The Sun.
London, England, 1815-01-27 00:00:00

TILE LIVERPOOL MEETING.

The following is from the Liverpool Courier,
and inasilie considered as an authenticlleport of
3.11kr. GLAIsTON E'S !S.peach at the above-Meeting :---
"- Mr. Mayor and -Gentlemen,—The patience
'with which you have heiird the Rev. Gentleman
make his defence, on a charge-he -has adopted and
-thought proper to -briog lit7.fore yl4-, induces me
'to look for the..sanie indulgence, whilst, in conse-
quence thereof, talso intrude myself.s, Mr-. Shep-
herd•informed me by note last 'evening, -that he
was answerable .foi• the, Ationyinous'. information
containetliitthe statement made by the.ralitor of
the Morning Chronicle, on the- 7th inst. and of
which IZontplained in my letter *of the 9th, as
false amlniaTigiiant, and that he meant -to make his
defence-'here to day_4l-ere Mr. Shepherd inter-
.
,
rived Mr. G. antriaid,. oat when he. wrote the
note- t.r hitt) he-liadhot seen the paragraph in ques-
.
gni., and firthatliarirgraph there was lint a line or
t Words of it 'it must; therefore, either have
Wen done by -the Editor or Some other person.]—
Mr. G. continued_:- then, Gentlemen, -this para.
giaph
.eithei:. is Mr..Shepberd!sor it is not. The
Editor of the. Morning Chronicle has stated, that
he had received the, communication I complained
of from a Niiell.-knoin- character ; and Mr. Shep-
herd dins informed us that his friendgave his name
with his retter to the Editor : they -will, I doubt
not, settle their respective shares in the compo-
sition, and 'perhaps Mr. Perry, in self-defence,
may be induced to give the original communica-
tion and its, author to the public. Be this as it.
way,` the paragraph which I am about to take the
liberty of reading to you was the sole object of
my attention : -it was that statement which I did,
and, now again charge. with falsehood- and malig-
oite, of which the following is a copy :
[Here Mr. G. read the paragraph. which origi-
nated in the-Morning Chronicle.]------(See Tna SUN -
of Saturday.) .
" Now Mr. Shepherd has not even attempted to
spew that .1 bad received such a letter. from Lord
LiverpOol as this statement describes.; if I
understand him right,he says that be has beeithi-
formed and believes I did receive a letter, in which
something was ,said about the Property Tax by.
his Lordship, nor does -,be bring this informer, or
any other evidence, forward to assist him : there-
fore, I contend, no justification is offered for the
conduct of the-gditor of the Morning Upronicle.
The Public or ,the Editors of Papers certainly can
have no right to call for private letters addressed -
to any 'individuals, in order to satisfy their idle
curiosity, I Might; therefore, safely leave
his anonymouS misrepresentatithis here! and
'pfocred, without intruding further upon your pa-
tien,ce, to the conkideration of the object for which
We are called` together; butf,aS so'nnich has been
said and written on the subject, Brave not tlieleast
"br.unwillingness to state, in-this Hall,
the'fa.ers as,tbey.ctecitrred.=-On the 28th Decem-
ber, being the day on the morning of which the
public account was reCeiked7bere that a treaty of
peace had been signed.witli .40-ierle.l at Ghent,
received'a note or communication &dm my L'oril
Liverpool, dated the- 26th December. I beg to
be understood, that I considered this note in ef-
fect, to all intents and purposes, . substantially
the same as a -letter, • when I ailthessedi mine
to the Editor of the Morning. Chronicle, ..tbey--
Only differed in form. No man who knows
me can suppose for a moment that I
would descend to so unworthy and miser-
able'. a quibble r but the communication being
, a 'note, I state it as it -really vas made
- two Communications to me on different sub-
jects :- the first was marked,privote the last, con-
fidential.—Of this letter I made such use.aS in the-
exercise of • my discretion I thought proper. I:
communicated the contents,-; in the manlier they
were addressed to me; to several gentlemen,
(amongst these, in partieular, were the ifayor.
and Deputy Mayor), by p4tting it into their hands
for perusal. erred in so-doing (which 1 do
' not mean to admit), I consider myself accountable
to my Lord Livorpool; but to no one else. I re'.
gret exceedingly that this letter being addressed
"-private and,cOnfidential," I do riot consider MY-,
self at-liberty 'to-read-it, in this public rooinaS it
would- at once show the ;: statement c'iade in
.the Morning Chronicle to belalse,--and what is.
false -must. surely be,,-* as I:.,haVe 'said, without
•
foundation... But altbotw-h. I _Cannot, for these
r,
reasont-,,produte the letter, •I can tenly, and do,
i•with-out tear of..contradietion:. front any one, re-
,
peat; that the contents- were -not what'-were; stated
-in the -Morning 'Chronicle ; nor did his Lordship
desire to have information‘ or nut
any niiPctinnQ ttA

me.—Confident ais I am in- the correctness of what
1 'hive said, I might decline further explanation
or reference to this letter; 'but I do not wish to
lea:yeit upon- this alternative, I, therefore,
Make a proposal to Mr: Shepherd, whieh, -after
;acknowledging
,himself to be mixed up in the
authorship of the anonymous paragraph, I trust he
Will not rejZ.R.t. I propose then, to name two Gen-
tlemen, and he mayname two others ; they, if ne-
•ces.sary, 'calling in a sth : to these Gentlemen I will.
confidentially deliver the letter I received; and I en-
gage to.anSWer any questions they may, put to me.
Let Mr. Sheplierdagree to do the same, andl am
ready to submit and abide by the opinion the ma-.
jarity may form, and, publicly declare whether I
Vas or was not correct, and fully justified itythe
language and' matter of the letter-I addressed to
the •Etliti)r -of the Morning Chronicle. For this
purpose.l will.narbe two Gentlemen now present,
for.whorn4 entertain great personal respect, but
whose political opinions generally assimilate much
more with Mr. Shepherd's thasr,..with Mine, and
I hope they will do me the honour to tonder-
take mean Mr. Birch, and Mr. Thomas
Earle. To the lasl confidentially communi-
cated • the' contenta 'of" the note the day I re.:
it), and the snbstance of it verbally to the
first 'in. a day or two .after, in consequence
iri• their • applying to -Me: for this informa-
tion.—[Here Mr.Shepberd declined the proposal.
He said, thatshe would ,not put himself in any
men's 'lands to be judged, however -much he
Might respect ahem ; that he had appealed to the
public, and by the public lie would be judged.]—
Mr. Gladstone then proceeded, and said, then I
have done with this part of the subject. •I have
pit it fairlyin Mr. Shepherd's power to establish,
if he can, the correctness of his communications,
.btit which he has rejected. Those who hear me
must judge of the proposal, and draw their own
conclusions. I will now, Gentlemen, proceed
to notice that part of the- paragraph. which ap-
_plias to myself only. lam described and held
tip as the devoted and expectant friend of the
'Treasury ; a's one of their known Agents, prac-
tising insidious artifices :—the charge, I repeat,
is false, and the motives of the writer malig-
nant; I put it to Mr. Shepherd, whether or not
the' expressions are his.— [Here Mr. Shepherd
denied that they were, and expressed great
perSonal respect for 'Mr. Gladstone.] -- Mr.
G. continued. thank Mr. S. for the manner in
-which he has done me the honour to deny them ;
and I appeal to any and every Gentleman who
hears me, whether he can state a single instance
of expectancy or devotion on my part ; it he has
ever had the slightest cause to suppose me an
agent of the' Government, much less a known
one, practising insidiotis artifices—l challenge
any man to speak—and again I declare the charge
to be false and malignant. I am as indepen-
de-nt of the Government or Treasury as. any
man can be ; I have no connection, of any de-
scription, with either ; and, as a test, 1 refer to
my conduct on public occasions. 1 have always
given my humble support to their measures when
1 thought them right, and I. have offered My oppo-
sition, however feeble, when I thought them not
calculated to 'promote the interests of the country.
In this Hall last summer I joined in successfully
opposing the measure of increasing the average
prices which gOvern the import of foreign corn,
although warmly supported by the Government,
because I thought the time improper for making
such an experiment s and to-day I mean, with your
permission, to offer my reasons why I approve of
the continuance .of•the Property Tax for another
Year. My Lord Liverpool has been blamed for
addressing his letter to me, or rather for not
addressing! it •to General .Gascoyus, or the
I Mayor. think it wonq be great presumption
in me, Gentlemen, to pronounce upon hiS
Lordship's conduct, though I felt the honour
be did me ;
.but I have, no hesitation in stating,
that the communication was unexpected on my part.
laavearot had the honour to addresS the Noble
Earl at least twelve months preceding ; but I
have that of being personally knoWn to him ; in
consequence of the confidence reposed by this
town in deputing ma to London, to take charge
of its -'claims to h- participatiOn in the trade
with India, and for- other public purposes,
_I was • introduced 'and had several interviews
With his -Lonkhip, when I was honoured with
such attention as was gratifying to me. Perhaps
-The Mayor. is-notpersonallyknoWn to his Lord-
fl'[The Mayor said he was not]—thiS, then,
is probably ':the reason why a letter marked
" private and, ednfidential" was, 'in preference,
addressed to me, without any disrespect being in-
tended to our Chief Magistrate.
When Mr, Gladstone had concluded, Mr.
SHEPHaRD replied in
_the- following terms :—lt is
with great regret that I say I cannot accede
to Mr. Gladstone's proposal. For to what does it
tend"? Why, to mix me with the. composition of
a London Editor, in which 1 have already stated
I have had no participation. This is an,atteMpt
to call me into question for matters in which I
have had no concern. Nor can:l comprehend
ahe.nature-of these public private, or' private pub-
lic letters, which are shown to a dozen of, persons,
and now are proposed to be shewn in 'secrecy to
two or three more.; .hltAla4stone has pOisessiou
of letters. "Let- him produce them in public,'
and I will meet.him on any question -in which-thy
actual conduct is involved."' .

(To be concluded as early as possible.)