The Sun.
London, England, 1861-09-26 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 26, 1861.

descanted, after his own fashion, upon the duties
evolving in session time upon the active member
of Parliament. "My hon. friend, Mr. HAMERSLEY
(who had proposed the toast for which Mr. HEN-
LEY was then offering his acknowledgments), was
not altogether mistaken," quoth Mr. HENLEY,
" when he said that those who in these days are
called upon to serve as members of Parliament have
no light task to perform. The careful considera-
tion of important questions, long-continued em-
ployment—generally for fully aiz months in the
year—is no light work; and I may fairly say that
those who try to make themselves acquainted with
only a moderate part of the business transacted in
the House of Commons have a very heavy work
thrown upon them." Has not the homely drudgery
incidental to the daily discharge of these fagging
duties devolved annually upon a working member of
Parliament been aptly and happily, and most
accurately, described by one of Mr. HENLEY'S own
colleagues, in the political poem of " St. Ste-
phens ?"
" Few, who at ease their members' speeches read,
Guess the hard life of members who succeed;
Pass by the waste of youthful golden days,

And the dread failure of the first essays—
Grant that the earlier steeps and sloughs are pest,
And Fame's broad highway stretches smooth at last;
Grant the success, and now behold the pains :
Eleven to three—Committee upon Drains I

From three to five—self-commune and a chop;
From five to dawn a bill to pass or stop;

Which, stopt or pass'd, leaves England much the same.
Alas for genius staked in such a game 1
When, as' the guerdon' in the grasp appears,

' Comes the blind Fury with the abhorred shears.' "

Yet, has the picture its bright gleams also, no less
than its dirk shadows—shadows half pathetic, half
ridiculous. " But I will add," says Mr. HENLEY him.
self, when commenting upon the drudgery of a mem-
ber during the actual sitting of Parliament—" that
when men have had the happiness, as we have, to be
freely returned by a great independent constituency
—when men have been sent by that constituency
unfettered by any pledges, but left alone to exercise
unfettered judgment, according to the utmost of
their ability, for the benefit of the whole country
—then I say that although these labours are, no
doubt, severe, they are much lighter than they
would other wise be. They are also lighter when
we come home again,
and receive from all classes
of the people—whether they agree or disagree
with us in Politics—that cordial welcome which
tells a man that so long as he holds the dish
even, and tries to do his duty to the best of his
ability, credit will be given to him for his exer-
tions, and he will receive the thanks of the com-
munity he is chosen to represent. It is these
things which make every man's duty, however
severe it may be, press lightly, and I trust the
time will never come when Englishmen will not
take a pride in so treating their representatives,
because I feel assured that so long as their repre-
sentatives are so treated constituencies at large
will be handsomely served, and the greatest possible
advantage will be derived by the whole country."
The truth is here hit very fairly and very pleasantly.
It squares the account between the representatives
and their constituents. And it is agreeable to hear
it put thus vividly before the whole nation by a
man of Mr. HENLEY'S standing and influence.

The Earl anciCountess of Scarborough have been
entertaining Colonel and Lady Caroline Towneley, Lord and
Lady Norreys, and a succession of visitors, at their seat in
Yorkshire.

The Earl and Countess of Aberdeen leave Scot-
land shortly, to pass the winter in Egypt.
The Countess Dowager of Claire has arrived at
the Queen's Hotel, Upper Norwood.
Viscount Sandon has left the Earl of Harrowby's
house in Grosvenor square, to join the family circle
visiting the Marquis and Marchioness of Exeter at
Burghley.

Viscount Chetwynd was married on Tuesday last,
at Withecombe Raleigh, in the county of Devon, to Miss
Hussey, of Lyme Regis.

Her Grace the Duchess Sotomeyer and family
have returned to Maurigy's Hotel, from Brighton.

The Marquis Arconati Visconte has left Maurigy'e
Hotel on a visit to the Marquis of Downshire, Dundrum,
county Down, Ireland.
Count Ravine and Chevalier Gattaro have left
the Brunswick Hotel, Jermyn-street, for Paris, en route
for Italy.

Mrs. Merrick Fowler and the Misses Merrick
Fowler have arrived at Thomas's Hotel, Berkeley•square,
from Norwood.

AN AGRICULTURAL PURSUIT.—Racing after a
pig with a greasy tail.—Punch.
THE GREAT EASTERN.--A letter from Cork
says :—" The arrival of this vessel within the harbour of
Queenstown has caused an extraordinary sensation among
the denizens of the beautiful city, and the river steamers
are crowded with eager excursionists, although as yet the
public, and even the representatives of the press, have been
rigorously excluded from going on board. This regulation
is no doubt necessary until the interior of the vessel has
been sufficiently repaired to enable visitors to enter with-
out inconvenience. An advertisement in' this morning's
local papers states that on and after Wednesday morning
the Great Eastern will be open for the reception of visitors,
between the hours of 9 a.m., and 5 p.m. ; and there is
little doubt that the permission will be availed of by Mi-
meos° numbers, especially as the charge of admission,
2s. sa. each person, is such as muse be considered exceed-
ingly moderate. It is understood that an excursion train
from Dublin will be given to enable the residents of the
metropolis to take advantage of an opportunity which may,
perhaps, never occur again in this country, of seeing this
noble ship. ThL Hon. Captain Carnegie, C. 8., chairman
of the Great Ship Company ; Mr. YatZs, the secretary, and
Mr. Searle, of the firm of Sabell and Searle, of Liverpool,
passenger agents, have been engaged on Saturday and to-
day inspecting the vessel in every department, and arrang-
ing with the passengers, who have got the option of being
refunded the passage-money or of being forwarded to their
destination by the Montreal Ocean Steamship Company's
steamer Noi wegian. A good many of the first .class pas-
sengers, who accepted the offer of the passage money being
refunded, left by the Niagara yesterday. On dit that
negotiations are on foot with the directors of a local com-
pany for the execution of the repairs required by the Great
Eastern. I was even informed this morning that a bar-
gain had been concluded for the sum of £3,000, but this I
have reason to believe is premature. It is, however, tol6-
rably certain, that some, if not all, of the repairs to the
Great Eastern will be executed in Cork, and, if so, we may
look forward to a prolonged stay of this magnificent steamer
within the precincts of Cork harbour,"

PORTSMOUTH, Wednesday:LlV e have had a con-
tinuation of hard gales from the westward, with heavy falls
of rain, and to-day violent rain squalls from the west. A
large number of merchant vessels have put in for shelter,
among which is the Lord Raglan, from London for Port
Phillip, which put back from the Caskets, her captain re-
porting a tremendous sea to be running in the Channel.
The seacoast barometers now (1 p.m.) stand at 29.28.
THE REC ENT GALE.—The gale of Monday was
experienced with great severity over a large part of Scot-
land, though fortunately in few instances attended with the
destruction of life or property. The rain was the heaviest
and most continuous that had fallen for several years, and
all the rivers and their banks were flooded to an extent
rarely witnessed. To the east of Dunfermline the railway line
was for about a mile laid under water, threatening even to
extinguish the fires of the engines. Many fields in hollow
situations were converted for the time into sheets of water,
but owing to the harvest being almost over even in the late
districts, there was little damage done to the crops. In
many cases trees and animals were carried down by the
suddenly swollen streams, and in some cases bridges were
considerably injured. At Dalkeith a boy was carried away
by the spate, and a man who endeavoured to rescue him
was also drowned.

THE CATTLE TRADE.—NEWCASTLE -ON - TYNE,
Sept. 24.—Trade was slow for all kinds of stock in this
market to-day, with a downward tendency. The number
of fat cattle at market was 1,013 ; store ditto, 118 ; sheep
and lambs, 8,450 ; pigs, 303 —Prices.—Beef, 5s 6d to 7s
9d per stone of 141 b.,, sinking the offal ; pork, 5s 6d to 7s
od per stone ; mutton, sid to 7d ; lamb, 6LI to 7(.1 per lb.,
sinking the offal. Derby, Sept. 24.—At this cattle market
to-day the supply of fat beasts was good, and the demand
was somewhat active at the extreme prices of last week.
There was a plentiful supply of sheep, which were taken off
at former currencies. Lambs 'vote a tolerable show, and the
demand ruled steady at late rates'. The supply of pigs was
rather limited, and the inquiry proved firm at full rates.
Prices.—Beef, 6d to 61; mutton, 7d to 71d ; lamb, 71d to
8d ; pork, 51d to 6d per lb. Calves sold steadily at 71d to
8d per lb.

CRYSTAL PALACE.— One Shilling Day, WedneE.
day, Sept. 25.—Admissions on payment, 6,060; ditto by
box% tickets, 990; t 9 ,l yieit9ro, 6,00,