The Sun.
London, England, 1849-04-26 00:00:00

prosperity toujours croissante de ce pays, le respect des lois
en honneur et l'attachement du people Anglais pour sa noble
Souveraine, qui font la force et la gloire de l'Angleterre. Je
remercie particulierement mon Lord Mayor de ce qu'll a bien
voulu dire cl'obligeaut pour l'Ambassadeur de France person-
nellement. Je ne laisserai pas echapper cette heureuse cir-
Constance qui me f .it trouver au milieu de cette assemblee ou
figurent les hommes les plus tlistinguds de l'Angieterre, sans&softer toute ma gratitude pour l'accueil bienveillant que j'ai
trouvd I mon arrive dans ce pays, et des nombrettses sympa-
thies qui sent venu audevant de l'Ambassade Franeais.
The Loan MAYOR then proposed " The healths of the
two distinguished dignitaries of the Church—the Archbishop
of Canterbury and the Archbishop of York. whose exertions
on behalf of the charities of the City had often been dis-
played. He rejoiced that he was honoured to-day, he be-
lieved for the first time in the City, with the presence both
of the Archbishop of Canterbury and of the Archbishop of
York; and he begged now to propose " The Clergy of the
Chureh of England, coupled with the names of these dis-
tinguished prelates."—(Cheers.)
The ARCIIIIISEIOP sal My Lord Mayor and Gentlemen,
in the name of the clergy, I beg to thank you for the honour
which you have done them, and in my own name I beg
to thank you for the way in which you have spoken of me,
and of those services which it was not less my inclination
than my bounden duty to perform. Allow me to say, my
Lord Mayor, that in inviting to your hospitable board the
dignitaries of the Church with the dignitaries of the State,
you have acted upon the broad principles of the ancient
constitution of the country, which united the dignitaries of
the Church and the State together in harmonious co-opera-
tion. The connexion I believe to be a most important one
for the prosperity of this country, that they should act toge-
ther not in the spirit of rivalry or competition, but that each
should strive which can best promote, in their respective
spheres, the prosperity of the country— (Cheers.)
The LORD MAYOR then said—His Grace the Archbishop
of Canterbury had just told them that it had long been the
custom for the Government of this country to honour the
chief magistrate with their presence in this hall, and he felt
particularly gratified to see on the present occasion so many
of her Majesty's Cabinet. He regretted that severe family
affliction had kept away one of the members of the Cabinet,
eanLd. rd o H
ate
otherwise he should have been in the happy and proud
position of being honoured to entertain the entire Cabinet of
NEnogbll
merely as the Prime Minister of England, but as one of
the representatives of the city of London—(Renewed cheers)
thew a was
eaandx anxious st
hteo
Government—(Cheers)—not
aojs:
e a r
o markm
e n
to_f
(rce respect t
n t lote
--and although the feelings of attachment which he bore to
his Lordship and the Government were well known, yet it
was his anxious wish, on the present occasion, to state
nothing which the citizens of London could not concur in.
He was aware that everything like party politics or party
feeling were wisely and properly excluded from such
entertainments as the present; but looking to the difficulties
which beset the path of the present Government, he trusted
he might be pardoned for looking back to the claims they
had on public support and approbation. It would not be
forgotten that at the very moment when the present Govern-
ment came into office they had to contend against the mis-
fortune of a famine in Ireland, followed by considerable
disaffection in that country. In the following year the
commercial interests of the country, and especially of
this great metropolis, were nearly prostrate, and during
the past year mighty convulsions had shaken almost
every state in Europe, except this happy hied. The
Noble Lord and her Majesty's Government had succeeded
in steering the vessel of the State safely and honourably
through these peculiar dangers, and the citizens of
London would be wanting in those acknowledgments which
were due to the Government of this country if they did not
thank them for the past, and put confidence in them for the
future.—(Cheers.) He was unwilling to enter more particu-
larly into their claims, because he feared that his feelings of
partiality would lead him to say more on this occasion than
it might be proper for him to do, considering the position
which he had the honour to hold; but his feeble language
was inadequate to describe the gratifying spectacle which
the Noble Lord and his Government witnessed on this occa-
sion, surrounded as they were by the dignitaries of the
Church and of Parliament, by the highest rank in the coun-
try, and by the beauty of the land, who had come here not
to do honour to the Lord Mayor of London, but to evince
their admiration and to show their appreciation of the
claims which the Government had upon the support of
the country. He trusted that the Noble Lord would
long be spared in health to devote his energies to the ser-
vices of his Sovereign and the country; but if circumstances
should arise to induce the Noble Lord to retire into pri-
vate life, the citizens of London would recollect with
pride and satisfaction that they had the honour to have for
their representative in the Commons House of Parliament
one of the greatest statesmen of the present day; and the
country would not forget, but would remember with grati-
tude, the many great and glorious measures with which the
name of Lord John Russell would be for ever associated. He
begged to propose " The health of Lord John Russell and
her Majesty's Ministers."—(Loud cheers.)
Lord J. RUSSELL—I rise, in the name of my colleagues as
well as of my own, to return our most grateful thanks for
the honour jests have done us in drinking our healths on this
occasion. In so doing I recollect that I have not only the
honour to be a Minister of the Crown, but that I am likewise
in your service, as I have the honour to represent you in the
Commons House of Parliament. But you have referred, in
a manlier for which I was totally unprepared, and for which
I cannot sufficiently thank you, to the mode in which the
duties of a Minister of the Crown have been discharged
during times which no one will deny to have been times of
Considerable difficulty. Whatever may have been the suc-
cess of our endeavours with respect to some of those diffi-
culties, and whatever hereafter may be our success with
respect to otheys which are not yet overcome, I feel that it
is not to us, but that, next to the Providence of Almighty
God, it is to the institutions of this country, and to the
temper or spirit of the people of this country, that you
owe the success which has hitherto attended our efforts.
Your Lordship has referred to the difficulties of the past
year and to the convulsions which then took place. It is
true that great responsibility was imposed upon us, though
it is also true that vast means were placed at our disposal.
But those who observed the events of the past year must
have seen that mere authority was broken, and that arms
placed in the hands of even the bravest men fell powerless,
at least for a time, before the popular will. It would have
been madness, therefore, in us to have rested our reli•
ance solely on these supports ; but we did rest
our reliance on the arm of the constitution—on
that union and co-operation among the different
classes of the country, which have hitherto formed, and
hich, I trust, will continue to form her strength. We
knew that if we have a monarchy, we enjoy the blessings
which a monarchy dispenses—we knew that if we have an
Established Church, the name of the Established Church is
connected with the dispensation of those religious and spi-
ritua
l comforts which it administers—we knew that if we
have the law on our side, we have the sense of the people of
dht
hautep
feeling
ntl agmwefn. h ist fairly
Underaicrol ju'
natrnrhyde
sweeqacusia:lcl equally
thatmsatanny administeredceeig
:a,ano pod
knowing
would be a change for the worse and not for the better, it was
upon this feeling that me placed our reliance, and not upon
any authority which we could exert, however necessary it
might be to exert authority to meet particular exigencies. In
the course of that period we had to consider also the dangers
that might meet us from abroad; but we had the satisfaction
of finding that the nations of Europe generally remained in
close alliance with this country, and that we received assist-
ance from most of them in keeping the peace of Europe;
and more especially did we receive that assistance from an
alliance with that country which we most counted upon.
The alliance between France and this country has, in our
opinion, been most instrumental in preserving peace ; and I
believe that the excellent understanding which
prevails be-
tween the two Governments is only a symptom and a con-
firmation of the friendship that exists between the two
nations.—(Loud cheers.) In addressing you on this occa-
sion, I may take the liberty to say, that we thought our-
selves bound, also, not only to keep in mind the excellence
of the institutions which we have preserved, but also the
fact that these institutions could not be preserved if we at-
tempted to guard them with superstitious veneration, and
did not adapt them, in time, to the changes that are continu-
ally going on in this country. The fairest and most beautiful
of temples, if it be neglected, will be subject to decay, and
requires continual care and supervision. Let us endeavour, in
any alterations which we may find it necessary to make—let it
be our care to make those alterations in the same spirit in
which those institutions were originally founded—in the
spirit in which the great and wise men who founded them
would have altered them, if they had bad the circumstances
of our day before them. Let us not endeavour by any new at-
tempt of our own to make some fanciful and unreal construc-
tion, which appears to us to be better that the British con-
stitution, as a substitute for those institutions which now
exist.—(Cheers.) But let us niit,on the other hand, imagine
that by preserving that which is defective we shall be the
more able to maintain the best of them.—(Cheers.) I can-
not sit down without adverting to the auspicious mrcumA
stances under which we have assembled together.rdo the
hostilities in India, which were calculated throw
ato
short time ago circumstances occurred with regard
doubts on men's minds as to
theprobable termi-
nationbut I relied,
as I felt we might rely, on the spirit and bravery of
of hostilities in that country ;
our army in India, and we have now seen
all those appre-
hensions dispelled avid victory adorn our arms.— (Cheers.)
My belief that similar difficulties will be overcome by
similar means—that the same spirit which animated our sol-
diers in India will animate, in their different spheres, all the
various classes of this country, in whatever pursuit they may
be engaged—the same firmness, the same indomitable cou•
rage, the same resolution to do their duty in the face of all
difficulties. With this belief and conviction, I cannot claim
for myself and my colleagues any undue credit for any good
success which may have attended our efforts; but I do ex-
press my firmest reliance on the fate and the fortunes of this
mighty empire.—(Hear, hear.)
The Loan MAYOR then proposed " The Duke of Norfolk
and the House of Peers," for which the Duke of Norfolk re-
turned thanks._

Lord JoHN RUSSELL proposed " The health of the Lord
Mayor," for which his Lordship shortly returned thanks.
The LORD MAYOR then said they were honoured with the
presence of three dignitaries of the law—the Lord Chancellor,
Chief Justice Wilde, and Chief Baron Pollock. He begged
to propose " The Lord Chancellor and the Judges of Eng-
land," observing that the citizens of London, from their ex-
perience of the manner in which justice was administered at
the Central Criminal Cuirt, were fully satisfied that the
bench was never more adorned with learning and integrity
than in the present day.—(Cheers.)
The LORD CHANCELLOR—I beg leave to return my best
thanks for the honour done me and my honourable friends
the Chief Justice of the Common Pleas and the Chief Baron
of the Exchequer; and I beg to thank the Lord Mayor for
the expressions he has used, and the commendations he has
bestowed on the manner in which he has seen the law ad-
ministered. That applies indeed to my Learned Friends,
rather than to me, as they administer justice within the pre-
cincts of the city of London. But lam sure they feel, as I
do, that the exertions of public men, and the anxiety they feel
to discharge their duty, are much supported and encouraged
by the approbation of their fellow-citizens. The value at
which we prize approbation depends a good deal upon the
quarter from whence it comes, and therefore the knowledge
and experience of the Lord Mayor give his commendation
double value.—(Cheers.) When I wascalled upon early in No-
vember to announce to the then Lord Mayor elect the appro-
bation of her Majesty as to the choice of the citizens of Lon-
don, I ventured to fbretell that the citizens of London would
feel happy in the choice they had made. lam now gratified
to find that that anticipation has been amply realised, and
that my prophecy has been fulfilled, for the high duties of
the chief magistrate, grave and important as they are, could
not have fallen into abler hands or been executed with more
care and zeal than by your Lordship.—(Cheers.)
The Lonn MAYOR said he wished he could find language
to express the respect which he felt for the Right Hon.
Gentleman whose health he was'about to propose. He had
now been for twelve years an humble and a silent Member
of the llJuse of the Commons, but he could not fail
to mark the high respect and esteem in which
the Right Honourable Gentleman was held who presided
over the deliberations of that House.—(Loud cheers.)
He knew when he rose to propcse Mr. Speaker's health to
this company, containing so may distinguished men who had
daily opportunities of witnessing his great talents and expe-
rience, as well as his kindness and courtesy, that it was un-
necessary for him to make any apology for his inability to do
justice to the toast. He could assure the Right Honourable
Gentleman that he had long and highly esteemed him for