The Sun.
London, England, 1868-06-08 00:00:00

LONDON, MONDAY, JUNE 8, 1868.

A Radical elector of Leicester has set an example
which will no doubt be speedily followed by many
who are similarly situated. He has written a letter,
in which he states that he has hitherto been one of
P. A. TAYLOR'S staunch supporters, and he feels it
would be unjust to a large number of Radical elec-
tors at Leicester—now the prosecution of Mr. EYRE
is brought to a close—if TAYLOR'S conduct were not
denounced to the utmost, and he expresses the
shame how a large number of Radical electors felt
in being represented, or ratlier misrepresented, by
such a man. Further on follows an intimation
that should he ever again thrust himself upon them
he would find a very large number of once
warm supporters converted into the bitterest ene-
mies. We are not at all surprised that
this should have been made, because it is
well known that the course pursued by the Jamaica
Committee has been one quite at variance with
the general feeling of the country. This writer
referred to declares that a moderate Conservative
would stand a very good chance of being returned
for Leicester, and this will " show the country
that such an abominable base, conspiracy will meet
its just reward." No doubt a good deal of dissension
has prevailed with one thing or another iu the
Radical camp, as it is pretty plainly hinted here;
but there will not be much chance of Mr. TAYLOR
again being elected, for he can find no one to vin-
dicate his cause or make his doings popular respect-
ing the prosecution of Mr. EYRE. Mr. MILL may
find a great difference in 'Westminster should he
present himself again as a candidate for the suf-
frages of the electors, and people naturally feel
indignant at being supposed to approve of or to
tolerate the unfair course here referred to. Be-
sides the mortification of their defeat, the Jamaica
Committee will have a good deal to endure of a
kind they were not prepared for, and far from
being hailed as the champions of the oppressed,
they will have to realise the fact that they are
themselves looked upon as persecutors. At any
rate, it is a bad bargain that they lave made,
and it is well that it should be so, because their
persistence in their ungracious task has been
un-English, and deserves censure. There was no
cause to be given for their preferring the
charge against NELSON and BRAND, but the
decision arrived at on that score virtually disposed
of the matter, and the renewal of their efforts by
the repeated trials of Mr. EYRE showed a spirit of
bitterness and intolerance in every respect most
objectionable. The time has not yet arrived when
a more direct manifestation can be made on the
subject„ but according to present appearances the
members of the Jamaica Committee will find them-
selves in the lurch when the dissolution takes place.
If they were to seek for oue thing more than
another which is unpopular it would most likely turn
out to be the sort of policy here made reference to.
Purporting to be liberal, it is really and truly the very
reverse, and while it claims vindicating the op-
pressed, it itself is open to the charge of being bur-
densome and irksome. It is to be hoped that there
may be one gain at least from all this, and that for
the future such a thing as the Jamaica Committee
may be unknown among us. The people of this
country have with their usual discernment fathomed
its meaning pretty truly, and its abettors and pro-
moters will long have cause to regret that they ever
lest the beaten track to take up with such a hobby.
Those who incur such responsibilities must take the
consequences of them, however, and few can pity
them when they reflect that the spirit of intole-
rance and the love of prejuiice have brought the
evil upon them.

The annual festival of the Newspaper Press Fund
has now become one of the recognised features of

the London season, and it usually numbers among
its guests and supporters a goodly cAnpany of dis-
tinguished names. On Saturday evening the ban-

quet was presided over by the Duke of CAMBRIDGE,
who showed that he knew how to value the pen as
well as the sword ; and among the company were
many members of both Houses, as well as men pro-
minent in art and literature, and belonging to the
Fourth Estate itself. The newspaper press indeed
stands in the gap between politics and literature.
It bridges over the gulf which at one time used to
divide the man of thought from the man of action, and
by partaking of the qualities of both it harmonises
and unites them to their mutual advantage. Politics
have grown more enlightened and more elevated,
literature has become more life-like and more
practical, as the press grows in importance, and as
the sense of its public services becomes more widely
recognised it is natural that greater interest should
be felt in the fortunes of its members. There
must always, in every profession, be cases of ex-
ceptional misfortune of premature decay, of
untimely death, and of other unavoidable
calamities, which not only reduce the members of
that profession from competence to poverty, but
leave their families dependent for aid, and, per-
haps, even for support, upon the kindness of others.
It has been felt that this ought not to be so fre-
quently the case, and a few persons connected with
the press, and interested in its welfare, have
organized a scheme by which men in their days of
success and prosperity may provide for the cloud
and the storm and those who are themselves raised
above the fear of want may assist their less fortu-
nate brethren. It is after the custom to speak of
the imprudence and extravagance of men of the
artistic professions, but those who censure them
forget that their incomes are extremely uncertain,
and that it is difficult for them to make an ade-
quate provision for the future. The dramatic pro-
fession has shown that there is no lack of prudence
amongst its members when once the way is opened
for them, and the success which has already at-
tended the early meetings of the Newspaper Press
Fund indicates, we may hope, its lasting and ex-
tended popularity.
The progress which it has already made is
most encouraging. The Chairman, in remarking
upon the utility of the institution, observed that
since its establishment in the year 1864 there have
been enrolled 280 members, one-fourth of them
being life members ; and up to the end of 1867
there was a sum of £4,000 invested in the funds,
while 25 grants, varying in amount from £lO to
£75 each, had been:made to members and their
families. This is a very good beginning for so
I young a society, and the festival of Saturday will
no doubt tend to raise it still further in the opinion
of the public by SLowing the light in which it is
regarded by men of weight aLd character. His
Royal Highness, the chairman, said that he hoped
his presence there would be taken as an indication
of the interest and sympathy felt by the profession
which be represented in the public press. Lord
HOUGHTON, the able and accomplished president of
the institution, to whose kindly services and unfail-
ing sympathy it owes so much,:observel that the
royal duke had been prompt to recognise
the importance of public opinion in this country.
When it was with a man he could do
everything, without it he could do nothing,