The Sun.
London, England, 1863-08-03 00:00:00

The Duke of Cambridge at Fishmongers'

-HalL

On Saturday evening the Wardens of the ancient
and wealthy Company of Fishmongers presented
the honorary freedom of their guild to the Duke of
Cambridge, and afterwards entertained his Royal
Highness at a magnificent banquet in their stately
corporate hall at the north end of London-bridge.
A guard of honour, under the command of Captain
McLachlan, and composed of members of the City
of London Rifle Brigade, of which the Commander-
in-Chief is colonel, was stationed at the entrance to
the hall, with the band of the regiment. His Royal
Highness arrived shortly after 6 o'clock, and was
received at the entrance to the building with every
mark of respect by Mr. Cubitt, M.P., Prime War-
den ; Mr. Joseph Underwood, Mr. James Spicer,
Mr. Walter C. Yenning, Mr. F. B. Henshaw and
Mr. G.:orge Moore, Wardens; and Mr. W. Beck-
with Towse, clerk of the company. Tne crowd
collected outside raised an enthusiastic cheer as the
Duke alighted from his carriage, and the band
played the Na'ional Anthem. His Royal Highness
was first conducted to the Board-room, where, in
the presence of the Warden and Court of As-
sistants, and such of the guests as had then arrived,
the freedom of the company was conferred upon
him with all the customary ceremony, in pursuance
of a resolution of the governing body passed at a
previous meeting, the formal document being en-
closed in a gold casket of great beauty and intrinsic
value. The Duke having made the customary
declaration,
Mr. CUBITT, the Prime Warden, addressing him,
said, May it please your Royal Highness, the mem-
bers of the Fishmongers' Company rejoice in the
circumstance of your Royal Highness having in-
scribed your name among those of other Royal, illus-
trious, and distinguished personages who have
honoured this ancient guild during many cen-
turies by enrolling themselves among its mem-
bers ; and I am sure I am expressing the earnest
wishes of this company when I say we all hope that
your Royal Highness may long continue to occupy
the important position in which you are so de-
servedly placed, and in which you have engaged the
the affections of the people of this country. We
hope also that your Royal Highness will, as often
as convenient, favour ns with your company on
festive occasions like the present.
The Duke of CAMBRIDGE, in reply, said,—Mr.
Prime Warden and Gentlemen,--I feel highl y
flattered by the compliment which the members of
this ancient guild have been pleased to pay me in
making me an honorary member of their company. It
is one with which many members of my family have
been for years associated. It is, besides, one of those
institutions which we all prize, and which I for one
should be sorry to see abolished. I trust the guild
may last as long as the country in which we have
the happiness to live, and I am sure that, as far as I
am personally concerned, besides the pleasure whicb
it will afford me to meet you here whenever I have
an opportunity of doing so, I shall always be de-
lighted to see the ancient guilds continue to flourish.
With that the ceremony, which was conducted by
Mr. Towse, the clerk, concluded, and the Comman
der-in-Chief was escorted by the Prime Warden
and the rest of the authorities to the banquetting-
hall,
where a very influential company had been
invited to meet him. His Royal Highness was
conducted to a seat on the right of Mr. Cubitt, the
Prime Warden, who presided at the dinner, and
whose year of office commenced that day. Right
and left of the chairman sat the Right Hon. Lord
Cranworth, the Right Hon. Lord Justice Knight
Bruce, the Right Hon. Robert Lowe, M.P. Lieu.
tenant-General Maclean, Colonel Sir A. Horsford,
K.C.8., Colonel French, M.P., Lieutenant-Colonel
Clifton, Lieut.-Colonel C. F. Keppell, Colonel Fraser,
Captain Ives, Captain Isaac, Captain Harris, Sir S.
Morton Peto, M.P., Sir Joseph Paxton, M.P., Mr.
R. W. Crawford, M.P., Mr. Goschen, M.P., and
Mr. Tite, M.P. Among the general company were
Mr. Mitchell, M.P., Mr. W. Murray, M.P., Mr.
Harvey Lewis, M.P., Mr. J. Abel Smith, M.P.,
Mr. McCormick, M.P., Mr. Getty, M.P., Mr. Locke,
M.P., Mr. Bovill, M.P., Mr. Charles Pressley, C. 8.,
Mr. W. U. Arbuthnot, Alderman Humphery, Go-
vernor of the Irish Society, and Mr. William Hum-
phery ; Mr. Thwaites, chairman of the Metropolitan
Board of Works; the Master of the Drapers' Com-
pany, the Prime Warden of the Goldsmiths' Com-
pany, the Master of the Cooks' Company, the Pre-
sident of the Royal College of Physicians, the Trea-
surer of Christ's Hospital, the Treasurer of Guy's
Hospital, the Treasurer of St. Bartholomew's Hos-
pital Dr. Kelley, Dr. Price, Mr. John Hibbert,Mr.
John Hercy, Mr. P. F. Robertson, Mr. R. Seaman,
Mr. E. Ball, Mr. S. Olding, Mr. E. Atkinson, Capt.
M'Lachlan, Lieut. Barton, Lieut, W. W. Towse,
Lieut. Webb and Assistant-Surgeon Chater, of the
London Rifle Brigade. The dinner was of the
sumptuous description for which the company are
famous, and was served with the aid of all their
magnificent appliances.
On the removal of the cloth, the Loving Cop
passed round the board, and the toasts of " Her
Majesty the Queen" and "The Prince and Princess
of Wales and the Rest of the Royal Family" were
drunk by the company.
Mr. CUBITT, the Prime Warden, then proposed
" The Army and Navy and the Volunteers," asso-
ciating with the toast the name of the Duke of
Cambridge, the Commander-in-Chief. There could
be no Englishman, he said, who did not feel that a
deep debt of gratitude was due to his Royal High-
ness for the care and ability which he had exhi-
bited during many years in promoting the effici-
ency of the great army of this country, and espe-
cially for the solicitude he bad always shown
for the comfort of the soldier. (Cheers.) Who
could ever doubt that an army so trained and
organised, and having regard to the affection
subsisting between all ranks of it and the Com-
mander-in-Chief, would prove the material of which
it was made whenever it might be called into active

service.
The Duke of CAMBRIDGE, who was received with
cheers, said, in responding to the compliment, Mr.
Prime Warden, my Lords, and Gentlemen,—You
have done me the honour of proposing my health in
a moat acceptable manner to myself, in conjunction
with that service with which I have been associated
rwrehha which, as
the eariiest period of my public life, and for
greatest affection
easily imagine, I entertain the
on and regard. As respects the posi-
tion of the
art
period in arms,
I flatter myself that during the
which
have had the honour of enjoying
the confidence
as the head of the
army
Sovereign and of the country
e e
the service has in no respect
thatretrogradedotlemenseinn trust was placed in my hands.
(Cheers.)
w e are living in a country in
which we all desire
see Peace and prosperity in
every part of the
world,ecause we feel that if the
world is kept at peace,thba
be a most happy
and fortunate state of things will
for this great com-
mercial empire; but I have
always felt, and I be-
lieve that is the general feeling of country, that
in order to attain that mach-desired a the
end it is essen-
tial that the efficiency of the services
ways fully maintained, for that efficiency should be al-
ways
opinion, the best guarantee we can have for the
is, in my
continuance of peace. Ours is a great empire
we
have vast interests at stake ;we desire tob be ;
Power-
ful in every part of the globe ; and, desiring that,
carry
we should have power and strength to
our wishes, which cm only be accomplished out
ut
means of services efficient in all respects, and if they
are kept ecient the peace of the world, as far
efficient as
this empire is concerned, has the best guarantee for
its perservation. With that object in view, the
country, feeling strongly on the subject, came for-
ward a short time ago, in a most noble and patriotic
spirit, and produced an army of volunteers as an
auxiliary to the regular forces. It is a spectacle
which I do not believe has been equalled iny other
part of the world. A vast number of menn a—l believe
I may now say 150,000—have banded themselves to-
gether, under the fostreing care of the Government,
as an auxiliary to the army of this great empire,
and the result has been that we all feel now a de-
gree of confidence and satisfaction in knowing that
the country is really not so unprotected as it was
formerly said to be. I think that circumstance re-
flects the greatest credit on the general feeling of
loyalty and devotion to the country evinced by those
who have so occupied and organised themselves, and
I have always endeavoured, as a military man, to
foster
and encourage that noble and manly spirit