The Sun.
London, England, 1838-12-31 00:00:00

C:7l 1> 4•-".) 1:1

WITH WHICH
THE TRUE SUN "15 NOW
INCORPORATED.

LONDON :
MONDAY EVENING. DECEMBER 31, 1838

The arrest of Mr. STEPHENS at Manchester seems
to us an event of great importance ; and we are sur-
prised that it has provoked so few comments on the
Part of our Morning Contemporaries. In Manchester,
1.4 Our COrrespondent states, to whose letter, which we
Insert here, we beg attention, the EXCITEMENT IS
?RIGHTFUL, while it appears to extend through the
Whole manufacturing districts. The letter is as follows:
MANCHESTER, DEC. 30, THREE O'CLOCK.
Mr- Stephens was liberated yesterday (Saturday),
at twelve o'clock. When he reached the outer-gates
of the prison he was hailed with tremendous huzzas by
largea
multitude, by whom he was accompanied
through the town. His appearance caused great sen-
-I;tien as he passed along. Immediately on his arrest
the Secretary to the Chartists in this place made known
the circumstance, by despatching special messengers
t°alirlost every Secretary of Unions in South Lanca-
shire, and in most places meetings were held last night,
fo: the purpose of deliberating on the best means to be
e rifled to support their champion and leader, Mr.
ft:el Phens. The excitement already created is fright-
. te Produced, no doubt, after reading in the Manches-
; Journals of Saturday the examination on the pre-
_ day. There are not two opinions of any party,
_ special
Tory, Whig, or torch-light men, as to the
committal
bungling displayed on the investigation, and a
ammittal on such evidence would; it is thought, fan
the smouldering embers into a flame. Last night and
this
morning, up to this hour, has brought
tiers and delegates from every town and village
a South Lancashire, announcing the determination
°F
the Unions in those places, as Oldham, Stockport,
.I,°'t°ll, Leigh, Tyldesly, Eccles, Ashton, Stayley
dge, Roclida!e, Royston, Middleton, Chadderton,
actlP, Todmorden, Barnley, Padiham, Bury Totting-
"on, Heywood, Pilkington, &c. &c., by which it ap-
pears that on Monday evening meetings will be held.
The most alarming part of the matter is, that the
wiiiters of the letters' and delegates' objects appears
principally to be the asking for advice as to whether
he Chartists should come in bodies on the day of exa-
°lination, in order to show that they consider the
arrest of STEPHENS as aimed at the working-classes,
a" as a determination to frustrate them in their designs
aail to show also, that they are resolved on resenting
itas such. The letters breathe only one spirit, and
thelollowing is selected as a fair sample of many :
t`` Sir,—We have received your letter announcing
e arrest of Mr. STEPHENS, and a meeting was held
iu
c•
onsequence last night. There is only one feeling
Opinion—one determination—one spirit, which
~,a'inates us. We are determined to support Mr.
Qte,
l'uens, because he is the able advocate of the
-"artists, with our money, with our bones, with
0a! sinews—age, with our sinews, if necessary. We
Fill hot be sacrificed by either Whigs or Tories, nor
b
both united. Unite, unite, we say to all good
fi"kids. Persevere I persevere I persevere I Be
and of good courage I" Such are the letters in
''''tanee. The delegates are still more fierce.
That an immense assemblage will be collected to
Conductap Mr. Stephens to the New Bailey, on his
ft:eund examination, there can be no doubt ; and that
°4levery part of the country. Mr. Stephens being
announced to preach this evening at Charlestown,
nearw ▪ Ashton, about seven miles distant, and as there
.8 doubtless, be much said that may, perhaps, throw
have
light on what is intended for future operations, I
resolved on going to hear for myself, and the sub-
stance of what I may judge worth the communication
3'°U shall have sent.
That the Magistrates should have fixed Tuesday
`N•
ew Year's-day) for a further hearing, is most asto-
nishing, that being a real Saint's-day NVith the Work-
ing Classes throughout the Districts. It will be like
„‘e letting of society loose from all restraint, every
'an will be drunk, of course, who can raise as much
Icash as will make him so. This will be the more ge-
ieral because every kind of workmen go in knots for
their New Year's gifts, on which occasions large sums
are collected, which is invariably spent during the day.
I Would be in vain to expect such a clay to pass over
without some uproar.
e P.S.—I have just heard, from authority, that the
Pimination is put off till Thursday. This is a wise
determination.
Now that our readers have before them the proof
that'r the arrest of this gentleman is no ordinary event,
, Ills remind them that in his vindication, which we
inserted
erted on Saturday, he professes to be, and to bhay(
v!not a Universal Suffrage man, not a hunter after
ginti theories, but " the advocate of the poor, particularly
e Ghat
doomed to factory slavery." He declares
at " he was unconnected with any political party,
htl independent of every faction, resting those claims
• the immutable Laudation of henero!ence and
I`,:iltirtstianity." In the same spirit he continues, and
the, the same view I subsequently entered
upon
unreextended field of moral warfare, in the fearful
Strugglega which all are now more or less deeply en-
A "ed in, oceasizsted by the passing of the Poor-la‘N
tt`elauenclment A,st." Through his whole career Lc
witZts that he has " done his utmost to inspire al;
first a holy revetence for law and religion." On the
of these poinis he shares the opinions, we Lelieve,

of the great majority of the enlightened religious and
humane portion of the empire, and on the second he is
supported by a very large portion of the public
Press. All agree with him as to enforcing a reve-
rence for religion and laws. Unless, therefore, all
the humane and intelligent people of the empire, and
unless the Times, Standard, Herald, and their fol-
lowers on the Poor-laws,- be insane or mere detna-
gogues, we cannot ascribe such characteristics to Mr.
STEPHENS for his continued agitation against the
Poor-laws and factory abuses. His present co-
operation with the Radicals seems dictated, as
he says, like his starting for Ashton at the last
election, by his wish to have opportunities "of
addressing his fellow-men," aspiring not to " be a
leader, but leaving the people to follow the counsels
they deem the wisest and the best." It is by such
conduct that he has obtained, as is evident by our
Manchester letter, :mat influence in the manufacturing
districts, where numbers of the people have declared
that they are determined to stand by him with heart
and soul, and " by their sinews," if need be.
Great additional light is thrown on this gentle-
man's character and acquirements by the memoir
concerning him, which we copy from the. Observer,
and which, though drawn up by a friendly hand,
can leave no doubt as to his character. He
is a religious man. He has one of the
largest provincial congregations known. He is the
founder, too, of his own sect, for he has been ex-

communicated by the Methodist Conference. He has
been stationary in the same neighbourhood for several
years, and his character is exemplary.. The people
amongst whom he lives are religious, and Mr. STE-
PHENS has obtained over the masses a religious in-
fluence. It is not surprising that a man of this de-
scription, acting as he has acted, should have excited
the dislike, indignation, and terror of the factory
mas-
ters, and some of them, it appears, forbade the persons
in. their employment, to attend Mr. STEPHEN'S Cha-
pel, on pain of dismissal, which amounted to a sen-
tence of starvation. Then was displayed that proof of
his disinterestedness, and of the mutual attachment
between him and his flock, which is recorded in the-
memoir, and which stamps Mr. STEPHENS as no or-
dinary sharacter, aad no common agitator. The
Metropolitan public have only now, for the first time,
been made acquainted with these circumstances, lout they
must have been long known to the Magistrates of the
neighbourhood, and they ought, in arresting him,
to have acted with the most cautious discretion. On
such a man, so respectable in character, so benevolent
k his objects, so influential from his combined benevc-
fence, disinterestedness, and eloquence, the Magistrates
should not have laid a finger, till they could have
clearly, quietly, and legally crushed him. They ought
to have carried public opinion completely with them ;

and under this aspect never was there a greater failure
or a more bungling, injudicious proceeding than the
arrest of Mr. STEPHENS.

It was made unduly of importance by employing
Bow-street officers. It was tyrannically carried into
effect by arresting him in the street, and hurrying him
away without allowing him to communicate with his
wife and friends. It was magnified into alarm by itn-

mediately calling out the Dragoons. When public
attention and expectation had been thus peremptorily
invited to it, the offence was found to be 'of

a slight and unprovable nature. On the 13th of
November Mr. S•TEPHENS spoke at Leigh ; on the
27th of December he was arrested ; on the
28th, or forty-five days.after the imputed offence, the
evidence of two persons, speaking wholly from me-
mory, was brought against him, when the evidence of
reporters with their notes might have been ob-
tained; and those two persons contradicted themselves
and each other on cross-examination. Such a pro-

ceeding implied more malice than discretion on the
part of the Justices. Why did they not arrest him on

the 15th of November? or why not get evidence
against him of a later date ? With singular want of

judgment, one of the Magistrates who issued the im-
proper warrant sat to try the return, and jumped to the
conclusion, showing the animus of the prosecution that
the evidence was sufficient to commit Mr. STEPHENS.
The eagerness of Mr. KENWORTHY was kept in
check by the only other Magistrate on the Bench,
and the result was that Mr. STEPHENS was re-
manded, bailed, and preached an elogent sermon to

no doubt to a large congregation yesterday. Scanda-
lous too was the proceedings of the Magis.rates' Clerk,
who took down all the assertions that went to

convict Mr. STEPHENS, and had not inser-
ted a word of the contradictions extorted by cross-
examination. Great was the sum the Magistrates
demanded for bail, and most unjustly suspicious the
doubts and the delays the officers of the Court threw
in the way of completing it. On the whole, we con-

sider the arrest of Mr. STEPHENS, which ought not
to have taken place unless on the most just grounds

and with the greatest certainty of convictin„
him of having committed some grievous offence,
to have been so injudiciously managed, and the whole

proceedings of the Court to have been so glaringly
hasty and erroneous, that it looks like a most unjust

persecution.

The factory masters, and their relations

and friends who occupy the Bench, are no doubt very
much alarmed, very much terrified ; and certainly

many of the facts brought to light at the examination
_ _ _

;hoar that they have good ground for their alarm—but
neither Mr. STEPHENS, nor any other man, is to be

sacrified to their terrors. Let them look into their own
bosoms, let them look at their own conduct, and see

whether they have not better reason for terror, than the
language, however eloquent, irritating, and kindling,

of Mr. STEPHENS.

To persecute him now, seems to us very ill timed.
On the 13th instant, as we mentioned on Saturday, he
wrote a letter, declining to attend a meeting at Newcastle,

and declaring that it would be folly in him to attend any
:Wore public meetings. Such a declaration should

have made the Magistrates abstain, even had they

sufficient cause to arrest Mr. STEPHENS, and could

carry out their plans in a judicious manner ; but when
so long a period had elapsed since his offence, when
they had no other testimony against him but doubtful

memory, to arrest him on such grounds and in such a

manner, after such a declaration, was equally perse-

cuting and injudicious.
We had fully 'made up our mind on this question,
and written the greater part of the foregoing'observa-
tions before we learnt—and it gave us great pleasure
to learn it—that this hasty and indecent proceeding

[lid not in any way originate with the Government,

which was consulted on the subject, we have heard,
but discountenanced the proceeding. It is entirely due
to the Magistrates and factory-owners of the neigh-

bourhood, some of whom, we regret to learn, are

alarmed for their personal safety.

The whole of the Paris Journals of Friday and
Saturday have been received. After a debate of four
days' continuance, the Chamber of Peers adopted the
Address, as prepared by the Committee, by a majority
of 102 votes against 14. The opposition, however,
was very violent, and the, attacks upon the Cabinet
exceedingly well directed. An outline of the debate
will he found in another part.of The Sun, which will
well repay the trouble of an attentive perusal.
The Paris Court of Assize was occupied on Friday
with an action for libel, brought by M. GISQUET,
Ex Prefect of Police, against the Editor of the
Messager Newspaper. The alleged libel consisted in
the publication of a letter addressed by M. GISQUET

to one of his mistresses, in which he admits having
prostituted his official patronage to the most immoral
purposes. Contrary to the desire of the Crown Law-
yers, the Court admitted the defendant to plead the
truth of the libel in justification. The trial was not
concluded before the departure of the mails on
Saturday. As a piecemeal report would rather whet
than allay public curiosity, we shall await receiving it
entire, in order that we may submit both the case and
the verdict to our readers.

The Moniteztr of Saturday announces that the Council
of State declared that the refusal of the Bishop of
CLERMONT to inter the remains of Count de MONT-
LOSIER according to the form of the Catholic Church,
was an abuse of the episcopal power. By a reference
to the debate in the Chamber of Peers it will be seen
that M. COUSIN pointed out the danger and the ingra-
titude of this act of ecclesiastical tyranny, when calling
the attention of that Assembly to the progress of
priestly usurpation in France since the Revolution . of
1830. The practices of Priests in every part of the
world, when entrusted with the direction of National
Church Establishments, would almost justify a belief
that they had entered into a league against Chris-
tianity. •