The Sun.
London, England, 1865-07-07 00:00:00

Lord Palmerston and his Constituents.

The Prime Minister hss issued the following ad-
dress to his constituents :

" 94, Piccadilly, July 6, 1865.
" Gentlemen,—Parliament having been dissolved
fresh elections will immediately take place, and I
beg to solicit from you a renewal of that confidence
with which you have honoured me during seven
successive Parliaments.
" If I were now addressing you for the first time,
it might be necessary for me to dilate upon the
future ; but I think I may with propriety found my
appeal for a continuance of your favour upon a
reference to the past, and to the results of the
course pursued by the Government of which
during the last six years I have had the honour of
being a member.

" During those six years, notwithstanding the
heavy pressure of three bad seasons on Ireland
and the severe distress which prevailed in some
of the manufacturing districts in consequence of
the great diminution in the supply of cotton
from North America, the United Kingdom as a
whole has enjoyed a remarkable degree of pro-
gressive prosperity. Peace has been preserved with
foreign nations, and this country has been exempt
from the exertions and sacrifices which within that
period other countries have been required to make.
Additional freedom has been given to the employ-
ment of capital, and to the exercise of productive
industry; trade with foreign countries has been re-
lieved from many obstructions, while new and im-
portant channels of commerce have been opened in
distant parts of the globe. The result has been that
the wealth of the United Kingdom has rapidly in-
creased, and though great reductions of
taxation have been made, and some diminution
has been effected in the national debt, the public
revenue has always been sufficient to provide
for the public expenditure, and to maintain in
efficiency those national defences, naval and mili-
tary, which are to every country among the best
securities for peace. The present time is remark-
able for the progressive application of the re-
sults of science to the operations of war both
by sea and by land, and the country has not
in such matters lagged behind the other
great Powers of the world. Nor has our colo-
nial administration been less successful. The
population of our North American Provinces
are devotedly loyal and attached to connexion
with this country ; and India, no longer the scene
of insurrection and rebellion, is making rapid strides
in civilisation and general prosperity.
" But the six years' period, in these respects so
happy, was doomed to witness a calamity which
plunged the whole nation into grief, and while the
loss of the Prince Consort will for ever be recorded
among the great domestic misfortunes of the
country, the universal sorrow which that loss oc-
casioned will at least testify that the nation duly
appreciated the high and admirable qualities of the
Prince whom they mourn.
" On the other hand, a bright gleam of hope for
the future has cheered the land by the fortunate
and happy marriage of the Prince of Wales and the
birth of two Royal Princes.
_ " How long the Ministry of which I have the
honour to be a member may continue to direct the
affairs of this great nation must depend upon the
will of the Parliament now about to be elected, but
I think I may be allowed to say for myself and my
colleagues that a just judgment of our past admi-
nistration will entitle us to the same measure of
goodwill which has been extended to us by the
Parliament now dissolved.
"In the meantime I again respectfully and
earnestly solicit from you a continuance of that con-
fidence which for so many years has been to me a
proud and honourable distinction.
" I have the honour to be, Gentlemen,
"Your most obliged and obedient servant,
" PALMERSTON."