The Sun.
London, England, 1861-05-16 00:00:00

from this inspection is that your chairman
e daenud your
ips
rnaoe-t
allowed to disclose what he has seen. But
h has
lt
ei s
fte
hand charity
must i n itso t
kna lo
virE
wv ahnagt eyl
oi cuat s
right,
done. There is only one case of timely assistance
given by this society to which I may allude, be-
cause it has been already brought before the public
by the very man who was interested in it—this
man was Chateaubriand. It is impossible not to
feel a real emotion on seeing the autograph lines in
which this illustrious writer declares that without
the help he had received from this institution he
would have been zmablc to finish his work called
the Natchez, the first which created his reputatice
so that if this society had not existed, the glory of
that great man would perhaps have been lost for
France, and for letters. (Hear, hear.) Gentlemen,
xtneha
emtohfmpi
this
your
ot nothingmutual
arp institutionre relationssi de
eannmt
aboiyesf
have
adsvdueepdup suppose that
shliteratureo wafwt ehratt haainnesdtai
name
nations;
but the very
also a symbol, for it means absence of prejudices,
high taste for art es letters, practical liberalism,
universal kindness. I conclude, then, drinking to
the prosperity of the Literary Fund, and to, the
health of its president, the Marquis of Larssdowne.
(Loud and renewed cheering.)
The toast was drunk with enthusiasm.
The SECRETARY read the list of subscriptions,
including £lOO from her Majesty the Queen, 2,000 f.
from his Royal Highness the Due d'Aumale, &c.,
making a total of nearly £9OO.
Mr. DISRAELI said—Gentlemen, the list of those
who have now for more than two-thirds of a cen-
tury presided over the anniversary of our Literary
Fund is no mean roll. There may be found there
the names of many men eminent in letters and in
public life. There may be found the names of
illustrious persons, and especially of one near the
Throne, whose:sympathy with all that tends to the
development of the human intellect has gained for
him the respect of the whole nation. But I doubt
whether our chair has ever been filled under cir-
cumstances more interesting than on the present
occasion. (Cheers.) It is filled by the scion of an
ancient house, long connected with the progress of
the most brilliant and refined of modern nations
—by the lineal decrnndant of the great mnnareh
whose name is indelibly associated with the most
resplendent period of modern letters. (Hear,
hear.) But the claims of our chairman to your
sympathy and confidence do not depend upon the
past or upon the deeds of those who have preceded
him. His claims are present and personal. (Cheers.)
If it be true that the most classic order of literary
composition is that in which the writer, in whom
action and contemplation blend, is enabled to
give the results of his own experience, to paint
the scenes he has himself witnessed, and to re-
cord the events which he has himself, perhaps,
in some measure occasioned, then, I say, that our
chairman can urge the strongest claims to distinc-
tion in that department. (Hear.) We are indebted
to his pen for those vivid pictures, with which you
are doubtless familiar, on the origin and character
of that recent arm of modern warfare which seems
to combine the discipline of Europe with the fire of
the Desert. (Hear.) In those precise and picturesque
sketches of the Zouaves you cannot forget that the
writer observed them on the tented field, where he
encamped among the rest, and that he also
led the soldiers on to war and to victory. (Hear.)
The same pen has analyzed in ancient lore one of
the most wonderful campaigns of Caesar ; I may
say that that criticism displays a spirit and a skill
not altogether unworthy of the matchless character
whose exploits and whose narrative of them he has
viewed with an admiring but searching eye. (Hear,
hear.) I have always believed that the time will
yet come when we shall be indebted to his Royal
Highness for the production of some work which
will live in the language of that accomplished coun-
try which he quitted in sorrow but with honour.
(Hear.) We live in an age of strange vicissitude.
The course of revolution is as rapid as it is strong.
Empires dissolve, and dynasties are scattered.
Happy the prince who, by no fault of his own, ban-
ished from the court and camp, can find consolation
in the library, and generous occupation in the rich
galleries of learning and art. (Hear.) Happy the
prince who in a foreign land, mixing with his fellow-
men on equal terms, is still marked out by the pre-
eminence of nature. (Hear.) Happy the prince who,
under such circumstances, may, in the realms of liter-
ature, conquer provinces which he can never lose,
and, perhaps, establish a throne which may defy the
fate of dynasties. (Cheers.) It is with these feel-
ings, gentlemen, that I now propose to you the
health of our noble chairman, his Royal Highness
the Duc d'Aumale.
The toast was drunk amidst hearty (sheers, which
were renewed when his Royal Highness rose to
respond.
His ROYAL HIGHNESS said he could not find
words to do more than simply thank them for the
honour they had done him. He thanked them for
their kind reception, and the forbearance with
which they had borne his incorrect grammar. (No.)
He hoped that his Gallicisms had at least added to
the cosmopolitan character of the gathering.
(Laughter, and hear.)
Mr. MONCKTON MILNES then proposed " The
Ambassadors who have honoured us with their pre-
sence, and his Excellency M. Van de Weyer."
M. VAN DE WEYER, after returning thanks, gave
"The Literature of Great Britain."
Mr. ANTHONY TROLLOPE responded.
Mr. THACKERAY, in giving " The Literature of
France," expressed his deep obligations to the most
brilliant, the wittiest, he had almost said the wisest
literature of the world. He trusted that one day
the literature of France would enjoy entire free-
dom, like that of England. (Cheers.) It had been
his lot to be subjected to a good deal of buffeting
by the public press both of this country and Ame-
rica, but he held that that rude exercise of public
opinion was essential to the true interests of the
profession to which he belonged.
The other toasts were " Scientific Travellers,"
proposed by Sir R. Murchison and acknowledged
by M. du Chaillu, and " The Ladies" by the Chair-
man.

The company separated about 11 o'clock.

THE THAMES EdIBANKMENT AND
RAILWAY COMJIIISSIOIV:

Yesterday the Commissioners concluded their
investigation into the merits of the various plans
before them.
Mr. F. C. Worsley proposed the construction of
flood-gates at London-bridge, an aqueduct sewer
on each side of the Thames, together with boule-
vards, architectural ways, and a railway.
Mr. C. M. Archer, a member of the press, sub-
mitted a project (which was read by Mr. Kingscote,
the hon. secretary, with the consent of the com-
missioners) for a viaduct, rail,road, and sewer-way;
the viaduct to be a continuous viaduct from
bridge to bridge down the centre of the Thames
upon ornamental iron columns, carrying with
it the railway or tramway, road or promenade and
sewer, thereby leaving altogether undisturbed the
shore property and vested interests on either side
of the river, the viaduct furnishing facilities:for esta-
blishment of "river streets, landing places, and
wharf accommodation, as well as for telegraphs,
water and gas pipes, allowing by the latter means
I,he light up of the river navigation by night, the
viaduct conveniently dividing the river into an up
and down navigation, to be dredged and deopencu
where desirable, besides allowing barges and ves-
sels to be towed up or down stream at all times of
tide by rope or horse power by the side of the via-
duct, which might be made a toll-road—thus en-
deavouring to meet the main object of the commis-
sion, " That of the establishment of a new and
spacious thoroughfare along the Thames, the im-
provement of its navigation, and the making of the
great low level sewer without disturbing the Strand
or Fleet-street."

Captain Vetch, of the Admiralty, and engineer
for the conservancy of the tidal waters of the United
Kingdom, pointed out the lines of embankment
best to be adopted along the river route. The walls
should be of solid material, and it would be alike
desirable for the navigation and sanitary purposes
that the river should be deepened alongside to 6
feet at the time of low water spring tides.
The commissioners then adjourned, and will next
proceed with the consideration of the wharfingers,
and other propertied interests on the rivers.

ONE THOUSAND POUNDS FOR A PRAYER BOOK.
—The manuscript missal of the 15th century belonging to
the Abbey of St. Lo, at Rouen, was sold on Saturday, as
announced, at the public sale rooms in the Rue Drouot. it
was put up at 1,500 f., and the biddings went very slowly to
10,000 f., but at that moment the competition became more
animated, and the hammer ultimately fell at the sum of
24,850f.—Galignani.

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