The Express.
London, England, 1852-05-19 00:00:00

PEACE SOCIETY.

Yesterday evening, the thirty-sixth anniversary
of this society was held in Finsbury Chapel ; Mr. C. HIND-
LIT, M. P., in the chair.
The report was reed by the Secretary, the Rev. R. Rich
-
'rd. It commenced with as allusion to the Great
Exhibition, as " a wile dassonstratio• triumphant be-
yond all expectations," and " • spectacle fall of &eerie(
significance es to the progress of humanity and eivilisa-
Hoc." " Thou," it was added, ""who, under the anemia-
hle influence of ancient prejudice, deemed:it impossible that
men of different races, whose forefathers had encountered
each other only on the battlefield, could meet and mingle
in crowds without danger of angry and violent collision,
were astonished to find that not only were the military pre-
cautions they bad taken against imaginary outbreaks wine-
century, but that the very police appointed to preserve order
had only to perform acts of guidance and courtesy." It was
a most fitting and happy coincidence that at the time when
our streets were thronged with foreign visitors,
especially among our neighbours the French, Mr.
Cobden brought forward his motion in the House
of Commons, " for preventing in future that rivalry
of warlike preparations between England and France
which ham hitherto been the policy of the two governments,
sod to promote, if possible, a mutual reduction of arum-
meats." Nothing could be more satisfactory than the tone
of the debate which ensued. The sentiments expressed on
the occasion by Lord Palmerston were admirable, but his
recent conduct and speeches furnished a very curious com-
mentary. Reference was then made to the General Peace
Comma, held at Exeter Hail, in July last year.
On the subject of Koeseth's visit to this country, the
report contained the following remarks :—" In the
course of last autumn circumstances of a somewhat
remarkable character occurred, which for a time placed
the friends of peace in this went:, in a position
of some difficulty, and exposed them to not a little mis-
construction from a portion of the public press. An
illustrious foreigner just relieved from a painful captivity,
to which he had been consigned at the close of a long strug-
gle for the freedom of his native land, paid a visit to our
shores. That the people of England, and among them the
friends of peace, should rejoice in the deliverance of this
distinguished man from a position, where not only his liberty
but his life was in danger, was surely most natural and
fitting. lint when it became gradually known, what was
at first bet very obscurely intimated, that an attempt was
to be made to convert this generous enthusiasm into an
occasion for demanding the armed interference of our go-
vernment in favour of Hungary, it was obvious that it
became the friends of peace to be on their guard, lest they
should become apparently implicated in results which they
were far from contemplating, while joining in the hoe-
pliable welcome with which the exile was received. The
committee, therefore, deemed it their duty to issue an
address of respectful and affectionate caution to their
friends on the subject. Subsequent events have still more
clearly demonstrated that this course was necessary and
well advised, and the American Peace Society, feeling that
they were exposed to a similar danger under similar cir-
cmistaaces, have followed oar example. The committee
are happy to be able to declare their firm conviction, not-
withstanding the averments made to the contrary by some
who are willing to wound those whose principles they fear
and dislike, that not one individual of the peace party, even
amidst the extraordinary excitement of that period, was
betrayed into lending countenance to this doctrine of
armed intervention." The continuance of the war had,
it was observed, called for some special action to direct the
public attention to its extreme folly and iniquity. The
committee, uniting for the purpose with the Aborigines
Protection Society, milled a public meeting on the subject
at the Leaden Tavern, at which resolutions were paned
condemnatory of the war, sad recommending an immediate
return to the more righteous end humane feeling of Lord
Ofenelg. Similar inee&isboset been held at Bristol, Bir-
mingham, Sheffield, K and by these means it
was believed large numbees onrcountrymen had been con-
siderably enlightened as to the tens origin and nature of these
deplorable conflict.. " Themensesest tidings," cootin nod the
report, "received from the is not bold out any rational
prospect of a speedy of the war, nor can we see
how anything like a penman poses can be secured until
our SINTINIIINNIM bin the sonsego In damped the claims of
a IsW Wane and &jollies le liens whom it has
wmallook bY is tin legitimate poesessors
the inheritance of their , of which they have been
gradually despoiled thrones long years of treachery and
violence. The committee cannot but advert in this con-
nexion with the deepest regret to the information that has
recently reached this country that the authorities which
represent our government in the east have entered upon
another war with the Barman empire. It would be pre-
mature to pronounce any judgment on the merits of this
quarrel in the present imperfect state of our knowledge.
But if it be true, as has been affirmed both in parliament
and through the press, that the sole cause of the dispute
relates to an indemnity of 9001. claimed of the Bnrman go-
vernment by certain of our merchants trading in that
country, it cannot surely but be a matter of lamentation
that no means could be found to adjust so trivial an affair,
without involving the two nations in a war, the expense of
which will nut only soon absorb more than • hundredfold
the miserable sum in question, but will most probably for a
time interrupt all commerce, and lead to a destruction of
human life and liberty, and to scenes of wicked-
ness and suffering which it is appalling to contemplate."
Allusion was then made to the coup d'itat is France,
in December last, and, to the unfounded apprehensions
which it excited in this country. The committe bad
issued myriadsof tracts and postingbille, pointing out the oh-
noxious shareable athe militia masesure. The effects of this
agitation, thou. net SO aussessibil se they could wish, have
nevertheless bees mating sod substantial. More than 1,300
petitions have been preassils&to the House of Commons, and
a minority of 166 have voted for throwing out the bill on
the second • , a. amber which cannot but be re-
garded u a signi Image to the power of public
opinion, when compared with the fact that before the agita-
tion began there were probably scarcely 20 men in the
house papered to record their votes against it. In amen-
sioe the committee urged the friends not to abate one jot
of heart or hope, but to persevere till the object was accom-
plished.
The Rev. Mr. BEOCK moved the first resolution, which
was an expression of satisfaction at the preeeediup of the
Congress of last year, se happily inspired by the gathering
of the nations in the metropolis at the Great Exhibition.
The resolution was seconded by the Rev. R. HAMILTON,
supported by the Rev. E. FLOIMAIID, and carried unani-
mously.
Mr. B. BOWLEY, of Gleserget, moved the next reso-
lution, which was as fellows: "That the meeting cannot
emend its indignation sod eeledet at the pertinacity with
whisiii the Militia Bill is *no& through the House of Com-
vase^ saint the earnest resunarsame of the country, as
' expressed in one the. 1.1100 petitions, and without one
plausible lb* er segyeaset being adduced to prove the ne-
entity of IMINMNITO se pregnant with manifold moral and
social evils to the rem unity, and cannot but regard this
fact as an additional sad imperative call upon the friends
of peace strenuously to use their Wiser', at the hethemen-
ing election—not is a spirit of polities& perthembip, but of
religious fidelity to their principles—to mem the mats to
parliament of men less imbued with military ideas, and
more under the influence of Christian sentiments."

The Rev. J. BURNET seconded the resolution. He
said be had found out a thing which was worse even than
war—the House of Commons, who paid for it. (Laughter.)
He for 0011 would aster support a naval or military candi-
date. Soldiers and sailors were too intimately connected
with war to vote for its discontinnence—a slave-owner
would as soon vote for the abolition of slavery.
The resolution was then adopted.
The Rev. J. HENSON moved the following resolution:
—" That this meeting observes with the deepest sorrow
and regret, that while the unhappy and ignoble war in
South Africa still continues with no prospect of immediate
termination, our country is likely to be involved in another
conflict with the Birman empire; events which serve only
to confirm their conviction, that so long so the present
unhappy predominance is given to military ideas and
agencies in the administration of our colonial dependencies,
Great Britain can never hope worthily to fulfil the high
mission which seems to have been entrusted to her by Pro-
vidence as the instrument of christianising and civilising
the world."

The resolution was seconded by Idr.Pmcon, of Leith,
and carried.

A vote of thanks to the chairman terminated the pro•
ceedinp.

A STRANGE TRIAL HAS RECENTLY TAKEN PLACE,
before the Tribunal of Correctional Police, at Paris. A
dealer in second-hand hooks, named Gervais, was charged,
at the suit of a person of the same trade, named Mathieu,
with having inflicted serious injury en the plaintiff. The
statement of Mathieu was to the following effect :—The
bookstalls of the plaintiff and defendant adjoined each other,
and there waa consequently a rivalry in trade, but the de-
fendant nevertheless pretended at times to be very friendly
with the plaintiff. One day, the plaintiff being suffering
severely from a griping in the bowels, mentioned the cir-
cumstance to Gervais, who, in pretended commiseration, bat,
u Mathieu now Irmly believes, with the intention of laying
him up. in order that he might have all the book trade to
himself, told bins that he had a recipe for the cure of such
a malady which bad been left to him by his mother, and
which was infallible. He advised Mathieu to procure some
young elder leaves, and to dues them as a salad and eat
them. Mathieu having then no suspicion of the abomina-
ble motive which prompted this advice, procured the leaver,
and ate the salad. At this part of the statement of the
plaintiff, the defendant asked whether the salad hid not
cured the griping of the bowels ? " Yes," said the plain.
tiff, " bet it made me sick, and confined me to my bed
for three days, which was just what you wonted, in
order to get hold of my customers." The defendant re-
plied that it was not his fault if the plaintiff had made him-
self ill. Instead of using the remedy in moderation, he had
made salad enough for four persons, and hail eaten it all
himself, and this assertion of the defendant was not
denied by Mathieu. The plaintiff and defendant having
been fully heard by the court, the I'rocurcur of the Repub-
lic delivered his opinion on the case. lle began by stating
that he did not consider the charge of wilful injury to have
been established, and should leave that point to the discre-
tion of the tribunal. The defendant smiled, and regarded
his cause as gained, when, unfortunately for him, the
Procureur of the Republic went on to say that although no
criminal intention could be proved against M. (Jerre's, he
was still an offender against the law, for he had assumed I
the functions of a doctor without being qualified, and
although he had taken no direct fee for his prescription, he
had profited in his trade during the absence of the plaintiff
from illness. The court acquitted the defendant on the
charge brought against him by the plaintiff, but final him I
2:dr. for the illegal practice of medicine.—Ga/ismorti.