The Press. — London, England, 1856-08-30 00:00:00

AUGUST 30, 1856. inttstotents, THE DINNER TO THE GUARDS. THE public dinner given to the Guards upon their return from the war took place at two o'clock on Monday afternoon in the Surrey-gardens. The dinner was to have been originally given in the Ashburnham Grounds, at Cremorne, and, bearing in mind that the proprietor of those gardens gratuitously presented 1,1001. to the Crimean Fund (about the largest donation on the list), the additional distance from town should hardly have prevented the original scheme from having been carried out. The distance was the only objection, for the grounds are in every respect more adapted for such fetes than any other place in or near London. Monday set in with the severity usual to fete-clays. It was cloudy and heavy, and occasionally rained. A glimpse of the sun was hardly obtained the whole day, and the night closed with a good shower. The various approaches to the gardens presented, from an early period of the morning, such an aspect as might have been anticipated from the nature of the occasion. The Elephant and Castle was the grand point of attraction, that being a spot which the three battalions would necessarily pass on their route. Here the crowd was so dense as almost to form a blockade of the several converging roads ; and the vehicles moving to and fro, at all times numerous, were swollen on this occasion by an immense accession of carriages and cabs conveying spectators to the gardens. The Grenadiers were first in the order of arrival. Marching from their barracks in Birdcage walk, over Westminster-bridge, they reached the Elephant ar.d Castle at a quarter past one. The receptio i which they met with from the multitude was rather respect. ful than enthusiastic ; there was no loud cheering, and, as the men passed on with their fine soldierly bearing, bronzed faces, and, in numerous instances, Oriental beards, one could hardly help feeling that the greeting would have been more demonstrative, though not, perhaps, heartier, had the dinner taken place immediately after their arrival from the Crimea. The Fusiliers arrived next, having marched from the Wellington Barracks, behind the National Gallery, along the Strand, and thence over Waterloo bridge, to the same point; acrd these again were quickly succeeded by the Coldstreams, who came from the 'l'ower, by way of London-bridge and South wark. The whole were Crimean men, and wore their medals. The bands of the several regiments pre ceded them, playing enlivening airs. Each battalion on arriving at the Elephant and Castle proceeded at once, without waiting for its comrades, to the entrance to the gardens on the Walworth side, where they almost had to fight their way into the interior, so tremendous was the rush towards the gate from the adjacent streets. In the gardens the dinner-tablas were laid in the music-hall and a tent close on one side— the lower windows of the hall were taken out, so that tent and hall were almost one. With true military punctuality, at a quarter past two, the exact time appointed, the men, headed by their non-commissioned officers, entered the hall, and in a few minutes, it might almost be said a few seconds, every seat was occupied, both there and in the tent. The aspect of the room, now, was exceed- ingly brilliant and picturesque. The twenty long single tiles of red coats, upon the breast of each of which glittered a silver medal with one, two, three, or four clasps, and on several the good-conduct medal and the Cross of the Legion of Honour in addition ; the equally long white lines of tables by which they were divided, covered with plates, dishes, bottles, and glasses, diversified by the floral and other decorations ; ihe three bands in their state uniforms at the head of the room ; the gaily dressed company in the galleries, whose loud, en thusiastic, and oft repeated cheers of welcome greeted the brave fellows as they took their seats, and almost drowned the strains of the musicians, presented a scene which those who witnessed it will nit easily forget. The chair was taken by Sergeant-Major Edwards, of the Fusiliers, the senior sergeant-major of the Guards, a fine, stalwart, soldier-like looking man of about forty-five years, with a most intelligent and open countenance, awl whose martial appearance is enhanced by a magnificent beard and moustache, in which a silvery hair is just beginning here and there to show itself. On the sergeant-major's right and left were the sergeant-majors of the Crimean battalions of the Grenadiers and Coldstreams, and by the side of these, filling up the cross table, were the drill sergeants and the pay and colour sergeants. Of the dinner itself little remained five minutes after grace. The men were pleased with it, be cause they had m a d e up th e i r m i n d s t o b e pleased with everything, but it was not a dinner in the good old English style. There were no glorious rounds of beef, none of' those gigantic plum puddings or foaming tankards of ale we are so accus tomed to associate with English feasts. The beef THE PRESS. and pudding were ready dished, cut up in thin slices, the beer was bottled, and one bottle of cham pagne way given between every three men. It was not a good dinner; it was too delicate in appearance, and seemed anything but unlimited in quantity. We are unable to do many things as they do them in France, but hitherto we have always believed out selves invincible in feasts of roast beef and plum pudding. The attempt on Monday painfully un deceived us. The chairman took his seat, grace was said, and the dinner was speedily despatched. The usual loyal toasts were then drunk, that of the Queen with such enthusiasm only as 2,000 Guardsmen's lungs could give vent to, when Ser geant-Major Edwards rose and proposed, amid vehement applause, "His Royal Highness the General Commanding-in Chief, our ioldiers and sailors, the chaplains of the army, and our brave allies in the late war." He said : I wish to say a few words to you as comrades. Now, mark me, I wish to talk to you as comrades. Hear me, old hands of Alma and Inkermann ! I need not say any to you in praise of the Duke of Cambridge. (Cheers ) He must live in your hearts and in the hearts of all British soldiers as he will in mine eternally. Our greatest pride must be to say that we were Guardsmen at Inker mann. (Enthusiastic cheering.) The Duke of Cam- bridge was there—(lond cheers)—and that is saying enough about him. As for our brethren of the line, lam sorry—if I can be sorry for anything on Buchan occasion— that the table was not big enough for them as well as for us. But, as the table was too small—(laughter)—l am sure that they will not envy us our happiness ; but, on the contrary, that they will be rejoiced to learn that we have been so well received. As for our sailors, the good feeling that subsists between you and the bluejackets is known to the world. We are indebted to them, and they are in• debted to us for many a kindness. You know it as well as I do. (Cheers.) There never was anything like the good feeling which subsisted during the war between you— the " red soldiers," as they called you—and the blue jackets themselves. ( Loud cheers.) With respect to our brave allies, if I were the greatest speaker that ever lived, I could not do justice to their noble conduct. Oh, my comrades, you saw the day when you could have knelt down and worshipped them as you would your God.—Don't you remember when you saw them coming over the hill? ( Tremendous cheering.) As for the chaplains in the army, they did their duty like men, and so little notice has been taken of them in military assemblies that I am sure you will be glad of an opportunity to return them thanks for all their kindness. Therefore, I include them in the toast, comrades, and I hope you will make it a bumper. The gallant sergeant major then proposed the health of the committee, and in the course of hii speech said to the men : Your coming here is an honour to you, because it shows that your countrymen, the people of England, are satisfied with the manner in which you did your duty. You did your duty, or you wouldn't be here; so I'll say no more about it. But it is clear that we ought to return to the chairman, the committee, and the subscribers our most grateful thanks. Ah ! we have seen the day that we never could have dreamt that such a day as this would occur in the history of the best of us. Think of what you have gone through, think of what you have seen, awl then look around you! Why, man dear, I could jump into another campaign to get another such welcome as this. (Loud cheers.) There's not a man of us that would not volun teer to-morrow fur another war after what we have seen to-day. Other toasts followed, and about four p.m. the dinner was over. The men then strolled through the gardens. At five p.m. the general public were admitted, and the concert and fireworks concluded the entert.tinments by nine o'clock. Major-General Lord Rokeby and Colonel Foley have since formally thanked the Lord Mayor for the liberality displayed on this memorable occasion. THE FORESTERS' ANNUAL FETE was given at the Crystal Palace on Tuesday, when npwards of 30,(H)O visitors attended. The palace is peculiarly fitted for such 'hes, and will undoubtedly take a prominent place in public choice for such public assemblages. The Foresters on Tuesday enjoyed themselves amazingly, conducted themselves admirably well, and were blessed with more sunshine during the day than has fallen to the whole island for the past week. In addition to the ordinary fountain display, the two large jets in the lower basin played, and, undisturbed by a breath of wind, shot gracefully up to their utmost height. But if the day was pleasant enough the getting away was really very discreditable, not to the people, but to the arrangements made for carry ing off 30,000 visitors. The delay and the confusion were incredible. How is it that this result always occurs on fete-days ? If you get to London-bridge on these occasions in any time under two hours, and with your coat-tails entire, you are fortunate. As for the sufferings of the other sex, a drawing-room crush at St. James's is nothing to it. There never appear to be any but the ordinary supply of trains on these occasions. It is a matter of such great inconvenience that the directors should look to it. MR. ALBERT SMITH last night closed another deservedly successful season of Mont Blanc. The ascent has now become so thoroughly one of the 837 things to be "done" on a Swiss tour, that Mr. Alber - Smith, we apprehend, merely to sustain his re putation, must undergo a second ascent, or try the Jungfrau, or Mount Ararat, or some other agreeable elevation. The Peak of Teneriffe, we should imagine, might afford an agreeable variety to the glaciers, crevices, snowstorms, and avalanches of Mont Blanc, or any of its companions. But it is just probable that the more the public " do " Mont Blanc, the more they may wish to "fight their battles o'er again" in the Egyptian Hall, and in that ctt.se some fresh anecdotes, told with his usual tact, a new character or two, taken off with his usual power, and the usual good song to ronclutle with, may carry Mr. Smith and Mont Blanc through another season with the usual success. Ponty :ftlaritet nab Q:ity, FRIDAY EVENING. THE return of the Bank of England for the week ending the 23rd inst. shows the following ci.anges compared with that for the week preceding : Decrease in Circulation Increase in Public Deposits Decrease in Other Deposits Increase in Government Securities Decrease in Other Securities 707,885 Decrease in Bullion Decrease in Rest .. Increase in Reserve 120,157 Bullion in Both Departments Circulation, including Bank Post Bills Although this comparison shows a slight falling off in the stock of Bullion, the position of the Bank has been strengthened by the addition to the Reserve, which has been obtained, notwithstanding a decrease in the Private Deposits, by the repayments of advances upon bills and other securities. This, in fact, is the only feature in the return. It will be observed that the Government has added to its balances, and that, from present oppearances, it may possibly be enabled to liquidate the October dividends without having recourse to the Bank for tempo rary advances. The weather continues to regulate the market for Publie Securities; and although its actual influence upon the value of money has been of the most trifling character, it would be a great error to assume that its vicissitudes are not regarded with the deepest interest by mercantile linate ciers. it has been, on the whole, fine for fully four days, with dry, invigorating breezes which dissipated the moisture floating in the atmosphere, and enabled harvest operations to be successfully continued wherever reaping was fit, except in the low-lying lands of the midland and northwestern districts. But at intervals for two days we have had a good deal of rain, particularly yesterday, and we cannot yet tell whether it proved so injurious as materially to retard field occupations. We trust not. However, viewing the subject upon the widest scale, we may assert that, notwithstanding local and temporary circumstances, tending to depreciate the quality and yield of the crops in particular districts, the general harvest of the eonntry has made substantial progress since our last. A large quantity of grain has been safely housed in good condition, and hopes are entertained that the reports of blight and damage just now so prominent in many of the corn factors' circu lars, express individual apprehensions rather than well as certained and reliable facts. The London Corn Market on Monday, again on Wednesday, and to-day also, from the apparent difficulty experienced in supporting an advance in prices, does not confirm the fears of those who take tie pessimist view ; and as to the rise in some of the provin: cial markets, we are disposed to regard it as essentially speculative. We have not, however, been able to obtain responsible reports in sufficient detail from all parts of the oountry to enable us to decide er cathedra as to the actual and tangible results of the .harvest. It is too soon by some weeks to justify an undertaking of such impor tance ; but in the meanwhile we have reason to conclude that the prospects of the harvest, though kss favorable than they were three weeks ago, are by no means unpro mising. Good weather for another fortnight or even less would secure to us more than an average yield, and prices mire advantageous to the consumer probably by as much as from 15s. to 2Us. per quarter. With continuous im ports of foreign, and increasing stocks of home•grosn corn in our own barns and granaries, it will be impossible to maintain the quartern loaf at 9d. In expressing these opinions we are reflecting the ideas, not of men in the corn trade, or of those engaged in cultivating the soil, but of parties whose mercantile and financial operations are, at the present time, guided iu a great measure by probabi lities as to the harvest; and we have little hesitation in saying that the balance of opinion among these classes, who may be presumed to study something approaching to a statesman's policy in such matters, is on the side of the picture which it is most agreeable to contemplate. The Money Market continues to be well supplied, and complaints are still made in some quarters that the appli cations for discounts are not sufficiently active to provide full employment for their reserves. The business of the Bank in this respect has also fallen off during the week. We are unable, however, to report any diminution of rates. The average in the open market is still from 4 to 4}. It is not unlikely that the discount transactions of the coun try may be smaller in September than they have been in August, as the course of trade, particularly in the menu factunng districts, in respect to the bill circulation, gene rally requires less accommodation at this period. In October, however, we expect a renewal of activity; andfwe