The meeting was presided over by the Duke of Buccleuch, who, in proposing their guest's health, congratulated the company upon the occasion which had brought so many of them together as representatives of every parish in the county, after a fight in which the interest of the whole country had been centred--a fight which was looked upon a short time ago as a forlorn hope--a fight with one of the most powerful men in the kingdom--one who came down here, you may say, as the idol of the people. 'It is unusual,' said his Grace, 'to celebrate a defeat; I will not call it that. I cannot call it a victory, but I will call it a very great success. It has been a success that has astonished ourselves, but it has done more than that--it has created consternation among our opponents. A few more, or, I would say, one more success of this kind, will not only be a victory, but a very great one. For a majority of 4631 to have been reduced on this last occasion to 690 is no small thing to have been accomplished. It has been accomplished by two causes, or, I might say, three perhaps. One was a first-class candidate; the second was hard-working constituents; the third--a very important one--was a good cause.' His Grace then referred to the Colonel's family as holding an honoured place in the history of Midlothian for nearly six hundred years, and to his own good qualities as a soldier who had fought hard for his country's honour, and faithfully served his Queen. {128} Colonel Wauchope's reply was at once modest, vigorous, and humorous, but our space will not permit us to give it in its entirety. In his most light-hearted bantering manner he referred to the consternation of their Liberal opponents on hearing that Mr. Gladstone had only been returned by a majority of 690. 'They said it must be a blunder; there must be something wrong; a "one" dropped out from before the "six"; it was absurd; the figure will be at least 1690.' 'Ah, but they looked, and they better looked, but there was no number "one" before the "six." The fact was this, my friends, that Mr. Gladstone's majority was down 4000, and so the news had to travel to Dalmeny, where, I fancy, it was not received with great cordiality!' After complimenting the committee for the manner in which they had all exerted themselves, and a graceful acknowledgment to the ladies who had also assisted, he concluded by thanking his supporters for the great kindness he had experienced, and the great honour they had done him, and sat down amid a perfect storm of applause, the large audience once more rising to their feet, cheering to the echo.