The Sun.
London, England, 1839-12-25 00:00:00

TORY TREASON-THE CORN-

LAWS.

ASHTON-UNDER-LYNE, DEC. 20.—The Reformers
of this place, anxious to purge their borough from the
disgrace which had attached to it in consequence of
the coarse treason spouted by some of the itinerant poli-
ticians who figured at the late Tory gathering, resolved
to mate a public demonstration of their loyalty in the
Very room which had been polluted by the offensive lan-
guage of the Tories. A public dinner was appointed
to take place yesterday. Amongst the gentlemen present
we noticed Charles Hindley, Esq., M.P. for the borough,
Thomas Gisbor:ie, Esq., M.P. for Carlow, Joseph
Brotherton, Esq., M.P. for Salford, 1 homes Potter,
Esq., Mayor of Manchester, John Brooks, Esq.,
Borougbreeve of Manchester, Thomas Ellison, Esq,.
of Glossop, Abel Buckley, Esq., Samue'. Swire, Esq.,
James Lord, Esq., Joseph B. Reyner, Esq., Frederick
Reyner, Esq., Peter Leigh, Esq., Nathan Lees, Esq.,
James Lees, Esq., Frederick Lees, E .q.. B. M. Ken-
worthy, Esq., George Kenworthy, Esq , George 011e-
renshaw, Esq., John Buckley, Esq., .1 trues Buckley,
Esq., Robert Platt, Esq., Robert W ood, Esq., John
Baines, Esq., Gee, Esq., Arthur Hyde, Esq., John
Hyde, jun., Esq., James Higinhotham, Esq.. Rev. Mr.
Duval, Rev. Mr. Henderson, and a large number of
the most respectable inhabitants of the town and neigh-
bourhood.
William Wright, Esq., of Welbeck-house, occupied
the chair ; and Edward Redfern, Esq , and Henry Lees,
Esq., officiated as Vice-Chairmen.
The CHAIRMAN proposed the first toast, which he
observed it was the duty of every Briton to drink. He
gave the health of " the Queen, Duchess of Lancaster,
may and she be protected from the rrechinations of her
enemies, and may the blessings of Ger' rest. upon ber."
The toast was drunk with nine times n' ne heerty cheers,
and one cheer more.
After the toests of " The People—the source of Le-
gitimate Power," and " His Serene Highness Prince
Albert of Saxe Gstlaa," both of which were drunk with
three times three,
The Cumasiee gave " The health of Charles Hind-
Icy, Esq., M.P. for the Borough of Ashton-under-
Lyne." The tos.st was drunk with three times three, and
one cheer more.
Mr. HINDLEY said—Mr. President, Messrs. Vice-
Presidents, and Gentlemen, I confess that I have fre-
quently been overpowered by your kindness, but never
have I been so overpowered as on the present occasion.
i rejoice to meet you, and I regret that the state of
my health has prevenred me from electing a reach more
numerous assembly, as I would have ad no hesitation
in meeting a more lurnerous assembly if a larger place
could have been g t in this town ; for I feel that our cause
is the cause of human happiness and human pros-
perity. We wish no man to he set against Lis fellow-
man : we know uothing of that kind of party spirit by
which man is set against his brother ; but we do de-
sire to settle all disquiets, to set all at peace. I con-
fess to you that in holding the situation which you
have done ;me the honour of calling upon me to fill,
if 1 know my own heart at all, I no desire ex-
cept to carry out these great principles of universal
benevolence and universal happiness. I indeed thought
that it would not have been necessary for me to walk
again in the course of human improvement, so far as
the people of this borough were cm- cerned.—(Hear,
hear.) It is but r few weeks since tiles, blue walls—
(Cheers,)—still f resh with our colour—notwithstanding
all the attacks upon the Queen and her Court by the
dire influence of the red party—l say it is only a few
weeks ago since these walls were told by Mr. Roby,
of Rochdale--(Hear, hear)—not of Ashton-under-
Lyne—since these walls were told that if you attempted
to get up a meeting of this kind there would be no
chance of your succeeding in the attempt.—(Load
cheering.) Why, if Mr. Roby had been right
I should have had some hope of a little more fresh air
than we are privileged to have this evening ; we should
not have been so crowded as we are at present ; we
should have had empty places, empty benches ; but there
is nothing of the L ind.--(Cheers.) Gentlemen, it is
some satisfaction to us to know that the vile words
levelled at her Majesty and her Court were those of no
Ashton man. The manner in which you have received
the name of her Majesty, and the readiness with which
you have gathered here, in numbers so numerous, and
so high in intelligence, is the best proof of the respect
entertained for the Queen. Gentlemen, will you allow
me to detain you for a few moments in giving you my
opinions on the present aspect of political affairs. If I
should happen to be wrong, I feel that my Hon. Friends
00 my right and left wil be able to correct me; but I
will give you my opinions candidly and honestly, because
I feel the truth of the sentiment contained in the song
which was sung by Mr. Platt--
" It is gowd to be merry and ease,
It is good to be honest and true ;"
(Cheers).—end I feel that if anything more than another
is required from a representative, it is to be " honest
and true"---(Cheers)—it is to declare his opinions
0 openly and candidly to his constituents ; if they ap-
prove of them, let them say so ; and if they do not, he
will surely listen to any argument they have to advance
to the contra.. y. With reference to the present Ad-
miuistration—( Hear)—your Chairman has well said
how astonished he was that they have been able to
keep their places. For my part, I can only expi ess my
astonishment also. They have had so many difficulties
to encounter that it is wonderful they are in office at
Ipresent. There is a certain portion of the Reform
party, who think tnat the Reform interest would be
bettered if you turned the present Ministers out.—
(Hear.) I should say so too, if you could show me the
way to get a better.—(Cheers.) If the Tories had
shown any disposition to consult the welfare of the
• people, then 1 should have said," Let them take place."
suppose [ single out one Ineesure, and consider their
/conduct upon it. Take the Electors' Removal Bill,
for Lisstance. It was brought in by Mr. Gibson,
who, because he showed something of Liberal spirit,
was turned out—they cast him to the winds,
and threw out the Electors' Removal Bill
likewise, In that conduct I see no symptom of their
desire for the good of the people. I do not see, then,
Iwhy I should throw Jut the present Ministers, when, I
have no chance of getting better men. You are aware
that one of the most important questions in the last
Session of Parliament was the question of education. I
do think that any Government neglects its duty to the
people unless it take care that education shall be ma-
' vorsally diffused ; and of such importance is this senti-
trent esteemed, even by some of the Sovereigns of
, Europe, that tne King of Prussia, on being asked by
his subjects to give them a charter for securing their
popular rights, said, " I give you the education of the
people, and that will render it impossible for any son of
mine to trample upon the rights and liberties of the men
, of Prussia."—(Cheers.) Let us circulate education
~ from John-o'-Groat's to the Land's End, throughout the
) length and breadth of the lard. I will admit that re
iligious principles should I e inculcated along with educe-
( tion of a more general natnre, I desire to see that ; but
) when I am asked by a certain party to give them a mono-
( poly of religious education in this land—to say
that no person but a Church Minister is to have
anything to do with the religions instruction of the
people, so tar as any State enactment goes—l say it is
utterly repugnant to common principle, common sense,
and common justice, and I must rouse my assent to it
—(Cheers)—and I should think it exceedingly strange
if the people of Ashton, after having shown such an af-
fection for the principles of civil and religious liberty, were
to say that the education of the people must be given up
to any one particular sect. In the next Session of
Parliament we shall have to enter on the question of
the Currency, which is at the present moment of'
immense importance.—( Hear, hear, hear.) I do
hope we shall meet that question as we ought to
do, and that the voice of the trading community may be
heard in the House of Commons, in order that we may
nut be rode rough-shod over by the Bank of England.
I feel how mach the currency of this country has to
do with every one of us i and when I look at the con-
duct of the Bank of the United States, assisted as she
was at one time by the Bank of England—and when I
sec some gentlemen, who were in circumstances of in-
dependence,
removed by her operations to circumstances
of poverty, submission, and dependence on their credi-
tele—l, feel how much we ought to attack these mono-
polies vivheo we have the power. I was going to make
a remark .respecting a Government: appointment. 1
hope it won't be understood that I have any objection
to the gentleman who has been appointed to the office
°l.Yiee-Preeident of the Board of Trade. You cannot
suppnse that any bigotry would allow me to object to
Mr. Spiel because he is a Catholic.—(Cheers.) Oh no,
The Catholic Emancipation Bill has been passed, and
I hope it will be carried out. Far would it be from me
to object to Mr. Shiel's appointment to some offices in
her Majesty's Government, and, looking to the talents
of that gentleman, I say that to some office he ought to
be appointed ; but when he is appointed Vice.
Fresident of the Board of Trade, as Member of a trad-
ale borough I must object to him, because ne is not ac-
qua;oted with trade .—(Hear, .---, --ear, hear.) He gave his vote
directly in (al
oppostt,on to the repeal of the Corn-laws,
to a topic
and this lese!s me w. .eh I cannot shrink
from at pleesent—(Cheers)-1 mean the alteration of
tho Corn-laws. I remember when first I had the honour
of appeasing bedre the electors of Ashton I illustrated
the situation of a Member end
_kis constituents by the
A simile of a ship sailing from Ltrerpoet With
goods in
search of acme new market. I know my worthy friend.
quietly ! the Borougitreeve of Manchester, who sits go
and pleasantly with my other worthy friend _
were to ask
on my right, 1
the Mayor of Manchester—(Cheers)—lf
.I
my worthy friend, who is in the habit of risking a hun-
dred or two hundred thousand pounds worth of goods
upon the sea at one time, if he would seed his goods
OD board any vessel, first pledging the captain of
the vessel to point his prow from Liverpool straight
to the intended port, never ..lking any notice
of the wind or t ide, and if I were to ask bin) If he would
.
put his good on board the vessel of the ,captain "
pledging himself, I am quite certain he would ausgfeT
" No.' He would say to the captain, " Make the best
of the wind, make the best of the tide, make the best
tof the waves, but guide my goods safely to the shore of
the port as quickly as you can." I think it is the duty
L
61 a representative to take the same course in Parlia- 1
pl.\ .

throe.

ment, particularly when some important question is in
agitation. Of all questions, the question of the Corn-
laws is the bread and cheese question in this district.
As for myself personally, I have not a brick—not an
were—nor a blade of grass—l have not a pound which
tiers not depend on this question ; and if I look
upon it as the representative of Ashton, I feel
its importance upon political grounds. But more, I look
upon it as a question affecting my personal character. You
are all aware that if anything brought me into political life
—if anything brought me before the electors of Ashton,
it was my advocacy of free trade and the abolition of
all monopolies. I am, therefore, pledged to this question.
Rut it is the more necessary to look at this question in
all its bearings. My opinion is that we peril the ques-
tion by demanding an immediate and total reperepeal.--
( Hear, and cries of " No.") I believe we do peril the
question. If we take a moderate course, and if we ask
for a moderate fixed duty, we shall most probably be
able to get the Ministers to bring a Bill into Patha-
n- ent, and we shall then know how much we are da-
maged by this law, and we shall then be able to take
such a course as will be of advantage to the whole
count-y.—( Hear, hear.) I have often thought that the
political influence of the large towns in Lancashire,
Yorkshire, and other places, was less than it ought to
be in Parliament ; and my opinion is, that by maintain-
ing our principles with better tactics, we should be able
to arrive sooner at the point we seek. You may be of a
different opinion ; but I will ask my friends on my right
and my left whether we should not succeed better by
going for a low fixed duty, than for a total and immediate
repeal of the Corn-law. I am not for everything or
nothing; I am for something.—(Hear, hear, and
cheers.) If lam agreed with you as to the propriety
of going down stairs, it does not follow that I should
jump from top to bottom, and risk my neck, when I
have the steps to go down by. I do implore you on
this question, so important to us all—l implore you to
take a wise view of it. I hope there will be no divi-
sion amongst the anti-Corn law men, and in the next
Session I hope we shall be able to show a bold and
proud front. These are my opinions. I will act up to
them honestly, and I hope we shall have a beneficial
result. Allow me now to give " The Electors of
Ashton-under-Lyne." The Hon. Gentleman sat down
amid loud cheers. The toast was drunk amidst loud
applause.
The CHAIRMAN next gave " The health of Thomas
Gisborne, Esq., M.P. for Carlow, and the Liberal
Members of the House of Commons." The toast was
drunk with three times three, and one cheer more.
Mr. GISBORNE was received with hearty bursts of
applause. The Hon. Gentleman said—Mr. Chairman
and Gentlemen, I beg to assure you that I shall use no
treasonable or seditious language to-night.—(Loud
cheers.; If there be in this room any military officer,
I beg to state to him that he shall not be called upon,
by any thing that I shall say, to rise up and protest
against my principles and words, or otherwise to leave
the room—(Shouts of laughter, and cheers)—nor, in
the third place, and still more, shall that military officer,
supposing there be one here, incur the risk of a public
censure from the Commander-in-Chief.--(Loud cheers.)
Gentlemen, it is my opinion that it is the duty of a Re-
former, which I humbly profess to be, to be rather stre-
nuous in action than fluent in words. Coming here out
of respect to your Worthy Representative—out of re-
spect to the independent electors of Ashton, not alto-
gether unacquainted, not altogether unconnected with
your borough, I feel I am here as a stranger and a guest,
and therefore I should say that any attempt on my part
to play first fiddle on this occasion would be exceed-
ingly misplaced. At the same time, gentlemen, I must
say, that the sentiments which I have heard from your
Honourable Member and other persons in this room, do
touch a few chords in my mind, and I cannot be silent.
—(Cheers.) Coming into a trading ':neighbourhood,
the first subject to which my mind has been directed
is the subject of free trade ; and it is my happiness
since I entered the House of Commons not to change
the principles which I carried in with me on this sub-
ject. It is true that we have made some advance in
the progress of free trade, but when I think of the
Corn-laws and the list of monopolies and privileges
which exist, I feel that we have made but little pro-
gress. At present almost every matter of importance
is a matter of monopoly or privilege. First of all there
is the monopoly of food ; next a monopoly of corn ;
then we have a monopoly of religion. Then we have a
monopoly of education, a monopoly which the personsvvho
have the monopoly of religion wish also to get into
their hands. Passing on to secular matters, we
find a monopoly of money—privileges given to certain
bodies to determine the situation of every man in this
country, and which can alter the situation of debtor and
creditor. Passing on to colonial produce, we have a
monopoly of sugar, and, in short, we have a monopoly of
every single article, either physical or moral, which it is
possible for monopoly and privilege to embrace. These
circumstances call upon every Member of Parliament—
and not only do they call upon every Member of Par-
liament, but they call upon the constituency also, to
put themselves forward in the cause of free trade. It
is the lukewarmness of many parties on the subject of
the Corn-laws which makes me despair of seeing a
change in them, rather than any impediments which we
have to encounter.—(Hear.) When I see the heads of
so many commercial and manufacturing places do not
exert themselves to obtain a repeal of the Corn-laws, I
say you have traitors in your camp.—(Hear.) It is
better there should be no misunderstanding on the sub-
ject, and I think, until the commercial classes are more
determined on their part to get rid of the Corn-laws,
we cannot get a repeal of those laws. I hardly meant
to have spoken on the subject of the Cnrn-laws ; but I
felt myself called upon to say something, in consequence
of what fell from my Honourable Friend, your Repre-
sentative. He tells you that he has made up his mind
how he shall vote ; but I tell you fairly, I have not made
up nay mind.—(Cheers.) Is it not monstrous that at the
present time, whilst so great a depression exists in the
manufacturing districts, we are not able to send for
bread to any quarter whence it may be procured, merely
because it has pleased Providence to visit us with two
bad harvests ; one harvest having been deficient in
quantity, and the other deficient in quality, so as to
keep down the price of corn, instead of raising the ave-
rages to such a price that foreign corn can come in when
the quantity of good corn in the country is very little
indeed ? These are monstrous iniquities which I, so
long as I have a seat in Parliament, will endeavour to
defeat.—(Cheers.) I shall see my ground clearly be-
fore I make up my mind. I am for getting some-
thing.—(Loud cheers.) When we tried for the Reform
Bill I tell you I don't think we got enough, but we tried
for a great deal at that time, and when we got if I
thought it a very great deal indeed. I did not think
we should get it ; but if we had tried for less I don't
think we should have got anything at all. And so I
say about the Corn-law.—( Hear, hear.) If we try for
a great deal we shall carry the enthusiasm of the
people along with us, and then we shall have a
chance )f getting a great deal. But if we limit the mea-
sure of our endeavours so much us to make the great
body of the people, and the great boiy of sensible and
reflecting men indifferent as to whether we sacceed or
not, then, depend upon it, we shall get nothing at all.
Now, I say this with:the greatest respect to my Honour-
able Friend. lam only giving him a lecture in the pre-
sence of you ; and I hope, with your support, it will do
him a great deal of good.—(Cheers.) A t the conclu-
sion of his speech the Hon. Gentleman wis greeted with
three cheers and one cheer more.

The next toast given from the Chair was " The health
ni the Hon. Member for Salford—Joseph Brotherton,
Esq." Drunk with three times three and one cheer more.
Mr. BROTHERTON returned thanks, contenting him-
self with saving " ditto" to Dr. Gisborne. The Hon.
Gentleman submitted that Mr. Hindley must have been
misunderstood with reference to the Corn-law question.
Having entered at length into an exposition of his views
on the question of free trade, the Hon. Gentleman
passed some severe reflections on the stand-still policy of
the Tories.
After some further toasts,

The CHAInmAN proposed the health of " Thomas
Ellison, Esq., of Glossop." Drunk with three times

Mr. ELLtsoN rose, and having expressed the pleasure
he had in attending the meeting, said—Though you
have had an incursion of the Tories, and though this
room has been contaminated by them, though some dis-
loyalty has been perpetrated in the town of Ashton,
and upon the inhabitants thereof, we have given to this
apartment a thorough fumigation.—(Cheers.) It is
recorded in the past annals of this borough by some
traditionist of Lancashire—(Cheers)—that there existed
as a scourge for this borough a most redoubted Tory,
who obtained the distinctive cognomen of " The Black
Lad."—(Shouts of laughter.) This black lad was a
Tory, who wanted to have his own way, and wanted to
do what he liked with his own—(Laughter)—and, like
other black lads, told them that if they did not do what
he wanted of them, he would play the devil , with
them. It would be an extraordinary coincidence if in the
course of some future year I was to describe the ob-
jects of interest, and in so doing describe the worthy
operative Conservative, or Conservative operative, who
distinguished himself on that occasion.—(Cheers.)
think that when I mention him as operative Conserve.
tive, or Conservative operative, I should not speak of
him in that simple character—l will call him the great
power-loom weaverof political fustian.—( Loud laughter.)
I don't think, after the recent exhibition that gentleman
has made here, he will come again to talk political Bil-
lingsgate to the "fiat fish" of Ashton.—(Cbeers.) When
I say "flat fish," I do not mean the worthy "soles"
(souls) who were collected here, but I mean another
kind of " flat fish" to which the Tories have a most
' ravenous attachment, They call it " plaice" (place).
—(Shouts of laughter.) Having disposed of the great
political operative Conservative, and consigned him to
the place befitting him, allow me to congratulate you
upon my having heard as good political doctrine as ever I
heard in my life.
At a little past eleven o'clock, the list of toasts
having been gone through, the compata-1 retired highly
deiiil:ted with the proceedings of the evening.

Lordof
and Lady chetwynd are entertaining a
party
friends at their seat is Ocfordshire.