The Sun.
London, England, 1860-06-27 00:00:00

B INQUET AT TRINITY HOUSE.

The anniversary dinner of the Honourable Cor-
poration of the Trinity House took place on Satur-
day last, his Royal Highness the Prince Consort
(the master) in the chair.
The toast of " The Queen," proposed by the
Prince Consort, having been drunk with all the
honours,

The PRINCE CONSORT said—My lords and gen-
tlemen, I propose to drink to his Royal Highness
the Prince of Wales and the rest of the royal fa-
mily. The younger members of the royal family
are rapidly growing up. The Princess Royal has
already become the founder of a new family de-
stined to mount the throne of Prussia; the Prince
of Wales is following his academic course at Ox-
ford, which he proposes to complete at the sister
university—(cheers)—while his younger brother
has by the prescribed apprenticeship earned his
rating as a midshipman, and serves zealously as
such in the fleet. (C leers.) It will be a curious
coincidence that, nearly at the same time, a few
weeks hence, though almost at the opposite poles,
the Prince of Wales will inaugurate, in the
Queen's name, that stupendous work, the Great
Bridge over the St. Lawrence, in Canada, while
Prince Alfred will lay the foundation stone of the
breakwater for the harbour of Cape Town. What
vast considerations as regards our country are
brought to our minds in this simple fact! What
present greatness! What past history What
future hopes ; and how important and beneficent
is the part given to the royal family of
England to act in the development of those distant
and rising countries, who recognise in the British
crown and their allegiance to it their supreme bond
of union with the mother country and with each
other. (Loud cheers.)
The toast was responded to with enthusiastic
loyalty.
The PRINCE CONSORT—Gentlemen, the standing
toast, after that of the royal family, at all our pub-
lic dinners, is "The Army and Navy," and it is
never given without calling forth proud and grate-
ful feelings. For Englishmen have reason to be
proud of the condition of these services, and of the
deeds which they have achieved, and cause to be
grateful for the benefits which have been secured to
them by their soldiers and sailors, who have been
drawn from all ranks and classes of society, and
have devoted their lives to their country. (Cheers.)
We hear sometimes complaints of the expense
which these services entail, &nd must certainly re-
gret that such sacrifices should be necessary ; but
on the whole the publie spirit with which the
nation is determined, through good or evil report,
to maintain the efficiency of these establishments is
a most gratifying proof of its soundness of heart,
and the shrewdness of its instinct. (Cheers.) It
has lately come forward and placed at the service
of the Queen volunteer corps, to act as an auxiliary
to the regular army and militia, in case of danger
to our shores, and the rapidity with which this
movement has developed itself has been the subject
of universal and just admiration. We have wit-
nessed this day a scene which will never fade from
the memory of those who had the good fortune to
be present—the representation of the independence,
education, and industry of this country in arms to
testify their devotion to their country, and their
readiness to lay down their lives in its defence.
(Loud cheers.) The volunteer force exceeds already
130,000 men, and to what extent this country i
capable of exerting itself in real danger is shown
by the number of volunteers which in 1804
reached the extraordinary figure of 479,000
We are apt to forget, however, that in contrast
with every country of the world all our ser-
vices are composed exclusively of volunteers—
the navy, coast guard, coast volunteers, army,
militia, yeomanly, and constabulary. (Hear, hear.)
May the noble and patriotic spirit which such a
fact reveals remain ever unimpaired ! And may
God's blessing, of which this nation has seen such
unmistakeable evidence, continue to rest upon these
voluntary services ! (Loud applause.) I beg to
couple the toast with the names of the First Lord
of the Admiralty, the Duke of Somerset, and Sir
John Burgoyne. (Cheers.)
The Duke of SOMERSET responded. He said—l
might claim at the present moment for the navy of
England, after the great exhibition that has been
seen to-day, that your minds should not be carried
away by military thoughts, and that it is but fair
that on behalf of the navy I should rise first to
thank you, and .to remind you that if ever this
country is in danger, and if ever any hostile arma-
ment should be raised against it, the first line
and the first boundary which has to be broken
through is that of the navy of England. (Loud
cheers.) That is the first line of your defence, and
I trust it is a line which will never be broken. I
trust the army of volunteers which we have seen
to-day, and the other army, well disciplined and
organised as it is, will never do more in this coun-
try than fire salutes in honour of the victories which
the navy may gain. (Loud cheers.) I believe that
the same volunteering spirit and feeling of courage
which you saw to-day animating civilians for the
army would animate the sailors of this country if
once they believed it was necessary they should be
called out in defence of their country. lam con-
vinced that all the sailor population of the country
would come forward with the same will and the
same energy that you have seen to-day. (Cheers.)
Sir J. BURGOYNE also responded on behalf of
the army. He said—l think I may claim for
the army the full respect of every branch of the
community, high and low. I have never heard
any objection made to the increase of the army,
except that of expense. Your Royal Highness
has adverted to the cost of the army. I rather
think we may congratulate ourselves that it is so
costly, because it is by that cost, in a great mea-
sure, that we are made so efficient. In former
times the cost was not the objection that was
made. The objection then arose from a dread,
and perhaps a legitimate dread, of the great in-
crease of what was called a standing army, giving
too much power to the Crown. Circumstances at
the present day are altered very much ; but one
thing I think I can say with regard to the army,
that it would be most nnsatisfactory to their feelings
and their pride if by any foolish reasoning the
honourable distinction and advance of the army
were to pass into any other hand than that of the
sovereign (Hear, hear.) I cannel-, when talkin,g
of the force of the country, help adverting to that
splendid display which was witnessed a few hours
ago in Hyde-park. As one of the oldest officers of
the army—perhaps the oldest—l wish to add my
mite of respect to that movement. (Hear, hear.)
The strength of the force that was exhibited to-day
may not, perhaps, be thoroughly known yet, and it
is a matter of very great doubt whether you will
be able to ascertain it by the returns that will be
given ; but I made a little observation myself that
I believe is not far from correct. I observed that
300 men passed her Majesty every minute ; they
were occupied 65 minutes in going by, and that
brings the total number to nearly 20,000 men,
which I think very near the number. ([Tear, hear.)
Those men, sir, are full of ardour. They have an
ardour that does not require to be stimulated ; on
the contrary, I think it requires to be moderated.
I think myself they have been going on rather too
fast. I am sorry to see them going out and getting
wet through day after day. (Hear, hear, and
laughter.) I see no cause for any such hurry. They
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