The Sun.
London, England, 1841-06-26 00:00:00

TO THE CHARTIST ELECTORS
AND NON-ELECTORS OF THE BOROUGH
OF STOKE-UPON-TRENT.

In consequence of a deputation having waited on John
Lewis Ricardo, Esq., the Liberal candidate for this
borough, for the purpose of ascertaining his sentiments
on points substantially stated in a subsequent part of this
address,—we, the Committee of the Hanley Charter
Association, on hearing the result of this interview,
have decided on putting forth an address on the present
important occasion, for the purpose of setting us right
with the public. and preserving a good understanding
among ourselves.
It might occur at the coming election for this borough,
that some Chartist electors may support the Conserva-
tive candidates, and apologise for so doing, on the
ground that the Chartists, as a body, recommend such a
proceeding. To prevent this being the case, we con-
sider it necessary to express our dissent from, and our
disapprobation of, such conduct, unless such electors
can prove that they can do so conscientiously, and with
a sincere belief that, by so doing, they are promoting
the best interests of the country, and the welfare of this
borough ; conclusions which we are persuaded must be
very difficult to arrive at under existing circumstances,
and for the following reasons :-
1. Because Mr. Ricardo is not an unconditional sup-
porter of either Whig or Tory faction ; but a supporter
of good and useful measures, emanate from whom they
may.
2. Because, by not belonging to either political party,
he will be guided by the increasing wants and intern •
gence of the age.
3. Because Mr. Ricardo will present any petitions of
a constitutional kind, irrespective of the rank and condi-
tion of the petitioners, and endeavour to the utmost of his
power, to obtain for such petitions, the attention which
their importance demands.
4. Because, from all we can gather from the speeches
and writings of the Conservative candidates for this bo-
rough, we are come to the conclusion, that they have no
sympathy for the sufferings of the people, and propose
no measure at all calculated, in our opinion, even to mi-
tigate the wide-spreading distress which so severely
afflicts this once prosperous and happy country.
We, the Committee, therefore, are of opinion, for the
foregoing reasons, that there is a decided and striking
difference in the claims of the respective candidates ; and
we feel assured, that no Chartist elector can be left in
doubt as to the course he ought to adopt ; and we confi-
dently expect that every Chartist elector will value his
political consistency and love of principle, above every
selfish consideration ; thereby setting an example of
virtuous patriotism to those who are either influenced by
party feeling or mmenary motives.
In conclusion, we. hope a careful examination of the
reasons before stated, will not only suppress hostility,
but induce those that are disposed to neutrality, to throw
off their indifference,. in order that all Chartist electors
and non-electors may make a combined, bold, and vi-
gorous effort, in connection with the rest of their neigh-
bours, to secure the triumphant return of Ricardo as
representative for this long-misrepresented Borough.
Chartist Committee Room, Hanley, ,June 21.

THE METHODISTS AND TILE

TORIES.

The Tories are now busily playing off all the arts of
cajolery, for their own benefit, upon the Wesleyan Metho-
dists. "Coining their cheeks to smiles," they are now the
humble applicants for votes ; and while in their hearts
they hate the Methodists, they are basely presenting
themselves before them as their friends ; • and at the same
time, with still greater baseness, they are labouring to
distort and misrepresent the opinions held by their poli-
tical opponents. To ascertain the real sentiments of the
Tories we must examine their conduct at a period when
a general election was not in anticipation • and the fol-
lowing extracts from one of their own periodicals, form-
ing part of a notice of the Rev. Thomas Jackson's book,
entitled " The Centenary of Wesleyan Methodism,"
r will aid their judgment in coming to a conclusion on the
matter. These atrocious statements were published in
the month of October, 1839, and the periodical in which
they appeared is The Church Magazine. Can any Wes-
leyan, after reading them, conscientiously exercise the
elective franchise in favour of a Tory ? Will he not
feel that the Tories, as a party, are without a paralle for
meanness and duplicity ? As wise men, let the Wes-
leyans exercise their powers of thought—let them take
heed that they do not inflict a wrong upon the commu-
nity by the use they make of the right of voting—and
after calm consideration, let every man fearlessly do his
duty to his country, as his judgment and his conscience
may dictate. . .

EXTRACTS.
ON THE CENTENARY CELEBRATION.

The morning's proceedings we dare say will pass off
pretty decently; but we shudder at the bare idea of what
will take place at their evening meetings, and especially
at what they, term their " prayer meetings." The
" prayer meetings " we allude to are those held after the
more regular evening services, and extended often to a
late hour of the night, and are more suitable for darkness
than light. The last of the kind we attended was in one
of the largest towns in England. The singing, the pray-
ing, the raving, the screaming, with the profanity of
what expressions and phrases could be-understood, com-
posed such a scene of uproar, as no person who has
never seen any thing of the kind can imagine, to say no-
thing of the indecent conduct of the young women and
men, who were prominent actors in the business. But
we will hope, even against hope, that the business of the.
day, and of the night also, will pass over in a more decent
manner than we anticipate. We mention the subject
for the purpose of guarding the public against giving
any countenance to any such outbreaks of fanaticism,
profanity, and sin.

ON THE WESLEYAN PREACHERS.

Mr. Jackson has placed upon the title page of his book
the passage of holy writ—Genesis 49, xxii., xxiv. We
never saw a grosser perversion of the word of God in
our lives. And if such be the way in which the Scrip-
tures are perverted by the President, who is a sort of
temporary Pope, what can be expected from the less in-
formed teachers, many of whom are utterly ignorant of
the Bible, as well as extremely illiterate ? It is awful
to contemplate the mischief that is doing to the souls of
men by the perversions of the Scriptures, which the
teachers of Dissent, and more especially the lower
teachers of Wesleyanism, put forth in their preachings.