The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-01-28 00:00:00

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CONSERVATIVE

On Wednesday last, at twelve o'clock, a numerous and
most respectable meeting of the Conservatives of Glasgow
took place in the Trades' Hall, in reference to the motion
of which Sir .1. Y. Butler has given notice in the House of
Commons, expressive of want of confidence in the present
Ministry. At the hour appointed to assemble, the gentle-
men began to pour into the Hall, and in the course of ten
minutes it was nearly filled. From the very appearance of
the company, we perceived at once that they were unani-
mous to a man, and determined, by every legal means in
their power, to rid themselves and the country of the ser-
vices of the present most shabby rulers who have so long
nauseated and disgusted their countrymen by their misdeeds,
and their callous apathy to everything great and high-minded.
We observed on the platform Kirkham Finlay, Esq.,
Michael -Rowand, Esq., Robert Monteith, Esq., James
Campbell, Esq., J. T. Douglas, Esq., Archd. M`Lellan,
Esq., Wm. Brown, Esq., Wm. Gray, Esq., John Bannatyne,
Esq., W. Leckie Ewing, Esq., Alex. Morrison, Esq., John
Pollok, Esq., John Leadhetter, Esq., and other leading
Conservatives.
On the motion of Mr. GRAY, the Lord Dean of Guild
BROWN was called to the chair.
Mr. KIRKMAN FINLAY, on rising, was received with much
applause. He could assure the meeting that he felt it by no
means a pleasant duty to meet in political discussion. He
did hope that the state of the country would have enabled him
to have continued in that private station, which so well
agreed with his inclinations and befitted his age. But un-
happily the state of the times, and the present position of
the country was so extraordinary, that he must submit to
what might be considered an imperious duty—(applause)—
and he hoped he should never be found wanting in the dis-
charge of those duties which were calculated for the good of
the country. He would now read the resolution which it
was his intention to propose, and conclude with a few obser-
vations. (The hon. gentleman then read the resolution, the
essence of which is contained in the Petition which follows.)
He continued—Now these were the resolutions to which he
was desirous of inviting the attention of the meeting ; and of
showing, in a very few. words, the imperious duty imposed
upon the country by the conduct of the present Ministry, to
exercise every means in their power by calling upon the
House to alter their course, and remove the power from the
hands of those counsellors who now surrounded the throne.
(Applause.) He begged to call the attention of the meeting
to the commencement of this administration. A very short
time before it came into power, an individual who had filled
a very prominent position in the country, and who had since
been a most useful supporter of the administration, was de-
nounced by many of those gentlemen who now formed
the cabinet, as moat dangerous person to the State—
he was denound in a speech from the throne by those
men who now draw their breath by his command. Now,
what was the country to think of those persons who in a
very brief period denounced this man as dangerous, and
ought not to be trusted, and then who receive at his
hands that support which gives them political exist-
ence? (Applause.) The next, and perhaps last ally, which
the present government got themselves, was a person of a
different character—a gentleman of great talent—Mr.
Macauley, whom the Government were desirous to secure.
Mr. Macauley, however, refused to join them, unless he had
a seat in the Cabinet ; but to this there were serious objec-
tions on three points upon which he stood, viz., the conces-
sion of the ballot, the extension of the suffrage, and the
shortening of the duration of Parliaments. Mr. Macauley
stated distinctly he would support any one of these measures,
though by the Government they were denounced as objec-
tionable. After a negotiation which lasted for six months,
they were obliged to take Mr. M. in—they were obliged to
give him a seat in the Cabinet, though he differed with them
in these important points, and they took him to Windsor,
from which he dated the well-known letter, wherein he
stated that he would support all those measures, though it
was known that he differed in them from the Ministry. Now
if men of any degree of firmness had been at the head of the
Administration, would they have endured that another should
thus put his foot upon their necks, and openly declare that
support those important points which they condemned.
Now, if there had been nothing else, these causes he would
hold sufficient to destroy the conffdence of the country in
them ; and no one would put his finger on the page of politi-
cal history, and point to a government like it, or one which
was supported by such mean's. (Applause.) When the
leader of this administration is asked any question of public
import, his answer invariably is—" I do not know, but I will
inquire." (Laughter and Applause.) Now, it was well
known in the practical history of this count' y that the leader
of the administration should know, and be able to give in-
formation on every point. The meeting would he aware that
when that great man William Pitt was at the head of affairs,
nothing of a public nature could be carried into effect that
was not dictated and governed by himself personally ; and
they were aware too that so far did he carry this principle of
personal superintendence, that on one occasion, a despatch
regarding the affairs of the Admiralty had been prepared, and
the officials were compelled to sign it, though the other parts
of the sheet were covered, arid they knew not its contents.
But the system' now followed -was .a far different one, when
the uniform answer from the Premier was—" I do not know,
but I will inquire." It was only a few weeks ago, since the
Attorney-General declared that the country enjoyed a happy
and almost unexampled state of tranquillity, and that his best
information led him to believe that this tranquillity would not
be disturbed. And although this had been stated, only a' few
days had elapsed since that same Attorney-General had ap-
peared in another place to arraign, on a charge of high trea-
son, a body so numerous, that he had been obliged to get rid
of many of them by granting them a pardon. (Applause.)
In reference to the resolution which he (Mr. F.) had pro-
posed, gentlemen might ask was there any likelihood of their
application being successful. Now, he would say that he
could have no doubt of the success of Sir John Buller's
motion, if the Members of the House' of Commons would
only vote according to their honest opinions, for he knew
that even amongst those who supported the present Adminis-
tration there was not one who would sign a paper, and declare
that he possessed confidence in that Administration. (Ap-
plause.) All that is wanted to ensure success is that the
Members would vote according to their own opinions. if
this were fairly done, the present Administration would not,
stand a week. But many of those gentlemen looked not to
the facts of the case, nor did they follow their own honest'
opinions in giving their vote. They looked only to the effect
it might have on the minds of their constituents, and doing so
did not vote according to the honest dictates of their judg-
ment. He was satisfied, therefore, that if they had the
benefit of the honest votes of the Members of the House,
success was certain, and Sir John Buller would not need the
aid of resolutions from any quarter to ensure triumphant
success. (Loud applause.) Before sitting down, he would
beg leave,- in reference to the working_ of one-of those mea-
sures of which, Mr. Macauley was so very fond, viz., the
Ballot, to read a letter which had that day been placed in his
hands, from a workman who had recently settled in the
United States, and which would point out what were called
the blessings of Republican Government, and of the ballot.
Mr. Finlay then read an extract from the letter, which stated
in substance, that the mills were standing—that there was
no money in the country—that during three weeks he had
not received sufficient to pay his board, and that when they
did buy, they were compelled to do it at the store-at 25 per
cent above its value. The writer further stated that an elec-
tion for a Member of Congress by ballot had recently taken
place, and all them in the shop had received voting tickets
from their masters, which they were required to fill up and
place in the ballot box according to the dictation of these
masters, under the pain of instant dismissal from their situa-
tions ; and one of the candidates, who had reason to think
that the majority at the election would not be his, had run
away with the box and broken it up. (Laughter and ap-
plause.) Mr. Finlay sat down amid much cheering by again
reading the resolutions, and stating that the gentleman who
would follow him would enter with much more ability into
the merits of the question.
Mr. MONTEITH, younger, of Carstairs, on rising was re-
ceived by the hearty plaudits of the meeting. He did not
know why his hon. friend who had just concluded his obser-
vations should have been so sure that he (Mr. M.) would
enter at full length into the question regarding the merits
of the present Administration, for it was only a few minutes
since he had been requested, in the adjoining room, to come
forward and give his assistance to the support of the resolu-
tion. He was at first inclined to leave the matter in the
hands of the resident merchants of Glasgow—he was willing
to leave it with them, that it might be divested of the recol-
lection of past local political matters, and that they might
come forward of themselves and declare their want of confi-
dence in the present Government. Having been requested,
however, he was quite ready to come forward and support the
motion with a few observations. The first thing which must
strike every one of the weakness of any administration is
when the advocates of that administration come forward on
all occasions, not appealing to the popularity of their mea-
sures, or the great and good names which compose the go-
vernment, or by whom they are supported—but when they
make an undue use of the name of the Sovereign, and ap-
peal continually to the support which they receive from the
Crown. (Applause.) That this has been the case with the
present administration no one could deny, and reliance of
this kind must be looked on with extreme suspicion, when
they considered the previous character of the party. Did
the present Ministry not belong to those who had been ac-
customed to dispraise and decry monarchical institutions—a
party which now leant upon that support which they for-
merly considered and declared to be frail ? (Great applause.)
But he could conceive that there were some quarters which
possessed confidence in the present administration, and a
quarter which had been to them a tower of strength. These
were Daniel O'Connell and his followers—all the Ribbon.
Lodges, and every member of the Romiln Catholic priest-
hood throughout Ireland. The advantage of this support to
them lay in this, that they could point to Ireland, and say,
" Behold the peace and tranquillity which now distinguishes
this country, after seven centuries of turbulence, and after
being the source of pain, disquiet, and alarm to every succes-
sive administration." All he could say was, if such a de-
ceitful tranquillity was to be purchased by such means—if
the lip-loyalty of O'Connell was to be the condition of the
existence
_of the Ministry nowadays, he was sorry for his
country; but he could not be sorry for Wellington and Peel,
and he would submit to an eternal exclusion from office ra-
ther than accept of it on the terms of the misery and degra-
dation of the present Ministry. (Applause.) The tranquil-
lity of Ireland was not the tranquillity of peace—it was an
armed neutrality ; and it had been declared that so soon as
the present party were removed from power, it would be the
signal for sending the mandate of disorder, confusion, and
anarchy, by a thousand ramifications, throughout the length
and breadth of the countrjr. There were, perhaps, one or
two other parties who might entertain confidence in the pre-
sent Ministry—they had the confidence of their own wives
and sisters, and of -the Bedchamber and Court ladies.
(Laughter and applause.) It was certain that Lady Nor-
manb y and Lady Tavistock were convinced in their conscience
no other administration would be sufficiently disinterested
to maintain them in place ; and though there were few ladies
required to go out on a change of Ministry, still they had all
resolved to perish together, and the others had resolved not
to share the favours of the Court, when the country had lost
the service of such patriotic ladies of the Bedchamber.
(Laughter.) He thought he had mentioned all those in the
country who possessed confidence in the present Adminis-
tration ; but if they looked abroad, they might find others
who were willing to grant them their support. He thought
the Russian government would repose confidence in Lord
Palmerston, and look upon his imbecility as the best coun-
terpose to the energy of the officials in Calcutta. Every
nation abroad, .in fact, might have confidence in the imbe-
cility, ignorance, and awdwardness of the present adminis-
tration. There was hardly a sea which had not witnessed
the disgrace of the British flag. And there was scarcely a
colony which had not been stirred up to sedition. Look to
Canada. It had been said for years that the French popu-
lation of that colon were not to be depended on ; and yet
they went on with inquiries and commissions, and these in-
quiries would still have been-going on, had not the French-
men themselves, though too early, with musket and bayonet.
settled the matter decisively. Look to Jamaica, in which it
had been proposed to suspend the free constitution. It was
opposed by Sir Robert Peel and his party, and the country
had reason to rejoice that the measure was delayed, and that
the opinions of a Conservative opposition in minority was
followed, rather than those of the Ministers of the Crown.
(Great applause.) Look to the men with whom they were
connected at home. They were combined with men to whom
anarchy and confusion was a godsend, and they had recently
given the commission of the peace to a man whom they had
afterwards to try for high treason; and who deserved to be
hanged, and 'would be hanged, but for their own blundering.
He considered the unfitness of the present Ministry to con-
sist in taeir vacillation, faithlessness, and ambiguity. It
consisted in the incomprehensibility of their actions, and the
perfect impossibility to declare the one month what they
would do the next. Had they not abandoned measures
which they had solemnly declared to be absolutely essential
to the well-being of the empire ? Where was now the appro.
Priation clause, and.where were the Municipalities of Ire.