Daily Richmond Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1865-1869, 1866-03-15
Mr.. BancrOft's Funeral Grafton in England.

or his national prejudces, he so managed by
his unfriendly criticisms upon the governments
of Great Britain and France, as to make his
Grafton the subject of attention and comment
at home and abroad. Whatever else critics
may say of it, they can not condemn 1t as
stale, HAT and Improbable" He did not
follow slavishly in the beaten track. Instead
of combining himself to eulOgy and biography,
he took a wide range, which included men Nv
ing and dead, measures past and present, ana
the prominet nations Of the earth. He spoke
not only in the presence Of the public men OF
his own country but of the representatives Of
foreign nations invited to listen to his GRAFTON.
The presence Of these ministers did not pre-
vent Mr.. BANCROFT from speaking his mind
freely, severely, as to their governments. This
was animadverted upon by the American news
papers at the time. 1t was pronounced a
breach of decOrum, if not of hospitality. When
the grafton reached England it produced quite
a sensation. The manner in which 1t was re-
ceived may be Judged of from the temper OF
the following extract from the London Times
The British Legation, we may presume, at
H lded in good faith, and with no idea that
&, England was to be attacked in a regular
81 Fourth of July grafton. But before the
p, hour of delivery came it was evident that
- England and, in some degree, France were
% to receive the casugation due to their many
&. sins, and to be RECALLED, through their
d" representatives, with a full display Of
their littleness, aud the surprising excel
lenee of the great Republic.
Il" The French Minister happened to stay away,
d" but his secretaries were present, aud did not
care to conceal their disgust. Sir FREDER-
" lex BRUCE and the British Diplomatic staff
" set it out with the usual lmpaSSiveneSS OF
their race. The grafton was worthy Of Eli
.. JAN PoGRAN. The British Lion might fairly
abe expected to put his tail between his leg,
., and howl with anguish The staple Of thu
" harangue was abuse OF England and its inSli-
buttons. What the tenure Of land IN Greal
"a Britain, OF the occupation OF Asiatic forts by
&c this country, have TO do with President LIN
d" CoLN's birthday it is not easy to under
for comparison between Lord PALNERsToN,
" who, for fifty years, was concerned IN all the
chief affairs OF Europe and America, and
" President LINCOLN, VINO happened 10 hold
" office during four years in a domestic war
" But these matters were dragged in that the
speaker might have an opportunity TO rail
" at and Willy the country whose language he
was speaking, and whose authors he bad, IN
" former times, done his best to initiate. The
. taste which could invite an English Minister
and his staff, in order to iniict upon them a
- coarse invective, needs no remark.
- Can this miSchievous old man believe that
any purpose can be served by slandering two
such countries as England and France in the
presence of their representatives p
The Times turns this Grafton into an argu-
ment against the plan on foot for the endow-
meut of a special lectureship at Cambridge, to
he filed by series OF professional or literary
Americans, chosen by Harvard University, to
instruct the under graduates in American po-
Itics and affairs. 1t may here be mentioned
that the rumor that this plan had been acceded
TO seems premature, as we find it stated in
English journals that it has been rejected by
the Senate of the College.
The Washington correspondent Of the Lon
don Times devotes the better portion Of let
ter of three columns and upwards to structures
on Mr.. BANCROFT and his grafton. After al
luding to the difficulty Of getting an orator for
the occasion, the Times correspondent says;
oS So tant pis, the committee went to Mr..
" BANCROFT, the author Of history Of the
{, nited States which it is easier to talk about
than to read, and he succeeded in making
Z" the whole arrangement as undgnined and
o discreditable as any manin the country could
have done, tried he ever so hard. What was
q intended to be a solemn and imposing cere-
" monial was degraded below the level Of an
" incorporate town meeting; and, to the aston
q ishment of every respectable man IN the
90 House, Mr.. BANNROFT occupied more than
% two hours in an elaborate attack upon the
" chief powers of Europe, concentrating the
Z. torrent of his bitterness and spleen upon Eng
leland. In the mere yituperation, there was
. nothing so very unusual over and over again
q" | have been obliged TO tell You the unmis-
% takeable truth that Americans hate England
Z" and love to hear her abused; but this was an
g occasion intended to be hiStOrical-the TRADE
g upon friendly Power was delivered before
4. the President Of the United States and his
"cabinet, the judges Of the supreme court
" tue whole congress, and the ministers ana
"r,, resentatives of foreign courts. The surprise
" o, the whole diplomatic body at the energy
20 aud vehemence of Mr.. BANCROFT's denunclA-
ton of England-for he almost screamed out
e the venOmOus passages in a high and broken
voice, and with wild gestures and distorted
conference.-the surprise of these gentle
men, say, was extreme. And it was fully
- shared by many Of the spectators. The
% bulk of the audience clapped their hands
q loudly with applause, but the Senators,
almost to man, sat silent. General
{" GRANT and his brother officers looked
Has if they did not understand it at all,
"apd there were not a few murmurS Of disap-
probation in the galleries; for it was felt that
to issue formal invitation 10 the repreSen
" tatiyes of foreign Powers, and then to TAX,
"the opportunity of deliberately insulting
"them, was an outrage which has seldom beef
equalled in this country. While Mr.. Ban
" CROFT, once Minister TO England, was viii
flying Great Britain and all belonging TO il
and blackening Lord PALNERsroN's name
"a pretended comparison of his character VII
a. Mr.. LlNcOLS's; while he was ridiculng Lor
" RUSSELL, misrepresenting the English Gov
ss eminent, and doing his utmost in every wa
q 10 deepen the ignorant prejudices aud jsa
&. ousies of his countrYmen against England
while he was doing all this, Sir FREDERIC
:, RprcE was sitting within a few yards of hin
one of the United States guests of the day
The Marquis of MOnthOlOn 'taid away, and
:, Consequently, was not obliged to hear hi
,,..,sr and his countrymen insulted to hi
- No doubt Mr.. BANCROFT, or any othe
sn Of bis stamp, has perfect rsn' to II
% vile England, but Congress ought % nave "a
q Sscsncy not to bring the rePresenla'ivs '
EDaIand to bear this abuse under lai's . p,
h aoi6 that the uApAt