The Sun.
London, England, 1850-07-22 00:00:00

Lord from there into Syria.—(Much cheering.) There
he found a question that had puzzled all the Ministers
of Europe, but the Noble Lord with his talent and
energy succeeded in settling that question; and induced
all the allied powers, with the exception of France, to
unite with him, and put an end to that unfortunate war.
—(Hear, hear.) Well, he got the signature of the allied
powers to assist, but the devil of a soldier or sailor
would they give him.—(Laughter and cheers.)
But the Noble Lord. with a handful of sailors
and marines, and a few Turkish troops, did a hat,
perhaps, no other Foreign Minister in the
world would have done—he undertook to satisfy and to
settle the peace of Europe, by destroying the power of
Mehemet Ali, and establishing that of the Porte in
Syria.—(Much cheering.) He succeeded in that, as in
all the enterprises he undertook. I bad the good fortune
of serving under his Lordship for many years. When I
speak of serving under his Lordship it must be under-
stood that the Minister for Foreign Affairs is, I may
almost say, First Lord of the Admiralty, because he
sends his orders and instructions through the Secretary
of State, and the First Lord of the Admiralty directs
their execution, and all ho has really to do is to order
his officers to carry them out. lam quite sure that
there is no officer in the British navy who ever served
under the Noble Lord who will regret for a single
moment that he has been employed by him. If ever he
gets into a difficulty—and I have the authority of the
Noble Lord for saying that during the time he has been
in the Foreign-office ho never found an officer of the
navy to bring him into difficulties—(Hear, hear)—it will
not be by a naval officer.—(Cheers.) Well, Sir, as I
said before, the Noble Lord finished the war in Syria as
he did the war in Belgium, i❑ Portugal, and in Spain.
I happened to be at that time employed under the
Noble Lord, and I must say that when I had, perhaps
improperly, extended my powers too far, and signed
the treaty of Mehemet Ali for the expulsion of his troops
from Syria, I was opposed by all the ambassadors of
Europe, but maintained by toe Noble Lord at the head
of Foreign Affairs—(Hear, hear, and cheers)—who said
that I had done my duty to the best of my ability; and
I am quite sure that the officers employed in the navy—
and I have heard no other opinion of the policy of the
Noble Lord—would act in the same way. During the
time that the squadron was in the Mediterranean, with
the promptitude and gallantry with which the Noble
Lord does everything, when there was a question to seize
the unfortunate Poles in Turkey, the Noble Lord ordered
the English fleet up the Dardanelles, and at once put an
end to the question.—(Loud cheers.) The Noble Lord,
as all people in his position are liable to, was blamed for
sending the English fleet into the Dardanelles. Whether
he gave orders to go through the Dardanelles, or not, of
coarse it is impossible to say; but all I can say is, that
the Admiral commanding the squadron was perfectly
right in doing so, because the British fleet was not sate
outside. It may be easy to say, " Why, he broke the
treaty ;" but the duty of the Admiral was to take care
that the fleet was not lost.—(Hear, hear.) I know what
the position of the fleet was outside the Dardanelles, and
if I had commanded it I would have done as Sir W.
Parker did, and have anchored inside the Dardanelles.—
(Cheers.) Gentlemen, I return you thanks on behalf of
the navy, and I only hope that if ever I have a command
again it will be under the Noble Lord, and I will an-
swer for it that he will always give me proper and gallant
instructions .—(Loud cheers.)
General Sir DE Lacy EVANS said—The admirable
historical sketch which my Hon. and Gallant Friend has
given relieves me from the necessity, and also relieves
you from the tedium of listening to more than one or
two words of gratitude from me, appreciating and esti-
mating as I do my brother officers and soldiers of the
army. lam of opinion that no man, however high his
position, can be otherwise than honoured by this toast.
I will not dwell further upon the services or merits of
the army, excepting this, that if it be true that the Bri-
tish flag waves almost over every land and sea in the
world, I believe, without argument, we may infer that
not only the navy but the army has done its share of duty
to the country.—(Cheers.) Gentlemen, my Hon. and
Gallant Friend has touched lightly upon the service in
which I was myself concerned with regard to Spain—not
the least important part of the policy directed by the
Noble Lord.—(Hear.) Now, gentlemen, it is sixteen or
seventeen years ago since Spain, one of the greatest
countries in Europe, was suffering under the deepest ac-
cumulation of civil and religious despotism that had per-
haps ever fallen upon any country in Europe.—(Hear.)
During the last four years, when almost every country
on the continent was convulsed with revolution and dis-
order, Spain, I venture to believe, has offered an example
of a very different description, and I do say that, consider-
ing the state of extreme and calamitous depression she
has passed through. no country in Europe, and perhaps
few countries recorded in history, have made greater
progress in rational liberty, in moral and political im-
provement, than Spain has done within that period.—
(Hear, hear.) I consider that to be a great and mo-
mentous result, and that it will ever redound to the
honour of the Noble Lords who sits here on this oc-
casion, and of the Government of which he is so dis-
tinguished a member.—(Loud cheers.) If I have had
an honourable share in that great and important re-
sult, I certainly have some right to feel proud. In touch-
ing upon this subject, I will merely quote one sen-
tence, which I think ❑ot altogether inapplicable with
regard to the subject on which we are met to express
our feelings. I shall quote one sentence from an histo-
rical work, published by one of the greatest statesmen and
best reformers that ever adorned the annals of this country,
and that, in my opinion, is the present Prime Minister.
—(Hear.) Twenty-five or thirty years ago the Noble
Lord published a work on the British Constitution, and,
touching upon the reign of Queen Elizabeth, he says
that Elizabeth was, in his opinion, the greatest of Eng-
lish, and perhaps of all modern, sovereigns—that she
obtained glory without the conquest of foreign nations,
and i❑ the midst of an extraordinary period of political
ferment she maintained, by her firmness, the tranquil-
lity of the Government at home without the loss of the
affections of the people, and that in her reign the
country assumed its proper station in the van of the de-
fenders of liberty, and at that period the name of Eliza-
beth and of England was the terror of the tyrants of
Europe.—(Moog cheering.) Ido venture to think that,
with one alteration, the substitution of Victoria for Eli-
zabeth, it may hereafter be applicable to the present pe.
riod, and to the policy of the present Government of the
Noble Lord.—(Cheers.) I again return you my most
heartfelt thanks for the honour you have conferred on
the army.
Air, " Rule Britannia."
The CHAIRMAN then rose and said—My Lords and
gentlemen, should I fail in doing justice to the toast
which I am about to propose, I can assure you it is not
from underrating the importance of the occasion, still
less from feeling any want of sympathy with the theme ;
but rather that I have been more accustomed to pass
strictures o❑ the collective acts of the Government than
to pay compliments to any individual Minister.—(Hear,
hear.) But, my Lords and gentlemen, I should be
wanting in that feeling of independence and courtesy
which ought to characterise the representative of this
great county—(Great cheering)—and the chairman of
this great meeting—(Renewed cheering)—did I not, on
your part, gladly seize the opportunity to express, on
your behalf, our great satisfaction at being honoured
with the presence of a Minister whose varied attain-
ments and accomplishments—whose courtesy and
mild bearing in private life—have won, not
merely the applause of a party, but the re-
spect and admiration of a civilised world.—(Long
and enthusiastic cheering.) And, gentlemen, by your
leave, I will take this opportunity to say that we may
look upon this not as a meeting important only in its po-
litical bearing, but for the moral views of the subject—
(Applause)—because it will show to the world that the
Liberal party in this country, differing as they may in
minor shades of opinion—that the great Liberal party
of this country are not prepared to see a Minister ca-
lumniated and misrepresented—(A loud and enthusiastic
burst of applause)—because he has been firm in his
adherence to a liberal course of policy.—(Tremendous
cheering.) They will not carp at any minor or petty
acts—they will remember-
- If severe in aught
The love he bore to freedom was in fault."
I for one rejoice that this question of our foreign policy
was brought before the Commons of England. I do,
Sir, because I think it will show to the nations of Europe
that the reasoning people of this country will not
consent to sacrifice the principles of reform sari rational
progress, because other peop!o may hare confounded
anarchy with progress, and mist iken revolution for re-
form.— (Applause.) Sir, we are still prepared to walk
in the path of the constitution, and to urge those reforms
that are consistent with the times. But I also rejoice
that the Noble Lord has been exposed to personal attack
and recrimination, becouse it has given to the world and
to future ages that great intellectual effort—(Loud
cheers)—that enunciation of great truths, that lucid
array of facts, and, above all, that calm and Christian-
like forbearance from recrimination which will be
handed down to after ages as a monument of eloquence,
to be studied by the philosoph©r and taken as a model
by the statesman.—(Shouts of applause.) Gentlemen,
it is not for me to continue any:laboured panegyric on
the Noble Lord—it has been reserved for one of the
greatest and most varied of modern writers to describe
the greatest and most accomplished of modern states-
men :
" Warm'd with the instincts of a knightly heart,
That roused at once if insult touched the realm,
He spurned each state craft, each deceiving heart,
And met his foes, no visor to his helm.—(Cheers.)
This proved his worth! Hereafter be our boast,
Who hated Britain hated Hasa the most."

(Tremendous cheering.) You Na at
onceiecognise the
individual.—(Cheers.) It remains to---
me now, Lord
Palmerston, to hand to you the names of the members of
this club who have subscribed to this document; and I
beg to add that the document would have received con-
siderable additions, had not the day been
ure
closed. (The Hon. Gentleman here handepdre
tmheatly
docu-
ment to the Noble Lord, amid loud and enthusiastic
cheering.) I see around me many men distinguished
alike in commerce, in science, and in politics. I to
those gentlemen, who regard the peaceful and calm pur-
suits of commerce, that in drinking the toast they aro
doing honour to the min ‘s ho has preserved inviolable
the pr, perty of British subjects—(A burst Of applause)
—and who has maintained the honour ef the Britt .h flag
in all quarters of the globe.—(R irate
cbeering.) I
say to them—and I see around me rctoy who are content
with the more quiet paths of literature and of science—
that they are doing honour to the orator and the scholar.
—(Tremendous cheering.) Above all I say to those—
and their name is legion—who love the paths of con-
stitutional and peaceful Government, that they areldoing
honour to thl man whose name is identified with these
principles—that we are ass-mbled to do honour to one
who is associated with the principles which form the
charter of this club. I give you, then, with all the ho-
nours, and with that nine times nine which is only de-
voted to celebrated men, " The health of our honoured
guest, Lord Viscount Palmerston."
Thu toast was drunk with the utmost enthusiasm, all
the company
rising and cheering vociferously for several
Iniuutes.