The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-03-18 00:00:00

bloody war to what, I hope, will end in the permanent
peace of Europe. But we in Liverpool were also then in
danger. Derby and Aberdeen were gone, and who was it
who same to our rescue?—unwillingly and reluctantly—
but who was it that came to our rescue, and
held out a helping hand to us ? It, was Joseph
C. E wart. (Cheers.) It was him that cams forward.
A Voice " Well, what about the Town Dues."

Mr. W. Rathbone : I will tell you ; if there is
a wretched being present who thinks more about a
farthing than he does of the nation. I say that
we have not had a more faithful, or a more
valuable man in parliament than Mr. joseph Christopher
Swart. (Cheers.) Well, 'gentle:nen, it was Mr. Ewart
who came forward to our rescue; and I say tbat
there is not another man in Liverpool that has
done more good than he has; for it was he who brought
the House of Commons to their death bed repentance,
and made, them do an act of gratitude to Englishmen,
as they had a right to do. (filar, -and cheers.) I am
going to plead for the honour, the common sense, and
safety of the people, and I trust that the men who have
fa!thfulTy done their duty to the country, will again be
honoured with the same high advantages which was before
conferred on them. (Hear, hear.) There are other per-
sons to ai!dress you here to-tight, and I feel my
.old voice failing me. (Bear, and cheers,) But I call
on yon, before f go, to hear one word front the old stager.
(Vehement 'cheering.) I tell you that Joseph Ewart has
placed himself n the most respectable position by his able
conduct in the House of Commons, and you, having placed
him these, in the name of G do not nocir turn your
backs on him. You have got an honest man to repre-
sent you. Vote for him, and you do yourselves honour
by sending an honest man to Parliament. (Loud
cheers.)
Mr. T. M. Mackay came forward to second the rev).
intim]. He said—As this is my first appearance
A voice : " Name."

. Mr. J. R. Jeffery: This is Mr. Mackay, of the firm of
James Baines and Co. (Loud cheers )
Mr. T. M. Mackay : As this is my first aepearance
on the Liverpool stage, I may orave your kind
consideration. I have been called on to second the
resolution which its own intrinsic merits would commend
to'your appiobation, but when presented by such a veteran
leader in the cause of freedom, it well becomes those a
veneration or two younger to ponder over the means
that we can best realise the aspirations of such a worthy
citizen. (Hear, hear) The means to an end will soon be
presented to you in the exercise of your franchise, and
recording an independent tote for the man worthy to
represent you in Parliament. And although we have the
most perfect onfi lence in Mr. Ewart as a zealous reformer,
there ought to bs an unmistakeable eroression of our
opinion. Ido not think that Lord Palmerston ought
not to ride into power on the backs of the Liberal
party; but lv am not here to arraign Lord Pal-
merston, for all that is past, but since the war there
was a great desire to cushion every measure of
reform. Gentlemen, I ask no greater etidence of this than
the treatment of Sir John and Colonel Tulloch—
(hear, hear)—who, for fearlessly giving an hehest report,
for exposing the counterfeit honours still worn by your
Lucans, your Cardigans, your Aireys, your Gordons, and
your Wetheralls, were put into the cold shade of the
aristocracy, that they might perish from its chill. (Cheers.)
But, thank Heaven, these men were made of sterner stuff.
" The rank is but the guinea's stamp—
The man's the gowd for a' that,"
(Hear, hear, and cheers.) Aye, and the resolution re
minds me of the succeeding lines of that immortal
ballad—

" A. king can mak' a belted knight,
A marquis, duke, an' a' that,
But an honest man's aboon his might.
Guid faith he canna fa' that.."
(Loud cheers.) Gentlemen. this election reminds me of
a story well known to all headers of Roman history—the
story of the patrician who, at his death bed,
assembled his family round him, and putting into
the hand of his eldest son the fasces, which I
need scarcely tell you was simply a bundle of rods bound
together, but also the insignia of power carried before the
consuls, and a symbol of union and strength —told him to
break it. The youth was unable to do so; he returned it
to his father. The old mats unbound the cords, and then,
taking the rods asunder, snapped each in turn, thus inti-
mating to his children that so long as they were united they
were powerful, but that .separation involved weakness.
(Cheers) Now, gentlemen, I wish this assembly to
ponder over that metaphor, for to my mind at the present
moment the great constituencies of England are like so
many loose rods; but let them only gather themselves
together, let the bonds of cohesion be those of truth,
honesty. and unselfishness, and then you may defy the
proudest oligarchy which ever ruled the destinies of a ,
country. (Great cheering.) But let us never forget that
our constitution, with all its imperfections—and the reso-
lution which I now second, states how they are to be
rectified—that evert that constitution has within
it the power sufficient to give the middle classes much
trea'er influence in the community, if they were but true
TO thews 'lees. (Hear, heir) But from circums'ances
which I am not g -log to enter into, we seem to Is ive
abdicated our functions as freemen entirely, and left a
few of the leading families in this country to usurp the
government of the land. (Cheers.) But I will do these
men justice, and when I think of the temptations within
their power, I wonder that their practical solution
of the word " appropriation" is not more repulsive
than it is. (Heir, hear.) Yes, and I more
than wonder, when I think bow we have crouched for their
smiles, how we have laughed at their follies, and winked
at their vices, that they have not ridden us with a harder
hit. (Hear, hear.) Why, gentlemen, in the very streets
of this town, have I not seen, when the carriages of any
of the neighbouring nobility drove up the streets, and
stopped at a shop door, they were surrounded by a crowd
—an admiring audience—looking upon the patricians, and
expecting something more than flesh and blood. (Cheers.)
Can any idolatry be more odious? (Cheers) The votaries
of Juggernaut are respectable compared with this. (Cheers
and laughter.) Gentlemen, it is in sorrow, and not in
anger, that I come to hold Ole mirror up to my fellow-
townsmen. There is no ma more disposed than lam to
give honour ashore honour is due, but I entreat you to
draw the distinction, the broad distinction between true
greatness, anti the simply adventitious circumstance
of birth. (Uttar, hear) I entreat you not to be carried
away by making this Chinese war an election cry.
There are far more important questions, I assure you, to
come before parliament; and while I feel the strongest
interest in the return of our most excellent representative,
Mr. Ewart, I still must be allowed to express my opinion
that we must not be indifferent to the state of the political
world, and that our voices should be heard in the high
places of the land. There is a vulgar, but familiar phrase
which says we can " see as far through a millstone as the
man who made it." It is no consolation to be told that
we are net at present under the government of Lord
Aberdeen, or Sir James Graham. I hold in my hand a
correspondence between one Roman Ctrdinal and another,
a despatch, in which he clearly identifies Lord Aberdeen
with the treachery of Sir James Graham, for revealing
the secrets of the Post Office, although in his place in the
house of peers he most flatly denied it. Now, Gantlemen,
if the principles of men in power, like Lord Aberdeen,
sit so lightly upon them, they ought to be told that such
provocation has its limits. But the question now is, how
we are to achieve our victory at the poll. Now, in Holy
Writ there is recorded for our example that no wise king
goes to war without consulting whether with 10,000 men
he may meet another who comes against him with 20,000,
lest haply he sen I an embassy, and keep peace at a distance.
Our generosity has exceeded our wisdom—and man to
man—nay, more, we offered a reconciliation ; it was
scouted, and since our opponents have thrown down the
gauntlet, it is with no faint heart we pick it up, anti
may God defend the right." (Loud cheers.) Surely
the numbers, wealth, and influence of the Liberal party
in Liverpool gives it authority for having one repre-
sentative, and the majority of the Conservaties were of
the sense opinion, but, unhappily, the Conservative body
are ruled by a small lot of men who—(the cheers here
rendered the speaker inaudible)—were of no importance
or magnitude, and who have no interest in the result
beyond exulting in the struggle—(cheers)—and looking
after votes as Hyam looks after customers for his twenty
shilling coats. (Laughter and applause.) But these
men are not to be underrated, and, there-
fhre, we must buckle on our armour, and with such a cham-
pion as Mr. Ewart, " who is afraid ?" (Cheers.) Let me,
for one moment, take a klattce at our opponents. Of Mr.
Horsfall I have not a word to say. I rejoice that he has
broken away from the trammels of his party. and I will
leave the rest to his own gond sense. (Cheers.) It is trtte
I he is not yet competent for the vanguard, but depend upon
it he will not loiter much longer with the baggage
(Cheers and laughter.) As to Mr Turner—[A voice ;'" He
Is a gentleman."] (Confusion). It is no wonder after that
gentleman has been canvassing every hour of his life for the
last five years, that he should not think it was about time
his harvest was getting ripe. (Hear and load cheers.)
Nobody respects more the genial smile and gracious
bow which greets every man when he meets the
aspiring chairman of the Dock Committee. (Roars
of laughter.) I have often been puzzled ,to know
how he could maintain that nun gum dormio habit,
and I defy you to approach him at any angle which
does not come within the range of his salute,
but I can only account for this by believing he either has
an eye in the back of his head, or his neck is a universal
joint. (Roars of laughter.) Now I have been also much
puzzled with a document, viz.—Mr. Turret's address—
(a voice—" Mr. Turner never attempted to disfrauchise the
people") with regard to the first paragraph, bearing
relation to the affairs of Canton, it is complete clap trip,
but in the next he appeals to the electors on