The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1868-06-27 00:00:00

EXTRAORDINARY MEETING IN
LONDON.

The Guildhall of the City of Lyndon was, on Monday, the
s rue of preparation for the great contest of November. A
meeting of citizens had been convened for 2 o'clia, in the I
afternoon, for the purpose of enabling the city to express an !
opinion on the proposed disestablislintent of the Irish 'harsh. !
The Lord Mayor had called the meeting iti compliance with
a requisition, signed by a large number of persons of the
greatest eminence In the City, and as cotta, be had given
notice of it, both oi the sides Interested in the questh di of the
day began their preparations for carrying the meeting with
iii, in. The day was favourable for their purpose. .aint
Monday Is still so far observed that a crowd can be Ind
to,tlier upon it for any purpose at a very small outlay awl
little Leonid, We ( T,ntgo ) are told that an opinion prevailed
that the Imeting was packed on "both shies." It is certain
that large numbers flocked into the Guildhall as early as lit or
tilt, the ~ i nil,2. and when the Lord Mayor rose tile throng
were in a wild stale,,! elaitiourand excitement. llt vain ii id tile
Lord Mayorseek to get a hearing. In vain did Sir.l4 Lutiwiek
at tempt to midi, the meeting in support of a resohit ton
hostile to the Irish c,i arch In vaiii iii.t Alderman Sir
Willi•on ose C to. liege t:,e merit-, 0: :11l
went. No No one could 1,, heart beyond the heistters' I leak.
, All,, very few w,•ie the words 0 hich rettened the reoorters
thentwives. After some time spent ill presiding over this
edllying exhibition. Co. Lord Mayor gathered op hi, skirts
anti quitted the ball, awl some of the quieter spirits fdlitWed
Iris example ; but the mass of the meeting woe in the full
enjoyment if a scene of rit it, and did not stir. No one to,dc
the vacated chair, but this trilling circumstance neither
added to nor diminished the anarchy of the proceeding. 'rile
members for the I ity, who were on the platform, went
through the formality of addressing some words to the re-
porters, and at last the meeting dispersed without having
in any degree atufined the nominal object of their coming
together.

The Morning Star, in their report of the meeting,
thus describes it :
Perhaps in our time a more stormy, disorderly, or badly
eolutheted assembly—inade SO by the violent and rutnanly
persistent interruptions of a compact body of young men,
ranged in the front of the platform chiefly, and by knots of
men and boys in other parts of the hall—never roared 1111 lit,
math the ancient roof of Guildhall. A very short time spout
its the Guildhall before the hour of meeting would stall, to
show any person of what sort of stuff the greeter part of the
audience was composed. One would be inclined to think
that .5 hitechapel had emptied Its slums, and sent its filthy
musta to shout ,or the Established Church in Helmut
It was not Whiteelmp.l alone. however, that supplied
the " Constitutional party.' the honour having been
carried off Isy Drury-lane, anti the abominable lanes
which abut upon it. It is not long since a liene-
voleut City missionary convened a meeting of thieves,
returned convicts, ticket-of-leave men, et hoe genus
Own?; and the collection was a rare and repolsive
one. But it certainly did not come up to the gathering of
Monday as regards all the outward signs of criminal %apt-
bon limn. There dere fellows there who would be ready to
do almost anything for the sum—generally two shillings or
half-a-crown—they receive as to raise their hoarse voices in
support of what they knew not the meaning—re aim en-
dowment. Villianous-looking, beetlubrowed rutflans were
shoulder to shoulder with re-pectable citizens who inanawsl
by early arrival to get standing-room in the hall; and the
ugly-looking fellows jo.tled many an independent burgess
who was imprudent enough to elbow himself into a good
place. To the body of the hall the admissioe was free ;Mid
for the platform, which by a wonderful stretch of consider-
ation was made to include seats ample to acco ttttt iodate
about MO to 400 persons, tickets were issued. In those
" reserved " seats the rough element was also distinctly
observable, anti indeed it was there their operations were
carried on with most force and ardour. The entire hall was
erwatued with people, and the City police force mustered
strongly.
As each of the speakers appeared upon the platform they
were received with groans or cheery+, according to their
polities. Alderman Sir W. Rose was loudly cheered and as
roundly hissed, the cheering from the villanous-looking
fellowsgreatly ating. Indeed. from the time alderman
Rose made his appearance there was little else but uproar
until the proceedings en nil The Lord Mayor whose
presence one might think would have as uaged the anger of
the paid pro-Churchmen, seemed to set them on additional
lire, and for over twei ity minutes his lordship attempted in
vain to get a single word heard. The people who were paid
and sells to interrupt knew no distinction of persons in
their blind fury ; and although the chief magistrate of the
lily begged and isisplored that the meeting should hear, not
only himself, list every other speaker who might address it,
he was met by the insane hootings which are mostly heard
from a drunken election mob. Ot course, the few, ob-
servations wade by his lordship were the merest dumb
show, although, to those who heard them. they were
fair and impartial, simply asking the meeting to give
everyone fair play. Alter vainly endeavouring to ob-
tain a hearing, the Lord Mayor retired, and Isis place
was immediately taken by Sir John Lubbock, who was to
propose the first resolution. His appearance at the front
of the platform w-as the signal for a tremendous volley of
groans fnen the lured disturbers of the proceedings. So
-a the band of men who prevented those
. .„