The Press. — London, England, 1853-10-01 00:00:00

LORD PALMERSTON IN SCOTLAND. Tut: Home Secretary has made three more speeches. liis utterances have been occasioned by the civic compliments paid to him in Perth and Glay.gow, where he has Kill'et . !isiveb attended, upon solemn in vitation to receive admission as a burgess, or be wel coined as a "guild brother." First came the Perth ceremonials. Lord Palmerston arrived in the "lair eh). on Monday morning, and WIDI received in the City Ilan by a coneAntrse of 2,000 persons, and an address in which the Town Conned announced their offer to his lordship of the city freedom as " being the compliment in their power to bestow." In presenting this compliment the Lout) Ptiovosr hiok weir:ion to recapitulate, for Lord Palmerston's infor mation, tiome of the leading incident% in his ( I.ord P.'s) career : • Entering on public duty (said the Lord Provost) at a very early period, Idler n most brilliant • ersity career, 3 • Merits as a statesman were very early appreciated. 'flay single feet that for nineteen years you held the ()thee of Secretary et War is a proof of how highly your abilities eslllllUteil by parties of all sliads•i4 of opinion. But, an lord. the part you took in the reform of the Parliament is rue ut the t important points to whirls you have to reler. Although brought up in another school, y o ur lord ship saw the necessity that then existed for reform, and you left those with whom you had bent accustomed to wet, soul lent your aid to that great cause. At that time you joined Earl I i Ivy, and adopted the motto of the reformers of the period, namely, ' Butrenehment • Reform, and Peeve ;' and I think that motto has been fully realised in the line tory of this country stare that period. It was about that time, nly hall that you were appointed as Foreign Secre tary ; and this inttoduces us to sonw of the greatest acts of y You were not long in that appointment 'before you were called upon to interpose your autho rity behalf of Belgium. Chiefly by your interposi tion, lielginiu wax set up DA a free kingdom, and I••ratice was mainlined in her ambition. (Appiumme.) Shortly after your inteqmosition was also requited in the attains of Spain and Portugal ; and on that twee/lion Yon hap pily coneluded matters in such a way that all the sound Protestants of the world admired your conduct in establish ing freedom of opinion—freedom from priestly emit rol— freedom from the power of the 'lesions and of Popery. (.4p p/owe.) lint, my burl, perhaps Bat most great and lia-st.gio• its &io of nll the actsof your public life wen. your effort* and ex. ertions in behalf of the shoe. (('heere.) No frts- man, I think, can it fleet on what you slid on that occasion without gratitude to you. Through y ()mordent and iniat•untentality this African blockade all% most efficiently enforced. stud by yonrdireetions the fortuitous, the reeeptueles of Millets ue otTim.o, were tleatroyed. and the captives set free. (Loan( 411'1410w.) 1 know it would be improper ill me to attempt to 1 . 1111 l iterate the many gnat deeds yon hays. done tiur your etattitry awl for the bent-tit of mankind. I a ill only add, that it would hat e beta very delightful. indeed, fair this e try had you at this day. and in this tiling crisis for Europe, been in the odic,. you .141 long anal ally held. (Load uhrec , .l Ido Hat Maintaine any reiteetion on your suc cessor in odic'; but I know that the whole world would have had great confidence in your experience, your wisdom. your derision, and iu your lils•ral spirit. lint. nay lord. there is one comfort that though yon are not intim Foreign- Hake pot are in the l'abinet, and I trust that the same rule that wags once propounded to your lordship, that no business slt ould lae tninutaetell with foreign potters without, in the first place. submitting the matter to Omelette Cabi• net, shall now be entilreed, and that ae will thus liii‘e tile ist.liefit of your experience and your wisdom. ( ( 'ho-is.') " The document el Inferring the 1 ' 1144101H Of the city of Perth was then handed to Lord Paltuerston. teeing enelosed in a silver-mounted rosewood east'. Lord PAIN ciras•raiN suit ably neknowledged the gift. bestowing several complimentary sentences upon Perth specially and Scotland generally. Duly commemorating his own connection with that country. in three years passed at Kilitibtuvh, while receiving a political cults, eatiggit fttott Pragressor Ditgald Stewart, and briefly declaring Iris starch adherence to the cause of parlia mentary anal municipal refonu, Lord Palmerston then diverged into the question of foreign policy It ass (satiti the noble aecretary) my atet' • desire, while the clionve of our foreign relations was committed to to y bands, in the turst glance to maintain unimpaired the interests stud ti1ita11 . 11141..41 the honour and dignity of the country. But. as Is. I these interests and that honour. there were certainly two objects which I had eonstantly 111 %jilt% and which. to a great degree. the timertentent of which 1 was a member aneeetsltsl in accomplialling--tlie one Was (41 4 , 114'41111 . 11ge • (114' 411(1 . (1 , 4(4111 sat the prilleipit . % of vow:tint*: 1 {,eat .'• Bin mghont the i4aiintries of I , :urope. 'flue 1.411 A Protest ham justly said that our effort* succeeded ill estaltlishint, that which 'I hold to be the best systeta of eoustitittional izot eminent—l Mean rolaatitn that inns esiabilailthi in N4Ollll1 — Ilia than prilieilblo .4 of got eminent were established iu Portugal and Spain. Anal we may look now with satin faction to the map of Europe. and we may 1-•••• that there HIV—I speak not of those small iniforturat•• states o f middle and southern Italy—itutting them out of the ques tion—among the great Slate's of Fun q••• 1114.1. e sore but Aus tria and Russia ill which, in some form or toll, r, represeto tative or constitutional got eminent does not exist. 'heera.) I know well 1 may he told that in many of these countries THE PRESS. it has for the moment been re-dewed to t mere furm ; but, depend upon it. forms are invaluable. As lung as good forms of glovennuctit are maintained nu mall need despair that the time mar' not conic when, even without violence. and without revolution. these (Onus may become real sub. Ltance. ( bead thowing.) The next object was—l will not say the. next, because it ass the first object—the abolition, the suppression of the detestable crime of slavery. ( Hear, Gear.) It was a diffirult task: there were many resisting in- Malec, •s. These hid uences have been, Itrust,almostentirely overcome. We took a eine which compelled that great de linquent, Brazil, practically to abandon its crime ; and, although Spain still continues, unfortunately, to a great degree—fes far as her 'hailed tweans are concerned—tee perpetrate this crime, yet I trust that Cuba will soon follow the example o f Brazil, and that the much.injured race of Africa will now be restored to the legitimate pursuits of agriculture and vommerce, and that the native will ue' longer tremble at the sight of a white mew, feeling that hr sees in him the representative of all the miseries that can afflict human native. ( App/aux.. •• • "It is—it ought to he—satisfactory to every Englishman to know that the• coowinet of our foreign relations is now in able hands; that my Lord clarendon—my noble friend Lord tiarendon—who is now at the head of that depart ment, 111116 penetration to see where the interests and the honour and the safety of the country are to be sought. that he has sagacity to dis,•over the proper means for preserving and maintaining those interests, and that he has firmness and energy and perseverance to pursue the right course to arrive at a successful and perfect result. (Cheers.) if my noble friend receives—us 1 am sure he will—the cordial, the generous support of the country, you may depend upon it that he will not disappoint the just expectations of his countrymen. ( Loud Hireling.) e• My duties now are of a different nature. The office which I have the honour to hold places me more in inti mate and close relation with my fellow•countrymen at home. l trust that in the performance of those duties I shall receive their cordial and general support. A minister of state has no better eves and can see no further than his neighbours. The probability is, that, after a very short time of reading hail hands and pale ink, his physical eyes will be• rather worse than those of others. Ilia ears an• not like those of I tionysins the Sicilian, and they can hear very little of what comes from a distance from him ; but his countrymen have eyes to see, and they have ears to bear. mid they have tongues to speak, and they have pens to write ; and if those who see and hear things that are going wrong will have the goodness to communicate to that officer whose duty it is, and who may have the power of setting those things right, can assure you, I can assure my fellow-countrymen at large, that whoever dies that will be conferring it great favour on the UM in office, mid will be doing a ~, y etit henetit to the country at large. (Ap plause.) I know that, among a great numberof communi cations, there may be many which arc founded in error, in mistake of facts, in tineconeeption of powers to remedy them. There may b,• a great deal of chaff in that which is sent ; hut if in a bushel of chaff' he shall find a pint of good cont. that bushel of chaff will be well worth the win nowing. and he can turn the pint of eons io good purpose. t..leptatoe.l Therefoono. though many persons may think that vommunicat ions from individuals give trouble to those who are in office, never mind that-1 care• not for it—the more trouble that is given, if it is for a good pu•prose, the better, for it is only by the assistance of the public at large that men in office can adequately and satisfactorily perform their duties. (Appluusr.) tientlemen. I can assure you that the course which the Lord Provost and magistrates of y • city have this day pursued is that which of all others is best ealeulated to promote the public interest—l mean, when public hoilies. ►ike that of the city of Perth, ace in the conduet of public men anything which they are led to sanction and to apprOVV. In my ease I feel that that approbation exceeds the merit which has called it forth but wherever public bodies, like the great and respectable hotly of this city. see in the conduct of public m e n that which they ATV pleased to approve. it is by a public demonstration of that approval—it is by the encouragement which those civic honours other to toter tions in the public service—it is by these mount that cities can best contribute to at' late public men to tuitions and zealous pertiormance of their duty. and to encourage those who are entering into public life to devote themselves zealously to the acquiring that knowledge, and to the prw•tising flasse exertions. by means of which the public seniee of this country will always Is• sopplied with nreu capable of fulfilling their ditties. and tlitial to any times a►d emergencies in which they may be called upon to act.'• The lion. F. KisNAIIIII, who spoke afterwards, re corded in the name of his constituents their grati tude fin• Lord Pahnerston's exertions in the cause of civil and religious liberty," as well as for the active part he had taken in obliterating the slave trade. Provost Thom, of Dundee, while regretting that circumstances did nut permit his own townsmen to imitate the example and share in the glories of Perth, declared that, although the control of the Foreign-ottice hail passed into other h a nd s , h e still would call Lord Palmerston the Secretary for Foreign Attain; on behalf of the British people." In the afternoon the noble lord attended the Guild Court. when, after being fully initiated as a " brother." and duly acknowledging the honour, Lord PAI.3II.:IOiTtIN proceed...l to make some remark: upon “ our recent commercial ": " I certainly think all partie% alto hare concurred in the ar inproectuetin. of our cointsienial o.ysteut may he proud of having done a gotta work. the test au t o f which will kmu. 1 trust, be felt for the benefit of the ahuk SATURDAY, country. And there is this rental kable circumstance, that I believe, no question which ever so much dtvided the opinions of mankind, having been retried one way, so quickly made converts of those who during the discussions bad held au opposite and contrary opinion ; for we are now all tree traders. There is 110 party in the country that now holds the principles of free trade to be a mistake, and an injury to the country. (Hear, hear.) I had, not very beig ago, the good fortune to meet an old "'fiend of mine who had been fur five or six years absent from the country. in a far distant situation, and who said he could hardly believe that he was come back to the same country from which he went, he found such an entire difference in the general feeling of everybody with whom he communi eated. When he went away, people were complaining of this, and finding fault with that. and discontented with something else ; but now be found all classes admitting thin they were sufficiently flourishing, and there was a general feeling of conteutment and satisfaction prevailing all classes with whom he communicated. (Applause.) it is true that national examples are slow of imitation. There are in other countries that which existed here, namely, private and particular interests which conflict with the genend good—honestly Red sincerely. often. as well as sometimes founded in selfish motives. But, in the countries abroad, there is, 1 ant sorry to say, still great prejudices against those principles of commercial freedom which have been established so much to the advantage of this country. But depend upon it that the example of England will, sooner or later, tell. (Hear, hear.) People may at first be frightened at the consequences of the pei. feet freedom of commerce which we have established ; but, though at tirst they may be slow to follow our example, depend upon it that that example will sooner or tab.r produce its good. (Applause.) But even if it did not— supposing other countries were still to persist in main taining a restrictive system—why, all we have done is benefit to ourselves—because it is quite plain that while yon pursued a restrictive system with other counties also, you were suffering a double injury ; you got dear that which you bought from other countries, and you sold at a disadvantage that which you sold to them; while we have gained half the benefit by buying cheap that which we want front abroad and. therefore, it is no argument against the sound principle of free trade that it has not been followed by other countries ; and, if other countries still persist in injurious restrictions, depend upon it that they do themselves much more injury than they do to us. We have done to ours Ives so much good as it is in our power to do by untying the shackles which fetter national industry. Therefore, whether other countries follow our example or not. our course is a wise one, and will never be retraced : for the longer we continue to pursue this course, and to extend, so far as circumstances may enable us or justify us in doing so, that principle of tree commercial inter course. depend upon it that in that proportion will the pros. perity of this country increase ; and in spite of the pre judices of other countries—and we deiive benefit from them even with a restrictive system—we shall sooner or later unite in levelliug at truce all those barriers which the pre. judice and ignorance of mankind have in former times established to resist that intercourse between nation and nation—an intercourse which tends not only to the national prosperity, but to the progress of civilisation, and to the happiness of mankind. I Lead (-berm)" The Glasgow proceedings, which took place on Tuesday, were almost an echo of those in Perth. The City Hall here also was the place, and a couple of thousand citizens the audience, of the complimen tary exelianges which the occasion provoked. But, while at Perth Lord Palmerston's eulogies, after exhausting themselves upon the immediate scene and actors, were directed towards his successor at the Foreign-office, in the present instance their object was another colleague of the Home Secretar. Thus spoke he of Lord John Russell : It was gratifying to him to be told that the honour he had that day received had also been conferred meet his friend and colleague. Lord John llussell—a men whose name would ever live in the grateful recollection of his fellow-countrymen as the most energetic, the most con• sistent, and the most persevering champion of the cruse of civil and religious liberty in every (punter of the globe. It was also gratifSing that lie shared the honour with that eminent man. Mr. Macaulay. In regard to the course of his own public life, he would merely say that he had en deavoured simply to do his duty as Foreign Secretary : br had endeavoured to extend to all our fellow.countrymett in every quarter of the globe that protecting aim which their county was enabled to extend: for they might sir void upon it that there was no country so remote. ne Government so undivided. apparently *lO unexposed to external influences. that the power of England was to there regarded when that power was exerted in a ja-t sort holy cause. " His lordship then alluded to the African slate trade, and highly complimented Lord Clarendon. who so ably performed his duties of Foreign Minister. for his efforts to abolish that odious traffic when he filled the office of our representative in Spain. Brazil had been compelled by the energy of the British navy, which could accomplish everything within human possibility, to put an end to that crime. Spain still continued to a small degree to practise that iniquity. but he trusted that Cuba would soon be hermetically sealed against the . importation of slaves. Brazil had derived the greatest advantage from the change. His lordship then referred to the improvements w hien were e‘eiv where to be met with in Scotland. and concluded bt referring to the encouragement which such testimonials as he bad that day received held out to public men.