The Sun.
London, England, 1868-07-21 00:00:00

BANQUET AT TRINITY HOUSE.

On Monday evening his Royal Highness the Duke of
Edinburgh, Master of the Ancient Corporation of Trinity
House, and the Elder Brethren entertained his Royal
Highness the Prince of Wales and other members of the
Royal Family, with a distinguished company at dinner at
their house on Tower-hill. The guests were about 100 in
lumber.

The banquet was of the most sumptuous kind. At its
conclusion, grace having been said,
His Royal Highness the MasTEn, who on rising was
enthusiastically cheered, said he had the honour to pro-
pose that toast which in this country preceded all others.
ft was " The health of her Majesty the Queen."
The toast was received with every mark of respect, and
the band played the National Anthem.
His Royal Highness the MASTER : The next toast I have
the honour to propose is " The health of his. Royal High-
ness the Prince of Wales, her Royal Highness the Prin.
cess of Wales, and the other members of the Royal
Family." It is a very great satisfaction to me on this
second occasion of presiding at this dinner to be again
supported by my brother, who, however, on this occasion
loes so as a new member of the corporation. The Prince
)f Wales is fond of change, and having for some time been
esy elder is now transformed into my "younger brother."
The Prince of WALES, on rising to speak to the toast,
was received with cheers. His Royal Highness said:
t return my best thanks to my illustrious relative for
the kind way in which he has proposed this toast, and for
coupling with it the health of the Princess of Wales and
that of the other members of the royal family. lam very
grateful for the reception which had been accorded him
in this room, and I have great pleasure in being here this
evening. This is not the first time I have been present at
the hospitable board of the Trinity House. It is the second
time I have supported my brother ; and I come here now
in a double capacity, for I have the honour of being pre-
sent to-day as a member of this corporation, and as his
" younger brother." (Cheers.) I am sure I may say,
even in his presence, that it is a source of the greatest
satisfaction to me to be present at the first dinner at which
be has presided since his return from Australia.

In_responding to the toast of his own health, his Royal
Highness the MASTER said : I cannot refrain from
alluding for a moment to what the Deputy-Master has
said respecting the unfortunate occurrence which took
place in New South Wales, but I feel confident that the
solitary act of one man in that colony need not leave a
ioubt in the minds of the people of England of the loyalty
which exists throughout that distant portion of her
Hajesty's dominion; and of the love which is felt towards
tier person and the throne. (Cheers).
Lord STANLEY returned thanks for " Her Majesty's
Ministers." The noble lord contended that no one could
say that the two years during which the present Ministry
bad held office had been uneventful—for, independent of
foreign affairs, they had had the Abyssinian expedition.
The Ministry had entered with extreme reluctance into
that undertaking ; and as to the manner in which it had
been carried out he would say nothing. (Cheers.) They
had also had other matters to contend with in the face of
commercial depression which rendered it almost im-
possible to effect; any great improvements in financial
administration ; and, above all, they had had a domestic
political controversy, which it was their fate to inherit,
as it had been their good fortune to settle. (Hear, hear.)
They had had their turn at the wheel during a time in
which the ship was not in the smoothest water, and
although political contests might be extremely amusing to
lookers-on, he assured them that they were more exciting
than was quite pleasant to those who were engaged in
them. (Laughter.) The difficulties which they had dealt
with they had endeavoured to deal with to the best of
their ability, and he could not help thinking that when
the time came when an impartial judgment could be
formed and their merits and demerits alike considered,
those difficulties would be taken into consideration by a
people who prided themselves above all things on a love
If fair play. (Cheers.)
Lord NAPIER responded to the toast of " The Distin-
guished Visitors." He said : I am sure you will permit
me to express my gratification at the manner in which the
mention of my name has been received by this ancient
:orporation. As the expedition to Abyssinia has been
gluded to, I may take this opportunity of saying how
ieeply I feel indebted to the mercantile marine for the
manner in which the transport service was carried out.
(Hear, hear.) In conclusion, permit me to say how much
I have been gratified by the reception I have experienced
this evening, and, speaking on behalf of my fellow guests,
to express my thanks to the Master and brethren of the
Trinity House for the hospitality which they have extended
to us this evening. (Cheers.)

A FRENCH MINISTER ON ENGLISH

AGRICULTURE.

The following is an extract from a letter addressed by
his Excellency M. Drouyn de Lhuys to a friend in
England :

" Leicester, July 17.

" Mon cher Comte,—You are become an agriculturist ;
you will therefore allow me to give you my impressions de
voyage through Leicestershire. I had been fully able,
during a former stay in England, to notice the fine
appearance of your white and green crops, the beauty of
your sheep and horned c-,ttle, and the prodigies wrought
by your high farming under so many disadvantages of
soil and climate. By dint of that unflagging perseverance
which is your eminently national characteristic, you
have so thoroughly supplied by an acquired fertility any
such deficiencies, that in no country is a larger pro-
portion of produce obtained in return for the labour and
capital expended. The peculiar features of your rural
economy have often been pointed out. With you the
possession of estates and their management seldom remain
in the same hands. Hence agriculture has become a
regular profession, taken up by none but duly skilled per-
sons, and such as are at the head of the outlay required to
provide the land with live stock and mechanical imple-
ments of the best description. Such a transformation
could only ensue from the vast development 'of trade in
England. A prosperous industry and commerce can alone
procure to agriculture the two great incentives of produc-
tion—an extensive market and an unlimited supply of
capital. It is to the demand created by your numerous
manufacturing population that your farmers are indebted
for both these resources, and it has aptly been remarked
that to James Watt's and Arkwright's powerful inven-
tions the improvements carried out by Bakewell owe
their first impulse and their lasting success. Another dis-
tinctive trait of British husbandry is the innate taste for
rural life which prevails in all ranks of society. Not only
are its pursuits and enjoyments a source to all of comfort,
of liberty, and domestic happiness, but by them a man
attains to consideration, and even to power. Besides the
advantages which accrue to the peasantry from a closer
contact with the landlords, the constancy with which
your aristocracy has remained attached to its country resi-
dences has interwoven its interests with those of the inferior
classes, and has proved its greatest strength. The rural
spirit pervades the whole national body, and its healthful
influence has preserved you from the convulsions which have
torn asunder your neighbours. The efficient patronage of
your wealthy noblemen has done much to forward the cause
of agricultural progress, and the native country of Arthur
Young, John St. Clair, Bakewell, Ellman, Collins,
Turner, Jonas Webb, and Fisher Hobbs, may well add to
that glorious list the names of Townshend, Portland, Bed-
ford, Leicester, Spencer, Yarborough, Duck, and Rich-
mond. I am, &c., " DROUYN DE LifDrB."

ILLNESS OF THE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY.—
The Church papers state that the Archbishop of Canter-
bury is so indisposed that he is ordered abroad immediately,
and they add that it was on account of his Grace's illness
that the recent sittings of Convocation were not prolonged,
as was in the first instance intended. There is no doubt
that during the five days on which Convocation sat the
Archbishop was in a feeble state of health, and the
remarks he made, which were very few, were scarcely
audible in the smaU room in which the members of the
Upper House meet.

ATTEMPTED WIFE MURDER.—A man has been
taken before the magistrates at Belper charged with
attempting to murder his wife in the public streets. The
prisoner, who is 2G years of age, has been employed in
carrying out some mining and railway works. Owing to
his drunken habits his wife determined to watch him upon
leaving off work, in order to get money from him to sup.
port herself and family. While she was talking to him in
the street, and urging him to give her money, he attacked
her with a knife and cut her throat so severely that she is
not expected to recover.

STRENGTH OF THE VOLUNTEERS. —A parlia-
mentary paper has been published which gives the
returns of the several volunteer corps in Great Britain,
stating in each case the maximum establishment, the
number of enrolled members, the number of efficients,
the number of efficients entitled to an extra certificate,
distinguishing the consolidated corps entitled to an adju-
tant from the administrative regiments, and under each
administrative regiment stating the several corps corn-
posing it, with the headquarters of each regiment and
corps, stating also the total numbers of men under each
head in each county. The numbers are founded on the
annual return due the Ist day of December, 1867. The
total numbers chew that there are in all 1,297 corps ; that
the maximum establishment was 216,812, of whom 156,216
were efficient, and 32,648 non•eflicient, the total number of
enrolled members being 367,684, The number of members
who carrA tla extra 104

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HER MAJESTY.

OSBORNE, July 20.

The Queen, accompanied by the Duke and
Duchess of Coburg and Prince Leopold, drove out
yesterday afternoon.
The Queen, accompanied by Prince and Princess
Louis of Hesse, Prince and Princess Christian, Prin-
cess Louise, Prince Leopold, and Princess Beatrice
walked in the grounds this morning.

LITERATURE.

WARNE'S CHANDOS CLASSICS.
The Shilling Shakspere. Pp. 748.
The Shilling Longfellow. Pp. 628.

Frederick Warne and Conpany, of Bedford-
street, Covent-garden, are crowning themselve3
with honour as (among our popular publishers)
the projectors and organisers of a new system of
one volumed editions, within each of which the
complete works of a great author, printed in beauti-

ful and thoroughly readable type, on excellent
paper in a compact form, are procurable by those
who list for one shilling. Scarcely had the won-
derful shilling edition of Shakspere upon the ex-
cellence and beauty of which we have already

commented made its appearance from the esta-
blishment of the Messrs. Routledge and Sons, than
the Messrs. Fred. Warne and Company, claiming
for themselves credit for the original conception of
the idea of precisely such an edition, issue in every
way as commendable. So that not only according to
the old histrionic anecdote, are" two Richards in the
field," but two Hamlets as well, two Macbeths,
two Othellos, and so on—in point of fact
two complete Shaksperes. The Chandos Shaks-
pere, here immediately under our notice,
being furthermore enhanced in interest and in value
)y one of briefest, and yet, everything considered,
_me of the very best miniature biographies we ever
remember to have seen anywhere of England's, of the
world's greatest poet and dramatist. As a com-
panion volume, in other words, as Volume Two of
Ihe Chaudos Classics, the same enterprising
publishers have issued from the press a beautiful
new one volumed edition of the poems of Long-
fellow. Nothing could be more apropos. The
book appears in effect in the very nick
of time comprising within it all the
famous poems of the great American
author for a single shilling—Evangeline, Hiawatha,
Miles Standish, the Voices of the Night; the Way-
side Inn, &c., &c. Coming before the public thus
at the very moment of Mr. Longfellows's sojourn
amongst us here in England, in so complete, so
cheap, and so beautiful a form, the edition is sure
of commanding for itself what alone can recoup the
outlay upon it involved by its issue at no higher
charge than a shilling, namely, an immense circu-
lation.

Mildred. By Georgiana M. Craik. 3 Vols. Hurst

and Blackett.

This is a singularly interesting story, and the in-
terest is possibly more intense because it is wholly
concentrated upon one subject. In her early girl-
hood Mildred Treherne leads a tranquil but in her
opinion a dreary life in her country home, the sole
companion of a somewhat invalid father. At nine-
teen, however, " a change comes over the spirit of
her dream," or, rather, her dreams themselves are
changed into realities. Mr. Treherne is advised to
go abroad for his health, and Mildred exults
in the prospect of a change of scene. At Amiens
a slight accident keeps them prisoners for a while,
and they make the acquaintance of Philip Romney,
an Englishman, who, having spent all his fortune,
leads a Bohemian life, without home or position.
How the acquaintance between Philip and Mildred
advances in intimacy under the very eyes of the
unsuspicious Mr. Treherne, and now, even when he
is aware of the fact, he is too weak to withstand the
vehement determination of Philip Romney, we leave
the reader of Mildred's history to inquire. The course
of true love for once might have run smoothly enough
were it not for the interference of Mildred's uncle.
Mr. lleriot is a man of stern determination, but
he finds a match for even his inflexibility
in the person of his niece. The affection of
friends, the long suffering of years, even the
sad consciousness of the faults and shortcomings of
it object, have no influence upon the true devotion
of Mildred's faithful heart. The concluding por-
tion of the tale is very cleverly told, and the inte-
rest is maintained to the end, which end, by the
way, will take many readers by surprise. In the
former works of this authoress we have found many
things to commend, but "Mildred" is by far the
best novel which we have seen from her pen.

George and Robert Stephenson: their Lives. 13y
Samuel Smiles. One vol., pp. 388. John Murray.
Among all " the fairy tales of science," old George
Stepheuson's Life is one of the most remarkable.
It is of a piece with the wonders accomplished by
science itself within the present century. The ex-
trication of the unlettered collier from the dead level
in which he was born, and his ultimate elevation
to the social status in which he long lived, and in
which he eventually [died full of honours, is on a
par with the marvels effected in art's triumphs over
nature through the agencies of mechanics, chemistry
and electricity. As James Watt stood in regard
to the construction of the steam-engine,
SO George Stephenson stood in regard
to the adaptation of the locomotive to our
system of railroads. If neither of them could be
considered, strictly speaking, the inventor, the
one of the steam engine, the other of the locomo-
tive—they were at any rate respectively the perfee-
tors of those two marvellous contrivances. N°
more enthralling incidents are recounted in the
" Arabian Nights' Entertainments" for the delight
of the lovers of romance, pure and simple, than
those which are related in these pages by Samuel
Smiles as actual matters of fact in regard to
George Stephenson, whose first start in life was as
an unlettered collier's boy, son of " Old Bob" of
Wylam. That said Old Bob being thus describe
by one of his mates :—" Geordie's fayther war
like a peer o' deals nailed thegither, and a bit Of
flesh i' th' inside ; he war as queer as Dick's bat'
band—went thrice aboot,_ and wudn't tie." Born
the child of working people, bred as a collier urchin,
George makes his way bit by bit, successively be-
coming a herd-boy, a plough-boy, a corf-bitter,
gin-horse driver, an assistant fireman, a fireman,
an engine-man, a brakesman, a shoemaker (in odd
hours), a clock cleaner (also in odd hours), a bal-
last heaver, an inventor and mechanic, an engine'
doctor, an engine wright—contriver of the Geordi
Safety LLamp Engineer of the Stockton
and Darlington Railway Engineer of the
Liverpool and Manchester Railway road"
maker across Chat-moss—builder and con-
triver of the famous Rocket Locomotive—projec-
tor, organiser, father, in a manner creator of the
whole Railway System, and as such (more strictly
speaking than Macadam, according to the well-
known mot) Colossus of Roads ! With the more
recent career and the yet vaster achievements °t
George Stephenson's equally famous son Roboti
Stephenson, the whole of the civilized world is le"
since familiarly acquainted. His Level Bridge a
Newcastle, his Tubular Bridges at Menai Strait°,
and at Conway, his vast Tubular Bridges in the °lc
world and the new, in the east and in the Heat'
across the Nile and across the St. Lawrence, art`
ro
monuments of his engineering genius. TneY
alto.
marks left by him upon the world to show to
times that there were giants also in these our 01''rt
days. Mr. Smiles's story of his, that is, of Rob
Stephenson's Life and of that of his distingullo,
father George Stephenson, a story compacted by
gether iu one charming volume, takes its place lam;
es
right among the choicest biographies in our _,
guage. It is as instructive and as deeply
ing as any among them—from Cavendish's 11
to Boswell's Johnson, or to Forster's Goldswit°