The Sun.
London, England, 1866-01-18 00:00:00

Royal Caledonian Curling Club.

The first annual dinner of the Manchester (Traf-
ford) branch of the Royal Caledonian Curling Club
took place at the Queen's Hotel, on Monday even-
ing. An influential company was present, num-
bering about 100 ; and Mr. J. Kerr,4tlie president,
occupied the chair. The Chairman apologised for
the absence of Sir H. De Trafford, the patron, and
3/Ir. J. Pender, M.P. He then proposed the usual
loyal toasts, and " The Army, Navy, and Volun-
teers." Col. Broughton, RE., responded on behalf
of the army, and Major Scott on behalf of the rifle
volunteers. Mr. M. Ross proposed " The Manches-
ter Trafford Royal Caledonian Club." He said
that the Royal Caledonian Club had enrolled-more
members than any other in the world. The Man-
chester branch had only existed two years ; it was
started in no spirit of rivalry, but with a desire to
bring the healthy pleasures of the game nearer to
their own doors. Its success was all that could be de-
sired. Mr. Alderman Mackie gave "The Patron, the
Patroness, and the Members." He said that though
he was patron of another Manchester society it
gave him great pleanie to be present on that
occasion. He thought the club ought to be
grateful to their patron for giving them the use
of a ground to play on. It was an action that few
who did not know the game would have had the
willingness to.—Mr. W. Gibb responded to the
toast.—Mr. Alderman Curtis proposed "The
Houses of Parliament." He said that though he
should have been glad to see parliamentary reform
lie still—(no, no; yes),—he yet expected that the
franchise would shortly be extended. He did not
know that there were any grievances to be dealt
with, and if there were, memberri of Parliament
had shown by their past actions that they were
ready to remedy them when they were brought be-
fore them. He should have been quite content, as
Lord John Russell, not Earl Russell, had said, " to
rest and be thankful ;" but since that statesman
had got into the House of Lords he supposed he
had been egged on—(no, no ; yes),—and the
country would have a measure of reform. He
hoped that the measure would be one in which
all moderate parties could concur. He had
himself been an advocate of Liberal principles,
and he advocated them still, but he did not
want to see any measure brought into Parliament
that would give the preponderance of power to any
one class of society. (Hear, hear.) He believedthat a
£6 franchise would place the working classes in the
majority ; that it would, in fact, throw the repre-
sentation into their hands. (No, yes, and interrup-
tion.) He hoped Earl Russell would remember,
and " rest and be thankful," and that the Chancellor
of the Exchequer would also remember that when
he was returned to Parliament he was returned
mainly through the forbearance and support of the
Conservatives of South Lancashire. (No, no, yes,
and interruption.) The citizens of Manchester had
also shown that they were in favour of moderate
opinions. They repudiated extremes, and he hoped
the House of Commons would follow their example.
(No, yes, applause, and interruption.) Mr. C.
Stewart said that he regretted the harmony of the
meeting had been disturbed, and he thought it was
only fair to their new member, Mr. James, that he
should be protected from having to repeat a pro-
nunciation of his opinions. He had already expressed
them on the hustings, and they were well known,
and he (Mr. Stewart) hoped that Mr. Curtis would
excuse him if he said that that was a meeting of
members of a curling club, and that politics should
not be introduced into the proceedings. (Applause.)
Mr. E. James, M.P., said that was the third time he
had had the honour of returning thanks for the Houses
of Parliament. Since he last discharged that duty
ample time had been given him to reflect upon the
great and onerous duties which the city of Manches-
ter had conferred upon him, and to consider upon
what might be his shortcomings, and what might be
expected from him, for " from him to whom much
was given would much be required." (Hear, hear.)
Even if it had not been for Mr. Stewart's remarks
he should have been anxious to have avoided bring-
ing before that social board anything of the nature
of party politics. He was not there for the pur-
pose of saying whether he was Whig, Tory, or Ra-
dical, but he was there as the representative of the
constituency of that great 'city, whatever its opi-
nions might be, and to promise as he had done here-
tofore to do the,best that he could in discharge of
the duties that now devolved upon him. (Hear,
hear.) Ile was called upon to respond to the toast
of the Houses of t'arliament, and, strange as it
might appear to many, he bad never heard a par-
liamentary debate. He took his seat entirely new
to the scene in which he would appear, and he went
into Parliament endeavouring to the utmost of his
ability to carry out those objects which might be
useful to the whole constituency, and not to one
part or to one section of it. (Hear, hear.) He had
the honour of belonging to one of those branches of
the Legislature which had for centuries been the
bulwark of the constitution, and which had been the
means of vindicating to every Englishman that li-
berty which it was his boast to enjoy. But while
vindicating the rights and privileges of the Lower
House, he thanked God the country had a House of
Lords—(hear, hear)—because there were times
when public excitement might so act upon the minds
of those who were sent to represent them in the
Lower House that they required a check ; they re-
quired their attention to be more immediately and
deliberately called to those questions which were
not of to-day but for ever, and it was in dealing
with such questions that instances had occurred,
and might possibly occur again ; so that it was well
to have another House where those questions might
be more seriously, and more carefully and tempe-
rately and at greater length considered, so that they
might be arranged ultimately for the benefit of all.
(Hear, hear.) He thanked those who had invited
him for the opportunity of being present, and for
the still greater privilege of being allowed to fix the
day upon which their dinner should be held. Nor
could he forget the many invitations which had
been given him by his many Manchester friends
during the past few weeks. In declining them he
wished it to be understood that it was through no
discourtesy ; it was because of the urgent duties of
his profession, and because he felt that if he ac-
cepted some he might give offence to others. If it
was said that he had attended the curling club
dinner that evening and had declined other invi-
tations, his only reply was that it was with extreme
sorrow that he so declined, and that it would
afford him the greatest gratification if he could
consistently with that which was due to himself
appear upon all occasions when he was requested.
He must trust to the good feeling of his con-
stituents to pardon his shortcomings. (Applause.)
In proposing " The Guests and Strangers,"
Mr. C. Stewart said that the Trafford Club
numbered more than 150 members. —Mr.
C. Temple, Q.C., responded to the toast.—Mr. Al-
derman Curtis said that as his name had been
pointedly alluded to since he last addressed that
company, he wished to state that he regretted ex-
ceedingly that the toast of " The Houses of Parlia-
ment" bad been put into his hands. He expressed
that regret when he was made aware that the pro-
posing of such a toast would devolve upon him, for
he felt that it must. either involve the necessity of
making some little allusion to politics, or that he
must give the toast without any comments. If he
had said anything that offended any one present—
(no, no)—he wished to withdraw the remark. Mr.
R. Forrest proposed " The city and trade of Man-
chester," to which Mr. M. Ross responded. He
said that Manchester was fully entitled to the
honour that the toast conveyed. By the establish-
ment of parks and free 'libraries Manchester set a
proud example to other towns. It was also to the
credit of the city that its political atmosphere was
pure, and that its members were returned free of
cost to those who were elected. Another matter in
regard to which Manchester deserved great. credit
was the manner in which the Central Relief Com-
mittee discharged its duties during the recent dis-
tress, and especially on account of its economy.
When 480,000 persons were dependent on the
charity of the country the committee declined to
apply for Government aid, and he thought the
highest credit was to be attributed to them for show-
, .
ing such independence. (Hear, lean) Mr. R.
M'Ewen proposed " The Corporation of Manches-
ter," to which the Mayor (W. Bowker, Esq.) re-
sponded. Other toasts followed, after which the
proceedings terminated.