23 NOVEMBER 1861, Page 2

The remaining speeches of the week have been of minor

importance. Mr. Layard, at Southwark, reviewed the Ses- sion, defended intervention in Mexico, declared that slavery was the true cause of the American civil war, and hinted that a Tory Ministry might be occasionally good for the country, just as a dinner or two on mutton would assist an alderman to relish his turtle. Mr. Layard should be a little more careful in dealing with similes. Does he mean to assert that a Whig Government is only a luxury and the Tory Ministry healthy food ? Mr. Beresford Hope has delivered a lecture denouncing the Northern States, which must have rejoiced the heart of Mr. Yancey, saddened by the revelation that he was not invited to Fishmongers' Hall except as the guest of a private member, and that the applause which greeted his address was dashed by a tumult of disapproval suppressed in the public reports. Mr. Hope declares that the South are fighting to release themselves from thraldom, that the slaves are better off than in Africa, and that the North is utterly demoralized. Mr. Hamilton, at Alford, said almost the same thing, and the Tory party may be considered pledged to a Southern bias, if not to a Southern policy.