The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1842-03-11 00:00:00

Wilt thou sell the same

10—" fink thou any ire

—is a pure inventio

nd we beg to ask the un ticorn-
law ladies of Liverpool and elsewhere, what they thini
of the man who could he

an unadulterated lie!

guilty of so barefaced a fraud

upon the credulity of the public ?
But it will be said, " surely George Thompson ha

s esteemed j

Henry Ashworth." Let us see how this is, then. On
the 7th of March the charlatan writes, to the friend who
has handed us the letter from which we have just

quoted, as follows :—" I beg to enclose you a letter
from Mr. Ashworth addressed to me at Carlisle, in

answer to the enquiries respecting the meat I saw at
Bolton. I had previously, however, related the facts
as I caught them on the platform in Bolton, and they
had gone into print with the error of fresh, instead of
salt, provisions." This is the apology offered by Mr.

Thompson to his friend for the misstatement in ques-
tion ; and to Mr. George Thompson we must say we

are very, very sorry to contemplate the position in

which his own apology places him. Stand up, most
miserable of detected itinerants, and answer the few

questions which we shall put to you!
What was the day upon which you uttered the state
went above quoted to the people of Southampton ?

Ins. The 4th of February

What is the date of the letter of Mr. Henry Ash-

worth, in which you were put in possession of the real
facts with respect to the beef in question ?
Ans.. The 18th of January preceding !
And yet, Mr. George Thompson, you have the
brazen hardihood to say that previously to the 18th of
January you had given to the world this false state-
ment, by misadvertence, as you "caught it on the plat-
forth in Bolton ;" you have the impudence to tell us
that your statement had " gone into print with the error
of fresh, instead of salt, provisions,

' there!.

us to infer that this is the only error in it, when your

correspondent's letter clearly proves that the statement
is a fabrication from first to last, and as the date of
that letter proves :also, a deliberate fabrication !

You went, sir, to Southampton and knowingly,
with the letter which we have quoted from in your
pocket, you uttered there a deliberate misstatement;
you received there a piece of plate of the value of 50
guineas from the people whom your untruthful tongue
had gulled; in extenuation' of your fault you have
written to your friend, as a comparison of dates will
show, an additional, deliberate untruth; and, once for
all, we ask you, George Thompson, what do you think
of yourself ? what do you call yourself ? for we shall
not sully our judgment-seat with the only name which
is your desert. Go down, unhappy man, go down—
you stand committed !

Having done with Mr. George Thomson, we shall
enlighten the world with a few passages from the cor-
respondence of the anti-corn-law Quaker. And first,
with respect to the quality of the " fine, fresh, and
tempting, fat and lean, beautifully mixed beef," which
can be bought at lid. a pound as food for our manu-
facturing operatives, Mr. Henry Ashworth, of " Tur-

ton, near Bolton," writes,—
" The Americans appear to possess this class of meat in
great abundance, and I find by the New York Herald of the
Ist January, that although good beef is 31d. per lb., they
quote barrelling beef at lid."
Again :

" It is stated that 500 tons of beef and pork, now lying in
Liverpool, have been invoiced from America at various rates
from 255. to 425. per barrel of 2001bs. ; but there is a feeling
of prejudice prevails—the English taste has not become used
to it, though it has long partaken salted herrings and other
fish. The pickled beef loses a large portion of its saltness
by steeping in water for 24 or 36 hours, and Col. Thompson
says that boiling with potatoes extracts the salt, and improves
the potatoes to some extent ; but all these little appliances
require studying, and, with attention, I think the introduc-
tion of such foreign food would be profitable, adding physical
energy to our dilapidated population " !

Amiable leaguer ! Philanthropic reducer of the
poor of England to a coarser kind of food ! What a
pity that the "dilapidated population" of the manu-
facturing districts, who " have long partaken salted
heriings," are not condemned to exercise their teeth

and "improve their potatoes" with this yankee car-

rion!
Another specimen we shall quote in full. It is a

genal-7

" Respected Friend,
" Geo. Thompson,—

" A relative of mine has recently exported to America a
quantity of British manufactures, and received returns in
lard, of excellent quality for household uses: He ascertained
from the Customs, that if be released it as lard,' the duty
would be Bs. per Cwt. ; but as `grease' for wheels, &c., it
would be ls. Bd. only.

" Upon trying the market, he found it was worth more
money to him as grease,' and applied for it upon lower
terms, but was informed that he must first 'petition to spoil
it,' after which an appointment would be made for an officer
to accompany him in performing the following process.
" The Customs officer takes a lonz instrument, about an
inch in diameter, and bores ho:s through the casks in every
direction. A tarred stick' is then introduced into each of
the holes; but if tar should be objected to as injurious to time
grease,' especially in candle-making, the owner is allowed
to inject, instead of tar, a quantity of what in Custom-house
phraseology is termed ' mare's liquor,' a bucket of wdlich is
procured at the nearest dunghill. !) The officer thus be-
comes prepared to attest, that it has been spoilt' as human
food.

" I understand that butter imported from abroad is `spoilt'

in the same way

" I am, respectfully, thy friend,
" HENRY ASHWORTH

" Turton, near Bolton, Ist month 18, 1842.
" kinsman sold his lard in bond. I presume
he felt either the indelicacy or moral responsibility of such

an act."
We make no comment on the above, although, as a
specimen of free-trade morality, it is superb. The
postscript, especially, beats " cockfighting" T.

We are reluctantly compelled to postpone, until our
next, a notice of the two articles which the Manchester
Guardian addressed to us on Wednesday. Our con-
temporary views as "important admissions" the re-
marks in our last publication, with respect to our ina-
bility to compete with the cheap labour of the fo-
reigner ; and although he takes some pains to torture
the admission in question into something beyond its
fair application, we are willing to allow him to make
the most of it, until we have leisure and space to re-
turn to the subject.