Last night, the Fishmongers Company held their banquet to celebrate
the accession of the house of Hanover to the throne of England. Mr. Wandsey presided, in the absence of Mr. Kynaston the Prime Warden. Lord Palmerston was the chief guest. After Everson, the winner of Doggett's coat and badge, and the second and third competitors in the boat-race, had been introduced to the Prime Warden, and after the usual loyal toasts, Mr. Wandsey proposed "Her Majesty's Ministers" ; which called up the Premier. Lord Palmerston said, the task of the Government during the late war had been comparatively easy ; for Ministers had only to accept the means placed. at their disposal by a generous people, and to direct that gallant army and navy, who arc competent to achieve anything practicable to men. " My honourable friend the Prime Warden has adverted to the terms of peace. I think that they have been found satisfactory, and that the more they have been reflected upon the more they have been found to accomplish all the legi- timate objects for which the war was undertaken. My honourable friend has touched upon some topics whioh were calculated to excite regret rather than satisfaction—of causes which we were unable to advocate, of in- terests which we were unable to serve : but, however the generous feelings of the nation may point to sufferings which they might wish to relieve, or miseries which they might wish to put an end to, yet in human affairs we must consider what we are able to do, and we must not be led on, even in a loyal and generous spirit, to attempt ends which we are not able to accom- plish. And it may be necessary to remember, that in attempting things that are beyond our means, we may be attempting impossibilities which may do more harm than good to those whom we may seek to serve."
Complimenting the Fishmongers Company on the management of its Irish property, he continued—" I may also be permitted to say, that circum- stances connected with the present moment render the present invitation more particularly agreeable to some of us. We who are Members of the Commons House of Parliament, sit at a table not so well stored with things refreshing to the body and mind as we find hero; and we sit also for hours, days, and nights, in an assembly which i not quite so unanimous as that which I have now the honour to address. (Laughter.) But, finding value in contrast, and with every possible respect for that assembly—of which I can only speak handsomely, since they have, during this great struggle, be- haved as honourably and as nobly as the people they represent—yet I must say that the occupations of this evening are fully as agreeable as those in which we have recently spent so many hours."
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