The Sun.
London, England, 1842-01-18 00:00:00

'iibited upon sideboards, paced at the top and bottom of
he Hall. At the east end was erected a gallery, which
vas decorated with crimson drapery, and in which the
,and of the Life Guards was stationed. The appearance
,f the room was magnificent in the extreme. At five
o'clock the dinner was announced in the drawing-room.
The following is a list of the guests of the Lord Mayor
and the Lady Mayoress, on this most important and ir-
eresting occasion :—His Royal Highness Prince Albert,
.Ers. Fry, Mrs. Melville. Miss Fry, Mrs. Pidgeon, and Mrs.
Tomes. The suite of his Royal Highness Prince Albert,
iz.—The Marquis of Exeter, the Lord in Waiting, the
Equerry in Waiting, the Groom in Waiting, and Mr.
knson. The Lord President of the Council, the Lord,
''rivy Seal, the Duke of Wellington, the First Lord of
he Admiralty, the Earl of Aberdeen, Lord Stanley,.
iir James Graham, Bart., the President of the
Hoard of Trade, the President of the Board of Control;
he First Lord of the Treasury (Sir Robert Peel),
the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Secretary-at-War.
..he Paymaster General, the Lord Steward, the Lord
harnbi2rlain, the Master of the Horse, the Lord in Wait
rig, the Vice-Chamberlain, the Groom of the Household,
.he Postmaster-General, the President 'of the Board of
Trade, the Lord Chief Justice of the Queen's Bench,
Lord Dudley Stuart, Lord John Russell, Mr. Master-
oat', Mr. Lyall, the Right Hon. Sir George Cockburn,
i.C.8., the Secretaries of the Board of Control, the
Attorney-General, the Solicitor-General, the Right
lon. J. C. Ilerries, the Lord Bishop of London, the
)ean of St. Paul's, and a host of Bankers, Merchants,
11dermen' Common Councilmen, and Members of Par
iament, for whose names we cannot find room.
After the cloth was removed,
The Loan Ma YOn said—May it please your Royal Highness,
my Lords and Gentlemen, prompted by sentiments of duty
and affection, which I am sure pervade the heart of every one
present, I beg to propose the health of our most gracious and
beloved Sovereign, " The Queen."—( Rapturous applause. )
The Loan MAYOR—My Lords and Gentlemen, the gracious
interference of a merciful Pro',idence, in the partial removal
of her sickness, adds much to the happiness which I feel in
proposing to you the health of an amiable and Illustrious Lady
who is the object of universal esteem, and for whose perfect
restoration we all entertain the deepest anxiety—" Her Majesty
the Queen Dowager."—(Loud cheers.)
The toast, which was drank with the utmost enthusiasm,
,vas followed by a favourite chorus from Euryanthe, accom-
panied by the band.
The Loan atavoe—My Lords and Gentlemen, I rise with
peculiar gratification to propose the health. of my distinguished
guest, his Royal Highness the Prince Albert, whose presence
ni this occasion will, I trust, fully justify the pride which I
cannot but feel at his having honoured me with his company.
His residence in England has not been long, but sufficiently
es to enable me to declare, that while he would at all times
have been received with honour as the Consort of our beloved
Queen, he is new received with affection and esteem for his own : I
sake. lam sure that you will all agree with me in these sePT ,•:., '
timents, and willingly join me in wishing " Health and every ,
happiness to his Royal Highness the Prince Albert."— ~ (Cheers.) '
His Royal Highness Prince ALBERT] who was greeted with ‘•,x
loud and rapturous cheering, then rose and said—" I return q!'";.q
my most sincere thanks for this toast, and beg to express to '`t:l;
you my lively satisfaction at the kind and flattering manner 't''l
in which you have reeeived me.—(Cheers.) It must ever be ,iel'ist
a gratifying recollection to me to have, by a trifling act of r'•
mine, connected my name with the erection of that important I; lid
building of which we have laid the first stone to-day—an -s:f. os
edifice of which it may truly be said that it will become the sllO4,
heart of the commerce of this great country—(Loud cheers) ,• j;
a country to which I feel myself attached by the dearest ties,--
a country inwhich I daily feel myself more at home—a country ~'"'"
whose kindness I daily more appreciate.—(Loud cheers.) 1.'., 0
Again thanking you for the honour you have done. me, I beg
now to propose " The health of the Lord Mayor, whose guest ::,pis'
I am this day, and the Corporation of the City of London."--- .-.4/
..,
(Loud and protracted cheers.) .s'
aP
The Loan MAYOR, in returning, thanks, said--ZIY, 0 cf,/
Lords and Gentlemen, my inauguration as the Chi,' ."1(01
Magistrate of this great' city was signalised by an ' ,
event which spread universal joy threugheut the king,:
-1
dom, the birth of his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales. r.
feel, therefore, peculiar pleasure in proposing to you the
" Health of his Royal Highness the Prince of Wales, and with . ..-
him, the rest of the Royal Family."—The toast, which was re-
.•
ceived with three times three, and one cheer more, was followed-
by the favourite trio," May he long be the Pride of the Nation.
The Loan MaYoa....-My Lords and Gentlemen, the not ~2
toast which I beg to introduce is the health of the Lord Bishop
of the diocese—a Prelate who has shown himself most anxious
to provide additional churches, and also schools for training up
the rising generation in sound religious principles. It is with
much pleasure that I propose the health of " The Lord Bishop
of London, and the Established Church."—(Cheers. )
The Bishop of Losnos then rose and said—My Lord Mayor • -
and Gentlemen—l return you my humble and sincere therms
for the honour you have been pleased to confer on me, and to , .-
the company present for the manner in which they have re' ' ~...i
ceived the toast which you have had the kindness to pro-
pose. I have been taken quite by surprise in having mY ~
name mentioned at so early a period in the evening. I hope I -am not mistaken in supposing it to be an , lii;if
'''
indication of your Lordship's most sincere attachment' rtlx„a
to the most sacred and valuable of the established institutions' cri
of the country.—( Loud cheers. ) I will only say, with 1
refer...llloi
ence to the important solemnity of this day, that I trust the ,'1,9
merchants and citizens of London, while providing additional- ll°',/y
facilities for the commerce of this emporium of trade, will not' ~IA I'
forget the 'principles which actuated him who first founded the ''s
Royal Exchange, and at the same time made provision for the. , s
indigent, and the promotion of sound literature and useful '
..
knowledge.—(Loud cheers.) I beg again to return you tnY
most sincere thanks for the honour you have done me, and beg
to drink all your good healths.—(Loud cheers.)
The LORD MAYOR—My Lords and Gentlemen, I feel con-
fident that my next toast will be drunk with enthusiasm i it is
our brave defenders by land and sea, who have carried the
British flag with honour to every clime, and to the admiration ' ,
of the civilised world—" The Army and Navy."—(Cheers.)
(The toast was drunk with three times three, and followed
by " Rule Britannia.")
The LORD Mavoa—My Lords and Gentlemen, the happi-
ness and prosperity of our beloved country, and especially of
her merchants, depends upon the direction of her affairs being •
in the hands of a talented and powerful Administration ; this
benefit I trust we shall for a long time be permitted to enjoy.
With such a Government as the present, under the directioe
of a statesman so able and experienced as the Right Hot
Baronet, we cannot doubt that, with all other important sew'
jects, the prosperity of this ancient city, and of our commerce.
will receive the utmost encouragement and protection. I beg,
therefore, to propose " Long life, health, and happiness, to thie
Right Hon. Sir Robert Peel, and the rest of her Majesty °
Ministers."—( Great applause. )
Sir R. PEEL, in acknowledging the toast. said, that in his
own behalf and the other Ministers of the Crown, he returned
their most cordial thanks for the manner in which their health
had been received, It was most grateful to them to have the
opportunity of beholding the important ceremony of that day ,
It was impossible not to feel that the spot on which they had
stood was to be, as it had been in former times, a centre of at-
traction
to the commerce of all nations, and where they would
forget all national antipathies and jealousies. His Royal High-
ness had that day laid the foundation of a building, not merely
dedicated to commerce but to peace—(Cheers)—and it was
the wish other Majesty's Government that the future progress
of that building should correspond with the favourable auspices
under which its foundation was laid.—( Cheers.) On the part
of his colleagues he again returned their respectful and cordial
thanks for the honour they had done them, and begged to drink
all their good healths.—( Loud and continued cheers. )
The LORD MAYOR—My Lords and Gentlemen, I have now
to advert to the interesting ceremony which has taken place
this day. It is nearly three centuries since, under Royal pa-
tronage and encouragement, a splendid edifice was erected
for the accommodation of British merchants. As this is not
the first time that the Royal Exchange has been destroyed by
fire, and hitherto nobler structures have succeeded to the 0109
so no now I trust that the foundation of a building has been
laid which will fully accord with the magnitude of our commer-
cial operations. The completion of the present undertaking
will be hailed by the great mercantile ;establishments whose
representatives I have now the honour to see around me, and I
have no doubt will be a matter of equally high gratification to
my distinguished guests. Your Royal Highness, my Lards,
and Gentlemen, will you join with me in drinking tt Pros-
-1 perity to the New Royal Exchange and the Trade of the city
of London," and in connexion with this toast the " Health of
the Noble Earl the President of the Board of Trade."
The Earl of RIPON' in returning :thanks, said it would be
an intrusion in him if he was to trouble them with more than
a passing word in expressing his personal thanks for the
honour his Lordship had done him in coupling his name with
the important ceremony of the day. It was not the first time
he had been called upon to thank the citizens of London for
similar compliments, and it did so happen the greater part of
his life (he found he must say it had not been a very short one) •
had been passed in duties connected with the commerce 0'
this country, and he should not have ventured to accept the
office which he held at present, if he had not previously eaPe;
rienced the kindness which the merchants of London had
always shown to those who endeavoured honestly to do their
duty.—( Loud cheers.) He would not allude to the particular • ,
circumstances of this day, after the clear and perspicuous n"1"; . -
nor in which they had been described by the Lord Mayor, and .
after the eloquent manner in which his Right Hon. Friends- '
~ i
whose health they had drank, had adverted to them. But_he eel,
must say that it was a circumstance of proud gratification t°. ', 'AP',
him to find that they were assembled here in the celebratiettli',4,),,,,s/
of such an event in the face of the concentrated representationAlWel
of the wealth, the honesty, and therefore the power and that,/
<ie,',J,
commercial integrity of this great empire.—(Cheers.) 110"1",191•11;
would only add, in words that were not his, but which ;voila, ,410'
be addressed to them is a more attractive manner than heol jell
could pretend to—words peculiarly appropriate for the occasion, ~!_ii
~11,
embodying, as he was sure they did, a sentiment unanimously eohYe
responded to. His Lordship here apologised to the Lord ti".;
Mayor for not reading the words with the proper accent, and ;911111j1
said the whole of the Scotch song was so very apposite to the '' 4` 9 A
present occasion, that he must do himself the pleasure of cont.*P or;
clueing by reading the first verse : 1,0 ,j
" 0 weel may the boatie row," &c. •
(Loud cheers.) Followed by the melody arranged by gr• •
Wilson for the occasion.
The Loan MAYOR—My Lords and Gentlemen, I have
now the honour to propose to you the health of Field Mar-
shal his Grace the Duke of Wellington, whom I have the :.
extreme gratification to see at this table, and who, whether •
as a warrior or a statesmen, is justly entitled to the admira-
tion
and gratitude of his country. On an occasion like the
present we cannot but remember with feelings- of gratitude,
that to his Grace the Duke of Wellington the citizens of La"'
don are indebted for the grant of 1,000,000/. sterling for public
improvements in their ancient city. I would join with this
illustrious person the second power of the State, that august
assembly from whose collective wisdom our free and noble Con-
stitution has derived such important benefits, " Field-Marshal
his Grace the Duke of Wellington, and the House' of Peers.,
The Duke of WELLINGTON then rose and said, he begged
leave to return them his sincere thanks for the honour tneY
had dune him in drinking his health, and for the manner in
which the company had thought proper to receive it. This
was not the proper time to advert to the circumstances of 1,
former period of his life •to which his Lordship (the Lora
Mayor) had alluded. He met them there that day to celebrate
and promote the arts of peace—(Loud cheers)—and he trusted
that in his time he should never again know the celebration
of the arts of war.--( Loud cheers.) His Lordship had been,
Lleased to include in the toast he had given, " the House 0'
ords." On the part of his colleagues who were men'
hers of that House, he begged to return their best thanks'
The House of Lords was the Conservative branch of the Con-
stitution ; and he hoped, in modern times at least, that it had
fulfilled the effects of its institution.—(Cheers.) He Wise
much gratified on receiving the invitation to attend in tf
City on this occasion, and hoped sincerely that the buildingfe
which his Royal Highness had been pleased this day to lay his
first stone, would prove not only a monument of the arts of s
great nation, and the taste of his Royal Highness, but alsL
lasting convenience to the commerce of the Country and the
_
world.—(Loud and continued cheering, followed by the Me
from Rooke's opera of Amelie—
" Dare the foe invade our land," &c.)
Sir R. PEEL then rose and said,—May it please your Royal
Highness, ladies, and gentlemen, I have received from WI,
Lord Mayor permission to propose a toast, which ivill,4
trust, be peculiarly acceptable to all. " The health of the
Lady Mayoress."—( Cheers.) Gentleman,, I feel satisfied that
•,:,
the hospitality and kind attention which' we have receive'

113 or
,01
'W.
wilt