28 JULY 1849, Page 6

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The Lord Mayor continues his splendid Mansionhouse hospitalities: on Wednesday he entertained a party of about a hundred and fifty gentlemen, many of them Irish Members of Parliament or gentlemen connected with Ireland, and some Radical or unclassified English Members. There were also some foreigners; in particular, Count Teleki and M. Pulszky. The toast of "Prosperity to Ireland" was proposed by the Lord Mayor in con- nexion with the health of "Mr. John Reynolds, M.P., the Lord Mayor elect of Dublin." In proposing it, the Lord Mayor alluded to the plan of a City colonization— He hoped it would not for one moment be supposed the Corporation had any other object in a probably still more intimate connexion with that country, than the happiness and welfare of Ireland. Their only desire was, to whatever extent they might become English or Scotch settlers, to cultivate a good understanding with the people of Ireland, to promote industry, to encourage employment, and on all occasions to give what in this country is called "a fair day's wages for a fair day's work," aud thus to secure the contentment, prosperity, and happiness of all classes of the community.

Mr. Reynolds duly acknowledged the toast; and passed to a hope ex- pressed by the Lord Mayor in proposing the health of the Queen, that her Majesty would meet a good reception in Ireland.

He felt that he could safely answer that this wish would be realized; for among all the faults charged to Irishmen, want of loyalty had never been one. He bought he might say that the visits of Sovereigns to his country had been "like angels' visits, few and far between." Without imputing to those Sovereigns who had visited them in former times many of the qualities of angels, he might with- out hazard of contradiction ascribe many of those attributes to our present gra- cious Sovereign. (Loud Cheers.) A very crowded meeting assembled on Monday, in the large room of the London Tavern, "for the purpose of expressing sympathy with that noble, maligned, and betrayed people, the Hungarians; also for vindicating the people of England from any participation in the sentiments expressed by a portion of the public press as to the subjection of Hungary by the Austrian and Russian armies." Among those who attended the meeting were, Lord Dudley Stuart, Lord Nugent, Sir De Lacy Evans, Sir William Clay, Sir Joshua Walmsley, Mr. Cobden, Mr. Mouchton Milnes, Mr. John Abel Smith, Mr. Scholefield, Sir Denham Norreys, Mr. Osborne, Colonel Salwey, and several other Members of the House of Commons, with a con- siderable number of Poles, Hungarians, Germans, and other foreigners.

Alderman Salomons took the chair; and opened the proceedings with a brief speech, setting forth the objects of the meeting.

It was not called for the purpose of upsetting thrones and exciting people, against their rulers, but to raise its voice on behalf of an independent nation which it was attempted to put down by the misrule and illegality of the posres! connected with her, and by the assistance of a barbarous foreign invader. They were there as freemen and Englishmen, as men of high feeling, and morality, and religion, to protest against that wholesale slaughter which they see going on in Europe; against the barnings, and firings, and floggings—ay, the floggings of females too. " It is our duty loudly to protest against these atrocities, and te put the pressure on our Government to induce them to interfere in such a manner as to put a stop to these outrages on religion, philanthropy, and humanity." (Cheers.)

Mr. G. W. Alexander, a member of the Peace Society, moved the first resolution,—namely,

" That this meeting, without compromising individual opinions on the subject of war, regard with sincere admiration, respectz and sympathy, the noble determinos tion of the Hungarian nation to maintain intact their just rights and the con- stitutional independence they have inherited from their fathers, against the ty- rannical encroachments of Austrian despotism."

Mr. Cobden came forward, amidst hearty cheering, to add his mite of sympathy to that which the meeting was prepared to express for the in. terests of Hungary; and he thought it right to explain what his sympathy was, and what his objects were in coming there.

If there was one principle which was more than another firmly implanted in his mind, and which he thought it for the interest of this country and of all coon. tries to recognize, it was the principle that separate and independent countries shall regulate their own affairs in the way that seems best to them, without interference from any foreign power whatever. "I make no exception to this rule. I include in it the right of the Romans. (Enthusiastic cheers, and "A cheer for .AfazziniP which was heartily responded to.) I include within the benefit of that principle the poorest, the humblest, the most degraded community ; for it is no answer to my principle to tell me that certain countries are not in a condition to govern themselves properly. The fact that wconntry is unable to govern itself properly, is no reason why you should go and govern it according to your notions of what is proper." If the question had remained one between Austria and Hungary, there would have been no occasion for any of them to be then present; for the Hungarians had twice driven the Austrian armies from their territories: to all intents and purposes they stand now in the position of an independent nation, and they have proved their power to maintain that independence against Austria. But his object in coming there was to protest against an armed intervention, as unjust, as iniquitous, and as infamous as ever was perpetrated ; to protest against the pouring down of the Russian hordes upon the plsins of Hungary: and he did this on the same principle that he would have protested, and that he should noir protest, against sending an army from England to fight on the other side.

But he should be asked, why assemble there, if they were unprepared to follow up the protest by armed interference? In the first place, because it is something to show to all the world that we as a free community abhor the conduct of Rus- sia; and to teach foreign despots that the preaching of a certain portion of the press misleads them if it leads them to rely on &al to despotism from any Minis- ter of any Government in this country. That is something. But there is more. "I belong to the Peace party, though I cannot claim for myself those views which my friend who preceded me has explained. I fear, however, if we test those views by the New Testament, he is right and I am wrong. Still we have not come here absolutely to commit ourselves to his opinions, but to raise the feeling of the Peace party of this country against this monstrous aggression; and, depend upon it, we can do that in a most effective manner." How would they do that ? He would tell them some things. He had many opportunities of knowing the state of Russia, having been there and gone behind the scenes. They would stop the supplies. Russia cannot carry on a two-years campaign without coming to West- ern Europe for a loan. She never has done so. She never moved an army of 30,000 men without subsidies from London or loans from Amsterdam. In 1829, when engaged in war with Turkey, after one campaign—though Turkey was prostrate, her fleet having been destroyed at Navarino—Russia was obliged to go to Hope of Amsterdam and get 40,000,000 florins to carry on the war for two years. In 1831 again, if it had not been for the assistance of Hope of Am- sterdam, Russia could not have carried on the nine-months war against the in- surgent Poles—that loan, he remembered, was called "the Pole-murdering loan." There is no one in their own country from whom they can borrow; there is cots citizen who can lend them a farthing. The rumours of the wealth of Russia ex- ist because their diplomatists, who are clever cunning men, invent falsehoods, which no one who knows the real condition of the country would believe for a moment They tell us that the Emperor has gold mines in Siberia, from which he can draw any possible amount of gold; and that is a story which is believed even by some gentlemen in Threadneedle Street. But be had been there, and knew the value of these mines; for he had made it his business to understand these things, and there were persons present who would know that he was speaking the truth. "I am anxious to bring out facts, not only for the present meeting, bnt facts which will be listened to far more elsewhere. I wish to show the monstrous delusion that prevails among the people of Western Europe with regard to the resources of that power. Russia does not work an ounce of gold herself, but receives a percentage upon the working of these mines by others. And the raising of this gold is not more profitable than other branches of industry. The Russian Government derive a revenue of 700,0001. from these mines, while they raise ten times as much upon the excise-duties upon spirits consumed by its wretched and degraded population. After the gold-mine delu- sion is dispelled, they tell you that the Emperor of Russia has a great amount of specie in the vaults of the fortress of St Petersburg. Yes, there is a reserve of specie there, precisely as we have a reserve of specie in the Bank of England; but it is a reserve of 14,000,0001. to meet a paper circulation of 40,000,0001. or 50,000,0001. And bear in mind, that the present paper money of Russia WO issued to redeem another paper money, which had been depreciated one third or one-fourth in value; the Government having withdrawn the depreciated paper at 100, paying off its notes at 3s. 4d., but under a solemn pledge that there should be a reserve of specie in St. Petersburg to pay these notes on demand when they are presented. Now the diplomatists and minions of Russia have spread this re- port among the easy and credulous, that because the Bank of Russia has 14,000,0001. or 15,000,000/. of specie on hand, the Russian mad= is a wealthy one. If it comes to a was Russia must either come for a foreign loan or rob the bank; and if the Emperor takes that money, he takes what no more belongs to him, and what he has no more right to take, than if the Chancellor of the Ex- chequer came down to Threadneedle Street and took the reserve out of the vaults there. . . . . Well now, I want to know, can't we, as a Peace party, do something to prevent Russia or Austria raising a loan in Western Europe again? The whole contest depends upon that. I have told you they cannot carry on a war without either robbing the bank of St. Petersburg or borrowing money abroad. . . . . These are my moral meana, by which I invite the Peace party to FA down this system of loaning. (Loud cheers.) Now will any one in the city of London dare to be a party to a loan to Russia, either directly or openly, or by agency and copartnership with any house in Amsterdam or Paris ? Will any one dare, I say, to come before the citizens of this free country and avow that he ha, lent. his money for the purpose of cutting the throats of the innocent _people Hungary I' (Loud cheers.) I have heard such a project talked of. But let t only assume a shape, and I promise you that we, the Peace party, will have such a meeting as has not yet been held in London, for the purpose of denouncing the blood-stained project—for the purpose of pointing the linger of acorn at the house et the individuals who would employ their money in such a manner—for the pur- pose of fixing an indelible stigma of infamy upon the men who would lend their money for such a vile, unchristian, and barbarous purpose. (Great cheering.) That is my moral force. As the Peace party throughout the country, we will raise a crusade against the credit of every Government that is carrying on an un- holy war." (Cheers.) Following ont the tactic thus laid down, Mr. Cobden wound up his speech with a renewed onslaught upon the credit of Russia in respect of its real material means and real political power. "Don't let any one talk of Russian resources. it is the poorest and most beggarly country in Europe. It has not a farthing. last year there was an immense deficit in its income as compared with its ex- seaditure, and during the present financial year it will be far worse. Russia a strong political power! why, there is not so gigantic a political imposture in all Romps. They talk sometimes as if England and Englishmen were afraid of Russia. Now I wish to disabuse all minds respecting my views on this subject. I do not come here to oppose the Russian advance into Hungary because I think that in any conceivable tarn of events Russia ever can be dangerous to the exist- ence or interests of England. If Russia should take a step that required England or any other great maritime power, like the United States, to attack that power, why we should fall like a thunderbolt upon her. You would in six months ample that empire up, or drive it into its own dreary fastnessee, as I now crumple up that piece of paper in my hand. (Tremendous cheers.) Russia a powerful country! I will tell you what she has. She has an army on paper without a commissariat, a navy without sailors, and a military chest without a farthing in it. (Great cheering.) Why, gentlemen, how long is it since we heard of the Russian invasion of Hungary—since we were told that the hordes of Russians were coming down like an avalanche of men upon the Hungarians, to exterminate them? It is four months ago; and where are they now? What progress have they made? I say nothing of the ultimate consequences of the ossian invasion. I do not shut my eyes to the peril that awaits the Hungarians. But if Russia had been like England, with its resources of wealth, and with the commissariat such as awaited English armies, they would have gone through Hungary from one end to the other. I do not speak of fighting the Hungarians, but merely of the difficulty of getting through the country; for every one knows that the difficulty that the Russians have to encounter is the difficulty of carrying supplies. What stops them is the want of a commissariat—the want of honesty on the part of those who are intrusted with it, the difficulty of the roads, and the danger of attack by a hostile population; and all this I trace to the undoubted poverty of the Russian Government. The Russian Government have been for the last four or five years engaged in making a railroad from Moscow to St. Peters- burg, a country as level as this table. I do not believe it is finished at this time; and they were obliged to go to a banker's quarterly to get the money to go on with it. Russia a strong, a powerful, and a rich country! don't believe any one who tells you so in future. reefer them to me." (Much laughter, and a voice- " Circassta! ") Mr. Osborne could not quite agree with "his honourable friend the Member for the West Riding of Yorkshire," in the reflection he threw upon the Minister for Foreign Affairs for his speech on Saturday—

Abetter speech, more just in its sentiments, and more noble in its aspirations, than the speech of Lord Palmerston, was never delivered. Again Mr. Osborne thought that Mr. Cobden, in exposing the weakness of Russia, had gone perhaps too far. "Forewarned is forearmed," and let them not lay it to their hearts that that great empire was not to be feared but despised. Let it not be forgotten that Russia had lately purchased 5,000,000L of Stock in this country.

Mr. Cobden rose to explain. Here was one of the great impostures of the Russian Government. It had not invested one farthing in the English Stock. That was a transaction performed by the Bank of St. Petersburg, in consequence of the exchanges having turned greatly in favour of Russia from the sudden and large demand for her corn from Western Europe. They having this sum, the Emperor by an ukase explained that this was an operation of the Bank alone; the Government had nothing to do with it. Mr. Osborne accepted the explanation of his honourable friend ; bat he asked the meeting, if they thought a power which felt no scruple in overwhelming Hun- gary would have any scruple in breaking faith with the public fundholder? It was his firm belief, that Russia, to prosecute her ambitious and despotic purposes, would make no scruple of robbing the bank. Let the meeting remember, that the whole theory of Russian war was to make the war support itself, as was said by Napoleon. Therefore, though he acknowledged that there was a great nucleus of truth in what had been said by his honourable friend, he would be sorry if any man in the meeting should go away with the impression that the monstrous Pan- slavonic empire was to be thoroughly despised.

Mr. Osborne then traversed the historic ground which he has gone over in his Parliamentary speeches; especially repeating his enthusiastic eulogies of Presi- dent Louis Kossuth. [At the mention of Kossuth's name, says the Times re- porter, the whole meeting rose and cheered vociferously; and a similar demon- stration occurred on a mention of General Bern's name.]

Lord John Russell's applying the term " insurrection " to the Hungarians was alluded to several times, and the allusion provoked expressions of vio- lent dislike: this showed itself especially during the speech of Lord Nugent.

Lord Nugent sketched the case of Hungary in a few words— Ile trusted and believed that the unfortunate phrase of the Premier concerning the troops of Russia—"lent to suppress an insurrection "—(Hisses)—he hoped those unhappy words were not used in a sense declaratory of disapprobation to- wards the Hungarian cause. He was bound to believe that a man, whose name would be immortal as long as England lasted—( Cries of" No, no!")—yes, the name of Russell—(Cries of "Ho is an impostor," and groans and hisses, and partial cheering)—and if not him, then the name of Lord William Russell—(A voice, .11e has not a drop of blood in his veins")—who was a martyr in the cause of nghteous insurrection—would live in the memories of his countrymen. But Lord Palmerston justified his descent from the great Sir William Temple in treating the cause of Hungary. (Cheers.) He was the most efficient member Of the Government, which lie rendered respectable. He wished he had been per- mitted to follow the impulse of his genius. (Cheers.)

Mr. Richard Taylor moved a re.solution condemning the Russian inter- vention as a violation of the law of nations, and as a step perilous to the Peace and freedom of Europe. Lord Dudley Stuart moved the following resolution- " That the immediate recognition of the Government de facto of the kingdom of Hungary, by this country, is no less demanded by considerations of justice and policy, and the commercial interests of the two states, than with a view of Putting a stop to the effusion of human blood, and of terminating the fearful atrocities which mark the progress of the Austro-Rassian armies." The resolutions were all unanimously adopted, and a petition to the House of Commons founded on them was agreed upon.

The Metropolitan Commissioners of Sewers, at a special Court held on Monday last, resumed the consideration of Mr. Phillips's grand tunnel scheme of drainage for the Metropolis, extending from Hammersmith to Plumstead Marshes. Voluminous written explanations were banded in. Ultimately, it was resolved that Mr. Phillips, Mr. Austin, and any other Proposer, should produce their plans and estimates, by that day four weeks; that each plan show all the works necessary for draining the whole area

mentioned in Mr. Phillips's report; and that the Court would, at an early day after receiving the plans, name the rersons to whom it would refer them for report.

At the Middlesex Sessions, on Saturday, Mr. Smith was indicted fix an assault on Mr. Paris. The fracas arose in a parish squabble, and the whole turned upon the legal definition of the word "gentleman." An act of Parliament directs that the Governors and Guardians of the Poor of the united parishes of St. Andrew Holborn and St. George the Martyr shall consist of "twenty-five gentlemen net carrying on any retail trade," and twenty-five tradesmen. In March last, Mr. Paris was elected as one of the "gentlemen." He is a brewer; but at the time of his election he had also a retail licence to sell beer at a public-house attached to the brewery. The Board of Governors took advantage of this to repudiate him as a colleague—he was a "tradesman," not a "gentleman." Mr. Paris having forced his way into the Board-room, Mr. Smith, one of the Governors, seized him by the collar and shook him: this was the assault. The counsel engaged argued the question as to whether Mr. Paris was a "gentleman" or not; and the Assist- ant Judge decided that, legally, he was not a "gentleman" while holding a retail licence; therefore he was not eligible to take his seat as a Governor, and the at- tempt to turn him out of the room was not an assault. The verdict accordingly was "Not guilty." A similar verdict was given in a second case, in which Mr. Thomas, another Governor, had violently taken a parish-book from Mr. Paris. The prosecutor having transferred his retail licence, has now become a "gentle- man "; and he expects the parish will shortly elect him as such, in the room of himself when he was not a "gentleman."

At the Thames Police-office, on Saturday, Mr. Miner, a baker of Shadwell, complained of a persecution got up against him by competing bakers. Mr. Nicer sells his bread at 5id. the four-pound loaf; the other bakers at dd. A man of questionable character took out a summons against Mr. Nicer for selling his bread under the legal weight, and Mr. Pelham made a speech to damage the cheap baker ; and though the summons was afterwards abandoned, the object of raising a prejudice against Mr. Miner had been effected. He declared on Satur- day, that he was anxious to most the charge got up by an organized trade oppo- sition; and he wished the Magistrate to compel the informer to go on with his case. Mr. Ingham said, he had no power to do that; but he regretted that his court had been used as an instrument to injure a tradesman. Subsequently, Mr. Pelham having made some remarks on the matter, admitting that Mr. Niner's weights and scales had been found correct, Mr. Ingham said his clients tbe bakers had better take care what they were about, or they would be indicted for a con- spiracy.

The people in the London Road, Southwark, were greatly excited and alarmed on Wednesday evening, by an accident which occurred there to the "Nassau balloon." The machine, under the guidance of Mr. Charles Green, ascended from Vauxhall Gardens; there were eleven persons in the car, four of them ladies. At first the balloon rose steadily, but presently it began to descend, swaying about; and when it arrived over the London Road, it was so near the earth that the car struck with great violence against the parapet of a house adjoining the former Catholic Chapel. The blow destroyed part of the parapet and a stack of china.. flies; and three persons were thrown from the car upon the roof of the house—. fortunately a flat one. These individuals do not seem to have been much hurt, as they immediately returned to Vauxhall. Relieved of their weight, the balk= reascended; and eventually it was safely landed in a field near Erith. Mr. Green imputes the accident to nothing peculiar in the state of the balloon at the time, but to unusual atmospherical influences.