The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1850-04-09 00:00:00

GRAND BANQUET AT THE TOWN HALL,

One of the most brilliant civic banquets ever given in Liver-
pool, took place on Thursday evening, at the Town-hall, appa-
rently in honour of the visit of Major Edwardes, the hero of
Mooltan, to this town. The company began to set down at
seven o'clock, and in about twenty minutes afterwards followed
his Worship the Mayor to the dining-room, where seventy gen-
tlemen sat down to dinner, provided only as Mr. Lynn can pro-
vide such entertainments. Among the guests were :—The Earl
of Sefton, Sir Edward Cust, Major Edwardes, Mr. Brown, M.P.,
Mr. Cardwell, M.P., Colonel Falconer, Lieut.-Colonel Garrett,
and officers of the 46th regiment. Major Mathias and officers
of the 62d regiment, Captain Franklin and officers of the Royal
Artillery, Sir Henry 11. Edwardes, Bart., 85th Light Infantry,
Captain Scott, 51st Light Infantry. Captain Greig, Captain
Bevis. Mr. Rushton, Mr. Adam Hodgson, Mr. Joseph Ewart,
Mr. T. B. Horsfall, Mr. It. Horsfall, Mr. H. Littledale, Mr.
Daniel Neilson, Mr. R. Neilson, Mr. John Turner, Mr. J. Proc-
ter, Mr. Steel, Mr. Corcoran, Mr. Scoltock. Mr. Walker, Mr.
Grenfell, Mr. Campbell, Mr. J. A. Tobin, Rev. Mr. Tobin, Mr.
W. Myers, Mr. S. Raffles, Mr. Bushby, Mr. Simpson, Mr. T.
Kaye, Mr. C. Lowe, Mr. J. Lowe, &c. There was an excellent
glee club in attendance, under the direction of Mr. George
Holden,
On the removal of the cloth,
His Worship the MAYOR proposed the health of her Majesty
the Queen, followed by that of Prince Albert, and the rest of the
royal family.

The next toast was, "The Bishop and Clergy of the Diocese,"
to which the Rev. Mr. TOBIN responded.
The MAYOR then gave " the Army and Navy."
Colonel FALCONER neatly replied on the part of the army, and
Captain DAVIS acknowledged the compliment on behalf of the
navy. _ _

The MAYOR then called for a bumper, as he was about to
propose the health of their distinguished guest, the hero of
Mooltan, Major Edwardes. (Loud and long-continued cheers.)
It was not necessary that he should detain them by details of
the career of his distinguished guest. His deeds formed already
a. part of history, and his character and services were appre-
ciated not only by the government, but by the ;whole people of
the United Kingdom. (Cheers.) He would not detain them
front the pleasure they would have in doing honour to the
toast, but at once propose the health of Major Edwardes.
(Cheers.)
The Earl of SEFTON rose, and proposed that it should be
drunk,with all the honours, a proposition that was promptly
complied, with.
Major EDWARDES'S rising was a signal for the renewal of
cheers, and when the applause had subsided, he said—Mr.
Mayor and gentlemen of Liverpool, I thank you from my
heart for this manifestation of hospitality and goodwill which
has been extended to me on the occasion of wy visit to this the

_______.„
second city of the empire. 'to be
.your honoured guest is a
circumstance of which any man might be proud who under-
stands the value of municipal institutions; but when I remem-
ber the place this town occupies, and when I recollect. your
importance as a commercial pe'ople—when your shipping is
found in every port—when I see that through your means are
exchanged all the productions of the world—l feel still more
deeply the compliment which you have paid. (Hear, and ap-
plause.) When we recollect your connexion with the colonial
and foreign commerce of this country, no man can be sur-
prised at the deep interest you take in the affairs of India. In
no other place, perhaps, could so much anxiety be naturally
felt for the progress of events in that eountry as in this city,
(Applause.) To me, therefore, the hospitality and reception
you have given me is a great and distinguished honour. During
my ten years' absence, I did not fail to observe thegreat change
that had taken place in reference to oar colonies. I have
learned from the public prints that there are among you men
who moot the question as to the use of the colonies. I thought,
as a man of the world, that the Romans were right when they
estimated among the things most valuable their imperial colo-
nies. (Cheers.) I thought, as I stood in the palace of St.
James's, in the presence of royalty, that England could not
bear to see two-thirds of her empire expunged ; and in Liver-
pool, to-day, my experience has not been sufficient to- convince
me that our colonies are useless. (Cheers.) Citizens of Liver-
pool will answer that question as to the use of colonies) that .
they are not to be abused. If rightly used, they will be our aid
in commerce, our friends in peace, our support in war. If
some of our colonies do not answer to this description—if the
bond that binds them to the mother country would break—in: short, if some remind us of Africa, and reproach us with
neglect and unkindness, I feel proud, Indian a should feel proud, of the conduct presented by British . (Cheers.) There'
are many in this room, citizens and officers, well versed in the
past and present history of India, and they, if called upon, will
justify me when I state that in no part of our colonies,does
there exist so much good government and so much real pros-
perity. (Cheers.) It is not a colony, but an empire, that we
have grasped in India - and what is the cause of the prosperity
of India ?' It is that the East India Company carefully and
potently regard the welfare of the whole people. (Applause.)
I assert that the Anglo-Indian government is one entitled to
your praise and confidence—and directs its energies solely to
secure prosperity to the native inhabitants. (Hear, hear.) I
call upon the officers whom I see around me, who bear on their
breasts evidence of service in India, to testify with me that the
British government has given to Asia what Asiatic conquerors
never gave before, the blessings of peace. (Loud applause.)
I rejoice at having this opportunity, before leaving Liverpool,
to be able to state, that the time is coming for England to
model her colonial policy—the time is gone when you can
safely think that India is the only colony you must cease to
look at as entailed for ever. We must inspire confidence and
love, and wisely contemplate the restoration of the obligations
of parent and child. Separation without asperity, confidence
in manhood, and support in old age. (Cheers.) Once more I
have to thank you for the honour you have done me. I also
thank the officers around me, and who awaken the associations
of my profession, for the kind reception they have given me.
(cheers.)
The MAYOR then gave "The Earl of Sefton and the members
of the House of Lords."
The Earl of SEFTON returned thanks.
The MAYOR next gave the health of Sir Edward Cust.
Sir EDWARD Cuar, in returning thanks, detailed the services
which Major Edwardes had rendered to his country in India.
He admired him, not sonuch for his gallantry, which was a
common attribute of his profession, as for the discretion, judg-
ment, and tact he displayed in a situation of great peril and
difficulty. (Applause.)

The MAysoinhen proposed the health of Mr. Wm. Brown
and the members for South Lancashire.

Mr. BROWN rose amid loud cheers, and said—Mr. Ma)or,
am particularly indebted to you for favouring me with an invi-
tation on this occasion, to meet the hero of Mooltan, who has
not only proved himself a brave and distinguished soldier, but
we now find he is an accomplished orator and an intelligent
merchant. (Cheers.) I quite agree with him that the free ex-
change of the merchandise of England for the products of Bri-
tish India is highly beneficial to both, and contributes to the
power and prosperity of the British empire. (Cheers.) This
county, which has honoured me with its confidence as one of
its representatives, taking Manchester as the centre, has in and
around it great elements of prosperity. We have the stuff ma-
nufactures of Bradford, the woollens of Leeds, the cutlery of
Sheffield, the silks of Macclesfield, the hardware of Birming-
ham, the earthenware of Staffordshire, the salt of Nantwich,
the copper, the lead, and iron of Wales, and coals everywhere,
which produce that great moving power, so essential to our
onward progress, in the benefit of which British India must,
more or less, partake; and all those fertilizing streams are tri-
butary to the good old town of Liverpool, whose increasing
commerce calls for an extension of our magntficent docks. Al-
though we must, unavoidably, in an enterprising commercial
country, have our ebbs and flows of adversity and prosperity,
and the last three years have been these of great suffering and
privation, I think the tide has now turned, and however much
we have on any occasion receded, the next flood carries us a
step higher than we ever were before.

The :MAYOR next proposed the health of Mr. Cardwell and
the members for the borough.

Mr. CARDWELL, on rising to acknowledge the toast, was re-
ceived with marked applause. He thanked the Mayor for the
honour he had done him in inviting him to that splendid ban-
quet. and he thanked him the more because the invitation
afforded him the opportunity of making the personal acquaint-
ance of the distinguished guest whom they all delighted to
honour. (Cheers.) His name and his career were not unknown
to him (Mr. Cardwell), for it so happened that it was his privi-
lege to read some of the private letters written by that dis-
tinguished man, when proprio Marte, he, a young officer, a
lieutenant in the army, rolled back the tide of revolution in
India, and confirmed the power of the British empire. The
merchants of Liverpool are the natuial heralds of peace: for
they carried our commerce to every quarter of the globe, and
united in universal brotherhood the distant branches of the
human family. What sympathy had they then with that gal-
lant profession, by so many members of which they were nosy
surrounded ! Those immortal dispatches of the Duke of Wel-
lington had shown them what Major Edwardes had so well told
them,—that the army fought not for personal aggrandisement
of lust of power, but just and successful war, to confirm the
bond of peace, and guarantee the rights of commerce. The
times in which we live are peculiarly fortunate, for now we can
approach all public questions without any manifestations of
personal asperity—(cheers(—and promote the common purpose
in language which ever ensures our general acceptance.—
(Cheers.)—To this we owed our exemption from the general
wreck of continental empires. The sceptre we revered was
vested in the inheritress of Egbert : and the institutions we
preserved and reformed retained the original lineaments with
which they were impressed by the immortal Alfred. (Loud
cheers.) These were the institutions we desired to extend
to all our colonies, whether they are of the Anglo-Saxon
or of the Indian race, which had been so ably expressed to.night
by one who proved that well-known English maxim, that when
a man becomes a soldier he does not cease to be a citizen.
The MAYOR next gave "The good old town of Liverpool,"
coupling w;th the toast the name of Mr. T. B. Horsfall.
Mr. HORSFALL said that they would perhaps excuse him if
he told their honoured and gallant guest that this was
not the first time that his health had been drunk with approba-
tion in that room.—(Cheers.) Two years ago, when he (Mr.
Horsfall) occupied the chair which was now so much better
filled, he had the honour to entertain at that table a number of
British officers when the news arrived of the achievments of
Lieutenant Edwardes.—(Loud cheers.) He need not say how
ardently the toast had been drunk. It would be remembered
that Major Edwardes was opposed, not to an ordinary man, for
whatever was his conduct towards England, Moolraj had
attached to him a crowd of distinguished troops. On the
morning of his surrender, eighteen of his chiefs presented
themselves to share his destiny. Another and more interest-
ing scene took place in the British camp—one that told in the
moral force of the British army, for their chief solemnly pro-
claimed in the camp that they were indebted for their victory
to the God of Battles.—(Great applause.) Mr. Horsfall con-
cluded by proposing the health of Viscount Gough; to which
Major EDWA RDES responded.
The Earl of SEFTON then proposed the health of the Mayor.
His Woasuir returned thanks, and the company adjourned
to coffee.