The Sun.
London, England, 1837-08-01 00:00:00

WEST KENT ELECTION.

A meeting of the friends and supporters of T. Law
Hodges, Esq., when at the Town-hall, Dartford, on Friday
last, when that gentleman attended for the purpose of ren-
dering an account of his past Parliamentary conduct, and
explaining his political opinions. The meeting was a nu-
merous and respectable one. Richard Leigh, Esq., of
Hawley, was called to the chair.

Mr. HonGvs rose amid great cheering. He looked upon
the present as an important crisis in the affairs of the
country. He could remember nothing like it, and he was
scarcely aware of any thing like it upon record. The con-
duct of the electors of England at the present period would
stamp the destinies of the kingdom. It way well known
that the cause of reform had not advanced proportionably
to the wishes and expestations of the people, and many
were dissatisfied in consequence of the delay ; but whose
fault was it that the progress had not been more rapid ?
The Ministers, who were desirous of effecting every prac-
ticable beneficial reform, had been hampered by various
circumstances. This was the sole cause of their adniinis-

tration falling short of public expectation. The House of
Peers had been constantly hostile to reform, and had thrown
every obstacle in the way of all the improvement which the
Ministry and the public were desirous of effecting. During
the law reign the Court had also been opposed to the
wishes of the people. The Sovereign himself had clothed
his reign with immortal honour, in having been instru-
mental in the passing of the Reform Bill. William the
.Fourth had lent himself to the cause of Reform, he be-
lieved with great heartiness and good will ; but he
was harassed and annoyed by those about his person—
(Cheers)—was kept in a state of constant anxiety and
alarm through their agency, and thus prevented from pur-
suiiig the bent of his own inclination and conviction.—

(Cheers.) The case, however, is different now. They
had a young and virtuous Queen—(Cheering) upon the
throne, whose sympathies are blended with the happiness
of her subjects, and who was untrammelled with the inter-
ference of those inimical to the rights and desires or the
people.—(Renewed cheers.) If the electors of the king-
dom perfornied their duty, it would not be in the power of
a faction to retard the cause of Reform for the future. It
had been said that he (Mr. Hodges) was a revolutionist,
that he would pull down the church and the throne, and
set up the Pope in their stead. Now he was of opinion
that the Tories were the real revolutionists, for by opposing
and preventing the correction of abuses in Church and
State, they were bringing both into imminent danger.
If the church and the throne should be pulled down,
it would be the Tories to whom the mischief would
be attributable.—(Loud hears.) The abuses of the
church were the only unpopular parts of the establish-
ment—reform these, base the institution upon the :affec-
tions of the people, and there will be no danger of its
stability.---(Loud cheers.) Among the grievances which
were complained of as appertaining to the Church was that
of Church-rates. The impost falling hard upon many classes
of persons had induced them to look into the ancient law
of the subject, and to the purposes for which it was first
called into existence, and in the search the misapplication of
these rates had been made apparent—ay, and their legality
was rendered more than doubtful—so much so, that it was
very difficult to recover them under any legal process. The
public wore desirous that this question should be set at rest.
There was a personal subject to which it might be neces-
srry for him to allude, and which he should not have in-
troduced but that it misht be brought before them, as it lied
before others, by his opponents when he was not by to an-
swer it. At one of the meetings which he attended he was
asked whether he was not an Atheist ; it having been
stated, for the purpose of deluding those with whom such
a charge was likely to have any weight, that he was op-
posed to the diffusion of education, an enemy to Sunday
schools, and that he forbade the reading of the Bible. In
answer to this, he could only refer to his neighbours,
to those who had known him for years—to the resi-
dents of his own parish, where he had lived upwards
of 20 years, for the facts of this case. They would tell
them that he had always been a member—an unworthy
member—but still a member of the Church of England;
that he had always to the utmost of his power assisted in
promoting the means of education to all classes, and that
his unchanged tenets had been, that the best education
was that based upon the Holy Scriptures.—(Hear, hear.)
He had before said that this was an important crisis at
which they had arrived. The eyes of the whole world
were at that moment fixed upon England, and the progress
Of civilisation depended upon the manner in which the fu-
ture Government of this country was to be conducted.
In a commercial, in a political, and moral point of view,
England was far in advance of other nations. It was,
therefore, to her other states looked fer the impetus to pro-
pel their own advance. Let the momentum cease here,
and the progress of social improvement would be stayed
throughout Europe. It depends wholly upon the electors
of this country whether the hopes of the world are to be
frustrated, or the cause of freedom and civilization to tri-
umph.—(Hear, hear.) They had a Queen whose feelings
accord with those of her people.—(Cheers.) One of the
great topics of the present day had become almost a bye-word
from its frequent repetition, but they must not be deterred
by this from saying something about its merits. He alluded
to the cry of " Justice for Ireland."—(Hear, hear.) On
this subject he could speak in some measure from experience.
About forty years age—in the year 1798—when he was
a young man, and had just left college, it was his fate to
see something of Irish life under peculiar circumstances.
The country was then in a state of rebellion, and he had
joined a regiment which was sent with others to suppress
the revolt. He went thither, as most of the young officers
who went with him did, with feelings entirely hostile to the
Irish as to a people factious, rebellious, upon whom all
kiudness and conciliation would be utterly thrown away ;
for we supposed that they had the same laws, the same li-
berties and privileges as we enjoyed ourselves, and that
they, therefore, had no more real cause of complaint than
the English. But a few weeks' experience were sufficient
to set them right on these points. When they saw the
misery, the abject wretchedness, to which a long course of
misgovernment had reduced the people, the servility which
was demanded from them, and the way in which they were
treated, they were ready to exclaim—lie believed some of
them did so, and himself for one—that instead of being
surprised at the disposition to rebellion among the Irish, if
he were an Irishman he would be a rebel too.—(Cheers.)
lie did not relate this to elicit any applause, but merely to
show them what. had led to the opinion which he then en-
tertained respecting Ireland. He arrived at the conviction
then, and he was as much convinced of its truth now, that
there were three things absolutely necessary to be done be-
fore Ireland could become a happy and peaceful countiy,
The first was, Catholic emancipation, on which he need, net
then say anything, because that had been granteel
years since ; the second was, the establishment of
law for Ireland, a measure which, during the lee
Session o poor-
f
Parliament, reached such a state of forwar" t
thing necessary was, that equal laws ness that there
could be little doubt of its passing in the •
; and thehird
Irish as to the English—(Lo 1
u` ) that there should
be no distinction as to rights ' 'eers
rivile,res among any of
the subjects of the Britiels P
c 1• should
(Cheers.) I hrough
Tory misgovernment 1- be given to the
lermelPeinrde. and England had only
narrowly escaped I ILet the Tories again
assume the rein„ convulsion.
to es eece ae an- -
most afraid to contern plate. The Tories would attempt
likel"r°‘; e rmmanne not; and the consequencesprincir)les wasstoelit•ie-
i rule Ireleind with the e sword, as Russia was now ruling
°I3MI, and as the Du ke of Cumberland must rule Han-
over if he persisted in his present career.—(Loud cheers.)
Let them then take wt inning by their foreknowledge and
from the events of the p ast, and, by rendering justice where
It was due, consolidate t he union between England, Ireland,
end Scotland, which m .ght then defy the threats of the
world. With the secu sity of the ballot, and the diffusion
of education, the extens ion of the franchise would be safe
and politic as well as ju! t.—(Cheers.) [Some person here
asked Mr. Hodges what was his opinion on the New Poor-
, I."T 'I This (said Mr. 's -lodges) had been made a stalking-
horse by the Tories for t he purpose of faction, and for that
reason he had avoided c 'pressing his opinion 011 411 QCCa.