The Sun.
London, England, 1841-10-02 00:00:00

LIVERPOOL.

THURSDAY MORNING.—A requisition to the Mayor,
requesting him to call a public meeting to memorialize
the Queen not to prorogue Parliament, signed by above
3,500, has been fixed for Saturday evening, at seven
o'clock, in the Amphitheatre, by the Mayor.
ANTI-CORN-LAW OPERATIVE SOCIETY.—On Friday
evening a meeting of the Anti-Corn-law Operative As-
sociation was held in the Music Hall, Liverpool. The
time announced for commencing business was half-past
seven, at which time the hall was densely crowded. After
several good speeches from the Chairman and some ope-
ratives, resolutions in conformity with the object of the
meeting were carried amidst enthusiastic cheering.—Li-
verpool-Chronicle.
GREAT MEETING OF THE WORKING CLASSES.
. EXETER, SEPT. 28.—A public meeting of the working
classes and inhabitants generally was convened by the
Working Men's Association, and held at the Subscrip-
tion Rooms yesterday. About 1,000 persons attended,
although the night was exceedingly inclement, and the
rain fell in torrents. W. Wilkinson, Esq., formerly
Mayor of the city, presided.
Mr. SHEEHAN, a member of the Working Men's As-
sociation, moved the first resolution.
The Rev. Dr. PAYNE was received with great cheer-
ing. He said lam here to-night in the character of a
visitor. I heard with great satisfaction that the work-
ing men of this large and populous City are manifest-
ing the deepest sympathy with their fellow brethren all
over the world, and .1 wish to join them in a meeting
of that kind.—(Hear, hear.) Ido not know, Sir, that
I can more properly introduce the few remarks that I
intend to make ti this meeting, than by quoting the
words of a very famous, if I may not add a very distin-
guished man. As it is of importance to quote that lan-
guage with accuracy, I will take care to do so. That
Lieguage is as follows :—" The Paramount duty of
every Government is attention to the interests of the
community, of which the labouring population must form
a great majority. The right of property is instituted
not for the good of the few who possess wealth and
honours, but the many who have them not. If the
majority be deeply injured, the public peace is in dan-
ger ; if the majority be in want of bread, private pro-
perty becomes a nuisance."—(great cheering.) Sir, these
last words are very strong ones—perhaps I should have
hesitated to have expressed them myself, but as they
are the words of another, the responsibility does not
rest upon me, but upon that other. That gentleman
is one of her Majesty's present Ministers—(Cheering)—
one of the monopoly Ministers—no less a man than Sir
James Graham himself.—(Great cheering.) I do feel,
however, and that I am ready to stand forward and say,
that the permanent duty of every Government is atten-
tion to the interests of the community, of w hick the
labouring population form a great majority. That feel-
ing has brought me hither to-night. I know that
the great body of the labouring population of this
country are in a state of the greatest suffering, and
I felt that it became me as a citizen, as a minister of
the gospel of Christ, to come and express the deep
sympathy I feel for them under their present pri-
vations.—(Loud cheers.) I believe, Sir, with Sir James
Graham, that the public peace is in great danger—l
believe that the present is a time of greater peril to the
country than any which the oldest man in this assembly
has ever witnessed.—(Hear, hear, hear.) I know, Sir,
that tens of hundreds, and tens of thousands, of oir
fellow-countrymen want bread.—(Hear, hear.) I know
that many are eating grains and potato peelings, and I
dread—l acknowledge that I contemplate with affright
and alarm the deeds of violence which the worst of all
rebellions—as it has been somewhat fercibly and empha-
tically said—the rebellion of thq belly, and gaunt po-
verty and reckless despair, goaded on by disappointed
lop •—may perpetrate, if that consideration should be
*delayed till February.—(Hear, hear, hear.) Sir, if the
Government of this country can do anything to allevi-
ate the pressure upon the labouring part of the commu-
nity, they are clearly bound to do it—not to do in Fe-
bruary, but to do it now—(Hear, hear)—for who would
venture to take the responsibility which . must rest
upon them—the responsibility of the delay ? When the
employmert for the poor is not half sufficient to meet the
demand of the labourer, and his sufferings are conse-
quently increasing, and when hundreds and thousands
are wanting bread—under these circumstances, I do say
that the country has a right to say to the Government--
for we ought at all times to recollect that the country
does not exist for the Government, but the Government
for the country—(Checrs).the country has a right to
say to the Government, You must not prorogue Parlia-
ment until the state of the country has undergone your
most anxious and most deliberate attention. Sir, it is to
me one of the most frightful features of the present time
that there is a diminished confidence on the part of the
poor in the kindly feelings of the rich—a diminished
confidence on the part of the poor. in the Government
and Legislature of the country to consult their interests
in political measures and movements. A conviction
is, I fear, pervading the great body of the people, that
legislation in England 'has but one eye, and that eye
is constantly fixed upon the rich and the great.—
(Cries of " Ilear, hear," and loud cheers.) A con-
viction is pervading the body of the people,_ that the
aristocracy, that the Government and the Legislature
generally, or rather that the extensive landowners, are
sighing after their long-lost feudal privileges ; that they
hate commerce, because it has destroyed predal slavery,
and converted the serf attached to the soil into a Briton
and a free man.—(Cheers.) I do not say that this is
my opinion. I believe better of human nature. Ido
not think it possible for men to withhold their sympathy
from the suffering part of the population, if the state of
the country were known and believed ; but I fear that
that state is not known—l fear that there is the averted
eye, the incredulous ear, and the unbelieving heart.
I believe that there should be no legislation for a class—
(Hear, hear)—that the Government ought not to legis-
late for one class against another ; therefore I should
object to a protective duty even against the rich in favour
of the poor ; but when that system is reversed—when
there is a protective duty in favour of the rich against
the poor—when it goes to take the pittance from the
latter to swell the riches of the former—(Hear, hear)—
when it goes to interfere with the free exchange of
labour—l say that it is so monstrous, that the nation
should rise as one man, with one voice, and demand
that the blot should be wiped away.—(Loud cheers.)
The CHAIRMAN put the resolution, which was carried
unanimously.
Mr. BESLEY moved the adoption of a memorial to the
Queen, which he read to the meeting.
Mr. STANDLAKE, a member of the working class, se-
conded the memorial, which was unanimously agreed to.
The Rev. 11. ACTON rose, and after some preliminary
observations, said, addressing himself to the Working
Men's Association—You complain, and to me, it ap-
pears, very justly, of the intimation which the present
Prime Minister has given that he does not intend to
bring forward this important question for five months
—not in the present Session of Parliament. Gentlemen,
I scarcely knew how decently to express myself on this
subject. I scarcely know how to characterise this pro-
position of Sir Robert Peel. I call it a cheat, and
a most shameful cheat, on the country.—(Hear, hear,
and cheers.) Most of us who have read the news-
papers must remember what Sir Robert Peel stated. He
said that he thought a dissolution ought to take place im-
mediately, and that there should be no delay, because
the country would be very anxious to have the Parlia-
ment meet together again to know the decision on the
questions brought forward by the late Government, and
that the commercial world might be relieved from the
embarrassment of uncertainty. Well, all this has taken
place, the dissolution was immediate, there was not a
single hour lost ; and there was no blame to be attached
to the late Government for not calling the Parliament
together ngain when elected. Well, then, when Sir R.
Peel is there with the Parliament newly called together,aud
has such a majority as enables him to do what he wishes
—does he bring forward thesequestions ? He does not.
Gentlemen, I know not what course of policy the present
Government may be disposed to adopt next February.
Some persons think they will bring forward a modifica-
tion of the very measures they have opposed. Ido not
expect anything.of the kind. I rather expect it to be a
contrary course, by which they will soon cause them-
selves to be driven from office.—(Hear, hear.) The
Rev. Gentleman concluded by reading the resolution
that the memorial be sent to Mr. Divett for presens
tation, &c.
Mr. lIAMLYN, in rising to second the resolution, said
that he stood in a singular position, as he was not an in-
habitant of the town, and was a landlord.—(Hear.) He
hoped he should not be the worse received for that.
He was a landlord—but he hoped and trusted this had
never influenced him in his conduct on the Corn qnes-
tion. He was happy to say that in the neighbourhood
whore lie lived he did not believe any parishes had sent
up petitions in favour of it.—(Hear, hear.) The real
truth was, that his agricultural friends had not given
that attention to it which they ought to have done, for
if they did they would not have talked of its being a
protection to the farmer.—(Hear, hear.) I grant (said
the Hon. Gentleman) that it may be something to the
landlord, but it is a very uncomfortable protection when
he hears that there is a starving nation.—(Hear, bear.)
The landlord forgets this, thati if we lose, the manufac-
turer we shall lose the best customer we have ; if we do
not fail in corn we shall fail in horn. The deuce a bit
of wool can we get rid of when manufactures are de-
pressed.—(Hear, hear.) The point which ought to be
discussed is whether the Corn-law is beneficial to the
public. The Hon. Gentleman seconded the resolution,
and sat down amidst enthusiastic cheering.
The CHAIRMAN then put the resolution, which was car-
ried unanimously.
Thinks were then voted to the Chairman, and the meet-
ing dispersed.

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DISTRESS IN PAISLEY.
we insert the chief part of a copy of a petition to the
Queen on the subject which was agreed to at the meeting
of ministers of all denominations, held at Paisley on
Monday. From that petition, it will be observed that the
appalling statements of distress made by Mr. Stewart, the
Member for Renfrewshire, on the evening referred to,
are fully borne out ; and it :is also proper to add that
amongst the ministers of Paisley who were present and
agreed to the subjoined document, were Dr. Burns, who
had been for thirty years a parish minister there, and
the Rev. Dr. Baird, who has been settled in Paisley,not
short far of twenty years, both of these gentlerilen
•