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

THE SUN.

LONDON, THURSDAY, MAY 16, 1861.

The seventy-second anniversary banquet of The
Royal Literary Fund will long be remembered in
the annals of that munificent Institution. It
took place yesterday—as will be seen from an
interesting report of the proceedings given in
another column—under very peculiar circumstances.
Its chairman this year having been not as hitherto
one of our own countrymen, not some great English
Author, not some great English Nobleman, but
instead of that an exiled Prince, the member of a
fallen dynasty, in cne other word a—Frenchman.
It is certainly noteworthy that one of the most
gifted and popular actors now upon the London
boards is also a Frenchman. And it is certainly very
remarkable to remember that now in this year of
grace 1861, while M. FECHTER is showing us in the
midst of our tearful applause how the greatest of all
the Shaksperian masterpieces may be portrayed with
exquisite ability—H.R.H. the Due d'AumALE can,
in a festive assembly of lettered Englishman, dis-
close in his own person—what the public at large in
this country could never have imagined possibly
latent there—a very model Chairman. Nothing,
we hesitate not to say at once, could by any chance
have been more graceful, more worthy in every
way of the hearty plaudits accorded to it during
its delivery than the speech in which his Royal
Highness proposed the toast of the evening—" Suc-
cess to the Literary Fund," coupling with it, Health
to the Marquess of LANSDOWNE, its venerable Pre-
sident. Even in his manner of conducting the pre-
liminary proceedings alone, in the admirable
taste with which he gave the loyal toasts by which
those convivial " sayings and doings" are
always by a sort of constitutional usage intro-
duced, the Duc D'AUMALE gave evidence of the
wislom which had dictated to the Council of the
Literary Fund his selection, for 1861, as Chairman
at the annual festivities.

His introductory words upon first rising
after the cloth had been removed, " Gentle-
men, I propose the health of Her Majesty
the QUEEN"—adding immediately, with an im-
pressive and, under the circumstances, a most
touching significance—" These are the first words
-which I have addressed to you, and the first which
I have uttered in public for many years"—could
hardly do otherwise than call forth from his hearers
a cordial round of acclamations. But those few and
simple words, sufficiently significant though they
were in themselves, were, in truth, only a pre-
liminary to others in which, while giving
that hackneyed theme, the Due D'AUMALE imparted
to it the freshness reflected from his own earnest
appreciation of the many noble qualities justifyir
g
the loyal attachment of all Englishmen to their
SOVEREIGN. " I have no right," said his Royal
Highness, " to speak the language which is used on
these occasions by loyal Englishmen, but I may
venture to say that no one professes more respect
than myself for her MAJESTY, or more sincere devo-
tion to her loyal person. I see in your QUEEN the
personification of your noble and free institutions
—the SOVEREIGN of a country which is, and I
hope will remain, the ally and friend of my own
native land—of a country which gives shelter to all '
exiles, without asking them to submit to any humi-
liating conditions, but only to respect those laws
under whose protection they live. I also admire
in her MAJESTY the most accomplished of ladies,
for I have had more than one persOnal occasion
to observe—nay, to feel—that extreme delicacy
and tenderness of heart which is not common among
persons born in so high a station, and of which
sbe has given so touching a proof on a recent
and most melancholy occasion." Ills Royal High-
ness concluding in these impassioned but manifestly
heartfelt terms :—" I am sure that my words cor-
respond to your feelings when I ask you to drink
with me the health of the model of constitutional
sovereigns, the most devoted of daughters, the
best of mothers, the best of wives, the safest and
most aff.ctionate of friends, and, finally, the most
august and munificent patroness of this institu-
tion—your good QUEEN VICTORIA." Yet greater
ability in imparting a sense of novelty to another
courtly theme, also long since threadbare from
frequent usage, was displayed immediately after-
wards when the Due d'AUMALE, in giving
the customary toast of "His Royal High,