The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1853-08-02 00:00:00

CONSERVATIVE DINNER IN WEST
DERBY WARD.

On the evening of Friday last, the Conservative Associ-
ation of West Derby, in celebration of the recent triumph
at the Liverpool election, dined together at Marshall's
Coffee-house, Edge-hill. The attendance was numerous
and respectable. Mr. W. Rowett occupied the chair, Mr.
Jas. C. Irving officiating as vice-president. The members
for Liverpool, the lion. H. T. Liddell and Mr.Horsfall,
had been invited, but were prevented by their parliamen-
tary duties from attending. Amongst those present were
Messrs. G. H. Horsfall, T. Bold, Councillor J. M. Wood,
J. Robertson, W. Whatham, J. Bailey, T. Brakell, W.
Ellis, G. Ward, J. Wensley, T. Tattersall, J. Whitby, J.
Andrews, W. Rawle, S. Lunt, J. Gaskell, jun., &c.
The party sat down to dinner about seven o'clock ; and,
after the cloth had been removed, the chairman gave the
customary loyal toasts, which were duly responded to.
"The Queen" was followed by the singing of the National
Anthem, which Mr. Leader executed with great taste.
Then came " Prince Albert, the Prince of Wales, and the
rest of the Royal Family ;" that bulwark of our land,
" The Church of England—might it ever live in the hearts
of those present, and in the hearts of all her Majesty's
subjects ;" and " The Army and Navy." The last-men-
tioned toast was given by the vice-chairman, who said
that the interests included in his toast were at the very
foundation of all our strength and greatness. ( Hear, hear.)
Withthe toast he begged to couple the name of Mr. Bailey.
Mr. BAILEY, who was warmly received, acknowledged
the compliment in a hearty and enthusiastic speech, which
was loudly applauded. He was sorry to say that late acts
of Parliament had reduced the strength of those glorious
bulwarks. England had plenty of ships, and good ones
too ; but what was the use of ships if they were not
manned ? (Hear, hear.) With reference to the maiming
of merchant ships with foreign sailors, he asked, what

were they to do in a case of -war ? (Hear, hear.) We
have nothing to fall back upon. The French have a con-
scription, by which they can, in a short space of time, call
up a body of men, numbering at the least 35,000. For
the last seven months we have been trying to get 5,000
men, and we have not got them yet. What, in these cir-
cumstances, could become of our glorious bulwarks ?
Why, it would come to this : that England would not have
a ship afloat as big as a cocked-hat. (Laughter, and ap-
plause.) Formerly a certain number of apprentices had
to be obtained and reared ; but, with the present practice,
he was afraid that in less than ten years, the sailors would
die out. Could England, in the time of danger, utter
the cry of Nelson :—" England expects every man to
do his duty," if those men were French and Germans ?
(Hear, hear.) It was a pity that some gentleman in the
House of Commons, or some member of the House of
Lords, did not get up and speak what he believed to be the
sentiments of the people of England.
Mr. WHATRAM then gave in good style, " Hearts of
Oak," the company joining in the song with great spirit.
The CHAIRMAN said they had arrived now at the toast
of the evening, or at least one of the toasts of the even-
ing, and that the most important one. They were met
to celebrate a great victory. (Cheers.) He was sure they
would all agree with him that it was indeed a victory;
and it was no less a victory because it was sure. (Hear.
hear.) They all perfectly well-knew that they were
capable of sending Conservative members to parliament.
They did so triumphantly. And why did they do so ? To
maintain those great and glorious principles which were
near anti dear to their hearts. (Applause.) They were in
parliament to represent those great principles of the Church
and State and to protect. the labour of the poor. There were
some gentlemen present who were the victims of improper
legislation, which he was sure the members for Liverpool
would do their best to remedy whenever they bad an op-
portunity of doing so. They hoped to remedy much of the
mistaken policy that bad been pursued of late ; and their
members, he felt assured, would put their shoulders to the
wheel in right good earnest to remedy those mistakes.
(Cheers.) He would not occupy much of their time,
because he knew there were many hearts around that
board burning to have their say in this matter. So he
would not take their words out of their mouths, but
would simply content himself with asking them to drink
" Health, life, and prosperity to our Conservative Mem-
bers," and may they long remain true to their principles.
(Hear, hear.) He was perfectly sure of this, if he might
judge from what fell from the lips of Mr. Liddell, that lie
agreed with the sentiments of Mr. Horsfall, and what the
principles of Mr. Horsfall were they all knew perfectly
well; they all knew that he was with them. Both would
no doubt do all in their power, and work in every shape
and form, to render Liverpool good service. He was also
sure that the constituency of Liverpool would take them
as a whole, without reference to any small points of dif-
ference, for it were surely a sad thing to see a constituency
tie them down to satisfy every freak aucl fancy of each
individual elector. (Laughter.) He concluded by calling
upon them to drink this toast in a bumper " Health,
long life, and prosperity to the Hon. Henry Thomas
Liddell and Mr. Horsfall, and may they long remain the
members for Liverpool." (Cheers.)
Mr. LEADER then sang "Down among the dead men."
Mr. GEORGE HENRY HORSFALL, on rising, was re-
ceived with rapturous cheering, and with several rounds
of the Kentish fire. On the applause subsiding, lie said
he had hoped, and not unnaturally, that the return of
his brother (Mr. T. B. Horsfall) to England would have
been the signal for his own disappearance from at least
the political surface of affairs ; but it seemed that in con-
sequence of the detention of their representatives in Lon-
don on parliamentary duties, it devolved upon him to
return thanks in their behalf for the very cordial recep-
tion which had been given to the toast so forcibly pro-
posed to the meeting by the chairman. (Hear, hear.)
The success which had attended the members whose
health they had drunk was to them individually a source
of the highest gratification and pride, and when reflecting
upon that success, he could assure the meeting that they
(our representatives) did not for a moment lose sight of
the great exertions which had been made in their behalf
by the chairman and canvassers of the ward of West
Derby ; and could they have been present that evening,
he knew that they would have been delighted to make
the acquaintance of many of those gentlemen whom he
saw around him upon this occasion, of whose ~2rvices as
a body Mr. Liddell and Mr. Horsfall were well aware,
but whom they had not yet had the good fortune to make
personal acquaintance with. (Cheers.) He could not,
although it might appear a very humble affair, regard
with indifference a festive gathering of sonic sixty or
eighty gentlemen to celebrate the return to parliament of
gentlemen holding the opinions which they themselves
advocated ; for he looked upon such meetings as mainly
conducive to strengthening that bond of union which was
at all times essential to their success, and more especially
in electioneering matters. (Cheers.) As a party they
had lately had two opportunities of testing their strength ;
and on the more recent occasion they had had a test
applied to that strength, which he did not hesitate to
pronounce most unfair and dishonourable. (Cheers.)
They had not only the more straightforward and open
attacks of avowed enemies to deal with, but they had to
encounter the deceitful and insidious attacks of one who,
on former occasions, had professed to be their friend ;
he used the word advisedly—professed to be their friend,
for he believed that it was quite impossible Mr. Moore
could at any time, since he came to Liverpool, have
been heart and band with the Conservative electors of
this borough, or he never could have allowed himself to
be placed in the singularly anomalous position which
he at present occupied. (Hear, hear, and great cheering.)
Whilst the names of the candidates were being discussed,
after the preliminary meeting which took place, Mr.
Moore came to him, and thanked him for the honour-
able part he had taken at that meeting towards him ;
and he told Mr. Moore then how strong the feel-
ing was against him, and that it was of no use
whatever his name being brought forward. Mr.
Moore appeared perfectly satisfied, and he (Mr Horsfall)
thought that the mere mention of Mr. Moore's
name at a preliminary meeting was highly compli-
mentary—(hear, hear)—sufficiently complimentary to a
gentleman who, after all, was but a comparative stranger
amongst them. (Cheers.) So far as he was personally
w ot
oh
le came
would never
concerned, whatever intercourse he had with Mr. Moore
had always been of a satisfactory and pleasant nature,
and, so far as he (Mr. Horsfall) was concerned, he did not
car
e that
vt
git
political,should ever
trusted
that otherwise;
c to matters he e fur butone when
forget the occurrences of the past month, and, whatever
Mr. Moore's political professions might be, he could never
place confidence in a gentleman who had deceived his
party as Mr. Moore had done. (Cheers.) So much for
Mr. Moore ; but, in drinking the health of their repre-
sentatives, they would not, ho was sure, lose sight of the
fact that there was a possibility of that connexion being
severed. (" No, never," and laughter.) Well, he dare
say, they knew a great deal more of the facts than he did,
and were more competent to judge of the extreme purity
—and he spoke with all due solemnity—with which the
election was conducted throughout the town, or at least
in West Derby Ward, in which they had exerted them-
selves with so much zeal and earnestness ; and he was
not surprised that they laughed at the idea of that con-
nexion being severed. But they must bear in mind that
the petition could not be gone into this session—(hear)—
that the petitioners bad something like six months in
which to concoct a case; and that amongst a constituency
of some 15,000 it would be odd, indeed, if there could not
be found a casual act of indiscretion. (Hear, hear.) He
believed, however, that recent events were sufficient to
have placed the most zealous on their guard ; and that
they would not for one moment forget discretion. He
believed that their opponents were deceiving themselves
on this occasion, as they did on the last. (Cheers.) No
doubt they were flattering themselves that they would
still find rosettes with sovereigns in them,—(loud laughter)
—or some other matters equally attractive, but which
prove equally fallacious when they come to be investi-
gated. (Hear, hear.) Still they must hear in mind that
this petition hung over them ; and although they stood
in the proud position of knowine that it would be impos-
sible to prove anything of the kind imputed to them, it
was most unpleasant to be subjected to such annoyance.
(Hear, hear.) He thought they would always remember
the gentlemen to whom they were indebted for that
petition, Mr. Robertson Gladstone—(laughter and hisses)
—and Mr. George Holt, with their sureties, Mr. Eyre
Evans and Mr. Jeffery. (Laughter.) His friend, Mr. Bold,
who was better acquainted with these things than he (Mr.
Horsfall) was, informed him that the recognizances were
entered into by a London gentleman.
•Mr BOLD London stockbroker. (Laughter.)

Mr. HORSFALL proceeded to say that his was sure 'they
must feel much indebted to the London gentleman for
the interest he took in Liverpool.
A VOICE :—And for the faith he has in the petitioners !
(Laughter.)
Mr. HORSFALL continued :—As to that, he thought the
sureties had every reason to be satisfied at the pecuniary
resources of the petitioners. They were both, he believed,
solvent men, and he had no doubt a very good specu-
lation could he made of the affair. (Laughter and cheers.)
And what could they say to the petitioners avowing they
were cognisant of the bribery which had taken place ?
(Shame !) Ho had endeavoured, very inadequately,
to thank them on behalf of the members ; and, before
he tat down, he asked to be allowed to claim on their
behalf the kind indulgence and forbearance of the con-
stituency. No one who had ever been to London and
come in contact with members of parliament, but must
be aware of the immense amount of labour which was
entailed upon those gentlemen ; and on that account he
called upon them to exercise a kind forbearance.
Mr. HORSFALL again rose, and said that it devolved
upon him to propose the next toast. Hisown inclination,
and the naodcgty of the gentleman who set his right