Van

MONDAY, DECEMBER 2ND.

lie a leading' eading article on the improvement in the sanitary condition of the British army effected by the late Lord Herbert, the Times quotes some highly interesting statistics on the subject, from a paper read by Dr. Farr at the recent meeting at the British Association. Some idea of that improvement may be formed from the fact that the mor- tality of the British army, calculated on the average of the 10 years ending 1846, had, in 1859, been reduced by150 per cent. The death rate of the Foot Guards had been reduced from 20 in 1000 to 9, and that of the line from 18 to 8. The mortality among all branches of the service was formerly 17 in 1000 ; for the three years ending 1859 the mortality at Shornediffe and Aldershott was but 5 in 1000. In the colonies the reduction is still more striking. In Newfound- land the death rate has dropped from 11 to 4 ; in Nova Scotia and New Brimwsick from 16 to 7; and in Bermuda from 34 to 14. The startling result of this improvement, chiefly brought about by the unremitting labour of one man, was that at the end of 1859 there were alive and efficient a number of soldiers equal to an entire bat- talion, who, had the old death rate prevailed, would have dropped into the grave in the coarse of that one year. — Eight more bodies have been recovered from the ruins in High- street, Effinburgh, raising the ascertained number of killed to 35 : 32 escaped previously to the fall of the house, or were rescued alive from the ruins. The excavations were continued until Friday night, when the mass of ruins was completely cleared away, the foundation of the house, 18 feet below the level of the street laid bare, and the cause of the fall made apparent. A three feet stone wall running through the middle of the house, parallel to the back and front walls, but unconnected with either of the gables, had been hollowed away, some 30 years ago, at one end, for the insertion of a boiler and flue, and had been taken down for several yards at the other end, in order to enlarge a shop. The heat of the boiler had, doubtless, further weakened the wall, by causing the mortar to crumble away ; and the rotten state it was in at the time of the fall is shown by the fact that there was only one considerable fragment found in the ruins, all the rest having crumbled away into dust. The timbers of the house were also thoroughly rotten, so that it seems little short of a miracle that after the wall gave way there should have been time for one of the inmates to escape. Up to Saturday the gables still stood, with dresses, pictures, bird-cages, &c., still hanging on their walls; and on the hearth-stone of one room stood a bottle, which had been placed there by the occupant the moment he took the alarm, which he did in time to effect his escape. Several animals have been extricated unhurt from the ruins, one little dog having been sold for 201. imme- diately on its release; and on Friday—six days after the fall—a dog and a cat were discovered in the ruins, emaciated,.but alive. The subscription for the relief of the sufferers has already reached 1500/., and, if required, will doubtless be greatly increased. — A trial in the Court of Exchequer on Saturday threw some curious light on the "nursing" system pursued by the General Omnibus Company towards their competitors. An omnibus pro- prietor named Limpus sued the company. for 361., being the amount of damage done under the following circumstances. On the 22nd of August a Hounslow omnibus, belonging to the plaintiff, was "waited upon" or "nursed" by two of the defendant's omnibuses. At Knightsbridge three ladies got into the plaintiff's omnibus in spite of the nursing, which so irritated one of the company's drivers that he vowed he would serve the plaintiff's driver out. At Kensington Gore, he accordingly pulled his omnibus right in front of his opponent, thereby driving the plaintiff's horses up the embankment and ulti- mately overturning his omnibus, to the serious alarm and injury of the three ladies who were the cause of the dispute. The company's driver, in cross-examination, coolly admitted that he had purposely pulled up in front of the other omnibus, and the jury found a verdict for the plaintiff for the full amount claimed. — " Cosmopolitan," writing to the Times, suggests that, in conse- quence of the enormous preponderance of applications over avail- able space at the approaching International Exhibition, it would be desirable to save many beautiful and useful objects from being hidden by making arrangements for their reception at the Crystal Palace. This arrangement, he considers, would not only not inju- riously affect the Great Exhibition itself, but would rather tend to increase its attraction, both for Londoners and visitors. — The Board of Trade returns for October show a decrease of exports on the ten months of the year of 7,500,000/., but an increase on the month of nearly half a million; the loss of a great portion of our American customs having apparently been compensated by a rise in the " declared value" of some articles and the opening of fresh markets for others. The falling-off in the exports of hardware, for instance, has been redeemed to a considerable extent by an increased price ; while the item of woollen manufactures exhibits the surpris- ing increase of 218,9351. as compared with October, 1860. With regard to imports, of course the most striking feature is the diminished demand for grain and flour, the importation of wheat having been less than that of October, 1860, by 420,000 qrs, and the decrease in flour having been from 815,000 cwt. to 228,000 cwt. The imports of cotton amounted to 487,000 cwt., against 267,000 cwt. in the cor- responding month of last year, and there was also an increase for the month of nearly 2,000,000 lbs. in wool. The effects of the American civil war on the commerce of this country are best illustrated by the statistics of the specie and bullion transartions between that country and this. In the first ten months of 1859, we imported thence 8,000,0001. specie and bullion ; in the same penod of 1860, 5,000,0001. ; but for the present year the balance is 7,000,0001. on the other side, being the amount exported to that country up to the 31st October.

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 3RD.

— The prizes contended for at the Government range on Plum- stead Marshes, by the 19th Middlesex, or Working Men's College Volunteers, were distributed in Westminster Hall, on Monday night, by Earl de Grey and Ripon. The regiment, 900 strong, mare-lied into the Hall about eight o'clock, and werefirst of all addressed by Colonel Bathurst, the officer in command, who congratulated the corps on the great extent to which it had proved self-supporting. Earl de Grey then said it was with great satisfaction that, as an honorary member of the 19th Middlesex, he distributed prizes to the corps for shooting, which showed that they were fully able to hold their own in that respect with any corps in the kingdom.

" He sincerely congratulated those who were winners, not merely because they were winners, but because by their devotion to a noble science—for science it was—they bad made themselves good shots and bad put themselves in a position to do service to their country should an emergency arise. He did not look upon the mere money value of the prizes as being a matter of any importance. (Bear, hear.) If their funds had been expended in promoting the practical efficiency of the corps in other ways, it had been much better spent than in the purchase of more costly prizes, and he was sure that every true Volunteer would value the prizes he received not as so many guineas, but because it was a wit- ness of the proficiency which he had attained to among his comrades. (Hear, hear.) When the Volunteer movement began, there were many persons who— not unnaturally at the time—said that if too much attention were paid to these contests they would take the place of other equally important parts of the duties of Volunteers, and that while they were labouring to make themselves good shots, they would forget the no less urgent part of their instruction comprised in the abort word' drill' He was happy to believe that that anticipation had not been fulfilled in the case of the Volunteers generally. (Hear, hear.) They had at- tained a great proficiency in rifle shooting—in fact, they might be said to have changed in that respect the character of our countrymen. Three years ago, when the movement commenced, we were a nation which had very few good shots ; but we might now claim to be equal in that respect to any other nation in the world. But it would have been a great mistake if that proficiency had been obtained by the sacrifice of attention- to those military formations and movements which were essential to their efficiency in the field. He did not wish to sing the praises of what some people called pipe clay,' or to expect from them that perfect regularity and precision which could only be attained by a regiment of the regular army, constantly and exclusively devoted to military exercises ; but there were certain general principles of discipline and subordination without which no body of men partaking of a military character could ever be thoroughly efficient. So long as they remembered that those under whose command they served were entitled to their obedience in military matters, and to their respect on all occasions, they would every day become more and more capable of taking part in the noble work of national defence which they would inevitably be called on to undertake should danger ever threaten our shores. The Volunteer movement was a great social as well as military move- ment ; it was one of the most useful and elevated ideas which had ever animated the people of this country, but half its value would be lost if it did not teach men not only how to shoot, to march, and manteuvre, but also those principles of dis- cipline which were as valuable in civil as in military life. (Hear hear.)"

In conclusion, the noble Earl alluded to the absorbing topic of the day in the following words : "I thank you, gentlemen, for having invited me here to-night, and I am glad to meet face to face a body of men who I am sure are animated by a determina- tion that in no quarter of the world, whether north or south, east or west, shaft the flag of England ever be insulted." This allusion to the great topic of the day was received by a loud burst of cheering from all parts of the ball.

— The Timm, of Tuesday, gives a full account of all our iron-clad frigates either afloat or on the stocks. At the present time but four really iron ships are being constructed, the Bulwark and Royal Oak being simply old wooden liners cut down and plated with iron. This is the system adopted in the French navy, and has already turned out a complete failure, the injury sustained by all wooden ships from the vibration of the screw when driven with full power being of course enormously increased by the additional weight of the armour plating. In our own navy, it is not long since the Emerald, a now 50-gun frigate, was so injured by steaming with fall power against a head sea, that she was compelled to return to put up for repairs. La Gloire, too, the very best specimen of this mode of construction, is admitted at last to be unserviceable from this cause alone. The four really "improved Warriors" now building are the Minotaur, the Achilles, the Captain, and the Northumberland, all of which, how- ever, will require at least a year and a half before they can be launched, and at least six months more before they are ready for commission. Of their stupendous dimensions an idea can but be formed by a comparison with even the Warrior. The length of the Warrior is 380 feet, her breadth 58 feet, and her tonnage 6170. She is coated with 950 tons weight of 4finch iron plate, and cost 400,0001. The four ships now on the stocks are 400 feet long, 59i feet broad, will be coated with not less than 2000 tons weight of 54 inch plates, and will probably not cost much under 600,000/. In their capacity as steam rams they will possess immense advantages over the Warrior. In that ship the " beak" is above water, and neces- sitates a concealing cutwater of great weight and consequent in- jurious effect on the speed of the vessel. In the new frigates the "beak" will be entirely below the water line, and the bows will be thus water-borne for 20 feet in advance. Besides this improvement, the bows, 30 feet in length by 9 deep, will be only protected by the ordinary teak bulwarks, the armour plating being extended in the form of a semicircular shield in front of the foremast, thus rendering the bows buoyant as possible. Their armament will be 36 100-pounder Annstrongs on the main deck, and 21 of the same calibre on the spar deck, besides two 200-pounders, for which port-holes will be left in the semicircular shield in the bows.

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 4TH.

-- The Duke of Cleveland, Mr. Disraeli, M.P., and Mr. Mowbray,

M.P., were present, on Monday, at the inauguration of the monu- ment erected at Durham to the memory of the late Marquis of Lon- donderry. After the statue had been formally presented to the Mayor and Corporation by the Duke of Cleveland, a number of the inhabit- ants and others sat down to luncheon in the Town-hall. Mr. Disraeli responded to the toast of the House of Commons, on behalf of which he said :

"The House of Commons, gentlemen, has two great functions to perform at the present day. It has to contribute in a great degree to the transaction of the public business. It has also another function, equally important, and that is to express public opinion. Now, with regard to the transaction of public business, I will venture to say that there is no public assembly in the world that transacts half the business which the House of Commons does, and does it so efficiently (cheers); while, on the other hand, looking to its other great function—namely, the expression of opinion, I am convinced that I am not exaggerating when I say that there is no possible public grievance, no shade of public sentiment, which is not brought before that House, and which is not there legitimately discussed. (Renewed cheers.) And I think, gentlemen, that the complaints that have been made against the House of Commons of late years really have arisen from a mis- conception among the constituencies as to the two great functions which dis- tinguish the nature and the character of the House of Commons. When it has expressed opinion, some, who have thought that it ought only to transact business, say it wastes its time in making speeches. When it only transacts business, and does not sufficiently discuss questions which greatly interest the public, then we are told that it no longer possesses the confidence of the people of England. But the truth is, that it trausacts its business efficiently, because, at the some time, it faithfully represents opinion ; and it represents opinion faithfully because this country, itself a practical country, knows that those who are members of the House of Commons are competent at the same time to attend to the interests of the country in detail. (Applause.) It is by the combination of these two qualities, and by the performance and accom- plishment of these two important functions, that the House of Commons has obtained the respect and the confidence of the people, and it can only be by faith- fully adhering to the same line that that confidence and affection can be main- tained. (Cheers.) Gentlemen, it is very true that for the last century and a half the public business of this country in Parliament, in both Houses, has been conducted on the principles of party, and I am convinced myself that it is owing to the principles of party that Parliament has become so powerful in this country. ('Dear, hear,' and applause.) For what would be 500 or 600 men if they were not connected by feelings of public principle and private honour—if they were not thus bound together, what would be 500 or 600 man in comparison to an organized and powerful Ministry, but a mob, which would be distinguished only by their timidity, and perhaps by their corruption ? (Applause.) It is very true that there may have been moments when the spirit of party has led both parties in the State to do things which they might have regretted ; but this I will say for both parties in this country, that when the interests of this empire, and especially when the honour of the nation is concerned—(loud cheers)—there is no longer part; spirit; there is no longer personal complication, and the lead- ing men on all sides, whoever may be the servants of the Queen, are animated only by one feeling, and propose to themselves only one object—to maintain the greatness and the glory of their common country." (Renewed and loud ap- plause.)

Speaking of the late Lord Londonderry, Mr. Disraeli said :

"For more than a quarter of a century I was bound to the late Lord London- derry by the ties of a most intimate and devoted friendship. I knew him well I am fain to believe that I rightly appreciated the qualities of his mind and character. He was the most energetic individual that I ever was acquainted with. But there was this characteristic of the late Lord Londonderry—that he combined the greatest energy of character with a singular softness of heart. (Cheers.) He was, above all men, a faithful friend. (Bear, hear.) It has sometimes been said that he, as all other public characters, was occasionally deficient in that judgment which is necessary to a perfect character; but this must be said of Lord Londonderry—that he succeeded in everything which he undertook; and where I find general and signal success I am not prepared to admit that there has been a deficiency of judgment. (Applause.) As a soldier, no one will deny his eminence at one of the most important crises of modern times; in an age celebrated for its cavalry commanders, in the age which pro- duced Murat and Anglesea, Charles Stewart was second to no one. But though he was a noble and successful soldier, he was an extremely able and adroit diplomatist. The valuable records of the important ago of the Revo- lutionary War, which are now regularly unfolding their secrets to the generation of which we are members, only bring forth evidence of the great abilities of the late Lord Londonderry. In the work of Sir Robert Wilson, one of his opponents in politics, which has recently been published, we find very frequent, abounding, and indubitable evidence of the great services which Lord Londonderry, then Lord Stewart, accomplished for his country, many of which until that publication were unknown. (Loud cheers.) His services, when he was at the head-quarters of the King of Sweden, have taken their place in history as human efforts which considerably contributed to the great result which crowned that long revolu- tionary war. (Renewed applause.) What his character was in private life, how he dealt with his great affluence of fortune—which he partly inherited, and which he otherwise, in a still more interesting manner, acquired—you, who sit in this hall, are better able to judge than myself." (Cheers.)

In conclusion, the right honourable gentleman congratulated the people of Durham on having recorded their sense of the character and services of such an eminent citizen, and resumed his seat amid loud cheering.

— The Times of Wednesday gives a full list of all the vessels of war now actually belonging to, or in the possession of, the Northern States. At first sight the list presents a very formidable appearance, but when we are told that not one of the ten ships of the -line with which it is headed has ever yet had a gun in her, except the Pennsylvania, which, nominally mounting 120 guns, actually carrries 6. Nine out of the ten were built before 1820, and only two—the Vermont and the Pennsylvania—since 1840. The ten sailing frigates cannot be said to be in much better condition, the number of pus in all being out of all proportion to the tonnage. The only really for- midable portion of the Federal navy consists of the new screw frigate and sloops, of which the Niagara and Brooklyn may be looked upon as specimens. Together, they number about twelve, and their arma- ment, of from 12 to 50 11-inch guns, constitutes them highly for- midable antagonists. The hopes of the Federal Government, however, are concentrated on Stevens's submerged iron battery, which is to carry an armament of 8 enormous guns, on a ridge only just pro- jecting above the level of the water.

— The Royal Naval Reserve, which until lately was unfortunately regarded with suspicion and distaste by the mercantile marine,

seems at length to have had its advantages and liberal terms appre- ciated. For some time the men refused to believe in the good faith of the Admiralty, entertaining a rooted impression that when once in the reserve, they would, under some pretence or other, be drafted off into vessels in commission on distant stations. The terms offered were most liberal : 61. a year, paid quarterly ; an additional 11. ls. a week, while at the annual twenty-eight days' drill, which constitutes their only duty in time of peace ; a pension of 121. a year when worn out; and eligibility for the Coast Guard, and Greenwich Hospital. They are allowed to make long voyages between their periods of drill, as long as they keep the au- thorities correctly informed as to their movements, in case of their services being required. In spite of all these advantages, at the beginning of the year men were only coming in at the rate of ten or twelve a week. keetings were held at various seaports without any success, till at last the seamen of the Scottish and northern coasts, who are remarkable for their organization in the shape of benefit societies, &c., were addressed, and. invited to consider the scheme without prejudice. They accepted the invitation, appointed delegates to examine into all the details of the plan, and ultimately pronounced cordially in its favour, and resolved to do their utmost to obtain volunteers from their comrades. Immediately on this decision, the seamen of Shields, Sunderland, Newcastle, Dundee, Hull, &c., came forward in large numbers, and their example was followed before long by those of all the seaports in the kingdom. The weekly number who joined rose rapidly to 100, then 150, and for the last month upwards of 200 have sent in their names each week. The total strength of the force is already 8000, all of whom, it must be borne in mind, are able seamen, who are never allotted to a line-of- battle ship in a greater proportion than 250 out of 800 or 900, so that the reserve may be said to be adequate to supply crews for thirty line-of-battle ships ; any number of ordinary seamen being procurable at an hour's notice. It is confidently expected that at the close of next year the Reserve will number not less than 20,000 men, a force which would raise the royal navy to the highest, possible point of efficiency.

TRIISDAY, DECEMBER 5TII.

— Mr. Bright, M.P., addressed the members of the Rochdale Working Men's Educational Institute, on Tuesday evening. He approved of all the objects of the Institute, with the exception of the teaching of grammar, for which he expressed supreme contempt.

"He found further that the institution proposed to give really useful instruc- tion, adapted to the class of persons who are connected with it ; that it did not aspire immediately to make persons wise in classical literature and abstruse science, but that it contented itself at present with those things which Mr. Moles- worth has so well described as forming the basis and only foundation of any con- siderable progress in education—reading, writing, arithmetic, grammar, and geography. Well, I have great respect for all those, except for grammar. (Laughter). If there is any lad here who is engaged in learning grammar, I will undertake to say that he will say it is the very driest and most unpleasant study that anybody ever put himself to. (Laughter). When I was at school, which is a long time ago, we learnt a grammar written by a gentleman who was, I believe, a member of the religions society to which I belong, and who was a native of the United States of America—Lindley Murray. Lindley Murray's grammar had a great reputation then, and for anything I know has so yet; but, if it has, I pity the lads that have to learn it as I had to learn it (laughter); for, as far as I can recollect—and, no doubt, it is but a cloudy sort of recollection that I have—there was no end of rules and no end of examples—rules within rules and exceptions of all kinds ; and I have now a feeling of the utter confusion of my mind in endeavouring to understand all the rules of Lindley Murray's Grammar.' (Laughter). My opinion is that grammar may be very easily learnt without all that; and that it is very difficult for any person who reads well- written books, and understands them, not to acquire a very competent knowledge of grammar without finding it necessary to learn all the rules in that celebrated but unhappy book. (Laughter)."

In the course of a long speech he urged upon his hearers the price- less importance of improving their mental faculties, and concluded thus:

" We all know that education is a great advantage. Any of us who have got any of it know that we have very little compared with what we might have had if we had applied ourselves thoroughly to it. We know further, that we do not make a very good use of what we have got. Every man mast think for him- self; he knows his own life, his own position, and feels his own powers. Let him do what he can to improve himself if means like these are offered; and to the very last hour of his life he will rejoice that he has not spent his time in idleness and frivolity, but in gaining instruction which will be of value to him all his days. (Applause.)"

— The vacancy in the representation of Nottingham, caused by the elevation of Mr. Mellor to the bench, has already attracted at least two Liberal candidates. Sir Robert Jukes Clifton, of Clifton, has issued an address on extreme Radical principles ; Mr. Cheetham is spoken of as a probable candidate ; and Mr. Harper Twelvetrees will, no doubt, deliver an oration from the hustings. On the side of the Tories, Mr. Bromley, who contested the borough unsuccessfully at the last election, is certain to try his chance in case of two Liberals going to the poll.

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 61s.

— Lord Fermoy and Mr. H. Lewis, the members for Marylebone, met their constituents at Hall's Riding-school, on Thursday night. They both deplored the loss of another Session without a 'Reform Bill, and both expressed great indignation at the American insult to our flag. On this subject, Lord Fermoy said : " If, however, we were to believe what we saw and heard, the Northern States of America appeared to have lost of late any little sense which might have been left to them. (' Hear, hear,' and a laugh.) Their attempt to assail the right of asylum, which England had always preserved intact, was a gross outrage upon the law of nations. (' No I' and great cheering.) He was no jurist, but reason and common sense told him that the deck of every Queen's ship was as much an asylum for the oppressed as any broad acre in this kingdom. (Loud cheers, and a Voice: ' The ['rent was not a Queen's ship.') If it was not a Queen's ship, what was it? It bad a Queen's officer in charge of the mails. Every officer wore the British uniform, and the glorious meteor flag, which never waved save over the disenthralled and the free, was flying at the masthead. The Trent was a Queen's ship. (Cheers.) If the American Ministry had beer( mad enough to direct and were mad enough to persist in this aggression, he could not but believe that the Congress now meeting would burl them from power and would not drive this country to extremity. On the other hand, if redress were refused, we were prepared. Let no one say that the honour of the English flag was not dear to the heart of every Englishman. (Cheers.) We might hope that our erring cousins would consider their position ; but if they refused redress, and drove us to take vengeance upon them, and sweep their navy from the sea, let the responsibility be upon the aggressor, and not upon us. (cheers, and partial interruption.) Mr. Wyld, M.P., in moving a vote of confidence in the Members for Marylebone, expressed his belief that the interruptions to which they had been subjected that night when speaking. of the American ontrage have proceeded from paid agents and spies of the Federal Government who " were not unmindful that the electors of Maryle- bone were holding a great meeting that night."

— Mr. Bright was entertained at dinner, on Wednesday, by his fellow-townsmen at Rochdale, and delivered a long speech on Ame- rican affairs. In reply to the health of Mr. Cobden, a letter from that gentleman was read, in which he expressed his hope that we should not attempt to force our exclusive interpretation of interna- tional law upon the 20,000,000 of Americans who are now united under the Federal Government. We could not impose our laws on the Americans when they were three millions of colonists, and we could not reasonably hope to do so now. He was also strongly in favour of a sweeping reform in the provisions of international law, a reform which he considered our Government were answerable for not having accepted when proposed in 1856 by America, and ap- proved by France and Russia. Mr. Bright then spoke at great kngth. After a glowing panegyric on the agriculture, manufacture, inventions, general progress, shipping, prisons, education, and reli- gious organization of the Americans, each of which he described as a perfect model of its kind, he said there was one dark blot on all this unparalleled prosperity. and comfort—slavery. This, however, the original seed of all American trouble, had been sown and cherished by ourselves. The tariff question had nothing to do with the quarrel. It arose simply from the desire of the South to found a slave state free from the influence of the opinion of freedom. If the nobles of Russia had revolted against the abolition of serfdom, the people of England, even if we had been at war with that empire, would have prayed Heaven to strengthen the Emperor against such a vile and pernicious conspiracy. Mr. Bright then animadverted severely on the pro- Southern speeches of .many of our leading men. Our leading news- paper, also, had never yet had one fair, honourable, or friendly article on the subject. With regard to the seizure of the Commissioners, Mr. Bright thought that, while the act of the San Jacinto was illegal, fifty cases still more outrageous had occurred in our previous wars with America, and surely nothing could be more unchristian than, instead of calmly referring the matter to arbitration, to rush to arms without hearing a word in reply. Mr. Bright concluded : " During the fifteen years from 1845 or 1846 to 1859 or 1860, a time so recent that we all remember the events, even the most trivial circumstances that have happened in that time—during those fifteen years more than 2,320,000 persons left the shores of the United Kingdom as emigrants for the States of North America. At this very moment, then, there are millions in the United States who personally, or whose immediate parents, have at one time been citizens of this country, and perhaps known to some of the oldest of those whom I am now addressing. They found a home in the far west ; they subdued the wilderness; they met with plenty there, which was not afforded them in their native country ; and they are become a great people. There may be those persons in England who are jealous of the States. There may be men who dislike democracy, and who hate a Republic ; there may be even those whose sympathies warm towards the slave oligarchy of the South. But of this I am certain, that only mis- representation the most gross, or calumny the most wicked, can sever the tie which unites the great mass of the people of this country with their friends and brethren beyond the Atlantic. Loud cheers.) Whether the Union will be restored or not, or the South will achieve an unbonoured independence or not, I know not, and I predict not. Bat this I think I know—that in a few years, a very few years, the 20 millions of free men in the North will be 30 millions, or even 50 millions—a population equal to or exceeding that of this kingdom. (Hear, hear.) When that time comes, I pray that it may not be said among them that in the darkest hour of their country a trials, England, the land of their fathers, looked on with icy coldness, and saw unmoved the perils and the calamities of her children. (Cheers.) As for me, I have but this to say,—I am one in this audience, and but one in the citzenship of this country; but if all other tongues are silent, mine shall speak for that policy which gives hope to the bondsmen of the South, and tends to generous thoughts, and generous words, and generous deeds between the two great nations that speak the English lan- guage, and from their origin are alike entitled to the English name.' (Great cheering.)

The proceedings shortly afterwards terminated.