The Sun.
London, England, 1845-05-19 00:00:00

//.

GRAND BANQUET AT GOLD-
OnSMITH
nt.
Saturday evening the ancieHALL and opulent Company
of Goldsmiths gave a sumptuous banquet to his Royal
Highness Prince Albert, Sir Robert Peel, and mostcf
her Majesty's Ministers, at their splendid Hall in Foster-
lane, at the rear of the General Post office.
On this occasion, as might be expected, the exterior
and interior of the noble structure presented a very gay
appearance. As relates to the interior, the state apart-
ments and the approaches to them have been justly pro-
nounced as marked with an air of palatial grandeur not
exceeded by that of any other piece of interior architec-
ture in the Metropolis. The whole suite of noble saloons
presented so brilliant a scene as to surpass anything
hitherto displayed by this wealthy corporate body, and
justly merited the encomium passed by Prince Albert,
who, we are informed, expressed to the Prime Warden
of the Company his admiration and astonishment at the
magnificent spectacle which each apartment presented to
his view.
The liverymen and visitors began to arrive so early as
half-past five o'clock. Sir Robert Peel, the Duke of
Buccleuch, and other members of the Cabinet arrived
by half-past six. His Royal Highness Prince Albert,
with the officers of his suite, arrived at five minutes
before seven o'clock. His Royal Highness was received
with lend cheering-by a considerable crowd assembled
in front of the hall, and in the General Pest-offiee
yard. The Prince was received, on afighting from his
carriage, by the Prime Warden, and the Company's
chief officers, and conducted to the state apartments.
Shortly afterwards the company sat down to a sump-
tuous banquet, consisting of every luxury of the season.
Prince Albert, we are informed, on being conducted to
the dining hall by the Prime Warden, was struck with
the utmost surprise at the splendour of the scene, and
his Royal Highness is said to have exclaimed, " This is,
indeed, magnificent." The usual loyal toasts were
drunk on this occasion, and the speeches consisted of re-
ciprocal compliments between her Majesty's Ministers
and the Company.

HARBOURS OF REFUGE.

TO THE EDITOR or THE TIMES.
Sir,—l think that I need offer no excuse for troubling
you on a subject in which the lives of so many of our
valuable seamen are concerned. It is probable that the
report of the Commistioners appointed to select the most
eligible place for a harbour of refuge will shortly be laid
before Parliament. Therefore, the suggestions of indi-
viduals respecting it who, ex-officially, may have devoted
a little time to the consideration of such matters, it is
to be hoped, are deserving of some consideration.
In the report above alluded to, a copy of which ap-
peared in the Times newspaper, Sir Henry Symonds,
Surveyor of the Navy, stands prominently f rward as
dissenting from the views adopted by his brother Com-
' missioners. We can hardly suppose that an old captain
in the navy, possessed of so much practical knowledge,
would singly oppose a project for making a deep sea har-
bour at Dover, unless his conviction of its impolicy and
impracticability were so deeply founded as to admit of no
compromise with his sincere end conscientious belief,
implied by his dissent, that it would be a waste of public
money, a futile attempt, and a grievous and irreparable
failure. He is like a juryman, who alone risks the
anger of his empannelled brethren and of an expectant
and impatient court of law, determined not to subscribe
to an unjust verdict.
The writer, for one, perfectly coincides with Sir
William in his objections to Dover; and it is reasonable
to imagine, that in rejecting Dover, and boldly stating
his preference for one side of Dungeness, ke must (con-
sidering who he is) have grounded that preference on a
thorough knowledge of the localities, the tides, winds,
and currents of the Channel on the S.E. coast. The
reasons that seem to present themselves in favour of
either side of Dungeness are these:--In the event of a
war, as a naval station, with the general prevailing
einds, a harbour of refuge at either of those points
would command Boulogne, Calais, and Dunkirk, if not
Dieppe; and, for merchant-ships, could not, taking the
coast as it is, be at a better place. It may be said to be
almost midway between the Downs and Spithead. It
would be singularly well situated, as being just to wind.
ward of the narrowest part of the Channel; for (and let
this be held in mind) it is more with south and westerly
winds than with any other that a refuge is required, and
more often with ships going westward than eastward.
It frequently happens, during foul weather, that a fleet
of vessels collected and detained in the Downs will, oa
a favourable change in the wind, start in the morning,
and by the afternoon get as far as Fairlight, or near
Preachy-head, when the wind gradually gets round to
the S.W. or S., with every indication of a bad night.
In such a case, where could there be a more secure haven
to fly to than one constructed at Dungeness, or a little to
the eastward of it, within reach, before dark ; instead of
having to make for the Downs in the obscurity of the
night, at the hazard of running foul of other vessels and
of getting a foul berth for anchoring ? The writer once
heard an old and experienced seaman, for many years
master of a trading vessel, say that, in going from Londoa
to Portsmouth, he got under weigh nine times from the
Downs, and more than half the nine times got past
Dungeness towards Fairlight, when the wind headed him.
It is curious that, in the recent surveys made by the
Harbour Commissions, Rye-harbour and Rye-bay have
been passed over unnoticed ; yet Rye-bay might with
less expense than any of the other places named in the
report, be made the harbour of refuge required, inas-
much as it presents superior facilities for insuring suc-
cess in the results. There can be no doubt that, if a
breakwater were to be extended along the outside of
Rye-bay, from near Fairlight towards Dungeness, a
very safe haven, with six, seven, eight, or nine fathoms
depth of water, might be insured, according to the
greater or less distance chosen for placing it. More-
over, this breakwater-haven would possess, inside of
it, what it must be obvious would be a very desirable
adjunct, namely, a tolerably good existing harbour--
that of Rye—available in its present state on emergen-
cies for ships of 300 or 400 tons, and capable, if some
useful plan were adopted, of being rendered still
deeper and more capacious. The outside breakwater-
haven, in having an opening at each end, would allow
of the passage through of both flood and ebb tides,—
currents that would effectually prevent its silting.
These observations are thrown out with the hope that
no unfair patronage exercised by influential individuals
may
cide ownarthpethcheoi judgmentce t
obe of
made. those2 ,owohooxioa are finally
ought ntootdteo.
be wasted in making ducks and drakes on the sea.
Those who could give birth to such a blind measure as
that of enclosing such a spacious area in six fathom-
water outside of Dover harbour, where beach and sand
would fill it up falter almost than the walls intended to
surround it could be constructed, should weigh the
consequences of an abortion. It is sufficient that so
gross an error has been committed as to erect the statue
cf Field-Marshal the Duke of Wellington in front of the
forum of British merchants, as if war and commerce
ever could go hand in hand. Symbols of peace ought to
grace the portals of trade. The statue should have
over-looked the parade at the back of the Hone Guards,
for there was its most appropriate site. Let not, then,
the illustrious hero be made the figure head of a harbour
of refuge.

PALINURUS.

Some of our contemporaries copied during the
week a paragraph from a country paper, stating posi-
tively that Earl St. Germans (late Secretary for Ireland)
had been appointed Ambassador to the Court of Russia,
at the special request of the Duke of Wellington, in the
place of Lord Stuart de Rothsay, who had just resigned.
There were other statements in the paragraph which it
is not necessary to notice. The fact, however, is, that
Lord Stuart de Rothsay resigned so far back as the be-
iswehmenbas
jusyntonSlot.oPmefiteelrdeb
wasur g h on
ap-
pointedn
as Envoy Extraordinary' and
Minister Plenipotentiary, which office he now holds.
sneeredisst i)ireeaairthhim h.
ag account nngt
to
off It al
The statement of Earl St. Germans' nomination is, con.
sequently, without the slightest foundation.
A thousand years hence antiquarians will derive
the vulgar saying, " Please the pigs," from the corn.
laws. In Australia and the United. States pigs are fat-
fEanygoluaren dd.
coTunhteryb,reaapdigw hisicdhevaouproionrgwrinetthche
grwanaintsiinn
vthis
tened on corn, because men are not allowed to eat it in
an
If
cannot
enocot corn-laws,dththena,t areth preserved
for fporienmoanother aennd ,it
please the pigs of Australia and America. leyn these
r wheat,
reso.
Trade Bazaar an Australian pig well fattedon
theprtohteec mtiavne
be exhibited in juxtapesidon with a Dorsetshire
should
labourer, in exemplification of the blessed working of
whichu givesrlaw
the
makers beast h
awhatve a secretire-
fusess
.3''Csteerrnta, y o
sympathy with the pigs.
Tu M.P.'s AND THE LAWYERS.—The Members of
Parliament appointed to serve en Railway Committees are
complaining bitterly of the severe treatment they dre com-
pelled to undergo at the hands of the lawyers employed as
Counsel. Poor Mr. Escott hid actually given way under
the dreadful burden of listening to the barristers' speeches,
and several of the M.P.'s arc fast sinking under the dire in-
fliction. We would propose that standing orders may be
framed to regulate the conduct of standing Counsel: Aniong
other things it might be arranged that the lawyers should
meet alone to deliver .their speeches two hours before the
regular time for the Committee to sit, so that the speeches
could always be concluded and got rid of beibre proceeding
to"the business, which they usually have not the smallest
connexion with. The proposition for making the Irish Mem -
tiers come over to take a part in the fatigue of bearing the
lawyers talk is exceedingly just, and ought at once to be
acted on. Ai to stopping. Counsel when they once begin,
we see no chance of that; but if both sides were allowed to
deliver their speeches at once, time would be saved, and the
rilsult would be-mit...ally useful. We hope that what M.P.'
are now suffering will teach them to shorten their own
speeches, in mercy to those who have to listen to them.—
nch ?I . _ -

Dispatches for the Governor of West Australia
worn sent off from the Colonial-office, on Saturday
evening,

111F;4,„
•• •
- \
3

_•
ception to the rule. Thirteen of the clergy of that exten-
sive diocese, chiefly curates, have addressed their diocesan,
who is an ultra-Tory in politics, declaring that the♦
deem it their duty to record their opposition tol the May-
nooth Bill, "as it has been assumed that great indif-
ference exists in Ireland upon the subject," and they add,
this statement might seem to be in some measure supported
by the fact that few petitions have been presented against
the proposed grant.
The paucity of signatures to this address affords most de-
cided evidence of the unwillingness of the clergy of the
Established Church to take any part in opposing the measure
of Sir Robert Peel.
The Right Hon. Sidney Herbert has set an example to the
landed gentry of Ireland, in the endowment of Roman Ca-
tholic clergymen, in accordance with the earnest recommen-
dation-or Sir Robert Peel, when introducing the Maynooth
Bill in the House of Commons. Mr•. Herbert, who is the
owner of large property in Dublin and its vicinity, has settled
1001. per annum on the parish priest of Irishtown, and a like
sum on the parish priest of Booterstown, in both of which
parishes he is the principal proprietor. The endowment is
perpetual for the clergymen of these parishes, and it is vested
in the Commissioners of .Donatiens and Bequests, under the
Act of last session.