The Sun.
London, England, 1855-08-02 00:00:00

EAST IN-DIA. COMPANY'S FAREWELL
DINNER TO VISCOUNT CANNING.

Yesteclay evening all the resources of the Louden
Tavern were orougLt into requisition to do honour to
Viscount C,l:nurig., the occasion being the etnAoleary
farewell banquet of the Honourable East India Com-
pany to their newly-appointed Governor-General, pre-
vious to his departure for India. The banquet was of
the most magnificent description, and more than ordi-
nary pains lad been taken to make the decorations
worthy of the occasion. The staircases were all richly
carpetted and lined on each side with rare exotics, and
the reception-room in which the guestS first assembled
was quite regal in its appearance. The magnificent
carpet, which had been manufactured at Tourney ex-
pressly for the Duke of Buckingham, on the occasion of
the Queen's visit to Stowe, covered the floor, and
the niches were filled with rare statuary, alternated
with the choicest products_ of the conservatory. The
grand saloon was brilliantly illuminated with wax,
and the tables were covered with rid and
silver plate of elaborate workmanship. A pleasing
proof of the advantage of more intimate interceur,e with
France, the chosen land of taste, was given in the abun-
dance and graceful arrangement of the floral decorations,
every table being abundantly supplied with natural
flowers, fancifully arranged, and giving in their bright
colours and fresh perfume a delightful and novel effect
to the arrangements. The dinner itself was worthy of
such accessories, and the wines comprised all the rare
vintages which Mr. Bathe prudently reserves for great
occasions, such as the state dinners of the honourable
company.

The company was exceedingly numerous and distin-
guished, and among the principal guests we noticed :
Viscount Canning, the Lord Chancellor, Duke of Argyll,
Marquis of Lansdowne, K.G., Earl of Harrowby, Vis-
count Palmerston, G.C.8., Viscount Hardinge, G.C.8.,
Earl Granville, Deputy Chairman, Marquis of Clanri-
carde, Earl Cowper, Earl Somers, Earl Bruce, Viscount
Sydney, Right Hon. Vernon Smith, Mr. Mills, Viscount
Duncan, Lord Panniure Lord Stanley of Alderley,
Right Hon. Sydney Herbert, Right Hon. Sir G. Grey,
Bart., G.C.8., Right Hon. W. E, Gladstone, Right
Hon. Sir E. Ryan, Knt., Right Hon.- Sir C. Wood,
Bart., Right Hon. Sir W. Moleswortb, Bart., Right
Hon. Sir G. C. Lewis, Bart., Vice Chancellor Page
Wood, Lieut.-Gen. Sir G. Pollock, G.C.8., Sir J. Mel-
vill, K.C.8., Viscount Monck, Mr. Ellice, Viscount
Dungarvan, Lord Wodehouse, Lord Redesdale, Lord De
Tabley, Right Hon. J. S. WOrtley, Right Hon. E. Hors-
man, Sir James Weir Hogg, Bart., Sir J. Doveton,
K.C.8., Col. Sir F. Abbot, C. 8., Hon. W. F. Cowper,
Hon. F. L. Gower, Mr. Bayley, Sir G. Couper, Bart.,
Sir T. Redington, K.C.8., Col. Sir P. Cautley, K.C.8.,
Sir H. Willock, K.L.S., J. H. Astell, Esq., E. Thorn-
ton, Esq., Right Hon. W. G. Hayter, Vice-Chancellor

Kiudersley, Mr. Shepherd, Sir F. Currie, Bait., Major-
General Sir H. M. Wheeler, K.C.8., Major-General
Sir F. Smith, K. 11., Mr. Smith, and Mr. Mangles.
On the removal of the cloth, the CIIAIR3IAN (Elliot
M`Naghten, Esq., chairman of the Company) gave, with
appropriate observations, the healths of the Queen,
Prince Albert, and the rest of the royal family, after
which he proczeded to give the toast of the evening, the
health of -V iscount Canning, the newly-appointed Go-
vernor-General of India. He said that the office to

which Lord Canning had just been called was not only
one of the highest importance, but he believed there was
no office under the crown in the possession of which so
much personal power and responsibility was necessarily
vested. (Hear.) Being an office, the due administration
of which involved the happiness of millions of human
beings, it would be impossible to exaggerate the great re-
sponsibility of its duties. Under such circumstances the

selection of a Governor-General should be made with
the greatest care and circumspection, and the directors
considered that they had fulfilled both those conditions
by appointing Lord Viscounteanning to the office. (Loud
cheers.) His lordship had filled various high offices in
this country to the satisfaction of the country, the Par-
liament, and the Sovereign, and he (the chairman) was
sure vvotrld carry to India the administrative ability,
diligence, and discretion which had won him such golden
opinions in his native euuntry. (Hear.) The highest
thing he could hope for his noble friend was that he might
turn out to be a worthy successor to Lord Dalhousie, ac-
quire the same intimate knowledge of India, exhibit the
same diligence in his government, and the same ardent
desire to promote the welfare of the people. (Loud cheers.)
In short, he (the chairman) trusted that while they
changed the head of the government, the principle of
government would be the same, and that Lord Canning
in his new office would worthily emulate the love of India,
the zeal, and the ability of his illustrious father. (Cheers )
The late Mr. Canning took a deep interest in everything
that concerned India, served four and a half years at the
B iard of Control, and was at last nominated to the high
office of Governor-General, But England could not
spare him, and India was compelled 'to forego the
promised advantages of his great ability for govern-
ment. There was every reason to hepe that their
noble guest would prove the worthy son of such afatlier,
and that his administration would be attended with
the most beneficial and prosperous results. (Hear.) All
the company would, he was sure, cordially join with him
(the chairman) in the hope that Providence would
endow Lord Canning with health and strength, ably to
perform his duties, and afterwards a long and happy
career on his return to his native country. In conclu-
sion he had only to say that the concurrent opinion in
England and India was that the appointment of Lord
Canning was a measure tending to the consolidation of
our empire in the latter country, to the advance of the
social, moral, and intelleetual interests of its people, to
the development of their commercial resources, and the
increased reputation of the British name. (The toast
was received with loud and general cheering.)
Lord CANNING-Mr. Chairman and gentlemen of the
board of directors, I am deeply sensible of the kind and
flattering manner in which this toast has been proposed,
and of the encouraging reception which has been gives
to it by your guests. It is never an easy task adequately
and becomingly to express one's thanks for kindness
which far exceeds one's merit and expectation, more es-
pecially when the favour conferred carries with it an
amount of trust and responsibility which the boldest
could hardly look upon without alarm. (Hear, hear.)
Were I to give utterance to all my feelings in acknow-
ledging your kindness I should lay myself open to the
suspicion of wishing to dwell on matters agreeable to
myself, of putting out of sight the more serious ceremo-
nial of the morning, and of forgetting the weighty cares
which must soon follow in the prosecution of the trust
with which I have been honoured, and of which the bare
apprehension is sufficient to crush any rising emotion of
gratified vanity or ambition. (Hear, hear.) But I am
not open to any such charge. I can :truly say that the
kindness which I have received from you, Mr. Chairman,
and from your colleagues, has not created any delusion
as regards myself, for whether I look at the magnitude
of the task that awaits me, or the talents of the dis-
tinguished men who have been my predecessors, I
am painfully sensible of how inadequate the labourer
is to the great work which your kindness has placed
in his hands. (Cheers.) I know not what may have
been the feelings of others, on former occasions like the
present, arid filling the situation which now I have the
honour to fill, but for myself I can now say with truth,
that the compliments and congratulations t have from
time to time received on this event have seemed to me
to be hardly suitable to so serious an occasion. (Hear.)
I am not ashamed to confess that there are moments in
which I am tempted to shrink from the responsibility
that await me, while I hope that such a feeling is not
incompatible with au honest and faithful determination
to discharge my duty. (Loud cheers.) I am certain
that it is not inconsistent with the determination to de-
vote all the energies of my mind, every minute and every
hour of my time, every thought and every inspironion to
the discharge of those pledges which I have this day
accepted at your hands. (Hear, hear.) Sir, it would
be ungrateful in me did I fail to admit that there
were some considerations that tended to reassure me,
and to encourage me in the hope that I may be the
instrument of some usefulness in the sphere to which
my destinies are about to be transferred. You have al-
ready assured me this day of what you rightly described
as the generous confidence and co-operation of the Court
of Directors. I thank you for that assurance, and I rely
on it implicitly, for I know that the body of which you
are the head are, wherever they bestow their coufislen se,
no niggards in supporting those who serve them honestly
and faithfully. (Cheers.) I feel that I can also rely on the
cordial support and sympathy of my noble friend at the
head of the Government, and of all those colleagues with
whom I have had the proud satisfaction of serving as a
Minister of the Crown ; but above all I delight in the
co-operaticn—for on that I must daily and hourly rely—
of those two admirable bodies, the civil service and the
army of India. (Loud cheers.) I hardly know whether
there is any feature of our Government, any portions of
our institutions upon which Englishmen may look with
more honest exultation, than those two noble branches
of our Indian service. (Renewed cheers.) The
men of those branches have done much for the advance-
ment of India, and have sent forth from their ranks
men who were efficient in war and peace, in numbers of
which any monarchy in Europe might be proud, and who
have rescued their countrymen from the imputation for-
merly, and not unjustly, leveled against them of dealing
sometimes too harshly with those whom they were bound
to succour and protect. Sir, it is the possession of such
men that enables you to exhibit a spectacle unequalled
in the world's history, that of 150,000,000 of people sub-
mitting in peace and contentment in a country teeming
with wealth to the Government of strangers and aliens.
But your yoke is so easy, and the security so great, that
there is no government of a native prince that can for a
moment compare with it. (Hear.) With such choice of in-
struments for the person in whom, with the sanction of the
crown, is vested the chief responsible government of India,
there can be no excuse for failure or shortcoming. He has
but to choose fearlessly, without favour, on public, not
private grounds, and he is sure to be well served. It is
perhaps no great boast to make, but I may sate that I
leave these shores unencumbered by a single promise or
pledge to any expectant, and that I have no claims to
meet on those posts of trust and honour of which you
make me the repository, except those of persons who
shall prove themselves best able by their talents, charac-
ter, and experience efficiently to serve their adopted
country. (Cheers.) I know that the members of the
two services to which I have alluded will unreservedly
give me their aid, and cheerfully respond whenever I
call them into council. I know not what course events
may take ; I hope and pray that we may not reach the ex-
tremity of war ; I wish for a peaceful time of office, but
I cannot forget that in our Indian empire, that greatest
of all blessings depends upon a greater variety of chances
and a more precarious tenure than in any other quarter
a toe diminished burst
cer-
tainly of the globe. We must not forget that in the sky of
India, serene as it is, a small cloud may arise at first no
bigger than a mar's hand, but which, growing gradually
larger and lar,
over-
whelm us with ruin. What has happened once may hap-
pen
eila, b g aiunt they are not dispelled. We have still die-
. Theg er,
disturbingm ay
at
last
causes threaten
have