§ SIR STAFFORD NORTHCOTEMr. Speaker, I wish to take this opportunity of saying a very few words, and I am very sorry the House is so thin, for I am quite sure that what I am going to say reflects and expresses the feeling of the whole House — of both sides of the House. I wish to say one word to express the very great and strong sense we all have of the loss which the Government and this House have sustained by the melancholy event which was communicated to us earlier in the Sitting. All of us who have had the pleasure of sitting in the House for any length of time with Mr. Fawcett, and especially those who, like myself, have sat in the House the whole time that he has been a Member of it, could but have come to one conclusion—that there was no man who more thoroughly commanded and received the respect and the regard of the House than did Mr. Fawcett. From the first moment he entered the House he showed that he was determined to take a zealous and active part in its proceedings; and throughout his career he has been one who has been always ready to speak freely and boldly, and, if necessary, with vigour upon all questions that arose. But, at the same time, I do not think anybody can recall a single word that ever fell from him that gave unnecessary offence or pain to anyone. He was a man in whom, when he spoke against us—which, in regard to Members on this side, was most commonly the case—we always recognized a spirit of fairness and readiness to enter into the feelings and arguments of his opponents that gave double and treble weight to what fell from him. I could not refrain from taking this opportunity of saying just a single word to express what is the unanimous feeling, I am sure, of the whole House, and what I believe also to be the feelings of others far beyond this House—of all who knew and respected him.
THE MARQUESS OF HARTINGTONSir, I am sure I shall express the feelings of all who sit on this side of the House if I rise to say a few words to thank the right hon. Gentleman for the kindly and sympathetic terms in which he has expressed himself for the great 1207 loss which has befallen the Government, and I think I may say the whole House, in the death of Mr. Fawcett. He commanded the respect, and I think I may say the affection, of the whole House. We have admired the courage with which he has confronted a most painful and distressing infirmity which would have prostrated the energies of most men. From the very commencement of his entrance into public life he commanded the respect of all who were brought into contact with him. The independence with which, when he occupied an independent position in this House, he was in the habit invariably of expressing his opinions, whether they were in entire harmony with the opinions of those with whom he usually acted or not, secured for him an amount of respect which very few Members of this House have ever been able to obtain. The energy with which he threw his remarkable intellect into the duties of the Office which he was called on to administer, and the invariable courtesy with which he met the wishes and representations of Members on all sides of the House, added to the respect previously felt for him. Sir, I can only say that we all most deeply regret the great loss that has befallen this House, and that we are greatly indebted to the right hon. Gentleman opposite for the very sympathetic terms in which, on the part of his Friends, he has expressed his sense of that loss.
MR. JUSTIN M'CARTHYSir, I cannot allow the Sitting to terminate without saying, on behalf of those who act with me, that we join in the expression of regret which the whole House feels at the sudden and melancholy close of so promising and great a career. We, the Irish Members, have always respected and admired Mr. Fawcett's great capacity, exerted in the face of so terrible a calamity. We have always respected and admired his transparent integrity, and the manner in which, while expressing his own convictions, he respected and had consideration for an equally earnest expression of the opinions of others. For myself, I have known Mr. Fawcett personally for more than 20 years, and have felt nothing but admiration and friendship for him. I speak now on behalf of others as well as for myself, and I desire to join most sincerely in the common expression of the regret felt by the House.