The Sun.
London, England, 1866-01-17 00:00:00

Entertainment at the Mansion-House.

Last evening the Lord Mayor and the Lady Mayoress
entertained the members of the Court of Aldermen and
many persons of distinction at a grand banquet, which was
served in the Egyptian-hall of the Mansion-house. Among
the guests, 126 in number, were Mr. Goschen, M.P., Chan-
cellor of the Duchy of Lancaster; Mr. Justice Shee, Sir
Roderick Murchison, K.C.8., Sir William Fergusson,
General Sir William Codrington, G.C.8., Liout.-General
Sir John Pennefather, K.C.8., Vice-Admiral Sir Sydney
Dacres, K.C.8., Sir Edwin Landseer, R.A., Sir John
Thwaites, Mr. R. W. Crawford, M.P., Mr. Harvey Lewis,
M.P. ; the Governor of the Bank of England and Mrs.
Holland ; Mr. 11. Pownall, chairman of the Middlesex ma-
gistrates ; the Prime Warden of the Goldsmiths' Company,
the Master of the Salters' Company, Mr. Foster White,
treasurer of St. Bartholomew's Hospital ; Mr. J. E. John-
son, treasurer of Bridewell Hospital ; Mr. F. Hicks, trea-
surer of St. Thomas's Hospital ; Mr. Charles Dickens, Mr.
J. M. Levy, Mr. Kemshead, and Professor Hart, R.A. ;
Aldermen Copeland, Sir J. Duke, Sidney, Salomons, M.P.,
Finnis, Sir R. W. Carden, Carter, Rose, Lawrence, M.P.,
Gabriel, Allen, Mechi, Abbiss, J. C. Lawrence, Dakin,
Bosley, Gibbons (Sheriff), Waterlow, and Stone, with their
ladies ; Mr. Sheriff Figgins, and Under-Sheriffs Duffott and
Rawlins; Mr. Scott, Chamberlain ; Mr. Chambers, M.P.,
Deputy Recorder ; Mr. Woodthorpe, the Town Clerk ;
Mr. Secondary Potter; Mr. Brand, Controller; Mr. Corrio,
the Remembrancer ; Mr. Nelson, the City Solicitor; and
Col. Fraser, the City Commissioner of Police. The dinner
was served with more than ordinary splendour. The Lord
Mayor and the Lady Mayoress having drunk to the com-
pany in the loving cup, the Lord Mayor gave " The
Queen," which was received with all the accustomed marks
of loyalty and respect, as were all the other loyal toasts.
To the toast of " The Army and Navy," General Codring-
ton and Admiral Dacres respectively responded, and Alder-
man Major Rose answered for the " Volunteers." The
toast of "The Court of Aldermen," given from the chair,
was responded to by Alderman Sir James Duke, the senior
Alderman present.
Mr. Justice SHED, returning thanks for " Her Majesty's
Judges," said although he had often had the honour of re-
ceiving the hospitalities of the chief magistrate of the city
of London, and on more than ono occasion of returning
thanks for the toast of "The Bar," he had never been
called on to return thanks for the judges. He had not been
a judge more than two years, and he had spent nearly the
whole of his life in admiring the qualities of those among
whom he had now the honour to be enrolled. Although
from time to time, and very frequently of late, thrown
into the shade by the lustre of naval and military glory,
the profession of the law had always been a favourite with
the people of this country. They looked upon it as a pro-
fession that opened up to the community, whatever their
original condition, the access to exalted fortune, a high-
way along which all had a right to travel, and in which
there was no gate through which a certificate of learning,
honour, and ability would not insure a passage. (Hear,
hear.) They knew that it was by no backstairs influence,
no Court intrigue, and no mean submission of any kind
that their Ma,nsfields, their Tenterdens, their Denmans,
their Cockburns, and their Erles, to say say nothing
of the minor luminaries which in all periods of our
history had adorned the bench, had attained the hon-
ours of their profession, but by hard work, great
learning, undeviating honour, and the application of all
the faculties of their minds to the service of their country,
(Cheers.) Since he had had the honour of being a member
of the bench of the superior courts he had every reason to
admire the principles which regulated the conduct of those
with whom he associated. There was an earnest desire to
do their duty, regardless of personal inconvenience, to the
suitors whose cases were brought before them; and it was
on account of that determination to do their duty that they
received on occasions like that the compliments for which
he had the honinir to return thanks.
The LORD MAYOR then gave "The House of Commons."
The last time, he said, he had the honour to propose that
toast, he called the House of Commons an august assembly,
a term which was afterwards severely criticised. He had
still the boldness to call it not only an august assembly,
but a noble institution, of which the people of this country
wore justly proud. (Cheers.) They hardly knew what
the new House of Commons was to be, but they had all a
great confidence in it from recollections of the past ; they
know the courage, the high principle, and the intellect of
the English House of Commons, and that, be they of what
party they might, its members would make it their study
faithfully to represent the liberties and protect the freedom
of the British people. Among the members of that assem-
bly present ho was proud to recognise one of the represen-
tatives of this great city, the Right Hon. Geo. Goschen. It
was a source of gratification to him to bo enabled to assure
the right hon. gentleman that the citizens of London bad
watched with pride and anxiety the rapid promotion which
had awaited him in that distinguished assembly. He was
sure lie had fairly won the proud position he occupied, and
that ho would do honour to the House of Commons—
(hear)—but while it was his duty and his pleasure to speak
of him in the terms he had had the happiness to do, it
would ill become him to forget the able, efficient, and dis-
tinguished services of old and faithful friends. Ho need
scarcely remind the citizens of London what a faithful re
presentative their honoured friend Sir James Duke had
been for 20 years—(hear, hoar)—and it would be ungrate-
ful in him to omit to recognise the faithful and unflinching
services of Mr. Crawford, and especially in upholding the
liberties and privileges of the city of London.. (Cheers.)
He gave them the toast of " The House of Commons,"
associating with it the name of Mr. Goschen. (Cheers.)
Mr. GOSCHEN, in reply to the compliment, said he did
not wish to join issue with any one as to whether or not
the House of Commons might properly be called an august
assembly, but he was obliged to take exception to his be-
ing selected to return thanks for an assembly of which he
was for the present no longer a member. (A laugh.)
The Lord Mayor had forgotten that he had placed
hint in the delicate position of having to speak
for a body to whom he hoped to belong, though from whom
ho wits for the time disassociated. How could he return
thanks without betraying matters that must come before
the citizens of London before many weeks elapsed ? Never-
theless, in the name of those with whom he worked in the
last Parliament, and with whom he hoped to work in the
next, he ventured to thank the Lord Mayor for the way in
which he had spoken of the House of Commons. Their
work was before them, and hard work it would be. It was
a very different thing to stand on the hustings and to
stand on the floor of the House of Commons. There were
many drawbacks as there were many pleasures in the life
of a member of the House of Commons. He had had to
make a decision which he could not make without some
perplexity : for, speaking there in the Mansion-house,
and in the company of the chief magistrate of,the City
of London, it was no slight thing to say of himself
that he had elected to give up the occupation in which
ho had been engaged for many years, to leave the fruit
on the boughs for others to gather, and to surrender
an interest in a firm which had taken half a century
to build up. (Hear, hear.) Ho had been called on to
make his election, and he had preferred the prospects of
political life. It remained for the citizens of London, who
first returned him to Parliament, to say whether they
would indorse his decision. As a merchant, he had com-
mitted suicide—he hoped under extenuating circum-
stances—(a laugh)—and if he was able to devote his un-
divided time and attention to the service of his constituents
and his country, whatever others might say and think, ho
did not think his friends in the City would undervalue the
importance of a step which separated him, nod from the
representation of commerce or from those who were en-
gaged in it, but from the memories which clung round ten
years of active life spent in trade, and would separate his
name from actual business and sever him for ever from
Schedule C of the income-tax. (A laugh.) It remained
for him to say that he intended to devote himself to the
best services of the State, but not as an office-seeker or an
idler, and ho thanked them in the name of the House of
Commons for the compliment they had been pleased to pay
them.

Some other toasts followed appropriate to the occasion;
and Mr. Charles Dickens hiving with characteristic grace
proposed " The Health of the Lady Mayoress," the com-
pany separated about half-past ton o'clock.

PRESENTATION BY MISS BATEMAN TO MR. JOY.—
Miss Bateman presented to Mr. Joy, her esteemed
agent, prior to her departure for New York, a very
magnificent vase, executed to order by Hunt and Roskell,
with the following inscription :—" Presented to John Joy,
Esq., as a slight remembrance of three years' kind and
thoughtful attention to her comfort and interests, by his
attached friend, K. J. Bateman. London, Christmas,
1865."

THE NEW YORK HEAD CENTRESS OF FENIANISM.
•LIVERPooL, Monday.—One of the last acts of the

executive body of the Irish Republic at New York was to
despatch "Head Centress" O'Mahony on a mission to Ire-
land, with unlimited powers to do what might seem best
in her eyes under existing circumstances. This may look
like an exaggeration, but it is nevertheless strictly true,
and within the last ten days this very "Head Centress"
arrived in Liverpool by one of the mail boats from New
York. She travelled, of course, unaccompanied, and under
a different name from her own. She was remarkable on

the passage for her ladylike manners and superior intelli-
gence; but no one knew who she was. Two neat trunks
and a glazed leather hand-bag constituted her luggage, and
"

it was remarked that she not only eschewed crinoline,' but
rated its patrons soundly—(this may not be the worst
phase of female Fenianism). On landing at Liverpool she
proceeded to one of the first-class hotels, where she re-
mained for the rest of the day and that night, and left next
day for Dublin, by way of Holyhead. There is still a
Head Centre of the Brotherhood remaining in Liverpool,
and that gentleman (for he certainly comes within the
me '

ning of the term) had notice of her visit, called on her
at the hotel, and had an interview of about ten minutes
duration before she started for Dublin. She is now in the
Irish metropolis, where she may remain until the exca-
vator, " Old Time," reveals more of the movements
contemplated by her under the cognomen of "Head Cen-
tres,"