The Press. — London, England, 1856-06-28 00:00:00

.., • . . • . . . 610 Her Royal Highness the Princess Royal met with an accident on Tuesday evening, from her gauze sleeve accidentally catching fire from a lighted taper. Her Royal Highness, with great presence of mind, extinguished the flames, but was more or less severely burnt, and has since been confined to her room. The Grand Puke and Duchess of Oldenburgh arrived at Dover from the Continent on Wednesday, and proceeded to Bonchurch, Isle of Wight. The Duke of _Argyll had a Cabinet dinner on Wednesday evening, at his villa, at Campden-hill ; Viscount Palmerston, the Marquis of Lansdowne, Lord Panmure, Sir Charles Wood, Sir George Grey, Sir George C. Lowis, the Right Hon. A. Vernon Smith, Lord Stanley of Alderley, the Earl of Claren don, the Right Hon. M. T. Baines, &c. Lord Ward intends to visit St. Petersburg on the occasion of the Emperor Alexander's coronation. Volittral. DINNER AT THE DIANSION HOUSE. THE EARL. OF DERBY AND A P. PARTY were entertained at dinner at the Mansion-house, on Wednesday evening, by the Lord Mayor. The Earl and Countess of Derby, t!ie Earl of Malmesbury, the Duke and Duchess of Manchester, Mr. and Mrs. Disraeli, Sir John and Lady Pakington, the Marquis and Marchioness of Salisbury, and about . 200 distin guished guests were present. The usual loyal and constitutional toasts having been duly honoured, The LORD MAYOR proposed " The House of Lords," coupling the toast with the name of the Earl of Derby, of whom he observed that he would not suffer by comparison with any member of his family who in farrier times had borne his title and sustained the honours of a house renowned in the history of his country. Winning and persuasive in his manner, and gifted with singular powers of elo quence, the Earl of Derby was a brilliant specimen of an English nobleman, and as worthy a representa tive of the House of Lords as could be found. The Earl of DERBY, who was loudly cheered, ex pressei his sense of the pleasure afforded and honour conferred on him that evening : I am the more bound, my Lord Mayor (continued the noble earl), to express my acknowledgments to you, be cause I am well aware that there are assembled in this hall many whose political opinions on several subjects differ very widely from your own. (Cheers.) But I doubt not that you have learned a lesson, of which a parliamentary life of thirty-five years has not left me ignorant—that the widest differences of political opinion are not incompatible with the most cordial sentiments of personal respect and regard. Many of my best and most devoted personal friends are my keenest political opponents ; and sure I am that that man has failed to benefit by his experience of public life who has not learned to esteem and respect those who, from conscientious motives, may dissent from him upon political questions. (Cheers.) It would be idle for me to say that in the course of my long career, which covers no unimportant period in the history of modern politics, I have not, from first to last, fallen into many errors and committed many mistakes; and still more idle would it be to pretend that I have not in that time modified to a certain extent many of the opinions with which I set out in early life ; but this I venture to claim for myself, and it is my only title to the compliments you have paid me—that in the course of that period I cannot tax my memory or my conscience with having taken a single step, or given a single vote, which at the moment I did not believe to be justified by my sense of public duty. (Cheers.) For that house which you have done me the honour to associate with my name, I have to return you my best thanks—thanks which, I am confi dent, are gratefully felt by all members of that assembly here present. (Cheers.) It is no duty of mine to stand up for every decision at which the House of Lords may have arrived, for frequently it has been my lot to be in a minority there ; but I do believe that in the main that house, although not directly, yet as fully represents the matured public opinion of this country as does that other branch of the Legislature which is immediately re turned by the popular voice —(cheers)--and, although the se lond estate of the realm may be looked upon as a cmstitutional drag on too rapid progress iu legislation, I b?lieve that in the end it will identify itself with what it fe-ls to be the well-established wishes of the country. (Cheers.) THE PRESS. had, by the force of his talent and energy, achieved far himself the high positiou of a Minister of the Crown and Leader of the House of Commons, and who was at present the foremost member of the most powerful territorial party in that assembly. (Cheers.) . . . Mr. DISRAELI, on rising, was received with loud cheers. Acknowledging the compliment, he alluded to the ancient relations existing between the Cor poration and the Lower House, and said : We shall very shortly be called upon to consider the position and the attributes of the corporation of the city of London. Far be it from me for a moment to maintain or to wish that this ancient corporation should, unlike other communities, be exempted from the influence of time, and be prevented from reaping the fruits which progressive experience can alone afford; but 1 hope. I may take this opportunity of expressing my anxiety that those changes Which the wisdom of the present age may think it neces sary to introduce into this great municipality will be con ceived and devised in the spirit of its first constitution. I know, my Lord Mayor, that we are living in an age when we bear much of the omnipotence of Parliament. but there are moral limits even to that despotism which it isnot pos• sible to pass. Parliament is indeed omnipotent to de stroy, but it is not omnipotent to create. There are no ancient institutions, however deeply rooted, which Parlia ment cannot subvert, but it is not in the power of Parlia ment to creat the magic prestige of prescription; it is not in the power of Parliament to call into existence hereditary influence; it is not in the power of Parliament to invest new establishments with the sympathy, the respect, the reverence which those institutions command which have for a long series of years contributed to the welfare, and above all, to the history of a nation. I trust, my Lord Mayor, that when the Legislature shall have to consider the position and attributes of that immemorial community of which you have the honour to be the chief, our deliber ations will be influenced by this feeling. lam sure that it is the true principle which should inspire all Conservative statesmen. I trust that it will animate the councils of this country, and I doubt not that it will have due effect with all those members of the House of Commons in whose names, as well as my own, I now offer you our heartfelt thanks for the distinction you have conferred upon us. (Cheers). The Marquis of SALISBURY then proposed the health of the Lord Mayor, and the Earl of DERBY that of the Lady Mayoress, and after some other toasts the party broke up. SATURDAY, Mr. Morley then, in a slightly., unconnected speech, proceeded to assert that every depart. ment of the State was abominably mismanaged, and money and family interests worked ruinous effects. They wanted men in the house who were not only proof against actual corruption, but steeled against those social influences which were even more dangerous. As illustrative of the kind of influence he referred to, he mentioned a case, but without stating the name, of a member who gave a vote on a recent occasion against the Government upon a question in which the public interest was in volved, and who, when he went home, was met by domestic upbraidings, a fit of hysterics, and all those other symptoms of family discontent, because the lady felt that the vote in question would put an end to the invitations she had been recently in the habit of receiving to certain aristocratic reunions. The system of nepotism, he avowed, was ruining the country ; and alluding to the Chelsea Inquiry and conduct of Lords Lucan and Cardigan in contrast to that of General Williams, Mr. Morley asked " W a s it because men were of high family that they should be allowed to riot in sensuality on board their yachts in Balaklava ?" The Administrative Reformers desired that justice should be done to all parties. General Williams was a self-made man, but he much feared that the gallant general's life would be closed by the well-merited honour conferred upon him. Mr. Morley then explained that the association intended to give the people information on the parliamentary conduct of their representatives. They had means of getting into correspondence with respectable men in every borough and market-town, though in the agricultural counties they could not expect much success ; but they would give information to all, and not confine it to the doings of the Opposition benches. This resolution was carried unanimously, and the meeting separated. AT the ceremony of the Investiture of the Bath, last Saturday, General Sir George Brown and Ad miral Sir James Gordon were invested with the military order of a G.C.8., Sir Charles Wood with the civil order. Major-General Sir William Williams, Bart., Lieutenant-General Moore, and Rear-Admiral Byam Martin were invested as K.C.B.'s, and several other officers as Companions of the Bath, when the ceremony concluded. A CABINET COrNCIL was held on Saturday as usual. All the Ministers attended. The Council sat two hours. Sin EnkuND LYONS, G.C.8., has been raised to the peerage, under the title of Baron Lyons, of Christ church ; and Sir Baldwin Walker has been granted the dignity of a baronet, for services during the late war. THE BISHOPS OF LONDON AND DURHAM BE3 re ported to have sent in their resignations. THE REV. CHARLES BARING, Rector of All Souls, Langham-place, is reported as the true successor of Dr. Monck in the see of Gloucester and Bristol. THE HON. JULIAN FANE has been appointed Secre tary of Legation at St. Petersburg. THE ADMINISTRATIVE REFORMERS held a great meeting on Saturday last at the London Tavern. Mr. Roebuck presided, and addressed the meeting at considerable length upon the corruption of the Administration and the apathy of the people,— instancing the war with Russia and our present critical position with America as examples of Ministerial imbecility and popular indifference : flattroDolitan. DINNER OF THE SOCIETY OF The noble earl then remarked upon the constant in fusion of fresh blood into the Upper House, by which it was invigorated, and a common interest was pre served between the various branches of the commu nity, and, alluding to the recent accession to the peerage of Sir Edmund Lyons, observed that few years passed in which the house was not strengthened and made more illustrious by the admission of some person who bad done his country good service, whe ther in the law, in the army or navy, or in political life. The noble earl resumed his seat amid hearty cheers. The Lonn MAYOR th'n proposed " The House of Commons and the health of Mr. Disraeli, - who, with- Olt the adventitious assistance of family or fortune, ARTS took place nn Tuesday at the Crystal Palace, under the presidency of Lord Ashburton, who was supported by the Rev. Dr. Booth, Colonel Sabine, General Sir C. Pasley, anti a large number of other gentlemen interested in the educational and commer• cial progress of the country. The toast of the even ing, " Prosperity to the Society for the Encourage ment of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce," was proposed in an eloquent address by the noble chair man, who descanted at length on the advantages of affording a sound practical education to the artisan, manufacturer, and tradesman, with the view of fitting them suitably, not only for their ordinary stations in life, but also for promoting their social happiness and advancing our general mercantile prosperity. Dr. Booth, in responding, intimated that the society was never in a better position, either as regards members or pecuniary resources, while its progress was amply demonstrated by the success which had attended the examinations recently instituted, persons in humble walks of life—the draper's shopman, the merchant's clerk, and the schoolmaster's assistant — having competed, and exhibited the satisfactory re sults of a diffusion of knowledge. The other speeches comprised those of Mr. Ewart, Mr. Gassiot, Colonel Sykes, Sir C. Fox, &c., all of whom bore testimony to the benefits conferred by the society, and the useful influence it has exercised. MRS. THOMPSON, the mother of the late Ma;,or Thompson, is stated to have received within four-and twenty hours of the death of her son so kind, so sym pathising, so nobly and generously expressed a letter on the part of her Majesty the Sovereign, that, if anything could alleviate the bitterness o the loss she has sustained, the kind condolence of the Queen would go far to render the blow less afflicting. Why do I bring forward these illustrations (said the hon. gentleman )? To impress upon the minds of my countrymen that they are chiefly concerned in all that con cerns the interests of England nationally, and that in the pursuit of wealth, which is the besetting sin of the present day, they forget everything else. The people of this coun try are in this like the people of America ; they worship the almighty dollar, and so long as you do that, so long you will be made, like beasts of burden, to bear the )oke— and you deserve to bear it- You are unworthy of the name of freemen if you do not act up to the obligations of free- men. What, then, do I deduce from the homily which I have read to you? That you should take part in the busi ness of the Government. THE ANNUAL TRINITY-HOUSE BANQUET took place last Saturday. Prince Albert, the Duke of Cambridge, Sir John Burgoyne, Lord Lyons, the Earl of Dun donald, Major-General Williams, and a distinguished company were assembled on this occasion. ASECTION OF THE RATEPAYERS OF MARYLEBONE held a meeting on Monday at their Court-house, and greed upon several resolutions supporting Sunday music, as being " an innocent and humanising recreation, and having a tendency to refine the people ; " and condemning a recent attempt "to injure Sir Benjamin Hall in the eyes of his con stituents," and pledging themselves to secure his return at the next election. The attainment of this end was only through an organisation in the constituencies, to reform the House of Commons by creating representative re sponsibility. In conclusion, Mr. Roebuck urged the meeting to support the association, and called upon Mr. Morley to move the first resolution. Mr. Morley then moved : THE SHERIFFS OF THE CITY OF LONDON were elected on Tuesday at a Common Hall, held at the Guildhall, the Lord Mayor presiding. Mr. J. J. Mechi and Mr. Frederick Keats were unanimously elected for the year ensuing. Aldermen Lawrence and Eagleton notified a wish that their nomination should be postponed until next year. THE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY lately received a resolution from the Wesleyan Ministers and lay men of the Manchester and Bolton district, warmly thanking him for the course he pursued in relation to the Sunday bands. His grace replied:— The exigencies of the present time and the singular in. capacity lately shown by the various departments of the Government, render it the imperative duty of the people to take an active part in the management of the national affairs, in the hope of introducing therein the energy, honesty, and intelligence that ought to distinguish the ad ministration of a great and civilised people. II