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

sion. He remarked that although he had numbered
80 winters, the noble lord united in a remarkable
degree the freshness of youth with the maturity of
a green old age ; he also informed his hearers of an
interesting fact, that he had in the year 1811 heard
the noble lord make a speech in the House of Com-
mons which was a promise that his after perfor-
mances had fulfilled. A little incident recorded
like this, in the midst of a festive scene, imparts

an interest to it. It is not probable that these two
men believed on that evening that half a century

afterwards they should thus meet, one the Premier
of this country, and the other the magnate of the

City of London. It was not likely that Lord
PALMERSTON should go so much into detail upon
an cccasiou like that before him, but he touched

britfly upon some of the leading affairs of the day.
He referred with great regret to the dark spot in

,he affairs of without, which is the war raging on

,he other &de of the Atlantic, but he speedily

passed from such a painful topic to other themes
more in unison with the scene before him, and
congenial to the tastes of his hearers. He cnngra.

elated the Lord Mayor upon the presence of his

most distinguished guests, men who have reflected
glory upon the two chief countries of the world.

The first was Lord BROUGHAM, truly depicted by
the Premier as a man who has "distinguished him-
self
in every career of intellectual display," an elo-
quent advocate, a powerful Parliamentary orator,
or as having " trodden successfully all the various
paths of science, anxious to spread the blessings of
knowledge through the land." In terms hardly
less flattering did the noble lord allude to the other
man of mark, M. BERRYER, as one who had at•
tained great "eminence in his: own country, whose
name was known throughout all the nations of

Europe, unrivalled in eloquence at the Bar." He
farther added that he was glad to possess such an
opportunity of doing hom9ge to the talent

and ability of France. It is always for,
tunate when theie is anything cut of the
common to impart vivacity to the proceedings of
an annual enterta!nment, and the good folks who
are always at the feast could not go back and
say that what they did with yesterday they e'en
did with to-day, for it was quite an era in the
records of civic feasts, to entertain a Frenchman of
note, and so remarkably conspicuous as M.
BERRYER. It is very satisfactory that the learned
advocate was enabled to be present at this enter-
tainment, for it afforded him a glimpse of English
►ife that is characteristic and peculiar, and must be
very interesting at all times to foreigners. He may
say that the fearful month of November is enlivened
by festive scenes in the city which is supposed by
some abroad to lie under a cloud during that dreary
season. The learned gentleman in his short speech
was very effective, and made some happy allusions
to the state of English society, and expressed his
admiration for the scenes which he witnessed
around him. He declared that he appreciated fully
the rigid observance then selected of adhering to
old national customs, and that the nation was a
happy one which thus held in respect the inetitua
tions of its ancestors. It was a very interesting
passage in which he referred to the Constitution of
England; the sulject was a painful one to the
speaker, but he fully explained his meaning,
He saw still existing the elements of power in
this c3untry, in the majesty of an hereditary
monarchy, honoured and respected, the power of
the peerage meintained, and the liberties of the
people protected by the representatives or the
House of Cammons. When the more trivial inci-
dents of the Lord Mayor's day have passed from
the minds of those present at the entertainment,
they will doubtless long hear in mind this address
from a dis'ioguished foreigner who put his heart
into hid expressions of enthusiasm, and evidenced
the warmla and sincerity of his admiration for
what he saw, to less than he gave proofs of his
earnest sympathy and intense regrets for the "days
that were o'er." In every respect the Lord Mayor's
day passed off happily, but perhars this incident of
the visit and speech of M. BERRYER may be ranked
among its most striking and successful events,
bringing before us, as it does, the rEfiPctions of the
past, the hopes of the present, and the prospects cf
the future. In no better manner can the festivals
of Either nation be celebrated than when the people
of the first countries in the world pay homage to
the great men, who have ennobled their own land
more especially, but also conferred some lustre upon
he inhabitants of every clime inhabited by the race
hey adorn.