The Sun.
London, England, 1861-08-29 00:00:00

I were indeed the saddest heart—as cold and as hard
l as the chalk and flint on which your Castle stands
—(a laugh)—that could remain insensible to the
warm and heartfelt demonstrations I have had the
pleasure this day to receive from so large a number
9 of my fellow countrymen. I feel, indeed, gentlemen,
that the only claim I can have to that goodwill so
frankly and cordially displayed must be my good
intentions to serve my country—(hear, hear)—my
attachment and respect for the institutions of that
country, and opinion—it may be by some considered
a prejudice—imbibed from my earliest years and
strengthened and confirmed as years have rolled on,
that my fellow countrymen, taken as a nation, have
not their equal on the face of the earth. (Applause.)
You will have the kindness, gentlemen, to receive
this as a confidential communication, for I fear that
if it got abroad it might do harm. (Laughter and
applause.) I feel that having accepted an office of
high antiquity, of great honour and distinction,
which has been held before me, I believe, by 118
distinguished men, and some of them the most dis-
tinguished this country has produced—l feel that
some explanation may be due on my part for
the temporary delay which took place in the fill-
ing up of the office. The fact is, that when the
vacancy occurred her Majesty was graciously pleased
to signify to me her intention to confer that office
on me, I deemed it my duty respectfully to state
that I thought myself bound in the first place
to ascertain whether it was an office it was expe-
dient to keep up, or whether, under the altered
circumstances under which it was placed, it might
be abolished. I therefore took time to inquire. I
soon found that, although undoubtedly the office
had been shorn of many of its former attributes
and powers, it was nevertheless so interwoven with
the organisation of the ancient Cinque Ports that
to abolish it would have been tantamount to alter-
ing altogether, if not destroying, that ancient con-
stitution, and knowing, as I did, the deep-rooted
and honourable attachment the people of the Cinque
Ports feel for their ancient institutions, I concluded
it was right that the office should be continued, and,
therefore, I availed myself of the gracious invita-
tion of her Majesty by occupying it as had been
proposed. There was, therefore, some delay, for
although the salary has disappeared—(a laugh)—
there are in the patent, as those who heard it read
this morning must remember, certain words about
flotsam and jetsam, and similar matters—(laughter)
—which imply some possibility of profit, and con-
sequently, as the acceptance of the office necessarily
vacated my seat in the House of Commons, it was
not expedient that I should offer myself to my con-
stituents for re-election until the Easter recess
arrived. I beg, therefore, gentlemen, to state that
no disparagement of the dignity of the office, no
under-valuing of the honour which it confers was
the cause of my apparent hesitation in accepting
it. (Hear.) Gentlemen, I honour the people of the
Cinque Ports for their attachment to this ancient
constitution. There is nothing which more dignifies
man than a clinging to ancient and honourable tra-
ditions. Our patriotism, like our charity, ought to
begin at home. A man should begin by loving his
home and his family ; he should then love his town
and his district ; he should love his county, and
then he will love his country. (Cheers.) So
far from these local attachments narrowing the
human mind or cramping and debasing its sym-
pathies, they are the real, the true, and stable
foundation for the enlarged and honourable feelings
that bind men to the nation and country to which
they belong. In former times, as has been well said,
the Cinque Ports furnished materials for the defence
of the realm. They were required to put afloat 57
vessels and their crews when our shores were in
danger. As my noble friend Lord Clarence Paget
observed, you are now relieved from that special
burden, and have only to put your shoulders to the
wheel in common with the rest of your fellow
countrymen. We have now as magnificent a fleet
which, as my noble friend justly said, is equal and,
I may say, superior to anything in the world. We
have seen to-day that although you do not put
sailors on board ship you put soldiers on the turf,
and you still furnish as many men for the service
of the State as formerly manned your ships. And
there was this gratifying circumstance noticeable in
the scene we witnessed to-day, that along with the
red and gray coats of the infantry and the darker
colours of the artillery, the blue jackets were seen
performing field evolutions with as much regularity
and precision as the land troops. We beheld the
brave seamen and fishermen of the coast who have
enrolled themselves for the service of their country
and qualifying themselves for any duty in defence
of our shores should they ever be assailed by any
enemy. (Hear.) Colonellll‘Murdo truly observed
that recent events in America should teach us a
valuable lesson. The example of what has happened
across the Atlantic shows that you may collect
thousands of men together and put uniforms on
backs and muskets in their hands, but you do not
thereby convert them into soldiers or into an army;
there must be discipline. It is not enough that there
should be individual bravery. Why, our cousins in
America as individual men are as brave as any that
tread the earth. They are of the same stock as our-
selves, they are descended from the same parents,
are animated by the same spirit, and prepared to
encounter equal dangers. But when thousands
of men as personally courageous as any race in
existence get together, each man wanting that con-
fidence in his comrades which discipline and train-
ing can alone supply, they exhibitea to the world
that unfortunate rapidity of movement which took
place at Bull's Run. (Laughter.) That, I say, is
no disparagement to the valour of the Americans,
but affords, I repeat, a lesson which we ourselves
may usefully ponder and remember—viz., that dis-
cipline and organisation are indispensable to make
any army efficient in the field. But, gentlemen,
although we may profit by the experience of others
I do not think the lesson is specially needed by the
Volunteers of England, because those Volunteers
have by their sagacity submitted themselves to
military instruction and training, and are rapidly
acquiring all that knowledge which is essential to
military organization. Some months ago I heard
Colonel M'Murdo at a public dinner, at which we
were both present, state that either 30,000 or 40,000,
I forget which, out of a force of 150,000 Volunteers
were fitted to take part with troops of the line.
Since that time that 150,000 has, I believe, mounted
to 170,000, and there can be no doubt that if their
services were needed, that number would be speedily
increased to any extent to which arms, ammunition,
and officers could be found for them. (Hear.) Gen-
tlemen, I think the Volunteer movement is the most
honourable event recorded in the history of any
nation. If we had had—as was the case in former
times—a large army and a great fleet collected on
a neighbouring coast, threatening the invasion of
this country, it was not surprising—indeed, it
would have been surprising had the fact been other-
wise—if hundreds and thousands of men should have
started up and asked for instruction and organiza-
tion as Volunteers. But there was no such case in
this instance. There was, however, a feeling on the
part of the people of this country—a kind of saga-
cious instinct—that our means of defence were
not such as they ought to be. There was
a general indisposition to go beyond a certain stan-
dard in time of peace in regard to the numerical
strength of our standing army, and a conviction
that we could not expect to rival those Powers
which have hundreds of thousands of armed men
constantly arrayed within their limits. The na-
tion, on the other hand, felt that our regular army
and militia, however excellent and efficient in
themselves, were still short of what might by pos-
sibility be required, and by a spontaneous and
almost instantaneous effort not suggested by the
Government, but emanating from the independent
action and public spirit of the people, there sprang
into life that magnificent force of which we have
an admirable sample of to-day. (Hear, hear.) Gen-
tlemen, I trust that organisation is so engrained in
the minds of Englishmen—has so entirely become
one of the familiar sports and exercises of the na-
tion, that no circumstances will ever induce them
to give it up, and that no "considerations, whether
of economy or otherwise, will cause any Govern-
ment to refuse the aid and encouragement neces-
sary to give due effect to the movement. (Cheers.)
We cannot, as I have said before, attempt to cope
with those great States which maintain hundreds
of thousands of regular soldiers. We accept with