The Press. — London, England, 1858-11-13 00:00:00

1103 with load received a Among L o rd Chat Colchester narvon, th Peel, Mr. Stanley, S manners, Mr. Hard Brough art L o rd Chi Pollock, Justice '1 Erie, Mr. Sir ober Swedish 1 znelan Too ssonn Roebuck, M.P., Mr more, M.I Headiam, Ewart, M Eardley. exceeded The lov The Lo " The He Prince Co the Royal company. The Le Navy," co Major-Ge Sir J. Pall Genera' the toast with the to state I troops wet be entert extinguist announce addition, gretiticatit bat by evt her Majes Royal Hil her servi Royal Fri deep regr Highness Cambridg that they the prase been axe , Sir J. pliment statement State for high grist Royal Pa The righ self he m the respo might act in the col Administ the eftici maintain upon wh stations strength nowhere entertain commerc merch ani Within tl had been they won circul atic England, language must res if she ws strength was ease of our at constant remembi maintain bad a should b they ma demand, expense, state of resolve I The b given by The Course c between He hat his Cowl THE PRESS, NOVEMBER 13,1858. w ith will cheers. The French Ambassador also re ceived a cordial welcome. among those present were, the Earl of Derby, the Lard Chancellor, the Earl of . . Malmesbury, Lord Colchester, the Earl of Hardwicke, the Earl of Car- B aryon, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, General Peel, Mr. Secretary Walpole, Mr. Henley, Lord Stanley, Sir E. B. Lytton , S i r J. Pakington, Lord J. Mr, Lord Luvaine, Mr. G. A. Hamilton, M.P., m r , Hardy, M P., the Marquis of Salisbury, Lord Brougham, Lord J. Russell, the Bishop of London, Lord Chief Justice Campbell, Lord Chief Baron Pollock, Baron Bramwell, Baron Watson, Lord Justice Turner, Mr. Justice Crowder, Mr. Justice Erie, Mr. Justice Byles, Vice-Chancellor Kindersley, Sir Robert Carden, M.P., the Duke de Malakoff, the Swedish Minister, the Danish Minister, the Vene• znelan Minister, the Haytian Charge d'Affaires, Toossoun Pacha, Viscount Raynham, M.P., Mr. Roebuck, M.P., Sir H. Bethell, M.P., Mr. S. Warren, M.P., Mr. Monckton Milnes, M.P., Messrs. Whit more, M.P., White, M.P., Malins, M.P., Tite, M.P., ileadlam, M.P., Nicoll, M.P. Bass, .P., Joseph Ewart, M.P. J. S. Wortley, M.P., and Sir Culling Eardley. The entire number of guests present exceeded 1,000. The loving cup having circulated, The LORD MAYOR rose and proposed, in succession, "The Health of her Majesty the Queen," The Prince Consort, the Prince of Wales, and the rest of the Royal Family," which were duly honoured by the company. The Loan MAYOR then proposed " The Army and Navy," coupling with the former service the name of Major-General Peel, and with the latter the name of Sir J. Pakington. General PEEL, in responding, said he looked upon the toast as a proof that the country was satisfied with the services of the army ; and then proceeded to state that no less than 93,000 of her Majesty's troops were now in India ; he thought no doubt could be entertained that the rebellion must soon be extinguished. Before sitting down he might announce that the army had that day received an addition, which he was sure would be hailed with gratification, not only by every officer in the service, bat by every Englishman. In that night's Gazette her Majesty announced that she had appointed his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales a colonel in her service. They had now, therefore, another Royal Prince in the army ; and he must express his deep regret at the unavoidable absence of his Royal Highness the Commander-in-Chief (the Duke of Cambridge), for he might say, without any flattery, that they were indebted to his Royal Highness for the present discipline of the army, which had never been excelled at any period. Sir J. Pleteorom returned thanks for the com pliment paid to the navy, and referring to the statement which had been made by the Secretary of State for War, he added that it had been a source of high gratification to the navy that a member of the Royal Family was now enrolled in that profession. The right hon. Bart. proceeded to say that for him self he might be allowed to say that he felt deeply the responsibility of the position he held, and be might add that his colleagues concurred with him in the conviction that one of the first duties of the Administration of this country was to take cars that the efficiency of the navy of ingland should be maintained. He believed if there was one point upon which Englishmen of all parties and of all stations were unanimous, it was that our naval strength was essential to our national power. And nowhere he believed was that feeling more strongly entertained than in that great centre of our national commerce in which they were assembled. The merchant ships of England covered every sea. Within the last few weeks fresh fields of enterprize had been opened to their commerce, and he hoped they would never forget that this gigantic world wide circulation ebbed and flowed from the little heart of England. If anything were to arrest that stream, no language could describe the ruin and disaster that must result. England, if she was to be prosperous, if she was to be peaceful, must maintain her naval strength ; and in these days, when the steam-engine was essential to every man-of-war, and when the size of our ships, and the power of their armaments, were constantly increasing, be trusted the country would remember that our naval efficiency could not be .maintained without a l arge expen dit ur e. The public bad a right to expect that this great department should be managed with all practicable economy ; but they must also ex p ec t, an d h e h o p e d they would demand, that, whatever might be the necessary expense, the Government should keep the navy in a state of vigorous efficiency, and maintain with firm resolve the supremacy of England upon the seas. The health of the Foreign Ministers having been given by the LORD MAYOR, The Duke de MALAKOFF responded, and in the course of his remar k s t h us a ll u d e d to t h e a lli ance between England and France He had the fullest confidence i n th e p ro f oun d w i s d o m of hu 6 °Y•reign, and in his determination, consistently with the dignity of his Crown and the preservation of his honour, to do all in his power to prevent those conflicts which might trouble the tranquillity of the world. It was the sincere and earnest desire of the Emperor to strengthen the friendly alliance between France and England—a work to the accomplishment of which all his own personal exertions, as the representative of his Majesty, were also strenuously directed. The health of the Lord Chancellor was then given, with the usual honours, and bristly responded to by Lord CHELMSFORD after which The LORD MAYeR proposed the health of her Majesty's Ministers. The Earl of DERBY, in rising to acknowledge the toast, was received with loud and enthusiastic cheers. After a few preliminary remarks expressive of the pleasure he felt in attending such an assembly, and his regret that at this season there were few of our public men who are able to pay that tribute of respect which is justly due to the Chief Magistrate of London, proceeded to say : My Lord Mayor, on such occasions as the present there is nothing, in the ordinary sense of the word, of a political character ; there is nothing, I mean, of a party character ; all party considerations and all opinions upon political questions are here lost in a most useful and salutary oblivion. These meetings are, as it were, the type and evidence of that harmony which has always, thank God, subsisted between the various classed of those who, each in their separate departments, are labouring for the pubic service. They give an opportunity of testifying, on the one side and on the other, that mutual respect which Englishmen always feel for the persons and situations of those who to the best of their abilities are discharging 1 public duties in the service of their country. (Hear, hear.) We, my Lord Mayor, on these occasions accept the honour of an invitation not only as a mark of our personal respest for the individual who presides over the affairs of this metropolis, but as showing the veneration in which we hold the high functions which you are now called upon to discharge. (Cheers.) You honour us with an invitation to this banqnet and you confer upon us the compliment which I am now acknowledging, not for any personal merits of our own, but because by the favour of our Sovereign we are engaged in the perform- ance of arduous duties which require the devotion of every faculty of our minds, and the service of every hour of our time. (Hear.) It may be permitted to me, holding the situation which I do, and having the deep interest which I must have in the welfare of that country the administration of whose affairs is, in great measure, confided to my charge, with feelings of thankfulness and gratification to compare the state of the kingdom at this moment with that which unfortunately prevailed last year, when, my Lord Mayor, your predecessor as sumed the office which you now so worthily fill. It is not necessary for die, in order to heighten the picture, to draw a contrast between the then situation and the present, or to remind you of that condition of gloom, distress, and difficulty which extended over the whole of the commercial world, of which some here no doubt had painful experience, and from which few indeed of those extensively engaged in mercantile affairs can have escaped altogether unscathed. (Hear, hear.` Nor is it necessary for me to remind you of the apprehensions, the doubts, and the anxieties which existed with regard to that formidable revolt by which our Indian empire was et that time shaken to its foundation. But, my Lord Mayor, a brighter picture is now before us. I rejoice to think that there are all the indications in the country of returning prosperity. We have been blessed by Almighty Providence with a harvest of more than usual abundance, which, in the eolith of this kingdom at least, has been collected under circumstances of unparalleled succees and good fortune. We have a revenue which fatly equals the anecipations of ray right hon. friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Money is abundant. Trade and commerce are slowly, but, I hope, surely reviving from the panic and distress of the past un happy year. Labour is amply remunerated; there is abundant employment for it, and, as a proof that the fact is so, I am able to state that, whereas between September of last year and March of the present year there was a fearful augmentation in the rate and extent of pauperism, not only has that augmentation altogether disappeared, but the amount of pauperism in the last week of September just past was considerably below that of the corresponding week of September of the previous year. Such, my Lord Major, is our situation at home. Now let us cast our ayes abroad, and I rejoice to say—and I say it with most entire confidence—that we have every reason to feel entire reliance upon the preservation to the world at largo of the inestimable blessings of peace. (Cheers.) I do not say that complications may not arise, or that differences may not present themselves between different countries ; but this I do say—and I say it with the confidence that I am speaking nothing but the bare truth—that all the great powers of Europe are fully convinced, if not of the sinfulness of war, at all events of the necessary evils attendant upon a state of war, and that the valuable labours of diplomacy are directed— and never were they employed with more success and with more zeal than at the present time—to smooth difficulties, to remove obstacles, and to find in every difference which may occur between various powers a peaceable rather than a hostile solution. (Cheers.) Turning nest to the great empire of India, if I cannot say that the hostilities—or rather the bloodshed —which are going on there have altogether ceased, I hope I may congratulate the country on the fact that, in the main, the organized rebellion is put down. For months —perhaps for years to come—there will possibly be bands of marauders, partly from desperation, partly from inclina tion, harassing our troops, and disturbing the peace of the oountry ; bat, I repeat, the organized rebellion is at an end, and after the season which has interfered with our military operations has terminated, I doubt not that the energy and the abilities of Lord Clyde, supported as he has been by large reinforcementsfrom this country, aided by the discretion and judgment of the Governor-General, and also, I may, perhaps, venture to express a hope, by the gracious message of peace and mercy which her litsjestj was advised to send out upon her accession to her Indian empire—a message to all classes of those wbo returned to their allegiance—l trust that all these com bined will shortly restore not only the sunremacy of our power, bat tranquillity and contentment to our extensive possessions in Hindostan. If we go further eastward, rejoice to think tha: the negotiations which have been carried on, and the measures which have been taken, by her Majesty in conjunction with her august ally the Emperor of the French, have led to a conclusion of those somewhat anomalous hostilities, of the commencement and the origin of which I will say nothing, but of which I rejoice to be able to say that, without further bloodshed, they have now been terminated, and that by a peace not less honourable to this country than I am persuaded it will be advantageous to the interests of commerce and civilisation generally. I should do gross injustice to one of the most deserving public servants I know if I did not take this, the earliest public opportunity I have had, of declaring that for the success of these negotiations Ens. land is deeply indebted to the ability, the tact, the deter mination, and the perseveran:e of her Majesty's Plenipo tentiary, the Earl of Elgin. (Cheers.) By that distinguished nobleman a further and most unexpected extension of our commercial relations has been negotiated with the hitherto secluded, but not unimportant, empire of Japan. (Cheers.) I believe that that treaty, if properly made use of, will tend greatly to extend the commercial interests of this country ; but I trust that, speaking in the midst of this great commercial metropolis, 1 shall not be thought presumptuous or impertinent if I venture to say that the advantages to be derived by this country will greatly depend upon the good judgment, the peaceable demeanour, and the orderly conduct of the agents of those whose commercial enterprise may lead them to embark in speculations in that distant land. It is of the first im portance—and I trust you will forgive mo for saying so— that those who go out there as the pioneers of British commerce should be more careful than I am afraid our countrymen have sometimes shown themselves to be not to wound prejudices, to ridicule or to trample upon cus toms which appear strange to them, but the violation of which cannot but produce unfavourable impressions of foreigners upon the minds of natives with whom they ale only beginning to trade. I have drawn a picture—not I am sure an exaggerated or a too flattering one—of the state of our affairs both abroad and at home. Do I claim credit on that account for her Majesty's present advisers I do no such thing. Much of what I have said arises from causes wholly beyond their control. I speak not for the glorification of the Government of which I am a member, but as an Englishman to an assembly of Englishmen to whom the welfare and prosperity of their common country cannot, to any one of them, be an object of indifference. (Hear, hear.) I have stated that I entertain the most cordial and confident belie in the preservation of the peace of Europe, and in the presence of some of those who worthily represent their respective Sovereigns in this country I trust I shall be allowed to express the ground, and I may add the policy, upon which, as tar as this country is concerned, I rest my confident hope that peace will not be disturbed. My belief is that the policy ou the part of this country which is best calculated to maintain the peace of the world is, in the first place, a firm but temperate maintenance of oar own rights ; in the next place, a studious and careful recognition of, and respect for, the rights of others, together with an anxious desire not to interfere unnecessarily with the internal affairs of other States ' • and also a determination not willingly to give or to take offence; a determination, if offence unhappily arise, to have reference to the principle which, to its endless honour, was embodied in the proto— cols of the Conference of Paris, viz., to resort in the first instance not to hostilities but to the good offices and the mediation of some friendly power. Last of all, my Lord Mayor, I hold, as the cardinal point of all our foreign policy, the firm and unflinching adherence, in spirit; as well as in the letter, to every treaty obligation into which this country may have entered. These are the principles on which her Majesty's present Government desire to act ; and these are the principles which I should be indeed deeply grieved and mortified if, whenever we have to account to Parliament for any part of our conduct, we should not be able to show that we have steadily adhered to and ioflexibly maintained. The result of these prii - ciples is this—that we are at this moment upon the most friendly terms with all the great powers of the world, without exception; and more especial; I venture to say— corroborating that which has already fallen from my gallsnt and illustrious friend the noble marshal who so worthily represents the Emperor of the French—that although it is absurd to suppose that between any two countries there can be on all subjects perfect and entire identity of feelings, yet that never was there a moment in the history of the two nations when their relations stood upon a more perfectly friendly footing, or when on the one side and on the other there was a more earnest desire, consistently with the honour of both countries, to maintain that alliance which has so long subsisted for their mutual happiness, or a more firm and thorough conviction that its maintenance is an incalculable ad vantage not only to the two powers themselves, but to the interests of the world at large. In speaking of her Majesty's present Government, my Lord Mayor, you have been kind enough to give ua a species of pro gramme for the coming session. That programme .is somewhat extensive, but you have omitted to show us in what manner and by what assistance we may be enabled to carry the whole of it into effect. (A laugh.) I cannot help thinking that the advice so kindly tendered