NARRATIVE OF POLITICS.

At a Common Hall, on the 29th ult., Alderman David
Salomons was elected Lord Mayor by the unanimous
vote of the Livery. He is the first Jewish Lord Mayor
of London. In returning thanks, he observed: "I
cannot forget that it is just twenty years since, for the
first time, I was elected by a meeting similar to this to
the important office of sheriff of London and Middlesex.
Mighty changes have occurred since then, not only in
this country, but in civilised Europe; but they all speak
more or less of progress rather than retrogression. I
trust we shall still find that a desire for the maintenance
of all old institutions is consistent with popular rights,
and, above all, with the rights of conscience. I therefore,
without wishing to occupy more of your time, again
thank so many of my friends, and the livery in general,
for coming here to-day to support my nomination and
election to the important office which I now fill. Rest
assured that I will do my utmost in every respect to show
that I am worthy of the confidence of my fellow-citizens."
His address was received with loud and general
cheering.

During the recess, the Political Opinions of Ministers
and Members of Parliament continue to be delivered at
public meetings throughout the country.

On the 20th ult., Mr. Baxter, the successor of Mr.
Hume in the representation of Montrose, attended a
meeting there, to give his constituents an account of his
stewardship during the past session. His principal topic,
of course, was the War, on which he made some pertinent
remarks. He confessed that the delays and dangers of
the Crimean campaign had only served to strengthen
his conviction how absolutely necessary it was that
France and England, now happily united in the
vanguard of civilisation and for the wellbeing of mankind,
should step forward to resist a power, great though semi-
barbaric, founded on the serfdom of millions, whose
outposts, pushed forward so as to endanger the safety of
neighbouring states, have proved stronger than we
expected—who believes herself the champion of despotism
—whose voice, hitherto most potential, has been heard
on the side of tyranny and misrule in all parts of the
world. The conqueror of Hungary (he said), when
Austria failed, she overawed the malcontents of
Germany; she exerted an all-powerful influence in
preventing constitutional government in Denmark; she
coquets with the Slave States of America; and her spies
ferment treason and discord in every country where the
people are free. Such is the power which, since the
peace of 1815, owing to the negligence and the diplomatic
inferiority of her superiors, has been gradually
acquiring a position in the European brotherhood
dangerous to civilisation and the liberties of mankind. . .
. . . Once embarked in the contest, it would never
have done for us to have patched up a peace when no
decisive result had been obtained. No man feels more
deeply than I do the miseries which this desperate fight
before Sebastopol has caused; but, had the two hundred
thousand French, English, and Sardinians retired from
the Crimea without having effected the reduction of that
proud fortress, which ambition and the lust of dominion
raised, think you would the objects of the present war
have been attained? Would Turkey have been safer
than before the Muscovites crossed the Pruth? Would
the Asiatic tribes have lost their faith in Russian
invincibility? Would not the news of our failure have been
carried on the wings of the wind over the mountains of
Armenia to the huts of the Tartars, across the plains of
Persia to the frontiers of our gigantic empire in
Hindostan? But, interposes Mr. Gladstone, all that is very
true, but should a civilised nation fight for prestige?—I
answer, why not? Would it not be a sad and gloomy
day for mankind when England, the champion of
civilisation and freedom, the home of the slave and the
refuge of the destitute, loses that high place among the
nations, that reputation for being all-powerful, that
prestige if you will, which has done so much, and I hope
will do much more, for the cause of humanity and the
interests of our race? But again, object the peace men,
will you carry on war merely to gain victory?—Not, as
they deceitfully wish it to be supposed, not as the end
but as the means to the end. Until Russia sees us
victorious, until bitter experience teaches her that all her
millions and her territories avail nothing against the
enlightenment of the West, in my humble opinion she
will never consent to give up her designs of conquest,
and will never agree to a peace which will not be
disturbed by her intrigues before the close of this century."

Mr. Horsman visited Belfast on the 26th ult., to
attend a meeting of the Harbour Commissioners. In
his speech after the banquet he dwelt upon the wonderful
Improvement in the Condition of Ireland. "At
the famine crisis of 1847 and 1848, I took a deep interest
in the Irish question, and sustained an obscure and
humble part in the discussion. I visited Ireland at that
period, and the first place I landed at was Belfast. But
at that time of misery and suffering I saw no symptoms
here of the distress I had heard of so often in the house
of commons. This, surely, said I, is not Ireland—these
are not Irishmen: here I find comfort, wealth, prosperity,
and intelligence. I went farther into districts, in which
it was not possible to estimate the extent of the misery
I witnessed. Famine and hunger stared me in the face
on all sides; human beings dying of positive starvation,
wherever I went, from one end of Ireland to the other;
misery, poverty, want, destitution,—a prospect impossible
to contemplate without a feeling of absolute horror.
Eight years have passed away, and, what at that time
could not have been foreseen, my next visit to Ireland
is in an official capacity, and I am charged with a share
in its administration; and if the former was a time of
difficulty, there is a contrast now from one end of the
country to the other; and I believe that during the
last five or six years there is not a country on the face
of the earth has made such a rapid and sudden advancement
in every physical, material, moral, intellectual,
and religious aspect." Referring to the question of
steam communication between Ireland and Great
Britain, Mr. Horsman observed that any government
which understands the interest of the two countries,
before many years are over must feel the nccessiiy of
establishing a short passage between the North of
Ireland and the West of Scotland. The advantage, he
said, of having the speediest communication between
shore and shore is not to be calculated by any sum of
money.

Mr. Vernon Smith appeared on the 27th ult. at the
dinner of the Northamptonshire Agricultural Association,
given at Kettering. His topic was the War, which
he vindicated, and which he said must be continued.
The soldiers, he said, and the British people had done