3-011-568 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The banquet given to M. Berryer in the Middle Temple Hall [in London] by the members of the English Bar, 1864. 'We give an Illustration of the festive scene in the Middle Tempie Hall, on the evening of Tuesday week, upon the occasion of the banquet in honour of M. Berryer, the illustrious French advocate and statesman. More than 400 gentlemen sat down to table...After the usual loyal toasts the health of the Emperor of the French was proposed, and then came the toast of the evening, the health of M. Berryer, who was commended by the chairman not only as the greatest living master of French eloquence and the acknowledged head of his profession in France, but as a consistent advocate of political freedom. The toast having been drunk with hearty cheering, M. Berryer replied in his own language. He was followed by M. Desmarest and M. Rodot, on behalf of the French Bar. The health of the Judges of England was next given, and acknowledged by Lord Chief Justice Cockbum, and that of her Majesty's Ministers by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, while Lord Brougham and Lord Kingsdown spoke for the members of the House of Lords present on this occasion'. Middle Temple Hall was completed in the early 1570s. Its hammerbeam roof has been said to be the best in London. From "Illustrated London News", 1864.