The Sun.
London, England, 1855-01-20 00:00:00

SOIREE TO THE MEMBERS FOR

it/A ATCHESTER.

The soitje at Man Chester to Messrs. Gibson and
Bright, the members for that City, was held last night
at the Corn Exchange, and was numerously attended,
upwards of 800 tickets having been sold, and appli-
cations having been made for admissions beyond the
capacity of the room, which with difficulty seats so large
a company.
It has been usual for the Manchester party to hold a
meeting immediately before the assembling of 'Par-
liament as a means of indicating the tone they would
feel it desirable to assume on the leading political ques-
tions of the day ; and that has no doubt been the ob-
ject on this occasion, although the form of holding it as
"a soiree in honour of the representatives" for Man-
chester, and admitting the public by tickets is new.
The usual form has been to have meetings merely of
the election committees of the liberal members for the
boroughs and two divisions of the county, and of the
leading supporters of the liberal members.
The doors of the Exchange were thrown open to com-
pany at half-past four, and the speaking commenced at
half-past five o'clock. The principal guests were T. M.
Gibson, M.P., John Bright) M.P., Richard Cobden,
M.P., William Brown, M.P., John Cheetham, M.P.,
Thomas Barnes, M.P., Joseph Crook, M.P., Ed-
ward Miall, M.P., George Hadfield, M.P., James
Kershaw, M.P., Major-General Thompson, Danby Sey-
mour, M.P., Capt. Fenwick, the Mayors of Bolton,
Oldham, and Ashton, Joseph Sturge, Dr. M'Kerrow,
Dr. Davidson, Dr. Beard, Rev. Wm. Gaskell, Rev. Mr.
Bubier, Res. H. Dunckley, W. H. Darby, of Brymbo,
near Wrexham, C. E. Rawlins (Wrexham), and the fol-
lowing gentlemen who had accepted invitations as vice-
presidents and on the executive committtee :—Sir E.
Armitage, Henry Ashworth, Robt. Ashton, Thos. Ash-
ton, Wm. Bayley, Thos. Bazley, Wainwright Bellhouse,
Wm. Bickham, Alderman Bradford, Thos. Bright, Abel
Buckley, Nath. Buckley, Jas. Burton, jun., J. C. Dyer,
T. Goadsby, J. Grundy, Alderman Harvey, N. Heald, A.
Henry, Alderman Abel Heywood, Alderman John
Shawcross, Thomas Hibbert, Samuel Hibbert, E. R.
Langworthy, Daniel Lee, Ivie Mackie, R. N. Phillips,
James Procter, William Rawson, Henry .Rawson, Wm.
Sale, Theodore Schunck, Joseph Simpson, Robt. Stuart,
Benjamin Syddall, Peter Walker, Alderman W. B.
Watkins, James Watts, Oldham Whittaker, Archibald
Winterbottom, Thomas Wrigley, John F. Petitjeau, jun.,
Smith P. Robinson (hon. secretary), William Bradford,
James Edwards, John Fildes, Arthur Francis, Samuel
Hodgkinson, William Hodgkinson, Samuel Lees, Wil-
liam M'Call, William 111‘Cartney, Charles Macdonald,
Robert Ruinney, Isaac Shiinwell, and Frederick Royse,
Esqrs.
Mr. GEORGE WILSON presided, and opened the pro-
ceedings.
Mr. T. M. GIBSON, the senior member for the city,
having been called upon, spoke at considerable length.
In the course of his address he observed that remarks
had been made about his hon. friends and himself voting
in minorities so constantly ; but if that was meant as a
reflection he might reply, that during the last session
he had had at least the satisfaction of voting in minori-
ties on most important questions with the Government.
Iu reviewing, according to custom, at these meetings.,
the measures of the past session, the right hen. gentle-
man said it must be admitted that it had been au abor-
tive session. Great promises were held out by the Go-
vernment, but through the war and from other causes
most of the great measures introduced into Parlia-
ment had been defeated. The Reform Bill, he
thought, was wisely abandoned, but the Bribery Bill was
one which ought not to have come to so impotent and
lame a conclusion as it had ended in. The Queen's speech
had said the experience of the past had rendered it ne-
cessary to take steps for preventing bribery and corrup-
tion, and therefore, as no one could tell how soon a
general election would take place, it was at least neces-
sary to have passed that measure to have prevented
the renewal of those scenes of corruption that were
so much deplored. The bill had been carefully pre-
pared by a committee, but the first parts of it had been
struck out and emasculated. As the matter ended,
the bill was passed for one year, during which it
might have been foreseen there was little probability
of a general election occurring ; and, therefore, it
could it could only apply to a few isolated cases. But
he (Mr. Gibson) had no great confidence in any preven-
tive legislation in reference to stopping intimidation and
bribery at elections ; there was but one remedy, and
that was what must comp at last the vote by
ballot. (Cheers.) There was another measure of an im-
portant character which had fallen through—the emanci-
pation of the Jews. London still had but three represen-
tatives. Contrary to the advice of many leading members
of the liberal party, and of able lawyers, preceding Govern-
ments hadeetempted measures of legislation rather than let
the house proceed by itself, and they had brought in bills
which had passed the Commons, but were rejected by the
House of Lords ; but they had at last succeeded in bring-
ing in a bill which had been rejected by the Commons.
([lour.) The uauze of the ..To we had been misreanged from
the beginning. and in the last atteMpt to settle it tuey
brought down upon the Jew opposition from new quar-
ters, by bringing into the same bill the question of the
oath of supremacy ; and notwithstanding all the eloquent
declarations of the country about religious liberty, we
still laboured under the stigma of a portion of our coun-
trymen being deprived of their civil rights on account of
their religious opinions. (Hear.) He hoped that the
next session, amongst other measures, the newspaper
stamp question would be settled. A. resolution had
been passed by the House of Commons condemning the
present state of the newspaper stamp law. The House of
Lords had also adopted a resolution condemnatory of
the stamp. The Government had pledged themselves to
bring in a measure immediately after the meeting of
Parliament, and his advice was to repeal all the laws
that now related to newspapers and pamphlets, and enact
no new ones—postage arrangements being left to be
settled between the Post-office and the Treasury, who had
full power under existing laws to make such arrange-
ments. He wished to see the press emancipated from all
control except that of courts of law, our libel laws afford-
ing ample security for the protection of private character
from calumny, for he did not contemplate any arrange-
ments that could by possibility leave individuals to be
libelled with impunity. (Hear.) When the newspaper
stamp was gone into, there could be no question but the
public voice of the country would demand also the repeal
of the paper duty, and then England will have a per-
fectly free and cheap press. (Hear, hear.) On the sub-
ject of the war the right hon. gentleman said—ln ap-
proaching this question he found himself met with this
taunt, that he was against all war, and therefore it was
entirely that he objected to this war. He did not know
whether it was worth his while to make an observa-
tion upon that matter, but his opinion was that war
was sometimes unavoidable ; that no man felt more
strongly than he did the miseries, the crimes that at-
tended on the prosecution of war ; but as the world
is constituted, he was of opinion that the honour and
safety of the country might require it to engage in
war. The question with him was, whether the honour
and safety of this country required it to engage
in the war now being carried on ? He was going
to say that there had been many causes assigned
for this war. One of the most eccentric views he had
heard was, that the advocacy of peace principles by his
friend Mr. Cobden and others had led the Emperor. of
Russia to believe that he might commence an aggresve
policy without danger from England, who would engage
in no war ; but he found that Mr. Cobden had not been
the only one person who bad been at work engaged in
spreading peace views in the world. He found a cor-
respondence published between a gentleman in the
Foreign-office and Mr. Wikoff, in which it was stated
that Lord Palmerston had entered into a specific ar-
rangement that Mr. Wikoff should write in the press
of the United States, and of France and elsewhere, to
represent clearly that the policy of the English Govern-
ment was liberal, and especially pacific. (Great
laughter.) So that Lord Palmerston had been en-
gaged in publishing peace tracts, he presumed, at the
public expense, to lead the world to believe that the
British Government was most reluctant to engage in war,
and that at the time that he was insinuating to Parlia-
ment-that we were threatened with dangers from foreign
invasion, and when he had been long aware, as was
alleged, of the ambitious designs of Russia. If preach-
ing peace tempted the Czar, most unquestionably Lord
Palmerston was as chargeable as any one else with having
been one of the causes of the war. It was of little use
now to discuss the cause of the war, bound as we were
with our ally to carry it on. The most useful course for
them was to discuss the conduct of the war and the mode
of bringing it to a termination. He thought the doc-
trine of the balance of power would never settle
the Eastern question—that the balance of power in-
volved these two fallacies—first, that you could ar-
range that particular territories should be governed to
all time by particular ruling dynasties without reference
to the wishes of peciples ; and, secondly, that by in-
forming a power like Turkey that, whenever he was in
trouble you would come to the rescue, he was relieved
from the obligation of strengthening his Own kingdom
and securing his independence, by the only means that
had been found capable of securing these results—a
sound system of policy at home. With regard to the
conduct of the war—even if it was right, which many
able statesmen doubted, to make war for the security of
Turkey whenever Turkey was in trouble, and which the
Duke of Wellington refused to do in the war between
Russia and Turkey in 1829—it did not follow that we
were to invade Russia. Defending Turkey against the
aggression of Russia was one thing; invading Russia for
some indefinite purpose of humiliation was another.
It was clear that the expedition to the Crimea had been
undertaken without any knowledge of the difficulties
the armies would have to encounter. Louis Napoleon
informed his troops at Boulogne, as soon almost as the
expedition landed that Sebastopol had fallen ; and some
two months ago, even so cautious a statesman as the
Earl of Aberdeen informed his friends at Aberdeen,
that perhaps at the time lie was speaking Sebastopol
was taken. Whether it was to be taken or not it was
clear that it had been found a far snore formidable under-
taking than its projectors anticipated, and whether
taken .-or not, he doubted whether the terms on which
peace was settled would be changed. In the conduct of
the war the Government deserved credit for having

adopted a more liberal view thanked been held in former
periods in reference to the rights of neutrals. He
had himself submitted a resoletien to the House of
Commons, previous to the issuing of the orders in coun-
cil, in the spirit of the principlee which the Government
to some extent had since adopted—and whilst respecting
the rights ,of neutrals was a isound• principle, and in
accordance with the spirit of itio age, in commercial
matters, yet he hoped that that wretched and degrading
system of plundering small merelkant vessels belonging to
the unoffending citizens of belligerent parties would be
discontinued, that private property in war would be more
and more respected ; and he had no sympathy with the
cry sometimes raised here—"WLy spare Odessa? Her
Majesty the Queen, in giving orders to the admirals not
to bombard the defenceless towns, and in bombarding
"
Odessa to spare as much as possible private houses and
stores—property in which not Russia alone but the
world had an interest, had carried with her the appro-
bation of all intelligent and humane men ; and we could
never have said we were carrying on a war in the
interests of civilisation if we 'had committed an. act
only worthy of barbarians, and which would have been
execrated by all mankind. (Applause.) For himself,
he thought he was in favour of settling the war on
the four points. He saw no reason to doubt the
sincerity of Russia, for if we were to go upon the
principle that Russia was not to be treated with, it was
better not to make proposals at all ; and he agreed
with Lord Clarendon that a policy of suspicion was
neither wise nor generous. The'fourth point—with re-
gard to the revision of the treaty of 1841 in the interest
of the balance of power—was the only one in which a
doubt could be entertained of Isia's assent, for they
had long ago assented to the prih iple of the other three
points ; and as we were inform& *Lord John Russell
that the proposal which it would be. bin duty to make
was very moderate indeed, he (Ift. :9ibson) presumed
that the interpretation was one t4at Russia would be
Willing to accept to escape from ibe,enormous evils she
had to endure in the infliction of this war. The force
of circumstances must' bring about peace upon terms
similar to those that are contained under the four
points, and he thought all parties ought to be glad of
the opportunity of escaping from their difficulties by
this means rather than of prolonging the war to an in-
definite time, to end only in a state of exhaustion, and
to be concluded by terms no better than those which
might now be obtained. (Hear.)
Mr. BRIGHT, attributing the war feeling to the pas-
sions rather than the reason of the people of this
country, and their extraordinary credulity in the press,
which ho attacked in a spirit of great bitterness,
owned that his party might be in a minority on this
question, but cited the experience of the last few years
in which the Pope and the French invasion had played
suoh a conspicuous part, as showing the ephemeral nature
of their delusions. It was said if Lord Palmerston had
been in power the Ozar would not have dared to cross
the Pruth ; but he referred to the noble lord's attack on
Greece and his conduct in the affair of Hungary to show
that he was no great friend of liberty. He read the
Queen's letter to Lord John Russell at the time Lord
Palmerston left the Foreign-office, implying that he
had arbitrarily altered and modified documents after
they had received the royal sanction, and impro-
perly withheld despatches ;. and said he had no
confidence in a minister who could so treat his
Sovereign, or so sacrifice all real respect as to re-
tain office for a single hour after receiving such a letter.
He said a member of Government had spoken of the
army of Russia as composed of eight hundred thousand
men, and he characterised the Government as stark
staring mad who could with that knowledge send such
army as we bad to the Crimea.
Mr. COBDEN expresseda,n opinion that negotiations for
peace were now going on, and said he had a very great
suspicion that the terms of peace were irrevocably passedto
Russia, and that Russia had accepted them, that these
terms implied no loss of territory to,Russia ; and there-
fore, of course, not the permanent possession of any part
of the Crimea—in fact, that the terms were very mode-
rate. He suspected that the Government, having raised
the devil of war, had not the courage to announce to the
public the terms on which they sought to lay him at rest.
(Cheers.) These terms were very well known--they
must be known, for the diplomatists of Vienna took
time enough for the interpretation of their own protocol
from the 2d to the 28th December, but then it must
have been fully explained if that were kept back either
by this country or .0 ranee, because orders had been sent
out to storm Sebastopol at any cost. If this were done
in the interest of a dynasty or a ministry, if blood was
to be shed in torrents for the occupation of a town,
every street of which was birricaded, and every house
converted into a fortress, to be defended by the most
determined troops in the world when behind such breast-
works, we should bear some day that twenty thousand
of this allies had been put hers de combat, while Se-
bastopol was deliverer to the license of the soldiery,
and every conceivable outrage',committed within it that
could make it a hell on earth t-eind if they found, from
a comparison of dates, that the ,negotiations had been
protracted for this, then he hi:i.ed no ringing of bells,
throwing up caps, or prole- j from pulpits would
ever for a moment shield •a r vexhnneint that had lent
itself for any motives vgliste AO:.a deed so dark and
indefensible.
Major-General TUOMPSON lifter:yards addressed the
meeting. The assemblage cheered tLe speakers with an
enthusiasm unusual even at such meetings.

SPORTING INTELLIGENCE.

BETTING AT MANCHESTER.. --FRIDAY.

Yesterday, consequent upon the appearance of. the
weights for the Chester Cup, the Reiver, Star of Surrey,
Rotherham, Arthur Wellesley, and Marc Antony re-
ceived favourable notice from the backers of horses ; the
first-mentioned was installed as premier, having de-
throned Calanan, who was heavily backed previous to
the publication of the handicap, but who was at once
sent to the right-about when the impost of Sit was seen
opposite his name, 1,000 to 10 being laid against him.
To-day the betting was not heavy, but had a wider
range. For the Derby we have no change to record ex-
cept the improved position of Bonnie Morn, as will be
seen below.

LIVERPOOL STEEPLECHASE.
16 to 1 agst Bastion (taken)
20 to 1 agst Escape (taken)
20 to 1 agst any other (offered)
GREAT NORTHERN HANDICAP.
25 to 1 aget Ivan (taken)
25 to 1 agst Wild Huntsman (taken)
25 to 1 agst Lady Palmerston (taken)
CHESTER Cup.
33 to 1 agst The Iteiver (taken)
40 to 1 aget Bracken (taken)
40 to 1 agst Rotherham (taken)
1 agst Newbold (taken)
40 to 1 agst Marc Antony (taken)
1 aget Kidnapper (taken)
1 agst Little Harry (taken)
15 agst Jetty Treffz (taken)
1 aget Knight of St. George (taken)
10566:6660 ttbt(itoooo 10 aget Calamus (taken)
2 agst St. Hubert (taken)
DERBY.
1 agst' De Clare
12 to agat Grzeculus (taken)
15 to 1 agst Rifleman (taken)
1 agst Prince of Wales (taken)
1 agst Bonnie Morn (taken)
100120510 tttt 0000 \
50 to 1 agat Rambling Katie (taken)
1 agst St. Hubert (taken)
Two THOUSAND GUINEAS.
2 agat Bonnie Morn (taken).
6693 ttt 000

DERBY RICESAND STI
Acceptances for the Midland
miles an

EEPLECHASES—INe.I3.
Steeplechase. About three
Id a half.

three miles.
at lb st lb
Peter 5imp1e......... 119 07,Coolldut:ibisineery ' 9 7
Rosa ................. 10 0 Sailor ............ 9 6
May-day ............. ..9 12 Theodine —•• 9 5
9 3
Free-trader ......... 9 11 Grad-eley Lass
The Hero ............ 9 11 Taff
9 2
Maria Day. .......... 9 9 Seaman
Star of England ... 9 9 Warwick
Laura 9 0
pylechase. Selling allow-
-8 12
Acceptances
afourcetsh,eaSce.llinibSotuete
st lb at lb
Toll-bar
Quickstep ............ 12 4 Labyrinth
Maria Day............ 11 12
Acceptances for the Selling Hurdle Race. Selling allow.
antes, act. One mile and a half, over six flights of
hurdles.
st lb
Half-and-Half ...... 12 10 I Lincoln ......
Salopian ll 7 . Skit ..... ...
Emigrant
Dispute

at lb
10 9
10 8
10 7

•
ARTFUL DODGE.— At the Bristol police-court yester-
day a man named Henry Newton, the ,g captain " of a
gang of four or five London sharpers, who have been
victimising the good folks of the 'West of England, was
fully committed on a charge of robbing a painter and
glazier, named pointer, of five sovereigns. Newton
picked up Pointer inthe street, and took him into a
tavern, where, as they were drinking, some other parties
came in and commenced a conversation about having
lost a valuable dog, which, having been leashed to an-
other, had managed to force open the lock of the leash
' and get away. A lock was then introduced, and the
usual conversation leading up to what is known as "the
lock trick " commenced. One of the fellows offered to
bet 101. to 51. that no one could open the lock, upon
which Newton urged Pointer to take him. Upon this
said be woutet with, but, upon
do so, and closed
Pointer took out five sovereignslt l. no to b
second thought.,
his hand with the coins in it. Newton then grasped his
hand and forced from it the money, which he gave to a
companion, who ran off with it. The prisoner cross-
examined the witnesses against him with a great deal of
shrewdness and skill, and contended that the Si. had
' been fairly lost and won ; but the magistrates thought
' otherwise, and sent him for trial,