Washington sentinel., 1856-05-29

will but waste their ink in the endeavor to
make martyr of Sumner in this matter. 1t
was a naked case of voluntary and cool ag-
gression on his part. He went out of the way
to insult the State of South Carolina and one
OF her worthiest representatives, by name, in
the grossest terms, and the castgation which
was administered to him was richly merited
As to its having been an invasion of the /" lib
| erty of speech" the idea is simply ridiculous
It was punishment justly due to intolerabe
| Acenti0usgess of speech 1t was resentment
| in the right spirit of mean and unmannerly
| insult which was no less foreign to the discus
sion that brought it forth than to the decencies
of parliamentary life and the urbanties which
characterize gentleman.
From the Baltimore Republican.
Speech OF MIR. Dallas at the Royal Liter
ary Fund Dinner.
At the Anniversary Dinner of the Royal
Literary Fund Association held in London on
the evening Of the 7th Of May, the Duke Of
Cambridge in the chair--after numerous senti-
ments had been responded to-
The Chairman gave "The Literature and
Science of the United States and his Excel
lency the American Minister" dwelling with
much force on the union that ought to and
must exist between the two nations, and ex-
pressed his belief that nothing was SO well
calculated to promote the sympathy and friend
ship of the two countries as common ltera-
ture in the same language. The toast was re-
ceived with repeated cheers.
Mr. Dallas, the American Minister, then
| rose, and was received with most emphatic
and long continued applause. He said-after
thanking, as now do, his Royal Highness for
recognizing by this toast the literature and
science OF my country, and after thanking this
company for having received the toast with
impressive cordiality, it would perhaps be most
prudent for me to resume my seat and to avoid
the risks necessarily incident to the handling
of q subject which / cannot pretend to be mas
ter Of
A little learning is dangerous thing,
Drink deep or taste not the Pierian spring
There are, however, a few recollectons which
stimulate me to do somewhat more. Let me
remind you of historical fact, particularly in
teresting to me at this moment, that over a
small and hesitatng meeting in 1878, which
constituted the germ of this now fourishing
| and brilliant institution, there presided a coun-
tryman of mine. Hear hear, and cheers.
And, if it be true, as doubtless it is, that the
severe and practical character of his mind re-
fused to entertain the sanguine hopes of its
subsequent founder, still Benjamin Franklin,
the American sage, philosopher, and statesman,
lent from the chair his grave sanction to the
purposes which, having been subsequently most
zealously persevered in, have obtained the tri-
umphs which | now witness Nor am alto
gether insensible to the fact that relation Of
my own was the greatgrand-son of your first
chairman. Hear, hear, and cheers Marked
by the intellectual characteristics Of his ances-
tor, he is now acting in official occupation in
the United States, and amid the loftiest spheres
of science, he has displayed powers at least
equal to his position. Loud cheers.I Perhaps,
too, l am individually, as his representative
IN this country, bound to cooperate in the ex-
preston of all honor to, and to give my adhe-
sion to, q corporation whose generous and sus-
tanning hand is unstraightened by invidious
limits.
1t was my lot, about ten years ago, to act as
the presiding chancellor of an institution for
promoting the increase and diffusion of know
lege among men-among all men, without dis.
tnchon OF class, or party, or faith, or country.
acted In that capacity in an institution founded
on and subsisting by the bounty Of a wise and
benevolent Englishman. In accepting the mu-
ni6cent bequest of Smithson to found an insti-
tuition bearing his name, and now being in
successful operation in the city of Washin gton
in the United States, and giving it a direction
analogous to your own; the Government of the
United States itself paid just homage to the
principles and practices Of this Society. Hear
hear, and cheers. 1t will afard me great
pleasure, and perhaps it might cater to my
national pride, if am admitted to belong to
an intellectual band by which the literature of
the United States has been advanced and illus
trated. They owe heavy debt, payable in the
coin of the brain, to the genius of this island
But let me say that they labor indefatigably to
reduce that debt, and already they cease TO re-
gard as hopeless achievement the payment of
the debt in future. Hear, hear
Since my arrival, and during the last seven
weeks that | have been in your great capital.
have been delighted to listen to euloqies on
American judicial science coming from the
lips of those who are the most exalted and
learned in the Westminster Hall. j have been
delighted to hear intermingled the names of
Alison, Bancroft, Macaulay, Prescott, Grote
and Irving. have been delighted to remark
that no exclusion from the almost mfgical
precincts OF Wdrerly, and Vdnity Far, and
Ny Nocet, is harshy pronounced against the
Indian romances and the sea stories Of Cooper,
or against The House wih Screen Gables, or
The Scarlet Letter. Hear, hear And, in
fine, / have been delighted to perceive as
having grown obsolete and permanently Danish.
ed the sarcastic criticism ! used to hear in my
youth" Who ever reads an American book ?'
Hear, hear. 1t is from this harmony of
scientific and literary expression between the
two countries that we draw the best hone of
harmony in the general intercourse between
them. Loud cheers. The influence Of au-
thors over communities were neither to be
doubted nor exaggerated. Let us, then trust
that the copious, strong and polished language
which IS common to England and America,
may cease to be the medium of strife-[loud
cheers but on the contrary, become the in
strument of mutual instruction, Of conciliation,
and of peace. Loud and continued cheering
-~-
Runaway slaves.