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

he 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 occasion like That before him, but he touched
briefly upon some of the leading affairs of the day.
He referred with great regret to the dark spot in
the affairs of without, vihich is the war raging on
the 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 congra-
tulated 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 hisl own country, whose

name was known throughout all the nations o
Earope, unrivalled in eloquence at the Bar." He
further added that he was glad to possess such an
opportunity of doing homage to the talent
and ability of France. It is always for-
tunate when there is anything out . of the
common to impart vivacity to the proceedings of
an annual entertainment, 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
life 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 instant
tions of its ancestors. It was a very interesting
passage in which he referred to the Constitution of
England; the subject was a painful one to the
speaker, but he fully explained his meaning,
He saw still existing the elements of power in
this country, in the rrajesty of an hereditary
monarchy, honoured and respected, the power of
the peerage maintained, and the liberties of the
people protected by the representatives of the
House of Commons. 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 bear in mind this address
from a dis'inguished foreigner who put his heart
into his expressions of enthusiasm, and evidenced
the warmth and sincerity of his admiration for
what he saw, no 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 perhaps 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 reflections of the
past, the hopes of the present, and the prospects of
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
hay adorn.

The close of Alderman LAWRENCE'S Mayoralty

was signalised by an event of some importance. I

is not often that the departing dignitary divides
public interest with the new corner on the scene,

but the last day of the late Lord Mayor's tenure of
office witnessed a proceeding in which the comfort
and convenience of the good citizens of London are
very closely concerned. The condition of our me-
tropolitan thoroughfares has long been a matter of
comment, and in spite of new streets and improve-
meets, in defiance of railways in almost every pos-
sible direction, things seem to be getting worse
rather than better. One need not be an inexperi.
enoed rustic to look with some alarm on a City
crossing, and the number of serious and even
fatal accidents recorded by the Registrar
prove that the danger exists somewhere else
than in the imagination of nervous ladies
and timorous old gentlemen. A great many
schemes, large and small, have been propounded
with a view to amending this state of things, but as
yet little has been effected in the way of amelioraa
tion. We may hope a good deal from the Thames
Embankment when finished, but that is a work of
time, and in the meanwhile the necessity is pressing.
The opening of Southwark Bridge free of toll,
which was the event of the Bth of November, will

give a sensible relief to the traffic north and south
of the Thames. The gap between London Bridge
and Blackfriars includes some of the busiest parts of
the City, and the number of vehi3les that went
out of their way in order to go over one of these
free bridges, instead of crossing by Southwark,
added very considerably, and unnecessarily, to the
daily entanglement of wheels. No one accustomed
to City traffic is rash enough to expect to get over
London Bridge in a hurry; and, indeed, if a travel-
ler is wise he will amplify Lord NELSON'S maxim,
and allow a considerable amount of spare time for
his appointment or his train. In spite of the con.
stant watchfulness of the police, and the exertions
made to keep the passage clear, we can rarely hope
to attain more than a snail's pace over London

Bridge in the busy months of the year. It is just
those months when every one is in a hurry—and
it is certainly aggravating to have the grand
highway to so many different places blocked up by
a brewer's dray, a carrier's van, or a string of
tradesmen's carts, that are bound possibly for some
quarter of the town to which Southwark Bridge
would have offered the most direct route. The time,
which is money to the professional class, is very
secondary to the toll expenses in other quarters, so
that all the inevitable difficulties attending the
passage of London and Blackfriars Bridges were
enhanced by such cumbrous and tardy additions.
1 The opening of the intermediate thoroughfare, free
of toll, to the public is therefore a general boon ;
and although it is professedly only a temporary