The Sun.
London, England, 1860-10-26 00:00:00

LO 1?-n PALMERSTON AT LEEDS.

LEEDS, THURSDAY.

If one t may judge by the enthusiasm exhibited
by the pc ‘,e ple here: in favour of the noble viscount
who now r rules, the destinies of this great empire,
be will f ind Tic, difficulty if at any time the vicissi-
tudes of part y should necessitate an appeal to the
country, , at' d the Tiverton Conservatives and Char-
tists sh ou'id combine against him, in obtaining a
more i nrpertant as well as more numerous consti-
tuency in this the great centre of our woollen
man& ctures. The noble lord, who travelled by
the ore tinary express train leaving King's-cross at
noon, I arrived at the Leeds terminus of the Great
North ern Railway punctually at six o'clock, the
time fixed by the time-bills. The noble lord, who
was a scompanied by Lady Palmerston and the Right
Son. W. Cowper, the Chief Commissioner of
Wor: ks, must have been somewhat astonished at
the .lusty and continuous cheering which poured
forth from the united voices of upwards of a thou-
sand throats, and was repeated and renewed from
the moment the train appeared in sight until it
bad . landed its freight and the more important
portion of it had been driven beyond the confines
of the town. So warm and earnest were the
congratulations that the distinguished party to
whom they were offered were not a little incon-
venienced by them. It was all very well to
cheer " Palmerston for ever," to give another, and
again another for Lady Palmerston—a tribute to
gallantry which honest and genial Yorkshire is
lever slow in paying—but a dense wall of some
1,800 persons wedged in and. locked together, and
shutting, up every means of egress, all shouting
welcome at the top of their voices, soon became
very like a veritable trial of human patience. The
nec(•.ssary delay occasioned b y the removal of the
not% le lord's travelling carriage from the railway
tru ck, and harnessing the horses to it, enabled the
crowd to form a phalanx which was all but impene-
Li able ; and fora time all attempts to dislodge them,
'which the energy of the railway officials and the
_local police were enabled to make, were met with a
good-humoured defiance, which rendered them
completely futile. While his lordship and his lady
were in the waiting-room waiting for the carriage,
the honest Yorkshiremen, who had crowded to the
station to evince their good feeling towards the Pre-
mier of England, seemed suddenly to have recol-
lected that he had come down to the north specially
to make speeches, and at once resolved that he
should begin by informing those who were not in a
position to command facilities of introduction to the
town-hall, or invitations to Kirkstall Grange, what
his opinions were upon foreign and domestic politics
an general, and the affairs of the West Riding in
particular. Accordingly when he emerged, and
while the officials and servants were endeavouring
to force a way through the crowd to the carriage
door, a demand was made for a speech. The noble
lord laughed, but seemed by no means disposed to
establish a precedent so contrary to etiquette. At
length, however, observing the coachman seated
with reins in hand, and the carriage door invitingly
open, but blocked up by a triple row of stout, and
apparently obstinate northcountrymen who would
not budge an inch until their desire was in some
measure gratified, and whose repeated appeal of
" Only just a few words, my lord," it was almost
impossible to resist, he made a virtue of neces-
sity and said, " Gentlemen, there is a good
old saying, Welcome the coming, speed the
parting guest.' You have been very kind in re-
ccsiving us. I hope you will let us have a lane to
get 'away." This sally elicited loud applause and
laughter. An opening was immediately made in
the vast crowd, and amid tumultuous cheering his
lordship, Lady Palmerston, and Mr. Cowper passed
to an open carriage, drawn by four beautiful grey
horses, and drove off to Kirkstall Grange, the seat
of William Beckitt, Esq., whose guest they will be
during their stay in Leeds. The domestic circle at
Kirkstall is increased also by the presence of Lord
and lady Fitzwilliam, the Countess of Essex, the
Marquis de Fontenelle, Sir John Ramsden, M.P.,
and the Hon. Mrs. Ramsden, Miss Johnstone, Mr.
Meynell Ingram, Admiral Meynell, and Mr. Hugo
Meynell, who have been invited to meet the noble
lord.

The original programme extended over two days
only—ft' day and to morrow—but since it became
.i;enerally known that the noble lord intended to
v isit the West InFng, invitations to take part in
different public ceremonies have poured in upon
him, and the engagements he has made are much
more numerous than were at first contemplated,
First of all this afternoon he had a conference in
the may'or's reception-room, at the Town-hall, with
representatives from the Chambers of Commerce
of Leeds, Hull, Sheffield, and other towns in the
county on the subject of the Amendment and Con-
solidation of the Bankruptcy Laws. His lordship
presided in the evening at the soiree of the Leeds
Mechanics' Institution and Literary Society in the
Victoria-hall, the spacious and splendid edifice
which was opened by her Majesty two years ago.
'The main purpose of this great gathering, to at-
tend which was the original object of the premier's
visit to the town, is to inaugurate the proposal for
the erection of a new Mechanics' Institute and
Schools of Science and Art, in consequence of
the deficient accommodation afforded by the
-existing building. To-morrow, at noon, the Leeds
corporation will present a congratulatory address
to the noble viscount—again in the Victoria-hall,
to which no less thanl 1,800 tickets of admission
have been issued, and the event is to be attended
by all the state and ceremony which the muni-
cipality can display. A far more humble,
but yet very praiseworthy demonstration
will be honoured by the premier's presence at
a later hour of the day—namely, the annual meet-
ing of the Leeds Ragged School and Shoe Black
S aciety, at the Music-hail, in Albion-street. Here
his lordship takes the chair, and the youthful mem-
bers—picked up shoeless, in tatters, hungry, and
neglected in the slums and alleys of this populous
and ever-busy hive of manufacturing industry—
will have the advantage probably of being coun-
selled and advised by the foremost Englishman of
his day. On Saturday his lordship becomes the
guest of Mr. R. M. Milnes, 'M.P., at Freyston-hall,
near Pontefra et ; and on the same day he will re-
ceive an addi.ess from the corporation of that town,
and open the new market-place which they have
recently biedt. During his stay here the noble
viscount meet the tenantry of his Fairburn
estate, wllO haveh invited him to a luncheon at the
vivicarage,,Ledeam
pa'
which has been placed at their
disposal for that purpose by the Rev. Mr. Landon.
At the recent rent
de.
t a memorial from the
tenantry
was presented
that they would be to the noble lord, stating
greatl y h
onoured if he would
accept the invitation, and adding that it would
Y of
afford them an opportunit
showing that the
agriculturists of Yorkshire were quite as anxious as
their manufacturing and tradingneighbours to
offer his lordship a warm and heartywelcome.
An enthusiastic reception would
alsoo on
appear to
t
await him at Wakefield, whither heWed-
nesday next, the corporation of that toNeesehin
immediately upon hearing that his lordship pro_,
nosed to visit Colonel Smyth, M.P 0 •
rgameed mea-
sures to celebrate the event in a conspicuous man-
ner. It is understood that he will be entertained
at a grand banquet, and that the day will be kept
as a gala day in Wakefield. Sir J. Ramsden, Bart
M.P., will also, it is stated, receive a visit from
Lord Palmerston at his seat, Byram Hall.
Lord Fitzwilliam, the lord lieutenant of the
county, arrived in Leeds in the course of the after-
noon, and formed one of the distinguished party
entertained last night at dinner, at Xirkstall
Orange.
The deputation from the chambers of commerce,the
town councils, and trade protection societies in the
county who met the noble lord in the mayor's fine
suite of State rooms this afternoon, numbered over
100 persons, and comprised representatives from
Leeds, 'Wakefield, Bradford, Sheffield, Halifax,
Thldersfield, Hull, Batley, and other places.
Among those present (besides the noble viscount)
were the Mayor of Leeds (Mr. Wm. Kelsall), Sir
John Re.,,den,
Bart., M.P., Mr. Titus Salt, M.P.,
Mr. Edward -Reines M.P Mr. Frank Crossley,
M.P., hip. Aldan E. A_ '
um Leatham, M.P., Mr. Samuel
Morley ; the Mayor of Bradford, the Mayor of