The Sun.
London, England, 1859-10-31 00:00:00

that you concurred with me in thinking that no difference in
religious belief ought to prejudice political connexion, far
less to interfere with the obligations of private friendship.
(Cheers.) I have Roman Catholic tenants, I have Roman
Catholic labourers in my employment, and I should be
ashamed •of myself if there could be detected the slightest
difference between my treatment of them and that of those
of my own persuasion. Igo further—l say that I cordially
and earnestly - sympathised and concurred with the endea-
vours which were made, so much to his own credit, by my
gallant friend General Peel to afford to our Roman Catholic
soldiers greater opportunities than they had previously en-
joyed for exercising the rites of their religion. But, gentle-
men, I think I may appeal to the whole course of a somewhat
long political life, whether, though always ready to maintain
the principles of entire toleration and religious liberty, I am
a man who would ever voluntarily yield to any of the en-
croachments of the Roman Catholic Church as a political
body, whether I would sacrifice one jot or iota of tho rights
and privileges of that church to which I myself belong,
whether I would diminish its means of public usefulness, or
whether I would depreciate it as a great portion of our po-
litical Institutions by lowering its position or lessening its
influence in the country. (Cheers.) To that church I
have always been sincerely attached ; for that church I
have made many sacrifices ; for that church, even against
the opinion of fts members, I have introduced measures
the value of which has been subsequently acknowledged ;
and you may depend upon it that there are few things
dearer to my heart—few principles which I am more
determined to uphold than the maintenance of the
dignity, the rights, and the privileges of the Estab-
lished Church of these realms. (Cheers.) Gentlemen,
I know I have detained you longer than would have been
consistent with my duty upon an ordinary occasion ; but
this, while a most gratifying, is a most extraordinary
occasion. lam called here to receive your approval of ray
past conduct; and you are entitled to know what are the
principles upon which I have acted, and what is the course
which, if your confidence be continued to me, it Le my in-
tention, with God'sblessing, to pursue. I speak to you in
entire openness, and I say that the fate of that great party
which now honours me with its confidence—l may say, in-
deed, the fate of this country, because I consider the fate of
the country to be involved in the power and prosperity of
the Conservative party—is in your hands, depends upon
your energies, upon your confidence in your leaders, upon
your united action, upon your shaking off that apathy which
has hitherto paralysed your exertions. What you have to
do is to determine that there shall be a Conservative Go-
vernment in this country, and to act upon that resolution
in such a manner as by your own efforts to render that pos-
sible which, without those endeavours, will be wholly hope-
less—namely, the permanence of Conservative principles
in the administration of public affairs. (Great and pro-
tracted cheering.)
The CHAIRMAN then proposed " The Health of the Earl
of Mahnesbury," bearing his testimony to the able manner
in which that noble lord had conducted the foreign affairs
of the country.
The toast having been duly honoured,
The Earl of MALMESBURT, on rising to respond, was
loudly cheered. He said—l feel it a very great difficulty
and a very hard task to express to you my gratitude and all
the feelings which move me at this moment in consequence
of the compliment you have just paid me. I have
not the advantage, like my noble' friend, of having
through a long life served my country with distinction,
or of being, like him, personally known to many of you
here. I have come from the farthest part of the king-
dom to attend the present peat Conservative meeting.
(Cheers.) It is with no object of self-laudation that I admit
the truth stated several times this evening, that when her
Majesty called my noble friend to office I found the foreign
affairs of this country in the most alarming and anxious
state. (Hear. I found the country to whose cordial alli-
ance we principally look as being of the utmost importance
to this empire in a stato of feeling towards us most dan-
gerous, which caused the greatest anxiety in the minds
both of the statesmen and the people of this country. Thank
God, those days have passed away, and I hope we shall
never again be so near a rupture -with our near neighbours.
(Hear.) It is inipossible for any one living in this great
emporium of trade and commerce, and acquainted with the
transactions of business, not to understand the unspeakable
value of a cordial alliance with France. (Applause.) On
the first occasion when my noble friend was called upon to
be Prime Minister of this country, we found France at that
time likewise in a very anxious position. She had deter-
mined to alter the form of her Government, and even to
change the dynasty of her Sovereign. My noble friend
and I, acting under him, saw at once the only course to
pursue consistent with the feelings both of the English and
French people. We at once, and without hesitation, recog-
nised that Prince whom France had chosen to rule over her,
and though other countries did not follow our steps and
hesitated to take the same course, we nevertheless cordially
acknowledged Louis Napoleon as the Emperor of the French.
(Hear, hear.) It so happened that it was my fortune in
early life to be intimately acquainted with that Prince even
before he was an exile in this country, and I assure you
that I deeply and completely appreciated, from the moment
I first knew him, his great qualities and abilities, and
there are many now who can bear witness of my having
constantly and publicly stated what I thought of those
abilitie and qualities, when very few Englishmen had
the same opportunity of forming a judgment on the sub-
ject like myself. It will bo satisfactory to you, and
right for the sake bf truth, that, speaking on this occasion
of that Prince, I should say that whenever I had conver-
sations with him on political matters long ago, and since,
and even to the last time that I had the honour of any
conversation with his Majesty, he has always held the
same language, expressing his belief not only that it was the
best policy fen France itself, but that his earnest personal
wish was to maintain a cordial alliance with this country.
(Cheers.) That is a fact which ought to be known and pon-
dered on by statesmen in this country; but, notwithstand-
ing the feelings of the Emperor of the French, wo have
again, since the occasion I just now referred to, been under
considerable apprehension as to the sentiments of the French
naticfn and Government towards us—(hear, hear)—and if I
may be permitted from my experience of foreign affairs in
reference to the feelings and policy of the French Govern-
ment, I would say that, however earnest the French Mini-
sters might be to maintain a friendly alliance with us, I do
not think they could understand the policy and nature of
this country. It appears to me that we could with perfect
ease maintain a courteous friendship and complete alliance
with France, and she-with England, without being obliged
to go hand in hand, foot by foot, and step by step, in a
policy ehe probably may feel consistent with her political
interests ; and it is unreasonable because there may be cer-
tain principles we cannot agree with her in policy, and
which we cannot in prudence follow, because the policies of
two countries are different, to turn round, s the French
press has often done, and say that we are no longer a faith-
ful and cordial ally. I go further, and say that it is not to
the interest ox our alliance with France that wo should go
hand in hand, arm in arm, foot by foot with her, because if
by any chance it should not be seen by the world at any
time that we were joining France in that intimate manner,
the suspicion is immediately raised that our cordial alliance
has ceased. (Hear, hear.) I maintain that the policy of
England is entirely different on many points from that of
France. The writers in the French press taunt us now
with having lost our former power, with being isolated from
the other nations of Europe, and taking up the position of
a second-rate Power, because we do not interfere with the
affairs of Italy. I accept that word isolation in its origi-
nal sense, from its Latin derivation, and I say that on
our geographical isolation frequently depend our isolation
from foreign politics and our safety also. We may be a
warlike, but may not be a military nation. We may be an
industrious and' commercial people, but that does not pre-
vent us from defending our own rights and country, but it es-
sentially prevents, or ought to present us, from meddling in
the internal affairs of other States. (Hear, hear.) I regret
that at this moment the horizon of foreign politics should be
so cloudy, but will say nothing on the subject touched on to -
night—that of China—because I am very incompletely in-
formed respecting it. The instructions sent by the late Go-
vernment, and written by me, were not, I may say for the
sake of truth, written in any hostility to China, and never
contemplated the events which have taken place. But it is
fair.to Mr. Bruce to say that in sending a public servant to
that great distance, where he could not at once appeal to the
Government at home on a sadden emergency, I left a
wide discretion to his judgment, in which I had great con-
fidence. Until we know more of his reasons for acting as
ho did, I think it would be unfair to form any opinion, or,
at all events, to express any own public occasion in refer-
ence to that matter. (Hear, hear.) Having filled a depart-
ment peculiarly interesting to a great commercial town like
this, influencing, as it must, its interests, according to the
manner in which it may be conducted, it would not have
been respectful for me to have. remained altogether silent oh
the subject of foreign affairs. I can now only allude in a
few words to what has been said by my noble friend with
respect to myself and the rest of my late colleagues. He
has been kind enough to say that we were of material as-
sistance to him in conducting the affairs of the country. I
can only say, ou my own part, that if the Conservative Go-
vernment had anything to boast of more than another it
was that which must add materially to the strength of any
Government, the entire cordiality and unanimity which
existed anfang its members. (Cheers.) That cordiality
and unanimity were created by the private character and
straightforwardness of the noble earl at the head of it, and
by his demeanour to all his colleagues. In all his views
and instructions we each and all of us had complete confi-
dence, and we felt the conviction that under any circum-
stances of difficulty, if we inadvertently made a mistake, he
would stand by us. His generosity of temper endeared all
to him, and never was there a Minister that men could with
more pleasure and pride support, follow, and serve. (Loud
cheers.)
Tho CHAIRMAN next proposed " The Health of Lord
Chelmsford."
Lord CHELMSFORD rose amid loud creering, and said—
My Lord,
•
" As in a theatre, the eyes of men,
- After a well-graced actor leaves the stage,
Are idly bent on him who follows next,
Thinking his prattle to be tedious,"
so I feel, after the powerful and eloquent speech of
my noble friend Lord Derby, that all who succeed him
must be listened to with impatience, yet in such an as-
sembly as this, and among so many eminent men, he
must be cold and insensible indeed who does not deeply
feel the honour of being selected as an object of ap.
proval. lam aware I am not shinink here by any ligh
of my own. The lustre which I may have upon this occa•

sion in your eyes is reflected from my noble friend, and t
may add, from those distinguished colleagues with whom
it was my pleasure and my honour to be associated in the
late Government, The high office which I had the honour
to fill did not appear to have that immediate and direct in-
fluence upon the public interests which belonged to other

departments, which were presided over by my colleagues.
I may allude, for example, to the affairs of the army and
navy,n.
friendv Sir m
Peel, whoseright
hen.
t
wgjohnso
paakdminiragtbolny
and
dralby y h
absence wo all so much regret upon the present occasion.
But, although conversant with individual subjects and llhichwere
in-
dividual rights and interests, yet the operation of the office
which I had the honour to occupy was as important in a
public sense as that of those groat bulwarks• of our national
security, and a perverse administration of justice on the
part of the Lord Chancellor would have been as prejudicial
as the neglect of our natal and military armaments, as an
om
wtoplap.ohestie(fraget:::'
internal cancer is more fatal to the constitution than' the
loss of a limb. When lundertook the responsibility of the
Chancellorship I might well have shrunk from the duties
which I had to p6rform when I looked back upon the illus-
triousa
ntapivntteiooatnhto,hicoolpattioiomwewiearertsbt
lino of predecessors who had filled the chair in which
h
jig
t.o: oiooofffifit
tneil
every
:at
ymeecoeft
41,
ja,ecuftir,tl.
I was called upon to sit ; but I felt thatthere was sompthing
r
an I the sacrifice of every hour to the performance of the,
duties which I was asked to discharge. I think I'ma,y, with-
far to liavo'attorichid' to 'duties of my elks', (C t.-•"
The public are always generous towards " • --`3is.)
..iaso who ar
i—lefemttehn7tt:44: devotion11111(1

and as it has been ordained by Providence that the esteem
of our fellow-men should accompany our good actions, so
where that esteem is not the end and the object of those
actions, but where it follows upon them, it is undoubtedly
the highest reward for public services. That reward my
noble friend has obtained, as witness this great assembly;
but there is to me something peculiarly striking in the pre-
sent demonstration. It is said that a great man appears less
the nearer you approach him • but, as my noble friend has
remarked, you are his neighbours, you are in immediate
contact with him, and yet you have formed the same esti-
mation of his public character, and, as my noble friend has
touchingly observed, of what' may be called his local and
domestic character, as has been formed by those, who ad-
mire him at a distance. (Cheers.) I cannot but feel deeply
grateful that you should for a moment have turned aside
from the great object of this meeting to bestow your kind-
ness upon me. I know when the heart is full it is vain to
labour for expression, and, in return for all your kindness,
all I can say is, I thank you. (Cheers.)
Tho CHAIRMAN next proposed " The health of Mr. Dis-
raeli," characterizing him as the great and eloquent leader
of the House of Commons under the Government of Lord
Derby, and justifying the financial measures he had
proposed. (The toast was drunk with loud and repeated
cheers.)
Mr. DISRAELI, in returning thanks, said,—Your illus-
trious guest to-day, and others of my colleagues who have
preceded me, have touched on the conduct of their offices,
and in doing so, I am sure, have not only excited great in-
terest in your minds, but also great sympathy on your pare ;
but I may be allowed to remind you that it was my privilege
to fill an office of which the possessor on all public occasions
has been allowed to be silent except upon one memorable
day in the year, and therefore lam sure you will excuse
me either from vindicating the course I thought it my duty
to recommend Parliament to pursue, or from attempting to
foresee the course which will be adopted by my eminent
successor. (Laughter.) I can only say in reference to the
remarks of your chairman, that in recommending that re-
duction of taxation which was adopted and sanctioned
by Parliament I recommended a course which, had
it not become an imperative duty to make a consider-
able increase in the armaments of this country, would
still, notwithstanding that reduction, have left a large
surplus in the exchequer. (Cheers.) As through your
chairman, and the generous manner in which you have been
pleased to receive the proposition of my health, you have
been pleased to refer to my conduct in the House of Com-
mons, and to my attempts to conduct the affairs of that as-
sembly, perhaps you will permit 'me to remind you that it
fell to my lot—that which, I believe, has fallen to the lot of
no other man—to be suddenly and unexpectedly called on
to attempt the conduct of the affairs of that great assembly.
I can assure you that no individual in this room could have
been more sensible than myself of my inefficiency for the
discharge of such a duty, but I think that there are emer-
gencies when it is the duty of every public man not to
shrink from exertion and responsibility—(cheers)—and I
undertook that office because I felt that 'I should have the
' advantage of the constant counsel and admirable advice of
your principal guest this day, who in the same Hoetse of
Parliament had for a long period of years obtained a great,
a various, and a distinguished experience. (Applause.) It
was under these circumstances, and with these advantages,
that I undertook to conduct the affairs of the Conservative
party in the House of Commons now 10 years ago. They
have been 10 years of great difficulty, and permit me to add
of great exertion ,• but, gentlemen, though I know that, as
far as I myself individually am concerned, such may have
been done which ought not to have been done, and much
may have been omitted which ought to have been accom-
plished, I think I may be allowed, when I consider what
was the position of the Conservative party, as far as tho
House of CoMmons is concerned, 10 years ago, to say, whe-
ther I look at its numbers, its intelligence, its influence in
the country, or its power in debate, its position at this moe
meat need not shrink from any comparison with what it
was at that previous period. (Hear.) Therefore I trust that
even under my humble guidance it has not suffered in pub-
lic estimation or lost in public position. (Cheers.) I ven-
ture to say that those have been 10 years of great difficulty
and great exertion; but I may be allowed to add, that dur-
ing that period, however various may have for the moment
appeared the vicissitudes, and however capricious the
changes, we ourselves have always had a main object in the
course which we have pursued, and in the purpose which we
at length have achieved. It has been our wish to put an
end to that which I may describe as " the monopoly of
Liberalism" (loud cheere), which in our opinion has exer-
cised a very pernicious influence on the course of public
proceedings and on the character of public men. (Applause.)
Now, formore than a quarter of a century, by this theory of
a monopoly of Liberalism, half the public men in England
have been held up as individuals incapable and unqualified
to attempt any measures which might improve the institu-
tions or administration of the country; while on the other
hand, the other half ware, in order to sustain this monopoly,
perpetually pledging themselves to changes and alterations
injudicious in almost every case, and in many utterly im-
practicable, and when they were in power they expended all
their resources in inventing evasions by which they might
extricate themselves from the fulfilment of their previous
promises. (Loud cheers and laughter.) Now, I believe,
and all my colleagues believe, that that state of affairs was
,i principal cause of that insincerity in public life which of
!ate years has so frequently been attributed to the conduct,
of public men; but I believe that that is now coretl.tetely
terminated. (Hear.) I believe we hart, brourejet about a
healthy state of political parties. Men will now be judged of
by the policy which they recommend, and the measures they
tiring forward, not by traditions, which are generally false—
uot by promises, Which are seldom' fulfilled. (Great cheer-
ing.) I laiow we ara now told that this "monopoly of Libe-
ralism" is extirpated—that it is at length shown that no sin-
gle party is to have a peculiar privilege of governing by right
the country. Now, we are told, gentlemen, that party has no
importance whatever, because there are no longer any public
questions to settle. He would, in my opinion, be an arrogant
and not a very far-scising statesman who, in dealing with the
affairs of a mighty empire, would presume to say that great
questions would not often occur; but let that pass. I main-
tun that it is an error, a pernicious error, to associate
the existence in England of great Parliamenta
parties solely, with the existence of great politicalry questions. Great political questions sliould be rare, and will
be rare; in communities which enjoy so salutary a poll.
tical state as, on the whole, England has longenjoyed. The
duties of Opposition are not to be confined merely to emer-
gencies; they are duties which perpetually exist and ought to
be constantly fulfilled. They are duties of vigilance and criti-
cism,. and it is only on great emergencies that the Opposi-
tion is called on to propose and to initiate. I therefore hold
that our duties as a great Conservative party, though there
may not at this moment be questions which concern the
existence of the principal institutions of the State, are still
duties which are urgent, which cannot be neglected, and
which must be fulfilled ; and it is a doctrine which I trust
will never be popular in this country, that political party is
a constitutional arrangement which ought to be obsolete.
If Parliamentary government be, as I believe it is, and as 1
cannot doubt you and the great majority of Englishmen
must believe it is, the best guarantee for public liberty—
(applause)—then rely on it, political party must be acknow-
ledged as a salutary influence in the State, because Parlia-
mentary government is impossible except on the condition
that there should be political parties. What is the House
of Commons ? What is the House of Lords ? What is the
proudest Parliament in the world, though it may be com-
posed in the one house of men like your noble guest, and
in the other of the most distinguished commoners that ever
existed—what are they all but two crowds of individuals,
if there is no sympathy of principle, no similarity of senti-
ment, and ne combination of action to guide them? (Cheers.)
Such a senate, whatever its elements, must be the slave of the
Minister, and would deserve to be so ; and if that were the
condition of the representative body in Parliament generally,
what must be the condition of the nation of which it should
be the' type and guardian ? (Hear hear.) I sae this in
vindication of the character of our Parliamentary govern-
ment, and in proof of the necessity of political parties, not
in the view of differing from the tone adopted and the coun-
sel offered to you to-day by your distinguished guest, the
chief of the Conservative party, under whom I have laboured
in terms of confidence and trust which probably were never
exceeded before between two public men. (Applause.) I say
this not to contravene, but to substantiate the advice he
has given you, because there are duties of great political
parties other than those of vigilance and criticism, other
even than those of advancing at emergencies to propose a
policy or initiate a measure. ' There are duties mere im-
portant and, I would say, more solemn. :There aro moments
when a party like the great Conservative party of a power.:
ful and ancient nation like England have not to oppose the
Government, but, if necessary, have even fp support it;
and, if they deem the requirements of the moment demand
such a course, to give strength to their rivals, and even to
support those whose success in their political course might,
under
ordinary circumstances, be to them a source of dis-
appointment and mortification. lam not one of those who
scatter ambiguous voices in the ntarket-place. That has
never been my custom. I have ever been the supporter of
a peaceful policy. I have over believed that peace might
be maintained with a good understanding with our allies,
and that we should look on their conduct not in a suspi-
cious or litigious spirit, but should always give to their
conduct and to their proceedings a fair, and even a gene-
rous interpretation. (Hear, hear.) But I should, indeed,
be blind to the signs of the times—l should, indeed, be
insensible to the feelings that are now universally ex-
pressed—l should be treating them with a haughty negli-
gence if I did not recognise what is the anxiety of a groat
people. I know not whether it be true or not that designs
upon the independence of our empire are cherished by any
Governments or potentates in other countries. I presume
not to read State secrets, nor is it for me in tho irrespon-
sible position in which I and my colleagues have been
placed—it is not for us, I say, to presume to pretend that
we can communicate to you any intelligence of which you
are not already masters • but this I will say with respect
to the form of our Constitution, and especiallx with respect
to the House in which I have the honour to sit, that if
there be any foreign Governinent or foreign potentate
who, in the suppoeed distractions and political dissensions
of our form of government, believes that ho has found
elements on which he may calculate for pursuing with suc-
cess any scheme of aggressive or of violent ambition, then
I can assure that Government and that ruler that they mis-
take the character and the genius of the English people and
the English constitution. (Prolonged cheering.) And if
they count on our dissensions, and on the noble rivalries of
our public life as the means for the successful prosecution
of those designs, they will count on them to then' confusion.
(Cheers.) They will find, if over the time should come
when the independence of this country or the empire of our
Sovereign should indeed be menaced, that the Sovereign of
these realms rules over a devoted people and a united Par-
liament. (Loud and continued cheering, in the midst of
which the right hon. gentleman sat down.)
The CHAIRMAN next proposed " the health of Lord Eg-
linton," who, he said, had conducted the affairs of Ireland
in a highly successful manner.
The Earl of EGLINTON.—I,need hardly tell you that the
honour you have just paid me is robs' gratifying to my feel-
ings, but I assure you it is doubly pleasing to me because I
owe it to my connection with the neighbouring kingdom of
Ireland. I should, indeed, be wanting in every good feeling
if I did net take the deepest interest in the couno'y which
has been upon two occasions committed to my charge. I
should be guilty of the basest ingratitude, if I did not feel
the warmest affection fora people who on both those occa-
sions treated me with a kindness and a confidence which
have been rarely accorded to a public man. (Cheers.)
Your chaienean has told you that Ireland is progressing
and is keeping at least an equal pace with the rest of the
united kingdom. I assure you, tliat the most gratif7,3egg
thing whiell evg aiseeeneel to me in my to
1:0 was to find the
improvement that had take*.
..-4. place and that was going on
in Ireland eeten 1 returned to it upon the last occasion.
(Cheers.) That improvement was beyond my hopes—
infinitely beyond my expectations. I found agriculture
of every sort advancing; I towed rents paid, I found

general crime diminished, I found the poorhouses nearly
empty. There was, and there is, but one plague-spot left
—that horrid secret combination of blood which retards
the progress of Ireland, occasionally pollutes the
country by the murder of innocent and worthy individuals,
and would bo a disgrace to any civilised people. (Cheers.)
That, gentlemen, is the only plague-spot remaining in Ire-
land, and I believe it would soon be put an end to if every
Christian, whether layman or churchman, were to put his
shoulder to the wheel, and like my noble friend, the guest
of this evening, were not only to do his utmost to convict
-and punish the assassin, but to refuse to have any commu-
nion with those who are abettors and eiders of assassina-
tion. (Cheers.) Gentlemen, leaving that painful topic, I
may mention ene fact which I am sure you will be delighted
to hear, namely, that in the division upon which the fate of
the late Government depended Ireland sent 68 out of her
IQS members to the support of my noble friend and his
colleagues. (Cheers.) I wish I could say the same of the
country to which I as an individual belong, but I have
hopes of that country yet, because I come here with the
news of the triumph of a Conservative candidate in my
native ;county of Ayr. (Cheers.) I am glad to be able
to communicate to you such gratifying intelligence,
and I trust that what has just taken place in Ayrshire may
be regarded as a happy omen for future elections in Scot-
land. (Cheers.) I cannot sit down without expressing
the extreme pleasure I feel in being present at this magni-
ficent demonstration. I rejoice that I have been allowed to
join in this tribute of respect to one whom I regard as my
most valued friend, my greatest benefactor, and my political
chief. (Cheers.) I have never, like many gentlemen present,
been a home Minister under my noble friend, but I can bear
my testimony to the character which he bears among
those who have been placed under his command, and to
the great kindness and confidence with which he treated
those who, though young in office, were anxious to perform
to the best of their ability the duties which he imposed upon
thein. (Cheers.) My noble friend is not more distinguished
by that eloquence which is unsurpassed, by those talents
which are universally acknowledged, than by the up-
rightness of his character and the integrity of his
political views. With such a leader, and with such a
phalanx as I see before me, I feel assured that the Conser-
vative cause will triumph, and that the present magnificent
demonstration is but the prelude to greater energy on the
part not only of those whom I am now addressing, but of
the multitudes of whom they are merely the representatives.
(Cheers.)
The CHAIRMAN then proposed "The Health of Sir J.
Pakington," who, he said, had proved himself a practical
reformer in bringing up the navy from a low condition to a
state of efficiency. (Cheers.)
Sir J. PAKINGTON rose to return thanks, and was received
with great cheer*, He said—l really know not in what
terms to express the gratitude I feel for tho kindness with
which you have received my name. This is not the first
occasion on which I have been received with hospitality and
kindness by the gentlemen of Liverpool, but never have I
been received by you on any occasion so deeply gratifying to
my own feelings as now, when we are assembled mainly to
pay this noble tribute to the public merits of Loi d Derby.
(Cheers.) Throughout my public life I have invariably
looked with confidence and respect to my noble friend Lord
Derby for guidance and advice. For many years of my
public life I have been closely and intimately connected
with my noble friend, and nothing could occur in relation
to public affairs of a party nature more delightful to me
than to be allowed to participate in this noble tribute to
the merits of that distinguished man. (Cheers.) But, gen-
tlemen, you will allow me to say, as I had the honour dur-
ing the last Administration of my noble friend of holding
the office of First Lord of the Admiralty, that I did derive
the greatest gratification from hearing the terms in
which the improvement of our national defences and
of our naval strength was referred to in the address which
was presented to my noble friend this morning. (Loud
applause.) But let me take this occasion to say, ems
phatically and distinctly, that I assume no exclusive merit
to myself for that improvement of our national defences.
Whatever exertions I made it was as the organ of the
united Administration that I made them, and on no
point was that Administration more unanimous (and no
member of the Administration was stronger and more de-
cided in his opinion than Lord Derby) than on the absolute
necessity of improving our national defences, and above all
of giving increased anal proper strength to our naval force.
(Cheers.) Let me acknowledge at the same time that cur
political opponents have, I must say, generously' and fairly
recognised that the late Administration did exert them-
selves to improve the defences of the country, but I think
you will feel with me that in proportion to the generosity
with which they made this acknowledgment was the :a_
consistency of passing a vote of want of confidence p- '`i-
the the late Administration. (Hear.) Let me remin" that
in the last session we proposed estimates of '-„ you
extent for the increase of our naval strer unprecedented
submitted in the usual manner to PP- li-nth. They were
emet and Prlia
ment sanctioned and adopted ther,, anda
I believe, approved what wo a th encountrya too,
ta. But that was not all.
During the period of the re-
was sitting, where there
election, when no Parlia-
menttuere was no House 01 Commons to
appeal to, the war
and the late broke out between France and Austria,
°Trernraent felt that the honour, the power,
cl :"y say, the safety of England required that no
times'''ould be lost in increasing our armaments. That was
the decision of an individual Minister • it was the deci-
sion of the unanimous Government. (Cheers.) We ad-
vised the Queen to add 10,000 men to our navy and ma-
rines. (Applause.) We advised the offer of a
bounty for sailors of unprecedented amount, and
we strengthened the workmen in oar dock-
yards. We advised the commissioning, without loss of
time, of those ships which now constitute our Channel and
Mediterranean fleets. (Cheers.) I have before taken occa-
sion in the House of Commons to touch on this subject, but
I trust you will allow me to allude to it again. If Parliament
and the country had disapproved what we did, this would
have been fair ground for attack and fair ground for a vote
of censure. We had taken a most unusual course. We
had taken a course that neither the House of Commons nor
the country could regard with indifference. On the one
hand we were open to the severest reprehension for acting
with disregard to constitutional propriety, or, on the other,
we were entitled to public gratitude for having adopted a
wise, -vigorous, and timely policy. With strange inconsis-
tency, the House of Commons, I was going to say, adopted
neither of these views ; but I believe I ought to say it adopted
both. It declared that it approved our policy, and, in the
same breath, also declared that it had no confidence in the
men who devised that policy. (Hear, and a laugh.) I hope
my hon. friend at the other aid of the table (Mr. S. Fitz-
might almost have
decisioneifly w
oftanlerish House of Com-
ge
thoughtr a Fitz-
gerald) willthis
wasforgive
the m
Com-
mons, sitting in Dublin, rather than an English Muse of
Commons, sitting in London. (Laughter.) I have always
felt—and the splendid scene I now see around me confirms
me in the conviction—that that 'vote of want of confidence
was not sanctioned by the enlightened opinion of the people
of this country. (Loud cheers.) I believe that the general
voice of the enlightened classes of this country was op-
posed to that decision as being a factious and unfair one.
(Renewed cheers.) I believe the country does appreciate
as much as over—l believe I may say more than ever—
the pure and patriotic public character of Lord Derby
—(great applause)---and that Lord Derby stands now as
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da
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wenv ewritihnoutht owlprebslsi
icn
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approbation of the liberal and patri
made otic efforts now being
theeoininintheirseigraleinatacnintye ()of; Lthiivserpeoounol ftroyr.thelimbeplireovveemtbeantt
toof
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is of
beganfirst-rat
g de ea
wth importanceinLiverpoolf o r our
at
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presentinte -
be au
rests,
moment in the most wise and liberal spirit. I trust that
the example now set by Liverpool will spread, and that the
efforts new being made here will be adopted in other ports.
I am deeply
. convinced that whatever tends to elevate our
commercial marine, and to draw closer the connection be-
tween our merchant service and the Royal navy, will
greatly conduce to strengthen our national defences and
promote our commercial prosperity.
.(Cheers.) The right
hon. baronet concluded by expressing a hope that the
t~~prity of Liverpool might be great, growing, and con-
The CHAIRMAN in proposing "The Health of Lord
Stanley," alluded in terms of praise to the admirable ability
and industry displayed by that noble lord in the ad ministra-
tion of Indian af4s at a time of unexampled difficulty.
The toast was received with great applause.
Lord STANLEY, who was received with prolonged cheer-
ing, said—Our remaining time is, unfortunately, limited,
and, however tempted to do otherwise, I think I shall best
consult both your wishes and your convenience if I content
myself with expressing, in a few plain words, the gratitude
which I cannot but feel for a reception so singularly cordial
as that which you have given me to-night. In any place
and upon any occasion such a reception would have been to
me deeply gratifying, but it is doubly so—I am compelled to
repeat my father's words, because I share my father's feelings
—when offered in a county and in a town with which those
who have borne my name leave for some centuries past been
connected. (Cheers.) It is likewise doubly gratifying when
offered in the presence of that band of colleagues and friends
who with me have shared the uncertain fortunes of Parlia-
mentary war. It is above all gratifying when foremost
among those colleagues, and foremost among thoseto whom
you are met to do honour to-night, I see ene to whom I am
personally bound by ties earlier and closer than even those
ties of political sympathy and connection upon which Mr.
Disraeli has so eloquently enlarged. (Cheers.) Gentlemen,
the state of public affairs has been so often mentioned to-
night that I shall not trespass further upon that ground.
This, however, I will say, that I think it is impossible for
any one who has watched the public events of the last 15
or 20 years not to see that a great change has come over the
feelings and ideas of this country. There never was a time
when extreme opinions both in Parliament and out of it
were more thoroughly discountenanced than they are at
the present moment. There never was a time when all
Parliamentary parties were more thoroughly united in de-
siring to carry, or, what is sometimes harder to do, in de-
siring to see carried by others, measures of practical and
useful reform.- The grievances, real or supposed, which
formed the battle-cries of the last generation have for tho
mos* part died away, and I do not see' that a new crop has
risen up to take their place. The old breach between. the
landed and the mercantile and manufacturing interests has
been effectually and finally closed, and I believe that those
two great interests are more thoroughly
identified in sym-
pathy and feeling- than at any previous period of our his.
tory. (Cheers.) The masses are Conservative, because
they are contented, and they will remain Conservative, for
without them political agitation is only a symptom and an
effect of social uneasiness ; they will remain Ifienservative
so long as the governing classes shall bear in mind, as I be-
lieve they will, that the true Conservative policy consists,
not merely in checking agitation when it has arisen, but in
anticipating agitatien by removing its causes. (Cheers.)
Gentlemen, your chairmam has made some reference to
the circumstances under which I became connected with.
the home administration of Indian affairs. When I te;Sk
that office in the May of last year it was an office bt con-
siderable labour and of very great responsibility. I may
frankly say now that when I accepted it I dis so with no
sanguine feeling, so far as my personal interests were con.
corned, but I accepted the office without hesitation or doubt,
because it seemed to me that circumstanced as the Govern-
ment and the country were at that time I had not in honour
the option or the right to refuse. (Cheers.) After twelve
menths of intimate connexion with Indian affairs I venture
to say, although it is not now the fashion to bo ranguine
upon the subject, that I am sanguine as to the future pros-
pects of British ID' a. (Cheers.) Asiatic aro not so un-
like Europe-Lis as some people are apt to suppose. Treat
thora justly and you will govern them easily. If wo do
that, which I fear we have not done at all former periods of
our history, if wo treat native Princes and independent
States with strict justice, and if we abstain from rash and
foolish intermeddling with native customs and ideas, if we
offer to native industry and talent opportunities for a
higher career than they have hitherto enjoyed in the ser-
vice of the British Government. and if we carry out that
policy which has been initiated of late years—tile policy of