The Sun.
London, England, 1865-07-04 00:00:00

Speeellday at Wellington College.

Yesterday the annual ceremony of distributing
prizes to the most promising pupils of Wellington
College was performed by his Royal Highness the
Prince of Wales, in presence of a distinguished com-
pany. A special train of considerable length left
Charing-cross station shortly before 10 o'clock, con-
veying, among others, his Royal Highness, with the
officers of his household, the Earl of Derby, &c.
The train reached its destination shortly after half-
past 11 o'clock, and half-an-hour later all the visi-
tors had taken their places in the large dining-
hall of the college, appropriated on this occasion
to the purposes of the display, and enlivened by
the introduction here and there of natural flowers

tastefully arranged. Among those present were
—the Archbishop of York, Countess of Jersey,
and Lady C. Villiers, Lady Charles Wellesley,
Sir Andrew and Lady Buchanan, Sir W. M.
Cope, Sir J. Pakington, Sir J. Heron Maxwell,
Sir James Kay-Shuttleworth, Sir A. Gordon-
Cumming, Sir D. Cooper, Hon. and Rev. G. Tal-
bot, Lady Wiltshire, Hon. T. Ponsonby, Lady
Franklin, &c.
The Governors of the college in attendance were
—The Bishop of Oxford, the Earl of Derby, Earl
Stanhope, Lord Eversley, Lord Chelmsford, Mr.
Walter, M.P., Mr. Walpole, M.P., and Mr. Cox.
The proceedings, as far as the distribution of
prizes was concerned, were of the ordinary type.
Special mention, however, must be made of the
melodious and touching prize poem, " Iphigenia,"
written and recited by Mr. Kay, which excelled the
standard usually attained on such occasions. The
acting of Mr. Cunynghame in the scenes from the
" Merchant of Venice" was also regarded as a fea-
ture worthy to be remembered. When the strictly
formal business had been brought to a close by the
singing of the National Anthem, in which the fresh
young voices were heard to advantage, the com-
pany adjourned to a marquee out of doors, under
which luncheon had been invitingly laid out.
The refreshments were furnished from the hotel
recently erected adjoining the college, and, like all
the other arrangements of the day, were in admi-
rable taste.
Before the company separated the health of " Her
Majesty the Queen" was drunk with becoming
loyalty.

The CHAIR3IAN next proposed " The Health of

his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales," accom-
panying the toast with, expressions of gratitude to
his Royal Highness for his presence that day, end
for the kind favour and interest with which he had
uniformly regarded the institution.
His Royal Highness the Prince of WALES, whose
earnestness elicited corresponding enthusiasm on the
part of his audience, said--My lords and gentlemen,
I am deeply sensible of the manner in which Mr.
Benson has proposed my health, and in which it has
been received by the company assembled here to-day.
I need hardly assure you that it is a source of sin-
cere gratification to me to find myself once more
within the walls of Wellington College, taking part
in the proceedings of " Speech Day," and distri-
buting prizes to the successful competitors. Allow
me, Mr. Benson, to congratulate you, arid through
you the whole college, on the highly efficient
state in which at present I find it. I feel con-
vinced that my young friends have not forgotten
that it bears the name of one of the greatest soldiers
England every knew. In the success of this insti-
tution Mr. Benson has already mentioned, and I need
hardly remind you, that the Queen takes a strong
interest ; a still greater interest was taken by my
father, to whose exertions the college really owes
its origin. I have now, my lords and gentlemen, a
very pleasant task to perform, and that is to make
an announcement which I hope will not be consi-
dered indiscreet on my part. At the last meeting of
the Governors of Wellington College, Lord Derby
intimated that it was his intention to devote the
profits of his justly celebration translation of
" Homer" to the production of a prize to be. given
annually as a reward to the foundationer who within

the year of his leaving the college should conduct
himself to the entire approbation of the Head-
master—be considered, in fact, the most industrious
and well-conducted boyor young man in the school.
I feel certain that this announcement will be re-
ceived with great pleasure. It will show you the in-
terest which the noble lord takes in this institution,
and will be a stimulus to increased exertion on the
part of those within its walls. I thank you, Mr.
Benson, for proposing, and you, my lords and gen:

tlemen, for drinking, my health so cordially ; and I
assure you it affords me great gratification when-
ever I can do anything to promote the welfare of
Wellington College.
His Royal Highness resumed his seat amid cor-

dial and sustained applause.
Sir JOHN PAKINGTON, in proposing " the Health
of the Governors, and Continued Prosperity to
Wellington College," said that for the last four
years a son of his had been an inmate of the Col-
lege, and the best proof lie could give of his high
opinion of the institution was that the boy would
remain there till he went to Oxford. Experience con-
vinced him that his son had been safer, made more
extensive and more satisfactory progress in Wel-
lington College than he would have dine at any
other public school in England.

The Earl of DERBY, in acknowledging the toast with
which his name had been coupled, and which hadbeen
drunk with much cordiality, said—May it please
your Royal Highness, ladies, and gentlemen, as
Vice-President of the Wellington College, it is my
duty to take on myself any part of the functions of

the President which he does not think fit to execute
himself ; consequently, in obedience to his Royal
Highness's commands, I rise for the purpose of re-
turning to those present the grateful thanks of the
Governors for the honour which you have done them,
and for the appreciation which you have manifested
of the college over which we preside. I must say
that from no quarter more gratifying or more satis-
factory to us could this toast proceed than from my
my right hon. friend, because, as he says, he has had
for some years a boy at the school—who has done
credit, let me add, to the institution. It is the more
satisfactory to us, because my right hon. friend has
not been a careless observer of what was going on.
I have known few persons who so carefully and
rigidly criticised whatever he thought he might find
amiss at Wellington College. I speak in the name
of the Head Master, as well as of the Governors,
when I say we are very much indebted to all those
who, in a friendly spirit, point out anything that
requires amendment in our system, in order that we
may have the opportunity of rectifying it. And I
think my right hon. friend will do us the justice to
say that his presentations have always been attended
to (Sir J. Pakington—Hear, hear) and that we do
all in our power to meet the just requirements of
those who honour us with their confidence by send-
ing their sons here. his Royal Highness has ad-
verted to the circumstances under which this school
was founded, and they have been again alluded to
by my right hon. friend. I have taken from the very
first a deep interest in the prosperity of this founda-
tion--I say from the very first, because it did so
happen that when the news arrived in Scotland of
the lamented death of the Duke of Wellington, I
was in attendance on her Majesty as a Minister
of the Crown, and the subject Was afterwards
under the consideration of her Majesty, his
Royal Highness the Prince Consort, and myself
how best the debt could be discharged which the
country owed to that great man, and what form
of monument or memorial it would have been
most gratifying to the feelings of the late duke, had
he been living, to see erected in his name. It was
felt at once by her Majesty and the Prince Consort,
and in that feeling I cordially joined, that no memo-
rial to the Duke of Wellington could be more grati-
fying than to afford to the orphans of officers of that
profession, of which he was so distinguished an or-
nament, an education such as it would be impossi-
ble for them with their own limited means to obtain,
fitting them for future usefulness in whatever station
of life to which they might afterwards be called on
to labour. Let me add that a misapprehension has
prevailed with regard to Wellington College—a mis-
apprehension that I believe has prevented some
parents from sending their sons here. It is supposed
that this is a military school ; on that subject it is
most important that there should be no misappre-
hension. Although the foundationers are all sons of
deceased officers, yet the education given is a gene-
ral education, the best that can be given, not con-
fined exclusively to any particular branch, but cal-
culated to fit boys for going to Sandhurst, for pro-

ceeding to either of the universities, for entering
into the service of the State—in point of fact, for
every position of life to which the sons of English
gentlemen can possibly be called. I may perhaps be
permitted to congratulate the governors and the
friends of the college generally on the very rapid in-
crease which it has made in public estimation and
general usefulness. I can hardly realise to myself
that it is not above nine years since her Majesty first
attended on this spot, then a barren heath, and al-
most inaccessible, without a single building, or the
slightest approach to a building, except the outer
walls of this college; and that it is little more than
six years since the buildings around us were com-
pleted, and the college opened for the education of
boys. At the time I speak of we opened with the
modest number of 70 boys, hoping tLat in the course
of four or five years we might reach the number of
100. In January, 1859, the number was 76 ; in
January, 1860, it had risen to 138 ; in January,
1861, the college contained 213 ; in January, 1862,
_ _

. ...
Here were 222 boys, which was as much as that

time the college was capable of holding. In 1863 the
very beautiful and highly ornamental College chapel
was finished, and thereupon one of the dormitories,
which up to that time had been appropriated, was
restored to its original and proper purpose, enabling
us to find room for 30 additional boys. In January,

1864, the school again was full, the numbers having
risen to 252 boys, at which limit it has remained to
the present time. Out of, lam sorry to say, very
limited means, we have been compelled to undertake
the building of a new dormitory to hold 42 more
boys, and if I should have the honour of addressing
this company this time next year, I feel confident
that this dormitory will likewise be filled, and that
we shall again have the full number that we can take
within our walls. This rapid progress in six years

from 76 boys to. 252, and the fact that we have at
this moment 50 or 60 candidates for the foundation,
and a still greater number of non-foundationers,
waiting for admission without ability upon our part
to receive them, forms, I think, convincing proof
which I can adduce that public confidence confirms
the steps taken by the governors, and affirms the
distinguished merit of the head master of the college.
I hardly know whether I ought to allude to a matter
of which complimentary mention has been made—
the gift which I had the great pleasure of offering to
the college as the result of a publication for which I
am responsible. It cost me nothing but the labour, a
very gratifying employment, bestowed upon the
work which has produced this result; the public have
been kind enough to pay it—(laughter)—and I
thought I could not more usefully devote this liber-
ality on the part of the public than towards promot-
ing the interests of the foundationers of "Wellington
College. It occurred to me that as many of them
came to the college under disadvantages as regards
their early education, on account of their poverty—
an honourable poverty, not a thing to be ashamed of
—and with little inheritance other than the honour
of their fathers' name, I could not do better than
endeavour to hold out a stimulus encouraging them
to make rapid, and not only rapid, but steady, pro-
gress in education from the period of their entering
college. I found that, fortunately, the sum which I
had to dispose of was sufficient to make a permanent
investment producing, I think, £54 a year, and this
I proposed should be given to that one of the foun-
dationers not being less than 16 years of age, who
on leaving the school should within the year have
most distinguished himself, not for talent, but for
industry, application, and general good conduct. I
felt that for mere talent and ability there were prizes
and premiums enough here and elsewhere, but the
more important and more sterling qualities of steady
application, industry, and good conduct, were not so
generally rewarded, or so much the objects of gene-
ral commendation. I thought there might be some-

thing of novelty as well as advantage in holding
forth a stimulus to general, steady, persevering good
conduct, which, while talents and ability are given
to one and not to another, would be within the
reach of every boy who has the ambition to deserve
it.

(Applause.) Ladies and gentlemen, forgive
me for alluding for a moment to a topic -which I
should not have mentioned had attention not been

called to it by his Royal Highness the Prince of
Wales. But the subject having been mentioned, I
thought it desirable that I should fully explain—
speaking in presence of some whose boys may be in
the school, or who may be thinking of sending them
here—what is the object and scope of that gift
which it has been my happiness to be able to pre-
sent to the College. The noble earl, after some
further observations, concluded by proposing " The
health of Rev. Mr. Benson," who responded in ap-

propriate terms, and the company, quitting the
marquee, proceeded to the chapel, where a recital
on the organ was given by Mr. Edmonds, organist

and choir-master.

Shortly before 4 o'clock the major portion of the
guests returned to town by the special train. As it
left the 'Wellington College Station the pupils and
staff of the institution, who clustered thickly on the

platform, raised hearty cheers for the occupants of

the Royal carriage.

MURDER BY A FA RMER.—Denis Driscoll, a farmer
belonging to Mohona, near Skibbereen, the other day fol-
lowed a man named Cornelius Brian, and with a scythe
severed his head from his body. There are numerous re-
ports as to the, cause which led to the murder, but it is
confidently believed that jealousy had a great deal to do
with it.

((On rt EK
Ortillbt

HER MAJESTY.

WINDSOR CASTLE, July 3.
The Queen, with their Royal Highnesses Princess
Helena, Princess Louise, and Princess Beatrice went
to Frogmore this morning.

His Royal Highness Prince Leopold, attended by
Mr. Buff, arrived at the Castle from Greenwich
Park.

Lieutenant-General Sir Hugh Rose had the
honour of an interview with her Majesty.

---.P-

The Prince and Princess of Wales.

The Prince of Wales, attended by Lord Alfred
Hervey, Lieutenant-Genera Knollys, and Major
Grey, went by railway yesterday to the Wellington
College, and presided at the:ceremonial of " speech-
day," and distributed the prizes.

The Princess of Wales took a carriage-drive, at-
tended by the Countess of Macclesfield.

The Prince and Princess of Wales gave a dinner
to the Queen of the Netherlands in the evening.
The following were invited to meet her Majesty :
—His Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge, his
Serene Highness Prince Edward of Saxe-Weimar
and the Countess Dornberg, the Prince of Teck, the
Minister for the Netherlands, the Danish Minister,
the Earl and Countess of Macclesfield, Earl and
Countess Spencer, the Earl and Countess of Claren-
don, the Countess Cowley, Earl Russell, Vis-
countess Palmerston, Lord Harris, Lord Llanover,
the Hon. R. H. Meade, Lieutenant-General Sir
Fenwick Williams, Sir Andrew and Hon. Lady
Buchanan, Sir Henry and Lady Howard, Count de
Randwjk, M. de Weekherlin, Baroness de Pabst
and Baroness de Dedem (in attendance on her Ma-
jesty the Queen of the Netherlands), Colonel the
Hon. James Macdonald (equerry in waiting to the
Duke of Cambridge), Lieutenant-General Knollys,
and Major Grey.

The band of the Coldstream Guards (conducted
by Mr. A. F. Godfrey) was in attendance, and per-
formed a selection of music.

The Queen of the Netherlands.

Yesterday morning her Majesty the Queen of the
Netherlands, attended by Count Randwjk and the
Baroness Pabst, and accompanied byLord Llanover,
visited the Consumption Hospital at Brompton.
Her Majesty was received at the hospital by the
Marquis of Westminster and the chief officers of
the establishment, and at the conclusion of the visit,
which lasted for an hour and a half, her Majesty
expressed her thanks for the opportunity of visiting
the institution, and the gratification derived at wit-
nessing the admirable arrangements made for the
comfort and care of the patients.
Her Majesty returned to Claridge's Hotel to
luncheon, and afterwards paid a visit to the Coun-
tess of Clarendon. On returning to the hotel her
Majesty received visits from his Serene Highness
Prince Edward of Saxe-Weimar, his Excellency the
Russian ambassador and the Baroness Brunnow,
the Duke of Wellington, the Duke and Duchess of
Somerset, the Earl St. Maur, Lady Gwendoline St.
Maur, and Lord Edward St. Maur.

Later in the afternoon, attended by the ladies
and gentlemen of her suite, and accompanied by
Lord Llanover, her Majesty went to the House of
Lords and listened to the debates from the Ladies'
Gallery. Her Majesty remained for nearly two
hours, and then returned to Claridge's Hotel.
In the evening her Majesty dined with the Prince
and Princess of Wales at Marlborough House, two
of the royal carriages having been sent for the con-
veyance of the Queen and her suite. Her Majesty
afterwards honoured the Duke and Duchess of
Sutherland with a visit at Stafford House, a select
party having been invited on the occasion.
On Saturday an early visit was paid to the
Museum of Geology in Jermyn-street, where her
Majesty was received by Sir Roderick Murchison
and Professor Huxley, and was conducted through
the building.

Calls were made upon her Majesty yesterday at
Claridge's Hotel by the Duchess of Inverness, the
Duke of Richmond, the Duchess of San Arpino
Caracciola, the Duchess de Valambrosa, the Earl
and Countess of Dunmore and Lady Alexandrina
Murray, the Countess of Gifford, the Bishop of
Bath and Wells, Lord and Lady Ernest Bruce, Lord
and Lady Proby, Dowager Lady Clinton, Lady
Howard, Sir George and Lady Grey, the Right
Hon. the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr. Hub-
bard, M.P., Hon. Mrs. Hubbard, and Miss Hub-
bard, Miss Brudenell Bruce, Mr. Wodehouse, &c.

Their Highnesses Prince and Princess Alexander
Dolgorousky and suite have arrived at the Clarendon Hotel
from Paris.

Their Royal Highnesses the Count and Countess
of Paris honoured Lady Molesworth with their company at
dinner last evening. The following were invited to meet
theirroyal highnesses: —His Excellency the Italian Minister,
the Duchess of St. Albans and Lady Diana Beauclerk, the
Marquis of Sligo, the Countess of Kinnoull, the Earl and
Countess of Seafield, Lord Rayensworth, Mr. and Lady
Margaret Beaumont, Lord and Lady Carew, Sir Hume and
Lady llume Campbell, Admiral Sir Thomas and Lady
Cochrane, Colonel Challoner, Mr. F. Courtenay, Mrs. Lano
Fox, and the lady in waiting on their royal highnesses.

The Countess Spencer will not have an evening
party at Spencer House, St. James's, to-morrow, as an-
nounced.

The Viscountess Lorton is on a visit at Kikonan,
the beautiful seat of Colonel Tenison.

Lord anti Lady do Manley and the Hon. Miss
Ponsonby have left Thomas's Hotel, Berkeley-square, for
Langford House, Lechlade.

Sir Charles Rushout, Bart., has left Thomas's
Hotel, Berkeley-square, for Sezincot House, Moreton in the
Marsh.

The Bank Returns.

The Bankers' Magazine furnishes the returns of the cir-
culation of the private and joint-stock banks in England
and Wales for the four months ending the 27th of May.
These returns, combined with the circulation of the Scotch
and Irish banks for the same period, and the average cir-
culation of the Bank of England for the four weeks ending
the 24th of May (the nearest date furnished by their
returns), will give the following results of the circulation
of notes in the United Kingdom when compared with tho
previous month :

April 29., May 27, ,
1865. 1865. [lncrease. 'Decrease.

Bank of England..
Private Banks ....

11,051,570 21,251,5181 199,978
3,040,531 3,u00,64t) -
2,895,91 t, 2,847,871 -

Joint-stock Banks

39,93 5
48,0 30

Total in England
Scotland
Ireland

26,988,011: 27,099,965 111,954
4,151,156' 4,596,951 445,795
5,858,071 5,930,449 72,3t2

United Kingdom.

46,907,261137,627,36., 630,101

And as compared with the month ending the 28th of
May, 1864, the above returns show a decrease of
£34,740 in the circulation of notes in England, and an
increase of £168,652 in the circulation of the United

Kingdom.
On comparing the above with the fixed issues of the
several banks the following is the state of the circulation:—
The English private banks are below their

fixed issue £1,188,545
The English joint-stock banks are below their

fixed issue

378,486

Total below fixed issue in England ... £1,567,031
The Scotch banks are above their fixed issue... 4847,680
The Irish banks are below their fixed issue 424,045
The average stock of bullion held by the Bank of Eng-
land in both departments during the month ending the 27th
of May was £14,966,314, being a decrease of £14,090
as compared with the previous month, and an increase of
£1,931,093 when compared with the same period last year.
The following are the amounts of specie held by the
Scotch and Irish banks during the month ending the 27th
of May :

Gold and silver held by the Scotch banks £2,495,198
Gold and silver held by the Irish banks 2,104,816

£4,600,014
Being an increase of £157,948 as compared with the pre-
vious return, and an increase of £203,450 when compared
with the corresponding period last year.

The drawing of the numbers of the bonds to the
amount of £250,000, for payment at par, of the
Consolidated Peruvian Five per Cent. Loan took
place yesterday.

DEATH FROM THE BITE OF AN ADDER.—Oa
Sunday, Mrs. Seddon, wife of an undertaker, residing in
Compton-street, went with a party of friends for an ex-
cursion tl Epping Forest, and whilst sitting on the grass
was bitten by an adder, which must have been concealed
near where she was seated, and which was killed by one of
the party. Shortly after being wounded, Mrs. Seddon's
body began to swell in an alarming manner, and despite all
the efforts of medical skill, she died yesterday morning.