The Sun.
London, England, 1868-11-21 00:00:00

LORD NAPIER OF MAGDALA.

Lord Napier of Magdala sent the following reply to the
gift of a gold sword conferred upon him by the Corpora-
tion of London. It was addressed to the Chamberlain
of London, who read it to the Common Council :
" I beg you to tell the Lord Mayor, aldermen, and
councillors of the City of London, and the citizens whom
they represent, once more on my behalf, that lam very
grateful for the generous way in which they have acknow-
ledged the services cf the troops under my command
and direction ; that I am very proud of the gift conferred
upon me in a manner which conveyed so much honour to
me and the force which I represent, and consummated this
day by you on behalf of the citizens of London. I trust
that this sword will long remain with my sons and their
descendants as a memorial of the way in which England's
citizens reward those whom they consider to have faith-
fully served their country, and prove an incentive to further
exertion. lam about to leave England, with a heart full
of grateful feelings for the cordial recognition by the
Queen and peorle of Great Britain of the success of the
expedition to Abyssinia. A deep sense of their approba-
tion expressed in the honours conferred upon me binds
me more closely, if possible, to devote my humble services
to our country whenever they may be required."

MR. WALTER ON THE MINORITY

CLA USE.

Mr. Walter, the principal proprietor of the Times, and
candidate in the Liberal interest for Berkshire, gave the
other day a long defence of the minority clause. Referring
to the list of members returned, he said that list
furnished, in his opinion, a very good illustration of the way
in which that much-abused provision in the Reform Bill—
the minority clause—was working. That clause applied,
among the English boroughs which had already chosen
their representatives, to the City of London, to Leeds,
Birmingham, and Manchester. In Birmingham the Liberal
party were so superior in numbers to their opponents that
they had no difficulty in securing the three seats. In spite,
therefore, of all the predictions and denunciations which
had been uttered with respect to it, the minority clause
had at all events done no harm to the good people of that
borough. In Manchester, a much larger constituency than
Birmingham, and decidedly Liberal, a Conservative was
returned at the head of the poll, two Liberals occupying
the second and third places, so that in that case it was dif-
ficut to say which of them was the minority member. In
the City of London three Liberal candidates were returned,
the numbers being very close for so large a constituency,
while Mr. Bell, the minority member, was only 85 behind
the lowest on the poll of his present colleagues in the
representation. Now those facts shelved, he could not
help thinking, pretty clearly that whatever might be the
abstract merits of the clause of which he was speaking—
into that point he would not enter—it had, at all events,
in practice inflicted no very great hardship on the towns
to which it had been applied.

MR. BRADLAUGH ON .FITS DEFEAT.

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The special parliamentary edition of the National
_Reformer, edited by Charles Bradlaugh, contains this
gentleman's opinions on the subject of his defeat :—" To
bear defeat is bitter, but I record defeat for the first time in
my life. To the 1,086 men of Northampton who have
been true to me to the last I tender my sincere thanks ;
as to the other 600 and odd, who, having pledged them-
selves to support me, gave way under the most extra-
ordinary pressure of social and clerical influence, Ido not
so much blame their conduct as I deplore their moral weak-
-71C83." Mr. Bradlaugh, like Mr. Bernal Osborne, is
comforted by the women. It seems that the
Northampton ladies have been moved to tears by
the rejected candidates:—" T desire, in conclusion, to
add my sincere and warn:est thanks to the hundreds of
poor men, non-electors, who have risked everything to
work with me and for me. Of the women who wept over
my defeat, my heart is at present too full to write. I
have been defeated, but without disgrace, either
to myself or to our cause." In another part of the
paper there is a description by Mr. Austin Holyoake
of a walk through the streets of Northampton :
" Across one street was supended the banner
presented by our good friends of Dlillwall ; and Gold-
street, one of the principal ones of the old part of the
town, exhibited, suspended from house to house, a really
imposing-looking banner, in green, mauve, and white, in-
scribed on one side Bradlaugh and the People's Rights,'
and ofi the other ' Welcome to Bradlaugh.' A little
further along, towards St. James's End, we came to a
corner public-house, and on looking up, much to our sur-
prise and gratification, we read as the new sign, ' The
Bradlaugh Arms.' I think the spirit of the town can no
further go."