The Sun.
London, England, 1857-11-05 00:00:00

LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, NOVEMBER 5, 1857.

PRESENTATION OF THE FREEDOM OF THE
CITY TO THE DIIKE OF CAMBRIDGE.

Yesterday, at a Special Court of Common Council,
the freedom of the City was presented to his Royal
Highness the Duke of Cambridge, together with a splen-
did sword.

The presentation took place at 5 o'clock in the Guild-
hall, which had been most tastefully fitted up for the
occasion by Mr. Bunning, the city architect. In the
centre, and in front of a gallery which had been erected
for ladies at the eastern end of the hall, was placed the
chair for the Lord Mayor, and immediately on bis
lordship's left was a chair of State for his Royal Highness,
composed of crimson velvet and gold, with the arms of
the Duke emblazoned in gold on the back of the chair.
On either side of the Lord Mayor were seats for the
aldermen and distinguished guests, Galleries for the
members of the Common Council were fixed on the north
and south sides of the hall, the front of which were
decorated with emblems of the Order of the Garter, the
Order of the Bath, and coronets of the Duke. In three
galleries, surrounding the aldermen and Common Cone•
cal, were raised seats for the accommodation of ladies,
and in front of the eastern gallery seats for the ladies of
the aldermen. The western window had in its centre
a beautiful glass star from Messrs. Copeland's, beneath
and around which were festoons and trophies of flags.
In the centre of the eastern window was a portrait of his
Royal Highness, surrounded by a trophy composed of
flags of various nations, interspersed with the Royal
standard and colours of the Grenadier Guards. The
galleries and the compartments on the north and
south sides of the hall were decorated with tro-
phies of flags, shields, and wreathe, and in front
of the northern gallery was placed a medallion
of her Majesty.in gold. From the large cornices of
the ball were su-pended flags of all nations, and from
the ceiling two large chandeliers composed of painted
and cnt-glass drops.

By 4 o'c!ock every available seat was occupied, and
the spectacle when the lighting of the hall was complete
was grand and imposing. The Turkish Ambassador was
one of the earliest arrivals. There was a large number of
distinguished officers present, whose names will be found
in the report of the proceedings at the banquet at the
Mansion-house in the eveninc.,,.

Tire Duke of Cambridge on entering the ball was most
loudly cheered.
His Royal Highness baying signed the declaration
presented to him, was then addressed by the Chamber-
lain, Sir J. KEY, in the following words

"The counec ion so long existing between your Royal
Highness and this ancient corporation, honoured as one
of its moat respectable companies (tile Merchant Taylors)
is by baring your name enrolled as its oldest and most I
esteemed honorary member, and your presence at a re-
cent, and long to be remembered meeting of the Court,
w hen it tendered the expression of its respect to a Prince
illustrious by personal character, and about to become
more illustrious by an alliance which would ennoble the
proudest ancestry and add grace to the most brilliant
throne, would seem to' supersede the necessity of dwell-
ing upon the nature of that distinction which you have
signified your pleasure to accept at our hands to-day.
From what transpired on that occasion you would per-
ceive that it is in no light estimation we hold the honours
of our civic guild ; that we use nothing of an apologetio
tone in presenting tine°, but have a confident persuasion I
that rank, however illustrious—talents, however die
tinguished—services, however transcendent or enduring,
will find in the freedom of this city a distinction
which extends their celebrity, and a privilege which
enhances their reward. It is under the fulness of
this conviction we have invited your Royal
Highness here today. We felt how acceptable it
woeld be to you to cast in your historic lot with
the great spirits of the past—with Chatham, with Pitt,
with Nelson, with Wellington, with Beckford—men
whose names are on our enrolments, whose busts are
upon our walls, but whose deeds have a more imperish-
able monument still in the shrine of the nation's heart.
(Cheers.) We know your Royal Highness's estimate of
rank, of birth, of near connection with Royalty. You
esteemed tboae things great according as the conduct of
their possessor made them great—as they were adorned
by the graces of character, as they were turned to the 1
account of a nation's happiness, as in the beneficient
purposes for which they were employed there was sure I i
to be reflected upon them a brighter lustre than they ' I
gave ; inasmuch that, if I were to select a designation
most welcome to your ears now, and most likely to go
down with history to other times, it would be, not the
illustrious prince, but Us useful public servant,—not the
monarch's kinsman, but the humblest soldier's friend.
(Cheers.) The soldier's friend, I said, and the very
name leads us back to a passage in our nation's life cha-
racterized by more cht q.lei ed incidents, calling up more
of mingled feeling destined to be referred to hereafter,
w:th stronger alternations of pride and shame than any
event in the annals of history. And yet, sir, I believe
I give utterance to the sentiment of this Court when, in
any retrospect we take of the late war, I say the upper-
'no t feelings of an Englishman's heart should be those
of permitted elation, heartfelt thankfulness, and honest
pride. Mistakes there were of economy, of administra-
tive rule, of unpractised generalship, such as might have
been looked for, perhaps, in the people of a land which
load had rest for 40 years ; but still, of dishonour to our
trace
t Gallipoli aver a appeared atrbeed
filing from i
flag, of stain upon our sword, of shadow of reproach
upoirthe stoutness of the English heart or the indornit-
nglioshurwtirlol'opns a no
atbbelenfi
ersets ofl theancl English
of
o the lest shot against the shattered f oar s of Sebastopol.
(Cheers.) It is evident we owed, under God's blessing,our
successes to the valiant spirit of the many,—our losses
only to the mismanagement of thefew. The characteristioof
the English soldiery is to lean with unquestioning con-
fidence upon those who lead them, ready to rush upon
des 'ruction, if destruction be set before them, in the
wish to cover any error on their general's part by a
doubled measure of intrepidity on their own; and by this
intrepidity, by God's blessing, we conquered ; for as a
Cori Alan nation we must ever bear in mind that even
the consummate skill and unrivalled generalship of a
Wellington, with the indomitable courage and spirit of
British soldiers, would without God's blessing be of no
avail. Of the part sustained by your Royal Highness in
this ever memorable campaign it would not become me
to speak particularly. Nor is it needful. The tidings
used to reach us through that widely diffused organ of
public opinion which morning by morning announced to
its million readers the privations of our country's brave.
The whole scene was brought before us by a pen as
fearless in its exposure of abuses as it was unsurpassed
by the vividness of its graphic power ; and in the midst
of that scene, wherever difficulties were to be faced or
dangers were to be shared, or hardships were to be en-
dured, wherever the countenance of a noble presence was
needed to decide the wavering, or the sympathies of a
feeling heart were required to sustain and comfort the
distressed, we saw your Royal Highness. (Cheers.) We
followed you in imagination through that eventful night,
the first spent by our troops on Crimean soil, when in
tentless and unsheltered misery you lay exposed to the
night-lone storm. (Loud cheers.) We realised the sound
of your voice on the victorious heights of Alum, calling
tttntion to the flying enemy arid heartening the ex-
hausted troops in their work; while, when we saw you in
the thick of that murderous fire at Inkerman, more than
half your noble guards lying dead or wounde3 upon the
field, a body of Russians singling you out for vengeful
and deliberate aim, and even your faithful horse struck
from under you, we confess to having felt a national pride
in Royalty that he who so nobly led on England's armies
was so nearly allied to England's Queen. It seems, there-
fore, needless to say how entirely our gracious Sove-
reign carried with her the snffrakes of her loving subjects
when in the selection of a fitting person to occupy the
highest military position in the country she was led to the
nomination of your royal highness. How little hereditary
preferencre would be permitted to influence this choice,
how little the prestige accorded as of right to one in your
royal highness's position, how little any consideration
save a desire to promote the honour, the happiness. the
efficiency of her beloved army, let any man tell who has
ever heard of the deep emotion of the Monarch at the
story of her soldiers' sufferings, or who has ever listened
to the loud outburst of grateful and loving loyalty when
soldiers are gathered round their Queen. Yes, sir, yen
were designated by your royal mistress to your exalted
office because she would that he who was to bear rule in
military affairs should be one who could sympathise
with bravery, had had experience of hardship, who could
lend a helping hand to struggling merit, could remember
past services and reward them ; and already are both
the army and the country reaping the first fruits of this
wise selection. We see in our military councils a vigour
of purpose, a discrimination of character, a breadth of
plan and object in the educational arrangements, and a
considerate regard for the circumstances of the lowest
subaltern, which, if permitted to be carried out, will
cause the British soldier to be as much respected for his
high toned moral deportment in the barrack as for his
fearless and undaunted spirit in the field. Nor can I con-
clude without adverting to another feature of your royal
highness's public services likely to elicit strong feelings
of admiration from the members of this court—l allude
to active, painstaking interest you have evinced in those
noble institutions which have made our country as pre-
eminent for her moral achievements as she is unrivalled
for the glory of her arms. England, in the orderings of a
moral Providence, has a great mission to fulfil, if she is
to wage war abroad with the despot, the oppressor, with
the man who would encroach upon European liberties or
roll back the waves of an advancing civilisation, she is also
to wage war at home with sin, Misery, and suffering—
wi.h the incursions of ignorance upon oar national insti-
tutions, or the inroads of poverty upon our social happi-
ness. Her two types oil patriotism are the soldier and
the philanthropist, the defender of our liberties and the
benefactor of our homes, and we tender our respect to
you in both capacities. I am commissioned to present to
You both the badge ofcitizenship and y the ensign of war.
aanourieg
a our Royal Highness as we do for all those
personal qualities
you have displayed in material warfare
we must honour youyet for the • •
with which o
achievements
of
fr desire to be identified with the noblest
Christian
philanthropy—for your wish
that the school
the hospital, and the asylum should
never be dissociated from your honoured name, and that
anything you may be able
e to do for your country in dis-
ciplining her sons to the use of arms may be eclipsed by