The Sun.
London, England, 1847-04-14 00:00:00

Hops.
__.

ENTERTAINMENT BY THE DI-
- RECTORS OF THE SOUTH-EASTERN RAIL-
WAY TO LORD TORRINGTON, GOVERNOR
OF CEYLON.
.On Monday a very sumptuous entertainment was gives
by the Directors of the South-Eastern Railway
ore-
pany to his Excellency Lord Viscount Torrington, on
the occasion of his leaving this country to assume the
toth tshelAw'redlfahripe'ise
Important post of Governor of the colony of Ceylon.
of
olinegn
tiin
connexionits
commercialwithall
and tha ta
relations, coupled with
the warm interest and solicitude
he has shown his agriculturale r tail
in capacity as a director of .the South-
Eastern Reilwa in •
y, t h promotion of- the best Interests •
of the county as regards its endowment with the most
efficient railway communication, were amongst the more
immediate motives that prompted this mark of distine
guished attention.
At six o'clock, between 100 and 200
gentlemen sat.
down to a dinner that, without entering into a minute
splendid in all its details tion of its features, "e may obaracterise as
• The chair was occupied by Mr. James Macgregor, the
chairman of the South-Eastern Company, supported on
his right by Viscount Torrington, and on his left by Lord Sondes. We also observed Sir J. Jervis, M.P. (the Attorney-General), George and Robert Stephen-
son, Aldermen Humphery and Lucas, Mr. Dodd, M.P.,
Mr. Hsstie, M.P., Mr. Douglas, M.P., Sir Edmund.
Filmer, Bart., Mr. Alexander, Q C., Mr. Bidder, Mr.'
Cockburn, Q.C., the Mayors of Rye and Rochester, Mr.:
Duncan Macgregor, of the Board of Trade. Mr. Martin.
Luther Pritchard and Captain Tyndale, directors of the
company, officiated as vice-chairmen, supported_ by Mr.
G. S. Herbert, the secretary, Mr. James Walter, the
superintendent, Mr. P. Parlor', resident engineer, Mr.
Wentworth Dilke, Mr. C. J. Collins, Mr Lewis Smale,'
Mr. Thomas, Mr. Fothergill, Mr. Cooke, Mr. Robert
Knox, Mr. Barrow, Mr. George Whitehead, Mr. Knatch-
bull, Captain Graham, Mr. Merewether, Hon. F. Byng,
Captain Airey, Mr. J. Brogden, Mr. R. Christian, Mr.-
J. P. Fearon, Captain Gregson, Right Hon. R. Lashing-
ton, Sir George Larpent, Mr. Ross Mangles, M.P., Hon..
T. L. Melville, Mr. Wykeham Martin (Mayor of Maid-,
stone), Alderman Neamo (Canterbury), Captain Pres-
ent, Colonel Norcliffe, Rev. S. Rogers, Bulvvell Rectory,
Nottingham ; Hun. Sir F. Stapleton, Mr. J. Tileard,-
and others.
After the usual loyal toasts,
The CHAIRMAN, in proposing her Mejest)'s Minis-
ters, said that if ever there was a time when it behoved
that they should be endowed with all grace, wisdom,
and understanding, it was now—now that they had
fallen upon days of difficulty and distress, and when
he was sure the sympathies of all classes were rallied
round them in support of the measures they proposed.
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL, in returning thanks, said
he was sure that, whatever might be the general opinion,
support was accorded to her Majesti's Ministers, if only
from a conviction that they were endeavourine, to do
their best with uprightness of principle, and an inflexible
intention to carry out the prosperity of the country.—
(Cheers.) All, he thought, would concur with him in
thinking that her Illuje,ty's.llftnisters were influenced by
the best ef motives in the selection of their official
officers; and in no case, he thought he might with truth-
fulness affirm, mere so than in their present appointment
of Lord Torrington. In selecting that -Noble Lord,
they had fixed upon one whcss natural aptitude for busi-
_

ness had been matured by his commercial end agri-
cultural connexion with the c,,unty of Kent and the
South• Eastern Railway, which were so well calcu-
lated to fit him for the distinguished post of Governor
of Ceylon.—(Loud cheers.)
The CHAIRMAN rhpn, amid hud applause. proposed
" Lord Torrington," and fxprossid his gratification at
having been associlted a, a Liverpool merchant in the
Smith- E rn Railway a nobleman of such talent,
p. rseverance. and unques:ton d encr!y.— (Cheers-)
Lord TORRINGT.N, amid loud acclamations. returned
thanks. He look, i ba..k, in spite of party differences,
with the greatest grant-lc:Ili. has past. ei,nn,zion with
the South-Eastern Company, ti h in it, strugglrs in
Kent and the thins ut COWITIMIs. It wa, no desire for
speculation that had in,inef-ii him to join the Smith-
Eastern, but an earnest desire for the advantage of Kent,
so as to introduce into it the system that would prove
most advantageous, and he believed that the system that
had been partly prvonnded by the Legislature would
cause the county, as far as railways were concerned, to
be the most vitally advantaged. The land of Kent
y
had already increased in value,
carriage,nilauge duties,
ebra
smeli,ft antiibg,
brihesu tt
tthh.
splendido
eei
perseveranceTnmix osf
caeie,
consequent
eel
hohnri
ceetmhenouattonredpi
fnu;
tsoattet beenhhnodee
apwmgra.boroios:unittaiilttt.dh.):
1071bsat4lands,Inetri:anse,
discharge
hdunh thanked:bet3hianl
idoo attehs:gre,:eumd)
pur-
pose,d
wider the tutelage of the Noble Earl at the head
of the Colonial Department.
The CHAIPOIAN then propos?d the " House of Peers,.
which having been briefly responded to by Viscount
Torrington,
SirNEn3tt:ND FILMER acknowledged the " House of
Commons." Speaking of railways, he adduced a rather
felicitous illustration of their progress. He had recently
read in an old newspaper that in 1745 there was a fast
coach that started from Bristol to London, and reached
its d,stination in four days. In March, 1845, however,
a medium train on the Great Western did ita in some-
thing umkr four hours ! So that one short century
&one had converted days into hours, by a silent but
r'P'wer'l...l..T.l..-6,74-'-pi-oli3sen the Behan or the chair-
man, who had, he said, sacrificed so much of his time
and talents to the advantage of the South-Eastern Com-
pany.

'lie CHAIRMAN, in reply, chserverl, he believed he
might say that those who bud embarked in the South-
Eastern were now about to.gathcr the golden apples of
their enferprise. In projecting the South-Eastern Rail.
way, they did not confine themselves to Dover, they did
not stop at Boulogne, they did not pause at Paris, they
saw something even beyond the Continent, for Calcutta
was not too far, and even took Ceylon within their cir-
cuitaaT way.—feu
r(nLer.bo uet dtcocoahus cheer:.) ei
ur, se..u)Tr.hoß
Theye were in fact the great high-
nch and the Bar," was re•
sponded to appropriately by the ATTORNEY-GENERAL.
Mr. Alderman LUCAS, in acknowledging " The Lord
Mayor and Aldermen of London," said he- rose to make
a public recantation. Originally he and a great many of
his brethren in Kent had, through mistaken views, made
a great error as regarded railways.—(Hear.) Had not
the great landowners of Kent, through some lamentable
short-sightedness, opposed the railways tooth and nail,
they would years ago have had a direct line to Dover by
the SoutleEasternßailway.—(Loud cheers.) Perhaps
this strange conduct of the Kentish men was owing to
their no: knoe ing so much in the south-castern as they
did in the manufacturing districts—(Laughter) —or from
a prepossession that if they wanted a railway they could
do it for themselves. They were, perhaps, to be par-
doned in some respect, for at the time he alluded to most
men's minds were not so clear as they were now
on railway Subjects. It was necessary to accommo-
date them by degrees to the system They hits suff -red
however, for this their treatment of the South-Eastern,
Ind were now contritely eotifesiae their past errors.
The CHAIRMAN then proposed "Prosperity to Ceylon."
Sir GEORGE LARPENT said, votalt?eted as he and many
eentlemen around him were with their colonial posses-
siens and Ceylon, he could not but hail the appointment
)i lee Noble Lord as an augury for good.—(Chter-.)
Ceylon was possessed of a tine climate, a noble soil, and
e peaceable po, ulation, removed irem all the chances,
,tl only required to be further put in possession of
those civic virtues and intelligence, which were the dis-
tingui,hing characteristics of the Noble Lord, to be pro-
uetive of the finest fruits that labour and industry
could cause it to develop.—(Cheers.) He regretted, in
,thjunction with many of his colleages, to say that up
to the present time great errors had existed in the
:fiscal and commercial relations of Ceylon. He bad
panted them out to her Majesty's Government, and
i
tto" It'shsuamd e that under the governorship of the Noble
received every attention, and it was only fair
Lord a better system would be introduced in the ar-
ticles of coffee and cocoa, and by the introduction of
machinery.—(Cheers.) Moreover, there was a railway
projected in Ceylon which would bring everything by
rapid transit to the water's side, and as the Noble Lord
had learned his lessons in railway practice and diplo-
macy in an English school, they could not but hope
that it would eminently prosper under his auspices.
Mr. GEORGE STEPEENSON, in returning thanks for
his own health, and that of his son, Mr. George
Stephenson, both of which were received with rounds of
applause, adverted to the gratifying part he and his son
had taken in carrying out the railway schemes of this
country, and in none more so than in their connexion
with the South-Eastern Railway. It was a proud thing
fur them to reflect upon, that they had been mutually
instrumental in connecting as by one chain all the na-
tions of the eartb, and in making more closely kindred
gt
1 Q
the whole human race.—(Cheers.)
Subsequently the health of
instrumentalViscountessT rrin
mas given with great Iraq. The vocal and
concomitants to the conviviali▪ ty were ably sustained
by
Messrs. Hobbs, Mudie, Franci▪
s, and Machin, assisted by
Mr. Harker, the toastmaster.

TESTIMONIAL TO DR. TAYLOR.—The students of
the faculty of medicine in University College are about
'o present to Dr. Taylor, their late esteemed Professor
of Clinical Medicine, an address and testimonial, ex-
rressive of their high regard and estimation of his cha-
racter and talents. The address—a specimen of elegant
penmanship, executed by Mr. Robertson, of Coventry-
street; and the testimonial—a handsome tea service and
salver, manufactured by Messrs. Rowland and Sons,
silversmiths, of Regent-street, will be exhibited to all
friends interested in the matter, in the council-room of
the College, during the early part of the week. Dr.
Taylor was the first student of the College elevated to
one of its professorships, but held office only a short
times, his health breaking down under its onerous duties.
ROIIIIIRIES.—Yesterday the police received infor-
mation of the following robberies:—Stolen from the
house of Mrs. Somes, Grove-place, Brompton, a gold
curb chain with locket attached, a bunch of roses on it,
and the words " Forget me not;" a gold pin set with
turquoise, and ss. in silver. On the Bth, from the house
of Mr. Shepherd, Forestgate, Essex, five silver dessert
forks, a silver butter knife, a fish fork, and a silver des-
sert spoon. On the 7th, from 56, Poland-street, the
property of Mr. Wilson, a lodger, a gold ring set with
pearls, a mourning ring, a valuable gold ring set with a
blue stone resembling a baboon's head; a gold ring set
with paste and garnets, gold snake brooch with turquoise
eyes, and a variety of wearing apparel and linen. On
the 9th, from the person of Mr. Levy, in Size-lane,
Bucklersbury, a gold lever watch and a steel purse con-
taining 71 10s. in gold.
IMPORTATION OF HERRINGS.—The ship
ar-
rived in the Commercial Docks from St.
47n
extensive
n s i ve
cargo New
boxes
of
ff
Brunswick, has brought, in addition
nanwudillefornrofifrk6i3ue
British province aof butter, the production of chat
North America.
herringsA'oi goods,
in a preserved ervveeryd_
aisataT,Bri _