The Sun.
London, England, 1867-10-30 00:00:00

IHE CHANCEL OR OF 7HE EXCHEQUER
AT EDINBURGH.

Last night the Chancellor of the Exchequer was
=testa fined by the Conservatives of Scotland at a
grangt banquet in the Corn Exchange, Edinburgh.
Owing' to the great demand for tickets the largest
public building in the town was engaged for. the
occasion, and nearly 1,300 gentlemen sat down to
dinner, several hundreds more who desired to be pre-
sent havin g been unable to procure admission. A
gallery at the lower end of the ball was specially
erected for the accominothtiou of ladies, about 120
of whom, i, tcluding Mrs. Disraeli, were present. The
Corn Exct►tange, usually a dull building, was bril-
liantly decorated for the occasion. At the upper end
the wall exhibited a heraldic co•:ibination contain-
ing in the centre the Royal arms, in the Scottish
setting, with the armorial distinctions wreathed on
either side of Lord Derby and Mr. Disraeli. Above
was a riband with the words " Welcomo to the Chan.
cellor of the Exchequer," and below a scroll bearing
the words "Success to Lord Derby's Ministry."
From the cornice of the clerestory windows were
suspended shields with the armorial devices and
mottoes of the whole Cabinet; and above these were
hung particoloured bannerets. The elevated tables
of the chairman and vice-chairman were ranged on
the east side of the hall, with cross tables between.
The chair was occupied by Sir IV. S. Maxwell,
M.P., and the vice chair by the Right Hon. R. N.
Hamilton. The Earl of Strathmore, Sir Jas. Camp-
bell, Lord Garlies, Mr. Dundas, Major Bruce, M.P.,
and Mr. Lawson, late Lord Provost, officiated as
croupiers. The company also included the Duke of
Buccleuch, Duke of Montrose, Lord J. Manners,
M.P., Rear-Admiral Sir J. C. D. Hay, M.P., Sir
G. Montgomery, M.P., the Lord Advocate, the Soli-
citor-General of Scotland, the Earl of Dalkeith,
M.P., Lord H. G. Lennox, M.P., Major Walker,
M.P., Mr. B. Cochrane, M.P., and a large represen-
tation of the Scottish peerage, gentry, and clergy.
Although the great bulk of the company belonged to
the Conservative party, a considerable number of
g-entlemen were present on purely complimentary
grounds. • .

After the loyal and patriotic toasts, the CHAIR-
MAN gave "The Church of Scotland," for which
the Rev. JAMES GRANT, D.C.L., responded.
The CHAIRMAN proposed the toast of the evening
—" The health of Mr. Disraeli, her Majesty's Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer." (Loud and general cheer-
ing.) Having eulogised the distinguished services
rendered to the country, he remarked that the last
and greatest of them was the passing of the recent
Reform Bill—a work the successful accomplishment
of which was due to the energy, patience, tact, and
genius of the right hon. gentleman himself. He ex-
pressed his own gratitude to Mr. Disraeli for the
course he had taken and for the sacrifices which he
had made in what amounted virtually to the recon-
struction of a great party. Until Reform was un-
dertaken by the Conservatives the question was re-
garded as a joke; but, feeling that the just claim
and pretensions of the people ought no longer to be
disregarded, the Conservative party had taken up
the matter, and the result was the passing of a bill,
which, being based upon a sound and intelligible
principle, had, he hoped, settled the question for
many years to come. (Cheers.) Tracing the pro-
gress of the Reform question since 1832, he (the
chairman) pointed out the trifling and insincere
manner in which he said it had been dealt with by
the Liberal party, and he concluded by expressing
'a hope that the Scotch measure of next session
would be dealt with in the calm, candid, and states-
man-like spirit which had distinguished the English
Bill of last session. He gave Mr. Disraeli a cordial
welcome to Scotland, and expressed a hope that he
would long fill the place lie now occupied in the
confidence of the Queen and the counsels of the
nation. (The toast was drunk with great en-
th usiits

Mr. DISRAELI, when the cheering with which he
was received had subsided, said—Mr. Chairman,
my lords, and gentlemen, I know nothing more
gratifying in the life of a public man—nothing in
its toil and its asperity score satisfactory and sooth-
ing than the expression of sympathy from any body of
his countrymen. (Cheers.) No,r is that gratification
diminished if that expression comes from those who
are not connected with him by any local sentiment,
because we know how much we may value the affec-
tionate expression of the kind feeling of our friends;
they are apt to be partial in their estimate.. I can-
not express what my feelings are at this moment,
greeted by this great tuaombly with so :much cor-
diality, distinguished as it is by those who are ex-
alted in rank, exalted in character, exalted in in-
telligence, and representing all classes of the com-
munity—(cheers)—and that, too, in the fair capital
of a famous nation, united to England, but on equal
terms, and by whose blended influence we have since
that union consummated some of the greatest feats
of British valour and achieved some of the most
brilliant results of British genius, (Cheers.) Now,
thanking you, Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, for
the too kind manner in which you introduced the
consideration of my name to this assembly, I can-
not for a moment forget that it is chiefly to be attri-
buted to the passing of a memorable measure which
has distinguished the present session of Parliainent,
and with which I have been in some measure con-
nected. (Cheers.) lam glad to hear that the cha-
racter of that measure and its consummati ea have
been received with favour and confidence in the city
of Edinburgh—(cheers)--and the more so because
I might have been deceived by some expressions
which had reached me before I visited the country,
and supposed that a different opinion both as to the
character of the measure and the character of those
who are responsible for it prevailed in this city.
(Hear, hear.) I heard, indeed, or read very
recently, and the words came from a per-
son of considerable position, if he were alone the
representative of this great city, but still more so as
one who has held very high office connected with the
administration of the kingdom of Scotland —I heard
that we had carried a measure not entitled to such a
distinction as that for which the Whig party had
toiled since the time when in the year 1793 Lord
Grey had been defeated by the machinations of Mr.
Pitt. It is important, because it is in another form a
revival of the old political dogma, that upon the
most important of political subjects—viz., the ques-
tion how power should be distributed in a State—
one of the great historical parties is to be forbidden
from ever touching it. (Cheers.) If we are to go to
the origin of the question since the constitution of
the country was settled on its present basis, it is
purely and entirely a Tory question. The question
of Parliamentary Reform was first introduced to
public notice by the great statesmen flourishing at
the beginning of the 16th century. Whatever their
motives may have been, the fact still remains—the
great Tory leaders of that day, no doubt, were in a
minority in the House of Commons, and were anxi-
ous to alter the principles of the representation of the
country. Motions for shortening the duration of
Parliaments, for extending the suffrage, for secret
voting, were introduced ; and we are told that it
was by the machinations of Mr. Pitt that the Whigs
have been perpetually baffled in their desire to carry
household suffrage, and have been deprived of their
rightful heritage by the manomvres of the Govern-
ment of Lord Derby. Allow me to say that the great
leaders at the commencement of the 18th century
who brought forward these measures for Parliamen-
tary Reform, and who vindicated these measures,
were formed of a very powerful and intelligent oli-
garchy, and no doubt for many years those opinions
were in abeyance. But the time came at a moment
of public calamity, when the country began to doubt
whether it was wise to entrust to au oligarchy the
most considerable portion of the power of the State,
or whether we should trust more to the power of the
Sovereign and independence of the nation. When
these opinions became prevalent, shortly after the
American war, a man, as always happens, appeared
to advocate these opinions ; and who was that man ?
Why, it was a young statesman who had formed his
mind by studying the conduct of the great states-
men of the 18th century. He gave up his time—for
we have it upon record he gave up his time by day
and by night—to the study of their lives ;he adopted
all their leading principles—the opinions he found in
the treaty of Utrecht--which would have given us all
the advantages of free trade, now so much vaunted; a
century beforehand he found those principles con-
tainedtheprincipleof religious tolerance and thopria-