The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-02-26 00:00:00

MR. HUMPHREY BROWN, M.P:, AND 25E

ROYAL BRITISH BANS.

Monday was looked forward to by the inhabitants of TevAer:
bury, it having been fixed for a double event, viz , a banquet
in honour of Mr. Humphrey Brown, M.P., for the borough,
and ex-director of the Royal British Bank, and the greenest
tion to the same gentleman of a magnificent piece of plate,'
said to he " subscribed for by 1,013 workmen and tradesmen
of the town." Early in the morning the bells of the Abbey
Church rang out a merry peal, and shortly afterwards a brass
band began to parade the streets, and continued to do o',
at intervals, throughout the day. The principal thoroughal
fares were more than usually thronged by people, little,
any, business being conducted. The business of the day t°'l
he said to have commenced with the " public banquet." 11;
took p!ae,' at the Plough Inn, and was attended by about
persons. Mr. Geoiit79 Blizard, a maltster, occupied the del°
On the toast of the evening i.,.;jug given, Mr. Brown rose :
respond, and was loudly cheered; Ile thanked them for tht
kind reception they had given him, and then proceeded 6
remark upon his connexion with the boroutzh, and dilo.ted ur;in
local matters. At length ho referred to his trimgactions
the Royal British Bank, and strongly complained of the
criticisms of the press with regard to the subject. He denied
the statements put forth against him, and contended that It!
had been much ill used. He regretted that circumstralcee
prevented him from nialdr.7, a statement which would clear
his character from all the diaries that had' been heardlif(!ti„
it ; but at present it was impossible. Ile would expia;"
why. A nelson to qualtfy.birnself to become a director of
Joint Stock B::nk had to !also a certain number of sharegt
vat

and subscribe to an wall which bound hint not to rev!,
any of the secrets of the establishment. That w"
his position at the present time_; but be hoped the
time would come, and come quickly, when he should be
enabled to proclaim the falsity bf the charges made against
him. (Hear, hear). He next referred to the report pre'
pared by Mr. Coleman, the accountant, in which it vag
stated that be (Mr. Brown) was indebted to the bank to the
extent of £70,000. He denied Mr. Coleman's statement,.
and remarked that a triend of his was indebted to the bank iii
the sum of £40,000, which ho took upon himself, and banded
over the securities to the bank. With regard to the manage;
latent of the bank, he might mention that in an establishmee
like that, having 150 clerks and 6,000 accounts, it was quit.
impossible for the directors to know exactly how affairs stool
unless the heads of departments told them. He admitztej
that it was the duty of directors of companies to Wle
up affairs when they found they would not be able td
make a dim stand ; but it required some amount
of
judgment to decide which was the proper time to tslte
that important step. Altogether. he denied the charged
brought against him, and again extremely regretted he Was rt
t.
in a position to make a full statement. After some ()tit
toasts, the proceedings terminated. The great event of tu"
day was the presentation of the plate, which took place in the
music hall, which is capable of holding about three hundred
persons, and about seven o'clock it was well filled. Mr. Bill'ar4
ng
again presided. Mr. May, a druggist, was selected to font
the testimonial to Mr. Brown, and in doing so passed a mg.,
eu'ogiurn on the honourable gentleman. The testimonial
it,
an elegant and massive piece of plate, about 25 inches big?.
intended as a centre Ornament to the table, and beard
appropriate inscription. Mr. iir,":7ll then rose to respond. Aftti
some general remarks, he adverted to ,:!.?e charges that had beek
brought against him in connection with the ;loyal British Ba.e_:
Those charges had given him -great pain anti .729rtifica.tIng
but ho was glad.to be able to state that there was no trutn
them. His character had been assailed, and his honour e";
interests reviled, hnt he had sought his friends, and focal
notwithstanding the attacks made upon him, they still !erg
confidence in him, and the day would come when lie 511°„11/(1
be in a position to make known such circumstances as ./Ciet..„„
show there were no grounds for the attacks made upon ""'
and then they would find his honour and integrity to be ti
much relied upon as ever. in the scandals that hell 114
published respecting him, it had been stated that t",g
testimonial had been lent for the occasion, and that I
could bo plainly seen the inscription had been rivetted
The book he held in his hand contained the rivets, consisting
of upwards of 1,000 names, many of whom were 10-
persons, who had subscribed as low as . Many aeeeroe..
rilous remarks had been made respecting him, which we
beneath his notice ; and that respect had been
withheld
him which was always extended even to great criminalsj
he had been prejudged and pre-punished before he was allowl
to be heard, and he who countenanced such conduct was a3b,.3
as a receiver of stolen goods. A man would steal propertyl
what he could get by it, but a man who stole the character ed
an honest man was actuated by a had and selfish purpose, en,
was lower, in his estimation, than a highwayman. He bad eeti
only been persecuted himself, but the electors had been insultel
by being called upon to request him to resign the trust they had
placed in him, and elect another person in his stead. ge cares
not for his enemies; they wanted to usurp him in the estinasti; e
of his best friends, the people of Tewkesbury. He told tbe°
last year they would have no chance against him, and be rets
pelted that if ano-her election took place to morrow, their effork ,
would be equally futile. Ho was not speaking idly ;he ell'gr:
from thirty years actual knowledge of election lriatteed
in Tewkesbury ; and if he had no respect foe the town, and
not care to throw it into confusion, he would challenge '0
opponents, that if they put down £5OO to be given 10 tWo
charities he would name, he would resign, and he would g'cia
them an opportunity to beat him if they could. But they o°l4
have no chance against him, and he was ashamed of them 3*
townsmen. He had been taunted with a want of courage;
but that meant lie was to break obligations taken en
which he was atpresent unable to do ; but no one loes
forward with nv-r., plea,ure to the day of reckoning tb3„t
himself, and he .hobed Vim-, the time was not far disks
is hen he should come -b:ck to Tewekesbury and 111, t
known matters which would clear him from every stale
had been cast upon 'him., and ho would then sit down
le
peace. Although he bad never given a party vote in tb
o
House of Commons, he was much respected there, and to
prove that such was the case, it was only necessary for bum
relate a circumstance that occurred to him very late,,t,;
When a dissolution was expected, a member of her ge,/es`'',l,
Government met him in the lobby of the House of C°slw;le;
and said to him, " Brown, you have never been on our 51,,
but I like your honesty of purpose, and impartiality, at,t
you want a qualification I Will give you ono with tr",
pleasure." But lie was rejoiced to say :,:f) did not reuniting
qualification, nor did he wish to see a tort' rePre'enthatt
Tewkesbury. In conclusion, he begged once more to say „t
however much they maligned his character, and held bite "to
to opprobrium, the time would come when he would returooo
Tewkesbury, and they would find lie was much illused• AI
had passed sleepless nights and wretched days, but the (10Y
$
near when his innocence would be established, and his 000111—
treachery made apparent.

PROTESTANTISM AND SLAVERY.—An interesting meettat
has just taken place at Paris. The French Protestaot
clergymen, with the eld-rs and deacons of all the Protestb'ut
churches, have come together to prepare a " fraternal „f
severe remonstrarce " to the Protestant slaveholdors
America. The address, which has been most extensi/e4
signed, asserts that Protestantism has been charged with Its
toleration of slavery, and conjures the American Protest°
to wipe out this reproach.
of the
A SAN FRANCI,CO AUCTIONEBR.—The reporter -
did
San Francisco News furnishes that paper with the forret
report of a speech made by a Californian auctioneer o
and gentlemen, I now have the honour of putting uP t
pocket handkerchief a yard wide, and a yard long, and will:.
a yard thick; one half cotton, and t'other half cotton, Trie
beautifully printed with the stars and stripes on one es
and the stripes and stars on t'other. It will wipe dust "°.
the eyes so completely as to be death to detnagogere;
and make politics as bad a business as printing PIPe.,
Its great length, breadth, and thickness, together 0111
4l
its dark colour, will enable it to hide dirt, and it_ wti?
never need washing. Going at one dollar—seventy-five c'not.o
—fifty cents ?—twenty-five cents ?—one bit ? Nobody ladieswa
it. ; thank you ; sir ! Next, gentlemen—for the re,
won't be permitted to bid on this article—is a real, sirOvrirell
tempered, highly-polished, keen-edged Sheffield razor; b t
epankin new; never opened before to sun-light, moon-liVt;
star-light, or gas-light : sharpenough to shave a lawyer oreu„ ;
disagreeable acquaintance or poor relation, handle of buck.b:he
with all the rivits but the two in the ends of pure gold. ygby
will give two dollars ? one dollar ? half a dollar ?.
rote
ye long bearded, dirty-faced, reprobates, with not kiss,
enough on your phizzes for a Chinese woman to
will
I'm offering you a bargain at half a dollar ! Well,
throw in this strop at half a dollar ! razor and ever •
recent patent; two rubs upon it will sharpen the city attoroecir:
all for-four bits, and a piece of soap--sweeter than roses, lahtb t
better than any schoolmaster, and strong enough to wash
all the stains from a Californian politician's counteo-1
all for four bits ! Why, you have only to put thelnrsiti;
strop, and soap under your pillow at night to wake UP "-hits,
morning clean shaved. Won't anybodygive me twe.; t
then, for the lot ? I knew I would ssll 'ern. ,0-sl!'
ladies and gentlemen, I offer three pairs of socks, hose, 9"iceit
logs, ar half hose, just as you're a mind to call '‘o9 n,50
by a machine made on purpose, out of cotton wool. Ihne-ed;
who buys these will be enabled to walk till he gets " any
and provided his boots are high enough, needn't hale dont
corns ; the legs are ns long as bills against the Corporawho
and as thick as the heads of members of the Legislature.
wants 'cm at one half a dollar? Thank-ee, madam, the
Next, I offer you a pair of boots; made especially for San racy
cisco, with heels long enough to raise a man bp to the 11° by a
grades, and .nails to ensure against being carried over land slide; legs wide enough to carry two revolvers ai
tlt
bowie knife, and these boots can move about as easy 3%,01
State capitol. Who says twenty dollars ? All tho tax-Pt?bey
ought to buy a pair to kick the Legislature with ; 50;d„ily if
will be found of assistance in kicking the bucket, capec"l
I
somebody should kick at being kicked. Ten dollars for
t, ego
uppers, and soles! while souls, nud miserable souls at tba,lars!
bringing twenty thousand dollars in Sacramento ! Ten doll
ten dollars ! Gone at ten dollars !