The Sun.
London, England, 1862-03-04 00:00:00

3 cEy

DR. GUT.HRIE ON FREE TRADE.

(From the Caledonian Mercury.)
At a conversazione held in Dundee in connection
with the Chamber of Commerce, Dr. Guthrie made
a long speech, in the course of which he said—l
believe you will find the principles of free trade as
now enunciated and understood to be in perfect
harmony with divine truth. There are several
grand conclusions deducible from the most en-
lightened principle of commerce, but I will not
detain you by mentioning more than one or two
of them. One of the first and best—certainly not
the worst—is that every nation has its account
in the prosperity of its neighbour. If you look
to the Shorter Catechism—those of you who know
it—you will find in that Shorter Catechism,
founded on the Word of God, that we are to
"further our neighbour's estate." Now, it used
to be the old rule in trade—" Do not further
your neighbour's estate, but prevent it; destroy the
commerce of France and we will thrive; destroy
the commerce of the Continent and we merchants
in Dundee, Liverpool, London, Glasgow, and else-
where, will gain by it," That was against the Bible,
and it is against the truth. The more France
thrives, the more we thrive; the more Holland
thrives, the more we thrive; the better the harvest
in France the more of your sailcloth they will buy,
the more pottery they will buy, the more Sheffield
ware they will buy, the more Yorkshire broad-
cloth they will buy, the more linens they will
buy from Ireland and from Angus. (Great ap-
plause.) The tide that swells upon the shores of
France comes in time to swell upon our own.
And now, men of commerce have come to see
that their prosperity does not lie in the disasters
of other countries, but in their prosperity too—
(Applause.) And, my dear friends, what is that
but the old blessed Bible rule P—" Rejoice with
them that do rejoice ;" and (as you in Dundee and
in Lancashire and Lanarkshire, and in all parts of
the country, are now learning), from the state of
America at this moment, and the damage it was
doin to our own trade, we are taught also to
" weep with them that weep." There is another
grand principle of trade, as now understood, which
I want to bring out as also clearly in harmony
with Scripture—because, while addressing gentle-
men in the way of commerce, I cannot forget,
and I hope will never forget anywhere, that I
am a minister of the glorious gospel of Jesus
Christ—and that is, that no nation should grasp
at more trade than naturally falls to its
share. That is a conclusion now deducible from
the most enlightened principles of commerce, and
I say it is also in harmony with the Word of God.
That was not the old way of it. You tried to force
trade by bounties. That was more than fell to your
share. You tried to exclude from your harbours
and chief towns the produce of other countries by
heavy customs and dues and taxes; and thus you
tried to force trade. That was the old way of it
here. It is the way of America still; it is the
way of many other countries on the Continent
still; but it is contrary to the laws of Providence
and in the end therefore must be unprofitable.
(Applause.) I was very much struck with that
while I was last autumn in Italy. Every coun-
try, you see, in the marvellous arrangements of
Providence, has something peculiar to itself. One
country raises one kind of produce, and another
another, and there is a grand principle in that.
God intends by that to bind this world together in
the bonds of love, and brotherhood, and unity, and
concord, and interest, and peace; and I believe that
that cold, wretched system of anti-free trade was
running right in the teeth of the grand laws of
God's free Pro vielpnee, Well, I went to Italy last
September. I saw no turnip ; I saw no potato; I
:
doubt,
one
saw no barley; I saw no oats; hardly s
green patch of grass. The wheat harvest, u
was gathered in, but the ground was covered with
Indian corn, with its gigantic stem, its broad russet
eaves, and its prodigious head. The soil, that here
is dry as the ashes of the hearth, was strewed with
enormous melons—golden gourds—the land was
planted with mulberry trees, the leaves of which
are used to feed the silk-worm—and from the
airy minarets of the noblest of man's works—the
Duomo of Milan—well called "a mine of money
and a mountain of marble," on which there are no
less than 4,000 marble statues—the summit of that
noble building presenting a perfect forest of them—
and from which, through the transparent atmo-
sphere, you see the range of the Alps—Mont
Blanc on this side, then Mont Rosa in the centre,
then the Stolberg on the east—on to the most
distant part of the Tyrol mountains —mountains
a hundred miles away, but seen through an at-
t r no
from
mseoemshefruertohfersuacwhaytrtahnasupatrheencGy
rathmapt iatnhseyaredof
you. From these airy minarets you look over a
perfect sea of verdure—the whol® country being
covered with the mulberry trees, and between
these trees the vino flings its arms, forming the
most graceful festoons loaded with the most deli-
cious grapes ; and there is the peach, the grape,
We could raise all these—we could raise
the mulberry, the Indian corn, the melon, and the
Plum •
every one of them in Dundee—plenty of money for
glass and fire, and plenty of skill would soon do it
—but, gentlemen, it wouldn't pay (Great laugh-
ter.) It wouldn't pay ! (Renewed laughter.)
There would be a poor return—not 5 per cent., not
even a half—how high the price and how small the
quantity. God tells you to attempt to raise no
such things. He tells you to leave them to raise
Open your ports and
Itheseh
oar: end
esnedn
thed them
pe mr
dlul ecree .
of their sunny clime to
Britain, and let Britain raise her own produce. Our
weeping skies, our misty atmosphere, our lower
temperature, our comparatively sterile soil, our many
circumstances, teach us that it is other products
that we must raiso from the surface and from the
bowels of green fields—green fields, I will say,

that made my own island home more beautiful than
Italy with its sunny skies—(applause)—far—(applause)—far more
beautiful—(renewed applause.) Now, then, gentle-
men, look here how we are situated. Our country
is an island, washed on all sides by the sea, which
reaches its arms far up into the land, until you find,
away near the centre, the German Ocean and the
Atlantic almost shaking hands ; full of beautiful
bays; studdied with roble harbours; no shallow
coast,but plenty of deep waterand Britainbetween
the Old World and the New; Britain with no Cat-
tagat, no Bosphorus, no Gates of Hercules, to shut
it up or shut us in. It would ba a hard thing to
blockade us here in this country. (Laughter.) If
any one should try it, there-is no locking the door
upon our sailors and our ships. (Renewed laughter
and applause.) ,Very well, here we are situated ;
and what are we situated hero for ? We are
situated here, gentlemen, to be the exchangers—
the carriers of the world—(hear, hear)—for mer-
chants are just gentlemen carriers—that is the whole
matter—(great laughter)—just genteel carriers, and
genteel men that hand the stores of Italy away to
to America, and the stores of America away to
Italy. This, you sce, is one of our grand missions
—Free Trade for us, then. (Great applause.)

TRIAL OF SMALL BORE RIFLES AT
WOOLWICH.

The fifth day's " meet " for this important contest
came off yesterday on Woolwich Marsh, the com-
petitors being Mr. Terry and Mr. Rigby, in the
onset, and Mr. Turner and Mr. Ingram, Mr. Whit-
worth and Mr. Henry. This formed the second
day's firing over the long range of 1,000 yards,
commenced on the first day. Although the wind
had considerably abated, and the day was compara-
tively fine throughout, it was notified that the tar-
gets were much below the rating of the former days
From the tone of the public press in reference to
the alleged favouritism shown in the endeavour to
uphold the superiority of the Whitworth weapon,
it was suggested by the Council that a document
should be drawn up and laid on the Council table,
and that each of the competing gunmakers should
signify his assent by affixing his signature thereto.
Lord Elcho, whose impartiality throughout the
proceedings has never been called in question, but
whose courtesy and affability in all matters in de-
bate have been every day the theme of applause, as
chairman of the Council, laid the document before
the assembled competitors, the terms of which were
as follows :

"We are satisfied with the arrangements that have been
made by the Council of the National Rifle Association for
the competitive trial of small-bore rifles, which have been
conducted with fairness and impartiality,"

Mr. Ingram stated that in justice to his own con-
viction he was unwilling to attest the paper, and
would take no further hand in the matter. He
thereupon took up his slide and withdrew ; and up
to the moment of our quitting the spot there ap-
peared a manifest inclination to follow his example.
The proceedings were announced for renewal

-----
this day at 1 p.m., and it was likewise stated that
the contest would positively close at about 4, after
which the result of each day's target will be offi-
cially given for publication. Before leaving the
ground Mr. Ingram was called upon by the Coun-
cil to favour them with a statement in writing as
a reply to their demand, which he gave as follows:
" I hereby protest against the manner in which the trial
of small-bore rifles has been conducted, as I cannot but
consider that certain parties competing have all along beer
allowed advantages over the others, in so far that Mr.
Whitworth was allowed more trial shots by two than any
others. He also shifted his rest during the time of shoot..
log his diagram, which was strictly forbidden by the rules
laid down; and, further, that the many changes made by
the Council since the commencement of trial justify me in
this protest. " CIIARLES IXGRA3I4
" Council-tent, March 3."
Lord Elcho used great exertion to persuade Mr.
Ingram that his objections were groundless, and
that the great cause of complaint—viz,, the objec-
tionable target—should be fired over again ; but
his lordship's attempts at conciliation were unsuc-
cessful, and Mr. Ingram withdrew from further
contest.