The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-12-04 00:00:00

tin member of this association who must not have admired
the manly sentiments just uttered by hint,—(hear, hear,)
--sand feel that we could not have done better than we had
in sending Mr. Rathbone, by means of Mr. Smith, back
into a private station. (Cheers.) He held in his hand a re-
solution, and that resolution, he thought, when he read it,
would give the greatest satisfaction to them all. Their wor-
thy chairman, in the course of his address, had touched upon
many of its particulars ; but he trusted they would excuse
him saying a few words previous to moving it. (Hear.) He
congratulated them most sincerely on the result of the late
municipal election ; an d he was sure no one could have sup-
posed when they considered the overwhelming means of in-
fluence the possession of the Town-hall conferred upon their
opponents, that year after year would have seen a fresh ac-
cession of conservative members, anxious to do their duty to
their constituents zealously and without fear. (Applause.)
Ile saw some gentlemen in that room who represented re-
spectable constituencies in. the town, and he hoped that the
whole of them had taken for their model that admirable
union which pervaded the great conservative opposition in
parliament, an opposition which every successive party
struggle had rendered more solid and more compact. It
such were the case, they would find that, by the assistance of
associations like this, by the assistance of every man who
loved his country, they would soon have the power to carry
out within the walls of the council chamber the admirable
advice of Lord Stanley, to mark, watch, and crush every
birth which whig-radical ingenuity might bring to light.
(Loud cheers.) As a young man, they would allow him to
make one remark. He did not stand there nor wish to stand
there for the purpose of advising the gentlemen lie saw around
him—gentlemen of mature years who had long fought the
battle of the constitution, and who knew what line of
politics would best promote the welfare of the nation ;
but hewould give one piece of advice, and he trusted they
would believe him when he said, that the ingenuity of their
opponents was as busy as ever, and that it behoved every
man, more particularly on the next first of November, to
strain every nerve to return into that Council chamber those
gentlemen who would give satisfaction to the town of Li-
verpool at large—(hear)—who would turn it into an instru-
ment of good, instead of making it, as it had been made, an
instrument of very considerable evil. {Hear, and applause.)
He was sorry to say that the Conservatives of Liverpool,
during the last municipal election, had been obliged to con-
tend against no ordinary obstacles. (Hear.) Hitherto our
political battles had been fought with that good faith and
candourfor which our political warfare had been always dis-
tinguished, and they had a right, meeting their opponents
fairly in the field, to expect from them the same candour and
uprightness. (Hear.) But what had been the fact? Let
them look at the occurrences of the last few weeks. No
common machinations, no unaccustomed stratagems. had
been used. They had met in the registration court not by
fair and honourable means, but by the poisoned weapons of
forgery and fraud. (Vehement cheering.) He trusted that
when they reviewed all these things, they would feel it to be
their duty to use all their influence,—to put forth their best
exertions, to send into that chamber those gentlemen who
would legislate for the good of the town, and of its inhabit-
ants. He trusted they would feel that there was a necessity
for them, during the next twelve months, to use every legi-
timate means to maintain and strengthen their position ;
for he could assure them that their opponents were on the
alert, and not letting slip any chance for returning those
who would enable them to retain their majority. (Hear.)
He trusted it would not be displeasing to them if we turned
from the trifling peccadilloes of the whigs in the council to
the amiable qualities of the whips in the cabinet,—(a laugh)
—the contrast, he was sure, would be very pleasing and sa-
tisfactory to them all. (Loud laughter.) What vigour and
what vigilance pervaded every department of the state ! (A
laugh.) How admirably our foreign possessions and our fo-
reign tactics were conducted ! (A laugh.) What singular
felicity had attended our strict and intimate alliance with
Prance! (Hear.) How successfully our trade with China
had been carried on ! (Hear and laughter.) How speedily
the blockade of Buenos Ayres had been terminated ! (Hear.)
How satisfactory the settlement of the American boundary
question! (Renewed laughter.) What very profound and
statesman-like legislation had stopped that uproarious con-
duct in Canada. (Hear.) How totally the cry of " repeal"
had been put down, and how completely the power of Daniel
O'Connell had been annihilated ! (Laughter and cheers.)
And, oh, above all, how the Chancellor of the Exchequer
must chuckle over that financial statement which he exhibits
quarterly to the applause of our admiring nation ! (Cheers.)
These were only a few of the blessings that had resulted from
ten years of whig-radical misrule. And though he talked to
them quietly, he trusted that they would not be so quiet as to
subject themselves to the infliction of ten years more of the
great satisfaction that the country had experienced from those
who now held the reins of office. (Hear.) That association
Was formed for the purpose of protecting the institutions of
the land, and he was sure that at their annual meeting they
would not deem him out of place when he said, that the pe-
riod in which they lived was a period of great difficulty and
danger. (Cheers.) Those institutions which they venerated
for their age and valued for their usefulness were undergoing
the ordeal of public opinion. (Hear, hear.) That church of
which they were members, and which they respected and
loved,—(applause,)—was attacked in every manner and mode
that infidelity could suggest. Its members, its ministers, the
excellency of its mode of worship, were assailed. (Cheers.)
The very existence of the church as an institution was threat-
ened. And whether it was to stand or fall, to perish or to
be triumphant in the strife, it was for the faithfulness and
firmness of the Protestants of England to decide. (Loud
cheers, and a cry of "no surrender!") Thanks to the exer-
tions, the unremitting exertions of a band of learned and il-
lustrious divines, the town of Liverpool had been saved from
that foul spirit of anarchy and confusion that was stalking
through the land, and which showed itself here in the shape
of a godless Socialist, and there in the shape of a misguided
Chartist. (Loud applause.) He must mention to them one
remark which he remembered to have heard. He remem-
bered a gentleman who once had the honour of soliciting
the suffrages of a certain portion of the constituency of
Liverpool, and who, though he had not gained much cele-
brity, had gained a great deal of notoriety,—(a laugh,)--
he meant Mr. Tindal Atkinson. (A laugh.) That gen-
tleman, in one of those muddy and maudling orations
Which he was in the habit of delivering to his Menus
the papists and Socinians, finished one of his most
splendid speeches, which he (Mr. Ledson) heard, by saying,
" If you will only do as I tell you, toryism will be swept
from the town for ever." (Laughter.) It was previous to
that election which had sent into the council chamber 11 con-
servatives and only 5 radicals. (Renewed laughter.) He
(Mr. Ledson) would say that there was very little credit to
be given to that gentleman as a prophet. (A laugh.) He
Would tell'them more. This election had proved, notwith-
standing the plausible colouring by which their opponents
had attempted to cover their views, that they (the conserva-
tives) were not yet quite prepared to abet the measures and
malpractices of the whig-radical faction. (Cheers.) It had
proved that they were not yet quite prepared to surrender to
such dangerous keeping the ark of our glorious constitution.
(Great applause.) It had proved that come what may, let
the boasted progress of liberal principles be what it might,
they were not yet quite prepared to enter into an unhallowed
compromise with the foes of the bible, be they secret or be
they avowed. It had proved that whether their foes mutilated
it with the Papist or derided it with the Unitarian, there
was, thank God, a healthy spirit alive in society which would
frustrate and unmask their fraudful schemes. (Loud cheers.)
And it afforded another lesson, and justified another predic-
tion, that whenever the present administration could screw
up their courage to face the country in a general election,
they would most assuredly meet the same discomfiture, dis-
grace, and defeat, that awaited their supporters in the town
of Liverpool on the last 2d of Nhvember. (" Hear, hear,"
and cheers.) It bad also proved another thing. After what
they had heard from their chairman, and what they knew
from their own experience, they would feel it to be their
duty to look to the registration courts ; for they knew not
When an election might take place. (Hear.) When the
great conservative leader, Sir Robert Peel, called upon the
people of England to remember that it was in the registration
courts of the kingdom that the battle of the constitution was
to be fought, he never could have anticipated that a misera-
ble, expiring, and desperate faction would have used the
means they had done in order to secure their own political '
ends. (Much applause.) He felt that he was trespassing
upon their time. (Cries of " No, no ;" "Go on.") He
had no idea, when he undertook to move the address, that
he should have detained them so long. He trusted they
would excuse him ; he was so much a conservative that when
he did get an opportunity of addressing a meeting, he felt
desirous of inspiring them with the same sentiments that he
felt himself,—(applause)—and he knew that when he ad-
dressing the Conservative Association of Liverpool, he was
addressing those who were ready to do everything in their
power to secure the church on a proper and legitimate
foundation, to see prosperity and happiness once more
flourishing in the kingdom, to see the manufacturing dis-
tricts, as they were once seen, in peace instead of in wretch-
edness; in plenty instead of in want. (Hear.) And he
Was sure that when sending that address, emanating as it
did, they would feel all that was embodied in it, and be only
anxious that her Majesty should call into the place of a
Melbourne, an O'Connell, a Russell, and the rest, a Stanley,
a Wellington, and a Peel. (Rapturous applause.) Her
Majesty would believe that when signing that address they
were actuated by those principles which were truly conserva-
tive,—which made it their object to protect her upon her
throne, and to protect the just and constitutional rights of
her subjects, protecting themselves, at the same time, from
that spirit f anarchy and destructiveness which aimed at
the overthrow of everything that was good in the land.
(Loud and continued cheers.) He should conclude by ask-
ing them cordially to adopt the address he was about to
to submit to them. There was no man who felt respect for
her Majesty, and pleasure at the auspicious event which had
had taken place, no one who felt anxious for her Majesty's
safety, and next to her, for that of the Princess Royal, who
would not gladly respond to the call. (Cheers.) Mr. Led-
son then read the following address :
" We, your Majesty's most loyal subjects, the members of
the Liverpool Tradesmen's Conservative Association, beg
leave to offer to your Majesty our heartfelt congratulations
on the auspicious event of your Majesty having given birth
to a daughter; and to express our hope, that the life of your
Majesty, and that of the Royal Infant, may long be pre-
served to an affectionate and loyal people. And may He, by
Whom alone " Kings reign, and princes decree justice," ren-
der your Majesty's reign long and prosperous—may He
grant to your Majesty health and strength to guard and de-
fend our unrivalled constitution in church and state ; and,
surroun:ed by wise and faithful councillors—[Gentlemen,
(asked Mr. Ledson,) will you not, from the bottom of your
hearts, respond to that? (Immense cheering.)]—to maintain
those principles which we firmly believe are best calculated
to strengthen the attachment of your Majesty's loyal sub-
jects."

He need not say that the Liverpool Conservative Association
had shewn itself on many occasions ready to rally round the
throne, and to support the sentiments embodied in the ad-
dress. (Hear.) Before he sat down, they. would allow him
to make one remark. When they placed in the situation of
the " popular" administration the individuals he had named,
the Duke of Wellington, Lord Stanley. Sir Robert Peel, and
Sir James Graham —(" And Sir Robert Inglis") —Sir
Robert Inglis, and Lord Viscount Sandon as well—(loud
cheers)—and Cresswell Cresswell as well—(loud cheers)—
Mr. William Ewart Gladstone as well—(loud and reiterated
cheers)—then the face of things would wear a new aspect,
and such a change would take place as would come home
to the heart of every conservative in the land. (Hear.)
Then would peace and happiness be spread throughout her
Majesty's dominions—then would joy and comfort be sent
to the cottage of the poor as well as to the mansion of the
rich—then they should see loyalty, and justice, and truth,
and all that a man, who venerated his God, could desire—
they should see the constitution of England based, as Lord
Stanley said in Liverpool, on the rock of ages, and if they
,Only did their duty, the batteries of their opponents might
batter against it, but firm in its concentrated strength, it
Would bid defiance to their efforts, and stand, he trusted, for
ever. Loud and continued cheering.)
Mr. INGRAM seconded the rssolution.

The CHAIRMAN said theyllaii;errid the address read,
and he was sure they would all cordially agree in its sentr-
tnents. The motion was put and carried unanimously.
Mr. ROBERTSON GLADSTONE, who stood in the body of
the room, here begged to say a few words. lie had listened
with great pleasure to their respected chairman and the gen-
tleman who had moved the address. When he heard such
aentiments falling from those with whom he did not come in
Contact, it did occur to him as a matter of regret, that within
the walls where he occasionally sat, and where he hoped on
all early occasion to see some of thern—(hear, hear, and
Ghee s)—the same class of men, the same honest opinioas,
so undauntedly spoken, did not more frequently appear. He
was one of those who looked too sanguinely, perhaps, at
hoped
events ; but to this'extent he trusted to them, and he
'loped the day was coming—nay, was not very far distant—
When they should see that Augean stable purged of its impu-
rities—(loud cheers)—and instead of those who threatened
kharchy and confusion, that they should see seated in the