The Sun.
London, England, 1855-11-23 00:00:00

THE LUNCHEON

took place in the Town Hall at half past two. About
400 gentlemen sat down. The galleries were filled with
ladies, and Lord Calthorpe presided. A very handsome
chair was provided for the royal guest, who sat on the
President's right hand, he having the Major on his im-
mediate left. During the luncheon, and subsequently
to it, there was an interesting musical performance. Mr.
Stimpson presided at the organ ; and more than 200
voices took part in the choral selections, which included
the compositions of Mendelssohn, Meyerbeer, and other
eminent composers. The following choral ode, written
for the occasion by W. Bartholomew, set to music by
Mrs. Mounsey Bartholomew, was sung in the course of
the proceedings at the luccheon :
WOMEN. Is glory only won
By deeds of valour done?
MEN. Though glory's brightest rays
Adorn the victor's bays,
Its purest beams alight
On all who take delight
In wisdom's ways.
IVO3f EN. Is glory, then, the weed
Of every noble deed ?
MEN. It is : and they who strive
To see their country thrive
In arts, that civiliso
And make the untaught wise,
In glory live.

'l'l:TT'. Then hail, all hail, Prince Consort of Tictoril I I
Hail, patron of the arts that dignify her crown.
May grace divine
Exalt her line !
Her glory and renown
Encircle thine !

The Noble PRESIDENT, in giving the first toast, said—
May it p'( ase your Royal Highness, my lords and gen-
tlemen,—l beg to propose a customary toast—that of
" Her Majesty the Queen." (Loud cheers.) I say cus-
tomary, but I am convinced that in this place there will
be no want of heartiness in responding to it. We hive
great reason to be thankful for the blessings we enjoy
under the mild and constitutional sway of her Majesty,
and Itr the bright example which she shows to all. I do
not hesitate to say, that beloved as her Majesty is as our
Sovereign, she is no less admired as a wife and mother.
(Loud cheers.) I beg to propose "Her Majesty the
Queen." The toast was followed by the national anthem,
which was sung with thrilling effect by a full choir, ac-
companied by the magnificent organ.
The Noble
PRESIDENT, on again rising, said—My lords
and gentlemen,—l feel somewhat embarrassed in propos-
ing the next toast, inasmuch as it relates to the illustri-
ous Prince on my right hand. I will not offend or wound
his delicacy by saying in his presence what I might
otherwise have been tempted to do. But this I will say,
that Birmingham is deeply indebted to his Royal High-
ness for his presence here to-day, and I trust that the
building begun under such happy auspices will be ere
long completed, and that when cateple.,ed the instruc-
tion and means of improvement will be imparted to the
working classes which the illustrious Prince is so anxi-
ous to promote. (Loud cheers ) I therefore beg to
propose wittiout further preface. "The Health of his
Royal Highness Prince Albert." (The toast was re-
ceived with great enthusiasm.)
His Royal Highness PRINCE ALBERT said in reply—
My lord, I am much obliged to you for proposing Ivy
health in such kind terms, and I cannot but be much
gratified by the cordial reception which you, gentle-
men, have been pleased to give to this toast. It
has been a great pleasure to rue to have been able to
participate, in however trifling a degree, in a work
which I do not look upon as a simple act of wcrldly
wisdom on the part of this great town and locality,
but as one of the first public acknowledgements of a
princip o which is daily forcing its way amongst us,
and is destined to play a great and important part in the
future development of this nation and of the world in
general—l mean, the introduction of science and art as
the conscious regulatcrs of productive industry. The
courage and spirit of enterprise with which an immense
amount of capital is embarked in industrial pursuits, and
the skill and indefatigable perseverance with which these
are carried on in this country, cannot but excite univer-
sal admiration ; but in all our operations, whether agri-
cultural ( r manufacturing, it is not we who operate, but
the laws of nature, which we have set in operation.
It is, then, of the highest importance that we should
know these laws, in order to know what we are about,
and the reason why certain things are, which occur
daily under our hands, and what course we are to pur-
sue with regard to them. Without such knowledge
we are condemned to one of three states :—Either
we merely go on to do things just as our fathers did,
and for no better reason than because they did them
.so---,or, trusting to some personal authority, we adopt
at random the recommendation of some specific, in
a speculative hope that it may answer— or, lastly, and
this is the most favourable case, we ourselves improve
upon certain processes ; but this can only be the result
of an experience hardly earned and deeply bought, and
which, after all, can only embrace a comparatively short
space of time, and a small number of experimeats. From
none of these causes can we hope for much progress ;
the mind, however ingenious, has no materials to
awoy
with, and remains in presence of phenomena the causes
of which are hidden from it. But these
laws of nature
—these Divine laws—are capable of being
made our
own.
and understood, and of being taught and rat
This is the task of science—and whilst science
No
and teaches these laws, art teaches theirapplication.overs
ttobe capable of
pursuit is, therefore, too insignificant not
eeand an art. The
ddiscovers
becoming the subject both of a
science
and sculpture,
fine arts (as far as they relate todp:iitth
art in general))
which are sometimes confounded
of form and labour,
rest on the application
ofthe
science of the beautiful.
and what may be called the
theory on the modes
They do not rest on Y
an- arbitrary
flow( but follow fixed laws,
•pleasurable enio
of producing
seize than those regulating the
material world, becaumore difficult, perhaps,s
to e
belonging partly to the sphere
spiritual essence, yet perfectly
of the ider.l and our
both abstractedly and
ap-
preciable and teachable, histori-
cally, theworks of different ages and nations.
from
uits make
human purs any material
(Cheers.) No pro-
gress be brought to bear upon them. We
until science
gress
have seen, ac
oordingly, many of them slumber for cen-
turies ; but from the moment that science has touched
with her magic wand, they
them have sprung forward
and t iken strides which amaze and almost awe the be-
holder. Look at the transformation which has gone on
around us since the laws of gravitation, electricity, mag-
netism, and the expansive power of heat have become
known to us ! It has altered our whole state of existauce—
one might say the whole face of the globe I We awe this
to science alone ; and she has other treasures in store for
us, if we will but call her to our assistance. It is sometimes
objected by the ignorant that science is uncertain and
changeable ; and they point to the many exploded theories
which have been superseded by others, as a proof that
the present knowledge may be also unsound, and atter
all not worth having. But the that while
g. ey are not aware .
in
they think to cast blame upon science, they bestow,
fact, the highesther. For that is precisely
praise upon ere
t the
the difference between science and prejudice; tha