The Sun.
London, England, 1856-11-07 00:00:00

IA)", '; FRIDAY EVYI4ING, NOVEMBER 7, 1856.

man must be more particularly anxious to receive to sti-
monies of approval it must be from those great commu-
nities which, like that which I now have the honour to
address, are, I may say, espscially characteristic of the
British constitution. (Cheers.) For that which peculiarly
distinguishes the people of these islands from the nations of
the continent is that system of local self-government which
has been so fortanately established, and by which the
affairs of the country are carried on with little inter-
ference on the part of the executive Government. Under
that system the affairs of the country are conducted by the
people themselves, whose own fault it is if they be not con-
ducted to their satisfaction. But they are conducted to
their satisfaction, to the great benefit of the empire at
large, and to the raising of the character and reputation of
the country among the nations of the world. But, gentle-
men, among the various duties which fall to those bodies
which are charged with their local self-government, there
can be none more important, there can be none more inte-
resting, there can be none that'is attended with more per-
manent and general benefit than that attention which you
have devoted to the spread of education and the diffusion
of information among the lower classes. Those who are
blessed with fortune and leisure can without difficulty fur-
nish themself with the means of instruction, but for the
great majority of those who pass their days in labour, and
who are compelled to, devote their lives to their own main-
tenance and to that of their families, it is obviously im-
possible to provide themselves out of their own moans and
resources with those opportunities of mental culture ne-
cessary for the 'full development of their moral and intel-
lectual faculties. knd, itdeed, it-is "Molt honourable to
the corporation of this lairough that they have established
in this building those facilities of information which you,
Mr. Mayor, have so well explained, and the results of
which must not only be attended with deep gratification
to those who partake of them, but mast raise them as
citizens in the scale of civilisation. It is tale, Mr. Mayor,
as stated by you and my hon. friend the representative of
your borough, that the Government of which-I am the
head undertook the conduct of public affaira in a 'moment
of apparent difficulty. I say of " apparent" difficulty,
because, to a country like this, full of people of such
energy and such high spirit, whose courage rises with the
occasion, whose resources, both of wealth and ingenuity,
are never failing, and never inferior to the exigencies of the
time, there is no difficulty which is real, or at least which is
not sure to be surmounted. (Loud cheers.) Our difficulties,
therefore, were less serious than might be supposed because
'we knew• that our cause beingjust we might count upon the
support of the people and Parliament of the country—
(cheers)—we knew that we might reckori upon the bravery
of our soldiers and our sailors; we knew that we could rely
upon the fidelity of our allies, and we were confident that
whatever clouds might lour on the horizon we should be
enabled to bring the contest to an honourable and, we
trust, a speedy termination. (Applause.) My hon. friend
the member for Salford has remarked upon the imputa-
tions which on former occasions were cast upon me per-
sonally of a disposition to risk, without necessity, thepeace
of the country, and to go, if not into the thick, at least to
the verge of wars with other countries. Those accusations,
allow me to say, were founded on a misconception of the
nature of things —(laughter) —for, depend upon it, that a
cquntry like this, with great interests at stake antra great
reputation to maintain, with oar fellow•subjects scattered
over the whole face of the globe, with our property floating
upon every ocean, with commercial transactions extending
to the remotest corners of the earth—depend upon it, I say,
that a country so circumstanced does well, acts wisely, to
guard against the approach of insult and the very appear-
ance of wrong, and that it is easier to stop the beginning
of such affairs than to find a remedy when thesOil
risen to a great magnitude, and when great efforts may he
required to check it. (Cheers.) Therefore, my object
throughout the transactions to which my hon. friend has'
made reference was not to bring on war, but to prevent
war—(cheers)--and rely upon it that it is the true policy
for this country. It is the policy which has been pursued
by all those statesmen of former times who have raised
most highly the reputation of this country, and most en-
joyed the confidence of the people ; it is the policy, he as-
sured of it, which all enlightened statesmen will adopt,
and which all intelligent people will justify and approve.
(Cheers.) You have expressed a hope that her Majesty's
Government will follow out the course of improvement
which has hitherto been pursued. Any Government in-
sensible to that duty must be unfit to be charged with the
conduct of public affairs. Progressive improvement is what
every man studies to practise in his private affairs, and why
should not the nation practise it allot.. When we look
around, we dud that every man irr-banteitti capacity im-
proves his estate, his house, his bosiiiihi,his machinery,
his manufactures. (Hear.) Then why should we not en-
deavour to be perpetually ameliorating those laws and in-
stitutions which, being human, cannot be perfect, but
which, according to the progress of society and the change
of circumstance must be continually in need of emendation
and extension. (Applause.) It is quite true that if it is of
importance, as every man must acknowledge it to be, that
this country should stand high in the estimation of other na-
tions, it is not by maintaining groat armies and navies that
that desirable object is to be attained. Of course, all na-
tions must have the means of self-defence, but it is not by
threatening others—as lam sorry to say has too often been
the practice of continental nations and governments—it is
not by keeping up menacing establishments that real sub-
stantial and useful political influence is to be acquired.
That object is to be attained by the moral authority which
the bearing of a nation exercises upon the opinion of
others; it is to be attained when other nations know that
a people will not submit to wrong or violate what is right,
when they know that a people is imbued with self-respect;
that they have energy to develops their resources ; that,

when threatened with foreign danger, they are united as one
man; that they seek not war, but, on the contrary, desire
peace, yet they will not endure to be insulted or injured

with impunity. A nation exorcises a potent influence when
it is seen to exhibit a bright example of internal order and

morality, when it is manifest that the intellectual. advance-

ment of the country is the object of its rulers, and when it
is obvious that the welfare of all classes is promoted with
equal assiduity; then it is, and then alone, that the exam-
ple, though not admitted at first, produces a powerful im-
'pression upon the minds of others; then it is that even
thoso who may feel that our institutions are not in

exact accordance with their own theoretic notions

of government are yet insensibly impelled to imi-
tate our progress, and eventually assimilate their
laws and habits to our own. (Renewed applause.) Highly

giatified, as I cannot but feel, with the manner in which I

have been received here to-day, I am bound to say that
my gratification has been enhanced by the presence of my
hon. friend, the representative of your interests in Parlia-
ment. He is a man of whose support any Government
must be proud, for'that support is only given where he be-
lieves it to be due ; he is a man whose personal and public ,
conduct has attracted the esteem, the respect, I may say
the affection, of every member of that house in which he
has the honour of a seat—(cheers)—a man who I am sure
has no enemy in the world, unless indeed it be some as-
piring orator whose intended display he has incontinently
cut short on the approach of midnight. (Laughter and
cheers.) Mr. Mayor and gentlemen, I must again express
ray sense of the high gratification I have experienced, not
only from the kindness of your reception, but also from
the contemplation of the interesting objects of art which it
was my privilege to inspect during the short time that I
have spent within your circle. I do unaffectedly assure you
that nothing can.be more gratifying to a public man than
the opportunity of associating with his fellow-countrymen
in the manner I have lately done. Those opportunities
are necessarily short and rare, for the anxious occupations
of public life leave little means of disposing of one's time
in the manner one might wish. I can assure youorgentle-
men, that the leisure of a Minister of the Crown during
the recess is not altogether such a period of tranquillity
and repose as many may suppose it tobe. History knows
no cessation. Events and transactions do not rest because
Parliament is up, and the attention of a public man to the
duties of his office is undeviating and never ceases.. There-
fore, however gratifying it may be to them to conic into
congenial contact with their fellow-citizens, the opportu-
nities are rare; but, as allrare things are precious in pro-
portion to their rarity, so do I derive the greater gratifi-
cation from the unwonted facilities I enjoy of coming•
among you, and receiving at your hands such marks of
kindness as you have this day been pleased to bestow upon
me.

The noble lord then took his departure amid the enthusi-
astic plaudits of the assembly. He repaired without de-
lay to the Town-ball of Manchester, there to receive the
address of the Town Council, the Chamber of Commerce,
and the Commercial Association. The building was crowded
to excess, and presented a brilliant and animated appear-
ance. The mayor and members of the corporation wore
their robes of office. The appearance on the platform of
the Piemicr and Lady Palmerston was the signal for a
burst of enthusiastic acclamation.

The Town Clerk having road the address from the Town
Council, which has already appeared in the colums of The
Sun

Mr. T. BAZLEY presented the following address on be-
half of the Chamber of Commerce: -.

" To tbs Right/lon. t /lon. the Lord Viscount Paltnerston, K.G.,
G.C.8., &c., First Lord of her Majesty's Treasury,
" May it please your Lordship,—The Chamber of Com-
merce and Manufactures at Manchester tenders to your
lordship its warm congratulations upon your arrival in this
city. Gratefulfor the blessings which have already flowed,
and for those which assuredly have yet to flow, from :he
changea which since 1842 have been established in the
commercial policy of this country, the Chamber of Com-
merce eagerly avails itself of the opportunity which this
year your first visit affords, of expressing to your lordship
in person its thanks to the eloquent and effective support
'which your lordship rendered to the great and patriotic

statesman under whose auspices these changes wore ef-
fected ; nor would it omit to acknowledge with gratitude
the firm adherence to the beneficent principles Ithen este-
blished:vrhich your lordship has since continued to mani-
fest. (Cheers.) It is a source of high gratification to the
chamber to be enabled to seize an opportunity of expressing
to your lordship• and, through your lordship, to your col-
leagues in the Government, its most earnest congratulations
ur on the restoration of peace. The chamber now looks with
eager anticipation upon the prospects which peace and tran-
quillity afford to your lordship's Government to promote
measures which will benefit the industry of the country.
(Cheers.) , Believing that the bill for the regulation of local
dues upon shipping which was last session proposed toPar-
liament, but early withdrawn, was founded upon just prin-
ciples, the chamber hopes that, in its next sesion, Parlia-
ment may, by the passing of this bill, relieve the country
from exactions which have been levied under false pre-
tences, and are, in its opinion, at once oppressive and un-
constitutional. (Cheers.) The chamber has to express its
regret that the assimilation of the mercantile laws of 'the
United Kingdom has not been effected in accordance with
the report of the Royal commission. The chamber is
anxious to see an extension of our commerce with the con-
tinent of Europe, and would rejoice in the reduction of
wine and other duties which at present are assumed to, ho,
obstacles.to increased commercial intercourse. The clam-
ber further begs permission to draw' the attention of your
lordship to points in the present and past government of
our colonies which, viewed commercially and ec momicelly,
so affect the interests both of the colonies and the mother
country, that the chamber thinks itself justified, even upon
an occasion.like the present, in placing them before the
nobleman who holds the first place in her Majesty's Coun-
cils. The multiplication of sources of supply of the raw
material which feeds the large t industry of the kingdom
should at all times receive the attention of the Govern-
ineot ; but when events, as during the last year make the
undisturbed e'nployment of millions, and perhaps thepeace
of the country, to rest upon diplomatic misunderstandings,
reliance upon almost one source of supply ought to excite
deep solicitude. But it needs not the interruption of
friendly relations to disturb the equable current of our ma-
nufactuline: interest; the elements often do so, and are
now rendering precarious the supply of raw cotton, and
your lordship may believe that the present position of the
trade dependent upon that staple is one of very grave
anxiety. Great Britain has colonies in various parts of
the globe admirably suited to the production of cotton and
other raw materiels ; but the chamber is informed that
laws and regulations so interfere with the introduction of
labour and the occupation of the soil that profitable culti-
vatitsn is impossible. It is to an early and serious conside-
ration of how far the shackles referred to may be relaxed
that the chamber invites your lordship and the Govern-
ment, guarding itself, however, against the advocacy of any
measure which would obviously, or even by implication,
encourage a trade in slaves, or a return to protective policy.
The'chamber trusts your lordship will kindly receive this
expression of its opinions, which would not have been made
upon the present occasion if serious danger did not beset
the best interests of this district ; but your lordehip may
rest assured that the introduction of these subjects in
,no
way tends to diminish the welcome with which the cham-
ber hails your visit to Manchester." (Loud cheers.)
Mr. J. A. TURNER, President of the, Manchester Com-
mercial Association, then read an address from that body: -
• To the Right Hon. the Lord Viscount Palmerston, IC.G.
G.C.8., Ste., First Lord of her Majesty's Treasury. •
"May it please youi. lordship,—We, the directors of the
Manchester Commercial Association, most gladly avail
ourselves of the present opportunity of tendering to your
lordship the expression of our cordial welcome and congra-
tulation upon the occasion of your first public visit to this
city. Representing a body of merchants engaged in com-
merce with every quarter of the world, we gratefully ac-
knowledge the important services seadered by your lord-
ship to the trading interests of this country, and we fully
appreciate that jealous regard for the national honour
which your lordship has at all times shown in extending
the protection of her Majesty's Government to British sub-
jects abroad. After having, in the course of a long and
brilliant career, administered the affairs of almost every
department of the State with the greatest distinction to
yourself and advantage to the country, your lordship was
called upon, at a period beset with danger and perplexity,
to assume the liighest. position which can be occupied by e
liriefsh subject in the councils of the Sovereign, and you
fulfilled the deities of that station in a manner which has
retleeted new‘lwito on a name already justly celebrated
throughout the ct4ilised world, as the determined 'fir of
.oppression under every form, and the able and consistent
promoter of constitutional freedom and social progress.
(Loud cheers.) Although 'members of a purely industrial
community, we sympathised in no degree with those who;
in their anxiety for the re-establishment of peace, ware
willing to lower the tone of political morality; therefore,
in common with the great majority of our fellow-country-
men, we hailed your lordship's accession to office with the
deepest satisfaction, feeling that in your lordship her Ma-
jesty had fpund a minister possessed of firmness and ability
commensurate with the importance of the crisis. (Cheers.)
The present more tranquil state of affairs in Europe,
which we earnestly hope may lead to an enduring peace,
affords again to these kingdoms an opportunity for the
farther prosecution of those social reforms which tend to
ameliorate the condition of all classes ; and we entertain
no doubt that your lordship will devote the same untiring
energy to the domestic administration of the country which
characterised your foreign policy daring ,the unhappy
period of the recent--war. We cannot conclude without
expressing to your Lordship our sincere and earnest hope
that you may long live in the enjoyment of health and
happiness, and in the exercise of those exalted qualities
which have distinguished your Lordship as one of the
most eminent statesmen of modern times."
Mr. TURNER having presented the address to the noble
lord, said,—Before I sit down I trust I insy be permitted
to offer the expression of my own'persenal satisfaction that
at last wesee a nobleman who has so long occupied a dis-
tinguished place in the government of his country, and
who has exercised so great an influence on its position with
relation to foreign States, standing face to face with the
citizens of Manchester and receiving their cordial welcome.
(Cheers.)' Your lordship sees before you a body of men
than whom none are more enterprising, than whom none
are more industrious, than whom none are more persever-
ing, more inventive, or more resolute in their determina-
tion to uphold the proud position which their country has
achieved among the nations of the earth. Your lordship
may think that we aro devoted to cotton bags and calico,
to unfenced machinery and sbaftings—(laughter) —to bank-
ing and money-making. These are, indeed, the instru-
ments with which we work, but they are by no means the
sole objects of our thoughts and attentions. (Cheers.) I
am persuaded that in no part of her Majesty's dominions
will she find more loyal subjects, men more patriotic, more
earnest advocates of political liberty and religious freedom,
or more determined foes of tyranny and oppression. (Loud
cheers.) And, although wo are certainly much and de-
servedly attached to peace, on which depends the employ-
ment of thousands of people who are kept in work by the
capital of the men around me, yet, if her Majesty should
be involved in a just and necessaey war she will find no
men more determined to support her arms, or to bear with-
out a murmur the burdens of war than the citizens of
Manchester. (Loud cheers.)
Lord PALMERSTON, on rising to reply, was greeted with
loud 'sheers. .He seid, Mr. Mayor and gentlemen, I shall
indeed find it difficult to express in words the high gratifi-
cation which I have felt at the honourable, cordial, and
generous reception which I have met with in this great
commercial district. The approbation of 'one's follow-
countrymen must at all times be ono of the greatest objects
of desire to men who are engaged in public life. It is an
encouragement to exertion, it is an incentive to public
duty, and it is one of the greatest rewards that can be
awarded to those whose zeal and energy may have been
attended with successful results. It must ever be pecu-
liarly gratifying to those who are charged with the con-
duct of public affairs, and whose attention is greatly en-
gaged in the details of daily duties which leave little lei-
sure for the disposal of time in the manner they might da-
sh e. It is peculiarly gratifying to a man in my position
to have an opportunity of visiting such a great community
as that which I have now the honour to address. lam
speakirig not merely of the particular town in which we
stand, but of that vast district of which this town is the
soul and centre, when I say that it is the hive of industry,
that it is one of the great sources of national wealth, that
it is the cradle and the nursery of genius. It must, there-
fore, be doubly gratifying to visit such a 'district —in the
first place, as affording an opportunity of becoming ac-
quainted with those men who are among the great sources
of national wealth, and who furnish the elements of na-
tional character—who, while they are pursuing their own
industrial occupations, are raising the country in the scale
of nations—(hear, hear)—developing the intelligence and
intellectual faculties of their fellow-countrymen, promot-
ing their welfare, and increasing the sphere of their hap-
piness ; and it is also useful that by personal intercourse
we should become more intimately acquainted than other-
wise wo could be with the feelings, with the wishes, with
the wants, and with the opinions of such an influential body
of the community. Therefore, gentlemen, not only am I most
grateful to you for the good opinion and the kind reception
which I have met with, bat I am also proud of having had
this opportunity of making personal acquaintance with
you, and of seeing the extensive progress and development
which this great and vast, city exhibits. Gentlemen, it is
true, as has been stated, that I felt it my duty, as a mem-
ber of the Legislature, to support the development of those
great principles of freedom of trade which that great and
eminent man, Sir Robert Peel, who was more peculiarly
connected with your district was, though not the first to
inculcate, because the truth is of more ancient date, yet
the first who was able to carry that truth extensively into
practical application. (Cheers.) Fortunately, that great
struggle of opinion which arrayed the people of this coun-
try in opposite camps—on the one hand those who were for
a free and unshackled commercial interest, and on the other
those who fancied that they and the country had an inte-
rest in restriction—fortunately that struggle is over. The
truth has, prevailed, and not only by the, force of argument,
but by the force of the results of experietnce.. No man who
looks at the state of the country as it wan when our system
was restrictive, and compares it with the vast impulse
which has been given to the productive Vndustry and to the
accumulative wealth of the country ainn e that period, can
shut his eyes to the fact that we have en harked in a career
of sound policy—a career which never NS ill be departed
from as long as reason shall rule the policy' of this country.
(Cheers.) And, gentlemen, that example ii more powerful
than argument, and more powerful than'-diplomatic per-
suasion, to induce other countriosto follow tee e coarse which
wa hate pointed out. When they see how, by freedom of
intercourse, the wealth and prosperity of this: country have
increased, they cannot but think that the narrow prin-
ciple's upon which their policy has hitherto baron founded
stud be erroneous ; and nation after nation, government
after government, are insensibly falling into our track.