The Sun.
London, England, 1868-11-16 00:00:00

THE NINTH NOVEMBER IN LONDON.

.../Fronz the Anglo-American Tiny's.)
The Lord Mayor's Show is a great sight, and the
Lord Mayor's Banquet is better still. Both were
instituted by the of polloi exclusively for their own
benefit—the Show for the " common people," the
riff-riff of London ; and the dinner for their
" betters." In both instances the victims immo-
lated are those who have attained to distinction and
high posts. The servant girl who gets a holiday,
and dresses herself to see the procession, extracts
from it an enjoyment denied to Mr. Sheriff Cotton
in.his State chariot, preceded by four trumpeters,
and attended by his chaplain. In the days when
• men in real armour adorned the procession, when
the challenger rode proudly with his lance erect,
no one derived such enjoyment as the "Arabs,"
as the vagrant boys are called, over the bodies of
these gallant knights strewn in the street, which
the impostor Jenks, better
fitted
behind the State Coach,
ground. The accidents to the
hadfel l
heavily t
oresounded
show
to
his
the whencalves
people in armour caused them, we presume, to be
discontinued ; and the " Arabs" ceased to rejoice
at the discomfiture of the men-at-arms. But,
although efforts have been made to discontinue the
pageant, it lives as too good a city custom to
be easily set aside, while the Banquet not only
lives, but flourishes. Formerly when the Show was not
an old institution it was more necessary than now
to amuse the " common people," and their tastes
were consulted. At present the necessity is to con-
sult the tastes of the upper portions of the middle
classes, and therefore the banquet thrives. The
Dukes of Cambridge and Wellington, and their
other lordships ; the Ministers and Ambassadors
who had to speak, are little likely to enjoy the
Lord Mayor's feast, notwithstanding its turtle soup
and sparkling wines, as such a preparation is not
that best calculated to clear ideas, and to speak
with caution, is inculcated by theknowledge that the
world is the audience, and not the decanters around
the table. The case, however, is very different
with the decanters—we mean the gentlemen—who
have merely to eat, to drink, and to listen. They
may indulge t) their hearts' content in unaccus-
tomed luxury, satisfying themselves that they are
in the height of good society, dining with a Royal
Duke, with a Prime Minister as actor, and a Lord
Mayor as showman. It is for this reason that these
public dinners flourish. To the " honoarel guest"
they must be a trial, however enjoyable to the " un-
distinguished," and the more nonsense the former
talk the better pleased are the latter, who have not
in their sober moments the next morning to face
the daily papers. If report has not belied Disraeli
he can first discuss a magnum and then a Bill ; but
few are thus gifted, and the turtle soup and claret
atmosphere is too exhilarating to be the arena
of common sense. In dealing, then, with
speeches made at banquets, this fact should
always be borne in mind. The Lord Mayor,
after asserting that the health of the Queen else-
where than in the City of London was regarded as
a formal toast, went on to propose the Army, with
whom he associated the name of his Royal High-
ness the Commander-in-Chief, believing every sol-
dier to be nervA•to greater exertion by the know-
ledge that a Prince of the Royal family took an
interest in his welfare, and was desirous of improv-
ing his condition. Reasoning from analogy, we
would scarcely conclude that the health of her
Majesty was a formal toast if the British soldier
thus glowed with ardent patriotism on the know-
ledge that a Prince of the Royal family condescended
to preside at the Horse Guards, and take an inte-
rest in his welfare, associating that interest with
large drafts on the Treasury. His lordship rmay
have expressed the general feeling of the British
Army, though individuals of that service have the
presumption to utter opinions the reverse. We are,
however, more concerned with what his lordship
had to say about America, and the response of his
Excellency the American Minister. Mr. Johnson
was selected to respond for the Ambassadors, ;rho