The Sun.
London, England, 1863-09-28 00:00:00

EARL RUSSELL AT BLAIRGOWRIE,

On Saturday Earl Russell was entertained to dinner in
the new Town-hall of Blairgowrie by the tenantry on the
Meikleour estate and their friends in honour of his lord-
ship's visit to the district. The inhabitants of Blairgowrie
assembled in procession at 1 o'clock, and met the noble lord,
who was accompanied by the Countess and family, about a
mile and a half from the town. On reaching the town the
noble earl was presented with en address by the mania•
trates, in which allusion was made to hid runny and success-
ful efforts in the cause of civil and religious liberty.
Earl RUSSELL, in replying to the address, said—
Gentlemen,— I beg to thank you for the very gratifying
address which you have presented to me. It has been my
good forture, in co-operation with many others, to promote
the civil and religious liberties of my countrymen. The
enlightened state of public opinion and the progress of poli-
tical knowledge have caused the success of measures which
in former days had been obstructed by selfish interests, or
defeated by ignorance and apathy. Let us hope that, with
the increased interest which is felt in public questions,
loyalty to the throne, attachment to the constitution, and
zeal for all useful reforms, will pervade every class of the
community. At the conclusion of his address Earl Russell
was loudly cheered.

Earl Russell then proceeded to the Public Hall, where
the chair was taken by the Earl of Airlie, and Sir George
Ramsay, Sheriff Barclay, and Mr. Kinloch were croupiers.
The Rev. Mr. Marshall presented an address to the noble
earl on behalf of the tenantry of Meikleour, which referred
at considerable length to various important measures in the
carrying of which his lordship had taken a part, and to his
present difficult and delicate duties as Secretary of State for
Foreign Affairs.
Earl RUSSELL, who was received with loud cheering)
said—Sir, when I receive an address of this kind I hardly
know whether I ought to be most gratified or asqamed—
gratified at such high commendations on my conduct, but
ashamed that to me are addressed praises which more
properly belong to many others with whom I have acted
and co-operated in public life. Several of these have new
passed away, and even in the present year I have to lament
the loss of some by whose wisdom, by whose sagacity, and
activity I was aided in the measures I brought forward.
You have Alluded to Parliamentary Reform, and to the
alarm which was felt at the prospect of such a measure by
many, and even by so great a man and so distinguished a
genius as Canning, and you rightly said this alarm had
abated, because it was found that the fruit, instead of being
bitter to the taste, was beneficent and useful. (Cheers.)
But, in fact, the alarm which had been cased by the French
revolution and the wars which succeeded, had made men
averse to any prospect of innovation, even although it
came in the shape of improvement. Mr. Canning once said,
most justly, that those who are afraid of improvement, be-
cause it is accompanied by innovation, may find one day
that they will have to submit to innovation which is not
improvement. (Cheers.) Happily in this country we have
avoided the error which Mr. Canning thus touched. We
have adopted improvements and avoided mischievous inno-
vation. (Cheers.) Perhaps no country has seen such a
series of changes as this country, during the period cf the
last 40 years to which you have alluded, without violence,
without revolution. I may say not only without danger to
the throne, which it was predicted the Reform Bill would
produce, but with increased veneration for the throne, and
love to the person who occupies it. (Cheers.) You have
alluded to other great measures which, in days gone by,
caused great alarm to the agricultural interests. We all
remember when we were told that it would be impossible to
carry on farming if the corn laws were repealed ; but with
respect to that subject, as well as many others, it has been a
constant observation that has occurred to my mind as years
passed on, that many of our laws were made not to prevent
men doing evil, which ought to be the object of all laws, but
to prevent them doing what was legitimate and even some-
times exceedingly useful, (Cheers.) 1 remember giving an
instance of a weaver engaged in a very useful manufacture,
and he naturally wished to exchange for the produce of the
farmer, it may be on the other side of the Atlantic. What
was there criminal in this that it should be objected to,
or that a man should be prevented or obstructed in doing
it ? Nothing whatever, and yet our laws were in-
tended to prevent that safe and profitable exchange. With
respect to other matters, and particularly foreign affairs,
I will not say anything just now, as I may have to address
you at a later period of the afternoon. With regard to the
latter part of the address, you are quite right in saying that
I have enjoyed the parks and trees of Meikleour, and above
all, the view of that magnificent river which passes close
under the mansion; and what has given me great pleasure,
perhaps I may say superior pleasure, is the eight of the la-
bourers around, and so well dressed, and appearing to be in
the possession of so much comfort. To those especially who
pass a great part of their time in large towns, and have to
view those alleys and the filth and degradation of moral
character which belong to them, it is delightful to see classes
of labourers, under so excellent a class of tenants as that a
Meikleour, exercising their industry and at the same time
enjoying all the comforts of life. I had a letter from my old
and valued friend Count Flahault expressing regret that he
was not able to be present to-day, having made it a rule not
to attend anything like a political dinner in this country.
But depend upon it that his heart is with us, and he feels
for the benefit of those around him. I must thank him for
having enabled me and my family to enjoy the benefits of
Meikleour. (Cheers.)
Dinner was then partaken of, after which the Earl of
Airlie gave the usual loyal toasts. He next gave " The
Health of the Guest of the Day," alluding to the political
career of Earl Russell from the time he carried the repeal
of the Test and Corporation Acts in 1828, down to the time
of his lordship acting as Secretary of State for Foreign Af-
fairs in the present Administration.
Earl RUSSELL on rising was received with continued
cheering. He said—Gentlemen, lam deeply grateful for
the invitation you have given me to be present to. day, for
the manner in which you have received the toast that has
been proposed, and to the noble lord in the chair for the
manner in which he has proposed it. Gentlemen, I think
the noble lord very truly observed, that however im-
portant those matters of domestic interest to which he
alluded may be, yet the contest being over, there is no
longer much excitement about them, and that for some
time the state of foreign affairs has rightly occupied the
attention of the country. (Cheers.) I confess I do not
wonder that such is the case, for the state of foreign affairs
has been a very anxious one, and on the state of foreign
affairs depend in a great measure the prosperity of the com-
merce and manufactures of the country. Every rumour,
every alarm, tends to depreciate or improve the property of
thousands. The apprehension of war causes burdens to be
placed on the people of this country, and might bring on a
struggle at which every mother would have to feel for the
danger of her son in the army or the navy that he may have
to encounter the enemies of the country. But beyond all,
in the danger of war, in averting it, if it can be prudently
and honourably averted, in meeting it courageously and
consistently if it has to be met—on these things depend the
character of this country and its high place among the
nations,—(cheers)—its fame in future ages, its very exist-
ence as a great community. (Loud.cheers.) I have, there-
fore, partaken in more than an ordinary degree of that
anxiety during the period I have held the seals of Secretary
for Foreign Affairs, and there have been important events
during the short period I have held that office. There was,
when Lord Palmerston came into office, the war in Italy
still pending, though soon closed. Then came the question
whether the Italians would be allowed without interference
to throw off their governments—most of them corrupt and
effete— (cheers)—and to attempt to obtain freedom and
unity for themselves, or whether Austria, or France, or
any other power should interfere and turn aside the destiny
to which Italy was aspiring, The Government of
Lord Palmerston did not hesitate for a moment to tell
the people of Italy to choose for themselves their form
of government, and from the capacity they had shown,
and the courage they had shown, it was one belief
that they were fit to take their place among the great
nations of the world. (Cheers.) Gentlemen, it so hap-
pens that I expressed that opinion as an organ of Lord
Palmerston's Government, and that in one of your own
Scottish cities—the city of Aberdeen—and I found, I must
say, that the whole country respcnded to the opinion I then
gave, and, supported by that public opinion, the voice of
England was powerful in preventing any intervention with-
out the wishes of the Italians. I well remember there oc-
curred that which is even now giving us painful cares—l
mean the civil war which has taken place in Poland. For
my own part, lam ready to defend, if need shall be, the
course which her Majesty's Government, in conjunction
with France and Austria; have taken on that question, but
I have stated in my place in Parliament, and I hold the
opinion still, that neither the obligation of England nor the
interest of England require that we should go to war for
Poland. Holding that opinion, I think it unbecoming of
us to rail at Russia when we are not prepared forcibly to
resist her aggression. However, I must say that it has
astonished me that, at the end of several months of corre-
spondence, Russia has taken the line she has done. The
partition of Poland was an event which was the scandal of
Europe in the last century— (cheers)—which is the reproach
of the three Powers who were parties to it; bat, at the
treaty of Vienna, it was thought fit—and circumstances of
expediency perhaps justified what was done—it was thought
fit to admit, as it were, into the law of nations, the state of
Poland as divided between these Powers, and to give a kind
of retrospective sanction as it were to the partition of
Poland. The Powers of Europe became, to use a legal
phrase, accessory after the fact. Austria and Prussia
complied with the conditions of the treaty. Russia has
not complied. It seems to me that was an act of great
imprudence in Russia, when she had the great advantage
to have the act of spoliation and partition condoned,
as it were, by Europe, to reject the terms on which that
emotion wag given, to root it, M rte acny xeritd it, 94 tjae