Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-03-05 00:00:00

but I submit that there is no greater or truer friend to
Pregress ; no man who is more disposed to advance with
the advancing intelligence and increasing wealth of the
country, than our distinguished representative at my
right hand. (Hear, hear, and cheers.) I feel that he
has fulfilled the promise he made to us when we
returned him as our representative, that he will be found
always at his post and en
faithful discha gaged to the best of his ability in the
It is because I belMe of his duty.
ong (HMr. ear hear and cheers)
believe that Turner'sam manygood
qualities, there are are none more conspicuous than this
that he is an honest and true man, that' I undertook at
the request of your' committee to preside here this
"ening ; and it is because I feel that he is a true friend
to
good progress, and a true, friend to reform, a man of sound
;old judgment, that I rejoice in this festival in the
honour of one of our representatives, Mr. James Aspinall
Turner. (Loud and long-sustained icheering.)
Mr. Alderman Barnes gave, "The memory of Sir.
John Potter," which was drunk amid solemn silence.
The organ performed a dirge. •
Mr. Entwistle then came forward, and was received
With loud applause. He said, he had been requested by
tthe committee to present an address to their guest, and
zosn the ohnuestnwihoos,had moved the nomination of Mr. Turner
he ul not refuse to reondthe ca. Ire expressed' his cordial concurrence in o the isentimenllt
Which the address contained. When he had the honour
of
of proposing Mr. Turner as one of the representatives
ttthat city, he was not unmindful either
ir the high and important duties to which
representative would be called, nor the great
reponsibilit which rested upon those who should con-
tribute by their votes to displace the late representatives
lof that cty—gentlemen whose long connection with the
:onstituency, and the peculiar nature of the tie which
4,, ad so long bound them to it, seemed to give them almost
4orescriptive right to the seats which they occupied.
tri(hatneeeasrs, hear, and laughter.) It could not be denied that
contest on that day was not merely one as to the
of Mr Turner alone for the post which he 'now
Occupied, but there was a greater "question in discussion
--(e at
meant the withdrawal of the confidence—the
orfeiture he should rather say, of the confidence
Which had been so long placed in those who
t'receded the resent members.hear.) He would
e'viceneittn Were tno'e to say that whether the propriety of the recent
tested by one or the other of those con-
siderations, a full and satisfactory answer must be re-
callied,. (Hear, hear.) If a long and an honourable
;lareer of successful industry, coupled with an unblemished
allie and character ; if a thorough acquaintance with the
Cants
andinterests, the wants and feelings of the inhabi-
efits O.i. Man.chester, and a sincere devotio.n.to.the service
er the inhabitants ; if an independent spirit in forming
e,,YY Opinion and great ability in the maintaining and
_lr9reing of opinions—if all these were qualifications for.
7en'ch that constituency ought to look for in their
tr.pui:e.sentative, he should be at a ' loss where they
the more more successfully look for them than in
iluaed person of Mr. Turner. (Loud cheers.) Mr Turner
of c won for himself, not only the respect of the House
in thantinl"; but that of many of his political opponents
, city, Ar._
einc,,, to M._ ir. Entwistle alluded, in terms of high
WeLlio, e r.. Turner's services in connection with the
atteuipt haq(l,l,llrY, and
4,8_ if the had
a expressed his regret that an
Y
en in de to treat those services with scorn,
shop, in c Were like the ransacking of an old clothes
eloquen, larison with what were termed the brilliant
late r ean the comprehensive statesmanship of their
in no measured"
(Laughter.)- They had been told,
f the last
'self ms, terms, that Manchester had disgraced
Fah Zealhe
little election. One gentleman had allowed
or his friends, so far to outrun his desecration,
e had provoked a comparison which he could
preph„sus, tail; and told them that they had stoned the
upontt (Laughter and hisses.) When it was reflected
his late at the majority which returned Mr. Turner and
tcolleague constituted perhaps the largest number
°f ele
he the Ors Which ever returned members to the legislature,
(hit_ ought the objection came with a very bad grace.
fiterruPtion, and cries of order, and some confusion.)
eeatiwere the wish of the meeting that he should not
p. ntle to offer these remarks— (Cries of hear, hear,
9° on L
habit jeetio;, Cheers, and some hisses.) He thought the ob
,_vith bait the majority which returned Mr. Turner. camee
an ill grace from gentlemen who were in
stittp, °,f Priding themselves upon the' large con-
fren;nct,s which returned them, and who not Ti-
the', cut/ taunted their political opponents with
were
rseititlial,.lll?SS of the numbers by u,b-

41% sh
larn, -

principle of
-- ,nernselves so wedded to theb
ti;ren4hairterical majorities that they had rouo•htbetfboraet
county a reform bill based almost entirely upon_
Principle,
heardei'nw„el((Rear, hear, cheers and lau,ghter.) The --`41., tletrhefore, against a majority ought not to
from
nature " goyvin
nell
coalition ha •
,c_,. ' ' somewhat unusual
Nruch had been said too, of a
_embeen formed of a .
1ibera15,,,,.....,en. rne es and laggard
half-converted tor"
It. might be that
Purpose of securing the return of the
there t members at the last election. .. 0,
Le was not an entire unanimity of political opinions.
ata°u' th
theyhe,. want on but if they did not entirely agree in all
d, they at least knew something which they
u not want. (Cheers and laughter.). And then opinion
upon th t •
li,,ibie a subject was pronounced in a tolerably Intel-
etlllet.in :neat
unnmer upon the occasion of the recent
ask, 1911. (Cheers and laughter: But he might fairly
, whether the supporters of the other
.g
~
open has always been a harmonious " happy fall): ?..
of rr, hear, and laughter.) They had heard somet in
n„, assn in that hall, where gentlemen advocatede
all'iciversal suffracre manhood suffrage, househt?ld !tiff
anii„Ting suffrage • advocated eleectoral districts rand
(La-al,' Parliaments ' and paid members of parliament.
Uastilliqer.) Had they any right, then, to cast wan f
PeomPitY in the teeth of their opponents ? But the
elli,V. °f lianchester had been bidden to. aldmtetetmlif
berl3. '•Ico and the lefty statesmanship of their a
clo
those
quen(tLan.ghter.) He begged. leave to ask when
in,ti, . voices had been raised in support of the laws and
WheLniutions of the country of their birth. Cheers.) tood.whilid their powers been exerted to o ot ( mutual
:4:quitr and respect among all classesporf mtheeir fellow
,aised Nen, and whether they had not always been
thee., in threatening disparagement of all ranks above
itelo,:e:j:es, and in creating discontent among all ranks
'Nile • 'em (Hear, hear, and cheers.) To eloquence
e
tribe Perverted and misused, he could not accord h
Ag °f his admiration. (Hear, hear, and cheers.)
44 their statesmanship, he took leave to say, thattie
kitnin-n 41ewn. rather in criticising the conduct and b
el__ istration of others thanin offering to the country any
eleasures of their own. (Hear, hear.) The right hon.
ofetilher for Ashton filled some twelve years ago the office
te,_'!Jce-prsident of the Board of Trade. He (Mr.
dep:rtlstle)
,„ was not going to criticise his conduct in that
regareent, but he never heard that his retirement was__
wtic.) ('I as any great national loss. (Cheers and laugh
ent But the reason or excuse alleged for his retire-
ineli vas, that he found the discharge of the duties
DiPZlhe tisistent with that higher duty which he considered
to the people ? Was that
_true Statemanship ?
likechar, aiiniug or auskisson think they could not dis-
their duty to the nation without withdrawing from
retire ,N Lord John Russell think it necessary to
retire tbe representation of the city of Londtohe,
Crowe ,u° had been call upon to take office under
think for If that be true Statemanship, let them
sbe, redtieeari lalnitent to what a condition they should
itof 'l4eo liliu ''e'' SoPPose as a very extreme
' Iti"hts lief Commons were to consist ease
ehtitrerly
L'lc',.," w''s tconourable Milner Gibsons (Lang e .);
a,aho.:e\G°vernruent of the Queen to be carried on l -
'an o 1 —r./ The truth was that the right hon. gen e
left oftV returned to his Proper sphere of action when he
°Cry tlele, which always entailed very laborious and often
teeoo,,,en.a,nkless tasks, and betook himself to the. more
httler
p,iaritioecacupation of criticising the administration of
lthe Reformov T,„,(Rear, hear.) Passing on to the topic ofc
uestione.rnnient Bill as a permanent settlement of the.e
hiss(liffren , but, on the other hand, there was a wide
ii, cc indeed between it and the proposal of Mr.
e 1'; (Cries of hear, hear.) The effect of the latter,
the eel (Cries
would be to transfer the representation oft
countr• ''
rresent ' fro the equitable basis on which it a
and _, rested tome class almost solely. (Hear, hear,
.I),ciqrochueers) By the disfranchisement of a large number of
and
detlfhs and such constituencies throughout empire,
s of° transfer of their representation to the ogre.t cen-
theasurPoPulation and wealth, and by accompanying that
Pralitien°with such a lowering of the franchise as wod
they 2Y throw the voting power into one class alone,
elas would no longer have that fair representation of all
etloaiiitirstoietrso:thilie eh it ought to be the object of every staeteosi
ref__ secure. (Cheers.) To cast into the_cr.ueibl whole constitution
.y politic of the
the
J, and hope to extract out ofthe dissolved elements
the constitution which would make them better off than
RoY were, was
i_rllld never a scheme of which be hoped the nation
4 . t,lt approve. (Hear, IiFT.,. and loud cheers.)
the t wistle then pooeeeded to criticise what h.e calla.
am notorious speech of Mr. Bright at Birmingh_a_me,
pubiriPressed his wonder that no reply on the part of. tho.
eraci,e had yet been made to the attacks on the anst
react: contained in that address. He finally concluded by
addring and presenting to Mr. Turner the following
‘,1,18,8:----." To James Aspinall Turner, Esq., M.P.
Ckl," °, the undersigned members of the Executive,_
tretets-ral, and Ward Committees, formed to secure the
l.rttssi'lic:ly:ftlitillse late Sir John Potter and yourself as mem-
city, at the last general election, have joined
yetir 1-g you, at this time, to meet at dinner as many Of
hail .'uPpoters as could be accommodated in the largest
p
this . in this city, for the purpose
of lacing in your ds
Inemorial of the successful issue of the struggle i

(Rear, hear.) Even now, these gentle- I possibly be offered to me by the committee,

which we were jointly engaged ; and, also, for the pur -
pose of publicly expressing to you our warmest thanks
for the manner in which, notwithstanding your previous
strongly-expressed disinclination to enter public life,
and your refusal to accede to the request of an influential
deputation, you set aside all private considerations, and
consented, on a sudden emergency, to come forward as a
condidate for the representation of Manchester.
" Representine, variousgections of the community, it
cannot be expected that we should all of us coincide in-all
your political opinions ; but, as we were agreed to act
together to secure your return, so, we are now agreed in
expressing our high sense of the ability, integrity of pur-
pose, independence of action, and conscientious assiduity,
which you have shown in performing the duties which
you undertook, both in respect to the local business ot this
city, and the general interests of the State."
Mr. Turner, upon rising to return thanks, was received
with the most enthusiastic and long sustained cheering.
He said :Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, I have assure you
that more than once during this evening I have uttered a sin-
cere and heartfelt prayer that you might not turn my head
—(laughter)----or, at least, fill my, mind with sentiments of

vanity and self-conceit. (" 10, "no.") For the
address which has just been presented to me so kindly by
my friend, Mr. Entwistle, I return to the committee, and
to you, my most heartfelt thanks. For the compliment
which has been paid to me this evening, I can truly say
that I am utterly incapable of thanking you as I ought
to thank you. This assembly is such a one as, perhaps,
was never gathered together within this city. There
have, probably, been greater numbers crammed together
within these walls ; but when I look around me now, and
see myself surrounded by such a company of my fellow-
citizens—whei I see around me your most eminent
bankers, your most eminent Merchants, your large
manufacturers, and, I am , rejoiced to add, a
multitude of those who are serving in a subordinate
capacity, and on whose progress and whose honest fulfil-
ment of their duty depends the future history of Man-
chester, I have reason to rejoice that so humble an indi-
vidual as myself has been allowed such a welcome in
this town where he has worked his way for forty years.
(Cheers.) The men whom I see aromid me, are the men
of whom Man Chester has reason to be proud. (Cheers.)
They are men whose names arc conspicuous as the Sup-
porters of every good cause, the promoters of your local
charities, the promoters of your scientific institutions, and
the men who form truly a Manchester school, to which I
myself wish to belong—to which I shall ever be proud to
belong. (Cheers.) Now why has this immense assembly
been gathered together ? If it were simply to return
thanks to me, I indeed should feel abashed, because
I should feel how very disproportioned this display
of numbers and these heart cheers of yours
were to the very 'small services which, with the best
abilities I could bring to the work, I have been able to
perform. -However, the object with which you have
presented this address to me is the object to which I have
particularly to apply myself. So far, as I have had an
opportunity of understanding the sentiments of the
resolutions you have had conveyed to me, 'they accord
very much to my own feelings. There hasjeen some,
thing said to-night, and almost more than enough,
concerning my connection with the constituency of
Manchester as their representative. Perhaps I may be
allo wed to express my own feelings in connection with
my present position. lam quite willing—as much
as any man—to acknowledge the services, the eminent
services of your late representatives. (Cheers.) I have often
said, before this, that you owe them a deep debt of
gratitude—(hear, hear)—for their indefatigable exertions
in a cause by which we have all benefitted. (Hear,
hear.) I was always sorry that they should not have
continued to use their abilities and to use their discretion
in such a manner as would ensure to them onwards for
years the confidence of the constituency of Manchester.
But there is no disguising the fact—it cannot be denied
—that they had lost that confidence. (Cries of hear,'
hear, and loud cheering.) And why did they lose the
confidence of the electors of Manchester ? I believe it
was because they habitually advocated principles of both
foreign and domestic policy which were far from being
in unison with the general sentiments of the constituency.
At the last dissolution of Patliament there was a
determination formed to test, whether this was the
fact or not. An influential committee was formed, and
at a very early period they did me the distinguished
I honour of asking me to become a candidate for your suf-
frages. I declined the honour most respectfully, for I
v I .considered it was the greatest distinction which could

and my rea-
sons for declining I shall very frankly state. In the first
elace I considered that I was too old. (No, no, and
laughter.) Aye, gentlemen, but when a man has passed
an active life through six periods of ten years each, I
think it becomes him to devote the seventh period to
some reflection and serious thought. (Hear, hear.) I
may not have entirely lost my vigour, my :powers either
of body or of mind, but when a man has got to
threescore years of age, he must expect his
powers to diminish, and it is a poor service to
devote only to serious thought these years, when his
strength and the powers of his mind are almost entirely
gone. Another reason was, the consciousness of want of
ability. (No, no.) I am not saying this out of any
affectation, but it requires some education, some devotion
to such subjects to enter, upon parliamentary life, and
take a part with any effect in the deliberations of• such a
body. I considered that my active life might perhaps
in some degree have prepared me for a certain class of
subjects ; but that I was not the man to imitate, for
instance, the oratory and the display of talent which
were shown 'by your former representatives. I know it
as a fact, that many of the constituency have disparaged
me upon that ground. (No, no.) Ido not pretend to
anything of the kind. I have no oratorical power. I
am a man of plain common sense. (Loud cheers.)
The third reason was my business engagements. It is
no trifling thing for a man largely engaged in commer-
cial and manufacturing pursuits at once to say, " I will
give up all my own business, and think of nothing but
your business." (Laughter.) It requires a man to think
seriously before he commits himself to such a decision as
that. Well, the next thing, and
_perhaps the most im-
portant, was my obligations to my family. A man at the
head of a family has serious responsibilities. Although
his children may be well grown—although they may be
steady and industrious, the father is never in a more ap-
propriate position than at their head, setting them a
good example. (Hear, hear.) Another reason,
which is a selfish one, was that my tastes and pur-
suits are very quiet. lam a reading man ' • I
am fond of scientific pursuits, and I delight to spend all
my leisure hours in occupations of that nature. I knew
that there must be a sacrifice of everything of that kind
and I had some hesitation in consenting to give it up.
It was however, pressed upon me again, at an emergency
which obliged me to say aye, or no, at ten minutes' notice,
in fact, in consequence of Mr. Lowe's declining to come
down to Manchester and fighting the battle here. Pre-
ferring I suppose, as he found to be the case afterwards,
to get his head broken. (Cheers and laughter.) Every
man to his taste. (Laughter.) I should prefer very
much to get the good cheer of a Manchester constituency.
(Hear, hear, and laughter.) Well, I did so decide, and
what was the result. The verdict was effectually
ven. There can be no mistake about it.
A voice : " Not the slightest." (Loud Cheers.)
Mr. Turner : And there: will be no mistake about it
again. (Cheers.) Ido not know, gentlemen, whether
you have quite forgotten the state of the poll, but I am
anxious to remind you. The votes given for Sir John
Potter were 8,368 ; for myself 7,Bs4—(cheers)--for Mr.
Milner Gibson 5,588 ; for Mr. Bright 5,400. (Tremen-
dous cheers drowned the remainder of the sentence.)
Being elected I went to parliament with the determination
to do my duty. Here I may say that I felt
the greatest satisfaction in being united with
a colleague with- whom I had acted in various public
measures for a number of years. I had worked hard with
him, and supported him in the establishment of the free
library, and various other institutions which I need not
now enumerate, in reference to which we acted together.
It was a great sacrifice on his part, more than, perhaps,
on mine, to go to parliament, for his health never was in
a state to enable him to attend to the continual discharge
of duties so laborious. In consequence of my obtaining
the confidence of a number of the members of the House
of Commons, and I believe of one or two members of the
government, I was appointed Commissioner to enquire
into the state of affairs which prevailed at the three
large military establishments, and I gave up my time
during four months of 'the recess to these enquiries ; but
I shall not dwell upon such personal matters. My con-
duct has been before you. If you had wished me at any
time to give an account of myself, I have been living
amongst you, when not engaged in public duties, and I
would always have been ready to obey your call. I presume,
therefore, when you pressed the office upon me, that I
enjoyed your confidence. That in the same manner I
conceive, as you never did call me to come before you,
that I still continue to enjoy that confidence. (Cheers.)
It is not my fault that I have not come amongst you long
since. But it is all the more approving to me, that when
hate
occasionoauv e calldhoad
as this.
meto meet you, you call me on such a festive
occasion
tHoatdeliltmbeeetnhaotthiezowliosen,gyerouenjoyedwould y
o onlyur
confidence, and I should with the greatest pleasure have
resigned my seat, and retired again into private life. Nov
gentlemen, I wentinto parliament a free man, unpledged
to support any government, or to become the pliant adhe-
renotd fa minister.nysolongas I considered his
(C heers. ) I
i supportedmeasu rs
wise,Lord
g
Palmerston
oand just. (Cheers.) I voted against him whenever
o
I did not approve of his measures. (Hear, hear.) I
have acted in the same way towards the government of
Lord Derby, I shall continue to do so as long as lam