The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1879-11-15 00:00:00

IaNISTERIAL SPEECHES AT THE
, ::•,,-t LORD , MAYOR'S BANQUET,
oteNgaittai'Aldirintiii*"---. '-• -ft'ancia Wyatt Tnecet.t, who
vas Weft chosen unanimouslY by the clthe,trs•of London
cloud of Aldermen to fill the Atatinguished office of
17,rd Mayor of London during the ensuing year, was, in
m;rdenee with ancient usage, escorted In state from the
2s;‘Ticlhall to Westminster-hall, to be presented to the Barons
7.4-the Coutt of Exchequer and to claim from them, for the
72tizess, the free exercise of their ancient rights, pet-
and liberties. The Recorder of London, in presenting
Ahs Lord Meyer to the Judges of the Exchequer, gave an
.7„sllse of the life and of the civic career of Sir I' Truscott
7;w absenCe of the Lord Chief Baron, Mr. Baron Pollock
ili- reply; s'phke of the impartant part which had been fut.
sued in the past by the 'Citizens of London, and of tho
;Asslinistration of the large tracts of land which the Cor-
L;ration had acquired, of the local Law Courts, and of the
netary arrangements for the benefit of the working
7:17-eses, which would be part of the Lord Mayor's labours.
.:Wees his past experience he had no
.doubt that Sir Francis
:,10-Sld discharge the clatfts of his high office honourably and
well- ,
DI the evening clie usual inaugural entertainment was
even by the Loll Pictayor and the Sheriffs in Guildhall.
The company began to arrive at six o'clock, and were
received by tl'.e Lord Mayor and the Lady Mayoress In the
yibrarY• ll,v as near seven o'clock, however, before the min-
ewe' guer.s arrived. The Prime Minist€ r, the Lord
chancel(' r, the Marquis of Salisbury, the Chancellor of
tee EV,liequer, and Mr. Cross were received with loud
ebeerr,. Lord Chelmsford and Sir Evelyn Wood were also
ssueu applauded.
'After the usual loyal and other toasts had been given and
igesponded to, the Lord Mayer, in very eulogistic terms, pro-
,,esed the "Health of Her Majesty's Ministers," associating
Trio the toast the name of the Earl et Beaconsfield. (Loud
slid continued cheers)
The Earl of Beaconsfield, in rising to acknowledge
the toast, was received with three times three hearty
ebeers and one cheer more. He said,—My Lord
mayor,—Since I last had the honour of addressing my
gellow-citizens in our hall the aspect of public affairs
tas become much more satisfactory. (Cheers.) At
that time the commercial interests of this country were
offering under a period of depression which in length
And severity was almost unprecedented, and there were
Ow a year ago, even among the sanguine, who looked
iforward to any early recovery in that direction. But at
the present moment, I am glad to say, our marts are full
etrid busea and our exchanges are carrying on a traffic
which even three months ago we should have supposed
impossible ; and the only question now is whether this
solve' of trade which luta occurred is temporary or
-permanent. That is a qr.sestion which is interesting to
.1,11 Englishmen, but , especially to the city of
louden. (Cheers.) I hope, therefore, you will
, on me if I ventnre to offer you the opinion of Her
o ajesty's Goearnment that that revival is of a perma-
sent characeer. (Cheers.) I think the information
whieh only. 'within the last few days has been in your
possesairelo may have satisfied the country to that
effect, Next to agriculture the manufacture of iron in
ell 'As branches is the most important of our industries.
((,4'heers.) No doubt the revival of that Important
tahas greatly been owing to the demand of the
sted States. But the returns which have now been
, otblished by. the Board of Trade prove to you
ehat I the activity of our iron trade is not occasioned only . ley the demand of the United States. On the contrary,
they show you that the demand for our iron ex-
tends to several portions of Europe. Nor is that de-
mand limited to the United States or to Europe. I
one happy to say that the miscellaneous demand for
our domestic industries is equally active, and espe-
cially in the shipbuilding trade. If you take another
keetence—namely, our great commerce with the East
ilk .--it is a fact at this moment that there has been a
IF demand for every article of tropical produce, and
thatlevery article of tropical produce has risen in
value. This so far as England is concerned, has had
A most beneficial effect on the price of silver, which
use greatly risen. In my opinion it will rise more;
and thus one of the perplexities of statesmen has been
removed, showing the magic of patience. (Cheers
and a laugh.) I would not on this occasion dwell
teso much on this subject, although the state and
prospects of our commerce must always be one of
Ant-rate interest to Englishmen; but I will take
cue trade and , one trade only, the state of which
ji usuelly recognised as significant of the general
prosperity of commerce, and that is our manufacture of
chemicals; That is a branch of our industry which at this
moment is so active that the orders which pour in can-
not easily be executed. (Hear.) If, again, we look
ao the textile trades, we find nothing that is not in
.harmony with all these circumstances, whether in
wool or in cotton; and when wioonsider the increase
of treffic in our railways, the increase of business in
the Clearing.house of the bankers, and the general
hardening of money, I do not think Her Majesty's
slinisters can be accused of rashness if they have ar-
rived at an opinion that the revival of trade is of a
permanent character. (Loud cheers.) But in my
mind there is one thing perhaps more satisfactory even
than the revival of our commerce, and that is the
admirable conduct of the people of this country
, during these years of terrible trial. (Cheers,) The
strain on their resources has, perhaps, never
been equalled, and yet there has never been a
murmur—not of discontent. (Cheers,) The voice
of sedition has never been beard. (Cheers.) There
has never been a public meeting to express discontent
with the institutions under which the people live.
1
- (Cheers.) But such has been their good sense, their
good feeling, and their patriotism, that they have
proved how much they value the institutions under
-, which they live. (Cheers.) I wish I could say as
, much of our brilliant brethren in Ireland. (Cheers
and laughter.) I wish they had proved themselves a
little more emulous of the conduct of the English
people. (Cheers.) The Irish are an imaginative race,
and it is said that imagination is too often accom-
panied by somewhat irregular logic. (A laugh.) But I
oonfesa I cannot bring myself to comprehend how the
Irish people have brought themselves to believe that
the best way to encounter economical distress is
political agitation and social confusion. (Loud
seers.) There is no doubt that there are portions
• of Ireland. where it may be necessary that some
means should be applied to avert considerable coffer.
, eng, and the subject hal duly received the attention
of her Majesty's Government. But I think Ireland
ought to remember that in her distress she has never
appealed to the sympathy ot England in vain (cheers);
and that sympathy has generally assumed a very sub-
stantial embodiment. (Loud cheers.) My Lord
Mayor, it will be the duty of Her Majesty's Govern-
ment to watch with the anxiety which the situation
4.equires the state of those portions of Ireland; but I
-would venture to hope that the Irish people, convinced
on reflection that the sympathy of England is a senti-
ment which is never scantily supplied to them, will
even condescend to recollect that if they have had a
bad harvest, that harvest is much better than that of
England. (Cheers.) My Lord Mayor, when I had last
• the honour of addressing your predecessor I informed
him that Her Majesty's Government were contem-
plating large military operations in Central Asia, with
the view of strengthening and securing the north-
' western frontier of our Indian Empire. (Cheers.)
These operations have been conducted with, signal
success. (Cheers.) We have strengthened and
secured our north-western frontier; (cheers); we have
smarted our supremacy in Central Asia; and the
general result of our operations will be, I hope, to
establish tranquility in those regions and increase
the welfare of their inhabitants. My Lord Mayor,
. in that campaign there has been a dark calamity
which even in this scene and at this hour we cannot
recall without emotion. A great nation can endure
ehe loss of a pitched battle with dignity and self.
control. They may even find consolation under such
circumstances in the consciousness of a good cause and
en the heroic acts of their countrymen, though de-
feated. (Cheers.) But calamities that commence
with treachery and are consummated by assassination
and massacre,—where the victims are youth and
genius, unrivalled courage, and the highest patriotism,
--these are the incidents that rend the heart of
. nations. (Loud and continued cheers.) No time has
been lost in avenging the memory of our countrymen—
. (cheers)—and in asserting the supremacy of oar arms
(loud cheers) ; and I must here express the sense
of Her Majesty's Government of the great abili-
ties of the Queen's Viceroy of India. (Loud
cheers.) I do it the more willingly because,
although it is the business of English Min-
isters living among their countrymen to meet
hostile criticism and depreciation with the firmness
which becomes men (cheers), it is to be regretted that
one so distant, and on whom such arduous duties have
fallen, has been so little spared by hostile criticism in
his own land. (Loud cheers.) For my own part, I
have rarely met a man in whom genius and sagacity
were more happily allied than in Lord Lytton
(cheers), a man of greater resource, or one possessing
in such degree that highest quality of public life—
courage in adversity and firmness and constancy in
difficulty and danger. (Loud cheers) My Lord
Mayor, there has been another war, which was com-
menced and has been concluded since we last met,
(Cheers.) I will not now enter into the controversy
whether that war was necessary or not, I will only say
' that the war occurred ; and Her Majesty's Government
0 have endeavoured to extract from its occurrence the
Most advantageous consequences for this country.
We have established the security of our colonial
fellow-subjects; and -while we have poured forth our
treasure and our blood to defend them, we have given
them a lesson in that art of self-preservation on which
they must for the future chiefly rely. (Cheers.) At
the same time we are entering into arrangements
which will tend, I hope, to the increased welfare of
the population among whom they live, and lead,
prObably, to the •civilising expansion of our com-
mercial relations. (Cheers.) My Lord Mayor, with
regard to our external affairs generally, although
rarope is covered with armed millions of men, we
etill hope, and I will venture to say believe, that
peace will be maintained. (Cheers.) We are of that
opinion because it seems to us that peace is the in-
terest of all the great Powers. I would not myself
place it on so low a consideration as the necessity we
all have of husbanding our resources, because I know
that the Powers of Europe are influenced by motives
of a much higher character; but in assuming that
peace will be maintained, I assume also that no great
Power would shrink from its responsibilities. (Cheers.)
If there be a country, for example, one of the most
'• extensive and wealthiest of empires in the world—if
• that country, from perverse interpretation of its
Insular geographical position, turns an indifferent ear
to the feelings and the fortunes of Continental
Europe, such a course would, rbelieve, only end in its
becoming an object of general plunder. (Cheers.) Su
long as the .power and advice of England are felt in the
councils of Europe, peace, I believe, will be main-
tained, and maintained for a long period. (Cheers.)
Without their presence, war, as has happened before,
1
and too frequently of late, seems to me to be
inevitable. (Cheers.) I speak on this subject with
confidence to the citizens of London, because I
I know that they are men who are not ashamed of
the Empire which their ancestors created (cheers) ;
because I know that they are not ashamed of the
noblest of human sentiments, now described by philo-
sophers (" Hear," and a laugh)—the sentiment of
patriotism (cheers) ; because I know they will not be
beguiled Into believing that in maintaining their
Empire they may forfeit their liberties. (Cheers.) One
of the greatest of Romans, when asked weat were his
politics, replied, Imperium et Libei tas. (Cheers.) That
would not make a bad programme for a British ministry,
It tel one from which Her Majesty's advisers do not
Ishrink. (Cheers.) My Lord Mayor, in reading the
other day I fell on a passage that the Athenians,
' in order to regulate their orators, had made it
• illegal to indulge in perorations. (A laugh.) I
cannot say, though I have had long experience of
- publia life, that I do not think much may be eaid in