The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1836-12-30 00:00:00

THE kIVERN)OT, gTANDARD.

ER. II ARWOOD re.speetfuliv informs his Friends the
BEXI'EI WA LTZ and. QUADRILLE BA LL
take place et his Rooms, Nelson,s.treet, _Great Geuriz,e,qu,tre,
on TU ES A Y next, the 3il of Januati'...
Tickets to be had at the Chrioniele,ofEc.-, Lorl-street, of Mr.
HA itwooo, at the Rooms, and at his Resideace, 16, Chester-
street.
•,,,* The JUVENILE ACADEMY will RE-OPEN on
SATURDAY, 7th January, 18.37.

Standard Office, Friday Morning, 2 o'clock.
°Wing to the obStructions on the roads, we have not re-
ceived the London papers of Tuewhy and Wedne,s-
dav, and are, consequently, unable .furr!i.qt our
readers'icith our usualamount 'afa,.Fareign and other
intelligence. For thei!iike j'e-aion*i!. are short of the
Gazette and other commercial information. .The latest
London papers that hare refff;/,!tc,;(y up to the hour of
going to press are the morningand,evening papers of
Monday last. We understand that our Manchester
neighbours have had more recent arrivals. In our next
we shall be enabled, we trust, to give some account of
the unusual stale of the roads produced by tha recent
extraordinary fdlls of snow. _The particulars that
have reached us as yet
,are very :contradictory.

2r )c ,e:tantiarb.

FRIDAY MORA r f,VG, DECEMBER 30, 1836.

It indicates but little knowledge of the credulity of
himan nature, and less acquaintance with the craftiness
of designing men, to stiffer a hundred-times-confuted
sition to be put forth by one whose name gives it fresh
authority, and not to meet it with renewed exposure. If
" the last word," as regards the final judgment of time,
be " the word which lasts longest"—yet,.as respects cur-
rent policy, that argument carries the point to which no
reply is made. We, therefore, think it would be a dere-
liction of duty, as public censors, to suffer the factious, or
self-deluded leaders of radical reform, to trumpet forth
their specious declarations without adding a.commentary
to them which may serve to rectify_ error, and to give a
correct interpretation to their meaning. To this task we
are now called by sOme'speeches delivered—as a radical
paper blazons it forth—at a " grand reform dinner 10
Northampton." The triple star which dimly twinkled on
that occasion in the Boeotian atmosphere of Northamp-
ton, was composed of Mr,-Smith, !M.P., tutelary deity of
the place, Earl Spencer, and Earl Fitzwillianyhich
Earl Spencer was evidently the widens.- We say no-
thing of Mr. Peach, to whom the dinner was given, as
he was only Maydr of Northampton. leading Metro-
politan journal tells us, that it is in vain to reason with
Earl Spencer. We never intended it; but although Mr.
Smith, as well as Earl Fitzwilliatn, uttered absurdities
enow to serve for comments for a dozen successive jour-
nals, we shall consider them as the minor feet in this po-
litical amphibrach; and endeavour to exhibit the folly dis-
played in the noble earl's speech ; and, by such exhibi-
tion to reason, if not with his lordship, at least with the
country, a large portion of which is too apt to regard the
dicta of such men with something little short of venera-
tion ; indeed, whilst it is worth while for radicals to pro-
mulgate pernicious errors, it must be the interest of con-
' servative truth to expose them. Lord Chesterfield says,
a graceful entrance into a room almost infallibly stamps a
^l,=inwf,4r of the company present,
and liteero, we know, consurers the greatest embarrass-
ment to belong to the exordium of a speech ; but my
Lord
.Spencer gets over the threshold of his address ac-
cording-to an artifice peculiarly his own—by thrusting
the posteriors of his oration forwards, and making his
.prefatory bow after he has fairly wriggled himself into
the subject. He said, "I think it would be best, before
I preface that toast, to tell what it is I intend to propose."
Well, then, now fur his lordship's pre prefatory observa-
tions—things so out of course may well be expected to
have something extraordinary in them. His lordship
declared, that he thinks ministers are neither "going too
far" nor " too fast"—that they are only carrying out our
(whig-radical) principles into effect"—that they are pro-
posing measures which he thinks beneficial to the coun-
try, and he believes the enlightened state of the country
will enable them to carry them." These, and such like
general expressions, uncoupled, and unincumbered with
a single argument, came from the lips of "second child-
ishness" of my Lord Spencer.
Whether ministers are going too far, or too fast, in the
career of constitutional destruction, we will not now dis-
pute—indeed it is with arguments, and not assertions,
that disputations should be conducted-but these radical
orators know nothing of logical reasoning beyond the
major proposition—they entrench themselves behind ge-
neral declarations, which, howeVer absurd, like all other
general 'declarations, are difficult of disproof. Three
words.may affirm,.that esar ur Aleitander never lived,
whilst a 'volume would be required to confute that affir-
illation. So these whit-radicals said, the reform bill
would prove a panacea for every political ill, which,
though calm, Sobel reason ridiculed, yet was one of those
things that ignorance or prejudice could always vaunt,
fearless of detection. But now the reform bill has passed—
it lots had a fair trial—and we have a 'right to ask these
wholesale declaimers of refOrm why, instead of cheating
their deluded followers with :" hopes deferred"—goldeu
days to come—they do not point to some single substan-
tial blessing, which every one confessedly enjoys, and.
say, this is the fruit of reform. Let us suppose that my
Lord Spencer; instead of the unmeaning, and, therefore,
_more pernicious verbiage, which he uttered on'this occa-
sion, had aildiestied tiis aftee-dinnerauditory—.--the erect
ears of radical dissenters—in some such terms as follow,
there would have been sense at least :in the appeal :---
" My Friends—we meet here, this day, to express, with
unfeigned gratitude, our thanks to the leaders of reform
for the many great benefits they have conferred upon us.
It is to the reform bill that we are indebted for that uni-
versal superabundant activity of trade in every part of
the kingdom, but 'especially here in Northampton, and
that immense diminution of, taxation %%Lich, this day, oc-
casions the pockets of every one of us to be full—vou
know, you feel, and can well appreciate that measUre,
which has given every one present, and even-the un-
grateful conservatives also—though they Will not acknow-
ledge it—that easy independence we all now enjoy ;
every man now sits under his own fig tree—there is ' no
complaining heard in our streets'—poverty has departed
from the land at the frown of refortn—the artizan every-
where finds full employment, and an ample reward for
his labour—his ' children are olive branches round his
table'—' cornerstones'—poiished, as one said, with hap.
pv conceit, by our radical veteran Lord Broughant's rub-
stone—our manufacturers are flourishing beyond all ex-
ample—not a mill standing idle—like bee-hiveN making
golden honey—and all gathered from the flowers and
fruits of the reform bill;--and although, my friends,
there has been an amendMent of the pour-law act, yet
you all know very well it is quite a dead letter—a sort of
cure for leprosy, a disease which has ceased to exist—
for our workhouseS are without inmates, parish officers
without duty, and the buildings themselves will soon be
turned into theatres for public diversion. All these, and
more, !wl) "more than I have power to tell," are the
genuine, well authenticiited, consequences, of the reform
hill. You yourselves know, by happy experience, thati
speak the truth."
_ _ _

Sonwhing after this fashion of sreeoh would be bring-

in home ga!isfact ion to men's bosoms ; a Man would only
have. occasion to put his hend into his pocket for an ar-
'gni-pent, to convince himself of the reality of all he
heard ; he would only here to look abroad in the retired
lanes and dark alleys of his town, to find abundant proofs
-of. the truths of these facts—his day-hook, or his "till,"
or his bank .book, or his iron chest, would furnish demon-
-stration enough of his happy state ; whilst every news-
paper. into which he looked would tell him of manufac-
turing production labouring after insatiable demand—of
parishes rejecting the poor law amendment bill, as if
theyhad no poor. Hold ! we do not mean that these
evidences justly quadrate with present times. We have
spoken, as the radicals do, .by way of anticipation—of a
millenary or two of years to come ; and for such "always
to be" expectations deluded multitudes are content to
deprive themselves of the blessings they might enjoy,
under institutions which have raised their country to its
proud pre-eminence. But why, we iterate, why does
my Lord Spencer beat about the hush of reform without
stetting .any game ? Mr. Smith touched, with very
gentle hand, the rugged topics of reform, and, finding
them rather scanty, gave us the same sort of tete et queue
advance, which Earl Spencer seems to have thought best
suited to the zig-zag, minds of Northampton reformers.
He said he believed " if they looked at the conduct of
fhe administration since they came into office, there would
be no reason to be dissatisfied. Parliamentary reform
had been carried, and then—and what then ?—wity, face
about, says Mr. Smith, and " look still farther back."—
" Catholic emancipation passed—t he test and corporation
acts repealed—slavery abolished—corporation reform-e-
-the liberty of the press." Why these radical reformers
must themselves be a corporation, endowed with the ad-
jUnet of roYalty--eit never dies-and, as in royalty all
power and dominion acquired by ancestral virtue descend
to and' belong to the reigning monarch, so the Whigs in
the ascendant shine with all the glory of their predeces-
tiers. Well we are content to receive these radical re
formers placarded round with all these BILLS, and we
. then ask, do they not cut a most ridiculous figure ? If
these be all the services they can boast for two or three
'generations of men, we can extinguish the lustre of their
fame as easily as Quinbus Flestrin put out the flames of
the palace of Laputa. We do not deny that the aboli-
tion of slavery is a positive good—no, we heartily re-
joice in it ; but that triumph became a garland to the
whip by one of the most dishonourable artifices that
parliamentary craftiness ever employed. Charles James
Fox, the leader of the whits, robbed the indefatigable
advocate of the negro, Wilberforce, of a wreath which
his unwearied zeal had so justly entitled him to wear—
aye, and which he will wear ; for history will snatch it
from the brow of the spoliator Charles James Fox, and
place it upon the temples of William Wilberforce, the
conscientious champion of insulted and injured man—the
African slave. We concede that the repeal of the test
and corporation acts was a positive good ; but neither of
these measures has afforded that good after which radi-
cals are seeking. The first was a vindication of the
rights of humanity—the second a removal of political
barriers to power; and radicals want plenty of money—
like Lovegold, they must " touch something real." 'But
what good has the Catholic emancipation act effected ? It
has rendered every one of the " qualified" in Ireland
eligible to Parliament, and every one of the wretches of
that priest ridden land, equally eligible, when he can ac-
quire the qualification—and soon, perhaps, if their Go-
hall should prevail, they will, with no qualification at all,
be acceptable members fin parliamentary honours. Happy
privilege ! The starving Irish peasantry may be mem-
bers of Parliament. - Catholic emancipation for ever !
But to be serious. Does not the present condition of
Ireland give the lie direct to all this vaunting declama-
tion about the blessings of Catholic emancipation > Oh
that we had power to open the eyes of the radicals! They
are as blind as moles. Why do they not perceive, that
all the reform measures that have been passed, and all
those which are in posse, germinating in the hot-bed
brains of their agitators, are every one calculated to be-
nefit not the poor radical, but the wealthy radical ; not to
give the wretched artizan employment, but to get the
rich radical Roman Catholic or the radical dissenter an
office or a title; not to relieve the unfortunate poor—no,
for them more rigorous measures are prepared in Eng.
land, and all help refused for Ireland. What has reform,
„vim c,,,ao,pataun un US 101GI.CaU, UV&A LUG
starting Irish—the hundreds of thousands of destitute of
that faction-oppressed country ? It has brought into
Parliament sonic fifty men, whom, before, you " would
ha% e disdained to have set with the dogs of vour flock."
Add, if you please, the Irish municipal reform bill,
and who will be benefited ?—the destitute Irish ?
No; those selfish wretches who are above want, and
only ask for power—the poor Irish do not covet the
honours of town-councillors, aldermen, or mayors—they
cry for food, and, in return, O'Connell promises to get
for them, if he can, a reform in the corporations. Ask
the unemployed weavers in the manufacturing districts
what they want, and they will tell you work ; and against
what do the radical leaders, with whom Earl Spencer
here identifies himself, direct their complaints ?—Church-
rates, to which they do not contribute, but of which a few
political dissenters wish to get rid, as a stepping stone to
further spoliation. It is clear to demonstration that
every one of these radicals is looking " for his gain from
his quarter." My Lord Melbourne and Lord John
Russell pledge the glory and the security of England fur
office ; Mr. O'Connell sacrifices his country for tribute;
Corporate Towns prostitute and ruin public peace to be
the municipal pageants of an hour ; Dissenters violate
the charities of life and degrade the character of Christi-
anity fur secular rivalry ;—and what do you think the
pour radicals want ? Will they be content to be num-
bered in the field on the day of action, and be satisfied
without any of the spoil of victory ? Are the poor
radicals clamorous for nothing but the glory of their
. leaders ? Oh, no ! We will tell Earl Spencer what they
expect, and we will further tell him how they will obtain
all they expect—they want no partition of your empty
honours—they care not a straw how the Irish tithe ques-
dun is settled—it concerns them not who are English
'councillors or Irish mayors. No; disguise it as you
will, or even hidden as it may be from many of them-
selves, all they want is money, or money's worth. When
they make the welkin ring with their cries for reform, it
is only because they think it is a golden deity which will
" Scatter-plenty o'er a smiling land"—when they join in
the chorus of universal suffrage and vote by ballot, it is
because they expect their representatives will carry a
bill through parliament that shall order a weekly pay,
Ment to be paid to each of them, commensurate with his
wants—andlet how true the words of the poet—

" now small, of all that human hearts endure,
That part which laws or kings can cause or cure !"

put let us pursue this reasoning to its natural con-
clusion. We -will suppose, through intimidation created
by an array of the physical forceof the country, that the
House of Lords is reformed, or abolished, if you please
—that nniversal suffrage and vote by ballot are parts of
the law of the land—that Ireland sees the Roman
Catholic Church erected upon the ruins of Protestantism,
and all the former revenues drawn off into Papal chan-
nels—every waporation Papal—what then ? Perhaps
the greedy stomach of ambitious radicalism may be
satiated, and reform may stop her hand from the want of
objects of destruction; but Where are the poor deluded
millions of radicals by whose threatening aspect we have
supposed the constitution to be overthrown, all order de•
stroved, religion made a bye-word—where are they ?
Their leaders and orators have provided for themselves;
but what advantage has been gained for the poor ? Will
they join in the 10-paean of victory which brings them
nothing but the remembrance of wasted hours, misdi-
rected rage, and painful disappointment? •We beg to
tell Earl Spencer, and we tell every one who is madly
putting on the amour of reform, that he is preparing to
conduct a power to combat, which, Leviathau-like, is
incapable of contronl, and-which may, like a troop of
elephants of. old, " laden with war," turn and spend
its fury upon its leaders ; all the animating harangues
and ample promises made whilst the war of reform was
undetermined gill be remembered when its-end is ac-
complished ; and if Edit Spencer, or any of his colleagues,
thinks that the.physicatforce .of England is mere muscle
and bone, we toll him he errs greatly, for there is united

with them a discerning mind ; in ilays of the grossest
ignorance, a victorious people have,always known how
to extendtheir strength; it is a rpiestion of sense, not
of mental deduction ; and, wheneVer this country shall
arrive at such a crisis, the. baronial demesne of Earl
Spencer will not be worth seven days purchase—England
may perhaps be lighted up with a few conflagrations such
as those of Nottingham Castle and Bristol Cathedral, as
demonstrations 'of victory; but the needy multitude of
reform w ill soon find that, however such exhibitions might
gratify their revenge, they did not satisfy their wants,
and, under whatever character they have worshipped the
demon of reform, they expected ease and plenty to be
returned for their sery ices. But with what ease or plenty
does Earl Spencer propose to repay the numerous
followers of radicalism ? Will be wipe off' the national
debt ? Why that, though it might prove ruinous to
thousands in the land, would not meet the greedy ex-
pectations of starving reformers—they will, on the day of
settlement, demand prompt payment, and leave no
arrears ; but the national debt is not hard cash, and to
tell them that the abolition of taxes will make them easy
would only provoke a smile of contempt, since they know
that after the remission of twenty millions a year, in
taxes—to which amount they have been reduced since the
peace—they are in more distress than when they paid
those twenty millions. No, no; the mad-blind non-
calculating leaders of reform, deceive themselves as they
may, will assuredly find that when they have accomplish-
ed all their impolitic designs—rased our noble and
venerable constitution from its base, extinguished the
light of the Protestant religion, and annihilated the
chartered institutions of learning—the people, who have
given them the power to effect all these things, will have
one design more. We once heard the speculative mur-
mur spreading in this kingdom of unalienable natural
rights—or the world being a common inheritance—of
which the doctrine of allodium and dominicum were the
usurped innovations of tyranny and oppression. Men
will not require much persuasion to induce them to be-
lieve this; and, infuriated as they now are with false
hopes of illusive blessings to be derived from reform, ex-
pectation will only stimulate a keener appetite to de-
mand unlimited spoliation to satiate their wants. This
will prove the inevitable terminus of radical reform.
Whether ministers, as 'Earl Spencer denies, are proceed-
ing to this extremity " too fast" or have advanced " too
far," it much more concerns his lordship to determine
than us; that they have gone " fat" towards it, is be-
yond all question—that they have not gone further, we
must thank time House of Lords—that they may go no
further, we now ask of our countrymen for a firm de-
claration of public sentiment, vindicatory of British rights
from the reckless hands of an oppressive government.
If such consequences be, as the noble earl affirms, the
necessary results of " carrying out their principles into
effect," then we demand of the good sense and patriot
feeling of England to check the career of destruction,
under the mis-called title of reform, and, by the most un-
equivocal expression of their sentiments (especially at
the next election) to convince his lordship and his
colleagues, in his own language, adding a slight ad-
verbial negative, " that the enlightened state of the
country will never enable them to carry them." We
close our observations upon the sentiments contained in
the speech of Earl Spencer, delivered at Northampton,
and the strife-perpetuating harangues of Earl Fitz-
william and Mr. Smith, in the sound and penetrating
words of Sallust :—" Longa mild alia mens est, quum res
atque pericula nostra considero, et quum sententias non-
nullorum mecum ipse reperto. Illi mihi disseruisse vi-
dentur de rumns. eorum, Qui pATSI/E, pARENTiBus, ARCS
ATQUE FOCtS BELLUM I)ARAVERE: res autcm monet cavere
ab illis magic, quam, quid in illos statuamus, consultare.
Nam cetera, tun persequare, übi facta sunt ; Hoc, NISI
PROViDERis, NE ACCIDAT, ÜBI EVENIT, FRUMTRA JUDICIA