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Article PROVINCIAL. ← Page 12 of 34 →
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Provincial.
to propose the health of our worthy and noble Brother—for noble he is , though no coronet decks his brow ; he has yet won for himself a wreath of laurel to deck that brow of which the greatest hero of this or any other age might be proud . ( Applause ) . The noble lord concluded by giving the toast of " Brother General Sir Charles James Napier ,
G . C . B . " The toast was drunk with full Masonic honours , and prolonged and renewed enthusiasm . Sir CHARLES NAPIER in rising to return thanks , was received with tumultuous applause . He said : —I rise to return my most cordial thanks for the honour done me by the Freemasons of Portsmouth . This is the second time I have had this honour conferred on me since my return to England : the Brethren of the Rugby district having paid me a similar
compliment , and which I never shall forget . I know not , however , how to reply to the speech of my Brother , the noble lord . He has conferred upon me so much honour and credit that did I not know his character to be that of an honest and frank man , I should be perfectly puzzled to know in what manner I ought to receive it . But I please myself with thinking that he has only said what he has thought , however partially he may have spoken ; therefore my only feeling towards him is one of
gratitude for his kindly sentiments towards me . To you , the Brethren of the Portsmouth Lodges , I am also very grateful , for your good feelings are very gratifying to me , coming back , as I do , after a very wandering life , to spend the remainder of my days among you . ( Cheers ) . After a life spent in the service of my country , I come now to rest my bones in the land of my paternal ancestors . I should be willing to turn my sword into a ploughshare , only that I have worn it now for fifty-eight long years ; and now I do not think that a ploughshare would come quite so handy to me . ( Laughter and cheers ) . And particularly at the present
time—and I hope my friends , the Free-traders , will excuse me referring to it—when the ploughshare , at least about Purbrook , is not in a very profitable condition . ( Hear , and laughter ) . We have been told by an important member of the ministry that we cannot expect Protection re-established until the river Esk , that runs into the sea from Tiverton , shall flow back from the sea to Tiverton . I do not see any connection between these things , and 1 am not prepared to consider ministers to be witches . Perhaps the men of Tiverton may march thither with pails of
. water from the Esk on their heads . I have heard and read that Burnhamwood did move to Dunsinane . ( Loud cheers and laughter ) . They may prophecy , but I do not bind myself to all they say . I mean to keep this companion by my side ( touching his sword ) , not that I hope to use it—but I had better do so till I see which way the waters of Tiverton flow . ( Loud cheers ) . I should like to see them flow in a certain direction if they have any connection with the interests of agricultureand
, , until they do flow in that direction , I do not think I should be justified in deserting my profession and taking to the ploughshare . ( Loud cheers . ) But I must apologise for trespassing on politics ; I am not a politician , and do not pretend to know much about such questions , although I may have my own ideas upon them . ( Hear , hear ) . I must again thank you , Brethren , most sincerely , for the distinguished honour paid me on this occasion , and which is enhanced by the fact of the day chosen for it .
It is the anniversary of that great day of glory to the navy of this country—a day on which was won the greatest naval victory of modern or ancient time , and the result of which was to place this country in its
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Provincial.
to propose the health of our worthy and noble Brother—for noble he is , though no coronet decks his brow ; he has yet won for himself a wreath of laurel to deck that brow of which the greatest hero of this or any other age might be proud . ( Applause ) . The noble lord concluded by giving the toast of " Brother General Sir Charles James Napier ,
G . C . B . " The toast was drunk with full Masonic honours , and prolonged and renewed enthusiasm . Sir CHARLES NAPIER in rising to return thanks , was received with tumultuous applause . He said : —I rise to return my most cordial thanks for the honour done me by the Freemasons of Portsmouth . This is the second time I have had this honour conferred on me since my return to England : the Brethren of the Rugby district having paid me a similar
compliment , and which I never shall forget . I know not , however , how to reply to the speech of my Brother , the noble lord . He has conferred upon me so much honour and credit that did I not know his character to be that of an honest and frank man , I should be perfectly puzzled to know in what manner I ought to receive it . But I please myself with thinking that he has only said what he has thought , however partially he may have spoken ; therefore my only feeling towards him is one of
gratitude for his kindly sentiments towards me . To you , the Brethren of the Portsmouth Lodges , I am also very grateful , for your good feelings are very gratifying to me , coming back , as I do , after a very wandering life , to spend the remainder of my days among you . ( Cheers ) . After a life spent in the service of my country , I come now to rest my bones in the land of my paternal ancestors . I should be willing to turn my sword into a ploughshare , only that I have worn it now for fifty-eight long years ; and now I do not think that a ploughshare would come quite so handy to me . ( Laughter and cheers ) . And particularly at the present
time—and I hope my friends , the Free-traders , will excuse me referring to it—when the ploughshare , at least about Purbrook , is not in a very profitable condition . ( Hear , and laughter ) . We have been told by an important member of the ministry that we cannot expect Protection re-established until the river Esk , that runs into the sea from Tiverton , shall flow back from the sea to Tiverton . I do not see any connection between these things , and 1 am not prepared to consider ministers to be witches . Perhaps the men of Tiverton may march thither with pails of
. water from the Esk on their heads . I have heard and read that Burnhamwood did move to Dunsinane . ( Loud cheers and laughter ) . They may prophecy , but I do not bind myself to all they say . I mean to keep this companion by my side ( touching his sword ) , not that I hope to use it—but I had better do so till I see which way the waters of Tiverton flow . ( Loud cheers ) . I should like to see them flow in a certain direction if they have any connection with the interests of agricultureand
, , until they do flow in that direction , I do not think I should be justified in deserting my profession and taking to the ploughshare . ( Loud cheers . ) But I must apologise for trespassing on politics ; I am not a politician , and do not pretend to know much about such questions , although I may have my own ideas upon them . ( Hear , hear ) . I must again thank you , Brethren , most sincerely , for the distinguished honour paid me on this occasion , and which is enhanced by the fact of the day chosen for it .
It is the anniversary of that great day of glory to the navy of this country—a day on which was won the greatest naval victory of modern or ancient time , and the result of which was to place this country in its