history and posterity, I care not, as far as I am personally
concerned, whether we stand or fall. That issue it is for the
House to decide. Whether the result will be victory or defeat, I
know not. But I know that there are defeats not less glorious
than any victory; and yet I have shared in some glorious
victories. Those were proud and happy days;--some who sit on the
benches opposite can well remember, and must, I think, regret
them;--those were proud and happy days when, amidst the applauses
and blessings of millions, my noble friend led us on in the great
struggle for the Reform Bill; when hundreds waited round our
doors till sunrise to hear how we had sped; when the great cities
of the north poured forth their population on the highways to
meet the mails which brought from the capital the tidings whether
the battle of the people had been lost or won. Such days my
noble friend cannot hope to see again. Two such triumphs would
be too much for one life. But perhaps there still awaits him a
less pleasing, a less exhilarating, but a not less honourable
task, the task of contending against superior numbers, and
through years of discomfiture, for those civil and religious
liberties which are inseparably associated with the name of his
illustrious house. At his side will not be wanting men who
against all odds, and through all turns of fortune, in evil days
and amidst evil tongues, will defend to the last, with unabated
spirit, the noble principles of Milton and of Locke. We may be
driven from office. We may be doomed to a life of opposition.
We may be made marks for the rancour of sects which, hating each
other with a deadly hatred, yet hate toleration still more. We
may be exposed to the rage of Laud on one side, and of Praise-
God-Barebones on the other. But justice will be done at last:
and a portion of the praise which we bestow on the old champions