The Sun.
London, England, 1839-05-21 00:00:00

NING EDITION.

MEETING IN THE BOROUGH
TO ADDRESS HER MAJESTY.

elelcutorcs°llosefquenr* of a requisition, signed by fifty-five
1 John H I
;alit i ntg 0 f
sentinp the. Borough of Southwark, addressed to
"3'4, Esq., High Bailiff of the Borough, a
the electors was this day held at the Town
° 'take into consideration the propriety of pre-
press' a loyal and dutiful address to her Majesty, ex-
press •
firr Jog their high admiration of thanks for the noble
t'
aness she has displayed in resisting the late unconsti-
4tional attempt of Sir Robert Peel to deprive her Ma-
jesty of the exercise of her free will in the choice of her
own private and confide-atial female friends and asso-
ciates.
The. HIGH BAIT:ISF took the Chair at one o'clock.
T'ne High . Railiff said, that having received the
rer tuisition, he.: had felt it his duty to comply with it,
ar id felt certain that the meeting would receive the re-
F oluti'aias and the address in a manner worthy of their
station. The first thing necessary was, that the requi-
sition should be read. The requisition having been
read,

1 Mr. GIAFTY said that as he believed every one pre-
sent perfectly understood the subject on which they had
been called together, the task which had devolved on
him was an easy one, in moving the first resolution. It
was to sanction the firmness of our amiable and virtu-
ous Queen, nr,d that title should always command the
respect of -every honest English heart, and make it
stand up for the protection of its spirited Sovereign.
lie w"ald therefore propose the first resolution, which
was, to . the effect, that it was alike essential to the Con-
St" .tion of the country to preserve the rights and privi-
Ler es of the Sovereign inviolate, as well as the privileges
' /the people ; and that her Majesty's subjects aro as
much bound to support the Queen in upholding the
dignity of the Crown, and her own personal indepen-
denae, as she is bound to prevent any infringement on
the just rights and immunities of the people.—(Cheers.)
Had her Majesty succumbed to Sir Robert Peel, we
should have had a Ministry inflicted on us, who, by
their measures when formerly in power, had plunged
the country in the greatest distress, from which we were
now only just emerging. We should again have been
plunged into misrule ; and instead of holding meetings
to ask for legislative protection, they would have been
obliged to have held meetings for the purpose of pro-
tec.ting themselves against the Legislature. Her Ma-
jesty had acted her part well.—(Cheers.) She had
'.old Sir R. Peel she had no disposition to avail herself
of his services. (Here Mr. Harvey was announced,
and entered the room amid loud cheering.) He was
sure they were all glad of the interruption. He called
upon the meeting to discharge their duty to themselves
and to the country at large by supporting this resolution
for the maintenance of the Queen's privileges and of the
people's rights, and when both could be brought to coin-
cide the country must prosper. Should we have had
our rights and privileges augmented or retarded by a
Tory Government ? They had been tried before, and
had brought forward no measures of amelioration.
There were many grounds of special oppression. They
need not fear much from the military establishment—
they
need not fear much from the naval establishment
—but they had much to fear from the Ecclesiastical
Establishment. What had Sir Robert Peel said in the
House of Commons 7—That the Church had awaked—
the
Church had slept long ; and would it had continued
to sleep. He would go to Ireland, and ask if the Church
was awake, and they would point to the churchyards, in
which were buried their slaughtered sons ; while in Wales
they would show their citizens immured in ptison. Was
the Church awake in England ? Yes, they had ample
proof of it in the cottages devoid of tables, stools, and
furniture, which had been sold for Church-rates. The
law authorising the existence of the Ecclesiastical Courts
ought to be scratched out of the statute-book, and the
ink turned over it. He would ask them where they
were to look for protection from the Ecclesiastical
Courts? He would say here (pointing to Mr. Harvey
and Mr. Humphrey.)—(Great cheering.) Mr. Grafty
I concluded by proposing the resolution.
Mr. WALKER. seconded the resolution. He would
not detain them long, because he knew they were
anxious to hear their representatives. The resolution
embodied two important considerations, the privileges
!1 of the Sovereign, and their own privileges also ; the
first had been most unjustly attacked by that party who
arrogated to themselves everything that was loyal. Sir
Robert Peel had insulted the Queen by endeavouring
to deprive her of her friends. He trusted that the pro-
ceedings of this day would not be a mere idle compli-
ment to the Queen, but that the address would be ac-
companied by expressions showing a determination to
have those rights and privileges which belonged to
Them. The late Ministry had not been slow to throw
the Queen into the hands of the Tories before they
had been beaten in the House of Commons, and had it
not been for the obstinacy of Sir Robert Peel a Tory
Government might have been in existence at this mo-
ment ; but he hoped before the present Cabinet was
completed something like a Durham would be asso-
ciated with it. He would call upon the Government to
leave off useless attempts to conciliate the Tories, and
rely for support on the people. The Queen bad de-
clared herself a Reformer—(Cheers)—and he should
t like to have seen the physiognomy of Sii Robert Peel
4
when she told him that she should have been happy to
i have done without him. It must have been the heaviest
i blow that he had ever received from a Palace before.
Her Majesty deserved the support of the people the
more because she was acting with firmness, and had
1 shown that she would not suffer herself to be trampled
oo by the Tories.
,1 On the resolution being put,
Mr. DAY said it was extremely unpleasant to move
an amendment to the resolution, but he felt called upon
• to do so. He hoped he was quite as loyal as other gen-
tlemen, and would support the Queen, but he was afraid
the object of the meeting was to support the Melbourne
f Ministry more than the Queen.--(Cheers, and cries of
• " No.") He could not forget that they had brought
forward the question of the Poor-law, and on that
, question it was necessary that the Queen should not be
' deceived. Mr. Dv then complained of the haste with
which the meeting had been convened, and complained
of difficulties which had been thrown in his way in con-
vening a meeting for considering the New Poor-law,
and of the non-attendance of the two Members on that
occasion. Mr. Harvey, he knew, was engaged in pub-
lic business connected with the Borough at the time,
and he trusted Mr. Humphery would be able to give
1 as good an excuse. He would move an address, by
way of amendment to the resolution. Mr. Day then
Iread an address by way of amendment, which, after
expressing admiration for the conduct of her Majesty,
stated that they did not approach her with party views,
and expressed the feeling of the meeting as being
strongly against the New Poor-laws, and that they had
no confidence in the present Ministry ; and praying her
Majesty to call to her Councils such men as would re-
peal it. The Address also expressed disapprobation of
a rural police, and of the system of centralization.
A long conversation here took place upon the point
of order as to when the amendment should be proposed.
It was ultimately arranged that the discussion on the
remaining resolu• ions should take place, and that on the
first being put to the meeting, the amendment of Mr.
Day should then be submitted.
The HIGH BAILIFF said, with respect to the meeting
having been got up in a hasty manner, he wished to be
allowed to state, that the requisition was brought to
him on Friday by Mr. Toulon, who wished the meeting
to be convened for an early day, mentioning the day.
He (the High Bailiff) thought it was too soon ; but
Mr. Toulon said, " there is a levee next Thursday,
when, if the address be prepared, we can all go up with
it."—(Laughter.)
Mr. APSLEY PELLATT said, it was his intention to
I move a resolution to the following effect :—That
Ithe inhabitants of this important and populous bo-
rough are deeply impressed with and admire the
noble and dignified firmness of her Majesty in re-
sisting the unconstitutional and unprecedented at-
tempt of the leader of the Tory party to control her
Majesty in the selection of her female attendants,
which, if successful, would have been subversive of one
of the dearest and most important of her Majesty's
privileges as a Queen, and rendered the choice of her
attendants wholely dependent on political changes."
Although there was no allusion to the Poor-law in this
resolution he was quite certain it would meet the appro-
bation of the meeting.—(Hear, hear.) Every one
present must feel that, her Majesty had made a dig-
nified, spirited, and powerful resistance to the uncon-
stitutional attempt made to usurp her rights, which
would raise her still higher in their estimation.—
(Cheers.) This must be the opinion of all men who pos.
weed the least degree of loyalty, and who were anxious
for the preservation of the Constitution, and to obtain an
enlightened Ministry—(Cheers)—not a Ministry fearful
of carrying out the principles they profess, because the
Lords were against them, and they had not such a hold
on the confidence of the people as to enable them to
produce proper measures. He was anxious that the
[ Ministry should be constituted of men of the highest
talent and most Liberal principles that could be found ;
he wished the old Ministry to be in some degree
weeded, and that only those should be left who would
carry out their principles, even though resignation
should be the result.—(Cheers.) Here was a Tory
Ministry about to ride rough-shod over the people, but
the gseen had by her spirited conduct prevented the
country from being subservient to the Aristocracy, and
delivered the people from an impending danger of the
most serious description. It was therefore the duty of
the meeting to send an address to her Majesty ex-
pressive of their approbation of the measures adopted.
1 --(Cheers.)
Mr. VOUILEY, in supporting the sentiments of the
last speaker, congratulated the meeting and electors of
)
the borough in having two Representatives who, on a
!scent occasion, stood so firm on the Jamaica question
11,1 Voting with the Ministry. He did not approve •f
the conduct of the Radical
party in the House of Corn-
awns on that occasion ; for if the present Ministry was
not all that could be wished, he would ask whether they
did not come nearer to the mark than the Tories ?
(Hear, hear.) But for the chapter of accidents the
country would have had a Tory Government instead of
a Liberal one. He was surprised that the present Go-
vernment I
vernment had been able to do go much. What had