MOTION FOR AN ADDRESS. (Hansard, 14 July 1893)

THE LORD PRESIDENT OF THE COUNCIL AND SECRETARY OF STATE FOR INDIA (The Earl of KIMBERLEY)

My Lords, I rise, pursuant to notice, to move that a humble Address be presented to Her Majesty, congratulating her upon the marriage of the Duke of York. I think perhaps upon no former occasion have testimonies of loyalty and affection towards the Sovereign poured in with greater heartiness or in greater number than on the present occasion. ["Hear, hear."] It is almost unnecessary for me to express the feeling of loyalty which is so universally felt towards the Sovereign as inspired by her long and beneficent reign, during which the country has enjoyed unexampled peace and prosperity. I have also to move a Message of Congratulation to their Royal Highnesses the Prince and Princess of Wales. All your Lordships will feel, I am sure, the greatest pleasure that this bright and cheering event should have taken place in the domestic life of the Prince and Princess of Wales. They have the full and entire sympathy of the whole country, and I am certain that upon an occasion like this it will give to this House the greatest satisfaction to offer to them its congratulations. Lastly, there will be a Message to the Duke and Duchess of York, and I need only say that this House will re-echo the unanimous desire that this union may be the beginning of a long life of happiness and prosperity to both of them. I cannot sit down without adding one word to say that the whole nation must have felt deeply the touching words which Her Majesty was pleased to address to the country. That heartfelt sympathy which she has always exhibited for all her subjects, whether high or low, has, I am certain, awakened in their hearts a feeling which goes even beyond the loyalty which we all owe to the Sovereign.

§ THE MARQUESS OF SALISBURY

My Lords, I rise with great pleasure to second the Motion of the noble Earl. I am sure it will be received unanimously both in this House and in the other, because it represents the unanimous and enthusiastic feeling of the people of this country. There never was a marriage more heartily received by the people, nor one celebrated under better auspices of future happiness, or attended with more earnest prayers. The profession to which the Duke of York belongs is the darling profession of the country, with which most of our glories and traditions in the past are associated, and on which in the case of trouble our existence would depend. It is no small addition to the popularity which His Royal Highness has won by his own personal qualities that he belongs to a profession so deeply cherished by the nation. For Her Royal Highness the Duchess of York there is the deepest sympathy and affection. In addition to the personal charms by which she has won the respect and affection of all with whom she has come in contact, there is also that natural feeling which arises from the fact that she is well-known among us, that she was born in this country, and that she comes of a lineage of which this country is proud. To tender to Her Majesty our most sincere and earnest congratulations on this happy event in her family life, and re-echo with the sincerest sympathy those noble words in which she has addressed the nation, to which the noble Earl has referred in graceful terms; but above all we congratulate her, and we congratulate the nation, that in this marriage we have a hope that Her Majesty will be succeeded by descendants in her direct line who will carry to a distant posterity the recollection of a reign never equalled in the prosperity and blessings which it has shed over the people of this Empire.