Diss Family History Group

DYNAMITE OUTRAGES.
PRESENTATION TO THE POLICE.

Yesterday afternoon Sir W. V. Harcourt presented to Police-constable Cole, who, it will be remembered, courageously brought up from the Crypt into Westminster Hall the infernal machine which was deposited there on the 24th of January, the Albert Medal, which has been bestowed upon him by her Majesty as a mark of her appreciation of his courageous act. The presentation took place upon the first flight of steps in the hall, & few yards from the spot where the explosion took place, and in the presence of about 20 men, an inspector, and two sergeants from every division in the metropolis. Of the A Division there was a detachment of 150 men, under the direction of Superintendent Gernon, the other chief officers present including Superintendents Harris, Butt, Hambling, and Dunlop. The men having been drawn up in line, the two injured men, Cole and Cox, were led up the steps by Chief-Inspector Denning, Inspector Horsley, and other of their superior officers, and seated in the chairs which had been placed for their accommodation. Here they were speedily surrounded by a number of sympathetic visitors, the Speaker, Sir T. Erskine May, Mr. Macfarlane, M.P., Mr. Coleridge Kennard, M.P., and others warmly congratulating the men upon their improved health. Soon afterwards Sir W. Harcourt, who was accompanied by Lady Harcourt, Mrs. Gladstone, Sir E. Henderson, Chief Commissioner of Police, and others, tendered their cordial congratulations to the injured men, the right hon. gentleman speaking to them in the most kind and cordial manner.

Sir W. HARCOURT then said - Officers and men of the Metropolitan Police, we are gathered here together to-day to do honour to men who have done honour to us. It is fitting we should meet here on the very spot ir. this great historical building where these two men, by the faithful discharge of their duty, regardless of risk to themselves, have done so much to save this memorable place from the ruin which was designed against it. Cole and Cox both knew very well the danger they were running when they endeavoured to remove the smoking dynamite, but they confronted the peril-a peril, I think, as great as any to which mortal man could be exposed -without a thought of themselves, without any idea of shrinking from their duty, and performed towards the force and towards the country, with singular courage, the duty which was imposed upon them. It is a satisfaction to us and to them to know that by that act they saved much greater disasters than those which actually occurred. They have shown a noble example to the force to which they belong. It does not happen to all men to earn such distinctions as they have deserved, but of this I feel well assured that there is many a man now before me in this great and distinguished force who if the occasion occurred would show the same spirit that these men have displayed. They have set a great example, and I think too they have taught a useful lesson in showing to those cowardly, skulking assassins that there are thousands of men ready at any moment to confront the most murderous plots, and to defeat their treasonable designs. I am not here to speak to you of the rewards they have received, in money and in rank. It is very proper that they should be so rewarded. They have deserved all that they have received, and yet higher rewards. In the first place, they have received the approbation of their Queen. I had the honour of the Queen’s personal commands to convey to them as they lay in the hospital her Majesty’s high sense of the spirit and the conduct they had displayed; and there is no higher honour or reward that an Englishman can receive, in my opinion, than that. They have received the commendation of the force to which they belong, from the highest to the lowest in that force. They have deserved and they have received the applause of all their fellow countrymen. The medal which it is my duty to day to deliver in the name of the Queen to Sergeant Cole is a rare distinction. Since it was instituted I think it has not been given to above 12 men, but on no occasion, I think, has it been better deserved, and I am sure that I shall be expressing the sentiments of everybody here, and of everybody throughout the country, that as by the providence of God their lives have been preserved from this great peril, He may give them length of days to enjoy the honours they have so well earned. (Applause.)

Calling Sergeant Cole forward, the HOME SECRETARY then pinned the medal on his breast, saying “It gives me great pleasure, in the name of the Queen, to give you this distinction, which you have earned by your courage.”

Superintendent GERNON then called for three cheers for the Queen, which were given by the body of the police, between 700 and 800 strong, with vigorous effect, making the old hall ring again.

Sergeant COLE in reply, speaking in a voice yet feeble from his past sufferings, said -Sir William, ladies, and gentlemen, as the recipient of the Albert Medal, I am very proud. I am thankful to you, Sir William, for presiding at this ceremony, and making this presentation in so kind and cordial a manner. I am proud to think that my conduct on the occasion of the explosion in this hall has received not only the personal attention and marks of approval of her most gracious Majesty the Queen, but that she should have thought me deserving of this distinguished honour, which I shall regard as my most valued trenaure for the remainder of my days. I beg to ask you, Sir William, to thank her Majesty on my behalf for bestowing so great an honour upon me. I beg also to thank many good friends for their kindness during my illness, and for their kind appearance here to-day. (Applause).

Sir William Harcourt aglllain shook hands with him and Cox, and the ceremony, so far as they were concerned, terminated.

Sir W. HARCOURT then called for Sergeants Snell and Garner, who, it will be recollected, arrested the armed burglars at Hoxton, and having cordially shaken hands with then both, said -I don’t wish it to be supposed that these gallant acts are without many other examples in the police force. The two men now standing by me, Sergeants Garner and Snell, are two men who performed signal acts of courageous daring during last summer in the capture of the burglars at Shoreditch. They suffered from their wounds, I saw them in the hospital, and I am glad to see them stout and well again, and with the reward and promotion they so well deserved. I wish also to mention another man, Police-constable Chamberlain, who was wounded at Islington last June in the performance of his duty. I should have been glad to see him, and to have shaken hands with him, but I am sorry to say that owing to indisposition he is not able to be present. Now, before we depart I wish to say a few words to you men of the metropolitan police. I know - we all know - that you have an arduous life. You follow a painful and a dangerous profession, but I am quite sure that I ain interpreting the sentiments of all your countrymen when I tell you that they are not insensible or ungrateful for the services that you perform. To you, men of the metropolitan police, 5,000,000 of people owe that they lie down in peace, and that they rise up in safety; to you, in a great degree to your vigilance and integrity, is due the safety of this great metropolis. It belongs to my office, and I can assure you I regard it as one of the most distinguished departments in that office, to be at the head of the metropolitan police, and I have the means of knowing what there is of good and what there is of evil in that force, and I desire to take this opportunity of testifying that in my judgment the evil is singularly small, and that the good is conspicuously great. (Loud cheers.) Nowhere in the world is the police force regarded to the degree it is in England as the friend of the people among whom it serves. That is due to its good discipline, to its good humour, and to its good sense. I believe it is universally admitted that as a protector of order, as a defender of life and property, it is a force that has no superior - perhaps no equal - nywhere. It is said sometimes that the English police are deficient as a detective force. I am not prepared to admit that the charge is altogether well founded. It ought to be remembered, in considering the success of the police, that they have to labour under great disadvantages, and I don’t believe there is in this country or in the metropolis a greater amount of undetected crime than is to be found in other cities. There is one other thing I should like to say. I am happy to know and to find that the police force is a popular and favourite service. It has fallen to my lot very largely to increase the force much more largely, I think, in the last three years than has ever been done in a similar period before. I have never found any want of fitting candidates to supply the vacancies which might occur. That is due to the pains we have taken to do justice to the force, and to take care that men who have served well shall be rewarded well and pensioned well. We find also that men entering the force at an early age become very soon elicient and trustworthy constables, and that is due to the fact that they become good men because they find themselves in good company. (Cheers.) In conclusion, I congratulate you on this occasion- occasion, I think, that will be memorable in the history of the force. You, as we do, rejoice in the conduct of these men who have been on this platform today, because they have raised the credit of their fellows as well as of themselves, and it will animate you in the discharge of your duties to deserve, as they have done, the gratitude of their -citizens. (Renewed cheers.)

The proceedings terminated by the giving of hearty cheers for Sergeants Cole and Cox.