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

SHEFFIELD CUTLERS' FEAST.

Tho annual festival given by the Master Cutler of Shef-
field, on his election to preside over the ancient corporation.
of the Cutlers of Hallamshire, took place at the Cutlers' -
hall, at Sheffield, on Thursday evening, under the presi-
dency of Mr. M. Hunter, jun., the Muster Cutler elect.
A most sumptuous dinner was served, and the event passed

off with the usual eclat.
Among the principal guests were his Grace the Duke of
Rutland, the Right Hon. Earl Fitzwilliam, Lord George
M ars, Lord Denman, Lord Wharncliffe, the Hon. J. F.
S. Wortley, the Lord Mayor of London, Mr. Roebuck,
M.P., Mr. Hadfield, M.P., Dr. Forbes Watson, &c.
After the loyal toasts had been duly honoured,
The MASTER CUTLER proposed the " Army, Navy, and
Rifle Volunteer Forces." (Loud cheers.)
Lord GEORGE MANNERS, in responding, said—l believe I
I may say with truth tharthe army is now in a most effi-
cient state. (Hear.) Small it may be compared with some
of the vast, the huge armies of the Continent, but the army
that we have in this country I believe to be, so far as it
extends, of the very best. (Hear, hear.) It was a ques-
tion a short time ago, when the Continent of Europe ap-
peared to be convulsed, whether our armaments were suffi-
cient for our protection ; it became a question for those in
authority to decide whether a large addition should be made
to the standing force of this country, and a*orresponding
addition to its taxation—(hear)—or whether another means
should be devised by which we might be placed in a state
of security. (Hear.) In that emergency the intelligent
youth of this country stepped forward as one man—(cheers)
to say—" upon us shall be the burden of defending our na-
tive country. (Cheers.) We will join heart and hand
with the regular army that we now possess, and will under-
take for the security of the country." (Cheers.) With my
humble voice I say it is to the honour of our young men to
have done so. (Cheers.) I hope they will continue in the
same spirit in which they have commenced ; that they will
allow no flagging ; that they will not relax their labours
until they have arrived at such a state of proficiency that
they may compete with those who have had a larger and
more special training. (Cheers.) Gentlemen—On behalf
of the army, I beg respectfully to tender you our most
heartfelt thanks. (Cheers.)
Major Ovenzern
(cheers)—said,—After what has
passed, I beg to thank you most heartily on behalf of
myself and my brother officers of the Volunteers. I can
assure you that I had no idea when we came here this even-
ing that we should have had the honour of being coupled
with the regular troops of her Majesty. I do, however,
feel that the force to which I have the honour to belong has
been a great benefit to the country at large. I feel that, if
we have not been called upon to do anything in the field,
we at all events have exercised a great moral influence, not
only upon this country, but upon all the countries in
Europe. We have earned for our country a position which
it did not previously possess. We were looked upon as
makers of money. There was no notion that we were a
military nation. But our Queen asked us to come forward,
and we have come forward and shown that we are indeed a
military nation. Ido not know what number of volunteers
there are in the country at this time, but I know that we
have here a nucleus to which an innumerable body may be
attached in case the country may be in danger. I will say
this of the men who have done me the honour of putting
me in command of them that if we had to march to-morrow
to any part of England to oppose an invader I do not be-
lieve we should leave a man behind. (Cheers.) I will not
detain you longer, but simply say that I it is a great com-
pliment for us to helm been united with the regular troops
in this toast. (Cheers.)
Mr. G. WILKINSON, Senior Warden, proposed the
" Health of his Grace the Duke of Norfolk and the House
of Howard." (Cheers.)
Mr. H. Hassarsoer, Junior Warden, proposed " The
health of his Grace the Duke of Devonshire." (Cheers.)
The liberality with which his family seat at jJhatsworth was
thrown open to the public was an especial advantage to the
people of Sheffield, and entitled his Grace to their warmest
acknowledgments. (Cheers.)
Mr. C. AzKiessoN—(cheers)—gave the health of a noble-
man who, he believed, had to-day made his first appearance
among them; but the noble house of Rutland—(cheers)—
needed no eulogium from him to set before that hon. com-
pany the high position which it had held for centuries in
this country. The immense services that it had rendered,
both in the Cabinet and the field, had won for it a world-
wide reputation, which was inscribed in the history of the
British nation. He would ask gentlemen to repay the ob-
ligation under which the people of Sheffield had been placed
for many years to the Dukes of Rutland for having thrown
open to them that gem of the Peak, time-honoured Haddon
—(cheers)—the manorial house of the Vernons and the an-
cestral home of the Earls of Rutland. Remembering those
white days which the people of Sheffield had passed in the
social enjoyment at Haddon, he called on them to drink
" the health of the Duke of Rutland and the noble house of
Manners," with three times three. (Loud cheers.)
The Duke of RUTLAND—(Loud and enthusiastic cheer-
ing.)—l am indeed most grateful to yon for the very kind
manner in which you have drunk my health, and to Mr.
Atkinson for the terms in which he has proposed it. Mr.
Atkinson said truly that this is the first time I have had
the pleasure and the honour of dining at your convivial
and hospitable board ; but, gentlemen, I pass alarge por-
tion of every year within a very short distance of this
town, and it is impossible for me, looking down upon this
great hive of industry and intelligence nearly every day that
I am in this neighbourhood, not to feel deeplyinterested in
all that affects your welfare and your prosperity. (Cheers.)
In times past it was supposed that the country and the
towns were opposed to one another. Happily that feeling
has passed away, and all of us feel and acknowledge that
although our tastes may be somewhat different, and our pur-
suits not exactly similar, yet our hearts are the same—(loud
cheers)—and our interests are identical. (Continued cheer •
ing.) Mr. Atkinson has been kind enough to allude to the
fact of my having thrown open the halls of Haddon. I
can only assure him and this company that it affords me the
greatest possible satisfaction to do so, and the more so be-
cause I always find that the public and those who are ad-
mitted take the greatest possible care to do no injury, and
pay the greatest deference to the wishes of the owner.
(Cheers.) I will not allude to other topics, because I know
how difficult it is to prevent their diverging into some poli-
tical meaning, even those subjects that would seem at first
sight the least likely to do so. But there is one subject that
has already been alluded to by the Master Cutler which I
feel that I may mention, because the heart of every Eng-
lishman has but one feeling in regard to it. This is admi-
ration for the spirit and gallantry of our Volunteer Corps.
(Loud cheers.) This, gentlemen, is neutral ground, on
which we all agree and unite as one man in thanking that
gallant body for coming forward so nobly, and I must be
allowed to congratulate you, gentlemen, and to congratu-
late my friend Mr. Overend and the Sheffield Volunteers
on the numbers in which they have mustered. lam quite
sure that what their officer has said is perfectly true, and
that if ever they should be called upon for service they will
all be ready to inaieh wherever their duty requires.
Perhaps I may
also be allowed to mention that in my neigh-
bourhood there is a body of Volunteers called the High
Peak Volunteers, and I am sure they would merch with the
Sheffield men wherever there is danger. (Cheers.) I have
the permission of the chair, before I sit down, to propose to
yon a toast. It is "the health of the Master Cutler," who
has so kindly invited us here this evening. (Loud cheers.)
It is not necessary for me, gentlemen, to recal to your re-
collection the ancient dignity of this corporation; nor is it
necessary—indeed, it would bo bad taste in me—to go at
any length into the attributes which so well fit the Master
Cutler for the office he now holds. (Cheers.) I believe this
is one of the few instances in which the father and the son
are dining together in this hall, both of them having pre-
sided as Master Cutler. (Cheers.) I have very great pleasure
in giving " The Health of the Master Cutler and the Cutlers'
Company." (Loud cheers, and three times three.)
The MASTER CUTLER,—I am sure, gentlemen, I
should be wanting in what an Englishman most prides
himself upon—gratitude—if I did not feel grateful for
the position in which I have the honour to be placed. To
the Company of Cutlers I return the second time this day
my grateful thanks. I told them this morning that I would
do my best, and if did that I could do no 'more. For the
flattering remarks of his Grace the Duke of Rutland I am
extremely obliged, and I do indeed feel that part in which
he referred to my father. (Cheers.) I think I owe in a
great measure the position of President of the ancient Cor-
poration of the Cutlers of Hallamshire to the respect which
my father has enjoyed for many years. I acknowledge my
gratitude not in the modern sense of an anticipation of fa-
vours to come, but for your great kindness to me this e
ven-
ing. This company has existed in this town now for 300
years. Some have carped at it, and said that we are only
able to come and eat our dinners—and that is a great thing.
(Laughter.) But if we have only been the means of bring-
ing here the Mayor (for I take the trading community first)
of iron Birmingham, of the shipping trade of Hull, of the
woollen trade of Leeds, of the cotton trade of Staleybi idge,
to see what the iron men of Sheffield can do, and how will-
ing and ready they are to welcome them, we have conferred
a beaefit on the town. (Cheers.) We have now begun, as
we may say, a new galvanised life. We have begun to ad_
t under the new act of Parliament many members whom
we should not otherwise have the pleasure of having among
us. I only hope that the Caters' Company will be the true
conservators of the trade of Sheffield, and that they will
endeavour, to the best of their ability to uphold its inte •
rests both now and for all time to come., I again thankyou
cordially, and I should be a mean man if I did not feel
greatly the kind manner in which you have received my
health ; I shall remember it a. long as I live. I drink all
your good healths, 'and I hope and trust that many of you
Will live to be present on many future occasions, and some
even to see another son hold this position. (Loud cheers.)
Mr. W. HUTCHINSON gave "The Health of Earl Fitz-
william and the House of Wentworth." (Loud cheers.)
Earl FITZWILLIAM—AIIow me, in rising, to return
yon my thanks for the way in which you have re-
sponded to the toast now proposed. It must on all occasions
be a gratification to receive indications of the esteem of our
fellow-men. I feel that I little deserve them by any service
I have done. I come among you merely as a neighbour,
and if anything
in ray conduct has met with your approba-
tion lam most grateful for it. (Cheers.) I stand here as
Jinn Majesty's lieutenant in this county, and I cannot let
ills's opportunity pass by without making some remarks upon
wbe:. I have Witnessed to-day. We have already heard from