The Sun.
London, England, 1837-05-04 00:00:00

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AVESTMINSTER ELECTION.

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(i,iiir-tstethe :),:t.).:le.,..7vrednionig.
St.n vci.creyornrienfileirao,u,sov,7re_segtuinagreo)fv,e,alseciticoirds,
purpose or
et the Belgrale 11oittl, Ebury-street, tor the
Neal:lY
heur:!:g Mr. Leader state his political opinions.
t;6O persons were present, among tl.e gentlemen oir
tlvie,
platform we observed Mr.ll c. C. ..1 tiers. M.P. ; Dr. Bett'
ring, M.P. ; Mr.' M. J. O'Connell, lei. P, ; Mr. W. IV' -
hw a, M.P. ; Mr. Elphinstone, M.P. ; Co!onel Thompson,
M.P. ; Mr. Crawford, Mr. Place, Dr. Wade, Bte. ,
Mr. GaoTE, M.P., was called to the chair amid loud
cheers, and addressed the meeting to the following effect '-",,,
Gentlemen and brother electors—We are about to struggi':
for the representation of Westminster under circumstattelse
most peculiar and unprecedented.—( Hear, hear.) 1, 1,4.,
I 6711PtiOrl of your late representative, Sir Francis BUNT':
his taken place in a manner and with a declaration and with
a suddenness which greatly astonished me, and .which uins;
equally have astonished you.—(Hear.) 1 am not ab;ie
te. indnige in any acrimonious language respec:in!gt
con,
Franeis Burdett's past or present conduct. To his pat. ' ,
duct I look back with unqualified esteem and admiration:
Meal., hear.) He was the powerful advocate of the nebere
liberties at a time when reform was held to be a daninan'i
heresy, instead of its being, as now, a darling creed, an",
I cannot, therefore, bear to speak of him in terms bordeirw
?rig on harshness. But, Gentlemen, though you alld r e
other electors of Westminster would have pardoned 501
in Sir Francis Burdett, in consideration of his past COntieuot
—his past political life—there are things which you cannot
and which you ought not to pardon.—(Cheers.) You ettns,
pardon his entire abnegation of reform principles, 44 'lOO
very principles which constituted the great hoed of tm' 1
between him and the electors of Westminster.—(Cheers)
When I call to mind the speeches of Sir F. Burdett in 134,5 e
times, and compare those speeches with the insultintg, be
insufferable, letter which he has been persuaded to write 1
the electors of 'Westminster in tendering his resi
can scarcely persuade myself that it is the same person tn /
was engaged in both transactions.—(Hear.) Gentletnen'au
am persuaded that every one of you feels that this ibis
election of no light or trifling importance.—(Heilr•L oe
, is in point of fact a contest between the Tory facile.' is
the one side, and the cause of Liberalism on the otherv_,
which contest the Tories have the advantage of the nee:
of Sir Francis Burdett, and of the echo of his former r`j
putation. Gentlemen, the next consideration for us, sej
the most important, regards the gentleman who is propose'
as a substitute for Sir Francis Burdett, Mr. Leader('
gnation 0
(Cheers.) It is a grave and important question for the We.
tors of Westminster—is Mr. Leader worthy of their or
port and confidence ?—( Hear.) Gentlemen, I do not hes''
tate to say, front a considerable knOwledge of Mr. Lead
and his qualities, that he is fully worthy of the esteem allio
entire confidence of the electors of Westminster. 1,_°„(1
venture to promise you that Mr. Leader wiil ever be weio
the unhesitating and uncompromising adVoeate of ta
people's rights, of good Government, both in prioeintee ;111r,
in detail.—(Loud cheers.) I have sat by the side of ,01
Leader in the House of Commons now between tg I
' three years, and I may state most conscientiously the,yo
have never once seen him swerve from the cause 01
people, whether under favourable or unfavourable circa14
stances.—(Cheers.) I can bear full testimony to the 11'4
and steady way in which he has always advocated leo
principles, even in the face of large majorities, and at tie/to
when good principles were not supported as they ought 0
have been by the Ministry.--(Hear, hear.) I can be j
testimony both to the fidelity with which he has advocated
these principles, and to the. high ability, the intellect, 11,5.0
the eloquence which on many occasions he has displaYelet
the people's cause.—(Loud cheers.) It matters not,
me impress upon you, for the present great pure,'
whether a man shall fully and entirely, and in eye%
point concur in the sentiments embodied in Mr. Leaded
address. It is sufficient that a man is an advocate be
the progression towards good Government, and nr
_Aft ,3
principles of Reform, to make him on this occasion On)
Sir Francis Burdett and support Mr. Leader.—(Chcr ;SThis is the way in which I put the question, and tbiood
the way in which I trust it will be regarded by the eta
sense of the electors of Westminster. This is no time {or
sense
splitting hairs, or differences of opinion among Refornierto
—(Cheers.) This is not the time for a friend of referd
to hesitate, because he may happen to go probably her!"
or may happen not exactly to go so far as, Mr. Leader',;s
(Hear, hear.) The broad distinction between Sir Fran;
Burdett and Mr. Leader is, that Mr. Leader is an °yr;
cate of the onward principles sof good and cheap Pre-'
rribnt, while Sir Francis Burdett is the advocate of stlr
tionary principles, the adherent of the Tory fact'- be'
(Hear.) Between such men no genuine Reformer call '''
sitate for a moment.—(Loud cheers.) , rii
Mr. CRAWFORD rose to move the first resolution. eig.;6
years since Sir F. Burdett entered Parliament as a 1"PO
but, in due time, became a thorough-going Radical, tbt►
best Radical of his time, insisting upon. the vote by ball,
the extension of the suffrage, the shortening the tin"";
tion of Parliaments, and religl'ouS liberty in its broadess
basis. Upon these subjects Sir F. Burdett delivere:
some of the finest and most philosopinleal speeches ever eLe,
tered, and he (Mr. Crawford) would take the liher„tf,
of reading to the meeting some short extracts from a sPe,e;,
delivered by Sir F. Burdett, at the Crown and ,Anchor lilt
vern, in 1818, in which he embraced all these topics: 1° reePot
to a speech of a Mr. Clarke, a friend of his, J 0
Cis
-eit
quite so thorough a Radical as he then was, Sir ri'l
said, '‘ That as to Mr. Clarke's mention of tolerater
hope and trust that such intolerable toleration will bee'
tually got rid of in the nineteenth century. I hope
set
this hypocritical cant of the Church of England, 'lte,
only as a means for monopolising the benefits of the Ststi.
will be done away. The prospect in this respect is gr,is,bo
fying ;in Ireland there is a rising spirit of liberality of
eo
Protestants have met and petitioned for the libertie° Ds
the Catholics—those rights to which all were equally h
titled. I trust that persons of all religions will see t_„."
there is only one religion in politics—that is, to be fre`bte
that it cannot be secured but by securing, each man's °Ste,
unalienable, and more especially the right of being iild
presented. * * * * * ;vNow, if a man tri9;e:l
be trusted out of Bedlam—if anything at all can be tit).
to him, it is the privilege of saying Weich of his °e"'#
hours he likes best, or can best trust or confide in. of
* 'sl would wish to extend the sub rage to °cod
male of twenty-one years of age of sound mind And gibe
conduct. * * >s* 4 I do, indeed, think thettbeir
period of a year is a very natural one to assign ror " _fall
Parliamentary limitation. At the end of a year it is lir
for most men to look into their accounts, to call in they
debts, and to provide for the demands of the next tnwe,tise
month. In the same way the Members of annual 1,.,e; he
merits, having examined into the national affairs, illirt-bel
dismissed at the conclusion of the business for whicf fi of
were called together." This was the Sir F. Bur"6"itor
1818.—( Hear, hear, hear.) What was the Sir r• f 0
dctt of 1837?—(Hear, hear, hear.) They had healeste
letter addressed by Sir F. Burdett to the electors of
toji
minster.—( Hear, hear.) The letter was very ingneu%sd
dated from Brighton, where the Honourable Baronet os,
been enjoying the sea breezes for the last eighteen men
—(Hear, hear, and laughter.) The Honourable 1331. day
was not at Brighton now, however, for he had that his
come up to town in a coach and four, accompanied 'IMP
friend Mr. Croker—(Hear, hear, and laughter)-;blie
Croker, a gentleman receiving 2,000/. a-year of the Poots
money, and one of the most bitter and effective oPP%sion
of the Reform Bill—( Hear, hear.) With the perm
read
read
of the meeting lie (Mr. Crawford) would proceed t°lo,-,)
this letter, and offer a few comments on it.—(frear'
Mr. Crawford then read the letter as follows :-- ~ 27.
" Brighton, Aprpbv she
" Gentlemen—l have just had transmitted to no, Aby 6
High Bailiff of Westminster, a Resolution adopte,"wrese
public meeting in Covent-garden of the electors 01
groans
minster, calling upon me to vacate my seat, upon the Thi
of my having lost the confidence of my constituents.,
short
application so far differs from a similar one sent to me praish
time since by a meeting of some gentlemen at the fret
fret
Coffee-house, that it bears the semblance of rocee"ll, lio,ti
a public meeting of the electors of Westminster; fromow
hide is at least assumed, though the voice may be 5 the Pei
different ; ' the hands are the hands of Esau,' said ,50 o
triarch of old, ' but the voice is the voice of Jacob ;„offeee
this meeting, the voice is the voice of the British 'Jo eitf,
house, and the parties, as far as appears, the sametfotiol7o
rate it affords me an opportunity, and, I trust, with wgiatobtotiti;et
of complying, to use the fashionable patrictici
wants and wishes of this portion of the peoind ; 4 seeeP' or
is thrown down thus publicly, and I take up In:. etorn lire
challenge thus publicly given. I will apply for the Chi'io,en ,if
dreds, and then call upon the electors of Westminster adbetPip
themselves for or against a zealous supporter and flail
..,d cons is
as I hare ever been and am, of the laws, institutions, 8"_,,,,00.01_,
tution of England. I should net, however, ventur 7007
decision, provoked to it as I am, nettled and stung iluofsir 5, ;
was I not satisfied from recent eppearances, thst 11080, pall:0,
vantage will thereby be given or can be taken, bYinjoes, swill
all will start fair, and upon equal terms, and the op jolter I
timents, and principles of the electors of Weslisoutt.,,o
be clearly manifested, and placed beyond coil or arm roll
shall offer myself to your support as the supporter or 0,0
and institutions of the country, as a resolute OPP:e pio) of
the new-fang, led notions, shallow doctrines and crlpotteiasio
now afloat. The resolution passed at the lat.;;;010/5eoott"
meeting, in Covent-garden, with a common fallacy t0:03,
assertion, or takes an assertion for a proof, and C°„ ohantA id„
elusion as if it were a feet. It asserts that tidies-,iroi)Olviot 0
politics, and that I am opposed to all rem r,rhe .se..,j,
the correction of abuses in Church and State..
__: obtiOF;
that it is they who make this assertion, wbo 1t5,70111 la ." '
and not I—like men in a ship, who fancy the PO"
iii ii,
tion instead of themselves. Nit .-60,
g. Gentlemen, when I was sent to the Tower' w".. so si..st'
~ I sill,_„ff 17,,
motto ? It was this—' Hold to the taws. .3 notnimvstbe
' The Constitution, the whole Constitution, ao„"Reforte2,,ior
the Constitution,' was inscribed on the banner of. „de .0"; of
we struggled together to obtain it. Under the
.s7;ttope, di
we shall, I trust, again contend successfully for the
sisofb '-
the laws, institutions, and constitution of Entllan