The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1878-09-21 00:00:00

THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF CANADA.

A joint address from the Municipal Corporations of
Ontario was presented on the sth inst. to his Excellency the
Governor-General, on the eve of his departure from Canada.
at the Citadel, Ontario. Delegates, consisting of mayors,
wardens, and councillors from the various municipalities, to
the number of 74, assembled on the occasion, and were ac-
companied by a few ladies. The delegation was accompanied
by three Highland pipers—William Gunn, of Embro, George
Gordon Fraser, of Woodstock, and G. Cameron, of Glen-
garry. The address was beautifully illuminated by a... Guelph
artist. The title•page is, indeed, an exquisite specimen
of artistic skill. At the top is a representation of the
Parliament Buildings, and the dates 1872-1878—being the
years marking the period of his Excellency's administration
in Canada. Below this again are the Roy al and
Canadian Arms blended, with the Irish Shield and Scottish
Lion on either side. The Beaver occupies a place at the
bettom of the page, while the two lower corners are
formed by illuminated representations of Niagara Falls,
and of a steamer " shooting the rapids." The hour
appointed for the presentation was three o'clock, and
shortly before that time the delegates, headed by their pipers,
drove from the "Louis' Hotel to the 'Citadel, where they
were escorted to the Governor-General's private platform,
overlooking the river, from which the finest view in the
neighbourhood is obtained. Many hundred feet down below
is the beautiful river, with several large v, sssls riding its
watt rs, and to the left is the picturesque Isle cf 0r1e5114,
dividing the magnificent stream into two large branches. In
front the beautiful stretch of fertile country comprising the
cnuritif s of Lois and Dorchester lies op,,ned out to view
aleive the cliffs which hem in the river to the south, while in
the distance beyond the vieion is bounded by the hills of
Beance and of the stiil farther removed State of Maine.
The band of "B" Battery was stationed upon the Citadel-
square, and during the afternoon performed several choice
selections of music.

After the address had been presented, Lord Dufferin re-
plied thereto, arid in the course of his speech said :

Gentlemen,-1 hardly know in what terms lam to
reply to the address I have just listened to, so signal
is the honour which you have conferred upon me.
That a whole' province as large, as important, as
flourishing as many a European kingdom should erect
into an Embassy the mayors of its cities, the delegates
of its urban and rural municipalities, and despatch
them on a journey of several hundred miles, to convey
to a humble individual like myself an expression of the
personal goodwill of the constituencies they represent,
is a circumstance unparalleled in the history of Canada
or of any other colony. (Loud applause.) • A. few
weeks ago the heart of every man and woman in Canada
was protons, dly moved by the intelligence, not only that
the Government of Great Britain was about to send out
as England's representative to this country one of the
most promising among the younger generation of our
public men, but that the Queen herself was about to
entrust to the keeping of the people of Canada one of
her own daughters. (Great applause.) If you desired
any illustration of the respect, the affection, the con-
fidence with which you are regarded by your fellow-
subjects and by your Sovereign at home, what greater
proof could you require than this, er what inure gratify-
ing, more delicate, more touching recognition could
have rewarded your never failing love and devotion for
the mother country audits ruler? (Cheers) But, though
Parliament and the citizens of Canada may well be
proud of the confidence thu.s reposed in them, believe me
when I tell you that, quite apart from these especial
considerations, you may well be congratulated on the
happy choice which has been made in the person
of Lord Lorne for the future Governor-General of
Canada. It has been my good fortune to be connected
all my life long with his family by ties of the closest
personal friendship. Himself I have known, I may
say, almost from his boyhood, and a more c .n-
-scientioue, high-minded, or better qualified Viceroy
could not have been selected. (Great applause.)
Brought up under exceptionally fortunate couditions,
it is needless to say he has profited to the utmost by
the advantages placed within his reach, many of which
will have fitted him in an especial degree for his pre-
sent post. His public school and college education his
experience of the Hou-es of Commons, his large per-
sonal acquaintance, with the representatives of all that
is most distinguished in the intellectual world of the
United States, his literary and artistic tastes, his
foreign travel, will all combine to render him intelli-
gently sympathetic with every phase and aspect of
your national life. (Great applause.) Above all, he
comes of a good Whig s.tock—that is to say, of a family
whose prominence in history is founded upon the sacri-
fices they have made In the cause of constitutional
liberty. (Cheers.) When a couple of a man's ances-
tors have perished on the scaffold as martyrs to the
cause of political and religious freedom, you may be
sure there is little likelihood of their descendant
seeking to encroach, when acting as the representative
of the Crown, upon the privileges of Parliament or
the independence of the people. (Loud cheers.) As for
your future Princess, it would not become me to en-
large upon her merits. She will soon be among you,
taking all hearts by storm by the grace, the suavity,
the sweet simplicity of her manners, life, and conversa-
tion. (Applause.) Gentlemen, if ever there was a lady
who in her earliest youth had formed a bigh ideal of
what a noble life should be,—if ever there was a human
being who tried to make the most of the opportuni-
ties within her reach, and to create for herself,
in spite of every possible trammel and impediment, a
useful career and occasions of benefiting her fellow-
creatures, it is the Princess Louise, whose unpretend-
ing exertions in a hundred different directions to be of
service to her country and generation have already
won for her an extraordinary amount of popularity at
home. (Applause.) When to this you add an artistic
genius of the highest order, and innumerable other
personal gifts and accomplishments, combined with
manners and an address BO gentle, so unpretending,
as to put every one who comes within reach of her
influence at perfect ease, you cannot fail to understand
that England is not merely sending you a Royal
Princess of majestic lineage, but a good and noble
woman in whom the humblest settler or mechanic in
Canada will find an intelligent and sympathetic friend.
(Cheers.) So that, gentlemen, I hardly know which
pleases me most, the thought that the superintendence
of your destinies is to be confided to persons so worthy
of the trust, or that so dear a friend of my own
as Lord Lorne, and a personage for whom I enter-
tain so much respectful admiration as I do for the
Princess Louise, should commence their future labours
in the midst of a community so indulgent, so
friendly, so ready to take the will for the deed, so
i generous n their recognition of any effort to serve them,
as you have proved yourselves to be. And yet, alas!
gentlemen, pleasant and agreeable as is the prospect for
you and them, we must acknowledge there is one
drawback in the picture. Lord Lorne has, as I have
said, a multitude of merits, but even spots will be
discovered on the sun, and, unfortunately, and irrepar-
able and, as I may call it, a congenital defect attaches
to this appointment. Lord Lorne is not an Irishman !
(Great laughter.) It is not his fault—he did the best
he could for himself. (Renewed laughter.) He came
as near the right thing as possible by being born a
Celtic Highlander. (Continued laughter.) There is
no doubt the world is best administered by Irish-
men. (Hear, hear.) Things never went better
with us either at home or abroad than when Lord
Palmerston ruled Great Britain (cheers), Lord Mayo
governed India (cheers), Lord Monck directed the
destinies of Canada (cheers), and the Robinson, the
Kennedys, the Latfans, the Callazhans, the Gores, the
Haeuessays, administered the affairs of our Australian
colonies and West Indian possessions. (Applause.)
Have not even the French at last made the same dis-
covery in the person of Marshal MacMahon?
(Laughter and applause.) But, still, we must be
generous, and it is right Scotchmen should have a
turn.
i Lname because she was coneuered by the Irish (great
lauglte
pro-
bable the House
if
After all, Scotland only got her
ith were known, it is
its Irish origin. (Applame.) Nay, I will go a step
(r), (Laughter.)
dh t
f rt.he real tr
further—l would even let the poor Englishman take an
occasional turn at the helm (great laughter), if for no
'letter reason than to teaks him aware how much
better we /named the tardiness. (Renewed laughter.)
But you have not come to that yet, and though you
have been a little spoiled by having been given three

lIIMENNI

Irish Governor-Generals in succession, I am sure that
you will find your new Viceroy's personal and acquired
qualifications will more than counterbalance his
ethnological disadvantages. And now, gentlemen, I
must bid you farewell. . . . Tell your friends at
home how deeply I have been moved by this last and
signal proof of their goodwill, that their kindness
shall never be forgotten, and that as long as I live
it will be one of the chief ambitions of my life to
render them faithful and effectual service. (Loud
cheers.)