The Sun.
London, England, 1868-04-24 00:00:00

COURT OF COMMON COUNCIL.

A Court of Common Council was held at the
Guildhall yesterday, Alderman Sir John Musgrove
presiding, in the absence of the Lord Mayor.
THE LATE VISIT OF THE VICEROY OF EGYPT.
Before proceeding to the ordinary business,
Sir T. GABRIEL said he wanted to make an ex-
planation iu reference to a document which he was
about to ask the Clerk to read to the Court. It
was a reply
from the Viceroy of Egypt to an ad-
dress which this Court voted when his Highness
visited this country. The Court agreed that that
address should be presented in a gold box ; but as
his highness had to leave in a few days the box
could not be finished in time, and the address was
therefore presented by itself in Dudley house, and
his highness gave an extempore reply, which was
entered in the minutes of the Court. Subsequently
the casket was entrusted to him (Sir T. Gabriel),
and he handed it to the agent of the Viceroy in this
country, who forwarded it to Egypt, together with
a copy of the address which had been voted by the
Court, and his Highness thereupon sent another and
more formal reply. This was dated so far back as
the Bth of January, and arrived a few days after he
had left for Egypt, so that it had nothing to do with
any civilities he had received in that country ; but
he might mention that the Viceroy received Sheriff
Waterlow and himself in a most kind and hospitable
manner, and placed at their disposal for a month,
if they pleased, a yacht, well manned and vic-
tualled, and in charge of a member of his court. In
short, his Highness did everything to render their
visit as pleasant as it could be made. It was only
fair to add that the Sultan, who was splendidly en-
tertained by this Corporation, recognizing him (Sir
T. Gabriel) as having been fortunately the head of
the CorPoration when he was so entertained, received
them as his guests, and placed about them parties
armed with the fullest authority to take them to all
places of interest in the capital. He now begged to
move that the reply of the Viceroy be Lead and en-
tered on the minutes.

The TOWN CLERK then read his Royal High-
ness's reply as follows :--‘, His Highness the Vice-
roy of Egypt to the Right lion. the Lord Mayor,
the Aldermen and Commons of the city of London.
My Lord Mayor and Gentlemen,—I have always
had an anxious desire to visit the great commercial
city of London, and I greatly rejoice that the happy
event has occurred. I am greatly sensitive to all
the hospitality and the good feeling shown to me
by all classes during my stay amongst you ; such
respect and courtesy shall never be effaced from my
memory. In addition to these kindnesses, I am ex-
ceedingly delighted to see by the joint and compli-
mentary address which you have obligingly sent to
me that my visit to England has given you pleasure,
and that the facilities afforded by me for the passage
of English troops to India, and any attention I may
have given to those who have visited Egypt, have
been so fully appreciated by you. It is indeed a
source of pride to me to receive such flattering ex-
pressions from the lips of the Chief Magistrate,
Aldermen, and Commons of the greatest and most
civilised city in the world. I truly confess, n-;y Lord
Mayor, that I cannot adequately convey to you the
gratification afforded to me by your recent hospi-
tality and courtesy, for which I am unable to thank
you sufficiently. In accordance with the sincere at-
tachment and friendship which I entertain towards
the great English people, and with an anxious soli-
citude to increase the amicable relations which exist
,between my country and Great Britain, 1 shall al-
ways endeavour to further their affairs and material
interests in Egypt ; and as the prosperity of every
nation depends upon the facilities afforded for ma-
nufacturing, agricultural, and commercial inter-
course, I shall actively devote my attention to the

promoting:of this desirable object with reference 1.6
my country. Egypt being especially an agricultu-
ral country, its prosperity chiefly depends upon the
improvement of its agriculture and the obtaining
advantageous markets for its produce. I shall
therefore at all times endeavour to extend and
strengthen friendly relations and commercial in-
tercourse with the great English people, who
have always, more than ar.y other nation, taken
a deep interest iu the welfare and happiness of
Egypt.

" Cairo, Bth January, 1868."
The motion to enter the reply on the minutes was
unanimously agreed to.

FIELD•JIARSIIALL SIR JOAN BURGOYNE.

Mr. J. B. SAUNDERS moved the following resolu-
tion of which he had given notice :—" That the free-
dom of this city, in a gold box, of the value of 100
guineas, be presented to Field Marshal Sir John
Burgoyne, Bart., G.C.8., Constable of the Tower
of London, in recognition of the distinguished,ser-
vices rendered by him to his country during a long
and useful professional career ; and this Court con-
gratulate him on the well-merited honours which
her Majesty has been graciously pleased to confer."
Premising- that the freedom of the City was a pri-
vilege only to be conferred on individuals of the
highest distinction, he remarked that Sir John Bur-
goyne was a godchild of Charles James Fox, and
that, his father dying in the army, he was sent to
Eton by the grandfather of the present Earl of
Derby. Subsequently he commenced life as a lieu-
tenant of engineers, acting at the blockade and sur-
render of Malta, and Sir Thomas Picton said of
him, " Give me Burgoyne with the fighting 3rd,
and I can do anything." The request was at-
tended to, and Sir John rose step by step. He
next joined Lord Wellington, and was present at
nearly all the battles on the Peninsula, and at
a more recent period fought at Alma, Inkerman,
and Balaklava. In 1845 he was appointed In-
spector-general of Fortifications ; in 1847 he was
chairman of the Relief Committee when famine
visited the sister isle ; in 18G0 he was a member of
the Royal Commission on our defences; and lastly,
as the crowning point of his honours, he was one of
those selected for the highest military distinction,
and appointed to succeed such men as Wellington
and Combermere in the constableship of the Tower
of London. Many had had the freedom of the City
conferred on them for one single act, but in this
case it was the accumulated acts of 70 years which
were deserving of honour. Sir John Burgoyne
was a sincere, true-hearted, good old man. At
eighty-six he stood pre-eminently before them, and
he trusted that the resolution which he had the
honour of proposing would be accepted by the court.
(Applause.)
_

111 r. PHILLIPS seconded the resolution, and
hoped hon. members would not be backward in
granting this mark of their esteem to a distinguished
man.

Mr. DE JERSEY regretted that this motion should
have been placed ou the paper without other mem-
bers of the Court having been consulted, because
it placed Sir John Burgoyne, who was an honour-
able man, in an ambiguous position. lie contended
that nothing had occurred specially calling for this
mark of honour being bestowed on Sir John Bur-
goyne, and concluded by moving the previous
question.

. Sir B. PHILLIPS said he took the remarks of Mr.
De Jersey as a censure upon the mover of the mo-
tion rather than as a desire on the part of the hon.
member to tarnish the name and fame of this good
old soldier. Mr. Saunders had not perhaps used
that discretion which was desirable under the cir-
cumstances, and for the future it would be well that
any one desiring to treat a question of so much
importance as this should test beforehand the opi-
nion of certain members of the Court rather than
introduce the name of an honoured veteran like this
and have it rejected. Mr. De jersey remarked that
Sir John Burgoyne's services had been rewarded by
the appointment given by the Crown, but was the
Crown or the country so generous to heap rewards
upon him undeservedly ? If so, he must confess it
was a new thing in its history. He believed re-
wards were generally conferred upon men who won
them, and he hoped the Court would pause before
it sanctioned the proposition of Mr. De Jersey, be-
cause it surely could not go forth to the public that
Mr. Saunders' motion was rejected simply on the
ground of its having been injudiciously introduced;
it must be carried or rejected on its merits.
(Hear, hear.) And its merits mean what ?
Why, that this general, at 86, having received the
rewards of his country and the Crown, was not en-
titled, in the estimation of the members of this
Court, to an honour which it had never refused to
give for services that had been rendered to the
country. (Hear, hear.) Was there any gentleman
there who knew anything of the history of this old
man's life who would not cheerfully accord to him
every honour to which he was entitled ? Well, if
their opinion was that he was a good and brave
officer, and entitled to all the rewards he had re-
ceived, surely they would consider him worthy of
the honour nom proposed to be conferred upon him.
He (Sir B. Phillips) could not lose sight of the fact'
that if there were any opposition, that opposition
was not directed against General Burgoyne—(no,
no)—but was rather directed, firstly, against the
mover of the motion, for the purpose of acting as a
check for the future. (Hear, hear.) Now, all he
asked was that they should not let this good old
man suffer in the estimation of the Court from the
accidental circumstance that the proposition had
been injudiciously brought forward. This was a
question of too much importance to be lightly dealt
with, and he hoped the Court, for its own honour,
would not reject Mr. Saunders' resolution. (Hear,
hear.)

Dr. SAUNDERS said that on referring to the Army
List he found that Sir John Burgoyne entered the.
army in 1798, and had, therefore, seen seventy
years' service, but he also found that there were
senior to him in the army no less than eleven gene-
ral officers, four of whom were field-marshals. lie
submitted that if they granted the freedom of the
City to Sir John Burgoyne, they could not well
leave out the three other generals who had been
recently honoured with the rank of field-marshal,
and who were his seniors.
Mr. al.'s observed that if ever a man deserved
this honour it was General Burgoyne; and he hoped
the Court would not cast the slur upon him of re-
fusing this motion, however injudiciously, accord-
ing to the views of some members, it may have been
introduced.

Mr. FRICKER thought the Court had a right to
complain of the manner in which Mr. Saunders had
introduced the question, as he ought to have satisfied
himself that he would have a good chance of carry-
ing it before he ventured to introduce it. It was
only due to the Court that the hon. member should
withdraw his motion.

Mr. BEDFORD objected to the proposition laid
down, that if they refused a proposal like this they
insulted an illustrious man. They were bound to
take every case upon its own merits. Sir John
Burgoyne was a great soldier, but he was not the
only One. (Oh, oh.)
.All the other three generals
who were created field-marshals the other day were
equally great, and there were men in other walks
of life, such as Wheatstone and Simpson, who were
as much deserving of honour. Let it not be said,
the principle be laid down, that because a great
man was brought forward they were bound to carry
the proposition.
Alderman J. C. LAWRENCE said he had hoped
that this motion would pass without oppoition.
No one who had read the history of this country
could come to any other conclusion than that Sir
John Fox Burgoyne was worthy of the highest
Honours that could he showered upon him ; and if
his advice had been taken the Crimean war would
have been checked at the outset, and many bones
that now whitened the Crimea would not have been
lying there. That fact alone entitled him to the
gratitude of the country, and no military man of
the present day deserved the favour of the
Sovereign in a greater degree than Sir John
Burgoyne.
Mr. Alderman SIDNEY expressed his concurrence
in the observations of Dr. Saunders and Mr. Bed-
ford, and said if the question came to a division he
would vote for the amendment, but he sincerely
hoped Mr. Saunders would kindly acquiesce in the

suggestion which had been offered and withdraw
the motion.

Some further discussion took place,and eventually
the amendment was negatived by a majority of 9,
the numbers being—For the amendment, 34, and
for the motion 43.

Several other amendments were then proposed,
and the adjournment was so repeatedly moved and
divisions taken with the object of defeating Mr
Saunders's resolution as to call for severe animad-
version with reference to the conduct of the mi-
nority from Sir Benjamin Phillips and Alderman
Lawrence.

There appearing little likelihood of either side
giving way,

Sir JOHN AlusGnovE suggested that the matter
should be postponed, and the motion placed first on
the paper of business for next week.
This course was adopted, and the Court then ad-
journed, after sitting nearly seven hours.