THE PRIME MINISTER AND SECRETARY OK STATE FOU, FOREIGN AFFAIRS (The Marquess of) SALISBURY7 My Lords, before we proceed to business, I cannot refrain from notifying to your Lordships that there is one melancholy circumstance connected with our meeting upon this occasion. Since we last met—nay, only a few days ago—a noble Lord, who was one of the most illustrious Members of this House, has passed away from among us—I mean the late Lord Iddesleigh. To all of us it is a severe loss. To me, my Lords, I need not say that, in the circumstances of his death—I having seen it myself, suddenly, in the midst of his work—it left an impression upon my mind which I feel can never be effaced, and which brought home to me keenly that celebrated exclamation of Burke—"What shadows we are; what shadows we pursue! "My Lords, Lord Iddesleigh was well known to many of us; but to this House as a whole he had not had the opportunity of making himself acquainted, and many of your Lordships had had no opportunity of judging of his skill in debate, or of his powers of persuasion. But he was well known—better known, perhaps, than any other statesman of his time—socially, to great numbers of us. He was well known to those of us who have been in the House of Commons as one of its most distinguished ornaments; and he was known to those of us who have sat in the Councils of the Queen as one of the wisest and shrewdest Councillors she has ever had. My Lords, as a friend, as a member of society, he was probably more beloved than any statesman we have seen in our time. His gentle temper, his unfailing high spirits and courteousness, his uniform kindness to all, made him universally appreciated and regarded. As a debater he was known in the other House as one who might not move to passion, but who carried conviction, both by the weight of his arguments and by the force of his character. As a Councillor I should say that he was especially shining. It was those who sat with him in council who valued most the peculiar qualities of his mind. I should note two peculiarities which distinguished him from other men. One was that, from the field of his political vision, the element of personal antagonism was almost—if not entirely—absent. He judged of every question by its merits, and it never seemed to have occurred to him 8 to inquire by whom it had been supported. And another, and not less curious, peculiarity was the remarkable caution of the man—remarkable, I may say, because it was not mere caution. He was eminently cautious—as cautious as any man with whom I have ever conversed—but the peculiarity of it was this, that the caution had in it no shade of timidity. While his temper was cold and abstract, his counsel always erred, if it erred at all, on the side of caution; but when perplexity or real danger arose there was no man who was freer from any counsel of fear than Lord Iddesleigh. This made him a man whose influence within the Cabinet, within the Councils of his Party, was far higher and greater than appeared by his actions in the public eye. This House, and the country, and our Party have lost a wise, a self-restrained, a noble Councillor; his soul was never soiled by any mere vulgar ambition; he devoted his life and his strength, without care for any apparent reward, in the service of his country and his Queen.
§ EARL GRANVILLEMy Lords, although I cannot speak with the authority of the noble Marquess opposite (the Marquess of Salisbury) in the eloquent, comprehensive, and touching remarks which he has just made, yet I am sure your Lordships will not object to my adding a few words upon the subject. I apprehend that we all feel that this sudden loss has cast a gloom over our proceedings to-day. The noble Marquess alluded to Sir Stafford Northcote's recent accession to this House. It is not a very long time ago since we welcomed him here, surrounded with an atmosphere of regard and respect, which he accumulated during his long and laborious services in "another place." There is always some danger, when speaking of the death of an eminent man at the time it takes place, of using some exaggeration; but when the noble Marquess spoke of Sir Stafford Northcote's powers in debate, I could not forget that some eight years ago, when speaking of Lord Iddesleigh (then Sir Stafford Northcote), I spoke of him as a formidable foe of 20 years, but a dear friend of many more. Now, with regard to this word "formidable," I have observed that some, while paying a tribute to Sir Stafford Northcote's character and great ability, have spoken of him as 9 something of a feeble opponent. Well, I doubt whether in these days of political warfare lookers-on are always as good judges as those who cross the steel in the fray; and I can only say that often, and often again, I have heard some of the ablest of my political Colleagues in "another place" admire and sometimes complain of the sagacity, the skill, and the readiness with which Sir Stafford Northcote had sustained their attack, and the vigour with which he had returned the blow. My first business connection with Sir Stafford Northcote was some 36 years ago, when, in very difficult times, he agreed to be the Secretary of the Commission of 1851. I may say this, because I know it, that it was the opinion of the late Prince Consort, and of some of the ablest men of the Kingdom who composed that Commission, that no public body over had a Secretary so able and so useful as Sir Stafford Northcote, so industrious, so accurate was he, and so easily and readily did he dispose of the most difficult questions. Later on Sir Stafford Northcote put me under personal and political obligations. I obtained the sanction of the Queen and of the Prime Minister to offer to him the post of Member of the Commission to America to settle the Alabama Claims. The matter was a difficult one. The Commission was not popular, and the work was almost certain to be severely criticized. Sir Stafford Northcote, with the utmost readiness and with the sanction of Mr. Disraeli, accepted that post. The noble Marquess (the Marquess of Ripon) near me can testify to the services which he rendered on that occasion. With his usual modesty, he refused the offers of a high honour made to him. He was willing to co-operate with political opponents for a great public object; but he declined to receive rewards and honours from them. I venture to trust that the remembrance of Sir Stafford Northcote's character will have some effect in diminishing any chance of that bitterness of discussion which sometimes not unnaturally arises in moments of great political excitement.
§ EARL FORTESCUEI will not take up your Lordships' time; but I crave indulgence to supplement the touching eulogies that have been pronounced on my departed friend. I just wish to mention that on the last morning of 10 Lord Iddesleigh's truly noble life he told me he had gone through his Foreign Office boxes, and he believed he should leave without a single arrear when he delivered up the Seals of his Office, as he expected to do, to Her Majesty the next day, thus fitly closing his patriotic, distinguished, and most exemplary career.