The Sun.
London, England, 1854-09-25 00:00:00

v t_, 41-0-05r,(-1

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[PRICE 5I).

tof the human race. (Applause.) We have some intelli-
gence to-night from the Crimea. I .believe that intelli-
gence is tolerably—it cannot possibly be all—correct. I
believe there will be no security for peace or freedom till
England and France take the whole of the Crimea
into their possessiOn—land I believe it will be in the pos-
session of France and England in a very short time, for
them to dispose of it in the best possible way for
rivers
intoi ne ct ouen
the purpose of weakening the power of and lay-
ingßlack the
n ouf, Se
willue a
ss andaa
neverh. eI greatt nke,
any security against the barbarism'
that a very few days will put you in a stet
intelli-
gence that will fulfil that which I now tell e ofyou, that
when the possession of the Crimea
and
Sebastopol, and
the destruction of the .whole Russian fleet in
Sea shall have taken place, you will fully • e
ißlack
the
advance of that barbarous gorernment, andlerbelieve
that you will then gain I more by the increase of corn.
merce than the taxes which will come out of you during
the present year. With regard to Austria, I know very-
•well that there is a very large Russian party at Vienna.
I believe that party invited,; the Russians to come into
HUngary, and I believe Prince Metternich admitted that
it Was the. most suicidal policy' Austria 'could have
adopted ; but still Austria will ,probably, for her own
safety, adhere to the Western Powers. With respect
to Prussia, I regret to say that the• conduct of that go-
verment is vacillating, and most dangerous to Prussia
itself. It resembles the policy that country pursued
from the time of ' the treaty of Basle till the fatal
events which enabled Napoleon to occupy Berlin and
the whole of the. Prussian -dominions. But of the
filferstiecess of this-war, the re-establishment of peace
in Europe, the advantages to human freedom, and the
enlargement of the repreeentation of the people in ma-
naging their own affairs, whether in AuStria, whether
in Germany, whether in Italy, or elsewhere, I have not
the smallest doubt. I rest my confidence mainly upon
the greatest of all events that have occurred—the alliance
between France and England. (Great applause.) This
alliance is so powerful ,that the rest of Europe, and all
its tyranny, and despotism, and aristocratical preten-
sions can never withstand it. (Cheers.) And I look on
the fruits of that alliance with regard to civilisation,
with regard to commercial freedom and intercourse, as
the greatest event that has occurred since the breaking
down of the Roman empire. (Loud cheers.) Having
made these observations with respect to the events
passing in Europe, I would now wish to draw your
attention to that which more, in a domestic and familiar
way, embraces ourselves. But here I must dwell on a
great family, speaking the same language, having the
same origin, and generally the same worship with our-
selves, whose ancestors lie buried in the same graves,
and with which the progress of civilisation is still more
connected than all I have stated to you. I had a
remarkable observation made to me by a sagacious
observer while travelling with the American minister
the other day. We were speaking about the great
events of the day, and the accomplished person to
whom I allude said that Russia and England (that
is, the Anglo-Saxon race) have been the greatest
aggressors in the world. The Russians have been
aggressors, spreading and extending despotism ; the
Anglo-Saxon race have been aggressors, spreading civi-
lisation and commercial intercourse over the universe.
I consider the Americans, who have the same language,
the same worship, and who have our songs, our history,
traditions, and our romances, in common, I say that
these are the people of all others with whom I should
like to sympathise ; because, in the first place, they feel
much more keenly anything that is said against them by
us than by any other people in the world. (Applause.)
In the next place, our material interests are so much
connected that about one-fourth of our commerce is
with the United States. I wish to make these expres-
sions with regard to that country, with a view to pre-
vent future quarrels and jealousies, because as Lord J.
Russell once wrote to me, having once settled all boun-
dary questions, England and America may live in peace
ever after. (Repeated cheers.) When I was at the Board
of Trade, a treaty was suggested by Sir Robert Peel
similar to one which has since been concluded—l mean
the treaty with regard to fisheries, and the interchange,
duty free, between the respective ports of the United
States and the British colonies of North America, so that
I believe we have entered into a new era of peace with the
United States, as well as with France, and that we are
now at the commencement of an era with France
which will bring us' so close by material interests to-
gether, that, taking Scotland, England, and Ireland,
taking France, taking America, we are now at the head
of the civilisation of the world, and may defy all the des-
potisms and the tyrannies that exist in every other
part of the universe. Now, gentlemen, I think I have
ventured as far as either your patience ought to bear, or
as might have been necessary, with regard to our foreign
affairs. I want to say one or two words with respect to
the taxation of the last session ; and when I speak of
that taxation, we came to the resolution that it was much
more wise for us to pay the expenses of the year during
the year, and be done with it, than to add to the already
too heavy National Debt of this country. I know that
the taxation for the present year must be very high, but
I believe ours was the wisest course of policy; and in
one of the addresses of one of the greatest men I have
ever read of, George .Washington, he says—" Never
make a war unless you can pay the expense within the
year." (Hear, hear.) You have not the power to con-
sult posterity with regard to the justice of the war, and
you ought never to tax people without consulting them.
It was on these grounds that we made up our minds in
the House of Commons to raise the expenses within the
year. I believe that it will come back to your
pockets by extending the commerce of the country,
and that it will be seen that the Government have
done right in acting. as they have done.' (Hear.)
I have next to speak of our own internal affairs.
With regard to Scotland, we have certain complaints,
and many people wish to say a great deal about Scottish
grievances. Well, I too have got Scottish grievances to
complain of ; but I tell you frankly, I will not join a
mere league with regard to Scottish grievances, but
whenever I have a grievance put before me I will enter
into it with as much ardour as ever a Wallace or any-
body else did. (Cheers and laughter.) My first Scot-
tish grievance is this—that we are in Scotland ina-
dequately represented in the government of the coun-
try. We want that which I long since said was ab-
solutely necessary for Scotland, which was provided
for by the Act of Union—l mean a Minister of State
for Scotland, that will not be a mere representative of the
Parliament House of Edinburgh, but a representative of
the whole of Scotland, to attend his duties in the °nisi-
net, and whenever bills are brought forward or a real
grievance complained of; and I will never be content
to have a mere Lord Advocate—much as I re-
spect my friend the present Lord Advocate, who is com-
pelled by prudence and interest to spend two-thirds of
his time in pleading cases in the session courts of Edin-
burgh. (Hear.) But I have been told in London,
"Why, you are very comfortable in Glasgow—you have
a larger city than Manchester. When Manchester feels
a grievance it rises and makes a, great noise ; but you
are very easy in Glasgow—you never complain ; and
when there is no complaint against grievances, we think
they are not worth attending to. We know that the
real power of Scotland lies in the industry, commerce,
shipping trade, and riches of places like Glasgow, and yet
Glasgow does not complain." Now, I say Glasgow
ought to complain of real grievances, and not to join in
imaginary ones, such as having a hat on the head of a
unicorn—an animal that never existed. (Hear.) No,
noe complain and represent strongly your real griev-
ances ; be properly represented in the Government of the
country ; when you have bills to bring forward involving
the interests of the country, say we want a minister re-
presenting Scotland. Ireland has her Lord-Lieutenant,
Secretary of State, with the same salary as the Prime
Minister of England—her Under-Secretary and her At-
torney-General. Scotland has a Lord Advocate—a very
good, a most able and high-minded man, but he is a
practising advocate, who has taken his fees at the Par-
liament-house in Edinburgh, and who cannot attend
with the dignity of a minister at the Briti-h Parliament,
or as a member in the Cabinet. Another grievanCe is
this : since the union of the kingdoms, the expenditure
of Scotland has been so small as to be unexampled, be- I
cause the expenditure of most countries amounts
to the whole incomes of those countries. There is not
a country in all Europe where the expenditure has not
amounted to the taxation of the country. What has
been the taxation of Scotland ? Ido not go on my own
authority up to the year 1804—I go upon the authority of
Sir John Siuclair, who, in his "History of the Revenue,"
shows that three-fourths of the revenue collected by
Scotland has been remitted to England and paid into the
English treasury, that one-fourth, notwithstanding the
rebellions of 1715 and 1745, has been sufficient to pay the
whole expense of Scotland, military, judicial, and miscel-
laneous. In another country—l mean Ireland—the ex-
penditure has always exceeded the revenue from two to
twelve millions. I believe that bad government was
the cause of it in Ireland, where matters are now
far better managed. We get back none of what we pay
in Scotland. Our post-office, our custom-house, ever -
thing, in fact, connected with the collection of the ).re-
venue in Glasgow, especially the post-office, is in a
most
disgraceful condition, and that is one of the evils 1 com-
plain of, and about which you ought to exert
your
selves ; and depend upon it that if we labour under
anything like evils or grevances, it is our own fault ; for
when I look at what has been done with regard to Mae-
chester, a town that did not deserve
vernment, at least reit so much as has been of
the
cra-
s
got their greats for their parks' and .
men done —tley
ost everything
they wished—they awed the Gov e ran:die:fit through their
steady and stern perseverance ;
thing that is just you utmost bestir vL()ruse.7.vael?
lutist
make public manifestation., you must
your members who represent manifestations,y-ou in Parliament to
have the authority of your power before you call get
anything dune by theui. If you act feebly yourselves
you render your members also feeble. I should be
a much more efficient member representing a rotten
borough which was once offered me in Devonshire
than representing the people of Glasgow, unless the
people
appear strung at my back. The only other ques-
tion, as far as I am aware, that remains to be explained
by me is a vote which I gave with regard to the bill re-
gulating the University of Oxford. I voted then in op-'
position to my colleague and to some members repre-
senting Scotland. I voted on this ground. I bad a
representation made to me that a very meritorious
grant was made to the University of Glasgow by a most