The Sun.
London, England, 1851-06-30 00:00:00

BANQUET AT THE MANSION-HO USE.
On Saturday the Lord Mayor gave a grand entertain-
meut to her Majesty's Commissioners, at which nearly
every one who has taken a prgtninent part in the pro-
motion of the Exhibition was present. Many of the
company were in uniform or Court dresses, theefadies of
the guests being included in the invitations. Wen the
asseashlagli Ida-Viteidist Zffinei tfiefe-`Z
which had been handsomely decorated E
for the occasion,
wore a very festive and animated aspect. Among the
distinguished persons present we observed Lord John
Russell and the Hon. Miss Elizabeth Lyster, Earl and
Countess Besse, Earl Granville, Lord and Lady Londes-
borough, Lord and Lady Overstone, Baron Dupin, Mons.
Beuffet (Minister of Commerce of France), Mr. and
Mrs. W. Cubitt, the Hon. Hugh. and Lady Sarah Chol-
mondeley, Mr. Cobden, M.P., Mr. Baring, M.P., Che-
valier du Burgh, Mr. Piney, M.P., Hon. Sir E. Cust;
the Chairman of the East India Company and Mrs.
Shepherd; Sir J. Weir Hogg, Lady Hog;, and Miss
Hogg; Mona. and Madame Kaminski, Mr. Masterman,
M.P.; Mons. and Madame Sallandrouze de Lamornaix,
the Governor of the Bank of England and Mrs. Han-
key, the Deputy Governor of the Bank of England and
the Hon. Mrs. Hubbard, Mr. Stevenson M.P.; Che-
valier and Madame do Settee, Sir Charles and Lady
Lyell, Sir James Duke, M.P.; Sir Richard Westrna-
cett, Mr. and Mrs. Garford, the Chevalier Lenoise,
Hon. C. Hardinge, Mons. Ramon de la Sagra, Cap-
tain Sir Baldwin Walker, R.N., and Lady Walker;
Mons. Manuel Ysasi, Mr. and Mrs. C. Wentworth
Dilke, Chevalier and Madame Zohrab, Mr. and Mrs.
Gott, M. Von Vieban, Mr. and Mrs. Gibson, Dr.
and Mrs. Lyon Playfair, Mr. E. Bowring, Capt. Owen,
Mrs. Hore, M. Vangeller, Mr. and Mrs. Henry Cole,
Professor Ansted, Mr. and Mrs. Fox, the Lord Mayor
of Dublin, M. Buschek, M. Santillana Elmhadden
Ham* Mr. and Mrs. W. Hopkins. M. Joaquin Alfonso,
Captain Abd-el-Hamell, Mr. and Mrs. C. Barry, M. Von
Hermann, Mr. C. Cole, Lieutenant-Colonel and Mrs.
Lloyd, Mr. R. Dodge, Mr. and Mrs. Hunt, Mrs. Alex-
ander Kerr, Mr. and Mrs. Ostavius Blewitt, Mr. and
Mrs. Edwin Bremridge, Mayor of Sheffield, Mayor of
Launceston, the Rev. Dr. and Mrs. Vivian, Professor
Corridi, Dr. and Mrs. Boyle, Mr. and Mrs. Carpenter,
Captain Gibb, Mr. Stansbury, M. Schaffhauth, Mr. and
Mrs. Paxton, Mr. and Mrs: Faller, Mr. and Mrs. Drew,
Mr. D. Wyatt, Mr. and Mrs. Russell, Mr. end Mrs. An-
derton and Mrs. Roberts, Alderman Moon, Alderman
Lawrence, Alderman and Sheriff Carden and Mrs. Car-
den, Alderman and Mrs. Wire, Sheriff and Mrs. Hodg-
kinson, Mr. Benuech, Professor Solly, the Chevalier
Lencisa, Mr. Nobach, Mr. and Mrs. Redgrave, Rev. S.
end Mrs. Cattley, Captain Ibbetson, Mr. and Mrs. Owen
Jones, Mr. Hensman, Captain Owen, M. Msvroganina,
Dr. Steinbeis, Mr. Ccx, Mr. Dekin, M. Scherer, M. Sea-
ramanga, Mr. Gaston, Mr. Roberts, M. Bossier, Mr. and
Mrs. Catty, Professor Warrentrapp, &c.
After dinner, the loving cup having been announced
with his usual emphasis by Mr. Harker, the toastmaster,
the healths of the Queen, Prince Albert, and the rest of
the Royal Family, were toasted with great loyalty.
The LORD Mayon then rose and said, that the toast
which he was about to propose brought him back to the
year 1849, when ho attended in that hall the first meet-
ing held its the metropolis for the purpose of considering
the question of the Great Exhibition. Ho recollected
well that at that period there were some doubts, hesita-
tions, and misgivings as to the probable success of the
proposal; but with the enterprising assent which cha-
racterised the citizens of London, they had thought it
right to begin, and they all knew that nothing could
go on unless there was a beginning.—(Cheers.) Many
of his friends around him would recollect that the first
thing wanted was money. The citizens of London com-
menced by making large subscriptions, and it was now
extremely gratifying to them to see the labours of the
Royal Commission crowned with such triumphant suc-
cess.—(Cheers.) He would propose as a toast the dis-
tinguished noblemen and gentlemen who formed that
commission, and who had taken the work from its
cradle, if he might so term it, in that house, and had
brought it to full maturity and vigour.—(Cheers.)
There was a distinguished nobleman present who had
taken such an active part in the management of the
Commission and of the affairs of the Great Exhibition
that it would bo quite superfluous in him to detain them
by any further observations of his own, and he would,
therefore, give them, as a toast, " The Royal Commis-
sioners and Earl Granville."—(Loud cheers.)
Earl GRANVILLE, in the name of his brother Com-
missioners and for himself, returned his best thanks for
the honour which had been done them, and for the kind
and very unmerited manner in which the Lord Mayor
had been pleased to notice his small share in the labours
of the commission. The Lord Mayor had alluded to a
meeting held in that hall when the first start was given
to the Exhibition, and at a time when the munificence
of the city of London was shown in their contributions
of hundreds and five hundreds of pounds to promote its
objects. Perhaps he might be permitted to allude to a
subsequent meeting in that hall, when, in the spirit of a
hospitality equal if not superior to that displayed on the
present occasion, the Royal Commissioners and his
Royal Highness Prince Albert were invited to meet
the representatives of all the municipal bodies, and to
confer with them on the subject of the Exhibition.
Many would remember that occasion and the high
ground his Royal Highness took, and the scope and
wide extent of the plan he proposed to the public. His
Royal Highness dwelt upon the international, the philo-
sophic, and the religious results of the Exhibition, and
stated that, in deference to the wishes of the people of
this country, instead of carrying it on by means of pri-
vate capital and private enterprise, he left it to the
people of Great Britain to work it oat themselves.—
(Cheers.) He (Lord Granville) had felt confident that the
country would honourably play its part, and would
maintain its character and evince its hospitality to all
foreign nations.—(Cheers.) All who knew the way in
which their countrymen bad beh.aved, the vast amount
of money they had contributed, the time they had sacri-
ficed, the sincere pleasure with which they had welcomed
their foreign friends, and the example of loyalty and
good order they had exhibited, must be assured that his
Royal Highness now felt that hie appeal had not been
made to them in vain, and that his confidence in them
had not been misplaced.—(Cheers.) After his Royal
Highness, the Noble Lord at the head of her Majesty's
Government, who was DOW preaent, expressed on the
occasion referred to his unticipan ons that the Great In-
dustrial Exhibition would be a j %Wee of peace and of
the industry of all nations.—(C beers.) Lord Stanley
also stated his satisfaction that th e enterprise was not
confined to any political party, but was the work of all
nations; that be shared in none of the fears expressed;
and that while foreigners might exceed us in facility of
invention, iu taste, and design, yet in the application of
mechanical contrivances to useful purposes we should
not be found behind. After le ird Stanley Sir Robert
Peel spoke, and the result appear td to justify his saga-
city and experience. He was fully impressed with the
difficulty of the undertaking, a nei equally so with the
certainty of ultimate success. He made a speech well
calculated to rouse the energies of all around him, and
invited the mayors of all the towns to meet him on the
following day. He (Earl Granville) bad the pleasure of
attending that meeting, and bore testimony that the rea-
diness with which Sir Robert Peel filet all the objections
that were urged was such as to send them back to spread
among their various localities the. confident assurance
that the Weir would be carried out in a practical man-
ner.—(Cheers.) He could not halp referring to the
great talent and the great exertions of the late Sir Ro-
bert Peel, and he believed that it wits the impulse and
direction given by him to the labours of the Commission
which had enabled them to ride OVn all their difficulties,
and to arrive at an end which he flattered himself was
not totally unsuccessful.—(Cheers.) Although ho had
had seine practice of late in re turning thanks for
the Royal Commission, he should shrink from his task
if circumstances had not changed. At the time to
which he had referred the Commissioners were
involved in great difficulties. They had no ex-
perience with regard to the difficulties they had
to encounter, and it required. knowledge, expe-
rience, and eloquence united, to point out the ob-
jects and results of the undertaking, and without them it
would have been utterly impossible to bring the business
to an end. But now matters were entirely changed.—
(Great cheering.) The Royal Commissioners felt that
they were approaching their end. Like people who had
been a good deal knocked about, avd who, he believed,
had accomplished some good in their time, when they
approached old age and had a large balance at their
banker's,'they felt that they ought to enjoy their old age
with dignity, and they were there fore partaking of the
hospitality of their countrymen he banquets and public
breakfasts and magnificent dinners like the present.
Under these) circumstances he felt. that it would be quite
sufficient for him to thank them for the honour they had
done them, and to assure them that they would not relax
their exertions until they had secured every possible ad-
vantage to the exhibitors and every comfort and plea-
sure to their visitors. Their most ample reward would
be found in the gratification of their fellow-countrymen