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

has given to England, within a very few months, a
magnificent National Guard in the shape of an
army of from 150,000 to 200,000 Volunteer RIFLE-
MEN ; apart from all this, in Lord OVERSTONE'S in-
stance, here is precisely one of those men who have I
enough at stake to render them profoundly inte-
rested in observing the growth and develop-
ment of this noble rallying together of
armed Englishmen. No wonder the noble
lord, witnessing this extraordinary movement,
exults in :it. He has reasons enow for so doing.
And the Volunteer Movement, if it wins favour
from " all sorts of men "—from men like Lord
OVERSTONE it wins essentially and necessarily
" golden opinions" in abundance. It consequently
squares to a nicety with the general fitness of
things, when we find a millionaire like the JONES
LLOYD of old, the Baron OVERSTONE of now-a-days,
talking in the high-flown language of an elabo-
rated enthusiasm in favour of the continuous and
rapid multiplication of the rifle corps throughout
the United Kingdom. Such is really the gist of
the evidently very carefully prepared harangue
delivered by the noble and wealthy
lord (for surely we may accord to
his lordship some such double title as that, quite
as appropriately as when we refer to a military peer
as "noble and gallant," or to one of the law lords
as "noble and learned")—such is really the drift
of the whole oration delivered by the noble and
wealthy lord on Thursday evening down at
Northampton.
Lord OVERSTONE had there twice to respond
to toasts at the close of the banquet given
to Lieut.-Colonel Lord LINDSAY as Captain of
the Overstone Mounted Rifle Corps—a banquet
given to that noble and gallant officer by the mem-
bers of the corps itself. Upon the first of these two
occasions it was that Lord OVERSTONE, in
the absence of the Marquess of EXETER'
responded to the toast of the Lord-Lieutenant of
Northamptonshire. Observing that the circum-
stance rendering a toast of that particular charac-
ter one of especial importance, upon an occasion
like that which had brought them all to-
gether, was the consideration that, "If that great
emergency connected with which and in preparation
for which they had assembled together and were
banding themselves in the garb of war should ever
occur, the solidity and safety of this country would
depend upon their combination." Adding, that " 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 emer-
gency have the whole posse comitatus under his direc-
tion." It was afterwards, however, while acknowledg-
ing the toast—not quite the toast of the evening,
but certainly next to it in local importance—namely
that of the Honorary Members of the Corps," of
which corps, said the chairman of the occasion
(Ensign NORTHCOTE to wit), Lord OVERSTONE him-
self was essentially the decus et tutanem : it was
upon the occasion of responding to this compli-
mentary tribute, that the noble lord put forth all
his strength in eulogizing the movement which he
has certainly for one aided materially so far (and
with good reason as we have said) in develop-
ing. "Would," said the impassioned millionaire,
" Would that I could rise to the grandeur of this
subject, or that I could give anything like an ade-
quate expression to the feelings which animate my
heart !" Not by any means arrogating to himself,
however, any capacity whatever for doing so, rather
as might be surmised from this ejaculation, "quite
the contrary"—Lord OVERSTONE nevertheless
contrived to deliver himself of sentiments not in
any way at all unworthy of the subject, in words
that (but for the subject) might possibly have been
deemed to savour somewhat of extravagance. As
to the " style" of this harangue even, as to the
mere tone and manner of it, there was a signifi-
cance in the very formality of the exordium where
the speaker exclaimed, with manifestly well deli-
berated design, though apparently with a careless
by-the-way—" 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 coun-
try." Whereupon, the noble lord expatiating upon
that lofty theme, luxuriating in that "high argu-
ment" goes the length—a very considerable length
in these days when hon. gentlemen but seldom
indulge themselves and their auditors in the House
of Commons with those dear old familiar tags
from HORACE and VIRGIL, which were once
so frequently and so sonorously vouchsafed, to
Mr. Speaker and the Reporters—Lord OVERSTONE,
we say, went the length in his flowery comments
upon that great theme " the love of country,"
went the extreme length of carrying his hearers
away in imagination to the Roman Forum where
they might hearken to the echo of certain memo-
rable words spoken (upon that theme) more
than nineteen centuries ago by the master orator of
the then rulers of the world. For the benefit of the
country gentlemen of Northampton, however, the
noble lord echoed those words of CICERO in our Eng-
lish vernacular, exclaiming in a free translation
from TULLY—" 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 state-
ment—the love of our country." Mean-
ing here —as applied to his own
mounted riflemen of Northampton, and through
them to the rest of their fellows, to the number of
some 170,000, scattered over the United Kingdom
—Bravo to the British Volunteers ! A sentiment
in which, who will not join.? As who will refrain
from saying " ditto," not this time to Mr. BURKE,
but to Master SHAKSPEICE P—after glancing once
more at that well-timed quotation from " King
Henry the Fifth," with which it will be seen
that Lord OVERSTONE aptly closes his fervent and
patriotic address upon the subject of our National
Defences.

A Cabinet Council was held yesterday afternoon
at the official residence of the First Lord of the Treasury in
Downing-street. The members present were—Viscount
Palmerston, the Lord Chancellor, Earl Granville, the Duke
of Argyll, Sir G. Cornwall Lewis, Lord John Russell, the
Duke of Newcastle, Lord Herbert, Sir Charles Wood, the
Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Duke of Somerset, Right
Hon. C. P. Villiers, Sir George Grey, Lord Stanley of
A lderley, Right Hon. T. Milner Gibson, and the Right
Hon. E. Cardwell.

The Countess Amherst has arrived in. Grosvenor-
square, from Montreal, Sevenoaks.

Viscount Palmerston arrived in London yester-
day from Broadlands. Her ladyship add Viscountess
Jocelyn and family will not return to town until Monday.
Lord Campbell has returned to Stratheden House
from visiting her Majesty at Windsor Castle.

Lord and Lady Herbert of Lea have arrived at
their residence in Belgrave-square, from Wilton Houso,
near Salisbury.

Count Saucourt arrived at Albert-gate House
yesterday from visiting the Earl and Countess of Winehil-
sea, at Eastwell Park, Kent.

The Right lion. B. Disraeli and Mrs. Disraeli
have arrived at Grosvenor-gate from Windsor Castle,
where they have been on a visit to her Majesty and the
Prince Consort.

The Hon. Evelyn Ashley arrived in town yester-
day from visiting Viscount and Viscountess Palinerstcn,
at Broadlands.

Mr. R. Peel has left Farrance's Hotel for the
Deanery, Worcester, _

The Earl and Countess of Scarborough }lave left
town for the Bedford Hotel, Brighton,

• Mr. Cobden has returned to Paris f.,,:0m Algiers.
After waiting on the Emperor he will ts,roceed without
delay to England,