A STERLINGS TESTIMONY OF A GREAT MAN'S WORTH.

Waikato Times, Volume VII, Issue 394, 21 November 1874, Page 2

A STERLINGS TESTIMONY OF A GREAT MAN'S WORTH.

The memorial bronzes statue of the late Earl of Derby, which has been erected by his political and private friends within the ornamental enclosure in Parliamentary-square, London, was unveiled recently by the Right Hon Benjamin Disraeli, M.P., First Lord ot the Treasury, in presence of a large and distinguished assemblage. Having unveiled the monument, the Prime Minister, Mr Disraeli, said : — I have unveiled the semblance of a man who for half a century influenced opinion and largely contributed to the history of this country. (Cheers.) Although the high position to which he was born may have facilitated his entrance into public life, he was one of those men who, under any circumstances and in any lot, would have become memorable. (Hear, hear.) His fiery eloquence, his haughty courage, the rapidity of his intellectual grasp, — which probably never was surpassed ; his capacity for labor and his mastery for detail — which never were sufficiently appreciated, because the world was astonished by the celerity with which he despatched public affairs — all these combined to produce a man who must luu c become celebrated. (Cheers.) His statue looks upon that famous Parliament of England in both Houses of which his public life was about equally divided. Amid the great transactions of 50 years he was one of those who took a leading pa"t in those Assemblies ; but from out the affairs of this Empire during that period there are three measures which figure in colossal proportion, and which were the result of his own individual energy and creation. He abolished slavery (cheers), he educated Ireland (cheers), and he reformed Parliament. (Cheers.) Forty years ago, when the first measure was brought forward with that object, it would have failed had it not been for his daring determination ; and only within recent years, as Prime Minister of England, he carried that great Act which supplied tho deficiencies and repaired the injustice of its predecessor, because it restored to the working classes of this country those franchises which in 1832 they were deprived of. (Cheers) The sculptor who has raised this statue, equal to the occasion, has «in the beautiful bronzes which relieve the pedestal commemorated other events in the life of Lord Derby besides those which lie passed in the Senate and the Council Chamber. He has depicted him as the learned Chancellor of a renowned University, and as the genial President of that Committee of Charity and Patriotism which in an unprecedented crisis in the industry of England, mitigated the sufferings of the population of that great country where he was born, where his ashes repose, and which he loved so well. (Cheers.) Lord Derby was far too sensible a man to undervalue the advantages of wealth and lineage ; but he valued them because they gratified his highest ambition, which was a largo performance of duty. (Cheers.) He was one of those rare characters that, I am proud to say, can be found in no other country but our own. (Cheers.) He combined the passion of politics with all the tenderness of domestic life. (Hear, Hear.) AYe have raised this statue to him, not only ;is a nicuioiial, but ns an oxainph —not merely to euinm»muratc, but to inspire. (< ! cat cheering.)