The Sun.
London, England, 1859-05-05 00:00:00

govern the country ; whether it should be the pre-
sent Ministry or some other, at the head of
which might be Lord John Russell, Lord Palmer-
ston, or Mr. John Bright. (Laughter, and a cry of
" You had him to help you in.") He did not deny
that Mr. Bright had done the Government good
service, both by his vote upon the Conspiracy Bill
and by the publication of his Reform Bill; but
although he admired that gentleman's honesty of
purpose, and wished that many others would speak
out as plainly as he did, he did not wish to see him
ruling the country. At the present moment this
country was in a very critical state. The question
to be decided might be whether order and property
should be maintained. Many persons would not
believe this because they did not wish it ; but when
you were at the edge of a precipice, a single step
would send you over. Referring to an observation
which had been made by a person in the crowd that
he was well paid, the right hon. gentleman said
that although he received the usual salary attached
to his office, it was swallowed up •by various ex-
penses, and at the end of the year nothing was left
of it, and then continued,—The question is, are you
content that the country shall be governed by the
present Administration, or are you desirous to see
another ? By returning my friend Mr. Long and
myself you have given your adhesion to the Go-
vernment which is now in power—(cheers)—and I
believe that the great majority of the electors of
this division of the county will assent to that deci-
sion. Whether or not the House of Commons will
be of your opinion a few weeks will show. I am
sure that, whether the present Government is to
last or not, I at least shall look back upon the mea-
sures which we have passed, and upon the truly
patriotic course which my Lord Derby has chalked
out for himself, with great satisfaction, (Cheers.)
One advantage which office has conferred upon me
has been to give me better opportunities of
knowing how at the present moment our greatest
men conduct themselves. Ido admire—and I
say it plainly because it may not be said else-
where—l do admire the patriotic abnegation of
himself which Lord Derby has shown during the
last 13 or 14 months. What I say of him I
say of others. Ido believe that there never was a
Government composed of gentlemen more decidedly
devoted to the good of their country than are the
members of the present Administration. (Cheers.)
I am very glad to have my lot cast among them. So
long as I have the power and my services can be of
any use they shall command them ; but if I am
discarded, I shall retire with great pleasure and
satisfaction to the private life where all that most
interests me is to be found. Age is coming upon
me and you must begin to look for a younger man.
(Loud cries of No, no.) Whatever be my position
in or out of office, in or out of Parliament, the best
part of my life has been passed in the public service
of this country. It is tol England that my homage
is due, and I thank God that I have had an oppor-
tunity of showing that I am indeed devoted to that
good and excellent country of which it is the boast
of all of us that we are citizens. (Loud cheers.)
Thanks were then voted to the High Sheriff, and
the proceedings terminated with cheers for that
officer and the newly returned members.