The Sun.
London, England, 1868-08-27 00:00:00

MR. DU CANE, M.P.

There was a very large gathering of the Conservative
party in the county of Essex on Tuesday night, at the
Corn Exchange, Colchester, to bid farewell to Mr.
Du Cane, who has represented the northern division of the
county in Parliament for the last eleven years, previous to
his departure for the colony of Tasmania, of which he has
recently been appointed ,governor. Mr. S. 0. Onley occupied
the chair, having on his right hand the guest of the
evening, Mr. Du Cane ; Mr. James Round and
Colonel Brise, the Conservative candidates for the
eastern division at the coming election ; Major Jervis,
M.P. for Harwich ; Mr. F. S. Corrance, M.P. for East
Suffolk ; Count Maffei, Sir W. O'Malley, Hon. R. Strutt,
Hon. C. Strutt, &c. A number of ladies, including the
Hon Mrs. Du Cane, graced the balcony at the rear of the
principal guests' table. In returning thanks for the toast of
his health, Mr. Du Cane said, as he looked around that
building, and saw gathered together in his honour that night
not merely those who had fought his battles as members
of a great and united party, but also many of those whom
in private life he had for many years honoured and
esteemed as his most intimate friends, he must confess
that he could wish the curtain was rising instead of falling
upon the events of the past eleven years. He knew full
well that if he attempted to thank them as he could
and as they deserved, he should fail utterly.
The only way in which it occurred to him to
do so was one which might appear somewhat ungrateful,
as it was an endeavour on his part to cast upon them the
responsibility of their separation. If they had not taken
him by the hand in early life, he would never have
become a. member of Parliament ; if they had not
when he became a member of Parliament rallied round
him on every occasion when an opponent chewed his
face, he would never have remained there ; if he had
not remained there he would never have had the
honour to become a humble member of her Majesty's
present Government ; and if he had not become a member
of the Government, he thought it was probable that he
would never have had offered him that honourable
appointment which now for a time parted them asunder.
He then went on to deny the rumours he had heard
that the reason he accepted the post of Governor of Tas-
mania was that he shrank from the contest which the
Conservative party had provoked in East Essex, and
giving as his reason for accepting that office that he be-
lieved it would give him a chance of serving his country in
a highly honourable and creditable position, and one of
which his constituents might be proud. Speaking of his
political career, Mr. Du Cane said that all knew very
well the part he had taken in general politics, and he did
not suppose that anyone there that evening would impugn
either a single vote he had given or a word he had
uttered during the eleven years he had represented them
in Parliament. He had humbly endeavoured to be a good
friend to agriculture, and to walk in the path of that con-
stitutional liberty and rational progress which he believed
to be the true essence of a true Conservative policy, and
which, he said boldly and unhesitatingly, had not been
departed from by the Conservative party in that recent
great constitutional change which during their tenure of
office they had effected. Ile expressed a hope that before
long the malt-tax would be swept from the roll of political
questions, and having uttered his sincere trust that his
governorship might be a prosperous one, and one marked
by impartiality, he concluded by bidding farewell to both
his political friends and his political opponents, among
which latter he said he believed he had at that time none
but well-wishers.