The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1835-06-05 00:00:00

MACBETH

Macbeth Mr. Kean.
In which character he was greeted on Friday
enthusiastic applause.
Macduff Mr. Stuart.
Mrs.
Lady Macbeth last with the most
Stanley.
To conclude with, for the seventeenth time, the new gra Comic
Pantomime, called
TIIE MAN IN THE MOO
OR, HARLEQUIN LUNATIC AND THE V ING
Harlequin Mr. J. Iti gwa.
Pantaloon Mr. Jonas.
Clown Mr. T. Ridgway.
Columbine Mademoiselle Marie.

TO-MORROW, (Saturday,) the Tragedy of DAMON and
PYTHIAS. Damon, Mr. Stuart. Pythias, Mr. Lacy. Her-
mione, Mrs. Stanley. Calanthe Mrs. Shaw.—,To conclude
with the COMIC PANTOMIME.
Mr. KEAN'S BENEFIT will take place on MONDAY next.

Lower Boxes 45.; Upper Boxes 3s. 6d ; •Pit 2s. 6d.; Gallery 15.
Places may be taken of Mr. Parker, at the Box-office, trout
Ten till Three o'clock.

•rbe Eiberpool ,Stanbarb.

FRIDAY MORNING; JUNE 5, 1835.

By the Lydia, Captain GIBE, which arrived here yes-
terday morning, we have Jamaica papers to the 15th
April, but they do not appear to contain any news of the
least interest.

In our-last we ventured to express a suspicion that
some of the names enrolled as members of the London
" Reform Association" were pressed into the cause with-
out the knowledge or consent of their owners. At the
very time we were committing these suspicions to paper
Sir FRANCIS BURDETT was writing a letter to The Stan-
dard in confirmation of them, denying all knowledge of
the association, and expressing his surprise that his name
should have been used in so fraudulent a manner. To
such shifts and such frauds are the liberals and reformers
driven !

Let us endeavour to place the criminality of this trans-
action in an intelligible light. If a merchant, banker,
or trader, in order to secure a larger share of public con-
fidence, and obtain a more extensive credit, were to Ins
form the world by public advertisement that he had for
his partner a well-known man of fortune, and that the
said advertisement, upon inquiry, should prove to be un-
true, what would the public or his creditors think of him?
If they had lost nothing by him, would they not congra-
tulate themselves upon their lucky escape ? If, however,-
their case were otherwise, would they not prosecute him
for fraud, and, in case of conviction, would he not be
transported beyond seas for seven or fourteen years ?
If a schoolmaster, in order to obtain pupils, were to
announce, in his circulars, that be was a Master of Arts
of Cambridge, had received his title, and was in holy
orders, an ordained clergyman of the Church of Englapci,
and, upon inquiry, it should turn out that our schoolmas-
ter had never been at any other school than the College
of Maynooth, that he was a jesuit in disguise, that his
certificates were fictitious, his representations false, and
his letters forgeries, what would the world and his dote*
say of him g Why, that he was an impostor and a scoun-
drel, who deserved to be lashed at the cart's tail, placed
in the pillory, pelted with rotten eggs, and banished to
the " land of liberty" for life.

These are two cases in which the law would interfere
to protect the public and punish the culprit. But, mo-
rally speaking, is there any greater culpability in a mer-
chant trading under false credit, or a schoolmaster thriv-
ing or cheating under borrowed plumes and forged certifi-
cates, than in a political party endeavouring to enlist
partizans by pretending that certain gentlemen are mem-
bers of their society who do not belong to it, who never
heard of its existence, and who repudiate its objects and
principles ?
Answer me that, Mr.. JOSEPH PARKES, of Birmingham,
the supposed originator of the fraudulent scheme, Mr,
COKE, its secretary, or Mr. GROTE, its treasurer_ Thirk‘
last person, we believe, is a London banker. What them
would he say if a firm, such as PARKES and Company,
were to open an account with him, assuringhim that they
had for their partners a wealthy old country gentleman.
of the name of BURDETT, a rich brewer of the name Of
BUXTON, a sleeping partner called Lord AcnEsoN, and
several others, all men of affluence ? GROTE, no doubt,.
would be glad to have such responsible persons in his
books. Believing the statement, PARKES, the bead of
the concern, would be treated in the most liberal and
courteous manner by GROTE, and, perhaps, invited to,
dine with him at his superb villa on Clapham Common
next Sunday. But what would friend GRIM say, after
PARKES had done him the honour to overdraw his ac—
count, if he were to discover that all the representations
of PARKES were false, that BURDETT and the others dis-
owned him, and that all they knew of his name was that
he, PARKES, had several times made application to them,
by means of begging-letters, for a contribution in aid of
a reduced, infirm, and destitute person, who had seen bet-
ter days ?

There is a perfect analogy between the cases. We
will appeal to Mr. Alderman HARMER, or Mr. WHITTLS
HARVEY, or Mr. JOSEPH ADY, whether the attempt to
raise money under false pretences, by assuming, without
authority, the name of Sir FRANCIS BURDETT as a part-
ner in the " Reform Association" be not something very
like swindling. For, let it be borne in mind, that there is
money in the case. The subscription money is, if we re-.
collect rightly, five pounds at entrance, and a small sunk
annually. Let us also bear in mind that man is an imi-
tative animal, and that thousands act from no other mo-
tive than that which is superinduced by example. EBE-
NEZER SMITH aims at respectability by keeping a gig,
just because ZEROBABEL BROWN does the same. Mrs-
GUBBINS will go to a watering-place this autumn, be-
cause Mrs. TIPPET event last year. Mr. PETER 5m41.1.
subscribes to a radical reading-room in order that he may
have equal standing in the world with Mr. JERRY TWIST-
THUMBS, his next door neighbour.
This force of example is every thing to our argument.
Sir FRANCIS BURDETT'S name was dishonestly used to
give, in a particular circle, an inducement to support the
association. What the hon. baronet does is done by those
who esteem him, and who almost invariably follow his
example. He is the light bywhich many nien, no matter
:how foolishly, steer. It is enough for them to know that'
"Westminster's Pride and England's Glory" has become
a member of the new " Reform Association." They aC-
cordingly aspire to he members of the same illustrious
order.

Now, if any gentleman, or any other person, whether
he have or have not a claim to the title of a gentleman•
(for it is a doubtful title in a modern whip, and it is more
than a doubtful title in any member of the HtitaH and
O'CONNELL party-but if it should be made to appear
that any man has become a member of the association.
and has paid his money, on the presumption that Sir
FRANCIS BURDETT was a member, then we hesitate not
to say, in the face of the world, that that man has been
cheated out of five pounds under FALSE PRETENC EK
That he could cdmpel JOSEPH PARKES, or Mr. GRoTE,
to
return him the money by an action at law, there cau be
no doubt whatever. He acted under an impression that
his patron or friend—the public man whom he most ad-
mired—the statesman who had gained his confidence by
his sterling independence and his unflinching principles,.
in the " worst of times," as the Liverpool Mercury and
the literary dogs'-meat men call it; but finding that bis
name had been used without his knowledge, and his► en-
rolment announced to every body but himself, and that
Sir FRANCIS BURDETT had been insulted and aggrieved
by such an enrolment, the subscriber had a clear right to
say that he had been taken in, imposed upon, and de-
frauded of five pounds, the lawful money of the King•
In all this we discern the despicable shifts to which the
minieerial party are reduced. The Liverpool Times, in
a desponding and almost heart-breaking article, written
with salt tears instead of ink,-burning the paper instead.,
of staining it, told its readers that unless the most active
and unexampled exertions were made, Liverpool would.
be depriyed of a liberal, enlightened, and reform ineinbes