The Sun.
London, England, 1864-03-29 00:00:00

Banquet at the Mansion-house,

The annual Easter entertainment, was given by the Lord
Mayor and Lady Mayoress at the Mansion House last
evening, to an assembly of between two and three hundred
persons.

At the banquet the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress were
supported by the Marquis of Salisbury and Lord and Lady
Malden on their right, and by his Royal Highness the Duke
of Cambridge, Lord Stratford de Redcliffe, and Slr John
and Lady Dalrymple Hay on the left.
Grace after meat having been said by the Lord Mayor's
chaplain, the Loving Cup was quaffed.
The LORD iVIA.YOR rose, and said, in giving the introduc-
tory toast, the health of the Sovereign of these realms, it was
a toast that came home to the hearts of Englishmen in
whatever quarter of the globe they might be sojourning;
and in the city of London it was always received with the
enthusiasm which it deserved, (Hear, hear.) He gave
them, then, "The Health of her Majesty the Queen."
(The toast was drunk with three times three and loud
cheers.)

The LORD MAYOR next proposed " The Health of the
Prince and Princess of Wales." (Cheers.)
The next toast from the chair was " The Army, Navy,
and Volunteers," coupled with the names of his Royal
Highness the Duke of Cambridge and Admiral Walcott.
(Loud cheers.)

The Duke of CAMBRIDGE returned thanks for. the army
and volunteers. The army, he observed, must be gratified
by any mark of favour and affection which was shown to
them by any portion of their countrymen, and more es:Aci-
ally when the compliment came from the city of London,
which had never been backward in showing its confidence
in and approval of that portion of her Majesty's forces.
(Hear, hear.) At the present moment the bulk of the army
was not actively employed, although we had on our hands a
small wet. in New Zealand, where, however, he was happy
to think our troops, under the able command of Sir Duncan
Cameron, had achieved such re nits that we might soon hope
to hear of the conclusion of hostilities. It was true, also,
that some of our troops had been actively engaged on the
frontiers of India; but there, again, the British soldier, in
conjunction with the native, had evinced a gallantry and
spirit, determination, courage, and fortitude which had done
them the greatest honour. (Cheers.) We wore living in a
time of peace; nevertheless, the British soldier required all
our sympathy and support ; for there was no army in the
world that was so scattered and so constantly employed in
every portion of the globe of the British army ; and he was
sure th...t it would be understood by all that the arduous
service and the battling with climate which theßritieb soldier
was called upon to endure were far more serious than the
honourable career of active service. (Hear, hear.) With
regard to existing circumstances, we were, it was true, liv-
ing in a time of peace; and as a soldier he fully shared in
the sentiments expressed in the wish that that state of things
might long continue. Still he could not disguise from him-
self the fact that, whether we looked to Europe or to America,
here were very important transactions going on in both
hemispheres—in fact, he feared he must say that both were
in a state of war. Hitherto we had had the advantage of
keeping clear of these contests, and so far as he was con-
cerned he could only sey that if in an honourable way we could
continue to do so he sincerely trusted we should. He was
also convinced of this, that the present was not the moment
when we could play tricks with our establishments, and
that, therefore, it was of all things necessary that, whether
it were our army or our navy, both those establishments
should be kept up in the most complete and efficient manner ;
for though this country was determined by every honourable
means in its power to keep out of the wars that werenowgoing
on, he was sure it would never submit to humiliation or con-
tempt. (Cheers.) In a state of things such as that he
believed that those who were now most anxious for peace
would be the fleet to.elesire war; for in these circumstances
alone war was justifiable, and upon that great principle
alone had this great empire ever engaged in any conquest,
(Hear, hear.) With respect to the volunteers, he enter-
tained the firm conviction that if at any moment difficule
ties should arise that force would be found as efficient in
reality as it was now powerful on paper. According to the
returns the number of volunteers amounted to 150,000 men;
bat if only 11.0,000 could be brought into the field as a sup-
plementary force to the regular army, the value of such an
auxiliary must be admitted by every one. (Cheers.) He
was delighted to think that there was that day a large con-
centration of volunteer troops in the neighbourhood of this
metropolis, because he thought those concentrations were
of immense importance and advantage. Indeed, a volunteer
force could only be maintained by being brought together
-now and then, in order to show their merits and demerits.
Ho believed, however, that the merits of our volunteers
greatly surpassed their demerits; and he was certain that
on_the morrow they would have the opportunity of reeding
in the various newspapers that the proceedings of that day
hitd passed off in a satisfactory manner. (Cheers.) On behalf
of the army and the volunteers, then, he had great pleasure
in thanking them for the honour they had conferred upon
those branches of the military force in drinking their health.
(Loud cheers.)
Admiral WALCOTT, in replying for the navy, said that as
the senior naval officer present he could not hut express the
sorrow with which he saw the glorious wooden walls of
Old England passing away. Henceforward they were to be
cased in iron, but he was happy to know that in no other
respect would any transformation be effected, Our jolly
tars, those gallant and generous hearted men, would still
be true to their flag, and would never be found wanting at
a peiiod pf emergency. Mere wooden walls would
no longer form a defence against the ponderous guns
of Armstrong and Whitworth ; in future wars, there-
fore, it would require nerves of steel and hearts as evell
as ships of iron to contend with such ponderous weapon I
but he believed that qualification would never be wanting,
and that the occasion would call forth the same irresistible
courage and professional skill that had always adorned the
naval history of our country. (Cheers.)
The LORD MAYOR proposed " The House of Peers, and
the llealth of the Marquis of Salisbury." (Cheers.)
The Marquis of SALISBURY responded to the toast.
The LORD MAYOR next proposed "The Health of the
House of Commons," which was responded to by the Hot.
Mr. Denman, Q.C., who gracefully referred to the intimate
connection of his father in former times with the Cor-
poration of city of London, an allusion which we"
loudly cheered. It was only fur a short period he had
held a seat in that house; and there were others present
who had enjoyed that honour for a much longer pertod
but he believed he might say on no occasion in the history
of this country had the singular and interesting tact LK:en
presented to the country of the House of Commons being
iseuachvitllallo thoroughly huleyhEhnognloius spirit—in wiLh 8C
agree—as by one who was not only the leader but the father
tions
much
this
misunderstood when he said that, so far as their inelinda.n
vboigthourstidaensdw wireouid
of that house. (Loud cheers.) He would not therefore be
e
and determinations were concerned, the hont,ur an t
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drunk, after lOU the
S'everal other toasts were then dr
Company separated. were safe
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