The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1853-06-28 00:00:00

THE cotton planters of the Southern States of America,
not content with the large profits which a succession of
good crops have yielded them, have been holding a con-
vention at Memphis, with the view of devising means to
monopolise the whole gain of the trade in their staple
product. The questions discussed comprised several
minor schemes of improving internal communications
with the seaports, and establishing lines of steamers be-
tween the latter and Europe, each of which may be laudable
in itself, and in some degree practicable; but it is said
that the ulterior object is to remove the whole of the
cotton trade from the respective ports of New York and
Liverpool, and, by transferring it to a direct transit on
shippers' account from the Southern ports to a general
cotton depilt at Havre, compel the Manchester manufac-
turers to seek their supplies at the latter place. This
movement has been induced, as far as New York is con-
cerned, by the antagonism between the Northern and
Southern States on the question of the abolition of slavery,
which has been enhanced by the popularity of " Uncle
Tom's Cabin ;" and still further augmented, as far as Liver-
pool is concerned, by the movement which has taken place
in England in the same direction,—as shown by the meet-
ings at Stafford-house and the ovations to Mrs. Stowe.
There is no doubt but that the American cotton planters
view with envy the important position which Liverpool
occupies in this great trade, although they have been the
largest gainers by it ; and some apprehensions might be
entertained for the consequences of this agitation ; could
we believe that the object was at all feasible; but this is
utterly out of the question, for, however sincere may have
been the intentions of the planters who assembled at
Memphis, the realisation of their hopes is purely chimerical.
Of the recent crop, estimated at 3,250,000 bales, about
one-half is exported to Great Britain ; and for the greater
part of this large proportion, which may be valued in
round numbers at twelve millions sterling, they have to
depend upon British capital, it being shipped on British
account or paid for by bills drawn against consign-
ments. The planters have no means of establishing a
substitute for this money supply, nor could all the com-
mercial credit of Havre help them out of the difficulty.
They tried a similar game once before in the establishment
of the United States Bank; and, though to a much smaller
extent, the catastrophe, which was speedy and inevitable,
almost extinguished the commercial credit of the States,
and several houses never recovered from the shock. If
American supplies be necessary for the cotton manufac-
tures of Manchester, Liverpool capital is equally necessary
for the sustentation of the American planters ; and though
the Northern and the Southern States may have opposing
interests on the slave question and commercial tariffs, the
welfare of the latter is directly identified with the pros-
perity of the Liverpool market. The mere mooting of the
question should operate as a stimulus to exertions in other
directions, so as to render this important branch of our
native industry more and more independent of foreign aid,
which, under the most favourable circumstances, is
tinctured with national rivalry. Our decaying colonies
in the West Indies might be made in some degree avail-
able, while our vast possessions in the East offer a field
for enterprise almost exhaustless, and which has not been
developed simply through that paralysing system of double
government which our present rulers seem so anxious to
preserve. It should stimulate the independent members
of the House of Commons to increased determination to
open the resources of India to British capital and enter-
prise ; for it may be depended upon that, so long as it is
retained under a system which merely provides for the
nominees of Directors' patronage, it can never become
other than it is—an unprofitable appanage of the British
Crown.

CROMWELL AND MILTON..—A picture is now being ex-
hibited at the Gallery of Arts, in Church-street, which,
for historical interest, felicity of design, and skill in exe-
cution, deserves more than a passing notice. It represents
Oliver Cromwell dictating to John Milton a letter to the
Duke of Savoy, demanding religious liberty for the Pro-
testants of Piedmont, one of the few redeeming acts in
the career of the " Protector." The picture, which is of
life size, was painted by F. Newenham, and has been very
effectively engraved. It is well deserving a visit, and
cannot fail to be greatly admired.

Ar OLD POLICEMAN.-A person named Robert Thom-
son, residing at No. 12, Blackstone-street, was chargedat the Police-court; yesterday, with interfering with
police-officer 105, in the execution of his duty on Satur-
day night. The police-officer alleged that while he was
conducting a prisoner to bridewell for exposing his person,
Thomson came up and told him to let the prisoner away ;
he had been an officer himself once, and he had frequently
let prisoners off who were guilty of far worse things than
having " a sup of drink." As 105 did not think proper to
accede tothis request, it was alleged that Thomson knocked
him down, and kicked him severely.-1n his defence,
Thomson alleged that he never interfered with. the police-
man in the way described, but merely advised him not to
be so severe, as he was dragging the prisoner to bridewell
cruelly.—This was supported by two respectable wit-
nesses, and the prisoner was accordingly discharged.
iwasThomson said it was about two years since he was the
force, and he had left it of his own accord, thinking that
he could establish a better-paying business as a tailor,
which he had done, having now twenty-four men in bis
employment,

Yesterday, at noon, the Hon. Henry Thomas Liddell
arrived in Liverpool from London, by the six a.m. train ;
and, at half-past three he visited the place where mer-
chants " most do congregate," in company with Mr.
Edmund Molyneux, Mr. Bold. Mr. Bremner, and others
of his friends. Previous to the hour of his arrival the
Exchange was thronged, although the rain fell in tor-
rents. The utmost interest was evinced in the arrival of
Mr. Liddell, and when the honourable gentleman made
his appearance, he was welcomed with loud, hearty, and
prolonged cheering, which he gracefully ackowledged as
he walked from one end of the spacious room to the other.
Then, emerging from the throng, he made his appearance
at the window of Messrs. Littledale, in the Exchange-
square—the merchants and other inhabitants of the town
congregating in front. The attendance was very nume-
rous ; fortunately the rain subsided, and it continued
comparatively fair during the entire proceedings.
EDMUND MOLYNEUX, Esq., on coming forward, was
received with considerable applause. He said :—Brother
electors of Liverpool, the committee of the House of
Commons, as you are well aware, have deprived us of our
two late excellent representatives—Mr. Forbes Mackenzie
and our esteemed townsman, Mr. Turner. It is not my
intention at present to say anything, either as to those
who petitioned against the return of those honourable
gentlemen, or with regard to the committee of the House
of Commons. The matter is now settled, and to it I shall
not allude. But what I have to inform you on this occa-
sion is, that we have found two good substitutes—(cheers)
—one in the person of our respected townsman, Mr.
Thomas Berry Horsfall, (great cheering,) with whom you
are well acquainted—whose good deeds and words are
familiar to you—(hear, hear)—and who I only wish were
here present to address you. But I am happy to be able
to state that to-day a telegraphic message was received,
from which we learn that be will be with us on
I Saturday or Monday next. (Immense cheering.) When
we first fixed upon him for a member he was at Vienna,
but he was on his way home at the time, and I antici-
pate that we shall see him on Saturday. And now
allow me to introduce to you the Honourable Henry
Thomas Liddell (great cheering)—a gentleman wile bears
a high character—of sound, good principles, and much
experience in parliament—and who, I have no doubt, will
prove a most excellent member. (Loud and continued
cheers.)
The Honourable HENRY THOMAS LIDDELL, upon
coming forward, was received with loud cheers, which
were continued for several minutes. He spoke nearly as
follows :—Gentlemen, it is quite impossible that I should
find myself for the first time in the presence of such an
assemblage as that which I now see before me, composed
of the electors and inhabitants of the greatest commercial
town in the world (hear, hear, and cheers), excepting
only the metropolis of this great empire. (No ! no !) It is
quite impossible that I should be here for the first time
before such an assemblage as this, without feeling very
strong emotions at the fact; and, gentlemen, I am sure
that I shall not appeal to you in vain, when I ask for
your indulgence and your consideration during the short
time it will be my duty to address you on such an occa-
sion, and for the first time. (Cheers.) Gentlemen, the first
impression which I feel upon this occasion, is simply
astonishment—astonishrnentpartly at the position in which
I find myself, but astonishment much more when I con-
sider those circumstances which have called for my ap-
pearance among you—(cheers)—because I do firmly and
truly believe that it is an almost unprecedented circum-
stance in the political history of this country, that a great
and important town like this town of Liverpool should be
practically, even for a short time, disfranchised, and that
its members really and fairly returned—(cheers)—by an
immense majority of a constituency which far out-num-
bers that of almost any place we can name, should have
been unseated upon grounds so utterly flimsy and trum-
pery, as far as my reason enables me to judge those
grounds are, by which your late members have been un-
seated. (Cheers.) Gentlemen, my own humble opinion
is this, and I do not care whether it is delivered here or
within the walls of the House of Commons—(hear, hear)
that ifverdictsare given as this has been, upon such grounds
as those which I have alluded to, by the committees of the
House of Commons, the natural result will be, that the
public will cease to regard those decisions with any degree
of respect. (Hear, hear.) And I revert to what has
been an old formed opinion of mine, that it would be much
better, and much more to the satisfaction of the commu-
nity at large, and would redound more to the credit of this
great country, and would redound more to the public li-
berty and to the freedom of election,—and would redound
more to the credit of a representative government,—
if cases of this description were removed from the jurisdic-
tion of a committee of the House of Commons and trans-
ferred to a court of jurisdiction, who would give a decision
with the sterling impartiality of a judge,leaving no grounds
to suppose that such decision had been influenced by a
spirit of political partisanship. (Cheers.) Gentlemen,
when Sir Robert Peel, some years ago, begged the House
of Commons not to part with their jurisdiction—for Sir
Robert Peel was a great stickler for the privileges of the
House of Commons—that very House of Commons pro-
ceeded to no less a step than the imprisonment of two
sheriffs of the city of London, because, in the exercise of
their duty, they had obeyed the highest court in the king.
dom. Tbat, to my mind, was a bad precedent ; and,
although I differed with Sir Robert Peel on that question,
I was induced to concur with him on the question of the
House retaining the privilege of election trials being re-
tained in its own hands. I have only to say now, how.
ever, that I believe my first impressions were more correct,
because I have since seen cases in which the decisions were
so discordant with one another, that I have come to the
conclusion that these tribunals ought to be removed from
the House of Commons. So opposite in my mind were
those decisions of the House to common justice and equity,
that I have come to the conclusion, I say, that that juris-
diction, for the satisfaction of the community, ought cer-
tainly to be removed from its present possessors. But,
gentlemen, will you forgive me for going a little further ?
(Yes, yes 1) I hold in my hand a copy of the report of
the committee, which, by its vote, succeeded in unseating
your late members. That committee states in its report
that Messrs. Turner and Mackenzie were guilty, by their
agents, of bribery and treating. Gentlemen, according to
the law, that is sufficient, if carried home to the convic-
tion of the committee, to unseat a member, and to justify
the judgment they have in this case come to. But the
report of the committee goes on to say, that several voters
were bribed with the payment of ss. each. This state-
ment was received in the House of Commons with some
laughter and crieb of " Oh ! Oh I" (Laughter, and
cries of " Oh !") That is, gentlemen, it was received
with derision ; which, I doubt not, originated within
the walls of the House of Commons, will be re-echoed,
with interest, from within the walls of the town of Liver-
pool. It states, also, that some refreshments were pro-
vided on the following day, but it was not proved that
these were of an extravagant character. (Laughter.) It
was reported that certain sums of money were given as a
day's pay for loss of time, and that in each case it was not
beyond the ordinary earnings of the voters. (Hear !)
Now, gentlemen, I will ask you one question. Although
this is the first time I made the acquaintance of Liver-
pool, I had had long and friendly connexion with many
seaports of great importance and great business. I hap-
pen to know particularly well that the employment of
men in shipbuilding-yards cannot be conducted merely
according to the work of each individual workman, but
that it is a continuous occupation in which one set of
employ6s depends upon the occupation of the other, and
the whole must go on together, or the day's work will be
practically thrown away. Now, gentlemen, I will ask
not only you, but, through the medium of the press, I
will ask the kingdom at large, whether it is not easy to
account for the master, upon a great day like the day of
election in Liverpool, when some of the workmen choose
to take a holiday, and are probably called upon to exercise
the privilege of recording their vote, for the master,
I say, both out of consideration for the workmen and
his own interest, giving the whole of the workmen a
day's pay. But that very obvious conclusion seems to
have escaped the consideration of the committee, and the
result has been what I have stated. (Hear, hear.) In the
last clause of the report of the committee, it is stated
that, as it did not appear that the so-called treating had
been the principal means of corrupting the voters, there-
fore the committee did not recommend any further inquiry
into the circumstances of the late election. In conse-
quence of that conclusion, notice has been given by a
member of the committee that a writ for this great and
important town is to be moved for to-morrow night. A
noble lord, the member for Marylebone (hisses and groans)
—a self-styled " Liberal" (laughter)—one who is anxious
for the liberty of the subject—one who appears every day
as the ultra-supporter of every liberty dear to the
Englishman—has given notice that he intends to
move that the town of Liverpool be practically dis.
franchised for a month, (groans,) and gives this as
his reason for doing so—because, in pursuance of a
crotchet of his own, he intends to move that the votes at
the next election for Liverpool be taken by ballot.
(Laughter, and cries of " Oh ! oh !") He has given
this notice in the face of the recent discussion in the
House of Commons, when the opinion of the house was
taken on the subject of the ballot after a lengthened and,
I will say, a very able discussion, in which the general
character of the ballot was resolved to be reprehensible
by a very large majority. He has given notice of this
motion, too, in the face of the report of the Liverpool
Election Committee ; which, after the long inquiry, has
decided that no imputation whatever rests upon your
character—(cheers)—and that no further inquiry can be
recommeadetle (14044 glum* These, gentlemen, are

the simple facts upcn which the decision was founded by
the Liverpool Election Committee ; and, as by that de-
cision you are now virtually without representatives, 1
come before you, an humble individual, and perhaps
unworthy of the position in which the friendship of many
of your townsmen around me now have placed me.
(Cries of "No!ne !" and loud cheers.) I come forward—
not because I myself had the presumption to seek so great
an honour—but because those gentlemen thought fit to
bring me here, as one to their mind, qualified to fill one of
the seats of the vacant representation. And, gentlemen,
although it is with truth and sincerity I declare that it
would be very much against my personal convenience,
and against my personal wishes to have a seat in the
House of Commons at all; yet, when I was requested in
a most generons, and, I believe, truly constitutional—
(cheers)—spirit to come forward, I conceived it my duty
at once to respond to the call. Had I not done so, I con-
ceive that I should have been wanting in my duty, and I
should certainly have shrunk from the feelings of duty
which I owe to England, and which, I believe, her very
humblest son owes to his country. (Hear, hear, and
cheers.) Now, gentlemen, having explained to you bow
T am here, I must express my thanks for the kind in-
dulgence and attention with which you have heard me;
for it is a difficult matter for one man to let his voice be
heard over so large a space, and throughout such a vast
multitude as I now see before me. Having explained, as
best I may, the cause of my appearing among you on this
occasion, I must now come to notice one or two observa-
tions contained in a print which is circulated in this town,
in which some very false statements are made as to my
opinions. (Cheers). I held in my band a copy of the
Liverpool Albion. (Hisses). lam too well accustomed
to those arts by which a mm's political opponents seek
to render him distasteful to the public, not to be perfectly
prepared to encounter this and many other attacks—
while I hope none of them may be of a more serious or
grave nature than that to which I shall allude. First of
all, it is put forth as a matter of reproach that, by the
accident of birth, lam the son of a lord. Gentlemen, I
don't pretend to say that by that accident I stand before
you a better man ; but I hope I do not stand before you
a worse man. (Loud cheers.) I should very much mis-
calculate the feeling of the assembly I now see before me
—or the feelings of any assemblage of Englishmen—if I
supposed that the mere accident of birth would influence
and rule your opinion of any individual whatever. And
allow me to say that, if there is any advantage to be ob-
tained from high birth, it is this—that it teaches a man
to be careful in all his actions that he does nothing
that may disgrace it. (Loud cheers.) That is the only
feeling I have on the subject. (Cheers.) And, therefore,
I may put aside the imputation,—if it amounts to an im-
putation,—that lam the son of an English peer. (Loud
applause.) "It is whispered," says the editor of the
Albion, " that Mr. Liddell is no other than a downright
Puseyite." Now, gentlemen, this charge has been for-
mally and publicly made in print; and I will not permit
the first opportunity of my addressing the constituency
and inhabitants of Liverpool to pass by, without one or
two observations. lam a downright Puseyite, says the
editor of the Albion. If by Puseyite he means a man
who professes to be a member of the Church of England,
while he is at heart a Roman Catholic, in creed and sen-
timents,—if, indeed, he make use of a disguise
of that sort, in order to inflame his hearers, his
congregation, or his fellow-countrymen, in favour of his
creed, that man is a hypocrite and a traitor—(loud
cheers)—and T view him not only with indignation, but
with positive abhorrence. But, if by a Puseyite is meant
a sincere and faithful member of the Church of England,
who, nevertheless, desires to approximate the simple
ritual and modest ceremonials belonging to the Esta-
blished Church of England, with the more imposing and
magnificent cremonials of the Church of Rome,—in doing
so that man may think be is doing right, but I have to
say that I think that man is mistaken (great cheering,)—
that he is indiscreet in his conduct—and, moreover, that
he is pursuing a course which may be extremely danger-
ous. I have no sympathy with him, and, therefore, whe-
ther in the one light or in the other light you accept the
correct description of a Puseyite, I distinctly and plainly,
and once for all, declare that I am nothing of the kind.
(Loud cheers.) Gentlemen, Tam honestly, consistently,
and warmly attached to our Protestant Church, as esta-
blished by law. (Hear, hear.) I admire the simplicity
of her ritual—l admire the devotion of her worship, and
I will not lend my aid or countenance to sacrifice her in
obedience either to the low or the high church party. I
wish her to continue the dignified, modest course shealways
has pursued, while I will defend her to the last drop of my
blood, (cheers,) and oppose any proposal to amalgamate
her with the religion against which she protested, and from
which she derived her very name of a Protestant Church..
Is that to your satisfaction ? (Loud cries of " Yes, Yes.")
Now, gentlemen, there is another question which has re-
ceived, I believe, a large share of the attention of the
electors of Liverpool, to which I must allude. I refer to
the endowment by the State of the College of Maynooth.
(Hear, hear.) Now, gentlemen, I am perfectly willing
and most desirous, not only upon this occasion, but on
every occasion, to give the plainest and most intelligible
explanation of my political opinions. If you wish to be
informed of my "antecedents," es the phrase is, you shall
have them. If you wish to know my personal feelings
upon the subject of the endowment of Maynooth you shall
have them. Shall I now proceed upon that subject? (Yes.)
Gentlemen, it will be in the remembrance of many of you,
that in the year 1843 or 1844 (a voice, '45), Sir Robert
Peel proposed, that instead of the annual vote of the
House of Commons, a perpetual endowment should be
given to the College of Maynooth. He fortified that
appeal by a great many very cogent arguments. I am
afraid that I should be trespassing too long upon your
time and patience if I was to go into the history of the
College of Maynooth. (Cries of no, no, and cheers.)
Well, gentlemen, it was founded in the reign of George
the third. and certain provisions were made for it by the
then Irish parliament, and a succession of grants were
made to it from the year 1800, down to the year when
Sir Robert Peel made an addition to it, through an endow-
ment from the state. On this occasion, we were in-
formed that, the real condition of that college was
in a very discreditable state, and that there were no
means of providing either for the education or
the maintenance of the students, and that it was desirable,
on every consideration, both on account of after benefits
and present convenience, that better provision should be
made. By this reasoning, beit good or be it bad, I con-
fess I was moved. The question was to be considered on
two grounds. The one was that of religious principle,
and the other was a question of political expediency. The
question of religious principle was already involved in the
grant which had already been made. The question of
political expediency was that proposed by Sir Robert
Peel ; and, gentlemen, it was with the greatest reluctance
that I yielded to the right hon. baronet's arguments. I
do not know that before that time I supported May-
nooth by any vote I ever gave ; but, on the contrary, I
know that, up to that period, my impressions had always
been decidedly against that grant. (Cheers.) But from
what Sir Robert Peel stated on the occasion, when his
proposal was before parliament—feeling as 1 did that it
was highly desirable that the sentiments of the people of
Ireland should be brought more into sympathy with the
home government—feeling, as I did, that it was a chance
to subdue the feelings of an excitable and fickle people, and
representing, as I did, one of the most important counties
in the kingdom, and knowing that from that large and
varied constituency I had not had forwarded to me one
single petition against the proposed grant, I yielded to
Sir Robert Peel, and supported him in his views for an
increased endowment to Maynooth. I supported the
proposal in the belief that it would have been the har-
binger of peace to Ireland—that it would have prevented
such scenes as we have lately unfortunately witnessed at
the hands of the priests. (Hear, hear). But, gentlemen,
what has been the result ? Has the measure, indeed,
answered the object which I had in view, and which
every man must have been inspired with in supporting
the proposal ? I say most emphatically it has not. For
the priests have shown themselves more determined and
more hostile to peace than before the endowment was
granted—(hear, hear,)—and in illustration of this, I need
scarcely refer to the scenes which took place in Ireland on
the occasion of the last election, and also to the at-
tempted infringement of the powers of the Queen herself,
by daringly obtruding a legate from the Pope, both in
England and in Ireland. (Hear, beer). Are these the re-
sults I looked for when I supported the grant to Maynooth ?
I boldly tell you that they are altogether contrary.
and if, therefore, I see all my best wishes frustrated—if I
see the crown of England insulted by a power which,
we are all of us bound to say, has no authority in this
country, I say that I make out a case, without any retrac-
tation of opinion, which justifies me in saying that, if the
question of Maynooth shall again be brought forward,
and if waiting, as we must wait, for the report to thz
crown of the committee now sitting—waiting, as we must
do for that, I say that if the question be again brought
before the House of Commons, I must say for myself that
whether I am a member of the House of Commons or
not, I will raise my voice against the contivance of that
endowment, and, in so doing, I feel that I shall be dis-
charging a bounden and a sacred duty. (Hear, hear.)
Let me, then, hear nothing more about wheeling about
on great political questions. I have told you why I gave
my vote in favour of the endowment of Maynooth, and I
have told you with the same frankness why I will not
give it in favour of that endowment again. While we
see the parties in whose favour the vote was given, insult-
ing us, I do not see that we have received any correspond-
ing benefits from the endowments we granted, which
would justify us in making any further sacrifices. (Hear,
hear.) Now, gentlemen, lam quite aware that the mo-
ment a man comes before a popular assembly in the
position in which I now appear before you, he soon
becomes subject to many public examinations. And
for myself I will consent to undergo the ordeal. I
will say, now, that having been invited to your town
by a number of honourable gentlemen, I have responded
to the call in a similar spirit, and in every declaration
of opinion which I may be called upon to offer, I shall
address you in the same unreserved manner I have already
done. (Cheers.) Ido not think that this is the occa-
sion to trespass upon you longer. Sometime may elapse
before you are called upon to exercise your right of suf-
frage, and doubtless other opportunities will be afforded
me for speaking to you, when I shall be ready and deter-
mined to give you every explanation on questions which
you may ask me. lam happy, in this my first acquaint-
ance with my honourable friends around me, and
my first acquaintance with the great commercial
town of Liverpool, and feel that it is an honour
even to receive a requisition from such a town.
Personally I have no wish to belong again to the House
of Commons, and should you be able to find a candi-
date better qualified to represent your opinions, or
better qualified to give utterance to your sentiments,
in God's name select him, and let me retire again
into private life, but if it be thought by the electors of
Liverpool that on my part it is a matter of duty to enter
the House of Commons, to reflect their wishes, and repre-
sent their feelings, T can only say, that however incapable
I may be, you will not find one more truly or more honestly
devoted to your interests. (The honourable gentleman
then withdrew amidst the most enthusiastic cheering.)

THE HON. HENRY THOMAS LIDDELL iS sojourning as
a guest with Mr. Edward Molyneux, at Childwall, and
will not leave Liverpool until atter the election.

OBTAINING MONEY ON A FORGED ORDER.—JOIIII
Plumley was charged by Mr. Henry Priestley, a publican,
residing in Sanderson-street, with obtaining the sum of
£2 10s., on presenting to him an advance note, purport.
ing to be signed by Captain J. Johnston, of the ship
Alexander Victoria. The prisoner, who had nothing tQ
3ay in his defence, was fully committed for trial.