“As social companion, I suppose nobody amongst us has ever had such a large circle of appreciative acquaintance in circles from the highest to the lowest, male and female—(laughter and cheers)—and if I may venture to say it without exhibition of bias, his popularity is due to his inexhaustible fund of high spirits, ready sympathy, love for hosts of friends, open-handed generosity—(cheers)—admiration of beauty, his merry Irish wit, and infinite capacity of loyal attachment to his pals—(continued cheers).
“That concludes my dissection of his personality, which the patient has borne heroically, and I now put him together again as one piece—(laughter).
“I do not think any man in this room is intuitively more modest in the estimate of his own merits than my dear friend Bill—(hear, hear, and cheers). I know his impulse will be to attribute my praise to my kindly feelings towards him. I anticipate him by replying that 180 people have met here to do him honour—(loud and prolonged cheers)—that residents in India are not given to spasmodic ebullitions of enthusiasm, nor to be influenced by a passing breath of popular favour. Their whole trend of mind is in the opposite direction; they are more prone to indifference generally, and as regards individuals to apathy, and when such a goodly company as this assembles to bid good-bye to one member of the community, it bears the practical significance that he has made a noticeable mark and justifies the general tenour of my remarks—(cheers).
“I ask him therefore to take that unction to his soul in reflecting over this entertainment, and assure him that when on behalf of all of us I now wish him a very warm farewell, health and happiness in the future, and add a hearty ‘God bless you, old chap,’ we mean we admire him, that we are his friends, intend to remain so, and bitterly regret his departure from amongst us—(loud and prolonged cheers).
“I have now to call a toast to him, Gentlemen, as a typical soldier, a capable official, an undefeated sportsman, a prince of good fellows, and a man of mark amongst us.”
The toast was drunk with enthusiastic cheers, the band playing “For he’s a jolly good fellow” and “Auld Lang Syne,” in both of which the whole company joined in singing the chorus.
Lord William Beresford stood up to reply, and after the hearty round of cheering with which his rising was greeted had subsided, spoke as follows:—
“Mr. Chairman and Gentlemen,—Before I attempt to reply to the speech in which your Chairman has praised me much more than I deserve—(No, no)—I must ask you to notice that even the old schoolfellow and friend he is, he is unable to bring it to my charge that I am orator, and I must own I feel at a great disadvantage in this respect compared with him, and if the few words which I have risen to say seem to any of you to fall short of what they should, believe me that it is not because they are not spoken from the heart—(hear, hear, and cheers)—but because of my inability to give expression to what I feel, and surely it would be no reproach to anyone if at a time like this he found it very difficult, if not almost impossible, to thank you in adequate terms, not only for the manner in which you have accepted and endorsed the altogether flattering description that Mr. Moore has given of me and of my career in India, but also for the feelings of good fellowship which prompted you to ask me to be your guest here to-night—(cheers).