The Sun.
London, England, 1841-06-02 00:00:00

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PRICE 5d

initiate and produce another troe.—(Hear.) So with
respect to the regeneration of mankind, and implanting
in their minds the true principles of Socialism, the seed
had been sown, and the storm could not uproot it. If any
man despaired of the. future regeneration of mankind,
let him learn from the school of experience. In times
past was the steam-engine thought of ? and yet what
could it not do ? Let them never despair of doing good,
and bettering the condition of their fellow-creatures ; for
" Thrice is he arm'd who hath his quarrel just ;"
and as long as they had justice on their side, they need
not fear.—(Cheers.) They were congregated together
that day to honour one of the wisest and best of men,
and resolve that society shall 0 purified of its errors
aLid anomalies—(Cheers)—and by their love of :every
thir,o- that was good and virtuous, and their detestation
of eves thing that was vile and bad, they would be en-
abled to 14-0 forth until the whole world was regenerated.
—(Cheers.) In conclusion, be trusted that the Universal
Community of _Rational Religionists would be the agents
to obtain such a desirable state of things.
Mr. BRADY, the Vice-Chairman, then proposed
" Health and prosperity to the lecturers of both sexes of
the Universal Community Society of Rational Reli-
gionists." It was unnecessary for him to say anything
with respect to the talents of those individuals, as he was
sure that all present must be aware of them. It was
to them, next to Aeir worthy father, that they were in-
debted for the grea:., progress they had made in the
cause of Socialism. They had braved all the storms and
reproaches of the world for the purpose of instilling into
the minds of the country the true principles of Socialism.
Mr. LLOYD JONES responded to the toast. The Social
lecturers had applied themselves to remove the errors
which existed among the people of whom they formed a
part ; they were not like the missionaries of other
societies—they had not been sent abroad to save the
souls of the heathen—they were not sent to preach to the
savage that which he did not understand—they were not
sent to the Sandwich Islands to preach dogmas, that the
natives could not understand. No, they had been kept
at home, not for the purpose of converting the Pagan to
the Christian religion, but to convert the man who
called himself a Christian to the truth.—(Cheers.) In
this they had succeeded to some extent,—thousands of
those who thought they were wise, admitted that they
had been in error, and that Socialism, as now explaioetl,
was the true Christianity,—was the real and rational reli-
gion, that could only lead to peace and happiness. The
Social missionary did all in his power to better the con-
dition of his fellow-men ; but the missionaries who were i
sent into foreign parts, instead of healing, created divi-
sion and strife—(Cheers)--end while ;the foreign mis-
sionary was converting parties abroad, the Social mis-
sionary was converting those they had left at home.
They had heard, now and then, of the savage being con-
verted by the eloquence of some of the missionaries • but
while they heard of such things, they had also heard: of
facts which, if they had taken place in a Pagan land,
would have been ascribed to the Pagan religion ; but
when such things took place, as he could mention, in a
Christian land, it could only be attributed to the bad
state of society. The foreign missionary drew
half a million a year to enlighten the savage
(Hear, hear)—while a most dreadful state of things
existed at home. The missionaries of the Socialists,
however, were determined to put an end to such a state
of things. It was true that in accomplishing the task
they had much to contend against ; but he had no doubt
that they would be successful, backed as they were by a
reasoning people. That Socialism was strong, there
needed no stronger proof than that Churchmen were
dismayed. Their fears were the truest signs of its
strength.--(Hear, hear.) They had had a series of bug-
bears with which to frighten the babes in grace by whom
they were surrounded. First, there was Unitarianism--
that was a very dreadful thing.—(Hear, hear.) From that
they passed over to Deism and to Atheism, and now it
was said that thousands of the people were running after
Socialism. It was whispered one to another, like the
cholera, of which the people were afraid to speak. Every
effort was taken to prevent its increase. Socialism, how-
ever, must go on. It would speak through the fears of
their wives and children ; it would be heard ultimately
in their own minds; and the Rational religion would be-
come the universal religion—the Catholic religion—the
religion which would unite all hearts, make all of one
family, dwelling together in peace and happiness.—
(Cheers.) He was glad that on this occasion the services
of the ladies had been associated with those of the gentle-
men. The force of truth was mighty, and in spite of
every opposition, must prevail ; but when truth came
clothed in the voice of gentleness, nothing could with-
stand it. Women had the best opportunities for dis-
covering the evils of the present state of society. Let
them, then, maintain their position. Let them with con-'
fidence, but with moderation, diffuse the benefits of
Socialism in their own country, and when they had done
this, and not until then, let them confer the same benefits
upon the heathen abroad.—(Cheers.)
Mr. T. ROBINSON proposed the following toasts—
" Prosperity to communities of united interest, without
distinction of class, sect, party, country, or colour." It
was easy to wish success to the cause, but they must
endeavour by every means, in every action, at every
moment to diffuse their principles. A better organization
of the branches, and an increase of subscriptions were
necessary, before their principles could be fully carried
out.—(Hear, hear.) He trusted that they would all
redouble their exertions in the coming year.
Mr. Rrony in supporting the toast, said the ground
upon which these communities were founded, was one
which must be obvious to all present. It was because
England, said to be the most flourishing country in the
world, was in the most deplorable condition. It was
because those who produeed food were starving, those
who produced clothing were in rags, and those who pro-
duced shelter for others were themselves destitute.
They had been told by Lord John Russell and by Mr.
Fielden, that the people of England were in a worse con-
dition than the emancipated blacks. How was this
to be remedied ? Was it by individual competition ?
They had had it in abundance. Was it by nation com-
peting against nation ? They had competed with the
world. Was it by preaching sectarian doctrines? Eng-
land was more divided upon such subjects than
any other nation in the world. It was only by
uniting together for each other's good instead of each
other's injury that this could be accomplished. They
had purchased an estate in Hampshire for the purpose
of testing their principles. In the first instance more
went down to that estate than it was capable of support-
ing ; but that error had been corrected, and the commu-
nity was now in the most flourishing condition. That
estate consisted of 600 acres of land, producing barley,
wheat, potatoes, and turnips, and there were upwards of
129 cocks, hens, and chickens.—(Laughter.) Great in-
terest was felt in their movements by the persons resid-
ing in their neighbourhood ; and when they saw that
they were gradually improving their land, and that their
object was mutual benefit, many of the prejudices which
they had first conceived • were removed. Not only
farmers and landholders, but noblemen, who took part
in Government affairs, hid visited and examined their
community at Titherley. On leaving, they gene-
rally said, " Well, I am much pleased with all that
I have seen, and I hope you will go on and prosper, but
I must tell you that I don't agree with you." Of course
it would not do to agree with them ; but he could tell
that meeting when they would agree with them—namely,
when they had shown the world that it was of no conse-
quence who agreed with them.—(Loud cheers.) On one
occasion, when a meeting took place in that neighbour-
hood, the Magistrates received orders from the Duke of
Wellington, the Lord-Lieutenant of the county, tokeep a
sharp look out and report progress. It *was twelve
months since that order was given, and he thought it
was quite time that his Grace should tell the country
what was the report which the Magistrates had sent to
him ; at all events they intended to petition the Duke to
tell the world what it was that he had heard about them.
If the Magistrates had reported correctly, they would
have told him that the Deputy-Governor had sat in the
parish church, and had conducted the parish business in
the most fair and impartial manner. He was not one
who NI: ould wish to disorganise any state of things ; in-
deed no good Socialist would ever attempt to disorganise
the state of society until he could substitute in its place a
better one. After the greater part of the business had
concluded, one of the Churchwardens came up to him
and stated that he had something which he wished to
bring before the meeting. The Clerk of the Church, he
said, had applied to him for an increase of his salary.
He (Mr. Rigby) asked the Churchwarden how much the
clerk's salary was ? and he was told that it was 50s.
a-year—(Laughter)—and that he wanted it increased
to 3/. Now he (Mr. Rigby) as Chairman, had no
power to grant the request, and upon the sub-
ject being stated to the meeting,one individual
said he would oppose any increase in the salary of the
clerk, and, upon being asked• the reason of his opPosition he said that when his grandfather and father were alive, the salary was only 505., and he could not therefore con-
sent to its being made more now. Now, that man he (Mr.
R.) called a true Conservative. He (Mr. R.) then asked
what the clerk had to do, and he was told that he, had
to attend the service twice every Sunday, that he had
also to clean the church, and
to brush the yard.—
(Laughter.) He (Mr. R.) then asked the individual who
opposed the increase of the salary, whether he should
like to do the same duties for a similar sum.—(Cheers.)
He hesitated for a few minutes, and he then said, " Well,
if no other person has any objection to the increase, I
have none." The salary of the clerk was raised, and that
too at a meeting over which he, a Socialist, presided.
The Duke of Wellington, therefore, need not fear
that those who were called infidels, would not
increase the salary of the clerks of churches ;
indeed, they would even increase_ the
the
salaries
of the parsons if they would o
truth.—(Great cheering.) Some of them,n speak
he was happy
to say, were beginning to speak the truth, and it really
wasastonishing how vise they were
(Laughter.) The people had begun to getting of late.—
o feel that the lan-
guage of the Socialists was the language of truth, and
that it went home to humanity.—(Cheers.)
found out, also, that the Social system was They had
true Chris-
tianity- ; but then, it was said, the infidels got hold of it
first..—(Laughter.) There were plenty of Social So-
cieties
springing up—indeed, if he was correctly in-
formed,
the Bishops in this country werebeginning to
take up the cause, for they had found out if they did
not, there would soon.. be en end of Bishops
.altogether.
He bad no hesitation in saying that the period gas not
far distant when Socialism rod succeed, let it be called
by whatever name it might.—(Cheers.) The parties
who opposed it might send their agents to Highbury-
barn to distribute tracts against it ; but they would find