The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1826-05-30 00:00:00

MEETING OF MALDON ELECTORS.

The Electors of 3laldon resident in London, who are disport(' to
favour the return of the lion. Mr. Wynn to Parliament. supprd
together last night, at the London Coffee-house, Ludgate hill.
There were shout 300 persons present, and judging. not so mild'
front the number es from the respectability of those who attended,
■nd the enthusiastic feeling which they evinced totkards the Candi-
date they met to support. we are induced to nugur very favourably
on the strength of the Hon. Gentleman's pretensions to a seat in
St. Stephen's. . . . .

Aftei supper, the cloth having been removed, and the routine
toasts drank with the unual honours—

Mr. Al I L LAR rose, at the lower end of the room, and addressed
the assembly. Ile declared that he was not employed by any
party, that he was scarcely known to Mr. Wynn, but that he had
the honour of commanding a rifle corps in Essex, though nothing
beyond an inferior tradesman ; and that during that command, he
had never solicited ought from the Government, but had expended
thousands of his property in the service of his country. (Hear.)
The same public feelings which then actuated him, now induced
him to come forward. He had a thorough knowledge of Mr.
Wynn's character, which induced him to rise in his belalf. That
Gentleman was well known and deservedly esteemed in the county of
Essex ; he was an active Magistrate of that county, and in per-
forming the duties of that station had acquired the esteem of all
classes. The country was now sufficiently enlightened to judge of
the character of an individual, and when a man was found, who,
like Mr. Wynn, had acquired universal esteem, his countrymen
should feel that they could not do too much for hint. (Applause
and cries of " bravo.") When the country found a man who was the
champion of justice, they should be proud of him, and give him
their energetic support. The Hon. Gentleman bad done Justice as
n magistrate of the county of Ease:, and had thereby proved that
he would do justice to his constituents in the House of Common'.
To come to the point, he should bristly explain the reasons why
he felt anxious to support Mr. Wynn at the next election. When
Mr. IVynn solicited his vote. he put one question to him—that
question was, '• will you, or will you not, support the Roman
J.:litho/lc chums k" and Mr. Watues manly_ answer was, 1-1.. ate
determined to oppose the Catholic claims." (Loud and continued
applause.) Mr. Wynn, therefore, was not only respected by
some of the first families in Essex, but he had pledged himself
to oppose the Catholic question, and in doing so he had pledged
himself to support the best King that ever sat on the throne (Re-
peated cheers)—he had pledged himself to support the best Com-
mander-in-Chief ever known in England (Hear, hear). and the
best Constitution ever known in the world. (Bravo.) It was a
Constitution which all the nations of Europe would be happy to
copy, and every foreigner happy to enjoy its comforts. At this
time every man was called upon to do nit. duty to his sing and
country. Endeavours were made to impress it on the public mind
that the King was favourable to the Catholic Question. (Cries of
"So he is,"mingled with applause and hisses.) It was no such thing:
lie could assert with certainty that the King. watt against the claims
of the Catholics, and that he was greatly injured by the reports
which prevailed on this subject. At the time when the Duke of
York made that bold declaration in the House of Lords, which re-
flected so much bonour on his Royal Iligl.neatt, he was present-
ing a petition from Windsor. Now, where did the King live ? At
Windsor. (A laugh.) And where did the Duke of York go
after his hold declaration in the House of Lords ? He repaired to
Covent Garden Theatre (Laughter and cries of hear), and remained
with his Royai Broti r during the remainder of the evening.
Here the confusion was so great, that the Chainhan found it ne-
cessary to interfere, and request that order should be preserved.
Mr. MILLAR resumed—He had much more in store for the
company, hut he felt he must cut it short. He would only add,
that Mr. Wynn meant to support the King, the Constitution, and
the Government; and he should, therefore, conclude, by calling
upon the company to drink the Don. Gentleman's health with four
times four.

This toast was received with acclamation ; and when it had sub-
sided,
Mr. WA's; at rose and addressed the Meeting. He said he had
not a set and arranged speech prepared, because he felt, that it' a
nom who offered himself as a candidate had not the feelings of an
Englishman, lie had no right to address the freemen of the borough
of Mahlon. No man's heart thrilled with more pleasure than his
did, when he heard the name of the King of this limited monarchy
alluded to; and he supported that King's Government, because he
thought he was justified. by experience, in asserting that the mea-
sures of his Majesty's Ministers were such as became the Govern-
ment of a free people. But his general support of Ministers should
never be fettered by any man or set of men. On every occasion he
would act in accordance with his own discretion and judgment. If
the kindness of the electors of Maldon returned hito to Parliament,
he would watch over the expenditure of the country as well as
those who called themselves Whigs; but he would not go into
Parliament believing the Ministers to he in the wrong, but pre-sup-
posing that their future conduct would be governed by the past.
(Bear, hear.) With respect to taxation, his principle was public
economy, but not sordid economy. He could not advocate that
economy, which would drive a laborious servant with gr.ty hairs
into penury. (Applause.) In truth, there were others who wanted
watching besides those who sat on the Treasury benches. They
were not angels who sat on the other side of the House. The Hun.
Gentleman next culled the attention of the Meeting to the badge
which he wore on his hat, and which was exhibited on the breasts of
his friends (a light blue riband). If that emblem was the symbol
of intolerance, his feelings as a man would give way to his early
prejudices; but until he believed it to be such, he should never
forsake it. (Loud cheers.) As to the doctrine of free trade, it was
a beautiful theory ; but its application should he made with great
caution. It should be applied with great caution to die silk trade.,
[A person here called out " The Corn Laws, Sir.") He thanked
the person who had prompted his attention to the important
subject of the Corn haws. He knew he must differ with many of
his Constituents, anti if they waited to find a Candidate agreeing
with them on all points, they should wait until the Constitution
suffered from the delay. But he felt it was better to explain his
opinions now, than wait and let the Electors find them out, when
the discovery was of no avail. (Cries of •• bravo.") Upon the sub-
ject of the Corn Laws, he felt that the principles of tree trade should
be applied with great caution. It was a subject replete with diffi-
collies. He never was an advocate for raising the p rice of
Provisions, but when he recollected the pressure of the poor-
rates upon the landed interest, he thought some protection should
be given to the corn-grower. In short, his opinion was that the
principles of free trade could not be appred in their full extent to
the Corn Laws; but he did not say we ought not to approach loose
principles as near as possible. (Bravo.) It was want of enipioy.
meet, and not the cheapness or dearness of bread, that affected the
working population. (Applause.) The next subject to slltich he
should advert wits that of Reform, to which he had a decided ob-
jection, when applied generally, because he found it would be at-
tended by the total destruction of the Constitution. (Hear, hear.)
But he was not pledged to support abuses, which he admitted
called for occasional corrections. On the subject of colonial slavery
he felt as other men ; he was anxious to substitute a system of free
labour for that of slavery, by gradual and judicious means. He was,
on all occasions, the advocate of reasonable economy. By his in-
strumentality a third Assizes had been instituted in the county of
Essex : that measure he conceived to be one of great local import-
ance ; but, he was proud to sly, that he derived the hint
for that measure from apolitical opponent (Mr. Weston). (Chet rs.)
There remained hut one topic of importance--that called the Ca-
tholic (asthma. To this question he had paid great attention, and,
after • dispassionate inquiry, he was ready to acknowledge that