The Express.
London, England, 1864-11-10 00:00:00

LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, NOVEMBER 10, 1861.

THE BANQUET AT THE GUILDHALL.

The Lord Mayor and the Sheriffs gave the in-
augural banquet in the evening at the Guildhall. This was
the first occasion since the open oak roof has been placed
over the hall that a civic banquet teat been given in the
Guildhall, and though not yet quite complete, the work is
so far advanced ea to enable one to say that the effect ia not
only in harmony with the other portions of the build-
ing, bat is very simple and imposing. The roof which
has just been replaced 111111 built over the hall soon
after the great fire in 1666, and was removed in 1863, to
make room foe the present one, which entirely accords with
the architecture of the age, that of Henry IV., in
which the building we. erected. The effect will be
better aa the oak deepens in colour, which it
is sure to do in the programs of time. The decorations of the
hall were few, but it bad a bright and clean appearance
throughout, and it we. brilliantly lighted by about 40 large
and small blazing aunts, which were suspended from the
roof. When the guests were all assembled the aspect of the
hall was very brilliant and imposing. The arrival of Lord
Brougham, who was accompanied by M. Berryer and M.
Deimarest, of the French bar, was the signal for a loud
cheer, and the arrival of Lord Palmerston was distinguished
by a similar compliment.
After touts which were acknowledged by the Duke of
Somerset, the Earl de Grey, and the Lord Chancellor,
The LORD MAtOR next proposed the toast of "Her Ma-
jeety's Minister'," associating therewith the name of Lord
Palmerston.

Health of the lets Lord Mayor, Mr. Alderman Lawrence.*
(Cheers.)

Mr. Alderman Law/were returned thank., and said that,
although no great event had occurred during his year of
office, he traded he bad been able to sustain, humbly it
might be, bob still to sustain the:rights end privileges of the
City of London. (Hear, bear.)
The Loan Maros next proposed " The House of Lords:.
associating with the tout the mama of Earl Granville and
Lord Brougham.
Earl Githirreun„ in reply, said that for many years the
toast which had been just drank had been responded to
by some of the most eloquent men in the country, and he
would not on that °cession indulge in oontmnnplaosa
by enlarging on the benefit. of a House of Lord,
But as to the benefits of a hereditary bon as
of legisleturehe might appeal to M. Berry'', whose mar its
had been so well described that evening by his noble fri end
Lord Palmerston, for he remembered that many years age,
in his own country, he, in combination with other st mew
men, warmly and eloquently advocated a hereditary peer.
age for France. Ha could not but think that if IL 13 wpm
war at that time influenced by the successful exas upland
England, he most be confirmed in his opinion whet , he re-
flected on what he saw around him. M. Berryse had , already
heard his noble and learned friend, the Lord Ot discakit,
who had been raised to the peerage, and probabl y aweeher
noble sad loused lord would follow him in r eplying to
the toast of the House of Lords. (Hear, hear.)
Lord BROUGHAM, who, upon rising, wan re reared with
loud cheers, said:—My Lords,—l have had the honour for
nearly half a century of the freedom of this . great City,
and I therefore rejoice at meeting my f ellowvitizass
epos the present occasion. If I have great satisfaction in
feeling that lam so conetated with yen, t be estiaketion
is still greater when I reflect upon tie emus of that
honour being conferred upon me. It was in the discharge
of my professional duties that I had to r esist the force of
a powerful—l will oat say the cornet— but of a powerful
and unscrupulous court—(peer, beer )- —sod of having
by the residence defeated their projects of ruining a
highly connected individual. 1 rat A say—.ad it gives
me great satisfaction to say it in Ma I presence of my dis-
tinguished friends who rapeseed. the French bar—
that I owe morels) the Updates vat the City of Loodon,
that to way merits of my owe atria bar, the position which
have*. honour to hold. For et y on* member of the pro-
fession, from the highest to the humblest, would certainly
have performed &is duty with load courageasd with equal
fearluseess. (Mews.) Whatever pain or slam the victim
may have had, the opposer WSJ powerless, and had no
chance whatever: to =weed atroinet the one for whom I bed
the geed fortene to appear. I he TO heard macho' the merits
of the presentcarliamewt, but allow me to say that the beet
of paliamente, as well as the beet of men, most die, and
before another year edspees—before mother Lord Mertes
day acmes et to tremble in this hall—before another
year is added to the life of the royal prime, whose
birth-day we now celebrate —I believe that this parliament
will come to an mad, and you, my fellow citizens, will have to
sunrise the franchise which belongs to you, and which
copiers a great privilege upon you. I beseech you to see
that upon the next election the same purity prevails as has
prevailed upon former occasions, and that you, the cities's
of this great city, may be an example to the constitueocies
of the rest of the country—not cooly is the theme of cor-
ruption, hot in the avoiding of the eurciee of bias of un-
due influence, and that you will show that you send year
members cot u delegates to represent a particular OoTO-
logoity, bat as men chosen for the public good, sod to act
for the welfare of the country, and to watch over the rights,
the intonate, and the iodastry of the country, ea well m
to secure its peace at home and abroad. (Cheers.)
The Lean MAYOR that proposed, " The House of Com-
woes," with which he associated the name of the Chancellor
of the Exchequer, end whom he complimented on the suc-
cess of his free trade measures.

Lord PALMERSTON, who was received with loud chaste.,
said—My Lord Mayor, my lords and gentlemen, —For my-
self and my colleagues I beg you to accept our most hearty
thanks for the honour which has been done us in proposing
our health, and for the kind manner in which that toast has
been reoeived. I can assure you that it is a great relief and great
pleasure to those who are mimed in the laborious conduct
of the public affairs of this country to be able and to have
occasion, whether in Loudon or in the country, of meet-
ing ia convivial assemblies those who are laboriously so-
ma in promoting the welfare and prosperity of our common
country. (Cheers.) But it adds to that satisfaction when we
have the pleasure of heding that in these meetings we re.
°rim testimonies of that goodwill and oenfalence on the part
of our fellow-countrymen which are the greatest eacormage-
'Rent to future labours. as they are the amplest reward for
labours which are past. (Cheers.) And if there is any
portion of the commercial community of this great and
wonderful country whose approbation, founded upon their
knowledge and judgment, must be most useful to us, it
is needless to say that the approval of this great City
of London must be beyond all others valuable to those
who are engaged in the service of the state. It has
been the practice of those who, like myself, have to '
address this great assembly—or a great assembly
united within these walls upon commas like this
—to have to tell them something with regard to
public affairs which may excite their interest
or perhaps be unknown to those who hear it.
That, fortunately, is not my lot es the present
occasion. (Laughter.) Nothimgcan be more dell, nothing
can be less calculated to excite interest in bearers than to
tell them that Europe is peaceful—that we anticipate no
events which shall disturb the general tranquillity of this
part of the world, and that this country is in a state of pro-
gressive improvement and prosperity. (Cheers-/ tlutench,
my Lord Mayor and gentlemen, is the *tett:nest I
hare this evening to make. There is indeed one unfor-
tunate exception to that general prosperity. There is a cer-
tain renewalofdistress among a portion dour manufacturicg
population. I trust that that rimewal arises from those
vicissitudes to which great commercial transactions are
liable ; that it arises from those euettiatioce of value
and CAose uncertainties of calculation to which com-
mercial ocituatrite must from time to time be subjected,

and that it is not an indication of any failure in the
resources and future prospects of the country. (I feu, hear.)
With regard to things abroad, I have nothing to Gay about
Europe but that it is quiet, and that we hope it will con-
tinue so. My noble friend (the Duke of Somerset) who ad-
dressed yea on behalf of the navy, has informed you of cer-
tain events, of which details will speedily be known, by
which we hope that the commercial transactions of "urope
with Japan will be placed upon a safer and more Linden-

tory footing than they have hitherto stood. We are glad
also to know that in that vast empire of China, containing,
as has been stated, a thbd of the human race, our relations
with the government are greatly improved, and there is a
faa prospect that the nations of Europe will enlarge from
year to year their valuable intercourse with that great, pro-
ductive, and populous part of the world. There is one dark
spot in the picture which the affairs of the world present.
That dark spot lies on the other side of the Atlantic. We
grieve, and every man of right mud Milt grieve, boat that
bloody cod disastrous war which broke out three years ago

amongst a kldred nation still rages, still lays waste the
fertile plains of the country, still imbues with blood the
forests and tracts of the land which should be
cultivated and a source of pleasure to mankind.
We trust human nature will not long continue
to maintain that deadly and disastrous strife, and that the

cmtendiug parties may, within ;some perod which we hope
to be short, find that it is better to be reconciled than to
light, and that those disputes which have caused this
bloodshed may be reconciled and settled by amicable
arrrangement between the parties. (Hear, hear.) The
be;inning of that strife was expected to be
attended in this country with the most disastrous
results to our manufactures, Three alarms have been
toured to be groundless. At all events some good may
come out of evil ; and 1 hope that our source of supply
in the future will be spread over • great portion of the
globe, and that we shall not be longer dependent upon any
foreign country for those materials which are so essential
for the industry, wealth, and prosperity of the greater part
of 'lie popul►tion of this country. (Cheers.) My Lord
Slavor, I congratulate you that you have on the present
occasion among the vast number of distinguished guests two
zu.in, eminent in their respective countries for their great
intellectual attainment., and for the services which they
hare rendered to mankind ; one is our fellow-country man,
tar other is a native of that great country and a member of
that great nation which lies but a short distance from our
shores. It is nosedives that I should say that the first I allude
to is a name well known to this city as to all the country—
I mean Lord Brougham. (Loud cheers.) lie is • man who
has distinguished himself in every career of intellectual
display, whether as an advocate most eloquent and suc-
cessful—whether ea • parliamentary orator, with elo-
quence in i.ower never exceeded—whether as having dia.
tinguisheil Lima.]: in literature—whether as having trodden
successfully all the various paths of science—or whether,
not content with his own attainments, hut anxious roamed
the blessings of learning and instruction throughout the
land, the promoter of the diffusion of the knowledge and
the education of all classes of the community. (Loud
cheers.) But you have Mao a most distinguished foreigner.
You have Monsieur Berryer—(loud cheer.)-1 man win

The (11.1NCELLOR of the Exefietiugg, who was loudly
cheered on rising, mid—My Lord Mayor, ladies, and gentle-
men, you have imposed upon Me the humble duty of retun-
ing thanks fur the House of Commons, and I am well aware
that it is not necessary, and would not be becoming, were I
upon such as occasion, in expressing the gratitude and
satisfaction which all members of the House of Commons
most feel at receiving this mark of year confidence, to
attempt to draw a distinction between that and the other
great bodies of the state, or to put forward on behalf of
the House of Commons any claim to your special favour.
It is the privilege of old and well-consolidated institutions
that they came to be jealous one of another, and that the
praise which is given to the one redounds to the credit of
the whcle. Further, my lord. I recollect that we are
speaking in the presence of most distinguished foreigners-
Now, 1 think we may fairly admit that it is perhaps too
much our practice to plume ourselves upon the symmetry
of things English over the things which are not English. I
believe that a larger and wiser temper is more and more
prevailing. under the influence of which we have become,
and are becoming, more and more aware that we have
much to learn arid much to gain by the knowledge of the
other great civilised nations of the earth, and the conviction
th►t every country has its own proper function. As in
the region of trade and material production, so in the region
of public institutions and laws, each has much to com-
municate ea well as much to receive, and I trust I do not
lay too much, and am not misled Ly a notion of self•love
and vain-glory, when I express the opinion that it has been
given to England to do something in the matter of repre-
sentative institutions, not only for ourselves but for the
civilised and Christian world. (Cheers.) When, my lord,
you speak of the House of Commons, I must not forget
that you speak with special reference to the present House
of Commons; and my noble and learned friend, Lord
I:roue:tam, has made a moat touching allusion to the ap-
proach of that day when that incomparable meembly—l
speak of the particular assembly of the House of Com-
mons—but the emotion almost overpowers me—
(laughter)—will cease to exist. I doubt if it was
kind on the part of my noble and learned friend, at a moment
of convivial harmony and exultation, to bring to the minds
of the members of the House of Commons the idea of that
inevitable term of dissolution, and even after the genial
ttiosts of your hospitality to disturb the in•
tetior of our breasts by ideas connected with
; the insecurity of all human things, and among other
I human things of a seat in the House of Commons. (A
laugh, and a gesture of dissent from Lord (Brougham.)
Ily noble and learned friend, I see, feels aggrieved that I
have made such a charge against him, and he is, I see, en-
iloavoumg to defend himself. The country, my lord, has
been grievously disturbed by rumours on the subject. No
doubt it is a mere truism to say that the House of Com-
mons is travelling towards that bourne from which no
traveller ever returns, but at the same time much has been
said on the subject of immediate dissolution, and many
have asked who was the author of those rumours of imme-
diate dissolution, and I entertain a very serious suspicion,
after hearing the speech of my noble and learned friend,
that he is the man—(great laughter)—who has been
sowing mistrust and misgiving from one end of the country
to the other, and disquieting the minds of all those who hays
hopes about gaining seat., or fears about losing them.
(Laughter.) lam anxious to do what I can in toy humble
way towards mitigating this gr,•at evil. All I can say in
' regard to the dissolution of parliament—fully admitting
the great law of parliamentary mortality—is that if my
noble friend at the bead of the government cherishes in
the deep recesses of his mind any sinister designs against
the life of the present House of Commons, he has kept
these designs, and greatly do I complain of it, perfectly
secret. (Laughter.) My Lord pryer, in this magnificent
hall—this great historic hall—in this bell which, through
the wise musificence of the City of London now at
length appears before us in all its pristine magnificence, and
returning thanks for the House of Commies, I feel it due
to that city to state that there is no portion of the British
community which, either as regards its own representatives,
Or se regards the supply of enlightened men to other con-
stituencies, does more for the House of Commons than
the mercantile community of the great City of London. I,
(Hear, hear.) You, my lord, have been pleased to
award your commendation to the House of Commons for
Its care of those interests in which the City of London is so

Las attained great eminence—idle greatest eminence in kis

own country; whose tame is known throughout the
mations of Europe as being unrivalled in eloquence
at the bar, and respected and esteemed for that
dignity of character, for that elevation of mind, and for
that noblene►s of svntinient which ale essential when

coupled with eloquence And talent, to male the perfec•
tion of legal or aay other character. I am glad, my
Lord Mayor, that you have had the opportunity of doing

homage to the taleot and ability of France—(eheera)--by

iuvitiog to your tithle the man who is the most worthy re•
prestotative of the intellect, and I will say of the

patri,tism of his country. (Cheers.) I trust, ley
Lord Mayor, that hie visit to this banquet may ads/
another lick to that bond which ought to unite—sod
whiai, I trust, sloes unite two nations neighbours to each
other ; nations which are capable of iotlicting upon each irn•
meats' hi juries as enemies, but who are, on the other hand,
able to confer the greatest benefits as friends. (Cheers.) I
must now claim your permission to ask this assembly to
drink loather toast which I am sure will give satisfaction,
ant that is the health of the Lord Mayor. (Cheers.) lam
persuaded that everyone in this great and distinguished aa•
aembly will join with me in enthusiutically doing honour to
the chief magistrate of the City, and offering thanks for the
cordial and courteous reception which we hare met with
this evening ►t his hands. I now beg to propose the health
of the Lord Mayor.
The Loan Stinson ropooded, and proposed

deeply involved. I venture to thank you on the part of
the Hone* of Commove for that commendation. There are
those who say that the House of Common. has been a sleepy
and a sluggish assembly. About the month of August,
when in the last degree of szbanstiou, we are looking to
the breezes awl the bah sir of the recess, we are ceafrontod