The Sun.
London, England, 1862-04-29 00:00:00

THE INTERNATIONAL EXHIBI7ION.

BANQUET TO THE COMMISSIONERS AT
THE MANSION-HOUSE.
Last night the Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress
entertained a very numerous and distinguished com-
pany at the Mansion-house, to meet H.R.H. the
Duke of Cambridge and her Majesty's Commissioners
for the International Exhibition of 1862.
After the cloth had been removed, and grace bad
been sung,
The LORD MAYOR gave the " Health of the
Queen"—the first toast, he said, in every assemblage
of Englishmen—and the toast was most enthusias-
tically received. They were, he thought, particu-
larly bound to do honour to this toast on such an
occasion, seeing that her Majesty had exhibited the
deepest solicitude in reference to this great national
co-operative undertaking. The event, as they might
well imagine, would re-open that deep grief which
had now for some time pressed so heavily upon the
heart of our Queen. (Hear, hear.) Nor could they
be unmindful of the great loss which the enterprize
itself had suffered, by reason of the calamity which
had befallen her Majesty. (Hear.) The reign of
Victoria had been beneficial, not only to our own
happy country, but it had also contributed materi-
ally to the advancement of other nations. Her reign
had bceu such that every one present must cordially
unite in the fervent hope that the beloved Sovereign
of these realms might, by God's favour, long be
spared to continue to fill the exalted position which
she at present occupied, and in which it had been
His pleasure to place her, (Applause.)
The toast was drunk with great enthusiasm, in
which the foreign guests seemed most sincerely to
unite.
" His Royal Highness the Prince of "Wales and
the rest of the Royal Family" was the next toast,
and it met with an almost equally flattering re-
ception.
The LORD MAYOR, in rising to propose the next
toast, referred to the unusually complete represen-
tation of foreign powers which honoured the occa-
sion. He rejoiced to see thesedistinguished gentlemen
around him, and he hailed them as the ambassadors
of peace. (Loud applause.) It was to promote
peace and prevent strife that these gentlemen exer-
cised their functions; and the success which had
crowned their labours would be seen in the fact
that for half a century this country had not been
engaged in war near at home. (Laud cheers.) The
science of diplomacy had, in fact, made such ad-
vances, that they might now look forward to the
day when they might hope altogether to escape
the frightful results which war occasioned. (Hear,
hear.) He had to associate with this toast the
name of his Excellency the Turkish Ambassador ;
and without attempting to enumerate the names of
the other Ambassadors present, for a list of whom
he would refer the company to the daily papers of
the next morning, he would simply congratulate
himself and them upon the presence of so many of
them, and ask them to drink to " The health of the
Diplomatic Corps," coupling with the toast the
name of M. Musurus, the Turkish Ambassador.
The toast was drunk with great enthusiasm.
M. Mvsußus said—My Lord Mayor, Ladies,
and Gentlemen—l have the honour to return
thanks to you on behalf of my colleagues
and myself, for the kindly manner in which
you have received the toast just proposed by
his lordship. Nothing is more agreeable to the
diplomatic body than to be present at such a splen-
did meeting as this, and which is the prelude to
the grand International Exhibition, of which we
shall soon have to witness the opening. In fact,
there can be nothing more in accordance with the
wishes of the diplomatic body than to view the
emulation which has always existed between na-
tions, and which has too often been the source of
great evils, now directed on an arena where each
must appear only under the head of auspices, and
through the works of peace, and where different
people will learn mutual esteem, to regard each as
brothers, to each perfect themselves by the exchange
of ideas, in industry, science, and art, and thus
to promote their common well-being. (Cheers.)
It is to England that belongs the glory of
having been the first to assemble the nations at
these modern Olympian games where the
prize is awarded, not to the strongest, nor to
the swiftest, but to those most industrious and
most useful to mankind; and this great metropolis
ought to be proud of offering for a second time its
hospitality to the representatives of the industry
and genius of other countries. (Hear.) But alas ! a
veil of gloom is thrown over these festivities by the
ever-to-be regretted absence of the August Prince
who, among other humanitarian institutions of
which he was the promoter, could conceive and is
justly entitled to be considered the founder of a
work to which other States have warmly lent their
co-operation. Through that, therefore, he has
acquired an incontestable right to the gratitude of
all nations, who will preserve for his memory
the same sentiments of esteem and admiration as
the English people. (Hear, hear.) Therefore, the
more we desire to honour the memory of this great
and illustrious Prince, the more we ought to con-
form to his generous views, by devoting our cares
to the success of his work, and by endeavouring to
render its results more and more profitable to the
human race. (Cheers.)
The LORD MAYOR said—Till the triumphs of
the science of diplomacy should have superseded
the necessity of studying the art of war, it
, behoved every country in the world to guard

The toast was honoured with great enthusiasm.
The Duke of CAMBRIDGE, in acknowledging the
compliment, said he was duly sensible of the great
honour conferred by the Lord Mayor upon the
army, over which it was at present his privilege to
preside. Though the present meeting was purely
pacific in its objects and its tendencies, that com-
pliment would be none the less grateful to our
soldiers, our sailors, and our volunteers. (Cheers.)
They might, without the slightest offence, and
without even indiscretion, show to their foreign
friends the sense entertained by this great commer-
cial city of the very great services which those
forces had rendered, and were capable of rendering.
(Cheers.) In this city the arts of peace reigned
triumphant, and certainly not the art of war ; and
in this respect the city of London faithfully repre-
sented the whole of this great country in its earnest
desire for the maintenance of peace. (Hear, hear.)
The fact was, that the city honoured these services
because, when efficiently maintained, they were cal-
culated to preserve peace (cheers), and the compli-
ment thus paid to them was one which they eonld
cheerfully accept. He would venture to take that
opportunity of calling attention to the compli-
ment which on that occasion had been paid to
his lordship, and, through his lordship to the
city of London, by the presence of so man repre-
sentatives of foreign powers. (Cheers.) It seemed
singularly appropriate that the chief Magistrate
of the city of London should have taken that
the earliest opportunity of assembling together so
distinguished a body of those foreign gentlemen at
his hospitable board, in order to give them that
thoroughly English welcome which he was sure
every Englishman was desirous of according to them.
(Cheers.) But although this meeting had been of a
pacific and joyous character, they could not over-
look the fact, that the pleasure had been sadly
marred by the severe and irreparable loss which
their Queen and their country had recently sus-
tained. (Hear.) He felt all the more grieved for this
loss owing to the fact that as it was from the late
illustrious Prince that the idea of these international
exhibitions emanated, he had not lived to see this
second realisation of his anxious desires and earnest
anxietyhopes. f(Hmeianrd,
ahtetaern.d)
anTt
huepyo nm ghi he
at f
gear re
athat
dt
ehre.
takings had in no small degree contributed to
shorten that life which was so valuable to his coun-
try, and the abrupt termination of which the whole
nation so sincerely deplored. (Hear, hear.) The
success of the Exhibition of 1851 was largely attri-
butable to the exertions of the late illustrious Prince.
Many at first doubted the expediency and practica-
bility of the undertaking, but his Royal Highness
persevered, and the result was a success beyond
what any one expected. Now that this second at-
tempt was about to be made his Royal Highness
was no longer amongst them to share their joys and
triumphs. (Hear, hear.) The Lord Mayor had ex-
pressed the hope that the result of this second
gathering would be to promote peace between the
nations, and he (the Duke of Cambridge) sincerely
trusted that the Lord M sytg's wishes in this respect
might be happily realised. (Applause.) He was sure
that the cordiality and hospitality with which their
foreign friends had been received by the Lord
Mayor on that occasion must contribute materially
to such a result. (Applause.)
Captain MAY briefly returned thanks on behalf
of the Royal Navy, and Colonel Ward, of the Ist
London Rifles, acknowledged the compliment on
behalf of the volunteer corps.
The next toast was " The Church and the Health
of his Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury," which
having been duly honoured, was appropriately ac-
knowledged by his Grace, who expressed his admi-
ration of these industrial exhibitions, as calculated
to promote peace between nations. He hoped that
it would be found impossible for those who had been
thus associated in promoting national industry to
resort to the destructive arts of war. [We may ob-
serve that his Grace, whose brief observations were
exceedingly well received, appeared to justify the
gratifying announcements which have recently been
put forth respecting his restored health.]
The next toast was " The Health of the Royal
Commissioners of 1862 ;" in proposing which the
LORD MAYOR took occasion to eulogise those noble-
men and gentlemen for the able manner in which
they had discharged their duties, and he coupled
with the toast the health of the Right Hon. Earl
Granville.

The toast was drunk with great cordiality.

Earl GRANVILLE returned thanks. He said that
although the loss of his Royal Highness the Prince
Consort had somewhat diminished their interest,
and damped their pleasure, yet they felt it to be a
sacred duty to work with all the more activity, in
order to secure the success of that undertaking
which the Prince Consort considered necessary to
bring to perfection his first great work—the concep•
tion of his own mind—in which he was aided by the
distinguished persons who surrounded him—and to
make a real success of what his late Royal High-
ness was pleased to call a mere temporary triumph
of the time. (Cheers.) They had little more to do
than apply those precedents and those rules which
had been the subject of so much consideration at the
time, and in a few cases only, where altered circum-
stances had required it, had those rules been at all
modified. This, however, had been done in cases
where there was a great contrast between the cir-
cumstances of 1851 and of 1862. On both occasions
they had experienced the greatest kindness and
encouragement from the municipal authorities of
the city of London. (Cheers.) The Lord Mayor had
given them a splendid banquet, to convey to the
distinguished foreigners in attendance an idea of
the cordiality of the feelings which the English
people entertained towards them. In 1851 the idea
was no new that there was hardly any sort of panic
and alarm which did not exist as to the conse-
quences of the Exhibition. (Hear.) There was a
strong feeling of opposition at the movement,
although a reaction of equal strength set in at the
moment it was opened. (Hear.) There was no
opposition now—there were no breathers of ill-
nature or of ill-will—they had encountered criti-
cism, but not more than was necessary to keep
them up to the mark—in fact it was a criticism
without which no possible enterprise of the slightest
importance had a chance of succeeding. (Hear.)
First there was a feeling—in which many large
producers joined, and of which he could not com-
plain, for he felt it himself—that this second attempt
was being made too soon. But what had taken
place was the best answer to that objection. The
desire of exhibitors was such that while the present
building was one-third larger than the building of
1851, they had been obliged to reject six-sevenths
of the articles tendered for exhibition, and yet he
really believed that the chief fault which would be
found with what they had done was that the edifice
was too crowded—not crowded with rubbish, as
they would be ready to admit when they had seen
it—but with articles which would form a very fa-
vourable
contrast to any previous exhibition. When
they commenced their task the commissioners were
in a state of complete pauperism. (Laughter.)
Although one of their number, Mr. Baring, was
not without great credit in the City, yet the Bank
of England at first declined to advance them 4200

Uplift a thousand voices full and sweet,
In that wide hall with earth's inventions' stored,
And praise th' invisible universal Lord,
Who let once more in peace the nations meet,
Where Science, Art, and Labour had outpour'd
Their myriad horns of plenty at their feet."
(Loud applause.)
" The House of Peers and the Lord Chancellor"
was the next toast, which was duly honoured.
The LORD CHANCELLOR returned thanks, and
said that one of the characteristics of the House of
Lords, of which he was the unworthy representa-
tive, was that though it was an hereditary assem-
bly, it was recruited from the ranks of the people,
and his own case was an illustration of the fact that
the humblest individual, if found worthy, would be
elevated to that distinguished honour. The House
of Peers recruited its ranks from the bar, from the
army, from the navy, and, in the case of a recent
illustrious individual, from literature. (Hear.)
The LORD MAYOR next proposed " The House of
Commons, with which he coupled the name of the
Chancellor of the Exchequer."
The toast was duly honoured,
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER returned
thanks, and said that as elected by the suffrages of
their fellow. countrymen, it must always be a plea-
sure to members of the House of Commons to par-
take, according to ancient usage, of the splendid
hospitalities of the Lord Mayor. In such cases as
this Exhibition, the House of Commons felt that
there ought not to be any necessity for what Sir R.
Peel called the " vulgar expedient of resorting to
the Consolidated Fund," but the house saw the im-
portance of the movement, and lent its aid cheerfully
to the supplementary measures for acquiring the
estate on which the present building was erected.
(Hear.) . . .

" The Lord Mayor" was the next toast, proposed
by his Royal Highness the Duke of CAMBRIDGE,
and duly honoured.
The LORD MAYOR returned thanks. He said it
was his good fortune to have had great opportuni-
ties during his mayoralty, which he had endea-
voured to turn to good account, and such expres-
sions of thanks as these were to him a great and
gratifying reward. (Cheers.)
The LORD MAYOR then proposed " The Commis-
sioners of the Exhibition of 1851," whom he eulo-
gised in the warmest terms for their care and judg-
ment, which had materially lessened the difficulties
of securing a suitable site for the Exhibition of
1862. With this toast he associated the name of
" The Right Hon. 13. Disraeli, M.P."
Mr. DISRAELI, who was received with applause,
returned thanks. The Great Exhibition of 1851
was a great lesson, taught by a wise master, to
people in whom he had confidence. There was no
doubt that in that concurrence of the industry and
invention of the world England learnt many things
of which she was before ignorant, and unlearned
some things which perhaps she had practised too
long. (Hear.) The verdict of posterity with regard
to the Exhibition of 1851 had been, that it had
stimulated the invention and refined the taste of
Europe. (Hear.) Another Exhibition had now
become a necessity, and the question was when it
should take place. The decennial interval hpd been
thought the best. After a touching allusion to his
late Royal Highness the Prince Consort, the right
hon. gentleman said this Exhibition would be the
best memorial to his memory, being the consumma-
tion of what he most desired. Of old it was the
custom on the tombs of heroes to celebrate rites and
sacrifices, sometimes fantastic, sometimes gloomy
and terrible, but to their hero they offered oblations
of peace and of industry stimulated, of invention
refined, of taste elevated. These wore our offerings
to the memory of that serene and sagacious spirit.

The health of " The Lady Mayoress"
Was next
drunk, and the proceedings terminated.

2'IIE NAVY.

The following appointments were made yester-
day at the Admiralty :—Lieutenant Mervyn B,
Medlycott, to the Britannia ; Surgeon Edward T.
Mortimer (promoted); Master's Assistant Augustus
Fane, to the Emerald; Midshipman 'William Neil-
son, to the Warrior, the complement being incom-
plete ; Naval Cadets—William Manach, Richard
P. Humpage, and Henry J. Godfrey, to the War-
rior; Engineer C. A. Stratford (confirmed), to the
Medea ; Acting Second• class Assistant Engineer--
Henry White (B), to the Asia, as supernumerary,
The Tribune, 31, screw frigate, got under weigh
yesterday morning from Spithead, and made a trial
of her machinery after repairs. The arrangements
were under the superintendence of Captain Broad,
head, commanding the steam reserve. We urlder,
stand that the macninery worked most satisfactorily.
The ship will leave for the American coast at or,e
o'clock this day.
The Meg ura, 6, iron screw steam troop ship,
Commander Samuel IL Henderson, was taken out
of No. 2 dock at Portsmouth yesterday afternoon
to complete her repairs.
The Severn 51, screw steamship of 500-horse
power, proceeded yesterday on a trial of her engines
to the Maplin Sands.