The Sun.
London, England, 1862-09-27 00:00:00

7ESTIMONIAL 70 LORD RANELAGH.

A banquet given by the inhabitants of Brighton
in recognition of the services rendered by Lord
Ranelagh to the volunteers of England took place
on Thursday night in the dining-hall of the Brighton
Pavilion, when upwards of 250 persons assembled
under the presidency of Alderman J. Cordy Bur •
rows, Brigade Surgeon to the Ist Sussex Artillery.
On the table in front of the chairman lay the
tw o handsome swords intended for presentation to
Lord Ranelagh, which have already been described
in these columns.
After the usual toasts the CHAIRMAN, in a very
complimentary speech, made the presentation. In
reply,
Lord RANELAGU said that if it had not been for
volunteering Brighton could never have had so
large a number of men brought down to be reviewed
The Government would not have been3vvilling to
send down even 2,000 or 3,000 men, were it only
for the expense of the thing. In fact, such a review
as there had been in Brighton could only have
emanated from the volunteers; and he could assure
his hearers that the late Brighton review might be
the means of saving the country millions of money.
(Hear, hear.) Although in England we trusted to
that indomitable pluck which all Englishmen pos-
sessed, the thing was not looked upon in the same
light abroad, and, after the review at Brighton,
there was not a single officer in the French
army who did not understand this move-
ment, one of the results of which was that
an army of 20,000 men could be brought
down to our coasts before breakfast. (Cheers.) He
had had occasion lately to be in France. He
had the good fortune to go to Chalons, and there
he met with a kind and cordial reception from the
Emperor—(cheers)—and he was happy to say that
he believed ho rather undid some erroneous im-
pressions in the Emperor's mind with regard to
the manner in which the English volunteers had
spoken of him. (Hear, hear.) The Emperor seemed
to feel that he had been the subject of a great deal.
of personal abuse. Ho (Lord Ranelagh) assured
him upon the honour of a gentleman and upon the
word of an old friend—for he had known
Louis Napoleon formerly in England--that the
volunteer movement had been one of defence and
not of offence, in the double sense of the term, and
that, numerous as were the volunteer gatherings
throughout the country, it was rare indeed that a
word was said against the Emperor of the French..
(Hear.) He added, "Sire, you have been in Eng-
land; you have been at some of our dinners, edid
you know that after dinner men will sometimes say
that which they perhaps would not have said if it
were not after dinner; but, with a few exceptions,
I never heard at these dinners a word against the
Emperor of the French. This has been too great
a movement to make personalities oat of it." The
Emperor replied, " I am very glad to hear it ; and
I hope, if there is any feeling existing against
me, it will be speedily removed." To show that
the Emperor was sincere in taking the move-
ment in its right and proper sense, he should
state that he happened to be at the Emperor's last
grand review. Towards the middle of that review
the troops were halted for an hour. It seemed
that at those reviews a photographer generally fol-
lowered the manceuvre, and the Emperor stood to
be photographed. On this occasion the Emperor
turned round to him (Lord Ranelagh) and said,
" Will you, as a volunteer, come and be photo-
graphed by my side ?" But the horse which he
(Lord Ranelagh) was riding happened unfortu-
nately to have a good deal of the English spirit,
and would not stand still, and he therefore declined.
While speaking of France, he thought it might be
pleasing for this assembly to hear the Duke of
Magenta, Marshal M‘Mahon, asked to be intro-
duced to him, and was extremely kind and courte-
ous in his manner. At dinner he happened to sit
on the Duke' left hand, and next to the Emperor,
who, asked if the duke had spoken to him about
the volunteers. The Duke of Magenta replied he
had, and, speaking of the volunteers, he said they
were " Tres lestes "—meaning that they were ex-
tremely active, an observation of great significance
from a French marshal. He then turned round
and said, " As for Lord Ranelagh, the volunteers
will do anything for him." (Cheers.) In the same
breath he said, " I know all about the volunteers,
and there is a great jealousy about you." He also
paid the volunteers a compliment which they
3ertainly did not deserve, for he said they had
marched past better than troops of the line. He
(Lord Ranelagh) believed, however, that the march-
ing past was as good as it could be. (Cheers.) The
noble lord, having warmly defended the principle
of review on a large scale, concluded by thanking
the company for the flattering manner in which
they had expressed themselves towards him, and
stating that he proposed to bring about another
review next Easter Monday at Brighton, though
probably on a different ground and under differ-
ent circumstances. His lordship resumed his seat
amidst loud cheers.
The health of the chairman and several other
toasts were then given and the proceedings were
brought to a close.