The Sun.
London, England, 1859-12-22 00:00:00

even then we have that climax capped by the Chair,
1 man (after the fashion of " one cheer more, and a

6•ood one") by another toast yet—" The Press."
The toast of the Press—from the lips of the PRE-
MIER Mark, now, the manner of its giving by
Lord PSLMERSTON :—" I rise," he says, " to do
homage to that which may properly be said to be
one of the wonders of modern civilisation. I mean
the Press." And he then goes on to remark, with
unstinted words of panegyric, " If any man corn-
pares now a newspaper published in the last cen-
tury with one of those wonderful sheets we read
every day, the contrast is the most striking that
the mind of man can imagine. The quan-
tity of information, the talent of disserta-
tion, the amount of news of every kind which we
now find in almost every newspaper we meet with,
is really one cf the most striking proofs of the pro-
gress which the human intellect has made in the
days in which we live. It may really be put in
competition with the steam-engine and the electric
telegraph. But," continues Lord PALMERSTON,
" there is one part of the functions of the Press
which, beyond all others, has improved of late
years." [Beyond the time, let us suggest to the
memory of Lord PALMERSTON, when a certain Irish
reporter in the Gallery of the House of Commons,
a reporter named FINNERTY, waking up suddenly
from a nap—himself much " bemused with
beer"—startled the echoes of that august assem-
bly by bawling out, " Your health, Mr. Speaker !'
and " Mr. Speaker, I wish to propose a
toast !" But I call on Mr. Speaker for a song
—having himself incontinently thereupon to be
taken into custody by that silk-stocking Argus the
the Sergeant•at-Arms !] Recalling those times to
popular rembrance, " I have heard," said Lord
PALMERSTON, " that towards the end of the last
century there was a man of the name of WOODFALL,
who used to publish debates ; and how did he do
it ? It is said that he used to go to the gallery of
the House of Commons, listen attentively with his
face in his hands to what passed, go home, drink
two pots ofporter, go to bed, get up next morning,
and from his dreams and his recollection make
out what he called a report of a debate.
Now-a-days, so marvellous is the ability, and
so wonderful the rapidity with which re-
porters take down what men say, that if speakers
are not very careful the reporters take down what
they had much better not have said. I remember
a very worthy M.P., an Irish M.P., Mr. RICHARD
KEENE, who once complained that the reporters in
the gallery had not done full justice to a speech he
had made the night before. The reply he received
had perhaps more of sharpness than civility in it,
for it was—' Mr. KEENE, we made the best speech
we could for you, but if you are not satisfied with
our endeavours, the next time we will report
what you do say, and whatever you may
think of it, we suspect your friends will hardly
relish the infliction.'" " Now," observed Lord
PALMERSTON, in continuation with an admi-
rably well-deserved encomium upon the Parliamen-
tary reporters, " it is quite marvellous to see the
accuracy with which debates in the House of Com-
mons are reported. When the speeches are such as
are calculated to attract attention, they are reported
word for word as they are uttered, and how it is
possible for the human hand to follow with
such rapidity and such exactness I am
at a loss to conceive." And then with
a personal reminiscence reminding one of an
incident in the life of " David Copperfield,"
the Premier observed, " I once, as many others have
done, began to learn shorthand, but I confess that I
found out two difficulties, which turned out to be
quite insurmountable. The one was to write it,
and the next and greatest to read it when written."
Remarking, in conclusion, "I beg now to pro-
pose that institution to which the progress
of civilisation and all the interests of the
country are so deeply indebted, The
Press." It is surely significant of the state of
things in England to hear cordial words like these
fall from the lips of the chief Minister in our
constitutional Government.