The Sun.
London, England, 1848-11-08 00:00:00

TIIE ROYAL MERSEY YACHT
CLUB.
TESTIMONIAL TO THOMAS LITTL'ADALE, ESQ,
It will be in the recollection of our rfaders tha' at a
recant meeting of the Itoyd Mersey. yadit, -
lution was 'entered iwo to pris,nt iveir C ano,
Thomas Littledale, Esq., with a testimonirerr 1,
spo.ct for, and admiratio-a of, his manly ant hum e,:o-
duct on board Its yacht, tin. Q toy n thv Oc..ar :n the
occadon ot the loss of the (1: Mocar( h
lution has beets carried int.i eifec.; a;:d
gallant Commodore was ente 4 rta;;l, at, ,-
banquet by his brother. y,:chters of the Ito} =:1
Ciub, at thAr rooms. wht, h wor.. t!.•
fully fitted up for the
models of yachts, t. 114),.
emhkms.

,rmnod.re,

ot their re-

r so-

the

In pursuance of the at,
substantial math of the esti _. ____ . -
dale, for his heroic conduct, thane mere invitalon to
dinner was resolved upon; and for that purp se an ele-
gant massive gold snuff box was subserite d for, and
which was presented to him on Monday. This box, which
is 4i inches long by 3i; broad, and which is valued
for 100 guineas, is certainly one of the chastest
and most perfect spoeimens of wo: kmanship which we
have beheld. On the top is a fin,: representation of the
dreadful calamiLy which is sough: to be commemorated
by the testimonial, taken from the drawing of .that dire
event which was recently published by Mr. H. Melling,
the hon. secretary of the club, and which has been so
much admired. In a small semicircular niche'above the
design is placed the crest of the club, and the whole is
surrounded by a deep, massive, and well-worked margin,
in alto relief, of scroll and foliated trellis work. The
sides are sectionally of the ogee shape, chased and
highly ornamented. On the front side of the box is the
arms of Mr. Littledale; the back 'being free from any
design. On the bottom, which is protected by a massive
border, on which it: is intended to slide round a table,
when so used, there is a rich engraving of a " sailing
prow," or ancient vessel, approaching land, with a neat
villa and wooded country in the back ground. On the
interior of the lid is the following appropriate in-
scription :
(
" Presented by the members of the Royal Mersey
Yacht Club to their Commodore, Thomas Littledale,
Esq., as a memorial of their admiration of the humanity
he displayed on board his yacht, the Queen of the Ocean,
in saving, under circumstances of great difficulty, the
lives of thirty• two of the crew and passengers belonging
to the emigrant ship Ocean Monarch, of Boston, which -
was destroyed by fire in the bay of Abergele, on Thura.
day, the 24th of August, 1848."
The arrangements for the comfort and satisfaction of
the guests, who were about seventy in number, were of
the most excellent kind. The cuisine and wines were
supplied by that prince of caterers, Mr. Lynn of the
Waterloo, and, on this ioccasion, it is but justice to say
that he fully sustained his already well-earned name.
The chair was occupied by the Earl of Sefton, on whose
right sat the Commodore Thomas Littledale, Esq. ; E.
Cardwell, Esq., M.P. ; Admiral Grenfell ; Captain
Froes ' • Captain Lisboa ; and Bramley Moore, Esq. ;
on his left, W. Brown. Esq., M.P. ; Sir Thomas Birch,
M.P. ; and Captain Ward. The vice-chairs were ably
filled by Mr. Fletcher, the cup-bearer of the club, and
Mr. Melling, the Hon. Sec. We also observed amongst
the company Messrs. Harold, Littledale, A. Molyneux,
Edward Watson Lloyd, Conimodore of the Royal Dee
Yacht Club; Parker, Moss,'Bennett, Lieutenant Lord, W.
Perry, E. Littledale, J. Holmes, J. Woodhouse, W. D.
Bold. S. P. Hope, T. Birchill, H. Brideson, of Man-
cheitei, G. Follett, of Chester, F. Peel, R. M'Lean, and
S. Bright.
The good things of the table having been done ample
justice to and the cloth removed,
The CHAIRMAN rose, and, in a neat and elegant
speech gave " The health of her Most Gracious Majesty
the Queen, Duchess of Lancaster, our Royal Patroness."
Drank with all the loyal honours.
Air—" The National Anthem."
The next toast was " The Queen Dowager ;" which
was followed by " Prince Albe: t and the Royal Family;"
both of which were received with the utmost enthusiasm.
After some other toasts the meeting separated.

re

Ei t

TRIAL By JURY.
Yesterday the 54th anniversary of the triumph of
trial by jury, as exemplified in the acquittal of
Thomas Hardy, John Horne Tooke, John 'fhelwall,
J. Joyce, T. Holcroft, and the other members of the
Corresponding Society, who, in 1794, were tried for
high treason, was celebrated at Radley's Hotel, Black.
friars. Nearly 100 gentlemen sat down to dinner,
Mr. Parry, the barrister, presiding, supported by Mr.
C. Lushington, M.P., Mr. J. Williams, M.P., and
other gentlemen who have taken a prominent part in
the progress of reform being present.
Thecloth having been removed, the Chairman gave
" The Sovereignty of the People," which he believed
to be the best security for the throne and the people.
The toast was drunk with enthusiastic applause. The
next toast was "The Queen," and the Chairman in
proposing it said that the sentiment of the majority of
the radical reformers of the country was to unite the
most extensive political reforms with the maintenance
of monarchy.—(Hear.) As far as it was possible for
the sovereign to perform the duties of her station to
the benefit of all classes, and within the pale of the
constitution, her present Majesty had done so.
The toast was given with three times three and up-
standing.
Mr. C. LIISHINGTON, M.P., having returned thanks
for the drinking of his health, proceeded to give the
toast of the evening, " Trial by Jury." He ex-
pressed his gratification at seeing so large a company
assembled to do honour to the acquittal of those pa-
triots who had jeopardised their lives in the cause of
truth and liberty, and in opposing the machinations of
a tyrannical Ministry, a corrupt Parliament, and a
despotic Sovereign—for George 111., though not a
despot by law, was by his opinions and acts as much
a despot as he dared to be; and had he been permitted
to govern the nation as he wished, he would have re-
duced the people of this country to the condition of
Russian serfs. Witness his arbitrary treatment of
America, his causeless wars with France, his op-
pression of Ireland—especially of the Catholic
population of that country—and his fierce exercise
of the prerogative. A man who in those
days hissed at the King on his road to the
House of Lords was punished by the pillory and five
years' imprisonment. Looking at past events our
feelings could be only those of exultation and con,
gratulation that the men who ventured their lives
escaped unscathed--thanks to the jury who pro-
nounced them not guilty of crime—their only offence
being that they were the advocates of an extension of
the suffrage and the shortening of the duration of
Parliaments. But for that 'verdict we might at this
time be sutkring from triumphant tyranny. It was
remarkable that notwithstanding the defeat of the
Ministry in the acquittal of these men, they ventured
to renew their attack on the freedom of the people,
and that Parliament conspired to sanction them. In
1796 Lord Granville brought in his Bill for the
better security of the King's person, which provided
that no public assembly should come together to
consider any public measure except in the presence of
a magistrate, which magistrate was empowered to dis-
miss such assembly, and to pronounce arbitrarily as to
what he might consider to be sedition, or what in the
language of the present day was "open and advised
speaking."—(Hear, and a laugh.) Another Bill to
prevent seditious meetings was afterwards passed, a
clause being inserted by the then scoundrelly House
of Commons, providing that if at a meeting of fifty
persons twelve remained after the magistrate desired
them to retire, they were to suffer death without th 6
benefit of clergy. In rejoicing that the times had
passed when such scenes were enacted, let them do
justice to the honoured names of those who, when the
task was more dangerous than now, had stood forward
as the champions of popular rights, and had opposed
themselves to the power of a corrupt Court and a
tyranniCal Monarch by pronouncing a verdict of " Not
guilty." It was with great pleasure that he proposed
the oast, " Trial by Jury, the great bulwark of
British liberty." The toast was drunk with much
cheering.
The CHAIRMAN then gave, " The memory of T.
Hardy, J. Horne Tooke, J. Thelwall, J. A. Bonny,
Stewart Kyd, R. Hodgson, T. Holcroft, J. Joyce,
T. Wardle, M. Moore, J. Baxter, and J. Ritchter "
which, contrary to custom, was also drunk with loud
cheers. " The memory of the Scottish Martyrs—.
Thomas Muir, J. Gerrald, M. Margarot, Fyshe Pal-
mer, and W. Scirving ;" " The memory of the London
Corresponding Society ;" "The memory of the Three
Juries who acquitted Tooke and the rest of the ac-
cused, and Erskine and Gibbs, their able and gra-
tuitous counsel ;" " A radical reform of all classes
and a true representation of the British people in the
Commons' House of Parliament ;" " Success to the
nations of Europe in their endeavours to obtain con-
stitutional liberty—may the power of enlightened
publiC opinion attain and secure for the people the
possession of equal political and civil rights;" and.
" The Radical party in the House of Commons, and
the healths of Messrs. Lushington and Williams,"
were subsequently given and acknowledged, and after
the customary compliment to the chairman the meet-
ing separated.

METROPOLITAN SEWAGE MANURE COMPANY...--
The ordinary half-yearly meeting of this company took
place yesterday at the offices of the company, in the
Waterloo-place. The report stated that the works were
so far complete as to be in active and effective operation,
and that the whole district of Fulham Fields was inter.
sected with the company's mains and service pipes, and,
that the financial situation of the company was sound
and encouraging. In the course of the proceedings the
chairman stated that the differences between the COW.
missioners of Sewers
had been ftually settled and th© directors of the Qm. •
Y. .

8 pt
So that if the 4.404 'Se
purchase-money' will be repaidp of interest
and dividend in three and, a half years, and if eight
per cent., in two and a half years, from the date of
the purchase.—l am,-.Sir; yours olwdit=wly,
CHRLES POWNALL, Jun.
Noy.'7, 1848.