The Express.
London, England, 1860-08-31 00:00:00

LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, AUGUST 31, 1860.

THE LIBERAL PARTY IN ESSEX.

THE MALDON LIBERAL. INDEPENDENT CLUB.
(mon OUR OWN REPORTER.)
Yesterday the &rat annual dinner of the Mahlon
Liberal Independent Club took piece in the new public
llaldon which was very handsomely decorated with
as abundance of shrubs and flowers, and the walls hung
with a profusion of banners, many of them bearing loyal
call patriotic usacriptions, such as "Long Life to the
Queen and Peace to the Nation," " Peace and Plenty;
"The Queen and the Constitution," "The Liberty of the
Press," ke.

The chair was taken by T. Buacu WESTERN, , the
president of the anti, who wee supported by J. A. Hard.
castle, ken.., M.P., C. Buxton, Esq., 111. P., T. a Western,
req., M.P. for the borough of Maldon ; Bir Powell Buxton,
Bart., the Rev. Sir J. Page Wood, But., R. Wingfield
Baker, Esq., J. Gordon Rebuts, req., Colonel Waders,
Captain Saville, the Mayor of Maldon, the Rev. Mr. Lewd,
Mr. G. May, Mr. Tindal Atkinson, Mr. C. Wilson. Mr. G.
W. Digby, Mr. G. F. Digby, and about MO other gentle-
men, supporten Abe liberal cause.

After the dinner had concluded,
Thu CHATILMAN proposed in very felicitous terms the
" Ilcalth of her Majesty, the Prince Consort, the Prince of
Wales, and the royal family." In proposing the "fertiy
sad Navy," he said that it was 'averted by oar neighbours
cm the other side of the Channel that we were not a warlike
people ; but if that meant that we were not able to defend
ourselves, all he could say was that all history showed that
for courage, endurance of hardship, and success, our troops
and our sailors were equal, if nut superior, to any in the
world. Of late the seal of our peaceful citizens had caused
them to flock into the ranks of the volunteers, whose martial
henries before the Queen, and their skill in the rifle
shooting at Wimbledon, which he believed was the •ost
peseeful movement of modern tunes, had shown that our
enemies had better let us alone. He had hoped that Cap•
taiu Luienl would have been present to acknowledge this
toast on behalf of the NAVy, but they were unavoidably
absent. He was happy, however, to be ableto join with it
the tame of Colonel Western, a gallant officer who had duos
good service to his country. He was glad to Lear that
them was a volunteer movement in Hakim, and if
any enrolled member will present, he hoped that lie would
Dune forr.vard to recognise the toast. The militia was said
to be oar most constitutional force, and he would tall on
Captain Saville to return thank. for that force.

Colonel WUTERN in acknowledging the toast said that
wait interested in the revival of the klaldo•
ledependeut Liberal Club, which they were that day cele-
brating; such an association in combination with others
would, he believed, tend greatly towards the promotion
of civilisation and peace. There were clouds in
the political liceison, and no one could say when they
would break, and it wait therefore satisfactory to know of
the enrolment of that volunteer force whirls was • purely
defen.:vo movement, as That force was of the
intert,ta and intelligence of the country ; and laving for its
motto I MSC(' and security, it would be the most active
agen..y of the Peace Soisietv tf an invader threatened our
soil. He was sure volunteers would rise by thasuands and
take a large pert in the defence of the country.
C-iptaiu SAVILLE briefly returned thanks on behalf of tho

The CHalltuafi then profaned " Prosperity to the saldon
Liberal independent Club. ' He said that he believed that
there were gentlemen present who had been weathers of
the old club, the revival of whiah they were then oak-
bncoug, and there must his among Elea many reminis-
ces's:es of old times--when party polities ran high, and
whin thorned stetting *bin of these tames were the
election., which lathsl a long time, but Nhich were now
got over much more quickly. Tb 6 ii.uiciation was formed
in the that pkee for the purposes of !Es turning bland man-
ben to parlament, tint ,in the borough.% and then in
the counties. It flourished for forty years, and had
done goun service to the liberal cause. Blast of its mew-
-1 bare had gone, het then were still many of ifs active mem-
hero iu the county, end many of the iltuorudante it those
j wises foul gone, and who had never swerved from the
pies of their forefathers, were present on that nonage.
lAmong titan Mil Shed* ltly• and Mr. Bright, the father of one and
46,Pgailmablie wbgo md,3.4.6 mastic those
great supporters of si the club, to whom ha success
was due. So gnat bad been the activity end exertions
of the grandfather of Mr. Bright in the cause, that his
Ifellow-members hail presented him with his portrait.
Besides others living in the neighbourhood of the town,
Ithere were Huseywried, Luard, Liu Cane—(irenical cheers
MA laughter) Wright, Hanbury, Disney—all of whom had
peeled away. Of their successors, Mr. HonevwcssL whose
has they had all had recently to lament, hail followed in
his father's steps as a supporter of the liberal came, and
woe ever pressed to cheer the emaciation by his couutenance.
He would ales niceties again Captain Luard, the diestrodant
of one of the iitrongest supporters of the cause, who had
followed the seine course, and aided by his advice and us-
' sistince. He was glad to see his brother present on this
uansiori. (Cheers) Of other gentlemen it was to herald that,
, though they heal inherited the possessions, they Mel not in-
livriusl the principle' of their ODOM cors—thear); but be hoped
that the time would cones when they would return to those
Principles—(hear, hear) —end apply to be retuned lie mern-
j ben of that club. (Hear, hear.) The Malden Liberal In•
dependent Club wee formed on similar principles to the old
one, but on an extended scale, its object being to return
I liberal members nut only for the boroughs hut the comities.
Thia was a mint important consideration, for the state of
the representation of the county was most aeunielous.
There war only use of the ten members belonging to the
whole county who represented the liberal electors, and lio
was returned by the town oof Mahliw. (Hear, hear.) With
• so huge a number of liberal electois such a state of things
ought not to *matinee ; but lung ago the " conservative tee "
believed themselves to be SO secure. that they thought
they could keep it (or all time. Ile remembered one
of these members, in one of those humorous speeches for
which he was well known, describing how odd be should
feel if he went into the House of Common without his tail
of ten. They bud stamped a medal to commemorate their
triumph, but it hail now become somewhat soiled and tar, niched ; not to mention the return of Sir Edward Buxton
and Mr. Leonard for the county ou a previous OCCSJO.U. in
14467 Harwich and Malden did their duty in returning liberal
members in the persons of Mr. M'iegtield Baker, Mr. Bag-
shaw, Mr. Gunton Itebow, and the present member fur
Mahlou. Why was it that the liberal party was not now in
the rime poirition as it hail been before. What had been
done before weld be done again if the same energy
and activity were used. A reform in parliament
' had been promised—it was not very easy to say when they
would get it—but a/ the law now stood theycould at future
! elections place themselves in a better position than that
which they now occupied ; but that could only be done by
the conlial co-operation of the whole body of liberal elector'.
I (Hear, hear.) They must sink all minor differences by all
' proper and legal maim—he could not believe that the men
of Essex would use any other—("hear, hear," and cheers)--
endeavour to return members of their own principles, and
when thee were returned place confidence in them. One
caws, of the mecca: of their opponents was a way they had of
settling their differences. (" Hear, hear," and laughter.)
They sometimes had heard that there was s split in their
aunii, but it did them no injury, for at elec.
tious their unanimity was wonderfuL He did
not mean to ray that there were no difference+ among the
, liberal party ; hut the object of this association was to con.
j solidatar the whole liberal party. This was the snore neon-
nary, for in all the districts in the county there was a coo-
: *wit local agency at work which never slept—(hear)—snit
it was neceesory for the liberal party to counteract it by
every means in their power. Fur some yeare the govern-
ment of the country had been, with slight intervals, in the
bends it the liberal party, and excellent laws had been
passed in that period. Among them there had been a re-
, form in parliament, and if net extending so far as many of
them wished, it was a step iu the right direction, and be
hoped that they would 1.011 get another. The criininal
male hail been ameliorated, slavery abolished, the
i trammels on ouininerce removed, education improved
sad extended, and many other improvements hail
• been effected. All this time their opponents had watched
for opportunities of putting ministers in a minority, and
when they took their places, said that the best way to
. retain poser was by adopting the measures of their
prialecosiviri. Hut since the loss of Sir H. Peel, who had
carried some good measures, the ocaserrative party had
shown such au inaptitude fi.r carrying Liberal measures,
• that they lied utterly failed, and the nation took the first
opporteuity of telling them so by displacing them. What
delleret4 sal what by proper efforts could be main-
Weed, war a good liberal government. Such was the in-
. demos of this country on toreign nations that any injury
•to the corunici es and trade of Legland vilest's(
through the whole world. A good ilcnA govern-
ment was wanted, which contributed to the hap-
piness of the people socially, morally, religiously, and
politically, and which, while it supported our venerable
institutiona, was yet willing to mend mud restore them.
That object would be best attained by returning liberal
useriaLers to padianient. That bring the object of the
association which they had met to honour, he had great
pleasure in nroperaing "P rovvrity to the Malden Libeni
la dependent Club.'
The toast was drunk with much upplause and en
thusiaan. . . _

Mt. (i. MAT Mid he ems entrusted with the discharge of
eu important but duty. It was that of proposing
the health of si potlemen well kaowa, and esteemed ea he
was known. their friend and worthy liberal representative,
Mr. Thorns+ Illutton Western. (Loud cheers.) He was
right when he thought that toast would he swept.
able. That isevagit was in the condition which the
doorman Lad ilessiribed.. Them were ten cuneenstiv•

members in Essex until Mr. Western came into the field,
when his principles being approved by the liberals of the
borough, he, by the energetic way in which be proceeded,
was enabled to gain a great triumph over his tory opponenta.
The borough had then been represented by tories for five
years—a gloomy and melancholy suite theta • but he
wee proud to say that the constituent. of Mr. Wiskern had
broken the phakor of ten. It was a matter of importance,
to secure what they gained ; it was necessary to strength-m
the hands of the liberal party in parliament by means of
the support of the liberal party out of door'. That could
only be done by voting for liberal representatives in
parliament. He would give them "The health of their
Member—Mr. Western,' and express a hearty wish that
his connexion with the borough might long continue.
The Meat was drunk atanihng with three times three.
Mr. T. B. WLSTFIRX, M.E., who, on his rising, was
greeted with renewed cheering, said that he begged to ex-
press his heartfelt thanks for the reception which they had
given to the toast Proud as he had always been of his
parliamentary connexion with that borough, and bound to
it as he was not only by ties of neighbourhood but by
family easociatices of long standing—(hear, hear), —he
could not but esteem it an honour to represent Ifaldou,
when that borough represented all the liberals of Essex.
Ilictieder.) In one arose it was a melancholy privilege. All he
was, that the exertions of that club in other
quarters would remove from that borough a distinction so
aareasonable as that it alone should represent all the liberal-
ism in Baer. Whatever triumphs had been gained by the
yellow flag, the exertions of this borough and neighbouring
constituencies must be remembered, for when toryiun was
most rampant in the °aunty, Malden, was the first to raise the
elawilso (illiberalism, and_ bed len!igawbitaisi the eecti
tics which they hell met tfrelf . 46
not be but that iu the Rupees bnlitsenielat
there was the happient
_agency of paity., pitih res 4
ehinery was imperatively 'caned fee. lEFSTy' Mt lhMn
look at the representation of the county, Mirl•aeg f>r let
of organiastion. If all the liberals, ol)feeptiread Whit
their dilferencen, and rally to the maitre sup.
plied by this club, the streagtht of
woube restored, and Be reagerces
They ought not to be satisfied till the tuaclumayMlM.ui
club supplied to work the registry Vas so contplete
as to enable them to ascertain who erica dreads and
who were fee*, and who were the wayesen in the
county, so that the issue of each election 4001 not be
matter of speculation, bat of certainty, • z7sileipon it,
ca when the time me the An of Essex w not be pen-
tented with a single seat, and there would be no ack.of can-
didates able and wilting to make the tory Mite " deemed
and sing" very small. (" Hear, hear," and laughter.) The
first thing to be dam we to it:Mumma the electors. But
them was another function which elute of this character were
calculated to discharge, aid which the experience of
last session showed was called fur. He nitwit the twigging
of public opinion ti bear on parliament after it was elected.
Clubs might organise petitions, which, if aumerows, would
destroy the plea of the indifference of the people on certain
subjects, when their silence ouly proceeded from the want of
proper machinery for the expression of their wishes. Look-
' tog to the past *union, he should say that if liberal clubs had
been established all over the kingdom, giving the opportu-
nity to the constituencies, and supplying the means, of ex-
posongtheir will, he doubted whether the Reform /Jill would
have been withdrawn, or whether the Lord. would have
thrown out the bill for the abolition of the church rates,
and whether the pressure from without, which baffled the
inquisitorial scheme d. a religious, conaue—(bear,
heart—would nut have enabled the House of Couimons
to have met the dangerous ansLexceptkmel conduct of the
upper house on the quest* of the paper duty. (Hear,
hear.) On each of the three ocimaiicias to wl4eh he had
alluded, the people bad been comparatively 'tifent,'and the
enemies of popular rights, and were of their friends too,
construed that silence wrongly, madam patund result was
that popular rights wont to the eralL It was the fashion to
treat these facts as symptoms -pi conservative reaction.
(Hear, hear.) He said that It' was rather the result elf
liberal baseline. :an (Hear, hear.) At y irate, he should
like to see an appeal to the mammy, with reaction fifr the
watchword on one side, and progress the rallying cry on the
other. (Hear, hear.) The reactionista would aeon see which
way the hand moved on the dial-plate. (Hear, bear.)
It was true that the reforms of the government in the last
session had been only partially carried out. This the
people had witnessed with comparative indifterenoe.. The
reason was obvious. The critical state of foreign affairs
compelled the government to attend to measures for the
defence of the couutry so that any factionist by the tactics
of delay could seriously abridge the small margin left for
domestic legislation. A second reason wee to be found in
the het of the shames of refllekstorwiestioe fa smirk
taieteg end reflecting the phase. of public opinion. That
deficiency made it still more difficult fur public opinion to
deal with more than one or two objects at the same
time, and lad session the objeets nearest to the hearts
of the people were the defence of the country and the de-
fence of religion against official surveillance. (" Hear,
hear," and cheers.) They had heard reeetionista
triumphantly dilate on the dropped measures of the go-
vernment, and they said that the Doeskin was a lanes one.
Well, they did their worst to make it so. (Hear, hear.)
But dropped measures were not necessarily lost measures.
The Bankruptcy Bill, an excellent measure, though with-
drawn, must form the basis of any future dealing with that
. .

subject. The Consolidation of the Criminal Sratutes bud
been dropped, but the measure was in a state of complete-
ness, and would pan at another time. The lif. fran-
chise in boroughs (cheerii)— and the 10f. franchi.e
in counties—(cheers)—were dropped, hut who could say they
would be abaroloued in the next Reform Bill ; although
he trusted it would not dismember Maldon, it would not
meet the demand for popular freedom. A barren merlon !
Was it nothing to have provided for the security of our
dockyards, thaw nurseries of our navy—to have organised
the anomalous army, and put the finances of India on a
better footing! War it nothing to have had a budget which
relieved 400 articles from vexation. imposts! Wan it
a barren session which gave birth to the treaty
with Prince—thus multiplying guarantees for peace
with a neighbour whose propensities were such as
not to make any guarantees ingwrfluoua! Could it
be said to be a barren session in which the dealing of the
last blows at protection were associated with the name of
Cobden, the apostle of free trade, and of Gladstone, the
first-lieutenant of Peel! (Cheers.) One member of the go-
vernment had performed services diu year not inferior to
any he had mentioned ; fur every one would admit that in
Lord J. Russell's hands foreign affairs load been conducted
in a manner worthy of a free nation. (Hear, hear.) The
hon. gentleman concluded a very able and comprehensive
per-h by ;Lenin thanking the meeting fur the manner in
which they heal received him.
The renna;ning toasts were " The liberal members of the
House of Common.," proposed by the Rev. Mr. Luard, and
acknowledged by Mr. Hardimatle, ; the health of the
Clisirian, proposed by Sir J. Page Wood ; " Civil
and religious liberty all over the world," proposed by Mr.
C. Ruston, )1.P.; Mr. Wingfield Baker, and MOONS to
the liberal muse in Essex," proposed by Mr. Tindal Atkin-
son ; " Mr. Rebow and the liberals of North Erma and
Colchester," proposed by Mr. Saville ; " The liberal electors
of Malden awl the Mayor of Mallon ;" after which the corn•
pony separated, having enjoyed a very animated and suc-
cessful gatherinr.