The Sun.
London, England, 1835-07-16 00:00:00

HOUSE OF COMMONS, JaLr 15.

The SPEAKER entered the House shortly before Four o'clock,
at which hour there being only thirty-eight Members present,
the House adjourned till to-morrow.

OPENING OF THE NEW GOLD-

SMITHS' HALL.

The Goldsmiths' Company having for many years deter-
mined upon rebuilding their Hall, delayed the execution of the
plan until they had accumulated a fund sufficient to enable
them to erect a building on a scale to render it an ornament to
the metropolis, and worthy of one of the first Companies of the
City of London. In 1829 the Company considered their funds
ample enough for this purpose, and in 1830 the old Hall, toge-
ther with some adjoining houses, was removed, and the site
prepared for the present edifice, under the superintendence of
Mr. Hardwick, the architect of the Company, by whom the
building has been erected.
Yesterday the Hall was opened by a grand dinner, to which
a number of distinguished guests were invited. Among the
visitors on this occasion we observed the Duke of Wellington,
Sir Robert Peel, Marquis Camden, Lords Maryborough,
Bexley, and Abinger, Sir H. Hardinge, the Vice-Chancellor,
Sir F. Pollock, and Sir T. Fremantle. Shortly after seven
o'clock the chair was taken by Mr. J. B. Smith, Prime Warden
of the Company. About 250 persons sat down to dinner.
The PRIME WARDEN, after the usual loyal toasts, begged to
propose the health of his Grace the Duke of Wollington.—
(Loud and long-continued cheering.) In times like the pre-
sent Englishmen might well be proud of so able and influ-
ential a champion of their rights and properties—( Hear)--
who, although willing to correct abuses, would never willingly
consent to the spoliation of the Church—(Cheers)—or the
destruction of our other valuable institutions.—( Hear, hear.)
The Duke of 'WELLINGTON rose and said—l anxiously hope
that you may long be permitted to enjoy your valuable rights
and privileges—(Cheering)—and that you may still be enabled
to entertain at your hospitable table the 'friends of good go-
vernment.—( Renewed cheering and laughter.)

The PRIME WARDEN said that the toast which he had now
the honour to offer to the company was the health of a Noble-
man who stood deservedly high in the estimation of the pub-
lie—the Marquis Camden.—(Cheering.) It was not to be
doubted that the Noble Lord would unite cordially with the
Noble Chancellor of Oxford to protect the interests of the
Universities and the Church.—( Loud cheers.)
The Marquis CAMDEN rose to return thanks. He was, per-
haps, the only man present who had participated as a guest in
the hospitality exhibited by the company, not in this but in
their old hall—a hall inferior in magnificence, but equal in
hospitality to the present—in 1784, when Mr. Pitt was engaged
in a most important political struggle. It would be remem-
bered that in that time Mr. Pitt successfully resisted the at-
tacks of a desperate faction, and the Goldsmith's Company
were then desirous of showing their attachment to principles
which he apprehended still possessed their support.—( Cheers. )
Much the same kind of attacks were made on the constitution
now as in 1784, and he trusted they would meet with an
equally effectual resistance.—(Loud cheering.)
• The PRIME WARDEN said gave him peculiar satisfaction
to see at their board a Right Hon. Baronet, who not only well
deserved the esteem and regard of every citizen of London,
but also of every one who had at heart the well-being of his
country,—he meant Sir Robert Peel.—( Loud cheering.)
Whether as Chief Secretary for Ireland, as Secretary of State
for the Home Department, or as Prime Minister of this coun-
try, the Right Hon. Baronet had ever shown an anxious de-
sire to perform the duties assigned him with honour to himself
and satisfaction to his country.—( Hear.)
Sir R. PEEL-Mr. Prime Warden and Gentlemen, I am
unaccustomed, in a great measure, to such a reception as I
have to-night encountered—l am inexperienced in the sweets
of popularity—( Cheers and laughter)—and of late it has been
much more my duty to meet in hostile collision the statements
and arguments of uncompromising and angry antagonists, than
to enjoy the applause and approbation of partial friends.—
(Cheering.) It is not the first time I have had the honour of
meeting the Goldsmiths' Company. I was not indeed present
on the occasion to which my Noble Friend has alluded, and as
to have been then present would necessarily have added many
years to my age, I can hardly regret that I was not in the old
hall at so distant a period, however memorable may have been
the occasion.—( Laughter.) But I was present in that hall
on another ocea: ion of some interest, and I can testify that the
principles, a display of which was witnessed by my Noble Friend
in 1784, were also firmly maintained on the occasion when the
Goldsmiths' Company entertained at that hospitable board an
illustrious statesman—the late Earl of Liverpool.---( Cheers.)
We now meet, not indeed within the same walls or under the
same roof as then, but I rejoice to find that you have consi-
dered the genius of the place, and that while you have repaired
the ravages of time you have been wise enough to build on the
ancient foundations.—(Greatcheering.)

The distinguished vcsiters did not leave the Hall till half-
past 11 o'clock, and after their departure the conviviality of
the occasion was continued for some time longer.

EAST INDIA HOUSE.

(Concluded from The Sun of yesterday.)
Sir C. FORBES said they knew not who was hereafter to be
Governor-General of India. But he would ask, who was at
the head of the Government at present ? Why, Sir Charles
Metcalfe, who was the unanimous choice of the Court of Di-
rectors. That individual bad been objected to by Mr. C.
Grant, not on any personal grounds whatever, but on grounds
of a public nature. A change of Government, however, took
place, and Lord Ellenborough became President of the Board
of Control. Why, when that event occurred, was not Sir C.
Metcalfe proposed ? Why did not Mr. Tucker, who was
then Chairman, name Sir C. Metcalfe ? He appeared to have
changed his mind, and he did not say a word about that gen-
tleman. The papers which were now•called for were of such
a nature that no private gentleman would think of producing.
They had been refused by Parliament—by the great council of
the nation.--(" Oh, oh.") Lord Heytesbury, for aught they
knew, might yet be Governor-General, or Sir Charles Met-
calfe might attain that situation. With respect to Lord
Glenelg, it was not necessary for him to defend his cha-
racter. Nothing had been ever said against him, except
that be was an indolent man.—(A Proprietor—" Then he
is not fit to be Governor-General of India.") Let him
look at his correspondence during the negotiation for the
renewal, or rather the overthrow, of their charter. Did
he not then prove himself to be a man of consummate
ability ? He was also a man of easy access, and one
who would hear patiently every representation made to him.
They did not want diplomatists in India. What they wanted
there was a well-disposed quiet man, who would attend to the
interests of the natives, and do all in his power to conciliate
the different services, but more than all the military service,
which was their great security, if properly attended to, but
which, if neglected or ill-treated, might prove to be their
most dangerous enemy.—( Hear, hear.) Such a man as he
had described was Lord Genelg, and therefore he conceived
that he was a fit and proper person to fill the situation of Go-
vernor-General of India.

Lord COLVILLE should support the motion.
Mr. TUCKER would support the motion, which called for
public papers.
Colonel L. STANHOPE defended the conduct of Sir John
Hobhouse from the attack made up it by the Hon. Mover.
Mr. MILLE—The words I used were these—that Sir J.
Hobhouse had avowed in spirit, that he thought it was better
that India should suffer, than that Ministers should run any
risk of being defeated in Parliament.
Colonel L. STANIIOPE—ThC Hon. Gentleman's words were,
that Sir J. Hobhouse would make a sacrifice of India, under
the particular circumstances, and he appealed for the correct-
ness of his statement to the gentlemen who were then making
a regular record of their proceedings.
Mr. MILLS believed he had never uttered any such words.
If he had done so he would retract them.
After a few further observations of Col. L. STANIIOPE, ie
praise of the policy which induced Sir J. Hobhouse to reject
Lord Heytesbury,
Mr. ASTELL observed that the papers that were refused in
the House of Commons, but which he hoped the proprietors
would insist upon having this day, were not private commu-
nications, but public documents. It was a matter of notoriety
that the Directors had remonstrated against the removal of
Lord Heytesbury, and if the proprietors wished to maintain
their own character, they ought to insist on the papers being
forthcoming.
After a few words from Mr. FIELDER, the question was
about to be put, when a requisition for a ballot, signed by a
proper number of proprietors, was handed in, and the ballot
was ordered to be taken on Tuesday, the 28th inst.
Mr. MILLS gave notice, that in the event of the motion for
papers being carried affirmatively at the ballot on the 28th
inst, he should at the general Court on the 29th move that
they be printed for the use of the proprietors.—Adjourned.

It is a most interesting fact that the Scotch peasant
who sheltered Prince Charles after his defeat at Culloden, and
when the price of 30,0001. was put upon his head, was after-
wards hanged for stealing a cow !

On Friday morning, the 3d instant, between six
and seven o'clock, William Fergusson, from Afton-bridge-
end, New Cummock, who annually visits the coast of Ayr, for
the purpose of sea-bathing, proceeded to the beach, near Prest-
wick-toll, about a mile and a-half north from Ayr. He depo-
sited his clothes on the sand, and after enjoying the luxury of
a health-giving dip, was about to put on his habiliments, when
lo ! and behold, he missed his waistcoat, containing his pocket-
book, in which were 321. in Bank of Scotland notes, and bank
deposit receipts and bills, in all between 1,1001. and 1,2001.
He made an immediate search among the bent-covered hillocks
in the neighbourhood, where he discovered his waistcoat, but
the pocket-book and its valuable contents were gone, nor has
any trace of the thief been obtained, although every exertion
has been made for that purpose. Payment of the bank
vouchers and bills has, of course, been stopped, but the 321. is
a serious loss to one so far advanced in life. The unfortunate
man when in Ayr, lodged in a house in Newton-on-Ayr, and
for the greater security of his property, carried his pocket-book
along with him. It appears to be his practice, when he comes
to the sea-bathing, to draw the interest due on his bank depo-
sits and other securities, and obtain a renewal of the vouchers
—aud the 321. in notes was the interest of the same for the
bygone year.--Ayr Observer.