The Sun.
London, England, 1839-04-18 00:00:00

EIVENING EDITION►

PRINTERS' PENSION SOCIETY.

Yesterday the twelfth anniversary of the above excellent
charitable Institution, which was established for the relief
of aged and infirm printers and their widows, was cele-
brated at the London Tavern, Bishopsgaate-street, when
the Right Hon. the Earl of Durham took the chair. Up-
wards of a hundred gentlemen sat down to dinner, which was
served up in elegant style. Messrs. Ransford, Foster,
Pyre, and Morgan, the celebrated vocalists, were engaged
on the occasion, and contributed in no small degree to the
enter'atinments cf the evening. At six o'clock the Earl
'dif Durham mitered the room, accompanied by the stewards,
and was received with loud cheers add clapping of hands.
The Noble Earl was supported -on his left by R. Taylor,
Esq., and on his right by J. Easthope, Esq.
The clmh having been removed, the Noble CHAIRMAN
,sed—‘• The Queen." " The Queen-Dowager and
.Zoyal Family." " The Marquis et Camden, the Pa-
n of the Society."
The Noble CHAIRMAN said that he bad now come to the
toast which had more immediate reference to the objects for
::Lich they had assembled ; but he felt that it was unneces-
sary for him to take up their time by advocating the cause of
the charity which they had met to support ; for the gentle-
mei, whom he saw around him were all so identified with its
interests that he felt it unnecessary to make any strong
appeal to their sympathies. This was not the first time
teat his attention had been called to their excellent insti-
Rehm, for he remembered eight years ago, when he had
the honour to form a part of his late Majesty's Govern-
ment, he was solicited to become a steward for the annual
deier, wits which solicitation he complied, but; from the
peasaure of public business, he had been unable to attend.
He had, therefore, felt anxious to attend upon the present
oecaioo, end it was with great pleasure that be had made
it 4:i C xce,A i.)n to the rule which he bad laid down for him-
seif -with rzspect to public meetings gencrally.—(Cheers.)
1 With regard to the objects of the Society, he had
always felt great interest in promoting institutions
of a similar nature, and he had endeavoured, to
tm, utmost of his power, to promote their success
I in that part of England where he employed a large
in,rtion of the population. He had endeavoured to fester
teseieties of thia description, as he considered that they con-
tlibutad to the prosperity of the families of the working
reee. aswell as to the prosperity of the distsiet where they
-aee o lie employed, he believed, twelve huAred men
' his coal mines, and he had found that the introduc-
tion of such a syatem had been productive of the meat
b:ncfnAal results. In other establishments there existed
eat desire far .change, and r.n absence of that whole-
statoraination which it was so necessary to main-
; Lot his establishment was entirely free icon every-
'-r of that kind, because he had shown them that the
-ts of the erepl :yer end the interests of the employed
same..—( Cheers.) If he could, by
„ induce provident habits among the work-
., wed prevail upon them to lay by a portion of
what was called the rainy day—when dis-
-ight come upon them—if he could
'something for themselves, and to
ei for th.. it widows and orphans, lie
:forming, in his opinion, one of the most useful
itch he could possibly render to his fellow-man.
) It wa3 with these sentiments and con-
had appealed% them on that occasion—.
„ware that the greater number of those whom
esed were employers—to come forward and show,
~reir liberality, that they really felt an interest in the
%keine.: of their workmen.—(Loud cheers.) It was not
..ary to appeal to their feelings by any attempt at dc-
the unhealthy character of their avocations. They
-eddy too well acquainted with the poisonous nature
atmosphere in which they toiled, and they knew
deprived of the genial enjoyments of the sea-
It v.a3, then, in their power to mitigate the amount
• that east -d their less fortunate fellasv-creatures,
anAeilag an asylum for them in the days of sickness
me distress, and he was happy to see in the Report, which
(voiced no diminution in the annual receipts, that the ad-
vantages derived from the- Society were duly appreciated
by the public.—(Cheers.)
Prosperity to the Printers' Pension Society. "
Mr. EA4IIOPE, in proposing the health of the Noble
Cii -imam, said that he did not wonder that the Noble Earl
bid made an exception in favour of their institution, know-
ing as he did the discriminating benevolence and kind
atter:tion of the Nehle Earl to the wants of the industrious
clasaes. Lord Durham's benevolence was not confined to
his own country. In whatever quarter of the world his
Lerdship resided, there they heard of his hospitality.
‘• The health of Lord Durham." Drunk with great
cetlausiaim. _ .

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Lord DURHAM, on returning thanks, said it was particu.
lariy gratifying to him to hear that his exertions in favour
of the labouring classes of this country had met with appro-
Ile could assure them that if there was one single
nrineple by which his conduct had been governed, that
he .le sired shouid be well understood—if there was one
principle connected with what he had done, it was that of
maietainino the honour and dignity of the Crown, the
reciesenanee of the honours and dignity of the higher or-
de, s, and the prosperity and security of property and com-
merce, and that these were dependent upon convincing the
industtictes that their interests arc mixed up with
these of the'RPher classes. He wished that this principle
should ever beAorne in mind by those who ruled the desti-
Lies of this country—that the greatest security for our
monarchical institutions (of which he avowed himself a firm
defender), was to be found in the conviction, among the in-
dustrious classes, that their prosperity was to be derived
from the free-wISI of the Sovereign and the higher classes,
ani not to be taken from them by physical force. The
manner in which they had responded to the notice taken of
Cis connection with Canada, was gratifying to him. From the
first hour that he had set his foot on shore on his return
from that country, down to this moment when he heard
o body of iefluential Englishmen approve of his con-
duct, he had never yet swerved from that object which
he had proposed to himself when he left the shores of
Canada—that of obtaining for his countrymen in Ca-
nada that justice, and free and entire recognition of that
free constitution, which the Parliament of this country on
giaally gave them.—(Cheers.) How many of that class
•to which he had reverted—the industrious classes—how
meny of that class who bad been driven from this country
by taxation, felt they were placed in a situation to require
the fostering hand of those institutions which had been neg-
lected, are!had not been enforced in a manner that would
have ensured the prosperity of those persons. He knew
there was a virtue and determination among them to see
their desires fulfilled, and that only a short time would
elapse before they saw that determination taken to ensure
to their fellow_countrymen in North America their rights
and privileges. Els Lordship sat down amidst loud cheers.
Tee Noble CHAIRMAN said that the next toast which he
had to propose was, that fountain of knowledge and bulwark
of freedom—The Press.—( Cheers.) He could not give that
toast without stating his appreciation of the importance of a
free press, and his consciousness of the manifold advantages
.to be derived therefrom.---(Hear, hear.) Of thew advan-
tages they had had a recent opportunity of judging from
their own observation, and they had seen that the disclo-
sures that had taken place in the East, and in America,
and which in ether times would have been decided by an
eppeal to arms, were now being arranged by reason and
f argument.—( Hear, hear.) Was not that, he would
ask, a glorious triumph, and sufficient to make them
enerish and protect the exercise of an engine that produced
such benefits to the civilised world.—(Cheers.) It had
advanced science, promoted the glories of literature, and
disseminated the truths of the Gospel ; and it became
them to take care that this fountain of truth should not
be defiled by any impurity.--( Hear, hear.) They
forgot the saying of 'one of their own profession, a
compositor, and one whose name should never be for-
gotten when they assembled upon such an occasion as
the present—he meant Benjamin Franklin. Franklin had
said that if the liberty of the press became endangered
it' could only have been effected by the abuse of that
liberty, and when employed in personal detraction. It
would indeed be scandalous if ever the people of this
country allowed the press to be put down by such means
as this, and he could not help saying that it was a disgrace
to the age that the delicacies of the softer sex, which should
he held honoured and undefiled, were no longer spared by
those whose interest or purpose it was to calumniate.—
'I
(Loud cheers.) He was happy, however, to say that these
instances were rare, and like the spots upon the sun's disk.
They were the exceptions, not the rule, and he was sure
that there was not an individual in the room who did not
repucliete such conduct.—( Cheers.)
" The Liberty of the Press." " The Stationers' Com-
pany, the liberal supporters of the Society."
" Mr. Taylor and ties Trustees." Me. TAYLOR briefly
returned thanks. " The health of Mr. Easthope and the
Stewards." Mr. EASTHOPE returned thanks.
The SECRSTART then read the list of donations and sub-
scriptions, when it appeared that nearly 2001. had been
collected eusing the evening.
Snclitil other toasts were then given and responded to,
[liter which the Noble Chairman retired amidst the hearty
cheers of the whole meeting.
The ,company shortly afterwards broke up, after spending
an exceedingly happy and convivial evening.