The Sun.
London, England, 1867-01-25 00:00:00

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met. But the people would not be deceived, and
would rally round Lord Derby and his Govern-
ment to retain them in office. (Applause.) There
was no man in the House Commons in whom
working men ought to place greater confidence,
or for whom they ought to have greater respect,
than Mr. Disraeli, who had supported many
measures materially affecting their interests ; and
he (Mr. Ferrand) had. never found Mr. Disraeli
voting against them, or uttering a word which could
militate against their interests. (Applause.) Lord
John Manners had been an able coadjutor with Mr.
Disraeli in carrying out those measures. General
Peel was the soldier's friend, and for many years
there had not been in the office a man so competent
to discharge its duties. Lord Stanley had always
done all in his power to promote the moral, religious,
and physical improvement of the working popula-
tion ; and at the present time it was of vital conse-
quence to England that he should be Foreign Mini-
ster, in order that he might restore the influence of
England, which had been destroyed by the wavering
policy of Earl Russell. (Applause.) Sir Stafford
Northcote, one of the most industrious men in the
House of Commons, had replaced one of the most
idle officials who ever presided at the Board of Trade,
and who was thoroughly negligent of his duty. By
the appointment of Sir John Pakington, the resto-
ration of the navy to its former power was ensured.
At the present time, were Russian or American
monitors to appear upon our coasts, they could
sweep our fleet into the sea. This state of things
had been brought about by Whig ipbbery ; but in
a short time Sir John Pakington, with the aid of
Captain Coles, would give England a fleet able
to cope with Russia and America at the same
time. (Applause.) He would make a few re-
marks on the struggle which was at present taking
place in the country. It was a struggle between
the supporters of a limited monarchy and the ad-
vocates of a fierce democracy. The latter sought
to gain influence by foul abuse of the Conservative
party, and it had not been replied to by men of
equal or superior talent as it should have been ;
therefore the Conservative party have been dis-
trusted, and it was only now obtaining the position
to which its influence, wealth, and loyalty entitled
it, by means of such demonstrations as the one
they were taking part in. (Cheers.) The gentle-
man who had pursued this system of gross abuse
more than any other was Mr. Bright. Year after
year he had pursued this avocation. He was a man
of extraordinary talent, but he used it to the worst
of purposes. (Applause.) He bad addressed meet-
ings of the people in violent language, and at last
it became absolutely necessary for the Conservative
party to meet bis assertions, and prove them to be
false. He intended to pursue that course that
evening, convinced that by so doing he was per-
forming his duty as a loyal Conservative, and at
the same time pointing out to the working men the
danger there was in following the guidance of such
a man. Mr. Bright produced no facts to establish
his gross charges ; all was mere assertion. His
abuse of Lord Derby had increased tenfold
since the conclusion of the noble lord's emi-
nent services as chairman of the Cotton Re-
lief Committee. He had charged the Con-
servative party with being the' enemy of the
poor ; he (Mr. Ferrand) defied Mr. Bright to point
out one instance in which it had been so. (Hear,
hear.) The other day he charged the clergy and
gentry in the neighbourhood of Windsor Castle with
neglecting the education of the poor, and evidently
tried to identify his Sovereign with this neglect by
using the words " Windsor Castle." These charges
had been disproved, but Mr. Bright had never re-
tracted them. He had charged Lord Grosvenor,
Lord Elcho, and Mr. Lowe with being dirty con-
spirators ; there were not three more honourable
men in England. (Applause.) lie had charged
Mr. Garth with going " through dirt to dignities."
He (Mr. Ferrand) held in his hand statements
which substantiated almost entirely every word
uttered by Mr. Garth, but it was impossible to take
up their time by reading them on that occasion.
The other day Mr. Bright deliberately wrote that
he (Mr. Ferrand) was the greatest ruffian that had
appeared in the House of Commons during the last
50 years. (Loud laughter.) He made that charge
on the pretended statement of a man who had been
dead 20 years, and he said that gentleman bad made
the remark to Mr. Cobden, who bad also been dead
some time. This was a libel on the dead. Not a
man in England believed it, and the man who be.
lieved it least was Mr. Bright himself. (Applause.;
The toast was acknowledged by Mr. F. S. Powell
M.P. Other toasts. followed.