The Sun.
London, England, 1837-01-15 00:00:00

GRAND BANQUET

SIR ROBERT PEEL AT GLASGOW,
FRIDAY, J. 13.

Tll2 Xe:tement oceroioned by the arrival of Sir
PzEL in Inc Commercial Metropolis of the North, continuei
still unabate I—end the town is filling rapidly, notwithstanding_
the severity of the weather, and the very general prevalence
of influenza, which, it vas at one time apprehended, would
deter many from leaving their homes.
The Right Hon. Baronet visited the Royal Exchange yes-
terday, ‘N here a large crowd asseod for the purpose of ob-
taining a sight of him. 1/e '.as loudly cheered by his Tory
adherents. which had the effect of calling forth a few observa-
tions, in which he chiefly confined himself to the architectural
beauty sl,lendour (:r the edilee in whic!i he was, and the
venerable lii.iversity which he had just left—the one famous
as a seat learning, and the other illustrative of the great
commercial enterprise and skill of the City of Glasgow. The
Eight Hon. Baronet left the room amid the renewed cheer.; of
those assembled, who caused considerable destruction among
the furniture, gas pipes, and glass globes, by unceremoniously
suountinT the tables, in their anxiety to obtain a peep at the
diitinguishod stranger.
THE DINNER,

P.GnERT

. a 4 pur readers and the public generally are already aware,
took place in a pavilion er'cted for filo express purpose, on
the east side of Buchanan-street, and the following deFerip-
tion, whici.. I"' 4'-oPY from the Ghayow lirTalc! of Friday, will
afford our reas4er" 64,0ne idea et' the plan upon which it I:as
' been arranged :—" Lakt night we had the pleasure of seeing
this magnificent Hat: lighted up, the tables being covered
,ec.o '
and partly victualled for 3, 4-35
in this country, has there
Slid with safety, that never bc:, e' ns. We think it may be
-srpe
I:aus that of Westminster
Feel: seen such a Hall, except per.
Abbey, at the Coronation. of the late .7.'llg' , ,As a tempo
vary huilditig, however, got up in the course 0.. "vo or
vreeks, it is tvithout a parallel in Great Britain—w!'etl.er we
coi,sider it in its dimensions, its classical devices, its elcb'

-*lnt

and well-proportioned parts, the splendour with which it is
illuminated, or its conimodiwisness for the purpose intended.
The quantity of cloth stuff used by these eminent upholsterers,
else Messrs. James Whyte and Son, in covering the roof, the
tables, seats, &c., is about eight thousand yards of all de-
scriptions; and the gas lustres (two of them are exceed-
ingly beautiful), contain upwards of three thousand burners.
The gallery, from which by far the finest view of the
Hall is got, is supported by fourteen imitation of sienna-marble
columns, with Corinthian capitals-the roof heft- upheld by
t -n columns of a similar description, thirty-two feet in height.
'I hi decorative painting has been executed in a very superior
mariner by Messrs. Michael Bogle and Co., the great west end
being divided into three departments of massive Egyptian pil-
lars, Painted in relief. In the centre compartment, behind the
Bench where Sir Robert Peel and the most distinguished part
of the company are to sit, is an immense rock, on which is
founded the British Constitution in a pyramidical form, a little
timeworn from the blasts it has stood, and on which the words
" British Constitution " are emblazoned in gold letters. On
the top of this pyramid is seen the base of an obelisk, bearing
the inscription of "King," also in gilded letters. In the right
compartment is another pyramid, founded also on a rock, on
which is the word " Lords " in emblazoned gold letters. The
left compartment contains a similar pyramid, with " Com-
mons." The whole, from its great magnitude, has a very
grand and imposing effect. Tfie front of the gallery is painted
in panels of crimson and stone-colour styles, which, with the
columns in imitation of marble, give the area a chaste and
light appearance. The front of the bench is panelled in crim-
son and yellow mouldings, that stand out in bold relief against
the sombre column of the rock behind."

About four o'clock the company began to arrive, and not-
withstanding the vast crouds assembled round the pavilion, the
arrangements were such as to afford immediate and easy
igress to all.
Sir Robert Peel entered the room about a quarter past five,
and the vast multitude within the building instantly rose, and
received him with loud cheers, clapping of hands, and waving
of handkerchiefs, the band striking up,
" See the conquering hero comes,"
There were a few hisses from a remote corner of the
gallery, but they were drowned in the louder and more general
shout of acclamation with which the Rigid Hon. Baronet
was greeted on his entrance.
Among the distinguished individuals who were stated to be
present were the Duke of Buccleugh, Marquises Twee-
dale and Lothian, Earls Haddington, Rosslyn, Hardwick,
Morton, Eglington, Leven, and Melville ; Lords John Scott,
M. P„ Forbes, John Campbell, Elcho, Loughborough, Ram-
say ; Viscounts Melville, Stourmont, M.P., Kelburn ; Sirs G.
Clerk, M.P., H. P. H. Campbell, M. P., A. Campbell, John
31' Kenzie, J. S. Forbes, John Campbell, Bart., W. J.
Hooker, William Rae, A. Edmonston, Chas. Hastings, D.
Er.kine, R. Arbuthnot; Messrs. E. Tennant, M.P., Cummin
Bruce, M. P, W. Forbes, M. P. Hope Johnstone. M. P., Pringle,
MP. , G ordon,M. P., W. E. Gladstone, NI. P. , Geu. Arbuthnot,
M. P., The Chisholm, M.P., Professors Jeffrey, Meiklehain,
Ramsay, Burns, Cheape, Fleming, Badham, Cowper, and
Buchanan. The Dean Convener, the Dean of Guild, the
Msster of Grey, the Master of Rolls, the Hon. Capt. Cath-
cart, Baillic Bain, &c., &c., &c.

_ . .
The Chair was taken by HENRY MONTEITH, of Carstairs,
Esq., and on his right sat the distinguished guest of the
evening. _

Whe'a the cloth was removed, the Chairman rose and said,
he should give them, with all the feelings of loyalty, " The
King." Nine times nine. Air—God save the King.
The CHAlRMAN—Gentlemen, I give you the highest lady in
the land—not higher in rank than she is in virtue.—(Enthu-
siastic cheers.) " The Queen." Air—" My ain kind
derrie, 0,"

" The Princess Victoria, and the rest' of the Royal Family."
( Nine times nine.) Air--.! My love she's but a lassie yet."
The CHAIRMAN would nr.w give them, " The British Con-
stitution, King, Lords and Commons.—( Applause.) Un-
der that Constitution they had enjoyed peace, happiness, and
prosperity, and its emblem was behind them, uuilt upon
a rJek.—( Loud cheering.) He hoped that they should
leave it to future generations to enjoy it as it had been framed ;
and whatever people might say, he trusted that Constitution
wculd he preserved and not destroyed.—( Vehement cheering.)
"The Army," under whose banners, and by whose achieve-
ments, the liberties of the country have been preserved and
protected against her enemies. Air—" British Grenadiers."

Lord FOi.:BES—Being the senior military officer present, the
duty of acknowledging this toast has devolved upon me. I
therefore thank you in the name of the British Army for the
honour you have done us. I believe I may add, that the British
army are never more happy than when they have reason to con-
clude that their conduct either in the field or in quarters, has
been such as to render them acceptable to their King and
their country.—( Loud cheers. )
The CHAIRMAN —G&ltlemen, the next toast I have to pro-
p se, to which I am sure you will do all honour—it is those
under whose banner we have achieved great things-4 Cheers)
—" The Navy of Great Britain, the wooden walls of Old
England."--( Great cheering.)
Lord HARDWICK rose to return thanks, amid much cheer-
ing. Not being the senior officer present, I rise, Sir, to re-
turn thanks fur this toast, the two senior officers sitting at the
other end of the table, and I wish I had a spy-glass to see
them—(Laughter)—complaining of being unwell, have
struck work, and are now on the doctor's list.—( Cheers.) I
therefore, the third in rank, am entrusted with the pleasant
office of returning thanks for the profession to which I belong.
The navy has never been considered a political body ; and I
trust, as long as we have meetings of this description,
so numerously attended, it will be needless to consider them
in any other capacity than a useful body to protect the inte-
rests of the country against a foreign enemy.—(Great cheer-
ing.)—l beg most sincerely to return thanks for the honour
you have done us. We are attached to the Constitution
and the Crown.—(Continued cheers.) Individually and
personally we arc attached to the person of our King.—
(Great cheering.)—Again, gentlemen, I beg to soy, on behaif
of the Navy, that we return you our most hearty thanks for
the great honour you have done us—the greatest honour the
British Navy could receive.--( Great cheering.)
The CHAIRMAN then said—Nly lords and gentlemen, I now
rise to propose to you what may with propriety be called the
toast of the day.—(Cheers.)—l am sure I am unequal to the
task which has been imposed on me, but which I am proud
I have been required to perform.—( Hear. )__As regards in-
accuraey, my mind is relieved, when I consider the subject of
the mast I have to propose to you, and that it does not require
a long harangue to recommend it to your warm reception.
--(Loud cheers. )—Sir Robert Peel has been so long known
to you, that the history of the last twenty years may be
said to have defined his character, and disnlayed hint
to you as a great statesman, a pure patriot, and an honest man,
and to rcc -anmend him to you I need say no more than thi,—
( Hear and cheers.) History recommends him to you as a
statesman, who has devoted his great talents to the service of
his country. —(Loud cheers.) I shall say no more then, but
that I am sincerely thankful that to inc has fallen the honour
of proposing to you the health of Sir Robert Pecl.—(Loud
and continued cheers, which lasted for several minutes.)
Sir ROBERT PEEL rose, and the cheering and acclamations
were again renewed, and kept up with the greatest enthusiasm
for several minutes. He said—Gensleren, I thank yott.
thank you from the bottom of my heart, for the kind and affec-
tionate reception you have given to my name. Excuse me, if
for the purpose of returning thanks, I make use of the most
imple and familiar phrases. They are imperfect expressions of
my feelings, but they are better suited to express them. than
the trite, studied, and conaptmentary forms of expression which
may be suited for ordinary occasions. What a heart must I have,
if I can have witnessed what has passed in Glasgow within
the la-t live days, without deep emotion ? Unconnected with
this country by birth, I.have been placed in competition with
a distinguished Scotehman for a high academic distinction. I
have been placed in it by a triumphant majority—by the gene-
rous, the unsought, the unsolicited confidence of the youth of
Scotland.—(Loud cheers.) I have seen that choice con-
firmed by the deliberate judgment of men of maturer age,
cntrnged in the pursuits of business and profess.onal
(Cheers.) This very day have I received the congratulations,
un my appointment, front some of the working classes of this
great city—(Applause)--couched in language that would do
honour to men of the highest education. I have.seen those feel-
ings so wide spreading and so intense, that they disdained to be
compressed within the limit of any pre-existine edifice, and
they called forth from the ground, as by the stroke of an en-
chanter's wand, this magnificent and unparalleled fabric.—
( Hear, and cheers.) I have been present here—l have heard
its'foundations shaken, and its root almost, rent by your en-

thusiaetic applause ; and do you think I can condescend to
look out for ingenious forms of expression for the purpese of
giving vent to feelings which almost overpower me ?—( Lcud
and continued cheering.) I said that I was unconnected with
Scotland by birth—lli hepe I did not say that I was a stranger.
No—l am net a stranger.—( Loud applause.) if the long
exercise of power in Scotland, if the administration of justice,
if intercourse with her civil and religious institutions, and above
all, if love for her name, and admiration for her charac-
ter, and cordial interest in her welfare, entitle a man
to repudiate the name of stranger—then I am pot a stranger
its Glasgow.—(Cheers.) No, gentlemen. When •my
education was completed, I burned with a wish to see Scot-
land. I came here to this city, and I confess to you,
that altheuell the interval is short in the history- of
nations, I could not have conceived it possible that
in that interval such progress could have been made in the
population, in the wealth, and in the prosperity of this magni-
ficent city—(Great cheering,)—pouring, as it does, into the
revenue, in one branch alone, greater treasures than continen-
tal nations possess for the whole of their expenditure. I came
here—l wished to see something of Scotland which I could
not have seen from hasty glimpses from the windows of a
luxurious post coach. I wanted to see your attitudes and man-
ners of life, apart from the magnificent and hospitable castles
of your Nobility and Gentry.—( Cheer.) Yes, in Glasgow
I acquired a faithful steed, and I traversed on horseback, or on
foot, almost the whole of the country from this to Inverness.—
(Cheers.) Gentlemen, hear with me, excuse me if I indulge
in honest exultation---(Cheers)—excuse me if I say in this
society of Seotchmen, that I think I have seen more of your
native country than some of those whom I am now Address.
ing.—(Cheers. ) I have read the map of Scotlandtin the
' scale of nature front the summits of Ben Nevis and Ben Lo-
mond.—(Loud cheers.) 1 visited that island from which sa-
vnge clans and roving barbarians derived the benefits of know-
ledge and ti:e blessings of religion.---( Loud cheers.) Yes,
amid the ruins of lona, I abjured that frigid philosophy that
would conduct us unmoved over any ground, however dignified
by wisdom, bravery, or virtue—l stood on the shores of Staffs
—I have seen the temple not built with human hands—l
hew seen the mighty swellings of the ocean—the pulsations of
the great Atlantic. I have explored its inmost recesses, and I
have heard thcee swellings, nobler than any that ever pealed
from human organs. I have lived on the banks of the Spey
two autumns, and I want no guide in the mountains and shores
,f Badenoch—( Great cheers)—l could find my way from
Corriaricis to Loch Logan.—(Clieere..) I have climbed your
nentain sides with no companion but a Highland shepherd.
hour have I passed listening to his simple annals, and
Many an . e human life. I have learned to admire, by per-
artless views 0.. --ed and independent spirit, chastened.by
sonal intercourse, a pre. •
a Cheer. • I have seen him with intel-
natural courtesy.—( Chee - • but with no intelligence
ligence apparently above his condition, ' nrivations —con-
but that which taught him patience ceder ,
toyalty. to
fidence in his exertions—and submission to the law •
the King.—( Cheers.) And when I have seen that, my e. 7
nest prayer has been, that to his children, and his Pilildren's
children might be preserved, that system of education eyhgtl
founded moral obligation under the revealed will of God—,
(Great cheering.) My earnest wish has been that the circum-
stances of Scotland, with reference to religious dissent, might
long enable them to enjoy that proud, and, I believe, petits- '
liar privilege, of having a system of education enforced by the
law, but in connection with the Established Church. (Cheers.)
Avid when I joined that man in public worship, 404 heard the
sublime truths, and pure doctrines of her common faith enfoined
and enforced, according to different rights, think you 'I Lao
adverted to distinctions and a point of form ?—(Cheers.)
Think you that I have troubled myself with questions of
Church discipline, or Church Government ?—( Great cheer-
ing.) No, but with a wish as cordial and hearty as you
can entertain.—(Continued cheering.) I have deprecated
the arrival of that day, if ever it should arrive, when men in
authority should not be ashamed to support the Na-
tional Church of Scotland.—(Great cheering.) To extend
its ministration, and to advance its good, but do all they can
to extend religious intolerance.—( Hear, hear.) Gentlemen,
you respond to that statement.—(Loud and continued cheers.)
Come then, let us devote ourselves not merely to the purposes
of festivity—let:us improve the present opportunity to the
public advantage.—( Cheers.) Let us see if we are agreed
as to the dangers to which the Constitution is exposed ; then
let u; e , if we can join heart and hand in support of the re-
solution you have adopted.—(Cheers.) Gentlemen, I have
been informed that there are many persons here present who
entertain a different opinion from -myself with respect to the
Reform of the House of Commons.—( Hear.) I sincerely
hope that this is the case.—( Cheers.) You may safely think
that I am not here going to offend any by reviving battles that
have been concluded.—( Cheers.) If we can agree as to pre-
sent dangers, and unite in principle, I shall not revive the dis-
sensions that are past, for we might as well in the face of the
enemy tight over again the battles of Bannockburn or the
Field of Flodden.—(Hear and cheers.) I say i want not to
taunt any with reaction or conversion ; but I say this, that if
you adhere to the principles which they professed in 1830,
this is the place in which they should make their appearance.
You consented to the Reform Bill, to which you were ex-
pressly invited to assent to, in the speech which was delivered
by your Sovereign, on condition that you should, in doing so,
acknowledge the principles upon which the Constitution was
founded. Let there be no mistake on this pint.—(Loud
cheers.) I see the necessity for widening the fourJation ore
which the defence of the British Constitution, and the religi-
ous establishment must rest. —( Loud cheers.) I ask, though
I have no right to ask, for any confession of error, or even for
any change of opinion—all I ask of you is, do adhere to the
principles upon which the Reform Bill was advocated; and it
you do, then will you combine with me firmly for the defence
of the Constitution of the country.—( Continued cheers.)
I have now to recommend to you, said his Majesty, the im-
portant question of Reform to your earnest and most attentive
consideration, confident that in any measures you may prepare
for its adjustment, you will carefully adhere to the acknowledged
principles of the Constitution by which the prerogative of the
Crown—the authority of both Houses of Parliament—( Cheers)
and the rights and liberties of the people are maintained. Did
his Majesty rest satisfied with that? Did he say adopt Re-
form—apply Reform to the House of Commons—but apply it
only upon the acknowledged principles of the Constitution ?
He said that—but he said more. He invited you to consent
to Reform for certain objects, and amongst those objects
expressly was this In recommending Reform to your
consideration, it was my dhitet to give additional se-
curity to the other institutions e'sf c.lr land."—( Cheers.)
Now, Gentlemen, if these were your cineiples—if you sup-
ported earnestly and conscientiously Reforni to ths-Pouse of
Commons, because you believed that you were res...`ting ati.4n-
croachment which had been made upon the very represei;!ation
of your country—( Cheers)—if you thought that Reform was
in conformity,with the acknowledged principles of the Consti-
tution—if you believe] with Lord Grey, that by making the
Reform larger and more extensive you would discountenance
other extravagant propositions endangering the Constitution, I
not only say you may be here without hearing from me one word
that could pain your feelings, but I say upon you and not upon me
is it incumbent to vindicate your rights and not mine—the stigma
of being inconsistent with the safety of the British Constitu-
tion.—( Cheers.) I have endeavoured to extract what was
good—and mitigate as much evil as I could. But, I say, if
you adhere to your principles, you ought not to leave to me,
and those who act with me, the defence of the Reform Bill.
You naturally say, that although you are determined to resist
further changes which endanger the Constittition, yet you
adhere to your opinions, that the progress of improvement
ought not to be suspended—that abuses ought to be removed.
You avow, no doubt, your hostility to corruption, and you have
ever disavowed it. Corruption!—Why, what has this meeting
to benefit by corruption? Not one possible thing. This
. meeting has met for one object—to mark its esteem.. for me,
and to extract a public good from it, by spreading the spirit
which animates us.--( Cheers.) I ask what benefit could you
—the greater part of you, active and industrious citizens of
Glasgow—derive from corruption. Perhaps you think my
situation different from yours ; and that, although it
would be difficult to prove that it would benefit you, cor-
ruption to me, as a public man, would be of great ad-
vantage. I should like, however, to ask what benefit
corruption would give me compared with this meeting.—
( Tremendous cheering.) I should like to know if moral in-
fluence, as a public man, is my object, by which I should bene-
fit most, by adding 50 Commissions to the Commissions
already issued ; or by saying 3,500 men met me in Glasgow.
We reconciled, we forget our bygone differences, but we
were determined to unite in defence of our national establish-
ments and our national religion.—(Long continued cheering. )
I don't want that the machine of Government should stand
still; and I join with you cordially in wishing to see it pro-
gressing in the discharge of its important action, beating with
healthful and regular pulses, animating industry, encouraging
production, rewarding toil, and purifying wherever there is
stagnation ; but let me tell you, that in the social, as in the
material machine, with which you are so well acquainted,
the movements cannot be regular unless the founda-
tions are stable and secure.—( Tremendous cheering.)
If in the case of a steam engine, a mail who knows nothing cf
its construction—one man may bore . a hole in the cylinder,
another may tinker the boiler—and another, who sees some
horizontal movement which he does not understand—they may
call this reform—they may ask for a progressive movement—
but will thie give it them?—(Tremendous cheering.) Now,
gentlemen, the time I am entitled to trespass upon vou is but
short—( Loud cries of " No")—I must not trespass too much
upon your indulgence.—( Cheers.) Let us come to the main
point.—( Loud cheers.) Ido not wish to conciliate your con-
fidence or support by wearing false colours.--(Loud cheers.)
I mean to support the national establishments which connect
Protestantism with the State in these three countries.—(Tre-
mendous cheering, all the company rising.) Nothing could be so
unseemly—after the reception I hare met with, nothing could
be so unseemly—in me, than to say one word of—(We missed
the word)—with regard to those who differ from me in their
religious opinions.—( Cheers. ) I will say, with respect to the
chief sect or this country, that the country owes to it great
obligations for the efforts they have made in the common cause
of promoting sound principles of religion.—( Laud cheers.)
But it is perfectly consistent with that respect and these obli-
gations, if I declare that, in my opinion, more weak arguments
than those by which what is called the Voluntary Sys-
tem is supported, were never presented to the consideration of
men interested in the progress of a great nation. Ido feel,
and I trust you feel the same, that it is right that the State
should pay that homage to Christianity which is implied in a
religious establishment. Is it possible that any person could
be deluded by the analogies addressed by those who say that
the supply of religion will always be equal to the demand ?
Is it not perfectly clear that the demand for religious instruc-
tion may not only not be in the direct ratio of its necessity,
but absolutely in an inverse ratio ?—( Loud cheers.) Will
those who stand most in need
kof religious instruction bo the
first, and not the last, to
nth
de i
rfministerand
do
tryis tot
to
conciliatee towards religion—who is to
haz voluntary efforts ? I say that
authority—who is to rebuke
ithat man ought not to
be the censor over vice—that

depend upon the precarious bounty of those whom he
ie to counsel, to edinenish, and to instruct.—(Cheers.) I
infer from the declaration of your opinion upon that point
your mind is made up.—( Cheeis.) It is not a question of
forming de novo a new establishment ; the question is, will
you adhere to that which you find established by the law, which
has been guaranteed to you by the most solemn national com-
pact ?—(Clicers.) Then, again, I avow to you that I mean to
support, in its .full integrity, the authority of the House of
Lords—( Tremendous cheering, ehich lasted for several mi-
nutes)—ae an essential, indispensable condition of the
continued existence of the mixed form of Government
under which we live, as tantamount to the maintenance
of the British Constitution.—(Great cheering.) I mean to
censider every plausible proposition that may be made, not
directly assailing that iateegrity, hut tee:el tly to undermine
it.—( Hear.) I mean to consider them, not upon their abstract
merits, but the ultimate tendency they may have to undermine
the House of Lords, and destroy the British Constitution.—
(Great cheering.) Do you concur also with me in that ex.
pression ?—( Great cheers.) If you do, it is a timely declara-
tion of it.—(Cheers.) The hour has arrived when, if those
are our feelings, we must be prepared to act upon them.—
( Tremendous cheers.) Do notlet us content ourselves with
the vehemence of our enthusiasm.—( Cheers.) We have poli-
tical privileges given to us, and do not know for what it is we
hold them, unless we are determined to exercise them.—
(Cheere.) And if ynur sense of the danger is that which I
apprehend it is from your declaration, and if your union of
sentiment with me is that which I think it is, and which
I collect it to be—l say, that having these privileges and
rights, if you do not exert them, you will be in the situation of
the man who in the face of the common enemy, having a
sword, refused to draw it.—( Great cheering.) I speak of the
civil sword only —( Hear. hear.) The exercise of civil privi-
liges is estimable, as instructing us to maintain and to defend
our own opinions.—( Cheers.) But it is time that we should
resort to the peaceful exercise of these privileges.—( Hear.)
I possess a privilege—that of addresaing you here.—( Cheers.)
And I shall now set you an example in the exercise of it.—
( Hear.) Don't think that I came here only to gratify my per-
sonal vanity, although as far as that vanity is concerned its
gratification has been most complete.—( Hear.) I say that I
came here, believing that by my communion with you I
might be able to strengthen the means of defence for the Con-
stitution, and I forgot the distance—l forgot the winter, for
feeling it to be right, in the performance of a public duty, I
did so.—(Cheers.)—l say, then, 'tis time—the. time is come
for us to stand forward in the exercise of the privilege to
which I have alluded ; for I have read speeehes lately which
have been delivered by those whose special duty, in my
opinion, it is to defend the Constitution in all its integrity ;
I have read speeches, however, delivered by them, of such
a nature, as makes me unwilling to trust its defence to their
exertions.—( Hear and cheers. )—I have read the speeches of
great legal authorities, and I find that they have not yet made
up their minds to the reform of the House of Lords.—(Hear
and. laughter.) I am sorry for it—(Hear)—they say they
fear that it is coming, but they have not yet seen the plan of
operating?. —( Hear and laughter.) They are hard at work,
however, rat„ teking pigeon-holes and depositories, for plans
for a reform of the I-louse of Lords.—( Hear.) The chief
objection is, however, that no plan has yet been drawn out-
right,ese( Hear,) Oh ! what miserable trifling.—( Hear, hear.)
But th©y may Spare themselves the waste of' time—let them
take the first of those which have been proposed—let them
substitute for the House of Lords a Council of Ancients, or
c pencil of Five Hundred—or let them substitute a new
body, pliefbled by the Peers, or by the heads of families—
(Laughter)—mifet tesieee give the House of Lords a suspen-
sive veto.—( Cheers eusl lOgiftes', ) Let them, in fact, take
one or the other of these, the effect 111 he the same.—
(Cheers.) Why, 40 yen believe that you can WPM the oak
of the forest, which haa gem a thousand generations
(Loud cheers.) Do you believe y4ll Go uproot the noble
productions from which the hatchments and the ePhievements
of a tho4saild illustrious names are suspended ?—(Qheers,)
But rely OP itear Phange won't be to the institutions of the
United States, Neyer believe, elthough they may be shows
erieg down
prosperity and happiness An the people of that
country (and 1 heists they are), never believe that shell will oc-
cur. Recollect the physiaa ajfferences that exist between
them. This is a country of ancient feeliege and associations;
and do not believe that you can transfer to it the 4spgblim
institutions of Aineeieg. Do you think that we would snbmit
without a struggle tss the tyeeeey which may. ensue ? We hate
the tyranny of a single ele'spet-I.swe hap pherchical tyranny,
but the tyranny of the majority has no greater fees9rsteecla.:
tion. We shall not fellete 'the example of the msnerity iu
the United States.—(Hear, hese, Bear,) We are a cOnn-
try of old associations—(hear)—every castle and fiVflry 414
will remind us of the institutions under which we lived. 'rho
days of auld langsyne" will dwell upon our memories—(Tre-
mendeus cheers)—and they wonld male us most impatient and
ungovernable subjects of a:despotie eenntey.,_-.‘ TAO pheers,)
If you choose to run the risk of that experiretent, have before
your eyes the example of another country. If you will abolish
hareattill 4.4l2oeity—if you will make a permanent dern9PFatiF
assembly, then prepare yourselves, not for the institutions of
the United States, but for 04 terrible and fiery ordeal through
which France has passed.—ketseeee.) If you choose to
abolish the House of Lords.-..de abolish it. If you think that
a second Consulting Chamber ought not to eiipos.e itself to
the will of the people, abolish it at once..-.-(f ear.) Do not
let us beAu a pretended second Chamber; infinitely better
will it be to eeie ati epee to the trial of having only one
Chamber, than to drrstvssytts!lflttence and prerogatives, and
leave it the empty name.—(Clecees,) Yeet are told that these
neeasures are indispensable—the deetrueteen of the Pil9YeirEe-
tablishmant as being in its present state ineoesietent with the
rights of she people, the Reform of the House of Lords,
and the Vote by ftajj4,—(Hear, hear, hear, and cheers.)
When you have destroyed the flow of Lords what form of
Government will you substitutes You hove the eonstituent
body, which is responsible at present to nobo,dy hnt nnhlie
opinion; but the proposition now made would have the effect
of rendering that body altogether irresponsible, because it
would exete,:es its privileges by ballot. I wiil venture to say
that this country evflj pot submit to such a domination.—
( Applause.) Here is a body of four or five hundred thousand
men, selected for no other qualificatiets thett property exer-
eisieg those privileges in a secret irresponsible Mannop t and I
ask, is it possible to suppose that the people of this country
would ever tolereve eeleh an exercise of perteetls irresponsible
power, when you have proved thet perfectly independent body,
the constituent assembly, what security will you have for the
proper exereiae of its powers any more than Nue*? po you
hope to see its deliberations conducted by better or wiser piety
than they had in France ? I have quoted from the United
State, and I shall now quote from another country. These
manner.
-ranife and it is better to treat them in a serious
hear, hear.) It is better to discuss
than attack a pelitical antagonist behind his back,
or reciprocate
...41ouri &ries of bear.) Gentlemen,
showered upon me. which in my absence has been
• te the vnlger
since I set out on my travelsfrom . gtafferdehire to this place,
having brought with me some ::?enoil newspapers] j lately
read an address from one of the present Ministers of the K1144'
of the French, a man who is called kern his retirement to fill
a high office in the Councils of his Majesty. It was an address
delivered when he was receiving the reward of literature, being
appointed a member of the French Academy. I rtift4ll M.
Guizot, member of Public Instruction in France, and this is
the account lie gives of the results of the meeting of the Con-
stituent Assembly of France—a purely democratic body eons
posed of most enlightened men, and men desirous of every
reform. The Right Hon. Baronet hese read the address of
M. Guizot of the 27th December last, and proceeded t--Are
you quite sure that if you constitute an unchecked domoeratle
assembly, above all responsibility, that they will exercise it with
prudence and moderation ? Men who have actually received
advice to call for one candidate outside the hustings, but to
' neve their vote in the balloting box for another ?—( Cheers.)
Are you sure that you have any guarantee that those results that
followed in France will not follow here? The inference is
that they will. This new government will meet with a re_
sistanee; we will not be content to submit, and then will
come the dreadful reaction. Don't believe that such mis-
creants as Robespierre, Mcrat and Denton were mere lusus
nature' engendered in France alone. No—they were the
creatures of circumstances arising from the subversion of all
the institutions which have been long established, and the
prescriptive authorities which had been so long obeyed. De-
pend upon it, that with the same causes the same results
will inevitably follow. You will have power to correspond
from time proper authorities—you will have in every village a
miscreant establishing the most cruel and grinding tyranny,
by calling himself the people.—(Great cheering.) Now,
gentlemen, I have given you a testimony to the French, and
to the American Constitutions, and I must need bring no tes-
timony to the beauty and results of the British Constitution'
—(Cheers.) Your own experience—your own affections
supply them ; but that a link shall not be wanting, I shall
supply you with a testimony to the British Constitution—from
whence shall I draw it?—lf from any ancient institutions, you
might justly say the time has gone by when opinions like those
availed. If I draw it from any living authority, and main-
taining Conservative opinions, not you, but others, might
scout it.—( Hear.) Bat I shall give you the opinions of one
of our present Ministers, who is high in the councils of his
Sovereign, and you can contrast with M. Guizot's picture of
France the picture of England, drawn by a Reformer, and a
Minister of the King of England. You will at once admit
that this is a disinterested authority, indisputable and uppreju-
diced. These sentiments were uttered, not in the heat of de-
bate, but a deliberate publication, by no less an authority than
Lord John Russell.—(Tbe Right Hon. Baronet then read an
extract from a publication of Lord John Russell, in which
the blessings and beauties of the British Consitution were
expatiated on in a highly eulogistic manner. The reci-
tal was received with loud and lung continued cheering.)
s
I will tell you those gentlemen have no objections to the pri-
vileges of the monarchy, as long a they can be made useful
instruments in the hands of the democracy,—( Cheers. ) The
House of Peers, it is said. are not responsible. I have heard
this before. I replied That certainly the Peers were not res-
ponsible in the sense in which the house of Commons is res-
ponsible, but that I did think that in their responsibility to
God, to their own consciences, and to enlightened public opi-
nion, that the people had a guarantee for the faithful perform-
ance of their duty.—( Loud cheers.) But what I said in my
place met with a different reception from that which it has
met from you.—( Cheers.) Now, Gentlemen, if that be the
fatal objectien to the house of Lords, that they are not res.
ponsible to the whole mass of the
people, let me ask if there is
no other body invested with privileges who are in the same
sense irresponsible also? The house of Commons is respon-
sible clearly to their constituents—the Ministry is responsible
in a different sense from the House of Peers—but let me ask
to whom is the constituent body responsible ?—( Loud cheers.)
You have selected a certain body as qualified for the exercise
of great power. I will not say a word on the subject of this
power. There has been a settlement, the effect of which has
been to invest some 300,000 or 400,000 men out of the whole
classes of society, with great political privileges s and I ask of

whom are these responsible? They are not selected—it was
impossible to select them—they exercise the elective franchise
partly as an hereditary right, and partly because of the pos-
session of property.—( Hear, hear.) Wliat other security
have you for the faithful discharge of the trust reposed
in the constituency, but that very security which I
urged in the case of the House of Lords, that they are re-
sponsible to God, to their consciences, and to an enlightened
public opinion, —(Cheers. ) But then it is said that the
House of Lords, and this is the main point. Let us meet it
fairly, and consider it- fairly. It is said that the House of
Lords Las shown a spirit at valiance with the spirit of the
people, and that it has obstructed the march of social im-
provement. I challenge the opponents of the House of Lords
to the proof.—( Loud cheers.) I ask you calmly to review
the changes that have been made in our social system within a
period of seven or ten years preceding. I ask you to show
me, in the history of this, or any other country, an equal num-
ber of changes in our social system—and more extensive
changes, aye, in double the time. Why, so rapid is the advance
of—l will call them improvements—l do not want to take
the advantage of a word for the purpose of gaining
an advantage in argument—l say, so rapid has been the ad-
vance of improvement, or change, that we are hardly conscious
of the changes that have actually taken place.--( Cheers.)
We go with the speed of a rail-road, and cannot mark the
distance from the objects we have passed.—(Cheers.) Within
this period has not the whole of our commercial policy been
changed ? I am not saying whether these changes are good
or not—l only refer to the many extensive changes that have
been made, without reference to the result, or probable result,
of them.--( Cheers.) My argument is, that the House of
Lords have not manifested that disposition to obstruct local
impro:ement charged against them. I say, that within this
period the whole of the commercial policy of the country has
been changed. Our intercourse with our colonies in the West
Indies, and with the East, has been put on a wholly
different footing—the monopoly has been destroyed, and the
privilege of a free and unrestricted intercourse granted.--
(Cheers.) The whole of the criminal laws has been revised,
and the severity of the criminal code has been diminished.
Can any one deny time facts ?—(Cheers. )—the civil disa-
bilities have been removed from the Roman Catholics—the
Test and Corporation Acts have been repealed—a Reform of
the House of Commons has taken place—Slavery has been
abolished—(Cheers)—the Municipal Institutions of Great
Britain have been reformed, of Scotland as well as England
Can these facts be denied? But has this march of improvement
met with a rapid stop ? No, in the last Session of Parliament
the law on the subject of the grievances of the Dissenters with
respect to the Marriage Ceremony and the Registration of
Births has been entirely altered, and complete relief has been
given. The tithes of England have been commuted, and put on
a different footing ; and that measure, which was supposed to be
pregnant with inestimable advantages, the taking off the restric-
tions upon knowledge—has been removed—at least the propo-
sition made by his Majesty's Ministers was wholly agreed to.
Now, if within the period of seven or eight years, changes
have been made by constitutional means, with the consent of
the House of Lords, to the extent I have mentioned, will you
tell me how it can be said that the progress of improvement
has been suppressed ?—(Cheers. ) The House of Lords
have in some of these cases advanced before public opinion—
in others, they felt a strong, and at first indispensable objec-
tion; in others, they have amended the measures and modified
them.—(Cheers.) If they have done these—if they have
receded from their own opinions, and weighed the advantage
of the appeal from public opinion—can you give me a stronger
proof of the propriety with which they have exercised the power
placed in them. Gentlemen, I know the House of Lords
have done something to provoke hostility. I know they did
refuse to place implicit confidence in the combination of public
men who have only one bond of connection, which was, the
spoliation of the Irish Churches.—(Great cheering.) They.
did refuse to place implicit confidence in the party and if yen
remember the character which was given of these parties by
pooh other, I think you will hardly blame the House of Lords
for what they did.—(Cheers.) One party said the other
were base and bloody Whigs, and the other party returned the
compliment by saying they were fomenters of sedition for
interested purposes.—(Cheers.) If each party thus deno-
minate each other, can you be surprised that the House
of Lords acted as it did ?—( Hear.) But when yea add
to this, the manner in which His Meeieety aeldeees.ed that ae-
Sen,L4Y; under the 44?1C0341.0 h 9 Whigs, is it esteeiehing with
this ringing in their ears that they $11441.1 have adopted the
course they did ?—(Cheers.—,Well, the 'House of Lords did
rpfese tg eenet;en the measure for the appropriation of the
reverteee of the Irish Church, not on account of the earn ie
coesideretioe, bet gn the greeed that the overt wee not one
gf detail, but nrineiple i they tee it afraid if they sanctioned
the prinPiPle, that a neinciple 'woeld be introduced that would
be I'4o to the existence of the establishment.—(Cheers.,)
Can 'yet} doubt, if you reed the public eeeteeeeliers, the
'lords had ceqsqtpd ineeeldection of What principle
with the avowal.
new made pf the intention to recinive the
destruction of all estebliehmente a§ Witil4i—iseit you believe
she House of Lotele teRl4l4 have done its duty if they had
iid9po4 it ? }thy when the measure was brought forward its
chief stipportee declared that it was a he4vy hleiv—(Phieers.)
—and a subject of great dieeetetegemeet,e( Cheers)--eand if
the House of Lords found their arms would be paralysed if
they lent themselves to strike the blow, do you think they were
to farm itt doing What they did ?—(great cheering.) -Gen-
tlemen, if there are silty of yon here who bey° doulate as to the
advantage of the forM of cievernment under which you live,
as compared with the form of Government of other countries,
1 would earnestly advise you before you permit that doubt to
be confirmed or acted upon, to read the testimony yc,o have 0
the PWl4lO9l} of 9t1491' FO4CltriPti•( Hear, hear.: and clwet's,)
wegicl at:.g.4dviie you maturely to Consider, whether you can
• have thet iPret of government which you see estahlished in
other countries.-.( Cheers.) 1 will take the case of the most
successful establishment of a Democratic government, the
United States of America. No man wishes meets pordially
than ! 4q properity to that great 4t4p. No men wishes ft
more wealth or *illness, and so far from viewing its progresswith enmity, I rejoice at its success.--(Lard cheering.)
But I ask you, in the first -141413 P, dg you believe that the con-
dition of the United 4tates America is better than our criNn?
—( Hear.) I ask you to consult any privete individual who
has travelled in America_.] do not ask you to refer to English-
man who have travelled there, for they may probably be pre..
judiced--but take the opinion of any well-educated,
native of the United Btatetr, who it a man retino.d feeling
and of information, and ask him what he thinks of the condi-
tion of society in the old country ; and if his advice be taken—
I would not ask him to advocate the abandonment of republi-
canism 4, our !pop qt. tcovernmeot —ha will, f 4irl sere, tell
you the truth, and will strongly dissnecle you from the experi-
ment of improving the Constitution, if it is meant, in so doing,
to intreduee jute it a more democratic principle.-,-( Hear, and
elteers.) (lontlempq, let me advise, before you attempt such
an e;periment, your
.lerusal,if you have not already read it—
of a work written iv a very able and intelligent native of
France, who has made the eesplitiee pf the United states the
peculiar object of his study.—( Hear.) Bead what he says—.
ho iq the strenuous advocate of popular principles, in their
eeterode4 seese. 1< 41144 a to Mr Tocqueville. His feelings are
with the present dynasty of France, and he thinks the democratic
principle in some clegree neeeesary ; but he takes an impartial
view of its effects, and thus, in Atneriea, he gives this account
of the results of republican institutions, —( Hear.) He says—
" That ho has known no country in which there is so little in-
dependence of feeling or of mind, or so little freedom of dis- •
ewsion, as in America, In America the majority raises bar-
riers to liberty of opinion, and an author within these barriers
may write as he pleases i but he will severely repent it if he
step beyond them. In a democracy, like a republic, the autho-
rity of the majority is so absolute, that a man must give up his
rights as a Pitl7Pal and abjure his qualifications as a human be-
ing, if he strays from the track pointed out by Hear, hear.)
If` ever," proceeds this French author, " the institutions of
America are destroyed, it will be attributable to the tyrannical
exercise of authority by the majority, which will urge the mi.
parity to desperation and physical force ; and thus anarchy will
be the result which democracy has brought about." He then
(proceeded Sir 14. Peel) quotes the opinion of Jefferson, whom
he says lie considers a decided advocate of democratic princi-
ples. He said—" That the executive power was not the most
prominent object of his solicitude; it is the tyranny of the Le-
gisletere which is most to be feared."—( Cheers, and hear,
hear.) I now a§k
.you if you would wish to change the
condition of society in this aoLlntry with that which exists in
the United States—if it were in youi' power, or the means of
doing so were at your command? I ask you, I say, to read
this book, and to converse with intelligent Americans, before
you attempt to change the condition of society in this country
for that existing in America.—( Hear, and cheers.) There
are other blessings of life besides cheap newspapers._
(Cheers and laugter.) Look, then, to the habits, to the
state religious feeling, in the American States—compare their
customs with the refinement and the civilization in this country,
and do not permit yourselves to be duped by artful sophistry
to run the hazard of such a change,—( Hear, and cheers, )
Do you think you can uproot it—dig a trench around it—
sever its thousand minute fibres and ramifications ? The
growth of centuries, incorporated with the mass around it,
and with the aid of piles and buttresses and machinery, and
the suggestions of legal officers, do you think that you can
transplant it, and bid it defy the force of the storm ? No ;
the first blast of popular passion that sweeps along the level
of democracy, will bring it to the ground ; and miserable will
be the consolation we shall have—that the advisers of that
change, and the architects of that ruin, will probably be the
first to be overwhelmed. I do not ask you to come to this
conclusion, by a mere appeal to hereditary prejudices, and
affections with regard to utility. It might have been enough,
in other times, to allege that this was the Constitution under
1 which we lived—that this was the Constitution we in.
heritcd from our forefathers, and which we wished to have
landed down to our posterity.—(Great cheering.) Or we
might give as our reasons fur entertaining that wish, that
upon the who c the condition of society in which we live,
will bear a contrast with any other society, by whatever form
of Government it may be guided. I do'nt ask you to rest your
defence and affection for the British Constitution merely upon
these points, but I ask you to examine the rhetoric and argu-
ments upon which the Reform of the House of Lords is urged.
It is said that their privileges are hereditary. Why, for the
functions they arc called upon to discharge they should Ett.
because it gives them a character of stability which they would
not possess if subservient to the influence of popular feelings.
Cheers,) Unless, therefore, you prefer a democracy to
the present mixed form of Government under which you live,
the hereditary Peerage cannot be done away with,—( Loud
and continued applause.) You might as well say that the
majestic breakwater, whose foundations are as stable as the
lofty mountain, could possess its present utility while it floated
upon the surface of that element of controul, as that the House
of Lords, as at present constituted, should be abolished.—
( Loud cheers.) And when I hear as an argument
against a hereditary peerage such reasons as that men
are not hereditary tailors, or hereditary carpenters, and there-
fore there should b 9 no hereditary Peers—when: for such ar-

guments as this, we are called upon to abolish the HORSO of
Lords, how long, I would ask, will the argument of a heredi-
tary monarchy prevail ?--(Tremendous cheering.) But since
this was written, all these reforms have taken place. If, from
the changes that have taken place, there has not been a corre-
sponding improvement, ought it not to be a reason for us to
pause before we carry on innovations on the organic principle ?
(Loud cheers.) What answer is there to this argument ?
None. The improvements in public morals depend! on the
civil and religious institutions which distil them, and this testi-
mony-this true and disinterested testimony, let us take Lord
Jehu Russell's advice, and determine to cline closer to our
native land.-( Cheers.) Now, Gentlemen, I have made a long
encroachment.-( Cries of no, no.) I have never desponded
when lighting your battles. -( Tremendous cheering, the whole
company rising.) I never have desponded-I knew that the
time would come, after the first intoxication which naturally
accompanies mighty changes. I knew that the time would
come when the old, the ancient part of England and Scotland
would rally round their institutions.-(Tremendous cheering. )
If I did net despond then, have I not a right to feel confi-
dence in returning shortly to take part in defendi'ig those in-
stitutions.-(Great cheering. ) The vibrations that accom-
pany changes are now beginning to settle quietly-the
influence, the disturbing influence of foreign events, is gra-
dually lessening--the dazzling illusions of glorious days are
beginning to :permit us to see.-( Loud and long-continued
cheering.) The convictions-the feelings -the affections
of the people are gravitating towards the old customs in which
their betters were reared. The same respect for property, the
same attachment for long established institutions-(Tremen-
dous cheering)-Yes, from these walls a spirit shall go
forth-( Great cheering)-that shall survive when this edifice
shall be an unsubstantial pageant ; it shall survive, uniting, as
in remembrance of this night, and spreading its influence into
every part of the kingdom, cheering the desponding, encoura-
ging the timid ; it shall " ho forth exulting in," but not abus-
ing its strength; it shall go forth in remembrance that in the
days of prosperity we did not forget the vows we made, and the
pledge which we gave in the time of our despondency ; it shall
go forth uniting us all in our disposition to redress grievances.,
ourdisposition to improve and resolution to amend, depend gon
that spirit which is the chief defence of nations-it shall go
forth and prove that our ancient institutions shall survive,-
(Great cheering.) By them the proud king of Briteto shall
stand-he shall stand doubly proud of his kindred end coeval
peers, protecting the rich from spoliatiort, eed the poor from
oppression. No tawdry emblem of revolution shall ever flaunt
over the ruins of our ancient institetions.-( Tremendous Cheer-
ing.) That "flag which Ii heaved a thousand years the battle
and the breeze" shall still float over them, and that faith of our
old national establishment-that faith shall survive with those
establishments. Those establishments which we ail love,
sworn to protect,-and to which the nationet honour is wedded,
as an essential part of the great national compact, shall survive,
and our religion shall survive in she diffusion of sound know-
ledge ; and tried as we may be by the storms of adversity, we
shall come out of the trial rooted deeper in the convictions, in
the feelings, and in the affections, of a Protestant people.-.
(The Right Hon. Baronet sat down amidst the most enthu-
siastic applause, which lasted some time.)
As soon as the cheering had subsided,
Mr. ROBERT FINDLAY next rose And said.-The toast given
me to propose is " The Churchc sootland"—(Cheers)—an
Establishment endeared to my countrymen by the purity of its
doctrine, the onaesuming character of its ceremonial, and the
fidelity with which its Ministers discharge their important
duties,_(Cheers.) Its history, too, from the era of the
Rbformation, is deeply intOOsestMte, from the perils and vicis-
situdes it had to eneeenttee-ehut more particularly during the
half century peseeding the Revolution. The infatuated at-
tempt Of Phalle*, in 1648, to force the Episcopal Service Book
the Scottish pulµits (an attempt intimately connected
with the history of Glasgow at that time), was not only
signally defeated, but confirmed the dislike of the people
to Episcopacy, by leading them to regard it as a
badge of oppression--( Hear, and cheers) -und when
the country sought refuge in the Restoretion front the tur-
bulence of the Commonwealth, and the military despotism of
the Protectorate, the peinssea of the house of Stuart, who
successively filled 0,0 throne, wholly forfeited the contidence
of the preiShyterians of Scotland, by their unprineipled
vio-
lation Of the most solemn covenants-theie tyranny and op-
preesion-their devotion to the (thoech of Rome, and their
unheard-of degradation in hessosoing the pensioners of Veseace,
the better to trample sot those liberties they had sworn to
preserve, teed 4o betray the cause of the refomation in Eu-
rope, of which this country was the btilwark.-(Hear.)--To
foam a correct judgment of the otig4t of the persecutions
which followed tht Restoratiore, it must be borne in mind,
that Charles It, threw to the winds the solemn covenant to
which ho and the whole kingdom of Scotland had swowi in
i'oour Prelayterian Church, and that the ceeert party
illeinteioed the doctrines of Divine right and peeeive obedience
as avtioles both of their religious eelsl political creeds, be-
sides assimilating their profeseSosia on other objectionalelo
points to the despot cud toopish predilections of the Monarch.
Henc:, whese ?,trades, by a series of the most dreadful perse-
e.ntionse Attempted to force Episcopacy upon Scotland, our an-
ceetote were fully justified in the ecnclusien that the question
at issue was not merely whether the pure doctrines of the Re-
formation should he taught them under the Episcopal or Pres-
byterian form of Church Government, but wheilisse, under the
mask of Episcopacy, the real object csf.theie oppressors was
not to restore the errors and eaereeettosta of the Church of
Rome--( Cheers)-and Popeey they held in mortal detestation,
as idolatroee eopee4itiosse, as a prostration of the in-
telloots ties Wills end the actions of man to the dictates of
c;afty. and doroinering priesthood, wh,o, ea may suit
their views of temporal agsgrAnclisteueseit, can, according
to circumstances, convqk tthe:4r votaries into the abject
slaves of the sceptered deepest, or the willing instruments
for evil, et.fife Arebitioese, selfish, and rapacious demagogue.
tit the esomerone population of Ireland, invoiced in this
worse than Cimmerian darkness, be treated with the utmost
kindness by a paternal and firm Government, and let every
thing practicable be done to enlighten their minds and im-
prove their social eonclitione-but, as we value the cause of
civil Uherty and religious truth, never let us consent, upon a
rneee numerical calculation, to make Popery the dominant reli-
gion, and to extinguish the, means of extending the
light of
the Reformations CA which alone we can rely far elevating
them in the ceale of moral and responsible beings.-( Cheers.)
How different from this was the treatment of Scotland 1
Fines and imprisonments, ceatilscations and proscriptions,
torture and death, were inflicted at the arbitrary will of a
merciless and tirutal soldiery for what were termed " eccle-
eiestieal offbnces," and the simple worship of our fathers,
banished frequently even from the domestic hearth, " under
the penalty of death," had to seek refuge in lonely
caves and taeuntain solitudes, while, by a refinement in cruelty,
ell who intercommuned with the proeoribed were subjected to
similar punishment.-(Heer.) That-under such oppression,
the breathings of the victims should partake at times more of
the curses against the Amalekites of old, than of Christian
meekness, and that in some instances the chastened judgment
of the present day may not harmonize with the opinions of the
persecuted, is not to bo wondered at.--( Hear.) But it be-
comes us to remember that a period of persecution is a period
of high excitement, and we cannot but feel that their heroic
endurance and undaunted resolution, like our native oak,
which defies the buffetings of the storm, and clines the more
closely to the rock, the more the winds of Heaven beat
against it, were moans under Providence for the accomplish-
moot of a mighty end.-( Cheers.) The rock on which
they rested for support was the Word of God, not to
keep it a sealed book from the people, but to unfold its
pages, that therein they might learn the rules of their
faith and practice-the object for which they suffered and bled
was to maintain the cause of civil liberty, and the rights of
private judgment in matters of religion.--( Cheers.) " Truly
they were more noble than those of Thessalonica, in that they
searched the Scriptures daily, whether these things were so."
After the signal defeat of Argyll and Monmouth, Charles's
successor, James, thought it no longer necessary to preserve
the mask of attachment to the Church of England, and, by en
open attack on its privileges, proved to that powerful
.body
that it was only the last victim to be sacrificed. Then Eng-
land arose in her might; and, under the guidance of the il-
lustrious William, (whose
.statue adorns the Cross of Glas-
gow, in memorial of the principles of our fathers, and
of his triumphs), and inscribing upon her banners " the
Protestant religion and the liberties of England," she
forced James to abdicate that throne which his ancestors
had occupied for countless generations-and consummated
that Revolution in 1688 which forms the brightest era in the
history of British liberty-and consequent upon which the es-
tablishment of the Church of Scotland on its present basis was
finally consolidated.-( Cheers.) Since that period, although
clouds and darkness have sometimes loured, we have enjoyed
a larger measure of greatness and glory, of wealth and do-
mestic peace and happiness, and of every thing which can
adorn civilized society, than ever fell to the lot of any nation ;
and since that memorable epoch, likewise, the Churches of
England and Scotland, agreeing in creed though differing in
form, have entered noon the Christian rivalship, which, accord-
ing to its opportunities, should most effectually extend the bles-
sings of pure religion, not only at home but wherever the flag
of England has waved, or,the enterprising sons of Britain have
penetrated.-(Cheers.) It was the pious wish of George the
day might come whet, every subject in his
dominions
otnhsa t the
might be able to read his Bible ;-and I cannot
omit to mention that centuries ago the Parochial School
system of Scotland in connection with the Reformed Faith,
and under the superintendence of its Ministers, was established
-thus even in that early and rude age laying the foundation
of a system which has rendered Scotland so distinguished,-
( Cheers.) One word as to Patronage and I have done-not
with the view of expressing any opinion en that much agitated
question 7, but to state, that whether patronage is exercised by
the Grown or the private patron, by the few or by the many,
or through all these channels as hitherto, the benefits to the
country and to the cause of religion must be in proportion to
the purity of its administration. And it must be a gratifying
and a lofty reflection to the illustrious statesman whom we
this day " delight to honour," that while lie guided the
Councils of his Sovereign on this important subject, the
voice of faction itself never dared to utter a breath to
bedim the purity and discrimination of its exercise.-
(Cheers.) Along with " The Church of Scotland," P"-
resit ree to coenoet the health of a olorgyman-( Cheers)
who, since he and I commenced our career of life together
at our ancient University, has devoted his eminent talenta and
his professional and literary labours to the promotion of the
sacred cause to whipli ,p Wits set apart-aed in particular to
the ditriisioq of the benefits of knowledge and the blessinp of
religion among the Highlands and Islands of Seollend-e-
-cneero_eround which is shed that sacred halo which en-
circles within the heart of every good man the image of his
native land--,(Oheers)--,who, among their countless glens and
mountains, is welcomed as the harbinger of glad tidings -sand
is known and beloved by all-who, in spite of the chilling in-
difference of men in high places, has lately presented their
kindred tribes in Ireland with a metrical version, in their na-
tive dialect; of those songs 0110 sung on the Hill of Ziolla tAck4

who now deservedly holds the highest office hi that Church
which he is one of the brightest ornaments—need I name Dr.
Norman M‘Leed ?—(The toast was received with the most
tremendous cheerintr.-)
The Rev. Dr. 111‘Lroo said—Arr. Chairman and Gentle.
men, I have the honour of returning thanks for the toast which
has now been given, and truly I consider it not only a high
honour, but a very high privilege to do so ; for although I
never felt my powers ef intellect (such as they are) more dis-
projesrtioned to the feelings of intense enthusiasm, to which,
in common with every individual here present, I have been ex-
ciasd by the ceeasion ,sied proceedings of this auspicious even.
inn; still I have no hesitation in casting myself upon your
indulgence.—(Cheers.) I do so unreservedly, with
the con-
fidence of one who is assured that numerous, or rather innu-
merable, as this company, to me at least, appears, they arcs
nevertheless animated by one spirit, united by one common
bond of principle—a principle of sacred and devoted at-
tachment to the time-hallowed anti glorious institutions tat
our country—( Haar cud renewed cheering)—and assembled
to express their enthusiastiac admiration of the public and
private character of that most gifted defender of their prin-
ciples, the enlightened Statesman now at your right hand, and
whom we are all equally proud, and equally rejoiced to see
this night in the city of our habitation. ..___ (Tremendous
cheering.)—Mr. Chiarman, in my own name, in the name of
my brethren here p'resent, and in name of the Church of;
Scotland, I beg leave to acknowledge the honour done us,tri
assigning to this toast so early and so prominent a plieee in
the arrangements for the evening. Wc are thankful 'for the
hilciohwthbeeet
bovf,,narr,decefoilredth. e tiiisustioasutsie,
very honourable and gratifying terms in svP.eli the C";nesee of
It
It
noasstpohkaesn
ISZntniaerndinhaws•
Sir, a rich s:.tisfaction kin'',
v, that we enjoy the appro-
bation and support 0,1 suer a meeting as is now congregated
in this noble Ksitior,..
While such a burst of feeling, and,
that from susql a •
meeting as this, accompanies the announce-
inent this
';hunch of Scotland, I feel persuaded that
,
‘s. protection of her great Head, she has nothing to
fear..—(Great applause.) lam well aware, that by our ap-
pearance here this evening, my Brethren and I will draw down
upon ourselves the indignant censure of a certain portion of
the community, or at least that of their organs of the public
press—those most watchful superintendents and most liberal
reporters of clerical conduct. It ie a very favourite maxim of
their liberalism (and I marvel not, for it admirably suits their-
purposes), that religion has nothing to do with politics, a.nd
that clergymen are not entitled to hold political opinions, s.,r, at
all events, if any of them should be so unfortunate as tcs have
imbibed political opinions, from the limited and exchasive na-
ture of their education, left so far behind in the morel of Intel-
lect ; or from a perusal of those trashy but most 'mischievous
publications of the Conservative Press—such 3s " Blackwood's
Magazine," or the "Quarterlyßeview," or that demented paper
called the "Times," or the Glasgow Herald," the " Courier"
or " Constitutional"—(Laughter)—still that it is their duty
scrupulously to avoid an expression of their opinions, and that.
under no circumstances whatever is it allowable for them to
use the power of persuasion which Providence has given to
them, or that society may accord to them, for the maintenance
of those principles which they in their conscience consider
essential to the very existence of social order.—(Cheers.) Such, Sir, is the morbid anxiety of those liberal censors far
the unobtrusive harmlessness of Clerical character, that suspect they could wish that
" Far in a wild, unknown to public view,
From youth to age we reverend hermits grew,"
(Laughter and applause.) Such is their exquisite tenderness
for the spirituality of our office, and their dread of the sects-
larising influence of endowments and public countenance, that
I doubt, if ever their spirit of liberalism became dominant in
the land, we shell soon realise in our own experience all the
romantic and innocent simplicity of the Hermit's life :
The moss our best our cave the humble cell,
Our food the fruit, our drink the crystal well."
But, Mr. Chairman, I shall never subscribe to the maxim
that religiose has nothing to do with politics, What,
Sir, I seeseribe to a maxim which, in my opinion, goes to
overlain the only secure basis on which the edifice of
social order rests f Political relations are those in which
the most fearful and sweeping desolations may be com-
mitted s and, therefore, they are those of all othors in
isibisch every reflecting man will most imperiously feel his
responsibility to the highest of all tribunals. I believe that
an irrelgious and depraved population, however otherwise en-
lightened, is the teeming source of all moral and political
disorder; and if not controlled by the only power that can do
so, must at all times lead to sweeping anarchy and national
overthrow.—( Cheers.) Our ancestors seemed to have under-
stood this, for I find that religion has been interwoven with the
British Constitution from its earliest days. I find that our
Government, our laws, our schools our universities—all. our
institutions have been based, every one of them, on religious
Protestant principle; and hi this fact, Sir, we find the secret
of all her strength and all her greatness—(Great applause)—
hence that moral power by which Britain, though but a
speck on the face of the waters, has swayed the des-
tinies of the civilized world. She was a Christian nation—.
(Loud cheers)__she was a Protestant nation religion
was upheld, fostered, and established.—(Long and con-
tinued cheering.) Hence she has enjoyed more rational
liberty, civil and religious, than any country which has ever
existed—she has risen to wealth and power unparalleled—she
has won to herself a name of mightiest renown, her fleets are
on every sea, her fame on every shore; and in despite of the
grumbling discontent of some of her spoiled children at home,
and the jealousy of her rivals abroad, she still sits, as for
centuries she has done, the very Queen among the nations.
(Loud and continued cheers.) There is another maxim of
liberalism, arising out of the former' to which also Idecline
to subscribe, viz., that clergyman have no right to hold, far
less to express, political opinions. This maxim has been brought
forward very frequently of late in all its forms, and for obvious
purposes ; changes have been rung upon it, but they have not
weighed one feather on my judgment. Are, we really, Sir, to sit
down, to fold our hands and seal our lips, and assume the attitude
and appearance of perfect indifference when we see the dear-
est and most revered institutions of our country assailed ?
(Cheers.) No, Sir, we are the citizens of a tree country ;
I we possess social and political influence in common with
others; this is a talent committed to us, and like every other,
it involves responsibility. That responsibility I feel, and be..
cause I feel it, lam here.—( Applause.) The day in which
we live, calls not only for uncompromising principle, but also
for a manly avowal of it.—(Cheers.) This splendid festival
at which we this evening appear, is a festival dedicated to
principle.—(Renewed applause.) I view it in a higher and
holier light than a mere display of political partizanship. The
cause which has callel for this manifestatioi ! is not exclusively
that of the rolitician, nor of the man of property. It is the
common interest of every man in Britaip, be his station in
life or his profession what it may ; and of none is it, in my
opinion, more decidedly the cause than that of the Minis-
ters of the Protestant Established Ckurches.—(Lonce
cheering.) The path of duty appeared to me abundantly
plain._] love peace as much as any man can ; but I love truth
more—anti at a moment when the destinies of our country
seem to be vibrating in the balance, and when on the vigor-
ous, decided exercise of sound Constitutional principle, hu-
manly speaking, it rests what scale shall preponderate, that
which is big with our weals.or that which is heavy with our
woe, nothing bordering, even in appearance, upon neutrality
will do—I consider not only the principle involving the exist-
ence of our national Establishment, but those all important
interests of religion of which we are the guardians, and the
very best interests of our fellow creatures throughout the
British,Tdominions to be so essentially connected with those
great political measures which hang at present in the ba-
lance of debate ; but while I make all due allowances for
those who think and act otherwise, and cannot but respect
the conscientious and delicate scruples of some of my
brethren who are not here, yet I at least, feeling as I do,
would deem it a dereliction of the duty I owe to the con-
victions of my own conscience, to my country and to my
Chureh, were I to absent myself from this meeting, and being
present and privileged to address you, if I did not honestly
'and fearlessly.express my sentiments as a true Churchman and
a leal-hearted Conservative.—( Cheers.) When we hear it
proclaimed from high places, even by those who are at the
head of our nation's councils, that there is no substantial diffe-
rence betwixt one -creed and another—that Protestant and
Popish creeds aro essentially the same ; when we hear mea-
Slices proposed, and urged forward with all the power of Go-
vernment—measures which the head of that very Govern-
meet declares "must prove a very severe blow to the Pro-
testant faith," which he professes to regret, but which he tells
us cannot be avoided ; while such language is held, and such
measures arc proposed—measures which we honestly believe
to be palpably calculated to papalize Ireland and crush the
Protestant faith in that unhappy land_and when we hear it
declared by their confidential supporters, that Ireland can
never be tranquillised till the Episcopal Church is put down,
is it for the ministers of Protestant Establishments to remain
silent ?—( Loud cheers.) Would Knox, would Melville—
those great and true Reformers. of Scotland--those dauntless
friends of civil and religious liberty—would they have done so
would aloof No, Sir, these •
they have kept a were men of
lofty bearing and fearless courage ; in defence of the truth they
withstood persecution, and in the presence of princes and no-
bles, and all the people, they spoke out ou matters of civil
Politics ; and, thank heaven, they did so—for, by the boldness
of thee. eloquence., a
hnosed fearless maintenance of Protestant prin-
, ciple, they reared t towers of strength and beauty under
the shade of which our country has for centuries rested in
security and peace.—( Loud cheers.) The Church of Scot-
land, Mr. Chairman, has never been accused of meddling
much with politics. Reposing on the soundness of her stan-
dards—the excellency of her discipline—the character of her
resident and working Clergy—on the Bible—the entire Bible
education of the people----ssad, consequently, on their affection
and gratitude—she stood aloof from the strife of party-polities,
indifferent, as she well might, whether a Whig or a Tory voL
nistry ruled the nation. Under all administrations she, was
equally secure. No wild crosside had commences( against
over
all ven
ourerated nsstatetitutions; but a great change, has passed
seci i
al
" but
mutants-, et nos in mute-
mur -• " Politics are now forcesa upon us. illielnter-
ference its civil ['elides is now b. 's-sKristian duty.—( Loud
cheers.) It is not the suersess of a party which is at stake.
The question now is not one of individual men or measures--
it is a question of deeper, and wider character, viz., Shall the
institutions of oV.ir country be conserved or not ? Shall the
British Constitution be maintained in its integrity? This
Pavilion eetitains within its capacious and noble circle men of
verities shades of political opinion ; but they arc all associated
by this common feeling, that the British Constitution, as a
Whole—our unrivalled Constitution of Church and State—our
Constitution of King, Lards, arnd Commons—is still the
noblest and best which human wisdom has ever devised--
that it should be conserved, and that it shall be con-
served in all its integrity.—( Great cheering.) On the
cards of admission to this splendid Pavilion, the watch-
word of the company was engravers, and not there only,
for it is engraven on all our hearts. (Cheers.) We have
bye Quea. and that one is the British Constitution.—(lmmense

cheering. )—This is our standard ; around it we rally, an 1 tt,
do honour to one of its most gifted standard-hearers are wr
this night assembled—( Cheers)---that Constitutional states-
man who has exhibited its glories in the day of its proudest
triumphs, and who has fought the battles of its conservation
in the day of its greatest perils.—(Cheers.)— it i all well for
those who differ from us on the great points now at issue, to
my that they love the British Constitution just as much as w'
do. They talk of adherence to Constitutional principles !
when there is not one article in all the diversified. rights anti
intetests combined in that noble Constitution which is not
al-reatened by some one of themselves with change— yes,
with organic change.—( Hear, bear, and cheering. )—ls
Aot the very name of the party, Movement ? Is not their
reatch-word, Forward ; and the chorus of the wild Irish
cry of their leader, dismemberment of the empire ; degra-
dation of the hereditary Peerage ; and prostration of the
Protestant Establishment ?—( Applause.) It may be asked,
what is all this .to me ? Has any organic change been
titre: toned regarding the Church to which- you belong ? No,
Sir, True it is, that no ominous voice frnm high quarters
has calledupon us yet to " put our house in order ;" but some
of us come from a land of mists, where, if many a tale he true,
.‘‘ coming events cast their shadows before—we come from a
(land of mountain and of storm, where we look to signs and
prognostics. I have seen the adventurous and experienced
boatman, as he saw a cloud no bigger than a man's hand ap-
pear in the heaven, and beginning to spread-_I have seen him
seek the shore to secure his bark. I have seen the shep-
herd look to his heath-covered cottage as he listened to
an ominous roar coming at a distance over the blue face
of the still untroubled ocean ; and when the stortn was
seen gathering around our mountains, and about to
burst on their lofty summits, the inhabitants of our silent valleys
begin to look to themselves,—(Cheers.)
We dare not disre-
gard the signs of the times. We dare not disregard the blow
iiiat is aimed at our sister establishment. Common prudence
teaches us to consider the two Establishments as standing on
the s„le ground. '11:e spirit of the age, which is putting the
question of Establishments into agitation in one country, is
only waiting to see its success, to prosecute the same object in
.ours.—( Cheers.) The deep murmur of the appropriation
elapse has reached the remotest manse in our land. We arc
confident, that if ever the lofty towers of our 'lister Establish-
ment aLI demolished, the security in which Our more humble
edifices rest can no longer be considered secure, I never sate
u mountain oak laid prostrate by the storm, but many a lowly
and lovely shrub was crushed by the fall.—(Checrs.) Sir,
:it is not for me to eulogise the political character of our
distinguished guest, or the measures of h late administration
...-but 1 trust that, as a minister of the Church of Scotland, I
may be permitted simply to refer to his first and last act, when
at tho head of his Majesty's Government during his late ad-
. ministfation. lam not aware that any mention was ever made
of our National Church in the Speech from the Throne since
our union with England, until the opening of the present Par-
. liament. Can we forget the joy and gratitude which filled the
hearts of all who loved our Zion wh,co his Majesty then, not
sally declared the sleep interest he felt ise 44t, Church, but also
tile intention of his Government to enlarge our means of use.
fulness; and thus give to the Church of Scotland all that she
wanted—the power of keeping pace with the increasing popu-
lation ol our land ; and now that the illustrious individual who
was then the constitutional adviser of his Afaiesty ig here pre-
sent:-....(Hear, hear, hear)—he who had the essuroge and the
exalted wisdom to propose so patriotic a 113e2544TP, not
because the people clamoured for it ; but because the
people required it—is it not my duty, as it is my happi-
ness, in returning thanks for the Church of Scotland, to tender to
him our humble meed of grateful respect ?(applause.) But
gratifying as this first act of his Administration was, as a token for
good to our land, I do confess that I at least in his last act, iTh the
cause of his retirement from office, find a something which just as
powerfully calls forth my admiration. The point on which he de-
clared he would stand or fall, was the integrity
of the Established
Church of Ireland—( Loud cheers)—that grand bulwark a Pro
testantism in that unhappy land. This was a point of prgeemiment
importance. On this point alone, all his opponents were united; but
sooner than yield to such a measure, he resigned his high and 1-o-
aiourable office, and retired into private life, ' And may I not be
permitted, even in his presence, to say that on the occasion
of his doing so he secured for himself a name and sat honour as
great, if not greater, than any measure ever carried through by the
most toiumphant majority was capable of bestowing. And new,
Mr. Chairman, much cause have I to apologise for this lengthened
address. I fear, Sir, I have abused your kind indulgence, and
trespassed greatly on the patience of the Company, I.shall only
add, in conclusion, that lam not afraid for the Church of Scot.' land. That ark of our national security shall swim forward on the
tide of time in spite of winds and storms. There still remains an 1
'unconquerable spirit of Christianity in our 'arid, and a deep-rooted
attachment cot the part of Scotland's best and steadiest population to
our Church and her admirable parochial machinery. The moral 1
weight of the country is and that shall be seen if ever an attempt
be made to interfere with our system. Whether that attempt
is likely soon to be made or not, is not for ate to say—l have
any fears—I could state the grounds of them—Sed einthius aureiro
vellit et oda-moult. Our Church is the Church of the people—
(Cheers ;_and if she had a principle of supply, she would empha- 1
tieally be the Church of the poor.—(Enthusiastic cheers.) No
doubt the population have far out-grown her means ; hut she is
making a noble struggle,—(Cheers.) Awakened by circumstances
intended for her destruction, but overruled for her good, she is
putting forth her own peculiar energies.—(Applause.) She bag
appealed to her sons and daughters, and nobly has that appeal been
:responded to.—(Cheers.) One hundred and fifty additional
Churches—one hundred and fifty thousand pounds, by private sub-
se,iption, to build them—and affording additional accommodation
• for two hundred and forty thousand of our outcast population—and
all that within little more than two years, affords no unequivocal
demonstration of the number and attachment of her friends—
(Continued cheering)—while it furnishes as conclusive evi-
dence, one should suppose, as the report of a Parliamentary
Commission, for the deplorable extent of that national exigency which could call forth such munificent support. Let the Church
of Scotland have fair play—let her parochial system' be carried out
in all its designs—let her be put in a capacity of meeting the in-
creased demand of the increasing population, and she shall continue
a tower of strength, and a monument of glory—and long after the
vain theories of the passing day are committed to oblivion, this
" burning bush shall continue to burn."—(Loud cheering,) Yes,
Sir I doubt not our Church shall exist for generations to come,
to shed over the hills and sallies of our native land all the bles-
sings of pure Christianity—all the Conservative virtue of
Peace—of order—of contentment—of sound patriotism, and
true loyalty—ay, Sir, that loyalty that can alone be depended
upon—the lofty loyalty of the man who honours his King,
because he fears his God.—(Prolonged applause,
Sir D. K. Sestnroun—lt would require all the
varied and ad-
mirable powers of our distinguished guest himself, to do full jus-
tice to the toast I have the honour to propose. I venture to ap-
proach it—and the great topics that surround it—only in the con- 1
&fence that every deficiency on my part will be covered by the ar-
dour with which you will second an attempt to express our reve-
rence
to uphold, at any hazard, the independence of the House of Lords, 1
--, (Cheers. ) It is at a time when the integrity of that element is
threatened in some quarters, and the very idea of that independence
is scooted and ridiculed in others, that the thinking people of
this eountry are required to come forth with an expression their unshaken resolution to maintain them. We admire that
s?stitution, because it opens up an avenue to great and permanent
distinction for every species of exalted merit. We admire that in-
Vrtust,ion, because we like to see a ;Nelson and a Welletley--an
theTu end an Ellenborough—a Scarlett and a Copley, raised toy
coping gto rank with the proudest aristocracy ; and bea-
,f,,e for future ages the path of virtuous arnbitien.—(Loud •
Nye 1:1. ) We admire and we will maintain that institution, because
gain °°W, by old experience, that it supplies the firmest barrier
~stiost despotic oppression on the one hand, and democratic ulna-
part ,
" °utile other. And yet for the last two years the revolutionary
vatiLeisg_iorant of theory and blind to, fact—dead to the singular ad
-
Yeour political condition—not caring fur the recorded senti:
"Ile deepest reasoners in every age—not dcioning to east an
eYe on
scoenino.ss c real aspect of other countries in botlihemispheres—
slave beeenglocroino:es recollections and ungrateful for signal services—
enttrating all their powers of declamation against
services--
that very branch
• the high st above all others, we
our nation 1 . our institutions towhich,
of
anding of our national character, and the stability
Isom placea' Prosperity. Their itinerant agents have gone about
chief to niece .
e e witn a pretended picture of the Peerage as the
isthe
daettractron of their political show-bor —and never, smilingly,
than ahmenag,"gue more happy in the strokes of his audacious peeeil,
steos, end
_kf•! is touching up this visionary likeness, to excite the
the den, natred of the people.---( Loud cheers.) Gentlemen,
bility,—but does draw an ugly picture of hereditary no-
tolours.—(ll t i 4
immunitis, because he dips into his own heart for the
He knows that were he endowed with political
11;r)
!liiigl'itY, he would abuse them—that raise him to rank and
e invested u mild trample on those beneath him—that were
streegthen tlilith hereditary claims, he would never seek to
a porrrct of
which
by personal merit. I throw back upon Isis hands
my substantial 14' he
himself is the original. I will not exchange
shut my eyes to 'sings for his paper constitutions—and I will not
Almanac.—( the lesso - because he calls it an old
ns of history
the as' Loud cheers')
ashes of the distant lam not going to rake just now amid
Ala en, s Cherie •past ; nor to b
the venerable dead or
tory_a ser,_, ,but there are two great points in our political his-
erssi,„„si 'au_o,wahen the independent functions of the Peerage were
his-
°t, their tura pother period at which the nation learnt to esti-
n ‘,„ _ ue value—which force this moment
Politic' "`emorY•—(He themselves at
the. Ins who -ar• ) I want to remind those aspiring
eepsn,e at this day wold I t the Commons at
u e eve e
experiment hasf the oth h t tide
s bee , er House of Parliament, t a
NI Ltten ii •
, a tried already in our annals, and that its results
such a • 'l'
. thine as , effaceable char •t ' ) There was
'mat addictedt) t ile log. p • at ers.—(Cneers.
of Coming to sharp g Parliament and in its day it was some-
ns in
that P ractice ; every child knows that the House
'4l", and Parliament . '
the
..,_
~,,. _ da„ger_
3.voted the Upper House to be a
eu nuisance—and - too that
can.,,''.
Take House of commons . every child knoes
th •••• • aw abolished the Monarchy—and then
el, la, ~, . ay that bauble," beeu to °''s "Y a unirprriand their own door was shut in
lotion was tilt`
aunals sugehs°lier•—(Loud cheers. )—There has
doctrine wa'se rood old
whiap. thing as a revolution glorious revo-
laid. Gentle°,,L.l4t!'at by it ilziemtine for it, and the good old Whig
memory of thatern it is not for 01,:r foundation of our liberties were
but I appeal upor.(:,t(i),lm:ne.. r,,,, fro s Company to shrink from the
the new Whigs of tol:stc;Pic •grosn ~iiii, the principlee that justified it,
opposite principles, thata-:, Xylk, ar'et 4 old Whigs to the few, I tell
ful for an independent e'ler the coru'i.iing at a new revolution on
it was precisely at thatPepeorcair in the frant. had reason to be grate-
its government,
bitrary prince, and establisliedvil"
the threw '('ol of
liberties. Who was it that bearded()"aikl basis her tell°. andlfak.e of
li!n. ari-s
it that :tamed him from a throne vi he I . '
~ , ehoossii tyrantvi . Wehlog'iovias
forgotten that when the Cortir2en-s'ed .
he stivraced ? Have we
sent a member of their own body to tirreambesheat-hen they had
legal stretch of the prerogative—it s il.i-e°wer
1 and an 11-
spiritual Peer, who stood forward tots prot ' 'leers, h 044,41 by a
( Great cheering.) Have we forgotten e,(St the majeety of law ?
'Deliverer was to he welcomed to Ea
giaria:liitat when
the Protestant
atert again headed by a spiritual Peer—tioa, iaLa,s again the Peers—
But op the new -Whig—the real renegade -C" h'rn to our shores?
--Let's spit the useless part for what pays be Whig principles
the future. You people of these realms—you op'.„;-7,thse present or
I;:iPg people—cuconsetous as you seem of your nt,""ig.se4 iiml suf-
it t.me—rise up at the call of a pure, patristic, disinYteand degra-
ss?arivteyr in the up
at
of (,e.. 'nova, to put (10:1'n your herzted ma-
_,l . s, your Egyptian task-nosters, this UMW of Peers—ea: 1"-
km sou tli•nk 'll
• wt follow ', Not •ur politial eligranchi- ' what
tot the corru it • .
bernene—
Pecuniary .
uldion of your laws—not the accumulatfok. ~f: fresh
may
__,, b. r ens—but, y Lord Melbourne and Lord J.-Rus„ii
, , P. • any be forced tom •• sts •
eery inferior and i • •fi „ratify , y the KiAz hi going out, and those.
of Welliegton, Lonrscitgi,tra cant etateernen-=Sir It. Pgc) end the Duke
in-( Cheers.) There''nley and :_-:r James 61441.c,--,--ReaY come
would e a catastrophe to guard againsits! ' There
be a blow to the con ,
nir), and above '
an to the p.resept ma-

jority of it; representatives ! Gentlemen, w hatfver the majority
us the House of Commons may at present be, I am tot going to
utter one syllable in disparagement of that assembly. Reeling as
is under the inevitable shock of a great change, it enshrines impe•
rishable principles of liberty and order.--( Cheers.) Crowded as
its benches ar•e by many whom nothing but a huge surge of the
democratic tide would have wafted to that eminence, there stilt
shines within its walls the supreme intellect of Peel, compelling ho-
mage from all parties—( Cheers.) There are till heard in its debates
the intrepid eloquence of Stanley and the luminous argument of
Graham—and the ruffian spirit of democracy still rowers et the
shout of 300 Conservative voices in harmony with kailers like these.
—(Cheering. ) But yet how often in the course of last cession=
of which it has not been left for me to furnish the summary—has
every man of constitutional sentiments exclaimed, Thank God we
have still a House of Lords ! But for them the Protestant inte-
rest in Ireland—and how am Ito separate the maintenance of that
interest, on both sides of the channel, from the very title of the
House of Brunswick to the Throne ?—would have been delivered
over, bound hand and foot,.to the disposal of a Popish demagogue.
But for that independent House, the true and valid tenure of eccle-
siastical property would have been gone for ever—the first step, as
the history of revolutionary rapine shows, to the invasion of property
of all descriptions. —( Cheers. ) But for the independence of than
House our Scottish Colleges, dear to the affections of the people,
and at this moment dearer than ever, would have been torn to
pieces by arbitrary bills, or might even yet be plundered and degraded
by ignoble and iniquitous conaraissions.—(Cheers.) But for them,
an unprincipled Cabinet, than mendicates support from
every base and buleful quarter, might even now be riding rough-
shod over all that makes this goodly land a blessing and a pride to
its inhabit ants.—Cheers. ) Hence, the undissemblcd rage of Minis-
ters against a body they can neither sway nor daunt, and the sedi-
tious jargon of their emissaries. Anckllll, what an exquisite saga-
city—what a profound insight into the British character it is is that
guides these shrewd tacticians in their attacks on the staunchest
bulwarks of our happiness.—(Cheers.) They first assault the
Church—and how has she encountered them? She has disproved
their facts—laid bare their sophistries—exposed their spirit—and
thus she hands them over to the secular arm, to inflict a signal ven-
geance at the ensuing general election. Let them read their fate
in these memorable words, which I hold it no profaneness to quote
with such an application—" Whoso falleth on this Rock shall be
broken, but on whomsoever it shall fall it shall grind him to powder !"
(Cheering.) Next, they make an open question of what they call
Peerage Reform—that is, they leave it, as far as depends upon
them, the nominal governors of the country, to Revolutionists under
the title of Reformers. The Peers will not be bullied by us—the
Peers will not be cajoled by us—and therefore, the Peers must be
destroyed: Such is the ministerial logic. We don't speak withou
authority. We won't suffer Ministers to skulk behind the poor pr•e.
text of unauthorised rashness on the part of their allies. Theii
great peripatetic orator and teacher—" the Master, Guide, Philo.
pher, add Friend" of the existing Government—has been here or
their behalf. Down came the colossus of the Lichfield-house con.
spimcy—

" Of Atlantean shoulders, fit to bear
The weight of heaviest Cabinets"—
;o earn vice-regal courtesies in Dublin Castle, by de-
scribing, ae a swinish multitude, the order to which his Noble host
has the honour to belong,--(Cheering.) Down he came, commis-
sioned to enlighten us—a provincial population—a community of
shopkeepers—(Laughter)—upon the new Ministerial reeling of the
British Constitution. We were too deeply sunk in the commercial
puddle, and too far from the source of political illumination, to read
it for ourselves !—(Hear.) Gentlemen, the reception which their
great travelling partner—the very head of the Ministerial firm—
met with amongst us, must have shown the rest of them—even the
sleeping partner, if there be any such in the Colonial office—that
they had sent their goods to a wrong market. Our perceptions are
not so blunted by the toils of traffic, nor our minds so destitute of
light, as to be easily misled on a high constitutional question:—
Non obtuse adeo gestamus pectora
Nec tam aversus equos Tyria sol jungit ab urbe !
We have looked at the modest propositions of those Peerage Re-
formers, and find in them only the curious felicity of copying the
worst precedents of the worst times, Let the Lords only be sub-
missive, says one—let them only be content to register the imma-
culate decrees of the House of Commons-..0r, according to the
letetet local version of this theory, let them restrict themselves to
the occasional enjoyment of a suspensive faculty—and nothing se-
rious shall befal them ! So said the Surrey petitioners, as re-
ported by Clarendon, at the blessed epoch of 1641 :—" Wa shall
be in duty obliged to defend and maintain your Lordships, as far as
yoeiehall be united with the Honourable House of Commons in all
their juft PA pious proceedings." So that plan, you will therefore
perceive, is not an original one. Let Lords and Commons sit and
vote as a united Chamber, says another ! Now, is it not a curious
coincidence, that at the same era of delightful reminiscences
—tong before this notable experiment had been practically
illeserated in France--(Hear)—the petition of "many thousands
of poor people in and about the city of London" had prayed the
Commons that these noble worthies of the House of Peers, who
concur with your happy votes, may be earnestly desired to join
with your honourable House, and to sit and vote as one entire
body." So there's another plagiarism.—But it has just struck
souse of the more sagacious Ministerialists, that an aggregate of the
two Houses, at this moment, would produce a sweeping majority
against them. " Well, then," says a Noble Lord, whom strange
accidents have jostled into the temporary representation of
Glasgow—" Well, then," says Lord William Bentinck, giving
relit to the magnificence of his oriental fancy, and accustomed to
play the potentate on a large scale in Hindostan, and de-
cidedly not consulting his colleague—(Loud cheers)—" let us
call new Peers into existence, to redress the balance of the
old !" But here, too, the Noble Lord has been anticipated.
—(lfear, ) To be sure the precedent in this case is neither
very choice nor wholly adequate, for where Lord Oxford. in
the reign of Anne, created twelve, thank Heaven, in the present
time and temper of the Upper House, Lord Melbourne must
create an hundred.—(Loud cheers.) Gentlemen, we dare him to
de it I=.--(Continued cheering.) We think we know a Sovereign,
who rather than be an accomplice in such an act of suicide, would
give the standard royal to the wind% and throw bimself upon the
affections of his subjects,.->{ Cheers.) We think we know the un-
ennobled Aristocracy of England too well to fear that tools for such
a stroke of policy could be counted on among them.--(Cheers.)
Let the Premier rain down his coronets as thick as bail, where
will he find heads to bear them ?—(Loud cheers.) It would be
needless and disgusting to ring the changes further on these varie-
ties of insolent absurdity, all differing in detail, but all agreeing in
practicable wildness and revolutionary principle. I dismiss them
with the contemptuous remark of that eminent authority, Mr.
Fergus O'Connor :—" The Reform of the House of Lords
is a hobby-horse for political buffoonery to ride on—a plan to
draw the attention of the people from practical reforms." From
these practical and practicable reforms, I beg to add, projected, an-
nounced, and begin by the Right Hon. Member for Tamworth—
before ohm selfishness of faction drove him from that position in the
Councils of the King, to which the awakened people of this empire,
if they but support the Peers against their common enemy, will
speedily restore him. The Lords have taken their stand on true
principles—in an unshrinking attitude—they have done their duty
to the Constitution and the Laws--and they adjure the people to do
theirs. And 0, if there be avy party in the country—if there be
any individuals in this room—who more than others are required to
respond to that appeal, it is precisely that party, and those indivi-
duals, who, when the great question of Reform in the
House of Commons was agitated, were most loud in their
addresses, and petitions to the heredetary legislators did
mdtt earneastly them, in . every form of supplication and
remonstrance ;in the most emphatic language—by the
roost impassioned figures—to withdraw their oppositem to
its settlement. They who were so jealous of aristocratic in-
terference with the elective principle, how, in the name of
jusdce, of honour, and of reason, shall they not be as jealous of
democratic interference with the hereditary principle, as vital an
element—as legitimate an element—and es precious an element in
our balanced Constitution ?—( Cheers.) I speak of those who
were favourable to Parliamentary Reform, not from motives of po-
litical partizanship, but in the strength of an honest conviction.—
( Hear, hear.) I, for one, cannot understand that convenient poli-
tical morality which has one measure for its own Hecht!, and an-
other for its neighbours. I rejoice to think that there are hun-
dreds here--hutaiiells of Constitutional Reformers—whoao breasts
will echo back these sentiments, and that it is not the least important
feature of this brilliant festival that it celebrates the union—a
really compact and indissoluble union—between two parties, joining
not in the rage of selfish cupidity for a division of plunder, but
under the sense of a common danger to guard the altar and the
throne.—( Loud cheers.) Look upon the contrast between our
illustrious guest, so supported and surrounded, and the heads of the
motley faction that supplanted him ! They, begirt by bickering
enemies in the guise of friends—he, winning new adherents from
the ranks of old antagonists—they, the miserable remnant of a
party, from which all that was highest in talent, and purest in prin-
ciple, has been forced to flee as from a leprosy—he, the rallying
name with all who prefer the true consistency of supporting good
laws to the sordid mock-consistency of following bad loaders !
(Cheers. ) e Our principle—if I may presume to give a voice to
this great Political Union—is to maintain popular rights, but not at
the expense of sacrificing kingly governmeat—is to do all that may
be necessary for the remedy of unredresscd abuses, but to do no
no more—and never, never, under the semblance of Reform, to
sanction Revolution, least of all a Popish Revolution. And, as
the first test of our principle, when the pragmatical economist of
Middlesex, or the hp-valiant repealer of Kilkenny, shall again cry
out fur the destruction of the House of Lords, we will again be
ready to toss them back the defiance of 3,000 fearless men. We
will uphold the political authority of that noble order, because we
believe it to be indispensable for the welfare of the people—we will
uphold their personal immunities, because we will not loosen the
foundations of all civil right—we will uphold the dignity and splen-
dour of the Corinthian capital—if that he an image inseparably
eonnected with this subject—because we know that should it be
overthrown, the rest of the social fabric will totter with the fall,
and the august form of liberty herself be crushed beneath the ruin.
—(Cheers.) Gentlemen, my toast is,
" The Independence of the House of Lords."
• The Duke of BUCCLEUGH returned thanks.
" Principal Macfarlane and the University of Glasgow."
Principal %LtCFARLAN feared that, in the presence of the
higher officers of the University, it might appear presumptuous in
him to acknowledge the last toast.—( Hear.) Still, as his office
was of a more permanent character than theirs, and the Chairman
had been pleased to mention his name in connection with the Uni-
versity of Glasgow, he would not shrink from offering, on the part
of his colleagues, their students, and himself, their cordial and
grateful thanks. Their ancient seminary had undergone many
vicissitudes, and, especially of late, had, in common with all th
institutions of the country, withstood several violent assaults,—
(Cheers.) Still, he trusted that it maintained a position which
proreieed fair for its permanence and prosperity.—(Renewed
cheers.) Its this confidence he was encouraged by knowing
that his learned colleagues laboured with a diligence and
energy not to be surpassed, to deserve, as they must succeed
in doing, to command public esteem and confidence, by witnessing
the ineeeeeins resort of young gentlemen, educated previously in
the best setrimaripe. and of families, for a proof of whose high re-
spectability he hail only to look around the company present—
and above all, by the connection it hes lately formed with the
highlerhonoured guest of the evening, by the aid pc whose
judgment its members may hope to be guided in every measure
of real improvement, and pp the support o; whose talents and
influence they may rely in resisting' every scheme of mischievous
and fantastic innovation.--( Cheers. ) He was strregiliened in
this bop by the kind feeling expressed by an assembly so nu-
merous 44 eeepeetable—a kindness to which the University
might lay additional pleim, les having beets the occasion of bring-
ing them together ; and tit; felt ftsWedi on all these grounds,
that the seminary where Smith, gnd Reid. p 4 gitileetn, and
Black, have taught—where Campbell, and Wilson, and Lockhart
were educated—may yet be allowed a fair trial of its capability and
eflieitoce, ip teeleing another generation of scholars and gentle-
men, Ile Meat cisc f. (4111 M permission to *hank them for himself.
I.!e was not vein enough tq 450.4.ie tiv hipq reception they had
given hint to anything but their knowledge of him as a long-tried
Conservative, and on that account his thanlis sprang from purer
seurce than any selfish feeling. Not that he was indifferent to
t`"ir aPeroba.tion. His sense was only the narrower, and also
the
Yl:e Civil e'tse4, it implies a pledge of their devoted attachment to
in and'ileeigseee ;nstitutions of their country. He believed
his heart that theiPpfladielee, ioended on reason and truth, are
"'IP"
// and insist prevail—(grat that the time is nut