The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-01-17 00:00:00

REPRESENTATION OF ST. ANN'S WARD.

burgesses
Theindependent and Conservative of St. Ann's
ward dined together, on Tuesday evening, at Mr. Holden's,
in Richmond-row, for the purpose of commemorating the re-
turn of Robert Jones, jun., Esq., to the town-council.
About sixty gentlemen sat down—the largest number the
room could accommodate ; had there been more convenience
the attendance would have been trebled. The chair was oc-
cupied by James Parker, Esq., and the vice-presidents were
Robert Garratt, and John Cooper Grocott, Esqrs. The en-
joyments of the evening were materially increased by a variety
•of excellent singing, by Meisrs. Holden, George, Caerns,
and Lunt, under the able leadership of. Mr. J. Taylor at the,
pianoforte. •
Non nobis Domine having been chaunted,
The PRESIDENT rose and said, before he submitted the
list of toasts which he held in his hand, be must be allowed
to make an observation on the position which he now occu-
pied. He should. like. to.•-ha.ve seen one,of those gentlemen
who had been foremost in. gaining the victory they were met
to celebrate in his situation, and it was with extreme reluc-
tance he took the chair. The first toast was one which called
for no remark ; it was a pure Conservative toast, and there-
fore it called for no remarks. It was, Her most gracious
Majesty the Queen, and may she long;live in the hearts and
affections of a loyal people. (Three times three.)
National anthem, " God save. the Queen." The next
toasts were " Her Majesty the Queen Dowager, the orna-
ment of her sex, and the rest of the Royal Family " The
Duke ;' " Lord Lyndhurst and the Conservative Peers ;"
" Sir Robert Peel and the Conservative Members of the
House of Commons ;" all of. which were most enthusiastically
applauded.
The PRESIDENT briefly, and in appropriate terms, intro-
duced the toast of " Our;glorious, Constitution in Church
and State." (Great applause.) •
The Rev. Mr. PICTON 'said he .rose with mingled feelings
of gratitude and pleasure to respond to the toast which had
been so unanimously and so heartily received. He rose with
feelings of gratitudC,',.because he saw himself surrounded by
those who were, ever staunch supporters of that Constitution
for which our forefathers bled and died ; he rose also with
feelings of pleasure, because he found himself in the-midst of
those who were warmly attached to the interests of that
Church, which had for its end the glory of God and the sal-
vation of man. (Cheers.) It became the ministers of the
Gospel at ,all. times, but especially in. times like the present,
to stand boldly forth in the defence of their. Zion, when they
saw her assailed and opposed. bY•open and avowed.enemies
from without, as well as by false and pretended,friends from
within. (Hear, hear.) He was not there, he would wish it
to be understood, in the ehaiaeter of a political partizan
(hear) ; he was there as a humble, guest at that table, which
had been prepared in lienoar_or_the,return to the town coun-
cil of a gentleman whose principles and integrity every true
conservative could but admire. (Cheers.) The principles
of that gentleman were sound and good ; they were fraught
with every tendency calcalated to promote, not only the ge-
neral good, but likewise to give efirciency and stability to
that Church which had for ages past proved a blessing to our
own-country, and to every other country whither its princi-
ples and doctrines had•been carried and promulgated. (Loud
cheers.) With these feelings of gratitude and pleasure, and
with these few remarks, he begged to conclude by cordially
thanking the meeting for the manner in 'which they had heed
pleased to notice the Church .of which he was a very humble
minister. (Cheers.) . •
The PRESIDENy said the next was the toast of the evening,
for it was the health of the conservative member for St.
Ann's Ward' (loud CheerS) •, but, before they drank it, he
begged to Offer a few remarks. What was the position Of
the ward:ope 'month previous to the contest in which the
conservatives, had gained the victory ? (Hear, hear.) Why,
it wai looked upon as decidedly in the hands of-the radicals;
indeed a. ftiend .of his, tos.whose, political principles, however,
he was opposed, had frequently boasted to him; " We have
• nothing to do but 'to wallt.byer the course."
~(Hear.) ' Mr.
Jones came forward not .Va•grati6: his own vanity, but, like
`iltruesqes.ervativein principle and practice, he said the ward
I iiii.;ltY dee t;st` Tor Want Of -a contest. (Cheers.) • The
gervatives. then mustered their forces ; they stormed the.
tadelLtbra, Ala& a breach in the walls ; and they planted.
rxlie standaVaWeoWaervatisfri.tirieteriniis Upon the ramparts.
.(Clfeetit) .Viglitadicals were completely defeated. (Cheers.)
-And hyoyllora syks,the victory won ? Was' it achieved by the
rich, the in thief-1170 irilMatits "dr-the ward'? ' rlt was
achieled acid A.T6W:tradesuienaVito were asso;
elated with hitu. (cheera.), They formed themselves into
a..tirin band, And eafried allbeftire them. (Hear.) Of those
tradesmen.' none were more active than Mi.. Holmes. (Hear.)
By. whom had .the. radicals , been-.driven from the representa-
tion of, the town but by the tradesmen ?'. (Hear.) In like
manner it was'the tradesmen of Liverpool who would ere long
drive the radicals from the town Council. (Hear.) At qte.
same time some little allowance nnist be made for our oppo-
nents, satiated as-they were, for the strong' feeling they had
manifested at their-defeat-hi this ward. • When it' was found
that the citadel was Carried, a council of war was held, and
a very old political engineer=one of twenty years' standing.
-was called in for the purpose of forming ,a mine.. That
mine bad been sprung, and an explosion had taken place;
but it had rebounded with infamy upon'the parties who in-
vented it. (Cheers.) It had made Mr. Jones stand higher
in the 'estimation of the burgesses of the ward, and of the
town at large. (clieeis,,,) 'When the supposed heavy charge
against Mr. Jones'Wii!s; nkaiied in the town council, what was
the consequence? Diatnot Mr. Jones court inquiry ? and
what did Mr. Bushell and the conservative members say ?
Why, that they would be the first to raise their hands against
him,! (Hear.) - The council passed a resolution for investi-
gating the affair ; no less than 'seventeen witnesses were ex-
amined ;. and great' credit was due to the Town-clerk for the
manner in which he presented the inquiry. But when he
(the Town-clerk) brought forward his report, how was it
received ? (Hear.) Mr. Beim, the alderman of the ward,
said, " I am proud and glad that the. inquiry has been made;
Mr. Jones has come out of it free, and 1 am thankful for it."
What said the chief magistrate? Did lie not say that a full
investigation had been made, that an impartial decision had
been given by the Town-clerk, and that every gentleman in
the council .ought to be satisfied with it? (Cheers.) But
this would .not do ; the sting was too smart, and another
scheme must be resorted to : they said, " We must drive
Mr: Jones into a corner, and then we shall manage him."
(Hear, hear.) They proposed a committee, a majority
of which were radicals-; Mr. Jones even seconded that,
And another investigation took place ; ',and what was the
'result of this third trial? Why, that Mr. Jones was
fully acquitted of any participation, directly or indirectly, in
the charges brought againstbiin. Great credit was due to
the Conservative. ketiticinen who investigated the affair for
their patience and care ;liAel' he (the President) been one, he
should not have consented to put in a clause with a qualifica-
tion. In order to screen Mr. Coglan 'from a prosecution, a
clause was inserted in the report, to the effect that the charges
were neither frivolous nor Vexatious. He (the President)
knew why that was introduced.. The ,Radicals, being a ma-
jority, said, " we agree that Mr. Jones must be acquitted,
but we fear for Coglan ;" and, consequently, to screen Cog-
lan, they voted that the charge was neither frivolous nor
vexatious. (Hear, hear.) The President concluded by pro-
posing 'the health of Mr.. Jones, which was received with
four times four. •
Mr. JONES, on rising to reply, was greeted with renewed
cheers. It gave him pleasure, he said, and he felt delighted
to see so many of his respected friends crowded. around.
They had met to do, him the honour of celebrating his return
—a return fraught with vexation and disappointment to him-
self—but neverthelets it had been a glorious victory. (Hear.)
He had no ambition to gratify in going into the council—
(he'ar)—but, seeing the niaimerin which this ward had been
grasped by their Radical opponents, he thought it high time
for the Conservatives to oppose, them. A few Conservatives
met on the very eve of the election ; they united their forces;
and they gained their victory. (Cheers.) The troubles they
had bad to contend with since, had, whilst they lasted, been
very annoying; but he had the satisfaction of saying that
they had terminated in a victory even greater than the. first.
'(Cheers.) The mac,hinationsaif thg party calling themselves
" liberals" had indeed been such, that he trusted the Conse-
rvatives would not only deprive them of the goveenment'in the
Councils of the town, but in the councils of the nation.. (Hear.)
The standard they had set up in the late inquiry had been the
standard of party ; and he would appeal to all who had read
the evidence, how poor in other -respects were their pre-
tences. There was one.circunistanee in the case which ap-
peared to have escaped the notice of the press. When the
'subject was first mooted by Mr. Berm, the motion:went to
the effect that it should be referred to the Town-clerk to re-
port. - Mr. Coglan, ,supported, and was satisfied with that
proportion. Now if Mr. Coglan, at the -following meeting
had 'come prepared with a resolution, to the effect, that
during the interval between one meeting and the other, he
had become dissatisfied-with the Town-clerk .as.,,the referee,
there had been no complaint ; buthe did not prepare himself
till after the decision of the Town-clerk had been-announced
to the council. Mr.. Benn, on the decision being read, said
he was satisfied with it, and that he felt gratified the matter
was at an end"; bilt Mr. 'Coglan was not, 'and he wished to go
into details. The MayOr told 'him he could not, unless he
intended to conclude with a motion,.to which he replied that
he should. Mr. Rathbone then Wok 'a piece of paper and
prepared a motion ; Mr. Coglan continued speaking, and
when he had concluded, the council were kept waiting' for
several minutes before the motion so prepared by Mr. Rath-
bone was moved: Mr. •Rathbone had previously passed it
over to Mr. Coglan to see if it suited.; and finding it did,
he (Mr. Rathbone) immediately seconded it. (Hear.) Now
was it prudent for any individual to enter the council-cham-
ber, and arrogate an importance whin did not really be-
long to himL-•because he might fancy he possessed knowledge
and experience superior to those of any other member; or of
the eloquence hepossessed, and the learning he had achieved,
to become the- ready factotum of their opponents of the radi-
- cal party ? (Hear;' hear.) Mr: Coglan, in the first instance,
was: perfectly satisfied with the course proposed,- and con-
tented to abide by its issue. There must have been :Time
well organized committee at work to carry the matter further,
that told Mr. Coglan he ought to be dissatisfied, and that
they would prepare what he should propose. The venom
was therefore prepared by Rathbone, and vented by Mr.•
Coglan. (Hear... He(Mr. Jones) had already 'said that
in entering the town-council he had no ambition of his own
to gratify. He felt, in dOing so, that he Ow-4a duty to the
ward, namely,:to endeavour :to rescue it from the , grasp of
the radical party, ; he bad succeeded—(cheers)—and he hoped
the time was not far distant when the standard of conserva-
tism would be permanently unfurled and planted in it, (Loud
cheers.) With this hope. he begged the meeting to accept his
thanks for the honour conferred upon him-,• but before'he
concluded, they must permit him to say that, little as was his
ability, he had acted conscientiously in the discharge of his
duty, and that he hoped to serve them in a way to reflect
credit upon himself, and prdte advantageous to the burgesses
of the ward. (Clieers.)