The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1852-08-24 00:00:00

TO CORRESPONDENTS,

A TORY TRADESMAN.—We have made inquiry, and from the
explanation which we received, we can assure our correspon-
dent that the delay has been unavoidable.
0:11. We shall be happy, at all times, to receive communications
on subjects of local or general interest ; and if ourfriends
will be good enough to authenticate the same by their signa-
tures, for our own satisfaction, we shall 'eel obliged.

Kiberpoot tatibarb.

TUESDAY MORNING, AUGUST 24, 1852.

THE STOCKPORT CASES

EVERY schoolboy remembers VraGlL's graphic
description of a popular tumult, when the " igno-
bile vulgus" waxes wild :
"Jam saxa faceFque volant : Furor arms ministrat."
Such was the scene witnessed at STOCKPORT on
the night of the 29th June; and unfortunately
there was no man " pietate gravis ac writes" pre-
sent, who could control the excited spirits or soothe
the bosoms of the infuriated mob. The proceed-

ings of the night in question were indeed most
deplorable. They have been fairly and fully inves-
tigated by the proper tribunals, and adequate
punishment has followed the conviction of those
who were proved to have taken part in the most
reprehensible acts of lawless violence. At the two
trials—those of the Irish Roman Catholics and of
the English Protestants—the utmost and most
laudable endeavours were made by Judge and
Counsel to prevent prejudice from warping justice,
and to avoid mixing up questions of religion and
race with the inquiry into the charges of riot,
assault, and destruction of property. But the
Counsel, the Jury, and the Judge having at length
performed their several duties, it is for the Public
Journalist to carry the investigation further hack,
to ascertain the true origin of the mischief, and to
point out the lesson which the occurrence of such
events ought to teach the people of Great Britain.

The Judge, who found himself bound by the
evidence to award more severe punishments to the
English Protestants than to the Irish Roman Ca-
tholics, at the same time told the latter, that it was

most probably their conduct which had been the
cause of the retaliation of their opponents. It was
no doubt most wise on the part of the learned
Judge not to admit the provocation given by the
Irish settlers in STOCKPORT to the English inha-
bitants as an extenuation of the very serious and
gross outrages committed on the persons and pro-
perty of the Roman Catholics; but when we come
to examine what led to the extraordinary excite-
ment of the Protestant mob, resulting in such
reckless violence, we shall find much deserving of
consideration, which could not properly be the
subject of judicial inquiry.
An attempt has been made to deprive these riots
of all religious significance, and to attribute them
entirely to jealousy in the competition of labour
between the Saxons and the Celts. There can,
however, be no reasonable doubt that a very large
share of the ill feeling which exists between the
English and Irish is attributable to religious pre-
judice ; and a review of the whole circumstances
of the Stockport case serves to prove conclusively
that religious hostility was the source of the mis-
chief. It must be remembered that, shortly before
the time in question, HER MAJESTY'S Govern-
ment had felt it necessary to vindicate the law of
the land against the impudent and audacious defi-
ance, by certain members of the Roman Catholic
Church, of its letter and spirit, and to admonish
the Roman Catholics against the commission of
further offences. Public processions of Roman
Catholic bodies, accompanied by Priests wearing
canonical costumes, and by religious symbols, were
the special subjects of the Royal Proclamation.
On the Sunday before the 29th of June, it ap-
pears that there took place, in Stockport, a proces-
sion of Roman Catholic schools, accompanied by
Priests, not wearing canonicals, and persons bearing
staves, surmounted by doves and crosses, but using
no other symbols. Whether or not such a proces-
sion could, with propriety, be deemed to come
within the letter or within the spirit of the procla-
mation, it is very clear that, had the Roman
Catholic Priests been anxious to prevent the

increase of that religious animosity to which recent
events had already given an impetus, and had they
wished to prevent collision, and to allay irritation,
they would have abstained from any public proces-
sion at such a time. But there are many little
circumstances about the case which induce us to
believe that the Irish party expected they would be
interfered with in their procession by the authorities or
by the people of the town, and they intended to take
advantage of such interference as a grievance to be
redressed. The perfect quietness and forbearance
of the Protestants, however, baffled their design,