THIS 8RXSTOLIA1V MEMOIRS and CORRESPONDENCE of JAMES ACLAND. Proprietor ai, d Editor- written />,, Himself. " I LIKE HONESTY IN ALL PLACES:— Judge Hay lev. Printed and Published by JAMES ACLAND ( Sous PROPRIETOR MI EDITOR; at No. 4, All Saiuis'street, Bristol. VOL. I.— No. IV. WEDNESDAY, APRIL, 21, 1S30. [ PE: CE I{. To the SHAREHOLDERS in the B. li. A. My Friesdt. Your and my enemies seem determined to ^ tiek at nothing so that they may deceive you and injure me. They have with unblushing effrontery asserted that I have declared my deter- mination " never to produce the books or a true " .:- oi « tiS .-. f t'> e accounts" and they have fH<? dardihood to say that I made this assertion to Mr. Cossens in the presence of the Shareholders, at the time he came with Mr. Cole to deny that which he had said on leaving Mr. Biggs' office in the presence of two credibl ® witnesses, who are ready to be sworn to its truth. Well indeed it is for me, that, the conversation which then took place was public aid not under the privacy which MessrB, Cossens and Cole have so frequently advocated, and on that occasion tequested, for what vile purposes may well he conjectured from the wilful and malicious misre- presentation, they have made,, of what passed in public- knowing as they must how fully it might be contradicted as by the subjoined document Y war's faithfully, JAMES ACLAND. Bristol, 17th of April, 1830. 4, All Saints'- sirett. We, the undersigned, having been present at No. 4. All Saints' Street on the evening of Wednesday the 14th instant,, when Messrs^ Cosseos and Cole called on Mr. Acland, do solemnly declare our belief that the statement of the conversation which then passed, signed by Mr. May, in the Iiristolian of this day is substantially correct 5 anu we do as tw'emny declare that the declaration published in the Discoverer of this date, to the effect that on such occasion Mr. Acland was asked by Mr. Cossens, when he would produce the Books, and replied to such question, NEVER 1 is a direct and wil- ful falsehood, no such conversation having taken place. JOSEPH. B. MAY, NATHANIAL BROWN, WILLIAM DANIEL, ISAAC CABLING, W. WATTS, JAMES THOMAS, JOHN BRAY, JOHN THOMAS, WILLIAM VOISEY, JOHN UNDERWOOD, WM, SNELLING, JAMIIS DEAL, GEORGE VRRNUM. To the EDITOR of the BRISTOLIAN, SIR, 1 shall be obliged by your inserting the fol- lowing in your valuable Bristolian. A man named George Salisbury, living in Union Court, Redcioss Street, calling ' himself a Shoemaker, hat I consider behaved towards me ill an unlawful manner, deserving exposure. This person professing to be a good Workman, as also a religious character, I placed my son to'him to learn the trade, for « ix years on the following terms, viz:— The Boy to work the first six months without wages, the next six months to be paid one shilling per week, and the next twelve month* two shillings per week; then to be advanced oil? shilling per week each year in succession lo ihe end' of the term— it w as also further agre « d, tW. my son during the Second six; months was to earn to his master's profit two shillings per week, paying the lad from any overplus accord- ing to the work done, but instead of abiding by the agreement he ffhrt sarket} j* e iutl Kiur ifeilShgs* for the one shilling wages, then five shilling*, afterwards six shillings, an dlastly seven slriHings and six pence for the two shilling Wages. Co » » idering this a breach of all honor aivi justice, I gave the said Salisbury a week's notice of my intention to remove the boy, and on hn expressing dissatisfaction I told him he was of course amply paid by my son's earnings, and that I wanted fair play and honesty only. On this he put the boy to work a girl's shoe, which on being made Salisbury took to a man ( one of his own sort) named Croydon a boot maker w ho valued the boy's work from the sp. » . cimeti at five guineas, on this redoubtable opinion Salisbury put me in the Court of Requests for fi » e puudns, which was postponed till ihe next week in order lo hear a master of Salisbuty on die business. Now mark the scheme of Salisbury, Croydon, and Co. They went to the master in question when it was not convenient for Croydon lo recollect the precise sum he had valued tb^ work at. It was however decided by the master that ihe parties should he confronted with each other. On this laking place the master's books were examined with respect to th « work he had given out lo Salisbury} but as his books did not of course Comprise, the work he had been in the habit of doing. ),,• rtasters( leaving out of the question, the work done by him for the market- house) on the Court referring the affair to the said master, 1 was ordered to pay three pounds and tett thillingSj and raven - shillings and sixptt; « i .14 THE BRISTOLIAN, being one half the Court expences, which I have paid, subsequently, to this accomplished shoemaker— this worthy teacher of trade to the rising generation. Consoling myself, however, under the idea that my son was proficient in the trade, I puC my son to a second master ( first satisfying myself as to his being an excellent tradesman) when, guess my mortification, on being told that all he had learned was not worth ten- pence— having been taught what is called botch- work only, and consequently of noser- vice to him. Mine is not the only boy whom he so series, for he has several over whom he is the domineering taskmaster; for against every one of these unlucky wights he keeps the task book account, and whether there is work for them to do or not they are bound to earn their masler, Salisbury, four shillings per week, which he charges as a debt as it accn mulates, taking the usual legal steps to re- cover it. if out of their power to discharge the same. He may deny this system, but he knows how successfully he has, put it in prac- tice against myself. This Salisbury is a true Pharaoh, and it would be very useful methinks to give him a dip in the sea. With your permission I will ^ ive you a few more anecdotes of this Misler bhoemaker.— Pardon my long letter on this occasion. I am, Sit, your s & c. JOSEPH ELLIS. 28, Unity Street, St. Philip's. MUM.— I must confess myself ignorant of the usual practice of the trade, but it teems to me that my correspondent has been hardly dealt by, and that Salisbury well merits exposure, as a beacon to others My columns are however open to any reply from the accused. J. A. SHAREHOLDERS M m I— Robert Baylist a porter at Ihe house adjoining that of tht Bank Cloth Mart hat called on me in consequence of the statement in my letter to Mr. Blethyn. It wtu the sister of , he'< by ' f- ed > hat they need not be - BayUs ( who is a servant in the honse) with whom laughed at any longer than it 15 their pleasure I* THE BRISTOL! AN MR IS AO ASSOCIATION to continue the dupes of the designing. the young man ( Davis) turned tut of doors by It is my intention immediately t< » commence Mr. Richards, was said to have been too intimate. Baking on my private account, and selling pure Hence the anxiety of the applicant on this sab- BRISTOLIAN FLOUR AND BREAD Jtct- ' « that since the publication of to any body who will purchase them ; such es- mS ' elter to Mr. Blethyn, that gentleman iat tablishment to be continued until the Association can again be brought into working condition. I propose to raise the necessary Capital by 11 A i. F CKOWN loans, from those who have been Shire- holders in the B. B. A.; giving my ac- ceptance at twelve months for the full amount of such loan fund, lo ihe members of the Board of Directors, and a sepaiate acknowledgment to each individual— whereby, for every Half- Crown advanced, they will become entitled to one quartern loaf of best seconds per week, for Sevenpence half- penny, or al a proportionately low price, according to the slate of the market. No loan will be received from any who have nol been Shareholders in ihe B. B. A. There will be no Committee to make snug births for themselves, or their friends— or to blast the character* of those who might resist and counteract their selfish schemes. I alone, shall be responsible— and if I break faith with you— you will know who to blame. Strangers will be charged a halfpenny per loaf above the price paid by those contributing to the Loan Fund. MUM.— The Loan Book will positively be closed on Saturday next. J. A. To JOHN HARE JUN. ESQ. Portland- Square. Sir, Six weeks or two months since, I addressed you a letter on certain information I had re- ceived which appeared caculated to impugn your character among ihe Citizens of Biisti At that time, your accuser pledged himself to substantiate in detail the general charge against you, by plaeing in my hands documentary evidence of sufficient credibili y and character. He has not done so. His pledge was often re- peated and as often violated ; and i « , on the « , ne hand I should not hav « feand to do him justice against you— so on the other I have no hesitation in thus voluntarily hearing my un solicited and unsuggested evidence of disbelief jn aspersions which seem to have had their i. rigin in malice without any foundation in mull. I » ra Sir, Your's & c. JAMES ACLAND. To the Rate Payers of the City of Bristol- My Fiiends, At the present Sessions ( adjourned to Fri- day next) application will be made by the Commissioners of Pitching and Paving for a new Rate or License to again over- tax the already burdened inhabitants of Bristol. I have therefore, as you will sec in this number of my Memoirs, thought it my duty 10 write a letter to the magistrates, and have no doubt thev will therein do their duty, and not rashlv sanction a Rate without beini? well convinced of the correctness of the account produced by the Clerk to the Commissioners. At all events, you are greatly interested in th s subject, and should watch with a vigilant eye every proceed ng which may by possi- bility involve you in the two- fold payment of a heavy tax on the householders of this City. Yours faithfully, i JAMES ACLAMD. been to a young man of the name af Green living with Mr. Gilpin of Dolphin- Street, and told him that Davis had slept with the sister of Baylis every night for the week before he wat discharged ( be it remembered at eleven o'clock at night). Her master and his family are con- vinctd of the falsehood of this statement and retain their servant in the house. Is it not then most cruel thus to calumniate a poor girl for the mereparpost otexcusing the act oftuminga young man into the streets at 11 o'clock at night 7 Justice however requires that I acquit Mr. Blethyn of turning Davis out of the house; that proceeding is chargeable only to Mr. Richards ; but then has not Mr. Blethyn adopt- ed that act by his subsequent attempt at his Ijustification by the invention of reasons which go rather to the destruction of a poor girl's charac- tkan to the excuse of the conduct of Mr Richards. I think it is now with Mr. Blethyn to reply, and I hope, and have no doubt, that when he does, he will have the candour to state whither he has now tqaul rtason for believing the female serrant of his neighbour to be the real cause of Davis's absence from his bed during tie fortnight prior to his unwarned expulsion, J. A. BOARD ROOM, April 20, 1830. Mr. ACLAND, Chairman,' Present— Messrs- Price, Windsor, Spickett, and Carling. The minutes of the 15th instant were read and confirmed. The Secretary reported that he delivered a copy of the resolution ( declaring the agree- ment null and void through the refusal of the Ex- Committee to fulfil the second article therein) to Mr. Salter, at Mr. Essex's office,, in Clare street, on Friday last. He further reported, that on Saturday morn. ng he re ceived it again by post, without any obssrva- tion thereupon. Adjourned to Thursday evening. TO the EDITOR of the BRISTOLIAN. SIR, I know you are an advocate of principles and an exposer of injustice.— Some weeks back, a beardless youth, a magistrate of this bounty, committed a poor little girl to gaol, only ten years old, for stealing I4lbs. of coal from a large establishment in this County, • which coals are sold at the works at six shillings per ton, and after that rate the quantity stolen was not worth more than a halfpenny.— Do not you think the magistrate and the prosecutor must be very hard- hearted? This inexperienced magistrate is the first of the family that ever could claim the name of a gentleman— his father was a clerk and his grandfather a forgeman. The prosecutor belongs to the Society of Friends, noted for Christianity.- They never iwear— but they affirmed that the 141bs. of coals was worth one shilling, in hopes to convict this poor child after she had been nine weeks locked up in gaol with the dregs of society ! Judge the feelings of the parents! Oh! the haid hearted magistrate and prosecutors, Harford and Company! I am jour's & c. —— Usk, April 12, 1830. THE LITTLE GIRL'S DEFENCE, Suppomi to hate been delivered before the Jury Monmouth Astizea, April, 1830. Ohl ye Jurymen, hard is my fate, And cruel indeed are my foes! B< it whilst I my sad story relate, You surely will pity my woes. My Father was ill on his bed, My Mother with sorrows opprcss'd, Chill poverty reigned in ® ir shed, And my bosem keen anguish possess'd '. Ah cold was the night at. we crept ' Round ihe last dying sparks of ourfir « , When my Mother in bitterneess wept And thus she expressed her desires " Go, my Child, and procure us some coal j," I went to the Tram as she bid. And confess that some fuel I stole, And this, Sirs— was all that I did. And for this I was dragg'd to- the gaol! In vain any entreaties and tears— lavaiu did I tell my sad tale— In vain plead my infantine years Aud now at this Bar 1 am plac'd, My doom from your lips to receive ; Let your verdict by mercy be grac'd, And from prison an infant relieve 1 THE BRISTOL! AN TO THE RIGHT WORSHIPFUL THE < t MAYOR AND THE WORSHIPFUL THE ALDERMEN OF THE CITY OF BRISTOL. Worshipful Sirs, On Friday next it will devolve upon you in the discharge of your Magisterial and Sessional duties to sanction or disallow the annual taxation on your fellow Citizens for the eipences of Pitching, Paving, Cleansing and Lighting. You are not ignorant of the several instances of extensive defalcation in the cash accounts of Wintour Harris, the clerk to the commissioners; neither can yoube uninformed of th* fact, that somehow or other, this individual has retained his situation. I beg leave therefore respectfully to submit that you o* e it to yourselves and to your fellow Citizens most vigilantly to examine the accounts of the Commissioners before you record them your sanction— and the more especially so as those Commissioners have illegally com- pounded the felonious defalcation of their Clerk. I believe the amount of the rate last year was ,£ 12,000, and that the disbursements were within that amount by £ 2,000. If this be correct— even to a lesser extent of surplus receipts— surely it is essential that you ascer- tain whether the Commissioners have reduced their funded debt to the uttermost of their means, before you authorise the levying of a tax, the required amount of which cannot otherwise be correctly ascertained. I have never thought you chargeable with the gross improprieties involved in the mal- versations of Wintour Harris , and the settle- ment of the affair between that individual and the Commissioners. But the controlling power under the Act of Parliament is vested in you. On Friday you will be called upon to exercise that power, and I beseech of you that without partiality or prejudice j ou will protect the Citizens of Bristol from the pos » sibil. ty of having to pay twice that which they are but little able to pay even once. ' JAMES ACL AND. 103 To ALFRED PHILLIPS, Bricklayer, Milk- it When I refused to back your unprincipled attempt by your influence as a Committee man to become a salaried servant of the Association, you started a publication called the Discoverer, in which you have published, among hundreds of calumnious lies and statements, that I was a defaulier to the amount of £ 427. I brought a civil action against you in the Tolzey Court, for such libe1, and preferred that course that you might be enabled to plead a justification and prove the truih of y. our state- merit— or any part of it— if you could. To such process you have not pleaded A r ALL, and have said you meant to suffer judge- merit by default, and further, that you would teaze mc bv removing the action into ihe Court of King's Bench, which would carry you o\ er until August. Now, having already suffered greatly from the effect of your malicious and utterly unfound- ed lies, I think no one will contend that I ought to sutler you— you who dare not even plead a justification— to lengthen the period of my suf- fering— my uujust Fuffering until August. Resides what necessity had 1 that you would then appear.' Under these circumstancts, 1 this day pre- ferred a criminal indictment against you, find the Grand Jury found it " a true bill." To that bill you have put in bail and now I have at least a greater probability of your meeting me. Nor is this the only advantage ; for if you determine on removing the- civil action by which 1 have afforded you an op- portunity of justifying— you will have first to take your trial on the eiiminal prosecution! Act then,, however late, like a man, own yourself a liar— or come forward and prove the truih of your libels ? Does Roger Moore afford me tho like chance? Be at the Guild". hall on Friday on judge and | for yourself. a JAMES ACLAND. To Messrs. OSBORNE and WARD, ATTORN'LES, BRISTOL. Gentlemen-, . You are the Attornies for the passing cf the Clifton Suspension Bridge Bill, and afier Mr. Davis had pledged himself to me, with- out solicitation or question from me, that the third read ng of such Bill would not be moved until after the Easter recess— the London Ageti s for the Bill pressed him to move it before the recess — and he, forgetting his pledge to me. complied. I am juitified in assuming you to have in structed the Agents to be thus unbecoming unjust as to time— and 1 beg to ask you whether you were not aware of my approach- ing trials on the prosecution of Roger Moore, and whether YOU did not calculate on the .16 THE BRISTOLIAN, chances of my defeat and imprisonment, and the consequent failure of my opposition to your bill P If you did, was it any thin° above the chica- neiy of hedge- lawyer? And is it not an insul: to suppose— for you to suppose that I shall not have an honest juror on each of the juries on l'ridav rotxt. If I bare, you will not carry your bill without cancelling the iniquitous clause ap- propriating the bequest of Mr. Vick to a purpose lor which he never designed it. JAMES ACLANI). To the EDITOR of THE BKISTOL1 AN. SIR, I so much admire your " True Lover of Truth'' concerning that " Lover of Truth," nliai Lies, that I cannot help giving you a few more anecdotes of him.— In the first place, it is very true about the widow, only the poor soul died last year, and no doubt hastened from the want of those comforts which this man so heartlessly deprived her of; she was quite deranged, and cursed him to the day of her death— not a very pleasant re. flection for a man of feeling, but that has long departed from him Soon after his first wife died, he applied to her friends for the loan of <£' 800, with a pro. mise of full interest being paid every year till the principal could be paid. 1 hey, suffer- ing under the deepest affliction, never thougut to have any w ritten agreement between them, trusting to his honour— but to their sorrow they found it was a thing that he was not composed of; it is now eleven years since, and not one farthing of interest or principal has been paid or offered, besides £ 50 worth of bark or timber, which he had some time before that.— Can this be called any thing but swindling cloked with religon ? How awful it jsi In two ) ears'time, finding himself sinking fast in the world, he must needs marry, and borrowed a sum of money of a relation in this town to pay tor the wedding jaunt. This put him on his legs again for a little while.— In a short time he was arrested and applied to the present occupier of the fatm for assistance— he having a great feeling for any one in distress, lent him a thousand pounds or thereabouts, trusting as the others did, to his honour ; well, this set the rascal a second time on his legs. It was then sug- gested to hiin that a farm house was a vulgar tning to live in, and forsooth he must divide the house— the front for the gentleman ( if one could be found) and his family to live in, and the back part for his understrappers ( for r. e always kept two in attendance), housekeeper, and farming servants to reside in, Now this was done at other people's ex. pence; for the carpenter, who had seven or eight chddren, has never been paid a single farthing ! He ran in debt in a short time in the v.'- aje .£ 20 same veats back, but we cannot feel for that woman as she is one that buys Squire Baker's fustv bread, and then sells it j conscientiously to the poor people for good ; therefore there is no doubt but she takes good care of number one. There was a servant girl who left « £ 50 in his hands, which he has | squandered away ; how hard is her fate to lose the savings of | manv years' service at one time bv her good natured credulity ! He was m re than o£' IOO in debt to his medical man, and he, sooner than lose all, took some out in flour, which, like the big Baker's, was good, bad, and indifferent He took his late partner in the timber business in for some thousands ; and an industrious young man, whom he invited to become a partner with him in the ship building, he entirely ruined in a most cruel way. fs it any wonder that this man has such a troubled conscience that he cannot rest at home, but is continually running about the country ? All of a sudden he took it into his head to go bird nesting and found a rook's next that had a good foundation, and no doubt is watching every opportunity to rob it. The young man who assisted him so handsomely hearing of this, thought it time to look to himself, and was glad to take the farm, stock, and some of the furniture in lieu of money, I wish his good nature may not hare suffered much from such villainy, and that for the future he will find a pood portion of wisdom in the wig. This worthy likewise took in aReverend neighbour-- I hope it will be a warning to him and his wife not lo be so easily done by such skin deep professors, as they are too apt to rob the poor as well as the rich What think you of the man ? Had all this hap. pened from misfortune I should have scorned to have so exposed him ; but as I know every part of it to be correct, I think, for the good of the public it ought to be known, as J am sure every one must lament that he has five sons to bring up, which it is to be hoped the sins of the father may not visit. I should advise Mr. Taures alias Brell, the tutor, to take care of himself. We are told, an honest man is the noblest work of God, whence we may judge to whom a dishonest one belongs. A Friend to the Oppressed. To the EDITOR of the BRISTOLIAN. SIR, Let the " Lover of Truth" candidly an « . wer the questions put to him by" Anti- Hypocrisy" in your valuable paper of yeste/ day. or again attempt to pursuade the world he is not the man; and in addition allow me to put a few mjre questions with references. Is not the poor old woman ( Jones), whom he so basely cheated out of her ail, dead ? Did not she die next to raving mad, on account of being so reduced by him to Beggary? Did she not go to his house to ask alms, and was she not spurned from - his door ? Did she not on her death bed cry aloud, " I have lost my money— I have lost my money !" Was it not Perkins the iiutcher lie so basely cheated Did he not do the same to Farmer Wade ? Did he not afterwards tack some cattle for Farmer Wade, as a small compensaiion ; but did he not demand the tack, or keep the cattle ill the farmer sent totell him he mi;> bt keep them af. er the rest if he liked ? Did he not then, and not until then, send them home ? Did he not go to hor/ ejt Farmer Sm'th, at 12 o'Clock, at night, prior to his Bankruptcy, to try to get £ 500 out of him, and would he not have had it but for the fortunate interference of Farmer Smith's wife ? Did he notser. d one Wm. Jones, a sawyeij down to his wood, near Neath, and promise to pay for his woik, and expences to and fro ? Did not his brother Tom send Jones back with a guinea short of bis wages, and no ex- pences, telling him to apply to his brother for it ? Has he not repeatedly applied, and hat h « ever received one farthing ? Did he not drive most of his stock off ib « premises to Madget Farm, in Gloucestershire, to cheat his creditors ? If he will but now say with David, " I am th « maa," and not attempt to act the b) pocrite any longer, I will give him a reprie « e, and time to repent ; but tf he continues to deny such well known facts, he must expect again and again to hear from me, as well as Mr. Anti- hypocrisy, who happen not to be any of the Rook's tenant*, who are afraid to speak out. If you speak to any of them, their reply is, " he is a nice man, we know him, we are under him and must be mum." I am your's & c. A True Lorer of Truth. ME*,— The communications I have reoeived respecting this man are very numerous— and whether or not he has had the audacity to call himself " A Lover of Truth," it seems to be admiued ou ail hands that before he professed to be religion! ii* was auvthing rather than an honest man; and, since, that lie has done nothing as in redemption ot his character or in restitution or reparation to thou* lie has wronged. . Such a man is fair game for the pen of truth— an outlaw at whom salansts may level their guns without fear of ceusure— and a ptUar < d perfidy to which the confiding world should look to a beacon— that the/ may steer clear of the relent- less rocks, and escape the ruin they too luret; threaten. Mr, Purchase may he assured I have Uu< yet done with him. By little and little he will receive iiis due— all his due— and no more ihao hi* due,' Cao any of my arithmetical readers inform me how much of censure the u Lover of Honesty" may be indebted to an oid rogue who is & j'- uu^ hypocrite? J. A. MEM.— LU Mr. lvey's letter, puhlisbttl IN my preceding number, the word months was, bv mistake of the compositor, printed insn ad of " ueektS' J. A. Printed a/ id i'ublistied by JAMKS ACLAND, (, oie Proprietor and Editor,) at the BniMoUiX- Oimce, No, 4, All Saiow- Strees, KristaJ.