The Sun.
London, England, 1859-03-21 00:00:00

their instrumentality—l say, feeling that, I hesi-
tated whether I ought to be here. But remember-
ing, gentlemen, the great services which our friend
rendered to the county of Cumberland at large, I
should have thought myself wanting indue respect
to his memory—(hear, hear)—and would have been
guilty of ingratitude and forgetfulness if I had not
personally appeared here to-day to assist in this
ceremony. (Cheers.) I am glad to think, my
friends, that it will not be necessary for me to
enter into any details of the services rendered by
the late Mr. Steel, not only to this city in which
he was elected Mayor, but to the county, inasmuch
as they have been enumerated already by your ex-
cellent and worthy Mayor in language which I
could not aspire to. (Hear, hear.) But I will ven-
ture to say so much, that if independence of action,
if liberality of principle, if the advocacy of all popu-
lar rights—(hear, hear)—if the enlightenment of
the people, if the exposure of all abuses—(hear,
hear)—and, if above all, the anxious support of all
measures which might be useful and beneficial,
whether they were social or political--if these have
any claim on the gratitude of his fellow-citizens,
then do I say that James Steel was fully and pre-
eminently entitled to our gratitude. (Loud cheers.)
And I am glad to think, gentlemen, his services
have not been forgottten by his contemporaries.
. The statue which has just now been inaugurated by
the Mayor is a proof of the feelings of affection and
gratitude which you feel and have felt towards him.
And I think, gentlemen, I may venture to say that
it is a proudfeature inthe character of Englishmen
that they recognise the conscientious discharge of
duty in the man, be his station and his position of life
what it may—(cheers)—whether he be born in a po-
sition where it was necessary by honest industy, by
great ardour, and by persevering exertions to raise
himself to eminence, or whether he be born to the po-
sition of one of the hereditary aristocracy of the land—
whether in fact by the election of his fellow-citizens
he has been placed in the honourable position of
Mayor of this town, or whether he had been nomi-
nated by the Crown as Lord Lieutenant of the
county—and whether he be born a printer or a
peer. (Cheers.) Sir, these are my feelings, and I
am glad to think that they are shared by the citi-
zens of Carlisle—and not only the citizens of Carlisle,
but the inhabitants of Cumberland. I will just add
one word. It' is possible that during Mr. Steel's
lifetime, from the political principles which he
espoused, from the scourge which he applied to the
correction of abuses, from the desire to dissipate
antiquated prejudices, some feelings may have arisen
in the minds and breasts of some of his contempo-
raries which might have induced them not to look
on him altogether with feelings of gratitude. He
however has now passed away from among us—the
hand of death has cut him off in the midst of a use-
ful and laborious life, and nothing now remains to
us but to cherish the memory of his virtues. (Hear.)
Lord Bacon has said that " Death openeth the gate
to a good name and it extinguisheth envy." (Cheers.)
Aye, and I am sure I cannot have a stronger proof
of it than I have at this moment before me. I see
his opponent in the press, Mr. Perring—if he will
allow me to call him so, my friend Mr. Perring—
(Mr. Perring took off his hat and bowed)—who is
willing to come here to-day to assist at this cere-
mony, and I am sure, therefore, that I cannot have
a stronger proof that all feelings of annoyance or
of bitterness, if they ever did exist, have passed
away. (Hear.) I can only congratulate you, the
citizens of Carlisle—and I will venture to say that
on behalf of the county of Cumberland I congratulate
you—that you have raised a testimonial of merit so
worthy as the statue that has this day been inau-
gurated. (Loud cheers.)
Mr. HOWARD, of Corby, (who had arrived during
Mr. Crackanthorpe's speech) then, ascended the step
of the pedestal and said—Mr. Mayor and friends,
—I have been asked by your committee to say
a few words on this occasion, and to unite in
offering this tribute of admiration to the active citi-
zen to whose merits my friend Mr. Crackanthorpe
has borne such able and eloquent witness. Mr. Mayor,
though the life of Mr. Steel did not number so many
years as have fallen to the lot of some he passed
through a very long career of public utility.
(Cheers.) My revered father frequently admired
and witnessed the consistent liberality of his course.
(Hear, hear.) Of his exertions in the passing of
the great Reform Bill, which has been now ad-
mitted as a benefit by all classes and parties, ample
evidence has been shown. (Hear, hear.) In that
measure which had for its object to widen the
entrance to the Corporation he took a decided and
an active part. (Hear, hear.) Gentlemen, when
it was a question of extending the benefits of the
post-office—when an active citizen devised a means
of uniformity of postage by which the public at
large could be benefitted—with that ready inspira-
tion of genius, Mr. Steel saw at once the benefits
that would arise from that measure, he saw the
feasibility of the plan, and he advocated it with
that tenacity of purpose which belonged to his
character. (Hear, hear.) Gentlemen, you have
seen that when this town was in want of a necessary
supply of that element of life, water, nobody took
in that object a more successful part. (Hear, hear.)
He did not spend his time or waste his energies un-
duly in disquisitions on the- abstract rights of man,
but when the Health of Towns Bill had been passed
he was elected by his. fellow citizens and by the
members of the Corporation to preside over the
carrying out of that measure—(hear, hear)—and in
the frequent collisions which necessarily took place
between the claims of property on the one hand and
the claims of public health and convenience on the
other, he displayed that tact and perseverance, and
that power of mastering details which formed so
prominent a part of his gifted mind. (Hear, hear.)
It has been said we ought not to have erected a
statue, but to have resorted to some monument of
more every day usefulness. But, Mr. Mayor and
gentlemen, a statue speaks at once not only to the
citizens of Carlisle, not only to the inhabitants of
Cumberland, but to the stranger. (Hear, hear.) It
combines the support of art with public gratitude.
The stranger who visits this town with the wonder-
ful power of steam, the stranger who comes from
Dumfries or Newcastle, at once sees a monument of
public gratitude to a worthy citizen. (Cheers.) It is
therefore right that we should pay to Mr. Steel this
unselfish tribute of applause. Mr. Mayor and gen-
tlemen, you have, as Mr. Crackanthorpe observes,
erected a monument to one who filled the highest
post which it is in the power of the Crown to confer
on a subject—to a nobleman who Combined benevo-
lence with high rank and endowments. You have
raised a monument to one who with applause sat in
Parliament and presided on the bench—my late
friend Major Aglionby. (Hear, hear.) You have
now erected this beautiful and stately monument to
one who by the innate power of his mind and
strength of his genius overcame the obstacles to ad-
vancement which existed in his early youth—set at
nought the distracting pains of bodily disease—
(hear, hear)—overcame all physical obstacles, and
earned for himself a reputation which I trust will
be as enduring as this statue which commemorates
his memory ; and I trust he will long be remem-
bered by you and your children as a benefactor to
Carlisle, and the advocate of the liberties of the
people and of the liberties of mankind. (Cheers.)
Mr. DAVIDSON, Vice-President of the Mechanics'
Institute, said—Though proud of being permitted
to take part in this interesting ceremony, I cannot
but feel that the right man is not in the right
place; for, had circumstances permitted our excel-
lent president, Mr. Ferguson, to take his appro-
priate place at the head of the Carlisle Mechanics'
Institute, the duties which now unfortunately de-
volve upon me would have been much more ably
performed. (Applause.) It would be out of place
for me to refer to the late Mr. Steel as a journalist,
as a politician, or as a magistrate, even if these qua-
lifications had not been eloquently remarked upon
by previous speakers. I will therefore speak of him
only as the enlightened friend and the indefatigable
labourer in the great and glorious work of social and
intellectual progress. (Hear.) And to his honour be it
said that while he was manfully fighting the battle
for himself and raising himself step by step to a posi-
tion of eminence and influence, he, like a sound-
hearted man as he was, never forgot to help forward
with all his might his humbler fellow-citizens, and,
indeed, all that came within his influence. (Cheers.)
The CarlisleMechanics' Institute was first established
in 1824, just one year after the great London Insti-
tution was founded by the late Dr. Birkbeck and
Lord Brougham. (Hear, hear.) It fell into abey-
ance for a year or two, but in 1832 or 1833 was re-
established mainly through the exertions of its
present president and the late Mr. Steel, who was
thereupon elected vice-president, and, from that
time, year after year, until his death, was he re-
elected to that office by the members, who thus
showed their appreciation of his great services.
(Hear, hear.) Mr. Steel felt a deep interest, I need
hardly say, in this and all similar institutions. He
was the consistent and zealous friend of all kindred
societies, whether working men's "reading rooms or
by whatever name they were called. Now, some
literary men are very bad men of business—they
are prone to launch forth crude theories that few
men can work out to any practical result. Not so
m
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sions had to deplore his loss. (Hear.) I may add,
that the members of the Institute look upon this
noble monument with honest pride, and feel that
Carlisle has not only done an honour to Mr. Steel,
but a pat honour to itself in thus commemorating