The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1841-02-23 00:00:00

Amphitheatre by Mr. Cooke's corn-

pang, the arrangement was unavoidable

Amongst the

gentlemen present we noticed the following on the

platform

Sir T. Braneker ; Revs. H. M'Neile, W. Falloon, J. R.
Connor, W. Maynard, H. E. Prior, Allen, T. Gregg, C.
W. Richards, and W. Badnall ; C. S. Parker, Esq., James
Aspinall, Esq., J. S. Leigh, Esq., N. Robinson, Esq.
Bushby, Esq., J. Rigby, Esq., C. Grant, Esq., S. Holme,
Esq., T. T.
Glazebrook, Esq., C. Boutfiower, Esq., Daniel
Ledson, Esq., P. Leather, Esq., Jas. Pownall, Esq.,
Nichol!, Esq., Robertson Gladstone, Esq., Shepherd,
Esq., D. Hogan, Esq., M. Edwards, Esq., D. Hodgson,
Esq.
On the motion of Mr. Nicaotas ROBINSON, seconded
by Mr. J. S. LEIGH, Sir THOMAS BRANCKEIL was called to
the chair amidst tremendous applause.
The CHAIRMAN opened the proceedings in the following
wards :—Gentlernen, you will all of you remember that during
the last spring we met in this building for the purpose of
petitioning the legislature in favour of the bill brought in by
Lord Stanley for the improvement of the system of Irish
registration—in other words, the putting down of fraud, and
the protection of the honest voter. (Cheers.) That bill
was thrown out of the House of Commons not by argument,
but to use an expression attributed to Mr. O'Connell, "by
the clock." (Hear, hear.) In consequence of this, Lord
Stanley has again brought in this bill during the present
session ; arid we now meet for a double purpose, inasmuch
as the government, beginning also to find at last that the sys-
tem of Irish registration wanted amendment, have brought
in a bill of their own (hear, hear); for which they claim pre-
cedence over Lord Stanley's. (Hear.) We, therefore, meet
for the double purpose, as I said before, first to petition
against the bill brought in by Lord Morpeth, and in
favour of that brought in by Lord Stanley. (Cheers.) Last
year the result of the meeting was the adoption of a pe-
tition, which received upwards of twenty thousand signa-
tures. (Cheers.) I think I need scarcely call upon you to
repeat those signatures—(hear)—and to present a petition
this year still more numerously signed if possible, in order
that the result may be the adoption of the measure which
Lord Stanley has now before the 'House of Commons.
(Cheers.) Sir Thomas concluded by saying that the time
allowed for the meeting was so limited that he should not de-
tain them by, any further remarks, but call upon Mr

nail to move the first resolution. (Loud cheers.)
Mr. JAmits ASPINALL rose to move the first resolution,
and was received with loud demonstrations of respect. Ad-
dressing the chairman, his brother conservatives, and the
gentlemen present, he said that the first resolution having
been placed in his hands, it was a duty he owed to them and
to himself, not to shrink from coming forward to give it his
cordial support, and he claimed their indulgence while he
offered a few remarks on the subject before them. When
they last met in that place, it was (as stated by the worthy
,chairman), to give their support to the admirable bill of
Lord Stanley, which had for its object the real be-
nefit and prosperity of. Ireland. (Hear, and cheers.)
Lord Morpeth, one of the members of that imbecile admi-
nistration which had very properly been denominated by
Lard Stanley, " the thimble rig ministry'.'—(cheers and
laughter)—had since brought in a bill in opposition to that
of the noble lord, at the instigation of a man who found that
ministry ever subservient to his uses and ready at his will—
a man who, by agitations, kept Ireland in a continued
state of troable and confusion. This thimble-rig mi-
nistry had, in obedience to that individual, brought in
a bill, which they well knew would never pass for the
purpose of defeating Lord Stanley's excellent bill of last
session. This reprehensible line of conduct opened out
a fresh discussion on one of the most lamentable mea-
sures That had ever received the sanction of parliament. He
meant the Irish emancipation bill, by which, as they would
be aware, the forty shilling freeholders of Ireland were dis-
franchised. The bill, however, brought in by Lord Morpeth,
made still greater inroads on the purity of registration ; and
would give (which they could not too fervently oppose),
still greater power to the priests over the inhabitants of that
country, To aid in the defeat of so nefarious an object
had brought them together that day, and he trusted they
would do their duty manfully. He could not persuade him-
self to delay the meeting, however warmly he felt on the
subject, by lengthened remarks of his own, after what had
been announced from the chair. There was, however, one
amongst them whose gigantic powers of mind enabled him to
grapple with this or any other question that might be brought
before them ; one whose splendid eloquence had often re-
sounded within these walls. (Loud and repeated cheers.)
He should, therefore, leave the subject in his hands ; and he
felt assured that they would be delighted to hear what he
should advance on the important question before them.
(Loud cheers.) He concluded by moving the first resolu-
tion, namely :

" That this meeting, deploring the present defective state
and demoralizin; tendency of the existing registration laws
for Ireland, rejoice to find that a bill has been introduced in
the House of Commons by Lord Stanley to supply the ac-
knowledged -defects, to remove the proved abuses, and to
rarovi;le a remedy for the various evils of the said registration

Mr. C. S. PARKER said, that owing to the indisposition
of the gentleman who had undertaken to second this resolu-
tion, that duty had devolved upon him ; but he would not
occupy the time of the meeting by speaking to it at any
length, particularly under those circumstances which now
rendered it desirable that their proceedings should not be
protracted. He would not, however, sit down without re-
turning thanks in his own name, and in that of his brother
merchants, to the Protestant operatives, to whom they were
indebted for this great meeting. (Cheers.)
The CIIAIRMAN then put the first resolution, which was
carried amidst tremendous cheering, without a dissentient

voice.
The Rev. HuGH WNEILE then rose amidstvery animated
applause. He said—Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, the re-
solution I have been requested to move, is this—
" That this meeting desires to express their conviction
that the bill introduced by Lord Morpeth, by lowering the
qualification of voters, will open a fresh door for corrupt and
fraudulent practices, such as the, other provisions of the bill
are desined to prevent, changing the nature without di-
minishing the amount of the demoralizing operations of the
present law."
We are assembled to perform a solemn duty, for the con-
scientious discharge of which we are all, I conceive, reli-
giously responsible. It is an universal maxim, inseparable
from the great law of moral retribution, that privleges in-
volve corresponding responsibilities. This is true of every
description of privilege, and therefore it is impossible for
men to enjoy the political privileges which we enjoy, without
being called to the discharge of corresponding political duties.
If it be.the duty of the representatives of the nation in par-
liament assembled to deliberate dispassionately on all mea-
sures brought under their notice, and to record the result of
their deliberations by their votes, it is equally the duty of
their constituents to deliberate on every great national
arrangement proposed to be made law, and to record the
result of their deliberations by petition. I said, on every
great national arrangement proposed to be made law, because
on minor matters of detail it is advantageous, as well as
convenient, to leave the management, without comment, in
the hands of our representatives. (Hear, hear.)
When once the law is passed,. it is the plain duty of a
christian citizen to acquiesce in its provisions, and to do his
part, whatever his station may he, towards their practical
operation ; and the man who rebels, or threatens rebellion
against the law of the land, should be accounted and treated
as a traitor to the state. (Loud cheers.)
But when a measure is proposed which has not yet become
law, the proposal, the repeated parliamentary discussions,
and the delay inevitabli consequent thereon, form a consti-
tutional appeal to the nation, to ascertain the prevailing
opinions of the people, and the grounds on which those
opinions are formed,
Such an appeal was made to the nation last year, and is
now repeated, upon the subject of the registration of voters
in Ireland. Our attention is now called, relatively as well
as positively, to the merits of Lord Stanley's bill, because
that bill has to contend, not only against existing abuses
which it seeks to remedy, but also against a rival bill which
seeks to supersede it. Last year it became our duty to prove
the existing evils, which were loudly denied ; and not only to
prove their existence, but to exhibit their operation in a way
intelligible to all classes of the people. This we endeavoured
to do, by tracing the history of a vote, which by an easy con-
trivance was made to survive the voter. The evils com-
plained of are now admitted on all sides. lam happy to be
able to quote the grave words of her Majesty's Chief Secre-
tary for Ireland, in full illustration of my popular sketch of
the family of the Cassidys. (Laughter and cheers.)
On the fourth of this month, Lord Morpeth, in his place
in the House of Commons, is reported to have said—" It
would be sufficient on that point, to admit, as he freely did,
that great facilities for fraud existed in the present system of
registration in Ireland; and it could not be denied by any
who had seriously considered the subject, that many instances
of such frauds had occurred. Those frauds took place in the
system of certificates, in personating dead or absent regis-
tered voters." Here is the noble secretary's official admis-
sion of what I told you about living Michael voting on the
qualification of dead Toni. (Hear, hear. Lord Morpeth
does not, indeed, describe the master spirits from Maynooth,
who preside over the system of personation. This would, in
all probability, be unparliamentary, as certainly it would be
uncourteous, towards some of the noble lord's colleagues ;
but it is our happiness out of doors--as they call every house
except their own (hear, and a laugh)—not to be under any
of those embarrassments when we tell the truth ; and as
there are no effects produced without adequate causes, it is
philosophically as well as politically wise to notice the moving
Power which manages the puppets. For power read priest-
hood, and for puppets read personifiers of dead and absent
registered voters, and you have clearness and precision given
teethe statement of the noble secretary. (Loud cheers.)
To put an end to such digraceful frauds, Lord Stanley
proposed an annual revision of the registry, instead of
allowing all the names once placed upon the list to remain
there without any opportunity of a rectifying revision for
eight years. On this point Lord Stanley proposes to trans-
fer to Ireland the system now in operation in England. You
know what that system is, and that no practical inconveni-
ence is found to arise from the annual liability to revision of
every name on the list. The names of those who are known
to be the same persons, and to have the same qualifications,
remain unmolested, on the simple payment of a shilling an-
nually, which is charged regularly by the collector of taxes,
and the honest bona fide voter has no trouble whatever. The
The names of those who have died, or whose qualification
has in any way lapsed, in the course of the year, are removed
from the Het, while the event is of recent occurrence, and
matter of notoriety among the attendant listeners and wit-
nesses in the revisin', barrister's court. This is an ordeal
through which dishonest on a large scale cannot live.
Michael may pass for Tom at an election, after three or four
Years have passed, without inquiry, but Michael can never
successfully pass for Tom, if there be a rectifying scrutiny
()nu a year, and of course within a year after Tom's death.
(Loud cheers.)
—Approving of the straightforward, honest, and as we think
effectual proposal of Lord Stanley, we petitioned last year
in favour of it ; and we had the gratification of seeing it
supported and affirmed by a majority of the House of Com-
mons. You are all aware of the species of opposition which
has retarded it from becoming the law of the land. (Hear.)
And now we have the bill introduced by Lord Morpeth, who
said when introducing it—
" As to the periods of revision, he was willing to let it be
once a-year, as in this country, and
as the noble lord (Stan-
ley) has proposed in his hill."

So far well. Here is the ministerial adoption, in name at
least, of one of the important provisions of Lord Stanley's
bill—an annual revision—but we are compelled by what fol-
lows to declare that the adoption is in name only and not in sub-
stance ; because the limitation which Lord Morpeth proceeds
to propose would go far towards neutralizing the benefit.
His lordship says—" When a voter was once on the registry,
he (Lord Morpeth) proposed to have his claim reviewed for
any change made in his tenure or his franchise ; but if no-
thing occurred to disturb that—if it remained the same as
when he registered—he would not make his right to vote sub-
ject to any further disturbance. He did not go with his noble
friend (Lord Stanley) in rendering the voter liable to be dis-

v.+
turbed, year after year, upon a point which had been already
decided and settled, and thus to go on to the end of all re-
corded time."

The limitation here described leaves an open door for frau-
dulent personation. Lord Morpeth proposes an annual revi-
sion where there has been any change in the qualification;
but where the qualification remains the same, he refuses an
annual revision of the persons claiming to vote upon that
qualification. He refuses to subject the living Michael to
the annual embarrassment of passing himself for the dead
Tom. The qualification upon which Tom voted remains
the same, but Tom himself is dead, or gone to Australia
for life. (Loud cheering and laughter.) Michael calls him-
self Tom, and claims to vote on the same qualification, and
where the qualification is the same Lord Morpeth refuses to
allow the voters to be liable to be disturbed from year to year,
by an inconvenient scrutiny. Here is a fruitful source of
fraud ! The tenure is the same, and the noble secretary's
bill contains no provision to give security that the voter shall
be the same. Certificates are not necessary for personation.
Personal identity is a thing easily manufactured in foro
ecclesice. Lord Morpeth's bill leaves the platform for the
puppets untouched; the secret wires and springs of the
priesthood unbroken. (Loud cheers.) Hence, the Agitator
calls it a blessing to Ireland. (Continued cheers.) But Lord
Stanley, by opening the whole list annually, and making the
persons liable to be disturbed, if they turned out not to be
the same persons, aims a deadly blow at the craft. Hence
the rage and fury of the demagogue, who, after all, is but
the puppet of the hierarchy on a more elevated stage.
(Hear, hear, hear.) Hence his pent-up venom gathering a
characteristic title from within, and applying it, in the reck-
lessness of a seared conscience, to the intrepid adversary
whose skill has pierced the core of the corruption. The
monster of Romish usurpation and tyranny is stung, and,
therefore, the champion of British liberty and independence
is Scorpion Stanley. (Loud cheers.? 1 would gladly go into
a con•i 'oration of the, double appeal, and the comparative
merits of the two bills with reference to the appellant juris-
diction court; but I must haste to what is more specifically
the subject of my resolution.
The point deserving attention, and the gravamen of the
ministerial bill, is the proposed change of the qualification
from a £lO to a£s franchise. This would add amazingly
to the number of the puppets, and greatly facilitate the manu-
facture of personal identity. This is much too serious a
matter to be slipped in, under the fair title of defining the
franchise. To define how £lO should be understood as en-
titling to the franchise, is one thing ; and to change it into
£5 is quite another thing. True, it is accompanied by a de-
scription of how the £5 is to be understood—namely, as the
value on which a rating to the poor law is to be paid; but
this instead of supplying any compensation for the sweeping
chinge from £lO to £5, deteriorates the qualification below,
much below, £5 otherwise understood. It extends the fran-
chise to a class lower, much lower, than the old disfranchised
forty shilling. freeholders. (Hesr, hear.)
At the risk of being tedious, I wish to give you a slight
sketch of how this would work.
Michael Cassidy lives in as neat a little cabin as ever was
excavated out of a bog. Three sides of it are the original bog
faced with furze bushes, the fourth is made of sods piled one
over another, and pressed together with a few large stones
at the top. The roof is of scraws. Perhaps, Sir Thomas,
you don't know what I mean by scrawl; but as I have no
time for definitions in detail, I am glad to perceive that many
of my friends in the meeting are acquainted with the phrase.
(Loud cheers, and laughter.) The apartment is six feet by
four, and contains a bed or shakedown of heather, two
stools, and a fair-sized potatoe pot. (Hear, hear.)
Michael has the use of the surrounding mountain, i.e., he
has liberty to run about upon it, and his fine famiiy of chil-
dren have liberty to play upon it ; but all that he can call his
own is a little potatoe garden about three times as big as his
house. (Cheers.)

Soon after the passing of Lord Morpeth's bill, the priest
pays Michael a visit. " Well Michael, have you heard that
the law is changed ?" "Is it, your reverence ?" "Yes—
Have the poor-law valuators been here ?" " No, your re-
verence." `• Well, I'll take care that they shall pay you a
visit. You consider this holding of yours worth £5. don't
you, Michael ?" " Five pound, your reverence ! Och, it's
myself wouldn't give it for fifty, for what would I do without
it ?" (Loud cheers.) " Well, Michael, you are very right
to set a high value on fatherland, and to speak your mind
freely to me ; but you must not speak so free to the poor-
law valuators. All you need to tell them is, that your place
is worth five pound—leave the rest to me." Michael, with
a knowing shrug and wink, says, " I take—your reverence
may depend up.on me." (Loud cheers, and laughter.)
In due time the poor-law valuators visit Michael, who then
feels all his importance as a neg,ociator to carry out the priest's
plan, which he supposes he understands. (Hear.)
" Well, friend, you seem to have but a small place here."
" Yes, your honour, she's small ; but she's good." " What
do you consider this place worth ?" " 0 then, is it a poor
man like me that your honour would ask the value, you that
is paid for taking values ?" " I suppose, friend, that you
consider this place worth five pound ? ' Michael looks know-
ing and considerate, and then says—" Your honour's a real
judge—five pound is just the value. No one with his eyes
open could say it wasn't worth five pound, if he saw me and
my wife and the four weans lying down to sleep in it; and I
am sure no one that considers the oppressions of the poor, as
I an sure your honour does, would put more upon it."
(Hear,)_

- I will not venture to say whether Michael's eloquence, or
the priest's influence, or both together, or some other in-
fluence connected with the personal interests of the valuators,
have prevailed ; but I will venture so say that in nine such
cases out of ten, the name of the mountaineer would be
entered on the list, and rated to the poor-law. Butiiow is
the rate to be levied ? It is a small matter to be sure. At
sixpence in the pound, it would amount to half-a-crown a
year. But every thing is comparative, and he would be a
clever fellow that would get half-a-crown out of Michael.
He and hundreds like him would be troublesome customers
in the county goal, and all his goods and chattles would not
cover the expence of selling them. What is to be done ?
His name is on the list rated to the poor-law. There are
no payments entered opposite his name, and thus matters
stand when the time for registration comes. Then comes
another visit from the indefatigable Maynooth man :
" Michael, why but you go down and register your name as
a voter for your church and country ? Meet me to-morrow
at the court." " I will your reverence." Down comes
Michael and claims the franchise. The priest is the asses-
sor's ass

ssor, and against any demur arising from Michael's
appearance, his reverence points significantly at the poor-
law list. Here he is rated to the poor-law, and therefore
fully entitled to the franchise. In vain a conservative
attorney urges that Michael has never paid a rate. He is
referred to the act of parliament, which only requires that
the man shall be rated, dnd does not throw such vexatious
difficulties in the way of the franchise, as to require that the
rate should be paid. To do so would be a very great hard-
ship, and could not possibly have been the intention of an
enlightened, liberal, and paternal legislature. (Loud cheers.)
Michael is registered upon the potatoe garden and hut in
the mountain (the name is Clogheen-top) ; and so long as
the qualification remains the same, be is not to be liable to
be disturbed year after year. Michael Cassidy, of Clogheen-
top, is a standing qualification. Clogheen-top remains the
same tenure. in compliance with the requirements of Lord
Morpeth's bill, and we have already seen that the priest is
not absolutely confined to one and the same Michael Cassidy.
(Roars of laughter, and loud and continued cheers.)
No man, with a moderate knowledge of Irish affairs in de-
tail, can doubt that the measure proposed by Lord Morpeth
amounts to a new reform bill. It is a repeal of a measure
substantially a part of the emancipation bill. It is an open-
ing up of the Roman Catholic question. It is a formal re-
moval of come of the securities to the institutions of the
country enacted in 1829. Hear.)
In that fatal year the King's speech upon the opening of
parliament, after recommending a review of the laws which
imposed civil disabilities on his Majesty's Roman Catholic
subjects, contained these words :

Yon will consider whether the removal of those disabili-
ties can be effected consistently with the full and permanent
security of our establishments in church and state, with the
maintenance of the reformed religion established by law,
and of the rights and privileges of the bishops and of the
clergy of this realm, and of the churches committed to their
charge.

"'these are institutions which must ever be held sacred
in this Protestant kingdom, and which it is the duty and the
determination of his Majesty to preserve inviolate." (Cheers.)
Of course, for the attainment of this desirable end, some
securities were to be taken, in compensation for the conces-
sions made. I will not trouble you with the oath required
as a security from Roman Catholic members of parliament,
and which is likely to redound to the credit of the sagacity
of British legislation about as much as the trial of the Earl
of Cardigan will redound to the credit of the gravity and
solemnity of the highest court of British jurisprudence. (Hear,
hear.) The oath was no security whatever. In point of fact,
the only real practical security taken, and that which has
retarded the progress of Romish domination, was the disfran-
chisement of the 40s. freeholders. Sir Robert Peel opened the
intended measure, as part of the general plan which the go-
vernment had formed for the renovation of Ireland, in the
same speech in which he introduced the emancipation bill.
The two measures were to support each other. The minister
told the house, that he would not ask for disfranchisement,
unless emancipation were granted; and that if emancipation
were granted, then he could not dispense with disfranchise-
ment. He developed in detail the object and the necessity
of the measure. He chewed that from the period when the
franchise was granted to Roman Catholics in 1793, 40s. free-
holders had been manufactured to such an unnatural amount
as clearly proved they were not the fruit of any constitutional
growth. (Hear, hear.) He compared the number of votes
polled at the contested elections of 1820, in different coun-
ties of England and Ireland : _

" In the county of Bedford, 4,000 voters • in Berkshire,
2,270 ; Devonshire, 6,296 ; Durham, about 3,800 ; Glamor-
ganshire, 1,264; Middlesex, 10,000; Sussex, 5,500; and
Westmoreland, about 4,370. In many of the Irish counties
there were polled from 10,000 to 18,000. Never was such a

---
concurrent 'body of testimony brought to bear upon one point
as was given before the committees of both houses in 1825,
respecting the evils arising from the state of the franchise in
Ireland, by every man who was examined, Roman Catholic or.
Protestant, layman or ecclesiastic. The general opinion of the
witnesses so examined had been in favour of raising the fran-
chise to £2O ; but so great a rise he would consider too vio-
lent an alteration, and was inclined to be satisfied with £lO,
as affording a reasonable presumption that the character of
the voters would be raised. It would be necessary to deter-
mine upon some specific mode of ascertaining who were £lO
freeholders,—some tangible method of ascertaining the real
character of the freehold. For this purpose it was proposed,
that after the passing of the bill a day should be fixed in every
county in Ireland, for opening a bona fide registration of £lO
freeholds." . _

The avowed spirit of this bill was to place the elections
beyond the control of the Romish priests, and it is obvious
that without this bill the emancipation could not have becn
passed. Surely, then, if these two bills passed together, as
part! and parcels of the same measure, and if they have
hitherto stood together, it is no more than fair play to de-
mand that they shall still either stand or fall together.
(Laud cheers.)
Sir, a few faithful and zealous Protestants in the country
have been branded as madmen for speaking of the repeal of
one of these bills. What then shall be said of her ma-
jesty's secretary for Ireland, who proposes the repeal of the
other ? Does he not open afresh the whole Roman Catho-
lic question Is he prepared to say that the conduct of the
Roman Catholic members of the House of Commons has
been such as to entitle them to further concessions ? Has
the sincerity of their gratitude been so great ; has their
sworn respect for the rights and privileges of the bishops and
clergy, which the King declared it his duty and his determi-
nation to preserve inviolate, been so delicate and scrupulous
as to remove all honest apprehension as regards the safety. of
our Protestant institutions ? Has the conduct of the Popish
priesthood been such as to justify the removal of a restriction
which was designed to place the elections beyond their abso-
lute control ? Is the country, repared to go with her majes-
ty's ministers in such's-measure as that now proposed ? Is
the country prepared to repeal the only security of 1829,
without repealing the concession of 1829 ? lam very much
mistaken if the growing convictions of disappointed English-
men be not tending, and tending rapidly, in the opposite di-
rection. (Cheers.) What, for example, are the obvious
tendencies in our own important town ? (Hear, hear.)

When I had the honour of addressing. you on the subject of my
Lord Stanley's bill last year, the attention of the town had been
already called to it by the giants of Clayton•square, and it only re-
mained for us petty men to direct that attention into the right
channel, which we happily succeeded in doing. This year we seem
to have it all to ourselves. Is there any harm in asking in a good-
nd to mingle our business with a little amusement)
iants gone? What has become of them? Hay,.

where are the

they been slain by a good old English sling and a Glad-stone at
Walsall ? or has the Cathedral at Canterbury fallen upon them and
smothered them? or have they departed from the arena of politics
to "the tune of " Morgan-rattler" on the Monmouthshire harp? or,
in these days of cocks has all their crowing shared the fate of
Alcock in East Surrey? Or, though last, not least, have they so
much good feeling, so much integrity, so much of incenuons de-

mentary v

:tory, they hide t

name of St. Alban's

:Cheers

,rts, tual, even crowned with mo-
n* heads in honest shame at the

Whatever may be the proximate cause or causes, certain it is
that since the opening of the present session of Parliament, and
the occurrence of the events alluded to, our good old town has
not been frighted from its propriety by any demonstration of the
sublime and heantiful, triumphing over the last impotent struggles
of "an expiring Tory faction." (Cheers.)

But they are coming. I have here their organ of this
morning. (Loud and vehement cheering.) It announces a
meeting, in the square, for Monday, to adopt a petition in
favour of Lord Morpeth's bill. The scribe who introduces
it to the notice of his readers, says, " Two things at least are
certain ; that Lord Stanley, in his attack on the rights con-
ferred on Ireland by the reform bill, is the most potent ally
of Mr. O'Connell in his repeal agitation ; the second, that
his success will almost infallibly lead to the dismemberment
of the empire." I wish you to notice the judgment here
pronounced upon Mr. O'Connell, and his threatened -mil-
lions, by their radical coadjutor in the press of .this town.
The dismemberment of the empire is their object, and the
success of Lord Stanley's bill will so exasperate them as to
induce them to accomplish their object by violence. The
success of Lord-Stanley's bill is another name for an act of
the imperial parliament ; and here is a scribe, professing
great loyalty to the Queen, and great attachment to the Irish
Roman Catholics, who gravely tells his readers that, if the
Queen and the two houses of parliament dare to pass a certain
measure into a law, his dearly beloved friends on the other
side of the channel will manifest their loyalty by open rebel-
len-and forcible dismemberment of the empire. (Loud and
hearty cheers.)

I will read you a part of the petition to be submitted to the
meeting on Monday :

" That the people of Ireland have just cause to complain
of the laws which regulate the right of voting for members
to serve in parliament for that part of the United Kingdom.
" That the electoral qualification is not only higher than
that required for English voters, but the proof of the
quali-
fication is tedious, complicated, and often expensive ; in ad-
dition to which the qualification is in itself uncertain, some
of the Irish judges holding that the qualification must be not
merely a ten-pound qualification, but a qualification based on
a beneficial interest of ten pounds,—making, in fact, a
twenty pound qualification.

"_That as the law now exists, it is obvious that the people
of Ireland have net a sufficiently extensive right of voting
at elections, and tint it is dangerous as well as unjust to
withhold from the Irish people rights which they ought to
enjoy in common with ourselves. We know no good reason
why the repreFent:ltion of Ireland should not be as exten-

sive in all respects as our own." ------
Now as to the n:nount of qualification for Ireland, it is abso-
lutely requisite : -.t it should be higher there than it is here,
and that for the asous given by Sir Robert Peel at the time
of the passing (.1' the emancipation act. But if there be a
doubt as to the meaning of the £lO qualification, why not de-
fine it—why not give it precision by a bill introduced spe-
cially for that purpose ? The judges in Ireland have differed
about its interpretation; but that difference does not justify
a total change of qualification. Definition of an existing
franchise is a very different thing from the substitution of a
new one. We object not to such definition as will put an end to
all ambiguity, but we oblect most strongly to a bill professing
to define and regulate the franchise, while in reality it makes
an essential change in ,its character. (Loud and continued

cheering.)

Her Majesty's ministers have been disclaiming all inten-
tion of changing the reform bill, and moderate men have
given their support, on the faith that they would not go be-
yond it ; but now they are virtually introducing a new reform,
bill under false pretences. They calculated upon the com-
placency and quietude of the English character, and hope to
deceive you by dealing with us softly ; but if they rouse you,
you will show them what you are. (Cheers.) The bill now
attempted to be palmed upon us, is a new reform bill,
though it is not convenient to its framers to call it so. We,
however, like plain speaking, and shall call things by their
right names. (" Hear," and cheers.) But recurring again
to the article in the radical print to which I hate al-
ready adverted, I find we are threatened with the most
terrible consequences if Lord Stanley's bill be perse-
vered in. "Looking to our foreign relations," says this writer,
" considering the risk of a rupture with America, and the
threatening position of France, the present is hardly a time
at which we can afford, supposing it politic or just at any
time, to insult and outrage the people of Ireland." But, I
say, there remains spirit enough in the people of England not
to be put down by threats. (Loud cheers.) The Popish
agitators have held out a menace that in case of war they may
possibly unite with France, instead of England—and this is
copied by the provincial papers here, to be read by classes
over whom it might possibly exercise an evil influence ; but
England will not give way so easily, nor yield under any ap-
prehension of treachery in Ireland. If Irish traitors shew
themselves so ready to take advantage of our difficulties and
embarrassments, we shall take care to tie their hands in time,
and render them harmless in the event of such contingencies
as they look for. (Loud cheering, and applause.) Is it safe
in the event of hostilities with America or France that the
representatives of Great Britain shouldjm overborne by mem-
bers who are but the representatives orthe Romish priests in
Ireland ? Should we allow such a control to exist over both
our legislature and executive councils ? Would it be safe in
time of war ? And if not, then I ask, is this a time to con-
fer new favours, and enlarged privileges on such persons ?
(Loud cheering.) Now, sir, for all this, I know I
must expect to be well re-rated as one of that most nauseous and
noxious class of reptiles, called political parsons—troublesome, I
grant, and dangerous in the otherwise flowery path of radicalism.
A political parson is a species of animal, whose natural history has
not yet been fully explored by our reformed philosophy, One thing
is clear about him, without much erudition or research, and it may
have operated strongly in keeping philosophers of a certain school
at a respectful distance, and that is, that he has the free gift of his
tongue, and a most annoying acquaintance with the low instincts
and habits of his assailants.

But what after all is to be properly understood by this expression,
a political parson ? If it be intended to designate a Christian min
inter whb sets a high value on civil liberty, and on those scriptural
institutions, both civil and ecclesiastical, by which that liberty is
protected and perpetuated a Christian minister who detests
slavery whether of body or mind, and who has intelligence and
perception to discern the frauds and perjuries by which the emis-
saries of the great apostate tyrant seek to undermine the citadel
of freedom and reduce his country to the servile condition of a feof
of the supreme Pontiff : a Christian minister who feels it his duty
to use the talents entrusted to him, for the warning of his fellow
citizens and the exposure of the conspirators . a Christian min-
ister who for the love he bears to the tender and gentle exercise
of a scriptural shepherd's care of the flock, is willing to gird him-
self to the needful battle against the thieves and robbers who
would break down the fences of the fold : a Christian minister who
in giving such warnings and publishing such exposures and en-
countering such conflicts, has recourse to nothing but the legiti-
mate weapons of convincing argument, historical facts, sound
reasoning, eloquent persuasion, and that rod of rods for a fool's
back, indignant irony : a Christian minister who seeks to enlighten
the public mind in the great piinciples of religious duty public and
private, in order that men may act freely and intelligently, exercising
political privileges npon Christian principles, but who never dreams
of coercing any man's actions by violence. (Cheers.) If this be a
political parson, then we may glory in the title, and we trust that
many of our young brethren in the ministry of the church will sit
for this picture, and endeavour by every legitimate effort to exhibit
a good likeness. (Enthusiastic cheers.)
But, sir, if by a political parson be meant a minister of religion
who carries as emblematical of his discipline, a loaded horsewhip,
thereby assisting the Assessor in the Registration Courts, or as
cending the hustings at elections, or standing as a sentry at the
polling booths, denouncing excommunication here, and damnation
hereafter upon all who dare to give their votes in opposition to the
priest's candidate, and laying-on a present and feeling earnest of
the stripes to be incurred by political heresy : a minister of religion
who forges, from the fertile mint of his breviary, or well stored
arsenal of old wive's fables, the chains of abject superstition for
his ignorant multitudes, and fastens the manacles around the ter-
rified conscieences of his slaves in the confessional—if this be a
political parson, then we cordially join with all unprejudiced men
of sense and liberty and letters in repudiating the nauseous and
noxious reptile. (The reverend gentleman resumed his seat
amidst the most tumultuous applause from all parts of the house.)

Mr. SAMUEL HOLME rose, amidst much applause, to se-
cond the resolution. He confessed that he felt considerable
embarrassment in presenting himself to the meeting, inas-
much as he laboured under a severe cold, sip: that he feared
he could scarcely make himself audible ; and he felt the diffi-
culty of followinl• a speaker like the last, who had made so
heart-stirrinr: an.l convincing an appeal to those assembled.
That gentlen,an had laid before them a variety of details,
from which ;)c. \lr. H.) would but endeavour to deduce a
few argumen' - When he considered the manner in which
the men of •,;erpool had come forward on this and other
recent occasiu --, when their dearest institutions were attack-
ed, and the gcl,3ral burst of feeling against the destructive
principles of their opponents, manifested throughout the
kingdom, he, for one, would not despair of defeating every
attempt that might be made against them. But seeing that
these institutions were so threatened, it became them no lon-
ger to act merely on the defensive, but to buckle on their
armour, to hoist the glorious standard of conservatism, and
boldly advancing, to drive from their posts a ministry
who were unfit to hold the reins of government. (Hear,
hear.) The principles they (the conservatives) contended for
were the same for which our forefathers had bled; the
same for which Nelson had died at Trafalgar, and Wellington
had fought at'Waterloo. It was not until the passing of the
fatal bill of 1829, which gave a lodgement in the legislation
to the enemies of the country, that the Protestantism of the
constitution was assailed. That measure inducted into par-
liament Catholics, who went there on a promise that they
would not disturb the Protestant establishments of the
country ; but these men, and their coadjutors out of doors,
now made a determined effort to put down those admirable
institutions. To the eternal shame of the present ministry,
they, too, had entered into a compact with the agitator of
Ireland to assist in the unholy work. He considered Pro-
testantism the best anchor of the constitution, and if that
were removed, the ship would drift from her moorings, and
be wrecked upon a lee shore. (Cheers.) The faction to which
he alluded, attempted to make Ireland the arena for the pro-
pagation of the destructive opinions, a mere appendage to
the Romish empire. At the Catholic dinners, the toast was
always drank of " civil and religious liberty all over the
world ;" but this was a mere mockery on the part of those
who drank it. In Rome the Pope was supreme, in temporal
as well as ecclesiastical power. There liberty was hut a
name, and no one dare attempt to freely follow the dictates of
their conscience, to educate the children of the poor, 'or to
act in any respect with that freedom which the people of
this country enjoyed. If they looked to Spain and Portu-
gal, they would there, too, find the withering effects of popery.
It was impossible, such was the state of those countries, to
travel in safety without an escort. If, too, a catholic voted
otherwise than for the nominee of his priest, the thunders of
the Romish church were launched upon his head. Mr.
Holmes here read the following extract from a speech of the
Bishop of Exeter :
" What he_ (the Bishop of Exeter) was going to read was

, . .
a speech by Mr. O'Connell when Father Tyrrell was by his
side as his great aider and supporter. The words of Mr.
O'Connell were, ' Boys, the names 1 call your enemies, do
you call every friend of theirs you meet in the street. Girls

and women, when you meet the Bruenites, spit on them, spit
in their faces, particularly if they are Catholic conservatives.
Write traitor on their doors with chalk, and tell your friends
at home to do the same. You who are wives of the Catholic
electors, if your husbands do not vote for their religion, bless
yourselves, and then swear on your prayer books to separate
from your husbands if they don't obey your commands ; you
who are their daughters, I tell you if your fathers vote against
you, spit in their faces, and call them the names I taught the
boys to call them !' " Now, when they heard of Roman Ca-
tholic priests drinking the toasts of " Civil and religious
liberty," they ought to pause and look at their acts, taking
care not be carried away by their professions. (Hear, hear.)
The bill introduced by Lord Morpeth—and which, be
trusted in God, would never pass—(loud and continued
cheers)—that bill gave additional power to an overgrown
priesthood. But the mind of Ireland was already too much
enslaved ; and Lord Stanley's bill was introduced for the
purpose of relieving the Irish from their debasement. The
Irish priesthood were strongly opposed to that bill, for they
well knew that if it passed, their occupation of deluding the
people, would in a great measure be gone. The present
registration system of Ireland, involved a vast and deplora-
ble arnoitnt of perjury ; and why should not such iniquity be
put down. Why did the priests fear a law, having that end
in view. Laws were made a terror only to evil doers, not to
those who did well.. (Cheers.) Nearer home they had in-
stances of the malignant influence of popery. He alluded
to the Protector Society, which was another link in the great
chain that was intended to bind down and destroy Protestant-
ism. Then, he would ask, did not popery sanction Sabbath
desecration ? Had the voter seen bills affixed to the Roman
Catholic chapels announcing meetings to be held on Sunday
evenings for the repeal of the union—(hear, and cries of

" Shame !")—and to the shame and disgrace of the magi.
strates of the borough they had permitted that desecration,
—at least if they knew of the circumstance. He was not
certain, however, that they did know ; but, if they did, it was
their duty not to stand idly by, but immediately to take the
parties so acting into custody. He had something further
to say, too, in behalf of Protestant Liverpool. They
all knew that they were heavily taxed by the parish autho-
rites. He, himself, had a large annual amount to
pay, and he might state that fifteen out every twenty
shillings went to the support and relief of the poor
Irish. Many of the Irish too were suffered to vote who
had no

more right to a vote here than he had in
Kamschatka or Nova Zembla, (" Hear," and laughter.)
He would relate a fact that had come under his own notice,
illustrative of the system pursued at the Parish-office. On
the 26th of October last, a man named Charles M`Manus,
thirty.•six years of age, and living at No. 43, Hodgson-street,
paid 4s. 6d. a week as rent of a lodging-house, and let off a
room for 2s. a week, thus leaving him to pay only 2s. Gd.
a week ! He applied for relief, and stated that the cause of
his distress was hurrying for two weeks to prove his right
to a vote. He added, that he had two children and a wife to
support. The magistrates ofered him a pass to go to Ire-
land, thinking that the best plan to get rid of him. (Laugh-
ter.) If such were the practices in this town, how much
worse must they be in Ireland ; and it was to put an end to
the evil of such parties having a vote that the bill of Lord
Stanley was introduced. (Hear.) With respect to the pre-
sent ministry, they would, he believed, go on, if they had
even a mjority of only two in the house. They clung to
office, indeed, with surprising and persevering tenacity ; and
he verily believed they would never relinquish their hold
until they were either smoked out, or kicked out. (Loud
laughter.) He was of opinion that unless they were driven
out, and a new system of things introduced, the happy days of
England would be at an end. (Cheers.) They had gone on
from time to time, conceding and conceding, until the constitu-
tion of the country would be given away, and a revolution
would ensue. He had been told that there was no dangcr to
be apprehended from them, inasmuch as several of them were
churchmen ; but he apprehended greater danger from the
covert than the avowed enemies of Protestantism. The ava-
lanche might be dislodged by the breath of the sweetest
music floating on the air, as well as by the influence of the
storm, and its effects wonld be equally destructive. The
ministers had opened the floodgates, and the devasta-
ting stream would rush in if they were allowed to retain
their position and their power. It was fallacious to
suppose that such men would direct and calm the storm
which they had recklessly called into existence.—
What they had done was in part payment, on their part, to
the agitator and his tail for past favours. (Cheers.) It re-
dounded greatly to the credit of the mechanics and working
classes of Liverpool, that the petition had originated with
them. The operatives were in fact in this instance as in
others the very bones and marrow of the community. But
for them the election for Monmouthshire would have been
lost, and Tracey would have walked the course. But they
protested he should not, they cut the " traces" from the
ministerial mule, and he trotted off to the place whence he
came. (Laughter.) Every man should know that he had a
personal interest in this matter—every man who loved his
country, and who was firmly and devotedly attached to that
church, which was the great bulwark of the country—every
man who was a reasonable human being—every man who en-
joyed the blessings of true religion here and looked forward
to a blessing hereafter, had an interest in this question.
Seated on the ocean, England was the fountain of freedom
and civilisation, giving laws to the whole earth, sending her
manufactures abroad, and giving work to her citizens at
home, and she had been the means of sending the gospel of
Jesus Christ to many lands ; but the priests wished to cripple
the energies, and then destroy the vitality of England.
(Hear, hear.) He would have them to stand forward and
say, " It shall not be—England shall be governed on the
good sound principles of Protestantism," which Protestan-
tism was connected with their liberties. They should not put
a sword in the hands of Rome, wherewith to destroy their
country ; but they should pause when they heard the doc-
trines that were now being propagated in this country, and
remember " he was a freeman whom the truth made free, and
all were slaves besides." (Tremendous cheering.) He had
very great pleasure in seconding the motion so ably proposed
by his rev. friend, and he hoped the whole of the meeting
would give it their sanction. (Mr. Holme here resumed his
seat amidst loud and enthusiastic cheering from every side.)
The motion was put from the chair, and carried unani-
mously.

Mr. DANIEL LEDSON having been called upon by the
chairman to move the third resolution, rose, and was received
with loud cheers. He said, I have just had placed in my
hands the third resolution, and I feel great pleasure in mov-
ing it. At this advanced period of the day, and more espe-
cially after the able and eloquent speeches of the Rev. Mr.
M`Neile and Mr. Holme, it would be an act of presumption
in me to attempt to add to the impression which they have
produced upon the meeting. (Loud cheers.) I am sure
that when the petition is presented by our. representatives,
Lord Sandon and Mr. Cresswell, to the Commons House of
Parliament, it will meet with due effect, as emanating from
the most intelligent and respectable portion of the inhabitants
of this town. (Hear, hear.) As chairman of the Operative
Conservative Association—(cheers)--I beg leave, on behalf
of that body, to return Mr. Holme their sincere thanks for
the remarks he has just made. I trust that, every day, they
will increase in numbers ; and I am sure that they will ever
be found ready to defend those institutions which every
honest Protestant is bound to protect. (Loud cheers.) Mr.
Ledson concluded by moving the following resolution, after
which he sat down amidst renewed cheering :
" That the following petition, which has already been
adopted at a previous meeting on Monday last, be trans-
mitted to Lord Stanley and Mr. Cresswell for presentation."

Mr. GLAZEBROOK briefly seconded the motion. The
petitition was then read by Mr. Crisp.
The CIIAIRMAN then put the motion to the meeting, and
it was unanimously carried. ~

Mr. GEORGE H. LAWRENCE proposed, in a highly-com-
plimentary address, the thanks of the meeting to the chair-
man, for his admirable conduct in conducting the proceed-

This was carried by acclamation.
Three enthusiastic cheers were then given for Mr. Neile,
three for Lord Stanley, and three groans for O'Connell.
The meeting then separated.

MEETING OF SHIPOWNERS.-QUALIFICATIONS

OF CAPTAINS AND MATES

A meeting of shipowners took place yesterday, at two
o'clock, in the Committee-room of the Underwriters' Asso-
ciation, for the purpose of considering the propriety of co-
operating with the Glasgow shipowners in presenting a peti-
tion to parliament,. for an act sanctioning the formation of a
commission, or association, requiring masters (in particular)
and mates of merchant vessels to undergo examination by
properly qualified persons, and, in the event of their passing,
to be furnished (after the manner of surgeons) with certifi-
cates of their nautical abilities to undertake the management
of a ship ; the object being the protection of life and pro-
perty, which the originators were of opinion were often placed
in jeopardy by the appointment to commands of incompetent
persons. There were between 20 and 30 shipowners pre-
sent, including a few gentlemen delegates from the society of
Glasgow. Mr. Nickol, chairman of the Underwriters' As-
sociation of this town, was called to the chair, and opened
the business of the meeting. Mr. Johnstone, of the Ship-
owners Association of Glasgow, entered into a variety of
interesting details (which we have scarcely room to touch
upon), showing the opinion of the shipowners there in favour
of the object stated. They proposed, he said, to apply for
the appointment of a Marine Board in London and Liverpool
for England ; in Edinburgh for Scotland ; and in Dublin for
Ireland. Some of the shipowners of Glasgow were in favour
of having the controlling inspector appointed by government ;
others, that they should decline all immediate government
interference. They proposed to raise the funds necessary to
carry the object out by a small levy of Gd. a ton on each
vessel when first registered only, and a small amount for
certificates, and calculated that this would be amply suffi-
cient to defray all expenses. By far the greater number
of the meeting were in favour of the proposition, as an
advantage to respectable shipmasters as well as shipowners ;
and with reference to old captains of established reputation,
it was understood that there was no necessity for their un-
dergoing the ordeal of examination. Amongst the gentlemen
who delivered their sentiments on the subject were Mr. Pot-
ter, Mr. Chapman, Mr. Brocklebank, Mr. D. Gibb, Mr.
George Grant and Mr. M'Dougal (of Glasgow), &c. Mr.
Brocklebank stated that he had long been on owner of ves-
sels, and had never lost anything material through the in-
competency or neglect of his officers, though that might
occasionally occur. He considered that owners of vessels
were the best judges in choosing their captains, and were
perfectly competent to manage their own affairs, without the
interference of parliament. In this opinion he was joined
by Mr. Chapman. The majority of those present, however,
argued differently ; and the result was the appointment of
the following gentlemen as a committee, to confer with the
delegation from Glasgow upon the subject, and report to a
future meeting—viz., Messrs. Potter, Grant, Rankin, Hig-
gin, Whitehead, Henderson, Watson, and Rotherham. As
the subject will ere long be brought before the public in a
more tangible shape, we the less regret that we have been
i
under the necessity, n consequence of a press of matter, of
reducing our notice of the meeting to a mere paragraph.
We shall recur to the subject.