The Sun.
London, England, 1864-04-25 00:00:00

THE SUE, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, APEIL 25, 1864.

was received with deafening applause and clapping of hands,
He was unwilling, even in giving that toast, to divert from
the immediate purpose of the day, but Shakspere himself
supplied, in part, a most fitting description of the character
of the monarch now happily reigning over this country,—
" She shall be
A pattern to all princes living with her,
And all that shall succeed. (Cheers.)
All princely graces,

With all the virtues that attend the good,
Shall still be doubled on her; truth shall nurse her,

Holy and heavenly thoughts still counsel her."
The toast was drunk amid loud cheers, and the national
anthem followed, sung by an efficient corps of vocalists.
The CHAIRMAN next gave "The Prince and Princess of
Wales, and the rest of the Royal Family." He said that
with respect to the illustrious couple who headed the toast,
it would not be inappropriate to resort to the Court of Den-
mark for a description of them. (Hear, hear.) He would
characterise them as—

" The expectancy and rose of the fair State,
The glass of fashion and the mould of form,
The observed of all observers."
(Loud cheers.)

The CitAntmeal next rose and said c—readies and gentle-
men, I come now to what we velnetimes hear called " the
toast of the evening"—yes, and the toast of the year t and
I may with truth call it the toast of my life. Wheers and
attampuolre.eotery worthier
rbs festival.
nationaot htnuri
clapping of hands). This may teKe a hint to me before I
say one word more, that 1 slight in some way to account for
being where I am, I will make no excuse for my own tin-
worthiness, because, if we come to that, who can be deemed
worthy to speak in behalf of Shakspere P (Applause.) Plato
might write of Socrates, but who could be the interpreter of
Shakspere? I believe that lam wholly indebted for the
signal honour I am now possessed of to the circumstance
of my having filled the office of Chief Commissioner of
Woods and forests when some negotiations were being
carried on respecting the purchase of Shakapere's house in
this town, which apparently established a kindly feeling
between me and the inhabitants of Stratford-upon-Avon,
which may have naturally led to their recurring to their
previous recollections in connexion with the present celebra-
tion, (Hear, hear.) In my case, it is a distinction which,
as it was the last I should have anticipated for myself, I
elrepvneeneoaotridtul
dehyi
g. leading
htfighre
_aeeLorvecrmeaci
tniekttansi
om,oofhaeif
npsa
misplace
all
ulcoachewocahmseno,
women
ah anditheeeeenri
Shhswhotohrolmiaduc
Stratford-upon-Avon—that
fdgto
aeri
blnd;
le .
wwuha
peane
osl dkdns:_atoArls
know of
ofmoonft r
_hdsi
not. nthu hkapalkoeti
Shakspere—ail
rightps.BeActr
rieveaoat
ut;
ao
thatt
lihl
di
(loud
eutuxdptsuchchoceenicheers)—his
.et
right
i rahgvs celebrationhi)os—nt
undyingphliasceoaround
wt
own
commonplacetsooch nweuais(gh, ef
Ccrhi
ertht
hohte ahLtpi hsepiebel nfiseono. last
ae)ugisse:
t,enough,
selposta
tuhtroathgtlafoghi
htonns:koafr
heurenttaeqgaoht
heartily
uaisit l
yt o
approve be e declined.
the
idea I passof thisoi on
cweonrtkrsa,l igsreoxuchldusoitvheliys
ocwlunsftaeirredE—nhglearhed,
,ownhaerbeoultcatuhheorat
houstt
fancy that the whole impress of the scenery and rural life
around is so unmistakeably English that we like to be re-
minded how home-like and special and insular was the
cradle of that poet for whom we claim the mastery over the
universal heart of man, the password over the earth, and
the many worlds beyond it. We are following, too, the
good English rule of precedent, which was set for us by
the celebration at Stratferd in the last century, mainly
under the auspices of him who seems to be universally ac•
knowledged, out of the :ong line of illustrious players of
either sex, dead or living, who have distinguished, and, in
some instances, identified themselves with the leading cha-
racters of Shakspere, to have held the foremost place as the
interpreter of Shakepere—David Garrick. (Cheers.) But
' since that well-timed hcmage of the England of the 18th
century to the memory of Shakspere, with what colossal
strides has his fame advanced in the estimation of mankind I
in our own country, at the previous period, the public taste
' still allowed the representation of his plays to be overlaid
by the clumsy alterations and tinsel additions of Dryden, of
Cibber, and of Garrick himself—Et tu, Brute ! (Hear.) I
need not point out the gratifying contrast which the reve•
rential and affectionate retention and restoration of the ori-
ginal text, and let me add the scrupulous attention to the
whole keeping and chronology of the minutest accessories
of the representation, supplies in our days. Then abroad,
the middle of the last century was the time when fast and
fierce flew the arrows against the alleged barbarism of Shak-
spere, aimed from the sarcastic armoury of Voltaire, which
did not spare higher things than Shakspere himself. Con-
sult the first living names in the brilliant literature of
France and mark not how altered, but how reversed, the
tone is in which Shakepere is now spoken of and judged.
As to Germany, I believe her beast is that she reveres, un-
derstands, and fathers him even more thoroughly than our•
selves. (Some laughter.) I believe I may cite Goethe as the
most representative name in the varied and teeming range
of German literature; how does he designate Shakspere ?
as the greatest traveller in the journey of life. Happily any
endeavour to define or gauge the genius of Ohakspere would
be as much beyond my mark as it would be beyond the
limits and requirements of a scene like this, I think he
would be a very clumsy worshipper at his immortal
shrine who woo d not admit that his merits and beauties,
while they are transcendent, are still unequal, and that
in the whole range of his thirty-six admitted plays,
in some of these he not only falls below his own
level, but that of several of his contemporaries and
successor. But take him in his height, and who may ap-
proach him ? Presumptuous as the endeavour may appear
to classify, there would seem to be a few great tragedies
which occupy summits of their own--" Macbeth," "Ham-
let," "Lear," " Othelio." I feel we may take our stand
within that unassailable quadrilateral—(cheers and laugh-
ter)---and give our challenge to all the world. (Cheers,) I
feel indeed tempted to upbraid myself when I think of all
the outlying realms of strength and comeliness which I thus
seem to leave outside the stately forms of Roman heroes,
the chivalry marshalled around our Plantagenet Kings, the
wit of Mercutio, Beatrice, and Falstaff, the maiden
grace of Imogen and Miranda, Ariel the dainty sprite, Obe-
ron and his elfin court, the memories which people the
glades of the Ardennes, the Rialto of Venice, the garden of
Verona, giving to eith glorious scene and sunny shore a
stronger lien upon ear associations than is possessed even
by their own native lend. (Cheers.) It is time that I should
call upon you, in the right of all the recollections which
must throng in your owa breasts far more copiously and
vividly than I could hope to present them to you—by the
thrill you have felt n the crowded theatre, amid all the
elendour of dramatic pageantry—by the calmer enjoyment
cf your closet leisure--by the rising of yoni soul when the
lines which breathe end warm have led you to recognise end
adore the Giver of sech gifts to men, to join me in drinking,
not with the solenti silence which a more recent death
might hate enjoinec, but with the reverential love and the
admiring fervour doe to the day and the man—" The Me-
Imory of Shakspere,'
I This toast was folowed by prolonged cheering. and de-
-1 rising
soinnsg totra dt tines of
it
mornth
honour, e ,i vel
markediest
the glee, " Thou
soft flowing Avon," Was sung,
andtSirhei rt brie.
P C
5e said he knew of no occasion when
Alenree neroposed" The Archbiehops,the Bishops,
gyth.,e,
man pcorenege
be more welcome than when they were met to offer homage
rnecgeaat
et
df e etwievree meetingsuh w e
lco
raw he
,e r
ae
nladiesv
earn dc
oguelndt I ei -t
and praise to that great name, rendered illustrious by the
noblest sentiments which could emanate from the mind of
a human being, (ohms.)
The Archbishop of DUBLIN responded to the toast. fie
observed that neither himself nor any of his brethren had
come there as a mere formal act, but they felt that there was
an intimate connection between all true art, and therefore,
especially, between the art of Shakspere and the faith of
which they were the ministers. They felt that if art be die..
severed from that faith it would ultimately parish. In the
name of himself and his brethren he thanked the company
for the kind manner in which they had received the toast.
Mr. BYNG proposed " The Army, Nesey, Yeomanry, and
Volunteers," observing that he supposed he had been se-
lected to give it en account of the singular and melancholy
reason that he wag the oldest Volunteer in :the three king-
doms. (Cheers end laughter.)
Glen. AINSLIE returned thanks for the army.
haTlfhoef tEarlheneafv navy; and RanEdWas c7clueßdYt acknowledged the toast on be-
as an Englishman, and,
still more, as a Talbot, he felt he could not forbear being
present at a festival designed to honour the memory of the
immortal man, from whom he was lineally descended. He
concluded by proposing " The Lord-Lieutenant and neagis•
trates of the county," and highly eulogised the exertions
madeiby Lord Leigh to relieve the distress of a neighbour-
ing town.
Lord LIiIGH returned thanks for himself and brother
magistrates, and expressed his obligations to the noble earl
in the chair for honouring the festival by his presence, and
thereby giving additional lustre to the present brilliant
meeting. (Applause.)
Sir W. FRASER said he had a toast to propose so vast in
Its ektent and comprehension that he thought it might re-
quire ten hours' reflection to make a speech even of ton
minutes on it; but he believed that the present audience
wottld make alloWanee for one Who only knew late last
night that he was to give the toast, and consequently
had not had time sufficient to do justice to ft. The toast
be held to gibe wee " The Drama," which he would simply
propose without attempting
to point out the beauties of the
Greek and Latin drama, for his experience ot Euripides and
Terence rather suggested painful recollections (laughter),
themselves;
ea:,
or the merits Of such el
if
et;h6e.yOthello," '
studiedll am "Hamlet,"
them,'' and
r
would be sufficient to ex-
Mr, CRESWICK, who was svartnly applauded,th said th t
upon that day, when the sacred memory of e great high.
talaihthtm. (fteAki hear) The toast was drunkwith.cdheeras.
dnojtuhliinegt,'h'refl:cYrould say
nation, but almost
fessor of the poet's art, found himself, in the absence of
priest
entire
untivh
universe,
eo,mhaera, nhoutmohnlley
pro-
fessor
more distinguished persons, called on to discharge a duty
which required the most gifted eloquence to do it justice,
but, at the same time, he felt it a gratifying circumstance
thatto
dthe deifne
h• th is gel
aiofm sof h
liberalt advancement
dm
ra a.A
(Applause.)
as
unsoet.
)Those
necessary, ose
were now generally admitted, but, as they all knew, such
was not the case when the first wail of the infant Shak-
spere's voice was heard in the yeoman's house in Stratford.
(Cheers.) Then the drama was almost extinguished by