Meetings of the working classes continue to be held in
various parts of the country,—at Manchester, Liverpool, Sheffield, Brighton, and the populous district round Trowbridge in Wilt- shire. Of these, the Liverpool gathering was the least im- portant, its numbers not exceeding 2,000 (according to any ac- count we have seen) : nevertheless, it, was probably equal to the expectations of those who summoned it ; for Liverpool resembles London in the general absence of strong political feeling among the humbler classes, and habitual submission to the influences of wealth. The Sheffield Universalists mustered, it is said, about 20,000; and ID regal, fashionable, non-manufacturing Brighton, 2,000 assem- bled. But the Manchester meeting was really formidable : not only the South Lancashire district, but Stockport, Macelesfield, and otherplaces in Cheshire, contributed many thousands to the immense assembly, ahose numbers were put down at random as 300,000. Probably there is much exaggeration here ; though the impossibility of such a multitude having been collected, is not proved by refer- ence to the census of South Lancashire and then taking a certain portion of the whole as adults ; seeing that the manufacturing dis- tricts of Cheshire helped to swell the assembly, as well as women and children. Granting, however, that 300,000 is too high an estimate, it is admitted even by the most subservient of the Whig Peers in Manchester, that the meeting was larger than the W. lugs expected, and the most numerous held in that vicinity since the ever-memorable massacre. The people marched with flags aud music in procession to the place of reunion ; and though the weather was unfavourable, the great mass remained on the ground till the whole of the injudiciously-long proceedings had been brought to a close. At all these gatherings of the multitude, unity of design was T,Bible, and excellent discipline maintained. It is plain that I e Working classes have discovered the advantage of combination and submission to leaders. Their conduct excites respect, and real apprehension, even in those who profess to look with sneering Unconcern at the movement. There has indeed been nothing like it in the history of the people of this country. During the Re- form agitation, far more eagerness was exhibited by the masses to procure the franchise for the middle classes, than they now display in their own behalf. But that was a sort of spontaneous and irregular burst of national enthusiasm. At present we may observe the operation of a well-organized plan for rousing the people to persevering exertion. It is for a long struzgle that the masses are preparing. The first campain only is in progress ; th warfare is but begun. It would be foolish to imagine that no- thing serious will arise from this movement of the working popu- lation—that it will pass away and leave matters as they were. No living man can calculate its effects—the amount of the change for good or evil that will ensue ; but millions were never set in motion for months together, as the Universalists now are, without some important result, more or less visible in the institutions and government of the country which gave birth to the manifestation.
