The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-06-20 00:00:00

claims on their sympathy as France. (Hear, hear.) He did
not know if they were aware of the full extent of the calamity
which had befallen France. Hundreds of miles of country
had been laid under water—the fruits of the land
had been destroyed thousands of families had
been swept from their homes, deprived of every
immediate means of support, and without food to
sustain them ; and, in a word, if ever there was a case in
which a nation had a claim for assistance on the rest of the
world, it was that which France presented at the present
moment. On that gronnd, if on no other, their aid was
demanded, and he was. sui e the people of Liverpool would
support their reputat'on by the largeness of their contributions
on the present occasion. (Applause.)
The resolution was unanimously adopted.
Mr. W. Rathbone, in the absence of Mr. Mansfield, who
was prevented from attending by indisposition, moved the
second resolution, which was to the effect, " that the meeting
sincerely sympathised with the sufferers in France, and would
most cordially assist ill the efforts now being made for the
alleviation of their distress." On every ground, he said, even
on that of economy, which he would be sorry to think of as
their ruling motive, it was most important that they should
contribute for this purpose. Any one who had studied history
would know what it had cost this country—the millions upon
millions of national debt which had been incurred—to be at
war with France ; and they would, in looking back over the
past two years, see how little, comparatively, the last war had
cost them, in consequence of their alliance with France. If
they had had to meet Russia single-handed, the war which had
existed only for two years, might just as probably have lasted
for twenty years. And, in that reflection, would be found the
argumentum ad poeketum—(laughter)—which, perhaps, would
touch the sensibilities of some more powerfully than the
argumentum ad hominem. (Hear, hear, and laughter.) As
to the extent of the distress in France, relatives of his who
were there informed him that no description could convey an
idea of it, and that the whole country looked like an inland
lake. It was said that the accounts had been exaggerated for
political purposes. He did not believe a word of it. (Hear,
hear.) And when he saw crowned heads taking such steps,
and making such personal exertions for the relief of their
subjects, as the Emperor of the French, he would respect them
the more, and would say to them, what ho would now in
regard to the last named personage—" God speed him, and may
he prosper in his popularity." (Applause.) Allusion had
been made to the assistance granted by France towards the
relief of the Irish distress. It might be becoming in him to
refer to America, and what had been done by her in the
famine of 1847. (Hear, hear.) She did not wait to see
whether England, as a rich nation, would support her own
people, but through his hands alone the New England States
of America forwarded £BO,OOO for distribution in food and
money among the Irish population. (Cheers.) That was an
example which they should imitate in their contributions on
this occasion, and they might depend on it, that in doing so
they would be forming the strongest bonds of interest and of
love which could bind nation to nation, (Applause )
Mr. S. Holme seconded the resolution. He said : Mr.
Mayor, it has often been my pleasure to co-operate with you
in local maters, and that pleasure is increased a hundred field,
when I have the satisfaction of co-operating with you in your
official capacity on an occasion like the present, which ought to
call forth, and will, I doubt Hot, call forth, not only our
national, but our individual sympathies. Sir, to the circum-
stance of this being the day of meeting of the dock committee,
and some important matters commanding the attention of the
chairman and deputy-chairman, I owe it .that I stand here in
a position which would doubtless have been much better
occupied by Mr. Charles Turner, the chairman of that com-
mittee. But in consequence of his absence, I bow to the
commands which you have laid on me—commands which are
not very grievous, because, I confess, they appeal to the best
member that I have, and that is to my heart. The simple
fact is this—an overwhelming calamity has befallen hundreds
of thousands of the inhabitants of France. The Almighty
makes use of the elements for purposes mysterious to us. He
makes use of them when he brings on a just calamity on man-
kind. He makes them the ministers of His wishes, and
while we bow to the mysterious power of God, who walks upon
the wings of the wind, and does what pleases Him in the
armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of earth, we find
it our Christian duty to use each visitation for the purposes of
mercy, and to acknowledge that His is the silver and His is
the gold, and to be ready whenever such a calamity occurs to
put our hands into our pockets, and give not merely the
sympathy of our hearts, but give part of our worldly
possessions, that wo may be enabled thus to show that we
are but His stewards for that which is put into our care.
Sir, in this case, I am familiar with all that district of France
which has been submerged, and I can very well, from my
recollection of it, understand how the melting of the Alpine
snows, and with the torrents of rain which fall over those
rivers which are spread over so large a part of the surface of
France, and with all their countless tributaries—l can well
understand how they, when they burst their bounds, and
overflow their banks, must carry ruin and devastation in their
headlong rush. Thousands of households have been swept
away, and we may form some conception of the calamity, when
we know that a district of France, containing a surface almost as
large as the whole of Ireland, was submerged in the course of
two days. Habitations have been destroyed—the husbandman
has been deprived of the fruits of his labour—the peasant has
been rendered houseless, with his wife and children, and
universal distress has occurred in a neighbouring kingdom.
Sir, it may be said, and I did hear a gentleman say it the
other day, " Oh, but this is not in England ; nor is it in our
colonies, and why, then, should we be called upon ?" An
overwhelming calamity commands universal sympathy.
(Hear, bear, and applause.) Benevolence is not geogra
phical. (Hear, hear.) It is not restricted by mountain
ridges ; it is not restricted by conventional boundaries
of a river or sea, or even of an ocean. It is not merely
national, it is not merely individual, but universal, for the
christian benevolence knows that wherever calamity exists, it
is not only the duty but the privilege of every man to fly to
its rescue. (Applause.) The precepts given by the Divine
Founder of the Christian religion are these—" If thine enemy
hunger,. give him meat ; if he thirst, give him drink ; for in
so doing thou shall heap coals of fire on his head." And it it
is so with our enemies, how much more should it be with our
friends? (Hear, hear.) I well remember the time when we
rejoiced in this town when the news reached us that 5,000
Frenchmen had fallen on the field of battle ; and I remember
the time when a man who dared to hang the " tri-colour" flag
out of his window would have his house pulled to the ground,
and be looked upon as an enemy of his country. We live
in a happier period. (Hear, hear.) France is no longer a
hostile power, but we now hail her as a friend and ally ; and
I respond to the sentiment which has been uttered with regard
to the ruler of France. He is raised to the throne, I doubt
not, for good, and I trust that that wise, that popular, and that
illustrious man, may be spared to give to France the prosperity,
which before this calamity I had the pleasure of witnessing
it, and give to her that quiet and beneficial rule
which is so much in contrast to what I well remember it
when I saw " liberte, egalite, et fraternite" chalked on all
the edifices of France, and when every man was full of
emotion and fear lest another revolution should sweep the
streets and deluge them in blood. (Applause.) I trust that
our friendship with her will long remain. (Hear, hear.) Our
soldiers have stood with her's upon the battle field ; our sailors
have conveyed her battalions to the Crimea to partake of our
sufferings and triumphs; and now, when she is visited with
calamity, friendship and benevolence promts us to rush to her
aid. It well becomes this town, whose ships can only be
counted by thousands, and whose tonnage can only be esti-
mated by millions, to stand forward in a cause such as this,
and to show not only a national, but an individual sympathy
for those sufferers. I have been forestalled in allusion to the
benevolence exercised when Ireland was visited by famine and
disease; but I trust that we, in Liverpool, with our great
wealth, with our great energy, and with our mercantile skill,
will not be behind hand in the cause of benevolence, because
benevolence is the precursor of extended civilisation, and tends
to bind together the hearts of nations as well as the hearts
of men. (Applause.) Nations like individuals, are more
sensible of kindness than of force, and rest assured, that the
spectacle witnessed this day here, and the sentiments put
forth by the meeting in London, as well as by this, will not be
lost on the gallant and sensitive minded people of France, and
that it will do more to cement that union which now exists
amongst these countries, than anything else which could have
occurred. (Hear, hear.) If thus it has pleased Providence
to bring this calamity on France, let us forget the water that is
between us, and consider them as brothers in distress, and hold
out to them a helping hand. It is not so much the silver and gold
which we give, as the sympathy which we express and which
is valued ; and whenever we find distress and calamity
existing in any part of the world, even amongst those who are
bronzed by an African sun, or who first saw the light in the
Arctic regions, and amid perpetual snow, the genius of
Christianity prompts us to stand forth and do what we can to
relieve that distress, so do Christian sympathy and close
friendship, hero combined, prompt us in this instance to the
relief of a calamity brought on, not by man, but a calamity
permitted by the beneficent wisdom of God. (Applause,)
The resolution was unanimously adopted.
The Rev. H. S. Brown proposed the next resolution, which
was to the effect that the clergy and ministers of religion, of
all denominations, be requested to give their valuable aid and
assistance in carrying out the object of the meeting. Ho said
he did not know if they were capable of stating with exactness
the extent of the cal-amity which had befallen France. It
was stated that the flood had spread over such and such a
distance, but how to make it out in square miles was to him a
somewhat difficult matter. At the very least, they might
suppose that there were 1,200 square miles under water, that
was to say, a district somewhat larger than Cheshire, and very
little smaller than Shropshire. Over that space everything had
been destroyed—crops had been ruined, and houses carried
away, and 200,000 or more, nearly a quarter of a million of
people, reduced to the most necessitous circumstances. If such
a calamity had taken place in this country, he need not say
how great would have been the sympathy, how very deep the
interest, and how very ready the help which would have been
afforded by all classes in this country. But here, some pelsons
observed, was a great difference—people could not bear to see
their fellow-countrymen in distress; and, as a matter of
course, every man would consider it his duty to help them.
He did not know that the difference, after all, was so very
great ; for ho thought that the man who would help the people
of Shropshire if in distress, would do so, not so much because
they were his fellow countrymen. but because they were his
fellow-men. (Hear, hear.) Thorn was an old saying,
which he thought it was time they gave up—it
was, " Charity begins at home." (Hear, hear.)