The Sun.
London, England, 1861-01-26 00:00:00

LORD OrE_RSTONII ON THE DEFENCE

OF THE COUNTRY.

NORTHAMPTON, FRIDAY.
Last evening a banquet was given at the George
Hotel, in this town, to Lieut.-Col. Lord Lindsay, as
captain of the Overstone Mounted Rifle Corps, by
the members of that corps, all of whom were pre-
sent in uniform. Ensign Northcotc presided, and
was supported on the right by the guest of the
evening. There were also on the right and left of
the chairman the Earl of Euston, Earl Spencer,
Lord Overstone, Mr. R. Knightley, M.P., Col. the
Hon. Charles Lindsay, &c.

The toast of " The tord Lieutenant of the County"
having been proposed,

Lord OVERSTONE, in the absence of the Marquis
of Exeter, responded. He said that one circum-
stance rendered that toast important that evening.
If that great emergency connected with which and
in preparation for which they had assembled toge-
ther and were banding themselves in the garb of
war should ever occur, the solidity and safety of
this country would depend upon their combination.
At the head of each county must necessarily stand
the Lord Lieutenant, and by drinking that toast
they were drinking health to him who would in
that emergency have the whole posse eomitatus
under his direction. (Cheers.)
At a later period of the evening,
The CHAIRMAN proposed " The Honorary Mem-
bers of the Corps," coupling with the toast the
name of Lord 0 verstone, who, he said, was the
decus et tutamen of their corps. (Loud cheers.)
Lord OVERSTONE, in responding to the toast, said
he had to ask them for a large share of their indul-
gence. They had come together in connexion with
two great considerations, both of which struck
deeply into his feelings. In the first place, they
were assembled to pay a well-deserved and a most
gratifying compliment to one in whose welfare,
character, and well-being he must necessarily feel
a deep interest. They were come together in con-
nexion with a great national movement, and for
the purpose of declaring their allegiance, separately
and collectively, to one of the noblest principles
which in his judgment could animate the breast of
man, or rouse him to great deeds, whether of sac-
rifice or exertion. He was speaking of the love of
their country. (Hear.) The noble lord then pro-
ceeded to allude to the relation in which he stood
to the gallant colonel, referring to his deeds at Alma
and at Inkerman. After bringing his remarks to a
close on this portion of the subject, the noble lord
spoke of the volunteer movement and the defence
of the country. He said—l should not have satis-
fied my own sense of duty, nor do I think that I
should have realised your reasonable expectations
from me, if before I sat down I d;d not make a few
remarks upon that other branch of the subject—the
great national movement with which this meeting is
so directly and intimately connected. No doubt,
while sitting at this table I have reflected upon what
topics I could most appropriately address you, and
I confess I feel myself bewildered and overwhelmed
with the variety and magnitude of the subjects that
suggest themselves. Would that I could rise to the
grandeur of this subject, or that I could give any-
thing like an adequate expression to the feelings
which animate my breast ! And in addressing you I
feel it to be my duty to occupy your time by alluding
to that great principle which lies at the bottom of
the whole of this subject—the love of our country.
(Cheers.) The rev. gentleman who returned thanks
on behalf of the clergy alluded to the great Roman
people—the greatest nation that has ever existed on
the face of the globe in all that concerns war or go
vernment. I therefore would allude to the great
Roman orator who, speaking in the midst of the
Roman forum, and supported by the applause of that
great Roman people around him, exclaimed, " Dear
to us are the relations and joys of private life, dear
to us are our wives, dearer to us are our children,
but all these endearments are concentrated and
intensified in one statement—the love of our coun-
try." Again, a historian of our own day, describ-
ing the condition of another country, which was
rapidly sinking into decay, explained it on the
simple principle that the love of country had
vanished, and with it had departed every security
for private happiness, for public prosperity, for
national safety, or for individual mutual respect.
But, gentlemen, I might go on and descant to you
on the intense form in which this noble principle
burns in the breasts of this nation. I might go on to
recount to you the grand, the sufficient, the over-
whelming reasons they have for entertaining
such a feeling. I might speak to you of great
historical associations, of all those deeds of virtue,
of sacrifice, and of energy, by which our ancestors
have piled up that great and noble inheritance
which we have received from them as a sacred
trust to be maintained and to be defended. I
might speak to you of the Constitution of this
country, under which we enjoy so large a share
of well regulated liberty and continual pros-
perity. I might speak to you of that Constitution
of which it has become even a trite saying that it
is the pride of England while it is the envy of the
world. It is a Constitution under which we enjoy
many blessings. It is the noblest work man has
ever effected, but if we are to look upon it in a
more humble but in a more reasonable manner, as a
blessing from Heaven, it is—and it is with reve-
rence 1 say it—the greatest blessing which God has
ever bestowed upon any nation of this earth.
(Cheers.) And gentlemen, remembering that I am
addressing myself to a body eminently connected
with agriculture, I would ask you to cast your eyes
over the fair face of that nature which surrounds
you. Look at it teeming with crops, the gifts of
Providence. For what have we co-operated to-
gether, with our capital, our intelligence, our in-
dustry, and with our hard and persevering labour ?
For what do we improve the cultivation of the soil ?
For what have wo collected together those large,

those immeasurable stores with which every suc-
ceeding autumn has decorated the face of our land,
filling our hearts with gladness, filling our garners
with plenty, and filling our thoughts with grati-
tude to the great GivLr of all Good? For what
have we effected these great results ? Is it that we
may see these fair fields trampled down by hostile
feet, and see these just and legitimate efforts of our
industry and our exertion wrenched from us by an
invading army ? But there are other considera-
tions which go more directly to our hearts. There
is in this country that visible emblem by which we
recognize all the blessings we enjoy—that revered
and beloved personality who sits on that throne
humbled
Are we :a s
degraded
and from it diffuses over her people the glorious
light of her constitutional government, kindled by
the genial light of her private virtue and domestic
worth.
presence
prepared
fsee
that throne rolled in the dust, and that beloved
Queen and
foreign enemy in Buckingham Palace ? (Loud
cheers, and cries of " Never.") Lastly, I might
speak to you of your own homes, of those homes of
purity and bliss, whose guardian angels are your
wives and daughters, and which are consecrated
by their virtue and:sympathy. (Cheers.) I leave
these considerations, however, to every man's
heart. And then I might go on to ask you to con-
sider what it is that the country has done in this
emergency, and in what way has she met the de-
mands upon her ? Slow, no doubt, we were to
recognise the undoubted fact that the protection
which we derived from the pre.stige and the influ-
ence of our power was owing to the remembrance
of our former great deeds by land and sea, and
which have been weakened by the lapse of time.
Slow were we to recognise the fact that such an
effect had been produced, and that the defences
which Providence bad long thrown around our
island had been materially weakened by the pro-
gress of science. But when once that conviction
pervaded the British mind, what was the result ?
Why, the fable of old was at once reduced to a
practical reality. We read of a hero of old vho
possessed the mysterious virtue of stamping upon
the ground, and armed men sprang up under his
foot. England stamped on the ground, and armed
men have indeed sprung up around her. (Loud
cheers.) Then we are led to consider what are the
true and real ingredients of this great national
enterprise, and what are the real secrets of the
national honour and safety. You may increase
your navy—you may undertake the gigantic task
of reconstructing the British navy, and you are
right in doing so. You may have a large area of
circumvallation, and you may plant batteries on
every weak point of your coast; you may augment
the artillery; and you may increase the weight of
their metal; but what are these if British hearts
are wanting ? (Loud and prolonged cheering.)
Where is your power without these ? Gentlemen,
without these you would be unprotected. Of what
use would be your fields without light and heat,
without that great beneficence—the sun—to warm
and rouse them to fertility ? Of no more use would
be all your fortifications and appliances, if you
had not British hearts. Gentlemen, permit me to
say—in no language of flattery, in no terms of
exaggeration, allow me to say to you, as the
representatives of the whole Volunteer move-
ment of this country, that in you I see
the two elements of a great State, and
the only certain secrets of national safety
and honour. Therefore I congratulate you, and I
congratulate the country, on the position in which
this movement now stands. It has removed a blot
from the character of this country; it has put an
end to those unmanly and discreditable panics of
which you have heard. It has restored the British
people to a manly sense of self-dignity and of re-
liance for safety upon nothing but the energies of
their own arms. This has produced a profound
sensation throughout the world, and has added to
the dignity of England and her just and useful in-
fluence over all nations of the world. Then there
remains but ono remark in conclusion. Persevere
in and consolidate this great movement. Remember
that the evil against which you have to guard is a
permanent and enduring danger. It is a danger
arising from the altered condition and circumstances
of the world in 'general, and the position of this
country in particular. Remember also that the
treasure which you have to guard is the glorious
Constitution of this country, and the moral influ-
ence of this country in upholding all that is Talu-
able to man throughout the world. It is, I trust,
enduring, and your efforts will be directed towards
preserving and maintaining it. (Cheers.) But,
gentlemen, it is said that we are now at peace, and
why should we decorate ourselves with the panoply
of war ? We are not at war, undoubtedly, but that
is all you can say. It suits the convenience or
policy of other countries at the present moment to
extend to us a friendly hand, and to do so with ap-
parent cordiality ; but there is an old saying,
" Trust not the Greeks even when they bring you
presents." Remember, if you wish to preserve peace
and all the blessings of peace, you can do it by no
other means than by showing at all times that you
are adequately and sufficiently prepared for war.
(Cheers.) This was repeated over and over again
as the very basis of the power, the safety, and the
greatness of the Roman people. I could multiply to
you references without end, but I would rather ex-
press that sentiment to you in the language of our
great writer, Shakspere, a man who seems to have
been imbued by a sort of inspiration from Heaven.
He knew all the secret springs of human con-
duct and the motive machinery of human actions.

It is remarkable that the words which I shall ask
the liberty of reading to you, and with which I
shall conclude my address, were put by that great
man in the mouth of the son of a King of France,
advising that King, his father, and urging and
stimulating the people of France, to take timely
precaution during a period of peaee to protect
themselves against the possibility of invasion by
England. It is a remarkable coincidence. Times
are changed, circumstances are changed, parties are
in different positions, but the principle is engraven
in the nature of the thing, and I address it to
you with the most earnest recomendation that
you attend to it and that you act by it. The pas-
sage is from " King Henry V." :

" In cases of defence, 't is beet to weigh
The enemy more mighty than he seems.
It is most meet we arm us 'gainst the foe;
For peace should not so dull a kingdom
(Though war nor no known quarrel were in question)
But that defences, musters, preparations,
Should be maintained, assembled, and collected,
As were a war in expectation."

The noble lord resumed his seat amid loud and
long prolonged cheering from all parts of the room.
Several local toasts followed.

Mrs. Osborne, the wife of a publican, W.al3,o3liecse:
terday fined 20s. by Mr. Henry, at Bow-
tree
court, for creating a disturbance in tne Strand Theatre on
the previous evening.
During the first years of life, the.ofituoidexspaabnodutnhde
over the solids, and the elemen.to which g
frame are received and approprzated very plentifully, while
a much smaller amount is exhaled. The stage of maturity
is that in which the balance is equal ; and this period is
supposed to include, at the outside, twenty years of human
life. Then begins the process of dying, as the philosophers
say ; or, as less learaed persons express it, we turn our
faces towards old age; or, according to the common figure
of speech, we begin to go down the hill. The age :of
forty-five is assigned for this change. How long is
that stage of decline, speaking accurately ? It
is so long that giddy readers may laugh at the mention of
it. To be tending towards death from five-and-forty seems
to them ridiculous. So it would be as a matter of senti-
ment, among people who think about death in such an ex-
aggerated way as we, of this age, do. But I am hero
speaking of the natural facts which bear upon the condition
of old age ; and that is nay concern with forty-five. In a
rough way, the physiological distribution of our life is set
down as including five-and-twenty of decline,landltwenty of
maturity between them. Thies makes up the three-score
years and ten which the Psalmist speaks of as the natural
duration of human life.—AfissAfartinealf in" Once a Week."

k
TA'Ord.:
_r. iy.Ause death has just keel/
nounced, was one of the very few members of Li:
House of Commons who had held an uninterrupted
possession of a seat in that assembly for 30 years.
He was first returned for the borough of Tiverton in
1831, and only retired from Parliament at the dis-
solution of 1859. For many years he was the col-
league of Lord Palmerston. Though not a frequent
speaker, and taking no very prominent part in de-
bate, few Parliamentary names were more familiar
to the public than that of Mr. Heathcot. But how
he obtained and continued to hold his position is not
so well known. He was one of those men of remark-
able constructive genius who, towards the end of
the last and in the early part of the present century'
by their inventivepowers so improved our machinery-
and increased its productiveness as to lay the foun-
dation, deep and strong, of our present manufacturing
greatness, with all its benefits to the labouring and
middle classes, and advantage to the nation at large.
John Heathcot was the son of a small farmer at
Long Whatton, in Leicestershire, where he was
born in 1784. He was apprenticed at an early age
to a frame-smith, named Samuel Caldwell, at
Hathern, a neighbouring village. During his
apprenticeship he acquired a complete practical
knowledge of the business, and of all the mechanism.
of the stocking frame, and warp machines. Some
part of the latter he improved by his own inven-
tion, when yet a boy. And it was by the applica-
tion of a clever apparatus to one of those machines,
whereby " mitts of a lacelike appearance were
produced, that his attention was first turned to
mechanical lace making. "Point net" lace had
been extensively wrought by machinery. This was
a looped mesh, and therefore slight and frail ; but
the attention of very ingenious mechanics had been
turned for some years to the question of making a
mesh or lace of threads twisted round each other in
the formation of the mesh. Hitherto the problem had
baffled all their endeavours, reducing all who made
them to poverty, and driving some to insanity. Mr.
Heathcoat after having served his term of appren-
ticeship, settled in Nottingham, and commeneed
business on his own account, as a " setter up" of
hosiery and warp frames, in the machine shop of
Mr. Leonard Elliott, in Broad-street. Elliott was
a man of superior mind and skill, and through him
young Heathcoat became acquinted with the san-
guine ideas then afloat in the proverbially ingeni-
ous mind of Nottingham mechanics. Among those
was how Buckingham or French lace could be me-
chanically produced, and to this he gave undivided
attention. Elliott described him to have had a
thorough practical knowledge of mechanical powers
and contrivances ; as inventive, persevering, un-
daunted by difficulty or mistakes, and consequent
temporary want of success; patient, self-denying,
and very taciturn, but having surprising confidence
that his application of mechanical principles would
be crowned eventually with success. His great
object was to construct a machine that should do
the work of the pillow, the multitude of pins, the
threads and bobbins, and the fingers, and to super-
sede them in the production of lace, as the stocking
loom had superseded the knitting needle. He first
ascertained by observation what pillow lace was,
and how it was made. Then, analysing the com-
ponent threads, and how they were each used in
forming the resulting tissue, he slowly arrived at
classification into longitudinal and diagonal. The
mass thus disentangled, he placed those used
lengthwise on a beam as warp. The remainder he
reserved as weft, each thread to be working sepa-
rately, and to be caused to twist round a warp
thread, and then to cross diagonally its appropriate
neighbour thread, and thus close the upper and

lower sides of the mesh. Then followed the me-
chanical arrangements to effect these operations
with certainty and speed. The bobbins to distri-
bute the thread, the carriages and grooves in
which they must run, their mode of twisting
round the warp and travelling from side to side of
the machine, and a view of the whole machine, as
invented by Mr. Heathcoat, caused the late M. I.
Brunel to declare that "it appears to me one of
the most complete mechanicial combinations, in
which the author displays uncommon powers of

invention. I cannot withhold the tribute due to
him for originality and ingenuity through all the
various combinations he has brought into action
for the purpose of accomplishing a texture which
had been attempted before, but to my know ledge
with no success." A patent taken out in 1808 by
Mr. Heathcoat for producing twist lace was on a
horizontal plan, and was well described as a. hori-
zontal pillow; but the experience gained in the
construction led to the machine patented in 1809,
to which the above remarks principally refer. That
of 1808 was at once thrown aside; and with his
usual tact he adhered only to the sound principle
of the first patent, while he effectually rectified the
modes of operation by his second. The principle
of both remains embodied in the bobbin net ma,,
chines of the present day, though with vast im-
provements—some effected by himself, and more
by others, to whom he was ever anxious to accord
their due meed of praise for the employment of
talents only second to those by which the original
machine was designed and executed.
This success was not without its cost, It was
gained by the employment of self-directed talents,
during hours of bodily and mental toil, added to the
necessary labours of the day, without external aid
or encouragement, and in the face of mechanical
difficulties in the progress of the work so great that
Mr. Heathcoat said, when describing in 1836 his
whole procedure in the affair, " the single difficulty
of getting the diagonal threads to twist in the allot-
ted space was so great that if now to be done I
should probably not attempt its accomplishment."
Moreover, domestic straits and no ordinary personal
and relative self-denial were cheerfully encountered
during this long outlay of time and money. But at
24 years of age Mr. Heathcoat stood the conscious
inventor of one of the most intricate pieces of ma-
chinery ever produced. And the solid reward of his
work followed quickly on his success. The first
square yard of plain net was cheaply sold from his
machine at £5; for 25 years the average price has
been sd. During the like period the average annual
returns of the trade have been at least £4,000,000
sterling, giving employment at fair wages to pro-
bably 150,000 workpeople.

In 1816 the factory at Loughborough in which
Mr. Heathcoat's business was carried on was
attacked by the Luddites and the lace frames de-
stroyed. This caused the removal of the manufacture
to Tiverton, where it restored the prosperity that
in addition to the great ad-
employment.
had been lost by the decay of the woollen trade.
The establishment of Mr.
left no
asnond_thheiisr
only
ylfasroen
diedabout 2,000 pedrshoinss.pFarto;
ner, Mr. Roden, employs
the benefit of this population schools have been
establisnhoendt,bacoocfiahttauhbraicehs
vantage of pr
slmaregeyears propertyt the
e responsibility and
Miss Heathcoat and Mrs. B ' have
long youth.rewin
wishes.
moted
phn
li‘ttomisyr many
long
in carrying out their father's benevolent views and
coat's grandson,ifeathca t Mari I.
H th
ea coat
Mr.
of managing the extensive business affairs of his late
grandfather, of whom he is the sole male repre-
Amoreym,
sentative. ndaHydt
ehwfaeotai
for some

THE SOUTHERN STATES OF AMERICA.—The for-
tifications on the southern coast are described as follows:
"There are along the coast of the Slave States, from Balti-
more to Barrataria Bay, Louisiana, 29 fortifications that
cost the Government 15,000,000 dollars. They contain
more than 3,000 cannon. This is a good out-
fit for the Southern Revolutionists, added to
their ample supply of small arms at the arsenals and
armories, which had an increase of 325,000 within 12
months. In addition there are incomplete works at Ship
Island, Mississippi River; Georgetown, South Carolina;
Typist) Islamic, Port. Royal Roads, South Carolina; Typee
Island, Savannah ; Galveston, Brazos, Santiago, and Mata-
gorda bay, Texas. The guns which were lately stopped at
Pittsburg were designed for those at Galveston and Ship
Island. Hampton Roads is the great naval depot station
and rendezvous of the Southern coasts, and the only good
roadstead on the:Atlantic south of the Delaware. Pensacola
is very strong, and the only good harbour for vessels of war,
and the only naval depot on the Gulf. The fortresses at
Key West and Tortugas, on the sounthern point of Florida,
are among the most powerful in the world ; and ever? v -
eel that crosses the gulf passes within eight of both."

11 OITA I, PRINCESS'S THEATRE.—
tamee and Manager, Mr. A. Harris.
THIS EVENING. the nerforrnances will commence with
THE CORSICAN BROTITERS. Messrs. Pechter, Harris,
Meadows, Mrs. Weston, and Miss Murray.
After which. a new Christmas comical pantomime, entitled
ROBINSON CRITSOE ; or, Harlequin Friday, and the King
of the Caribbe Islands : in which Monsieur Espinosa and
Millie. Marie Dumilatre, of the prpal cantinental theatres,
will appear. Clown, Mr. A. F. Forrest.

ripHEATRE - ROYAL LYCEUM
1_ Sole Lessee and Directress, Madame CELESTE.

-- --
THIS—EVENING, a new Drama, entitled THE IRISH
EMIGRANT. Messrs. G. Vining. J. Johnstone, T. Lyon.
Forrester, and John Drew; Miss Kate Saville, Miss Stuart,
and Mrs. J. Rouse.
Atter which, the Lyceum Christmas Comic Extravaganza,
CRYSTABELLE ; or, The Rose without a Thorn, showinfr
TILE VISIONI OF A ROSE. ITS FADING AT EVE,
AND THE MAY-BLOOM OF THE WILD BRIAR.
To conclude with MORE BLUNDERS THAN ONE.
Larry Hoolagan, Mr. John Drew.

A 'DELPHI, NEW THEATRE-ROYAL.
sole Proprietor and Manager, Mr. 14C131 Wi-bster.
THIS EVENING, AN UGLY CUSTOMER. Diessrs. J.
L. Toole, C. Selby, and Warde ; Miss K. Kelly, and Miss E.
Thorne.
After which, THE COLLEEN BAWN. D. Bondman, D.
Fisher, Billinc.loll. Falconer, Stephenson. C. J. Smith, Romer.
Miss Agnes Robertson, Miss Woolgar, Mrs. Billing-ton, and
Mrs. Chatterley.
To conclude with a new Burlesque Extravaganza. entitled
BLUE- BEARD FROI'd A NEW POINT OF HUE
Messrs. J. L. Toole, I'. Bedford. C. J. Smith ; Miss Woolgar,
K. Kelly, Laidlaw, and E. Thorne.
Door* oPen at half past B—Commence at 7.
Box-office open from 10 till 5.
No charge for booking.
Private boxes, £2 2e. ; Family Boxes, £l.
Orthestrs. Stalls. r‘.l. ; Balcony, 4s. ; Front Circle Stalls, lc ,•
pit stalls, 21.; Pity ls- 6d. ; Amphitheatre, is ; Gallery, 6d.
Acting Manager—Mr. Wm. Smith.

A STT,EY'S ROYAL AMPHITHEATRE.-
Proprietor and Manager. Mr. Wm. BATTY.
Immense success of the Pantomime.
Re-engagement of Mr. J. Crockett and the Trained Lions.
This Evening, a new spectacle, entitled THE LION
CONQUEROR; or, The Death Jungle, expressly for the
introduction of the Wonders of the World. " The Groupe
of Performing Lions." The Lion Conqueror, Mr. J. Crockett.
To be sncceeded by Scenes in the Arena, supported by
talented Parisian and British Artistes.
Conclnding, with Batty's Prize Equestian Comic Panto-
mime, for Good Little Boys and Girls, by T. L. Greenwood,
entitled HARLEQUIN AND THE WONDERFUL
"HORSE ; or. Percinet and Grociosa, the Ugly. Duchess and
the Greedy King. produced with Gorgeous Scenery. by Mr.
Cuthbert, new Costumes and Appointments, and introducing
in the comie scenes Batty's Prize Equestrian Hariequinade.
and the celebrated Old Bob Ridley, and Brandon Ledger.
Doors open at half-rant 6, pertormance commence at 7.

CANTERBURY-HALL PANTOMIME.
"TAE ENCHANTED HASH,"
EVERY EVENING.
ENTERTAINING PEOPLE.
Mr. MARSRALL and Mr. BELL.
GOOD TEOPLE.
Wildrose, 1 Fairies, with the usual accom- Mr. Marshall
Primrose, j plishments. 5 Mr. Bell.
COMMON PEOPLE.
Farmer Thickhead (a husbandman, with a Wife
and Child, who make a fool of him) Mr. Bell.
Giles Gosling, (the mysterious Orphan. who runs
after every Miss, and afterwards Fiarlequin)Mr. Marshall.
Dame Thickhead (who having worn out the
breeches. takes to Pantaloons) .Mr. Bell.
Dolly (the bell of the village, which Giles in-
tends to ring the—changes to Columbine)..Mr. Marshall.
BAD PEOPLE.
ITowleygrowley, Demons of the blackest dyel Mr. Marshall
Growleyhowley, 5 and brightest Magenta. j Mr. Bell.
COMIC PEOPLE.
Harlequin Mr. F. BELL.
Columbine
Clown Mr. E. MARSHALL.
Pantal00n.....
Scene, CANTERBURY (that's) HALL !—Time A.D. 1861, at
half-past nine.
Mr. B. A pack of nonsense!
want—
Mr.
Mr. M. What we
B. Pooh ! pooh 1
The idea ! a Pantomime played by two !

HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.
THIS DAY.—Morning, lh. 38m.—Afternoon, 2h. Om.
To-MORROW.-Morning, 2h. 24m.—Afternom, 2h. 46m.

THE WEATHER.—gulf OFFICE, JAN. 26, 1361.
TITFIBLOMETER, IN THE SHAM!.
53—highest since noon yesterday.
43—lowest this morning and during the night.
50—this day at noon.
BAnomETER-30.38, a rise of nearly half an inch.
; fresh, with very mild, fine sunshiny

weal her.

, •
• .nr,rwlrr
E-Zra,L, '

THE SUN.

LONDON, SATURDAY, JAN. 26, 1881

If Louis NAPOLEON expressed his real views,
as we doubt not he did when he declared that it
was the interest of France to have a weak Italy,
and not when he proclaimed that France was
desirous to have a strong ally in a United Italy, he
could not have planned more wisely for French
ambition than when he proposed his famous Italian
Confederation. The Swiss cantons, probably owing
to their conscious weakness, have, indeed, kept '
pretty well together, though their affair of the
Sonderbund was a sharp one ; but at this moment
we see two of the largest federations in the world,
one in America and one in Europe, one based on
popular suffrage, the other on the monarchical
principle, both shaken to their foundations, and so
paralysed in credit that neither can borrow except
at usurious interest, while each is compelled to drop
its previous haughty or bullying tone towards
foreign countries. Confederations had need have,
like that of the Swiss, some very strong common
interest, if their religious or social differences are
considerable, to compel to mutual forbearance. The
American one will, apparently, never again be able
to re-combine the habits and requirements of per-
sonal slavery and personal freedom ; hence the
two classes of States are falling asunder
there ; and in Austria, the golden link of
the Crown is found insufficient to hold together
the thorough Constitutionalism and liberty of
Hungary with the Absolutism, and the political
slavery, which sits comfortably enough on the
soulless Germans. In the American case, demo-
cracy explodes the union, as volcanic matter from
below, which nothing can repress ; in Austria the
superincumbent weight of Absolutism forces the
several parts asunder, at the lines where they had
previously only touched.
For some time past, indeed, Austrian Absolutism
has been endea4vouring to lighten its weight on its
diverse provinces, seeing that they were upon the
'verge of being forced from under its pressure. But
the curse of Imperialism is its incapability of full and
frank surrender of what it ought never to have had,
rind which, if cordially surrendered at once, would
leave a hearty good-will behind, that would be a
Compensation ten times over for its securing sacri-
ficee,.. It makes a concession with reserves—these
'are soon detected, and make the concession odious
winks, for a time, at a little more being taken
then it surrendered; but forthwith taking the
alarm again, cries hold ! and arouses more ill-will
than below.

Every bystander can see, at the present moment,
that Austria might, by frankly accepting every
necessity of the case, have made herself a mighty
Power, heterogeneous as are the elements of which
oho would still be composed. The principal section

of the empire, Hungary and its affiliated pro-
vinces, offer an excellent basis of policy to a
monarch who could be content to govern the
free. She does not ask the repeal of the Prag-
matic Sanction, in virtue of which the House of
Lorraine-Hapsburg sits on the throne of Hun-
gary ; she appeals to the last laws legally rati-
fied by the last monarch of that house, who was
legally King of HUNGARY, and thus saves the
crown. Now, suppose the present possessor of
the crown to throw himself on the generosity of
the Hungarians, one of the most noble-minded
and generous races on earth—as the Hapsburgs
have so often found—suppose he had, without
reserve, confessed that, for the last twelve years,
things had all been going wrong—that he and
his Hungarians had been at cross purposes—that
he now dismissed for ever the counsellors who
had advised such courses—that he would be King
only of a thoroughly free Hungary—and that he
relied on them in return to give him their hearty
support in all projects which concerned the wel-
fare of the numerous States beneath his sway—

suppose he, a Hapsburg, could have thus given
his hand to Hungary, "and his heart in it,"
does any one doubt that he might, in a short twelve-
months, have been one of the strongest monarchs
in Europe ? He would, of course, have dealt in
like manner with all the nationalities ; and his
appeal would then have been—" Now, then, under
me and my successors, you will have liberties
worth fighting for—you can preserve them against
all the world—the Gallic coek, or the Russian bear,
or the Prussian eagle, or all together, by combining
your strength under my leadership. You, as con-
tiguous nations, will have in me an impartial
moderator when your claims seem to be in collision,
and a monarch anxious that the educational, social,
political, and commercial prosperity of each should
develope itself by the natural efforts of well-
directed freedom." Who, we say, can doubt what
would have been the response to such an appeal ?
Instead of this, what must the infatuated young
Hapsburg do, but promulgate at a moment like
this, the Manifesto, the principal points of which
were given us recently in a telegram, and which
we have entire to-day. A Manifesto which with
some smooth and plausible phraseology, practically
says to a great and determined nation, " I will be
your Master. Not legality, but the will of FRAN CIS
JOSEPH shall govern in Hungary. Illegally I can-
celled all your terms and as an arch Revolutionist
abolished all your institutions, older far, though
many of them were, than the Austrian empire
and the House of Hapsburg itself. I gave you
back a few of your municipal rights in the patent
of the 20th of October—but that you may see
that you receive even them by my will and plea-
sure, not one inch shall you go beyond. You pre-
tend that you have acted on the laws of 1848.
They are no laws to me—l abolished them—they
are gone—presume not to think of any law but my
Imperial will—or if you do !—"
Somewhat bland, indeed, in manner, is the openin g
of this foolish document ; he looks back with regret
to the time when, twelve years ago, the errors of
the well disposed, and the terrors of evil men, com-
pelled a settlement by the sword. He did not will
that this should form the basis of political institu-
tions. He must sustain the monarchy; but "we
have had above all the desire to re-establish, as
promptly and completely as possible, the political
institutions of this kingdom, rooted in the nation, to
which they are so dear ; and we found therein, at
the same time, for all our other peoples a
guarantee for the preparation and the re-establish-
ment of the constitutional regime. It was in
order to accomplish this work, that we pub-
lished our diploma of the 20th of October.
But peace, the compromise itself, and recon-
ciliation, demanded in return some goodwill and a
sincere concurrence, without arriere pensee and
without passionate excitement." He notes that
some scrupled to accept a re-establishment of the
Hungarian Constitution ; but he has considered
all that, and decided notwithstanding to confine
himself to municipal concessions; " and we were
persuaded that confidence begets confidence, and
that a frank and loyal initiative would ever find
just appreciation, real agreement, and sincere
assistance amongst a noble people, politically mature.
Our expectation has not been completely realised."
Of course not, and if the EMPEROR would ask the
reason why—a nursery line would answer the
question—

" Liars we can never trust ,"

and, not only did the diploma concede short mea.
sure, but it gave no guarantee whatever.

But mark how considerate were Count RECHBURG
and his master. "We observed," he says, " with
calmness and indulgence the first impulses of poli-
tical life, and attributed them to the agitated cur-
rent of the time, suppressed passions, and the
effervescence of long-suppressed political activity."
When, however, they began to elect condemned
patriots, to re-establish the National Guard, to get
rid of the subordinate German authorities, to
meddle with imposts and taxes—all this was, of
course, anarchy ; it might plead the laws of 1848,
but contravening the will of the EMPEROR was the
essence of anarchy.
The EMPEROR has therefore resolved firmly to
"oppose revolution (that is, revolution from abso-
lutism to law) with all his strength," and closes
his manifesto with a set of resolutions quite worthy
of him. All elections of banished patriots are
declared null and void, and all things done beyond
the license conferred by the diploma of the 23d of
October will be put down in the severest manner.
All these things are dictated, he graciously adds,
by the "Imperial solicitude for the general good of
our peoples !" It should have been for the gratifi-
cation of wilful, selfish, misguided ambition.
He has already a foretaste of what the issue
may be. Hungary is not in the mood to yield
law to imperial will, at least without compulsion
The General Assembly of the Comitat of Gran
has told him plainly that Hungary is distrustful ;
that his diploma is in violation of the Pragmatic
Sanction by which alone he can claim to be King
of HUNGARY ; that taxes are illegal if not sanc-
tioned by the Diet; and that guarantees are
demanded. Another comitat uses equally bold
language, and says in an address, in re•
ply to the manifesto--" The Comitat has not
transgressed and will not transgress the limits of
lawful rights. It will, however, preserve all its
ancient rights, and will maintain the laws of 1848
until the Diet shall have resolved upon a change in
the same. The Comitat is of opinion that without
the existence of an independent Hungarian Minis-
try, which was guaranteed by the laws of 1848,
Hungary cannot be- considered to be lawfully
governed. The Comitat will gladly submit to the
decision of such a ministry." It now remains to
be seen whether the EMPEROR will enter once more
into the struggle of—bayonets and Imperial revo-
lution versus law and historical institutions.

Lord OVERSTONE has been offering his tribute of
applause of the grand and patriotic Volunteer
movement. Nor can any one marvel at his doing
So. Apart from all the more generous motives
inciting
the citizens of this land, one and all, to
encourage, directly or indirectly, by greater or
lesser degree, this large hearted enterprize which