The Sun.
London, England, 1869-11-06 00:00:00

LONDON, SA7URDAY, NOV. 6, 1869.

The prosaic annals of Parliamentary life seldom
present so touching an incident as that which was
furnished by the Election Intelligence of yesterday.
Lord STANLEY'S farewell address to the electors of
King's Lynn is short and simple, but it is nevertheless
eloquent and earnest. The noble lord is always pretty
sure to speak or write to the purpose, and whether
he appeared before his constituents to render an
account of his stewardship or spoke in the House of
Commons as the representative of the foreign policy
of the country, he knew how to say enough
and not to much. In this valedictory ad-
dress to the 4J Lily COn4taucaoy h
was ever returned to the House of Commons he
is equal to the occasion, and, in a few sentences,
depicts the change that has come over his life, and
the new phase upon which he has entered. In the
first place, he refers to the past, and declares that it
is " with feelings of deep regret he addresses them for
the last time. As the political connection between
them is severed it will no longer be his duty or his
pleasure to represent them in the House or to speak
to them on the events of the day." " But," he em-
phatically adds, " to the last hour of my life there
will remain the recollection of your unshaken confi-
dence and of the personal courtesy I have met with
from men of all classes and parties." The circum-
stances which have attended the noble lord's con-
nection with this " ancient and independent
borough " are indeed peculiar, and seem to
mark it out in a special manner from the
mere matter-of-fact and every-day events of the
political world. To begin with, he was elected with-
out his own knowledge while he was in America.
There would certainly have been something very in-
consistent in Lord STANLEY'S engaging in a contested
election, and mixing even in name in the ques-
tionable arrangements of some Parliamentary
struggles, but there was no approach to anything of
the sort. King's Lynn elected him on trust, and
long and faithfully has he returned its confidence
through the long period of twenty-one years. He
was comparatively unknown when the selection was
made and their acquaintance began, and it closes
when he has attained a world-wide reputation for
foresight and sagacity as a statesman, and earned the
respect and regard of all parties for his consistency
and independence. Lord STANLEY has never been a
party man, in the full acceptation of the term ; he
has been intimately associated with Cabinet secrets
and Parliamentary tactics; but he was in them, not
of them ; and while he was never elated by success,
he was never cast down by failure. In some respects
he might appear too tame and indifferent beside
the more ardent and impassioned spirits of his party,
but there was depth in his reserve and solidity in his
calmness that more buoyant and animated natures
often lack in the time of trial and the moment of dif-
ficultly. In the full noontide of the electioneering
strife of last autumn he was perfectly composed, and
when he met Mr. GLADSTONE at a public dinner in
his own county, which bore the burden and heat
of the strife, he was as self-possessed as if
the victory was well assured to his party.
In the course of his remarks on the foreign policy of
the country, he said in the most offhand way pos-
sible, " Whether the conduct of such an affair is
entrusted to me or to some colleague of the right
hon. gentleman near me," and so on. It may be
said on one side that this somewhat apathetic course
takes away from the excitement and interest of poli-
tics; but, on the other hand, it can be affirmed that
what is lost in daring is gained in dignity, and that
public life is thereby redeemed from the charge of
being a " common party race."
We must remember, too, that Lord STANLEY has
been sought for by various places ; he was requested
to stand for the City, and again he was earnestly en-
treated to represent Marylebone, the best compliment
that could be paid to his chances of success might be
found in the eagerness with which his competitors
put forward his refusal. He was constant to Lynn,
and Lynn was true to him, and the connection has
closed in sorrow, but also in satisfaction. Amid the
disgraceful revelations which have been disclosed to
us by the recent Election Commissions, it is indeed
refreshing to turn to one constituency which could
pass unscathed through any ordeal, and face the col-