Last week the friends and supporters of the Metropolitan Charity
Schools dined together at a tavern in the city. Among the toasts were
"the Sheriffs of London and Middlesex," upon which (one of them,) Sir
Chapman Marshall, returned thanks in the following plain, sensible
words:
"My Lord Mayor and gentlemen, I want words to express the emotions of
my heart. You now see before you an humble individual who has been
educated in a parochial school. (Loud cheers.) I came to London in
1803, without a shilling--without a friend. I have not had the
advantage of a classical education, therefore you will excuse my
defects of language. (Cheers.) But this I will say, my Lord Mayor and
gentlemen, that you witness in me what may be done by the earnest
application of honest industry; and I trust that my example may induce
others to aspire, by the same means, to the distinguished situation
which I have now the honour to fill. (Repeated plaudits.)"
In its way, this brief address is as valuable as Hogarth's print of
the Apprentices.
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