r
superiority--not alone in arms--about that I care little, but in
manufacturing arts, the peaceful arts, which really reflect glory on her
people. (Cheers.) Give us fair play and no favour, and we need not fear
the strength of the whole world. (Hear.) Let us start in an honest
rivalry--let us get rid of the drawbacks and impediments which are in
the way of our progress, and sure I am that the virtues, the energies,
the industry, the adventurous spirit of the manufacturers and merchants
of England, which have planted their language in every climate and in
every region, would make them known as benefactors through the wide
world. They are recognised by the black man as giving him many sources
of enjoyment which he had not before; by the red man as having reached
his fields and forests, and brought to him in his daily life enjoyments
of which his ancestors had no notion; by all tribes and tongues
throughout the wide expanse of the earth, as the allies of improvement,
and the promoters of happiness. Sure I am that England--emancipated
England--the labourers--the artisans of England, may do more for the
honour and reputation of our country than was ever done by all the
Nelsons and Wellingtons of the day. (Loud cheers.) I was struck very
much, the other day, by the remark of one of the wisest and best men of
our times, from the other side of the Atlantic, who said, 'I am not
dazzled by the great names which I see recorded in high places; I am not
attracted by the statues which are raised to the men whom you call
illustrious, but what _does_ strike me, what _does_ delight me, what
_does_ fascinate me, is to trace the working man of England to his home;
to see him there labouring at his loom unnoticed and unknown, toiling
before the sun rises, nor ceasing to toil when the sun has descended
beneath the mountain. It is _that_ man, the missionary of peace, who
forms the true link of alliance between nation and nation, making all
men of one kindred and of one blood,--that man upon whose brow the sweat
is falling,--that man whose hands are hardened by labour,--that is the
man of whom England has a right to be proud--(hear)--that is the man
whom the world ought to recognise as its benefactor.' (Cheers.) And,
gentlemen, in such sentiments I cordially agree, and the time will come
when the names of men who are called illustrious, at whose feet we have
been rolling out torrents of wealth, whom we have been crowning with
dazzling honours