The Sun.
London, England, 1844-07-18 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, JULY 18, /844.

THE PITT POUND VERSUS THE PEEL POUND.

AN APPEAL TO COMMON SENSE.

GENERAL ANNUITY SOCIETY.
A festival of this society took place at the London
Tavern yesterday evening, the object of which was stated
to be to assist in resuscitating its operations. A very
excellent dinner was provided on the occasion by the
spirited host, and the utmost enthusiasm prevailed in
reference to the object. Shortly after six o'clock, the
chair was taken by W. Tooke, Esq., F.R.S.
After the cloth was removed, and " Non nobis Domino"
had been sung by the professional gentlemen, namely,
Mr. Bruton (director), and Messrs. Edney, Ashton, and
F. Martin,
The CHAIRMAN proposed in succession the following
toasts :---" Her Majesty the Queen," " The Queen
Dowager," " Prince Albert," " The Prince of Wales and
the rest of the Royal Family," " The Army.and Navy,"
the whole of which were received with customary enthu-
siasm.

The CHAIRMAN then said they had now arrived at the
very pith and marrow of the festival ; and he should
indeed feel diffident in alluding to it, were he not satis-
fied that every one present felt the warmest interest in
the cause which it was their object to promote. They
knew that that Institution had had a period of con-
siderable decay, or at least of decline, and the object of
their assembling together was, as far as in them lay, to
contribute by every means in their power, to restore it
to that position among the charities of the metropolis,
to which it was so peculiarly entitled.—(Cheers.)
It was almost the only Institution which aimed at the
relief of that class which especially claimed their sym-
pathy, namely, the decayed males and females who had
known better days—who • having moved in the same
sphere of life as themselves, felt most acutely the want
of those comforts which it was the object of that Institu-
tion to bestow.—(Hear.) He considered that meeting
to be in the nature of a Committee meeting. It was a
meeting in which they had met to discuss and promote
ulterior proceedings, which by the aid of the public,
would place the Society in its right position.—(Hear,
hear.) They heard much in the present day about
Young England, and of the infusion of young blood.—
(Hear,. hear.) He would not say anything as to the
political effect of the operations of the Young Eng-
land party in this country ; but he was quite sure
that their zeal could not be more usefully displayed than
in treading in the footsteps of their predecessors, by
placing this Institution in that prominent position which
its benevolence entitled it to occupy. A printed wiper
had been circulated, from which they would see the
gradual decline of the funds, and consequently of the
Society's means of usefulness. It should be their
object individually to promote the cause between that
period and the next anniversary, when he trusted the
Society would assume a proper attitude, and that chair
be occupied either by royalty or by some illustrious
person worthy of the Society and of the occasion. He
should be most happy, as far as it, was in his power, to
contribute to the funds.—(Cheers.) With unfeigned
wishes and aspirations for the accomplishment of their
object—namely the ample restoration of ,their means
of usefulness—he begged to propose "Prosperity to the
General Annuity Society."
The toast was drunk with three times three.
Mr. RICHARDSON then read a report in reference
to the proceedings of the Society. He commenced
by referring to its early history. The Institution was
established in 1827, for the purpose of allowing annuities
to decayed merchants, bankers, professional men, their
widows, and clerks, and to single females, daughters of'
persons belonging to such classes of society. It was
formed under the most flattering auspices, and at first
its success was very great; but in the course of three or
four years the funds began to decline, and they had con-
tinued in a very low state from that time to the present,
although a great number of annuities had been granted.
Two months ago the Directors met for the purpose
of considering whether it was possible to do anything to
resuscitate this charity ; they came to the conclusion
that it was possible to revive it, and the result of their
deliberations was the present festival, which was held for
the purpose of advancing that object. There were several
circumstances which led the Directors to hope that that
meeting would be the foundation of permanent success.
There was still 100/ a year coming into the treasury of
the Society from annual subscriptions. The Directors
had come to a resolution that there should, in future, be
one election a year instead of two, and that the minimum
subscription should be five shillings a year for one vote,
ten shillings for two, and so on, assimilating the system
to that of the National Benevolent Institution. They
had a particular reason for fixing the minimum sub-
scription at five shillings. There were very-few clerks
in bankers' or merchants' offices who could not afford to
subscribe five shillings a year, and to continue that sub-
scription.—(Hear, hear.) It was the continuation of
subscriptions which was the great desideratum.—(Hear,
hear.) It was much better to give five shillings a year
regularly, than to give a donation of 11, and then think
no more of the Society.—(Hear, hear.) The losing
sight of this had been one great cause, he believed, of
the decline of the funds. He felt perfectly persuaded

that it was only necessary to pull together, in order to
bring this charity into a condition of the greatest pros-
perity ; and he trusted that next year they would have
to congratulate each other on the success of this attempt
to resuscitate so excellent an Institution.—(Cheers.)
Amongst the numerous donations announced by the
Secretary were—His Royal Highness Prince Albert, 20
guineas ; Sir Felix Booth, Bart., in addition to 20 gui-
neas, 10/. 10s. ; A. W. Robarts, Esq., in addition to
1051., 20/. ; Luke J. Hansard, Esq., 20/. ; the Hon. Miss
Harley, 10/. 10s. ; the Duke of Cleveland, 10/. 10s. ;
James Tyler, Esq., 101. 10s. ; Mrs. H. F. Richardson,
5/. ; B. Bond Cabbell, Esq., 31/. 10s. ; C. Tudway Swan-
stone Esq., 5/. ; Sir John IL Pelly, Bart., 10/.
The following toasts were successively drunk and re-
sponded to :—" The health of the Chairman," " The
health of Abraham Wildey Robarts, Esq.," the Presi-
dent of the Institution," (which, in the absence of Mr.
Roberts, was acknowledged by Mr. Stephens) ; " The
health of Charles Stephens, Esq."
A vote of thanks was also given to the Directors, the
Treasurer, the Trustees, and the Secretary of the Insti-
' tution, and to the Stewards of the dinner,
The CHAIRMAN proposed " The Hon. Miss Harley
and the Lady Subscribers."
The convivialities of the evening were interspersed and
enlivened by the excellent performances of the profes-
sional gentlemen already mentioned, Mr. Toole, jun.,
officiating as toast-master, and the company did not
break up until a late hour.

TO THE RIGHT HON. LORD
MONTEAGLE.

17, Carlton House Terrace, duly 15, 1844.

MY LORD,—As it appears from the Morning Chro-
nicle of Saturday last, that your Lordship has thought
proper to avail yourself of my signature being attached,
as Chairman, to a circular emanating from. the Society
fur the Emancipation of Industry, publicly to make a
personal allusion to me, on Friday, in a place where I
could make no answer, the only adequate channel left
for that purpose is the public journals ; and as you used
my unimportant name in an effort (however abortive) to
bring into contempt the principles of a benevolent So-
ciety to which I belong, I feel bound to enter my pro-
test. Your Lordship misrepresents me when you say " that
a. few sessions back I brought forward several schemes
for a new arrangement of the representative system of
Ireland, and also of this country." The Society to which
I then belonged, neither professed nor practised any-
thing of the kind, but the very reverse. It was formed
for the purpose of checking, in a constitutional manner,
a systematic violation of the law, which, under the fos-
tering care of the political party to which your Lordship
belonged, had the,
a crying evil. The country,
from one end to the other, responded to our call, and
we succeeded in putting down the nuisance. In the
" other occupation" which it rejoices your Lordship
that I have now found, I calculate upon your Lordship's
assistance, either by taking the trouble to understand
uur principles (in which case I am confident you will
approve them), or by pursuing the line of opposition
which you have commenced. In either case I feel no
small confidence that we shall be successful in freeing
this country from one of the greatest curses that was ever
inflicted upon it, viz., the bullionist-system of currency.
I beg to assure your Lordship that the principles of
the Society .Aannot be controverted, nor its members
diverted from propagating them, by the stale trick of
holding up a paper, and calling it " prodigious non-
sense." This piece of acting answered its purpose in
another place on the introduction of the Bill, but your
Lordship has blundered sadly in the imitation. Sir
Robert Peel held up a thick volume, which would have
taken the House three days to read—you, a short paper
that might have been read in three minutes. Sir Robert,
amidst a sweeping condemnation of many opinions, did not
venture to attack or in any way characterise the prin-
ciples of the Society for the Emancipation of Industry,
nor did he even refer to them. It is possible that, al-
though they have been laid before him, he has never
made himself acquainted with them. You extracted a
single passage, and put your misconstruction upon the
whole paper. Had you read it through, the House
would have found that, at any rate, it was not liable to
the objection made by Lord Ashburton to your own
speech, viz., that one part contradicted the other.
I warn your Lordship that, however available this sub-
stitute for argument may be among those who do not
yet sufficiently feel the ruinous effects of the measure of
1819, it will not stay the progress of our opinions among
the intelligent portion of th community out of doors,
where they are spreading with that steady progress
which is the accompaniment of truth and the assurance
of success. •

Your Lordship may conceive it to be " nonsense" to
suggest an inquiry into the subject of the currency
previously to legislation—nonsense, to suppose
that the national debt has any existence—nonsense,
to imagine that the taxation arising out of it is
of any consequence to those who pay it—nonsense, to
think it unwise and unjust to insist upon the payment of
all engagements in a commodity which cannot be pro-
cured in sufficient quantity—nonsense, to suppose that
such a demand, if enforced, will lead to fluctuations,
panics, and bankruptcies—nonsense, to suggest that if
you engage to sell your gold at a low price nobody will
be likely to give yeu a higher relative price for your
produce or manufactures, whatever they may be-7,
nonsense, to avow that taxes levied upon a pro-
ducer increases the. expense he incurs in producing—
nonsense, to suppose a definite quantity of an article in
universal demand like gold, can at one and the same
time express the untaxed expenses of the foreigner and
the taxed expenses of this country, even when the latter
are 50 per cent. higher than the former—nonsense, to
deny that two are equal to three—nonsense, to prefer a
system which, previous to 1819, made the nation happy,
wealthy, and loyal, and was in the course of rapidly
paying off the national debt, and reducing taxation, to
one which since that time has produced a decline of
revenue, undue speculation, panics, bankruptcies,
pauperism, incendiarism, and crime, to an extent pre-
viously unexampled. As, however, the Society cannot
concur in your views, they must leave it to the public to
judge whether there be more "nonsense" in their circular
letter, or in your Lordship's speech.
I have the honour to be, my Lord,
Your Lordship's most obedient servant,
ANDREW SPOTTISWO ODE.