The Press.
London, England, 1858-11-20 00:00:00

THE DUKE OF ARGYLL.

Ar a meeting held a few days ago for the purpose of
inaugurating a new Corn Exchange at Dundee, and
which was presided over by Lord Panmure,
The Duke of ARGYLL made a speech in which he
touched on some political topics. Premising that lie
would not say a word which would imply disrespect
towards the Emperor of the French or his Govern-
ment, his grace said :

He believed that in very many respects that Govern-
ment was ahead of the people which it governed. The
character of that Government was to a great extent more
enlightened than various classes of the French people.
Rut, as regards that freedom to speak and write, which we
were now enjoying at this moment, France was in a state
of comparative decline, although he believed her external
power and her influence among other nations to be almost
as great as ever it was. But if our liberties of speech
were curtailed, if our liberty of writing were curtailed, if
any of those liberties which we prize so much were cur-
tailed even by a hair's breadth, we should feel that, as
regarded the best elements of our national life, we were
passing under the shadow of a great eclipse. One of the
most eminent Frenchmen had lately been subjected to
prosecution for a most eloquent writing in which he
praised the institutions of our country. But in that
document he said he knew his hopes were useless, he
knew that the weight of authority and the weight of
numbers were against him, and that the people of France
were contented with the condition in which they now
found them. This showed that there might be a moral
decline without any decline of material force. Turning
to the United States, it was the testimony of the best and
most intelligent American citizens that he had met with in
this country, that in many respects, although the power of
the Union was as great as ever it was, although they
believe, and he to a great extent also believed, that the
destiny of the American people would be ultimately a great
and a glorious one, the existing condition of that country,
in many respects, as regardel moral character, showed
transition and decline. They said that there was less and
less possibility of getting the highest characters to take an
interest in public affairs ; that there was less and less
freedom of opinion for opinions unpopular with the
masses; and that there was even a sensible and visible
decline in respect for the authority of the law. Looking at
these examples, we were all interested in asking if we our-
selves were passing under any decline, or if we were
advancing ?

The duke found the answer in meetings such as
that he addressed, and, adverting to the recent
speech of Mr. Bright, said :

He did not, indeed, reckon among those evils one which
was mentioned by a distinguished orator the other day in
England. Mr. Bright was good enough the other day to
torn his eye northwards to the poor naked land of Scot-
land, and he mentioned as one of the great evils of our
condition that there were various persons in the country
whose mainstay was oatmeal porridge. He could only way
to Mr. Bright that he wished Mr. Bright had one-half the
chance of good health and long life and vigour of many of
those healthy mountaineers whom he Lad seen bred up on
oatmeal porridge. But he freely admitted that, without
counting oatmeal porridge among them, many evils affected
our social state, and possibly some also affected our politi-
cal condition. But he saw that there was a steady pro.
press towards meeting those evils, and that the various
classes of society were un►ting together for the purpose of
rectirying them. Those were the best and the surest
symptoms of national progress—the surest and most certain
sign that there was no national decay. He felt with con-
fidence that we were a progressive people, not merely
that our empire abroad was as sound and as extensive as
it ever was, but that at the heart and core of the
people we were better, more united among ourselves, than
we ever were at any former period of our history ; and
that confidence was not abated because the distinguished
orator to whom he lately referred, speaking in the name
of peace and progress, and taking those great names in
vain, had 'oven endeavouring to raise animosities which
were now extinct, and to divide those whom the good
providence of God and the course of events had, year
by year, been bringing more and more close together.
He looked for the remedy of all evils to the enlightened
operation of public opinion. He trusted that we might
long continue to enjoy the blessings of peace. He
did not express this wish as if it were not expressed
by others. He did not, as Mr. Bright lately did, quote
the great names of Sir Robert Walpole, of Lord Grey, and
of Sir Robert Peel, as Ministers who desired to preserve
the blessings of peace ; because he believed that every
Minister who had governed this country hart more
or less desired to preserve peace, if it could be pre—
served with justice and with honour. But he repudiated
the doctrine which had been held by Mr. Bright, that
the wars of this country hail been mainly due to any one
class of the community. He appealed to Mr. Bright
himself if he had not recently censured the work►ng
classes of this country for those generous sympathies which
made them unite heart and soul in the late great war with
Russia? He could name a Minister who was as anxious
for peace as ever was Sir Robert Walpole, or Lord Grey,
or Sir Robert Peel—that very Minister by whose exertions
Sir Robert Peel was enabled to maintain peace during
more than one critical passage of our national history—lie
meant Lord Aberdeen. He said Kith confidence that
Lord Aberdeen desired to preserve peace not more from
the instincts of a virtuous character than from the deep
convictions of Christian duty. And he said that every
member of that Cabinet, of which he had the honour
to be a member, was anxious and desirous to preserve
peace, and yet they were not successful. And although
the efforts of the Government were seconded by remark•
able moderation of tone on the part of two or three