The Sun.
London, England, 1857-01-08 00:00:00

L FIDON, THURSDAY, JANUARY 8, lBf7

Never was there, perhaps, such another speech
delivered by a legislator, and a diplomatist, and
the recognised member of an administration, as
that which will be found given at full length in
another part of our impression of this evening—
the extraordinary oration, in the course of which
Sir ROBERT PEEL "astonished the natives" down at
Adderley Park, on Monday, with a comic account
of his late Russian Experiences. Dropping the "per-
haps," we may safely say—Never was there such a
Speech! Thelndiscreetest! Theleast Judicious! The
most Extravagant! Let it be remembered that when
Sir ROBERT PEEL speaks in public, he necessarily
speaks not merely as the Master of Drayton
Manor—not merely as the representative of the
borough of Tamworth in Parliament—he speaks
still more (so far as the mass of the community
are concerned) as the heir to the name, the fame,
and the fortunes of the greatest of all the great
English Statesmen of the last political generation.
Individually, moreover, whenever tha present Sir
R. PEEL speaks now in public, he speaks—through
the Press—as a member, as a subordinate mem-
ber, no doubt, but still as a member, of the exist-
ing Administration. Besides which, when the
subject of his remarks happens to be something
connected with the recent diplomatic mission to
the Court of the Russian AUTOCRAT—as it really
happened to be on Monday evening—the public
of course remembers at once, it cannot, in fact,
fail to remember, that the speaker actually took
part in that mission as an attaché in the suite of
Earl GRANVILLE, her Britannic MAJESTY'S Envoy
Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary.
Recollecting all which, what con, be thought of
an Oration upon " Moscow," suoh as that de-
livered on Monday last, at Adderley Park, by Sir
ROBERT PEEL, as Lord of Drayton Manor, as ex-
attaché, as M.P. for Tamworth, as a junior Lord
of the Admiralty, and, in the last-mentioned capa-
city by inference, as a Member of the PAL-
MERSTON Government ? An oration provoca-
tive of as much laughter almost as a regu

lar ADELPHI SCREAMER ! A Speech that Mr.
KEELEY naight have fathered ! A "Fast"
Speech—literally, a Speech that might have
fallen from the lips of that hypothetical personage
described by Boz i❑ his new tale of Little Dorrit,
as the gay Young BARNACLE, the light-in-hand

Young BARNACLE, the touch-and-go -Young BAR-
NACLE. Such a "Lecture upon Russia" as it was,
to be sure ! Fancy a rising politician, an embryo
statesman, a would-be diplomatist making an
audience fit to die a-laughing, with an account of
the extraordinary misaion, in the name and on be-

half of her MAJESTY, to the last great Muscovite
Coronation—the Coronation of ALEXANDER 11., as
the irresponsible ruler of 60 millions of the human

race ! Fancy his saying of the brother of the

newly-annointed SOVEREIGN--the Grand Duke
CONSTANTINE—that his affability is—"all soft
s3wder, you know !" And of a Russian officer
considerably less august ,in position than the

Grand Duke--One General SOUROCHOKOFF —as
having " robbed" him, or "fieeci" him, cr
" done" him, by exacting 1001. for the hire of

each of the four horses supplied for driving his
travelling carriage ! Fancy his describing the
_ _ _

Governor of Nishni as that " brick of a Governor"
—observing of him, " I never Raw such a brick

As the Governor was"—and adding,

" I never

saw a man with such a capacity for drinking
as this brick of a Governor !" Imagine

for a moment, the store of wisdom condensed into

an Oration, the most interesting part of which

was that in which Sir ROBERT described the

beauty and splendour of the Russian Regalia,

remarking with the zest of a Colonel BLOOD, and

an aimpst, außole smack of the lips—" I have

travelled a good deal, and seen many fine sights,
but I never saw anything like the splendid jewels
belonging to the sovereign aid people of that Court
and country. They are something beyond belief.
The crown exhibits a ruby such as was never seen
before ; the sceptre has the largest emerald in the
world ; the ball of state has an enormous sapphire ;
the Empress's beautiful crown of pearls contains
the largest pearl I ever saw ; and the effect produced
by this congregation of brilliants is something quite
magnilcent." Consider the exquisite propriety
of the allusions made by Sir R. PEEL a little
further on in this astonishing harangue, to Mon-
sieur le Comte DE MORNY, the uterine brother (as
he is said to be) and Envoy Extraordinary of his
Imperial Majesty NAPOLEON lll.—our Ally Sir
ROBERT describing the Comte DE MORNY as " a
spick and span man of ccnsiderable aplomb, and
one of the greatest speculators in the world, spe-
culating in everything, buying a lot of pictures to
sell again and make a profit of," and so forth !
Never was there such indiscretion, such impropriety,
such free-and-easy, provokingly good-natured, and
monstrously ill-advised impertinence ! About
the only good hit in the whole flippant Lecture
being the dry addition to the remark, " I arrived
within gunshot of that great fortress which Sir
CHARLES NAPIER did not take"—when some of
the audience hissed in the midst of the cheers and
laughter—" Some gentlemen express dissent from
what I state, but I believe it is strictly and literally
true"—at which, of bourse, there was more laugh-
ter. A wonderful speech it was altogether, as
any one may see by reading it, a speech the
principal characteristic of which was—to employ
the peculiar diction evidently familiar to Sir
ROBERT PEEL himself—decidedly " Cheek I" The
indiscreetest speech—the most injudicious--the
most preposterous !

" Let Glasgow flourish." The good old town
fully merits the prosperity which its shrewd and
clear-headed inhabitants have insured for them-
selves and the locality in which they reside. No
suitable improvement is neglected. The revenue
raised by the Corporation is, and has been, judi-
ciously applied, and the fruits thereof are enjoyed
by the residents, and may be witnessed by any
casual visitor.
But Glasgow is in debt. The Corporation pro
perty was not obtained without cost. The in-
terest on the present debt amounts,
in round terms, to 11,0001. per annum ;
there are also annuities payable to the
shareholders in the Glasgow and Gorbals Water
Companies, and interest to certain creditors of
the former, amounting to 31,0001. a year, and a
further sum of 700,0001. is about to be borrowed
for the purpose of establishing new water works,
which will render the supply of that all-important
article equal, if not superior, to that in any part
of the United Kingdom. These several liabilities
will in 1860 form a dead weight, amounting to
70,0001. a year, to be paid out of the Corporation
property. This property is ample for the pur-
pose ; indeed there is a large margin, which
places the value of the security beyond question ;
and there is, in addition, the authority of levying
unlimited rates on the inhabitants for purposes
sanctioned by the Legislature. There is, there-
fore, no difficulty in obtaining the requisite funds
for any improvement that may be required.
But the ratepayers are thinking men. They
witnessed an experiment tried on a small scale
many years ago in Guernsey, which was com-
pletely successful, and they see n• reason why it
may not be repeated in Glasgow with a similar
result. The necessity for further borrowing
would thus be averted. The magnificent works
constucted without the outlay of a single shilling,
and the existing debt eventually liquidated, so
that the 70,000/. a-year would eventually be
secured for the benefit of the city, in place of
being appropriated for annuitants and creditors,
They do not desire to have such a millstone about
their necks ; and seeing from the example of
Guernsey (repeated in Canada with a like result),
they have resolved to avoid it if possible.
A memorial has therefore been prepared for
presentation to the Corporation, pointing out the
great desideratum which may be accomplished, and
earnestly recommending that immediate measures
may be taken for issuing " Corporation money,"
which, by general agreement of the ratepayers,
shall be received in every transaction, and which
the Corporation are bound to accept for every
payment to which it is entitled. The notes thus
brought in are to be publicly cancelled, and thus
a certain proportion will every year be withdrawn
from circulation ; so that eventually none will
remain, and the rates may be greatly reduced or
altogether abolished, or, "if continued, like the
rent of the Guernsey market, applied to promote