The Sun.
London, England, 1853-08-29 00:00:00

Lord PALMERSTON then addressed the assemblage.
Having cordially thanked them for the kindness with
which they bad received Lady Palmerston and himself,
he proceeded to say :—Allusion has been made in
the address to the foreign
policy which her Majesty's
Government pursued while I held the office of Mi-
nister for Foreign Affairs. Whilst I had the honour
of filling that situation, it was my abject to use every
effort in my power to preserve to this country and to
Europe the inestimable blessings of peace. But I felt
that the best security for the continuance of those bless-
ings was to make foreign governments understand that
while, on the one hand, this country would never wil-
lingly or knowingly inflict wrong upon a foreign nation,
on the other hand we should never submit to the inflic-
tion of any wrong from them. In these endeavours I
was nobly supported by the people of this country. I
am convinced that as long as the Government of this
country know that they are supported by the generous
feelings of the British nation, we shall maintain that re-
spect in the minds of foreign Governments which is the
best security for the maintenance of peace. (Hear,
hear.) It has been the object of the Government and of
this country, for many years past, to promote all those
social, commercial, and poli▪ tical improvements which
were deemed by the wisest men to be conducive to the
welfare and interest of the country ; and I think I may
appeal to the present state of comfort among the work-
ing classes as a proof of the soundness of the policy fa-
miliarly denominated free trade. (Cheers.) Gentlemen,
I am glad upon all occasions to come int o contact with
the working classes. It is the peculiar pride and dis-
tinction of this country that there are no insurmountable
barriers between the different classes of which the com-
munity consists. It is the happiness and pleasure of
the higher classes to avail themselves of every opportu-
nity of holding social and frie•
ndly intercourse with the
labouring classes. On the other hand, there is no man,
however humble, who does not feel that by his industry
and the exertion of his talents he may obtain the highest
distinctions in the State. There are abundant examples
in the House of Peers of men who owe their origin to
the honourable industry, the natural talent, and perse-
vering exertions of ancestors who, having sprung from
the working classes, and contributed to the welfare and
prosperity of their country, gained from their Sovereign
rank and honours, which again they have transmitted as
hereditary distinctions to those who have descended from
them. (Hear.) I am convinced, gentlemen, that the work-
ing classes of Melbourne are not behind other parts of
the country in point of natural energy, intellectual
talent, and industry, and I am confident that they will
avail themselves of every opportunity afforded them by
the increased knowledge and improvements of the age.
I thank you from the bottom of my heart, and beg that
you will accept my most faithful acknowledgments for
the flattering address which you have presented to me.
Gentlemen, I wish you all health and happiness.
A procession was then formed, which, headed by a
band of music, and accompanied by his lordship, marched
through the town to the site of the institute. On its
way thither it passed through triumphal arches, and was
greeted with the shouts of the multitude. A consider-
able muster of the most respectable inhabitants of the
town and surrounding district had collected on the
ground before twelve o'clock, the hour fixed for the per-
formance of the ceremony ; but the gathering would
have been much larger had it not been for the very un-
propitious state of the weather. Among those present
were Viscount Palmerston, Lady Palmerston, the Earl
and Countess of Harrington, Lord Petersham, the Hon.
Mrs. Lamb, Mr. Cantrell, Mr. Moss (Mayor of Derby),
the Rev. Mr. Dean, vicar of Melbourne, &c.
The ceremony was preceded by a brief address, ex-
planatory of the objects of the institution, from the
reverend vicar of Melbourne, who afterwards offered up
a prayer invoking the divine blessing upon the under-
taking in which they were about to engage. The stone
was then lowered to the appropriate level, when Lord
Palmerston was handed the silver trowel, and proceeded
in a workmanlike manner to accomplish thetask assigned
to him. The work having been completed, amidst the
enthusiastic cheering of the spectators,
His LORDSHIP said—Ladies and gentlemen, it has
afforded me great pleasure to assist in laying the founda-
tion of so interesting a building as that which is to be
erected on the spot where we now stand. It is indeed
a building of peculiar interest, because it is destined to
be, I may say, an epitome of the life of man, as well
as an example of the civilisation and improvement
of the age. It is to contain, in the first place, a provi-
sion for infancy ; in the next place, it will afford instruc-
tion and amusement for men of maturer years by means
of the mechanics' institution • and, lastly, in the savings
bank, there will be a provision' for advanced and declin-
ing age. In former times the treatment of infants was
far different from that which now prevails. Mothers
considered, and still in some other countries consider,
their infants as encumbrances, impeding their useful ex-
ertions ; and they used to be scolded till they cried, and
beaten till they ceased to weep. (A laugh.) In some
countries, mothers who want to employ themselves in
useful labour wrap their infants in swaddling clothes and
hang them on pegs as you would a hat or great coat.
(Renewed laughter.) But our improved civilisation has
taught us that we may provide for the care of infants,
and at the same time begin to instruct their useful
minds. It is, indeed, not possible to hope that any
great degree of information can be instilled into children
of from two to six years of age, and the knowledgeh
which is imparted at so tender an age may, pe p
long survive the hours during which it is communicated
to them. But they acquire habits of obedience, order,
and regularity, and habits are the most important ob-
jects of education, and most durable in their effect : and
the habits thus taught to infants in their earliest years
contribute to their happiness, to their good conduct, and
to their welfare in after life. We are, therefore, when
we establish infant schools, not only assisting mothers
by giving them the means of more useful occupation, but
we are laying the foundation for good order in that com-
munity of which their infants are hereafter to be mem-
bers. The advantages of mechanics' institutions are so
well known, and so justly and universally appreciated,
that it would be a waste of time, I may say, to dilate
upon them ; but, nevertheless, it is not useless to bear in
mind that these institutions contribute not only to the in-
tellectual pleasures of the working classes, but also con-
duce greatly to their worldly comfort and advantage.
And speaking of pleasure, I may say that there are no
pleasures which are really worth having but those which
are connected with the intellectual faculties. Pleasures of
another kind may, perhaps, be valued for the moment,
but they leave no good effect after them, and they tend
frequently rather to degrade and brutalise than to im-
prove and adorn the beings by whom they are enjoyed.
(Hear, hear.) On the other hand, the pleasures of the
intellect increase in intensity in proportion as they are
enjoyed, and they elevate the persons who cultivate
them in the scale of humanbeings. Now, gentlemen,
there is a remarkable difference between the times
in which we live and those which have preceded
us. We have indeed in these days great discoveries
and inventions made, worthy of the intellectual pro-
gress of the people who now live. We have in these days
invented railways, which facilitate and increase the in-
tercourse between towns, and provinces, and countries
—which tend, as it were, to render
.Europe one vast
city, and to confer upon different nations those advan-
tages of easy communication which heretofore were en-
joyed only by the inhabitants of separate towns. This
is a great improvement—a great invention—and one
which is likely to conduce much to the prosperity, the
happiness, and welfare of mankind. We have in these
days applied the power of steam to the navigation of
the wide ocean, and have thereby brought countries
nearer to each other which heretofore were separated
by passages of many months, accompanied also by great
perils and dangers. We have also, gentlemen, in these
days had an invention—one of the most splendid
triumphs of human genius, because it was not by acci-
dent that it was discovered—it. was the result of labo-
rious investigation and patient induction ; I mean the
electric telegraph—an invention which brings the most
distant parts of the world within minutes of each other,
and which will probably, at no distant day, enable us to
hold converse with our fellow-subjects in India as quickly
a
rooms. But,
gentlemen,
recently
acouldge
sdoleave
v in
also adjoining
their great and
a
important inventions and discoveries. The magnetic
as
parties former
needle enabled men, who used before to creep timidly
along the shores of seas, to launch into the wide ocean,with
attainingtbe certain security of attang directly the object of their
search. That was a great invention, and it laid the
foundation of vast improvements in the existence of man-
kind. Former ages invented also the art of printing, an
art whose usefulness it would be childish in me to point
out to any of those whom I have now the honour of ad-
dressing. Former ages also invented gunpowder, which,
although apparently an Instrument of more rapid destruc-
tion, yet gave to civilisation a secure protection against
barbarism ; and it may be safely affirmed that if the
Romans had possessed a knowledge of this implement of
war, Europe would not have been overrun by those
hordes of barbarians who involved the most civilised
portions of the world in the darkest ignorance for many
centuries by their inroads. But, geiitlernen, though in
former times there were men of great knowledge, who