11 FEBRUARY 1888, Page 3

At a banquet given yesterday week by the Worshipful Com-

pany of Coopers to Sir Henry James, the guest of the evening made a speech in praise of those who know how to resist the popular tyranny of the moment, instead of weakly complying with it. He reminded his hearers of one of the saddest speeches ever made by a democrat,—namely, one by the French Republican, Ledru Rollin, who, when his attention was called to the excesses of his followers, replied,—" Yes, it is very sad ; but I must follow them, for I am their leader." "I fancy," said Sir Henry Tames, "that there are a good many among us now who are taking the same line." Sir Henry James, however, felt no temptation to follow that mischievous example. It is, he said, "the noblest part of a politician or a citizen, however humble, to stand by those who are endeavouring to maintain in this great Metropolis, and in every portion of the Queen's Empire, the authority of the law,— to refuse to allow not only the power of the Crown, but the strength of the democracy, to be weakened by the sad displays of force uncontrolled by the law and attempting to defeat it." Sir Henry James will rank amongst those who have done their best to dignify the democracy by resisting the mob.