The Sun.
London, England, 1863-04-01 00:00:00

there are lands in which the natural warmth of the sun
suffices for the comforts of mankind—where the teeming
soil, either spontaneously or with trifling labour, produces
everything which the people require for the sat e,action of
their limited want 3 ; but in those regions there is no moral
and intellectual improvement, there is no social progress,
and the people's minds are lulled asleep by he ease with
which their hemediate wants are supplied—are dormant,
and make no advancement. In these British Islands nature,
at first sight, appears to frown upon us; but if she is perseve-
ringly and without cessation wooed she relaxes into smiles,
and endlessly showers upon us unnumbered blessings.
(Cheers.) Providence appears, at first sight, to have been less
prodigal to these islands in her precious gifts than she has '
been in other parts of the globe ; but it would be a great
mistake to believe that it was so. In other countries the
treasures of Providence are scattered broadcast over the
surface They have only to be gathered and enjoyed.
They ate, however, not the les., abundant here; they are not
the less rich; they are not the less conducive to all the wants
which the minds, and habits, and usages of men may re-
quire ; but they are locked up in a strong box, the lock of
which cannot be picked, and which can only be opened by
the forcible application of the crowbar. (Cheers and
laughter.) That application the people of these islands
make, and, opening that secret chest, they find in it abund-
ance of wealth, by which they are enabled to bring to their
shores all that the other portions of the earth produce, and
which we may wont for our enjoyment. (Cheers.) Your
noble river and its bounding shores afford a striking
example of the power of mind over matter. (Cheers.) You
have inverted the ordinary arrangements of nature in your
river; you found rocks and mud and accumulation under
the water, not only useless but injurious, forbidding you
the practical advantages which your noble river seemed
destined to afford. What did you do ? You inverted the
order of nature. You took from the bottom of that river
those substances which were useless and hurtful; you
spread them over the surface of its shores; you increased
their fertility ; you added to their value ; you ren-
dered that which had been previously noxious conducive to
the wants of the people. But was that the only force which
you imposed upon nature ?—a force which nature wishes
you should impose, and which it is intended that the wit
and intellect of man should exercise itself in producing.
Why, you had deep within the bowels of the earth m'nerals
of great value and of great weight. You had substances
which if any man were to throw upon the adjoining stream
would sink to the bottom, and could with difficulty be got
up. What did you do ? You converted that which was
underground and heavy, and, being underground, u eless,
into the most buoyant forms. You made that which had
been heavy in the bowels of the earth light upon the sur-
face of your stream. You constructed out of those materials
ships of great capacity, of lightness, and of immense swift-
ness; and they now carry the treasures produced by your
industry and your skill to the remotest regions of the et be,
and bring back rich cargoes of all that constitutes the wealth
of those countries, and is conducive to the enjoyment of
mankind. I say, gentlemen, that this is a noble sight to see,
and when we traverse that river and see its shores crowded
with the haunts of industry, ships rising in every direction
ready to be launched and to go to the extremest limits of
the world, one cannot but look with admiration and grati-
tude upon the people by whose exertions and industry
these great results have been accomplished. (Loud
cheers,) And if the sight is pleasing, if it is honourable
to those by whom it is produced, it must inspire those who
are charged with Government of the country with honour-
able pride and with well-founded confidence—(cheers)---
because that skill, that enterprise, that intellect which
has brought about those marvellous results is sure to
carry the country still further from year to year, and
perhaps to produce in after time a state of things as supe-
rior to this, as this state of things surpasses that which went
before it. You have, Mr. Provost, been kind enough to
advert to incidents in my public life. If I have succeeded
in obtaining the goodwill and the approbation of my fellow
countrymen ; if in any respect my public labours have been
advantageous to the country, it has been owing to tw3
things alone. It has been owing, in the first place, to a
steady desire to perform my duty in whatever position I
may happen to be placed—(cheers)—but it is owing in the
next place, mainly and principally owing, to that generous
and enlightened support which the people and Parliament
of this country always have afforded and always will afford
to a-,y Ministers who endeavour to do that which shall be
most consistent with the interests of the country at home,
with its honour, with its dimity and its security abroad.
(Loud cheers.) We trust that the present condition of the
country is a proof that in those efforts we have succeeded—
(cheers)---for in spite of those particular calamities to which
you, Mr. Provost, have alluded as affecting us indirectly—
owing to that calamitous war in America—l may say that
generally speaking, the country is in a contented, prosper-
ous, and satisfied condition; with the single exception of
that unfortunate branch of our industry, unhappily too large
in its sufferings, which has been in a great degree the vic-
tim of transactions which are taking place on the otherside
of the Atlantic. We have, as you have stated, endeavoured
as far as the moral influence of England could effect it—
and in some cases our moral support was accompanied by a
little help of the hand—(cheers)—upon occasions in which
vele, small portions of our brave army and navy gave
moral assistance of the most valuable description—(cheers
and laughter)—we have endeavoured to assist those nations
which of their own accord were struggli.u6 cu obtain the
blessings of political liberty, and who were engaged in con-
tests against those who wished to retain them under
the yoke of despotic Government. (Cheers.) Portugal, Spain,
Belgium, Greece, have all profited by the support which
England has afforded them. (Cheers.) There cannot be a
more striking proof of the respect with which the conduct
of the British nation has inspired men living in other lands
than the unanimous desire expressed by the people of
Greece, and not only by those who live in Greece, but by
Greeks in every part of Europe, to receive as their Sove-
reign the son of our gracious Queen—(cheers)—to which
wish they were led by a knowledge of the blessings which
our political institutions communicate to the people of these
realms, and by an anxious desire that they also might, by
taking a British Prince, have a guarantee that they would
enjoy blessings of the same kind. (Cheers.) Well, gen-
tlemen, there are reasons which make it desirable that I
should not too long occupy your attention. We have other
engagements, and time will not stop for speakers, and,
therefore, permit me again to return you my most heartfelt
thanks for the honourable reception you have given cue,
and to assure you that I shall always bear gratefully in
mind the kindness which has been evinced by the people of
this great town of Greenock. (Cheers.) However short
the time, I will nevertheless ask permission to propose to
you a toast, which I am sure you will drink with the
greatest pleasure, and with all the honours to which the
object of that toast is entitled. I beg to propose to you the
" Health of your worthy Provost." (Cheers.) It is un-
necessary, and it would be unbecoming in me to remind
you of those merits your knowledge of which has led you
to place him in the distinguished position he now occupies,
and I will simply content myself with asking you to fill a
bumper and drink the health of the Provost. (Loud
cheers.)

The PROVOST briefly responded,
The other toasts were :—" Her Majesty's Minis-
ters," proposed by the Provost and responded to by
Mr. Cowper ; " the Members for the Town and
County," proposed by Sheriff Fraser and acknow-
ledged by Mr. Dunlop and Sir M. Stewart ; " Lady
Palmerston," by the Rev. Dr. McCulloch ; and
the House of Commons," by Mr. R. Steele, and
acknowledged by Mr. Crum Ewing.
Lord Palmerston then left the Hall, amid loud
acclamations, and proceeded by special train to
Glasgow.

SOIREE OF THE WORKING CLASSES.
At eight o'clock there was a grand soiree of the
working classes in the City Hall, Glasgow, in hon-
our of Lord Palmerston.

In the body of the Hall the decorations for the
festival of the previous evening still remained, with
the exception of the ornamental screen with its de-
pending banners in front of the organ, which poured
forth its eloquent music while the company was as-
sembling at intervals during the proceedings. Two
thousand persons were accommodated within the
area and galleries of the Hall. On the platform
were many clergymen of various denominations.
The general company were admitted at half-past
so
seven o'clock, and the arrangements wereperfect
that every one readily found the seat bearing the
letter and number corresponding with those on his
ofrrodmerltyhediermgeeanneoruari oafptpheearsaon-
ticket ; while nothing could exceed the quiet and
might be supposed
to represent the middle classes.
ccael,led operatives, who,
Soon after eight o'clock the arrival of Lord
Palmerston was announced. He was accompanied
by the Lord Provost and Mr. Cowper. His en-
tranceinto the hall was the signal 'for a.
loud and
prolonged outburst of hearty welcome.
Mr. Dalgliah, M.P., presided. On his right sat
Lord Palmerston, Lord Belhaven, Sir E. Colebrooke
M.P., the Right Hon. W Cowper, M. As;
Kinnaird, and Sir J. Campbell. On his le'f't the.
Lord:Provost, Mr. Buchanan, M.P., Admiral Hope,
Mr. J. A, Campbell, Sheriff Barclay, &c. The
tables having been cleared—

The CHAIRMAN, who was loudly cheered, made a brief
speech. He observed that if a working man was not to fill
the chair he had the next best claim to do so, for his father
commenced life as a handloomn weaver in the city of Glas-
gow, and his son had the honour to be one of their repre-
sentatives in Parliament. He had seen in the city of Glas-
gow many demonstrations in the shape of banquets to
statesmen, but on every occasion they had been given to
leaders or ornaments of a party, and the entertainments
were given by their party alone. But to-night they were
met—men of all parties, the representatives of all opinions
in Church and State politics—to do honour to their noble
guest. (Cheers.) They were not to do so now, not so much
to any political principle or party, as to an illustrious states-

man, who had known so well how to guide the destinies of
the country, and who had shaken himself. he might almost
say, free of party, and maintained his position by his great
ability and experience—(cheers)---for, although Lord Pal-
merston was the leader of he Liberal party in the House of
Commons, he was equally, if not more, supported by the
Conservatives. (Cheers.)

Mr. Cullen, an operative, was then called to pre-
sent the address to Lord Palmerston.

The address commenced by stating—

" That the meeting, as representing a vast amount of the
industrious classes of the city of Glasgow, approached his
lordship with feelings of admiration and respect, and with
hearty congratulations that he had been permitted by Di-
vine Providence so long, and so faithfully, and so honour.
ably to serve hie country. It must be peculiarly gratifying
to his lordship to survey the condition of this land, which
now, with one lamentable exception, and that produced by
extraneous causes, was prosperous beyond measure ; and to
think that the prosperity which it enjoyed was in no small
degree owing to the wise legislation of the past 40 years, in
alm,st all of which his lordship had borne an honourable
part. Abuses and restrictions had been swept away, the
moral tone of the people generally had been elevated, edu-
cation had become more widely diffused and more substan-
tial, acd, though there was still room for improvement in
th s respect, yet with a free Parliament, a free press, and a
free people, our country stood first in the rank of nations,
" both loved at home and revered abroad." It had fallen
to the lot of few statesmen to participate so largely in the
direction of the public affairs of the country; and, after a
lifetime devoted to his country's good, he might claim the
right " To crown a youth of labour with an age of ease."
The hand which had become accustomed to direct, the
matured wisdom and the ripened experience were still de-
voted to his country's welfare, and is still at the command
of his Sovereign. The Administration, of which his lord-
ship was the head, had earned the gratitude of the people
in so directing the course of public affairs as to steer clear
of all foreign embroilments. The principle of non-interven-
tion, which it had inscribed on its banners, and which it
had so strongly enunciated, was a principle which found a
responsive chord in the breast of almost every subject of
these realms. Enough of glory already encircled our name,
and we did not now require to seek it on the red field of
battle, but preferred to find it in such channels as those
opened up by commercial treaties, in the development of
our commerce and in the welfare of our fellowmen."

The address concluded by a fervent prayer—

" That his lordship might be blessed with uninterrupted
health for years yet to come, and that he might be spared
to see our country still progressing, the people becoming
better educated, more enlightened, and possessing that in-
creased share in the representation of the country it had
bean so repeatedly promised from the Throne, and so con-
fidently expected and waited for."
Mr. CULLEN stated that the address represented
the feelings of 50,000 of the operatives of Glasgow,
and 19-20ths of the tickets of admission to the
present festival were purchased by the industrious
classes.

Viscount PALMERSTON, who was received with inde-
scribable enthusiasm, said,--Mr. Dalglish and gentlemen,
—lt is well known that the deepest feelingsof the heart are

those which find the greatest difficulty in making their way
to the tongue. Because singleness of feeling is like truth
—it can be expressed only in a few words of truth, while
imagination may dress up sentiments less real and less single
in a variety of agreeable expressions. There are things with
regard to which it is more agreeable to give than it is to re-
ceive, mid thanks for kindness may be said to be of that cha-
racter ; for while the grateful heart can never be tired of ex-
pressing its thankfulness to those to whom it is under obliga-
tion, they, on the other hand, who give those thanks may at
length be tired with the sameness of expression, because
there can be no variety in the expression of a single senti-
ment. (Cheers.) I feel therefore that my good friends of
the city of Glasgow will think that they are somewhat
satiated by the repetition of those feelings which are deep
in my heart, which can never be effaced, and which to the
longest day of my existence will be as warm as they are to
night. (Cheers.) It is one of the beat privileges of those
who are charged with the conduct of affairs in a free coun-
try to have the happiness of meeting, as I do to-night,

large bodies of their fellow-countrymen. (Cheers.) li
'I hose who conduct despotic Governments are sepa-
rated by an almost impassable barrier from the
great bulk of their fellow-subjects. (Loud cheers.) They
have not those opportunities which we have of corning
face to face, of making personal acquaintance, of obliterat-
ing those prejudices which often are created by want of
mutual acquaintance; and they suffer from it in a way
which ought to make them desirous to convert their
system of Government into ono similar to our own.
(Cheers.) We who are charged with the Govern-
ment of the country are obliged, as a matter of
duty, and we have opportunities of becoming acquainted,
without perhaps much personal inconvenience, with the
wants, the wishes, and the feelings of the great mass of our
fellow-countrymen. But the great mass of our fellow-
countrymen are not so much in the habit of personal inter-
course with those whose duties keep them away and who
are engaged in other spheres, and many of them no doubt
believe that a minister of State is a sort of prim, stiff-look-

icg gentleman (a laugh), looking as if ho had swallowed a

poker (a laugh), and not animated by those feelings of sym.
pathetic congeniality which ought to inspire the breast of
every man who has the conduct of the affairs of his fellow-
countrymen; but when you get a live Minister, as I hope
you often will, you see that he is very much like one of your-
selves (cheers), and that mu.ual intercourse is beneficial to
both. It increases his sympathy with you, and it augments
your confidence in him. (Cheers) it is impossible for any
man to see what I have witnessed in this great town of
Glasgow and its neighbourhood without feeling additional
admiration of the creative powers of the industry of this
great country. (Cheers.) When I see, as I did to-day,
floating upon the surface of your river ships destined for
distant voyages drawing great draught of water, and when I
am told, as I have been this evening, by men still in the prime
of life, that they themselves had waded on foot through
that part of the river where these great vessels are now float-
ing triumphantly un !er the British and foreign flags, I can-
not sufficiently admire the skill, the perseverance, the indus-
try of the people of this district in having converted that
which was a river not available for the purpose of commerce
into one of the finest and noblest outlets and inlets—outlet

for the industry of Britain; inlet for the productions a

foreign countries. The address which I have had the honour
of receiving to-night adverts to changes which have taken
place of late years in the Legislature of the country. Great
and mighty changes have taken place, not simply in the
framing of our laws hut in the temper of men's minds and in
theopinions of the people of the country. Great delusions
have disappeared ; great prejudices have been removed.
Why, it was not long ago when it was the current opinion
and feeling all over the country that there was a natural
antagonism between commerce and manufactures on the
one hand, and the cultivation of the land on the other,
when people who were employed in agriculture looked with
a jealous eye upon their fellow-countrymen who were work-
ing in manufactures and engaged in commerce, and when
those who were engaged in the productive industries of
commerce and manufactures looked in a certain degree upon
the agricultural interests as hostile to their commercial and
manufacturing prosperity. Those prejudices have been re-
moved, those illusions have disappeared ; the agricultural
interest has seen that the abolition of those laws which
they thought, from ancient and traditional opinions, were
the foundation of their prosperity have been swept away to
their advantage as well as to that of other portions of the
community. And, gentlemen, why should it not be so ?
Those who produce food have an interest that those who
consume the food should be rich and thriving, and capable
of increasing the demand for it ; and they who possess land
feel it for their advantage that great capitals should be ac-
cumulated by the pursuits of commerce, and that there
should be customers for the land when it comes into the

market, to increase its value and rais' its price. (Cheers.)
there have been other delusions also which have disap-
peared, some prevailing not simply in this country, but in
other parts of Europe—generally, indeed, in the world. It
was long thought that protection was essential for produc-
tive industry ; men believed that by narrowing commerce,
that by shackling trade, that by opposing impediments to
the transfer and exchange of commodities between nation
and nation, national interests were to be advanced, and that
men would show greater activity if they wore fetters, and
that industry would be more productive if restricted in the
markets to which products were to be sent. That delusion
has disappeared--that prejudice has been surmounted, not
in this country alone, but in a great degree in the coun-
tries of the Continent. Men have found that com-
merce is not a one-sided operation; that there must be
two to a bargain; that a man will not sell you any-
thing unless you pay for it ; that you can only pay
for it in your own commodities ; that the more you export
the more you will import, the more you import the more you
must export; and that if one nation takes and wishes to
have the products of another nation they must repay them
by the industry of their own. (Cheers.) It was made a re-
proach to England by those who belonged to the first French
Empire that the English nation was a nation of shopkeepers,
that they wanted to monop Aise the commerce of the world,
and that the only way of preventing them from ruining the
Continent by deluging it with their commodities was to
impassable barrier by protective and prohibitory
oduties.ppose an
Why, g
gentlemen, assuming that we are a nation of
shopkeepers, what is the principle upon which a shopkeeper
w
trades ? Does he wish his customers to be poor ? Does he
them to be bankrupt and ruined ? Does he not rather
desire that those who are his customers should be prosper-
ous and rich, in order that they
may buy as much as they
can of what he produces, and that ho may thrive by the
thriving of those who employ him ? (Cheers.) So it is in
regard to our foreign commerce. We are not jealous of the
commercial and manufacturing prosperity of other nations.
We know we cannot get them to take our commodities un-
less we take commodities of them in return ; and indeed we
are too acute and painstaking a country to wish to make
them a present gratuitously of what they want. Well then,
to be able to buy our goods they must be wealthy and pro-
sperous; and therefore commerce—so far from being the
one-sided and narrow-minded operation which those who
are the enemies of commercial freedom had so long repre-
sented it to be—commerce is a generous pursuit. Commerce
is a pursuit which encourages the prosperity equally of all