The Sun.
London, England, 1850-05-31 00:00:00

COURT OF COMMON COUNCIL.

PRESENTATION OF THE FREEDOM OF THE
CITY OF LONDON TO LORD GOUGH.
Yesterday a Court of Common Council was held at
the Guildhall, for the purpose of presenting the free-
d-on of the City to the Right Honourable Lord
Gough, agreeably to the resolution of the 6th of
April, 1846. The court was filled with aldermen and
common councilmen, arrayed in full robes of office
specially for the occasion, and the part of the Council
Chamber allotted to the public was crowded to ex-
cess with eager spectators of the interesting ceremony.
The Right Hon. the Lord Mayor presided. After the
usual preliminaries,
The Clerk proceeded to read the resolution of the 6th
April, 1846, voting the freedom of the city to Lord
Gough, after which his Lordship was duly inducted,
and took the customary oath.
The CITY, CLIAMBERLAII, then rose amidst profound '
silence, and said—My Lord Gough,—ln reflecting
upon the events which have • been the occasion of our
meeting this day, the mind is naturally led to contem-
plate a fact in connexion with oar history as a nation'
which forcibly illustrates one peculiarity in the charac-
ter of the British people. It hath pleased Him who
" giveth no account of any of these matters" to permit, if
not to ordain, that wars and tumults should desolate the
fair globe which he has assigned to man as his earthly
residence. It may also seem strange that I should advert
to this circumstance unless it were to draw attention
to the happy fact that, although our colonies and de-
pendencies have not altogether escaped the ravages of
war, yet it hath pleased that all-wise and merciful
Providence to vouchsafe to this highly-favoured
island which we ourselves inhabit that none of its ac-
• tual disasters, but merely the rumours of war, should
reach it.—(Cheers.) The goodness of God to this
island has been manifested in raising up from time to
time, those who have • been eminently conspicuous in.
sustaining the honour of her arms. Not less viorthyof observation is the disposition which He has im-
planted in the minds of all classes to acknowledge,
with the liveliest gratitude, the services of those who
have deserved well of their country, in contributing
to the protection of its rights and privileges.—
(Cheers.) This feeling exists in the heart of the
highest personage' in the realm, from whom it de-
scends, disseminating itself through every grade of
society, until it rests in the bosom of the humblest of
her subjects.----(Cheers.) My Lord, I would invite,
not indeed your Lordship, but the other portions of
this numerous assemblage to join with mein contem-
plating that which is recorded as having occurred
somewhat more than half a century since.
My Lord, we may picture to ourselves a youth of
sonic sixteen or seventeen years of age, serving
as a . subaltern at 'the,
capture .of the Cape
of Good Hope, and the Dutch fleet in Sal-
, danha-bay, and there obtaining the approbation of his
superiors, and affording many adumbrations of future
greatness.—(Cheers) My Lord, 'years rolled on,
our subaltern obtained, I should rather have said
earned, promotion. The West Indies, the Peninsula,
and subsequently China and British India, were the
scenes •of his glorious achievements ; and, although
thrice he bled Whit; 'country's cause,, his valuable life
was spared, until we are now privileged in seeing
him amongst us in the person, of your -Lordship, after
having, as we are assured by- the testimony of a late
Chairman of the East India Company, fougth fifteen
pitched battles, of which every one has been a victory.
—(Loud cheers.) My Lord, your Lordship has, from
time to time, -received froth your Sovereigntestimo-
nies of the high estimate in' which your services were
held, and, no sooner were the events which have
brought us together made known to her for whom,
and for blessings on whose bead a nation's prayers
are constantly, ascending to Him by whom " kings
reign and princes decree justice," than that illus-
trious, lady—illustrious whether we view her as
wielding the sceptre of a mighty empire, or as, in
unison • with her , Royal Consort, setting a bright
example of every social and domestic virtue
—(Cheers)—signified her intention Of raising
your Lordship to 'the Peerage. That intention has
been carried into effect ; and the successful issue of:
a subsequent campaign has been the occasion of
cumulated honours upon your Lordship's venerable and
venerated head.—(Loud cheers.) The two guse
of Parliament have likewise awarded to yool,Lnt -
ship the tribute of their thanks, arid it is to this Cor-
poration a source of pleasure and of honest pride to
be permitted to. place your Lordship's honoured
narrre.updd our municipal toll; while we-cannot 'but
0441414.4eat..the.gatist,,9C4_. *Wawa ofoaoif the most
ancient and distinguished City-bonipritiies-trive
tendered to your Lordship's acceptance, and that
your Lordship has honoured them by accepting, the
freedom of their art or mystery, whereby I sin en-
abled to receive your Lordship, not only as a citizen
of London, but as a freeman also of the worshipful
Company of Goldsmiths.—(Loud cheers.) All this,
my Lord, is but the expression of the national feeling,
and I hesitate not to assure your 'Lordship that there
is not an Englishman, and—l will add—neither is
there an Irishman, who will not. join with us in the
sentiment which, if I mistake not, is to be found in
the motto of the arms granted to the immortal Nelson
—" Palmam qui meruit ferat."—(Renewed cheers.)
My Lord, I am quite aware that the characters of
the soldier and the politician are widely and essen-
tially different, and that it is the duty of the former
simply to carry into effect, to the utmost of his
power and of the means placed at his disposal,
the work which he is entrusted to accomplish; still
it cannot but be gratifying to your Lordship, as it
must be to every well-regulated mind, that the result
of your Lordship's achievements In India, while it
has sustained - the character of our army, European
and native, has inflicted a righteous retribution on a
daring and licentious foe, who was seeking to disturb
the quiet of his unuffending British neighbours, and
has restored peace, and secured the integrity of our
Indian possessions.—(Cheers.) My Lord, I desire to
remember that I am addressing your Lordship in the
capital of Christian England, and in the presence of
those who over the portal of their Royal Exchange
have caused to be inscribed the acknowledgment that
the "Earth is the Lord's and the fulness thereof."—
(Cheers.) To His mercy do we desire to ascribe
every blessing we enjoy ; and we would hail the pre-
sence of your Lordship • amongst us, as that of an
honoured instrument of Him who hath taught your
hands to war and your fingers to fight, in doing great
and glorious things for British India.—(Cheers.) I
rejoice unfeignedly that this is a feeling in perfect
unison with that which has dictated all your Lord-
ships's dispatches, and which was manifested by your
Lordship and the Noble and Gallant Viscount, the
then Governor-General of India, in the public ascrip-
tions of praise and thanksgiving which followed the vic-
tories referred to in the resolution that has been read.—
(Cheers.) And now, my Lord, while with the most un-
feigned respect I offer to your Lordship's acceptance
the accompanying very inadequate testimonial of our
gratitude, and tender to your Lordship as to a brother
freeman, the right hand of fellowship, with my
hearty congratulations on your return to your native
land, I weuld express a fervent hope that years of
usefulness may yet be in store for you, and that with
the calm and quiet enjoyment of social and domestic
life may be mingled the satisfaction arising from
peer of Parliament, you
andth areeyaosuracountry effective service;
that hour when heart and flesh
fail, and all earthly honours fade away and become as
nothing, may
u who have conquered in many con-
flicts, be more than conqueror in that warfare in
which, if we be what we profess, we are all en-
gaged.—(Loud m .renderingy consciousnessor Lord,
,thitanot,
cheers.)
Lord Gorion then presented himself to return
thanks, and was received with loud and enthusiastic
cheering. Silence having been restored he spoke as
follows :—My Lord Mayor, Mr. Chamberlain, and
gentlemen of the Corporation of the City,—l receive
with the greatest satisfaction this very flattering
testimonial, so eloquently prefaced by the
gentlemaniwho has addressed you, of the esti-
mation in which my services throughout a
very lengthed period are held by the Corpo-
ration of this great metropolis—a city pre-eminently
distinguished for its wisdom, its influence, and its
wealth.--(Cheers.) In common with my countrymen,
I acknowledge the goodness of an all-wise and
merciful God in having successfully sustained British
exertions in a just cause, and crowned with signal
success operations rendered unavoidable by the
aggression or the treachery of a powerful foe.—(Loud
cheers.) It has pleased Providence to decree that my
military career from a very early age should embrace
in its sphere the four quarters of the globe—in each
manifesting signal mercies.—(Cheers.) A. gracious
d
Sovereign has been pleased to mark, by repeated
-Houses
proofs of favour, my humble exertions—both
their
of Parliament have repeatedly. acknowledged
sense of the prowess of the Britisharm
in the East,
since my
as well native as European—and all classeswatch with
return to Europe have proved that
theyfellow-countrymen
deep interest the exertions of their
heir
duties in distant climes,
when engaged in their public
and are ready to record, by their approving voice,
those exertions when honestly performed. The Wor-
shipful Company of Goldsmiths, one of the most ancient
,ind distinguished of your coave mp anieg, h honoured
Yet,
me with the freedom of their art. with all
these manifestations of approval, there would have
been a void, had not the Corporation of this great
emporium of wealth and commerce evinced its sense