The Sun.
London, England, 1868-03-30 00:00:00

the good-will and approval of those with whom I
have bad the honour to act for many years in that
highest Legislative Assembly of the world-the
House of Commons of England. (Cheers.) Be-
lieve me, gentlemen, that my services, such as they
are, to the Liberal party have been rendered with a
willing heart. (Cheers.) During the many anxious
ye.trs that I h vie acted with you in close politic•d
relationship I have made many friends; I hope to
reain their friendship. Nor am I aware Out I have
made a single enemy. (Cheers.) If I have 1 herehy
beg to be forgiven. (Cheers.) • I cannot sit down
without conveying a warm expression of thanks to
the committee who
.have watched over this move-
immt on my behalf. I know how much I owe to
click friendly offices in promoting nohjlc
nition of my humble services. The right hon. gen-
tleman resumed his s ,at amid loud and continued

cheering.
After a short pause,
Mr. BRAND again rose and said—lt has been my
duty in the House of Commons to " tell" rather
than to talk—(a laugh) —wadi am somewhat startled
at the novel situation in which I find myself to-day
in making two speeches at one sitting. (Cheers and
laughter.) In thus speaking twice I am, I know,
offending against the rules of our House, but I
intend to place myself in order by concluding with
a motion (a laugh), for I shall invite you to join
with me in drinking the health of our distinguished
chairman. (Loud cheers.) Aly eight hon. friend,
litar7UraUstone-;. in -proposing my health, covered me
with confusion by giving me a higher character
than I deserve. In so doing I venture to think he
set a bad example, which i do not mean to follow.
(Cheers and a laugh.) The truth is, that the high
qualities of my right hon. friend are known and.
patent to us all, and they require.no colouring from
me, but among those qualities there is one which at
the present juncture of public affairs forces itself
especially upon my mind. He is conspicuous above
all the men I ever knew for earnestness of purpose.
(Cheers.) This quality is at least well-timed, for
we have some earnest work to do, and we shall re-
quire earnest minds to guide us. (Cheers.) The
work which we as the Liberal party have to under-
take, stated in the shortest words, is to make the
union with Ireland a reality. (Cheers:) The first step
towards that end, and one without which there can be
no complete union with Ireland, is to terminate that
ecclesiastical ascendancy which has been the bane of
Ireland for centuries—(loud cheers)—and which.
has been too long forced upon an unwilling people
by Kings and Parliaments. (Cheers.) This is no
light undertaking, and its accomplishment calls
from my right hon. friend, as from all of us, for
deep and thorough earnestness of purpose. It will
require a long pull, a strong pull, and, above all, a
pull all together—(loud cheers)—in order to accom-
plish it. If Prelacy were established in Scotland,
or Popery in England, they would be parallel cases ;
but we know that they would be blown to the winds
as Establishments at the first breath of the popular
will, and that we should carry by acclamation in the
House of Commons a resolution that they should
cease to exist as Establishments. (Cheers.) Until
this question of the Irish Church has been settled,
Ireland will remain in a state of chronic disaffec-
tion. (Cheers.) I ask you, therefore, to join
with me in drinking most cordially " The Health
of Mr. Gladstone."
The toast was drunk with all the honours.
The CHAIRMAN, who, on rising to acknowledge
the compliment, was received with much applause,
said—My Lords and Gentlemen, I am sure you
will do me the justice to believe that it was my de-
sire, had it been possible, to have devoted this even-
ing to social feeling and friendship, to have banished
entirely the element of contention, and to have kert
one day at least free from strife. (Cheers.) But it
really appears that the thing cannot be done... (A
laugh.) Aftor rt/1 .re Marc mut hero as politicians,
we have met to do honour to a politician—(cheers)
—to do honour to one who has helped us to dis-
charge our duties better than without him we could
have done: And therefore, my lords and gentle-
men, I do not shrink from the endeavour to return
my humble but hearty thanks for the manner in
which you have been pleased to receive the men-
tion of my name. (Cheers.) Fur many long years,
my lords and gentlemen, it has been my,conviction
that perhaps the greatest pain that adheres to the
political profession is the pain of a deep conscious-
ness of the utter inadequacy of human strength to
discharge the duties that are incumbent upon us. And
if I have felt that consciousness at other times, much
more, believe me, do I feel it now, when through
your kindness, sitting in this chair, I hear my
name proposed to you in what may be called a
representative capacity, and at a time which, so
far as I can measure its exigency, is by far
the gravest. that we have seen for a quarter
of a century. (Cheers.) My lords and gentlemen,
I have one comfort amid that sense of incapacity
and unworthiness, and it is this,--that in the rela-
tions between you and me there is nothing that re-
flects upon the honour of England. (Cheers.) The
bond between us is the bond of common conviction
and common aim, and the resolution to walk in one
and the same straightforward path for what we
think the benefit and honour of our country.
(Cheers.) It is not, my lords and gentlemen, you
who have attached yourselves to me ; it is I who
have attached myself to you.—(cheers) —and I have
done so because ever since the commencement of a
long public life I have witnessed in others whom I
loved, revered, and followed, and have felt within
my own breast the growing calls and claims of a
sympathy which drew me to a position in common
with yours. (Cheers.) When I look back on the
history of our generation I ask myself by whom
have been achieved the works for which that gene-
ration will, as we trust, be held in honour by pos-
terity ? Certainly, by the Parliament and Consti-
tution of the United Kingdom ; but, within that
Parliament and under the laws of that Constitu-
tion, by the efforts and exertions of the Liberal
party. (Loud cheers.) It is needless, my lords
and gentlemen, to run down the long roll
of your distinguished achievements, and the
achievements of those who have preceded
you. The only question is as the exceptions,
for exceptions there have been. Emancipation of
the Roman Catholics was an exception, but the
noble-minded man who carried that, great act
through the House of Commons in the very mo-
ment of his Parliamentary triumph, placed his
highest pride iu this, that he rendered honour where
honour was due—(loud cheers) —passing from his
own head the crown that was well deserved by his
exertions and sacrifices, he gave it to those whose
former efforts had sown the seed, and reared the
grain, though they had not been permitted to reap
the harvest. Then the same man did the same act
of justice on a second occasion, when he set free
from the system of depressing and enervating
monopoly the industry and enterprise of the three
kingdoms. That was the second great exception in
which it was not given to the Liberal party to con-
duct to the latest issue the labours in which they
had been engaged ; but the honour of these mea-
sures and the public reward of them were given to
them. There also has been a third exception—in
the case of the great question of the representation
of the people. (Cheers.) But we have lived in
times when magnanimity has gone out of fashion.
(Cheers and laughter.) But it is not a Par-
liamentary Minister or orator who will render
justice to the Liberal party ; it is the judg-
ment of the country, it is the verdict of his-
tory. (Cheers.) The verdict of history _it
would be presumptuous on our part to anticipate, but
we have had some opportunities during the last
twelve months of testing the judgment of the coun-
try, and I think if there was a man in this room
who was inclined to murmur that the Liberal party
should have been defrauded, he will have felt, by
the result of the appeals to the public voice, abso-
lutely add completely reseaured, (Cheers.) It is