Press Banquet AT Toronto. Speeches of Premier Botoell V and Mr. Daoin. '"•" )■'■'■■■■ ■■■'.,'* SPLENDID RECEPTION TO THE PREMIER The annual banquet of the Canadian Press Association, says the Toronto Globp, was the most brilliant social affair which the Association has ever held The attendance taxed the seating capacity of the rotunda of the Board of Trade. The gathering was nearly altogether com- posed of newspapermen, past- and pres- ent. The President, Mr. T. H. Preston, presided. Upon his right hand were Hon. G. A. Kirkpatrick, N. Flood Davin, M. P., Goldwin Smith, Charles Lindsay and Rev Dr Dewart; and on hiyflpt »ir Mackenzie Bowell, Hon. Geo. W. Ross, and W. F. Maclean, M. P Those present included nearly all who attended the afternoon session. A few minutes after 8 o'clock the chairman rising, stilled the clatter of dishes and tongues, to which the orches- tra were playing an unheeded accompan- iement. He explained that as Sir Mackenzie Bowell w^s obliged to leave ear y, hewou'd break in upon the not altogether finished menu and ask the company t > drink his hea'th. He then proposed the health of the Queen. It was foUowed by the singing of the na- tional anthem. THE PREMIER. The President in a few well chosen remarks introduced the Premier. Sir Mackenzie Bowell on rising to speak was received with loud app'ause again and again renewed. He prefaced his remarks by paying a tribute to the President, whose father he knew before him. * It is not my intention to make a speech," he continued. "I could not to ni<>ht if I tried. I thank you most heartily for the kind invitation you have given me to be present to-nignt. I very much regret, as I said this afternoon, the absence of so many of the gentlemen who /^6 2 took part in organizing the original as- sociation in the City of Kingston, under that prince of men, W. Gil espie. (Ap- plause.) He was an honest m»»n, a man of conviction. He was not afraid to ex- press his opinion, and he always respec ted thb opinions of those who diflfered from him." (Hear, hear.) Sir Mack- enzie, continuing, said he reairetted that he cou d not remain for the toast to which Lo was originally asked to speak, "Canida." But he was satisfied that those with whom it was left to respond would do the subject justice. He paid a tribute t'l pub ishers, editor.*!, reporters and practic il printers. "I have very much sympathy," he p'Jed "with the practical printer. I have g ine through every phase of newspaper work, and am therefore speaking from experience. (Laughter.) In fact, there are many in my old constituency who are of opinion that I am litt'e or no better than when I was an apprentice in a newspaper office some 60 years ago " (Laughter.) In closing h'^ wi hed the associ ti »n contin- ued success, and ventured the opinion that in its m mbers he felt the future of the country was safe. (Loud and con- tinu-^d cheering.) . Sir Mackenzie left the room immedi- ately afterward^, Mr. Davin accompany- ing him, the whole company rising as he went ou^ A few minute were spent in further discussion of the menu, and then the toast list was taken up. The secretary, Mr. J. B. McLean, first read a telegram of greeting received from the press men of Bdt'sh Columbia. The President then gave the toast of the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, to which His Honor, the popular occupant of that office, responded m the happiest manner, praising the press in the m at en)phatic way. Mr. John Cameron, of London, then proposed ' 'Canada. ' ' ' Hon. G. VV. Ross replied, exposing in an elaborate speech, Canada's wonderful resources, dweihng in eloquent language on the North- West Territories, and what they meant to Canada, "and what he asked are we, what are you, doing to people these vast Territories?" Popula- tion was one of our greatest needs. He sat down amid cheers. • "^ Mr Goldwin Smith, who was received with great enthusiasm, reviewed the progress made by journalism, and^ con- trasted the press ui t j-day, local and met- ropoli an, with what it was when he and others a quarter of a century ago,- set about raising the t me of the pr< ss and securing liberty of opini'n. (cheers.) Mr. T. W. Anglin ' proposed the toast of the Domini n and Provincial Par- liament, coupled with the names of Messrs. N F. Davin, M. P , W. J. Mc- Lean, M. P., and James Innis, M. P. Mr. Davin on lising was received with cheers. H^ said: "Your Honour, Mr. President, ladies and gentlemen, 1 had hoped there would have been n thing in the speeches this evening to which any boly could object, above a 1 anythir g of a personal nature; but Hon. Mr. Koas I am sorry to say has not been careful to observe the unexpressed law on occasions like the pr38^llt; and I think there was a personal refiecti nof which I have reason to complain, when he in solemn tones pointedly asked, with as it seemed at the moment, a special g'ance at me — "What are you doing to peop'e that vast coun- try?" (Greiit laughter and cheers.) I am glad to see the ladies here, and in- deed their presence is eminently appro- 8 priate, because as anybody who has seen or read of the way they express their fondness for children, fathers, mothers, brothers, cousins, &c., they belong to a press association (laughter) which was in existence hundreds of years before the birth of your clumsier and more prosiac organization, (laughter) The press may be well content with the way it is spoken of to-day, and I would add my little coronal of the floral tribute were it not that 1 am afraid of doing anything that might, could, would or should aid in the impairment of the bloom of the invinci- ble modesty of the press. The re pra- sentative of_the ^.ueen has eulogized you; one'cTthe ministers of Ontario has s un- ded your praise; the Prime Minister has added his enconiums; and the greatest literary man on the continent, one who certainly is not lavish of praise, has re- corded the rise and progress of metripol- itan and local newspapers to their pres- ent position, and what he said about the independence and ability of the town papers, and the style and spirit and knowl> dge and fairness of the great dailies I can entirely endorse, (cheers ) But a greater than these has lifted up his. hands to bless. Monseigneur Satolli, speaking a few days ago, on Saturday last, at the annual dinner of the Grid- iron club, which took place in the Ar- • lington, in the capital of the Great Ra- public belr«w the line, declared the press to be at once the lungs and conscience of a free community, and as he is legate, he mue>t have done this with the sanction and it may be an initiative suggestion of the Pope who now occupies the Vatican, (cheers.) In replying for the House of Gommons of Oanada at a dinner like this two idea are borne in on me this evening with which I was never bo much im- pressed before — how much the House of Commons owes to the press, not because of wh%t my friend and chief Sir Macken- zie Howell has dwelt on, the amelioration of the form of speeches by reporters, nor yet the greatest service of all, the origin- ating of ideas and even policies, which drst suggested and popularized by the newspapers, are then taken up, adopted, appropriated, labelled his own by the original and sagacious leader of the hour; but this: — The direct benefit confer- red on Parliament and the count rjr^iy. the supplying of able and inst^ructed men who carry into council, committee, de- bate, accumulations of coordinated facts, minds trained to thinking and disquisi- tion, and a mastery of expression which aids the work of legislation, adorns dis- cussion and enhances the value of Par- liament as an educative force, the other is — what do you think "i the romance that belongs to that parliament. As Mr. Anglin has suggested in proposing the toast, our Canadian Parliament is the fairest and noblest child of that august Parliament on the banks of the Thames and is supposed to be guided by the same traditions, rules and principles, and ■ though I am sorry to say that in some most important particulars she deviates from her mother and model — as daugh- ters in this age are apt to do— and not for her good — it would be weel for in stance if in Canada ministers were chosen as in England because of their weight in the House — yet is she like her great pro- totype in this, the large part that jour- nalists, that writers on the events of the day have played in her actions and his- tory and plevblopment, and further in the lartre amount of what I shall coin a word to describe — the Actual — romantic — the extent to which the aotual-romaDtic \» V found in what would Btrike at first si(;ht aa prosaic to all and to most dry and re- pulsively dull. Few men who write produce ^^hat is properly speaking en- titled to be classified as literature. No- body claima for a leading article however well written that it is literature, and only very rarely do reviews, pamphlets, essays possess those subtle qualities whether of thought or form which shall make thum not only interesting reading but preserve them beyond the period of ephemeral vitality — assuredly however no man can be a first-class journalist without being potentially a writer of literature— and his rapidly constructed essays will have in them the diamond dust that conscentrti- ted in a single production would give that to which the world might like to recur, something to preserve, a gem on which the eyes of the future might fix an admiring gaze. The writer of the pamph- lets, reviews, essays, and the leader wri- ter belong to the same class. Mr. Gladstone writing on Neapolitan prisoners to-day or the cfueltiea of Turkey in Aruieuia, Pi;rkn pamphleteering, or the presint prjm^ minister of Ea^laud Lord Salisbury ta n.ng money as a young repote by writing for the Siturday Re- view — a c rcumsraiice to which Mr. Gold- wiu Santh referred— did procis'^.ly the same kind of wuik as the journalist does every day; for that matter the Bame may be said of Julius Ceeaar composing his Commentaries. I conclude then that there is an order of mind that seeks lit- erary expression and that it is of the best order and well adapted to the task of government. In our own day we have had in the House of Commons journal- ists such as Lord Cranborne (Lord Salis bury the late ?rime Minister) Lowe, Leonard Courtney, Justin McCarthy, SuUivan, T. P O'Connor, Sir William Vernon Qaroourt, the present leader of the House of Commons, one of the orig- inal stufi' of: the Saturday Review as Mr^ Goldwin Smith has already told.us, and aidozenothers{ but take the wider and truer classification of writers on the events of the day and the greatest names in English parliamentary history which at onca start out on the pages of mem- ory, nay the greatest names in French and German legislative annals a rever, but confining ourselves to England we have to take them at random, Burke, Canning, Gladstone, Dis- raeli, Bulwer, F«>x, Mill, Derby, Broug- ham, Fawoett, Trevelyan, Dilke, Hauah- ton, Argyll, Lning, Cobden, Dufferin, E*rLGrey, Lyon Play fair, Coleridge Ad dipon. Steel, and la^t but not least John Morley. In Canada at the very foun- tain of our political life we find the writer — the journalist — standing out pre-fc ninontly. There was Ogle R. Go wan, who in his day as pimphleteer journalist and member of uhe Legislature exercised agreat deal of influence. Then there was Wm Lyon Mackenzie — the. founder of the Colonial Advocate— the assailer of the Family Compact — repeatedly expelled from the Assembly as repeatedly reelected — a man with the indomnitable instinct in him asbecams a true journal- ist — and rendering services which can never be forgotten, (cheers ) Then we had Sir Francis Hincks starting the Ex- aminer, fighting for responsible govern- ment in its columns, and carrying into the legislative Assembly the same quali- ties which had made his paper a power, bestowing on hts adopted countiy the high- est gifts, a debater, a statesman, orator, prime minister, diplomatic and successful treaty maker, (hear hear.) I can only men- i tiou in paratng Hamilton Foley and John Sheriden Uogan. George Brown owed rooro of his influence to the Globe than even lo his speaking and it was aa a newspaper noan he developed thone qualities which made him so powerful in the other arena — con tern p'^rary with Brown was Thomas D'Arcy McGee (cheers) a man whose oratory — and this was due to his journalistic and literary training- had the attractive qualities which the literary faculty can alone im- part. Tom White, a joumalint pur scag — one of the best — absolutely the best minister of the interior which we had up to his time. Mr. Ross spoke about the intelligence of the people and Mr. Smith about the improvement and in- dependence of the press. Well here is something from which you may take a hint of action and pointer as to criticism — I saw Sir John Macdonald weep over Hon. Tom White's death — aye, weep be- fore the world in the HouBe. Well I had confliottng feelings at the moment for a deputation of the members had to wait on him to get him to take Tom White in. Take my friend Mr. L'turier — for he is my friend though we are political foes, (oheerp) his grace of expression, his charm of oratory is well known Well how did he spend the young; shaping days of hi« eariy manhood? In the editorial rooms of the Union Nationale under the guard- ing eye and the tongue of Mederic Lano- tot, writing sketches half historical, half legendry. becoming editor of Defricheur in 1867, at. J passing thence to VAvenir. Sir John Thompson whom we have re* ountly lost was for some six or eight years reporter in the gallery of the Nova Scotia Assembly. BLon. Wm. MuDou- gall was not only one of our greatest de- baterh, but one of our foremost journal* ists. Wm. Alexander MaoKenzle who rose to be priwie minister, and whom we think of as a stone mason rising' high, be- longed to the journalistic ranks, having started and edited the Lambton Shield and as a journalist he acquired facts and a facility of expression whish stood him in good stead when he entered Parlia- ment. The Prime Minister who left the room so recently has been a journalist all his life. One great leader I have nearly forgotten, a great man who also belonged to the rank of journalism, the friend of Baldwin, whose articles in the Minerve will be found amongst the most brilliant ever contributed to that paper. I speak of Lafontaine; — he too rose to be premier — and then one other name —how refer to the great statesmen journalists and pass him over — the Tri- bune, the journalist, the wit, the orator, the patriot, the political man of genuis who ran through each mood of the lyre and was master of alii I speak of Joseph xH^we, — and aid I desire to swell the list with lesser names we should include Cauchon, who owed all to his writing, and Spenoe and many others. And now let me say a word or two on THF ACTUAL ROMANTIC IK PABLIMENTARY LIFE. Singularly enough most of this is fur- nished by the statesmen — journalists. In British parliamentary life we have muoh that is unexpected, much that creates surprise, much that marks probability, much of the Actual— romantic. Disraeli's life is as romantic as that of his own Vivian Grey. But for a very good reason there is more of romance — more of the unexpected — the unlikely in the Canadian Parliament — while at the same time we have a som- brer background of perennial monotony 6 and lugubrious dulncss, weary iteration and a use uf figures and statist ica which in the majority of oases is foolish and fla- grant miS'Use. (Laughter and cheers). But against this dim Aud dusty canvas what stri' Ing lesuit does the bruah of time — nay — what figures and eflfecti do Chance, Luck, Will, Capacity trace and paint ! What colors of sui prists, what shades of night and disointments, baffled plans and balked ambitions and surging passions ; what pale and hoirid tints do Destiny and Vengeance and Envy; what rays of joy and power. Success and Vanity work in; and amid all, Hope like a beautiful iris, and for the critical and observant eye unobscured and unhidden the face of Duty like a star ! In England the statesmen have an easy course — a Roseberiy, a Derby, a Palmerston, a Gladstone. With plenty of wealth and opportunity, ail their time and power can be given to public life ; they have no anxieties ; they are coddled in political lore and crooned into statesmanship. But the Canadian statt'sman has to pick up a living while he works for his grate- f^^l country, sr>ine of whose citizens will condemn a minister who dies poor, th ugti h id he not devt)ted himsielf to thei'' Service he might have amassed a fortune. B >rn a poor in the City of Cork by the storied banks of the Lee, emigrating at twenty five, having received a commercial education, settling in Little Yotk before it foreshadowed the magnifi- cent Toronto of to-day, starting the Exa- miner newspaper, upholding alone am- ng Canadian journalists of the time the wise and constitutional principles of Lord Durham's report, entering the Legisla- ture for Oxford, becoming a power as a debater, forming a government, negotia- ting the Treaty of 1854, beaten when ap- parently at thezenith of his power, appoint- ed Governor of Barbadoes, promoted to Britiah Guinea, retiringwith Imperialhou- ors, Finance Minister of Canada, ending Mi days as a journalist, as editor of the fore- most commercial paper in Canada — was not this a romantic life ? His friend Robert Baldwin was a figure in public and private truly romantic. D'arc> McGee's life again — commenced as a patriot and rebel, full of vicisitudes, serving the orown he would aave destroyed, shot down because he was at once" patriot and loyalist, dying the proto-martyr of the Canadian Confederacy— here is rnman*;ic souff if you like. George Brown'n life — the Edinburgh School Boy — the fierce - tribune, Prime Minister of Canada, full of stormy battle — this too must be in- clnded, and his great rival the little Scotch boy in Kingston, running about the Bay of Quinte, rising to such emi- nence, accomplinhing such great things, now at the nadir of luck and a^ain at the ' zi^nith of good fortune and renown — like Dryden's milk white hind " Oft doomed to death but fated not to die." (cheers) and in the life also of his s urdy opponent Alexcinder Mackenzie, the Scotch peasant, thestone mason, and at last | Prime Minister, we have the warp and woof of the true romantic. (Cheers). Take our Prime Minister — commencing as a printer's imp (laughter) the printer's Mephistopheles (laughter) ; Minister of the Crown; Prime Minie ./; washing type and pulling proofs as a boy, ruling a nation to day as populuus as Englcnd in the spacious days of Elizabeth and a coun- try as large as the continent of Europe, does not this read like a dream of imagi- nation ? But let us take what might well be described as an almost incredible career having everything in it of the true r rtiatitio tliAt of the lain prbmier. Ten yrtars ago t»» the mnH% of Canadian people he was unknown, to-day he ts amon({ the moat renowned of Canndian atateamen. Oomtnencing life as a reporter ho becomes Prime Minister of Canada and a member of th.e Privy Council of the Empire ; born in a Halin;oniap cottage he dies in Windsor Castle when the guest of hia Queen and the associate and colleague of the foremost men of the time ; rocked in a fifty cent cradle one of the great battle ahipa of Ensfland is hia bier anu ^hn can- non of an Empire bxtms the requiem of nations over his pall (a burst of cheering) — and under the Southern cross — aa well as where auroral lights flame through the cold vast vacancy of the polar sky — in India— in a hundred isles — over distant lonely seas — on the hiatoric rock of Gibraltar — where the palaces of Stamboul fling their shadows in the Bosphorus — where the fortress of the Czar frowns over the Neva — in the city of ttie Kaiser — in the capital of European pleasure — in Vienna — in Madrid — in the capit