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THE JUBILEE FESTIVITIES.

One of the most remarkable triumphs of organization and energy was the removal of all the fittings and decorations from the Central The banquet was over by about eleven THE arrangements for the celebration of the lawyers' Jubilee festival Hall on Monday night. may be described as the result of a succession of "happy thoughts." o'clock; the workmen instantly commenced operations, and by 4.30 It was a happy thought to seize upon the Jubilee year to return the on Tuesday morning every vestige of the banquet was removed, so hospitality which for many years has been bestowed on the London that when the courts met for business at 10.30 not a trace of the festivities remained. members of the Incorporated Law Society by the country solicitors; it was a happy thought to fix the date of the festivities early in the The strange operations which had been in progress for some days at the Chancery-lane front of the Law Institution betokened extenseason, before the great mass of celebrations take place, and at a time when London is most attractive both as regards natural sive and elaborate preparations for the ball on Tuesday evening. As features and amusements; it was a bold and, in many respects, a the event is now over, and it is too late for anyone to apply for an interhappy thought to appropriate the great hall of the Royal Courts for locutory injunction, we may venture to suggest that we have failed to the banquets; it was a happy thought to secure the presence at the first discover in the society's charter any authority for the construction of banquet of a Lord Chancellor who has introduced a Land Transfer Bill huge wooden projections on that gloomy facade-m -more especially of upon which important suggestions have been sent in by the council of one so designed as vividly to suggest a series of valuable, but usually the society. But the happiest thought of all was to bring together at less conspicuous, domestic arrangements. These unsightly structures such a time as the present the London and country solicitors, and to were necessary to provide stairs for the downgoing throng from the afford them opportunities for discussion and free interchange of supper room. Every part of the large building, including even the sentiments on the momentous question which is now before the pro-ing, and the barest rooms had been more or less elaborately decorated secretary's offices, was made available for the purposes of the evenfor the festivities. How many of those present ever dreamt, when passing weary hours in the examination rooms, that they would one day see the place given over to a ball? How many of those who entered the profession a quarter of a century or so ago can have then imagined that a day would come when a Lord Chancellor, an ex-Lord Chancellor, a very learned Lord Justice, and two or three of the judges, would be seen at a ball given by solicitors to solicitors? Of the ball itself everyone seems to speak in terms of satisfaction, despite the crush occasioned by the enormous number of guests, and out their hats and coats, of which, however, they obtained possession the laments of certain unhappy men who had to go away withon the following morning. con

fession.

Whatever else may be said, it must be admitted on all hands that, in point of magnificence, the entertainments were worthy both of the great body by whom they were given and of the occasion to which they owed their origin. That means should have been provided by private subscriptions for festivities on such a scale does the highest credit to the public spirit of the London solicitors, or, rather, of the 600 guarantors among them. Their liberality in placing something like £7,000 at the disposal of the grand committee was well seconded by the indefatigable exertions of the executive committee and officers of the society. It is bare justice to them to say that in the matter of careful and elaborate arrangement nothing was wanting. We believe it is sidered by the most experienced managers to be no ordinary feat to provide a dinner for nearly 800 guests; to get them into their places without confusion, and to insure the proper carrying out of the programme. But when to these difficulties there are added those arising from a hall and offices not designed and never before used for the purpose, some idea may be formed of the formidable obstacles in the way of success. We think that the committee are to be heartily congratulated on the way in which they were overcome, and Mr. Williamson and his staff, to whom the successful carrying out of the arrangements is due, have earned the gratitude of the profession.

The banquets were singularly successful considering the circumstances under which they were held. Mr. Street's cathedral nave has, no doubt, in some respects once more proved its want of adaptation to any useful purpose, but its chief merit, floor space, happened to be the one thing essential for the recent banquets; and it must certainly be said that the lofty proportions of the hall, if they dwarfed the decorations and rendered the speakers inaudible, imparted a dignity and impressiveness to the occasion which no other available building could have done. There was, too, an obvious appropriateness in holding a great lawyer's festivity in the very midst of the courts. There were, of course, the usual small misadventures to particular guests occurring in the best managed huge dinner, and from which even the feasts of the Corporation of London are not exempt. But with the exception of the extraordinary difficulty of hearing the speakers, which reduced the reporters to a state of absolute despair, and resulted in the loss to the world of several presumably valuable and one apparently very amusing speech, we venture to say that never were dinners of such magnitude given with so much general satisfaction.

The after dinner speeches were, generally speaking, worthy of the occasion. It is universally admitted that nothing could have been better than the president's pithy and well-turned utterances at the first banquet. They were in every case examples of the right thing said in the right way-appropriate sentiments couched in graceful and terse language. The Lord Mayor's high compliment to the president with regard to this matter was certainly well deserved. Lord Esher (who had a very hearty reception) on this occasion kept out of view that vein of cynicism which, strange to say, one of the kindliest of men often delights to exhibit in after dinner speeches. In the course of an admirable address he spoke of the sacredness with which solicitors observe the confidence reposed in them, and concluded by remarking that he was "there on behalf of her Majesty's judges to shew the respect which they felt, and which everybody felt, for the profession to which the great majority of those present belonged ❞—an observation which no doubt was read next morning with sympathetic delight by a certain learned judge of the Chancery Division. Perhaps it would have been as well if the list of toasts had been abridged, so as to obviate the necessity for cutting out so much of the vocal music; but we imagine it was difficult for anyone beforehand to conceive the utter unfitness of the hall for public speaking.

The performances at the various theatres were apparently generally enjoyed, but it was remarkable how often the particular theatre to visit. Quite a brisk exchange of tickets was set up, and it is to be allotted to a guest happened not to be the one he particularly desired hoped that ultimately everyone got to the play he wanted.

THE FIRST BANQUET.

THE festivities opened with a banquet on Saturday evening in the Central Hall of the Royal Courts. The floor space of the great hall was carpeted, and a long table, stretching, on the west side, from the south to the north end, and raised on a dais, was appropriated to the principal guests and the members of the council. Twenty-three tables were placed at right angles to this table for the accommodation of the other guests. In and plants, and the tables were profusely decorated with cut flowers. The the bays of the hall on either side were grouped palms, flowering shrubs, hall was effectively lighted with the electric light, which behaved well, as a whole, on the occasion of both banquets. On the first evening the nine orten arc lights which hung high overhead burned brilliantly throughout the evening except in two instances, and in one of these the lamp, after remaining extinguished for a time, burst into brightness, apparently upon its own accord; and on the second evening only one of the lamps refused to perform its proper functions, but the hall was so brilliantly lighted that the loss of illumination thereby occasioned was scarcely noticeable. The electric light was certainly prominent for one useful quality, for the hall remained in a delicious state of coolness each evening. The band of the charmingly throughout the banquet and until the toast of "The Queen" Royal Artillery was stationed in the South Gallery, and discoursed had been responded to, when the vocalists appeared on the scene. Behind the chairman on each occasion were a couple of trumpeters, clad in the regulation brilliant scarlet and gold tunics, and these heralded each toast by a blast on their silver instruments. The difficulty, or, rather, impossibility, of hearing speakers, except over an extremely limited area, not unnaturally was the cause of a good deal of noise, arising from the conversation of the 800 guests who had given up the endeavour to listen to the speakers in despair. And this accounted also for the crowd which gravitated hither and thither towards the speakers in the hope of hearing the many eloquent speeches which the lengthy toast list permitted. The guests at the lower tables entered the hall from the Strand entrance, and going, and especially in the latter instance, when there was a somewhere some, perhaps unavoidable, confusion occurred both at the coming what severe struggle for hats and coats. The guests at the upper table entered the hall by the Carey-street entrance, and were met in the vestibule, at the top of the flight of stairs, by the respective chairmen on the two evenings. The most effective piece of decoration was in the North Corridor, entering from Careystreet, which was reserved for these guests. This was converted, through all its length, into an exquisite bower of palms and flowers; the floor was carpeted with red baize, and the lighting was managed by numerous mouldings of arches. The corridor leading off at right angles incandescent electric lights in different coloured glasses dispersed over the from the main corridor towards the refreshment rooms was similarly decorated, and provided with chairs and tables for after-dinner coffee. The effect of the vista from the Carey-street entrance, ended by the statue of Mr. Field and the view of the great hall, was most striking and charming. The architectural features of the corridor lend themselves specially well to the purposes of floral decoration, and probably never was.

it more effectively employed. The gates of this bower of bliss were, on the occasion of the first banquet, guarded by a janitor of peculiar vigilance, and, if report speaks correctly, the most important personage of the evening, arriving on foot, was refused admission until his credentials had been duly attested. The principal guests arrived with more than ordinary punctuality, amongst them being the Master of the Rolls, the Lord Advocate, the Lord Mayor of London (wearing his glittering jewel of office), the Lord Mayor of York (in Court dress, wearing the massive gold chain of the mayoralty), Professor Tyndall, Mr. Henry Irving, Sir J. D. Linton, Mr. Walter Besant, and a host of other celebrities. The Lord Chancellor did not enter by this door, but came direct into the hall by a private way from his own rooms. The principal guests, after being received, occupied the North Gallery, and looked down upon the arrivals who were quickly filling the hall below. At a few minutes after seven the Chairman took his seat, and the dinner on each occasion occupied about a couple of hours. The arrangements, considering the vastness of the entertainment, for serving the dinner left little to be wished for. The viands were prepared in the kitchens beneath the hall, and were brought by the jury rooms through the various arched entrances which lead into the hall on either side. Mr. Elliott was the contractor, and the wines were furnished from the cellars of the Law Society Club.

The chair was taken by the president, Mr. HENRY WATSON PARKER. Among the guests present were the Lord Chancellor, Lord Esher, Master of the Rolls, the Lord Mayor, Lord Chelmsford, G.C.B., Lord Justice Lopes, Lord Hobhouse, Rear-Admiral Moresby, Right Hon. Sir H. S. Keating, Right Hon. Sir N. Couch, Mr. Justice Grantham, Mr. Justice Manisty, the President of the Birmingham Law Society, the Judge Advocate General, Sir R. Nicholson, the AttorneyGeneral, the Lord Mayor of York, Sir R. Wisdom, K.C.M.G., the Solicitor-General, the Hon. Judge Windeyer, the Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge, the Ven. Archdeacon of Middlesex, Mr. W. Markby, D.C.L., Sir A. K. Stevenson, K.C.B., the Recorder of London, Canon Fleming, the President of the Liverpool Law Society, the Assistant-Judge, Sir James Paget, Bart., the President of the Irish Law Society, Sir R. N. Fowler, the President of the Royal College of Surgeons, Sir A. K. Rollit, M.P., the President of the Manchester Law Society, Sir F. Bramwell, K.C.B., the Solicitor to the General Post Office, Sir J. Monckton, the Vice-President of the Leeds Law Society, Judge Bagshawe, Rev. Dr. Wace, the President of the Institute of Civil Engineers, Prof. Tyndall, the President of the Bath Law Society, Sir James Linton, the Master of the Merchant Taylors' Company, Mr. Henry Irving, Sir Henry Isaacs, Sheriff of London, Mr. K. Muir Mackenzie, Q.C., Sir George Morrison, Mr. E. E. Baggallay, M.P., the Solicitor of Inland Revenue, the Solicitor of the Board of Trade, and Mr. Walter Besant. The PRESIDENT, in proposing the health of the Queen, said that in every assembly of Englishmen the first toast which surges in the heart and rises to the lips for expression was that of our gracious Queen. They would honour the toast to-night with redoubled enthusiasm, for they were celebrating the completion of the fiftieth year of her Majesty's happy and memorable reign. When our then youthful Queen first ascended the throne, now fifty years since, the hearts of her people at once went out to her, and from that time to the present the spirit of mutual love which binds the sovereign to her people and the people to her had been manifested with ever-increasing intensity. Might her Majesty long continue t reign over us, and might her throne be preserved to her descendants for ages tocome. He would invite them to drink with three times three the calth of her Majesty the Queen.

The toast was honoured with great cheering.

The PRESIDENT next submitted the health of the Prince and Princess of Wales and the other members of the Royal Family. He said the Prince and the Princess of Wales devoted their services to the interests of the country. They were ever ready to come forward and assist in every good work of charity or benevolence. He then proposed the health of the Army, Navy, and Reserve forces. We were constantly being told that the army was not in a fit condition, that our great guns burst, and that our harbours and ports are undefended, and that the historic Thames, on the banks of which this great City of London was placed, had no fortification worthy of the name. He hoped that efforts would be made to put the country in a proper position as regarded its defences so that it might be prepared in the event of war.

The Right Hon. Lord CHELMSFORD said he had the distinguished honour to rise in this great and magnificent hall to return thanks for the service to which he was very proud to belong. He had also the privilege to-night of returning thanks for the reserve forces-a national force, of which we were all, as Englishmen, so proud. He could assure those present that the regular forces were proud indeed to be associated with the reserve forces, as they had been on so many different occasions for parade and for manœuvres, and he could assure them that the progress which the reserve forces were making in efficiency and in style and in drill was something very remarkable indeed. They were treading close upon the heels of the regular forces, and he was quite sure, should the Occasion arise, and an invasion of these shores, which God forbid, take place, the reserve forces would shew a determined front, and would be found fighting side by side with good effect with those forces which were supposed to have that honour reserved for them. We were all now looking back to the last fifty years during which her Majesty had reigned over us, and it was a curious fact to see that during these fifty years there had been no less than twenty different occasions on which our army had had to take the field in different parts of the world-in Europe, Asia, Africa, and in Oceana, not to mention America if he might mention that excellent little expedition called the Red River Expedition. In all the five parts of the globe that army, through the last fifty years, had been

engaged from time to time, and in no less than thirty-two years out of that
fifty had some of her Majesty's forces been in the field. He trusted the
good reputation which the army had hitherto maintained would con-
tinue, and that the stout hearts and willing hands of our soldiers would
always be ready in the defence of their Queen and country.
Rear-Admiral MORESBY returned thanks on behalf of the Navy. He
felt very proud in returning thanks for the first line of defence, and, in
so doing, he could say with truth that England at this moment possesses
a navy which is at least equal to two, if not three, of any of the combined
navies of Europe. It was quite true that that navy had been produced at
a great expenditure, but that expenditure was necessary on account of
the transitional state of shipbuilding. It could not be avoided, for it was
necessary that one type of vessel should succeed another type before the
former type had been fully tried in order that England should maintain
her place ready for war and her place as the foremost naval power. But
there was one thing in which we were strong now in which we were
never strong before, and it was in the mobilization of our naval forces.
We were able now at any moment to mobilize our reserves, our pensioners,
our personnel of the navy in a way in which we had never been able
before, thanks to the present efficient Board of Admiralty. He need not
say that both officers and men were of the highest type. He believed
that they had never been exceeded in this respect, and, therefore, he felt
that in returning thanks for the navy, as far as his knowledge went, we
might rest assured that the navy was as efficient as it ever had been.
The PRESIDENT said they were honoured this evening by the presence
of the Lord Chancellor. It was a great pleasure to the society that the
Lord Chancellor had come among them as their guest to-night, and their
heartiest acknowledgments were due to him for his kindness. He (the
president) was sure that this expression of thanks would be cordially
echoed by all who were present. They had been told by a then distin-
guished member of the Government, when talking last year upon the sub-
ject of land law reform, that the Lord Chancellor had ideas upon the
subject, and that when the Lord Chancellor had ideas upon any subject
those ideas were sure to produce fruit. The Lord Chancellor's ideas had
now taken substantial shape, and the country had before it that important
measure of land law reform which his lordship had introduced into
the House of Lords and was there promoting. His lordship had been
good enough to send a print of the Bill to the Council of the Incorporated
Law Society for consideration at a very early stage, and to invite any
suggestions which the council had to make upon it, and the council had
at once set to work to consider that measure, and he (the president)
believed a good many members had sacrificed their Easter holidays to its
consideration. The result was that a report had been sent into the Lord
Chancellor, which he (the president) trusted had been and would be of
service to his lordship in moulding and fashioning this great and impor-
tant measure. As the entire conveyancing business of this country had
been for ages conducted practically by solicitors, he (the president) hoped
they might claim, without arrogance, to be able to offer valuable advice
and suggestions upon any measure which affects that important branch
of the law. In doing this their desire was to have regard only to the
public weal, and not to their own interest, which must ever be subor-
dinate to the public good, and he ventured to say that whatever measure
of land law reform the wisdom of the Legislature should pass would
be faithfully, zealously, and loyally administered by that profession to
which he had the honour to belong. He gave them the health of the
Lord Chancellor.

The health was drunk upstanding, and with three times three.

The LORD CHANCELLOR, who was received with loud and long continued cheering, after referring to the impossibility of making himself heard all over the hall, said :-Mr. President, I cannot be present in this great and wonderful assembly without feeling that pride which you have justly described as proper to the great profession of which we all are in the great majority members. I cannot help thinking that when it is possible for such a hall as this to be filled, as it is, by those whose primary duty it is to administer justice between man and man, it tells not only well for the profession to which we belong, but for the country in which such an exhibition is possible. I confess I was gratified by the mode in which you received the announcement of the toast, not only because I am naturally proud of the high office which it is my privilege to fill, but because I had been informed that the members of my own profession were disposed to regard with a jealous if not with an unfavourable aspect the legislation which I had proposed to the nation. [No, no.] I was delighted, and I am now delighted, to receive such a contradiction as I have received to that allegation, and although, as your president has said, I believe whatever law was passed we lawyers, who by virtue of our profession are loyal subjects, would recognize the fact that our primary duty is to obey and to enforce the law; yet, without professing any canting view about men being absolutely regardless of their own interests, I believe that which makes the law cheaper and more popular is ultimately to the personal advantage of the members of the profession of the law, and if it can be established, as I believe it may, that that which might be compared to the armour of the fourteenth century is inappropriate to the arms of precision of the nineteenth century, and may be cast aside, and that we may regard either land or other subjects of contract as proper to be placed in the market without unnatural or improper restriction, I believe the ultimate result of such an alteration of the law will be no less to the advantage of the country at large than to those who are the professors of the law. I cannot forbear from adding one observation about the advantages of this hall. Its extent and length is such that no human voice can maintain a protracted oration, and that in these times is an advantage the extent and degree of which only a comparatively limited number of us can properly appreciate. One observation I should like to add. You have heard from Lord Chelmsford—and I am delighted to hear in such an assemblage as this,

an assemblage among whom I will venture to say the name of Thesiger must ever be dear-what he has said of those whose hearts beat beneath red coats, what they will do and what they can do on behalf of their Queen and their country. Allow me to add that I believe some of the most important questions which have ever been decided and which have ever been conquered, among the growing questions by which mankind and their interests has been aided and assisted, have been decided in courts of law as importantly as upon fields of battle. And as long as you have brave soldiers, loyal subjects, and bold and courageous lawyers, to fight your battles on fields of battle, and in courts of law, and on shipsalthough I cannot say much for the beauty of the latter-yet I believe we shall maintain that same position that we hitherto have maintained, not simply by mere brute violence and force, but by the recognition of this great fact which we ought in this hall and in such an assembly to recognize, that in the result and in the end truth and justice will finally prevail. The PRESIDENT proposed the toast of the Bench and the Bar. He said the independence and uprightness of our judges were essential to the administration of justice in this country, and we could boast that we had a thoroughly upright and independent bench. To quote the eloquent words of a distinguished Lord Justice, used upon a recent occasion, justice is administered in the realms of her Majesty immaculate, unspotted, and unsuspected. There was no human being whose smile or whose frown, there was no Government, Conservative or Liberal, whose favour or disfavour would start the pulse of an English judge upon the bench or move by one hair's breadth the even equipoise of the scales of justice. The bar was the portal by which the bench of judges alone was approached, and the bench was the reward of honourable and successful exertion at the bar. As we venerated and respected the bench, so we honoured and respected the bar from whom our judges proceeded as one of our noblest professions. The MASTER OF THE ROLLS, who was received with loud cheers, said: I and the other judges here present are here for ourselves and on behalf of all of us to assist in this admirably imagined mode of doing honour to the Queen. We are here not only as guests, but as fellow members of the same profession. It is true that our profession is divided into three divisions, but the profession is one, and we are all, except when on duty, equally members of that one profession. That profession is one of high and peculiar trust. It is peculiar in this, that if any of us betray our trust, unless under the most gross circumstances, those who trust us or those with regard to whom we have to act have no remedy. It is for that reason that we all have resolved that our profession shall be carried out, not merely with honesty, but with the most scupulous and delicate honour. That honour strikes us in different ways. The judge knows of nothing in the profession but what is brought before him in the public court. His honour, therefore, only requires of him that he should spare no pains and no trouble to come to a right decision. The barrister knows of no circumstances in his profession but those which are contained in his brief, but he has a most severe responsibility in determining how much of that which is in his brief shall be disclosed, and that which he thinks right not to disclose in court he is bound in honour never to disclose at all. But a solicitor, from the necessity of the case, is made to know circumstances of the most delicate kind, and if he were to betray the secrets which must be intrusted to him he would in many cases destroy the peace of families, and in others the fortunes of multitudes of people. It is upon that third division of our profession, therefore, that the delicacy of trust of which I have spoken weighs the most heavily, and I am here to-night in order to testify to my most earnest belief and my most earnest conviction that that delicacy of trust is rarely, if ever, betrayed. And I am here on behalf of her Majesty's judges to say that we come here as members of our one and joint profession for the purpose of shewing the respect which we feel, and which everybody feels, for the division of the profession to which the great majority of this company belongs. Fellow lawyers, I thank you for the mode in which you have drunk the health of her Majesty's judges. The ATTORNEY-GENERAL, who rose amidst great cheering, also responded. He said: It certainly is a very great honour to be allowed to return thanks at this magnificent banquet on behalf of one branch of our profession. This hall has not hitherto served any very useful purpose. Since the day when it was honoured by our most gracious lady the Queen, I do not think it has ever presented such a noble appearance as it does upon the present occasion, and I feel sure that those of the bar who are present to-night will feel that we owe this, as we owe a great many other good things of the profession, to our brethren the solicitors and the Incorporated Law Society. On this occasion, and after what the Master of the Rolls has said, one's mind is naturally taken back to the respective duties with which that branch of our profession is intrusted. As has been truly said, we are all one profession; at the same time the bench, the bar, and the solicitors each have their respective duties. These respective branches, with their respective privileges, their respective duties, have existed now in this country for hundreds of years. There will, I have no doubt, be improvements; there will, I have no doubt, be changes; but I hope none of us will ever be tempted to break down that particular line of distinction of duty which now exists between the solicitor and the bar of England. Every facility for change should be given, so that anyone who feels he will do better in the other branch of the profession should be able to get into it with ease. Let those who are at the bar who feel that they can work better as solicitors have the opportunity of changing; let those who are solicitors and feel that they can get on at the bar-let them have a ready means of change, but do not, in the interests of our great profession, break down those distinctions which have worked so well for centuries. I need not refer to the mutual confidence, the mutual trust that is engendered by the relations which exist between solicitor and client and solicitor and barrister; but I feel sure that the most respected

members of every branch of the profession will feel satisfied that it is to the interest of all branches that we should remain as we are at the present time. I feel, and I am sure, that such gatherings as this, though they cannot often take place, will cement still more closely the bonds of friendship which exist, and which ought always to exist, between the two branches of the profession.

The VICE-PRESIDENT (Mr. H. Markby) submitted the health of the archbishops, the bishops, and the clergy of the Church of England. He said that of the distinguished members who held high office in the Church it was not fitting-indeed, it would be as unbecoming as it was unnecessary-for him to attempt to speak in words of praise. Of the clergy and of their labours, ill-rewarded with this world's goods, it was equally unnecessary for him to occupy their time. Whether in the crowded streets or the fever-stricken lanes of large towns, or in the retirement of country villages, their duties were performed with an assiduity which entitled them to high praise, and which made it certain that the toast which he ventured to propose was one which could not be received otherwise than with respectful cordiality.

The Venerable the Archdeacon of MIDDLESEX returned thanks, expressing his pleasure that, in such an assembly as this, the toast had been so ably proposed and so warmly received.

The PRESIDENT gave the health of the Houses of Parliament, observing that the House of Lords was a permanent and a popular assembly, and it owed its permanence and its popularity to the fact that it combined the principle of hereditary succession with a continual infusion into its ranks of the most distinguished commoners drawn from all ranks of society. So it was permanent, so it was popular. They had heard a great deal lately about ending or amending the House of Lords. He ventured to think that this country would never end the House of Lords, and he ventured to think, if the process of amending our Legislature was to be set about, it might usefully commence with the House of Commons, for, although the House of Commons now represented a fully-enfranchised nation, at no period of its history had it been so incapable of getting on with the business of legislation as it was now. The work of legislation in the House of Commons seemed to be paralyzed and destroyed, and he hoped that the procedure in that House would be speedily reformed, and that that House would regain its ancient reputation of being the first deliberative assembly in the realm.

Lord HOPHOUSE returned thanks, observing that he little thought when he saw this hall opened some years ago by the august lady whose Jubilee they were celebrating that he should attend a banquet in it, and still less that he should attend it as a member of the House of Lords, and still less that he should find himself on his legs returning thanks for the House of Lords. He had heard the question asked — a very relevant question—"What was the use of this hall?" Since he had been in the room he had heard it said that it was not an entrance hall, not a waiting hall, and, in fact, they did not know what use it was. He was proud to think that there was no problem so puzzling but the ingenuity of the legal mind could solve it. They had solved it in the most satisfactory way, in a way so satisfactory that he believed everyone who had attended the solution would be glad to do the same thing again. Sometimes another relevant question was asked-"What is the use of the House of Lords ?" He would answer it in the same way. Let them look at the work it was doing. The members of the House of Lords had not the delight of sitting up till two or three in the morning, but, on the other hand, they were attending to the business of the country. The House of Lords was a type of feudal society, and it was sometimes accused of clinging tenaciously to the traditions of the ages in which it had birth. But at the present moment it was engaged in reviewing no less than three important measures which lay at the very bottom of that society. He did not suppose anybody could find three more important buttresses, or, if they would, corner stones, of the fabric which the Norman lawyers and statesmen had erected than primogeniture, entail, and the prohibition of subinfeudation. All these were being seriously considered by the House of Lords, and in this assembly it would be well known that such a review was a serious one, and could not be considered without a great deal of labour. There was another consideration, that, whatever the Lord Chancellor would propose and whatever Parliament might propose, no reform had the slightest hope of success unless it met with the support and the approbation of the great legal profession, and that part of it which consisted of the gentlemen who were intrusted by the possessors of property all over the kingdom with the management of their affairs.

Alderman Sir R. N. FOWLER, Bart., M.P., having returned thanks for the House of Commons,

Mr. B. G. LAKE proposed the health of the Right Hon. the Lord Mayor. He observed that, standing in the very shadow of the City of London, if not in its actual limits, the toast would appeal especially to the imagination of those who, like so many of those present, were trained by their profession and instincts to reverence antiquity. The corporation maintained the ancient forms and ancient traditions of the guilds from which it had arisen. And although rash hands had hitherto unsuccessfully attacked its position and privileges, Englishmen were proud of the Corporation of London. There was hardly an event of importance in the history of the country which was not associated with that great corporation. When a foreign potentate visited these shores his welcome would not be complete until he had received the lavish hospitality of the Mansion House, and if a victorious general or public man had earned the approbation of his country, he ranked amongst his proudest rewards the freedom of the City of London. And if some great catastrophe affected either this country or some foreign State, to what quarter did they look for help and sympathy except to the benevolent Corporation of London. These words alone would be sufficient to justify the toast, but he desired

to add a few words because he was privileged to join with the toast the name of the present holder of the high office of Lord Mayor. The name of Sir Reginald Hanson not only appealed to them as one of civic honour, but from all sorts of aspects. To many of them not the least of his recommendations was that he was an old Rugbeian, and that he was well known in the Surrey cricket field and at the London Athletic Club, but that was far from being the reason why he wished in this hall, and in this year, to speak of him. Sir Reginald Hanson was, he believed, the only Cambridge man who had filled the civic chair, and if he (Mr. Lake) was not much mistaken the University of Cambridge was about to give the Lord Mayor the highest honour it was in their power to bestow, that of Doctor of Civil Laws. There was one honour he ventured to think the Lord Mayor would even pride himself still more upon, and that was that he occupied the unique position-certainly in this reign-of having received his august sovereign at the Mansion House as his guest. He had received her Majesty on the occasion of one of those gracious visits which she had been paying more often lately than perhaps during the last few years had been possible, and he had received as a fitting reward of his loyalty and of the loyalty of the city which he represented the hereditary honour and dignity which he now wore, and, in the hope that he might enjoy that dignity for many years, and that he might hand to his successors unimpaired the privileges and liberties of that great city of which he was the worthy representative, he called upon them to drink the health of the Right Honourable the Lord Mayor.

the delegates of the country law societies. He trusted that the cordial
relations which the London members maintained with their country
brethren, and the aid and assistance which they at all times gave them,
might long continue.
The PRESIDENT of the LIVERPOOL Law Society (Mr. Kenion) responded.
He said that it had been the humble effort of the country law societies to
receive the Incorporated Law Society in the provinces. They had done
their best from time to time to render the visits of the London members
to the provinces worthy of the dignity of this great society. They had
heard from the president to-night, as they had heard on previous occa-
sions, that the provincial efforts had been acceptable, and that they might
be considered worthy of the occasion; but he thought it was a happy idea
of the London members of the Incorporated Law Society, in celebration
of this Jubilee year, that they should return, in some measure, the obligations
they had felt they were under by asking the provincial solicitors to meet
them in this Jubilee year in the greatest city of the empire. He felt that
this was a very adequate response to all that the provincial societies had
done, and, on behalf of the provincial societies, he begged to tender in the
most hearty manner their sincere thanks to the president, to the Incor-
porated Law Society, and to the profession in London, for the very hearty
manner in which they had welcomed them.

The LORD MAYOR gave the health of the President of the Incorporated
Law Society, who represented their host here this evening. He did not
think it necessary to dilate on the greatness of the Incorporated Law
Society, or of its president, their excellent host; but he could tell the
great number present to whom it was an utter impossibility that his
speeches could have been audible, that those speeches had been most
à propos and that he had never heard better speeches given by a president
at any dinner, especially to such a distinguished company as this. Per-
sonally he had known the president for a great many years, and he could
venture to congratulate the Incorporated Law Society on their president
and on the work they had done, and especially on the exceedingly happy
thought of celebrating the Jubilee of her Majesty by giving this magnifi-
cent entertainment, because they in the City thought that any good
work could not be better celebrated than by having a very good dinner,
when all differences of opinion and any asperities which might have been
felt were smoothed down. By the courtesy of the Incorporated Law Society
they had had the opportunity of enjoying this evening a splendid enter-
tainment, for which, in the name of those present, he would render his
best thanks to the society and to the president, Mr. Parker.
The toast was drunk upstanding, and with three cheers.

The PRESIDENT, in responding, said: I rise to offer the warm thanks of my colleagues and of myself for the kindly words with which the Lord Mayor has introduced the toast of the Incorporated Law Society. Although in its terms the toast is addressed to me as president, I accept it over which I have the honour to preside, and to the society whose affairs we administer. For the Incorporated Law Society I may say that, although it is not yet sixty years old, it has been steadily increasing in importance and influence throughout the whole period of its career. The Legislature has intrusted us with the most important functions with respect to the discipline and the education of our profession, and every year our work and our influence are increasing. Although we do this work for the whole body of the profession, yet, speaking in round numbers, of the 14,000 solicitors who are upon the roll, a little more than one-third of them are inrolled within our ranks, and I consider it is essential to the development and to the furtherance of the objects for which our society was incorporated that every solicitor upon the rolls should be inrolled within our ranks, and I look forward to the day, and that day may not be far distant, when this great fusion will be accomplished; and then, and not until then, will our society be that grand representative body of the whole profession which it ought to be, and in the end, I venture to say, must be. The proceedings then terminated.

The Lord MAYOR, in acknowledging the compliment, said that the Attorney-General and Lord Hobhouse had expressed what appeared to be the views of many of those present-namely, that they were very much exercised as to what was the possible use of this hall. Their president and the Incorporated Law Society had recently discovered a very good use to which to put it, and he was quite certain that all who were their guests would appreciate it, and hoped that this would be by no means the last occasion on which the hall would be put to such a use. He would venture, however, as Lord Mayor, to say that an earlier use had been discovered for the hall, even from the very time when it had been first opened, the time of his predecessor in office Sir Henry Knight. Since his time it had been the passage room through which, on every succeeding 9th of November, the then Lord Mayor had passed to receive some words of advice from the Lord Chief Justice of England. Doubtless many of those present had been in that interesting but somewhat barbaric country Spain, where the chief amusement was the bullfight. But they treated the bull with the highest honour and respect, and before he was taken into the arena to be baited he was paraded before assembled multitudes, his horns were gilt, he was decorated with wreaths and ribbons and regarded as worthy to be slain with honour. Such was the position of the Lord Mayor on the 9th of November on his way to the Queen's Bench. There he was addressed by the Lord Chief Justice on many sub-in the collective sense in which it is intended, as applying to the council jects, some of which he understood perfectly well, and of some of which, if he were a vain man, he might say he knew better than some other people, and upon many other subjects which were of vast interest to the world in general but which did not perhaps so intimately concern the City of London or the Lord Mayor. He (the Lord Mayor) had had the opportunity of hearing from the Lord Chief Justice the whole history in a very compendious way of all the jubilees which had taken place in England. That was six months ago, and, notwithstanding the serious warning given to him, he was surviving in very good health, and he believed the Corporation cf the City of London was surviving and was held in the same estimation as ever. Mr. Lake had been good enough to say it was, and he believed he would be able to hand over the trust committed to him to his successor and his successors for many years, in as good a condition as when he had received it, and unimpaired in the estimation of the citizens of London. In the minds of all thinking men the corporation was represented in a great degree by the guests who were here to-night, because he knew that the guests of the Incorporated Law Society were from all parts of England, and many of them were concerned in local self-government, and he thought they had perfect confidence in leaving the management of municipal matters in the hands of those to whom they were intrusted year by year in the month of November by those who elected their representatives all over the kingdom. It was a great distinction to the City and to him, as its head, that her Majesty should have visited the Mansion House, which was an event unparalleled during her reign, and he believed during that of any other sovereign, and that her reception there had been carried out to her satisfaction and to that of the Royal Family, as he believed, from her Majesty's statement and from what he had heard from other members of the Royal Family, was It was a very great honour for the City of London, and the honour her Majesty had been pleased to confer on him he was not vain enough to take to himself. He knew it was in honour of the ancient City of London and the way in which it had supported her and her family. Mr. FOLLETT proposed the toast of "Art, Science, and Literature." Professor TYNDALL responded, humorously remarking that he was sorry science had not had more to do with the construction of this hall, which, from an acoustic point of view, left very much to be desired. Sir J. D. LINTON, P.R.I., and Mr. WALTER BESANT also returned thanks. The PRESIDENT proposed the health of the Provincial Law Societies, and of the country members of the society. He said it was a great pleasure to have amongst them as their guests to-night the members of the country law societies and the provincial members of the society. It was a great pleasure to the Londoners to entertain them there, and to do their best to reciprocate the pleasure which they had for so many years experienced during their visits to the provinces, where the most lavish efforts had always been made for their welcome and entertainment. The society in London received the greatest possible aid and assistance from the country law societies, and many of the most useful members of the council were

the case.

THE SECOND BANQUET.

The second banquet took place at the hall of the Law Courts on Monday evening, Mr. G. B. GREGORY presiding. Among the guests were Lord Lingen, the Right. Hon. Osborne Morgan, Q.C., M.P., Rear Admiral Field, the Lord Advocate, Sir John Mowbray, Bart., Sir Gabriel Goldney, Sir E. Watkin, M.P., Mr. Stavely-Hill, Q. C., M.P., Sir W. Hardman, Sir Whittaker Ellis, M.P., Sir J. Parker Deane, Q.C., Mr. J. W. Lowther, M. P., Mr. Lockwood, Q.C., M.P., Mr. Dixon-Hartland, M.P., Mr. Maclean, Q.C., M.P., Mr. T. Milvain, M.P., and Mr. Elton, Q.C., M.P.

The CHAIRMAN, in proposing "The Health of the Queen," asked those present to drink it, remembering that they were there as solicitors of the Supreme Court, and they were there assembled in this great palace which the Queen of this country had herself dedicated to the administration of justice. He then gave the toast of "The Prince and Princess of Wales and the other members of the Royal Family," which was followed by that of the "Army, Navy, and Auxiliary Forces," in giving which the chairman pointed out that the army of this country was purely voluntary, emanating really from the public spirit of this country, and it was supported by the reserve forces which were entirely dependent upon that public spirit. The British soldier when he enlisted knew that he must be prepared to do everything that was asked of him-in fact, to stand sentinel over the globe. He surrounded it with his power, and it might be a question for him sometimes whether he had done well in changing the snows of the Himalayas for the blinding sands of Aldershot. That was his destiny and his duty. That destiny he accepted, that duty he fulfilled. They all knew their obligation to the Navy, and how well it fulfilled its duty. They recognised it as the first line of defence, and upon that line they thankfully relied for the performance of its obliga. tions.

The LORD ADVOCATE OF SCOTLAND returned thanks for the Army and the Reserve Forces. For the Army he might say, from his own observation, that never during this generation had it been filled by better men in physique than it was at the present moment, and they had only to cast their memory back to the events of the last three or four years in order to satisfy themselves that that physique was used bravely in the service of the country. For his own branch of the service he returned hearty thanks that they had done them the honour of coupling it with the Army, and he assured them that if they had any confidence that they could be of any use for the defence of their country, it was solely because they believed and knew that they belonged to the same race from whom our regular Army was recruited, and therefore they felt that, if properly led by the officers of the Army, they might be able to do their duty. He rejoiced to see that every day the union between the two branches of the Army, the indispensable Regular Army and the equally indispensable Reserve Army, was becoming closer and more intimate.

Admiral FIELD returned thanks for the Navy, observing that there was no rivalry between the Army and the Navy, except as to which should serve the country best. Lawyers, until of late, had been permitted to be present at court martials only as "friends of the prisoners." They had now a legal status there, and he did not know that there was any difference, except in the length of the proceedings.

Mr. W. MELMOTH WALTERS gave the toast of "The Houses of Parliament," speaking of the opening of the Hall by her Majesty, and remarking that they were there to-night in a fitting way, it seemed to him, in commemoration of her jubilee. He had great pleasure in proposing the toast on behalf of the legal profession. They considered that they of the legal profession were, as it were, the handmaids of the Houses of Parliament. The Houses of Parliament had made their laws, and had entrusted to them the execution of them. The Houses of Parliament, beyond trusting them to that extent, had now let them go free and given them this magnificent hall to run in. Then, he said, it was fitting that there they should propose their health. They, as lawyers as well as citizens, owed much to the Houses of Parliament, for their liberties and their rights were owing to them. From them they derived Magna Charta, from them they got the Bill of Rights, and it would take a long time to enumerate the benefits which flowed from the action of the Houses of Parliament. He liked the House of Lords, not merely as a matter of fancy, but he liked it because of the value of its debates, because of the high pitch of eloquence to which it aspired, and because of the decorum which prevailed there. He liked the House of Lords not simply because, like most Englishmen, he had got, perhaps, a sneaking partiality for a lord, but also because he believed somewhat in the transmission of virtues and talents by hereditary descent, and because, in addition to that, he found the House of Lords was yearly recruited from amongst the best of our commoners, and because he found the result of that to be that they had a second chamber in ferior to none in the whole world-one which they could destroy if they pleased, but which they could never build up again; and a feature which made it independent, and that was a great feature in a chamber of that kind, a chamber which was not driven hither and thither by the uncertain gale of popular favour, but a chamber which deliberated and discussed matters upon its own responsibility, and which came fearlessly to the conclusion which justice required. It had been said, What was the use of the House of Lords? and there were those who cried, "Down with it; down with it even to the ground!" Had it gone down? No. Recent events had made it grow in favour and in power; and he believed the day was far removed when they should hear any substantial echo of the cry, "Down with the House of Lords!" If they looked back, there was many a time when they had had occasion to say, "Thank God for the House of Lords." There was no concealing the fact that the House of Commons was suffering at the present moment from a severe affliction. He did not know what the doctors called it, but he would be inclined to say that it was cacoethes loquendi, and he was sorry to say that independent critics had noticed a serious deterioration in its manners and language. In conclusion, he invited the members of the Houses of Parliament, if they wished to see how business should be transacted, to come to the Courts of Justice. But there were gleams of hope. He had faith in the ultimate triumph of good sense, and he believed that the present was but a passing phase which, carefully attended to, would pass away. He believed in the experience they had had in the past, and had faith in what was to come in the future, and that this would amply justify him in asking them to drink the toast.

Lord LINGEN, K. C. B., returned thanks for the House of Lords, observing that, as a second chamber, it held its position in the country greatly by its independence and greatly by its experience, and he felt tolerably safe in appealing to this assembly, which, more than any other, was connected with the property and all that represented the stable interests of the country. The House of Lords, on the whole, was perhaps the richest body which could be collected together in the kingdom, and he believed that to that fact might be attributed the great influence which it rightly and justly had in this country. And, further, its experience was a quality which it was impossible to overrate. The landlords, who were the holders of the great estates, the agricultural, urban, and mining interests, everything that constituted the industry and the wealth of the country, was represented there. He believed, judging from what he had seen in the debates of the House of Lords, that the interests of the country were thoroughly well considered in that House. Two of the first debates he had heard in the House of

Lords were concerning the government of India and the government of Ireland, and the majority of persons who took part in those debates had either been Governors-General in India or Lords-Lieutenant of Ireland. He said most unhesitatingly that the interests of this country were considered with a deliberation, impartiality, and experience and public spirit in that House which would justify any confidence which the country might repose in the House of Lords.

Sir JOHN MOWBRAY, Bart., replied for the House of Commons, referring particularly to the intimate connection which existed between the legal profession and the two Houses of Parliament. The House of Commons was recruited in its most illustrious members from the legal profession-from the most able and energetic members of both branches of the profession. He would remind those who were disposed to criticise the doings of the House of Commons, that the present was a very unfavourable year. But there was the unprecedented fact that the House of Commons, representing all shades of denominational and religious opinion and all classes and conditions of men, had repaired to St. Margaret's Church-the first time such a ceremony had taken place for a thousand years-to celebrate the Jubilee of an English Sovereign; and, for the first time, on Saturday evening, a banquet had been given to the legal profession in the Palace of Justice. On behalf of the House of Commons he would say that this, too, was an unprecedented year. The House had sat ever since January-nearly five months-and they had passed one rale of procedure and two clauses of a criminal Bill. The guests this evening had drunk to the House of Commons, and he looked upon it with peculiar hope for the future. There never had which for more than 600 years had conferred great benefits upon the people, been a time when there were a greater number of young men of ability and intelligence who formed the members of the House of Commons, and if the House would only proceed to work, great things might be expected of it. This was also the Jubilee year, in a sense, of the Chairman and himself, because it would be fifty years next November since Mr. Gregory and he had had the pleasure of commencing the study of the legal profession in the chambers of an eminent conveyancer, Mr. John Tyrrell, in New-square. Bar." This was an age in which institutions were apparently undergoing a Mr. R. ELLETT (Cirencester) proposed the health of "The Bench and the process of deterioration, but when they looked at the Bench of England they saw it maintaining its wonted dignity, its excellent purity, and its unswerving equity, and whether as English lawyers or as Englishmen they necessity of the bench, and if the bench were wise and good it was because were proud of it, and they sought to do honour to it. The bar was a the bar was so. He ventured to say that there never had been a time during the whole history of the English Bar where it was more fertile in the production of distinguished men, men of great honour and ability, and the bar had never at any time been more productive of men qualified to fill high offices as judges and as statesmen, and of men whose weight and eloquence enabled them to maintain worthily the traditions of the bar. That this was no fancy picture was well illustrated by the history of the right hon. gentleman whose name he was authorised to couple with the

toast.

Mr. OSBORNE MORGAN, Q.C., M.P., who was received with loud cheers, responded. He said the Bench of England was one of the few institutions of which the Englishman was still permitted to be proud. The judges of England could vie in point of ability, in point of purity, in point of integrity, with the judges of any other country on the face of the globe. If there was a single drawback to their happiness, a single bitter drop in their cup, it was because they were under the necessity of having to construe the nonsense which unfortunate legislators enacted. But what would the bench be without the bar, from whom its distinguished members were drawn; and what would the bench or the bar be without that distinguished section of the profession of which this distinguished society was, if he might use the expression, the incorporated essence? He could never forget that the bench, the bar, and the solicitors were the three branches of the same profession-component parts of the same machine. and the object of all of them was, or ought to be, the same-the administration of justice.

said: I have great pleasure in proposing the health of those who are here as The CHAIRMAN proposed the toast of "The Provincial Law Societies." He and who, I hope, will receive us as long as we shall survive as guests again. our guests to day; those who have accepted us as their guests for years before, We are all indebted to their hospitality, and we are all indebted to them for following our example of incorporating members of the solicitor branch of the profession into societies for the maintenance of discipline, for the preservation of the conduct, and for the maintaining of the dignity and the honour of their own profession. That has been the duty of these affiliated law societies. That duty they have faithfully fulfilled. I venture to anticipate a joke we may see in some of our favourite society journals, where we may be compared to the octopus sending out our bloodsuckers in all directions. Let them say it. What we are doing is to extend the honour of our profession, of maintaining its position of dignity in all parts of this country; and I say we are indebted to the affiliated law societies for assisting us materially in that direction. We are delighted to see them as our guests to-day. We look to favours to come. We look to receiving their hospitality in years for the future. I shall not be of the party, but many of us may be. I cannot look forward to it, but perhaps I may live in the memory of some of those I am addressing to-day. If so, I shall live in the anticipation of such a destiny. I desire nothing higher. I desire nothing better as long as I am a member of the profession. So long as I am remembered amongst you all so long shall I be satisfied with the destiny I have to fulfil. I beg with sincere satisfaction and with heartfelt gratification to propose the health of the Provincial Law Societies, coupled with the name of the President of the Bristol Law Society.

The health having been enthusiastically received,

The PRESIDENT OF THE BRISTOL LAW SOCIETY (Mr. H. O'B. O'Donoghue), in returning thanks, said that the Provincial Law Societies hoped that they were doing some good work. Although some of those in the provinces were inclined to think from changes of the law that they were threatened with extinction, and to look upon this magnificent banquet in the light of a funeral feast, yet he thought they might look forward to years of useful work-to years of profitable work-and to be useful to their generation and to this great country.

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