The Sun.
London, England, 1867-09-21 00:00:00

Mr. Gladstone's Speech at Barrow.

At the banquet which followed the opening of the
new docks at Barrow, an account of which was
published yesterday, the Right lion. W. E. GLAD-
STONE, who on rising was received with much ap-
plause, spoke as follows :—" My lord duke, my
lords and gentlemen, I rise by order of the authori-
ties who conduct the proceedings of this festival to
request of you to drink to the town and trade of
Barrow, and I should be disposed, my lord duke
and gentlemen, to impugn the judgment of those
who have put upon me this task, when I consider
that my practical accpiaintance with the place dates
but within the last few hours. I have had, indeed,
the most able assistance and tuition from various
gentlemen, from Mr. M'.Lean, whose name, I appre-
hend, will long be known in connection with the
works of this place—(applause)—and from the able
manager of that remarkable establishment which,
as far as my limited experience goes, may perhaps
be said to stand at the head of all the works for
iron manufacture in this country. But, my lord
duke and gentlemen, I complain the less because
the truth is this, that when there is nothing re-
quired to be said, it does not much matter who is
appointed to say it; and that after the speech of
the chairman there is nothing to say of the town
and trade of Barrow. In one respect, I feel dis-
posed to complain of the noble duke, because he
interdicted us from the future, and said no man
should undertake to prophesy. (Laughter.) That
is all very well, but when the past has been dealt
with and exhausted in the manner in which the noble
duke has exhausted it, I ask you what has he left
me but the future? (Applause.) Therefore, iu
some shape or other the trade of prophecy, bad as
it may be, or at any rate of anticipation, really
constitutes the whole of the slender capital with
which I am set out in recommending this toast
to your notice. (Applause and laughter.) Well,
my lord duke and gentlemen, there can be no
doubt that the occasion that has brought us here to-
day is one of national interest. We have heard a
great deal at different times about King Cotton as
a king in England, and far be it from me to say
anything against his Majesty King Cotton, to whom
I wish to be entirely loyal. (Applause and laughter.)
But although they could not get on with two kings
in Brentford, yet of this class and character there
are two kings in England—there is King Iron as
well as King Cotton ; and, I think, in every sense,
as Englishmen, we should rejoice that in these
latter years especially King Iron has risen up out of
the bowels of the earth to assert his claim to a share
of the sovereignty. (Applause.) His fate, gentle-
men, has been a very singular one. It is most re-
markable and most instructive to see how Provi-
dence adapts the various instruments of utility with
which the earth abounds to the capacities of men in
the different stages of society. Go back to the pe-
riod of barbarism, and iron is a thing iu the earliest
ages of human history absolutely unknown. Nay,
when from stone and wood men began to pass to
metal, iron was still for a length of time practically
unheard of, because of the difficulty with which it
is wrought, and the extreme rarity with which it is
found in a virgin state ; and, therefore, in those
times the metal that was abundant was cheaper.
The cheap metal of those times was copper ; the
dear metal of those times was iron ; and it is not
very difficult to make out-- the precise relations
cannot be established as if there were prices current
in the world 3,000 years ago—but I believe it would
be a very moderate estimate to say that 3,000
years ago iron was at least ten times as valu-
able as copper. Now see what changes
have taken place. With the command of coal
and with the command of abundance of other
materials, with the advance of science and of
knowledge, that relation is reversed, and iron,
instead of being ten times as dear as copper, is not
one-tenth of the price of copper, and that not be-
cause copper is more scarce or less useful than it was
then, for it is applied to many more uses, and it is
obtained in far greater abundance, but because the
gigantic strides with which iron has asserted itself,
and become by degrees by far the most useful and
valuable metal that the earth produces, and per-
haps more useful and more necessary than all the
rest put together, have effected this extraordinary
change. Now the commodities in iron which are
supplied to us in every form, great and small, com-
pared with their price, when you consider the nature
and density of the material and the fineness to
which it is wrought, are such that if they had been
shown to the men of other times would justly have
been deemed miraculous. Well, gentlemen, this
great change is a change, I think, of particular in-
terest to us as linglishmen—(applause) —for the
more the use of iron advances the more the power of
England advances. (Hear, hear, and applause.) It
is all very well to obtain from our neighbours those
commodities which are useful for the purposes of
life, when we cannot produce them cheaper and
better ourselves, but when we can produce them
cheaper and better ourselves, then no doubt the
value of the treasure is greatly enhanced, and most
of all it is enhanced when, as in a case like that
which Barrow presents to us, the commodity in
question is one immediately associated not only with
national wealth, but in the most direct manner,
especially since the great changes in the art of
shipbuilding, with national security and power.
(Applause.) And I think, my lord duke, that I
Jo not transgress the bounds of prudence, as they
have been cautiously defined by yourself, when I
say that it is evident that this progress of iron—this
continual encroachment by iron upon the province
of other useful materials, which again always find
new vents for their application—this is a progress
so steady and so fixed in the essential wants of
society, and so developed in ten thousand forms,
that it seems the character and the law of modern
trade and industry, and that even a prophet may
venture on this occasion to present himself for once
upon the stage, and say confidently that the basis
upon which the prosperity of this town is to be built
is not only a broad and solid basis, but one that we
haVe the best and most solid reasons for hoping we
shall see extended every year. (Applause.) With
regard to Barrow, I really do not know how to
speak of such a place on terms that would be ade-
quate to the subject, which at the same time would
not appear to bear a character of exaggeration. But
I must say that, for a combination of natural ad-
vantages afloat and natural advantages ashore, it
probably would not be practicable to find a match
for it in any portion of the country. (Applause.)
['hat, gentlemen, is saying much, because we have
had in other portions of this country, especially
within our own generation, instances of progress so
extraordinary as to outstrip all European precedent,
and almost to defy the future. Many of you may
have, as I have, enjoyed the pleasure and profit of
visiting Middleborough, on the eastern coast. I do
not speak of what happens beyond the Atlantic,
where the movements of society are upon a scale,
and are conducted with a rapidity that entirely
transcends all European precedent, and almost
European conception, but certainly until to-day I
should always have quoted the town of Middle-
borough as by far the most extraordinary example
of rapid material and commercial progress that the
whole length and breadth of this land could exhibit
—but even Middleborough itself has been slow in
its advance compared with Barrow. As far as I
can understand, and I am sure if there be any gen-
tleman connected with Middleborough—for you
have cast the arms of hospitality so wide that there
may be—(applause and laughter)—l am sure I
shall not in any way wound his feelings if I state
that within 30 years Middleborough has grown,
believe, from a farmhouse to a town with
25,000 or 30,000 people, but within ten years
Barrow has grown to a town with a population
bordering upon 20,000. Gentlemen, how extraor-
dinary it is to see that in what we call an old coun-
try like this there is still so much youth—(applause)
that there is still an energy which developes and
expands itself with a rapidity so extraordinary that
if former times had been capable of such mo:•ement
and quickness, England, in industry and trade,
would now have been I know not how many
hundredfold what she is. Driving through the town
of Barrow in the short interval afforded to-day, I
must say it was impossible to look without great
satisfaction upon the appearances of comfort, and
upon the good and sound arrangements apparently

And as compared with the month ending the 18th of
August, 1866, the above returns show a decrease of
£821,579 in the circulation of notes in England, and a
decrease of £681,433 in the circulation of the United
Kingdom.

On comparing the above with the fixed issues of the
several banks the following is the state of the circulation:—
The English private) banks are below their
fixed issue ... .£1,455,780
The English joint-stock banks are below their
fixed issue 555,026

Total below fixed issue in England ... £2,010,806
The Scotch banks are above their fixed issue... 1,704,761
The Irish banks are below their fixed issue ... 1,238,259

The average stock of bullion held by the Bank of Eng-
land in both departments during the month ending the 14th
August was £23,111,349, being an increase of £608,725
as compared with the previous month, and au increase of
£9,290,460 when compared with the same period last year,
The following are the amounts of specie held by the
Scotch and Irish banks during the month ending the 17th
of August :
Gold and silver held by the Scotch banks ... £2,534,191
Gold and silver held by the Irish banks ... 2,170,393

£4, 704,581
Being a decrease of £128,001 as compared with the pro-
rims return, and an increase of £261,381 when compared
with the corresponding period last year.

THE REFORM FETE AND BANQUET.—A full meet-
ing of the general committee for promoting the above was
held last evening at the Bell Inn, Old Bailey—Mr. George
Potter in the chair—when, after some statements had been
made with respect to the negotiations entered into with the
council of the Reform League in reference to the invitation
made to Mr. Beales to take the chair, a member thought no
more time should be wasted in efforts to conciliate the
League, and moved, " That the committee proceed to the,
next business on the paper." The resolution was seconded
and carried without any further discussion. The secretary
then read the following letter from General Garibaldi :
"My dear Mr. Hartwell,—lt is impossible for me to be
present at your banquet ; but lam deeply sensible of your
kind invitation. Give my fraternal salutation to the whole
of the delegates.—Yours, &c., G. GARIBALDI." After some
tontine business the committee adjourned until Tuesday
next.

AN OLD WOMAN OF 70 AT TIIE FONT.—On
Sunday afternoon last, Lucy Clark, aged 70, wife
of William Clark, carpenter, of Ingatestone, was baptised
at Fryerning church by the Rev. Mr. Barley, curate of the
parish. As the old lady had boon ill for some time, and
had never been baptised she became rather troubled in
conscience, and wished to undergo that ceremony. She
was told that she must have two respectable witnesses ; she
accordingly selected two, and on Sunday afternoon, after
service, the sponsors brought her to tho font, and she was
baptised in the usual manner.—Chelmsford Chronicle.

BREACHES OF PROMISE OF MARRlAGE.—Yester-
day at the Sheriff's Court, Newington-causeway, Mr.
Uader-Sheriff Burcholl and a jury assembled to assess the
amount of damages to be awarded in two actions for breach
of promise of marriage, brought in the Court of Queen's
Bench, and in both of which the defendants had allowed
judgment to go by default, and the only question was the
amount of compensation. In ono case the damages were
laid at £5OO, and in the other at £1,0(10. In the first case,
"Dorman v. Ross," a verdict by consent was taken for
£5O ; and in the other, in which Mr. Thomas appeared as
counsel for the plaintiff, "Repner v. Dixon," aveidict by
agreement was recorded for £35.