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

THE DINNER.

At six o'clock a grand banquet took place in the
saloon of the St. George's Hall, at which only a
select few were admitted, the committee having
wisely determined, in consequence of the pressure
for seats, to restrict the numbers at the dinner and
adjourn afterwards for the speeches to the great
hall, in which several thousand persons could be
easily accommodated. Mr Ripley presided, having
on his right Lord Palmerston, Sir F. Crossley, Bart,
M.P., Mr Edward Baines, M.P., and Mr W. E.
Forster, M.P. ; on his left the High Sheriff of
Yorkshire, Colonel Gascoigne, Dr Burnett, the
Vicar of Bradford, and W. H. Wickham. M.P.
Amongst the general audience were Titus Salt, Esq.,
the Lord Mayor of York, the Mayors of Leeds,
Halifax, Dewsbury, Bradford, and Wakefield; the
Chief Constable of Hodder-field, Mr. Ashley, Mr
T. P. Crosland, the Judge of the Court, Mr Juhn
Rand, Mr L. Wickham, Mr John Forster,
Lieut.' Col. Hurst, Mr W. Peel, Mr Jacob Behrens,
Ald. Scholefield, Aid. Law, Mr W. Thompson, Mr
Ambler, and Mr Rayner.
After the usual loyal and constitutional toasts,
the Chairman briefly prepased "The health of Lord
Palmerston," and in doing so expressed his gratifi-
cation that the proceedings of the day had passed
off so satisfactorily, without any of the disturbances
which at one time had been apprehended.

Lord PALMERSTON britfly responded, reiterating
his thanks for the cordial and hearty welcome with
which he had been received.

The company theu adjturned to the general hall,
on entering which Lord Palmerston was greeted
with repeated cheers ftom the dense crowd which
occupied all parts of the spacious Chamber.

PRESENTATION OF THE ADDRESSES.
Long before the hour fixed for the presenting the
addrrsse6, the hull, which is capable of containing
upwards of 4,000 persons, was densely crowded.
At the time appointed the chair was taken by the
Worshipful the Mayor, who was accompanied by
the noble guest and a large number of the most in-
fluential gentlemen connected with the town and
surrounding districts. The festival choir having
sung "God bites the Prince of -Wales," the Mayor
presented the following address :
To the Right Hon. the Lord Viscount Palmerston, K.G.,

G.C.8., M,P., First Lord of the Treasury.

May it please your Lordship,—We, the mayor, alder•
men and burgesses of the borough or Bradford, in the
county of York, gladly avail ourselves of the opportunity
afforded us by your lordship's visit to this town to express
to your lordship our high appreciation of the invaluable
services you have rendered to our Sovereign and country
during your long and distinguished career. In common
with the rest of our countrymen wo cannot but feel proud
of a statesman who has on all occasions, and frequently
under circumstances of great difficulty, upheld the honour
and dignity of England; and as a commercial community
we feel especially grateful for the influence which has been

exercised by your lordship as First Minister of the Crown,
in promoting liberty and progress, and the adoption of free-
trade principles amongst continental nations. We there-
fore rejoice in giving to your lordship a most hearty wel-
come to Bradford, on the occasion of your laying the first
stone of the Exchange, and we fully trust that your lord-
ship may long ba spared to take part in the councils of the
nation, and that we, along with the rest of her Majesty's
subjects, may continue to experience the benefits of those
devoted and patriotic services which your lordship has dur-
ing so long a period rendered to the State.
Given under the corporate seal of the borough of Brad-
ford, this 9th day of August, 2864,
JOSEPH FARRAR, Mayor,
The addres3 having been read by the Town Clerk,
a part song, " Let us quit the leafy arbour," was
sung, after which Mr H. W. Ripley presented the
following address from the Chamber of Commerce,
which was read by Mr Darliagton ;
To Henry John Viscount Palmerston, K.G., G.C.B,
M.P., Sce.

Bradford Chamber of Commerce, gladly avail ourFelves of the
May it please your lordship,--.Wei
which your lordship's visit to the capital of the
the Council of the
worsted district affords to us of expressing our gratificationat
seeing amongst us a statesman who has been actively and
faithfully performing the arduous duties of high offices and
trust under four successive sovereigns of this great empire,
and of having the honour of now receiving your lordship
whilst occupying the preminent position of Prime Minister
of England. Precluded by the rules of the Chamber from
entertaining any matter having any bearing on politics, we
cannot enter into the many great national questions which
have occupied the attention of the Legislature during your
lordship's public career, But we can assure your lordship that
the council of this chamber highly appreciate the invalu-
able aid which you, as the adviser of the Crown, have
from time to time afforded in carrying to a successful issue
the many fiscal improvements, and other alterations in
connexion with our commercial policy, which have tended
to open out and promote the commerceof the country. We
allude with much satisfaction to the French and other
treaties of commerce lately concluded and carried into ope-
ration, by which we, as well as all nations concerned, have
received and are continuing to receive great advantage, and
which were negotiated during your lordship's administra-
tion. We therefore heartily thank your lordship for thus
coming among the traders of Bradford to evince your kindly
feeling by taking part in the foundation of a building de-
signed to serve the purposes and promote the objects of the
trade and commerce of this district. We sincerely hope that
your lordship may long enjoy that measure of health, both
of body and intellect, which in the fulness of years, after a
laborious life, yet remain to your lordship unimpaired in
their manly vigour.
Signed on behalf of the Council,
HENRY W. RIPLEY, President.
JOHN DARLINGTON, Secretary.
The part song, " Oh hills, oh vales of pleasure,"
was then sung by the Festival Choral Society.
Mr RAND then proposed a vote of thanks to,
Lord Palmerston. He said he had never seen in
that hall so large and so influential an assembly,
which he was not astonished at considering the
importance of the oe3asion, so intimately connected
with the present and future of Bradford. He con-
gratulated them on th 3 success which had attended
the whole of the day's proceedings, and trusted that
the New Exchange, which was required by the
rapidly-increasing trade and commerce of the town,
would form an epoch in its annals. If anything
could add to the interest and importance of the occa-
sion it was the presence of a great public character,
thorough Englishman, and one in whose hands the
honour of England was safe, her prosperity and
best interests secure. lie had received a true
Yorkshire welcome ; for he was glad to say that
on such an occasion they would rise superior to
party differences of opinion, and he tra,ted that if

Lord Palmerston's valuable life were spared he
could again visit the town on the opening of the
Exchange, when he could promise a reception quite
as hearty and as enthusiastic, In conclusion he
moved the following resolution :—" That this meets
ing desires to express to the Right Hon. Viscount
Palmerston the great pleasure and satisfaction which
his lordship's visit to Bradford has afforded, and to
express an earnest hope that he may live long in
the enjoyment of intellectual and bodily vigour to
take, as he has done for many years past, an im-
portant part in the great councils of the nation."
Mr WICKHAM, M.P., who was very warmly re-
ceived, briefly seconded the motion, observing that
whatever pride he had in representing Bradford,
it was increased tenfold by the events of that day.
It was also a matter of congratulation to him per-
sonally that, in supporting the policy of the noble
lord, he had with him so unmistakably the confis
dence of his constituents.
Mr Alderman LAW supported the motion, which
was agreed to amidst overwhelming applause.
There was not the slightest symptom of any op-
position, although the chairman specially invited
those who held a contrary opinion to declare it.
Lord PALMERSTON, on rising, was received with
several rounds of enthusiastic cheers. When silence
had been restored the noble lord said—Mr Mayor,
Ladies, and Gentlemen, I can assure you it is no
figure of speech when I say that words are inade-
quate to express the pride and gratification which
I feel at what has passed this day. (Cheers.) I was
delighted with the reception which I met this morn-
ing from the inhabitants of this town. The recep-
tion has been crowned by having had the honour of
meeting this imposing assembly which I am now
about to address—in which I see congregated in
this great and magaificent building a vast amount
of manly intellect, a vast and striking amount of
those other and softer qualities which have been well
described by the gentleman who moved this address
as qualities which induce mankind to be delighted
at accompanying those who possess them. (Laughter
and cheers.) In despotic countries those who :have
the conduct of affairs are deprived by custom of
those opportunities which are enjoyed in a free
country like this, which are afforded to those who
conduct affairs of State of mixing with their fellow
countrymen on those easy terms which it has been
my good fortune to mix to-day with the people of
Bradford. (Cheers.) It is customary to talk of the
labours and anxieties of office. Well, those labours
and anxieties are light to those who believe they are
doing their duty to the best of their power. (Cheers.)
That only harasses which time and opportunity
prevents them from doing—that which they are
able to do is a source of satisfaction if they feel they
are doing their best, and whether their efforts are
attended by success or failure, their minds are satis-
fied that they have performed their duty to their
country. (Cheers.) But it is a great and heartfelt
satisfaction to be able to meet, as I have done to-
day and as I have had other opportunities of doing,
the people of England, to see their faces and show
one's own. (Cheers.) It is a great satisfaction to feel
that we meet on terms of good fellowship, and that,
while on the one hand sympathy mast be excited
more strongly in the minds of those who govern, on
the other kindly feelings are inspired in the minds
of those with whom we meet. (Cheers.) It has been
deeply gratifying to me to have been allowed this
day to lay the first stone of a fabric which is to be
the scene of business and commerical transeecions in
this, I will call great—but destined to be still greater
and more prosperous—community. (Cheers.) I
might say that I hope this building will be everlast-
ing, but I may perhaps venture to think, though
ample as its dimensions have been planned, capa-
cious as its halls will be, the day may come whe❑
the increasing commerce and transactions of busi-
ness in Bradford may outrun the capacity of the
building—(cheers)—that some other man succeeding
me may be called upon to lay the first stone of a
larger, ampler, and more capacious Exchange.
(Cheers.) There is something particularly interest-
ing in this tows of Bradford, for it is a type of
the Euglish character. I consider that character
to be marked by perseverance, in3ustry, enterprise,
judgment, and c)urage in pursuing that which has
been undertaken. All those quiities have been
marked by the people of Bradford. You have
converted that wl ich may almost be said to have
been a barren reser, with only a few scattered
hamlets, into a thriving and great commercial
town. Your progress has only been begun; happy
will it Ise for those who shall watch and murk its
future career. Eat in the course which you are
pursuing, you are not only contributing to your
own wealth and comfort and well-being, but you
are contributing immensely to the strength cod
wealth of that country of which you form so
distinguished a portion. (Cheers.) You have been
pleased in the resolutio❑ to advert to the conduct of
public men, mine amongst others. It is true, I
trust and am proud to say that during the last five
years this country has enjoyed a state of increasing
prosperity and comfort, and that whilst we have
been in a thriving condition at home, our honour
and the dignity and interests of the country have
been maintained--(cheers)—and, adopting words
which are familiar to the ears of all, the great in-
fluence of England in foreign countries has not been
lowered. These resalts are the consequence of the
combined efforts of an Administration of which I
way be permitted to say that no other Adminietra

tion that ever existed contained within itself a
greater number of able, distinguished, and capable
men. (Cheers.) I venture, withoat fear of contra-
diction, to say that
there never was a Government
in which every department of State was better filled
than it has been filled by the Government which is
no ,v in power, and therefore it would be unjust to
attribute any peculiar merit to any one member
of that Administration, the merit belongs to the
combined and united efforts of all ; and it is only
by such a continued and united course of action
that any Government cLn accomplish results worthy
of obtaining the confidence and goodwill of their
fellow countrymen, (Cheers.) It has undoubtedly
been one of the main objects of the policy of
the Government to remove all obstacles that stood
in the way of the development of industry and corn-

werce of the country,
and to induce, as far as they
are able to do so, other countries to adopt the doe-

trine, and follow the example which has been set to
them and held forth by us. But that task is not
an easy ono ; there is nothing so difficult to uproot
as a prejudice long established in the human mind;
and although those who have cast away pre-
judice, who have abandoned an error, and got into
the road of truth may wonder that others have not
done the saint, yet it is a remarkable fact that the
mind of man is prone to cling to errors as long as
they are interested in them; but when they have
turned their tack upon them, and have come to the
truth, they
wonder not only that others do not follow
them, but tha; they themselves should have ever en-
tertained the Fame errors and prejudices (hear, hear).
We all know what a long battle was fought in the

country betwEtn free trade opinions and the system of
protection, IV e know how many a man conscien-
tionsly thougit that the country would be ruined
by taking awly
that protection which this, that,
and the othet class had had from time immemorial
to the prejudice of every other class, and to the de-

triment of tho country at large. It is long before
a nation can learn the truth that in all regulations
of commerce you had to consider, not the interest

of one particilar class as producers but the interest
~ .

of that much larger class, the consumers---namely,
the whole nation. (Cheers.) Although a Govern-

ment may often appear hard hearted and severe in

dealing with the interests of a class of producers
who have hitherto bean protected, yet it ought to
have been borne is mind that they are only doing
their duty to the many, and that in fact even the

interests of those few will in the long run find a
benefit in th 3 changes which are made. (Cheers.)

We all recolhet the time when a proposal being made
to abolish the protection which the agricultural pro-

duarshad Jog enjoyed, thepeop:e were told that the

country would be ruined, would be starved, that the
land would to out of cultivation, that the agricul-
tural interest wou!d vanish ar.d perish ; and they

said, "For leaven's sake, dont inflict a calamity
upon the country." (Laughter.) Well, what has
been the comicquence ? Not only by the repeal of

he corn laws: have the bulk of the community re-

ceived large tupplies of food which previously they

c^fild not get; and been able, in exchange for them,

to send forth the products of their industry; but
the agriculturist himself has greatly benefited by
the change. (Cheers.) Every class which is pro-
tected puts on its night-cap and goes to sleep—
(laughter)—and it requires that which schoolboys
call the cold pig—the application of competition to
stimulate the energies of the man, and make him
bestir himself, and improve the calling to which
he has devoted his mind and capital. (Loud
cheers.) Well, that has been the case with all
other nations which shall adopt our principles of
free trade. (Cheers.) But if you come to talk
to them about it they pour forth such force of ar-
gument that you could think that trade would be
ruined, and the other branches of industry would
be impoverished, and that you cannot afford to
take the bread out of the mouth of this class and
that class. But they forget the interests of the
consumer. They look only to the small and local
interests, and they are as deaf as an adder, and you
cannot persuade them to adopt the doctrines you
preach. (Cheers and laughter.) Nothing can con-
vince other nations except the broad and patent
example of the prosperity which England has
reached from the abolition of that protective sys-
tem. (Cheers.) We are often told that we ought
to make commercial treaties with other countries,
and thereby gain in exchange for the admission
of other commodities, facilitating for the extra-
dition of ours. That system has been ren-
dered iradossible by that which we have already
done. In the case of France it was a necessity, be.
cause the French Government, although desirous of
entering into a system of free exchange with us,was
unable to do so except as the consequence of a
treaty, and that treaty, as it has justly been said
—and every man in this town well knows—has
been of the greatest advantage to England. lam
glad to think that it has been peculiarly beneficial
to Bradford.—(Cheers.) That it has been a great
advantage to the French nation, which when it was
at first proposed, thought it was a calamity from
which they could probably with difficulty recover.
Well, that treaty was made. We had to take off
import duties from an immense number of commo-
dities. It was Impossible to limit the abolition of
duty to articles coming from France, because with
our insular position commodities with other countries
would solely have come through France, and what
was granted to France was grunted to every other
country. In fact, we have acted upon what com-
mon sense prompts your negotiation with a fo.
reign country. If it is real and sincere that you will
abolish certain import duties here if they will abo-
lish certain duties there, it is very much as if two
men had shackles on their legs, and ono was to say
to the other—" Now, if you will take off your
shackles I will take off mine, but not otherwise."
(Laughter and cheers.) If the duties which we
impose upon the importation of foreign commodities,
which are wanted by consumers of this country, are
a burden upon the country itself, and the remission
or abolition of these duties is a gain, whether it be
accompanied or not by any corresponding remission
or obligation on the part of other countries, we do
it for our own sakes ; and so we tell these foreign
countries. They do not very much believe us.
They say, making an erroneous use of words, and
there is no greater cause of error in reasoning than the
misapplication of terms, they say, especially in Gerd
many, "If we let in English commodities upon a low
duty without difficulty, we shall be inundated by
them. They think in their own minds what
an inundation of water is, and that the same evil effects
would arise from the admission of European commodities
that would happen from the breaking of one of the great
dykes. (Laughter and cheers.) They totally forget that we
are much too sensible to make them a present of what we
have been making ; that we only send our commodities
abroad as an exchange for an equal value to be received
here; and that, therefore, they cannot be inundated with
our goods unless they themselves, by their own industry,
create an equal value to send us in return, and that conse-
quently every additional commodity which we send abroad
is the cause of additional industry, additional capital, and
additional employment to their manufacturers at home.
(Hear, hear.) Well, gentlemen, we have pursued this
course on the one hand ; we have acted on the principle of
reducing duties for our own benefit and our own advantage,
and we have held out to other countries the example of our
success as an encouragement to them to follow our course;
but I remember talking to a very distinguished political'
economist of a foreign country, and explaining to him how
it had succeeded with us. lie said, " Ah, it is very well ;
you have got rich by protection, and now you can afford
free trade." I tried to persuade him that protection had
slackened our course of progress, that we were less wealthy
than we should have been it protection had been got rid of
sooner. He said, "No, you hate got rich by protection;
and now we ere poor you want to keep us poor by a-king us
to get rid of that shield under cover of which you have
amassed the wealth which you now possess." (Bear, hear.)
Weil, gentlemen, all I can say is, that the course which has
been pursued for the last five years has been conducted with
benefit to the country. We have succeeded in preserving
peace, although there were groat events arising in different
parts of the world in which we might have been implicated,
and exhortations were not wanting. We might have been
tempted plausibly enough, upon good principles and good
motives, but we refrained from doing so. We have main-
tained peace, and I think in that respect we have done our
duty to the country. (Cheers.) We have lamented that
terrible war—that bloody war—which has been raging in
the northern part of the American Continent, but we have
felt that any endeavour on our part, or in conjunction with
any other European Powers to interfere in that quarrel by
our friendly offices would have done mischief instead of
good. The feelings aro high when the quarrel is fierce, and
the battle raging; the combatants will not listen to the
calm advice of friends, however good their intentions and
however wise their counsels. All that we have to do is to
pursue the course by which, in the first instance, we averted
the consequence of this calamitous war; to abstain from
meddling, and to wait for that hour which must come at
last, when the two parties, exhausted by their mutual efforts,
are at last weaned away from those revengeful feelings
which at present influence them, and be more disposed to
come to an amicable settlement. We can only hope that
the time will shortly arrive when that blessed result will
take place. Gentlemen, I have only again to say that I feel
it a proud and grateful day on which I have met with so
cordial a reception from such industrious and manly races
as the inhabitants of Bradford, on which I have had the
good fortune to meet so distinguished and, I may say, so
imposing an assembly as that which I have the honour to
address. I can only aay that this day will be amongst the
brightest in the annals of my life, and that I shall carry
away with me feelings of gratitude and thankfulness which
will never pass from my mind as long as I live. The noble
lord sat down amidst prolonged cheers.
Mr W. E. FORSTER, M.P., proposed a vote of thanks to
the High Sheriff, the representatives and mayors of neigh-
bouring towns, and other visitors who had honoured them
with their presence, which he rejoiced to think was a proof
of the good feeling and sympathy with which they regarded
the prosperity of Bradford—good feeling and sympathy
which ho was sure the people of Bradford would cordially
reciprocate. He could not help express'ng his astonishment
that the noble lord so soon after his arduous labours—and
few really knew haw arduous they were as leader of the
House of Commons—should take this extraordinary mode
of relaxation. Ilowev er, to it they were indebted for his
presence, which had given so much importance andinterest
to the occasion. He was led however to remind the noble
lord that the people of Bradford had extreme opinions, but

the noble lord must not conclude from their conduct that

day, and from the reception which he had met with, that

the people of Bradford had abandoned those opinions. They
felt that the occasion was not a desirable or fitting one to
express those opinions, and their forbearance must not be
taken as a proof that they did not desire their political privi-
leges, nor that they were not worthy of them. (Cheers.)
He would only make one more political allusion, The people
of Bradford thanked the Government with all their hearts
for keeping the country at peace. (Cheers.) But they were
not peace at any price men, and if the honour or the inte-

rests of of the country really required it, they would be as ready
to make any sacrifice as any other part in the kingdom.
(Cheers.) It was tot because the trade and the prosperity
of Bradford depended on peace being maintained with the
Continent, but because they felt that to have interfered in a
war which had already been rather a local war would have

set all Europe in a flame. This result, he trusted, would be
a 'coon to the:noble lord ani the world at large that we must

interfere less in foreign affairs and mind our own business
for the future. (Cheers.)
Mr M. NV. TIIOMPSON seconded the motion, which was
supported by Col. Gascoigne and carried unanimously.
Sir F, CROSSLEY responded. He observed that his hon.
friend Mr Forster had truly remarked that their friends and
fellow-countrymen in Yorkshire heartily rejoiced at the

prosperity of Bradford. Ho was delighted to have the op-
portunity of addressing such an important portion of his

own constituency, congratulating them on the manner in
which they had gone through the trying times of the cotton
_ _

famine. It wa73 true that a Large portit:n of their manufactures

was composed of the quality which Egypt and other parts of
the world had supplied in so extraordinary a manner to make
up the deficiency of the American supply, whilst the price for
cotton goods had so increased that the demand for Bradford

manufactures had been larrly stimulated, and therefore ho
rejoiced that the distresa which had been so severely felt in
the adjoining county had not been experienced in this dis-
trict. He rejoiced at the presence of the noble lord. After a

long and ard„ous session he might at his time of life have
felt justified in declining their invitation, if he had not
been 9" who lafid 91w9p; been ready to consider not his

own ease and comfort, but the welfare of others, For 12
years he (Sir F. Crossley) had sat in the House of Com-
mons, and he had usually listened with great satisfaction
to his speeches, but ho must confess that on some occa-
sions he had listened to them with a great deal of pain
—he meant on those occasions when he had given the cold
shoulder to political and ecclesiastical reforms. (Loud
cheers.) He mentioned this because meetings had been
held in the borough of the unenfranchised classes to con-
sider in what manner they ought to receive the noble lord,
and the decision which some wished to come to was to re-
ceive him with profound silence. (Cheers, and laughter.)
The noble lord would not misconstrue the cheers with
which ho had been received, for those who were to have
kept silence had been the loudest in their hurrahs. The
noble lord had not had the advantage of mixing with the
working classes as much as most of them, and he might
also be excused for not meeting them so much. Ho there-
fore begged the noble lord not to go away with the im-
pression tha because he had been received with so much
cheering the men of Bradford had therefore forgotten that
what they wanted was to obtain their fair share in the re-
presentation of the country. The noble lord had now seen
the working men of Bradford face to face. He had borne
testimony to their intelligence and manliness—and ho (Sir
F. Crossley) trusted that when ho returned to London he
would go co his right hon. colleague, Mr Gladstone, and
tell him that he had not made so great a mistake as he
thought he had when ho made his Reform speech. (Loud
cheers.)

Mr BAINES, M.P., also responded, and bore testimony
to the benefit which had been conferred upon Bradford and
the district by the treaty of commerce with France.
Mr TITUS SALT moved, and Mr RIPLEY seconded, a vote
of thanks to the mayor for presiding, after which the
National Anthem was sung, and the proceedings termi-
nated. The crowd in th 9 galleries gave Lord Palmerston
a parting cheer as he left the platform.
We must not forget to return thanks to the managing
committee and their secretary, Mr 011iver, for the excel-
lence of their arrangements, and the courtesy with which
they discharged their onerous duties.
Lord Palmerston left afterwards, as we understood, for
Saltaire, the residence of Mr Titus Salt; and having in-
spected (to-morrow) the celebrated works at that place, will
leave &their° by the express train at 4 o'clock in the after-
noon for town.