The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1836-10-21 00:00:00

_ . Tu.on w ho•.avowedly retained their power by this " union of all reforrners"—that was to. say, the compromise of what were once caller: their p r i nc i p l es, b ut now were k nown b y the easier in 'l4uoin i natian of th e i r " m i nor diff erences. ' , Dolus versatur Ifaieralibus was a f avourite maxim of the universities. They (of. the universiti es ) d istrusted these vague generalities , which they lielieved t o have been adopted because they afforded the rea• (Last opportu n i t i es for successful and safe evasion. Would they giv e him. their permission to speakaid shortly of two o f th eir *libbolet.hs of faction, vvhicb di rect l y a ff ecte d the universities, • disregard,of consistent woad the Present t i me with the grossest tice to Ireland. And whay d common sense. The fi rs t was jus t divl justice to Ireland mean ? It can that the . law should be insulted with impunity— pulctiii, 16rof barn said, in su PPortin g a C elebrated coercion 014 if - 4 * . kii . ,:o wn sits lightly on the.head of arer which ,4 , /t . - Ifiiriitice without affinding coon."Drotec Not the c', / 1 a S 1 o ' ' eq . blishment—for Lord Lansdowne solemnly 1•41 la - - „.4 Ido n ~, , A ,„ j i-, - ft , id never he a party to the alienation of .1. e , .., . utarrtiera.4.,.f. purposes strictly protestant. Not the an ' '•`----"‘ It• 7,rdi - for Lord J. Russell said, "he w o ,i d . i .,•,,,. - A . ' —ti0....,- ---5 7: , ',a z z the House .of Commons to an at, -- - , „ .. • °l. ' ' ' . • 1 4 9) p 1) ---in- - 'lstion." • Was it, then, rounici., ' ' w re, iclieproP - s-iaott ' f pl4 • i„(i. : •- ~, . 4. 4 a' • lie had a short character given of them by Mr. O'Connell. 'He called them "base, bloody, treacherous, mercenary whips." But they knew he was rather hard, and would not stick at anything,—(A laugh.) But there was another opinion of them, given by a milder man. In a late communication be had'had with Lord Eldon and Sir Robert Peel, he found these qualities- described, (loud cries of " Buckingham! ") that the tories had this great feature of, difference, (reading from Mr. Buckingham's letter) namely, they. practised what they pro fessied.—(Cheers.) That they were faithful to each other. Look bere—(tremendous cheering)—" and grateful to those who support them."—(Continued cheering.) Now came the side' of the question which they would call contra. " Whereas the Whigs are perpetually professing principles which they are either ashamed or unable to carry out in action. They are faithless and ungrateful to those by whose support alone they are kept in power, and they have generally created in the minds of the people disappointment and disgust."— (Loud cheering.) Let them not suspect him of having writ ten this character.—(Loud cheering.) He could not have said anything half so bad. It came from no tory in disguise; but it was the production of Mr. Buckingham, a Radical. If it were true that on the ministerial side of the house the government were kept in office, not by a fair fulfilment of its duties, but by a monstrous, and forced, and unnatural com bination—by a combination which rested on no common attachment, but by a common antipathy, which was scarcely stronger than the hatred with which they regarded each other —if such were the state of this government with reference to the measures it had brought forward, and with reference to those about to be brought forward—if such be the state of this government in reference to those by whose confidence it was kept in office, might he not be justified in saving, that in comparing their position, victorious though they had been, with the position of Sir Robert Peel, he and his friends need not wish to exchange their honourable retirement for the emoluments of office, tarnished with Such a reputation as this ?- 7 -(Tremendous cheers.) He had detained them more than enough.—( Loud cries of "Go on.") Upon matters of a public nature there still remained something to be said. He was unwilling to obtrude upon them in a private capacity, and yet be was still more unwilling, by a total silence, to give any room for animadversion. He was not insensible to the close connexion in which he stood with the town of Liverpool, bound to them, as he was, by birth and by pecuniary interests, but severed by circumstances from immediate intercourse with them for a lapse of years. Thus much of himself. He would venture to say there was no period, and there could be no occasion on which he would more gladly revive the remem brance of his thoughts of Liverpool, that at that prsent time and in that place.—(Cheers.) He stood there in the presence 01 1 his noble friend, their able, faithful, and distinguished representative, and in the presence of his noble friend, the member for Warwick, who had that night given them, they would allow him to say, an earnest of what he would do as their representative.—(Enthusiastic cheering, and waving of handkerchiefs, &c., by the ladies —the company stauding.) As their representative —as the worthy companion of Lord Sandoh, he hoped to see him enter the House of Commons.— (Confirmed cheering.) There might be some there who I would recollect, that his now revered parent had no incon siderable share in originating the connexion b e t ween M r . Can ning and th e to wn of Liverpool. That connexion had reflected much honour upon Mr. Canning: but Liverpool had received hack in return, a superior splendour. (Loud a ppl ause .) He looked forw ar d w i t h j oy and exultation, and he had a right to look forward with joy and exultation, to the speedy renewal of that connexion; and God grant that it might long continue. (Immense cheering and clapping of hands.) But further, he was addressing the members of an association which, he would venture to say, exhibited a pattern to the kingdom of what loyal mind right-snicded Englishmen should, at the present day, exhi bit ; and members of an association which he would not dwell on in eulogising, because his noble friend had already spoken on that point with his usual ability. But this he would say with regard to the smallness of that apartment, which, though large in comparison with common measures, was trifling compared with their enthusiasm, and compared with the enthusiasm which, had there been space, would have collected them in far greater numbers on that occasion. He hoped to meet them again in some yet larger room. He trusted that by some means a per manency would be given to this association. It was true that all this excitement which he witnessed was to be regarded as an evil. It was true that private life was to be preferred before political excitement. But they were entering in this country into a state of habitual excitement. The question was, whether they Would value personal convenience more than the public welfare, and refuse to enter into the contest which had been raised, and forced on them against their w i s h es . H e cou ld not doubt the alternati ve w hi c h their loyalty would adopt. He trusted this body wonld enshrine itself i n some b u ildi ng wort h y of itself, where it might continue to exert itself for the same beneficial purpose it had already so successfully promoted. (Applause.) Having said so much of the Conservative Asso ciation, he had now a gratifying task to perform which brought him near the close of his remarks; he was afraid they bad been more protracted than they ought. As a last duty he had to pro pose the health of their chairman. And now [addressing the chairman,' in the face of th a t company ; of Mr. Holine's, and his own fellow -townsmen he had to state him to be, in reference to his public duties, all that an able, an upright, an active, and an influential English tradesman ought to be. (Loud cheer ing.) He could say no more than this : they knew him better than he could do. He had been bet a distant observer of his life,—they had examined and knew him. They had seen him from a nearer station: he was valued by every one amongst them. (Cries of "He is !") Long may he live ! (Cheers.) And as he would sa y t o th a t c l ass o f tradesmen in this town, without offence to any other class, that they were an example. by their energy, both to these beneath and to those above them; so he would say of Mr. Holme, that he was an example to that class. (Loud cheering.) He had stated thus much in his pre sence,—not to give Mr. Holme pleasure, for perhaps he would rather have been alluded to in terms less direct ;—not to give himself gratification, although it was gratifying to him to be permitted to bear testimony to his merits. (Hear, hear.) But be bad an opportunity of ascertaining by a reference to their sentiments what was the place which he occupied in their esti mation; and he had an opportunity of seeing from the cheers of approval that the ground of virtue, and public spirit (what ever be the bitterness of opposition, and calumny) and an in telligent appreciation, and sincere advocacy of the best, and highest interests of his countrymen, (for Mr. Holmes was not a mere politician) did not remain without its reward. (Tre mendous cheering. He would conclude by giving them the health of their respected president. Air. Samuel Holme. (The toast was drank amidst rapturous applause.) Band—" For auld lane syne." The CHAIRMAN, on rising to return thanks, was received 'with several distinct rounds of applause. He said that on or dinary occasions he did not feel himself at a loss in giving ex pression to his feelings, but on this occasion he much wished that he had that burning . power of eloquence possessed by those around him, and with which they had been delighted, in which to express his thanks in the manner he ought to do. He could not say more than that from the very bottom of his heart he thanked them for the way in which they had received the men tion of his name. He was not ashamed to say that he had risen from the lower ranks himself. He was proud to declare that in this country it was in the power of all persons, and of every in dividual, let the talent they possessed be trifling as it may, how ever humble might be their situ a ti o n i n lif e , t o d evote sonic por tion of it to the benefit and welfare of his fellow-man, and that, however humble the station he might be placed in, he had the power of doing good to the great family of man. (Cheers.) He had one wish which he hoped to see gratified ; it was the ocean to the river of his soul; it was, that he might see the.pro testant institutions of his country preserved in their integrity— in all their richness and their fullness. The building in which they were then met, called to his mind the grand scene it had presented only a few weeks ago. The protestant clergy of the town had then come forward to counteract those infidel princi ples which were intended to subvert those institutions. (Cheers.) He then saw the enlightened and highly educated clergy of Li verpool coming forward as one man to resist the attempt made by the enemies of the church, and to rescue the town from the deep disgrace that would otherwise have fallen upon it. When he recollected that those men who had so warmly espoused the cause of protestantism had received their education at the uni versities of Oxford and Cambridge;—when he recollected that those universities were the strong! holds of conservatism, he could not resist the-opportunity of proposing them for the next toast. Before he sat down he would again thank them for the honour they had done his name- He could only regret that he had not language to do credit to the feelings of his heart. He would now propose to them "The universities of Oxford and Cambridge, and may they long continue to be the seats of sound protestant education." He need not say that he expected the toast would be drank with three times three cheers. The toast having been duly honoured, Mr. CARDWELL, a member of the University of Oxford, rose. He said, it would be impossible not to feel deeply grate ful upon being called upon to acknowledge the toast that had just been so warmly received by the present numerous assem bly; and-to return thanks for that university to which it was his pride and privilege to belong. They would believe that he never rose with feelings of more intense and heartfelt gratitude than th"ose which he felt at the compliment paid him by the present large, intelligent, and independent m ee ti ng. I t often happened that those who are known in the higher walks of learn iug were pre-eminent also in the paths of public life, and he would not say that it unfortunately so happened, but he would say that he heard of that meeting with joy, knowing their dis tingurked guests would be there to bear their testimony to the proud position of the university of Oxford, and with the belief and earnest hope that one of them would have risen to do justice to the.. toast oefore them. If, therefore, he ventured to address them, they would know that it was not his own presumption, and accord to him their kind indulgence. But, although they did the universities generous justice for their long roll of learn ed theologians—of men distinguished in literature and science, embodying such names as Sir R. Peel and Lord Stanley, and some of the brightest names in European statesmanship, he was persuaded they would pour out their heartfelt enthusiasm to wards them, because they regarded the universities as amongst tbecarmest bulwarks of that church which, by God's blessing, was established in these. dominions. (Cheers.) It was only while the universities continued to maintain the respect, and receive the support of meetings such as that, that they either deserved to stand, or could continue to discharge their impor tant services to the cause of pure morality and sound religion. Mr. Gladstone had told them what was the last notable exploit of4hat celebrated "compact" which united bands of men to gether—than whom th e assem blage in N oa h' s ark was not more promiscuous. Their last exploit had been to deprive the coun tryeof those measures of church reform prepared by Sir Robert Peel's commission, and accepted by time friends of the church without a dissentient voice. And yet they were called upon, under the shadow of an empty name, without any definite inter pretation, and with no tangible meaning. to place confidence in lien, of whom it might fairly be said, that their " Bauldest thought's a hankering wither, To rin or stay,"— pal reform—that exquisite device for giving peace to conflicting factions, or, in other words, enabling Mr. O'C onne ll an d hi s myrmidons to " make a tude and call it peace !" (Hear, hear, and cheers.) He h a d no exper i ence,on that subject ; but from the circumstance of their having chosen that day for the entertainment, he would venture to 'draw an inference as to the I estimation in which they held the blessings of municipal reform. What then was justice to Ireland? Justice to Ireland was a stern and an uncompromising resistance to' those who make their daily bread by a system, under which is the expressive lan guage of Sir Robert Peel, " there is no punishment except for innocence, and do security except for triumphant guilt." It was now two years since Lord Brougham told them " of the book of Ireland's wrongs, little now remained except a few short pages which might speedily be erased by the wisdom and justice of parliament." "All gracious God !" said his Lordship, "why was this improvement prevented? Because a few individuals gifted with genius by the same bountiful Providence which en dowed their country with fertility, mistaking their own happi ness, if they knew what happiness was—preferred, to honest in dustry by which they might obtain power, a species of political and personal mendicancy ' which makes (and the se were remark able words) ev er y fib re of a man's body quiver with unbearable shame." He was unable to ascertain by what stroke of the ma. gician's wand the " base, brutal, and bloody" whigs of Lord Grey's high-minded government had degenerated into the pure and disinterested patriots" who supported Lord Mel bourne's, hybrid ministry. The next stal e wat c hw or d was, " civil and religio us liberty." And he asked them, as men of common sense, what they interpreted it to mean, when it pro ceeded from men whose professions and practices were in such painful opposition to each other?' He would tell them what was said of it by an unquestioned authority. " Every sect clamours for toleration when it is down. Every bigot says, •I am in the right and you are in the wrong : when you are in power you ought to tolerate me because it is your duty to tolerate truth : when I am stronger I shall persecute you, because it is my duty to persecute error.' To join the catholics against the church is to raise a spiritual despotism, compared with which the des potism of the establishment is as a little finger to the loins, as punishment with whips to punishment with scorpions." If they wished to knoW who was the authority, this was the opi nion of the Edinburgh Review, in commenting upon the whig history of the late Sir James Mackintosh. He could not help thinking it a sign of the times that the brilliant reviewer from whose pen these remarks proceeded, should not in his honour able exile in India have reviewed the newest political fashions fast enough to adapt his writings to the present professions and practices of his party. They had had this question forced upon them; and - if they bad rejected it, it was not that they under valued the importance of the principle, but that they could place no confidence in the men who so consistently profess it. "The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hand is the h a nd o f E sau ." They (the uni v ersity of Oxford,) had been foremost in the fight, and he acknowledged with pride the debt they owed them. One of the members for South Lancashire was the leader of that sin. gular host, and what was the consequence to him? There came a dissolution of parliament, and they (his constituents) gave him his reward. That question was forced upon them, and what was the answer that they gave ? Why, as their excellent chairman had told them, they had been asked the same ques tion, and within those glorious walls five thousand of them re turned the samlianswer •—that they would not d e p ar t f rom th e doctrine and disciplin e o f the Church of England. It was be cause they had maintained those principles, and discharged those duties that it was no poetry to say of the universities, that they "had braved a thousand years the battle and the breeze." It was because they had maintained those principles and dis charged those duties that " Swiftly the glance of memory ranges back, O'er the long roll of Oxford's honoured years, To that old time w h en Alf re d' s patriot voice First woo'd the Muses to those hallow'd seats ; First taught his rude barbarians the soft strength Of faith—attempered knowledge"— and, by God's help, while the nation lasted, they would main tain the same principles and the same duties; the universities would endure as towers of strength and monuments of glory, supported by the voice of an intelligent community and based upon the foundation of eternal truth as long as the nation should continue to exist. (Mr. Cardwell sat down amid loud and long reiterated cheers.) Mr. hoasyTsi, of the University of Cambridge, then rose and said he felt that some apology was due from him in rising to acknowledge the toast which had just been so ably proposed and so cordially received. Ile was well aware that he was by no means the person most competent to address them on that occasion • and he must su pp ose th at h e ( a dd ressing the chair man) like a skilful general had chosen in that case to oc cu py his strongest positi ons w i t h hi s weakest troops, and confided to him (Mr. Forsyth) the task of returning thanks, well knowing that the toast was one which was independent of the strength of the advocate. In truth, he felt that he had not much to say— he must either indulge in the language of panegyric or adopt the tone of defence. Panegyric would be useless there; and, as to defence. what more splendid testimony to the strength of the cause he was there to advocate could be found than in the fact that the mention of those institutions had been received in such a manner, in such a place, in such an assembly. What, he would ask, was the nature of the charges with which the universities were assailed ? They were told that they were be hind the spirit of the age—that they were marching in the rear ward of events—that their learning was pedantry, and their knowledge antiquated lumber—that, in the poetic language of the radicals " they were islands of barbarism in the midst of an ocean of light"—that the owl of Minerva with them could not bear the blaze of light which had flashed upon the 19th century, and that the trees beneath whose shade Bacon, and Milton, and Newton grew up and flourished were cankered at the root and withering away. It might be so, but he was sure they did not think that it was so. A great man once, in affected scorn of the British people, called them " a nation of shop-keepers," and in the sense in which he used the terms they were those of re proach. But the charge was false—while England bad been sending her ships- to every corner of the habitable world, and filling her warehouses with merchandise from every land, she had not. neglected to encourage the arts and sciences, and had held out the hand of protection to the seats of learning—re membering that it was that 'which now constitutes the chief glory of the Italian republics, . which, in the darkness of the middle ages, carried their commerce and their ships to every portion of the then known world. Not the freightag,e of their vessels or the magnificence of their buildings, but those great and glowing names which, fostered and protected by the mer chants of Italy, stood out as among the brightest and noblest on the page of history. Such beimg the case, the appellation of " a nation of shopkeepers," in an offensive sense, might well be exchanged for another—that of a nation of merchants, than which a snore noble title could not be bestowed, one which, in former times, won from the inspired penman, with regard to that ancient city whose seat was upon the waters, the splendid eulogy that " her merchants were princes, and her traffickers the honourable of the earth." He had the honour to be a member of a uni vers ity w hi c h use d in former times to be dis tinguished, as par excellence, the whip university; and perhaps there were many there present who agreed with-him in think ing that there was a time when the name of whig did not neces sarily entail reproach—when the names of Chatham, and Burke, and Pox were some guarantee for the principles of the party, and when that party did not condescend to adopt that favourite figure of speech of the modern whigs, that political synecdoche, which " The part for the whole doth take, Not for the sense, but for the metre's sake," and substitute the populace for the people, and the mob for the nation. But whatever might be thought of the whigs then, from the disgrace, and the brand, a n d th e infamy which would be stamped upon the university by th e name of whig now, be was happy to say they had completely emancipated themselves; their representatives in parliament were conservative, and the great majority of the young men studying at the university were conservative also, and was not that a cheering thought, a delightful circumstance, that the rising youth of Britain, from her schools and in her colleges, were embued with the sound spirit of conservatism ? He knew that the radical newspapers affected to think lightly of this' matter, and talked of them as beardless youths, whose opinions were not worthy of notice; but these writers forgot, or did not choose to avow, that those beardless youths were shooting up into men, and that from their ranks, the educated ranks of Britain, must ultimately be drafted those who would have to take a part in the legislation of the state, and assist in the councils of their sovereign. There was a time, indeed, and not l ong b ac k , w h en the case was different— when the trail of that serpent, whose slime extended over all, • had reached the university ; and that incubys, of which they had heard that evening, threatened to sit heavily upon them, when under the specious name of reform they were likely to sanction revolution. He knew how these expressions might be tortured into a different construction, and he might be told that they were. opposed to every change, and hated every real reform; but this was not so. He was no bigoted defender of those institutions. He did not pretend to think them perfect. They had changed, were changing, and would still fa r ther change; but while the Universities were elastic enough to ad mit of such changes as the advanced intellect of mankind might require, they were unbending enough, or, if the expression suited better, obstinate enough, to resist what was demanded by the clamour of a faction or a mob. They thought that the educa tion of the young was too sage and seriou s a matter to be di rected by the suggestions of a few scribblers in radical news papers, and that it demanded wiser heads than those to advise for them measures of improvement. No, they were not oppo sed to change, but they could not consent, in the rash spirit of experimentalism, like the enchantress of old, to cut off the limbs their aged parents, and throw theist into the cauldron of confu sion, to see them boil and bubble there, fur the dubious chance of a youthful renovation. He had alluded to the nature of the calumnies directed against the studies of the Universities. Those charges resulted from either very gross ignorance or very gross knavery. With regard to many of those who brought them forward, he was perfectly willing that they should shelter themselves behind the plea of ignorance, for of the spirit and nature of those studies they could possibly know nothing; but there were others who were guilty of very gross .knavery, who accused them of studying there what tended only to make them servile and bigoted. What, was the language of Greece and Rome the language of servility ? Was it likely that their pa triotism and love'of liberty would glow less warmly by perusing the orations of Demosthenes, or being imbued with the senti ments of Cicero, than if they empl o y e d th e i r time over penny magazines, or the other productions drawn from the modern slop-shops of knowledge? . But those who made the charge knew all this—but they knew more. They knew that in the Universities the page of history was unrolled before the young, and that they are taught to regard with respect and veneration the names of the great and'goocl, and to distingui s h between the true glory th a t surrounded them, and false notoriety which others, by base arts, attained. In short, to 'revere those states men who had been distinguished for principle, and admire the characters of such men as Aristides, the incorruptible and she just, and Regulus, whom the poet described in terms of such striking contrast with the whig-radical minister, as— " Dissentientem conditionibus • Frodis, et exemplo trabenti Perniciem vernens in wvum ;" and to think with scorn and abhorrence upon those who had built up the fabric of their power upon a nation's folly, and, by pandering to the passions of the multitude, kept themselves in place and office—upon such reckless demagogues as a Olson or a Cataline. He was, he observed, too young to prophecy, and particularly he was unwilling to appear befor e them a prophet of evil; but there were times when he confessed he looked for ward with gloomy forebodings to the future. Upon the institu tions of this country the attack had already commenced—the muttering of the storm had been already heard, and one blast had already swept over the Universities. With the Scotch Uni versities the House of Commons was then tampering. Whether those institutions were to fall or not he knew not; but if any thing could give him confidence, it was the fact of such an as semblage as that, met together to proclaim its attachment to the blessings which the country had hitherto enjostd—the fact of men eminently practical receiving in so cordial a spirit the mention of institutions which the wisdom of their forefathers had planted, and who would not consent to forego their chance of being able to afford their sons the blessings of a sound, learned, and religious education—who did not forget the great and good men who had issued from the Universities, whose names would last as long as the languages of the world endured, and who di rected their best efforts to advance the interests, and ameliorate the condition, of mankind The CHAIR MAN said he would not omit any-longer the oppor tunity of giving.a toast which; bv 'some miscalculation or other on the part of the committee, had been, placed last.upon the list. lie had before alluded' to the well-known gallantry of the gen tlemen wile surrounded him, and, if he made a further draft SUPPLEMENT TO THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD. upon the same, he knew -it was upon' an inexhaustible fund. Not the least pleasing —not the last striking amongst• the plea sures which they had that night experienced was, that they had been surrounded by those who were the comforters and pattici paters with them in those brighter scenes, and those more calni and domestic moments, when the turmoil and excitements of politics were forgotten, and where they experienced the milder . beams which b rig ht ene d t h e pat h of life. There were present many ladies from the opposite coast of Cheshire, and he was aware that such might experience considerable inconvenience if they remained too long. Without further preface, he would request them to drink, and he need not say anything to incite them to enthusiasm on such a subject—" The witches on both sides the Mersey." (Enthusiastic cheering.) Glee—" I'd have you ladies understand." The CHAIRMAN said, he was now desirous to propose for their reception a toast, which he was sure would meet with a hearty response from every man. It was the health of a distinguished individual, and whom he would, without further preface name, was a scion of the illustrious house of Wharncliffe, one of the most honourable names among the peers of England. (Loud cheers.) He begged to propose the health of Mr. Stuart Wort ley, and the independent electors of the West Riding of York shire. (The toast was received with loud and continued cheering.) Mr. STUART WORTLEY said, that rising as he did, almost an entire stranger to the company amongst which he stood, he could not help feeling how great an acknowledgment he owed to the company, not only for the compliment that had been paid him, but for the original invitation with which he was ho noured, and which gave him an opportunity of attending on that occasion. And these acknowledgments, from the terms in which the toast was proposed, were due not only on account of the toast, but on account of the great body of his fellow-country men. He believed that he might say, that although they were defeated, they were not dispirited, for the time would come when the electors of the West Riding of Yorkshire, like those of South Lancashire, would have the opportunity of showing at their election their fidelity, to the principles which governed their conduct, and enable them to achieve a triumph for Conservatism. (Loud cheers.) For himself, he could not help feeling gratified, that, although so little known to the company he had the honour to address, he might, like his honourable friend on the left, the member for Warwick, claim some degree of acquaintance, even with the electors of Liver pool. When lie cast his eyes on his noble friend, and felt that he could join with the company in the eulogies that had been showered upon him that night, and could echo all that was said in his praise, he flattered himself that he could pretend to an indirect connexion with the people of Liverpool. (Hear.) It was not his business to dilate on the merits of his noble friend on that occasion, but he would assure them that Lord Sandon was, not only on public, but on private occasions—not only where he was under the eye of his constituents, though the adage told them, that "when the cat's awaV, sometimes the mouse will play,"—he was distinguished at all times by an as siduous desire to render the duty he owed to them. (Loud cheers.) When he looked at the assembly whom he then saw before him, he would ask was there any reason for saying that there was a necessity for a bond of union among the conservatives; and he would say more, that the electors of Liverpool, of Devonshire, of Warwick, and of Newcastle, had set an example which he hoped to see generally followed. (Cheers.) Much had been said of the misery of Ireland, but which he considered had been greatly aggravated. (Hear, hear.) After the time that had been devoted to the proceedings of the evening, he would not occupy their time at any great length, but he could not sit down without saying that the spectacle lie saw before him was one of the most gratifying, one of the most heart-stirring he ever wit nessed. He saw before him an association which was holding its first anniversary. He hoped to be present at many others. It was an association just started into existence, an assemblage of per sons not belonging to the aristocracy, and not possessing those privileges, which, they were told, impelled the nobility and the upper classes to resist the progress of revolution. It was an active and intelligent assemblage of men engaged in commerce, men who contributed more to the wealth and resources of the country than any one else, to secure freedom for themselves, and to stand up in defence of the constitution. This was a time in which such proclamations should generally be made. It be hoved every man to have regard to the institutions of his coun try, to open his eyes, and bestir his limbs. The whole question the country had to decide was hat was the object of the party who now assumed the reigns of government, and whether their object was reform or republicanism. He had seen enough of republics, to be satisfied of the mischief that would arise by a change to those principles. ('Hear, hear.) He was not there to advocate or argue the possibility of a republican government being better than our present constitutional one, even if such a subject could be argued with any degree of plausibility. No; he had been born and bred up under the allegiance of a consti tutional monarchy, and he would not agree to the rejection' of that heir-loom, and to the substitution of one in its place, that some persons thought would be better, but for which they gave only vague assertions. It was the business of the people to exert themselves, and protect that government under which providence had placed them, and lie would jain them in the proclamation, that it was their intention to live, and, please God, die under the shade of the iuicient constitutional monarchy of the country. (Loud cheers.) The CHAIRMAN said he had to propose the name of another illustrious member of the house of peers, and in so doing he could not avoid directing the attention of the meeting to the answer which Mr. Baines had given, to Mr, O'Connell, in a letter which had been published in the newspapers. Mr. Baines, whom he knew to be a respectable man, stated that before the House of Peers could be reformed, it would be necessary to in troduce one hundred and fifty more radical and "whip members to parliament, to be added to the House of Commons. When he read that passage in the letter, he was strack with the simi larity it bore to Mrs. Glasse's receipt for dressing a hare, in which she first recommended that the hare should be caught before it was cooked. So he would say to Mr. Baines, that if he could succeed in sending one hundred and fifty more radical members to the House of Commons, he would give him leave to reform the peerage. (Hear, hoar.) The name that he was about to propose would, he was sure. meet with a response in every breast, and with that name he should join a useful body of men—the bar—who were entitled to their respect and esteem, notwithstanding the temptations that were held out to them by commissionerships and other things by the present government. He should state that Lord Eldon was invited to the dinner that day, but had declined the invitation in a letter which would be read to the meeting. The chairman then proposed " Ear' Eldon, and the conservative members of the English bar which was drunk with three times three. CHARLES WILKINS, Esq., barrister-at-law, rose, and was re ceived with loud cheers. After the cheers had subsided, he spoke as follows : —lt' ever man rose to address a public assembly under disadvantages, he was that man. (Cheers.) The master minds who had preceded him had gathered in the harvest by armfuls, and had left him a gleaning. (Continued cheering.) Every topic had been dilated upon before he rose, yet he never felt it a very difficult task to tell his fellow-men what he meant, and, as he dreaded no criticism when expressing his feelings respecting the great and good cause t h ey were all that day engaged in, he would at once venture to proceed. Had they been convened to-day for any purpose merely local, his appearance there, in any other capacity than that of a silent spectator, would have justly subjected him to the charge of impertinence. (Cheers.) But the cause which had pro duced the proud, the imposing spectacle then before him, ex tended itself to the remotest corner of the island, and was the common interest of every man in Britain. (Loud cheers.) The cause in which they were met that day exhibited to him the p . roudest, and most magnificent spectacle he had ever beheld since he was born—that cause had placed the noble in juxta position with the British tradesman—(cheers)—a cause which had induced the legislator to come forward, laying aside all the proud distinctions of his rank in society, and the commanding honour given to him, and to come forward and tell his fellow man of the base, the insolent slandering of their opponents. He would say that that cause was not the cause of Liverpool, it was not the cause of England; but, regarding England as the arbi ter of the world, to a certain extent, it was the cause of the globe. (Great cheering.) To speak with effect it was necessary that he had their confidence, that they might believe him it was neces sary that they have respect to his honour; with their permission, therefore, he would vindicate hiMself, in the first instance, from some attacks which the editor of the Morning Chronicle thought proper to make upon him shortly after their glorious meeting at Newton. (Cheers.) If it had individually concerned him merely he should not have noticed it, but an attack had been made through him on the conservative cause. The attack had been made not because the individual who now stood before them was entitled to one moment's consideration of so dignified a person as the editor of the Morning Chronicle, but because that gentleman had thought that through him he might injure the conservative cause ; that charge had been made originating in wrong, and carried on by the most cowardly and despicable means with which such a charge could be made. To the hypercritical fastidiosity" of that gentlemen he should pay no attention. His (the speaker's) literary reputation, ne cessary as it might be to his vanity, could be of no real import ance to the all-absorbing questions which then agitated the public mind, and, for the purposes of general information, it mattered little whether truth was conveyed in the rounded periods of Cicero, or in the clumsy ill-assorted sentences of a Brummagem attorney. (Laughter.) But when a journal of even small cir culation impugned his honesty—when it presumed to find a motive for his conduct at variance with the truth, and intended to sink him in the estimation of the world—he thought he was not asking too much at their hands when he entreated their at tention to his answer, especially as that , answer would involve topics not irrelevant to the present meeting, and to some present he would hope not wholly uninstructive. (Cheers.) The editor of the periodical to which he had already alluded told his readers, that some years ago he (Mr. W.) entertained political opinion s totally different from those Which he now promulgated, and then, with the characteristic logic and charity of that ex press image of the O'Connell cabinet (ho begged English ladies' pardon for mentioning that name in their 'presence,)—(great must cheering,)_ t o th e c o nc l usion ' that he Must be le s In his 1 t s incon sistent an d dishonest. To justify th a t conc l us i on un d er suc h circumstanc es h :of sf jdui ds promisethat hgonn. eens tt y, a . t l t h cel l h s a o n ‘e e li eosfi change,o pi i tc n ht t ue o nr n e, a w b a s s t r actedy necessarilya c her itine?r he in history's gallery was that, which represented him of Tarsus. who, yesterday, the proud, the persecuting pharisee, is to-day, in supplicating attitude, with tearful eye, before the meek,. the persecuted, the rejected Nazarene. (Great cheering.) It was the triumph of phil osop h y over pride, it was the subjec tion of error to truth, it was the theme of angels' rejoicing. Let them not suppose for a moment. that he would irreverently and wantonly quote scripture to suit rhetorical purposes. No ; but the same atmosphere which bore the lordly eagle above the mountain top enabled the trifling fly to glidJ through its me dium at the base—the same law of gravitation which hurled with thundering sound the displaced rock dow n the mountain's side, gave to the rippling stream its motion —the sam e principle of animation which enabled the elephant to move was exhibited in the creeping ant. (Enthusiastic cheering.) The recollec tion of the truths, which came like a torrent on a man like Saul', might have produced on him an effect not so powerful, not so produced but by the influence o reason, whether p ro d uce d b y f great, not so glorious in its consequences, but both c ou ld h e the beam of inspiration, or by the mere influence of reason. (Cheers.) Again, if a change of sentiment be necessarily cri minal, in what a dilemma did the editor of the Montilla Chroni cle place himself. He would ask what was the object of th at gentleman Jew d' manufacture them as the 1 in writing leading articlesd his razors—to s e ll? Did he for his p a p er ? Di d he shut himself up in his study merely for, factious purposes ? or was his object the enli g htenment and instruction of his f e ll ow man ? What did the editor of the Morning Chronicle mean by the term "march of intellect ?" Why did these merely cant did they tell th em th at the " schoolmaste r was a b r oad ?" W terms of their own school? Had they any import? What could they mean but the turning from error to truth—(che ers )— an abandonment o f d ar k ness for light. What was meant by telling them that the schoolmaster was abroad ? Was he abroad merely t o con fi rm error, or w as his object to instru c t th e mind of the adult th a t h e might not remain an infant in know ledge? If thi s was th e object of the editor of the Morning Chronicle, why had he hurled the charge against him, that, be cause he did not maintain the same principles, n 1836 which he did in 18.31, he must of necessity be a diObouest man? (Great cheering.) 'When an attack was made 'on his integrity, and whenin attack was made on the cause. which he advocated through him, he felt himself called upon (not out of any respect to the man w h o was t h e aut h or o f the a t t ack) to repel it. But though' that man had ranged him as a villain, he bad received intelligence that evening which would give him_ a very fair • • 'eha - nce of standing toe to toe in St. Stephen's.when next an opportunity offered with those who calumniated the cause which he advocated. To the first part, of the, charge made against hirti he pleaded - guilty. He did confess that he was 'a radical reformer —and he was radically reformed. (Cheers and laugh ter.) The voluntary principle was once his idol. It was once, and was then, necessary to . his happinass to think well of his fellow-creatures, and from premises which savoured more of poetry than reason, more of charity than justice, he inferred that all had the wilt and capacity to govern well. That was the - parent stem whence sprang all the errors of his former creed. That was the soul of. radicalism—the very key-stone of the arch on which rested its every argument. Admit it, and they must advocate popular government; reject it, and the converse fol lowed--(cheers)—the whole fabric fell. Once admit that go vernment was a science of all the most complicated, of all requiring the greatest mental qualifications and attainments-- a 'science borrowing light from the remotest regions of history, involving an intimate acquaintance with the capabilities, the rights, and interests of every civilized state in the known world —a science rooted in moral philosophy, extending its branches even to heaven, and directing the affections of those for whom it legislated to Him who was the unlace of all good government. Admit that, and what became of the voluntary principle?—ad mit, even, that will and virtue went hand in hand, into what numberless woes would they hurry, in what complicated ills would they involve themselves without that science, which deep research, passionless inquiry, and ceaseless study, were inade quate to attain. Admit what he had asked and what was the moral worth of the compendious a_phorism that general good must be the result of general will ? Who, after such admissions, would entrust the interests of the nation to universal suffrage, through the channel of the ballot box? (Cheers.) Reading and deep reflection had taught him that legislating was a much more difficult task than he once thought it to be, and experience had shown him that the multitude had few, very few, requisites for so important a duty—and whether it please the we of the Chronicle or not, he could not, even to avoid his censure, be so " inconsistent " or "dishonest" as to war with conviction, or proniote error. (Loud cheers.) He defied him, as he defied the world, to impugn his motives; and, until he assailed his judg ment with other arguments than vulgar abuse and nick-names, he ought not to marvel if he adduced him as a living argument against modern liberalism, and quoted his columns to show how little of reason was sufficient to meet the appetencies of those who would subvert our constitution. (Loud cheers.) It was true, that he once was a radical reformer, and was radically reformed—(loud laughter) —and if every animal bearing the name would begin to reform in the same quarter, he thought there would be found much more to censure at home than abroad. He would learn— " How small of all that human hearts endure, . That part which laws or kings can cause or cure, Thus much he felt himself called upon to say in his own defence, not because he deemed the editor of the Morning Chronicle en • titled to any notice on his part, nor because he wished to throw down the gauntlet to that stipendiary patriot. He was too well aware of the fearful odds against which any man fought who braved the power of the press. Victory would be shorn of its glory, inasmuch as the vanquished would be unknown and invulnerable in his invisibility. He was not foolish enough, therefore, to court defeat, but he was desirous to stand well with his brother Conservatives. (Loud cheering.) The toast he was called on to respond to was " Lord Eldon, and the Conservative Bar." (Cheers.) To attempt to eulogise Lord Eldon, would be to tarnish his fame—would, at the same time, be to undervalue their understandings, and to say that they did not appreciate all that that great man had done. It was true that time had laid on him his mouldering hand—it was true that he was exhibiting all the marks of decay—that the temple was tumbling into ruins, and it was equally true that the lamp of patriotism,—that the lamp of true religion was still burning on the altar of his heart—that he still upheld the pre cepts, and the principles, and the maxims which he had enter tained in active life- (Cheers.) With his name they had coupled the conservative bar. All that he had to say in re ference to the bar was this, that it was like all other institutions which had been protected in this country—that it was the means to a great, and glorious end. The most distinguishing attribute of this country was the excellency of its laws, and the ready obedience given to those laws. These laws were dear to them. Sure he was that they would take every means in their power to render that body of men whom they had drank in their toast as honourable in their estimation, as the guardians of their property, of their lives, and of their characters.— (Cheers.) He had to respond to a toast which had been de signed for a higher name. He would beg, if they pleased, to read to them Lord Eldon's letter, in reply to an invitation to attend the dinner. "Corfe C, Oat. 4. "Sir,—l receiv e d th e f avour o f your letter communicating to me the request that I would be present at the meeting of the Liverpool Tradesmen's Conservative Association, on Thursday, the 18th of this month. The honour done me by the request of that society, the institution of which I trust will be of very great service to the maintenance of that constitution which has so long sustained the country in the enjoyment of real power and glory, and of universal respect among all the natious around us—that honour I cannot but most gratefully acknowledge. It is, however, impossible for me to hope in the indisposition to which I am now subject to, and at my very 'ad vanced age, to undertake to travel from hence to Liverpool. I beg, sir, that you will be pleased to offer my thanks to the committee for the honour they have been pleased to favour me in this invitation, and to accept my thanks for the obliging terms in which you have communicated that information. I trust that this Liverpool Tradesmen's Conservative Society may be of much use in preserving that constitution which has so long blessed this country.-1 am, sir, with respect, your obliged servant, ELDON. " To John Wilkinson, Esq., Vice-chairman of the Liverpool Tradesmen's Conservative-Society. [The conclusion of the reading of this letter was greeted with loud cheering.] He knew not why it was, but at every mee ti ng at which be had attended l a t e ly h e h a d had the privilege of be ing the whipper-in of the evening. (Cheers.) And he now begged leave to state most distinctly, before he proceeded any further, that this was the last time he would place himself in that disagreeable situation. They must be aware—(loud cries of "no, no"—let them not misunderstand him ;it was the last time he would be whipper-in. Every man who was expected to speak came with his mind prepared and made up on the sub jects on which he was intended to address them. They must be perfectly aware that there were topics on which a speaker must have made up his mind before speaking; and when they knew that to be the case, they would not wonder Olathe felt somewhat embarrassed, when they knew that a great part of what he had intended to have said had already been spoken by the number of speakers who had preceded him. Before lie sat down, how ever, he would propose a toast, which was, "Success to Opera tive Conservative Associations." (Loud cheering.) At the first blush that toast might appear to jar with the sentiments which he had just been uttering; but a little reflection would render them perfectly reconcilable. " What!" he fancied he heard their opponents exclaim, "would you, who think so meanly of the people as to declare them unfit for legislation—would you drink such a toast as that ?" With as much propriety might he exclaim, " What ! would you, who think so meanly of your neighbour, who is a respectable shopkeeper, as to declare him unfit to amputate a limb or cure a disease, drink success to the town and trade of Liverpool ?" With how much more propriety might he retort—What! would they who robbed the poor free men by every means in their power of their franchise and their birthright, and who urged as a reason that theirpoverty exposed them to temptation, would they be hypocrites enough, when it suited their purpose, to collect these poor men together in Clay ton-square, and cajole them about the majesty of the people, and tell them that they were the only source of legitimate power. But he sought no refuge in recrimination. And why was he so anxious for the extension of Conservative Operative Associa tions ? The very reason why he was so anxious was, that the men who headed a meeting like that—who were the ornaments of the capitol of the column, had formerly been of them. They must bear in mind that their fathers once formed the mass—that they were taken from the mass. (Hear.) He would call on the gentlemen present to support Operative Conservative Asso ciations, bearing in mind the difficulties attending an operative's life—bearing in mind (notwithstanding his privileges—privi leges to which he was born) the hard earned pittance to which the labourer went home—bearing in mind the cunning of their adversaries to excite them to rebellion. When they found three or four hundred honest men amongst the operative classes meeting in that room, it would prove their devotion and attach ment to the institutions of their country, although deprived of many of its benefits. They could not give them too much countenance, nor give them too much strength. (Cheers.) It was true he would not give legislative powers, generally speaking to the operatives of this country, but he loved the peo ple—the industrious artisan, more dearly than any brawling agitator on earth, and would show his affection in the old Eng lish way, as far as lay in his power, by administering to his wants. They had a different way of doing things on the other side of the channel;—they elevated a man in a truly Hibernian style; whenever they met a poor man starving on a potatoe, they took the half of it from him in order to relieve him. (Loud cheers.) He would promote industry, and encourage morality, but he would never flatter. He would tell them, wherever he met them, that law-making required more leisure, education, and knowledge than it was possible, in the nature of things, they could possess, and he thought he could soon convince them of the truth of his position. But though they might not be learned enough to make laws, it required no very great stretch of sagacity to judge of the effects of existing laws. They could tell whether things worked well. They could appreciate all of good they bad inherited and proved. They could answer to the male-contents of the day, that England, under the old-fashioned bible and crown principles, had become the first nation in the world. That her established religion taught man gratitude to God, and benevolence to man ; that it imparted fortitude in affliction, humility in prosperity, ' and resignation 'in death. That an English cottager was as impregnable in his little castle as the king in his palace. He could point to the forest of masts in their various docks, bearing the insignia of Europe, Asia, Africa, and America; hundreds of ships brought their natural produce to their little is the, manufactory o f th e wor l d, and returned with that produce metamorphosed by the genius of English enterprise into the richest appendages of even royalty itself. He felt that he had contributed by his industry to elevate the character ofhis country, and might indulge himself with the Pleasing reflection that the work of his own hand was exhibited in foreign courts as a specimen of the ingenuity and industry of Englishmen. (Loud cheers.) These were the rich fruits of our blessed constitution, and any hand might gather them; they were seen and tasted by the simple as well as the learned, —not the fruits of a day or a year, but of ages—fruits which had become more abundant as the nation had advanced in years. All other European nations had been more or less convulsed; some had ceased to be nations; and France, once our most formidable rival, who proudly boasted that she would legislate for the world, after ages of suffering and sacrifice, was at this moment trembling with apprehension of a renewal of her outrages. All these were facts within the reach of every man, and every fact conveyed an argument that the meanest capacity could appreciate, and that the most astute reasoner could not answer. If, then, he found men striving to raise themselves in society by honest industry, and by every honour able means which the British constitution offered, giving proof, by their loyalty, that they could appreciate their advantages, was there any filing inconsistent with his views in endeavouring to further their wishes? Was there any thing dishonest in helping them to preserve interests dear to them as they were to himself? Any thing inimical to the best interests of society in guarding their minds against the artful attacks of the common enemies of mankind ? And surely, then, they need not look far for an inducement to support, by every means in their power, the formation of Operative Conservative Associations, when they saw the activity of the enemy, whose boast it was to reign by numbers. There was no expedient too mean for radical purposes. Their writings and harangues furnished pretty ample proof that they were aware of the material they had to deal with—flattery, affected zeal and commiseration, misrepre sentation, insinuation, and direct falsehood—all were crowded into the destructive service; and when they knew the hardships attendant upon laborious life, and the natural proneness of the human heart to discontent, they could not wonder that p,ch means too often succeeded, nor could they estimate too highly that virtue which, under such trying circumstances, preserved its loyalty and, love for good order. (Hear, hear, and cheers.) He would take a survey of their own town, recapitulate the his tory of the last two years, and they would find a pretty faithful epitome of whip-radiealisrn all over the kingdom, How loud their exclamations—how violent their gesticulations—how gross their misrepresentations of the municipal authorities that had so long and so well governed their town, - Bloated aldermen, stupid tories, corruptionists, wasters of the public money— those were the offensive weapons which they hurled unspar ingly and with an undiscriminating hand, and which for a time wounded their opponents. He was to happy to say those wounds were cicatrizing, and he hoped soon to see their old friends buckling on their armour again fur the fight. (Loud cheers.) Let the radical resort to his former accusations, and see how they recoil upon his own head. Let them attempt to humbug the poor man with an affected love for the people, and there will be a voice heard from a host of plundered freemen— more honest than their plunderers—in thunder, telling them of their wrongs. Let them again prate about waste of the public money, and they would be told in pretty plain terms of the mean system of favouritism and patronage which had disgraced the radical career since its commencement. Why, he would ask, why were the old and valuable servants of the corporation dismissed, and pensioned upon the town at an enormous ex pense ? Was it because they were incapable of discharging their duties? \Vas it because they were not alive to the interests of their employers ? No! for, if such had been the case, they would have withheld their pensions. Why then ? Oh because they were not whigs. And this was their boasted economy, this their disinterested care for the public weal. Of the same cha racter were the dissenters; he meant, of course, the political dissenter's bo as t e d care f or re li g i on. T he man who, if he might so speak, would compromise the glory of his God —who would accommodate the unchangeable eternal revelation of Heaven's will to what he professed to believe to be the abominations and corruption of Rome. Did the man who had written a long pamphlet in defence of such treason to Heaven, contemplate the consequences of his conduct ? Before he entered into discussion with him upon the merits of his book, lie must come out of the field of speculation in which he has been roaming ad libitum, and enter, if he could make his way through the door ; as it was, he climbed over the wall, conscious that he could not pass the threshold. (Hear, hear.) How vain were all his remarks about the excellence of the passages excluded. The deist, the .unitarian, the papist, might all urge the very same arguments. Nay, the sensualist might cull from that sacred volume to feed his morbid appetencies. The very mo ment that they allowed humanity to add to or take from that volume, that moment they subjected it to the fate of the Mus etilman's swine —every one rejected that part which suited not his appetite, and devoured his favourite morsel. And why should he not ? Why should alderman this, or councillor that, be al lowed the exclusive privilege of picking his bon bouche. The papist had a shadow of excuse, because lie believed the hand that culled to be infallible; but that the Independent, the Came ronian, the old Roundhead, the author of all penal enactments against popery, that he should attempt to reconcile purity with corruption, proved that Old Mortality's description of the dege nerate whigs of his day was not totally inapplicable to the pre sent:—" Self-eseekers were they all, strivers after wealth, power, and worldly ambition. Forgetters alike of what had been de creed and done by the mighty men that stood in the gap in the great day of wrath." (Loud cheers.) No, Mr. Blackburn. —The favourite whig principle of ephemeral expediency, (for ephemeral it was ; ) true expediency stood upon the eternal principles of truth and righteousness. That principle, the adaptation of God's law to the sinful propensities of the human heart, the mixture of the abominations of the temple would, if permitted, assuredly, as of old, bring its curse upon the unfaithful priesthood, its authors, in the wickedness and abomination of their dupes. And here he would congratulate the town of Liverpool upon the noble display of honest indig nation that had lately exhibited itself in their town against those who would have made them accessories to their irreligion. For a time they tolerated their inconsistencies. They submitted to their bear-garden exhibitions in the council chamber—they felt for the wants of their needy retainers—and, in their charity, overlooked the favouritism that fed and clothed hungry patriots. But when their altars were defiled, when God's honour was in sulted; when that book which had been their guide in diffi culty, solace in woe, whose precepts and revelation had closed the eyes of their dearest friends in the sure and certain hope of a joyful resurrection, whose sacred light, like a pillar of fire, had illumined their path through life, and taught them all the duties of child and parent, husband and wife, when such a sacrifice was demanded, their resistance proved that the love of God still burned upon the altars of their hearts, and must have furnished sweet consolation to the much insulted clergy, in the reflection that the teachings of the church had not been in vain. —" Quern Deus volt perdere prius dementat' - is a trite adage, but never was mor e app li ca bl e t h an to the new town council of their reformed corporation. It was quite evident that hatred of their church was the source of tlieir union. And, if anything were wanting to fill up the cup of indignation it must surely run over at the meanness and spite exhibited in their interfer ence with the decent ceremonies of public worship. He would not trust himself to comment upon it, it spoke for itself. But was their object accomplished? Suppose their present bond of union removed, all that was holy, all that was great, brought down to their own level, did they think that such a heterogene ous assemblage of opposite interests could long preserve unani mity. Under the liberator's toga they had hitherto concealed their distinctions. But tear off that toga, ask each individual of their municipal legislature what he meant by reform. Were they agreed, he would ask, on the definition of the term ? What, the papist and the infidel, the quaker and the unitarian, the universalise and the calvinist, the republi can and the monarchist, agreed ? Would they not, he would ask, should they succeed in the accomplishment of their hated purpose, exhibit th e same se l f i shness, the same mean ambition, that had hitherto masked their designs, like the Roman triumvirate, like the English presbyterian and in dependent, like the French mountain and gironde, would they not sacrifice every obstacle to their own aggrandisement. Was it possible that any other consequence could ensue from the government of men so rootedly, so inveterately opposed to each other in creed, in principle, in essence. He called upon them not to be deceived by terms, not to be duped by declamation. They enjoyed privileges never possessed by any but God's chosen people. As a nation they were signally blessed. Let them not then bring upon themselves the curse of ingratitude. As they reverenced their altars, as they regarded their homes, as they loved those dear partners and pledges of their mutual affection, then smiling upon their conviviality, by their exam ple, by their every influence, let them cherish and support their blessed constitution. (Loud cheers.) Be diligent, be stirring, be active, and, above all, by way of reminding them of his toast, above all, let them remember the poor man had more than com mon claims on their support; and do all they could to forward Operative Conservative Associations in the town. (Mr. Wil kins, on sitting down, was greeted with enthusiastic cheering.) The CHAIRMAN then said, there was a distinguished indivi dual present to whom they were indebted for the first establis ment of Conservative Associations in the county. He should, under these circumstaneee, beg, without further preface, to propose " the health of Mr. Entwistle of the Fox-holes, M.P. for Rochdale—the parent of Conservative Associations." The toast was drank with three times three cheers. Mr. ENTWISTLE briefly returned thanks, but said that the honour did not exclusively belong to him as the introducer of the associations; there were several gentlemen in the county who had equal claims with himself. He concluded with con gratulating them on the immense meeting he beheld. He had only happened to be in the chair at the first Conservative Asso ciation meeting which had been held. Lord SANbON said he was sure they could not separate with out expressing their gratitude to those gentlemen who had had the charge of that entertainment. He would beg leave to pro pose the health of the Vice-presidents of the Tradesmen's Con servative Association. Owing to the late hour of the evening, he would not detain them further with expressing their thanks for the excellent arrangements they had shown, and for pro viding an entertainment so extensive and so admirable in its kind. They would allow him to conclude with proposing "The health of the Vice-presidents." Mr. CHARLES J. SMITH, one of the Vice-presidents, rose to acknowledge the toast. He knew not why it should have fallen to his lot to respond to the compliment they had paid to him self and brother Vice-chairmen of that assembly. He assured them that they felt most proud of their offices, or, as the radi cals, in their usual beautiful classical language would call it, " this tory feed." (Laughter and cheers.) But " what's in a name ?', What did it matter to them whether the meeting be called " a tory feed," or " a conservative f es ti va l ?" It was enough for them to know that England would acknowledg e it to be a display of constitutional feeling, worthy of the town of Liverpool, and well calculated to make loyalty rejoice and dis loyalty tremble. (Cheers.) Compare the gathering of wealth, talent, and respectability now before them with the motley assemblage of democrats who met, in the town, t o di ne w i th O'Connell, and they would at once see time difference —compare the tenor of the speeches delivered on the two occasions, and the difference was still more decided. (Hear.) The one party intimated an intention to pull down the stately edifice of the British constitution, and replace it with an ill -proportioned structure of their own contrivance; the other, the conservative party, breathed a fixed determination to support the noble building in all its strength and splendour. If they found out a rotten beam, they would replace it by a sound one of good English oak. (Hear.) If they discovered a crumbling stone, they would fill its place with a new one; but on no account would they permit the building to be overturned, or its broad foundation be undermined or shaken. (Applause.) And what was this boasted constitution, and why were they so strongly at tached to it? Why did they say to every Englishm an , i t i s your duty to revere it and to uphold it with all your might? Why, but because they believed that u n d er its benign influence he enjoyed a more perfect freedom that he could under any other form of government, or in any other spot on the face of the earth—( hear, hear)—not excepting even America; was he a poor and humble individual, he was protected by the laws of his country, from the oppression of the rich and exalted; was be wealthy, she same just and equal laws secure to him the pos session and enjoyment of his riches; and with respect to free- , dom of thought and expression, there was, if anything, too great a latitude. He should, perhaps, he called intolerant, but he should, nevertheless, continue to think that treason, sedition, and blasphemy ought to be suppres s ed, an d not allowed to run riot with impunity. Thus, then, the poor and the rich enjoy equal protection ; and what was more, their rights were secured to them as long as the British constitution continued to exist in its integrity. (Loud applause.) But there was yet another beauty of the constitution that would be too often lost sight of by the declaimers of the mob, and that was, that there was no bar to advancement. Our excellent chairman had stated that he had risen from the ranks, and he was n o t th e on ly i ns t ance o f men who have risen from the mks. He would impress upon their minds, that there was nothing in our constitution to prevent the humblest individual, who had talent and respectability, from raising himself to honour and independence. He would remind them that, but for the factious opposition of their enemies, they would have, at the present moment, the son of a painter on the woolsack, and th e son o f a cotton-spinner holding the reins of government;—(h ear, h ear)— b ut, he would give them another instance of that beautiful feature of our constitution : thirty or forty, or perhaps more years ago, there came to Liverpool a raw Scotch lad without money and without friends. He obtained employment in a broker's office, by dint of economy and honest industry he got forward, and by the time he had reared a family, he was enabled to give his sons university edu cations, and afterwards to place them in honourable professions; and, one of that man's sons was at that moment, by making pro mises that he never intended to perform, .and by other means well known to most of that meeting, a member of parliament for the borough of Liverpool. There were a set of men called radicals, and that hon. member was one of them, who were so far imbued with the demon of change, that they could not re main satisfied wills that excellent state of things; they would have no king to control the natives, no lords to moderate the people, but they would have the mob the sole dispensers of power, they would govern en masse, and reduce all order and government to a perfect chaos. At the passing of the reform bill conservatism Ives at a discount—the bill as it was emphati-. tally called, was held to be a grand specific for all diseases of time state, and all who opposed it were denounced as enemies to civil dnd religious freedom. The bill passed, and lo! the na tion was still dissatisfied ; it proved to be a mass of legislative bungling, and while those who had been loud iu the parrot-cry for the bill, the whole hill, and nothing but'the bill, began to call for further change; the thinking part of the people began to feel alarmed, and to rouse themselves in opposition to the designs of the movement party. From that time to the present conserva tism had been gradually spreading its loyal influence over every portion of the country, the elections had almost universally tele minated in time returns of loyalists, in many instances even under the most disadvantageous circumstances and when the radical candidates had been supported by ministerial influence and po pular clamour. Bet it was within the last few months that the growth of conservative principles bad become so apparent in almost every nook and corner, the conservatives had been si lently uniting, and lately every week had brought the most gra tifying accounts of meetings of hundreds of conservatives in spots where they had no idea of the existence of conservative societies. (Hear, hear.) But if conservatism was at a discount on the passing of the reform bill, it was pretty evident that it was now at a premium. (Cheers.) The conservative dinners' which had taken place in almost every nook and corner of the country, had been a source of the greatest annoyance to the radical press, which, with that strange perversion of com mon sense tha t usua ll y appeared in their attemps to argu ment, told them that they only showed that the people were not with them but against them. (Hear, hear, hear.) The fact was, that tory dinners were gall and wormwood to the ra dicals : however excellent a tory dinner might be, it always proved indigestible to a radical, thus verifying the old proverb, " what is on e man ' s meat is another man's poison." It was a well-known Pact, that when Mr. Grote brought forward his threatened motion on the ballot, out of the whole number only twenty-two were found to vote in favour of that motion,—and out of those, at least four were joints of the tail, so that, in fact only eighteen English members supported the motion. Even their own immaculate radical member shrank from the question, because he knew that if he supported it, he would for ever lose the countenance of the majority of his constituents. But the, demagogues said the nation demanded the ballot, and the fact of so few voting for it, only showed that the members neglected their duty, and violated the pledges given to their constituents: • be it so! They had other evidence to adduce. They knew the energy displayed in getting up radical petitions, and yet the last report of petitions presented to parliament, showed that out of the whole population of the British Empire, only 11,616 could be persuaded to petition in favour of the radical nostrum, vote by ballot. How, then, were they to reconcile that fact with the assertion, that the nation demanded the vote by ballot, they could only do so by recourse to whig logic: if the people demanded the vote by ballot, it was clear that the 11,616 who voted in its favour, were the majority of the people, and that the remaining millions who opposed it were a despicable fac tion, a miserable majority, (Hear and great cheering.) They had hitherto boasted of being a free nation, but if radical principles were allowed So predominate, we should shortly be come a nation of slaves. That was a startling assertion, but it' was true. Had they not a government without a will, and obliged to act in conformity to the dictate of one tyrannical individual, or it could not p ro l ong i ts wretc h e d ex i stence for a single day. Were not the present ministers the mere slaves of Daniel. O'Connell ?—and where, he would ask, was the difference be tweeen a degrading submission to the will of a native despot, or a foreign tyrant. (Great applause.) It was true that they had still a House of Lords, to watch like a guardian genius, over the measures of the dictator ; but that dictator had insolently de clared that he would reform the lords, and if they allowed bins to do so, he would next declare that they were altogether un necessary, and that they must be swept away like a common nuisance. He would repeat that this was the time for Onion and exertion on their part. Foreign countries held before them a strange spectacle. England, the queen of nations, ruled by a set of men divided amongst themselves on all ques tions of domestic policy, and they were anxiously waiting to see her constitution overturned, and a democratic government established on its ruins. (Loud and continued cheering.) Look at the conduct of the radicals with respect to the church. They were all aware of the measure of spoliation concocted by O'Connell, and brought forward under the sanction of ministers. The infamous appropriation clause declared that the surplus revenues of the Irish church should be applied to secular pur poses ; and if such a clause had become part and parcel of the law of the land, what was there to prevent the whole Irish church revenues being declared surplus, and the church—the protestant church—from being rooted up out of the land. It had been well remarked that the attack on the Irish church would, if carried, have been a precedent for an attack on the. English church, which is au object of jealousy to certain reir . ties--to those who said that because the union of church•and' state contributed to the stability of the empire, and offered a barrier to their particular views, it was an unholy minion, It was hardly credible that in a christian country, men professing chrtstianity could be found who would dare to say that the union of church and state was an unholy union. The fact is ministers having brought forward such measures as those, coupled with the manner in which they had , been flung back upon their hands demonstrated that they were altogether in capable of governing the country properly, and that they ought. to have resigned long ago, but they had clung to place and pay with the tenacity of leeches, and had only retained them by re peated acts of the most disgraceful inconsistency. They knew full well that the wealth and intelligence of the country was against them; yet, when told they ought to resign Lord Mel bourne answers for all, and capers and sings (though certainly not with the grace of a Vestris or the sweetness of a Malibran) " Oh, no, we never mention it," (Cheers.) , It was not his in tention to follow the proceedings of the session, and trace the forms of the bills that had appeared in 'uncouth shape, and then faded, "and, like the baseless fabric of a vision, left not a. wreck behind," but be would observe that much odium had been thrown from certain quarters on that account; they had been represented as a band of intractables, opposed to all re form, and a mighty hue and cry had been raised against them. Now, what were the facts of the case ?' The facts, then, were simply these;—The whole number of bills forwarded during the session was 171, and of these the lords passed 101, and only re jected 12, the rest being dropped from various causes. Now if those 101 bills which were passed contained nothing beneficial to the nation why did the commons pass them? and, en the other hand, if they were beneficial, how could the lords be ac cused of being against all improvement ? Surely. they deserve to divide the merits with the commons. (Hear, hear.) It was unnecessary to dwell upon the causes cf the failure of bills which were dropped, or the l`Z which were rejected by the lords. They were all familiar with the subject 7 for he would venture to say there was not a man in all England who cared at all for politics that had not read the splendid speech of Lord Lynd hurst, in his su mmary o f t h e sess i on. (Loud cheering.) yHe would not take a review of the pleasing scene that was wit nessed a few weeks ago, on the estate of Lord Stanley, near Tipperary, by which they would see what Ireland might become with a little judicious management. There was semi a band of sixty or seventy happy tenants, seated at a plentifully-provided table, with their noble landlord at their head, enjoying them selves, after the fashi on o f E ng li s h men, on an old E - nglish din ner of roast beef and plain-pudding. And then mark the con versation. Was it a tissue of treason and rebellion ? Did the noble lord harangue them on the surest mode of escaping tithes by murdering all who came to claim them? Did he give them a lecture on the art of painting death's heads and cross-bones, and strive to inflame them to madness against every thinu En glish and Protestant ? Oh ! no; far different was the conduct of that noble lord. Ile (Lord Stanley) told his hearers that he was happy to see them so comfortable and contented; he was proud to see the improvements in their farms and in their stocks; and he called upon all the farmers in Ireland to a friendly com petition. It was such conduct as that that was wanted to ame liorate the condition and raise the character of Ireland; that • was the conduct that would give to the member for Kilkenny a claim to the proud title of patriot. (Long continued cheering.) Mr. S. was af ra id h e h a d d eta i ne d them too long, but, before be • concluded, he would call upon the Conservatives not only of. Liverpool or Lancashire, but of England, to unite and drive those men flints power who misused it, and to return to the • cm:ncils of the nation men who would respect their institutions, and who, instead of endeavouring to destroy, would labour to preserve their country in its proud pre-eminence in the scale of nations. Once more he would say, unite and fear nothing; victory must crown the endeavours of all who fought under the proud banner of the Mr CANNING then rose and said that he gave with that brevity which the late hour of the evening compelled him to do, " The good old town of Liverpool and the trade thereof." NICIIOI. AS ROBINSON, Esq. ; on the part of the town of Liver pool, acknowledged the toast in a brief and appropriate speech. The Chairman, then, at .about eleven o-'clock; along with the distinguished guests of the evening, retired amidst the most en thusiasticcheering, waving of hats, .handkerchiefs, &c. After the chairman had retired, Mr. Richard Dawson was called to the chair amid immense applause. Seeing Lady C. Wortley still remaiuing,.lie proposed three cheers for ber lady ship, which were given in the most enthusiastic manner. Mr. Dawson .then proposed the health of a-gentleman who would have been present but for professional engagements, namely, the Right lion. Frederick Shaw, the Recorder of Dublin, "the dreaded and hated enemy of Daniel O'Connell," which was re ceived by a hor s t o f c h eering which lasted. .severatrainutes. The • meeting then quietly , separated. . We understand that Captain Gordon, the 'champion of the Protestant church, is about to lead to the hymeneal altar a lady of rank, and of large fortune—Miss Smith, niece to Lord Catriugton.—Elgin Courant. CURIOUS TOLL-BAR CASE.—On Monday last, at the Bolton petty sessions, Joseph Brown, of Ratcliffe, was summoned, for refusing to pay toll at Stand-lane bar, in Pilkington, on the • 27th ult. William Hurst, the bar-keeper, proved, that on the • day in question, the defendant passed through the bar with horse and cart. Witness asked him for the toll, and the defendant replied that his master had hot given him any money. The toll was 211, and had not been paid, or offered to be paid since. On his cross - examination by Mr. Holden, the bar-keeper said, that he, defendant, told him - that he was going to the I:arm of Mr. Barton, his master, fur hay. There was a .barrel in the cart; did notyknow that it contained beer for the workmen's allowance on the farm, but defendant•said so. The.defendant came back through the bar the same day, with. his .cart laden. with hay. Mr. Holden contended, that no toll was due, as the hay was not for sale, but was consumed by Mr. Barton's own. cattle. The question then turned' upon the right of the carter to have the barrel of ale in the cart, and Mr. Barton proved that the liquor was for the use of his own men employed-on the farm; that he had not been charged at another gate; through which his cart passed on the same journey, nor had he ever been asked for. toll, at the bar in question, until the present complainant had heroine the toll-keeper. Mr. Ridgway called on Mr. Lomax for his opinion, and after some consultation they decided, that the claim. for toll was legal, on account of the barrel, being In the cart ; but they considered that the bar-keeper had been too severe, and they.would not convict in any penalty, but the de- fendant must pay the toll, 21d., and expenses, Is. 6d..---Baton • Chronicle. THE ANTI-CATHOLIC DISSRNTERS.—We are deeply con vinced that it i s the dutrof protestant:, and especially of pro testant dissenters, (who are not encumbered in argument by the inconvenient and-absurd. concessions of conformists,) to labour and prav for the eradication of popery from Europ e an d the world, a s M uc h as t o l a b our f or th e eradication of. paganism in India, China, or elsewhere. Political, considerations ought not to delay or relax our opposition to this gr ea t enemy of the truth, strongly mark e d as it i s in scripture with the divine ab horrence, and doomed a t n o distant period to entire• subversion. But who shall awake us to the perception and discharge of an arduous and honourable duty? We have scarcely a hope, ex cept in some memorable effusion of the divine spirit, like that which, in the close of the last century, originated missions to the heathen, at a time when political convulsions appeared to , have given popery a double blow, which it h as strangely revived ; to be, however, the more illustriously destroyed. This is doubtless to be accomplished in a great measure by the word of God, propagated by his servants, rid made. powerful by his spirit.' And the voice of the Saviour calls on protestant sects to in, abate t . hF eagerness of thei r un h o l y struggles, and attempt, the spirit of prayer and faith,- the subversion of the great antichrist.—Congregational Magazine. [We bail the expression of sentiments • like these. Would they were •• responded to throughout the land! Should they, by anv chance, meet the eye of O'Connell, the dissenters will hive their share of his abuse. He may talk to those- who are simple enough to believe him, (and we fear his dupes are many,) of his desire_to promote and establish the cause of religious liberty; but the attack be - has already made on some dissenters who had ventured to attack his darling system, proves his real object to be the establishment of a rampant Bonner and Gardiner popery. And if we allow him to succeed, all the grinding oppression that will ensue, will be richly deserved.j—Warcliman. SUPPLEMENT TO THE LIVERPOOL' ST ANDARIL 4 FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21. PRINTED AND PUBLISHED,' BY RICHARD)PATTISSON (Of Hope Coliage,§eacombe, Cheshire.) AT No. 4, NORTW QRESCENT, CASTLE-STREET, LEVERPOOSt.t. ,Z. - ANN