The Sun.
London, England, 1840-02-03 00:00:00

EV ENIN G EDITION.

ass of the country—they had never advocated vice and 1
!r, me, and they never would advocate them. Let them then, I
i., united, 'let them be firm together, as men determined to
srstintaia their rights, to stand by those rights, and to pe-
.. ,i. by those rights, should occasion require.—(Cheers. )
A id what would posterity say of them? They would say—
Teese men were good and virtuous men; they acted as
°soy ought to act. Whatever this Government might
say, there was no doubt that the next generation would do
them justice. When Carlisle was persecuted, there were
thousands of good men rose up to defend him : and what
was his object? It was merely the diffusion of particular
opinions throughout the land. And what was the object
of the Socialists ? It was the diffusion of those means
throughout the land which would secare to every indi-
vidual those things which human nature required,
They wished to bring about a different arrangement.
through the means of which working men could educate
their children, clothe and feed them, and see them sur-
rounded by virtuous circumstances. And were they to be
persecuted for this? Was this to be denominated " vice
and crime ?"—( Cheers.) If it was, let him die advocating
such vice and crime as this. He repeated that their objects
were peace and harmony to the whole human race, com-
bined with a good education, surrounded with good
circumstances ; and the result of that would be that
a s ood and virtuous character would be given to
the rising generation which never yet had been given in any
country under Heaven --(Hear, hear.) Why, then, should
it not be given to them now ? It would be given when
they could make the working classes sufficiently en-
lightened to see that these plans would realise what their
advocates maintained they would accomplish.—(Cheers.)
Until they had proved that to the satisfaction of the work-
ing classes they would never bare their united aid ; but
when they saw that these plans would release them. from
vice and crime and poverty, they would have their co-
operation, and when they had that, then farewell to the
Persecutions of the Bishop of Exeter, farewell to the per-
secutions of all the high Tory party, farewell to the per-
secutions of any Ministry, farewell to the persecutions of
any Magistrates, or any Police Officers. And why?
Because they would have with them the whole united voice
of the people arrayed in peace and order, and in accord-
ance with the laws of the land ; and so long as they did
that there was no power on earth could successfully perse-
cute them.—(Loud cheers.) He begged to move the
resolution.
Mr. JAMES BUXTON seconded the resolution, but as there
were speakers present from a distance he would not detain
them by making any remarks.
Mr. ALEXANDER CAMPBELL of Glasgow, one of the
Social Missionaries, appeared in support of the resolu-
tion. He said that a few weeks ago he had had the
pleasure of addressing a similar assembly in their
Corn Exchange relative to the persecutions then set on
foot against thorn by some of their local " luminaries,"
but he had then no anticipation that he should again
have to appear for a similar though a higher purpose in
that ball. It gladdened his heart to see so many be-
ings moved to a common centre by the threatened
persecution " for conscience sake ;" and their appearance
there was an indication that they were determined not
to allow the Bishop of Exeter, or any other power on
earth to put down the right of private judgment on mat-
ters of religion, or any other subject whatever.—( Cheers.)
It was the birthright of all human beings, whatever
their class, their colour, or their country, to have li-
berty of conscience ; and that individual, whether he
might have a Bishop's cloak and mitre, or whether he
might wear a erown, or any other emblem of religion
or power, ought not to be permitted to trample upon
the natural rights of human beings.—(Cheers.) Many
attempts had been made in our own day, and in our own
country, to stifle free inquiry ; but he did hope that
an era had commenced in 1840 which would be famous
in the annals of history, when all should have
full liberty to speak their conscientious opinions
and feelings.—( Hear, hear, hear.) It had been
already said that they were much indebted to the Bishop
of Exeter for noticing them in the manner he had done.
He for one was truly delighted with the notice they had
received. It was the very thing for which they had been
labouring both night and day for years past. They had
at last compelled these old wives to take notice of them,
and to give to the world the knowledge of the progress
which Socialism was making. Instead of regretting what
had occurred, they should the more steadily unite for the
purpose of maintaining the position which they had now
taken up for the purpose of opposing legally, constitu-
tionally, and morally, that attempt which had been made
by the Bishop of Exeter and those who had supported him,
from putting them down.—(Hear, hear.) He had often
been told by their Chartist friends that, without Universal
Suffrage, the Socialists would not be permitted to go on
with their scheme; and probably some of their Chartist
friends would now say, " Aye, we told you what was
coming to pass;" but he had no hesitation in saying that
the Bishop of Exeter, and all those who backed him in
this career of persecution would find that they had raised
a nest of hornets about their ears, which would not easily
be put down. They had no secret oaths by which they
could bring them up for trial as they did the Dorchester
Labourers. They had no intention of violently overturning
theinstitutions of the country, and therefore spies could
have no influence on their proceedings. They had, then,
not only gained a stronger hold of the public mind, but
they had a stronger standing in society ; and more than that,
they had the sanction and protection of the British laws,
for allowing them to proceed in their onward progress, as
much as any sect or party in this country.—( Cheers.)
Probably this might not be known to them all ; but it
should be known that their Constitution or the laws, which
contained the principles, the objects, and the means by
which those principles and objects might be carried into
practice, had been sanctioned by the Government agent
for that purpose,•and they now stood, as it were, upon the
very threshold of the law of the land.—( Cheers.) Why,
then, should the Bishop •f Exeter, in his ignorance of
what their principles were, in his ignorance of what their
intentions were, and of what they designed to bring about
for the welfare of the human family—why should the
Right Reverend Prelate accuse them as an illegal
Society ? But, as had already been observed, he had
no doubt that the Bishop had been deceived by
those parties who had a license to deceive the public, and
that when he came to possess a knowledge of their real
principles, he would be ashamed of the attack he bad made,
and at once relinquish the object he had at present in
view.—( Cheers.) But he hoped the Bishop of Exeter
would not relinquish his intention of obtaining a Com-
mittee of Inquiry as to what their principles really were.
—( Hear, hear.) This, so far from doing them harm,
would give them a greater power and status in society
than they could have obtained under any other cirum-
stances. They had been aiming for years past to accom-
plish the very thing which he hoped the Bishop would be
able to carry in the House of Lords. If he carried it,
they would have a fair field and no favour ; and they
would be in a position to prove to the world what good
they were calculated to bring about, without either the
fear of a Bishop or a devil, or the guns and bayonets and
cannons by which they sought to support their rotten,
tottering, and falling system.—( Cheers.) It had been
said by the Bishop that they were an illegal
society, and the Act of Parliament to which
the Learned Bishop re'Crred in attempting to prove their
illegality, was one welch might be considered obsolete,
and which for many years had ceased to be put in practice.
It was an Act of P trliament adopted many years ago, for
the purpose of putting down secret corresponding political
societies, and under which those eminent men, Muir,
Palmer, and Gerald, who were an honour to the country
which gave them birth, suffered the punishment of death.
—( Hear, hear.) But this Society (the Socialists) had
been careful in drawing up their rules and their constitu
tion, to avoid the rock on which their predecessors split—
( floar, hear.) They were aware of the existence of this
Act of Parliament ; and to avoid giving offence even to
this musty record, they had exercised the utmost vigilance ;
for, although they had Branch Societies sixty in number,
having regular Committees to manage the branches in
different parts of the country, having regular Secretaries
at the Branch Societies corresponding with the general
Secretary at the head Society, yet they were only one
Society, and constituted under the law authorising them
to institute different branches, and therefore they were not
separate and distinct Societies communicating with each
other, but one Society, to which the law could not pos.
sibly attach evil intentions. In this way, then, they hail been
enabled to avoid the rock on which the Bishop of Exeter
had hoped they bad foundered their vessel.—( Cheers.) It
was to be hoped that this first meeting in Manchester for
the purpose of declaring emphatically—as expressed in the
resolution—the right of private judgment, would be fol-
lowed up by
_other societies of different kinds, interposing
in support of the prayer of their petition ; for if a party,
who were said to be established by law, were to have the
power, when they thought proper, of attacking any sect or
Party on religious grounds, for conscientious convictions
sake, then there was no party secure; for if the Socialists
were put down to day by the strong arm of the law, the
New Connexion Methodists might be attacked to-mor;ow,
the Old Connexion on the third day. 'the Unitarians or;
the fourth, and there would be neither peace nor security
for either person, property, or opinion.—(Hear, hear,
and cheers.) It was, therefore, not only the interest,
but the duty,—not merely of the Socialist body—but it
was thy, duty of every man and woman who valued liberty
of conscience, liberty of person, and everything that
was dear to man, to rally round this standard of free-
dom which they were now determined to raise, and never
to flinch from it until by the power and the influ.
once of morality and philosophy they were enabled to
I put down these persecutors, under whatever name or mask
they might appear, and show to them how feeble and fruit-
less were their efforts to stifle free inquiry.--(Cneers.-
He had heard it said that females had been induced, or ra-
ther seduced, in Liverpool, and probably in Manchester
and other parts of the country, to sign petitions for the
purpose of backing up the Bishop of Exeter in his present
intentions; and he had no hesitation m saying that the
term "seduced" was properly applied to the very means
which had been adopted to obtain their signatures to these
petitions, for he was well aware that the parties, some
of whose names had been given to them to-r!ight. had
so grossly misrepresented their principles and intentions,
and the natural consequences which they interpreted
would follow from those principles end intentions which
they had so misrepresented, that the ladies of various
parts of the kingdom had been induced to subscribe their
names te petitions to her Majesty praying the Govern.
ment to put them down. Now he would suggest that those
husbands who had wives, that those men who had sisters,
or other female friends to whom they could explain fully
and IYeely what those principles were, that there should be
a petition from the females of Manchester and its neigh-
bourhood seconding the proposition which had been made
to-night ; and thus let the Bishop of Exeter, and the
others that might support him, see that there
females of honourable charamer, and of pure rnwein
were determined to support their husbands, their
and their brothers, in their present holy cause..—(
e were many
minds, who
their fathers,
and their brothers, in their present holy cause...-...( Che
As there were various other resolutions to come beeror.e)
them, and speakers to support them, it would be asking
too much cf them to hear hint much
longer
upon the pre-
sent resolution. All he would ask, in making a few re-
marks in conclusion, was, that if signatures were e to be
at-
tached to this petition, he hoped they would be attached in
time. If it was to go from that meeting merely with the
name of the Chairman, as a petition emanating from that
meeting, that they most cordially sanctioned the proceed..