The Sun.
London, England, 1856-04-10 00:00:00

• ; .•[PRICE 4D. F Si'ASIPED

THE HIGHLAND sociEry Or LONDON.

_,~

, . The apn,ieersaly of the;,-battle of 'Alexandria (21st
March) falling this year on ,Good Friday, tip members
'of this society postpened their'a.natialiathiritig till yes-
;terd-ay °vetting. The Duke of. Algyil•preafded, supported
by The Chisholm, Sir Charles Forbes fart.., anal Shetiff
Kennedy.; ' Among others preSent, We observed the
Sixoa Minister, iiptatn. Jay, ;•14,d1.; aiStitherland, J--.--
H. Campbell, James -Murray, Rev. Dr. Cumming, F.
H. Caldwell, Dr. 'Halley, J. G. Elsey (of the Bank of
England), Thomas Macgregor, J. B iucher, and Messrs.
Sandman (2). The Highland Society, was. instituted
,for the preservation of the garb, literature, and language
int-Caledonia, arid' isriilsb the parent of 'Caledonian
Asylutn,,,iit which are educated and-clothed tbeorphans
aneehilaren of needy. Scotchmen. The entertainment
last aught-avas of the Ostiel iiinetetit'-rinality Air which
the Freemasons' Tavern is ;distinguishe,4 iMr:. Rinks, -
iti-superintendint, leaving . nothing undone fer the
comfort -of the/ members ' and their 'friends. Tne
great , ball , was:L itastefully . decorated- with the ar-
morial shields and tartans
the' Company
,varipas clans.
which, 1 when Tilled s with • ilik Coilipaq dressed
in the :martial casttime of- the Highlaneter, ,gave the
whole s•;ene, a most ,fascinating .appearance,- In the
.triusi&al dep!ittMent' the 'performers were more numerous
014 n. at.- .English 'Society dine- rat beSiwes= it `well c •n-
-condenteed lesstinmental brad, .Vwe ,was, the
.Qu. -eta's_
iirr•d thett.ileifeta n Asylum's pipers, and the Ju eniie
.natid:of that; InstitUtion. ,eaelt of.'wilioitFolgyt. the ugh-
out ths evening appropviate,soections 41100444 music;
added to these were a choir of vocal perforinerfe Mr.
•Sitecgregoor Sitripebni ' the' Solittislr''Vo ifslistVwas also
present, and favoured the c mpany with someistaenerite'
songs, in a style, sometimes of patbos,„st another of s
much energy, that he compietelytilbooi hed ther'leelings,
aed reeelved marked demonstrations of the-pteasnre his
delivery gave them. .
The`lo Me- CffAInMAIr ' kaveAlie first toast, that of
",T,ll ggeelli and PrmosiAthert,"which was drunk with
tapturou., applause
'-After the other' baits which are ordinarly drunk
,upon suoh oo asi,•ns, -' t •, • • - ' • -
Mr. Aidernia• and-Sheriff Kinflttzgly prapeseeLf!-The
lii-aithrof. the President of the 'evening, hi Grace th,,
Pgke, of Argyll." In. doing so -he atlintedi to the dis-
tieguislielf p.sition the Argyll faintly had occupied in
history, and expreSsed the grattfieation he felt that the
present duke'stability attd high offfcial Pos:tinif'peoved
that in hint the race had tot; regenerited. • .li-;;:
the toast hiring been drunk with llighlang cheeps,
!rho Noble CHAIRlik.* io-Se. tO' aCkiihwleagallile com-
pliment. _,He thanked his, friend Alderman Lend Sheriff
Kennedy: for the flattering manner in which /he had
spoken of him; and the company IT the enthusiastic
manimin, whieh they bad received the mention of his
name. (Renewed cheers.) The.Highlatid„Saciety, was
established originally for social purposes—tO maintain
areonget,lfighlanders in this:country that national spirit
which was the
_greatest guarantee
,c, nAtional honour,
aticltheY'hadevery reason to he satisfied with the sue-.
cos which had attended it. {Hear; hear.) ' Highlaiidera
had been fonnd to have added ;by their influence some
dlgnityto the 'United Kingdoin not only io the naval and
military services of the country, but in Other iMpottipt
departments ckf the ,State.„; Mr. ,Macaulan-aehose,-ih s-
tory all Of them had read, stated with perfect, t truth, t at
!previous tothe year 1745 the higidiands *eye but lit le
i
known to the English, and laid down a pesition,• in. the
truth:of which he could not quite agree, that _it was: a
kind of terror Which lept`the' English away front that
magnificent couetry7-that they.: were 'afraid •to 'look
dV,Wn the precipices ' from which tot's tvii6ht Jail and .
dash thtnriselves to tiieees, or to look up to those
eagles
,which naightin an. hour or -two be feititini en
their bones. (Laughter) , Now, what a chaege, jtad
come over all this ! ' The Parliamentary session could
scarcely close before all England was off to' the 'High-
lands. This great change Mr. Macaulay attrihutld
to 'the faeilities for travelling which bad been
introduced, .. the constructton of : new roaftP,
the
,introduction of steam, and the: comparatively
easy manner in which people could be wound up thceie
tremendous trountaine. • But this was doing scanty jus-
tice not only to the Highlands and the Highlanders but
to the English also, for be did not believe that the Fog-
iish were a people who through any feeling of fear would
be likely,to overlook natural beauties. They had shown,
beyond all doubt, that they took peculiar pleasure in the
scenes Which' the Highlands presetited. He (the noble
duke) attributed to Sir Walter Scott the whole change
that had taken place.
He had collected in his works all
that was brilliant regard to Scotland, 'and hence the
strong: feeling ,in its favour which note prevailed aaitingsit
all classes of Englishmen. (Otters.)
• I
A f er a short pause, i
..
The LsTobiti CEIAIRMAN said it riciw beca•ne-hhi duty' tO
propose what he ini‘ht je tly term the toast of the even
ir,g, that of "'Abercrombie and the heroes who fell il:
Egypt," and to this he would join; "Those who fell io
the Crimea." They would drink-this toast this 'year
under: peculiar 'circumstances. England bad had fre
quent alliances with -Gentian nations, but recently she
had fought side by side, and shoulder to shoulder with
Fiance, in friendly rivalry with , the descendants of
the very men "who-n -Abercrombie' and his heroes met
face to face in battle. (Loud cheers.): It was ,for
this reason that he would join with the usual toast on
this occasion ; an occa-i in upon which they met to cele-
brate the battle of Alexandria—that of the heroes of the
Crimea, many of whom belonged to the highland So
ciety. One of the noble band, Col. Hunter Bair, was
of their number. He was a gentleman who, although a
member of the House of C minions, and engaged in
public life, went forward at the call of duty to fight the
battles of his country. He was amongst the first of
those who fell at Inkertnan. (Hear, hear.) He (the
noble Chairman) could nut help expressing a hope
that the alliance to which he bad alluded might be an
enduring alliance, for it was one which must inevitably
tend to the promotion of civilisation and the OJIIIMOD
cause of Europe.
Other toasts followed, and the company was addressed
by the Saxon Minister, Captain Jay, Sir Chas. Forbes,
the Chisholm, and other gentlemen.
The duties of toastmaster were rendered a sinecure, by
Dr. Halley—a Highlander of Athol—giving the honours
in the Gaelic language, and after the fashion at High-
.laud gatherings of old. :
.