The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1855-11-13 00:00:00

LORD MAYOR'S DAY.

Tay inauguration of the Lord Mayor of London took place
on Friday, with the usual ceremonies. The chief points of in-
terest belonging to the affair are the speeches of the French
Ambassador and Lord Palmerston, with reference to the war ;
and the reception of Lord John Russell, who was fairly extin-
guished.

Tn acknowledgment of the toast of " The Emperor
of the French," the French Ambassador spoke, in the
French language, to the following effect :—" I thank you,
my Lord Mayor, for having proposed in this place the
toast which has just been so warmly applauded. It is now
thirty-five years since the first Napoleon expressed his re-
gret at not being able to conquer the prejudices of the two
peoples, or to gain the friendship of England. `What great
things,' cried he, `could we not do together ?' My lord, these
great things have now been accomplished, for the happiness
and security of the world. The tomb of the great Napoleon
has received the pious visit of your illustrious Queen, and un-
der another Napoleon, who understood the true interests of his
country, France has become the intimate ally of England. But
that is not all. Our alliance rests not solely on accidental cir-
cumstances, but on the closest reciprocity of interests as be-
tween the two peoples—interests so intermingled, that neither
happiness nor misfortune could touch the one without imme-
diately affecting the other. When two countries have arrived
at such a point, their alliance is protected from all kinds of
intrigues. No human power can separate two countries so
affected, and when we think of the union of our two countries
—the one the most distinguished for maritime power, the
other for military resource—we feel satisfied that in their alli-
ance we see the greatest amount of power that ever existed,
and we can wait in the most complete security the issue of
the war."

In reply to the toast of "Lord Palmerston and Her Ma-
jesty's Ministers," the latter said,—On behalf of my colleagues,
and for myself, I beg you to accept our cordial thanks for the
honour you have done us in proposing this toast, and especially
for the very kind and flattering manner in which that toast
has been received. It must be always most gratifying to
those who enjoy the confidence of the Crown, to be received
at the hospitable board of the chief magistrate of this,great
city. Those persons who are charged with the conduct of
public affairs must indeed be inadequate to the performance
of the duty that devolves on them, if they were insensible to
the feelings of that great commercial body, which is so fully
'represented by those who now sit within these walls. My
lord, commercial enterprise is one of the main foundations of
the greatness and power of this nation. In peace, the enter-
prising and exploring spirit of commerce diffuses civilization,
by promoting the intercourse of nations, thus throwing down
the barriers that divide people from people; while, when war
unfortunately takes place, as in the course of human events
we must expect sometimes to be the case, commerce then fur-
nishes the means by which war can be successfully carried on,
so as ultimately to obtain a safe, honourable, and lasting peace.
It must always be the noblest aspiration that could possibly
fill the mind of man to be entrusted with the conduct of the
affairs of a great nation like this; but if ever there was a mo.-.
ment when those who are charged must feel peculiarly proud of
the honour conferred, and also peculiarly sensible of the great
responsibility which such an honourable charge imposes; that
moment is the present, for never did a nation present a nobler
spectacle to the world than does the British nation at this
moment. We have entered into a great contest, not rashly or
hastily, but after full and due deliberation, and we Ithe en-
tered into that contest because we felt that the war was a
necessary as well as a great one, and this nation evinces from
one end of the country to the other, a full and deliberate
determination to submit to every sacrifice which the prosecu-
tion of the war way entail, to show themselves equal to every
exertion that the conduct of the war may require, and- con-
tinue those exertions until peace shall be obtained on such
conditions as may be worthy of our sacrifices and of the.cause
we have at heart. We have present, on this occasion, the re-
presentatives of those three allies with whom we are united
in a common undertaking. We have at this board. the am-
bassador of the Emperor of the French, of that great ally
whom I must do the justice to say that by his magnanimity.
of mind, his far-seeing policy, and his honesty of purpoSe, has
cemented the union between the two nations which had been
too long divided by jealousy and mistrust, but which, I hope,
will ever from this day forward continue to be earnest and
confiding friends. We have at this board also the representa-
tive of the Sultan, in whose cause we have drawn the sword,
and whose subjects have shown themselves so worthy the
assistance we have given them. We have present the ambas-
sador of the King of Sardinia, whose character as a sovereign,
and the character of whose people, have excited the warmest
sympathy throughout this nation, whose conduct has excited
our warmest admiration, and in whose good faith we place the
most implicit confidence. I trust, gentlemen, that these re-
presentatives of our allies, let them go where they will through
the length and breadth of the laud, will see nothing that will
not entitle them to tell their respective sovereigns that, whilst
we place the utmost confidence and reliance on the constancy
with which they support us in the war, they may, on the
other hand, be equally certain of the constancy and determi-
nation of this country. And no man can doubt that these
four powers, earnest in a cause, will ultimately accomplish the
Objects. for which they took up arni.a. I say that no human
efforts can be long successful in resisting their united exer-
tions. The declarations with reference to the war were loudly
cheered.
A subsequent toast was " The House of Commons," coupled
with the name of Lord John Russell. The announcement of
the name excited general disapprobation, which rose to a com-
plete storm of groans and hisses when he rose to respond to
the toast. The reception was such as he seemed not to, have
anticipated, judging by the astonishment marked on his coun-
tenance ; and after uttering a few indistinct phrases about the
Lord Mayor's election to office being a triumph of principle,
he abruptly resumed his seat.