The Sun.
London, England, 1847-04-07 00:00:00

peculiarly abstract or alga, 'rested for wishing well to
the port and town of Birkent ead. I avow this the more
readily, because it is quite hvious that the proportion
in which the undertakings h, re set on foot can become
profitable to the Crown must b e according to the degree
in which they aro made valuabCe for the accommodation
of commerce and for the pubh egood.—(Hear, hear.)
As a well wisher, then, to the p, 'ilalic, and as a servant
of the Crown, as an admirer: of courageous enterprise
and successful peiseverance—(Hear, hear)—l find a
combilition of claims upon, me for doing, in combi-
natioinvith my colleagues by whom I am most will-
ingly and zealously secotkled, and in pursuance of
that example which has be en set to me by my pre-
decessors in the same office- —(Cheers)—all that in us
lies to promote, on all legitimate grounds, the perma•
nent prosperity of Birkenhead.—(Cheers.) With these
feelings, then, you may judge with how keen a relish,
with what lively emotion, I partake in all the pro-
ceedings of this day.—(Loud exiieers.) We hear same-
times of the old gala days of Veniw, when the Doge went
forth in his golden galley to plight bis faith to the wart
which bathed his palaces, but we have seen some-
thing this day beyond even the dreams of Venice. For
gondola,ewed by
may
itself,
instance, such an array of steamers as has to-day graced
the Mersey, never could have been witnessed in Venice;
aalsm a
days of her
iest
and though perhaps a steamer, when vi
ypmoeamtyrpensmoatinnbdde aysrooguo i thate picturesques,Veevneinc e never nthe
a niobjectP
could have sent forth
a message which in ten days might reach those harbours
and roadsteads of the New World where her flag hewer
waved. A pleasing omen I shall think it,
if amongst the
first uses of that ample basin into which our vessel to-
day bas been the first to glide, surrounded by all those
striking specimens of engineering skill and admirable
masonry, we should apply those works to theadmission
of the surplus harvests of more favoured regions, and
make provision for the bread which keepeth alive.—
(Hear, hear.) Next in the progress of time—l hope in
the course of this very autumn--you will be able to bear
your part in accommodating the, timber trade. I will
not proceed further in those long vistas of usefulness, of
enterprise, and of success, which, I trust, will stretch
out before the future prospects of Birkenhead, and to
which I hope the proceedings of this day will have given
au auspicious commencement, and a powerful impulse.
7-(Hear, hear.) I would just express a hope in pass-
ing, that the best feeling and the bast understand-
ing will always prevail between you and the great
city immediately opposite you.—(Great cheering.)
Liverpool divides with London the supreme' y of the
commerce of the modern world, and as London could
only feel benefited by the expansion of Southwark,
Liverpool can never have cause to repine at the growth
of Bilkenhead. Believe me, gentlemen, and I hope all
on the other side of the water will believe me too, that if
ever your own wide Mersey was thoroughly walled by a
double wall of docks and warehouses, there will not be
more than room-for the corn, the cotton, and the forests
of the western hemisphere.—(Hear, hear.) And I trust
you have this day forged a new and an abiding link to
that chain of amity which ought ever to connect Eng-
land with America. I feel this is not the time to dilate
further on these points. It is well known the attrac-
tions of Birkenhead are not limited to its water frontage,
and that if the genius of a Bendel' has completed its
docks, the skill of a Paxton has laid out its plea..nre-
grounds.—(Hear, hear.) Nor will my most reenit
occupation permit me to forget that this is one of the
first places which has begun a systematic attention to
the physical comf arts of the vast numbers of workmen it
calls together, and the important subject of public health.
With this assurance about us and around us, I feel that
the pageant of to-day, even when its gaieties shall
have passed away and its shouts are silent, will still
give us grounds for remembrance that it has not been a
triumph which gathers its trophies from the strife of na-
tions and the arts of destruction—that it has not been a
mere unmeaning sacrifice to frivolity and dissipation, but
that it has struck its roots deep in public usefulness, and
will bear rich fruits of peace and progress through
coming ages.—(Cheers.)
The next toast given was, " The County Members',"
Sir I'. EGERTON, M.P. returned thanks. Two years
ago only he had aitendad the preliminary proceeding on
the commencement of the works which they had now
assembled to open to their uses. He had not expected
so soon to witness the fulfilment of their hopes, though
he had never been influenced by those who said that
they might as well propose to build docks in the air as
at Birkenhead. Ho congratulated the Commissioners
upon having, while providing for the commercial im-
provement of the town, been equally attentive to the re-
ligious instruction, the health, and comfort of the poor.
Formerly there was a couplet—
From Birkenhead to Kilbree
Asqm ho from to tree
Ero long he hopeduirrel they might read ittree thus:—
.
From Birkenhead to Kilbreo
A ship may sail from Mersey to Dee.
The Earl of LINCOLN proposed the next toast—" The
commerce of the Mersey," a duty which devolved upon
him in consequence of the absence of Sir T. :Fremantle,
the Chairman of the Customs. His Noble Friend had
said that Liverpool and London divided the commerce of
the United Kingdom. Ile believed the commerce of the
Mersey, as represented by Liverpool, not only equalled,
but by the most recent accounts exceeded that of Lon-
don itself.—(Hear, hear.) And from this auspicious
date that that increase would go on until, in a few years,
the port of Liverpool would be equal to any two' or
three in the kingdom, London included. He had been
informed that coals had &sex that day sent from Wales
by the new railway to be shipped on board a steamer
already ling in those docks. An American vessel, too,
he understood, was now in the port, principally laden
with guano, the cargo of which would be sent back by
the same railway, and probably, ere nightfall, be spread

over the fields.---(11enr:) lle could not but express a

fervent hope that the introduction of this fertilizing agent
on this occasion might be taken as an auspicious omen of

an abundant harvest.

The Noble Earl, sifter some mere

eloquent obs( rvations, formally proposed the toast, which

was drunk with enthusiasm.

The other toasts were—" The Mayor of Manchester;"
" The Chairman," proposed by Lord Morpeth ; " The
Birkenhead Docks;" " The Dock Warehouse Company ;"
" The Guests of the Day ;" " Mr. Rendall, the engineer,
and Mr. Paxton, the designer of the New Park;" " The
Railway Interest connected with Birkenhead ;" " The
Cheshire Witches," &c.
After the dejeuner, Lord Morpeth, accompanied by
several distinguished guests, proceeded to open the New
Park, which has been formed with a wise foresight to
the future wants and sanitary condition of the popula-
tion of Birkenhead, at a cost of 127,775/.

The park was during the day the scene of great re-
loicing and festivity, and in the evening there was

_
gorgeous display of fireworks. The day at Birkenhead,
and indeed partly at Liverpool, was observed as a holi-
day; and the workmen at the Birkenhead Docks, 2,000

mlumber, each received a day's wage.

Later in the

evening a ball and supper took place i❑ the Dock ware-

house:Which had been appropriately fitted up for the
occasion, at which were present the majority of the
principal persons who had attended the previous pro-
ceedings.

The Lords of the Admiralty will have to extend
their tour, on their next viol of inspection, to the various
dock yards. The Royal Surrey Dock Yard now assumes
such a formidable attitude that Prince Joinviile will, in
all probability, feel compelled to write another pamphlet.
Wet and dry docks are excavating, first-rates and frigates
building, and all the bustle and activity of a dock yard of
the first magnitude on the eve of a war. Seriously, the
preparations making at the Royal Surrey Zoological
Gardens, for the siege of Gibraltar, ere un such a gigantic
scale few persons have any conception of, and we are
warranted in asserting that the forthcoming representa-
tion will exceed anything yet attempted.
THE LAMPLIGHTERS ON THE FAST DAY.—The
lamplighters of Manchester, resolving, at the suggestion
of their superintendent, to turn to some account the late
general fast, made a small subscription through
amounting to 1/. 7s. 6d., with which they
proportions amongst the destitute pour in their
beytherce
purchasedfo
s 1
ddifferent
localities.
Thus were they enabled, at a trifling
twenty-twodozen
soup tickets, and distributed their
sacrifice to themselves, to afford temporary. relief to at
least 100 of their less fortunate and suffering brethren.
This is a gratifying illustration of the good that may be
effected, even on a small scale, where there is a disposi-
tion, and an example worthy of imitation.—Guardian.
CITY OF LONDON GENERAL PENSION SOCIETY.—
On Monday a general meeting of the subscribers to the
above society, founded in 1818, for providing a per-
manent relief to decayed artisans, mechanics, manufac-
turers, tradesmen, and the widows of such persons, above
sixty years of age, was held at the London Tavern, for
the election of four additional pensioners from a list of
twenty-two candidates; Luke James Hansard, Esq., in
the chair. The report stated that there are now, in-
dependent of Monday's election, thirty-two men and
females 18s.
pfaleermtnoens ;th.theThmeendirreeceteoirvse laf. 75.,
tate a
d nd
that the
females 18s. per month. The directors slated that his
at
Royalanniversary
festivale. Duke
in
nf
May, when
wthoeuyld_hoppreedsidtoe
increase the pensioners' payments to the original amount,
shillings more than the present monthly
payments.being four
EXTENSIVE ROBBERY AT THE CAMDEN RAILWAY
STATION.—On Mcnday morning the crnp/oyes of Met,srs.
Crowley and Co., the railway carriers, discovered that
no fewer than twenty-six bales of goods, which had been
transmitted to the firm for conveyance by the Camden-
town rail, had been stolen. The robbery is supposed to
have been effect d between three and four o'clock on
Monday morning, by some of the most expert of their
clta aksesn,
no mt
htehe conveying great bulka
yanodf
ww
he ii gc
hh,t
iot f
stphpee
aproperty
taken, in the conveying away of which, it appears, they
borrowed a horse and cart from some adjacent stables,
belonging to Messrs. Sutton and Co.
MILITARY INSPECTION.—Major-General Lord F.
Fitzelarence, G.C.8., Lieutenant-Governor of Ports-
mouth, and Commander-in-Chief of the south-western
district, made his first official inspection en Monday on
Southsea-common. The 43d Light Infantry, Lieutenant-
Colonel J. Furlong, K.H., of which celebrated regiment
the late Lieutenant-Governor of Portsmouth (Lieutenant-
General the Hon. Sir H. Pakenham, K.C.8.) is Colonel,
were the troops inspected, and were put through all the
evolutions of field service, which they executed in a
roannir most highly creditable to themselves, and
eminently gratifytng to their distinguished General and
Colonel-in. Chief. Sir H. Pakenham relinquished the
command of the above garrison and district on Thursday
last, and is at present sojourning with his family under
the hospitality of Rear-Admiral Hyde Parker, C. 8.,
Superintendent of Portsmouth Dockyard, until the ter-
mination of the sale of their effects in the Government
House. Lord Fitzeiarence remains at tho George
Hotel, where all the business of his command is at
present transacted, and will continue to be until the
Government House has been surveyed and repaired,. if
found worth the expense ; if not, a new official "mansion
will be erected, it is supposed on its original site, the
Grand Parade.
A Preston cotton-spinner, who has no _
whatever with Ireland, has contributed _
101,
relief fund ; Lord Motintcaabell subscribed
connexion
1004 towards the