The Sun.
London, England, 1837-01-07 00:00:00

pose a toast. It was " the health of his honoured and
respected friend, Sir William Molesworth,
Sir W. MOLESWORTH, M.P., most cordially coincided
with his Hon. Friend in the opinion he had expressed as to
the course of conduct which the Members of the popular

party in this country ought to pursue in the ensuing Ses-
sion. He trusted most sincerely that they would take up
a position of independence,and prove their determinati•n to
act up to the principles they had professed. Hitherto but
too many had abstained from expressing their sentiments
and opinions, lest they should endanger the security and the
existence of the Government. Many others had but too

often been induced to abandon measures of vast importance,
lest by persisting they should surround the Ministers with
difficulties ; while other independent Members, somewhat
bolder than the rest, when they had compelled the House
of Commons to listen to their statements and 'opinions,
found themselves in small minorities, deserted by those on
whom they had placed reliance, but who had been scared
from an adherence to their principles by the threats, en-
treaties, and prayers of the hangers-on of the Ministry.
—(Loud applause.) This was the consequence of the
position in which the popular party had placed itself
with reference to his Majesty's present advisers, and
this course of conduct, feeble as it was, had been productive
of disappointment in the minds and feelings of the people ;
it had created an indifference and kind of apathy towards
the leaders of the popular party, which their opponents had
now termed, and most unjustly termed, a reaction in the
feelings and sentiments of the great mass of the people of
this country.—( Hear, hear.) He (Sir W. Molesworth),
however, contended that there had been in the people no
change from Liberal to Conservative principles—(Cheers) ;
—but, on the contrary, that a vast and mighty change had
within the last few years taken place in exactly the opposite
direction.—( Applause.) Institutions and forms of govern-
ment formerly respected and venerated were now considered
most imperfect, and of them a reform was most loudly de-
manded.—( Hear, hear.) It bad been made apparent to the
country by the conduct of the House of Peers thut the
hereditary government of the aristocracy was bad.—
(Cheers.) And it was, he must own, to him matter of
earnest and most sincere joy that this conviction was rapidly
gaining ground.—(Applause.) The eyes of the people
were, he rejoiced, now being opened, and they were becoming
fully sensible of the evils which must result to all from the irre-
sponsible government of those whose interests and inclinations
were wholly distinct from those of the people at large.—
(Loud cheers.) By the rapid development of popular opi-
nions, and with those feelings prevalent in the nation, the
time had now arrived when the Members representing the
Liberal party in the House of Commons must assume that
independent position, and make the union between themselves
and the Ministry one of fairness and equality.—(Hear.) The
question of the ballot, and other great questions upon which
the two parties have been and are at issue must now be made
open questions. Fair play must now be given to popular
principles, and the measures adapted to carry out those prin-
ciples must now be submitted to the consideration of the
House of Commons.—(Great applause.) This done, and then
it would be for the unbiassed intelligence of the nation to
decide whether or not the wishes of the Liberal party should
be complied with. Such was the position which the Libe-
ral Members of the House of Commons ought to assume,
and then they conscientiously could and ought to support the
present Administration by every means in their power, so
long as the course pursued by that Administration was one
iota better than could be expected from a Conservative Mi-
nistry.—(Cheers.) While the representatives of the people
ought to attempt to change the imperfect measures of the
Government into complete measures of reform, still it would
be their duty to give, in opposition to the Conservatives,
their sincere and cordial assistance to the present Admini-
stration ; for in this manner they would do so without im-
putations being cast upon their intregrity—without sacrifice
of honour without compromise of principles.—(Hear.)
It had been urged that by such a course of proceeding the
stability of the present Government would be endangered—
that a chance of the return of the Conservatives would
thereby be hazarded. So far from that being the case, lie
(Sir W. Molesworth) believed that the means he had
thrown out were those by which alone the Conservative
party could be successfully opposed ; they were the only
means by which the energy and enthusiasm of the people
could be again excited, and he was confident that those
were the best and truest friends of the present Government
who urged them to pursue a bolder course.—( Hear, hear.)
His (Sir W. Molesworth) hatred to a Tory Government
was uncompromising and unquenchable—( Hear)—and he
should indeed regret to see such a Government again in
power ; but if, in order to keep a Whig Government in
existence, it were necessary that the popular member should
co-operate with them in doing nothing—should shrink from
attempting to carry out their principles—should suppress their
avowed sentiments, and thus produce on the minds of the
people doubts of their zeal, suspicions of their honesty, and
engender the baneful feeling that their leaders were mutu-
ally compromising their principles for the sake of power
and the good things connected with office—if such, he re-
peated, were the only means by which a Whig Govern-
ment could be kept in existence, then be should say the sa-
crifice was one of principle—a sacrifice which he would
never make.—(Loud cheers.) It had been said that minor
differences of opinion ought to be overlooked—that slight
shades of distinction might produce disunion, and therefore
ought not to be considered—that they ought to rejoice if
they obtained as much as they could.—(Hear, and a laugh.)
Now, undoubtedly this would all be right, provided by so
acting they did not sacrifice the means of obtaining more.
—(Cheers.) But he would here beg to ask, was the ques-
tion of the ballot merely a minor difference of opinion ?
Ask this of the tenantry of the counties, the shopkeepers
in the towns, and their answer will be, that the elective
franchise, without such protection, is to them an evil and
a curse.—( Hear, hear.) Was an extension of the suffrage
a minor question ? Were the repeal of the rate-paying
clauses of the Reform Act—the abolition of the Corn-
laws—a reform in the army and in the Universities—the
abolition of the Irish Church and of English Church-rates—
were all these questions of minor import ?—(Applause.)
Again, he must ask, were the feelings of the masses with
respect to the House of Peers merely a slight shade of dis-
tinction to be overlooked ?—(Cheers.) Were the ques-
tions upon which the representatives of the people most
loudly and energetically declaimed on the hustings, and
thereby obtained their elections, in Parliament to be sup-
pressed with their votes, on the plea that the discussion of
such topics might be injurious to the Ministry ?—(Applause.)
Such conduct on the part of the representatives of the people
ought not to be tolerated ; neither ought they to be permitted
to act in so discreditable and servile a manner.—(Hear.)
He (Sir W. Molesworth) did most sorrowfully but firmly
believe, that if the present Government did not pursue a
different line of policy than hitherto had marked their ca-
reer—if they did not consent to a fair and equal union be-
tween the popular party and themselves—if they did not
make the ballot an open question, their tenure of office
and of power would be but of short duration.—(Hear,
hear.) If they failed to alter their policy, though, in-
deed, they might linger on for a brief period, they could
never hope again to excite the enthusiasm of the people,
but, on the contrary, would become weaker every day,
and at last fall, a reproach to their friends, and a laughing-
stock to their foes.—(Cheers.) A. feeling of dogged resist-
ance to the Tories, of antipathy to the Conservatives,
had been mistaken for approbation of the conduct of
the present Government, but such approbation did not
exist, for amongst the people there was no strong
feeling in favour of the Whigs. —(Hear, hear, hear.)
Though both Whigs and Radicals concurred in hostility to
the Tories, yet that hostility originated from very different
causes. It had been said that if the popular party pursued
the course they recommended, Ministers would either retire
into private life, or would join with the Tories in oppo-
sition to the Radicals, and by such an union bid defiance to,
and indefinitely postpone, all reform. For many reasons,
he wholly disbelieved that any such results would ensue.
Union amongst the people was necessary ; there should be
an unity of purpose in clearly and distinctly determining
the means by which the power of the people could be
established, and in supporting at the hustings those only
who would advocate necessary measures. Any other union
would be false and fallacious in principle, inasmuch as it
would expend the energies of the people in a fruitless sup-
port of those who, when difficulties arose, would be found
against them in the ranks of the Conservatives.—(Loud
cheers.) The conflict between the Conservatives and the
popular party being one of principle could never be recon-
ciled ; it was a contest between the people and the aristo-
cracy—it was a contest between those who considered that
the poorest members of the community have the same stake
in good government, in the accumulation of capital, and
in the security of property as the richest—(Hear, hear)
—who believe that the vast majority of the people are suffi-
ciently aware of the importance of these facts, so that power
may safely be placed in their hands. The present was,
he repeated, a contest between those who entertained these
opinions, and those who maintained that the mass of the
people were made to plunder and to destroy, and who be-
lieved that person and property could not be secure unless
the ruling power was held by the aristocratic classes.—
(Cheers.) It was a struggle between the principles of
aristocracy and democracy—a part of that struggle which
has existed since the commencement of society—a struggle
in which democratic principles have ever acquired fresh
strength and vigour. How grossly ignorant, then, were
those who thought the popular party could ever league
itself with the Tories ; and still more ignorant were those
who, slighting the popular party, the Tory-Radicals, enter-
tamed the notion, that by fearlessly asserting and resolutely
acting up to its principles, it was aiding and assisting the
Conservative cause.—(Cheers.) In conclusion, the lion.
Member urged upon the meeting the absolute necessity of
their party making known their principles by reiterated
arguments and repeated discussions on every possible occa-
sion.—(The Hon. Baronet sat down amidst loud cheers.)