The Sun.
London, England, 1839-05-25 00:00:00

(FROM OUR OWN REPORTER.)
BIRMINDRAXI, FRIDAY, 4 o'CLocK.
The great Birmingham demonstration, which took
place here this morning, has passed off without any even
the slightest disturbance, although from the circumstance
of the fair being held at this particular time, the town
was crowded by an immense concourse of persons of all
classes, and from all quarters of the surrounding coun-
try. How far this was owing to the good sense and
peaceable disposition of the people, or from the exertions
of the leaders of the movement party here, under whose
directions the arrangements were organised, may bega-
thered from the copy of the placard calling the meeting,
which had been extensively posted throughout the town
for some days previously
" IMPORTANT BIRMINGHAM DEMON-
STRATION !
" Men of Birmingham !—Rally round the Conven-
tion. A great meeting will be held at Holloway-head on
Friday, the 24th of May, when an address to her Majesty
will be submitted to the meeting, according to the re
commendation of the General Convention. Men of
Birmingham, who desire to change this land of misery,
attend ! Attend, all those who wish to make the house
of poverty a house of plenty. Attend, all those whose
humanity teaches them to do as they would be done by.
Attend, all those who detest the degrading influence of
slavery, and who would give to every man, whatever
may be his creed or colour, the great and protecting
mantle of freedom. Attend, all tho-e who believe in
the word of God, wherein is denounced the persecutors
and enslavers of his brother man. Attend, all those
who prefer the use of reason rather than the use of arms
in obtaining the Constitutional rights of all mankind
Men of Birmingham, attend, and show the enemies of
peace that your object is to equalise the laws which
would preserve, support, and maintain that order
is desirable to all her Majesty's good and loyal subjects,
and none more so than the Birmingham Radical and
Constitutional Association, &c."
Messrs. O'Connor, Taylor, M.Douall, and O'Brien
were announced to be present, and it was added
that the Birmingham Delegates would be in at-
tendance, to relinquish their trust, if called upon
so to do. Arrangements were made for assem-
b!ing at the Rodney Tavern in Edmund-street, at
one o'clock, where the various trades were requested to
be in attendance at half-past twelve. At this hour,
however, the attendance was very limited, there being
not more than 100 or 200 persons in the street ; but at
one o'clock, when the procession started there might be
from five to six hundred persons assembled. The pro-
cession, accompanied by the Delegates and a band,
with banners, flags, &c., moved down Edward-street,
Suffolk-street, Exeter-row, on to Holloway-head,
where it arrived at a quarter to two. On arriving at
the ground the Delegates were received with loud cheers.
Mr. PORTER, of Bull-street, was then called to the
Chair, and addressed the meeting, which at this time
had swelled to about 3,000 persons. He proposed (as
it was the anniversary of her Majesty's birthday)
that they should commence their proceedings by giving
three cheers for Queen Victoria. The call having been
responded to by three hearty cheers, the Chairman said
they were prepared to take their stand on ft noble
grounds, and to stand up for their rights and their Queen.
Mr. KENNItor7 rose to move an address to the
Queen. The people had been humbugged long enough
by pretended Radicals—the mask had fallen off, and
they had now become base, wicked, and place-preserv-
ing Whigs—(Cheers)—corporation-mongers.—(Laugh-
ter.) They were plundering the people ; they were
called base and bloody minded. Against such they
must defend themselves, for such were the men who
would deprive the people of their liberties.—(Cheers.)
The members of the Convention were their true friends,
and he called en them to persevere till they achieved the
victory.—(Cheers.) They were traduced and desig-
nated as enemies of religion, but let them show their
religion by loving their neighbours ; let them show tneir
loyalty to their Queen and the true interests of their
country. Peace, happiness, and love would then be
the boon of their unhappy country. This might
be called seditious language, but it was the
language of a true-hearted Englishman. At the
present time the town was inundated with military.
Such an act was unconstitutional ; they had no right to
coerce them ; they were under martial government at the
present time ; the town was divided into districts and
enrolled under officers, with the view of inflicting a stab
on their liberties. They must be met in the same way
by the people, and he called upon the Members of the
borough to refute the calumnies which were attempted
to be heaped on the men of Birmingham. He concluded
by moving the following Address to her Majesty :
" We, your Majesty's loyal and dutiful subjects, in
public meeting assembled, do beg most sincerely to offer
to you our most ardent attachment to your person, and
in return we most anxiously implore that the interests of
the working men of Birmingham, and of the country in
general, may not be deemed unworthy of your conside-
ration, and that we, your Majesty's subjects as a body,
may find that protection which will insure the safety of
your Crown. Hoping you may call to your Majesty's
counsels men who will sanction and promote the adop-
tion of the People's Charter, and in whom the great
body of the people can place confidence," &c.
Mr. FALLOWES briefly seconded the adoption of the
address. Their fellow townsman had been thrown
into prison for nothing but defending his rights. He
trusted the time would come when every man would
come forward and show himself: When he looked on
the hundreds and thousands of starving individuals in the
country, it could not be said that they were living un-
der a good Government, and until it was reformed they
should never relax in their efforts.
F. O'CoNNoR, Esq., supported the resolution. Ile
hoped if Inspector Field or tax-gatherer Chapman were
present they would come forward,and nothave to jog their
memories for what wassail two months afterwards. He
had heard one of the ruffians perjure himself. He did
not regret the smallness of the meeting, for if the
people were not there he knew where to find them.—
(Cheers.) He saw half a million of men assembled
together on Tuesday last in defiance of the order of the
Magistrates. They had glorious meetings at Newcastle,
Liverpool, Bath, Montgomeryshire ; but in Wales Mr.
Marsden and Mr. Jones were there threatened with in-
carceration. In Lancashire and Yorkshire they ex-
pected to have hundreds of thousands assembled toge-
gether. There was a great exhibition of military the
other day, but the people are determined to meet in
defiance of them and the Magistrates. The present.
system of Government was to subdivide the pro-
perty of the middle classes, and the trades would
next be laid hold of and deprived of their strength.
Since they had met there before, they had been win-
nowing the chaff from the corn. If Robert Kelly
Douglas, as he was portentously called at the Conven-
tion, had been present at the great meeting on Tuesday,
he would have seen fifty thousand men assembled at
Peep Green. One of their Delegates had been ar-
rested, and committed to prison. It was necessary for
them to be discreet, as the evidence of spies would in
future be taken against them before magistrates—the
very men who had led them on in 1832. They must
not be trapped into addresses to the Queen ; but what
guarantee would they have for the Queen, if the
hellish satraps, headed by Sir Robert Peel, were suf-
fered to come into power? For he should not be astoe
wished if the trick was to dispose of their young Queen
in order that the mustachioed King of Hanover might
rule over them. It was for this cause that he lent him-
self to the address, that might ensure her fair play. As
an attack was being made on the Queen, he advised
every man who had not a sword, to sell his garment and
purchase one, and let the motto on that sword be—" In
defence of our Queen, our rights, and our country."—
(Cheers.) He advised the people to keep within the
law. He had kept clear of the meshes of the law, and
lie advised others to do the same. He concluded by
cautioning them against the hypocrites who had deserted
them, and who would have led them on to anarchy and
arson in the year 1832. Being obliged to return to
Manchester, Mr. Connor concluded by recommending
peace, law, and order, and by supporting the address,
stating that he had travelled that morning with a per-
son belonging to Manchester, who, in conversation, said
he would go a hundred miles to see that vilain Feargus
O'Connor hung.—( Laughter.) He trusted the Re-
porter would give him an opportunity of knoeiner that
he had the pleasure of travelling with Feargus O'Con-
nor. There was to be a meeting at Kersal-moor to-
morrow, and if the military were called out, and blood-
shed ensued, lie advised every man to throw down their
hammers, to take their wives and families and leave
the town, shed no drop of blood, do no act
of violence, but wait patiently till an ambassador
from the people arrived, and they received directions
how to act. Whether in the day or dead of night, he
would be always ready to respond to their call, and ren-
der his assistance in the hour of difficulty and of danger.
—(Loud cheers.)
B. O'BRIEN, Esq., next addressed the meeting.
There ought to have been 200,000 men present this
day, and he regretted to see so small an attendance. In
this he differed from Mr. O'Connor ; for of all the meet-
ings he had attended this week, the present was the
smallest.—( Hear.) The reports of the Delegates
at these meetings were most favourable, and where
they had sent hundreds, they would now send thou-
sands to attend their future meetings in defiance of the
proclamations of the magistrates. He gave an account
of the several meetings which he had attended during
the last few days, which went off in the most enthu-
siastic manner. In Sherwood Forest, near Nottingham,
he met from 20,000 to 25,000 persons. The people
were up and doing in other places ; but the men of
Birmingham were not doing their duty ; they should
have been up and doing like the men of other places.
He wished to knew why the people of Walsall and
Dudley were not present ; they ought to have been pre-
sent, and if they did not co-operate with their friends they
were forfeiting their own liberties. The yeomanry were
drilling in order that they might be more expe-
ditious in cutting the throats of the people ;
and who were those yeomanry ? Bull-headed farmers
and upstart shopocracy.—(Loud cheers.) These
are the fellows that were their enemies, men who would