The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1841-06-29 00:00:00

MIL

tth raiPlete, Attacks upon bar We net bun wanting, I
am well aware, but thanks, under Providence, to her ma.
jesty's opposition, those attacks have been defeated. (Great
cheers.) Has the constitution been maintained as it origi-
nally was? Remember that the inroad in it was made be-
fore the trust of representing your interests had been re-
posed in either myself or my noble colleague. (Cheers.)
From that hour no inroad has been made. (Loud cheers.)
Attack after attack has been made ; attempt after attempt has
also been made; and when it has been found that pro-
positions working unfairly as respects the constitution have
been attempted to be remedied by her majesty's opposition
they have been thwarted by the ministry, and when the
struggle was for the constitution as it is, then the burden of
the struggle has been borne altogether by her majesty's
opposition. (Renewed cheers.) Having then returned to
you faithfully the trust reposed in me, I trust I shall, without
the least diminution of your attachment, have the honour of
saying that I am as well supported as ever in my claim upon
that trust again. (Great applause.) And what is that trust
now ? What are we called upon to maintain at the present
time ? We ask now to have reposed in us the trust of main-
taining the interests of Britain against the interests of
foreigners. (Loud cheers.) They have tried to delude you
by saying that we are desirous of promoting class interests,
and wishing to protect this man and that man at the expense
of the community at large; but if we were to adopt the mea-
sures proposed to us by ministers we should be injuring, not
foreigners, but ourselves. (Hear, hear.) Every one of the
measures proposed to us would be most injurious to the
interests we are most bound to preserve. (Hear, and cheers.)
To one of them I shall allude. I like to speak of familiar
matters, for I can then be least charged with any desire to
mislead you, because on such matters neither myself nor any
man else can mislead you. (Hear, and cheers.) Let us,
then, take the question of the colonies. (Hear, hear.)
We
are called on at the present period, in this great
own of
Liverpool,—interested above all things in shipping,
ship-
building, ship-fitting, ship-manning, ship-victualling, , abringine home timber by your ships,—we are caled on,ilig I say,
to destroyb the whole of that trade.
the r y
shipping hear, hear.)
Now, I appeal to any man connected with
in-
terest, have you not, during the last ten yaetarts, seen vesse
after vessel quitting the docks in this re
with your fellow-countrymen, emigrants, relieving t
he reopwodaerd.
rates of this country from the necessity of supporting them,
and seeking for a subsistence in a foreign land • (Hear.)
You who remain here have been more fortunate.
You have
been able to obtain employment. You have been able
dtso
earn an honourable subsistence by the work of
your
Your fellow-countrymen, perchance not less honest,al*
indus-
trious, or anxious fOr independence than yourselves, and no
less fond of their native country, have yet, in
the distress of
circumstances, arising out of the natural progress of events
—the population of the country increasing beyond the means
of supporting them—sought a living in a foreign land.
(Hear.) You have seen them leave your shores and depart.
You have no doubt expressed to the parties surrounding the
docks your hopes for their prosperity ; but will you now as-
sist her majesty's ministers in the carrying of a measure,
which must not only destroy all those hopes, butreduce your
fellow-countrymen to absolute beggary and starvation ?
(Hear, hear.) And yet such would be the effect of the mea-
sure they propose. Can any one connected with the port of
Liverpool be for one moment ignorant of the fact, that if the
timber trade with our North American colonies were stopped,
our fellow-countrymen who have emigrated thither would be
materially injured ? Or can any one doubt that that trade
would be ruined by the measure the goverement have pro-
posed for substituting the Baltic for the colonial timber
trade ? (Hear, hear.) If then, you sanction that measure,
and if you send men to parliament to support that alteration,
what is it but signing a fiat against your hundreds of thou-
sands of countrymen in the colonies ! And have you the
heart for that ? (Vehement cries of no, no.) Oh ! 1 know
you have n't the heart for it, though I appeal to your heart
first because it is a good English one. (Cheers.) Let me
now appeal to your reason, and ask whether the first honest
impulse of your reason is not supported by your judgment ?
What reason is there for it ? How can they prove that you
would be benefitted by it ? Suppose timber was brought
from the Baltic, would you bring it ? (No.) Would you
build their ships ? (No.) Would you man them ? (No.)
Would you victual them ? (No.) Then what have you
to gain by the change? (Loud cries of " Nothing at all.")
Exactly so ; you would gain a loss (hear, hear, and great
laughter); and your less fortunate fellow countrymen now
living abroad would be reduced to ruin and starvation.
(Cheers.) Another great interest which they are attempting
to take from us is one connected with our commerce, be-
cause, without it, it cannot flourish, but dependent, not so
much upon our commerce as upon our agriculture--I mean
the interest of the landholder. You have heard a great deal
of idle talk about this interest. You have heard about
the foreign grower of corn being willing to supply yon with
grain at a cheap rate, and that it was impious upon your part
to keep from the people the supply Providence had ordained
they should possess. What sad nonsense !—I cannot treat
it more mildly—what utter nonsense is this you talk !
(Cheers.) I shall put the case thus :—I understand a cargo
of wheat has already arrived from Odessa, which, after pay-
ing the whole amount of duty that is capable of being exacted
by the existing law, can be sold here and give a profit of 25
per cent. to the importer. Suppose that the corn-grower in
this country, bearing the burden of poor-rates, highway
rates, tithes, and other burdens which fall on the real pro-
perty of the land—suppose he sells his corn at a price that
leaves him five per cent., they immediately cry out, " Oh !
'tis monstrous that you should realise five per cent. by your
industry: it is contrary to the laws of Providence." (Hear,
and a laugh.) But, according to the laws of Providence,
what right has the importer to make 25 per cent.? (Great
cheering, and cries of " Ask Sir Joshua that.") It is not a
fair auestion to put to any man, simply because no man has
a right so to argue, because if a man says that it is impious to
keep from the people the produce of the land which Provi-
dence intended for their support, why then any man has a
right to fix his own price on the soil, and the owner of it
must be bound to part with it at whatever the tenant may
choose to give ; and so you reduce the bargain and sale out
of the vulgar practices of trade. (Great laughter and cheers.)
So much for that subject. Though I fear that lam detaining
you—(no, no)r-to too late an hour on this, Saturday night,
which is so peculiarly adapted to repose, and when, after the
labours of the week, we may be anxious to enjoy it, I shall
just add a word or two more. (Hear.) I have attempted to
show you some of the evils which would have resulted from
the passing of those colonial and corn questions, not because
I think those questions of vital importance, but because if
your adversaries could show that you were under some mis-
take as to those, they might mislead you from the great and
leading questions on which the happiness of this country de-
pends. The main, and after all, the great fundamental feel-
ings which should actuate the constituencies of England at
the present moment is the maintenance of that great Protes-
tant principle—which seated our beloved monarch on the
throne, by which her ancestors reigned, and by which, I trust,
she shall reign after most of us are in our graves, under which
her country has thriven, and she has enjoyed liberty in reli-
gion, as well as civil liberty also. (Cheers.) Without reli-
gious liberty no civil liberty can long exist; for if the mind
be enslaved, the body cannot long remain free. (Hear, hear.)
You can have little choice in such a case. If you are subjected
to religious thraldom, I will answer for it that you cannot
enjoy civil liberty; but, in the result, the pressure of the one
will make you rebels against the other, and you will become
infidels in religion and democrats in politics. (Great ap-
plause.) I find, therefore, in looking back on the history of
this and other countries and their present state, that demo-
cratic feelings and infidelity in religion go together ; that the
dominancy of the papacy and mental slavery are infallible
concomitants;—(hear)—that where the Popish religion pre-
vails, the priest domineers not only over the conscience but the
conduct of his penitent ; that it is only where man is instructed
to be free in his thoughts and actions, where he is daily
impressed with a feeling of reverence towards his Creator—
where he feels sensibly, every day of his life, his awful re-
sponsibility towards Him who made him, and his gratitude
towards Him who redeemed him ;—it is in such a case he
will enjoy all the blessings of religious, and, as a necessary
consequence, civil liberty also. (Renewed applause.) It is
on these grounds, as well as my fidelity to the constitution,
that I seek a renewal of your confidence. I utterly disclaim
all the new-fangled notions of the ministry : but if it were on
these grounds, and these alone, I am well convinced that you
are far too much enlightened even to suppose that they are
spread before you with the view of obtaining anything like a
benefit for myself. These are the grounds on which, I trust,
we have received your confidence ; these are the topics which
have, I trust, obtained for us a cordial greeting at your hands;
these are the principles which will, I trust, be invigorateed
even during your day of rest ; for it is on that day they are
more likely to work within you than on any other. (Hear,
hear.) To-morrow you rest from your labour, and from
those temporal pursuits to which you devote yourselves dur-
ing the week. Think then of those things which are more
sacred, for then will you come out on the Monday impressed
more fully than ever with the force of our arguments, and
more determined than ever to uphold those great institutions
under which you live, and which are the glory and the hap-
piness of your country. (Vehement cheers.) It is not on
the excitement of the moment that I rely, but it is on your
deep and sober judgments, your reflections, your feelings,
and your convictions ' • and if I were not to see one of you
again, but be severed from you until after the battle had been
fought, I should still feel convinced that, by the force of your
own convictions, you would become more and more confirmed
in favour of the views which my colleague and myself enter-
tain ? you would see that our principles will withstand all
investigation; you would' repudiate the false notions which
are abroad; you would come as men to maintain your opi-
nions at the hustings, and you would rally round the poll to
return us as the representatives of your wishes to the great
council of the nation. Mr. Cresswell here resumed his seat
amidst thunders of applause.
The CHAIRMAN then said he felt very much obliged to
the audience for the respectable and orderly manner in which
they had conducted themselves throughout the proceedings,
hoping that the same order would be observed throughout
the election. (Hear, hear.) Though the resolution might
have struck them as a colonial shipping question, there was
another important matter which concerned the electors far
more deeply. He hoped they would not consider the present
to be a struggle of one party, or of one political creed. It
was a struggle in which they must be successful if sacred
principles based on truth, that only commodity which was
desirable, guided them in their course. They should strug-
gle against the wild elements of whiggery, which wild ele-
ments were disorder, insubordination, and ingratitude to the
sacred institutions of their country. (Cheers.) He begged
of them to remember what order and contentment were, and
the evils of disorder and discontent, in their own families ;
and also to remember that every vote held by an elector was
like a talent committed to his keeping, for the proper dis-
pensation of which he was responsible to God and his
country. (Great Applause.)
A vote of thanks was then presented to Mr. Gibb for his
conduct in the chair, to which he suitably replied, and the
Meeting separated.

REPRESENTATION OF SOUTH LANCASHIRE.

VISIT OF LORD FRANCIS EGERTON AND THE
HON. R. BOOTLE WILBRAHAM.

On Saturday a very numerous and influential meeting of
the friends and supporters of the conservative cause in South
Lancashire assembled in the Clarendon Rooms, for the por_
pose of meeting Lord Francis Egerton and Mr. Bootle Wil-
braham. Among those present we noticed Sir Thomas
Brancker, James Aspinall, Thomas Sands, Adam Hodgson,
R. B. Hollinshead Blundell, Charles Inman, Robertson
Gladstone, James Robertson, Richard Dawson, Thos. Bold,
Charles Parker, Reddish, Brandreth, W. H. Myers,
C. Boutflower, J. Walker, Thomas Toulmin, John Ireland
Blackburne, Christopher Bushell, Joseph Crisp, Hugh H.
Birley, Daniel Ledson, Nicholas Robinson, William Smith,
Charles Turner, James Bold, Thomas Moss, Simon Trotman,
George Grant, Charles Lawrence, William Dixon, -- Higgins,
John Ridgway, Alex. Smith, jun., Thomas Heyes, Thomas
Lee. King, Lawrence Peel, William Bashby, James Law-
rence, Henry Sandbach, John Sheppard, Richard Griffiths,
Francis Foster, Thomas Brassey, Wilkinson, James Hall,
Cottingham Moss, Esquires, &c., &c.
Business commenced soon after one o'clock, by Sir Tiros.
,BRANCKER moving that Nicholas Robinson, Esq., do take
the chair. He had served under him in many hardly fought
contests, and knew how capable he was of performing the
duties.
Mr. ROBERTSON GLADSTONE seconded the motion, and
it was carried.
Mr. ROBINSON then took the chair, observing that lie was
not aware whether any resolutions had been prepared.
Sir THOMAS BRANCKER said there was only one resolu-
tion. and that was a resolution to carry the conservative can-
didates. (Loud cheers.)
Lord Francis Egerton and the Hon. Mr. Wilbraham were
then introduced, and were most enthusiastically cheered.
Lord FRANCIS EGERTON, on rising, was received with
loud and vehement cheering. When silence was restored, he.

spoke 0 the following effect N-Mr. Chairman and Senile.,
men, I am too well aware of the present circumstances of this
borough, to think of intruding on you with a long speech.
I did,
fact, understand the arrangement to be, that I should
come down here this morning to meet such of my friends and
constituents as I have now the honour of seeing around me,
and to forward those necessary arrangements with a view to
that contest for the county which is appointed to take place
so soon as you are discharged from that important struggle—
none more important in the kingdom—in which you are en-
gaged. (Hear.) I understand, however, on consideration
with some of my friends that we should carry the proceedings
further, and that it would not be inconvenient to the meeting
if we were to imitate the example of other gentlemen who
have made their appearance in the Exchange. (Hear, hear,
and renewed cheers.) I am come here for the purpose of
placing myself entirely at the orders of my friends and con-
stituents with a view to the accomplishment of that which I
believe every gentleman present has sincerely at heart.
(Hear.) I shall. therefore, without further comment, or
without any useless expression of my opinions, or without
detaining you from your important avocations, content my-
self with expressing my desire and readiness to act on that
advice, and to do to-day whatever may be thought best by
the wise heads and good management of those of my friends
who conduct the affairs of the election in Liverpool—(loud
cries of "hear, hear")—in order to promote what we all
have in view. (Hear.) I have had experience on former
occasions of the zeal and energy with which I have been
received, and it is a great satisfaction to me to perceive,
by the aspect of this room, that there is no prospect what-
ever of that being diminished. (Vehement cheering.) I
have now to thank you for your attendance, and iu some
measure certainly to apologise to you for being the cause of
distracting you from the contest you are now so busily en-
gaged in, and also to thank you very cordially for the re-
ception you have honoured me with upon this occasion.
Lord Francis resumed his seat amidst the most enthusiastic
applause.
The Honourable RICHARD BOOTLE WILBRAHAM then
rose to address the meeting, and was most warmly received.
He could assure those present that he felt the greatest grati-
tude to them for having, in the midst of business in which
they were so ardently engaged, given his noble colleague and
himself this opportunity of meeting them It was not his
intention, as it was not that of his noble friend, to detain
them by any observations at present ; therefore he would
content himself with simply saying, as he felt himself bound
to do, that he felt most grateful for the confidence which had
been reposed in him, and he would assure his supporters that
the sentiments which he had ever entertained towards them,
and the principles he had ever held' since he had the honour
of being one of their representatives, remained perfectly the
same. ( Loud cheers.) He would not detain them any longer,
but he hoped that this day they might perchance meet with
as good a reception in the Exchange as those gentlemen had
who opposed them. (Loud cheers.)
Mr. IRELAND BLACKBURN inquired at what hour the noble
lord proposed to visit the Exchange ?
The CHAIRMAN replied, three o'clock.
Lord F. EGERTON said he would here take the liberty of
making one observation which had been suggested to him by
one of his excellent friends below. He had taken measures
for acquainting his committees in the various places in the
county that an endeavour was being made by their opponents
to split votes in favour of Mr. Towneley and himself. (Hear.)
It was possible gentlemen might not have seen his sentiments;
but he would state that he had communicated to them, that
in his neighbourhood and elsewhere such endeavours were
making for that purpose, and that in some instances it might
happen, apart from other considerations, and out of personal
regard for himself, gentlemen might think they would meet
his wishes, and serve themselves with his respected antagonist,
Mr. Towneley, by voting for both. He would venture to call
the attention of electors to the circumstances under which
his honourable colleague had come forward—that he had
come forward not for the purpose of being a candidate, but
to secure the triumphs of conservative principles by securing
his (Lord F. Egerton's.) His honourable friend was present,
and it was impossible for him, therefore, to call the atten-
tion of the electors to the manner in which his duties had
been performed since he embarked in the undertaking. He
was returned then by a triumphant majority ; and he (Lord
F. Egerton) ventured to suggest that it was impossible for
him, with a view to these circumstances, to consider Mr.
Wilbraham's case as otherwise than absolutely identified with
his own. (Loud cheers.) He could only say that he was
not here for his own return only ; but ready to make any and
as much exertion for his excellent colleague as for him-
self. (Cheers.)
The meeting then adjourned till three o'clock, when the
candidates and their friends proceeded to the Exchange.

About half-past three Lord Francis Egerton and Mr. Wil-
braham, accompanied by Mr. John Moss, Mr. Sands, Mr.
Robinson, and many other distinguished conservatives pro-
ceed to the Exchange Rooms. They were there received
with a most hearty welcome, which strongly contrasted
with the melancholy greeting which awaited Mr. Townley on
his visit to the same spot on Thursday last. Though the
weather was by no means favourable, the immense multitude
patiently braved the pelting of the pitiless storm, and ever
and anon gave utterance to the most enthusiastic bursts of
applause, in testimony of their concurrence with the senti-
ments of the hon. candidates' addresses. Nothing could
exceed the ardour and devotion of the gentlemen present to the
conservative cause, which must have been as gratifying to his
lordihip and his noble colleague as they were honourable to
to those who evinced them. The candidates afterwards pro-
ceeded into Messrs. Sandbach, Tinne, and Co.'s office,
which overlooks the area of the Exchange, from which
it was al ranged they should address the assembled multitude.
Lord FRANCIS EGERTON, having been introduced, was
received with indescribable enthusiasm, which, having in
some degree subsided, he spoke to the following effect :
Gentlemen, I feel that I owe you some apology for bringing
vou here together on the present occasion, for I am well
aware that you, or the greater part of you at least,—the
voters for the borough of Liverpool—are engaged, and have
your energies occupied, in a contest which, in importance,
is second to none that can take place. lam sensible that all
your energies are devoted to the task you have undertaken,
and I feel I have to apologise for interrupting you for one
moment from that task. (No, no, and applause.) But it
may be necessary to state to you the fact, that when I came
here this morning I felt that truth so much that I was un-
willing to bring you together. That was my view, and so
also was it the view of those who more particularly have in-
terested themselves on my committee, but it did appear to
those, to whose advice I always defer, that I should on this
occasion endeavour to see some of my friends on the Ex-
change, and particularly those who have supported our con-
stitutional cause in the county election. (Loud cries of
" hear," and much cheering.) I have, therefore, to ask you,
knowing that your steam is up for another purpose, that
when your vessel has arrived, as I firmly trust and believe
she will arrive, safely in port—l say, I have to ask these who
concur with me in the political views which have hitherto
brought me into parliament, not to let their fire entirely go
out, but to reserve some of its energies for the subsequent
contest, which I am told awaits us in the county as well as
the borough. (Renewed cheers.) Gentlemen, I need
scarcely observe that this is a most important crisis, for rea-
sons of which you are already aware. (Hear, hear.) I have
endeavoured to communicate to the county at large, briefly
but fairly, candidly, and I trust temperately, such opinions
as the county electors may have been in doubt as to my en-
tertaining upon subjects which partake anything of the charac-
ter of novelty since the last election. Of my general prin-
ciples which I confess have dictated my untiring but not
factious opposition to her Majesty's ministers, and upon
general subjects I have frequently explained. I have told the
electors that they remained unchanged ;• and if on these
principles I cannot cemmand the same support I before ob-
tained, all I can say is, that it is not I who have changed,
but the majority of the electors who have thought fit, for
reasons honest and good in themselves, no doubt, to change.
(Hear, hear.) If I could have at any time entertained suspi-
cions that such a change had taken place in this quarter of
the county. I confess that the reception I have experienced
this day is not likely to confirm me in that opinion, or to
increase my apprehensions. (Loud and protracted cheering.)
Gentlemen, with regard to the other topics more particu-
larly brought under the notice of the constituency of this
county at the present time, I have, as I have stated, informed
those who may take an interest in them, what my views are.
I do not think that this is an occasion, or that under present
circumstances, I can enter at length into a vindication of my
views upon subjects which involve a wide range of political
economy. (Hear, hear, and great cheering.) It is some
consolation to me to think, that however wrong I may be in
the opinions I have professed, or however mistaken I may be,
that I am at least mistaken in good company ; and it is also
some consolation to me to think, that if on the present occa-
sion I lack time, power, and opportunity to explain, to vin-
dicate, or to express those opinions, there are others, at pre-
sent in this town, who have not been at all slow or languid
in the execution of that task. (Hear, hear.) It is true that
I have not been able to anticipate the canvass which has been
carried on, but I have paid some attention to the speeches
which have been made, and I think I may briefly express
myself in this way, that in the opinions expressed by my
noble friend (Lord Sandon) and his colleague in this town,
on subjects of a financial description, I do most heartily and
entirely concur, so far as I have seen them. (Hear, hear,
and cheers.) t would have been a matter of satisfaction to
me to dwell in some respects on the subjects in question, but
when I consider the circumstances of the present moment,
it is impossible, standing sheltered as I do, to detain you who
are standing under umbrellas, on topics of corn and sugar.
There is one circumstance, however, on which I have not
dwelt at any length in my printed address. (Hear, hear,
and cheers.) I did think that the occasion called on me for
the free expressign of my opinions on subjects of leading in-
terest, and I did believe that the constituency did me the
credit of supposing that I still entertained towards her ma-
jesty's ministers those feelings of unmitigated opposition,
which I always expressed. (Hear, hear, and renewed cheers.)
There are various and multifarious subjects of interest in the
present crisis ; and the Question naturally arises whether I
am right or wrong on the subjects of commercial policy.
(Hear, hear, and long-continued cheering.) But that is not
the only question. Another question is, whether the go-
vernment ought to be allowed to remain in office as a go-
vernment. It is a question whether their principles have
been such as to justify the opposition I have endeavoured to
carry out so far as my principles have allowed me. It is
another question whether their more recent proceedings, and
the mode in which they have introduced their measures,
have been such as to warrant that retention of office to which
they have so tenaciously adhered. It is my deliberate
opinion that the ministry, in the course they pursued, have
lost sight of the interest of the measures they professed to
promote—that they have lost sight of their duty to their
country and their duty to their sovereign. (Vehement ap-
plause, followed by a few faint cries of " No, which were
speedily drowned in a great burst of loud and indignant cheer-
ing.) All this opposition lam ready for at the proper time and
opportunity. I am not so presumptuous as to say I can
prove to your satisfaction, but I am ready to explain the
reason on which I entertain those opinions. (Renewed
cheers.) I think, and briefly I shall state, that with respect
to the measures they have brought forward—that looking to
the interest of advancement of those measures, they have
brought them forward at a time when they were least likely
to be discusSed with that temper and moderation which could
insure a satisfactory settlement. (Loud cheers.) I think
with respect to the removal of the duties on corn, for in-
stance, that if their principles could be maintained, and that
if they were so certain of the beneficial effects of such repeal,
I connot tell why one, two, three, four, five, and six years
ago they did not bring those measures forward, not in an
obscure corner of the budget, but in a conspicuous place in
a speech from the 'crown at the opening of the parliament.
I cannot see how or upon what principles they have failed
in this respect up to the present moment, or why they should
introduce measures now, the advocacy of which they pro-
claimed heretofore to be nothing short of madness and cri-
minality. (Cheers.) With respect to the country, I think
they have lost sight of its best interests in promoting those
measures in a shape that was likely to agitate and convulse
the country from one end to the other, without at the same
moment being able to carry those measures to a satisfactory
conclusion. They did not bring them forward in the hour
of their presumed and boasted authority, when they had a
majority in the House of Commons—(hear, hear)—when
they could boast of their power and insult the weaker party
with exhibitions of their power ; but in the hour of their
weakness, and in the last stage of their decrepitude, they
throw their firebrands among the people, in the hope that
the tide of agitation might float them along the stream of
office and emolument. (Cheers.) It is upon these grounds
that I think they have been false to the interests of the coun-
try. (Cheers.) I think they have been false to the interests
of the crown. (A cry of " No, no," was here raised, but it
was quickly drowned in an universal cheer.) And, though
it rains, I call upon you for a moment to hear me why I
think so. (Hear, hear, and cheers.) I think the best in-
terests of the crown are promoted by its union with the
people, and I call upon on to judge between two parties in
this respect. There are honest hearts and clear understand-