The Press.
London, England, 1856-05-10 00:00:00

Vittoßzlitan.

DINNER TO HER MAJESTY'S MINISTERS.
THE LORD MAYOR, On Wednesday, entertained the
members of her Majesty's Government and a dis-
tingui,died party of ladies and gentlemen at a grand
banquet at the Mansion-house. The French and
Turkish Ambassadors, with the Prussian, Greek, and
Sardinian Ministers, were also prasent.
The health of the Queen and Royal Family having
been drunk, the Lord Mayor, in an appropriate speech
expressive of the earnest desire of England for a
close union between the French and English peoples,
proposed " The Emperor of the French."
Count PERSIGNY, who was received with warm
applause, replied, and declared that the sentiments
expressed by the Lord Mayor were fully reciprocated
by the Emperor and France:—

A Our oldl hatreds ( continued M. de Persigny 1 we have
extinguished for ever in the confraternile of the battle•field.
But we have perhaps done more still for our union in both
repudiating the false economical doctrines of the past,
which founded the prosperity of ono country upon the ruin
of its neighbours.

Sir CHARLES Woon, who amid some laughter
alluded to the late display at Spithead, and General
Fox, having returned thanks for the army and navy,
the Lord Mayor proposed " Her Majesty's Ministers."
Lord PALMERSTON replied, and spoke of the peace
concluded as one upon which the people might and
would look with satisfaction:—

We are convinced that the peace which has been con.
eluded, though it may not be attended with the acquisition
of territory, or with contributions levied on a vanquished
enemy—though it may not be accompanied with those
consequences which sometimes grace the termination of a
war—the more its conditions are examined, the more the
people compare the dangers which beset Europe when the
contest began, and the position of that country for the
protection of which we took up arms, with the present
posture of affairs as established by the treaty which my
noble friend Lord Clarendon, with such distinguished
ability, foresight, and anxious care to guard every interest
involved in the negotiations, has happily concluded, the
more they will have reason to feel that their sacrifices
have not been in vain, that their noble efforts have not
been without adequate results, and while they may look
back on the one hand to the war with proper satisfaction,
they may on the other view the peace with confidence as to
the future.

M. Musuaus next acknowledged the toast of "The
Corps Diplomatique," and declared that the peace
" attained the objects of the war, and satisfied the
wishes of Turkey.'

The health of Lord CLARENDON was next proposed.
The noble earl, in acknowledging the toast, alluded
to the reception of the peace by the people of Eng-
land :

The war has been called " a war of statesmen," because
it was one of principle, not of conquest or aggression, and
was undertaken from a European necessity and a common
sense of danger. Our institutions do not admit of the
maintenance of a large standing army, and time was
required, at the commencement of the war, to de-
velop the military resources of the country. After those
resources had, however, been developed, and the heart of
every Englishman had warmed to the conflict, it was, per
not surprising that the prospect of peace was not
hailed with so eager a welcome. Yet, though the peace
was not at first received with exuberant enthusiasm and
another campaign would not have been ungrateful to the
people, when the conditions came to be de.iberately consi-
dered the sound practical common sense of England ac-
quiesed in an end being put to the calamities of war, inas-
much as that result secured the objects for which the
struggle was undertaken, and vindicated the honour of the
country. (Hear, hear.)

He maintained that the peace had secured every
object for which war had been undertaken, and ex-
pressed his belief that the future policy of Russia
would henceforth be guided by the common opinion
of Europe. In conclusion, he spoke highly of the
conduct of General Mouravieff towards General Wil-
liams, and read a portion of a letter he had that day
received from the gallant officer:—
General Williams and his brave companions found in
the person of General slouravieff a splendid example of
Russian chivalry and magnanimity. (Hear, hear.) 1
received a letter, only to-day, from General Williams, from
which, as it illustrates the character of that highwinded
commander, I will take the liberty of reading a brief ex-
tract. General Williams writes :

I have already told your lordship of General Mouraviars
kindness towards myself and my party, but his humanity and
benevolent treatment of the poor famished garrison of Kars will
gain for him the respect of the civilised world, and must tend to
lessen, if not eradicate, the animosity which for more than a
century has existed between Russia and Turkey, especially on
the part of the latter. I shall therefore quit General hlouravieff
with great regret, although I have every hope that on my arrival
at Riazan we shall hear of the re-establishment of peace, and
continue our journey towards England. A

THE ROYAL LITERARY FUND DINNER.
THE annual dinner of this society was given on Wed-
nesday evening at the Freemasons' Tavern. His
Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge presided,
and a distinguished company, including M. Van de
Weyer and Mr. Dallas, the Belgian and American
Ministers ; Generals Burgoyne, Pasley, Cator, and
Beatson ; Lords Harry Vane, Ravensworth, and
Dynevor ; Mr. Horsfall, M.P., Dr. Sandwith, Mr.
Robert Bell, Mr. Reeve, Mr. D. T. Coulton, Mr.
Herman Merivale, Mr. Murray, The Rev. Chas. Men-
vale, Professor Owen, Sir Henry Ellis, and upwards of
150 gentlemen, assembled on the occasion. The usual
loyal and professional toasts having been given, the
Duke of Cambridge proposed " The Corps Diplo-
matique, and the health of the Belgian Minister,"
who, in returning thanks, made a happy allusion to
the services of the Duke in the field, by pointing out
that in his present position as chairman he bad an
opportunity of ascertaining that the heights also of Par
nassus had their dangers and difficulties ; that those
who endeavoured to ascend them very frequently
failed in the attempt, not for want of courage or
talent, but for want of assistance and support, and.
that those who had even had the advantage of reach-
ing the summit might suddenly be precipitated from
it by an unexpected stroke of fortune.
Sir JOHN BURGOYNE responded to the toast of " The
Army and Navy," and in a terse speech remarked
upon the illiberality and injustice of attributing to
the officers the evils of governmental neglect in the
various departments of the army, and contended that
in every branch of the military service, as a whole,
our officers, though gentlemen, were not inferior to
those of the army of any country in the world.
The Duke of CAMBRIDGE next gave " Prosperity to
the Fund," and in an excellent speech traced the
rise and progress of the institution, its aims and its
successes, and paid a high tribute to the admirebh'

alimegementof the committee. Alluding to the wee-
4ional difficulties of literary men, he adduced a remark
able instance in the case of M. de Chateaubriand,
baying been a,sistedby the society, as a proof that its
beneficence was not limited only to Englishmen. His
royal Highness concluded by announcing a gift of
itml/. from the literary executors of the late Sir
Robert I'eel, as well as the annual gift of 1001. from
Iler I,lajeaty.
The report was then read, by which it ap-
peared that the funds of the society amount to
21000/. Consols, and 8,1071. stock, of the Newton
Pr° perty, the Whitechapel estate of which last year
brought in rents to the amount of 2031. Fifty-three
grants had been made 1111 the present year to the
amount of 1,0051.
31r. ReeEnT BELL, :n proposing the toast of " The
Writers of Periodical Literature," availed himself
of the opportunity of alluding to the many obliga-
tions which the Literary Fund owed to the Royal
Family. George IV.. William IV., Queen Victoria,
Queen Adelaide, the Duchess of Kent, Prince Albert,
and the Dukes of Kent, York, Sussex, and Cambridge,
had not only manifested great interest in the success
of the society, but had by the most munificent aid
contributed to raise it to its present position. The
list of chairmen included all the royal dukes, and
was now completed by the gallant soldier who then
so ably presided :
It was an auspicious occasion. The union of arms and
letters—the fraternisation, so to speak, of the sword and
the pen—recalled the age when the purest gallantry
and highest accomplishments were cultivated in common
by the most distinguished men—the age of the Surreys,
the Sidneys, and the Falklands. No person could better
than his Royal Highness appreciate the consolations of
literature to the soldier in the camp, iu the hour of sick-
ness, and the scanty intervals of leisure; nor would it be
easy to conceive a more appropriate position than that
which his Royal Highness now filled with so much honour
to himself, when, returning, crowned with victory from the
war, in which he bore so conspicuous a part, he inaugurated
the establishment of a happy peace, by presiding at a fes-
tival dedicated to the interests of literature. Looking back
upon the constant support which the fund had received
from the Royal Family, it was impossible to forget the
active sympathy and valuable aid it had received from the
aristocracy. From the very commencement they had been
amongst its most earnest and liberal supporters ; nor did
he exaggerate the importance of their services when he
said that it owed its existence and preservation to their
early help and continued support

By no part of their conduct had the aristocracy more
fully established their claim upon the respect of their
fellow-countrymen than by the strong interest they
have always manifested in the public charities; and,
although he was far from considering the Literary
Fund in the light of an ordinary charity, but rather
as the grateful acknowledgment and imperfect dis-
charge of the large debt which the world owed to
scholars and literary labourers, be thought that the
committee, of which he was a member, and who
knew by experience the importance of that noble
benevolence, would be wanting in their duty if they
did not testify their full sense of its benefits. He
trusted that the relations between men of the highest
rank and the professors of literature might long sub-
sist, and be still more closely cultivated
They were not the relations of patronage on the one
baud, and a vulgar sycophancy to great people on the
other. The real vulgarity lay in such a suspicion. The
intercourse between the two nobilities of mind and birth
were carried on upon equal terms. The republic of letters
kne,v no aristoracy but that of genius. And whoever in
the name of literature desired to separate the classes that
were mutually engaged in promoting the interests of its
professors, wronged the true mission of literature, whose
civilising influence was directed, nut to widen the social
distance between classes, but to draw them together on
the common neutral ground of knowledge and intellectual
elhure.

The toast was responded to by Mr. P•CEVE ; and the
Bishop of OXFORD, who came in for a short time, re-
sponded ou behalf of the Vice-I'residents in a brief
but eloquent address. The Duke of Cambridge then
proposed " The Literature and Science of the Ilnited
States, and his Excellency the American Minister."
Mr. Dma.as replied, and recalled the fact that in
177:3 Franklin had originally sanctioned, as prest-
ddnt, the formation of tba present society. Alluding
ti the progress of American literature, Mr. Dallas
rematked of his countrymen :
They owe a heavy debt, payable in the coin of the brain,
to the genius of this island. But let rt:o say, that they
labour indefatigably to reduce that. debt, and already they
e-eaSe to regard ass hopeless achievement the pvtuent of
Vie debt in full. (Hear, hear.) Since my arrival, and
during the last seven weeks that I have been in your great
o tpital, I have been delighted to listen to eulogies on Arne-
r.can juridical science coming ftatn the lips of those who
a-c the most exalted and learned in Westminster-hall.
h.iive been delighted to heel. intermingled the names of
son, Bancroft, Macaulay, Prescott, Grote, said Irving.
I have been delighted to remark that no exclusion from the
al inia,t magical precincts of Waveriey," and " Vanity
and My Novel "is harshly pronounced against the
Indian romances and the sea stories of Cooper, or against
the " House with Seven Gables "
(Hear, or the " Scarlet Letter."
, hear.) And in tine I have been delighted to per.
"we as having grown obsolete and permanently banished

THE PRESS.

the sarcastic criticism I used to hear in my youth—" who
reads an American book?' (" Hear, hear," and cheers.)
It is trout this harmony of scientific andliterary expression
between the two countries that we draw the best hope of
harmony in the general intercourse between them. (Load
cheers.) The influence of authors over communities were
neither to be doubted nor exaggerated. Let us, then, trust
that the copious, strong, and polished language which is
common to England and America, may cease to be the
medium of strife--( loud cheers )—but, on the contrary, be•
come the instrument of mutual instruction, of conciliation,
and of peace. (Loud and continued cheering.)
The other toasts (which, it may be remarked, were
not interspersed as usual with vocal music, no singers
or pianists being present) were—" The Writers on
Science, and Professor Owen," proposed by Mr.
Napier, M.P. ; "The Travellers, and Dr. Sandwith,"
proposed by Lord Dynevor ; "The Stewards; " and
" The Ladies." After which the company separated
at a somewhat late Lour.

Mu. GLADSTONE M.P., laid the foundation-stone
on Thursday of a iree school for the poor of Golden-
lane and Whitecross-street, in St. Thomas Charter-
house. The right hon. gentleman, after the cere-
mony, addressed the meeting at some length, and
pointed out the necessity of a neighbourhood
crowded with 2,400 families and 3,100 children, of
whom only 715 attended school, possessing more
means of education. The progress of population in
the east was continually going on, and the children
must be educated:—

He believed those who, with him, adhered to the prin-
ciple that it was wise to draw payment from the labouring
classes, so called, for the education of their children,
were yet prepared to go along with the founders of this
school when they were dealing with a clan who were not
called the labouring elasses,—by whom ho meant, inde-
pendent of their vocation, persons who had fixed abodes,
but with a floating sea of human life, in which were
tossed up and down a huge mass of less fortunate beings,
not inaptly termed " the Arabs of modern civilisation "
great masses of energy and animal and mental life, but
untamed and unreclaimed; and he did not for a mo•
ment question the wisdom of the principle with which
they threw open the doors of their school to that class
of the population, and bade them come and receive
freely the knowledge which they offered them.

A CURIOUS ACCIDENT happened to the City Canal
Dock, Limehouse, on Tuesday night. During low
water, at nine p.m., some repairs were being made to
the dock-gates, which for some time past have been
in a precarious condition. Suddenly the gates burst
open, and, with a roar like ten thousand thunder-
claps, the waters, nearly forty-three feet above the
level, rushed into the river. The dock was, of
course, nearly drained in a few minutes, and the
vessels left in the mud. Happily but little damage
was done, and no lives were lost. The dock gates
are now repaired.
THE ROYAL ACADEMY DINNER came off without any
remarkable incident last Saturday. The usual com-
plimentary toasts were proposed and speeches de-
livered. A witty remark made on the occasion, and
attributed to a certain eminent legal lord, is worth
recording. Standing before Hunt's picture, No. 398,
he observed that it was a capital portrait of "Lord
Stratford, de Redcliffe."

THE MAY MEETINGS, apparently like the summer,
have set in with their usual severity. The Churcl:
Missionary Society, the Wesleyan Missionary Society,
and the British and Foreign Bible Society, have held
their annual meetings this week. The affairs of each
of these admirable societies, which appear to have ma-
terially extended their influence during the past year,
seem by the reports to be in a satisfactory state. The
British and Foreign School Society, the Field.lane
Ragged-schools, and the Naval and Military Bible
Society have also held their annual meetings this
week.
, •-•

I flt tI.

AT A MEETING OF THE MANCHESTER CITY COUNCIL
this week an address was proposed, congratulating
her Majesty on the conclusion of peace. The repre-
sentatives of the peace party in the council con-
curred in the object of the address, but objected to
expressions' in the document acknowledging the
" justice and necessity of the war," and speaking of
" the spirit of aggression and aggrandisement "
which led to the war as having " been triumphantly
chastised." The question was put to the vote, and
the address carried by a majority of 35 to 9.
31. KOSSUTH has commenced at Birmingham the
delivery of his series of lectures on the Austrian
Concordat. Upwards of two thousand persons were
present in the Town-hall upon the delivery of his
first lecture on Wednesday evening.
THE GERMAN JAGEaS stationed at Maker Heights,
Plymouth, have evinced some insubordination this
week, and refused to do duty. Sixty-five men were
imprisoned in the citadel at Plymouth on Thursday,
and a court of inquiry is now sitting. The Jagers
complain that their drill hi too severe, and that they
were only enlisted while war continued.

MAY 10
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