The Express.
London, England, 1861-04-02 00:00:00

MR. ROEBUCK, M.P., AND BIS CONSTITUENTS.

SHEFFIELD, MONDAY.
Mr. Roebuck, one of the representatives of this
borough, met his constituents this afternoon in the Tcrper.
ance-hall. The conduct of the hon. membea upon two
occasions appears to have been strongly condemned by a
section of his constituents--namely, when in 1459 ho
supported the continuance in office of the administration of
Lord Derby ; and again this session, when he addressor' the
House of Commons in a speech favourable to Austria. A
meeting was held in Sheffield about a fortnight ago, at
which a resolution was phased calling upon the hon. mem.
her to visit his constituents and explain his conduct, and
on Tuesday last Mr. Roebuck wrote to the mayor, con-
vening a meeting for this day.

Mr. Roebuck arrived in Sheffield on Saturday, and pro-
ceeded to the residence of the Mayor (Mr. H. Vickers),
where a number of gentlemen met him at dinner by invi•
tation of his worship. This afternoon, escorted by a large
body of his supporters, he proceeded to the Tereperacce-
hall, for the purpose of delivering an address, but on reach.
ing the building, the hall was found to be so closely be-
mined by thousands of persons, that the hon. member was
compelled to remain in the rain for a considerable time. ex-
posed to the jeers of the mob, before an opening could be
made for him.

On entering the hall it was discovered to be densely
crammed in every part, between 3,oooand 4,000 persons having
contrived to squeeze themselves into a building calculated •
to hold about one-third of the number. Mr. Roebuck was
received with mingled cheers and hisses, and the Mayor at-
temptedat once to open the proceedings. The uproar and
confusion were, however, so great, and the demand for an
immediate adjournment into the open air so incessant, that
his worship essayed in vain to obtain •hearing.
At length,
Mr. Reeerck, addressing a noisy crowd immediately
beneath hint, said—Gentlemen, if you will be quiet I
will endeavour to speak ; but if you persist in making
a noise, I can't speak. (Cries of " Order," " Put
:nasoentitotruhtfignaajlitiknougllte—ru7rwor;
)sreairetoMlred,:außt2eatodb:oktwu,rDwialinngtetibtoeufirntthisiet
place, why lam down hero' ((hies of " hear, hear.") I
accept that cheer, and I ask again, " Why am I down
here !" (Loud cries of "hear, bear.) Allow me to answer
that question myself. lam down here because base insi-
nuations have been made against my character. (Cheers,
hisses, and geneml uproar.) Now, if every one will only
take care to keep himself quiet, you have no idea how
quiet the meeting will be. I say that base insinuations
have been made against my character. Now I have done
certain things as a member of parliament, sad after
thirty years of service, beginning a poor man,
remaining so—fighting your battles against every tempts.
time they could not tree a better thing to say of me than
that for sordid purposes I have gone against my own opinion.
(" Hear, hear, cheers, and a few hisses.) Now lam hereto
vindicate my opinion. (A voice, " More power to you," and
cheers.) Wait and hear me. (Confusion and uproar.) Don't
by your yelling and by your clamour try to put me down.
Listen to reason, though it speaks by my voice, and I
believe that if you will listen to reason, you will say that
I have done nothing that ought to giveyou offence. (" Hear,
hear," and cheers.) Now, sir, a great nun, one of the great
lights of English philosophy, has said that evidence was
like the long bow, but that argument was like the cross
bow. The first depended upon the strength and capacity of
the man who shot the arrow—the second had the
same force, whether let loose by an infant or
by a giant. Now I am here I hope to speak the voice of
reason. I doe't wish you to put faith in my character. But
that chancier is not one made yesterday. It is one
that has been built up by a long life of labour. lam of
you. (" Hear, bear," and cheers.) I belong to the people.
I have fought the people's battle, and I have got nothing
by it. (Loud cheers.) But, sir, I know my own countremen
so well, that if an angel of light were to come down with
simple meson, and somebody were to stand by and say,
" That angel is sold, body and soul, don't trust him"—if he
were to speak the very words of wisdom, I know my country-
men well enough to know they wouldn't listen to reason.
(Laughter and uproar.) Well, then, lam going first to deal
with the imputations against my character, and next I
intend to deal with the question respecting which you have
called me down here. Now, the imputations against my
character are that I have sold you twice. (Cries of "Hear,
hear.") " Hear, hear," you say. Well, I will take it that
lam aocused of having sold you twice. That is the impute-
tion. On the first occasion it was when I voted to keep in
Lord Derby's administration. The second occasion was
when I made a speech the other day in which I recom-
mended Lard Palmerston to be thoroughly a friend of non-
intervention, but at the same time to give the moral in-
fluence of England to thirty millions of people
who are now striving for political power—namely,
the Austrian nation. (Cheers and hisser.) Upon
the find occasion, when I voted for Lord Derby's
administration, what was the imputation' Why, that by
metes of a subsidy given by the government to the Galway
Company, I was bought. That was the imputation.
(Hear, hear.) Now, first and foremost, 1 never received a
farthieg. (A Voice—" We don't believe you did," end
cheers.) I thought, when I was called upon by certain
persons, that it would be a very good thing to have a steam
communication between the west of Ireland and the east of
America. They said that at that time the English govern-
ment were paying 240,000 L a year to the Cunard Company
in Liverpool, and it was added that if we could get a
subsidy from the government for carrying the mails from
Galway to New York it would be a great thing for the
trade between the two countries. I applied, among
others—for there were several other members of
parliament concerned, though you have only picked
out Mr. Roebuck—l applied, among others, to the
government, in order to obtain a subsidy for the Galway
Company. After negotiation with the government they at
lad consented to make a contract with the company to carry
the mails from Galway to New York, for, 1 think, 76,000 f.
a year. (" Oh," "Hear, hear," cheers, and uproar.) Now
nothing was to be paid before service was rendered. lid
before any service was rendered—before any moiety was
paid, I had left the Grainy Company. But there was
some 10,000/. —(Great confusion, which prevented the con-
clusion of the sentence being heard.) Now I don't intend to
talk to you in such a noise. (A Voice " Wean outside.")
No doubt there is noise outside, but there is also • eel
deal of yelling here. (Cries of "Go into the open sir.")
I will go away, if you like, but I will not go into the open
air to address you. My notion is that there are certain
persons here whedon't want to hear me, and who have come
on purpose to
.put, a stop to the meeting. (A Voice :
"You're quite right. They come from Bond-lane.") I believe
they do. and I than therefore decline to proceed say fur-
ther. I have not a steam engine at work in me, and I must
at once give way.
Mr. Roebuck here resumed his seat and remained a passive
looker on. In the meantime the cheers, whistling. hisses,
booting, and yells were perfectly deafening, while the heavy
"thuds" against the doors announced the impatience of the
mob outside. The densely packed multitude swayed to
and fro with excitement, and in the most upmarket' man-
ner demanded immediate silence and order. Mr. Roebuck
again rose, but finding it impossible even to heir his own
voice, immediately resumed his seat. A short coma•
teflon took place among his supporter*. and at their ite
stance, finding a hearing out of the question, he courteously
bowed to the meeting and retired into the ante-room.
The Rev. P. Homo came forward upon the platform,
and stated that the persons who most thoroughly dime.
proved of Mr. Roebuck's conduct were those who were the
most silent. The real fact of the matter was, that the lel/
was so crowded that everybody was uncomfortuble.
people outside were making a most awful row, and he .
peehended that that was the real reason the meeting wall
be broken up.
Mr. HADIIELD—I really cannot allow the remelt:s of fee
rev. friend to pass without notice. He uys that my Lee
colleague has occasioned certain opinions being formed of hu
coodud, and that those who have formed them still eaten
tare them. The rev. gentleman mud excuse me if L say
that his remark is ungenerous. Ido not deny that niv bee.
colleague and myself have frequeutly been found iu differed
lobbies, but he is a man who cm defend himself if you ell
give him an opportunity. What has be come here fart
Simply for the purpose of defending himself, and I think. if
he had an opportunity afforded him of doing se, my rev.
friend would entertain a very different opinion to that
which he appears to entertain. Mr. Roebuck has appeared
here in his place before his constituents, and it 14 femme
he has laboured to procure a hearing, and has been urahlo
to obtain one, that I would ask all here to sitepted ad
judgment they may have formed until ho has an opportnnit7
of being fairly heard. (Cheers, and uproar.)
The Rev. P. HOPPS said Mr. Hadfield bad entirely me'
understood bins. lie had not said that he was en op anent
of Mr. Roebuck, but what he did nay was, the noise was oe
casioned by discomfort, and not by antagonism.
Mr. W. SHARMAN, secretary of the Sheffield eleritaln
Fund, here attempted to address the meeting, het was v<'
ceived with such a perfect storm of groans and yells that he
made a very precipitate retreat.
Mr. HOOLe celled for rt show of hands as to whether the
meeting would adjourn or consent to hear Mr. Roebuck.
A large majority were in favour of contionine the Ise'
ceedings, very few hands being held up for an ieljournmeet.
The uproar nevertheless continued without nutmeat"
and finally
state
The MAYOR said be was desired by Mr. Roebuck to
day,dathyat but be woulddeclined
The t O
attendmeeting, addresstherefore, t
againt t e
imeetingthe
st 4 ma further e
Tr
bat
nbaTlt
Thursday.
Mr. Roebuck then left the hall, and was escorted to
hotel by most of his orderly constituents. The niajonteeet
the meeting did not, however, appear to comprehend_ et:
nature of the proceedings, and remained in the elite
crowded almost to suffocation, long after Mr. BoeMe`
quitted it.
FATAL JUMP PROM A RAILWAY TRAIN.
Saturdaytllke Gmidway got intoev es
station
tng t
nac
truck man
Iq miss
lins oat
his error at the junction of the Tavistock and Fourtht
lines, about three miles from Plymouth, he j
.ece
the truck while the train was in motion, and mimed e•
injuries that he died oa Sunday evening.
oalfne yamii:onnu'diit jui;atraTDosistpoc.
ttk,:bkfiult