The Sun.
London, England, 1846-11-09 00:00:00

reader a notion of the great compositions of other times
and of other countries; such a notion as a person who
has never been able to travel to Italy may have of the
Raphaels in the Vatican from a valuable collection of
engravings.—(Cheers.) There is no translation so bad
as that some part of the genius of Homer, some part of
the genius of Cervantes, does not shine through it.
Tnus we conceive that a literary person, possessing only
the English language, may, through the means of Eng-
lish versions, enlarge his mind by attaining no small de-
gree of knowledge of the style, the manner, the views
of the great men of other ages and countries.—(Loud
cheers.) Let me not be misunderstood as in the smallest
degree to deprecate the study of the ancient or modern
languages of Europe. Far from it. I would advise no
man who lias leisure and opportunity to be ccntent un-
less he can obtain several of these most valuable sources
of knowledge. I would impress on every young man
the saying of Charles V., who knew several foreign lan-
guages, that he "never learned a new language without
feeling he had got a new soul."—(Cheers.) But at the
same time I may be permitted to felicitate my country-
men not so fortunate as to have the command of leisure
fur this purpose, that through the English language they
may obtain means of intellectual wealth more precious
than the greatest scholars in the days of Charles V.,
and greater than Aldus, Erasmus, or Melancthon them-
selves enjoyed.—(Cheers.) This brings me back to the
toast I have to propose—to British literature—(Cheers)
—to that literature, the proudest, the purest, the most
durable of all the glories of our country—to that lite-
rature rich in all the treasures of truth and of fiction—
to that literature which boasts of the prince of all poets,
and the prince of philosophers—to that literature which
has exercised on mankind a mightier influence even than
that of our commerce and our arms—to that literature
which has taught France the principles of liberty, and
which has furnished Germany with models of art—to
that literature which constitutes a tie even nearer than
blood between us and the great commonwealths in the
valley of the Mississippi—to that literature before the
light of which impious and cruel superstition is fast
taking flight on the banks of the Ganges—to that lite-
rature which will, in future ages, instruct and delight
millions, who will then have covered with cities
and with gardens the Australasian and Caifrarian de-
serts—to " the Literature of Britain"—and, wherever
British literature spreads, may it be attended by British
virtue and by British freedom.—(Great cheering.)
The Rev. Mr. GUTHRIE proposed " The University of
Edinburgh."
Professor Thomson, M.D., "The Lord Provost, Magis-
trates and Council, Patrons of the University."
The LORD PROVOST, " The Archbishop of Dublin,"
who briefly acknowledged the compliment.
Dr. S. BROWN, " The Progress of Science."
Mr. D. M. MOIR proposed the next toast. He said,
the Vast I am about to propose is one which I am sure
will be received with enthusiasm, not from anything I
can say regarding it, but simply for its own sake. I
repeat this with confidence, when I announce that my
toast is the health of the Right Hon. Thomas B.
Macaulay.—(Prolonged cheering.) When we consider
the characteristic peculiarities of the Scottish people,
perhaps the highest honour which Scotland could confer
on any one would be the selection of that individual, on
account of his genius, his talents, and his high character,
to be the representative of its metropolis in the great
council of the nation. For such a person did Edinburgh
seek, and such a person did Edinburgh find in the dis-
tinguished man I have just named. In him she found
combined the legislator, the orator, the historian, the
critic, the philosopher, and the poet ; in him she found
a man who

"Had multiplied himself among mankind,
The Proteus of their talents."
—(Cheers.) In Mr. Macaulay's presence I dare do RO
more than allude to his vast and varied attainments, to his
brilliant talents, to his unwearied business habits, and to
his having secured for himself a high place among the
great classics of England.—(Cheers.) I shall in conclusion
simply allude to one topic as being that by which Mr.
Macaulay has associated himself with this institution—
I mean the great cause of national education. When
we consider the position of the British Isles on the map,
we must be at once aware that by intellect has the su-
premacy of Britain among the nations been won, and by
intellect alone can that supremacy be maintained. By
education men have ceased to be mere " sons of the
soil," mere hewers of wood and drawers of water ; by
education men have felt themselves to be rational and
responsible beings—creatures into whose nostrils God
has breathed the breath of an immortal spirit ; by edu-
cation men have become jealous of their civil and their
sacred rights, they have walked with features more erect,
and when they trod the ground their feet hare "brought
from the soil the source of liberty." It is absurd, there-
fore, to say that the mind can be ever over-educated, or
that man can have too much light, either regarding him-
self—so fearfully and so wonderfully made—or of the
world in which -he is placed, where, whether he examine
the wild flower beneath his feet with the microscope of
Loewenhoek, or the planet that sparkles in the blue
canopy above him with the telescope of Lord Rosse, he
can only be thereby the more convinced of his own in-
significance, and of the wisdom, the power, and the
beneficence of Him who created all things.—(Much
cheering.) Need we ask a better or stronger illustration
of Mr. Macaulay's devotion to this great cause of national
education than the fact of his having travelled 400 miles
to be present at the opening of this institution ? I beg
to propose " the Health of Mr. Macaulay." (The toast
was drunk with great enthusiasm.)
Mr. MACAULAY, in reply, said— It would be unpar-
donable in me to detain you with more than a single
word; and in truth the best expression of the feelings
which I entertain is the briefest and the simplest. lam
sure you will not dcubt the gratitude with which I have
seen the manner in which the last toast so proposed has
b; en received by you. I can claim no praise on the
ground of having performed a journey of 400 miles for
the purpose of appearing before you.—(Cheers.) I am
more than repaid by the pleasure I feel in addressing an
assemblage of the citizens of Edinburgh, not upon sub-
jects which divide wise and good men, and about which
even wise and good men can seldom differ without some
bitterness of feeling. Most of the occasions on which I
have appeared before great assemblages of the citizens
of Edinburgh have been of such a kind, and I feel to-
night very much more than repaid for any exertions I
have made in order to be present by having the oppor•
tunity of seeing so many of you actuated by one spirit,
and in retiring from among you thinking that we can all
congratulate each other on one commo❑ victory.
'• The Royal Scottish Academy and the Fine Arts,"
proposed by Dr. D. Maclagan ; " The Directors of the
Philosophical Institution," by Professor Gregory; " The
Health of Professor Wilson," who proposed, in an elo-
quent speech, " The Memory of Sir Walter Scott;"
'• The Health of Mr. W. G. Craig," who gave " The
High School, and other Educational Establishments;"
The Kindred Institutions of England," by Professor
Nichol; " The Health of the Chairman," by Lord Cun-
inghame; and " The Ladies," were afterwards proposed,
and the meeting separated at about eleven o'clock.