The Sun. — 1859-12-02 (London, England)

BRIGHT AT LIVERPOOL.  LIVERPOOL, THURSDAY NIGHT.  The Liverpool Financial Reform Association held a soiree in the Philharmonic Hall this evening. The spacious hall, capable of accommodating 3,100 or 4,000 persons, was filled in every part. Messrs. Cobden and Bright had both been invited to attend, in order to express their views upon the &est means of advancing the objects of the association, but, as will be teen from the subjoined letter, Mr. Cobden was prevented by illness from being present on the occasion. On the platform were Mr. J. Bright, M.P., Mr. J. C. Swart, M.P., Mr. Pollard-Urquhart, Mr. Pilltington, M.P., Mr. George Hadfield,.M.P. Mr. Bright was received on his arrival with loud cheers. The chair was occupied by Mi. Charles Robertson, in the absence from severe indisposition of Mr. Robertson Gladstone, tho president of the association.  Letters of apology for unavoidable absence were received from Mr. Cobden (on account of indisposition), and the following other members of Parliament :—Lord Fermoy, Mr. S. Laing, Colonel Sykes, Mr. Caird, Mr. W. J.. Fox, Mr. J. L. Ricardo, Mr. Ayrton, Mr. Scholefield, Mr. Kershaw, Mr. Alcock, Mr. Salt, and Mr. W. Ewart. A communication to the same effect was received from the Earl of Sefton, Lord-Lieutenant of the county, who stated that he wished every success to the object of the meeting. Mr. Cobden's letter, which was addressed to Mr. Robert. eon. Gladstone, President of the Liverpool Financial Reform Association, was as follows :  " Paris, Nov. 28. "My dear Sir,—For the last 10 days I have been con-fined to my bedroom by severe indisposition, originating in a cold and cough, followed by fever, which has left me in a state of considerable debility. My medical attendant, who promises me, with care and caution, a speedy recovery, warns me that to undertake a journey to Liverpool to address a large public meeting would, in the present state of my lungs, be almost an act of suicide. I need not assure you how deeply I regret to be unable to fulfil my longstanding promise to be with you on the Ist. Ido not, however, ask you to release me from my engagement, but only to allow me to postpone its fulfilment to a future and I hope early opportunity. " There never was a moment when I felt greater interest than at • present in the realisation of your society's pro;. gramme for substituting direct for indirect taxation. If I required an illustration of the importance of your principle, which ,implies the removal of Custom-house impediments between nations; I should find it in. ihe present relations of England and France. " What means this periodiCal visitation, which, like the cholera or some other infectious disease, has, every two or three years since 1547, caused the panic cry of a French invasion to overspread England, and which at the present moment is heard again in tones as loud and menacing ,as ever? Here am I, With all my children, in the very jaws of the imaginary monster which has been conjured up to terrify my good countrymen, and yet I feel no less safe from attack or injury of any kind, so long as I refrain from molesting or wronging others, than it• I were residing. in London or Liverpool. Whence springs the idea of danger which pervades the public mind at home ? I attribute it mainly to the want of -intercommunication, and the consequent ignorance and prejudice which prevail respecting the character and designs of our nearest continental neighbour. "Here are two of the greatest nations, separated only by the narrowest strip of ocean, with their distinct and proud annals, their rival traditions, their differences in race, la-aguage, and religion, all tending to prodxce alienation ; but nature, which always works by laws of compensation, has endowed the two countries with a variety of productions, and imparted to the population an instinctive desire to supply each others wants and deficiencies, which, had nature's laws been allowed their free action, would have brought the two nations into such constant contact and communication, and laid them under such mutual dependence, as would have subdued the merely latent causes of antagonism, and rendered impossible the present state of hostility and alarm. But, down almost to the present day, the Governments of the two countries have devoted their energies to the task of preventing,ias far as possible, any commercial intercourse between them. The baneful consequences are naturally such as we behold,. Let us hope that legislators will awaken to a sensr: of the responsibility which attaches to those who thus array themselves against the obvious laws of the Creator•. " Meanwhile, your society will, I hope, persevere in its useful labours, and continue to draw around you the sympathy and co-operation of good men. You are not a political organisation; your functions are those of an edricator, and your objeatiis to prepare the public mind for the future action of the statesman. The day for the full realisation of your views- may still be remote, but, step by step, we every year approach nearer to the desired goal. You have only to persevere in the advocacy of your huniane, just, and peaceful principles, and God will assuredly, in his own good time, crown your labours with success. " Believe me, yours very truly, "