The Sun.
London, England, 1844-12-13 00:00:00

DINNER TO SIR H. POTTINGER.
Wednesday a public entertainment was given at Mer-
chant Tailors'-hall to Major-General Sir Henry Pot-
tinger, Bart., by the merchants of the City of London
trading to China and the East Indies, to testify their
high approval of the distinguished ability and zeal dis-
played by that gallant officer as British Plenipotentiary,
in negotiating so successfully the recent commercial
treaty with China.
The dinner was provided by Messrs. Bathe and Breach,
of the London Tavern, and was altogether of the most
sumptuous character. The display of gold and silver
plate oa the sideboards at the upper and lower end of
the hall, the golden plateau sernce on the cross-table,
the gigantic gilt candelabra, formerly belonging to Prince
Polignac, the Marquis of Hertford, and Messrs. Rundel
and Bridge, arranged on the other tables, gave an aspect
I of the most costly magnificence to the spectacle, while
the feast itself presented a profusion of the greatest deli-
cacies which the most luxurious appetite could desiderate
'or enjoy. Covers were laid for 330.
Mr. John A. Smith, M.P., officiated as chairman. Im-
mediately on his right sat Sir Henry Pottinger, Bart.,
I the Marquis of Norinanby, and' Lord Palmerston, and
on the left Lord Aberdeen and Sir James Graham.
Among the other distinguished gentlemen present we
observed the Earl of Arundel, the Earl of Clare, the
Earl of Lonadale, Lord C. Fitzroy, Lord Dudley Stuart,
the Hon. G. Scott, General Farquharson, General Sand-
with, Sir W. Baynes, Bart., Sir I'. Bouchier, Sir J.
Campbell, Sir John Hall, Sir J. C. ilobhouse, Bart., Sir
George Larpent, Sir D. Le Merchant, Sir William
Magnay, Sir W. Parker, Sir J. H. Pelley, Sir John
Pirie, Sir J. Schoedde, Baron L. de Rothschild, Baron
A. de Rothschild, Count Strelezki, Chairman and De-
puty-Chairman of the Bank of England, Chairman and
Deputy-Chairman of the lion. East India Company,
Colonel Malcolm, Colonel Sykes, Captain Hall, R.N.,
Dr. Bowring, Rev. J. M. Bellamy, Mr. Sheriff Sidney,
Captain Eestwick, Mr. J. A. Arbuthnot, Mr. D. Bar-
clay, Mr. F. Baring, Mr. Joshua Bates, Mr. J. G.
Frith, Mr. J. H. Gledstanes, Mr.. G. C. Glyn, Mr. Goul-
burn, Mr. Samuel Gregson, Mr. A. Hastie, M.P., Mr. F.
Huth, Mr. A. Jardine, Mr. C. Kerr, Mr. W. Lyall, M.P.,
Mr..). M'Gregor, Mr. J. Mackillop, Mr. J. Masterman,
1. M.P., Mr. R. D. Mangles, M.P., Mr. J. Mattheson, M.P.
;;Mr. J. St. John Mildmay, M.P.. Mr. J. Horsley Palmer,
'Mr. J. Pattison, M.P., Mr. D. Salomons, Mr. M. Tucker
Smith, Mr. Emerson Tennent, M.P., Mr. T. Tooke, Mr.
Trevelyan, Mr. Money Wigram, Mr. Baring Young.
After grace, and the cloth having been removed,
The CHAIRMAN rose to propose the first toast, " The
health of her Majesty the Queen—the model of constitu-
tional sovereigns—the pattern of all domestic virtues—
the admiration of all other countries—the pride and
glory of our ewn."—(Three times three.)
The next toast was " The health of the Queen Dowa-
ger, his Royal Highness Prince Albert, Albert Prince
of Wales, and the rest of the Royal Family."—(Three
times three, followed by Prince Albert's March.)
" The Army and the Navy" were next toasted with all
the honours.
Colonel MALCOLM acknowledged the toast in the name
of the army.
Admiral Sir T. BOUCHIER returned thanks on the part
of the navy.
The CHAIRMAN then rose and said, the toast I have
now to give you is the great duty and business of the
evening—" The health of our distinguished guest, Sir
Henry Pottinger."—(Cheers.) I will not detain you
long in proposing it, and I promise you that I shall not
trifle with your feeling of anxiety to do honour to that
distinguished name. Still custom compels me to say a
few words in explanation of the causes which have
brought us together this day. lam proud of the privi-
lege of mingling my congratulations with your re-
joicings in the events which we this day celebrate.
The events we have met to record will hereafter
form an era in the history of the nation, and equal
in its consequences the passage of the Cape and
the discovery of America ; and our descendants
will proudly boast that the advantages thus opened
to the world have been the result of British enterprise,
and been secured by British power. We are met to ac-
knowledge how deep a debt of gratitude we owe to that
distinguished man by whom those benefits have been
conferred. If it be true that the main springs of British
energy and power are commercial enterprise and ac-
tivity—if it be true that our population is increasing
with marvellous and unprecedented rapidity, and that
the power of our manufacturing production is increasing
faster still—if it be true that in the solution of that diffi-
cult problem to which these facts refer is involved the
future destiny of England, what do we not owe to him
who has opened up commercial intercourse with the
most populous and nationally commercial empire in the
world ? What do we not owe to him who has opened
a market for the skill, enterprise, and activity of our
manufacturing population, and given us a command in
that market which it may not be an exaggeration here-
after to describe as being boundless as our powers of
production themselves ? Who shall pretend to fore-
tell what effect this new outlet for the various and
ever varying productions of England will have on the
future greatness and power of this mighty empire ?
We were once described as tote orbe divisor Bri-
tannos." That is a description familiar to us as house-
hold words. We were separated, at least in the ima-
gination of the Roman poet, from the rest of the world
by tempest, by storms, and what then was considered
an impassable barrier. But we all know how those dif-
ficulties and obstacles have yielded to the energy, the
gallantry, and the enterprise of that people to whom it
has been granted by Providence to be the means not
only of carrying civilization through the old world, but
we may now hope will be the means of introducing
knowledge and improvement to the teeming myriads of
China. The prophecy of the English poet is now be-
coming emphatic and exact, when the progeny which
springs from the forests of our land—
" Armed with thunder clad with wings,
" Shall a wider world command,
" Regions Caesar never knew
" Our posterity shall sway
"Where his eagles never flew,
" None victorious as they."
—(Cheers.) We have asserted the dominion of England
in regions unknown, even to the fable and romance of
ancient story—we may now, I trust, hope that the day
has arrived when there is not a corner of the habitable
world which shall not feel English enterprise, and shall
not acknowledge English power.—(Cheers.) We have
known so little hitherto of that remarkable people
to which the events of this day peculiarly refer, that
I believe we are as yet unable to acknowledge
as we ought, all that we owe to the firmness, the patience,
the temper, and the forbearance of our distinguished
guest.—(Cheers.) We do not know all the difficulties
which beset his path ; but we can understand and ap-
preciate the condnct of him who, himself a soldier, knew
that the only just end of war was honourable peace,
and who, in the consciousness of irresistible power,
found, in the weakness and terror of his opponents, the
most irresistible arguments for mercy, moderation, and
forbearance.—(Cheers.) There is one other circum-
stance to which I wish to call your attention, and to
which I allude with peculiar pleasure. I believe that
the interests of England forbid all exclusive selfishness.
Her interests do not stand isolated and alone. I re-
joice, therefore, that Sir Henry Pottinger, following the
dictates of his own vigorous understanding and his own
generous nature, extended to all other nations of the
world whatever advantages the Chinese treaty con-
ferred upon his own eountry.—(Cheers.) I rejoice
that if it was, ever thought that England fought China
for selfish and exclusive advantages, our illustrious
guest dispelled that illusion and vindicated the motives
of England to the world.—(Loud cheers.) Gentlemen,
I now give you as a toast—" The health of Sir
Henry Pottinger,"—of him who has opened the widest
field to English commerce which has been given to us
since the passage of the Cape— of him who has conferred
on his country an inestimable boon, and raised her still
higher in character and fame—of him whose name shall
hereafter not only be associated with the increased
power and prosperity of England, but to whom the still
higher glory shall be conceded of having introduced
knowledge, civilisation, and religion to so largo a por-
tion of the whole human kind. In the name of those
who have placed me here I thank him for the services
he has rendered not only to the people of this country,
bqt to the oause of progress and improvement through-
out the world. Long may he live to enjoy what I be-
lieve will be his richest reward—the grateful approba-
tion of his countrymen.
The toast
_was drunk with three times three and one
cheer more.
Sir H. PormeEn, Bart., on rising was received with
renewed cheering, and spoke as follows :—After the
eloquent and feeling manner in which my. kind friend,
the Chairman, has spoken of me, I am quite at a loss
to tell you how deeply I feel the compliment you
have just paid me in drinking your health. Having
been long in the East I may perhaps make use of an
Oriental expression, " There never was a. rose without a
thorn I" the rose I allude to is your kindness—your
approbation—the honour you have done met the thorn,
which pricks not,my side but my heart, is that I cannot
express adequately the feelings of gratitude I entertain.
I must ask you, therefore, to remember how and where
my life has been passed. I have been about 40 years
absent from my native country. I hope I have always
taken part in the social meetings and national celebra-
tions that have taken place wherever I have been : but
still these have been so different from all I see here, that
I may say I am almost bewildered by this display of
your kindness. If therefore I fail in giving due expres-
sion to my sentiments, I hope you will make every allow-
ance for me while I refer to one or two points. And
first, I must refer to the extraordinary combination of
good qualities for which the expedition to China, both
in the naval and military departments, was distinguished.
It is not for me, after the thanks of both Houses of
Parliament have been awarded to the commanders of
the navy and army, to express any opinion on their
merits ; but I may say, that in every respect that ex-
pedition far exceeded my most sanguine expectations,
even with the full belief I had that all that was possible
would be done, I say, that the expedition up to
Nankin was the most extraordinary event in the history
of any country in the world.—(Cheers.) It surmounted
physical difficulties which the Chinese themselves be-
lieved utterly impossible. When the Rogue forts had
been silenced at the mouth of the river, by the gallantry
of our troops, the Governor of Nankin, I know for a fact,
wrote to the Emperor, saying he might feel quite ossy,
for the expedition could never reach him.—(Loud cheers.)
Having paid my humble duty to the service with which
I was associated in China, I wish merely to say that,
with respect to matters of trade, I believe the treaty
includes every thing desirable for England Ind for China.
—(Cheers.) I am now Speaking impartially.— (Cheers.)
Having reflected Seriously on it since I returned to Eng-
land 1 'really see no point in which any amendment of
importance can be made. There are some points no
doubt susceptible of amendment, but on all the leading
important points it requires no alteration. It h one
great advantage, that it is likely to benefit England
and China in the same degree.—(Cheers.) The interests
of both countries are, in fact, similarly affected.—
(Cheers.) A very erroneous impression went abroad,