The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1826-06-08 00:00:00

the deep distress that hod visited thousands, and was sill preening 1
hard upon them. And hazing done so, he would ask them, could
such a state of things, evils so monstrous, be the effect of good go-
yernment ? Oh, 'no ! They had the best authority for say.
log that a good tree could not ptoduce evil fruit, neither
could a corrupt tree produce good fruit. (Great cheering.) They
had heard hut very little to-day about that glorious Constitution
which was said to be the envy of sill-rounding nations--the ad-
miration of the world. lie had often beand this said, but he could
out conceive what it was that made this coentry so enviable. Was !
ii the periodical panics and famine with which they were visited ? :
Was it the enormous taxation which they had to bear ? Was It
the Corn Laws ? IVas it the dhow-Rim, which they to day saw
exhibited by a few to persecute their fellow-countrymen who Mt- 1
fermi from them for conscience' peke ? (Chet-s ) What avaital the
form of govemtneot if the conduct of the Governors did not tend to I
the happiness of the governed ? (Cheers.) He had seen genius and
merit fostered and neglected; lie had seen the virtuous protected,
and the virtuous persecuted; he had seen Itherte Nourish mid fade
under almost every form of geverionent. He knew not where to .
look for people more wretched stud debased than existed in this '
country, and existed for no other re nail than because the people's
affairs were badly administered. He had always believed that
there was little dill...Terme between the perpetrator and per.
petusfor of injustice. He who allowed of the opportunity
shared the crime. He would say then that their Catholic 1
fellow-countrymen were now sum ring great injustice, His-
tory informed him of nothing that induced him to believe that 1
Catholic Emancipation was inimical to civil and religions liberty. '
(Cheers and hisses.) He knew of n'thing so goo I but what hid
been the wn:k of Protemante, nor nothing at. bid but what had
been also the work of Protestants. He would say the wine of ilie
Catholics. Who gave us the Great Charter ? Why It was our Ca-
tholic ancestors. Who gave us that other security, little inferior to
the Great Charter iteelf—hemeant the Habeas Corpus Act ? Our
Protestant ancestors, If he were told that Catholicism disposed
people to be revolutionists and traitor' to their Kine, he would re.
ply, What was Oliver Cromwell P Was he not a Prote-tatet ? Mr. 1
Mr. Butler then adverted to the American Continent, and said that
independence flourished there. equally under the away of a Prates. I
tent (Washingeon), and a Catholic (Bolivar) ; and therefore there I
was nothing so Catholicism that ought to make us the least afraid
of it. Ile was anxious to divest their minds of thine prejudices
which some of them had imbibed against the Catholic.. He then '
alluded to,the subject of Parliamentary Reform. 'opt said they had
lately worked a most extraordinary conversion in that ICVCCt. A
candidate had come forward to claim their suffrage, upon the growled
of his attachment to the Constitution as by late established. But
i e elector's of Southwark were not to be gulled in this way. s.
tt be
e
would tequired of that Gentleman to state whet it was he !
ant by the Constitution as by law established. I op-meant as ,
Catholic Emancipation was, there were other subjects which ought '
to interest them at this moment a great deal more. If they thought
the country could go on for any long time under its present die.
fretted state, they would be much deceived. It was their duty to ,
' choose men Who poswesed heads to conceive ideas, and tongues to '
give utterance to them when they were conceived. (Cheers ) He
' would now put a few plain questions to the Candidates, which, if
they answered aatistactotile, he should feel his duty discharged;
but if they did not, he should feel it his dery to eronoee a fourth 1
Candidate. (Cries of " Off; off!) He would ask ,at, whether
thee would stoutly endeavour rn cause the House of Commons to !
become what it ought to be—a faithful representation en the peen ;
pie ? Ile thought the two worthy Candidateson his debt (Calvert '
and Wilson) had ainatty given an answer to this by their votes in i
Parliament. Ills nett question was, whether they would entice- I
your to procure the ebolitibn of all useless places, unmerite I pen-
stuns, and sineeltres ? The third question he Would put was, whe- !
ther they would exert themselves to cause religious liberty to be ex-
teilled to the whole of their felliwambjects ? And, lastly, whether I
they would exert themselves tore:dhoti thegriesances °four brave art-
men ? As he was quite satisfied that the two first caeditlates would I
do him and his f4l tw.sc %men that jualee which they had hereto.
fore dine, he need not ask them for any answer on the subject with
regard to seamen ; and feeling that their answers would be sad*.
fectory on the other head., he should therefore not trouble the elec-
tors with a fourth candidate on the present oceasion.
Mr. CAI.rERT How aderessed the electors, The speeches they
had already heard, and those which were ebottt to be delivered to
them, would render short his address. Ile mod sincerely thanked
them for the show made uhia day in his favour, and also for their
having placed him so pre-eminently on the poi; in three former
successful elections. Ile could not but remember the attpport they
had given him in 1807, and haiing been rewarded by their thanks
for his conduct ; as their Representative it encouraged him to per-
severe in that line of conduct which lie had originally laid down to
himself, and to which he had hitherto inesiiably conformed.
There was one question on which he appeared not to have voted tic-
cording to the wishes of all his constituents. If they and he could
exchange places, they would find it difficult to steer that course on
all occasion.. Those yoies which he had given he had given to
the best of his judgment. Ile had always ststel to them, and
would still state, that he considered it the duty of a Representative
to attend to the wishes of his constituents when he could collect
them. He said that if they would only inform him whet were their
wishes, he would act agreeably to them; but ori the question of
Catholic Emencipetion they had not done an, and he was left to
act upon hie own judgment. Put the setlite on the right horse's
back—(Cheers and laughter :I—they must In this case clap it
on their own, and not out his t he had sins enougji to answer for
without, arid though his shoulders were broad, they were net more
than suMcient to bear the weight of them.--( Laughter.) He
had seen placarded about thestreets, " No Wilson—no Popery:"
now, though his name was not used, yet lie considered the
cry directed as much against him as has Honourable Friend,
and he was therefore hilly entitled to bear a part of the
blame. That !decried might as well have stated, "No Wilson,
no Calvert, anal no Popery," as what it did. This he called putting
the saddle on the right horse. (Laughter.) But he begged to
slate that the vote was given by him most conscientiously. He
mold give that in the spirit of conciliation to above seven
millions of the Catholics of Ireland now, rather than that
they should do It by compulsion Sy and by, which must
ultimately be the case, In the event of a war breaking out,
this country would never be able to silence that multitude of
people who had for yeas fought our battles, but who would not
do so again unless they hail granted to them those rights which
they now claimed. Nevertheless, if his ronstituente were of
opinion that these ciaints ought not to he granted, then he
would do one of two things—either he would vote *pinta the
question, or resign his trust into their hands again. (Cheers.)
There was another placard on which he read—" Polhill, the
Friend of Trade and Commerce." Was it meant to be said by
this that that Gentleman only was friendly to trade and commerce,
and that he (Mr: C.) was not ? Again, there was another placard
on which he read the weeds " Polhill and the Protestant Constitu-
tion." Did the friends of that Gentleman mean to say that he alone
was friendly to the Protestant Church, and that he (Mr. Calvin)
and Sir Robert Wilson were enemies to it? These placards bore
• double interpretalon t they cnntainrd insinuations against:aim
and his Honourable anal Gallant Friend, while they embed in a fa-
vourable sense to their opponent. Hi. whole political life was before
them. In his conscience he could lay his hand upon his heart, and
say, that he never in his life gave a vote contrary to the interests of
the people, and when he found he could not do so, he would nn longer
seek to represent them in Parliament. (Loud cheers,) Trusting
that he should be again received by them, us he had been on former
occasions, he would now give way to his Gallant Mend, at the
same time, entreating them to give a most lenient and attentive
hearing to Mr. Polhill. He had everyielaim to it at their hands. He
was born and bred In the Borough, and had made a fortune in it ;
and he thought he perceived errors In the conduct of their Repre-
sentatives. Hera him then, and, if he should convice them that I
he (Mr. Calvert) was wrong then i: was his hope that they would
i give their suffrages to Mr. Polhill, and not to him. (Cheers.) I
Sir ROBERT WILMON next addressed the people. It was, he
said, with sentiments of pride and of gratitude that he saw the im.
Posing phalanx of electors which they presented to his view.'
They had nobly redeemed their promise to meet the challenge of
the enemy on the very first signal of his preparetien for bale, and
it proved that they were still the same electors who contended for
: independence in the year 1818. who repeated that contest in IWO,
and who had determined now to pr what they had so nobly
won. (Cheers.) They were called upon to exercise a right which
had been truly stated to be the dearest tight of freemen—not a
right which affected only their general interests, and but partinilv
thee individual welfare, bat P right, by the due exercise of which !
al one they could &nein thine measures which would afford redress
for their grievance., and protection to their property, and prevent it
from being wasted and der •tteed by the tax-gatherers, firm:her the
tax-enters. (Cheels. ) It wis a right which, when neglected. con- '
vetted a free stare into a servile community, and which rendered i
that voice, welch ought to be heard as the representative of the !
people, ci her not heard at all, or if beard, not respected. (Cheers.)
The electors of Southwark were bound, perhaps, more than any
other electors, to maintain the due exercise of this right, not only
as they could not part with it without being a party to and assisting
at their own degradatioa and subjection, but because they would be
guilty of violating that contract which Southwark had entered into
with the electors of Westminster, of the city of London, and of
Middlesex, who were confederate in upholdine the same indepen- '
dence. He would sooner believe things went monstrous and most
unnatural titan that the elector* of Southwark would prove false to
their engagement and faithless to their trust. (Cheers) It wag in '
the yeas 1818 that they appointed hint to conduct the contest
against the part) styling itself the High Church and High Tory
party; a party whose yoke of servitude had rendered itself
intolerable to them ; a party who were indiflirent to retnon.
formers, and who acted upon a determintrion to rule over
them with an imperious and exclusive dominion. The °en-
deman who on that occasion came forward to the contest was
Mr. Charles Barclay, of whose private conduct no panegyric could
be too highly trade; but that eniulitlate made hinieelf obnoxious
by being the agent of this uneoniprond.ing, implacable, dictatorial
oligarchy. (Cheers.) When they first engaged in this contest,
some friends of his, who were well acquainied with the Borough,
considered the attempt as desperate. They not only told hem, to
use their own words, that either Bedlam was broke loose in South-
wark, or Southwark itself was melee Bedlam of: but they also said,
that instead of winning a crown of victory, they should only win
• cap and bells. (Cheers.) But what was the result? Did the
result show either that they were mad, or that he appeared a foil ?
(Laughter and cheers.) No; after three days' contest they enabled
him, by their able exertions and auspices, to plant the hannerot in-
dependence itnineweably on these hustings, and to unfurl the stand.
ard of reform to the admiration of the whole country. This same
party warted, defeated, chastised, though not rebuked sufficiently,
areatnpted exam to rear their standard under their leader Sir Thomas
Teeten, flu; no *timer did the electors shoulder their arms, but
the party dispersed at the aspect of their hostile array. Again had
this seine party, after being orepultntred fur live years, re-ascended
lroin their grave, and expecting • that many of the warriors