Mr. Irving's speech was not remarkable,—a speech of cordial thanks
adequately expressed ; but the Minister of the United States, who always speaks well, spoke. even better than usual, happily defending the United States from the charge of self- laudation, by managing to suggest that they limit their Spread- eagleism to one day in the year, the day of the banquet; and we may at once admit that if his implication is true, that is a much more moderate allowance than that of any other people. The happiest passage, however, was Mr. Lowell's concluding story of a Methodist preacher at a camp- meeting of whom he had heard when he was young. Ile was preaching on Joshua ordering the sun to stand still :—" My hearers," he said," there are three motions of the sun ; the first is the straightforward or direct motion of the sun, the second is the retrograde or backward motion of the sun, and the third is the motion mentioned in our text,—' the sun stood still.' Now, gentlemen, I do not know whether you see the application of that story to after-dinner oratory ? I hope you do. The after- dinner orator at first begins and goes straightforward,—that is the straightforward motion of the ann. Next, he goes back, and begins to repeat himself a little, and that is the retrograde motion, or the backward motion, of the sun. And at last, he has the good-sense to bring himself to an end, and that is the motion mentioned in our text of the sun standing still." And so Mr. Lowell carried off the laurels of the evening.
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