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ORATORY:

FORENSIC AND SENATORIAL.

BENJAMIN DISRAELI ON THE CHARACTER OF THE PRINCE CONSORT.

[The Right Hon. Benjamin Disraeli was born in London, 1805. He was early articled to a solicitor, and became an author before completing his majority. In 1825 his novel of "Vivian Grey" made a sensation, and it was followed by "The Young Duke," "Henrietta Temple," ," "Contarini Fleming," and other brilliant fictions. He entered parliament in 1837 as M.P. for Maidstone, and adhered to Sir Robert Peel until that minister became an advocate for free trade; following which event Mr. Disraeli led the Conservative party in the House of Commons. He was Chancellor of the Exchequer under Lord Derby's administration, and on the retirement of that minister became premier. In August, 1876, he was raised to the peerage, with the title of Lord Beaconsfield; from which date, until February, 1878, he held, with the office of First Lord of the Treasury, that of Lord of the Privy Seal. He died in 1881.]

No person can be insensible of the fact that the House meets to-nigh under circumstances very much changed from those which have attended our assembling for many years. Of late, indeed for more than twenty years past, whatever may have been our personal rivalries and our party strifes, there was at least one sentiment in which we all acquiesced, and in which we all shared, and that was a sentiment of admiring gratitude to that throne whose wisdom and goodness so frequently softened the acerbities of our free public life, and so majestically represented the matured intelligence of an enlightened people. All that has changed. He is gone who was the comfort and support of that throne. It has been said that there is nothing which England so much appreciates as the fulfilment of duty. The prince whom we have lost not only was eminent for the fulfiment of his duty, but it was the fulfilment of the highest duty; and it was the fulfilment of the highest duty under the most difficult circumstances. Prince Albert was the consort of his Sovereign. He was the father of one who might be his Sovereign. He was the prime councillor of a realm, the political constitution of which did not even recognise his political existence. Yet, under these circumstances, so difficult and so delicate, he elevated even the throne by the dignity and purity of his domestic life. He framed, and partly accomplished, a scheme of education for the heir of England which proves how completely its august projector had contemplated the office of an English king. In the affairs of state, while his serene spirit and elevated position

bore him above all the possible bias of our party life, he showed, upon every great occasion, all the resources, all the prudence, and all the sagacity of an experienced and responsible statesman. I have presumed, sir, to touch upon three instances in which there was, on the part of Prince Albert, the fulfilment of duty of the highest character, under circumstances of the greatest difficulty. I will venture to touch upon another point of his character, equally distinguished by the fulfilment of duty; but in this instance the duty was not only fulfilled, but it was created. Although Prince Albert was adopted by this country, he was, after all, but a youth of tender years; yet such was the character of his mind that he at once observed that, notwithstanding all those great achievements which long centuries of internal concord and of public liberty had permitted the energy and enterprise of Englishmen to accomplish, there was still a great deficiency in our national character, and which, if neglected, might lead to the impairing not only of our social happiness, but even the sources of our public wealth,-and that was a deficiency of culture. But he was not satisfied in detecting the deficiency, he resolved to supply it. His plans were deeply laid; they were maturely considered; and notwithstanding the obstacles which they encountered, I am prepared to say they were eminently successful. What might have been his lot had his term completed that which is ordained as the average life of man, it may be presumption to predict. Perhaps he would have impressed upon his age not only his character but his name; but this I think posterity will acknowledge, that he heightened the intellectual and moral standard of this country, that he extended and expanded the sympathies of all classes, and that he most beneficially adapted the productive powers of England to the inexhaustible resources of science and art. It is sometimes deplored by those who loved and admired him, that he was thwarted occasionally in his enterprises, and that he was not duly appreciated in his works. These, however, are not circumstances for regret but for congratulation. They prove the leading and original mind which so long and so advantageously laboured for this country. Had he not encountered these obstacles, had he not been subject to occasional distrust and misrepresentation, it would only have proved that he was a man of ordinary mould and temper. Those who move must change, and those who change must necessarily disturb› and alarm prejudices; and what he encountered was only a demon. stration that he was a man superior to his age, and admirably adapted to carry out the work he had undertaken. Sir, there is one point, and one point only, on which I would presume for a moment to dwell; and it is not for the sake of you, sir, whom I am now addressing, or for the generation to which we belong, but it is that those who come after us may not misapprehend the nature of this illustrious man. Prince Albert was not a patron. He was not one of those who, by their smiles and by their gold, reward excellence or stimulate exertion. His contributions to the cause of progress and improvement were far more powerful and far more

precious. He gave to it his thought, his time, his toil: he gave to it his life. I see in this House many gentlemen-on both sides, and in different parts of it-who occasionally entered with the Prince at those council boards where they conferred and decided upon the great undertakings with which he was connected; and I ask them, without the fear of a denial, whether he was not the leading spirit -whether his was not the mind that foresaw the difficulty, and his the resources that supplied the remedy-whether his was not the courage to overcome apparently insurmountable obstacles, and whether every one who worked with him did not feel that he was the real originator of those great plans of improvement which they contributed to carry out. Sir, we have been asked to-night to condole with the Crown in this great calamity. That is no easy office. To condole in general is the office of those who, without the pale of sorrow, feel for the sorrowing; but in this instance the country is as heart-stricken as its Queen. Yet, in the mutual sensibilities of a Sovereign and a people there is something ennobling, something that elevates the spirit beyond the ordinary claim of earthly sorrow. The counties, and cities, and corporations of the realm, and those illustrious institutions of learning, of science, of art, and of skill, of which he was the highest ornament and the inspiring spirit, have bowed before the throne under this great calamity. It does not become the Parliament of the country to be silent. The expression of our feelings may be late, but even in that lateness some propriety may be observed if to-night we sanction the expression of the public sorrow, and ratify, as it were, the record of a nation's woe. It is with these feelings that I shall support the address in answer to the speech from the throne.

VICTOR HUGO ON THE LIBERTY OF THE PRESS.

[Marie-Victor, Vicomte Hugo, was born at Besançon, Feb. 26, 1802: his father was a colonel in the army of Napoleon. He commenced his literary career, as a poet, in 1819. In 1827 he produced a drama called "Cromwell," and in 1829 his singular work, "Last Days of a Condemned Criminal." M. Hugo introduced political allusions into the dramas he subsequently wrote, and was long at war with the authorities. In January, 1832, his play, "Le Roi s'amuse," was produced at the Théâtre Français, and next day interdicted by the Government. He then went still deeper into politics; was created a peer of France by Louis Philippe, and elected President of the Peace Congress in 1849. His celebrated novel, "Notre Dame de Paris," has been translated into most European languages. After 1852 Victor Hugo, exiled from France, resided in Jersey and Guernsey, where he completed his works, "Napoleon le Petit," and "Les Châtimens.' He was much respected in his exile-home, and was very charitable to the poor of the islands. Died 1885.] "GENTLEMEN,-My emotion cannot be expressed. You will be indulgent if words fail me. If I had only to reply to the honourable chief magistrate of Brussels, my task would be easy; I would only have to repeat what is in all your minds; I need only be an echo. But how can I thank the other eloquent and cordial voices which

have spoken of me? By the side of those great publishers to whom we owe the fruitful idea of a universal publishing house-a kind of preparatory bond between nations-I see journalists, philosophers, eminent writers, the honour of literature, the honour of the civilized continent. I am troubled and confused at finding myself the centre of such a fête of intellect, and at seeing so much honour reflected upon me, who am but a conscience accepting a duty, a heart resigned to sacrifice. How can I thank you? how shake hands with you all together? The means are simple. What do you allwriters, journalists, publishers, printers, publicists, thinkers-represent? All the energy of intelligence, all the forms of publicity; you are mind-Legion-you are the new organ of a new societyyou are the press. I propose a toast to the press-to the press of all nations to a free press-to a press powerful, glorious, and fertile. Gentlemen, the press is the light of the social world, ad wherever there is light there is something of Providence. Thought is something more than a right; it is the very breath of man. He who fetters thought strikes at man himself. To speak, to write, to print, to publish are in point of right identical things. They are circles constantly enlarging themselves from intelligence into action. They are the sounding waves of thought. Of all these circles-of all these rays of the human mind-the widest is the press. The diameter of the press is the diameter of civilization itself. With every diminution of the liberty of the press there is a corresponding diminution of civilization. When the free press is checked we may say that the nutrition of the human family is withheld. Gentlemen, the mission of our time is to change the old bases of society, to create true order, and to substitute everywhere realities for fictions. During this transition of social bases, which is the colossal work of our time, nothing can resist the press, applying its power of traction to catholicism, to militaryism, to absolutism, to the dense blocks of facts and ideas. The press is force. Why? Because it is intelligence. It is the living clarion; it sounds the réveille of nations; it loudly announces the advent of justice; it holds no account of night, except to salute the dawn; it becomes day and warns the world. Sometimes, however, strange occurrence! it is it that gets warnings. This is like the owl reprimanding the crow of the cock. Yes, in certain countries, the press is oppressed. Is it a slave? No, an enslaved press is an impossible junction of words. Besides, there are two modes of being enslaved that of Spartacus and that of Epictetus. The one breaks his chains; the other shows his soul. When the fettered writer cannot have recourse to the first method, the second remains for him. No; let despots do what they will; I call on all those free men who hear me to witness-there is no slavery for the mind. Gentlemen, in the age in which we live there is no salvation without liberty of the press, but, on the contrary, misdirection, shipwreck, disaster everywhere. There are at present certain questions which are the questions of the age, which are before us, and are inevitable. There is no medium; we must break upon them or take refuge in

them. Society is irresistibly sailing on this stream. These questions are the subject of the painful book of which such splendid mention has been made just now. Pauperism, parasitism, the production and distribution of wealth, money, credit, labour, wages, the extinction of proletarianism, the progressive decrease of punishments, the rights of women, who constitute half the human race, the right of a child who demands-I say demands-gratuitous and compulsory education, the right of soul, which implies religious liberty-these are the problems. With a free press they have light thrown upon them; they are practicable; we see the precipices about them, and the issues from them; we may attack them and solve them. Attacked and solved they will save the world. Without the press there is profound darkness. All these problems become immediately formidable. We can only distinguish sharp outlines; we may fail of finding the entrance, and society may founder. Quench the pharos, and the port becomes a rock. Gentlemen, with a free press error is not possible; there is no vacillation, no groping about in the progress cf man. In the midst of social problems, of the dark cross-paths, the press is the indicating finger. There is no uncertainty. Advance to the ideal, to justice and to truth; for it is not enough to walk, you must walk forward. How are you going? That is the whole question. To counterfeit movement is not to accomplish progress. To make a footprint without advancing may do for passive obedience. To walk about for ever in the path is but a mechanical movement, unworthy of man. Let us have an aim. Let us know where we are going. Let us proportion the effort to the result. Let an idea guide us in each step we take. Let every step be logically connected with the other. Let the solution come after the idea, and let the victory come after the right. Never step backwards. Indecision in movement shows emptiness of the brain. What is more wretched than to wish and not to wish? He who hesitates, falls back, and totters, does not think. Gentlemen, who are the auxiliaries of the patriot? The press. What is the terror of the coward and the traitor? The press. I know it: the press is hated, and this is a great reason for loving it. Every indignity, every persecution, every fanaticism, denounces, insults, and wounds it as far as they can. I recollect

a celebrated encyclical, some remarkable words of which have remained on my memory. In this encyclical a Pope, our contemporary Gregory XVI., the enemy of his age, which is somewhat the misfortune of Popes-and having ever present in his mind the old dragon and beast of the Apocalypse, thus described the press in his monkish and barbarous Latin-gula ignea, caligo, impetus immanis cum strepitu horrendo-(a fiery throat, darkness, a fierce rush with a horrid noise). I dispute nothing of the description. The portrait is striking. A mouth of fire, smoke, prodigious rapidity, formidable noise. Just so. It is a locomotive which is passing; it is the press, the mighty and holy locomotive of progress. Where is it going; where is it dragging civilization? Where is this powerful pilot engine carrying nations? The tun

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