The Sun.
London, England, 1859-05-02 00:00:00

whether he was a Whig or a Tory. (Hear, hear.)
With regard to the navy itself, I hope that when-
ever I quit office I may be able to say that great
arm of our power has not suffered in my hands.
(Cheers.) I have no wish to pass a censure on those
who preceded us—l have been accused of wishing
to do it; but I have no wish to do it beyond that
point which strict fact and truth indicate. How-
ever, when I took office last year there were either
25 or 26 effective screw line-of-battle ships. That
was the lowest point to which the navy of England
had been reduced for a very long period. Well,
several were prepared to be launched last year ;
and you are all aware of the steps which the Go-
vernment have taken since that time. I need only
state I expect, by the end of the present financial
year, the number of effective line-of-battle ships will
be, if not quite, very nearly double what I found it
when I came into office. We have devoted the same
pains to other classes of our vessels of war. (Hear.)
If there be one feeling on the part of the Govern-
ment stronger than another—if there be one subject
to which they attach more interest than another, it
is that the navy of England should never be allowed
to fall into anything like weakness, but that that
great arm of our strength should be maintained '
in the highest possible state of efficiency. (Loud
cheers.) This is the principle upon which since
I have held my present office I have endea-
voured to act. (Hear, hear.) I shall continue
to act upon it as long as I remain at the Board
of Admiralty, and in all future duties which may
devolve upon me as a citizen of this great state,
whether those duties be of a public or a private cha-
racter, I trust I shall prove myself worthy of the
kindness and confidence which I have for so many
successive years received from you, my neighbours,
a kindness and confidence which I fully appreciate,
and which it shall ever be my anxious endeavour to
merit. The right hon. baronet resumed his seat
amid enthusiastic and long-continued cheering.
The proceedings then terminated.

IRELAND.

DUBLIN, SATURDAY EVENING.
DUBLIN UNIVERSITY.

The first election held in Ireland has been a tri-
umph for the Conservative party. Trinity College,
hitherto contested at, I believe, every general elec-
tion for the past quarter of a century, this day
returned her former excellent representatives—the
Attorney General and Mr. Lefroy—without a word
from the opposition. The second election, that in
progress for the metropolis, will also terminate in
the re-election of its late onservative representa-
tives, notwithstanding the exertions made by the
son of the late Chancellor Brady and his newly
arrived colleague—the rejected of Cork county—
Mr. Alex. M'Carthy. However, to retun to the
University.
After the usual formula had been gone through,
The Rev. Dr. Moore, senior fellow, proposed
Anthony Lefroy, Esq., and the Rev. Archdeacon
Goold seconded the nomination.

The Attorney General was proposed by the Rev.
Dr. Lloyd and seconded by the Rev. Sidney Smith.
No other candidate appearing, the Provost de-
clared Anthony Lefroy, Esq., and the Right Hon.
James Whiteside duly elected.
Mr. LEFROY returned thanks, and in the course
of his speech declared that he would continue to
give his cordial support to the Government of Lord
Derby. (Cheers.)
Mr. WHITESIDE then rose amidst loud cheers.
He had to thank the electors for again returning
him, and the reverend gentleman who had pro•
posed him. His reverend friend represented an
important body in the country, and he (Mr.
Whiteside) was, therefore, glad to have his recom-
mendation. The parochial system was one of the
oldest institutions in the State, and when the de-
mocratic babbler spoke of overthrowing it he little
considered the revolution such an act would pro-
duce : but he did not believe that those who spoke
in this fashion really intended to attempt what
they said—they only did so for political purposes.
Mr. Whiteside then contrasted the advantages of a
Government guided by public opinion with despotic
systems, and said that the latter had advantages,
as all power being centred in one man there was no
responsibility ; but in great emergencies the coun-
try of free institutions, like England, was the more
powerful. He had no fears for England in con-
nection with the threatened war. As had been
humorously said, " Let them keep their powder
dry." (Cheers.) Having given a humorous sketch
of the Italian complication, Mr. Whiteside went
on to refer to the question of Reform. What this
agitation would, end in he did not know, but he
would not wonder if it ended in Sir James Graham
swallowing the ballot and leading on a Radical
Cabinet. (Cheers and laughter.) What was the
condition of the late House of Commons ? They
had a Radical party, which he admired for its con-
sistency; a Conservative party that, thank God,
outnumbered it ; and a Peelite party, which he con-
sidered without power. What, then had they to look
forward to ? The Conservative party, he thought,
would become stronger; the Whig party would
become less; and he was bound to admit that
the Radical, party would become stronger.
Finally, the two great parties would stand in direct
contrast—one, the party of Conservatism ; the other
of revolution. What was the object of the Radicals ?
They wanted to concentrate all power in the House
of Commons, to make the Lords an appendage, and
the throne a brilliant ornament. (Cheers.) A monar-
chy could not subsist without the institutions that
gave it force, and to this all history bore proof. The
learned speaker next alluded to the topic of compe-
titive examinations, mad showed the anxiety of the
Cabinet to give this principle force. It had been
asked, what had the Government done besides for
Ireland ? -He pointed to the Galway packet station,
which brought trade to a part of the country which
had been too long neglected, and showed that an
English Government could rule all parts of a na-
tion with equal justice. (Cheers.) A cry, an election
cry, had been raised, and he was sorry to say it had
been got up at his expense—a jury-packing outcry.
And what did all this come from ? A thing that
gave him the deepest pain ; a conspiracy in which
he forebore to believe until the magistracy and the
gentry, by their representations, made it impossible
to avoid coming to the conclusion that rebellion was
contemplated. The Government then proceeded to
prosecute the members of this illegal organisation
in the most tender manner it could. Having stated
the constitution of the juries at Kerry, and the facts
well known in connection with the trials there, Mr.
Whiteside said he would let them into a secret. On
the first trial, after the jury was sworn, he was
touched on the shoulder and addressed by a person
who said "No verdict." Not being acquainted with
Kerry practicer he asked—how was that, and re-
ceived the same reply. The learned speaker then
discussed the opinions that had been expressed in
public relative to his conduct at the Kerry trials,
and, with his usual irony, raised much laughter at
their expense, ending by declaring that while he
was Attorney-General he would be active in defeat-
ing conspiracy against the law as well as conspiracy
against the Crown. The persons who had raised the
jury-packing outcry (continued Mr. Whiteside)
instead of being happy that the expiring rem-
nants of faction were being trampled out,
had taken the very opposite course. (The learned
gentleman then referred to the charge brought
against him in connection with the Belfast trial,
and explained the matter in precisely the same
manner as has been already done in these columns,
amid cheering.) Out of this circumstance, he said,
an attempt had been
.made to bring into conflict
with the Presbyterians of the north, whom he ad-
mired for their industry and loyalty; but he would
be the last person to offend that body, and no jury
would satisfy him better to try conspirators against
the laws than 12 Presbyterians—(cheers and
Kentish fire)—and no jury would satisfy the Ro-
man Catholics worse. (Cheers.) In allusion to
the passage in Mr. Brady's address which spoke of
tenant right, Mr. Whiteside said that he only
thought it would be considered miserable clap-trap
to catch, votes. He could have told the country
that a measure which cost him months of labour
had been printed, and was lying upon the table of
the House of Commons, and which he hoped would
do that justice to the tenant to which he admitted
he was entitled. (Hear, hear, and cheers.) In
going over the other points in Mr. Brady's address,
Mr. Whiteside came to that portion of it in which
the writer—the poor aspirant, as he called him—
spoke of the Established Church. The learned
speaker denounced Mr. Brady in powerful terms,
which were received with trewendous applause.
Was there, he continued, no nurse in the family to
whom Mr. Brady could pour out his eloquencep be-
fore committing himself before the public . The
next question touched upon in the address was
that of education, and he had ne hesitation in say-
ing that, in his opinion, before long the Refoymed
Church would be granted the privileges it claimed.
(Mr. Whiteside concluded his brilliant speech by
bidding the electors a respectful farewell.)
The proceedings then closed, the audience cheer-
ing loudly for Mr. Whiteside':