The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1853-12-15 00:00:00

LIFE ASSURANCE.

PUBLIC MEETING IN THE CLAYTON
LAST EVENING.

es
Last evening a public meeting was held in the Ci
the
Hall, Clayton Square, for the purpose of examining intoo
general principles of Life Assurance, without ado's
the interests of any particular company or society._ 0
.0,
Right Hon. LORD ERSKINE, presided. Amongst th
the platform we noticed
Lord Erskine, London ; R. G. Wear, F.R.G.S.,1:;(1:0;g11:
William Rathbone, Liverpool ; Dr. Lodge, do. ;
Garrett, do. ; J. Stord Taylor, M.D., do. • 3. Seff.rehY:se
T. Cooke, do. ; Mr. Warburton, do.'; Mr. John Stna ree
Mr. W. Hyde, &c., &c., do. There was a large
pectable attendance, ad a fair proportion of lob'
present.
He T shaei d Chi Lte
He had felt very much afraid that indisposition won'iliestle
iwnasaLsNverythenhapprpoyceteodefind
find himself
haimdcisreeli.ss
atrahoentaideetiitii:eigo:
prevented him from appearing there that evening, bt be
should have very much regretted. Perhaps it 511seeb
asked in what way he could render such service to tllaulie
ject which the meeting had in view, and to that goes' could
should probably be at a loss to give an answer;_ but he
assure them that it was a subject which been,forl life
time deeply impressed upon his mind. He bad rsilislife
upon it both at home and abroad. The incidents of
30 he
had led him a great deal abroad. For forty-seven Yeßritaill
had had the honor of holding a post under the erica
government in different parts of E'urope and in '-usl.or
Of course many other persons might have had
..4,eclialies,
better opportunities, or even without these (TP?":, of 0,
might have had equal or better grounds for juaglilsht;l3o
questions which they would have to consider this nig 1,00
he put this forward as an excuse for his thinking that ja
a subject upon which he might feel a peculiar intefie,ess
addressing them. The question which they had -fleka
sides was one which involved the interests of the ''';,thid
and industrial classes of the country. Without aniiid
but a feeling of pride which as an Englishmrn he osss
help, he felt that he had a right to say there was note?
be compared to those classes in other countries. TO, k
ion might appear presumption, and, if there was lie
reigner present, he hoped he would not think that it tot
vidiously intended. It might be said of Englishni,loitll,
they were a little boastful, but there was nothing el,„,
they could boast so much as the state of the ine'theit
classes of this country, their industry, their intellectwog,
knowledge, and all their active qualities. _ One cull 0 st'
he would not call it a blot, but one only little weals 00,1
tended them, that they were too fond of the present 101 l
for pleasure. (Hear, hear.) It was a pity that it less
be acknowledged they had that sort of liking to be 1:6 of
—that love of pleasure--but it certainly was noted
them, when so much of those after-comforts in life tb°
upon their not thinking too much of the enjoyme° b'„,000;
present moment. In order to enjoy the presentsu
really and thoroughly, there must be caution and el;:ose06,
they should leave some enjoyment for the future, 0t el;
they all would remember the old saying " Yon .baligbe did
your cake, and have it too." (Hear, hear.) Du: 1,100!
not see the necessity for eating all the cake ; he sy°u'iu AP;
it a very good plan to leave a little for the future. lc 0'
a case, where it was not a small enjoyment inere,Voli'
which concerned their own happiness, their own COlO
their own existence almost, and what ought to be, for
trusted was, still more dear to all, the interest of the desS
lies. Then, the necessity for the caution and the pruto
of which he spoke so obviously, recommended itself,
we think it would be always attended to and practised•e4
is
had frequently regretted very deeply, when he obserc.„atilff,
many Englishmen, who were fine labourers, and
_,:.;tsole
good fellows a disposition to be what he might call,'"Tbef
speaking individually, a little reckless. (Hear, hear.) 40
did not think enough about the future, and only saisilLzat
they had a little money, a few shillings, perhaps, theyrt7o
not live to enjoy it, and, therefore, they might as whesionsi
the present moment. The result of this was sr) °,t,pltebo:"
bad that he need not dwell upon it. Moreover, Pe
not desire enjoyment from such a source. It seemed tsesl
enjoyment, but it was not enjoyment. (Hear.) Sonte,°,4B.
sought enjoyment in a manner which he did lot "04
describe; but surely there could be no enjoyment in, P_„his,
an " enemy into their mouths to deal away their N'pejs,,
(Hear, hear,) He once attended a great meeting 1001
and he thought he would start with that sentitnells'os antles,
known one a' poetical one, to be sure—but a gt" sped
true sentiment. However, he was told he need nfaased t 4)
upon that subject there, for most of the men lnd 'say ,
the temperance society. Then' he thought he wo"` an yeti
little about temperance societies, and he said it wasoideret
well to belong to such a society, for persons who oeigls,
that in no other way could they guard themselvesthe nee
danger. But he did not much like swearing ageinit t tsk-
of a good thing. He said he would not swear ag'ilsoe the
ing any spirits or such liquors, nor would he Vtagire and d°-
would not take too much; but for the sake °foot „y it svil
cency he would not commit excess. He ;lids cenfidoileefl,t
wrong for people to swear. If they had 11" Ivo, ".7
themselves, for reasons best known to thenise roved tb
of them swearing against the use lailoitshia've a 11,
desire to avoid excess; but he
but which he must aIP4
feeling encouragedw a s
not
only, and
hurtful,hat
disgraceful—the excess of drink. That was one thitto
when he came back to his own country afflicted ,e,OO
deeply. When he found the jolly Englishman, t`'3o
Scotchman, and the lively Irishman, almost all aim Oci
posed to that great folly, that disgraceful practice Al
propriety, frugality, and every species of virtue 'ld Pt,
that direction were blinded, absorbed, and droll' ' o•te
lordship dwelt upon the evil effects which he had '-siesl
tending upon the use of spirituous drinks 07,
the labourers, many of whom were emigrOlilllts
these countries in America, by which they destroYelp w-
ing which made life valuable even to themselves. ,es
proceeded to say that with regard to the question iv,""iteonbie
to engage their attention that night, he should not cre .
them with the details of it; because they would beat ss",
-
more skilled to perform that task than he was. lhad
happy to say that as regarded the dmprovidencc 11e; 0;
scribed, things were very much e -,:sed, or ranosib'
verymuch changing, in those countries, and the best
way to effect a thorough and a radical change wa,s,„fi'
seating reasons for attaining these advantages wo" resell
so easily attained, not by sacrificing a great' deal of Patssel
pleasure that they might gain some prospective advl4o,
but by giving up that which was only apparent Peel°
and was not real pleasure. There was no real pleas
such indulgence as he had described. • ri°
A VOICE : We cannot hear a word in the gallery-
of " Hear, hear, and order.") b 131!
The CHAIRMAN: lam very sorry, indeed. I wl'icerfilI
voice was more powerfnl. I know my cause is as Perosier
as possible. I shall, therefore, recommend you to ef, Or°
the cause itself, and the cause is no other than to to ;jaioo
of yourselves ; and to take care of yourselves by re, t„l_,'
from everything which could be injurious to you, anua fop'
up everything which could be to your prosperity 3_9,11 °*9,,
advantage. (Applause.) My heart is imbued "',7usisf
country. (Applause.) Ido not say this out of any ;sift
ous comparison to the working-classes of any other e"'-
His lordship then proceeded to refer more especiallYto
deepest wish for the welfare of the working-class,*,
claim to belong to them myself, and I say nowirai,
the world is superior to the working classes ° 007:
object of the meeting. He admitted that he was c01.1•00'
with a particular society ; but he really disestlise!
mean to make any comparison, but, whatever was
wished to have adopted by his fellow countrymen and
fellow labourers. He had laboured hard himself, ii-dst
classed himself among labourers, and was glad to
He classed himself among the bees, and not aniell'eti°l/
drones. (Hear, hear, and applause.) He had no obis
that the drones should have a little of the hor:erooel
found a reason for it among the naturalists, The .t eg
were found among the bees, and they seemed to make 1/
very well from what he could perceive; but the bees
tor
make enough for all, provided they worked. The lab° dte
classes of this country only wanted to be true to the!r,
interests, to follow their own interests and even thelfjp4,
pleasures; real pleasures, not fancied pleasures of yep'
which were no pleasurest in order to elevate .deeo4,''
selves ani their country'. Therefore, he wished for Proclaof!
prudence, and care. He wished to have them mai° isfit',l;
sion against the greatest evil which could arise, to ve death
out the means of providing, in case of sickness °,r 3fltlb
calling them suddenly away. Against the horror of :,e,O
behind them the object of their dearest affection P01",,-sist:
destitutiOn. (Hear, hear.) He took pride in all trlei,as';
tutions of this country. which helped to advance andfit ,
the labouring man. The means by which they wig fatal
advantage of these institutions and provide for the 000'
were afforded to them everywhere. They would hear do
of the merits of one system to night. He had ()Jibbed stet
voured himself to point out the reason why he wis P°
gality, temperance, and, of course education. Henf 600
4
enter into all of those large subjeCts—because eac?„oe ise't
would occupy more time than he could take up. 110.0oldil:j
to touch upon the religious part of the matter, it
oaf
once save the necessity of all reasoning, but he had cderlf;
himself to mere worldly reasons. His lordship proce All
speak of the interest which the Queen and Princo;10111
had evinced in advancing the interests of the _
classes, and improving their social condition.
,c „se
[At this period of the meeting, Mr. RATIII3ONE
uriaS
theTmheeeCtr
the platform, and was greeted with enthusiastic aPr
which was again and again renewed.]
gthl.fAlat‘The
objects which tended to promote the interest of theolagolie
classes, might be. promulgated and adopted, and 1,;.013hip slito
for having occupied their time so long.
thatetnenedoendelfruodmed a is
caedredrwies.sshbtYba:t:rtbil
His loss!, ,
all through in so low a tone as to be only partially ~,hstme
even to the reporters, who sat within a few feet of ° if, 0, w
and totally inaudible to most persons in the b
hall. sots
M
He said : My lord and gentlemen. I have only this
ot tbitl4
rtics a.nßd aznrozenivceadmwie ftohrroaurdd
atnodpreonptohsuesitahsetirs_stploprotitoo(o,t
had this resolution put into my hands, and I do.fi_e olio sup
man should come before an intelligent body lit take
offer opinions which he has little thoht of, and not
your time in expressing himself in a way which may