e fall just before the Presidential election in
America[1202]. Northern meetings were continuous throughout the whole
period of the war but were less frequent in 1864 than in 1863. They were
almost entirely of two types--those held by anti-slavery societies and
religious bodies and those organized for, or by, working men. An
analysis of those recorded in the files of _The Liberator_, and
in the reports sent by Adams to Seward permits the following
classification[1203]:

YEAR. NUMBER. CHARACTER.
ANTI-SLAVERY
AND RELIGIOUS WORKING-MEN.
1860 3 3 -
1861 7 7 -
1862 16 11 5
1863 82 26 56
1864 21 10 11
1865 5 4 1

Many persons took part in these meetings as presiding officers or as
speakers and movers of resolutions; among them those appearing with
frequency were George Thompson, Rev. Dr. Cheever, Rev. Newman Hall, John
Bright, Professor Newman, Mr. Bagley, M.P., Rev. Francis Bishop, P.A.
Taylor, M.P., William Evans, Thomas Bayley Potter, F.W. Chesson and
Mason Jones. While held in all parts of England and Scotland the great
majority of meetings were held in London and in the manufacturing
districts with Manchester as a centre. From the first the old
anti-slavery orator of the 'thirties, George Thompson, had been the most
active speaker and was credited by all with having given new life to the
moribund emancipation sentiment of Great Britain[1204]. Thompson
asserted that by the end of 1863 there was a "vigilant, active and
energetic" anti-slavery society in almost every great town or
city[1205]. Among the working-men, John Bright was without question the
most popular advocate of the Northern cause, but there were many others,
not named in the preceding list, constantly active and effective[1206].
Forster, in the judgment of many, was the most influential friend of the
North in Parliament, but Bright, also an influence in Parliament,
rendered his chief service in moulding the opinion of Lancashire and
became to American eyes their great English champion, a view attested
by the extraordinary act of President Lincoln in pardoning, on the
appeal of Bright, and in his honour, a young Englishman named Alfred
Rubery, wh