The Sun.
London, England, 1860-09-08 00:00:00

Surii, LONDON, SAMEDAY EVENING SEPTEMBER 8, )860.

gathering, with a view to urging those manufacturers who
are interested in stimulating the production of cotton in
India to form a large company, and send out agents for the
purpose of forminga commercial communication with India.
If that object were carried out, as I believe the Lancashire
men are prepared to carry it out, it will 'render this country
more secure and independent than it has been for many
years past. If we continue dependent upon America, as at
present, the day may come when the supplies of that great
staple of our industry may fail us, and when, as a conse-
quence, almost national ruin will stare us in the face. It is
India, gentlemen, to which we must look to relieve us

From that great danger. Perhaps few of us ever realise

what that dependency is to us. Perhaps not many of
us are aware that India is the only dependency which
has never cost us s one shilling, but has sent
large sums of money, which have been spent here, and

never returned again. India is emphatically the brightest
gem in the Crown of England. With our increased means

of communication, our 5,000 miles of railway stretching
through the length and breadth of the land, with its great

rivers opened, and with a Government who give every evi-
dence of being alive to the necessity of developing the re-
sources of the country, I am convinced that the day is not
far distant when India will send us in abundance every raw

product that we require for our manufactures, and I have
no doubt that the great movement to which I have referred
will have a most important influence in bringing about that
result. (Cheers.)
Mr. J. J. SMITH proposed " The Health of the Lord
Mayor of London, and the Mayors of Birmingham, Leeds,
Hull, and Staleybridge." (Cheers.) In reading the toast he
was struck with the fact that the Cutlers' Company being
an epitome of the age in which we live. In the early his-
tory of the Cutlers' Company the expenditure for feasts
amounted to the enormous sum of £3 or LI, and the scope
of the speeches bad reference merely to local circumstances,
and compliments were paid only to the public bodies and the
then comparatively unimportant civil powers of the town.
But the present company comprised members of the highest
rank of nobility, the principal gentry and manufacturers of
the town, the representatives of the trade and commerce of
London, the manufacturing interests of Birmingham, Leeds,
and Staleybridge, and the shipping activity of Hull ; and
the speeches had reference, not to the interests of Sheffield
alone, but of the whole country, and of the world. (Cheers.)
He legged that they would heartily join him in drinking to
the health of the Lord Mayor of London and the Mayors of
Birmingham, Leeds, Hull, and Staleybridge. (Cheers.)
The LORD MAYOR of LONDON—Mr. Master Cutler, my
lords, and gentlemen, when I did myself the honour of
accepting the polite invitation of the town of Sheffield, I
was quite prepared for the hearty welcome and generous
hospitality which characterise the inhabitants of your
ancient and highly respected town. But I must confess
that that feeling has been greatly enhanced within the last
24 hours that I have been in your town, by the very great
courtesy and kindness which your Mayor has been pleased
to exercise towards me. This is a tribute which I feel I owe
to the Mayor, and which ho well deserves. I assure you,
gentlemen, my visit here, though the first I have made, has
been fraught with much important information. I feel no
longer that the town of Sheffield is an insignificant spot in
this great country ; on the contrary I feel that it is one likely
some day or other, if not atthe present time, to throw forth
its branches to the extremities of the earth, and render
England still more important than even it is at the present
time. I speak advisedly, I speak thoughtfully, for I have
seen that to-day which convinces me that the majesty of
labour as existing in the town of Sheffield is of that extra-
ordinary character velich is unrivalled on the face of the
earth. I have been at Liege and elsewhere on the conti-
nent, but nothing there can possibly compete with the pro •
ducts of this celebrated town. Long may you hold this
superiority, long may you maintain that which is your
right, almost your birthright, being handed dawn from
father to son, by this company, which is so important that
I regret that we have nothing in London to enable those
who have the ability to produce an article superior to that
of others, to make that product their own, by fixing upon
it their own peculiar mark as you do. How are your marks
sustained ? How is the privilege conferred by the granting
of them sustained ? If I understand rightly, by the Cut-
lers' Company, by the Master Cutler, who has it in his
power to inflict severe fines and penalties upon any one
who dare presume to forgo the peculiar trademark of any
other manufacturer in your town. (Cheers.) I assure you,
gentlemen, most unaffectedly, that this is a boon which, as
a man of business in London, my attention has been.parti-
cularly directed to ; and that I should have great pleasure
in seeing some arrangement made for securing to a man
there the fruits of that superior ability which enables him
to produce a hetter article than his fellows. (Cheers.)
Such I understand to be the power possessed by the Master
Cutlers of Sheffield. Long may the Cutlers' Company have
the energy, the honesty, the honour, and the independence
t 3 maintain intact the privileges which now belong to your
celebrated t.,wn. (Cheers.) I find my name associated with
those of gentlemen representing the corporations of various
towns. I unaffectedly assure them that lam delighted to
see them, and happy in the opportunity afforded me of
shaking hands with the Mayors of the various provincial
boroughs represented here. I believe I echo their senti-
ments when I say we are deeply obliged to you for the
very cour eons and generous manner in which you have
received us. (Cheers.)
The Mayor of HULL, in briefly responding on behalf of
himself and other Mayors preient, expressed their gratitude
for the attention that had been paid them, and for the op-
portunity they had had of enjoying the hospitality of the
Master Cutler and the Cutlers' Company. He was sure he
might say that the people of Hull felt deeply interested in
the welfare and prosperity of Sheffield, and would always
rejoice to hear of the prosperity of the Cutlers' Company.
(Cheers.)
Earl FITZWILLIAM—GentIemen, I assure you I have
been called upon to propose a toast most unexpectedly, but
the pleasure is as great as the request was unexpected.
We have not, up to the present moment, drunk the health
of the ladies. lam sure you will all join with me in doing
them all those honours which are, their due. Let me put at
the head of my toast the health of Mrs. Hunter, the wife of
your excellent Master Cutler. (Cheers.) I do not know
whether Mrs. Hunter may be present, but, if so, I am sure
she cannot but witness with gratification and pride the
feelings of respect which you have evinced towards her
husband. Gentlemen, I beg that you will drink, with three
times three, " The Healthof Mrs. Hunter and the Ladies."
(Cheers.)
The MASTER CUTLER—I beg leave to return my sincere
thanks for the honour done to my wife. Those who know
her know that she deserves it. (Cheers.) If she has given
you satisfaction, I am sure she is well repaid (cheers), and
the greatest compliment you can now pay her is to go and
see whether her tea and coffee are as good as her dinner.
(Cheers.)
The Master Cutler and the principal guests then left the
room. The remaining toasts on the list were—" The Rev
Dr. Sale, the Clergy, and the Ministers of other Denomina •
tions ;" " The West Riding and Borough Magistrates ;"
"The Mayor and Corporation ;" "The Rev. J. Aldous, the
Chaplain ;" "R. Jackson, Esq., and the Past Masters."
The Master Cutler left the table a little before 11 o'clock.