The Sun.
London, England, 1857-04-27 00:00:00

you, g.en,lemen, 'the inexpressible pang which that
consciousness and that conviction cat-.e me at this
moment.. (Hear, hear.) To be, as I have said your
representative ielbarhamenta and to fillthe high office
of Attorney-Ger:torsi of. England was to me the sum-
, .rnit of enabitien. I desired no ping further, and if I
coal d have had my will and way, th it was the pesition
I shouldhave filled tathis hour;and never hsve de=
sired to part with it.whilel had strength and:energy
to fulfil its duties. But, alas! .man cannot frame
ids own destiny as he will,. and I became conscious
'that many years of active aril five of the corn
bined•efforts of official and Parliamentary labour,
had produced a certain amount of bodily tear and
wear. I was toll that cert tin warnings were not to
'be negleCted, and that I should do wrong, and per-
haps destroy my capacity for public usefulness alto-
gether, if I did not accept the highly -honourable
office which I now fill, and which is far beyond any-
thing I could have laid claim. to. Had I followed
my own will I should still be, AttOrney-General,
and, may I add, still representative of Southamp-
ton—(lend cheers)—but wise and anxious friends
counselled me, and to their sober wisdom I have
yielded. I should have preferred still to toss on the
stormy sea of political life rather than to be navi-
gating the smooth and tranquil waters in which I
now float, and I can assure you from the bottom
of my heart that one of the greatest of my
pangs is the severance of that connexion with you
'which formed my greatest happiness. (Cheers.)
What do I not owe to thin place ? very step of
my career has. been infiiieric d by myecounexion
with Southampton. It was here that, now some
16 years ago, I first received a minor judicial office
in.the shape of your Recordership,- and it gives me
inexpressible satisfaction when I hear our president
say that, while holding that office, justios did not
suffer in my hands. (Hear.) My first entrance into
Parliament was as member for Southampton, and
I :am happy in remembering that, while I re-
mained iu Parliament, I represented no other
place. In every subsequent step of my career
you met me with cordiality and kindness, and
I shall not essay forget that when official
advancement interrupted my tenure in Parlia-
ment, my political opponents here exercised a
generous forbearance, and troubled me not with
opposition. Step by step you stood by me. There
were times when political contests for the represen-
tation of this borough took place. I shall never
forget what was the conduct of my friends in those
contests, and now that I look hack with a dispassion-
ate mind on the conduct of my opponents I can
say, -from my heart, that not in it either Lye I
anything to complain of. They ought me manfully,
and fairly,
,and our contests, I trust, leave no un-
pleasant remembrances, either in them or in me.
But I have allowed myself too long to be unmindful
of my excellent colleague. Alas ! that I must say
my quondam colleague, who looks younger and
fresher than when, ten years since, we cinvaosed
the courts and alleys of your town together. But.
[ forget, politics are excluded, the tragedy must be
played with the part of Hamlet omitted, and
Punch is nobody, because you must not make him
speak ; and yet how many points are, there upon
which, before we part for ever, I should gladly
say a word. (Loud cries of "Hear, bear.")
I should like to say a word in vindication of my
own conduct, if open to animadversion, and as it has
often been animadverted on ; but this I must sty,
that with now and then an exception, justice has
been done my motives, even by those who differed
from me in opinion ; and I am bound to admit that
I received at the hands of opponents as well as of
friends, a generous, liberal, and noble indulgence
for the ten yearsduring which [have been connected
With Southampton. During those ten year's what
great events have there not passed over England.
During that time we passed through one of .the
greatest wars ever known, and even if some faults
were committed and' some shortcomings took place
from which we must learn wisdom
.for the future,
yet, on the otherhand, British valour never shone
more conspicuously, nor was the honour of the Bri-
tish flag ever more magnificently upheld. And
now a glorious peace has crowned that war,
and secured the liberty of Europe and the East
from aggression for centuries to come. It is true
that when we hoped universal peace bad crowned
our efforts, a new cause of war arose in our re-
lations with China, but I trust it will not be of
long duration. Our deinands are just, all we ask
being security for our commerce, security for our
fellow-subjects, 'and
,'that our relations with China
may be placed on the same footing as with the rest
of the civilised world. But if our fair demands and
pretensions shonld be refused, British valour and
discipline will not fail to bring the matter to a suc-
cessful termination, when I trust that the temple of
Janus may be permanently closed, and our atten-
t:ou turned to domestic and social reforms, and the
most perfect development of that trade and com.
merce, the extension of which appears to be pre-
eminently the destiny of this great pepple. As re-
gards internal improvements and political matters,
I have no more to say. If they should have refe-
rence to the department to which I am now wedded,
my assistance as a senator can no longer be given ;
but so far as my advice goes, it shall., never be want-
ing. I rejoice to think how great a share South-
ampton must bear in the dr.velopment, of our trade.
Yes, if it be the peculiar destiny of England to de-
velop trade and commerce to. their utmost limits, I
rejoice to think that in that great destiny South-
acnpton must bear a necessarily triumphant posi-
tion. (Cheers.). Your pectiliar position, your
docks, your port, your waters, the activity of your
community, and its industry, all impress my mind
with the conviction that Southampton has yet a
great destiny to fulfill in the further development
of is commercial eminence. (Cheers) That such
may be the case is one of the most cherished Wishes
of my heart. I cannot overpay the debt of gratitude
I owe to Southampton. There is only one way fur
people who feel they owe a deep debt of gratitude,
and don't know ho w to pay it, and that is by che-
rishing in their hearts a warm and enduring sense
of affection and love for those who have heaped on
them benefits. (Loud cheers.) And I believe that
to the last moment of my existence, happen to me
what may, when I look back on my past life and
past career, as far as my public mind is concerned,
the happiest and the brightest of my recollections
will be my association with this community, with
which I have been so intimatelyconnected, as being
your representative in Parliament, and from which
I have received innumerable acts of kindness and
courtesy, both from friends and foes. That feeling
will always make me rejoice in all good that may
befal your whether as an aggregate community, or
in your individual persons. Believe, I entreat you,
that these are not mere words of ceremony, but
words proceeding from my heart and soul—words
which cannot give effect in utterance to the emo-
tions with which my heart is filled—to recollections
so indelible as never, so long as my life lasts, to be
effaced. (Loud cheers.) I thank you for all your
kindness, and not least for this last crown ig act,
which I shall lay to my heart, and treasure in my re-
collection, as expressing on your part and op the part
of Southampton;' of which you are the representa-
tives, the opinion that I am not altogether un-
worthy of the confidence which has been reposed in
me, of the kindness with which I am now received.
(The noble and learned lord resumed his seat amid
loud and general cheering.
The next toast was "The County Members."
The Hon. R. DUTTON, in returning thanks, al-
luded in complimentary terms to the guest of the
evening, who, he trusted, although having termi-
nated one brilliant career, was only about to com-
mence another equally distinguished
Sir. J. C. JERVOISE gave) "The Borough Members."
Mr. Wirmeox, in returning thanks, although
yielding to his late distinguished colleague the palm
of ability, claimed an equal share of zeal and atten-
tion in the performance of his parliamentary duty.
He should 'always do everything in his. power to
promote the interests and stimulate the commerce
of Southampton. (Cheers.)
The CHAIRMAN gave "The Judicial Bench."
Mr. Justice WILLIAMS, on his own behalf and on
that of his colleagues, thanked the company for the
warm manner in' which their health; had been re-
ceived. It would ill become him to institute a
comparison between the present judges and their
predecessors, but this be might say, that never was
there a time when the 'judges were nore devotedly
anxious to fulfil the duties of their station honestly
and fearlessly. (Hear, hear.) He nust add, that
tohim, as one of her Majesty's judges, it had been
a source of infinite satisfaction to be a wi,nese of
the effectionate respect so sincerely and so benefi-
cially shown to that eminent memberof the judicial
bench for whom this evening's homage was specially
intended. He also rejoiced at benign, partaker in
a Southampton festivity, for he hal once been a
Winchester boy, and he well recnenbered that a
trip to Southampton was one of the most pleasing
anticipations of his school days. (Cheers.) Since
then it had always been a pleasure ti him to come
to Southampton, but peculiarly eo oi the occasion
of his last visit ; and although the Chief Justice
was present he would tell him that it was mainly
attributable to his having his lordslip for, a col-
league. (Hear, hear.) He would lx pardoned for
saying in his lordship's presence that he ha i never
had a colleague so free from affectaton, so full of