to rejoice in the triumph of those
great principles which form our bomd of union, and
also of strength, by enjoying those results of
unanimity and cordiality which have been alike the
cause and condition of our success. (Loud cheers.)
The time, too, at which we are *let enhances very
greatly the interest of this occasion to us. For the
last two months we have all been working together
in a common cause. While the election contest was
pending we all worked at that ; we thought of that
only, we heard of nothing but that, and it was the
only thing which engagsd every moment of our
attention. (Hear, hear.) While that was going on
our work lay together. Now that the victory is
won, the paths of our duty return to their original
course. You, gentlemen, are at liberty once more,
happy in the consciousness that you have tri-
umphed in the discharge of the highest duty which
citizens of this free country can be called upon to
perform. (Cheers.) You are at liberty once more
to return to your own private affairs. We, your
members, however, have before us a far less allur-
ing prospect. The completion of your work is but
the beginning of ours. The victory which you have
won only opens for us a new field of labour. Your
political duty relapses for a time with the conclu-
sion of the election, but the proclamation which
summons the new Parliament to meet to-morrow is
to us the synihol of renewed exertion, and of far
severer toil. (Cheers.) It is on this account that,
although this meeting is for a higher purpose than
any mere personal compliment, I feel that there is
peculiar kindness in that hospitality which unites
us here once more in the bonds of good fellowship,
to rejoice together over the results of our labour,
and to interchange assurances of mutual goodwill
once more, when our common labours are concluded
and our paths of duty about to diverge. (Cheers.)
The new Parliament meets at no ordinary juncture
—(hear, hear)—but in a great crisis of the destinies
of Europe. War has already broken out, and that
not an insignificant or distant war—not a mere
quarrelling of savage tribes-1-but a deliberate de-
claration of war between two of the greatest mili-
tary Powers of the Continent. The first and most
urgent duty, to my mind, which the new Parlia-
ment will have to consider is, what should be the
attitude which this country of ours shall assume to-
wards those belligerent Powers. Happily, however,
we do not approach the task unaided. The country
has already pronounced its judgment firmly and
unanimously. (Loud cheers.) And when, at an
earlier period of this evening, an hon. and gallant
friend of mine (Major Ward) laid down the wise
principle of dignified neutrality, I was rejoiced to
find that it was received with an echo which could ,
only have come from the bottom of all your hearts.
I believe that you will all agree with what was
truly said by my colleague at Wakefield, that Eng-
land distrusts the professions in favour of liberty
which fall from the mouths of despots. I believe
we all think, with him, that if they are so very
anxious about the cause of freedom, they might
find plenty of work to occupy their time without
passing the Alps. (Cheers.) This is a war in
which the sympathies of England are not engaged
on either side. If the Italian people, unaided
and relying on their own efforts alone, had
arisen in defence of their nationality—if they kad
risen to shake off the despotic yoke of Austria—
then the hearty goodwill of England would have
followed them into every battle. (Cheers.) But,
unhappily, that is not the case ; and I think that
we cannot but distrust the professions of freedom
which come from the lips of one who has risen and
now reigns upon the ruins of constitutional govern-
ment in his own country. (Cheers.) Englishmen
love freedom too well, and they understand its real
character too thoroughly, not to know that it
cannot be received as a boon from any foreign
Power. Those who wish to enjoy freedom must
win it for themselves. (Cheers.) But, gentlemen,
if despotic alliances neutralise our sympathy with
the cause of Sardinia, it is impossible that we can
feel one moment's sympathy for her opponents.
(Cheers.) Too long we have seen with sorrow the
grinding oppression to which the Austrian pro-
vinces of Italy have been made subject, and we have.
watched with even still stronger indignation the
machinations of that Power in support of the weaker
tyrannies of the Italian peninsula. Our abhorrence
has been excited by seeing those petty tyrants
waxing bold in the oppression of their subjects,
from the knowledge that every trick of their
tyranny will be supported, if need be, by Austrian
military force. We can have no sympathy with
Austria. (Loud and prolonged cheering.) Rumours
have been afloat that the Government of England
was disposed to support the power of Austria in
Italy. I do not believe these rumours. Ido not
myself agree either in the domestic or in the foreign
policy, as far as I am aware, of the present Ministers
of the Crown ; but for their private character I
have a high respect. I know, too, that, they are
Englishmen, that they have been born and bred
among us, and I.believe that on all great questions
such as this their sympathies rightly go with
their countrymen. (Hear, and cheers.) I say,
that to attempt to enlist the influence of Eng-
land on the side of Austria in this quarrel would be
a crime which would cause every man in England
to rise at once and hurl from power the Govern-
ment who dared to enlist our strength or our in-
fluence on the side of ty'ranny or wrong. (Cheers.)
But, gentlemen, I have not much fear of the course
we shall take in foreign affairs—the voice of the
country has spoken too strongly and too powerfully
for that. I think opposed as we are to her Majesty's
Ministers, we must give them all credit for that
wise and statesmanlike proclamation of neutrality
which they have put into her Majesty's mouth.
But there are other concerns nearer home, which,
though not so urgent, perhaps interest us quite as
much. Many of my friends whom I have met to-
day and on late occasions• have put to me this
question—" When you go back to London, what do
you mean to do with Lord Derby ?" (Laughter, and
a voice : " Upset him.") They remind me that the
Derby day is approaching very near—(laughter)—
and that is an occasion to which all Yorkshiremen
look forward for sport. (Laughter.) Well, gentle-
men, when the question is put to me, I can only
answer it by asking arother question, and that is,
Is the Liberal party in the House of Commons pre-
pared to follow the noble example which the West
Riding of Yorkshire has set ? (Loud cheers.) Is it
prepared to exhibit that entire unity of purpose to
which we have owed our success ? If it is, then I
have a very shrewd suspicion that not many days
will elapse before the same calamity will overtake
Lord Derby's Government in the House of Com-
mons which not long ago, befel his unhappy candi-
date on the hustings of the West Riding. Do not,
gentlemen, let us disguise from ourselves the weak-
ness and the difficulties of our position. I myself,
as a member of the Liberal party of the House of
Commons, have felt very strongly that the position
of that party, possessing 'as it lately did a ma-
jority of 100, and representing as it still does
the opinions of the country upon all domestic
questions, but yet leaving the Government of the
country in the ha.ids of a feeble minority, was a
shame and a discredit. Such a state of things cane
not but paralyse the action of any party, and must
throw uncertainty over every future movement. I
fear, therefore, that no prophet can foretel what will
be our course in the new Parliament, Every thing
that we hear is, I fear, mere
rumour. We hear
about amendments on the address, about votes of
censure on the dissolution, about exacting pledges

on reform; and about all the other various means of
ejecting a Government. But whether these are
true or not,
.I, for one, must confess I am utterly
unable to say. But there is one rumour which
am prepared to contradict on my own " authority.
It was stated a few days ago in some of the London
journals—and the statement derives authority and
importance from having been copied into the most
influential organ of Liberal opinion in this country
-=that the leaders of the Opposition had decided that
in the second Week of the session'a motion of want of
confidence in the Government was to be brought
forward, and that I had been selected ;to second
that motion. Who those so-called leaderS may be
who have done me the honour of bringing my name
so prominently forward I have not the slightest
notion. .I can say it has been done .without my
concurrence. No such proposal has ever been made
to me ; and if it were to be, I should feel it my
duty to decline it; and for this .reason I consider
that that member of the House of Commons who
takes upon himself to propose to Parliainent to dis-
miss a Ministry in order to justify such a course
should be able to assure the House of Commons'
that he sees his way to the foundation of • a more
lasting and stronger Government. (Hear.) Now,
gentlemen, I must say, and I assure you I say it
with the deepest regret, that in the present divided
state of our leader Ship, I do not see my way to any
such result. But, gentlemen, whatever doubts there
may be as regards the future course of the Liberal
party generally in the Commons, there is one thing
which I think we may safely predict, and that is,
that the Liberal members Whom the constituencies
of the West Riding have sent to represent them
'will all be found voting under the same victorious
banner which has beenhorne aloft in so many com-
bats. Out of .the 18 members which the West.
Riding sends to represent it, 1.4
,sit on the Liberal
side of-the Common's.- (Loud cheers.) ,Such a united
band is no small contingent to add to the great.
army of reform. (Cheers.) Gentlemen, allow me
once more to return you my most sincere thanks
for your kindness. Sir John resumed his seat amid
prolonged cheering.
Mr. F. CROSSLnY, M.P., in rising to respond to
the toast was received with loud cheers, He re-
membered, a long time ago, that his father gave his
sons some advice. He said, "If you would become
eminent manufacturers you must not go to too
much expense in the selling of your goods, and
fancying that because you have got a very able
representative, who can make the worse- argument
appear the better, and persuade people that they
are buying a first-class article when they are doing
no such thing; but you must endeavour to make
every piece of-goads that you manufacture into a
traveller and representative of itself. Youwill find
great economy by so doing. Let your, buying in,
your spinning, your dyeing, your weaving, and
your designing all be well done, so that every piece
of goods you send out shall make such an impres-
sion upon the person, not who buys only, but who
puts it into use, and who, when it is done, will ask
for another piece from the same maker who made
the former." . Well, when he (Mr. Crossley) was
asked to become a candidate for his native borough
of Halifax, he knew very well that he • had no
ability to stand before the constituency such as a
man from Oxford or Cambridge would have, but he
endeavoured to bring such capital to bear as he
knew that he possessed. Havins. taken the advice
which was given by his father, he thought that he
could not do better than to bring the same principles
to bear in politics which he brought to bear in
trade. (Cheers.) Therefore he determined that
when he came to give a vote, he would not con-
sider how it would please this person or the
other, or how it would please the popular taste ;
but he would consider all that could be said pro and
eon/with regard to the question at issue, and he
would give his vote according to the best of his
judgment. He would not willingly offend any
man's conscience, but he would rather offend a
thousand men's consciences than his own. (Cheers.)
He told the electors of Halifax that if they sent him
to Parliament, so unaccustomed was he to public
speaking—(loud laughter)—that he could not pro-
mise them that they should ever read a speech of
his in Parliament. But he told them this much,
that if he felt very strongly on any point, and
found nobody in the house that should get up to
express his opinion on that point, that he was very
much mistaken about his own moral courage if the
fear of man should prevent him from expressing
his opinion. (Cheers.) He had not been in the
House of Commons many days before this assertion
was put to the test. The Chancellor ofthe Exche-
quer brought forward his budget, in which he pro-
posed to redistribute the taxation of the coun-
try, by taking; the tax off malt and putting it on
horses. He rMr. Crossley) then got up to protest
against such a budget. (Hear.) And he put this
question to the Chancellor, " Upon what principle
can you defend a law which -will place an annual
tax of 10s. 6d. upon a draught horse which shall be
employed in taking coals from a coalpit to a mann-
factory, when, if the manufacturer sells the same
horse to a farmer or an agriculturist, who will em-
ploy the horse in fetching coals from the same pit,
and take them to his farm will have no tax what-
ever to pay ?" He asked him on what principle he
would defend a law which said that a barn might
be filled with wool or corn, or any kind of agricul-
tural produce, and that if the farmer wanted to in-
sure it he should have no tax whatever to pay for
doing so, but if that wool or corn were sold and
removed to a manufacturer's possession, he should
be charged with 3 per cent, as insurance duty ?
(Cheers.) But the Chancellor did not deign to answer
this question, for the best of all reasons, as he be-
lieved, because he could not. Well, by pursuing this
' course, as his majority over his Tory opponent in
the first election was only 4 five years afterwards
it was no less than 152 over the same Conserva-
tive gentleman. (Cheers.) Having tried this prin-
ciple of judging for himself on every occasion—
having tried it so long in business, having tried it
for seven years in Parliament as member for his
native borough, he intended to tty it for the West
Riding of Yorkshire. (Cheers.) Therefore he would
tell them on that, the first opportunity he had had
of doing so, that his votes would not at all times be
popular ones. He could not promise to bend his
opinion to the opinion of others. When he found a
large majority against him, he should do all he
could to sift the grounds on which he had leased
his opinion ; but, unless he could find something
,wrong in the conclusions he had come to, then, so
long as he had the honour of being their represen-
tative, he must vote according to his own consci-
ence. (Cheers.) There was one circumstance con-
nected with the recent election which gave him
very great encouragement, and that was the fact
that almost his entire majority was derived from
his own native parish of Halifax and the adjoining
polling district of Birstal, where he was educated.
He was quite aware that Keighley and many other
districts had done their duty nobly, but all their
strength had been revised to counterbalance the
majorities in the " Blue ' districts. It was very gra-
tifying to him to find that in his own district,
where he was well known, his majority was so large.
(Cheers.) Did Mr. Wortley suppose that the 13,000
votes which he had received represented the Tory-
ism in the West Riding ? No such thing. A large
proportion of those votes had been given under very
great pressure, not willingly. Ti' the persons who
gave them had voted aceoseling to their own consci-
ences, according to their convictions, by the ballot,
the 13,000 would have melted to a mush smaller
number. (Hear.) He then referred to Mr. Wortley's
•retiring address, and said that he (Mr. Crossley)
thought that the ejectors of the West Riding might
sleep as soundly in their beds at night with their
property entrusted to himself and his colleague
as if it were under the guardian care of their
-right hon. opponent, (Cheers.) He came now to
the point to which the chairman alluded enamely,
the union of parties, and the course which the
Liberal party were going to pursue in the House of
Commons. 'Why had they been so united in the
West Riding of Yorkshire is Because all shades of
Liberals, while they held their own opinion4isesba
had not wanted to thrust them down the shmats of
other people. (Cheers.) They had ibund that the
landed gentry of the Riding. were as much in favour
of supporting him as they were in supporting his
hon. colleague 1 awl when that was known threaigh-
out the manufacturing districts of the Riding, his
hon. colleague was supported with as much zeal as
-_,il T•sssserals were to succeed
he was. Well, then, if the
in the House of Commons, they-
must pursue a simi-
lar policy to that adapted in the West Riding. They
must
have a Ministry, not consisting of ono section
of Liberals only, with the others left out, but com-
bining all sections. (Cheers.) They had bought
some experience with the last rear or two. They
had been tempted into supporting, a Ministry who
promised that they would be as
good Liberals as
ourselves if we would only give them a trial. But
what had been the result? What kind of reward
had the Governraent given the Liberal members of
the House of Commons for keeping them in office
for the last l 2 months ? Why, for daring to vote
against a ,Reform Bill, which was the greatest
mockery ever brought into the House of Commons
to be called 4 Reform Bill, they had sent the mem-
bers to their constituents before they had been two
years there. He thought that although the Liberals