AN INCIDENT OF LORD MAYOR'S DAY.
Moven all minor interests are nearly swallowed up by the news front France, India, and China, we must not pa el without a note of admiration the civic feast of' :Monday last, when the new Lord Mayor entertained a goodly array of Minists is, Ambassadors, Judges, and citizens. It is not that we wish to pause over the display of good. things which composed the bill of fare—the tureens of turtle the entr6es the barons of beef, or the turkics—but to observe the peculiar position in which her .Majesty's Ministers found themselves at this banquet in the metropolis of the empire. Bear in mind that Lord 31m.1;outtxr, and his colleagues have peculiar claims to the good-will of the Corporation of London for having spared it from the pruning- knife of Reffirm, which cut away at the Corporation abuses in all other parts of the kingdom. Yet in the Guildhall of London as in other places, the sense of obliga- tion is completely overpowered by the feeling of disrespect. The Lord Mayor dared not venture to propose their healths without qualitic;Ltion ; and he made an intercession on their behalf to induce the company to drink the toast, vhich has scarcely a parallel in Ministerial annals. His Lordship's entreating that the toast might be drunk with respect, " it' on no other account at least to spare the Queen uneasiness at the present time." may have been intended as a satire on the nature of the Premier's tenure of office. It unintentional, the sarcasm was not less bitter. Lord MEE.- notaNE's reply vvas a cold and formal acknowledgment, coldly re- ceived. The contrast to it was the greeting elven to Sir thettaer PEEL, Who was toasted in connexion with tlw other Members of the House of Commons. The leader of the Opiseition, who was thus called upon to respond in the presence of Lora Pssmsatirros as representative of the Commons, took occasion skilfully to allude to the political support he had received front the City. It may be questioned whether the open expression of dissatisfaction, which on last Lord :Mayor's Day prevented the health of her :Majesty's Ministers from being dnink, could have been more galling to them than a forbearanta. procured by a qualification which distinguished them as individuals front the offices they adhere to. and by an intercession winch implied that they are the Ministers of the Court and not of the Country.
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