The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-11-13 00:00:00

ber of cases that have been brought forward before us, but
still more so from the unusual character of those cases,-
from the unusual testimony adduced—and from the infamous
—and we can add, from our own experience, the unusual
perjuries resorted to in support of them. The revising bar-
risters agree cordially in opinion that they are not exceeding
the limits of their province in adverting to the cause of those
perjuries. They consider they are owing to the associations,
by whatever name and upon whatever principle constituted,
which have lately been established in this borough, namely,
for the creation of votes ; and although my learned colleague,
Mr. Walpole, alone of the three., has some doubts of the lite-
ral interpretation of the letter of the reform act, he has none
whatever as to the spirit and intent of the law. We none of
us have any doubt as to the spirit and intention of the law."
Mr. ALKIN.—You bad better read the advertisements next.
(Laughter and uproar.)
Mr. BUSIIELL.—These are grounds for argument. (Re-
newed uproar.) I promise you I shall not be put down by
clamour. (Hear, hear.) If I meet not with that cordial re-
ception here whichl I thought I might expect, and if my ar-
guments receive not your unbiassed judgment inside those
walls, I shall at least have the town at large to judge of them,
and with that judgment I shall have my justification and.
satisfaction. (Applause.) Mr. Wharton concludes as fol-
lows :

" We are unanimously of opinion that these societies are
directly opposed thereto, and have largely contributed to the
evils which all right-minded men must deplore, and which we
have witnessed. We therefore take this public opportunity of
expressing an unanimous opinion on these matters, with the
object and with the expectation of drawing public attention
thereto ; and with the hope that some remedy may be disco-
vered and devised which will prevent the recurrence of the
disgraceful and disgusting scenes which have occurred within
these courts during the present week."
Now, sir, I have sifted this charge from the beginning. I
see that certain magistrates' names are subscribed to the list ;
and when I see that this very Protector Society has been
denounced in the terms I have read by a judge of the land ;
and when I find that such societies have been proved to be
against the law, I consider, that until the magistrates, the
names of whom I have read, shall come forward and deny
that they have subscribed, my charge remains. (Cheers.)
Mr. M‘KEE rose amid cries of " You are no magistrate,"
and said,—My name having been mentioned in the list, I
shall take this opportunity of stating, that it is a malicious
and malignant falsehood, and that the party who put it on
the paper knew it to be so. I leave Mr. Bushell, therefore,
in the very enviable situation of stating that which is not true.
Mr. BRIGHT—What appears in the papers carries its own
antidote along with it, for it contains no point.
Mr. AIKIN rose amid loud cries of " Spoke, spoke," and
vainly essayed to address the chairman for some time. At
length,
Mr. BUSHELL rose and said he wished Mr. Aikin would
be allowed to proceed,
Mr. AIKIN then said,—You will recollect that Mr. Bushell
began by reading the, words of the editor at the head of the
list, namely, that he could not vouch for its accuracy, and
yet it is upon such a statement as that, that Mr. Bushell
grounds his charge. It is, therefore, manifest, that the
charge is based on newspaper paragraphs so absurd that the
editor admits that he cannot vouch for their accuracy, and
yet upon the strength of those paragraps, Mr. Bushell can
get up with the view of endeavouring to ruin the character of
the magistracy.

Mr. -BUSHELL rose amid some confusion, but gave way to
The MAYOR, who said—l must preserve order. It appears
to me that you (Mr. Bushell) made a grave charge against
the magistrates, and that your authority is the anonymous
editor of a newspaper. It further appears to me that it is a
very grave charge resting on very slender grounds—for in-
stance, on a quotation from Mr. Wharton, that seems to me
to apply to societies on both sides. Your charge is levelled
against a society at only one side ; and with regard to the in-
quisitorial manner in which you have called on the magis-
trates to answer whether they did or did not subscribe, I
think that no court or parliament would justify such a thing.
I think, then, that this subject should be dropped. (Loud
cries of " No, no," from the conservatives.) I repeat that
your charge proceeds upon newspaper paragraphs, and I do
think, or rather feel myself called on to say, that an apology
is due by you to the magistrates, for having made so vrave a
charge against them—(vehement cries of " No, no," from
the conservatives)—and which you made, I think, on very
unsubstantial authority.

Mr. BUSHELL.—Have I your permission to go on, Mr
Mayor?

The MAYOR.-4 cannot allow you, unless you choose to
make an apology. (Renewed cries from the conservatives of
" No, no.")
Mr. BUSHELL.—I hope, sir, that though you may be
sometimes severe, you can at other times be courteous. I
craved permission for Mr. Aikin to be heard just now, and
perhaps he will crave the like permission for me now. He
alleges that I brought forward the present charge on the
anonymous authority of a newspaper paragraph in the
STANDARD, hut, if that be so, what does the other paper—
the Mail—say ? I read the editor's remarks before, but here
they are again :
" The following list of subscribers to the Protector Society
has been published by a contemporary, but though correct,
as we have reason to believe, in the main, there are one or
two omissions."

I feel with you, sir, that this is a grave charge, but I also
feel that it must not be blinked in any way. (Hear, hear.)

The MAYOR.--1 think that obser6tion is unnecessary.
Mr. BUSHELL.—It is not unnecessary, sir; I call for
justice and impartiality. (Cheers.)
The MAYOR.—I cannot allow you to proceed.
Mr. 11. LAWHENCE.—Mr. Bushell has brought a certain
charge, and I feel that it is not for you, as the mayor pre-
siding over this assembly, to stop the discussion of it in its
present stage. (Hear, hear, from the conservatives.) He
has stated certain things, whether they have been well or ill-
founded it is not for me to say, but as our wish is to give you
credit for impartiality, I think you should have stopped the
discussion before Mr. Aikin made his last observations. As,
however, you did not do so, I think the present is not the
time for you to attempt it, and if you shall persevere in
checking it, you will not be adopting that course which is
consistent with the impartiality you profess to be anxious to
maintain. (Hear, hear.)
Mr. BUSIIELL.—I have only to make one or two remarks
in addition to those I have already offered for your conside-
ration. I have already shown Ton that the editor of the
Mail said he had reason to believe the return correct : and
now, with regard to the apology, I have stated my willing-
ness to make any apology in my power; but that willing-
ness was conditional—that is, when the magistrates will rise
up in this council, or by letter, and say they have neither
directly nor indirectly, either by themselves, their relatives,
or their friends, subscribed to the society in question. When
they do that, sir, then will I come forward and make a sub-
missive apology. (Cheers from the conservatives.)
Mr. J. HOLMES.—How can they do that, when one of the
magistrates, Mr. Rathbone, openly said that he had lent
money to the society. (Hear, hear.)
Mr. SMITH moved that the business of the day be pro-
ceeded with, which was accordingly resumed.