The Sun.
London, England, 1860-03-28 00:00:00

A banquet on a grand scale, at which his Royal
Highness the Prince Consort was a guest, was last
evening given by the Master and Court of Assis-
tants of this company. The inauguration of their
new hall in Mincing-lane furnished the occasion ;
and of this fine edifice itself it may be not unac-
ceptable to our readers that we should give a brief
description before alluding more particularly to the
festival by which its career in the annals of civic
hospitality was commenced.
The new hall stands upon the same site as the
ancient structure, which was purchased by the re-
presentatives of the company in the remote days of
Henry VI., and which was, at the time of the great
fire of London, rendered somewhat remarkable as
forming the utmost boundary on that side of
the city to which the conflagration extended.
" Strange it is," writes Pepys, " to see Clothworkers-
hall on fire these three days and nights in one body
of flame, it being the cellar full of oyle." The
building which thus comes in for notice in the
quaint and amusing diary of Pepys—himself a
clothworker--was not, however, completely de-
stroyed. The hand of the renovator was applied to
it, and the old hall restored has for some two cen-
turies been the scene of the charities and the hos-
pitalities of the company. It has in its turn given
place to a structure better adapted to the require-
ments of the present day. The new hall, which has
only just been erected, is one of the finest of which
the city can boast. Boldly carved enrichments
adorn the facade, which is of the Italian style of
architecture of the ltenaissance period. The arms
of the company surmount a lofty portal, with bronze
gates in the centre. This leads to an arched cor-
ridor and vestibule, which form the approach to the
entrance and hall, over the doorway of which are
four relievi, executed in Caen stone, by Mr. C.
Kelsey, representing the attributes of the company
—Loyalty, Integrity, Industry, and Charity. From
the entrance hall—from which it is partially sepa-
rated by coupled columns—springs the grand stair-
case. On each side of it on the ground floor are the
several offices of the company for the purpose of busi-
ness. This floor contains also the culinary department
—essential portion of a civic hall—on the construction
and arrangement of which no ordinary amount of
care and skill has evidently been bestowed. At the
foot of the grand staircase are two bronze griffins,
admirable both for execution and design, the work
of Mr. Kelsey. On the first landing are to be seen
the Royal arms in alto relievo, and in all the pro-
priety of heraldic emblazonment. A lofty pen-
dative dome surmounts the staircase itself, which
leads to the piano nobile, where, as in Italian
palaces, are the State apartments. Here are to be
found the reception rooms of the Livery, and a draw-
ing-room for the Court of Assistants and their guests.
Here also stands the banqueting-hall, the chief
feature of the building. It is a room of noble pro-
portions and perfect harmony of design. In ex-
treme length it is 80 feet ; 40 feet wide, and 40 feet
in height. Corinthian engaged columns of Aberdeen
granite, highly polished, and resting on granite
pedestals, with a stylobate of richly-veined Devon-
shire marble, divide it into five bays at the sides
and three at the ends. Above the entablature sur;
mounting these columns is an attic, from which
springs a coved ceiling. Of this ceiling the cove is
pierced with semicircular windows, filled in with
stained glass, in which are represented the arms of
the 12 great city companies, beautifully executed by
Mr. Lavers. Female figures in alto relievo, emble-
matical of 12 of the principal commercial cities of
the empire, adorn the spaces between these win-
dows. On the north end of the hall are two niches
one of which holds a statue of James 1., who was a
member of the company. In the other stands the
statue of King Charles, his son. Both being ex-
quisitely carved in wood and richly gilt are among
the chief ornaments of the new, as they were of the
old hall. Five large windows filled with stained
glass, on which are emblazoned the arms of some of
the more prominent of the members and benefactors
of the company, occupy the east side of the room.
In the list of those whose memory is thus per-
petuated are the names of Samuel Pepys, who was
Master of the company in 1677, and who pre-
sented them with an elaborately chased silver cup,
said to be the work of Benvenuto Cellini ; of the
Countess of Kent, Lady Ann Packington, Lord
Lynedoch, the late Sir R. Peel, Mr. Justice Willes,
Sir J. Musgrove, Alderman Humphery, and
others. The general effect of this portion of the
building is somewhat like that produced by the
gallery of the Hotel de Vine, in Paris. It cannot,
however, as yet be seen to the utmost advantage,
as the completion of the gilding and enrichments
of colour with which it is proposed to adorn it has
been postponed to a future day. It nevertheless,
even in its prsent unfinished state, reflects the
highest credit upon the professional ability of the
architect, Mr. Samuel Angell, who has not only
constructed for his brother Clothworkers a ban-
quetting-hall imposing in appearance, but has se-
cured the additional success of having rendered it
in point of acoustic capability all that could be
desired.

Here the Master and Court of Assistants of this
ancient company, whose charter of incorporation
dates as far back as the reign of Henry IV., as-
sembled last evening to dispense to his Royal
Highness the Prince Consort and about 150 other
guests that hospitality of which by no means for
the first time Royalty has partaken. A guard of
honour, consisting of a captain, a lieutenant, and
100 rank and file of the Hon. Artillery Company,
of which the Prince is Captain-General and Co-
lonel, were drawn up outside the building to await
his earning and lined the corridor through which
he had to pass. His Royal Highness arrived
shortly before seven o'clock. The Master (Mr. C.
J. Bloxam), accompanied by the wardens of the
company, received him at the portal. Thence he
was conducted through the entrance-hall—which
was profusely decorated with flowers and brilliant
with lights—to the reception-room, where he was
presented with the freedom of the Livery, and the
one name more was added to the list of Royal
Clothworkers. This ceremony having been con-
cluded his Royal Highness proceeded to the ban-
quetting-hall, where a numerous company awaited
his arrival. Among those present were the Bel-1
gian Minister, M. van de Weyer, the Duke of
Somerset, the Marquis of Salisbury, Earl Stan-
hope, the Earl of Romney, Lord Stanley, Lord
Chelmsford, slr Charles Wood, General Peel,
Mr. Disraeli, Mr. M. Gibson, Mr. Kin-

~_ _ ~,

As to the Treaty, the shift which has occurred in
our attitude towards France will not affect it very
much. There may be a few persons who were tot
persuaded of its incalculable mischief, and who may
perhaps be convinced by the last phase of the
alliance ; but the majority of the public have long
regarded it as the greatest state blunder of the age,
and a fresh illustration can but make them more
intimately acquainted with its actual and possible
consequences. All that can be done is to take care
that Ministers are not guilty of any unprincipled
conciliation or friendly reaction for the sake of
gaining an advantage which either the letter of the
Treaty or the peculiar inclination of the French
Government does not accord us. An assent to the
document implied a considerable sacrifice on the
part of England, which has been justified upon the
plea that it is the destiny of this country to
lead the forlorn hope in the attack upon
the fortress of European protection ; and,
therefore, it will not be a surprise, though it
may be extremely irritating, to find that France
has advantages which will not fall in our way.
It is much better to bear with dignity and inde-
pendent spirit the misfortunes which Mr. Cobden
and the Government have brought upon us, than
to get rid of them by accepting graceful acts of
conciliation and liberal interpretations of unfair
clauses at the hands of the owner of Savoy. For
our part we believe that the Emperor of the French
will take the anger of England with perfect good
humour, and will volunteer a friendly development I
of the Treaty as though nothing had happened.
He and his Ministers want a rest, and will take a
nap after the Savoy business is settled ; it is, there-
fore, not to their interest to prolong an irritating
discussion with England. This policy, which is so
obviously on the side of the Imperial interests,
will admit of two other interpretations, either of
which will be current in certain political circles
here and in Europe. It will be intimated afresh
that the annexation of Savoy is eminently excep-
tional. The French Government will appeal to
the future (a court which has the great advantage
in doubtful cases of not being in existence) in sup-
port of its moderate views, and will, moreover, ex-
press itself penetrated with the desire to be on
friendly terms with England, and to maintain
those frank relations of which the Treaty is so sub-
stantial a guarantee. Another explanation will
be that France is too powerful to be moved by the
anger or remonstrance of any power on earth, and
she therefore maintains her own policy, and a
haughty silence into the bargain.
It is most unlikely that the French Emperor will
not be moved by the moral resistance he is meeting
with from both the Ministers and the people of this
country, and that he will not do, in his own queer
way, all he can to prevt nt France from being brought
into contact with an European combination ; but if a
false calculation of the cards which he handles with
some dexterity should launch him into collision with
tvt o or three States, he would probably consider that
the honour of France, which would in such a case be
tantamount to his own interests, required that the
risk should be run and war declared. A great dea

of unnecessary praise has been lavished on the talents
and resources of Louis Napoleon. But granting that
such success as he has attained to could not have been

secured by a fool, it must be remembered that he

is placed outside the law of man, and apparently
has not been placed under the action of a higher
law. He is not even actuated by the common

scruples of irresponsible sovereigns, and seems, in•
deed, to be amenable to no scruples of any kind

while his whole mind is occupied in intriguing for

himself or for France. It would be strange, indeed,
I with these conditions a man did not make a show

of success and dazzle the world by a display of
power an influence seldom seen. If the police of
the metropolis were to be quietly put out of the

way, and the householders of London were busy
looking after their own security, Bill Sykes and
his crew might for a night or two act the part of
Lord Mayor and aldermen with complete success,
and dine at the Egyptian Hall in the greatest pos-
sible splendour. Such a game would be worth any
amount of candle. We should admire their courage
and audacity, but the " distrust" which their pro-
ceedings would create would be very great, and
might make the City members anxious to consoli-
date their connection with the respectable members
of society.—Morning _Herald.

NEW POSTAL SERVICE BETWEEN
LONDON AND PARIS.

The new postal arrangements between London
and Paris, via Dover and Calais, will come into
operation on and after the first May next, and will
be carried out as follows :
Daily Service—Mail leaves London at 7 o'clock
a.m., and arrives in Paris at 6 o'clock p.m.
Mail leaves Paris at 7 a.m., arrives in London
5.50 p.m.
Nightly Service—Mail leaves London at 8.30
p.m., arrives in Paris 7.46 a.m.
Mail leaves Paris 7.30 p m., arrives in London
6 a.m.
One of the best steamers of the South-Eastern
Railway Company, will continue the postal service
between Dover and Calais in the afternoon, in cor-
respondence with the trains for Paris, Brussels, and
Germany. In future passengers by way of Calais
" will be relieved of the unpleasantness of being com-
pelled to laud by small boats when the tide is low,
a beautiful little steamer will make the transit be-
tween the vessel in the roadstead and the port, and
vice versa. The new daily service will secure the
arrival in Paris every evening of the London morn-
ing papers of the current day. That is to say, so
far as distribution is concerned, 14 hours sooner
than at present.
It is probable that Brussels, Antwerp, &c., will
desire to avail themselves of this advantage, and
will require that their portions of the English
morning mail for Belgium shall be despatched by
wav of Calais, instead of waiting till evening the
mail by way of Ostend.

The Mysterious Power of the Magnet is most beautifully
developed by Mr. F. M. HERRING, 01 32, Basinghall-street,
in his Patent Magnetic Brushes and Combs, which are the
remedy for grey hair, weak or falling hair, neuralgia, nervous
headache rheumatism, stiff joints, Sze. Ills Teazle Brushes
for cloth, velvet, ite., are admirable; they not only cleanse
but preserve the fabric in a remarkable manner. The public
are cautioned against counterfeits,—[ADVT.]