The Sun.
London, England, 1861-09-03 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON,

THE HON. ARTHUR GORDON AT

ABERDEEN.

A meeting of the electors and other friends of
the Liberal cause in Aberdeenshire, called by the
Hon. Arthur Gordon, for the purpose of expressing
his thanks for their support at the late election, was
held in the Mechanics-l; all, Aberdeen, on Friday.
About 800 were present.
Amongst the gentlemen who accompanied Mr.
Gordon to the platform were—Sir James H. Bur-.
nett, Bart., of Leys, Mr. M. E. Grant Duff of Eden,
MT., Mr. James Dyce Nicol of Ballogie, Mr. Alex.
Gordon of Elton, Mr. George Thompson of Pit-
medden, Mr. Alexander Thompson of Banchory,
Mr. Alexander Milne of Pitrichie, Mr. James Rus-
sell of Aden, Mr. Russell, yr., of Aden, Mr. George
Milne of Kinaldie, Provost Webster, &c.
In the hall were many, of the most respectable
and influential gentlemen in town and country.
Sir James H. Burnett, Bart of Leys, was, on the
motion of Mr. Milne of Pitrichie, unanimously called
on to preside.
The Hon. ARTHUR GORDON, on rising, was re-
ceived with loud cheers. He said—Gentlemen, I
appear before you to-day in a somewhat peculiar
position. I am not here as a candidate to solicit
your votes at an approaching election ; I am not
herefor that purpose, nor can I consider that I stand
before you in the light of a rejected candidate, at-
tempting to rally his supporters around him.
(Hear, hear.) A man who has not himself come
forward ; who has not addressed himself to the
electors, and for whom proceedings were carried
on in his absence, cannot look upon himself as
fairly rejected by the county (hear) but I am here
for the purpose of expressing my grateful and
hearty thanks for the extraordinary support which
I received, under circumstances, as far as I am
aware, unprecedented in the history of elections.
(Cheers.) The purpose for which I have asked you
to meet me is that of receiving the thanks which
are your due, and which it is my pride and pleasure
to give; but I feel that, having so called you to-
gether to-day,' it is only right that I should give
some statement as to my own connection with the
last election in this county, and of my views in re-
gard to political subjects in general. Mr. Gordon
proceeded to give a narrative of his proceedings
with regard to the election before he left England.
When asked, at an early stage, he said that he be-
lieved his brother, the Earl of Aberdeen, as between
the two candidates then in the field, Mr. Leslie
(Conservative) and Sir A. Bannerman (Liberal),
would prefer Mr. Leslie. He did so without com-
mitting himself to that gentleman, or indeed ex-
pressing an opinion at all. Therefore, when Sir A.
Bannerman retired, he was under no obligation
whatever to support Mr. Leslie, or to refrain from
opposing him. When asked to stand as a candidate,
he had declined, being of opinion that no member of
his family should be a candidate on that occasion.
When the gentlemen who brought forward his name,
however, said that he would stand, on a proper re-
quisition being presented to him, though they had
no authority from him personally to do so, they
had sufficient authority to make that statement. Of
all that took place in this county atter my depar-
ture (continued Mr. Gordon) I was necessarilyen tirely
ignorant. A telegram was sent to me at Corfu,
asking me whether, if I were elected in my absence
I would accept the seat. That telegram did not
reach. the island of Corfu until after I had left it,
and was not received by me until certainly three
weeks after the election had taken place. (Applause
and laughter.) Therefore, I may say with the
strictest truth that I had no communication what-
ever upon the subject of the election until after I
heard what had taken place here. A struggle of so
strictly spontaneons origin, carried on with such
vigour and determination, I never remember to have
seen any record of. I confess, gentlemen, that for
many reasons I regretted, and for some reasons I
still regret that that course was adopted. I re-
gretted it because I conceived that after I had
declined to become a candidate for the representa-
tion of the county in Parliament, such a struggle
must necessarily be fruitless in its result, so far at
least as the present election is concerned. But,
gentlemen, though I regretted on many accounts
that this struggle should have been continued, and
though I regret it now on some grounds, on the
other hand it is impossible for me to regret, as a
public man, that the Liberal party in this great
awat r.zae des,..ao r3i.erAl nu a ry.b,r,..41;.a
should never have contemplated they would have
made under such discouraging circumstances—
(applause)—after the retirement of one so well quali-
fied to represent them as Sir A. Bannerman. I have
no reason to regret it as a public man. As an indivi-
dual, of course that struggle cannot have been other-
wise than most intensely gratifying to me.
(Cheers.) To find myself chosen by such a body of
men, representing as they did a large portion of the
intelligence, activity, and energy of this great
county, is a position of which I cannot hut be proud ;
and for having placed me in which, as an individual, ,
I certainly cannot but be deeply grateful to them.
(Cheers.) With regard to the details of the con-
test, lam not inclined now to speak. Six months
and more have elapsed since it took place. I am
about to leave this country in a short time and go a
long distance, and for many a year. Across the
broad Atlantic, I shall not see any faces here but
those of friends—friends that I have left behind.
(Applause.) The petty squabbles, animosities, and
heats of the election will not be visible when viewed
from that distance ; they are not visible even now
when viewed from this distance of time. (Loud
applause.) But it is only fair, it is only just, it is
right to those who gave me their support. that be-
fore I go they should know a little of what my own
feelings and opinions are, and how far they would
or would not have been truly represented by the
candidate whom they put forward. (Cheers.) It
was said upon one occasion—and it is the only re-
mark I shall notice—it was said during the contest
that I was not only a Liberal—not only an advanced
Liberal—not only a Radical; that I was but a de-
structive of the English constitution and Crown.
Now, gentlemen, I don't believe that you or this
great county would be truly, duly, or well represented
in Parliament by a destructive of those institutions
—(hear)—and, therefore, I think it will be satisfac-
tory to you when I say I am not such. (Cheers.)
Gentlemen, I have been called a destructive.
Well, in some respects, perhaps, I am so—in some
respects I trust we all are so. There are many
things in the world which every honest man, every
true patriot, every Christian would desire to de-
stroy. I should desire to be destructive of tyranny
and cruelty—l should desire to be a destructive of
fraud and bigotry, of narrowness and intolerance.
(Cheers.) I decline to accept, except in the sense I
have limited it to, the epithet destructive ; but the
epithet Liberal—if you will, advanced Liberal—l
receive that with gratitude. (Cheers.) A Liberal I
trust I am, and ever shall be. It would be strange,
indeed, if I were not. I cannot forget that the
Government over which my distinguished parent
presided was a Liberal Government. (Cheers.) I
cannot forget that, during the whole course of his
life, he was in advance of the party with which he
was connected—(renewed applause) —that, for
many of the later years of it, he classed himself, and
was classed by others, as a Liberal. But you will
prefer that I should not dwell merely upon vague
generalisations. I will not content myself with
saying that I am not a destructive, in which we all
agree, or that I am a Liberal, which you all know,
but will go a little further into what my sentiments
are in regard to politics and the state of my coun-
try in general. I hold, and it has long been my
opinion, that political questions—so called in this
country—are of vastly inferior importance to the
great social changes which go on amongst us. I
hold that the most progressive reforms, and the most
lasting, are those which are beyond the control
of Acts of Parliament. For example, no Act of
Parliament of our own time—not Reform itself—
has produced greater political changes in the
country in regard to the distribution of power, than
those two measures which we all agreed to support
—the introduction of the penny postage and the
extension :of the railway system. Just pause to
consider what these have effected, and I think you
will agree with me that such social changes, in-
volving, as many of them do, political changes in
their train, are the unfailing friends of progress. I
am really not aware of all the views imputed
to me during the contest. I think one of the things
urged against me was the fact that I had voted and
spoken in favour of the ballot. Well, if that be an
imputation, I confess to it. I confess I spoke and
voted in favour of the ballot, and I would vote in
favour of it again. (Cheers.) I never looked upon
it as a panacea for all our political evils. I think
those are greatly mistaken who think the ballot
would in any appreciable degree affect the purity
of eonstituencies, but I think it would have a great
upon the evils of intimidation, and I think
sufficient reason for its introduction. Two
effectotherth a i
alleged were with regard to my con-
duct, not in Parliament, but fn speeches on public
occasions. It was said I bad on one occasion said
hard words of the Established Church in Ire-
land.things
Well, I do not shrink from this at all.
I look upon the Established Church in Ireland
as just one of those unsound parts of