The Sun.
London, England, 1859-01-05 00:00:00

what quarter it may, I trust it will receive the cor-
dial and generous consideration of all independent
persons, both within and without the walls of Par-
liament. (Cheers.) And it will be to me the cause
of sincere satisfaction and heartfelt rejoicing it,
when I next have the pleasue of meeting you here,
a bill may have become an act of Parliament which
shall reflect credit on those who have passed it intc
law, which shall give contentment to a free and
enlightened people, and be the charter for a num-
ber of succeeding years of security to the institutions
of this country and the growing prosperity of the
crown and state. (Cheers.) A very few weeks
will involve my friend and rffself in the necessity
of entering into these details at length ; but these
great principles I know can be stated to any assem-
bly of Englishmen without interrupting for one
moment the harmony of the evening—(hear)—and
I sincerely trust they will go through both houses
of the legislature without interrupting the harmony
of the country, and contribute greatly to its future
prosperity. (Cheers.) If I look forward to the
coming year, the next subject of great interest that
presents itself to my mind is one which you may
probably have observed has occupied the attention
of the public prints, and also in the last session the
attention of the House of Commons—l mean the
state of the naval defences of the kingdom, in re-
gard to our petfectindependence from all possibility
of attack. I had the honour of being associated
with a number of distinguished men, in a commis-
sion which has been sitting during the autumn for
the purpose of investigating this subject. It has
occupied a great deal of my time, and no subject
has been more nearly pressed on my attention.
With regard to the foreign policy of this country,
I would express what I think ought to be, and
I hope will be, that policy. In ancient times the
sword manufacturers of Spain were wont to engrave
on their sabres, " Do not draw me without reason;
do not sheath me without honour." (Cheers.) I
participate not at all in any feelings of alarm, if
feelings of alarm have been excited by any of the
observations that have been made. I believe the
strength of this country can scarcely be exagge-
rated ; all that remains is, I think, that that
strength should be judiciously and carefully em-
ployed. A child with a deadly instrument may
overcome a giant who is careless of his fence. The
great Lord Chatham delivered his opinion on what
he called a magnanimous fear, which, he said, was
when men feared that the naval resources of this
country were left below, and inadequate to the de-
mands and honour of the country. We live in times

which ought to be most favourable to the country,
when the strength of the present year is super-
seded by some wonderful invention in the year fol-
lowing. But to what country should that be a
source of strength and power, but to this country,
whose mechanical enterprise, knowledge, and skill
are supreme among the nations of the earth ? I re-
collect in the year 1851, while the Great Exhibition
was going on in London, and we were celebrating
what we believed to be the triumphs of an enduring
peace, one day meeting with the late Lord Har-
dinge, who had just returned fresh from his victo-
ries in the Sutlej. He expressed his convictions as
to the military preparations of this country, and spoke
particularly of the neglect of the Minie rifle. That
was in 1851. By his exertions mainly the greatest
changes were made, and it was only in 1854 that
to the Minie rifle, under Providence, and by the
blessing of God on the heroic courage of your army,
you were enabled to hold your ground; it was to
that you were indebted for regaining Hindostan.
Look at the bearing of this on the question I have
just referred to. At this moment you have pro-
vided no efficient substitute for the navigation
laws and naval impressment, and I will venture to
say that those institutions are like the ancient
musket. They have had their day, and are gone
for ever, and the question we have to consider is
whether we will move with the times, and be equal
to any emergency that may arise. (Cheers.) I
believe the world has never seen the spectacle
which England would exhibit if any nation in the
world, presuming on our powerlessness, thought fit
to venture to insult us, but that is no reason why
we should not endeavour to use the great means in
our power to make those preparations which are
consistent with the honour and interest of our
country. (Hear.) I have spoken to you on the
coming year rather than on that which has gone,
for upon the narrowness of time I think we soon
forget the scenes we have traversed, and look for-
ward with particular interest to the scenes of the
future which lie unexplored before us. But before
I sit down let me pay a tribute to the memory of
1858. (Hear, hear.) In the first place, we have
seen that empire which a merchant's clerk acquired
for us, and which for a century was governed by
the wisdom and skill of British merchants, trans-
ferred to the rule of the Crown. Let us hope that
that change has been wisely made, and that it will
tend not only to our own advantage, but also to
the advancement and the elevation of those count-
less millions who are placed now under the sceptre
of our Queen. (Cheers.) The army and the navy
have both shown in that conflict that they are worthy
of the laurels they acquired in the previous cam•
paign ; and as they have not been divided
in glory so they have not been divided
in sacrifices; and while we, by their exer-
tions, have achieved those great results, they
have left on the soil of Hindostan the remains of
Havelock and Peel. There is another matter to which
I would refer—l mean the final settlement of the
conflict which for some time went on with regard
to the seat of the member for the City of London,
and which threatened at one time to involve a con-
troversy between the House of Commons and House
of Lords. We have succeeded in avoiding that diffi-
culty, and at the same time I think I express your
general sentiments when I say I trust you will agree
with the most religious of our classic poets, when
he says :
- - -

" We give religion its unbridled scope,
Nor judge by statutes the believers hope."
(Cheers.) There is another point of the last year to
which, with your permission, I will also advert. It
is always more agreeable to me to deal with great
public measures intended to result in practical be-
nefit than with those conflicts with regard to the
executive which necessarily arise. The entry, says
Lord Bacon, "of truth which comes peacefully is
better than that which cometh with obstinacy and
contention ;" but that is not the rule of public life
in England. Those who fill public situations in
England are compelled on occasions of great ma-
mentto determine what in their judgment the inte-
rest of the country requires, and to take the steps
which in their opinion appear conducive to those
ends. There were two such occasions in 1858. One
was confirmed by a majority of the House of Com-
mons, the other met with a fate more satisfactory
beyond doubt to those who resisted it than to those
who thought it their duty to bring it forward and
support it. The first oterthrew a Government, and
the second a Minister. It was my duty to support
them both, the one upsetting a Government which
sat on my side of the house, the other overthrowing
a Minister opposed to those with whom I usually
act. The right hon. gentleman made no further
allusion to the famous Ellenborough debate, and
resumed his seat amid loud applause.
METROPOLITAN FREE HOSPITAL, DEVONSHIRE-
SQUARE, CITY.—The aggregate number of patients relieved
during the week ending Jan. 1, was—Medical, 610 ; surgi-
cal, 304 ; total, 914, of which 280 were new cases.

GOVERNMENT EMIGRATION.—The Government
emigrant-ship Bee, 1,194 tons, Captain William Raisbeck,
which sailed from Liverpool on the 28th of June, in charge
of surgeon-superintendent William Gordon Gun, with 50
married couples, 121 single men, 114 single women, 41 boys
between the ages of 1 and 12, 41 girls between the same
ages, 3 male infants and 5 female, making a total of 425
souls, equal to 373 k statute adults, arrived at Adelaide,
South Australia, on the 9th of October. Five deaths (one
adult and four children) occurred during the voyage.
LORD CLYDE'S FATHER.—A Glasgow paper has
the following communication from a correspondent :—" I
observe in your paper of the 29th December the death of
Lord Clyde's father. He was an apprentice to an eminent
cabinet maker in Argyle-street of Glasgow towards the end
of last century. The gentleman to whom he was bound as
an apprentice having died in 1800, John M‘Liver became a
journeyman cabinet maker to his master's brother and suc-
cessor, whose extensive warehouses in Argyle-street were
destroyed by fire. A gentleman informed me that he re-
membered Colin M‘Liver perfectly well as being a black-
headed boy and very lively. He used to rim about the
workshops of [the above-mentioned cabinet-makers. John
M'Liver was a . steady, well-behaved workman, and in
point of intelligence was rather superior to the general run
of workmen. There is a gentleman in the city who was
getting instructions in cabinet-making, and is still alive,
who told me that he worked at the some bench as John
M'Liver. This gentleman lately wrote to the Isle of Mull
to make inquiry regarding' his old shopmate, 'and received
a letter from John himself expressing many thanks for his
kindness in inquiring after him. The same gentleman
was in Gibson's class in the Glasgow Grammar School
with Lord Clyde, then standing simply " Colin M•Liver"
upon the roll of the class. His schoolfellows, as is well
known, invited Lord Clyde to a class dinner when he was
in Glasgow, and his lordship attended, and spent a happy
evening with them. It is rather singular, but it has
never been explained, how Lord Clyde did not visit his
father in Mull, when he was so near his aged parent's place
of residence. It is said Lord Clyde had been in the practice
for many years of allowing his father an annuity of £3O,
which the old man said was quite sufficient to keep him
c mifortable, and more than he had been accustomed to
spend. Lord Clyde entered the army by the advice of his
mother's relations, who assisted him at that tinse. Mrs.
M'Liver's maiden name was Campbell," and Lord Clyde
assumed that name as being a more dignified military name
than ' M'Liver. " _ _ _

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