The Sun.
London, England, 1867-10-18 00:00:00

'ME SLTN. LONDON. FRIDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 18, 1,3t7

NQUET 70 TILE EARL OF DERBY AT
MiINCHESTER.

MANCHESTER, Thursday Evening.

The grand banquet to the Earl of Derby and her
Majesty's Ministers, for which preparations on the
most magnificent scale have been so long made by
the Conservative party in Manchester, took place
this evening in the Free Trade Hall.
Covers were laid for 900 guests ; and the galleries
of the spacious hall, which were most tastefully de-
corated, were crowded with ladits connected with
the leading Conservative families of the county and
city. The Countess of Derby was present.
The Hon. A. Egerton. M.P. for South Lanca-
shire, presided, and Mr. W. R. Callender, jun., and
Mr. Hugh Birley occupied the vice-chairs.
The guests at the principal tables, in addition to
the noble Premier, who sat on the right of the chair-
man, were the Earl of Malmesbury, Lord Stanley,
M.P., Sir John Pakington, M.P., the Earl of Mayo,
M.P., Lord J. Manners, M.P., the Right Hon. C.
B. Adderley, M.P., Colonel Wilson Patten, ➢I.P.,
the Right lion. J. Mowbray, M.P., the Earl of
Wilton, Earl Vane, the Earl of Denbigh, the Earl
of Shrewsbury and Talbot, Lord Ernest Vane, Sir
J. Fergusson, M.P., Sir J. 11. Maxwell, Sir Thomas
Hesketh, M.P., the Solicitor-General for Scotland,
the Solicitor-General for Ireland, Sir J. Yorke Scar-
lett ; Messrs. E. C. Egerton, M.P., S. R. Graves,
M.P., Charles Turner, M.P., Colonel Taylor, M.P.,
Colonel Gray, M.P., Joseph Fielding, M.P., G.
Greenall, M.P., N. Eckersley, M.P. ; llon. F.
Stanley, M.P. ; W. 11. Hornby, M.P., Viscount
Nevill, Sir J. Garvock ; Messrs. 11. C. Rackes, W.
B. Ferrand, Admiral Hornby, Rev. Canon Hornby,
the Archdeacon of Manchester, Messrs. T. C.
Wilkinson, C. A. Steward, W. S. Sawyer, Joseph
Fenton, Thomas Slatter, H. Gartside, James Tyre,
William Gibb, It. S. Sowler, Q.C., Christopher
Temple, Q.C., T. W. Tattoo, W. J. Legg, J. W.
Maclure, John Monk, Q.C., General the Hon. Jas.
Lindsay, Colonel Wroughton, and the Rey. Canon
Birch.

The noble Premier and his colleagues on taking
their seats were received with several rounds of
enthusiastic applause.

The usual loyal toasts baying been proposed from
the chair, and enthusiastically responded to,
The CHAIRMAN p7oposed the "Army, Navy, and
Volunteers."

Sir J. PAKINGTON acknowledged the toast on
behalf of the army. The right hon. baronet was
sure that it must be most gratifying to the officers
and soldiers of the British army to be able to rely
on the confidence and good opinion of their fellow-
countrymen. At the present time this was some-
thing more than an ordinary compliment at a time
when a large British force was about to proceed on
an important and distant service. He must say
that he had observed with the deepest regret the
tone of alarm and discouragement with which this
expedition was in some quarters regarded, but all
he could say was that he could not see the slightest
reason or ground for these feelings. British soldiers
had always been accustomed to difficulties, but they
had always overcome much greater difficulties than
they were likely to encounter on this occasion. The
Government had undertaken this expedition with
the greatest reluctance and regret, but under a d ep
conviction that they had no other honourable option.
It was impossible under the arrangement to aban-
don the diplomatic servants of the Crown, and they
felt they were bound to act in the interests of jus-
tice. For his own part he had little doubt but the
exertions of our gallant troops would be crowned
with honour and victory. (Loud cheers.)
The Earl of SHREWSBURY also, in replying to the
toast, said that, as an independent member of the
House of Lords, he considered the course taken by
the noble earl at the head of the Government with
respect to Reform as most patriotic and honourable,
and he, for one, gave him hearty thanks for it. The
Whigs, having failed to redeem the pledges which
they had put into the mouth of the Sovereign, it
became the imperative duty of the noble earl to try
and redeem those pledges and to retrieve the good
faith of Parliament—in that attempt the noble earl
and hi 3 colleagues hal most happily succeeded.
(Cheers.)
The CHAIRMAN next proposed the toast of the
evening, the " llealth of the Earl of Derby, Prime
Minister of England." He said the numerous and
influential gathering there that day was an indica-
tion that the Conservative party was satisfied with
the political conduct of Lord Derby, since by a fac-
tious opposition he was displaced from office in 1859.
He thought the party were fully entitled to congra-
tulate themselves not only upon the conduct of busi-
ness in the House of Lords, but upon the brilliant
_manner in which the work in the Lower house had
been managed by Mr. Disraeli. The present Minis-
try was composed of men anxious and zealous to do
their duty and to rectify existing abuses. lle be-
lieved that during the short time they had been in
office they had done much to improve the general
condition of the country, and in every branch of the
Government the principal offices were admirably
filled. They were now met to strengthen the hands
of the Government, and the noble guest that even-
ing might rest assured that he had a most influen-
tial body of supporters not only in Manchester, but
throughout the southern division of the county of
Lancaster. Bad it been possible for the health of
the noble Earl to have permitted him to address a
meeting of the working men of Manchester there
would have been a gathering compared to which the
present demonstration was a mere fleabite. (Cheers.)
The working classes would never forget the services
which Lord Derby had rendered to them during the
cotton famine, and the sacrifices which he had made
in time and purse on their behalf. (Cheers.) lie
begged to give "The Health of Lord Derby, the
Prime Minister."

The toast was drunk with great enthusiasm, and
the Earl of Derby on rising to respond was received
with a perfect ovation, the whole assembly, includ-
ing the ladies on the side galleries, rising en masse,
and waving handkerchiefs and favours.

The noble Earl said—Mr. Chairman, my Lords,
Ladies, and Gentlemen—Even if my physical powers
were far greater than at the present moment, unfor-
tunately, they are 1 should be utterly incapable of
adequately expressing to this vast assembly the deep
sense of gratitude which I entertain for the enthu-
siastic reception which they have been kind enough
to give me upon the present occasion, and for the
splendid demonstration which they have this day
been pleased to exhibit of their approval of the
course pursued in the last eventful session, more
especially by my hon. colleagues and myself.
(Cheers.) From those colleagues I cannot allow
my name to be separated, and although the terms
of the toast proposed by the chairman are limited
to myself alone, I am deeply grateful to him for
having combined with the mention of any services
I have performed the great assistance I have de-
rived from many by whom I am surrounded, with
whose friendship I have been honoured for many
years, and without whose assistance it would have
been impossible to obtain the success which we have
achieved. More especially I must participate in the
regret expressed by the hon. chairman at the absence
of one of those colleagues, to whose tact, temper,
and judgment it was mainly owing that that ar-
duous undertaking in which they were engaged did
not result, instead of a triumphant success, in a dis-
astrous failure. (Cheers.) I need not say to you
who have watched the course of events that among
the dAcultivs which appeared to ourselves to be all
but insurmountable, and which nothing but the
strong sense of duty woul.l have induced us
to encounter, nothing could have brought to a suc-
cessful issue the great undertaking in which we
were engaged, except the admirable temper and
judgment with which the Reform Bill was carried
through the House of Commons by my right bon.
friend, and much as he may regret not Icing present
here, no man is more sensible of the good feeling of
his fellow-countrymen ; and, although not present,
he will be deeply gratified by seeing the reports
which cannot fail to reach him of the manner in which
the mention of his name has been received. (Cheers.)
Gentlemen, this is essentially a political meeting; but
I should be wanting in every sense ofgratitude if I did
not refer for a single moment to the compliment
which my hon. friend hae paid me with regard to any
little service which it has been in my power to render
to this city and neighbourhood during the disastrous

period of the cotton famine. (Loud cheers.) I can
only say that on that occasion I did no more than what
I felt it my bounden duty to do, and that was to per-
form to the best of my ability the duties which I
felt to be entailed upon me by the position which I
hold in the county, and the deep interest which I
feel in its prosperity; but I know there are many
others to whom the meed of gratitude is much more
due than to me. (Cries of " No, no.") Yes, gentle-
men, yes ; for they could much less easily afford to
devote their time, attention, and personal services
to the relief of that distress. (Cheers.) But I must
say this, that amidst all the sufferings of that dis-
astrous period there was one thing which struck me
as a matter of consolation and of satisfaction, and
that was to see how in the midst of their sufferings
the middle, the higher, and the lower classes all
combined in one fellowship of feeling. (Loud
cheers.) I saw the manufacturers exerting them-
selves to the utmost, and at a great loss to them-
selves, to mitigate the great suffering of their
hands. I saw the hands submitting with a patience
beyond all praise to sufferings wholly undeserved,
sacrificing their personal comforts, and, without a
murmur, accepting, although with deep regret, and
yet without a feeling of self-degradation, the assist-
ance of public charity in a period of national dis-
tress. (Loud cheers.) The man who at that time
could have withheld his sympathy or assistance
must have been made of very different materials
from that of which I happen to be made. (Renewed
cheers.) But to revert to the purely political por-
tion of the auestion, I may say that upon one occa-
sion, and upon one only in the course of a tolerably
long life, have I received anything like the compli-
ment which you have this day been pleased to be-
stow upon me, and that was under very different and
under less favourable circumstances. In the year
1859 I had the honour of receiving an address from
7,000 of the inhabitants of Liverpool and its neigh-
bourhood, and of being entertained at a banquet
not unworthy of being compared with that which I
have the honour of attending this day, and the ob-
ject of that address and that banquet was on the
part of the Conservatives of Lancashire to ex-
press their unabated confidence in the Minister
who had been just ejected from office in conse-
quence of his defeat—l will not soy by what means
—in his endeavour to carry out a large and com-
prehensive measure of Parliamentary Reform.
(Hear.) You meet to-day under most auspicious
circumstances, you meet with stronger congratula-
tions, with the same Minister, with the same col-
leagues, or many of them, who, with the cordial
concurrence or support of the same Conservative
party, and, I will add, with the generous support of
some of those who are bound to that party by no
ties of political association, but who approved the
course pursued—you meet upon terms of congratu-
lation the:same Minister who in the last session had
the good fortune to carry to a successful issue a
measure which for a long period, at all events dur-
ing my life, has 1 hope put an end to that agitated
and important question of the electoral franchise
which as long as it remained unsettled stood in the
way of all political and social legislation. (Cheers.)
But there is a very strange problem which presents
itself to the consideration of the public at this mo-
ment. Here is a large Conservative gathering, and
it is not the only one throughout the country—a
gathering attended, I hope and believe, by a large
portion of the working classes, congratulating
themselves and the country upon the achievement
of a great measure of Parliamentary Reform. (Hear,
hear.) This is a question which for years and years
the Liberal party have been talking about. (Cheers
and laughter.) But unhappily their efforts have been
confined to talk, and they have expressedimnaense
astonishment that the Conservative party should
have proposed, and still more should have carried,
a Reform Bill. Well, gentlemen, in one respect I
share in that astonishment, because, looking at all
the elements with which we had to contend, it was
a matter of great astonishment that the Conserva-
tive Government should carry a Reform Bill. But
I see nothing surprising in the fact that a Conserva-
tive Government desired sincerely and honestly to
settle the question by carrying such a measure.
(Hear, hear.) I do not want to take you back to
a long historical reminiscence, but let me call your
attention to this fact, that in the last eight years
four Reform Bills have been introduced, two of
them by the Conservative party and two of them by
the great " united Liberal party." (Loud laughter.)
In the year 1859 we thought absolutely essential
that the question should, if possible, be settled, and
we accordingly brought in a bill which very largely
extended the suffrage, though not so largely as the
bill which we fortunately carried this year. Was
that bill opposed by the Conservatives ? No, it was
supported by the Conservatives, and after its re-
jection I received from the large Conservative body
the expression of their confidence in my guidance.
That bill did not pass the second reading, because
it was found expedient, for what reasons I will not
say, by the Liberal party that they should not allow
the measure to come to a second reading, and the
House of Commons refused to allow the further
progress of the bill. In the year 1860 the Govern-
ment that succeeded us brought in a Reform Bill.
Did it meet with any opposition from the Conser-
vatives? None whatever. The Conservative party
supported the second reading, reserving to them-
selves the right to discuss the details of the mea-
sure. That bill was talked out by the Liberal party
(laughter), and from that period, under—l am
speaking of one for whom I may say personally I
entertain a great regard—under what I may call the
soporiferous reign of Lord Palmerston, the question
of Reform was allowed to sleep. (Laughter). In
1865 the Government brought forward the question
of Reform. Was any opposition offered to the
second reading of the bill by the Conservative
party? None. The second reading was allowed
to pass, the discussion was confined merely to the
supporters of the Government and the " united "
Liberal party. (Cheers and laughter.) If the Con-
servatives had anything to do with the rejection of
the measure it was shared in by a considerable
number of the opposite party. In 1867 we intro-
duced a bill for the reform of Parliament. On two
successive occasions we had allowed the second
reading of the Reform Bill to pass; on one occa-
sion our Reform Bill had been rejected, and it
was, thanks to the more independent members
of the Liberal party, that our last bill was not
thrown out on its second reading, which it would
have been if Mr. Gladstone had had his own way.
(Loud cheers.) Now, after these recitations, what
ground is there for saying that the Conservatives as
a body have been opposed to a well-considered, safe,
and liberal measure of Reform? (Cheers.) There
were many of the Conservative party who would
have been well satisfied that the question should
never have been raised at all, and, speaking in the
entire confidence in which I may address so limited a
number of persons—(laughter)---I may venture to
say that there were not a few of the Liberal party
who would not have been satisfied to allow the ques-
tion of Reform to rest, and allow themselves to
maintain the reputation of being ardent supporters
of Reform, but being impeded in their course by the
stupid, obstinate, bigoted Tories. Among the Con-
servatives and among the Liberal party there were
a great many who would have been satisfied if the
question had been allowed to rest, but the Conser-
vatives knew that if the existing settlement was to
be disturbed it was absolutely necessary to base the
legislation on some sound and intelligent principle
which should leave no ground for future agitaticn;
that if we were to fix on any principle whatever, no
principle whatever could be so safe and sound as the
occupation of premises and the submission to the
liabilitioss and bunions imposed in consequence of
that occupation. I do not at all blame the late Go-
vernment for having brought forward the question
of Reform, but what I do find fault with them for is
this—that they did not ascertain accurately what
was the feeling and disposition of the country and
the House of Commons, that they did not fix on any
definite principle on which to establish Reform, that
they made a reduction from £lO to £7 or £6, I for-
get which—(laughter)—really I do—(continued
laughter)—but of this I am assured, that if there had
been any attempt to deviate from the figure of £lO,
which had stood as a matter of prescription for 30
years, it was impossible to fix on any figure—whe-
ther £7, £6, or £5, as the precise figure to which the
franchise should be extended, and below which per-

sons should not be allowed to vote. I think that was
the great mistake made bytheGovernment of 186b,but
a greater mistake still was that of imagining that any
Government bad the power of driving the House of
Commons into the adoption of any measure which
they thought unnecessary. (Cheers.) I know the
House of Commons pretty well ; I had about 22
years' experience in that House, and I have watched
its proceedings since that time, and I know that it
is a body easily led by those in whom it has confi-
dence; but it is a body which will not be driven by
any person. (Cheers.) The mistake which the
late Government made was this, that without suffi-
cient examination of the consequences, without
sufficiently feeling the pulse of the Lower House,
they brought in an incomplete, imperfect measure,
and having done so declared that by it
.they would
stand or fall, that they had crossed the Rubicon
and that they had burnt their boats, that they had
cut off all chance of retreat, and in so doing I must
say they cut off all chance of success. (Loud
cheers and laughter.) And now it is curious to
examine on what the defence of the Government
turns. It may be supposed that it was on the
amount of the franchise. Not in the least. The
question was whether the householder should pay
the rates or whether he should be entitled to vote
because he paid the rent. I think that is a very im-
portant principle, because the best test of solvency,
whether a man occupies to the extent of £3 or £2O,
is that he shall be able to bear the burdens imposed
by the State. (Cheers.) On that question the late
Government felt it their duty to resign their office.
In that I think they acted like honourable men. I
speak in all sincerity, and I believe their resignation
was absolutely sincere, that they did not intend to
make it a mock or a sham resignation ; but I think
in resigning office they could not but have had in
view what their successors would have to encounter.
(Cheers and laughter.) I confess to you that the
responsibility and the arduous nature of those diffi-
culties were such that I hesitated before I could he
induced to accept the Labour and the responsibility
which they would throw upon me ; and nothing
would have induced me to overcome my reluctance
to accept them except the sense of the duty I owed
in the first place to my Sovereign, who had been
pleased to call upon me to form a Government, and,
next, my unwillingness to make a public confession
of my inability to serve the Crown, because the
acknowledgment, not so much of my personal in-
ability, but of that of the Conservative party to
form a Government, would have had the effect of
deteriorating the position of the Conservative party
in undertaking the future responsibilities and the
duties of office. (Cheers.) I felt that I was bound
to look to the position in which I stood—that Re-
form, even if I wished it could have been postponed
or defeated, was out of the question ; to bring for-
ward a measure short of that which had been pro-
duced by the late Government would equally have
subjected me to ignominious discomfiture ; and, re-
garding boldness as safety, I thought the only course
to be pursued was that I should obtain the concur-
rence of the Conservative party to make a large
and liberal addition to the electoral franchise, rest-
ing on a sound and definite principle, and obsti-
nately to oppose any attempts to disturb that posi-
tion. (Cheers.) Gentlemen, it is a matter of the
merest gratitude on my part to say that to the Con-
servative party I am deeply indebted for the man-
ner in which—placing entire confidence in her Ma-
jesty's Ministers—they concurred in the large and
extensive measure we felt it our duty to propose.
(Loud cheers.) Nay, more; I would say this, that
when under the apprehension of losing three of our
most valued colleagues we were induced to depart
from our original intention and to propose a bill of
less extent than that originally designed, it was not
less by the objections of the Conservative than the
Liberal party that we were induced to abandon that
minor and inferior measure, and to adhere to that
larger and infinitely more satisfactory measure
which, I am happy to say, has now become the law
of the land. (Loud cheers.) And now, gentle-
men, what is to be the result of this great measure ?
(Hear, hear.) It is a serious question, and one well
deserving the grave attention of all those interested
in the well-being of the country. I am teld that I
used (perhaps I did) an imprudent expression in
saying that this measure was, to a certain extent,
"a leap in the dark." It was—it is—and it is im-
possible that you can extend the electoral franchise
to any large. body of your fellow countrymen
with absolute certa;aty as to the manner in
which they may use that franchise, and
with the knowledge which, indeed, it is impossible
to obtain of the number of persons who may be en-
titled to possess the franchise. But, as I said before,
I thought that in this case boldness was safety--
(cheers) ; and I will add that the experience that I
had in the period of the cotton distress, which has
been referred to, of the many and excellent qualities
of the working classes, more especially in this dis-
trict, led me to form such an opinion of their intel-
ligence, their reasonableness, their sound sense, and
their absence from personal and social prejudice, to
believe that they could, without danger, be intrusted
with that share in the representation of the country
which the recent Act has largely intrusted to their
hands. (Cheers.) I believe that what are called
the working classes, but what would be more pro-
perly designated as the wage-paid classes—those
who depend upon daily, weekly, or monthly wages
—1 believe that they are sound at heart and core.
(Cheers.) I have the greatest confidence in their
loyalty as a body to the throne and the institutions
of the country. I believe—l won't say if the person
of the Sovereign, but if the Throne were to be
threatened they would rise as one man in its defence.
(Great cheering.) I believe they are deeply attached
to the institutions of the country, and that, although
many of them are not members of her communion,
they respect it, and do not desire as a body to sub-
vert the Established Church of the country—(cheers)
—which is of all establishments known on the face
of the earth the most tolerant and the most liberal
—(cheers)—a Church which gives the largest lati-
tude to its own members, a latitude which I am
afraid of late times has been rather abused; a Church
which is not only tolerant of but has welcomed, and
cordially welcomed, the efforts of her dissenting
brethren to join in their common struggle against
vice, infidelity, ignorance, and immorality; a Church,
moreover, which has served as a standard by which
Dissenting denominations may measure themselves,
and as an object on which they may look, not with
a feeling of jealousy, but with a desire to unite in
serving their common Lord and Master. I believe
the working classes of this country liave a deep respect
for the old-fashioned families of this country. (Cheers)
I do not believe that they desire to alter the consti-
tution of the House of Lords, representing, as it
does, hereditary rights and privileges, and recruited
as it is from day to day and year to year from the
ranks of the commonalty, and thereby constantly
receiving an infusion of fresh blood, which prevents
it from becoming a body apart from the rest of the
community. I believe, further, that they entertain
a deep respect for the legislative wisdom of the
House of Commons, and that their wisdom and re-
spect will only be increased by their accession to
privileges from which they have been hitherto de-
barred. (Cheers.) I know, gentlemen, that I
have detained you at considerable length. (Cheers,
and cries of " Go on.") There is, however, one
most important subject upon which I must speak,
and you must bear with me for a while. I claim
that during the whole course of my political and
private life I have been, and I will continue to be,
th:., friend and well-wisher of the working classes,
and I think I know those cla=ses well enough, and
more especially in this my own immediate neigh-
bourhood, to know this, that there is nothing they
wish for so much as plain speaking and plain deal-
ing, and I venture in their presence, I hope of
many of them—and I trust my words may reach
many of those which are not present—l venture to
warn them against one danger which I in common
vrith others foresee as a possible consequence of the
great measure which we have given. Apprehen-
sions are entertained that the working men, not
satisfied with overcoming that political influence to
which they aro entitled, will be disposed to lend
themselves as dupes to designing persons, who may
endeavour to cajole them with the idea of return-
ing irepreseeitatives to Parliament, with loud pro-
fessions of being the only friends of the working
classes, and of being sent to Parliament specially

to promote legislative measures intended to conduce
to their welfare. Now, I believe that there never
was a Parliament more disposed than the present to
look to the interests of the working classes, and to
consult for their benefit. I can only hope that the
next Parliament may be equally desirous of effect-
ing that object, and equally acquainted with the best
modes of carrying it into effect. But I warn as a
friend—as an earnest and sincere friend, and speak-
ng from the deepest conviction, I warn the work-
ing classes not to be led away by the flattering de-
lusion of men who will tell them that they can
induce Parliament to pass a measure of exceptional
legislation for their especial and immediate benefit.
They c innot induce, I hope, any Parliament to pass
any such measure, and if such a measure were to be
passed the workmen would find to their misfortune
that it was the greatest injury that could be done
them—l mean a measure attempting to regulate
the rate of wages. To interfere between labour
and capital is beyond the legislation of any Parlia-
ment, and indeed it would be, in short, only to lead
Parliament to adopt such a course of legislation as
has been recommended in some of the by-laws we
have heard so much of lately in connexion with the
various Trades' Unions in the country. Do not
let me be misunderstood. I am no adversary or
opponent of Trades' Unions. I think that, con-
fined to their legitimate object, they are useful and
salutary instruments for maintaining the rights of
the labouring classes—(cheers)—and 43 years ago I
was a member of the House of Commons which
first recommended and succeeded in carrying the
abolition of those laws which made it illegal for
workmen to agree to combine together not to work
under a certain amount of wages. I, therefore,
hope that what I say may belunderstood as not pro-
ceeding from one who desires to oppress the work-
ing man. I say that even strikes, objectionable as
they are in principle, and injurious as they are to
the working classes, are not an illegitimate or an
illegal mode of proceeding. I say that if capital
and labour cannot agree together, the only mode of
bringing them together is the absence of one or the
other—the capital to employ the labour, or the
labourer to give the capital. I go further, and I
say that so long as Trades' Unions are charitable
associations, and their contributions go to the relief
of those who are thrown out of work by no fault
of their own, they are unobjectionable and meri-
torious ; but from the disclosures we have recently
heard it appears they have gone far be-
yond these acts. I do not mean to refer
to those gross acts of intimidation, picketing, rat-
tening, and acts leading to murder. They are acts
which no person will defend, and the members of
Trades' Unions themselves shrink from acknow-
ledging their participation in them; but I say that
these associations go beyond their limits when they
agree not only themselves not to work, but to pre-
vent and intimidate other persons from working.
For my own part, looking to the public and private
interests of the members, I cannot for the life of
me understand how English workmen, entitled to
make the most of their own industry and science,
can submit to the tyranny under which they are
groaning. (Cheers.) Gentlemen, the whole course
of our legislation for the last, I won't say how many
years, has been a protest against class legislation.
It has been an argument in favour of the free ad-
mission of all foreign goods, an argument in favour
of free trade, an argument opposed to all class pro-
tection. What would you say if, in the city of
Manchester, Government were to impose, as in
Continental countries, an octroi duty on the im-
portation of every article of agricultural produce ?
The whole city would be in an uproar; and yet you
submit to the by-laws of associations which say that
not only shall a tax be paid, but that not a single
brick shall be laid in Manchester that is imported
from a foreign country, from beyond a single dis-
trict, even from beyond the breadth of a canal. We
are speaking here in the Free Trade-hall. What do
you say of by-laws which say that not a stone shall
be worked in a quarry, to save an enormous addi-
tional amount of labour in carting it to the place
where it is to be deposited, but that it shall be
brought in bulk and worked by the workmen, and
if it should have been worked in the quarry, then
the farce is to be gone through of working it again
by workmen in Manchester? If this system is to
prevail what is to become of your threshing machines
and your steam ploughs, your mowing and reaping
machines ? You would have to resort to your old
flail and other obsolete implements, and in manu-
factures to old handloom weaving; you would have
to do away with the power-loom and all
those inventions of genius which, while
they have multiplied to an indefinite amount
the productive capital of the country, have
at the same time multiplied to an extent
almost equally indefinite the amount and number of
persons employed. I say that the British workman
would do well seriously to consider these things.
Let me add that I have now been for two and forty
years a married man, and let me alvise the workmen
when they fall into any difficulty to consult their
wives. (Cheers and laughter.) If the workmen are
the bread winners, their wives are the bread mana-
gers, and let them ask their wives and children, if
they can answer for themselves, what they think in
the long run they have gained from those strikes
which they have carried on with so much persever-
ance and so much loss, greatly to the advantage of
those who apply the strings and manage the puppet ?
(Cheers.) It is a great disadvantage to the honest
man, who is desirous of making the most of his in-
dustry, for such a man is prohibited from turning
his own skill to his advantage. Can there be a greater
restriction upon the labouring man ? What is the
capital of the labouring man ? It is his labour, and
really if these societies are to prevent a man from
making the most of his labour, it is simply to put
the idle, the indolent, and worthless upon the same
footing as the intelligent and industrious, and to
bring all labour down to a dead level, and to increase
the expense of all work that depends on that labour
not only by increased wages, but also by the uncer-
tainty which prevailsonthperpicaerst, obfeecvaeursyechoennatraayctboer
as to his power of executing a contract and the ne-
cessity of charging higher
deprived of the services of those upon whom he relies.
The last objection, and the gravest I have to offer,
is against the tyrannical power exercised by these
associations. They prevent that which is important
in this country, the cordial union between employers
of labour and employed. What interest can a man
have in the welfare and wellbeing of those he em-
ploys if, whatever pains he has taken to make them
comfortable, whatever assistance he has given them,
he is liable, at the dictation at any moment of some
person 100 miles off, and of whom he knows nothing,
to find the whole of his workmen leave him, it may be
with pain and deep regret, but at thesarae time under
a tyranny they are obliged to obey ? (Cheers.) If
there is one thing inimical to the wellbeing of this
as a great country, it is that capital and labour can-
not permanently be dissociated. If labour exact too
much from capital, capital will seek employment
elsewhere. If the expenses of any one branch are
carried so far that we are unable to meet the com-
petition of other countries, capital will fly to those
foreign countries, foreign workmen will displace
British workmen, and ultimately the British work-
man will find that he has achieved a success which
will be his absolute ruin. One word now upon the
other side of the question—and let me say this is
peculiarly a moment which the employers of labour
should seize for cultivating the best understanding
with those whom they employ. (Cheers.) I believe
the working classes are awakening to a fuller sense
than they have yet had of the claims of capital, and
that nothing has contributed to that result more than
the establishment of co-operative societies. (lhm.)
I believe that they have done very great good not
only in establishing habits of frugality and order,
but in teaching them to estimate the claims of capi-
tal and labour ; and I have seen with great gratifi-
cation an instance of the satisfactory working of the
system in the case of the Staveley Colliery, where a
certain amount of the surplus profits raised by the
labour of the workmen employed on the establish-
ment is returned to them, and they are given an
interest in the success of their employers. Looking
at the nee-!ssity of keeping secret the mode of pro-
cedure of most of our great mercantile homes, f do
not think that this system can be generally ex-
tended; but wherever it can be adopted, and the
person employed can feel an interet in the success

of the employer, there you will do more than by any
other possible means to counteract the effect of these
unions or societies, which endeavour to set class
against class, and to create illwill among all classes.
I have a thousand apologies to make for having de-
tained you so long, but I wished to set before you
plainly what I thought with regard to the Reform
Bill. Although some hazard might be supposed to
attend the passing of so large a measure, I look for-
ward with great confidence to the result. I have
great reliance on the good sense of my country-
men. lam not at all alarmed at the result, but
standing in the position I do, responsible to a great
extent for the adoption of the measure, I have felt
myself justified in having availed myself of the op-
portunity of offering a timely warning for the con-
sideration of all those who must ultimately be in-
terested in its success. Time will not permit me to
refer to the foreign policy of the country—(cheers)
—but our approval of that policy is more gratifying
to me because the Minister who has presided over
that department is my own immediate relative.
(Loud cheers.) Permit me to say one word with re-
spect to a report which has obtained considerable
currency in the newspapers and which has led to
frequent speculation—that it is my intention imme-
diately to tender to the Queen the resignation of the
office which I have the honour to hold. (No, no.)
Now, gentlemen, I have not the slightest intention
of doing so. (Cheers.) At a critical period like
the present I should feel it was an act of base dere-
liction of duty to my Sovereign, and to those who
have done me the honour to give me their support,
if I were to shrink from the responsibilities at-
tached to my position. (Cheers.) At my time of
life, with the increasing frequency of those attacks
which from time to time unfit me for the discharge
of public business, it is impossible that I can look
forward to any very lengthened period of public
service, but I have no present intention of relin-
quishing the position which I hold by the favour of
my Sovereign and the support of the great Con-
servative party. (Cheers.) Whenever I retire
from that office I trust that I shall have the satis-
faction of doing so with the conviction that I have
endeavoured honestly and faithfully to discharge
my duty to the country at large ; that I have not
in any case allowed political differences and ani-
mosities to interfere with personal friendship, and
above all that I have in no respect forfeited the
confidence, the good opinion, and the esteem of
that great and influential party—never more
great and influential than it is at the present
moment—which it has been my honour to lead for
so many years. (Cheers.) Permit me before I con-
clude to offer to your acceptance a toast in regard
to which I am sure that you cannot have the
slightest hesitation. It is the health of my hon.
friend who has so worthily filled the office of our
chairman this evening. (Cheers.) He comes of a
family which for generations has been connected
with this county, and I am quite sure that he has
discharged to your satisfaction the important duties
devolving upon a representative of the Southern
Division of Lancashire. The noble earl then re-
sumed his seat amid loud cheering.

The CHAIRMAN briefly acknowledged the compli-
ment.

Mr. 11. BinLEr then proposed " The Health of
Lord Stanley."

Lord STANLEY, who on rising to reply was received
with cheers which lasted for several minutes, said—
Even if I should hope to make myself heard by
more than a small fraction of this large assembly, I
could not attempt to do that which I feel and know
to be impossible—l could never embody in words
the gratitude and pleasure which I cannot but feel
at the reception which you have given us to-night—
a welcome so kind, so friendly, and so cordial—a
welcome to be doubly prized because it comes from
neighbours among whom I have lived, and from
political friends with whom I have long acted, from
Lancashire men of whom I am proud to call myself
one, from citizens of this great industrial commu-
nity, who not only on this, bat on many previous
occasions, have done us so much honour. (Cheers.)
I stand before you to-night in two capacities—one
as a member of that House of Commons which has
lately carried through a great and important change
in our political institutions; in the other as a Minis-
ter of the Crown charged with the anxious and
laborious duty of conducting the foreign relations
of the country. In neither capacity is it my inten-
tion to trouble you with more than a very few words.
Whatever I might have ventured to say upon some
topics has been already anticipated by the head of
the Government, and I shall not weaken by repe-
tition anything that he has told you. All I will say
is that we have dealt with Reform under circum -
I stances of great and peculiar difficulty, but I am
sure that we have done that which was the best for
the interests of the country, and as I think the
best for the interests of the party. If I had thought
otherwise, however close, however binding the ties
which connect me with the present Administration,
you would not have seen me here or heard of me as
connected with the Government. (Cheers.) I look
at what we have done without alarm. I have no
doubt that the new Parliament will bring with it
some new ideas, such as a legal reform, administra-
tive reform, educational reform, and reform in some
other of the departments. Many of them, let me sav,
I think require it, although it need not be contrary
to the well-known principles of the Constitution, or
contrary to the national interests and feelings of the
wealthier classes of society. (Loud cheers.) I do
not believe that there is in England any purely
levelling feeling, and I do not believe that there is
any jealousy or envy of wealth and station, as that
is a sentiment utterly alien to our habits and na-
tional tendencies. What Englishmen ask for is an
open career and the power to rise. They do rise,
and nowhere more frequently than in these districts.
(Cheers.) Let me now say one word with respect
to the affairs of the department with which I am
chiefly connected. I can assure you that, as far as
England and English interests are concerned, our
foreign relations stand upon a thoroughly sound
footing. In Europe we have nothing even approach-
ing to a quarrel or dispute with any power whatever,
and with regard to the United States, although we
have not succeeded in finally closing that contention
which originated during their civil war, yet we have
dealt with that question, I will venture to say, in a
fair and friendly spirit; and I believe that already
the great peacemaker, time, has done much to soften
and allay those feelings of irritation which un.
doubtedly at one time prevailed against us. (Cheers.)
As to the state of the Continent, I cannot say that
there is no cause for the distrust and uneasiness
which so generally prevail. The future is uncertain.
The sky is not free from clouds ; but I have
faith enough in the good sense both of nations and
their rulers to believe that the great crime and
folly of a needless war will not be committed.
If, unfortunately, I should be wrong, I am sure
at least that the English people will be unanimous
in their condemnation of those parties by whom,
whoever they may be, such a quarrel is provoked.
(Cheers.) The peace of Europe is an English in-
terest, and we shall do everything in our power to
preserve it, for to endanger it is to endanger that
which is even nearer and dearer to us—l mean the
peace of England. In the course of the evening
reference has been made to the unfortunate Abys-
sinian business. My right hon. friend the Secre-
tary for War spoke of it as a national necessity, and
then with somewhat of pleasure. I must say that I
cannot look upon it in that light. I regard it as a
very unpleasant matter, and I have no doubt but
that my right hon. friend, if lie was not Secretary
for War, and speaking on behalf of the profession,
would himself agree with me. It is most unlucky
that the folly of a semi-civilised monarch should
compel us to embark in a distant and costly expe-
dition, although I may say that in all probability
the cost of the expedition has been considerably
exaggerated by popular report. But I entirely
concur with my right hon. friend that in this matter
we had no option. Her Majesty's envoys have
been insulted, imprisoned, and loaded with chains.
All possible means of obtaining their release have
been exhausted. We have taken some steps which
hardly became the positioa and power of the
country in order to obtain the result we desired
without resorting to extreme measures. We feel
that we had only two alternatives—the one to at-
tempt their release by force, the other to let them

die in captivity. We have made our choice, and
we intend within the next few weeks to ask Parlia-
ment and the country whether we have acted
rightly, and it is without fear and without doubt
that we await the answer_ of the English people.
We shall go back to our work encouraged by your
kindness and fortified by your approval, and I hope
and trust that you will never regret the confidence
you have reposed in us.
The next toasts were those of " The Lords" and
" The Commons," which were respectively responded
to by the Earl of Wilton and Lord John Manners.

The Earl of DERBY then gave the health of
" Colonel Wilson Patten, the Chancellor of the
Duchy of Lancaster," and in so doing spoke in warm
terms of his public and private character, acknow-
ledging that the support which he had given to the
Government had materially enabled it to surmount
the trials and difficulties of the last session.

Mr. J. W. MACLURE proposed "The Guests," for
which the Earl of Malmeshury returned thanks.
The CHAIRMAN then gave "The Health of the
Countess of Derby," which was received with a
tremendous outburst of cheers and other demon-
strations of respect.

The Hon. F. STANLEY, M.P., acknowledged the
toast.

The Earl of DERBY proposed " The Conservative
and Constitutional Associations," which he was glad
to find were being so extensivJly formed by the
working classes.

Mr. TOUCHSTONE responded, and several other
toasts brought the proceedings to a close.
The Earl and Countess of Derby, on leaving the
Free Trade llall with the other members of their
family, met with a most enthusiastic demonstration
from a large crowd, chiefly composed of the working
classes, who had assembled outside the building, and
waited there for a considerable time in order to pay
them this special mark of respect. Lord Stanley also
was enthusiastically cheered. The same demon-
strations were paid along the route to the railway
station, whence the noble Premier and his family
left by special train for Knowsley.

THE CHARGES AGAINST A LIVERPOOL

COTI ON-BR,O KING FIRM:

_e

We yesterday gave the leading points for the
prosecution in this case at Liverpool. We now give
the case for the defence :

Mr. Higgin submitted that there was no case
whatever to answer. This was a very ordinary case,
he said, in which a bank had advanced money to a
well-known firm in good times, but when bad times
came, and the good firm became insolvent, and was
obliged to stop payment, the bank endeavoured, by
every unfair means in its power, to get an advantags
to itself which was not to be enjoyed by the rest of
the creditors. He received a reproof from the Bench
with reference to an observation he made upon the
last answer given by Mr. Hyde ; but, if the case
went on, he pledged himself to tender such evidence
before the Court as would justify that observation,
not only in the estimation of the Bench and of every
honourable and honest man in the court who heard
him, but in the estimation of tho Liverpool com-
mercial population. He ventured to say that the
National Bank of Liverpool (Limited) cared no more
about commercial morality and the virtue of the
commercial classes of Liverpool than his learned
friend himself did, who vaunted it so much in the
opening of the case. (Laughter.) If there was ono
thing more clear than another in the estimation of
every reasonable man it was this—that the National
Bank of Liverpool would withdraw from the prose-
cution that moment if they could get 20s. in the
pound from either Mr. Charles Lee Campbell, his
father, or his friends. That presented itself to his
mind as an irresistible proposition. He should have
thought from the experience Mr. Hyde had had of
proceedings of this kind, he would have been the very
last person in the world to embark in an inquiry
of this kind, when he must have known very
well that all that he wanted was 20s. in the pound.
The bank cared not from whom they got it, and
if they could get it they would settle not only
this case, but every one of the other four.
Whatever might be the result of this inquiry—and
he need not say that an adverse result would be ono
of the most disastrous and overwhelming misfor-
tunes that ever befel Mr. Charles Campbell or any
member of his family—he advised Mr. Campbell
that if the expenditure of one farthing, or one half
a farthing, would induce the withdrawal of these
most unrighteous prosecutions, it should not be paid.
He said, without fear of contradiction, that the
prosecution had been instituted by the bank with
the view and with the sole intention— he used the
word advisedly—of extorting money from the family
of this gentleman.

Mr. Sleigh said he was instructed by a firm second
to none in eminence and respectability that the
prosecution was instituted simply in vindication of
public justice, and that 19s. 11d. in the pound
would not induce the National Bank to withdraw
it. (Laughter.)
Mr. Higgin said nobody had uttered a word
against the respectability of the firm instructing
Mr. Sleigh, and he would be the last person in the
world to do so. They acted upon their instructions ;
but when they were instructed to tell the public of
Liverpool that 19s. 11d. in the pound would not
satisfy the bank, he (Mr. Higgin) said that Mr.
Hyde was instructing them to make a statement
which the community of Liverpool would one and
all repudiate as simply absurd and impossible.

Mr.. Sleigh said they would be guilty of compro-
mising a misdemeanour if they did so, if they be-
lieved a fraud had been committed.

Mr. Higgin—Yes, but they don't believe it.
(Laughter.) What, he asked, had the bank done?
They took out five separate summonses against
three gentlemen, namely, against the whole of the
firm, and they came into court that day, when they
ought to have been prepared to prove their case,
and they withdrew all the charges against two of
those gentlemen. Those two gentlemen had been
going about Liverpool with those five charges
hanging over their heads ever since the 9th of
Oct. Then, in withdrawing the summonses against
them, the prosecution left a bit of a sting behind.
They said they would not offer any evidence
against them, but at the same time they thought
it very right that they should have been included in
the summonses and compelled to come there, when
they knew at the time the summonses were taken
out that there was not and could not be ono tittle of
evidence against them. He could not think it was
candid, English, or manly to have allowed these
charges to hang over the heads of those gentlemen
from the time the summonses were taken out until
that morning, without one word being vouchsafed
to them that it was not intended to offer any evi-
dence against them. After referring to the high
character which the firm held and had enjoyed in
the mercantile community, Mr. Higgin urged that
there was not the slightest chance of the defendants
being convicted by a jury on the evidence which
had been adduced. He cared not where the jury came
from, or how the case might be bolstered up between
now and the next assizes. Ile reviewed the evidence
at length, and contended that it contained nothing
whatever indicating an intention on the part of the
defendants to defraud the bank. Referring to the
conversation between Mr. Hyde and the defendants,
Mr. Higgin said the latter gave Mr. Hyde clearly to
understand they were going to pledge their names as
the acceptors of these bills, and therefore they did
not guarantee. He had failed to discover in that con-
versation anything like a promise on the part of Mr.
Campbell that they would keep cotton in their hands
with a margin of 25 per cent. He did find that Mr.
Campbell said they would keep themselves amply
covered, but he did not find Mr. Hyde himself even
say that Mr. Campbell pledged his firm to any par-
ticular margin; and although Messrs. Campbell hail
no cotton belonging to this foreign gentleman, he
would prove that at the time these bills were dis-
counted they had £40,000 worth of cotton which
they could have handed over to the bank immedi-
ately if Mr. Hyde had wanted it—£4o,ooo worth of
free cotton. Was it to be said that these gentlemen
had obtained money under false pretences when
they got the bills of this gentleman discounted having
no cotton of his in their possession? If the prosecu-
tion relied upon Mr. Campbell's tacit consent to the
letter of the 2d March, he contended that that was
no false pretence at all—that if it was anything it
was a prolige to do something in futuro, tie

1/...................••••••••••••••••41. • JP...""
trembled when he made uch a technical observa-
tion, but he was bound in the exercise of his duty
to his client to omit no topic which he thought it
right to urge upon the Court. The assent to the
letter in question would be a promise made on the
2d March to do something at a future time, and the
breach of that promise would not amount to false
pretence. But the prosecution must go further.
They must say that that letter of the 21 March was
the only contract.. Yet here was a letter dated the
22d March, in which Messrs. Campbell enclose for
discount £15,000 worth of bills upon the ternt•s--
not of having a 25 per cent. margin, but upon the
specifid terms that during the currency of those
bills they would keep themselves fully protected by
ample security i❑ cotton in their own hands. How,
then, could the prosecution ask for the committal of
the defendant on the ground that the alleged con-
tract of the 21 March was a continuing contract ?
He said it was not. lie said that when the bank
had discounted bills to the extent of £30,000 there
was an end of that first contract, and that any bills
discounted after that, or any loans made after that,
were upon entirely different terms.
_ _

Mr. I:taffies—DC) you mean there was an end of
that after the sum of £30,000 had been advanced ?
Mr. Higgin said that was his contention. If
that were not so, did anybody mean to contend that
the letter of the 2d March was still in force as a
contract ? If that was to be a continuing contract,
why was not the letter of the 22d March to be a
continuing contract? If the first extended beyond
£30,000, why did not the second extend beyond
£15,000 ? The construction put upon documents
must be fair and reasonable, and if a document was
capable of two constructions, one of which was
favourable and another hostile to the person
charged, they knew perfectly well which must pre-
vail.

Mr. Raffles—l quite agree with you there.
Mr. iliggin repeated, if one of these contracts
was operative ou the 4th of July, why was not the
other ? He contended the contracts were separate
and distinct contracts, and that they only had re-
ference each of them-to the amount of bills iu them
respectively mentioned, and that directly these bills
matured and were paid off there was au end to those
respective contracts, and they became waste paper.
Mr. Raffles said he presumed that the prosecution
said that the contract of the 2d of March was a
general contract, and that the other was a specific
contract.
Mr. Sleigh said that was so.

Mr. Raffles said with regard to the promise in
futuro he fully agreed with Mr. lliggiu on the
general principle, but he could understand the pro-
secution to put it iu this way—That it was true it
was a general promise in futuro, but that the de-
fendant said, " We will take care that we have
cotton in our possession whenever you advance us
money," and, therefore, that whenever a sum of
money has been advanced Messrs. Campbell had
given a promise there was cotton to cover it.

Mr. Higgin said he ventured to say that the word
" current" in the letter of the 2d March was per-
fectly satisfactory at the time when there was no in-
debtedness between Messrs. Campbell and the bank ;
that directly the £30,000 was paid off the currency
of the account ceased ; and that it did not follow
that any subsequent discounts were under that letter
any more than that they were under the letter of
the 22d March. But he contended, further, that if
it could be shown that during the currency of these
bills discounted on the 4th July Messrs. Campbell
and Sons had free cotton in their hands over which
they bad unlimited control, then in all reason they
had complied with either one or the other of the
contracts. He asked whether the question was not
one to be decided by a civil tribunal? 'Was it fur
the stipendiary magistrate, sitting there as a crimi-
nal judge, to say which of these contracts was run-
ning, if either ? lie contended that it was not, and
concluded by repeating that there was absolutely no
evidence whatever of any fraudulent intention on
the part of the defendant throughout the whole of
the transactions between his firm and the bank.
The further hearing of the case was then ad-
journed until this day (Friday.)

COUNTRY MARKETS.

BRISTOL-THURSDAY.

On our market to-day there was a bettor supply of Eng-
lish wheat, which was sold slowly at an advance of from
is to 2s per qr. In foreign wheat, which met only a mo-
derate sale, prices wore also dearer. Malting barley hold
firm, but not much doing ; grinding sorts scarce, and high
currencies were realised. Oats in dull demand, and prices
is over psovious sates. Beans and Indian corn also is up.
Peas is to is 6d per qr over the rates of last market.