The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1838-08-31 00:00:00

WESLEYAN ASSOCIATION.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STAND.IRD.
Ste,—l shall feel much obliged by occupying a space in
the columns of your next number. The subject is as follows—
At the Annual Assembly of the Wesleyan Association, held
at Rochdale, in the beginning of this month. a communica-
tion having been sent from Liverpool to the President, rela-
tive to Messrs. David Rowland and John Peters, these two
gentlemen were there put on their trial, and the Christian
Advocate, after giving a very seriously incorrect report of the
"communications" from Liverpool, to the public; and having
positively refused to correct them, the favour now solicited is
that you will be so obliging as to supply its lack of courtesy,
candour and correctness, by inserting the following commu-
nications.
August 30th, 1838.

(Copy.)
9, Pembroke-place, Liverpool, 3rd August, 1838
SIR,—As chairman of the June quarterly meeting, it be-
comes my duty to apprise you that Messrs. Peters and Row-
land, who, I understand, are now at Rochdale, representing
themselves to be delegates from the Liverpool circuit to the
Annu,t A...mbly, Were not chosen by the June quarterly
meeting, or by any other authorised meeting. This lam quite
prepared to prove. The following are the facts of the case:—
Nearly from the commencement of the Association our official
persons have manifested a disposition to keep the whole un-
controlled management of the church in their own hands,
while the private members have been desirous that our first
principles should be fully carried out—" the right of the
members of the church to manage its own affairs." Some
little time since, by a simultaneous effort, we managed to
open the quarterly meeting to every member, this meeting to
manage all our affairs, and every other meeting to be subject
to it. 'When this meeting was thus open, instead of being in-
undated by the private meinbers—partly on account of the
very inconvenient hour at which it was held—the difficulty
was, to have a sufficient number of them present to counter-
act the voice of the officials, who were opposed to every
liberal measure; thus the regular channel for discussion
soon became shut up, by their moving and carrying resolu-
tions to stop us, terming what we had to say in that meeting
" frivolous and vexatious ;" then we saw plainly that our
rights and privileges were gone, unless we could get the
private members into the quarterly meeting to maintain
their rights; for this purpose, and for this purpose only, we
attempted to form a little discussion society, (I now enclose
you one of the cards which we had for that occasion;*) but
this meeting was interrupted by the officials saying, " Why
such a meeting, when the regular channel is open—the
quarterly meeting?" At this last June quarterly meeting,
there was some very important business to be brought for-
ward; the officials were about to alter the constitution of the
quarterly meeting, and to cram down something they call
rules " for our people." We were aware of all this, and
were preparing to meet them in the "regular channel" by
endeavouring to bring the private members forward, to main-
tain and obtain all their rightful privileges, and we thought it
a very favourable circumstance that the appointed quarterly
meeting fell on the coronation day ; and, the more effectually
to remind our people of it, these little papers were printed for
distribution among the members, viz.:—
" Liverpool Wesleyan Association.—All the brethren are
particularly requested to attend the quarterly meeting, to be
held in the Cominittee-room, atthe Music-hall, on Thursday,
28th June, 1838, (the coronation day,) commencing at one
o'clock, on special business."
And it would appear that they gave an alarm to the other
party, for they were taken to the leaders' meeting, and there,
we understand, read and discussed, and the result was, the
postponement of the quarterly meeting, for no other purpose
but to keep the private members out of that meeting. And
this opinion is confirmed by the very time they had chosen
for this postponed meeting to be held, viz. the very time fixed,
according to the preachers' printed plan, for our monthly
missionary prayer meeting, when the missionary collectors,
in all from 60 to 70 of our own members, meet to pay in the
monthly subscriptions, consequently they could not attend
the quarterly meeting, and 1 am prepared to prove that this
was not an oversight but a design, for that day or evening
two months they had fixed for another illegally adjourned
meeting to alter the constitution of the quarterly meeting.
I then wrote to the chairman, Mr. Peters, reminding him of
the circumstance, and wishing him to get their adjourned
meetingcut off till the following evening, but it was not done.
Now when we were informed that the leaders' meeting had
postponed the quarterly meeting, we saw at once their design,
and the injustice and cruelty of it, that the members should
have
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we referred to their own law, and found that they have
no control over, and no more right to postpone the quarterly
meeting, than they have to postpone the meeting of parlia-
ment, or the Annual Assembly.
They should have called a special meeting for that pur-
pose, (see in the "spurious" page 11 and 12, and section 13,)
therefore by their own law, that postponement was illegal,
consequently the regularly appointed quarterly meeting
would remain legal, and that meeting was duly held, and of
course all the business done in that meeting is legal—and
agreeably to a required notice I duly transmitted the names
of our delegates then chosen, to Mr. Molineux of Rochdale,
a copy of which letter I now enclose you.
(copy.)
" 9, Pembroke-place, Liverpool,
9th July, 1838.
" DEA it S I 11,-1 perceive by a notice given in the Magazine,
that it devolves on myself to transmit to you the names of the
brethren who are appointed our representatives to the annual
assembly. Our quarterly meeting was held on the 28th ult.,
when the following brethren were unanimously elected :
Mr. Chester, preacher, Mr. James Picton, and Mr. Richard
Fairer. You will please excuse me for not giving the re-
quired information earlier, as the notice in the Magazine
had escaped my observation until yesterday. Beg also to
say, that Mr. Chester was also elected to be our superin-
tendant preacher for the ensuing year, and it is most earnestly
wished that that appointment may be confirmed by the Annual
Assembly. lam glad to have it to say, that our meeting was
most harmonious, the most important business of which was,
the passing and adopting a code of rules for our circuit, a
few of which will be sent to the Annual Assembly, as one of
them must be put into the hands of each preacher who may
he put down for the Liverpool circuit.—l am, sir, yours
respectfully, " WM. HOSKIN G.
To Mr. Molineux, Wesleyan Association
Minister, Rochdale."
I am aware that the veracity of that communication has been
questioned; but if required, I am ready to come to the Annual
Assembly to give any farther explanation. After this com-
munication, should Messrs. Peters and Rowland be reported
as our delegates, we shall consider ourselves quite at liberty
publicly to contradict it. Relative to Messrs. Chester and
Picton, I personally had their consent to go as our delegates
if elected; but if by any, means they should not attend, of
course Messrs. P. and IL are not authorised to take their
places, and as to permission or indulgence, that is altogether
out of the question. Mr. Peters, as a reformer, is not known
in Liverpool; and as to Mr. D. Rowland, while he may be
considered a complete hero of a reformer abroad, at home be
is considered a complete anything else. And of all men, whe-
ther in the circuit or out, they would be the last whom we,
as reforming Methodists, would either choose or permit to
represent our interests.
I enclose you a placard, " Notice and Caution" to our
members, viz.,

" WESLEYAN METHODIST ASSOCIATION.
" NOTICE.—The members are informed that the rules for
the society are printed, and that they may have them by
applying at No. 9, Pembroke-place, on showing their society
tickets; these rules were passed and adopted atthe REGULAR
quarterly meeting, held on the 28th June, 1838.
" CAUTION.—'I he members are now warned that all rules
are spurious. excepting those bearing the above date, printed
by J. Perry & Co.; a number of fictitious rules having been
got up and printed by a party of individuals, which have
never received the sanction of any authorised meeting, and
these have been put into the hands of the leaders to be im-
posed on the members, instead of the genuine rules.
" N.B. The members may have any explanatory informa-
tion by applying at 9, Pembroke-place.
" Liverpool, 21st July, 1838."
Thus we have been obliged to carry out our enactments. If
1 am wrong as an individual active in these proceedings, it
may be asked, why do not the officers expel me at once?
Why-, they have been trying to do it at their quarterly meet-
ing and leaders' meeting; and on last Monday they had a
special circuit meeting on my case, but to no purpose, for
they dared neither expel me nor suspend me, neither have I
had a single official censure. Is not this a confirmation that
what was done at the quarterly meeting held on the '2Bth of
June was legal, even in the eyes of the officials themselves?
—I am, honoured Sir, your obedient servant,
WM. HOSKING.

To the President of the Wesleyan
Association, Rochdale.
The members of the Association may perceive that the above
prolix communication maybe brought into a very small com-
pass.—Prove to me that the " Leaders meeting" had no tight to
postpone the " Quarterly meeting", and you prove to me that
Messrs. Rowland and Peters are to be regarded as impostors
at the annual assembly, and with such proof whatever may
have been the decision of others, or whatever may have been
the instruction of others to the Christian Advocate, in Liver-
pool, they are still regarded as such.
N.B.—Agreeably to a former notice, the members may have
the rules of the society, and any further information or expla-
nation on the subject, by applying at 9, Pembroke-place.
WM. HUSKING,
Chairman of the June Quarterly Meeting.

• LIVERPOOL WESLEYAN ASSOCIATION.
PRIVATE MEMBERS: DISCUSSION SOCIETY.
" Resolved,—That the basis of a plan fur a reformation of
existing abuses in Methodism, shall be the principle of the
rigbt of interference—on the part of the members of the
Church—in the regulation of all its affairs."—Report of the
Provisional Meeting 0 Delegates in 1835. l
" Tell it unto the Church."—St. Matthew, xviii. 17.
PRIVATE MEMBERS' ADMISSION TICKET.

THE POLICE FORCE.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE' LIVERPOOL ST2IND.IRD.

SlR,—The following sketch may perhaps be instructive to
the heads of our police force, particularly when they are in-
formed that such scenes in this and other neighbourhoods are
by no means of rare occurrence, and which perhaps might
be obviated by the presence of a policeman constantly on
duty, aided by the activity which might naturally be ex-
pected from them on acting promptly on information ten-
dered by spectators or individuals located in the neighbour-
hood.

On Tuesday morning last, a young man of respectable
exterior, but of a swarthy complexion, apparently a steward
of one of the American packets, was making the best of his
way along Tithebarn-street, which has been no thoroughfare
for a long time in consequence of the slow movement attend-
ant on the making of the main sewer, that at the present

moment there is a bare passage for foot passengers at the end
of 'Bachelor' or as it might with great propriety be called
'Pig-street,' at the corner of which street there is always an
horde of disorderlies of both sexes. The person alluded to in
attempting to pass this notorious corner was assailed with
very gross language by several individuals standing there,
one of whom eventually marched up to him and inflicted
several savage blows in the young man's face before he could
get away. The individual who perpetrated this outrage was
an ill-looking Irishman of the lowest description, no offence
whatever was given by the wayfaring man, if I may use the
word, unless it was the fact of his being a foreigner and of a
somewhat darker tinge than himself. The corporate serv-
ants, the sewer excavators, who witnessed the outrage, aided
and abetted their countryman, (as many as were Irish) by
language most scandalous. Two respectable housekeepers
who witnessed with astonishment the whole transaction, were
threatened with similar treatment if they did not move off.
This took place a little before nine o'clock in the morning,
within a stone's throw from the police station, and whe❑ the
policeman made his appearance, all was quiet, and the same
quietness would have ensued had the man been mortally
wounded. And when the circumstances were detailed to the
policeman, he turned a deaf ear to it. The police imagine
that theirline of duty is confined entirely to matters in which
they are witnesses.
__

Yours, respectfully.
AN ENGLISHMAN.