The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1844-01-02 00:00:00

THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.

sary outlay already mentioned, I am of opinion, that the
sum I have stated at the commencement of this paper is
the fair value, f sold now.
In conclusion, I would notice, as bearing upon the ques-
tion of the value of the property, that the progressive
extension of the Docks, great and rapid as it has been, is
yet unequal to the continued expansion of the trade et
the port; and, therefore, that an estate like this, confin-
ing as it does those Docks at one of the only tsvo extremi-
ties beyond which they can be possibly extender', may
reasonably be expected to increase in value as the demand
for land for Dock purposes becomes, as it must do, every
day more strongly felt.
I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
JOHN WEIG HTMAN,

Lewin Mozley, Esq.

Liverpool, October 11, 1843.
DEAR Sin.—The published reports of the discussion I
in the Dock Committee, on the propriety of completing a
purchase of Land from the Harrington Dock Company,
as to which, for some time, negotiation has been in pro-
gress, having attracted my attention, it appeared to me
I should only discharge my duty as Chairman by obtain-
ing the best professional opinions within control as to the
present valuation of the property, in order to refute the
very erroneous impressions that seem to influence the
minds of some of the members of the Dock Committee.
With these views a Special meeting of the Directors was
convened this day, when it Leanne my province to lay
before them a detail of the costs and outlay on the Estate
from March, 1838, adding the balance of interest calcu-
lated at four per cent. per annum, showing, in result, an
actual cost to the proprietors of an excess on 31s. 6d. per
yard for the whole of their property, and, at the same
time, a report and valuation, take❑ yesterday only, by
Mr. John Weightrnan, a gentleman well acquainted with
the value and capabilities of all land, especially as appli-
cable to any public purposes.
The Board of hPirectors having honoured me by confi-
ding to my care any further negotiation that may arise
between the Harrington Dock Company and the Dock
Trustees, as well as power to use my own discretion in
any communications, I consider it may be satisfactory to
you, from the course vou have adopted, to be aware of the
facts referred to, and to have Mr. Weightman's Report
before you, fur which purpose the original is now enclosed,
and can be returned at your convenience.
I am, &0.,
(Signed) LEWIN MOZ LEY.
Wm. Nicol, Esq.

PUBLIC MEF: LNG itor HA.LF OF MR. OASTLER.
l.

A ';:dhliei Inteting was held at the Commercial Hall,
loucester-street, on Thursday evening last, for the pur-
pose of originating in this town and district a fund for
the liberation of Mr. R. Oastler from the Fleet prison,
and to enable him on his release to devote his talents and
exertions to the promotion of those objects of amelioration
in the condition of the labouring classes, of which he has
so long been, under many difficulties and personal en-
durement, t-e sincere, unflinching, and able advocate.
Independently of the friendly feeling existing even
amongst parties of adverse general politics to Mr.
Oastler's manly and Christian views on the slavery of the
factory system, and the injustice and cruelty of many of
the clauses of he New Poor Law, additional interest was
excited by its becoming known that Mr. Ferranti. the
eloquent and fearless expositor of the tricks and insin-
cerity of the leaguers and manufacturers, would be pre-
sent on the occasion ; and the room, shortly after the
commencement of the proceedings, became densely
crowded. We observed on the platform the Rev. Dr.
Tattershall, the Rev. Mr. Cragg, Rev. Mr. Mackenzie,
Rev. Mr. Smith, Messrs. John Howard, George
Clay, Mark Rimmer, James Tyrer, Taylor Wood-
ward, R. H. Sherlock, Joseph Cooper, J. Harrison, and
others. Shortly after seven o'clock, Mr. Ferrand made
his appearance amongst them, and was hailed by loud
cheers, followed by the Kentish fire.
On the motion of Mr. Howard, seconded by Mr.
Crisp, the chair was taken by Mr. Churchwarden
WILKINSON. _ _ .

Mr. THOMAS SMITH proposed the first resolution, to
the effect that the meeting, looking upon Richard Oastler
as a true and devoted friend to the human race, as exhi-
bited in his long and unwearied exertions in defence of the
factory children, and the labouritiz classes generally, and
feeling assured that his unflinching advocacy of such
causes had been the means of his long imprisonment,
felt bound by every tie of benevolence and Christian duty
to exert themselves for his liberation. In proposing the
resolution, he entered into a general outline of the original
connection of Mr. Oastler with Mr. Thornhill, their sub-
sequent relations, and the cause§ of the unhappy difference
that had arisen between them, one of which was the op-

position of the former to the New Poor Law, in hosti-
lity to the fatter. The debt incurred by Mr. Oastler to
his employer, while he was his agent at Fixby Hall, arose
merely from -an exercise of that hospitality which had for
years -before been sanctioned at that mansion ; and Mr.
Oastler, scorning to take advantage of the insolvent laws,
had consequently been immured in prison for a long pe
riod. Mr. Smith forcibly recapitulated the great efforts
made by Mr. Oastler to better the distressing condition
of the factoey workers, and especially the poor children,
and madea feeling appeal in his behalf to the meeting,
who, by contributing towards the fund for his release,
would partake with him of the honour of ameliorating
their lot, and enable him to advocate the cause of the
labouring classes against recent changes in the law that
bore so heavily upon them. After a warm eulogy 'upon
the,character of Mr. Oastler, he concluded by saying that
they were met in the cause of humanity, justice, public
spirit, and patriotism, and that he had great pleasure in
inviting their aid and -concurrence in carrying the object
"into effect. (Loud cheers.)
Mr. FERRAND, M.P., rose to second the resolution,
and was received with vehement cheering, accompanied
by the Kentish fire. He began by stating that the wel-
come given to him, though a stranger, convinced him that
they would rally round Richard Oastler, who, though
personally a stranger to them, was, in politics, a long-
tried friend. (Cheers.) Though some might have at-
tempted to poison their minds on this 'subject, it would
have been better for'those parties to have waited until the
question could be honourably and fairly discussed. But
trembling when they knew the truth would be spoken to
the people of Liverpool, they had endeavoured to thwart
the benevolent ottect they had in view, and had attempted
to stab Richard Oastler in the back. But thank God this
was still "'Old England," and the working classes were
still true to themselves and theircountry. (Cheers.) He
appeared-before them this night in an honourable position.
He came into Lancashire a perfect stranger, without a
friend by his side, and told by the press if he dared to
appear in thernanufacturing districts he should be torn
',limb from limb. He had appeared before them at public
meetings, and, though a few slight attempts had been
made to excite the working classes to carry that threat
into execution, the vvlosper of a faction had sunk into the
ground beneath the already expressed opinions of the
honest men of Lancashire. (Loud cheers, followed by
some slight interruption at the bottom of the room, and a
cry of " turn him out," to -which the speaker objected,
intimating that he would put him on a gridiron. Cheers
and laughter.) If any slimy serpent had crawled there
that night to sting him., he would snake him rue the hour
he came; for, in spite of the•ealumnies of a portion of
the-press, he was there to substantiate every word he had
• ever uttered. (Great cheers.) And now, men of Liverpool
arenforwarde
before three
you. -In the first place, .
(pc,oinnctiinoneesd
itnhveolsypeeda kienr )
mconsidering
tlesrtleh a Theresq u eosmti
tinct principles. The first is—protection to native in-
dustry. (Hear.) The second—a ten hours' bill, to blot
out the stain of slavery in England. (Hear, hear-) The
thtrdis—the repeal of the new .poor law, to destroy the
three despots sitting in Somerset House. (Cheers.) And
now fcre the question of protection to native industry. I
am addressing an enlialitennd body of the workingclasses
of England; for in the town of ,Liverpool they have long
taken the lead for their honest, upright, • constitutional
principles; and, although attempts have frequently been
made to purchase their principles with filthy lucre, for the
purpose of making them the tools of a party, it.has ever
failed. (Loud cheers.) .But to-show what those men are,
who are now attempting to deceive you, out of their own
hearts I will prove -my case, and judge ye. And lam
not going to take a member of parliament on party politics,
whose words'l will -quote at this present moment; but
taking it out of his own lips, language which he used as a
public servant. I have a right to assume •that that
language was the truth, for it had been paid for by the
public money to a man in the public service. I hold here
the evidence of Mr. Villiers, the member for Wolver-
hampton, when he was employed by a whig government
to obtain evidence for the purpose of carrying out the
principles of the new poor law by an act of ,parlia-
ment. They sent him down into the county of Wor-
cestere and what says Mr. Villiers on the question of
protection to native industry? He says, on the auth-
ority of one of his witnesses, and "I refer to the com-
missioners' report, No. 11, page 39, because my oppo-
nents say that every thing I utter is untrue, and being
determined to nail them, to night especially—(cheere)—
he here says, in his report—" Among other evils which
have arisen from the lowness of wages., is the deteriora-
tion in-the character of the work, which has tended to
drive the trade to other countries." Some of you will
recollect -that, since I have been in the House of. Com-
mons, it has been my duty and my inclination to hold up
to reprobation the frauds practised in the manufactures of
this country, by which, I there said, we bad lost our trade.
Mr. Villiers says they have driven it out of Worcester;
but since then it has been driven out of other counties,
and into other parts of the .world, by the-dishonesty of
the manufacturers. Here was the evidence of a manu-
facturer, quoted by Mr. Villiers himself conver-
sing with another manufacturer, I found be regretted the
fall in wages, but-said that as a capitalist he had no choice
between reducing the wages of his men and giving up his
business altogether:" So say I. So says Richard Oast-
ler. But having now given to you the evidence of a ma-
eaufacturer, I will give you a passage to show—if you were
not aware of it before—that protection to British industry
should be the first and moving object of your lives as re-
gards your temporalconcerns : the spiritual I shall leave
tceyour pastors. Mr. Ferrand here read a quotation to
the effect that many of the devices to which manufactu-
rers resorted tended to deter purchases from being made,
After such a statement from a public officer, is it (be
continued) unfair in Richard Oastler to declare that pro-
tection to native industry ought to be the primary object
of the government? (Cheers.) What has made England
what she is ? The labour and industry of the masses has
made her what she is—has produeed the wealth and capi-
tal of the land. (Cheers.) They have been the busy bees,
though now in the manufacturing districts they are the
unwilling drones. But what a wretched state of society,
that these producers of this wealth and comfort should
be so reduced in their wages, which were the life-blood of
the community What is the cause of the degraded state
of the working class in the manufacturing districts? They
have been deprived of their wages by machinery. (Cheers.)
Yea ; the iron hand of despotism, in the shape of machi-
nery, has ground them into the dust. (Cheers.) So long
as machinery is subservient to manual labour, it is a
blessing to the country the instant it destroys manual
labour it became a curse. (Vehement cheers.) Why,
you are told in the Bible—and it is declared that we are a
Bible-reading nation—(hear, hear)—that "man shall earn
his bread by the sweat of his brow ;" but the system now
adopted is to deprive man of the means of " earning his
bread by the sweat of his brow ; " and if you shall, find-
ing you have not the means of earning your bread by the
sweat of your brow, go to your parish for relief, what is
the consequence? A law which is a disgrace to a Chris-
tian country, which has placed a blot upon the escutcheon
of England's history and glory which no time can ever
efface, asserts that to enable you to obtain from any parish
the means of existence, you must declare yourselves to be
paupers—(hear, bear)—that you must have your cottages
wrested from your hands—that you must be deprived of
your furniture—and that your wives, your children, and
yourselves must be turned adrift to enter a union work-
house, with nothing upon your backs but the clothes you
wear. (Hear, hear.) If any man dare assert that this
law is founded on Christian principles, I dare him to the
proof. (Cheers.) There may be some so bigoted, so
blinded by self-interest, so completely besotted with that
principle of " God love you, we are all for ourselves in
this world "—(great cheering)—as to assert that the new
poor law is necessary for enabling them to obtain a due
reward for their capital. I know there are some; and
that is the party who enabled the whig government,
with the assistance of your sham conservatives, to carry
the bill. (Hear, hear.) Yes, my friends, this is the
question which is now coming home to the hearts of Eng-
lishmen ; for, thank God, we find the judges of the land
arrayed against it. Now is the appointed time for Eng-
land to test the principles of its glorious constitution—
(cheers) ;—for Lord Chief Justice Denman, upon the
judgment-seat, and as pure and honourable a judge as
ever sat there—(hear, hear)—whose conduct has been as
spotless as the ermine in which he is robed since he held
that proud and distinguished post—(hear, hear)—giving
the unanimous decision of the judges of the land, has
declared that no law can or shall separate the child from
its mother. (Vehement applause.) Still you must act
peaceably and legally. That law has tried the spirit of
Englishmen ; and I fearlessly assert that there is not an-
other nation in the world that would have endured that
law for two years. (Hear.) But you have now your re-
ward. The judges have declared it to be illegal, and woe
to the government that dares to stand by it ! (Chess.)
Mr. Ferrand here expressed an-opinion that the govern-

went would not brave public opinion, backed by the
judges ; but if they at tempted it, the people would stand
by the honest defenders of their rights and privil ges—
the judges. (Cheers.) He was happy to find them en-
lightened on this question, and had no fear of its tram-
mels placing them under the feet of the three poor-law
commissioners in Somerset House. That law was c ir-
ried out by unconstitutional means—the parliament giv-
ing the power to three men to make laws without their
control. (Hear.) It was unconstitutunte!, and, if con
tinued, the sooner they gave up drinking " Our ator ens
constitution in church and state'' the more to
them as Englishmen. (Cheers.) Noss Ow the libera-
tion of Richard Oastler was being cliscusard, it as his
duty that evening to allude to the conduct of their teem-
nehts, who had adopted a system of persecution uulleerd
of in the history of party politics or warfare. Setting
aside for a time the glorious project they had in view, he
was there to answer them, more especially as during the
last three days that portion of the press in the pay and
under the control of the Anti-Corn Law League—
(cheers and slight disapprobation.) It should come out :
in vain was this attempt made to put him down : he was
made of sterner stuff. The truth would come out; and
if they (the leaguers) would not listen, it was because they
knew they were guilty. He was traduced by their wretched
scribblers, and they would not give him power to defend
himself. (A cry of "Alderman Brooks.") Aye! but
th's question was more serious than a coffee speculation.
(Hear.) lie was there that night to bring out evidence
against the party which would place them in their true
light. (Hear.) They had driven him to it, and it
should now go forth to the country in spite of their
opposition. (Loud cheers.) Yes, (he continued,) you
(alluding to the leaguers), when you first entered into
your conspiracy at Manchester, you sent for Mr. Daniel
O'Connell. Let the factory children at Manchester tell
the price he received. (Cheers, and slight hi-sing.) The
bargain was made that they were to coalesce with him for
the destruction of the Protestant religion, and that they
were to back him to obtain a repeal of the uuion. After-
wards, for the purpose of carrying out their evil desires,
they produced the late outbreaks in the manufacturing
districts. (Cheers,) They concocted them at Staley-
bradge. (Hear.) I am prepared to prove this before a
committee of the house. (Cheers, and slight disapproba-
tion.) And when they had driven the working-classes
into rebellion, having made them believe that they were
prepared to lead them in the struggle, they shrunk away
like cowards, and left them to be pitched on the bayonets
of the soldiers. (Cheers.) There is your party—your
Anti-Corn Law League! (" Question.") The question,
sir, is stabbing you to the quick. (Hear, hear, and cheers')
He has asked me for the question, and 1 shall give him
some more of it. Yes, it is, whether England is to be
destroyed by such villainy as this?—(cheers)—whether
our glorious constitution in church and state is to be de-
stroyed by a body of political dissenters ?—whether the
working classes are to be destroyed by a set of men who
make gold their god ?—and whether our gracious sove-
reign is to be torn from her throne by a set of traitors ?
(Vehement applause.) Yes ! on Tuesday night, at Roch-
dale, I was asked by an Anti-Corn Law League man whe-
ther I had voted for the grant to the Princess Augusta.
" Yes," I said, " and would do it again to-morrow, and
that I was prepared to shed the last drop of my blood in
the defence of the royal family of England." (Cheers, fol-
lowed by " three cheers for the Queen," the whole com-
pany standing and giving the Kentish fire.) But what
do you think, gentlemen, we heard mingled with the loyal
shouts which resounded in the Rochdale theatre amongst
the friends of the royal family of England? A cry from
the Anti-Corn Law League of " we want no royal family
in England." (Great cheers.) That has gone forth to
the world; and they have let one of their secrets out of
the bag. Thank God they have done it. Now, you (the
League) are proclaimed to the world as traitors to your
sovereign. (Vehement cheering.) There may be some of
them who will say, " we are not answerable for the con-
duct of all the members of our League ;" but let me tell
those who utter such language, that if they enter into a
confederacy they are liable for the acts of the whole.
(Hear, hear.) Now, then, I come to an article which ap-
peareding. (Hear.) 1 had made an assertion in a letter in the Manchester Guardian of yesterday
ad-
dressedmorn-
to the editor of the Times, in which I had de-
clared that I was prepared to prove that a member of the
Anti-Corn Law League had declared his readiness to sub-
scribe to a fund to assassinate Sir Robert Peel! The
Manchester Guardian says that I am mistaken as to that
declaration—that the circumstances under which that de-
claration was made did not occur at a meeting of the Anti-
Corn Law League, but at a meeting of the shopkeepers of
Manchester. I have too good an opinion of the shopkeep-
ers of Manchester to believe that it could emanate from
them : I know the League sufficiently well to ame con-
vinced emanated from a meeting
which will convince the people of England that the Anti-
Corn Law League were at the bottom of the whole.
(" Name.") I am going to name, sir. Ah! " when the
to prove that that declaration
that it could emanate from them but Ihere
pincers tear, the flesh will quiver." I will be bound to say,
that if I-was to name you, you are an Anti-Corn Law
League man—(" Cobden is coming I")—Aye ! but he
dare not come into Lancashire with me! (Cheers.)
(Here a disturbance took place at the further end,of the
room, in the course of which some of the league members
who had been offering some interruption, were ejected,
and quiet was immediately restored.) He would en-
lighten the inhabitants of Liverpool as to what did take
place at the meeting in Manchester alluded to. It was
not virtually a meeting of shopkeepers, but one got up by
the league, and he requested the reporters to take down
fully what he said, as he would stand by it in a court of
law. He then proceeded thus :—The Anti-corn law
League were desirous of intimidating the government,
and they thought that, if they could get up what was
called a meeting of the shopkeepers of Manchester, they
could frighten them out of their duty to their country.
This meeting took place. There were, after all their ex-
ertions, to the credit and honour of the town of. Manche-
ster, but two dozen shopkeepers present. They were, al-
most to a man, if not entirely, Anti-corn Law League-
men. (Cries of " Hear, hear.") Mr. Abel Heywood, a
member of the Anti-corn Law League, in the presence of
Mr. Gadsby, the printer of the League, and several more
prominent characters of that body, stated—Mr. Abel
Heywood said—" A gentleman called on me the other
day to inquire the result of an interview with Sir Robert
Peel. I told him Sir Robert would riot see us, and asked
him to subscribe towards sending up another deputation
He said, I will subscribe to any fund to send a deputat'
to London to shoot Sir Robert Peel!" (Sensation
That declaration was received by the meeting with ap•
plause. (" A gentleman here said No' ") He may say
what he likes ; I am now giving the party an opportunity
to disprove my words in a court of law. (Cheers.) Now,
in this room where the meeting took place there was a
table, some three or four yards distant from that at which
those League shopkeepers were assembled, At that table
sat two men. They heard this language used—they heard
the applause—they said not one word to rebuke the
speaker, nor did they rebuke the applause. Their silence
gave consent to that language. (Cheers.) [Mr. Ferrand
here named the two gentlemen to whom he was alluding.]
Now, then, I have told you something which England did
not know before. Do they deny it? (" Yes." Then
let them test it in a court of law. (Cheers.) And if
those two men cannot clear themselves by a jury of their
country, I tell them that they have sanctioned language
which produced the murder of Sir Robert Peel's secre-
tary. (Applause.) Arid do you fancy that. the people of
England are going to rally round a body of men whose
members sat, and by their silence sanctioned such villainy
as this? (Great cheering.) No, God be thanked, there
is a spirit which will destroy that bloodthirsty set of men.
(Vehement cheers.) Are their principles so rotten, so
contrary to public opinion in this country, that they can-
, not carry them out except by assassination ? (Hear.) Oh !
but let us now see the game they are playing. 'Twas
only yesterday morning that I myself am distinctly marked
out by the Morning Chronicle. That paper says—" Mr.
Ferrand should be taught that he cannot with safety
make those diabolical charges !" (Hear, hear.) I have
been taught that no man can with safety oppose that
body, by the murder of Mr. Drummond. (Hear. hear.)
But if they are going to play the same game upon me,
and I may be, as I believe lam now—a marked man, I
have one favour to esk from them :—that is, that they
will stab me in the front and not in the hack. (Laughter
and cheers.) Sunk, indeed, must be their position, when
their principles, their motives, are so dishonourable, so
revolutionary, as to deny their Sovereign in Rochdale,
and to point me out in their papers as the future victim ;
but if I wanted further evidence of the effect which my
public character as a member of the Ilouse of Commons
and an Englishman has produced on that body. I will
give you an instance of it out of the mouth of Mr. Cobden.
lie was at Halifax addressing a meeting of the League,
on the llth december, and I take my extract from the
Leeds Mercury, a paper that supports that party. Mr.
Cobden there said, that they wanted to send, week after
week, information to the borough of Knaresborough,
where there was room for improvement, and where he
promised that the subscription received that night should
be devoted. (Hear.) They received £1,500 that night at
Halifax, and there were 250 electors in my borough. How
is that to be spent? They went to Walsall; they drugged
the electors, and they attempted to carry the election by
such dishonourable and disgraceful means. In the first
attempt they made they were defeated ; and in the second,
I regret to say, they were successful. They may attempt
the same game in my borough. I can tell them that the
body of electors in Knaresborough are as honourable, up-
right, and loyal as ever existed. (Loud cheering.) If
they can buy them, they will do it. I don't believe
they can • but if they can be successful with them, all the
wealth
go
utteotehh:ecy
tellpossessaresMr. 0
b o r Cobden sul- igahl neverlanandd
are t
b u
yhe me. (Great cheers.)
League that if they
successful by such dis-
honourable means as these, I can now go into boroughs
where they dare not show their faces. (Cheers.) I have
gone to meetings to which all parties were freely admitted,
and the slight opposition here to-night was but an echo of
what took place there. Thank God; England is righting
herself. (Cheers.) The working classes have torn the
mask from the face of their enemies ; they see them now in
all their hideous and naked deformity ; and having an ac-
count, a lengthened and melancholy one, to hold up in
the face of those men and to call upon them for the
reckoning, they dare not face it. (Cheers.) Now is the
tlhteen ill them
more thatthan we do
othwadrt
we a
will royal
stand
the royal
tell
l
time for those who love their country to come out and
show their loyalty to their Queen and their native land.
eagset,ruegmobeladzooensecdomuep,oinf
tthheey bdaanr
en eart t
pRt itcoh
pa rud
Oastler, is that under which we are prepared to fight ; and
t
family—(great cheers)—that the altar, the throne, and
issue, the cowardly spirit which they have shown
iiestnthaetaeolt
letothththeteir proceedings will stifle their breasts. But how
despicable is it in a body of men, who have shown them-
selves to be such traitors and such cowards, to take ad-
vantage of those workpeople whom for years they have
been driving into a state of slavery. If there are any
present who are under the power of this body of men, so
long as they pay you for your labour and you choose to
work; I lieve not a word to say; but if they shall attempt

to repeat the same game which they did in August, '42,
tell them that their place is at the head of the working
classes instead of at their tails; but having placed them
there, carry them to the nearest court of justice, and hand
them over to that tribunal to which, I hope, ev, ry work-
ing man in England, as welt as every other man, will
appeal for protection, and they will there receive that
punishment which was inflicted ui,on their poor dupes a
year and a halt ago. (Hear, hear.) As yet, they have
gone unpunished ; hut if they drive me to a committee of
the House of Commons, they will be punished ; and here
l throw out a challenge to them :—Let them (the leaguers)
get. such a committee to clear their own characters, and I
wilt then prove them to be the traitors and the villains
which I proclaim them to be ; and if 1 do not, let the'
stigma rest upon my own head. (Hear.) Now, then,.
release Richard Oastler. That is the man they dread..
They are trying to prevent his release. We have money
in hands sufficient now to do it; and the moment the bolt
of his prison door is drawn, the iron will enter into the-
souls of the League—aye ! your game is up. (Cheers.)
You have ceased to appeal to public opinion,—you dare
not do it; and you now only exist by subscribing the
money which you have extracted from the sinews of the
poor. (Cheers.) You were £30,006 in debt at the end
of the last year. You have raised £70,000 to bribe the
electors of England. They have more honesty than. lon
have money. (Cheers.) Nine-tenths of the League, every
time they enter their counting-houses, have a shaky
ledger staring them in the face, and they live in. daily.
tremblings of the Gazelle; but knowing that they. are on
the veree of ruin, they want to ruin the country .along
with them. (Hear, hear, hear.) You cannot do it.
But take a word of warning from me. Although you
may not ruin your country, your country may hang
you—(hear) ;—and the verdict of transportation which
was passed upon your poor, deluded dupes eighteen
months ago is now hanging over your heads; and if the
government will mete out the same award of justice on
your heads, which they did on those of the working
classes, in less than twelve months you will be working
in chains in Botany Bay. (Cheers.) Now, men of
Liverpool, have I said enough to drive them into a court
of law to prosecute me ? (" Yes.") Then I leave them,
and appeal to you, to release Richard Oastler. He has
been as faithful a friend to the working classes as ever
existed. He is suffering all he is enduring for fighting
your battles. He has never regretted it; no more have
I ; for he has placed the working classes in such a posi-
tion as they have not held for the last twenty years. The
rights of industry are beginning to be recognised by the
press. Already the Times, the Herald, and the Post,
are sending forth leading articles advocating the rights of
native industry, and the only morning paper opposed to
obdwipcuaiactytgtuewpslyohdfue(oiwn:
those rights is the Morning Chronicle, in the support of
the League. (Hear.) Aye ! but let me tell you that the
religious portion of the community, the clergy of the
Church ef England, the magistrates, and all the best
educated classes, are viewing with alarm the position of
the masses of the country. They have seen you sinking,
sinking, sinking, while they see your employers rising,
(
gone down. And what place did you
rising, rising. It is a saying in my part of the country,
that a
A manufacturerlaug
Machinerys tens outolfl
alsiisencalbolgesd car-
riage.hinimtotohidsoso;
England was a mighty nation, and when
lireGnveod grant that I shall never live to see the
the working class.es,shall not have a fair days'
a fair days' labour.' We want to go back to
the principles of Pitt, to raise you into the scale of that
ladder which
theevriigryhmaestn
sntlauvset
:elyiomub.areThseittminagnuufapeotnurtehrse
are upon
lowest. We would have you sitting, in peace and com-
fort, on every step of the ladder; and then we shall have
nothing to fear. Until that day does arrive, in the lan-
guage of Sir John Beckett, " we never can have peace,
we never shall have peace, we never ought to have peace."
(Cheers.) That the days of peace and tranquillity may
speedily arrive I fervently pray ; and then there will be
no cause to hold out the working classes of England as a
dissatisfied and disaffected body of men. (Great ap-
plause.) Mr. Ferrand concluded by seconding the
motion.
Mr. SOMERVILLE proposed as an amendment, that the
meeting could not recognise any man as its friend who
denied the right of representation as embodied in the
people's charter.; but this not being seconded it fell to
the ground, and the original motion being put was carried
unanimously. A collection was then made towards the
object in view, after which
MR. FERRAND said, that he had been reminded that
also Oastlers o fromugh t
he had made a statement which, if not explained, might
lead to a mistake. He had stated that he believed a sum
Ir.
phraidsobne;enbureta:hizeedshosuuffildchieanyte
theytaoddreedle,atsie,otlk
to raise an additional sum with a view to put him in such
a position that he might go amongst his industrious fellow
countrymen and exert his talents in their behalf, and
which in the event of his demise—as life was uncertain,
and he' had already suffered much in their cause—might
enable him to leave something towards the support of his
wife and family. (Cheers.)
Mr. WATHAM proposed the next resolution, to the
effect—that collecting books should be distributed to
parties willing to promote the object in view.
Mr. GEORGE CLAY, whose name was received with
much satisfaction by the meeting, seconded he motion in
a neat speech, and it was unanimously carried.
Mr. ROBERT M'CLAY moved the thanks of the meet-
ing to Mr.Ferrand, for his able and straightforward vindi-
cation of his own principles, as well as for his exposure of
the tricks and knavery of the League.
Mr. HOWARD, solicitor, seconded the motion, which
havingbeen carried with loud cheers,
Mr. FERRAND returned thanks, and, in doing so, said
that Mr. Oastler's debt had not been claimed for eighteen
years, and that it never would have been claimed if that
gentleman had not been opposed to the new poor law.
He then went on to say that he was a protestant of the
old school—that he believed a pure state of protestantistn
in this country was the grandest bulwark of our liberties
and constitution, and that it was a perfect disgrace to the
land that women should be employed in factories. He
drew a painfully affecting picture of the condition and
sufferings of mothers and children employed in the fac-
tories, while the fathers were left in unwilling idleness
dependant upon them and a prey to the acutest feelings of
degradation. He concluded by proposing three
cheers for
" the native industry of Old England."
Thanks were then voted to the Chairman, with three
hearty cheers, and the meeting separated at ten o'clock.
on

ALTCA.R GOURSING MEETING.

JUDGE : MR. WGEORGE.

The Altcar club met again on Thursday and Friday, on
the far-famed and unrivalled coursing ground of Lord
Sefton, at Altcar. The weather was remarkably fine, and
the sport most splendid. Some of the hares ran very
stout, and afforded magnificent courses. The attendance
was large. Mr. M`George's decisions, as usual gave the
utmost satisfaction. The following is a return of the
winners :

_......_ .
The Sefton Cup was won by Mr. A. Graham's Sir Ed-
ward. _

The Molyneux Plate.—Mr. Anderson's Matchless and
Mr. Slater 's Scrutiny divided the stakes.
The Croxteth Purse was won by Mr. Temple's Titania.
The Altcar Stakes were won by Mr. Hunt's Trapball.
The Lancashire Stakes were won by Mr. Unsworth's
Kilmore. •

The Christmas Box Stakes were won by Mr. Slater's
Switch.

The Port Stakes were won by Mr. E. G. Hornby's
Harry lorry.
The Champagne Stakes were won by Mr.. Clowes'
Countess. _ _

The Claret Stakes were won by Mr. Garvin's Glengeatb.
The West Derby Stakes were won by Mr. Swan's
Sparks of Fire.

HONG KONG.—The chief justiceship of our newly ac
quired settlement, Hong Kong, has been offered to no
less than seventeen members of the English bar, and been
declined by them all, although the salary attached to the
office is to be £3OOO per year. Some attribute these re-
fusals to fear of the healthiness of the climate, while
others say that more than one refusal has originated in
diffidence, the fact being that the judge would be called on
to administer laws which, though based on those of Eng-
land, must in some measure be modified so as to be prac-
tically reconcileable with the customs and laws of the
mixed population whose complicated commercial transac-
tions may often become the subject of litigation in his
court.—Observer.

WHIG OPINION OF THE REPEAL ASSOCIATION.---.
The object of the Irish revolutionary party is not the
general welfare of the United Kingdom ; it is not even
the general welfare of Ireland, either as a part of the
United Empire or as a separate republic ; their real ob
jects are, to overthrow the Protestant Church, to con-
fiscate the Protestant estates, and to retaliate on the
Protestant Party the injuries and insults of centuries
* * * By confirming the prejudices, misleading the
expectations, aggravating the antipathies, and inflam-
ing the malevolent passions of the least educated
classes, this party has obtained great influence among
those on whom the priests are dependent for their incomes,
and for their popularity. * * * Some Repealers know
that the path to it is through civil wan—Edinburgh Re-
view.

THE TOMB OF NAPOLEON.—" It is now four years,"
says the Corsaire, " since the Chambers voted the funds
necessary for the erection of the Emperor's tomb. To-
day, after a lapse of four years, not a stone of the imperial
monument has vet been laid. But next June it will be
four years since the Chambers had the weakness to vote
the embastillement of Paris—a work worthy 9f the Titans.
Well! not only have the bastilles been constructed, but
extensive works have been added to the Castle of Vin-
cennes, and another fort has been erected at Aubervilliers,
of which no mention is made in the law. Compare, and
draw the inference."

CULTIVATION' OF THE DOMESTIC VIRTUES.—For our
own part, we should be as sorry as any one to see the do-
mestic virtues of woman impaired ; but we see no shadow
of fear that such a consequence must necessarily follow the
success of the opinions which we advocate. The fireside
virtues are not properly cultivated by a mere housewife.
" Well ordered home, man's chief delight to make," is a
task which the accomplished woman can alone efficiently
perform ; she alone can make her fireside a scene of hap-
piness and improvement to all who approach it : she alone
can clearly show her children that the paths of wisdom
and of virtue are also those of pleasantness and peace;
she alone will be able and as solicitous to aid their mental
development as to care for their physical comfort. All
that unshackled self-dependence. all that freedom and
elasticity of mind which social independence and equality,
as we hope to convince the readers of the following pages,
alone can thoroughly bestow, are not only favoti )ut
almost necessary to the right perfortrweqViA s.
Taking the phrase in its proper spjit,hielf • t t
best and noblest of women will di' • 4ffltil
delight in the cultivation of th
Reid's Plea for Woman.
1••••
1..!1;IN I ••• •••••
• • ,
•
N