The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1833-08-02 00:00:00

doll), to defend the burgesses of this town from the base—the
unfounded calumnies which had been cast upon them. (Cheers.)
Those alone who, like himself and mans- whom he saw around
bite, had witnessed the able, zealous, and indefatigable exertions
of Mr. Nichol, could form auv adequate idea of their eaten:.
He (Mr. Nichol) had attended-all the meetings of the com-
mittee during this tedious awl- vindictiie investigation, and had
watched over the interests of the burgesses with the most un-
slumbering anxiety—and lie (Mr. II.) should' wrong his own
feelings—he should Wrong the cause in which they were engaged,
and he should deeply wrong the inhabitants of this town, did he
not give this public testimony to. the great exertions of distin-
guished individuals. (Cheers.) If Mr. Nichol had not
succeeded in obtaining all that could have been wished,
it was not (coutinued Mr. II.) Leon want of zeal in. the
undertaking—it was not from waist of ability to plead
our cause—it was not for want of having nobly fotr4ht
our battle, but for reasons which pitidence forbad hint
to mention. Let any man in that room read the evidence
which hail been adduced, and he felt perfectly con-
vinced, he never could conscientiously adopt the report which
had beenpresented.hy
.the committee. Fie would not trouble
the meeting with going into the details of that report, but
would content himself with • just adverting to two pests of it,
which would sufficiently show the spirit in which it had been
drawn up. The report stated, that the bribery was become se
notorious that it was presented in open court as a nuisance in
the year 1827. It was so presented. But, (continued Mr. H.)
had-the committee, if they had wished to act with candour, no
other presentment which they could have noticed ? He (Mr.
H.) would tell them of a more recent presentment, which had
been made so late as the present year; it was a peessatmeet,hy the
Grand Jury, not for bribery, but of those very proceediegs which
certain parties were now taking against the freeineal.- These
proceedings were presented in open cowl not five or six years
ago, but in the present year, and he knew that the presentment
was placed in evidence before the committee of the Ilouse of
Commons,
yet suffered to remain unnoticed.. (Cheers.) The
other point to which he would allude was the statement " That
the elections of Chief Magistrate frequently continue several
days; and'according to the custom of the borough, when Sr.
Luke's day falls on a Sunday, the election for Mayor commences
on the morning of that day, and has been known to continue until
twelve o'clock at night." Now be was sure every indiVidual in that
large assembly would agree with him as to the. impropriety of
the elections taking place on the Sunday, (Yes, yes,) although
he understood that the charter of the town required it. Now
the committee professed only to have enquired into the elections
of the last ten years, but he held in his hand a document, of
which they were welcome to the benefit, which went back for
the last fifty y.ears, and he (Mr. Horsfall) positively asserted,
in contradiction to the report, that there -had never been an
instance during the whole of that period of any election
having lasted on the Sunday until ten, twelve, or even till eight
O'clock at night. (Cheers.) That during the whole of that
period he believed there had hot been more than three contest*
for the mayoralty on the Sunday, all of which were over in a
few hours. (Cheers.) It was bad enough to be compelled by
the law of the land to have elections on the Sunday at all, but
he did hope that when such language of exaggeration was,pre-
sented in a report, some hon. member, wisuid pot be want-
ing to stigmatise it, as it deServed, as a fraud upon the house.
(Cheers.) The statement that any election on the Sunday had
lasted till twelve at night was most unfounded,—(an individual
in the room said they meant Saturday night. Loud laughter.)
The speech of Mr. Nichol had so ably gone into the evidence,
and had so admirably laid bare the motives, the principles,. and
the characters of the petitioners, that he (Mr. Horsfall) would
not dwell upon it further than to say that it had most clearly
proved, that, when corruption had existed it was not the humbler
classeS of freemen who were most to blame, but those indivi-
duals who, if the disfranchisement bill were to pass, would still
remain electors under the reform bill (cheers.) He could not
tell how €hose who called themselves " the friends of the peo-
ple" could support such a bill—a bill so despotic, so unjust in
principle, which would punish the poor and let the rich, who
were the more, guilty of the two, remain unpunished. Ile could
not tell how they would dare again to appear before their con-
stituents and still call themselves the friends of the people.
(Cheers.) He had already stated that Mr. Nichol appeared
on the committee as the nominee of Lord Sandon. He would
beg to ask if they had but one representative in the House of
Commons ? Where was Mr. 'Ewan? Where—when our rights,
our privileges,' and our very existence, as freemen, was endane
gored ? (Confusion and great cheering.) He' was seen in
constant communication with Mr. Harvey, Mr. Rathhone, and
Daniel O'Connell. (Great cheering.) He would not further
trespass on the attention of the meeting, but trusted they
would join hand and heart in carrying the resolution into
effect. (Loud cheers.) Mr. Horsfall then moved "That the
public thanks of this meeting be offered to that Honourable
Gentleman for his valuable and distinguished services, and that
some lasting tribute ief the esteem and gratitude of the Bur-
gesses and their friends.- be forthwith presented to him."
Mr. Lowe briefly seconded the resolution, which was carried
amidst great cheering. ,
Mr. SAMUEL Hotsia apologised for trespassing upon the
time of the meeting on this occasion, and regretted that such an
urgent call had been made upon hint when he saw so many in-
dividuals around him of greater influence and capability. But
feeling deeply on this subject, he should be wanting in duty ,
both Co himself and the burgesses if he hesitated one moment to
obey the call made upon him. (Applause.) He was free to
admit that on one or two occasions corruption did exist ; and
he hesitated not to say that he deprecated as much as any man
the principle of offering or taking a bribe. But he had been
twice or thrice sent to London on this inquiry, and he had paid -
great attention to the evidence of bribery given before the com-
mittee; and he felt bound to say that that evidence generally
was such as any honest and independent jury would have
thrown out with disdain. It was a well known fact that the in-
quiry was more directed against the corporation than the bur-
gesses. The corporation of this town were too well known to
need any feeble efforts of his to be exerted on their behalf; but
he would venture to ask the numerous individuals he saw around
him whether its respectability or usefulness would be materially
increased by the infusion of' such men as Messrs. Rathboue,
Harvey, or \Vason. (Loud cheers.) Was it not Mr. Rathbone
who so far forgot himself as to thrust. his head into the carriage
of that old and faithful servant of the town, General Gascoyne,
and offer a most ungentlemanly insult to a venerable and aged
man? And could Mr. Harvey, who was spoken of as "the
apostle of purity," go with a clear conscience into the House
of Commons, and seek the disfranchisement of the freemen,
when his own hands were yet filthy with the £lBOO which so
lately passed through them in bribes ? (Cheers.) With what
show of reason could these individuals seek to disfranchise men
who have obtained their freedom since the last election ? And
why. are the apprentices now faithfully serval.. their time to be
included in the general sweep? (Cheers.) serving
was the pride
and the boast of this happy country-that the poorest individual
in the land might rise by merit and intelligence to the highest
offices of the state. (Loud cheers.) Was not Sir Robert Peel
the son of a cotton spinner, and Was not his present exalted sta-
tion a source of credit to him ? And now that there was every
probability of the East. India trade being- opened, who would
venture to say that many of the children of the respectable in-
dividuals he saw around him might not, at some distant period,
become merchants of influence and respectability, a hen an
exemption from town dues might be of the greatest importance
to them? (Great applause.) The resolution which he held in
his hand was highly complimentary (and deservedly so) to Mr.
Nichol. He had witnessed his diligence and assiduity, and if
he wished to plate him in a stronger light before the burgesses,
whose cause he had voluntarily espoused, (like the artist who
uses a dark back-ground to give effect to the outline of a pro-
minent object,) he could hardly do so more effectually than by
contrasting his conduct with that of the three individuals before
named. It was not his desire to mix up politics with the objects of
the present meeting, but he had looked- well to the conduct of
one of their representatives when in London, and instead of find-
ing him in communication with Mr. Nichol as the friend of the
burgesses, he regretted to say that he, at least, did not seem to be
their friend on this occasion ; for his communications seemed to
be generally confined to those whom, in consistency, he ought
to have avoided. (Cheers.) But he had observed tfirough
that those men who professed the greatest liberality. and were
the staunchest advocates for it in theory, were always the most
destitute of it in practice, and he could bear testimony to the
truth of those well-known lines of the poet Cowper—
" And who hut learns in riper years,
• That man when smoothest he appears,
Is most to be.suspected." (Loud cheers.)
Mr. Holme then proposed the third resolution, and concluded
by expressing his hope that, to make use of a well-known
phrase, these would be made "a long pull, a strong pull, and a
pull altogether," in the preservation of those rights which were
as dear, as valuable, and of as much importance to the poor, as
they were to the rich. (Loud and long-continued cheers.)
Mr. ROBERT RUSSELL having had an opportunity of witness-
ing the skill, ability, and zeal of Mr. Nichol, in conducting
their affairs in London, seconded the resolution with the great-
est pleasure; and he trusted that all whom he saw around hint
would add their subscription, however small, as the object
would be to show how generally the services of Mr. Nichol a ere
app_roved of by a large majority of the inhabitants of this town.
The CHAIRMAN then took the opportunity of stating that a
large number of names would be a more giatitying compliment
to the individual who had so elicited their approbation than the,
richest present they could devise; after which he put the reso-
lution, which was unanimously carried.
Mr. RICHARD DOBSON was requested to be the treasurer.
Three cheers were then given for Mr. Nichol, after which
three others were enthusiastically given for Lord Sandon and
Sir Howard Douglas; and the thanks of the meeting were
voted to the Chairman on the motion of Mr. John M`Canimon,
seconded by Mr. Rd. Dewson, and carried by acclamation.