The Sun.
London, England, 1861-05-01 00:00:00

of Staleybridge, familiar to the readers of Coningsby.
To appreciate the excitement felt by the Boston
inhabitants in reference to Air. TRAIN'S appearance
there on Monday evening at the soiree of the Work-
ing Men's College, it is only necessary to note the
mention made as to that gentleman's movements, in
the reporter's remarks prefixed to the shorthand
record of the proceedings. When the tea and et
ceteras had been satisfactorily consumed, and all
traces of the repast cleared away, the company as-
sembled in the Exchange Hall having been by that
time augmented to an aggregate not far short of a
thousand—the reporter tells us " Mr. TRAIN and
other invited guests had not then arrived, but a
messenger shortly afterwards entered the room to
say that he and his lady had reached Boston by the
six o'clock train, and large posters were quickly
distributed throughout the town—, Mr, TRAIN h'
arrived !' " Two hours are allowed him, howrer,
for repose after the fatigues of his journey-during
which interval the inimitable humour't Boz is
whiling away the time delightfully. By the time
the reading of the Trial Scene
Mr. WELLER'S almost teed :dosed with old
lamentation
" SAmmY, he should ha' zo'ved a haliby"—the
speaking of the night bins at length; the Chair-
man addresses the aistiblY and, after the Chair-
man the senior NT
doer for Boston, Mr. STANILAND,
delivers an -is' ngue to some of the busiest
workers angst his industrious constituency.
E iipt the midst of that gentleman's speech
that occurs what may be termed of
sae " the incident" of the night—which we
must now give in the graphic words of the local
reporter :—" A long interruption here brought
the speaker to a stop, and, on turning to the door,
we perceived the Mayor leading in a most
charming lady, beautifully attired, and from the
fact of Mr. TRAIN following close behind, there
appeared no doubt that it was Mrs. TRAIN.
Cheers, loud and long, rang throughout the hall,
until the audience appeared almost exhausted
by their tumultuous plaudits. Mrs. TRAIN having
been duly introduced to the ladies on the plat-
form, and Mr. TRAIN to the gentlemen, something
like order was restored. All eyes were fixed upon
Mrs. TRAIN, and many compliments were passed
about the room upon the fair American beauty."
That—we take it—is what may be fairly termed a
sensation. That is certainly entering a crowded
room with something like "eclat." And we are
not in the least surprised, therefore, to read shortly
afterwards in the report that when Mr. G. 0. A.
HEAD—we beg his pardon, when Mr. G. F. TRAIN
rose to address the meeting "for some time the hall so
rang with the deafening plaudits of the assembled
audience that ho was unable to utter a word,"
until (as the reporter adds) " at length order being
restored, he proceeded." Although the " bright
particular star" of the evening was rather cruelly
introduced to the audience by the senior member
for Boston, Mr. STANILAND, with the remark that
now his friend TRAIN, " Special TRAIN," if he
might be allowed to call him so, had arrived,
" they might prepare themselves for a good
amount of amusement"—something like saying to
a Wit, " Now, Mr. So-and-so, be funny," and then
turning to the audience with " You are expected to
laugh !"—Although this rather unfair advantage of
a precipitate compliment was taken in reference
to Mr. TRAIN quite unwittingly, we are ready to
believe, on the part of good-natured Mr.
STANILAND, the prediction of the latter
was certainly fulfilled to the very letter,
the working men of Boston did unquestionably
derive from Mr. TRAIN'S sparkling, earnest, poeti-
cal, and thoroughly idiomatic speech, no inconsi-
derable amount of merriment; Londoners as well as
Boston men can now turn to it, andread inn 71thIrr5

speech for themselves. And we promise them
leforehand that it will be found pleasant reading—
for the speaker is not only exceedingly clever,
and heart and soul in earnest, but he is
thoroughly and essentially " a character" to boot.
He talks among other things (it will be seen) of his
determination to become President of America be-
fore he has done with it. And really white one is
laughing under the influence of the mere rush of his
animal spirits, or what he himself terms " the
electricity of good nature,"—one can't help
recollecting the old adage about—" Many a
True Word being spoken in Jest." Presi-
dent or no President, there he is as he is—and, so
regarding him, one cannot also but recognise in
him, already, a happy result of the due admixture
of What he himself alludes to as " the three P's "
Patience, Perseverance, and Pluck

P DST-OFFICE SAVINGS BANK BILL:

The following protest against the third reading
of the Post-office Savings Bank Bill has been en-
tered upon the journals of the House of Lords by
Lord Monteagle
Dissentient—

" 1. Because it is inexpedient, without deliberation and
evidence,to transfer to the centralised authority of a revenue
department, already charp;ed with labo-ious and incompatible
duties, functions which have been hitherto performed by
independent trustees, acting gratuitously, freely appointed,
and who, by their administration of the savings banks
throughout the British empire, have conferred a signal
benefit on their country by encouraging habits of prudence,
industry, and forethought.

"2. Because such a transfer cannot bo made without
implying a mistrust in that system of self-government `to
which England owes so much prosperity and happiness, and
her charities and voluntary institutions so much of their
success, and whereby all classes of society, being united in
the discharge of their local functions, are trained in habits
of business and responsibility, and are thus fitted for the
fulfilment of other and more weighty dut4es.
" 3. Because this change is made without any clear and
distinct explanation of the proposed system, or any estimate
of its probable cost—a cost which, whether supplied by Par-
liamentary grant or by a deduction from the interest pay-
able on deposits, equally demands the most careful and
jealous attention.
"4. Because the proposed change is the less called for
when it appears that, under the existing local management,
the amount of deposits in savings banks and friendly socie-
ties has steadily augmented, and on the 28th of November,
1860, had reached the extraordinary sum of £43,298,320 ;
and that a further sum of £768,275 had been pledged by the
officers of the existing savings. banks as a security for their
faithful discharge of duty.
"5. Because the Legislature, in passing its earlier laws
for the regulation of savings banks, described the sole object
of those institutions to be 'the receipt of deposits for the
benefit of the depositors, and the accumulation of so much
of the interest as shall not be required by them ;' yet a
practice has subsequently been introduced, and largely ex-
tended, by which the funds of savings banks have frequently
been advanced to meet finencial difficu ties of the State, a
power being conferred on the Executive Government de.
scribed by high official authority as being ' larger and more
absolute than is required for the public service.
"6. Because these practices, condemned by high Parlia-
mentary and official authorities, are not only left uncor-
rected by the present bill, but aro liable to be more largely
and freely applied, by reason of the substitution of a re-
venue department for the more constitutional control of the
existing boards of trustees.

" 7. Because no provision is made under this bill for com-
pensation or reward to the paid officers of the existing sav-
ings banks, however long and painful their services, who
will be liable to be turned adrift and replaced by the nomi-
nees of tho Government.

Because the proposed system,brought altogether under
the central authority of a ravenue department, may, when
dealing with a capital of .V 2,298,320, facilitate and enccu-
rage the sale and purchase of public securities on account of
savings banks in a manner to influencounduly the value of
the Parliamentary stocks, and thus to affect injuriously
both public and private credit.
"9. Because, while it is not improbable that the agency
of the Money-order Depat tment of the Post-office may be
usefully employed in the mere remittance of the funds of
savings banks as between the local trustees and the Com-
missioners for the Reduction of the National Debt, no evi-
dence or authority has been produced to justify tho novel
and objectionable principle on which the• present bill is
founded,
II McninActo pr