Star. — London, England, 1820-03-08 00:00:00

! I ' •iI • . 1 1 k. t , i 1 ! ! F' r MIDDLESEX ELECTION. A numerous and respectable assemblage of Free holders of the Countr c.f Middle,e: took place yes,' ur Jay, at the l'roemasons . Tavern, in queen-strnt, Lincoln's Inn-fields, fur the purpose of considering an Address presented to CltAttr.r.s SAMUEL Willi.- BrEAD, Esq. second son of tie late SAMUEL Wilrr carm), Esq. inviting him to become a Candidate for t! e. it.:i;:•esentation of the County, te:ether with his :tamer to that Adtl:2s,. At one o'clock, the Rev... Mr. DRAPER addressed the Meeting, and, after an intimatioa that it was now time to proceed to the business of the day, moved that Mr. Martin (a Gentleman at the Chancery-bar) shOuld take the Chair. This motion was carried unanimously. The CHAIRMAN then signified, that haying' been aapoi.ited by so narneorts and respectable a bOdy of Gentlemen to fireside over their deliberations on this ceeasion, he was not aware that he could better dis cearge his duty than by commencing with a state n:en: of the communications which had already taken piaee between Mr. Whitbread and these who signed the Addre:s conveyed to him. With their Fermis sue, thercet . e, this correspondence should be now read. Toe Meeting seemed to approve of this suggestion; but a panse ensued, in consequence of there Leing no copy of those documents at hand. Sir f 7 ItANC.ii Illornare, who had previously en tered the room, was received with loud cheers, and the most general manifestations of applause. Mr. NrotetiaN came forward to propose the first Resolution, winch was to the follow effect: " That the distressed state of Commerce and Agriculture in this once happy country, the increasing discontents, acid aggravated and overwhelming bordens im pose I upon the People, called for serious considera then throagh every part of the United Kingdom, but nowhere mine imieratively than in its Metropolitan caunty."—Tiiii Resolution was seconded, and car ried unanimously. Sir FraNcis BURDETT, in rising to submit the second Resolution, observed, that it was now many years since he and the Freeholders of Middlesex had been :connected. They, however, could not have forgotten the struggle in which they had been, toge ther with himself, engaged, nor. the manner in which the present Member, at the tail of a severe contest, had been forced, by Ministerial influence, into a si tuation to which the free and unbiassed votes of the electors would never have appointed him. The Frea holders of the County had now, however, an oppor tunity of disengaging themselves from such a tie, or at least to make an independent effort, in order to shake off a Representative who had, during a series of years, been the constant, uniform, and so far consistent, supporter of that system and course of measures which he and they, and all who had a ' will of their own, deprecated and deplored (Applause). —lt was not till this morning that an overture had been made to him, inviting him to attend this Meet ing, and support the Gentleman whose name had been submitted to their choice. Although it was impossible for him to speak of one of whom he had no personal koowledge in terms of panegyric, and although the youth of the Gentleman must also prevent any other persea from pronouncing an eulo gium on his merits, they had yet some assurance derived from the ability and services of his lamented father, and to which assurance would probably be added, a frank and explicit avowal of his own send- ; ments. When he said this, be meant such an avowal as would justify the Freeholders in their choice, and ' in the contribution of their support—an avowal that ' should justify their good-will towards him, and their ill-will towards his opponent. He must, of course, be understood as expressing nothing more than poli tical ill-will—a feeling of political hostility towards one whom he could not but regard as inimical to their rights and liberties, the supporter of every innovation on the ancient laws of the land, and a s steadily assisting in the imposition of all those bur dens under which' the country now groaned.— Looking at the subject in this point of view, he sin cerely hoped that Middlesex would on this occasion assert its former character, and re-assume, in the eyes of a great and intelligent Nation, that attitude of spirit and independence which in other times it was its glory to maintain—( Loud applause).—The Resolution which had been put into his hand stated, That in the deplorable state of things, tending di rectly to subvert all social order and to demoralize the People, we cannot fail to discover cause and ef fect ; and while we deplore a taxation so utterly. be- , yond our strength, and a Debt for which the produc tive industry of the country for ages to come has been mortgaged, we feel that, in having heretofore returned to Parliament an avowed partisan of a sys tem so vicious, we have ourselves contributed to the grievances of which we complain." There was little on the face of this proposition which it appeared to hint possible to dispute, and nothing but his respect for those whom he was oddly:sing, would have in duced him to oi:er anything in confirmation of the undeniable trtol.s which it contained. All must join in deploring the present amount of taxation, although the question as to tire means by which it had been imposed might be matter of dissent. With those who had incurred that taeetion, by supporting what tney deemed or characterized as a just and necessary war—as a war that could not be avoided without en dangering our national honour and safety, any com plaint against that taxation would nut be consistent, unless they acknowledged that they were the dupes of wicked and artful men, by whom they were led into the support of an unnecessary and ruinous sys tem of measures. But whatever might be the con . duct or feeling of such men, there could be no apo-, logy for those who had opposed the war from the' c etset—who had maintained, that if a different course cf measures had been pursued, it would have led to a different result, if they did not raise their voice •against the present state of things—(elpp/ause).— Tnere might be some difference of opinioa as to the preptiety of a retrospect, or of calling those to ac couot who had occasioned our present misfortunes ; lert there could, he apprehended, be no difference whatever, unless among those who were absolutely bliodfclded as to the necessity cf looking forward and providiag some remedy fur the manifold evils notice which the Nation at present laboured—(Ap- Fause).—lt was obvious, that under the present in congruous and absurd system of Representation, the power of returning the Members of the House of Commons belonged to a comparative few, while the great majority of the intelligence and property of the country were utterly excluded;_ while, indeed, the owners of that property had no more to do with the election of the persons who were to dispose of or le gislate for it, than they had with the appointroent'of the Grand Seignior—(Applauscs).---This was the great evil that loudly called for a cure, and without which no effectual remedy was ever likely to be had for the many other evils that afflicted the country. Ile hoped, then, that this great Metropolitan County would not allow its character to be again,violated by :he re-election of a man -Alm was the avowed enemy of any such measure. But to guard against such a violation, the People must contribute theft- active and liberal assistance. For the same system of corruption which held the Boroughs in complete subjection, had so undermined the Constitution as to render the means of an individual, generally speaking, inade quate to defray the expenses of a County Election.— But he had no doubt that the Freeholders of Mid dlesex would so contribute, on this occasion, as to insure the exclusion of a Gentleman from the Re presentation of the County, who, without any per sonal disrespect for him, was never fit or worthy to have been placed there. Those whom he had the ho nour to address, would, he trusted, as well as others, feel the strong stimulous to exertion which offered on this occasion, and return to the old constitutional practice of returning a Representative free cf ex pense—(App!auses). For this was the course to pur sue, in order to further the principle of Reform, for the attainment of which, no doubt, Mr. Whitbread was anxious—(Applauses). If it were said of this young Gentlen:an that the Public had as yet had no experience of his principles, it could be urged in his favour that he was free from reproach, and that, at least, he could bear very well' any comparison with the character of his opponent—(Applause ayal laugh ter). Adverting to the language of the Ministe rialists in Parliament, and of all their tools of the Press out of it, as to the disturbance of social order, and the demoralization of the People, the Honourable Baronet asked, whether any thing could be more cal culated to promote immorality that the present sys tem of Election, the mere contemplation of which was enough to make every man of honest feelings shudder ?—(Applause) This system it was, indeed, which had occasioned the degradation of the People and the Parliament. But it was materially aided in its operation by its natural ally, the Spy system, as well as by the practice which had recently obtained, of casting dust into tile eyes of the People through the medium of' Courts of Justice—he meant that practice of committing one man to prison for an act of which a Minister of the Crown, confessedly guilty, was en tirely acquitted, because, forsooth, such acts were— " as notorious as the sun at noon-day !" Gentle men would, of course, understand that he alluded to the c.t,e of Sir Manasseh Lopez, compared to that of Lord Castlereagh—(Applauses).--But Sir Manasseh, who was an old dealer in Borough business, had no f-a mily connection, or great Parliamentary interest, or lordly patronage. He- might have been influenced in his conduct, like others, by the dazzling prospect of those coronets and honours of which the Crown had the power of disposing, which were originally meant to be the reward of virtue, but which, of late, had too often become-the reward of vice—(Applause): The " Worthy Baronet," as he and others of the same rank were generally called, was, however, disap pointed in his speculations, for he had been sent to prison for a very long period and fined £lO,OOO. This he (Sir F. Burdett) could not help thinking a very severe extent of suffering, which could not be warranted, and the more so, as such suffering could answer no useful object, especially while the recol lection remained that his competitor in the same practice enjoyed, not merely complete impunity, but one of the highest offices in the State. But Sir Manas seh had no connection with the great lordly Bo roughmongering interest which governed the coun try, and which felt no solicitude about him. He was a trafficker upon hi s 'own bottom!—(Applause). For this observation about the Boroughmongering Gen tlemen he might be charged with libel, as he had been for his Letter to the Westminster Electors, in re probation of the atrocities at Manchester; but no matter, if such a charge were preferred, he should be pi epared to meet his accusers with as little appre hension as he felt in the prospect of meeting the At torney-General's charges of " sedition, malice, and' disaffection," at the approaching Assizes of Lcices tet—(Loud applause). But, to return to the cases of Sir Manasseh and Lord Castlereagh, was not, he would ask, the comparison of these cases peculiarly calcu rated to pervert that sense or love of justice for which the eh-al:refer of England had formerly held a para mount rank among the nations of the earth ? Fos these cases sheaved that the equal rule of justice was set aside in this country—(Applause). Yet what end could be answered by the punishment of Sir Manasseh Lopez ?It was vain to suppose that Sir Manasseh could be made the scape goat of Israel in this case, or that he could carry away on his.back all the evil and all the odium of Borough corruption. On the contrary, be apprehended, that such punishment of one man, compared with the reward of another, could only tend. to demoralize the country, and to sow disaffec tion between the People and the Government—(Ap plauses). The Honourable Baronet, after an anirria ted exhortation to the People to do each his own. duty in this case, by contributing, according to his means, to the common cause, observing, that al though the exertion of one man might be small to wards himself, it might be important towards the whole, concluded by impressing upon them, for their common safety, the necessity of casting their eyes for , ward, even if it were determined not to cast their eyes backward, with a view to promote that Reform for which nine-tenths of the country most anxiously looked ; because it was the strong conviction of all candid intelligent men, that through Reform alone the country could be rescued from its present unex ampled condition of distress and suffering—(Loud and long continued applause). The Resolution proposed by the Honourable Baro net was agreed to unanimously. The CutiutsiAN then read several letters, and among them one from Lord John Russell, Mr. Ro• binson, and Mr. P. Moore. . }ach of the writers ex pressed regret at his inability to attend the Meeting, inclosed a subscriptim, and promised to take down a certain number of Electors to Brentford, free of expense. Mr. BueroN stated, that he had received, since be came into the ream, a list of 200 Electors, who ttilheemHsenls7insgtsoatvottheefiorrowMnr.elxSpletnitsber.ead, and p o le g d o ge t d o The Rev. Mr. DRAPER, forcibly urged the claims of Mr. Whitbread to the confidence and, esteem of the Electors of Middlesex, from the general charac ter of his family, but particularly from the signal patriotism of his lamented father, whose foot ste p s this able and interesting yOung Gentleman pledged himself to follow. He animadverted upon the con duct and character of Mr. Mellish, who was in every respect unworthy to be the colleague of Mr. Byng, and whose ret:.en, from his opposite principles to thateGentleman, served to render the Representation of Middlesex, in the !louse of Commons, quite nuga tory for any purpose of constitutional freedom. The several Resolutions being agreed to, Mr. WHITBREAD was ushered into the room by several of his friends, and he was received with the loudest and most enthwiastic acclamations of ap plause, which continued for some time after he had taken his station beside the Chair mans Ile seemed quite overcome by his feelings, and after some pause, during Which the Chairman read to him the Resolutions which had been carried, he addressed the Meeting . to the following effect :—" I am too much unaccustomed to public speaking, and'too sett; sible of my general inadequacy to the task, not to feel very fully, at the present moment, the greatest apprehensions lest I should fail in expressing my deep sense of the honour conferred upon me by the pro ceedings of this Meeting. But I trust, that however. feebly I may express myself, or whatever may be the result of this contest, you will give me credit for being sincere, when. I say; that the gratitude I now feel, will never be effaced from my memory. The motives which have led you, Gentlethen, to bring me forward, are as gratifying to me as they are ho nourable to yourselves. Unknown as lam in public life, it is evident to every man in this great Metropo litan County, that no personal feelings, no paltry con siderations of self interest, have occasioned the present contest, but that its sources on your part are most pure and unadulterated. Your object is to return to Parliament a second Representative, who will ho nestly, steadily, and actively oppose the inroads which his Majesty's present Ministers are but too frequently, too willingly, and too successfully making in our valuable-Constitution—a Representative whom you believe to cherish those sentiments that placed the House of Brunswick on the Throne, and who will use his best endeavours to give new life to those measures that gave to this country a free enjoyment of Civil and Religious Liberty. To procure for your selves sueh a Representative, you have shewn that you are willing to make the greatest personal sacri- Ices. You have said that my name, should I be placed by your powerful exertions in the House of Commons, will be a sufficient guarantee for such a line of conduct as you desire being pursued by me. The motive that has induced you to. select me is so honourable to my family, that I must be dead to one of the best feelings of our nature did it not stimdlate me to prove, that, as far as my abilities will permit, it will be my first endeavour that your expectations should not be disappointed. Perhaps, Gentlemen, it may be expected of me to make a more explicit avowal of my sentiments on that most important subject of Reform-4 say most important, for on that depends the very existence of our remaining liberties. No one sees more clearly than I do die absolute ne cessity of a thorough Reform in the House of Com mons> in,its present corrupt state. But this subject is surrounded with so many difficulties, that it is diffi cult to say what plan it would be most advisable to pursue. This, however, is not the time for the advo cates of Reform to be wasting their strength in vain disputes about any particular plan of Reform, whilst, all agree that their grand object is the same—to ob tain an efficient, free, and independent House of Commons. I will not longer detain you, than merely to beg that you will accept of my warmest and most unfeigned acknowledgments for the exertions you have made to place me in a situation of which I ever must be proud. With a continuation of those exer• tions I have no doubt of final success ; and remem ber, Gentlemen, the triumph will be your own." This speech was frequently interrupted by the warmest plaudits of the Meeting. At the outset Mr. WHIennEAH was rather embar rassed, and delivered himself with that degree of timidity which the great paragon and preceptor of ancient oratory has pronounced an auspicious omen; but he had not proceeded far when he recovered his spirit, and expressed-his sentiments with great firm ness and animation. His stature is - somewhat taller than that of his father. his countenance is strongly marked, his deportment peculiarly dignified, and his delivery at once impressive and elegant. Ile appears to be about twenty-two years of age. Mr. CHATH.Es CA I. VERT was appointed the Trea surer of the Subscriptions. A Central Committee was then appointed, and thanks being voted to the Chairman, who Shortly ad dressed the Meeting, the Gentlemen present pro ceeded to subscribe at the several tables provided for the purpose, and the subscription was very considerable. The Borough of lloniton will be warmly con tested ; the Candidates are, Mr. C UST and Mr. CRAW LEY, the late Members, and Mr. BUSK,. a mercban t. For Hull there is at Present but one Candidate, Mr. MyrsHELL. It is confidently expected, how ever, that there will be a contest, and that before the day of election two fresh claimants for the suffrages of the Electors will be declared. Mr. COURTENAY has been prevented paying his personal respects in Exeter, by severe indisposi tion. Mr. NiwmAs:- commenced his canvass, with a large party of friends, on Tuesday se'nnight. A strong party, determining to bring forward a third candidate for the City of Exeter, have held during the week several meetings for that purpose: at the first, on Monday, it was resolved to apply to Lord GR A VES, but it was ascertained the following day that he had a previous arrangement for Mil bourne Port, on the interest of his noble brother in-law, the Marquis of ANGLESEY. At a second and very numerous meeting at the lintel, on Tuesday, THOMAS TURNER, Esq. proposed Sir JOHN LEMAN ROGERS as a fit and proper person to represent the City of Exeter in Parliament, which was unanimously assented to, and a requisition commenced, inviting him to . comply with the wishes of the meetin g , which received the signatures of about 1`.:0 clectorsi numerous am:nudes of support. GRAND FETE AT YORE. Wednesday evening a most splendid Ball and Supper were given by the Oiricets of the 4th Dragoon Guards ' to a party cf nearly for hundred fashkasable3, ire the Assemblyßooms it Otte City. The great room was feted up for dancing, in a style of the createst beauty and magaificeeet, and iedeeti the whole are rangements were such as to reflect the hizhest credit on those Gee;lernen fur their taste and liherality. Tye great rteen was rh-own open at rine o'c!ock, the eea trance to which, was tbrou;h a roarcnee adorned with warlike trophies, and occur:; deg the vestibule. The altercate sr aces he tween the col:ernes decorated with pedeteals fi'r:nirg bronze figures, vases flied with flowers, IL:. Tie eor was tastcfeliy cbeiked a tenrporwxy orchestra decorated with laurel, stand ards, and military trophies, was erected on one side cif the room for Mr. 11ardrean's bard; anti the whole of the upper ere: of the room, behind the pillars, leas occupied by a bower of !trued. intermixed with flowers and variegated larips, in which, the heed of the Regiment made a most martial and hrilliant appet.r. awe, playing beautiful airs in the ietervals of dancing. This Ball was led ofr by Lady Johnstone and Colonel Sherlock; after which Cleadrilles were chiefly danced. Refreshment.' were in the meantime served up, in profusion, in the tea-room; and et one o'clock the curtain drew up, and admitted the company into the smaller Ball-room, Where the supper tables were laid out with much elegance, under the direction of Mrs. Berb.r, and covered with every variety of delicacy. Dancing was soott after renewed, and kept up with the greettee spirit oral six o'clock. Among the ck,rapzny were observed, Lord Macclomild, Hon. General, Mrs. and Miss lion. J. Westenra, Ilon. Lawrence Dundas, lion. George ‘:onson, Lady and Miss Johnstone, two Misses Fletcher, Mrs. Mr. It. and two Misses Denison, Colonel auti two Misses Serjeentson, Bev. 11. Mrs. and two Misses Markham, Mrs. and Miss Thompson, three Ilisses Markham, 31r. and Miss Chainner, Alr. ;Ire. erect two Misses. Fairfay, Mr. Mrs. acid two Messes Poulin, &c. the. SPARRING. The Fives Court was very well attended yesterday for the benefit of Shd:on, a first-rate boxer, rou::n and ready at all times for a mill or a tarn-up. The setting-to was very. good. Jie .:Vsrlon, Master of the Ceremonies, and a candiclAe for the 3layoralty of Garratt at the ensuing Election, briefly ad dressed the audience, and invited his pas to support him in :he cause, as he Led a powerful advocate .3y,ainct him in the person of Caleb Baldwin, the hill-hanker. Jemmy Lennox, in I hf, stopped the orator's harangue, and commenced sozie gru.i7l,g traits with one of his pupils. Larkin and Sallon.—;rhis was a very interesting set-to, as the men were prevented fighting score time since by Larkin's commander. The black was a great favourite at that tite:, biz this set-to ckarly demonstrated to cne that Larkin wceld have won it. It was a fight wits the gi..ves, and of nine rouses the black had the worst of Leery one. list was bit throng!: tho guard with Larkin's left haltd at going off, and in the rally Larkin had a most decided advantage. In the last round Sat ton was hit to all Farts of the stage, and he refused tile call for another round. Robert burn Copper.—This was also an excellent tet-to, although it *as a seventy four against a &'oop of sear. Cooper did not make much of his adversary, althotigh so accomplished a sparrcr ; rurn guarded himself well, and was always teady, and his weight arid Itngth kept Cooper's science upon an ecuall..y. The hits exchanged were about equal—Cooper, after the set-tn, said he had just arrived from Scotland, not to spar btjt to fight, old he would contend with Shelton for one or two hundred guineas. Shelton accepted the challenge, and they agreed to de posit twenty a-side to light in July. Eales chewed off his fine science upon a Worcestershire novice, and caused much merriment. . West Country Dick and Hat made a good set-to, and Harmer and Cy Davis, and Oliver and S?e lton finished the snorts, after a good set-to between Martin and Sampson, of which the former had the best. . ..__ ..._ ___.. The amateurs retired to Cribb's, to make the stake-money good for Martin and Cabbage. Yesterday, William Paxington, and Rosina, his wife, were charged at Bow-street with being com mon utterers .of forged notes, purporting to be of the. Bank of England. There was another charge against the male prisoner, for his aiming to assassi nate the concinctor of the Patrole, Mayhew, when be went to apprehend him. Panington, it appeared, then demanded to see Mayhew's authority for taking him, when, on the latter spewing his staff, the pri soner said that was not sufficiantfor him, and asked for the warrant ; Mayhew replied he had no warrant, but a charge of felony against him, which was quite sufficient, and he seized the prisoner by the collar Prisoner drew back, when Mayhew 'observing him putting his right hand to take something from his left breast, and at the same instant perceiving the haUdle of a pistol, he seized his hand with _the pistol in it, which he succeeded in wresting from him. It proved to be loaded nearly to the top of the muzzle with two balls ; and so determined was the prisoner on self-defence, that he was provided with an 'alter pistol, a very large one, loaded with three balls.— Mr. BIRNIE, the sitting Magistrate, committed both the prisoners. Yesterday morning. Messrs. Wright, Bond, Chain , pion, Chapman, Lee, Gibbs, &c.Patrole belonging to Bow-street Office, attended at the Secretary of Stare's Office for the Home Departmeat, to give their evia deuce as to the transaction at Cato-street, li;dgwere road, the discovery of the gang of assassins, their particular conduct, and the identity of the different persons composing the ganta. Their knowledge was required as to the person ti Robert George, who was apprehended on Sunday night, at the Dundee Arms, as to whether he was seen among the gang in the loft when the unfortunate Smithers was murdered, or whether he was in- the stable afterwards.. The es i &nee against Preston the cobbler, and Simmons the footman, was also investigated. The Lords of the Council present were, the Earl of HARROWBI, the Earl of WESTMORELAND, Earl Mueeniive r Viscount SIDNIOUTII, Marquis CAMDEN, Sir WILLIAM SCOTT, &c. The ATTORNEY and Sperceroa GENERAL both attended, as did also Mr. BA KEE, the Chief Magis trate of the Police, upon whom. has devolved the taking of the evidence. Government have settled a pension of £lOO n-year upon the widow of the late 'unfortunate Smithers. Cooper, who is committed to the House of Correctien, in Coldbath-fields, on a charge of High Treason, was a loose, oroffigate, idle fellow. He is a boat-maktx, and could have ear ned two guineas a-weak with ease; but he would scldem work, and he was in the constant habit of uttering the most blasphemous and horrid oaths. The wives of Thistle' ood and ings applied at the Secretary of State's 011 ice for the lime Departiatent on Satur day, forpermissien to see their husbands ; the former in the Tower, and the latter in the House of Correc tion, Coldhath-fields. They were referred to the Privy Council Mice, under whose controal the pri soners now are, as having been committed by the warrant of Pr ivy Comic-Mors. Orders were granted to them. The wile of lugs, who was fortaerly a butcher, at Portsea, came from that place to London to see him. Ile ab , conded about four months since, leaving her and four children. She repaired to Lon . don with'an infant at her breast, 19 months old. LONDON : Prbile , l and pla;l6l:ed by loon lino, tiskett place, Itrarle-134r