The Express.
London, England, 1851-06-09 00:00:00

BANQUET TO THE COI

OF MADRAS.

On Saturday last the Fast India Company gave a
congratulatory dinner to Lieut.-General Sir Richard Arm-
strong, on his appointment to the chief command of the
company's forces at Madras. Tho scene of the entertain-
ment was the London Tavern, the whole of the resources of
which were brought into requisition 011 the oceasion. The
grand staircase and the approaches to the dining hall were
adorned with draperies, relieved by mirrors and exotic
plants. The hall itself pre anted a magnificent appear-
lance. The whole of the company's costly service of ploisl
was displayed. At either end were becurfers on which were '
ranged massive salvers of gold and silver gilt. The dining
and side tables almost groaned under the enormous load of
the precious metals they were made to bear,. in vases,
flagons, epergnes, candelabra, and other appropriate erne-
ments. The band of the Coldstream Guards was in at-
tendance, under the direction of Mr. Godfrey, and played
at intervals during the evening a number of popular airs.
Upwards of 200 noblemen and gentlemen sat down to
dinner. At the principal table on the right of the chair-
Man ((John Shepherd, Esq., the chairman of the company)
eat Lieut.-General Sir H. Armstrong, C. 8., Viscount
Sardimge, the lion. J. E. Elliot, Litut-Genend Sir
W. Cotton, G.C.8., Lieut.. General Sir W. /*Lichees, '
Mr. Muspratt, Sir George R. Clerk, K.C.8.,
Sir R. Westmacott ; Baron C. Dupla, Chevalier De
Burg, and Herr Von Viebahn, Foreign Commissiorien ,•
Sir Charles Lyon ; and on the clialmian's left were seated
Sir James W. Hogg, Bart. (Deputy Chairman). Earl
Granville Right Gen. W. E. Gladstone, Sir S. H. North-
', cote, ILA., Itlajor•General Sir George Pollock, G.C.D. ••
Major-General Sir Charles Pastry, K.C.8., Lieut.-Os:nerd
Sir J. L. Lushington, G.C.8., Major-General Sir John
Holt, K.C.8., Major-General Sir A. Maclaine, C.D.,
Colonel Sir C. Hopkinson, C. 8., Colonel Sir C. Wade,
C. 8., Peer Ibrahim Khan Bahadour, Syed Abdoolah
(interpreter). Mr. Wilson, M.P., Secretary to the Board
of Control, and the Rajah Sir J. Brooke were also among
the guests.
%The routine toasts having been duly honoured, and Sir
Richard Armstrong having returned thanks for hill health
having been drunk (it was proposed in un eloquent and
highly complimentary speech from the chair),
The CHAIRMAN again rose and said they were
honoured that day with the presence of several of the royal
I commissioners appointed to promote the Great Exhibition
of the works of the art and industry of the world. (Hear,
hear.) All present must be aware of the persevering and
indomitable exertions of Prince Albert and the noble lords
and gentlemen who composed the commission, but he might
without offence, he hoped, tell them that they were not so
well acquainted with the formidable difficulties and obsta-
cles they had overcome in carrying out the project which
had been so warmly patronised by her Majesty, and which
had been originated by her royal consort. (Applause.) Ile
need not now dwell on those difficulties and obstacles, for
they had happily all been surmounted, and now there was
only one feeling of satisfaction and surprise at the speedy and
completely successful realisation of the project. (Applause.)
Ile was sanguine in his belief that the effect of the scheme
in:bringing the people of different countries together to
exhibit in peaceful rivalry the products of their industry,
would tend to cement the ties of amity and goodwill
amongst all nations, and that the Exhibition of 1851 would
redound to the honour and credit of this coustry to the
latest posterity. (Hear, hear.) lie was delighted to find
that through the exertions of their officers abroad India
had been able to make such a display of the valuable and
rare productions of that part of her Majesty's dominions
which was under the charge of the East India Company.
(Hear, hear.) He was sure they would join cordially with
him in drinking the health of his noble friend " Earl Gran-
ville and the Royal Commissioners."
Earl GRAN VILLE returned thanks. Ile observed that
there was no public body to whose aid the commissioners
I were so much indebted for the means of carrying out the
exhibition to a successful issue as the East India Com.
puny. Last year the company joined in a guarantee for a
considerable sum of money for the purpose, in order to en-
able the commissioners to raise money on easy terms. At
the present moment such a guarantee might appear to Mat
little value, and to entail but little risk; but he could aware
them that the Royal Commissioners thought differently last I
year, when, with little credit and less cash, they sent him
(Lord Granville) as the trembling negotiator to the Bank
parlour to negotiate a loan with the Bank of England.
(Cheers.) The East India Company had also, by the exer-
tions of their civil and scientific servants, collected together
a magnificent stual oriental, showing the resources and
capabilities of that country, and which, 33 a school of indus-
try and art, must be invaluable throughout the whole civi-
lised world. One gentleman, who has shown so much kilow-
ledge of colour and effect in the decoration of the building itself,
had assured him that there were patterns in the Indian
departinenc of the exhibition which no European artist could
either design or copy, so as to preserve the same combina-
tion of colour and form. Much attention had been paid of
late to the subject of education, and there could he no doubt
that very ;important educational results must follow this
great conception of Prince Albert (Hear, hear.) Ile
believed that no one, who sought fur information of the
products of foreign countries, but would find that unlimited
means of increasing hie stock of knowledge and improving
his mind at the exhibition. He believed that there was
M sae so well informed, or so ill informed, whose store of
knowledge would not be increased by a visit to Hyde Park.
(Cheers.) Ile believed, too, the indirect beneficial effect of
that exhibition would not be less conspicuous in another
I way. If they reflected on the thousands of Smiting nice
who for months past had been laying aside some portion of
their weekly earnings, to the great annoyance of the publi-
eans,especially in the north of England, but to the intellectual
advantage of themselves and their families in the visit to
the Exhibition which their societies enabled them to make,
they must allow that this was not the worst or least efficient
agent in the education of the People.
The CHAIRMAN then gave "The health of the Foreign

HERR VON VIEBAIIN returned thanks. In his
country, Germany, the exhibition of the works of art and
industry of all nations met at first with great opposition
among the manufacturers and merchants, but he mint con-
feu there never was a great nation that bad made a more
noble and generous use of their resources than the English
people or the English metropolis. (Hear, hear.) And ho
heartily wished that the happiest results would flow from
this great exhibition, which had been produced under the
auspices of this country, at whose hospitable hearth they
were now assembled. (Cheers.)
Other toasts were followed by the " Health of the Right
Hon. W. E. Gladstone and the other distinguished visitor.."
Mr. W. E. GLADSTONE, M.P., in returning thanks,
said—We do not forget that for many long. years your
army has been the rival, and the worthy rival, of the
gallant army of England in their service in the field,
and that the military glory of England would not
suffer by comparison with that of any nation on the
earth, even if it were tested only by the achievements
our Indian sepoys have performed. (Applause.) We do
not forget your civil service—that it is the pleasure and
advantage of the advisers of the crown to draw, in circum-
stances of difficulty, upon the aid of those men who have,
perhaps, been rarely equalled, certainly never surpassed. It
is no small praise to the training you give, that it qualifies
not only for the immediate service of the company, but for
the higher and more important duties of the state. You
send forth the high-spirited youth of England to undertake
high offices where authority must necessarily be despotic ;
but it is the highest praise that can be passed on the disci-
pline of the East India Company—the best and most unequi-
vocal proof of the effect of that discipline upon the mind
is, that the government of the Queen has come to
you on more than one occasion to draw from your service
the fittest and most competent men, not to exercise despotic
power over other race*, but to rule over the free men of En-
glish blood such as the colonists who were placed under the
government of the late Lord Metcalfe (Loud cheers.) I
cannot but rejoice at this opportunity of alluding to that
distinguished man ; for I say that the fame of the East
India Company would be well sustained if it had bred no
other public servant than Lord Metcalfe. (Hear, bean) But
this country abounds with men who are ready to devote
their energies to its service; it abounds with men who are
martyrs even in the labour of political life ; it abounds with
men who whether he youth or wimmeed age have been
ready to give up this seissimbi of hems, and the com-
forts which hams 'applies, hem mochas of unmixed
patriotism. Them is so batter way of hewing what is the
spirit of the East India Company,
_red what it is capable of
peritonea, he the bonsai of imilionol, than by referring to
what bar metal tlooipiine and minim have done, whether
in newest to tie your "my bas achieved for us,
whitlow in revolt to the moirsiews additions you have
made to the territories of the cows, or whether in
to that which I think the highest posies—what yoUeLardve
done for England be training for be sod adding to her
character and hues by maturing kr her service virtues
and abilities so ememoroate as Mom of the great Indian
statesman to whom I base adsorbed. (Loud cheers.)
The healths of the Caubimem and Peer Ibrabam Khan
Bahadoor, native aged elan Rajah of Bahawulpoor, fol-
lowed, and the company "spitted.

COUNTY COURTS EXTENSION.-00 Saturday Lord
Brougham's bill (No. 2), as amended in committee, was
printed by order of the Howie of Lords. The object of this
bill is to limit the jurisdiction of the Court of Bankruptcy,
to abolish the Courts of Bankruptcy for the county dis-
tricts, and to give to the judges of the County Courts juris-
diction in matters of bankruptcy. The County Courts Bill
(No. 1), which relates to the proceedings of the courts, is
now in the House of Commons. The present outstare con-
tains 36 clauses, and it is proposed that it shall come into
force en the 11th of (Mobs. The eventual annual saving
under this bill and the Bankrupt Consolidation Let, 1649,
is expected to be 66,170 L, and it is stated that 6,1001. a year
has already been effected. By this bill commie loners,
official assignees, assrmagers, and others of the Court of
Bankruptcy are to be reduced in number. County Court
judges in the country are to do all the work, with assist-
ance. Several alterations have been made in this bill
whilst in committee of the Hpuse of Leeds. Nothing la
said about additional Judges, or of inerening the salaries of
the present. The judges of the County Courts are to reside
within their respective districts, and not to pretties as bar-
risters. The commissioners are to be an oe judges, and
are to sit at such times as the Lord Cbsnoe7lar shall appoint,
or by goners' rule or order. The ant is to be called " The
lint County Courts Extension Act, 1861."

'rlIE CLERICAL Phomsr.—The Exeter Protest
has meeived 67 signatures, including
.11 who had already
lived a similar protest which ongunted at Plymouth.
grilled' of a hundred clergymen hare thus already, for-
mally protested against the synod, and the example will be
followed by many mom. The last day fee readouts sigma`
tstos will be Tossday, Ism 17.—Wsolors Moss