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

it of Lord Pal.merston to Bradford,

BRADFORD, Tuesday

'There are few pereons who do not know Bradford,
at least by repute ; for if the truth must be told, its
charms are of a character much more likely to fasci-
nate a political economist than a tourist. In common
with most old towns in this district, the history of
Bradford is a chequered record of the progress of
one of the great branches of industry for which this
countryiis famous. It would be little to the purpose
to go deeply into 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 Norman adventurer called Ilbert de
Lacy ; to point to the record in Domesday Book
which says briefly, " Ilbert 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 Scots ; 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 then 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
whom the far-seeing Edward 111. invited to take
up their abode within his realm. After the civil
wars the woollen manufacture died out, and
worsted fabrics—ever since the specialite of the
town—gook its place. Strikes, commercial crises,
bank failures, and foolish opposition to
roachinery and to steam power, retarded but could
nc, t 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
interfered with its industry ; so that the clatter of
the ',logged operatives on their way to the mills—
so striking a feature to a stranger in all the manu-
factlering 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 come.
mercial class, par excellence, should desire to con.
nect with the ceremony of laying the first stone the
name of the most popular English statesman of
modern times, whose name, also, is honourably as•
sociated with the cause of free-trade. It Is a matter
c, f some little regret that all classes of the commie--
ty 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
Hail, 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, but 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.
Silence invoked for the introduction of some mea.
sure of reform to correct the anomalies of the
representative system, and to confer the right of
voting on those to whom it had been so repeatedly
promised. The reception committee, consider.
ing very properly that, on the occasion of a pro.
fessedly non-political visit, such an address was, to
say the least, ill advised, declined to have it pre-
sented. This determination gave considerable um-
brage 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 wails with placards an-
nouncing the fact, and inviting their fellow work.
ing men to respect themselves by observing a peace-
able demeanour and determining on a dignified and
significant silence. This unfortunate dissension,
and the 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 cif as
tranquilly as could be desired. To add to the diffi-
culty, the Dissenters also issued a placard, asking
their co-religionists for what they had to thank
Lord Palmerston, and recounting the Census Bill,
Sir Roundell 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. The interest felt was evinced by the
elaborate preparations, and 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, Pen.
place, Marget-street, and all the larger thorough-
fares. 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 liva longer than I have time to tell his 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 pun•
pose of accommodation for which it will be required,
and at the sane 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 Lightcliffe at 0.30
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 L tigued. from his long journey,
Lord Palmerston appeared to be in excellent health.
He repeatedly acknowledged the warmth of his re-
ception by bowing his thanks, and smiled good-
humouredly when an energetic and enthusiastic
bumpkin shouted, " Europe's hop 3 and England's
glory I" In the evening he met a select party at
dinner at Iloime House, consisting principally or the
magistracy of the West Riding. On Tuesday morn-
ing the directors of the New Exchange breeikfasted
with him, and at two o'clock accompanied the noble
with lord, and his other guests, to Peel
Park, the beanticfulipleasure-gzound which, bv the
munificence of :Nur tlhoteapsoe a late mayor of Brad-
ford, was on the wadding 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 assembly who had congregated to
meet him. After having had the beauties of Peel
Park pointed out to him, a procession Was organised