The Sun.
London, England, 1837-09-12 00:00:00

Mr. BROTHERTON then rose and said,—Words cannot
express my feelings.—(Cheers.) I must therefore ask you
to imagine all that warm affection and a grateful heart can
offer. lam very sensible, however, that this manifestation
—this enthusiastic feeling which you have manifested to-
wards me, is not so much to be attributed to any merit of
my own, as •to the circumstance that I have the honour to
be your representative—(Loud cheers)—and being the ad-
vocate of those principles which you approve, and for the
maintenance of which you have made such great sacrifices.
I sincerely congratulate you upon the glorious triumph that
has been achieved over Toryism, corruption, and intimida-
tion.—(Loud cheers.) I have always told you that I
would stand by you if you stood by me ; and I am deter.
mined to be faithful to my promise. I hold in my hand a
placard which was issued by Mr. Garnott's committee, in
which they assert that we polled dead men. My friends
have made a most particular examination—they have
visited every district, and I am assured by them that
there is not the slightest foundation for the assertion. We
are not afraid of stating to the public what it is we want.
I believe that every one in this room, and every real Re-
former in this country, will respond to this sentiment—that
we wish for cheap and good government—that we desire
that our young and amiable Queen may long reign in honour
and peace, and that the people in every part of her domi-
minions may be free, prosperous and happy.--(Cheers.)
We desire that justice may be done to Ireland.—(Loud
cheers)—that she may have equal laws and enjoy similar
institutions to those in England and Scotland. We de-
sire not that the Reform Bill shall be repealed—(hear)—
but enlarged ; and we wish that the franchise may be ex-
tended to such an extent as would be consistent with the
welfare and prosperity and happiness of the people.—
We wish that the franchise may be free and the elections
pure.—(Loud cheers.) We desire that the farmer may no
longer be driven to the poll as if he was his landlord's serf ;
and we wish the shopkeeper and the artisan and labourer
not to be deprived of their property and employment for
having given an honest vote.—(Loud cheers.) We wish
that trade should be as free as the wind. We wish the
merchant and manufacturer to be rewarded for their en-
tsrprise-L-the artisan for his skill, and the labourer for the
sweat of his brow.—(Cheers.) We desire that education
may be extended widely throughout the country—that the
people may be better educated, in order that they may
know their rights and their duties—and I trust that
Christian liberty shall be extended throughout the whole
of her Majesty's dominions.—(Cheers.) These are our
principles—these arc the measures that we want.
Toryism means this—" Look to the good of the -aristo-
cracy ; to the few." Reformers look chiefly to the good of
the many.—(Cheers.) Now what have the Tories done ?
I like to judge. of the future by the past.—( Hear.) Some
want to persuade me that the Tories are as good as the
Whigs. I have never been the defenders of the Whigs.;,,
but when I "pminpare
_them: with
,the othei party, I tim dis-
posed tolook to those wi; are going in the right direction,
and not to those who' are aseekins• to do every thing.tbey
can for their' Own interest, at the expense of the nation.
Whit has been the, practice of the Tories ?" .We must
.look; back to enable us to arrive at. a proper, udgritent,—
(Hear.) 'Ever 'since I can remember (fpr I can remember
what was done in this town forty years ago), I have known
scarcely any thing of them except as national plunderers.—
(Cheers.) Ever since the 1792 to 1814 they revelled in
the profits of war. They increased the debt 600 millions ;
and at the close of the war, when peace came, although
they pledged their last acre and their last guinea, they
duped the working classes in the same way that they have
been duping them lately—they got them on their side to
vote for the war, under this pledge. But what did the
aristocracy do at the end of the war ? They having the
power of making laws to suit their own purpose, instead of
taking off the expenditure, passed the corn law to throw
the burden on the commercial world. When the people
complained and petitioned for a Reform in Parliament, the
Tory Government, suspended the Habeas Corpus Act, and
passed gagging Bills, and sent the soldiers amongst the
people ; and I are sorry to say that my Tory opponent was
one of the approvers of the Castlereagh Government, and
of those measures which had nearly brought the coun-
try to a bloody revolution.—( Hear, and loud cheers.)
We have been at peace twenty-two years,—the Tories
have governed the country during the greeter part of. the
time,--and the army and navy have cost the nation since
the peace upwards of 400 millions—more than three times
the amount of all the poor's rates that have been levied
in all England and Wales during the same period. This
will shew you the true cause of the distress of the na-
tion. The Reformers, during the few years that they
been in office, have reduced and taken off 8,000,0001. of
taxes. They have shewn some regard for economy ; for
the revenue is collected at half the sum that it was collected
for by the Tories.—(Cheers.) The expense of collecting
the revenue (under the Tories) was ten per cent ; but it is
only five per cent. under the Reformers. No wonder then
that those who are in office should be opposed to them.
They have opened an intercourse with the East, that has
taken off the monopoly of the East India Company, as re-
gards the trade to India and China. They have opened
that trade. They have abolished slavery, and I trust, that
this will lead to its abolition throughout the world.—
(Cheers.) Again : let us not forget that they have reduced
the duty on newspapers, which tends to increase the know-
ledge of the labouring classes ; they have also passed several