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OCTOBER 1,1853.] THE..LE4.DER. 939 - ' :...
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MR. GLADSTONE IN THE NORTH. The " ancien...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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I<Oiti> Palmerston At Perth..T.Onn I'Ai....
at number of communications , there may be many -which ^ fo unded in error , in mistake of facts , in misconception of J * r * to remedy them . There may be a great deal of chaff P ^ Z whiJA fa sent ; but if in a bushel of chaff he shall find "Viut of g 0 od corn , that bushel of chaff will be well -worth 51 winnowing , and he can turn the pint of corn to good vroose Therefore , though many persons may think that Enihmunications from individuals give trouble to those who nre in office , never mind that—I care not for it—the more trouble that is given , if it is for a good purpose , the better , for it is only by the assistance of the public at large that men in office can adequately and satisfactorily perform their duties . " He praised demonstrations such as the ceremonial of the day . ' . '
. . " Gentlemen , I can assure you that the course whicli the Lord Provost and magistrates of your city have this day pursued is that which of all others is best calculated to promote the public interest- —I mean ,-when public bodies , like that of the city of Perth , see in the conduct of public men anything which they are led to sanction and to approve . In my case , I feel that th « approbation exceeds the merit which has called it forth ; but wherever public bodies , like the great and respectable body of this city , see in the conduct of public men that which they are pleased to approve , it is ly a demonstration of that it is the
public approval— -by encouragement which those civic honours offer to exertions . in- the public service—it is by these means that cities can best contribute to stimulate public men to anxious and zealous performance of their duty , and to encourage those who are entering into public life to devote themselves zealously to the acquiring that knowledge , and to the practising those exertions , by means of which the public service of this country will always be supplied with men capable of fulfilling tlieir duties , and equal to any times and emergencies in which they may be called upon to act . "
The Guildry of Perth having also resolved to make the noble lord a burgess of guild , that honour was conferred in the Guildhall , in the presence of a large number of tha brethren , the Dean of Guild presiding . Lord Palmerston received " stone and lime" of the city , according to ancient usage , and , having become " solemnly bound" to discharge every civil and religious , duty which the office legally implies , said : — "My Lord Dean of Guild—I beg to return you my most sincere thanks for thus having completed my creation . ( Applause and laughterj Imperfection is the lot of human nature ; but to be an imperfect citizen of Perth would ,
indeed , be a great mortification to me , or anybody who esteems as highly as I do the people that inhabit this most distinguished town . I only hope that I shall not be too hard pressed to execute and fulfil the declaration which I have just made , and that , the duties which I may be called upon to perform may in some degree be measured out to me with due consideration of the distance at which I have to execute them . ( Loud laughter , and applause . ) At least , I shall leave this city with satisfaction , that the honour which has been conferred upon me does not render ine liuble to any sordid imputation , because the gilts whicli havH hep . n bestowed on mo in this room— -a most valuable
piece of stone —( lnughter)—and a most excollont pieco of lime —( continued laughter)—I restored to the hands from which I received them . I , therefore , go away , not only a free mmi , hut free from all imputation of having been bribful by the gifts which , ns a member of this incorporation , have been given to " mo us part of the property of the » place . With regard to the topic which the deun lias just adverted to , I certainly ' think all parties who have concurred in these improvements . . ' our-. commercial ' system . may be proud of having done a good work , the results of which wjill long-, I trust , be ' . folt for the benefit of tho whole country . And there is this remarkable circumstance , that , I believe , no question which ever so much divided the opinions of mnnkind , having been carried one way , so quickly made converts of those who , during tho discussion , had held an opposite Un < l
contrary opinion ; forwo . aro now ull Free-traders . Tliero is no purty in . tho country Mint now holds tho principles ol Free-trade to be a mistake , and nn injury to tho country . I hud , not . very long ago , the good fortune to meet an old friend of mine who had-been for five or six yours absent from the country , in a far distant situation , and who said , h «) could hnrdly beliavo that ho was come back to tho name country from which ho wont , he found such an ontire difference in tho gcuorul fooling of everybody with whom ho communicated . When ho wont away people w » ro complaining of this , mid finding fault witli that , and discontented with something else ; but now ho found ull classes admitting that they were » ufliciontly flourishing , and tltore was a general fouling of contentment and satisfaction pervading all cIushos with whom he communicated . It is truo ( hat national
eixunplo . 4 aro slow of imitation . There are in other countries that which existed here—namely , private and particular inttirostH which conflict with the general good—honestly and sincerely , often , oh woll oh sometimes founded in Hellish motives . Ilut in tho countries * abroad there w , I am sorry to say , Mill groat prejudice against thorn ; principles of co ' inmor-« ial freedom which havo boon entablishod so much i ^ advnntago of this country . J ' lnt depend upon it that tho cxumplo of . Ruglimd will , sooner or later , tell . Pooplo ma } ' at "rat bo frightened nt thocoDNuquoncca of tho porfoct freedom <> t coiniiivrcfl which wo havo established ; but ( hough at first 1 »« y . Iio ' hIow te > follow our example , depend upon it tlmt " » at oxanipln will , sooner or hiter , produce iin good , lint ! in
« v » if it did nnt—Kiippeising other countricH wer « still to persist in maintaining u restrictive system—why , all we huvu ( louo is bouoiit to ourselves ; bccuiiso it in quite plain , tlmt whilo you pursued a rcslriclivo . syNtom with othor countriiiH also , you weu'o . sufioring a doublo injury ; you ge > t dour that which you bought from othor countrios , and you wolel at a dl . Nudvant ugo tlmt which you Hold to them ; while wo luivo Kmned half thp benefit by buying cheap that which wo wanl roni abroad ; and , tliorolbro , it in no argument against ( ho ««> und principle of IVuo trade that it has not been followed by other cou ntries ; IUul if othor countrioH still poruist in nrjuru «»>» roMtrict ions , depend upon it that th « y do thoiiiHelvuH much Wioro ii \ jtiry thun they < lo to uu . W « huvo done ft > our »< 'lve | i
much more injury than they do to us . We have done to ourselves so much good as it is in our power to do . by un-, tying the shackles which fetter national industry . Therefore whether other countries will follow our example or not , our coursn is a wise , one , and will never be retraced ; for the longer we continue to pursue this course , and to extend , so far as circumstances may enable us , or justify us in doing so , that principle of free commercial intercourse , depend'upon it that in that proportion will the prosperity of this country increase ; and in spite of the prejudices of other countriesand we derive benefit from them even with a restrictive system—we shall sooner or later unite in levelling at once all those barriers , which the prejudice and ignorance of mankind have in former times established to resist that intercourse between nation and nation—an intercourse which tends not only to the national prosperity , but to the progress of civilization , and to the happiness of mankind . " ( Loud cheers . )
Throughout the whole of the day ' s speeches and doings , the people responded heartily to the buoyant oratory of the statesman , and cheered heartily all assertions of the duty of England to do ' fearlessly what is right . , . .
October 1,1853.] The..Le4.Der. 939 - ' :...
OCTOBER 1 , 1853 . ] THE .. LE 4 . DER . 939 - ' : ' . ' ! . " ¦ .. ¦' - . | ' __ '___ . _ __; .... __ j f -- .: . . ' . _ , ; : V ¦ . ' - , ' ¦ \ ' . ' .. ' - .. . . ¦ ¦ ! . ' y > ¦ , ^ ¦¦ ¦ ' — _ ^ —¦!— **
Mr. Gladstone In The North. The " Ancien...
MR . GLADSTONE IN THE NORTH . The " ancient burgh" of Dingwall presented Mr . Gladstone with the freedom of the town on Tuesday . After the usual ceremonies and complimentary speeches , Mr . Gladstone made a speech , interesting from its personal feeling and its public allusions : — " I think you are aware that those who " are connected either by blood or recollection with the Highlands of Scotland , do not easily lose their interest in the population , nor
their attachment to the soil . For me , the connexion of my family with Dingwall . must ever be a source of the tenderest and most endearing association , because she to whom I owe my birth was not only a native herself , but , although removed far away for scores of years , continued to cherish an attachment towards it in a degree not surpassed by any of its inhabitants . On every personal and domestic ground , thereforoy I cannot but feel deeply grateful for tins tribute of your regard . " . lie then adverted to public affairs and to the position of the Government : —
" Gentlemen , I do feel and believe , and it is a source of no small satisfaction to myself , that the present- Government is distinguished more than many which preceded it ¦ ¦ by _ coming less iji contact with mere party organization , and being less pledged to the purposes of party warfare . It is composed , as you know , for the most part , of men-. having great experience in public service . This is my twontj ' -nrst veur of public life , and yet I am , certainly not its youngest member , but still j'oung , " compared with those veteran statesmen' who occupy the chief places in tho councils of her Majesty . They uro united by an honourable bond ; and I may take it upon me to say that their objects and wishes arc no other than 3-011 have expressed . I spoke of those changes on tho faco of the country which are palpable to the eye , but other changes ,
also , havo taken pluco dining the lapse of those eventful years to which I have referral—changes involving a greater amount of legislative effort after improvement , and comprising larger and more beneficial results , than luvvu over been gathered together during any period of the same length in tlie history of our country . Looking to tho course which legislation has taken— setting minor objects aside—allowing for that freedom of opinion whicli , thank God , prevails iu this country—and for the differences with which that freedom must be attended , I think , wo must nil feel that tlio institutions of the country huvo been working well—that they have been working for tho benefit of the mass of the community . -The stops taken may by some bo deemed too slow or too short : but , on the whole , they have been iu what is
called tlio right direction , the character of tho policy -which tho country has pursued has boon of a nature which will honourably distinguish her history , and which marks her state and condition in ft manner tho most favourable as compared with those of other nations . When Lord Aberdeen took office , he declared it to be his special mission—not , of course , putting other object * aside—to defend , complete , and seal that great work of commercial reform , the extension of which hns boon tho main characteristic of the last ten years . I hope you think him faithful to his pledge . At this particular moment , when it is pleasing Providence to press on other nations something like n . scurcity of tlio fruits of the earth , I hope there nro none among those whom I address who do not leol profoundly thankful for tho adoption of that
wifU ) policy , by which wo huvo removed every trammel and restraint on tho supply of that ; article upon which our population nre dependent lor subsistence . It is the lot of man to labour—to earn Inn bread by labour ; but it whs a and und inisornblo de > hmie » n , when , iu addition to this penujty laid upon him in the wise counsel of God , wo undertook to inter fero and render scarce , by artificial laws , tho broad upon which ho is to subsist . I really must say , that all who took a part in the bendieial work of altering those laws ought to feol thankful to tlio Almighty lor being permitted to hIiuwj in carrying through measures so beneliciul in their tendonoyso full of benevolence towards the masses of tho community ; mid—if I must add another motive—so calculated us that legislation has beun , and lias sho w" itself to be , to strengthen
tho attachment of the people to tlio iimtiiutions of the country , and ( o conliriu aliko their sontimonts of reverence for law , their loyalty to ( ho throne , and tlieir appreciation of il 1 () blessing * jtlioy enjoy from tho constitution muler which thoy live . There never was a mom signal example of tho advuntuge . s to be derived from the" adoption of 11 wise and woll-coiinidered improvement thun Unit exhibited by thin cmmliy , These must speak to tho mind of every public man , and reit ' oiiunoud a porHttVorauco in that , oour . sn which oxporitiuco hew shown to bo fraught with so much holfelil :. And , if other tncourugomont * bo needed , thoy are to be derived while travelling through tho hind from hucIi meetings us this—wluuo intelligent num , ohemon to ropreweint tho wants , winhoM , und intomsto of jmrtioular loealitioH , cotnu forward to ruooiv" »» With oxprowiuiw of dooUUsd upprovul , and kindl y ovorluwk
our many deficiencies . I trust the effect of these testimonies will be to inspire us with a determination to devote ourselves , so long as we remain the servants of the Crown , with at least singleness , of purpose , and without regard to party objects , to the promotion of the public -welfare . " A similar ceremony took r > lace at Inverness , on the same evening . The Court-house of-the town was thronged by the townsfolks > and Mr . Gladstone Was received with great enthusiasm . In his address he iirst alluded very hapnilv to Free Trade : — ri J " How marked is the testimony to the wisdom of recent legislation in the spirit which now prevails ! Go back to other times , and we find that , when corn was dear , the natural anxiety and impatience of the people vented itself in
violations of law , m riot , and in bloodshed ; and even in other countries this continues still to be the case . Only a few davs ago I read of the governors of two Italian towns losing their lives as a sacrifice to the impatience of the population arising from such a cause . Thus it ever has been where man steps in to correct Providential arrangements , and where tho pressure of scarcity is aggravated by unwise laws . But see tlio contrast here ! Not in this quarter , but in other quarters ot the country , there is a deficient harvest , and the demand for corn to France has affected our markets ; but not through all England or Scotland is there heard a murmur of impetience or discontent , for the people rest satisfied that , if there be a dispensation of scarcity , it comes from that Providence whose will it is to dispense the measures both of abundance
and want ; they know that human legislation has done all that ; itcan to effect free scope to the energy and industry _ . ol man , and hence there is everywhere that tranquillity , contentment , and self-reliance which we should most desire to prevail . ( Cheers . ) Your Provost has said that we have not met here to celebrate a party triumph . There was a time when the question of protective duties was made one of party struggle and conflict . There was a timo , even after the victory ; had been achieved , when a large party adopted ' Protection * as their motto , and inscribed it . on their banners . But those times are tmne bv , the force of truth has Avon its way ,
and I scarcel y believe that , after . ' the evidence which the lapse of time has nccutnukited , there exists any longer a section of the community who , if they had the power , would wish to step back , to alter , or modify a system of legislation so beneficial . ( Cheers . ) What was once but an opinion ot -philosophers'in their closets , spread ' from one class to another , occupied the minus of statesmen , obtained the voice of Parliament , took the force of law , is now the fixed policy of England , and reigns enthroned in the sanction and heart of the country . " ( Loud cheers . ) He then adverted to the cause of liberty abroad :-
—Your address adverts to my humble efforts in behalf of those whom I believe to be oppressed in another country . It must ) e painful to us , natives of Great [ Britain—citizens of a country where the principles of liberty and obedience to . law are both held iu deserved vent-ration—of a country where the most extensive changes are brought about by legal- and rational means—it must be most painful for us to look abroad over the Continent and see how little progress the nations of Jfluropo havo made iu the path of temperate and rational freedom . There is one year-which ,-I fenr , must be marked as very disastrous in their annul *—I mean the revolutionary year of ' 184 S—for , while certainly there was much which deserved'to bo swept away , tho cllect was to provoke a terrible reaction—to diminish the hopo of rational freedom—to
exasnrrute the spirit of despotism where it existed—to develop extreme opinions— -am < l to . diminish the prospect of gradual and temperate ' advance tothnt-system of constitutional government—tlio results of which we so happily enjoy . In the country whero ^ it-was my'fortunes to .-reside at the period to which allusion hns been-made , I : perceived that ' great sufferings were inflicted on large numbers in consequence of this reactionary spirit—a . spirit ; tho natural effect of whose manifestations is certainly to' provoke popular resistance , and to engender many terrible evils .. I do entertain un earnest hope for tho improvement of Italy ; and , so far as the present Government is concerned , I am suro it will bo their-endeavour to promote thnt object—' nut in ; the spirit of reckless propagandi . sm , winch would raise up tho national spirit against us ,
but by such a wise and . temperate policy as will secure our moral iufluouce . At present wo cannot speak with satiliiction of foreign politics . You well know that causes are operative which threaten the peare of Knrope . 1 trust you also know , und aro well prrsiuuled , that tho most anxious efforts , of tho British Government have been directed towards tho maintenance of general peace , an * l the protection of those who want strength to protect themselves . ( Chcei'N . ) No assurance from 1110 to this effect , in wanted , for the temper and attitude-of tho pooplo have shown how thoughtfully they confide in their rulers , and how anxious they are for the maintenance of peace combined -with honour . The time is happily past when un ignorant eagerness for war could take possession of tho masses of tlio community . We do not fail
to profit by the lessons of history , though after forty years ot peace , when most , of us have grown up without any actual oxperitiiH ' . o of the evils of a stale of war , wo may be apt , to forget their number and magnitude . Tho heavy burdens which war entails on posterity it 111 " least of its evils . It . in tho effusion of human blood , tho dissolution of domestic ties , tho letting loose of a moral seourgo over a country , which ought ( oho thought of , and which impose an utaoluf" obligation on Govcrmmtuts ami statttMium to avoid it at tlio cost of any . sacrifice short of duty and honour . TJii . s is ( lie principle ) which has guided the ! ( iovcumient , throughout » ho negotiations of tho last , low mouths ; ttml by this rule thoy would
still act , knowing that it was with inelivjeliial . s as with nations —that , a war might bo very populnr at its conmiesnce'inent , which would he ) very hatofiil at . ils dovojust us Ihoro wore > low pee > plo wheMinterejd e > u a ejuarreil otherwise tliiin brave mul M > lf-roliiiut , but who might not . lilio it much ero all wan over . Mr . <; iiulsU ) iie , then , nsmiirkinj , 'tlmt the tdiadeiw of evening , which wero dotting round ( hem , convoyisel a warning to bo brief , proewidtnl to relcr te > U 10 future : —alluding especially to tho great change ) which has of Into < : <> ino ov « ir tho spirit and temper of parties . At tho wicriliew of innch porMoinil feeling , in vieilatiem of tlio fttrie * terin . s of Hituuil cejimintency , many useful irie ) nHure ) . s had beiou curried through , with tho further effect of coiimlutoly UiaorgnnwiiiB oltl jmrty connexions , Thq
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Oct. 1, 1853, page 3, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_01101853/page/3/
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