The Sun.
London, England, 1864-08-10 00:00:00

Visit of I ',ord

to Bradford.

BRADFORD, Tuesday.
There are fe w per eons who do not know Bradford,
at least by rep ute; for if the truth must be told, its
charms are of a. chs ratter much more likely to fasci-
nate a political. economist than a tourist. In common
with most old. tcsw ns in this district, the history of
Bradford is a cl iequered record of the progress of
one of the great branches of industry for which this
countryis famo' is, It would be little to the purpose
to go deeply in to the early history of this hive of
industry ; to tell how, at the Conquest, it formed a
petty village of 250 souls in a manor of 40,000 acres,
granted to a INTorman adventurer called Ilbert de
Lacy ; to point, to the record in Domesday Book
which says briefly, " has it (the manor), and
it is waste ;" to show how severely for the 300
years of its history it suffered from the incursions
of the Sc ots ; to show that its special industry had
become marked, and was put on record by Leland,
who says of it, " Bradford stondith much by cloth-
ing;" to recount the terrible prostration suffered
during the civil war between Charles and his Par-
liament by the attacks of the Royal troops, in re-
venge for what Sir Thomas Fairfax describes as the
" townspeople's good affection" to the popular cause.
Recovering slowly from the injuries the.i received,
the history of Bradford has happily since been one
of tardy but steady and sure improvement. The
woollen manufacture for which Bradford was once
famous doubtless owed its origin to the settlement
in the ;town of some of those Walloon families
-wheal the far-seeing Edward 111. invited to take
up their abode within his realm. After the civil
wars the woollen manufacture died out, and
w orated fabrics—ever since the specialite of the
totvn—took its place. Strikes, commercial crises,
bank failures, and foolish opposition to
anatthinery and to steam power, retarded but could
not arrest, the advance of Bradford to the full tide
of prosperity which it now enjoys. Being almost
entirely independent of cotton, the disastrous
famine of the last four years has but very slightly
ie terfered with its industry ; so that the clatter of
the clogged operatives on their way to the mills—
so striking a feature to a stranger in all the manu-
facturing districts—contrasts strikingly with the
comparative quiet, in early morning, of most of the
Lancashire towns.
It is a good omen for the future of Bradford that
its commercial necessities make it necessary to build
a new Exchange. Little wonder is it that such an
event should be regarded by all classes as a cause
for joyous celebration, and still less that the com-
mercial class, par excellence, should desire to con.
nect with the ceremony of laying the first stone the
name of the most popular Eaglish statesman of
modern times, whose name, also, is honourably as.
sociated with the cause of free-trade. It is a matter
of some little regret that all classes of the commu-
nity are not in accord as to the reception to be given
to the noble lord. A large meeting of the working
classes was held a week since, in the Temperance
Hall, Bradford, for the purpose of considering in
what way the unenfranchised working classes
ought to receive Lord Palmerston, so as to undeceive
him as to any supposed apathy and carelessness of
the people on the great question of Parliamentary
reform. An address was drawn up in which the
noble lord was welcomed to Bradford, bat his at-
tention was immediately after called to what was
termed the " ruthless destruction of the compact
made in Willis's Rooms," and his immense in.
flnence invoked for the introduction of some mete.
sure of reform to correct the anomalies of the
representative system, and to confer the right of
voeing on those to whom it had been so repeatedly
promised. The reception committee, consider.
ing very properly that, on the occasion of a pro.
feesedly non-political visit, such an address was, to
say the least, ill advised, declined to have it pre.
sen ted.. This determination gave considerable urn-
bra,,,e to the working men, because some modifica.
tions had been introduced at the request of the re-
ception committee, who then declined to allow a
deputation of the working men to present a modi-
fied address. The working men's reception com-
mittee then covered the walls with placards an.
noaneing the fact, and inviting their fellow work.
ing mutt to respect themselves by observing a peace-
abla demeanour and determining on a dignified and
sigpificent silence. This unfortunate dissension,
and sne fact that a large number of the Low Moor
iron workmen are on strike, gave rise to some fore-
boding that the ceremony would not pass off as
trazqudlly as could be desired. To add to the diffi-
culty, :the Dissenters also issued a placard, asking
their ce-religionists for what they had to thank
Lord Palmerston, and recounting the Census Bill,
Sir R,undell Palmer's bill for enforcing church
rates in all new parishes, and the absence of the
noble lord from the divisions on the Oxford Uni-
versity Bill, as reasons why Dissenters should not
put themselves out of the way to add to the welcome.
The visit of his lordship has been arranged in
accordance with the details of a well considered
programme. '.l:he interest felt was evinced by the
elaborate preparations, mad by the display which
was made to do honour to the occasion. The line
of route by which the procession entered the town
was gay with the profuse display of coloured bunt-
ing of all descriptions. Flags of all nations floated
from the palatial warehouses of Leeds-road, Pell.
place, 2slarget-street, and all the larger thorough-
feres. Many of these wealthy firms displayed ban-
ners with appropriate mottoes and devices. One
of these, surmounted by the noble viscount's arms
bore the following :

Palmerston.
May he live longer than I have time to tell hie years,
And when old Time shall lead him to his end
Goodness and he fill up one monument.
On another, in large gilt letters on a white
ground, Was blazoned—

Free trade with all the world.
Instructed ships sail to quick commerce,
By which remotest nations are allied ;
Which makes one city of the universe,
Where some may gain and all may be supplied.
Numerous private houses displayed some emblems
of a share in the general rejoicing, and over prin-
cipal portions of the town the shops were closed,
and the day observed as a general holiday. Stout
barriers were erected in the streets converging to
the place where the ceremony was to take place.
This is a triangular space of open ground, known
as the Old Market, in the very centre of the town.
The building to be erected will answer every pure

pose of accommodation for which it will be required,
and at the same time be a decided ornament to the
town.

Daring his stay in the neighbourhood Lord Pal-
merston will be the guest of Mr Ripley, Holme
House, Lightcliffe, which is some five miles from
Bradford. The Premier reached Lightciiffe at 6.30
p.m. on Monday. His lordship travelled by an ordi-
nary Great Northern train to Wakefield, and thence
by a special train on the Lancashire and Yorkshire
line. The quiet: little village was the scene of a little
demonstration. The royal standard was hoisted in
front of the station, and flags were displayed from
the church and all the houses of the gentry in the
vicinity, At the station his lordship was received
by Mr Ripley and his son, and when seen by the
crowd who had assembled cheer after cheer was
given, and continued while the noble Premier and
his entertainers crossed the platform and got into
the carriage which was in attendance. Though
looking somewhat fatigued from his long journey,
T
..aord Palmerston appeared to be in excellent health.
Ho repeatedly acknowledged the warmth of his re-
caption by bowing his thanks, and smiled good.
numouredly when nn energetie and enthusiastic
ournpa-.in shouted, "Europe's hope and England's
glory !" In.the evening he me: a select party at
dinner
at lioirae House, consisting principally of :he
magistracy of the "West Riding. On Tuesday morn.
ing the directors of the New Exchange breakfasted
with him, and at two o'clock accompanied the noble
lord,
with Mr Ripley and his other guests, to Peel
Park, the beautiful pleasure-ground which, by the
munificence of Mr c.nompson, a late mayor of Brad-
ford, was on the wedding- day of the Prince of Wales
handed over to the Corporation, and thrown open to
the public. His lordship, on his arrival at the Park,
was received with a salute of artillery by the Brad-
ford Bowling Artillery Volunteers, and by the cheers
of a numerous assernb!v who had congregated to
meet him. After having had the beauties of Peel
Park pointed out to him, a procession wls organiAed