The Sun.
London, England, 1822-05-30 00:00:00

MEETING AT LLOYD'S.

In pursuance of a requisition, signed by several
of the Subscribers to these rooms.rand addressed
to the Committee appointed for the Management
of the Funds, Ste.' of Lloyd's, a meeting of
Under-writers merchants, &c. was convened at
twelve o'clock yesterday in the subscription-
room.--...,At the aPpointed. hour,
Mr. 111a.naleaT, M.P., took the chair, and briefly stated
that the object of the meeting was to consider of the sum pro-
per to be advanced in aid of the funds now raising for the re-
lief of the distressed Irish. The Honourable Gentleman then
recapitulated the: substance. (as it appeared to us) of a former
speech delivered by him some few years since, in which the
necessity of applying their funds to purposeS'strictly commer-
cial wasinsisted upon. ,
The requisition having been read by :Mr. J. Bennett, jun.
the Secretary to the Committee
Mr. 31AltRYAT addressed the meeting, and explained the
principle upon which former votes of that body (the sub-
scrilx:rs to Lloyd's) had proceeded. He understood that the
sum intended to be proposed was not very large, but it was
rather to the principle upon which they were to give' than to
the amount to be given, that the meeting were to look. They
would all remember the distresses of the poorer classes of this
country, arising principally from. the high price of bread in
1800; and though in all cases, perhaps, the relief of the poor
laws was not deemed adequate to the relief of the distresses of-
the podr, yet in that instance they certainly were liberally re-
lieved. It was not necessary that he should state the various
votes of money to which the subscribers to Lloyd's at various
periods had agreed, whenever suitable objects of their bounty
had been pl.esented to their attention. It was sufficient to say,
they were all distinguished by the same character of muni-
ficence ; and, indeed, the present call 'upon their fund was so-
small in amount,' compared with the magnitude of those
which had been raised op other occasions, that if that were the
only point for the consideration of the gentlemen present,
scarcely any difficulty could exist upon the subject.—(ll ear !)
The sums they. had already voted were almost infinite, coin-
pared- with the present claim upon them.—(Bear, hear !)
He would wish gentlemen to consider what immense exertions
they had made during the last years of the late war ; what
liberal advances had been made out of the funds of that house
-for the alleviation of their distresses, who had been the
principal sufferers. in the war. It was impossible to over-'
look either the -amount of subscriptions, which was not
less than 50,0001.—(hear, hear !)--or the admirable effect with
which they had been attended. At a time when the nation
from one end of it to the other was panic struck at the duration
and the sacrifices of a protracted war, they had had the effect
of restoring public credit, and of re-establishing the confidence
of the empire in the resources of her commercial classes ; and
this was an admirable effect produced by the, noble donations
given from their funds. But if, diverting the applications of
those funds from their original destination, the subscribers to
Lloyd's attempted to give their aid to every subscription of this
kind, however unexceptionable its nature might be, their means
would become so limited and minute, that it :would be impos-
sible for their contributions to retain theirlormer noble and
munificent character.. To do so, they must strictly confine
themselVes:t9 the originally proposed application of their funds.
At the same time every man must naturally feel for the dis-
tresses, of his .Irish: fellow-subjects ; , and no doubt every Gen-
tleman who heard him would feel-equally ready to. give his own
individual aid, as he had felt to contribute to the relief of the
Russian, the German, and the Spanish sufferers,: during the
late war. The Committee thought it- highly important to obi
serve, that upon all these several occasions the great portion Of
relief to be afforded had been left to depend on the individual
liberality of the subscribers to Lloyd's. It was proper to state,
that this requisition was signed by very few subscribers ; and
as matter of secondary consideration, he (Mr. Marryat) might
he allowed to urge, that the trustees were bound, in justice to
themselves as well as to the subscribers, to protest against any
improvident appropriation of the funds ; since, in the event of
these becoming exhausted, and of any change taking place in
the original institution of the subscription and fund, the four
trustees, of whom he had the honour of being one, must be re‘
sponsible for rent, taxes, and all other incidental charges. The
lion. Gentleman then went on to allude to the case of the suf-
ferers at Newfoundland ; a representation had been given in
on their behalf, and a strong claiM, indeed, was made out ;
they were sufferers by
a conflagration, which had consumed a
large property, that from situation, distance, and other circum-
stances, it was next to impossible to replace. Their case was
submitted by certain Gentlemen'to the Committee, and he (111 r.
,Marryat.) was• sorry to say, that out of a list of 2,000 subscri-
bers to. Lloyd's, the names of three only were.added to the re-
presentation. •Iri•-frietitioned. this circumstance only for the
sake ef showing with what different:feelings Gvntlemen were
disposed to grant subscriptions out of the general fund; to those.
with which they were ready to grant thm. out of their own
pockets. lie hail no doubt that every Gentltriniii.Who felt in-
terested in the fate of Ireland"wOuld contribute from his own
means to her relief; but he felt assured that on the principles
he had already stated, all must see that it was not proper to
call upon the funds 'of the house to con tribute snch.relief. He
believed it remained for him now only.to propose the Resolu-
tion-which was meant to be submitted. - , •
Ronnav DEWAB, Esq., then addressed'the Meeting. He
begged leave, in the first place, to make-a singleOliservation
upon that part of the,Chairman'a.apeeeh in which he had al-
luded to the small number oT stibscribers who had signed the
requisitionfbr theconVenins• of this meeting. The fact was,
thatzthe number of those Gentlemen who had offered to sub-
scribe it amounted to more than 100—(Hear, hear !)—but, as
the necessity of the case was felt to be most pressing, and it
was considered that the earlier the meeting could be convened
"the better, it teas thought desirable to send in the requisition,, as
it now stood, without waiting for further signatures. As to the,
case which the Honourable Chairman had thought proper to
put, with respect to the distresses of the English poor in 11100,
there *as this very material difference, between it and a case like
the present-to-be observed at all times—he (Mr. Dewar) meant
the difference arising from the relief which was extended in the
one country ay the poor laws. He decidedly affirmed, that le-
gally no man could starve in this kingdoin.--(Hear, hear.)—
There was no overseer in England who dared to refuse the
pauper that bread' which the Poors' Rates furnished him with
the means of providing; and whatever differences of opinion
might subsist as to the law, there could be little doubt but that
the provision was amply sufficient to support the poor. The
Chairman had admitted that the case of Ireland was very different
from this ; and so it was ; because, in Ireland, there were no poor
laws—( H ear.)—there were no means of administering present re-
lief, while the rich proprietors and those from whOin support might
be expected were' mostly absentees. With regard to the case
of Newfoundland, that was a case of distress arising from a
fire, which, however calamitous it was in its consequences
to 'the inhabitants, they surely had possessed the tneano of
giaarding against : they might have secured their property by
insurance.--(llear.)—There could be no difficulty in doing
this : for, 'God knew, insurance companies or associations
Abounded all over the commercial world. In the present case,
on the contrary, no such protection could . be resorted to, nor
was any such liability to be contemplated. No less than
800,000 people were at this moment starving in Irelanda...
(Hear.)—and what was the cause of their; misery ? It was not
corn nor meal which was wanting in the country, but the cause
existed in the common poverty and degradation of the people.
To such a height had the distresses of peasantry arisen in
the counties of Mayo and Kerry, that after having had re-
course to the weeds and hay of their fields, they had been com-
pelled to resort to the growing crop of potatoes, intended for the
subsistence of the coming year.—(Hear.)—Surely, under .cir,
curnstanees of this-sort, it was net proper for that room to 'bold

back, to withdraw its aid in a case of this inconceivable dis-
tress, after the liberal supplies it had granted on other occa-
sions, where the claim (he might be permitted to say) had been
at least not superior to that which was now made upon their
generosity. The instances which had been cited by the
Chairman really had very little to do with the . present
matter ; and if they were yet more relevant, could it be
expected that precedents for such a vote as this now propos-
ed were to be found ? Was misery of this kind a thing of
such frequent occurrence ? It was singular that the meet-
ing were to be told, that the funds of Lloyd's had always
been voted to purposes in some way or other connected with
the interests of commerce.—(Hear, hear o—Surely, that large
and liberal vote which the subscribers had agreed to, and
which none of them had supported more warmly than he (Mr.
Dewar) had done—the vote to those meritorious and gallant
men who fought at Waterloo—was not of such a description.—
Nobody, surely would say that.that vote had been beneficial to
our commerce ; in that House, at least (Lloyd's Coffee-house),
every thing had gone on most unfortunately ever since.--(A
laugh, and cries of " Hear !")—Nor let it be forgotten, that of
those who were now starving in a sister kingdom, in the midst
of plenty, many, very many, had carried the flag of England
into all parts of the world ; and, fighting by the side of our
own men, had dyed the soil with their blood, and purchased
glory at the price of honourable wounds.—(Hear. hear !)--
Why that house, after furnishing a donation of 1,0001. in aid
of the suffering: Russians, after the invasion of their coun-
try by Napoleon, should now hold back, -he (Mr. Dewar)
really could not comprehend. Besides, at that time, we were
not even upon' terms with Russia—no peace had been treated
for ; and she had, but a short period before, confiscated several
valuable British ships, to the ruin of many of our wider-
writers.—(Hear !)—Were the Meeting, when our fellow-sub-
jects were bowed down by affliction, to be required to pause for
want of a precedent ? He contended that it was now that
they ought to come forward ; and if they did, there was not
another Chamber of Commerce in the kingdom which would
not hasten to follow their example. Humble individual as he
was himself; and poSsessing but little property, on no occasion
had he . ever felt more eager to contribute his subscription
than upon this occasion. He had twice or three times applied
at the bar, to know if any hook were opened for the relief of
the Irish ; and finding that that was not the case, he had car-
ried his humble aid elsewhere. There could be no doubt, that
if this house subscribed, the Lloyd's at Liverpool, and all other
similar institutions, would follow. The sum he should propose
as the subscription of this fund would be 5001.—(Hear.)—The
Chairman had truly said that was a very small sum ; and
when to this he (Mr. Dewar) added that it was for the relief of
a very large portion of the population of Ireland, he trusted
gentlemen would support his proposition. He should conclude
the little which-he felt it necessary to say, (and he lamented
that such a cause had not found an abler advocate), by moving
a resolution—
" That the sum of 5001. be granted, out of the funds of this
house, in aid of the subscription for the relief of the distressed
Irish."—(hear, hear !)
LEwis BURNAtiD, Esq., seconded the resolution. He
'thought it had been very properly observed by the Gentleman,
who preceded him, that the house had subscribed out of its
funds tin many occasions where the claim upon their liberality
had been much weaker. lle felt it unnecessary to detain the
meeting any further, because he was sure that the subject itself
would plead better with those who heard him, than any advo-
cate could possibly hope to do.—(Hear!)
Mr. MAnRyAT, the chairman, thought.it necessary to ob-
serve, that upon the occasions alluded to, the votes had pro-
ceeded on the ground that the, objects were such as, were con•
netted with the best interests of commerce. The war itself
had been undertaken by the enemy for the destruction of our
commerce.

Here the Hon. Gentleman was interrupted by repeated cries
of " Question, question," and he concluded by saying, that he
would, without further preface, put the question on the pro-
posed resolution. • .
This was done, and on a show of hands, the resolution was
declared to be negatived.
Mr. I)EwAit gave notice that a ballot would be applied for ;
and the meeting broke up.

FOIL THE SUN.