The Sun.
London, England, 1866-10-02 00:00:00

LONDON, TUESDAI, OCTOBEI?, 2, 1866.

The grand banquet, which was last night given
to those gentlemen whose names are more imme-
diately associated with the laying of the Atlantic
Cable, passed off with great éclat. The good town
of Liverpool, which has from the first been con-
nected with the great enterprise, and which is so
closely concerned in the rapid transmission of intel-
ligence to and from the other side of the Atlantic,
was the appropriate scene for such a celebration.
The triumphant return of the Great Eastern to

Liverpool had scarcely been welcomed, when it oc-
curred to the leading members of the Chamber of
Commerce to give a more substantial expression to
their congratulations. It was accordingly resolved
to invite the principals in the affair to a grand ban-
quet, and no pains were spared to do honour to the
occasion. The rooms were appropriately decorated
with festoons of cables, corals, and real sea-weed,
in token of the enterprise and adventure which had
invaded the mermaid's domain ; and over the ban-
' queting table, from the centre of the room, hung in
triumph the victorious grapnel which raised from
its ocean bed the long lost cable of 1865, thereby
doing most important service to the cause of sub-

marine telegraphing, both theoretical and practical.
The guests formed an important body. The chair
was taken by Sir S. NORTHCOTE, as President of the
Board of Trade, and another Minister of State was
present in the person of Lord STANLEY, whose
address was one of the principal events of the even-
ing. The American Consul and the Prime Ministers
of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick were prominent
among the guests, and the chairman of the Great
Ship Company, Sir CHARLES BRIGHT, and all the
principal parties interested in the exploit were pre-
sent, with one exception. Mr. GLASS, who has been
so closely associated with the whole undertaking,
both in its failure and its success, has unfortunately
succumbed to his exertions in the very moment of
triumph, and was prevented by serious illness from
attending the banquet. In the course of the even-
ing the Chairman read a communication of a very
gratifying nature from Lord DERBY, which stated
her MAJESTY, who has always taken a deep interest
in the project, desired to bestow some mark of her
approval on those gentlemen, to whose energy, per-
severance, and exertion its success is mainly due.
Accordingly she has directed that Messrs. GLASS
and CANNING, Captain ANDERSON, and Professor
TitomsoN should receive the honour of knighthood,
and that baronetcies should be conferred on Mr.
SI3IPSON, the deputy chairman of the original com-
pany, and Mr. Goocii, M.P. The claims of Mr.
CYrtus FIELD to recognition are considered by the
QUEEN to be equally great, but she is unwilling to
interfere with the functions of the American
Government, who will no doubt promptly re-
ward his great services to both nations. Unfor-
tunately the rules of the naval service and the
statutes of the Order of the Bath prevent Lord
DERBY from conferring on Captain ANDERSON any
mark of public favour more connected with his own
profession; but, after all, the highest honours which
these enterprising men can receive, must fill short
of the gratification which they must derive from the
consciousness that their great work has been carried
to a successful issue. Much is, of course, due to
the great development of scientific skill and know-
ledge in our time, but no theories could
have been put into practice without the
good old English qualities of courage,
determination, and perseverance which our Atlantic
cable layers have so strikingly displayed.
The speeches delivered at the banquet wore very
well worth hearing, and those most connected
with the subject of the evening gave some interest-
ing scraps of information regarding the cables. Mr.
lIORSFALL, M.P., while addressing the company, ex-
cited some merriment by reading a telegram just
received from Newfoundland, in which Mr. COL-
LETT, the superintendent, informed them that the
weather was fine, and the cod-fishing excellent !
Mr. WILLOUGHBY SMITH assured the meeting
that the cables were the best ever yet
laid, and he mentioned, in illustration, that
when near Heart's Content he telegraphed an invita-
tion to dinner to Mr. COLLETT at Heart's Content
station, via Newfoundland, and he received an an-
swer within five minutes. Sir CHARLES BRIGHT, in
tracing the history of the scheme, from earliest inves-
tigations to the latest results, observed that although
the loss from the failures was considerable the ex-
perience which had been gained from those very
failures had been most valuable. Ile had, he said,
no doubt as to the durability of the present cables,
and they are already being worked at a very large
profit, although the land lines on the American side
are still, as we know, imperfect. The delay occa-
sioned by the state of these lines prevented the
receipt of a message from the PRESIDENT, which was
expected to be read at the meeting. Mr. Eutorr
informed the company that the next cable would be
laid direct to New York, an announcement which
was received with loud applause. Such a line
would, indeed, be a triumph of telegraphic skill,
and would be of almost incalculable value to both

countries.
Lord STANLEY'S speech was principally on that
union of the nations of which the Atlantic
Cable is at once an emblem and an encouragement.
" England and America," said Lord STANLEY with
truth, " are united by an enterprise which appears
to me the most marvellous triumph of mind over
matter, of man over nature, that the annals of
science have yet recorded." What will be the
effect, asked the noble lord, of this instantaneous
communication ? On our colonies it can be hardly
other than beneficial, seeing that it will not only
keep the Home Government au courant with the
state of things in the colonies, but when any
interference is necessary they will be able to do so
with far more effect and to much more advantage.
The diplomatic aspect of the question also, as Lord
STANLEY remarked, was very important. It has
been said that the opinion of foreign nations is an
anticipation of the judgment of posterity ; and al-
though Lord STANLEY would not go so far as to
endorse that sentiment absolutely, he observed that
lookers-on were often better able to judge of
what was passing than those who were in the midst
of the fray, and that England and America were
both in a position to give mutually fair and tem-
perate criticism of one another's proceed-
ings. Lord STANLEY, however, is not a
speaker who shrinks from the disagreeable
side of his subject, and he did not hesitate to admit
that there might be, as there had been, mutual
smwhich, instead of being fair and tempe-
rate, partial, and passionate. "He did
not believe," he said, " that such criticism resulted
eritici
wa; hasty,
from hostility, but rather fromt mutual interest.
and thenterest. I
have sometimes thought that
United States are like tw
nrdivoideuaolrsedrietlaotfedthebiyr
family ties, both interestedo individuals
f
common family, both of whom would be sorry should
any real harm happen to the other • but not always
agreeing in ideas, and not being of a
reticent dis-
position, however friendly, now and then using the
privilege of relationship to express their opinion
of each other's affairs in a manner which,
though it may be frank, is not always
judicious or agreeable." This was a happy
illustra-
tion, and not less appropriate was Lord
STANLEY'S
reminder that the use of a common language ren-
dered the position more difficult, since no man spoke
to his friends in precisely the same terms as he would
speak of them, and that, thanks to the press, every
word said by either country of the other was also
said to the other. It was well that the direction of
our foreign affairs should be placed in the hands of
a statesman who so thoroughly appreciates the value
of a good understanding between the two great free
peoples, and who believes indeed that on the union
of the two nations, more than on any other earthly
thing, the future of civilisation depends." Such a
sentiment Round its appropriate exp ession at the