The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-03-17 00:00:00

GREAT CONSERVATIVE MEETING,

The contest for the representation of Liverpool has
commenced in real earnest. Yesterday, the friends and
supporters of Messrs. Horsfall and Turner, the Consere,
va live candidates, held a meeting iu the Amphitheatre.
Although the day time is by no means favourable for the
attendance of persons having any business to transact,
there was a strong muster of the party. This was not to
be wondered at, considering the determined character of
the contest. and the defiant tone which the Liberals
adopted at their meeting on Friday. The doors of the
Amphitheatre were opened at twelve o'clock, from which
time, until the proceedings commenced, there was a con-
stant influx of electors and others. The conduct and
demeanor of all was unusually quiet. No election cry was
put forth, and all within the building conversed
on the common topics of the day, with little
or no reference to the subject which had brought
them together. Shortly before half past twelve o'clock,
theeßev. Dr. Taylor, minister of St. John's, came on the
platform, and on being recognised a loud burst of cheers
broke forth, which was renewed again and again. The
next person that attracted any attention was Mr. Thos.
Bold. He was slightly applauded on being observed
among the gentlemen then on the platform. As half-
past twelve o'clock wore on, there were slight symptoms
of a desire for the appearance of the gentlemen who *ere
to take part in the proceedings. About twenty. five
minutes to one o'clock, it was annotinced that the two
candidates were entering the banning. No sooner were
they recognised on the platform, than the entire
audience, now some 5,000 numerous, rose awl gave the
most euthusiastic reception to each, the cheering was
renewed again and again. Both Messrs. Ilors'all and
Turner seemed to be deeply affected by the
unbounded and atolls applause which hailed
their appearance. A t this time there was
not a spot in the whole building whicn was
not crammed to suffocation, pit, boxes, and gallery. The
stage was also -complt tely crowded by a number of the
leading Conservatives of the borough. Among those
present we noticed Adam Hodgson, Esq., G. W. Mess,
Esq., T. Bright, Eiq Thomas Sands Esq., Thomas Bold,
Esq`.,— Rankin; isq ; the Rev. W. T. Taylor, D.C. L.,
James A, Tobin, Esq., P. Tyrer, Esq., J. Robertson T.
Godfrey, Parker, A. Shand, T. D. Andsrson, W. B.
Jones, J. Barnes, T. Lloyd,J. Lunt, T. L Quick, Hilton
11,1 head, S. Siddeley, J. Livingston, Rev. B. Marlen,
Rev. T. Lingley, Rev. Geo. Page, Rev. Wm. Crum.-
Rv. Geo. Ireland, J. Lowe, Rev. Herbert .ones'
D chaibai Naoroji, Parsee merchant, linie.ndiris A - pleWrt, C. Turner, J. Ilenme, C. Caine Jas. T
.J. B. Lloyd, M. Greg-on. sea., s. Tyree,
Tyndal Bright
Edward GI izebroak, T. Came, It. H. Preston
,
Ed.' Guy Deane, henry W,rrall,- George Booker,
William Willi ;n Clay, &c. The c
dates, Messrs. Tueeer and Horsfall, were accom-
panied on ths
nl platform by John nc t D I Lloyd, q.,
en-
of chairman of the Conservative Coat-
mitte- -
; James linhne, Esq , and a number of
rertergentletnen whore names we could not learn. Oa the
nneeririg subsiding, Mr. J. B. Lloyd was called to the
!chain, when the proceedings as, reported below commenced.
We may here mention that the team; of the meeting was
Trite enthusiastic, and betokened a 'fl.m determination on
the part of the conssrvanves to dispute the return of Mr.
Eeart inch by inch. Mr. J. B. LlOyd p.rtially added to
this enthusiasm by his reference to the petition which
unseated Messrs. Turner and M'Kenz'e, and particularly
where he argued that the grand end and aim of their politic .1
oepOnents was to deprive the old freemen of the borough
of the franchise. Mr. Holma and Mr. G, W. Moss, who
leveed a vote of thanks to Mr. Borstal] for his parlia-
mentary services since 1853, were brief in their remarks.
The fernier gentleman having spsune from the working
• blesses, spoke in a homely, but effective style, in vindica.
Lion of the Conservatives contesting the borough on the
essnt occasion. When Hr. Horsfall get up to address
the meeting, and thank them for the resolution that had.
been passed, it was some time before he could pro-
neeed—athe cheering from all .parts of the house,
being loud and long continued and if it is
any reward to a public man to receive the hearty and
'unreserved plaudits of thousands of his fellow men for
the faithful and proper discharge of his dunes, sir.
Borstal had ample remuneration for his parliamentary
services since 1833 With all the political opinions of
Mr. go stall, we canno, be expected to coincide. Never-
theless we admired the bold, independent, and manly
stend which he took to day. His recital of the conduct
of the Government o a the Liverpool town dues had a
Marked effect upon the meetinir, and his opposition
thereto vociferously applauded. He vindicated his vote
on the China question with considerable energy, and
dealt out some severe blows 'o Mr. Cobden-for his remarks
restive ing British merchants generally, and his vote
on the question of local shipping dues. Mr. Turner was
also cheered againoagain, and again, on rising to give an
account of his political creed. The meeting, as a Conser-
native demonstration, we must admit, was successful, and
the r.ppesing party have row a clear insight of the difficul-
ties e hit will beset their struggle.
Mr. Jamei Hahne moved, and Mr, J. A. Tobin seconded,
that., nir- J. B. Lloyd take the chair.
The motion was carried amidst loud cheers, and Mr.
Lloyd took the chair accordingly.
The Chairman said, I regret that the engagements of
Captain Littledalo have prevented him from being here to
day to take the chair. (Cheers.) Bat he is wily absent
for a few days, and you have 1),..en kind enough to propose
my name to this splendid meeting, to preside over you
(Ch: era.) Gentlemen, it is my first duty, ou taking the
chair, to ask 300 to listen attentively, and give every one
who may wish to address the meeting a fair and impartial
heating. Tlis meeting, gentlemen, is, as the placards on
t se Walls she ', to enable the Conservatives of Liverpool to
meet here to day, in order to propose certain tesolutions
to promote the election of our worthy and talented member,
Thomas B. Berstein Esq.,—(Cheers)—and to return with
him to the next session of parliament, our townsman and tried
representative, Charles Turner, Esq. (Cheers.) Gentle
men, in order that 1 may not occupy too much of Sour
time, I shall just preface the few observations I have to
make, by saying that Lord Palmerston's policy with respect
to China had been sanctioned by the Mercantile Association
of Liverpool, before the vote on Mr. Cebdea's motion was
received by the House of Commons. (Hear, hear, and
cheers.) And, gentlemen, as every one knows the
loyalty of the inhabitants of Liverpool, they at
once considered that the policy of the government
When they heard the accounts from China, was to punish
au insult to the British flag—we all are of one mir.d upon
it. (Hear, hear) I, therefore, shall not occupy any
mete of your time, in reference to that question, which has
caused the dissolution of parliament. I shall now occupy
your, time for a few minutes with reference to what took
place in 1852 —(cheers) —when, by an overwhelming ma-
jority, you returned to the House of Commons Mr. Charles
Tenser. (Cheers.) I can only say that upon that account
I take a deep interest in the coming contest for this borough.
I was made a cat's paw, if I may use, the term, by those
who opposed us on that occasion, and as you, gentlemen,
are ,onen taxed for blue books, here is a blue book
which was published of the twenty one days' enquiry into
our conduct there ; and if you ever: read the vile trash
which is published here, about pots of beer and a few
things of that kind, which they tell you it cost them
£8 000 to bring forward, I would now, having seen
how the election worked, and the result of the
petition against the return of Messrs. Turner and
Forbes McKenzie, offer a few words of comment, on the
conduct of our opponents in 1832. (Hear, hear, and cheers)
You. will remember, gentlemen, that Mr, Turner re-
ceived the votes of 6.693 against Mr. Ewart's 4,910.
(Cheers.) I may say, that the town ought to be grateful
to Mr. Turner for the manly conduct he has displayed,
single banded, in sitting to the Bottom that petition which
was presented to the House of Commons against his return ;
and, far one and twenty days, that did he submit to, and
during the whole of that enquiry, to the expendi-
ture of a large sum of money in his own defence, and in
vindicating his own character. (Hear, hear.) I will
just observe that during 21 days enquiry upon the allega-
tion they brought forward, I was so flush of cash on that
occasion, I did not get rid of it but by putting it into a
rosette, and placing it in a hole in the wet!. (Laughter.)
The money market has awfully changed gicee ;
have no cash to pay on this occasion. (Laughter.) What was
the result ? The decision of the committee was this—
they came to the resolution —"that Charles Turner. Esq.,
and William Forbes Mackenzie, Esq , were, by their
agents, guilty of -bribery and treating," nOta. oh.)
Now comes the bribery—they give -twenty two names,
who had received five shillings each a-head ; three who
had 'received four shillings, and one lucky wight who
had got 10s. (Cheers.) Now, observe, it was not proved
that this bribery and treating was with the knowledge or
consent of the sitting members. (Hear, bear, and cheers.)
Now, for the refreshments that were provided on the
polling, day, for voters in the interest of the sitting
members' and ales at several public houses, where the
voters had assembled for the purpose of being conducted
to the poll, such was not of a very extravagant
nature. [The speaker here read several extracts from
the blue book containing the evidence upon the late com •
which stated that these. payments were not beyond
the amount regularly earned by the recipients.]
• The committee do not, therefore, think," because, if you
remember, gentlemen. they had threatened that if they had
succeeded with the petition, they would do as they bad
done With Canterbury and other boroughs, that they would
stop issuing the writ, and we should have no representa-
tier) ; but tho committee could not well do this, and
they come to this conclusion, " The committee do not,
therefore, think it right to recommend that the issue of

a new writ for said borough should be suspended, or
that any other enquiry should take place into the pro•
cc.edings • of the late election." (Cheers:) Now,

I dare say, both the committee and the petitioners
on that occasion, co ild have been ei medingly glad after
this report, not to have it brought up again, but
it is ' my pr'vilege to bring it before you
vividly to day. (Hear, hear.) Well, gentlemen, then came
(the election of 1853, when the town again did itself honour
by returning as its members the gentleman who now occu-
pies one of the seats,Mr. Horsfall—(cheers) —and the Hon.
Mr. Liddell. eiheers.) But, gentlemen, ItS our opponents
did not succeed then, another petition was thought
of, but it c33t then too much before ; and
what now did they do ? These Liberals wished to
put their hands into the public purse, and they
presented a petition to the House of Commons praying the
totem that a special commission might be sent to Liverpool,
where they would have the best oppertunity bf enquiring
into all these corrupt practices. This petition went as far
back as 182/, with the election of the mayor, and what did
they say in that petition ? " That, from eitpeitience, your
peti.ioners . firmly entertain the opinion that the
freemen who hare no househeld qualification are
more staFeeptible of undue influence than the burgesses,
and your petitioners feel convinced that so long as the
freemen are permitted to vote in the election of Members
of, parliament, a sufficient number of them on every
contested election will be found ready to sell their votes to
the highest bidder—(oh ! oh !) —and that if there be no
improper competition then they will vote, as they have
already done at the election of 1852, for a day's pay ; and
your petitioners are convince I that so long as this is the
case, the independent burgesses of Liverpool will be pre-
cluded from returning to parliament members best qualified
to'prorn de the public good. Tau. petitioners, therefore,
humbly pray th .t your honourable house will send a
special commission to investigito, within the borough,
all the circumstances of the late and previous election of
1852, asd to report to your honourable house,-so that if
your honourable house should deem fit, a bill
can be pasted ror She disenfranchisement orf th.
freemen of the said borough, since it coasists neither
with the welfare of the a ate, nor with the public decency
and morality, that the representation.of this great borough
should remain in the hands of those who are ready
to vote without resp:ct of principles, for 53 in money, and
a breakfast and a few gl isees of beer." (Cries of oh !oh !)
Well, now, gentlemen, I think I may apologise to yohefor
bringing these matters so prominently before you, and 1
do say, after that, in common honesty, that you have a
right to return the man who then came forward—who
did fight our battle in the year 1852, and did then resent
the insult that was poured upon the 6 673 who voted for
him. I therefore hope. that you will do your utmost to
return, aye, and triumphantly too, Mr. Thomas Berry
Horsfall. (Great cheering) I shall now call upon
Mr. James Holme to propose the first resolution. (Cheers.)
Mr. James Holme, in coming forward, was most enthusi-
astically received. He said, I have been requested to move
the first resolution. Mr. Chairman, and gentlemen, the
first resolution, is that the warmest thanks of this meet-
ing be given to Mr. T. B. Horsfall, for the ad-
mirable way he has attended to the duties, and
public aid private interest of all parties, and
the courtesy he has always exhibited to all
' seeking his assistance. Gentlemen, lam sorry that
the moving of this resolution has not fallen into more
able hands, and I think it the more so because that reso-
lutions have frequently been moved by one of the influ-
ential of the mercantile or commercial community ; but
having, as one of the great middle classes, been requested
to do so, I have not, nor will I shrink from the
responsibility—(hear, hear, and cheers). Gentlemen,
you have been in the habit of being addressed by my
brother, but, I am sorry to say, thet his medical man
has forbid his taking any part in public affairs, and I
agree with him, and so would you, if you had, the same
as I did, seen* him in London, lying on his back
gasping for breath. That being the case, I will
do my best, but I admit, that you have in me but a very
poor substituee—(cheers)—but I will do what I can
to further the interests of the people of this town. (Cheers )
I will not say ono word, nor, I am sure, will any other
person say one word against Mr. Ewart—(cheers)—but we
must think of the hours that Mr. Horsfall has devoted to
the public, almost to the danger of his health, and
I am sure that I have only to ask you—
only to appeal to you—and you will return him by a
triumphant majerity to the House of Commons. (Im-
mense cheering.) I hope also that you will return with
him Mr. Turner. (Cheers) It has been stated that we,
as Conservatives, are disturbing the peace of the town.
All I have to say is that there is such a thing as public
conduct as well as private conduct of principle, and
from what you have heard from Mr. Lloyd, I have no
doubt but that you will return the two. (Loud cheers )
How is it that the freemen were influenced so constantly
in the right direction although so constantly calumniatedi
I em a freeman myself of the town —(cheers) —and I am
happy to say that I gained my freedom by serving my seven
years' apprenticeship to a freeman, as most other freemen
did, and I am very sorry to say that that is more than
most housekeepers can boast of. (Cheers.) V 9113, I ask,
were the men whom the freemen returned to represent Liver-
pool in Parliament ? Did they not return such men as
Canning and Huskisson ? Was it a cause of regret to the
freemen to return such men to represent Liverpool.
(Cheers.) And are they now to be upbraided for their
conduct ? I will not trouble you much on this occasion.
as I know your time is valuable, but I call on you, and
the freemen of Liverpool, to return our candidates most
triumphantly to parliament, notwithstanding the
influence of the ss. He again read the resolutien, and
had great pleasure in proposing it, and conjured them to
put their shoulders to the wheel and return Messrs.
Horsfall and Turner. (Loud cheers.)
The Chairman announced that the resolution would be
seconded by Mri. G. W. Moss. (Cheers )
Mr. Gilbert W. Moss then came forward, and was loudly
applauded. . He said, I have been called on at a moments'
notice to second this resolution, which I do with very great
pleasure, and I am quite sure it will be carried unanimously.
It was a just eulogy passed on the conduct of Mr. Horsfall,
for his conduct during the time he was their worthy
representative. (Hear, hear.) Mr. Holm has spoken
of him in terms that he Hghly merited, and he deserved
the thanks of all, But there was one point that Mr. Holme
had not touched on, and that was the town dues, which he
had so ably defend-d, and for that he deserved
the special thanks of the community. (Cheers.) I trust
therefore, that all will bs unanimous, and return Mr
Horsfall again to parliament. (Loud cheers) He thee:
seconded the motion, which was carried amidst great
applause.

Mr. T. B. Horst:ll then came forwarJ, and was re-
ceived with enthusiastic cheering. He said': Mr
Chairman, fellow townsmen, and gentlemen, I am sure
you will readily believe that I feel totally unequ d ade-
quately to express my thanks for this very cordial and
flattering greeting. I can only beg you to accept them
from the very bottom of my heart. (Cheers.) It is now,
gentlemen, solnething like four years since, ou conferred
upon me the distinguished hon-ur of being one of
your representatives. During that time many very im-
portant measures have b -en diicussed in Parliament,
important to our national interests, and important to the
interests of this our town ; and I beg to assure you, Mr.
Chairman and gentlemen, that upon every occasion,
I endeavoured to arrive at an honest conviction
•of the truth ; and in no one instance can
I charge myself with ever having given
a factious vote. (Hear, hear, and cheers.) This brings
me naturally to the motion of Mr. Cobden, on which I felt
it ray duty to vote with ber Majesty's Government.
(Hear, bear, and cheers) I allude, sir, to the motion
having reference to merit events in China, the carrying of
which, in my ()Pinion, must hire a most mischievous
effect. (Hear, Lear.) I, air, do not stand here as the
advocate, as the rolitieal, cx the personal friend of Sir John
Bowring. I leave that to Mr. Cobdeo, Who, while he
acknowledged a personal friendship, and political friendship,
for Sir John Bowring, of 20 years' standing, did not
hesitate, as the Attorney General charged him, to stab his
political and personal friend in the back. (Cheers.) I; sir,
could, not \we for rush a procedure. (Hear, hear) I
could not vote for a censure on an. absent man,
without receiving, at least, the most entire informs-
mation, of which, up to this day we are not in
possession. (Hear, hear.) I could not agree in a
vote which went further than that—which went to cenaure
a gallant admiral- of the British navy, one of the most
humane, as well as the most gallant, men in the service,
Who advised with, and consulted with, Sir John Bowring
in the whole proceeding. Nor could I corsent to vote for

a resolUtion which went to the effect of censuring the noble
lord, Lord Clarendon, who now presides over the foreign
policy of the country. (Hear, hear.) It may not he in
your reccollection, but it is very vividly in mine, that at
the time when I had the honour of being your chief
magistrate in the years 1847 and 1848, when revolution
might be said to be in Ireland, and there were many, Irish
sympathisers in Liverpool at that time, Lord Clarendon
was Lbrd Lieutenant of Ireland, and it was
my dnty, not fot weeks, but for months to
be in daily communication with the noble lord,
and I learned then to respect, not only his firmness and
his decision, but his great forbearance, characteristics
which he displayed in a way which reflected the highest
honour upon him. (Hear, hear, and loud cheering.)
You will not be surprised, gentlemen, when you did me the
honour of electing me one of your representatives, that I
should eater the House of Commons with strong predilec-
tion in favour of that noble lord ; and I must say, further,
that since I have had the honour of sitting in the House
of Commons, that it has frequently been my duty, both by
letter and personally, to apply to Lord Clarendon for pro- .
tection for our commercial interests abroad ; and
I feel bound in justice to that noble lord, to say that on
no one occasion has that assistance been refused without
his giving a most perfect and satisfactory reason, for that
refusal. (Cheers) But, gentlemen, that motion of Mr.