The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1819-07-22 00:00:00

the. better name, and I ',nig
,read yot? rin• of the.,l
blackest items that ever were contained in tfic Nl*
number of lines in the pages or. any ti•OlC•ver
printed. Almost the whole. of the public press is 1
filled with comments upon the immorality of the
people."—(A 'man in the crowd here called out.
" Hunt. how much does Lord Castlereagh give you
yearly for spouting in this way ?")
This interruption led to momentary confusion,
and the people around the iiidividual were prepar-
ing to push him from .1111011 g them, when—
Mr. HUNT interfered, and entreated that the man
should eiot be moleited. "He arks nie." said Mr. It
" what I get from Lord Castlereagh fur speaking? 1
am not sorry he has put the question—l know he
meant it well, and for so good an act, pray. out of
compliment to me, don't serve him out, as the ex-
pression is.—( Loud laughter)-111 answer this
man. I was born, as you might have before now
heard, to the possession of a small but independent
properly—l have led an active life, slid during the
whole course of it I was never but oioc:r paid fur •

. .
single act in which I was engaged. A neighbour of,
mine had once occasion to solicit my attendance in .
London as a winless for hum, and afterwards when
we were settling accounts on some business' th.,,t
occurred between us. I remember he allowed me , •
6/. for my expenses when eumed fur him in towo.
This was the only instance that ever occurred ,in .
which I received a farthing for any act of 'nine. I de."
dare most solemnly to you, my fellow-countrymen,
that I never was in the employ of any humor, being
for any purpose, and that I never shall be,—(411,7
plause.) —I have always served the public biniestly
and gratuitously, and you ace to-day what arr iso-,.
grateful office it is for a man to undertake. when he
exposes himself to such insinuations as this. You
see that we have among us corrupt and abominable
knaves who can never act except under the influ-
ence of some mean and selfish passion, and who
suppose that every body else is actuated by the
same sordid propensities.—(Applause.)—l admire
this man's courage, at all events, in coming here
and putting his questiou. I see some mud has
fallen upon bairn (his face was besmeared with
a splash of mud), but don't repeat such an
I;act. I entreat you will nut do any thing which
;may be construed into u breach of the peace.
-(Cries of ' No, no !')—The venal part of
the Press ascribe every act of immorality to
'the Reformers; mid they say it is a proof of the
corruption of the times—they level all their abuse
eat the Reformers, and overlook the real offenders,
end the crying grievances which bear, down the
people."—Mr. Hint then proceeded to read ex-
tracts from the Block Book, as he called it, of
certain grants to the Duke of York, nod to • Lady
ooce connected with another Royal Duke. end to
animadvert severely upon these particular grants,
as well as on a sinecure of 3,0001. a year as Clerk
of the Pell. in Ireland, which, lie said, had been
granted by the sanctified Lord Sichnouth to a son
of the late Mr. Ililey Addington, while a boy at,
Winchester School ; also at Lord Ardeti's 38,5741.
a year, and Earl Bathurst's 3!,000l. out of the
pockets of an impoverished and starving people.
—(Cries if " Shaine !")—" I know," continued
Mr. Hunt, " I shall be called by the Government
Press a seditious monster for all this."
[Here another interruption was occasioned by the
person who had already put a question to Mr. Hout.
The people about hint said they would not endure
his nonsense. " Well, then," said Mr. Hunt,
" can't you let him stand for a while in the place
where the water is ?" They took the hint and
went a little farther than it was intended, for they
put him on hIS bark, so as to give him something
like a ducking, when Mr. Hunt again interfered
and sased him.]
"There are several things," resumed Mr. Hunt,
" for which we want redress. When millions of de-
serving people are starving, we complain of the
profuse, and worthlrs4, and lavish expenditure of
the money raised, or rather wrung by taxes; and hove
we not a right to complain of such acts ?—(Cries
of ' Who says we hare not P. j—Yes, you have
1 at least the right of complaint, solitary as it is ;
and so long as these grievances continue, no doubt
you will exercise it.—(Cry of 'We shall P )--
Much as I honour our Parliament—(4 laugh)—l
confess I feel the force of what Mr. Gast has told
us. We have had many extraordinary Parliaments
I —we have haul the Long Parliament and Ilse Short
lone, t he litimpParliament,thePraite God Barebones
1 Parliament, but we had no such Parliament as the
last—it ought to be called the ' Drivelling Par.
liament,' for they were drivelling throughout.—
(Laughter and applause.)—Well, then, you ask.
iwhat was Parliament doing fur you last Session ?
1 Its an awkward questioh, and my answer is, • I do
! not know.'—(Applosise.)—You have all heard of
the old v f—
" The King or France, with thirty thousand men,
Went up the bill, and then—marched down again."

—(Laughier.).—Why, your Parliament were
marching and countermarching, and they have
been doing nothing else. There is not a set of
plain-going common people among us that would
not in the same apace of time have done more
good for the country—no class picked from our
artisans that would not have legislated as
("ipplouse.)—Let us therefore speak out to that
Parliament, let us address it peaceably, but with
dignity. Let us proclaim our sentiments, as we
have a right to do, by the Constitution. There is
a maxim in Lstin—for Populi, vox Del—that is,
the voice of the people is the voice of God.-1 en-
treat you to avoid our enemies—let your demean-
our, while it is final, be wield and peaceable.
If this Meeting terminates as I foully anticipate
from your conduct, it will he productive of the very
greatest importance for the country : if, on the con-
trary, any attempt shall be made to disturb the
public peace, then indeed it will be an unfortunate
day, and on the heads of the people will fall the
bitter consequences—we shall all of us feel its me-
lancholy effects. Let us, when the business is
finished, repair peaceably to our homes—cslinly
assert our righta,and procure peace and properity for
our country. As to our rewards for our acts, we can
ensure them, for they consist in our consciousness
of doing our duty honestly and faithfully. Such
has ever been us, reward, and 1 hair now grown
grey in your service—and when in my grave, it will
not be in the power of any man to take a retro-
spect of my life, and fix upon any one act of mine
on which he could fasten, with truth, any imputa-
tion of my having acted derogatory to the character
of as hoot* Englishman or say that I ever Iteiertiel