The Sun.
London, England, 1841-07-01 00:00:00

• N

allialmalarearma••••l.,..,
light that there were many distinct ished in the arts in
Scotland who would do honour to• any country. He
ventured to think that, ere long, the fine arts would reach

the eminence attained by ltiterary scie nee.
Mr. PATRICK ROBERTSON was afraid that he would
be considered a little intrusive on the order of the toasts
of the evening ; but he hoped that the communication
he had to make, and which had just been put into his
hands, would be an apology for this apparent intrusion.
Such was the rapidity of the periodical press, that he
found that a newspaper called the Edinburgh Evening
Courant—so called because it was published at six
o'clock in the morning, and which was expected to
c:me out to-morrow morning—had already published
an account of the business of the evening's proceed-
ings ; and not only an account of what had actually
' taken place, but had reduced that account into most ad-
mirable poetry. He had no doubt that it would interest
the meeting ; and although he was not a shareholder
in the said newspaper, he would take the liberty of
reading the prefatory matters. The Learned Gentleman
then proceeded to read a paper :—" A splendid meeting
took place last night—Professor 'Wilson in -the
(Laughter.) A stout gentleman acted as croupier.—
(Renewed langhter.) We wish to present our readers
first with a serious description of the more tragic part
of the proceedings ; and, secondly, with some of those
lighter flights of fancy by which the evening was distin-
guished."—(Continued laughter.) The Learned Gen-
tleman then proceeded to read a number of verses
in poetry, referring to the various characters in Mr.
Dickens' works. Much humour and wit were displayed
in the composition, and the reading of them excited great

laughter and cheering,
Mr. LUDOVIC COLQI3IIOIIN, Advocate, said, the high
honour has been assigned to me of proposing as a toast
the health of a most learned and accomplished person,
whose unavoidable absence from this meeting, deeply

..
regretted by us all, has been so feelingly alliided to by
his friend, our distinguished guest—l mean Lord Jef-
frey.--(Loud cheers.) Conscious as I am of my ina-
bility to do justice to that toast, I should have at once
declined the duty, otherwise most gratifying, of propos-
ing it, was I not conscious, at the same time, that the
toast is indeed one which requires no preface, and that
eulogy and eloquence—eloquence even such as that
which has delighted us to-night—could add nothing to
the feelings of respect and admiration with which all
who hear me must regard its eminent subject, With
such feelings, then, towards Lord Jeffrey, surely we
should rejoice that we have been favoured with an oppor-
tunity so fitting as that which the present occasion
affords, of testifying, with the pride and affection becom-
ing his fellow-citizens, that we appreciate as we ought a
man whose genius and attainments have long since won
for him a memorable name, not merely among ourselves,
or in this country, but in every land where the language
and literature of Britain are known.—(Cheers.) Such
a name is not lightly or easily won ; it can neither be
acquired nor retained without correspondent merit ; for
the very condition of fame is high and.authentic desert.
—(Applause.) It is not for me—it would be presump-
tion, and, in an assembly like this, altogether superflu-
ous to discuss, or even to indicate the grounds of Lord
Jeffrey's well-earned celebrity. But amidst the many.,
which might be indicated—amid the many indisput-
able claims he possesses on our veneration and gratitude
—I trust I may be permitted to allude very briefly to
one—the unparalleled and inestimable services lie has
rendered to the periodical literature of our country.—
(Cheers.) He found it in a state of helpless, and seem-
ingly hopeless decrepitude. He reanimated it, or rather,
to speak more correctly, he called into existence a species
of literature absolutely new, with which that displaced
by it had nothing in common but the name. He infused
into this new creation an energy and a fire, and in-
vested it with a dignity and a grace, of which, till then,
periodical literature had Scarcely, afforded an indication,
and with which, indeed, judging froin the'past, it might
have : been supposed ,irreconcilable. He net only de-
monstrated that the periodical press was capable of being
made the most efficient of engines for disseminating
instruction and information on every branch of human

knowledge, but he actually made if such ; and he re-
laxed not in his efforts till he saw that press become, as,
thanks to him, it has now long been, the chosen medium
through which the best and ripest intellects hold com-
m,:.nion with their kind.—(Applause.) If we would in-
quire ik:to the means by which he effected a revolution,
so mighty ii; its character, so salutary in its results, we
need but call to recollection the almost endless series of
original and exquisite map, which, in swift and unin-
terrupted succession, einanstAci from that most fertile of
minds—essays, embracing in their range every depart-
ment of literature and art, and nearly every department
of science—infinitely varied, therefore, in their subjects,
but each and all bearing the unequivocal impress of a
master-head, each and all characterised by a masculine
vigour of argument, and universality of knowledge, a
force and felicity of illustration, a prodigality of wit, a
beauty and dazzling brilliancy of style, rarely seen in
such perfection even singly, probably never before found
so happily combined ; we need, I repeat, but look to
these, and we can be little at a loss to divine the means
by which the triumph was effected, and surely as little
disposed to question the character of Lord Jeffrey's fame.
—(Loud cheers.) But, if any thing could enhance the
splendour of that triumph—if any thing were still want-
ing to consummate the fame of him who achieved it—
surely it would be found in the fact that these precious
contributions to the literary glory of our country were
made, not by a recluse student, lapped in lettered ease,
but by one, who, while he made them, was immersed,
daily and hourly, in the toils of a profession certainly
sufficiently toilsome, among the members of which, while
he stood second to none in learning, he stood paramount
in eloquence and every forensic accomplishment.—(The
toast was then drank amidst loud applause.)
Mr DICKENS sag lam less fortunate than the two
gentlemen who ha* preceded me in their toasts, for I
have to mention a name known to all present, but. which
I cannot utter at this time without deep sorrow—a name
in which Scotland had a high and endearing pride,
which England delighted to honour, and which was che-
rished in the breast of every reflecting man throughout
the whole civilised world. From among the gifted spi-
rits of our times a gentle, honest, generous, and true
one has passed away, as it were .but yesterday. The
life of one devoted to all that was true, and beautiful,
and elevating in art and in nature, hath come to an end.
I willgive you the memory of Wilkie. It is not as one
whom many of us knew and loved—it is not as one
whose simple nature his high fame and fortune never
spoiled or changed—it is not as one who acted up to
what he taught, and who made the domestic virtues and
beauties his daily practice, that I think of him to-night.
I think of him as one, and you should do so too, who
has left behind him unwonted fire, who has left an un-
dying and imperishable name—who made the cottage
hearth his grave theme, and who surrounded the lives,
and cares, and daily toils and occupations of the poor
with dignity and beauty—who, indeed, found sermons in
stones, and books in streams, and good in everything
—and who left in all his works the same breathing- of
health as of the air wafted from the heather of his na-
tive land.—(Cheers.) However desirous one may be,
on an occasion like the present, to separate his memory
from those mournful associations which gather around
it, it is impossible; they are peculiarly inseparable from
him ;—the painter's study, with the empty easel, the
brush and pallet which he was wont to use now lie idly
by ;—his unfinished pictures turn their faces to the wall
—and that bereaved and affectionate mourner whom he
loved in his days to honour, will look upon him no
more. He is gone, and has left behind him, particu-
larly to his countrymen and to all who knew him, a
name and a fame as pure and unsullied as the bright
sky which shines above the painter's grave. He has filled
our minds and memories with what is mournful, yet as
soothing as the rolling of the blue waters over his
honoured head. Mindful of his only sister, I cannot
help expressing the hope that the time will shortly
come *hen, she, like us, will feel a solemn pleasure in
speaking of his goodness and greatness, and when ,'she
will have the grateful recollection that he died in .the
fulness of his powers, before age and sickness had
dimmed his sight or had bowed his head. Mr. Dickens
was much affected during the delivery of this s;aeech,
particularly at those passages more especially referring
to, Sir David Wilkie's death. The toast was drank in
solemn silence:
The Hon. Mr. PRIMROSE proposed a toast which he
was sure would meet with all their approbation—the
health of Mr. Patrick. Robertson.—(Cheers.) Whether
they regarded him as the first in a most learned pro-
fession—as a most distinguished orator in this great city
—as one of the beSt and earnest promoters of conviviality
—(Laughter)—or as the " stout gentleman acting as
croupier"—.(Laughter)—he was quite sure that if they
TieArricll.lnr.nintEonia
remembered him in one or all of these respects, the bum-
per he was to propose would be prodigioug.—(Laughter.)
The Honourable Gentlemaniproposed their "great crou-
great pleasure in
in originating Terstsosi°ll;eturned thanks, and said that he felt
being one of those" who' were instru-
mentaland forwarding the business of the
of the
evening. What
steps they had taken,. And he would only
already passed was a complete jus-
tificationsay that he was
n to him
for the cordiality and kindly
exertions in any capacity his
feelings show
fellow-citizens, and that his
Mr. FLETCIIER said, capacity were entirely at their disposal.
although he would make the
shortest speech of the evening,
yet he was sure it would
and enthusiastic reception.
meet with the most cordial
It had been said that the
genius of
of Mr. Dickens was
ird would say that
English ; but he demurred
to
it was half English and half Scotch, as he was un-
doubtedly
p o
sed
the
health
connected
of with
Mrs.aDickens, Scottish
which was drank
1 lie then pro-
amidst great applause.
Mr. DICKENS returned thanks, and said that his wife
was a Scotchwoman, and was born in this city.
Mr. P. __ROBERTSON proposed °+ Mr. Murray and the
Drama."
Mr. MURRAY--Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen, I need
not say how deeply I feel the honour you have con-
ferral upon me ; and I will freely confess that, seeing
my name in the list of toasts, I had endeavoured to con-
coct what you, with your usual kindness towards me,
might have deemed a very tolerable speech—(Laughter)
—but really, Gentlemen, considering the lateneis of the
hour, and the great talent which has preceded me, it
would be an absurdity, nay, almost an impertinence for me
to intrude upon your patience by—(Here Mr. Murray
was met by cries of "No, no," "Go on," accompanied
with great applause.) Well, Gentlemen, perhaps it will
be better for the general effect that I should go on. "My
friend Allan will tell you how valuable shade is in a pic-
ture, perhaps it may prove equally so at a public dinner,
and, after the brilliant display you have heard this even-
ing, a little calm mediocrity, or even positive failure,
may be an agreeable relief.—(Laughter and great ap-
plause.) I remember when the elite of London gave
their dinner to John Kemble, upon his retirement from
the stage, the stewards waited on the late Lord Holland,
to request that he would take the chair on that occasion.
His Lordship said that nothing would give him more
pleasure, but added, " Gentlemen, I fear you have
made a bad choice. In the House of Lords
can worry a Minister, or badger a Bishop, with
any man, but I am a wretched speaker at a