The Sun.
London, England, 1865-07-07 00:00:00

LONDON.

Yesterday an agg:egate meeting of electors, con-
vened at the instance of the four Liberal candidates,
was held at the London Tavern, to afford them an
opportunity, on the eve of the election, of meeting
a larger number of the constituency than has usually
assembled at the ward meetings which they have
been addressing nightly during the last ten days.
The meeting was numerously attended, and the
candidates, Mr. Crawford, Mr. Goschen, and Al-
derman Lawrence, with Mr. Leopold Rothschild,
representing his father, Baron Rothschild, were
accompanied to the hall by a large number of their
committee.

Mr. GASSIOT was called to the chair. On assum-
ing it, he said the meeting was one of the most im-
portant connected with the representation of the
city of London that had probably ever been held in
that house, for the result of the election for the city
would, to a great extent, govern that of other con-
stituencies, and he urged upon the Liberal electors
of London unanimity of action in the impending
struggle. (Cheers.) The chairman referred in pass-
ing to the absence from ill health of Baron Roths-
child, reminding item that the Baron had ever been
a true Reformer, that under his flag the Dissenters
had obtained privileges, and that he had always
lent his power and influence to promote the Liberal
cause. (Cheers.) In Wednesday's Times an address
2,ppeared in reference to the present contest, bear-
ing the signature of Mr. Thomas Baring, a gentle-
man of the highest character. Ile (the chairman)
was astonished that a man who was the very soul of
honour could have been so far led away by Tory
principles as to put his name to such a manifesto.
Alluding in particular to Mr. Lawrence, Mr. Baring,
as the chairman of the Conservative committee in
the city, said
"We do not wish to call in question the individual
merits of the four candidates whose collective election the
Liberal Registration Association demand of the constitu-
ency. We readily allow that the social position and in-
fluence of Baron de Rothschild may, notwithstanding his
continued absence from the House of Commons, be of in-
finite value to the Liberal Registration Association ; we do
not deny that the measures advocated and the votes given
by Mr. Crawford and Mr. Goschen are in strict accordance
with the doctrines and decrees of that association ; and if
Alderman Lawrence were the acknowledged and chosen
representative of the body of Aldermen and of the Corpo-
ration of the city of London, instead of being the nominee
of the association, we should be disposed to view his claims
in a more favourable light."

The fact was that, in the autumn of last year, Sir
James Duke having suddenly announced his inten-
tion of retiring from the representation, Alderman
Lawrence, who was then Lord Mayor, presented
himself as a candidate without consulting the asso-
ciation. The Liberal party in the city had always
felt that the Corporation, considering the great in-
terests committed to its care, should be specially
represented by one of the four members. Alder-
man Sir James Duke was never a favourite member
with the Liberal Association, and in the very last
vote he gave he walked into the lobby against Lord
Palmerston. He (the chairman) denied that the
Liberal Association had ever, directly or indirectly,
attempted to dictate to the electors in the choice of
representatives. Its primary business was to attend to
the registration in the various wards, and on the oc-
casion of elections to endeavour to select the candi-
dates most likely to enlist the confidence of the party,
and having done that to impress on the Liberal elec-
tors, as they did now, the necessity for unanimity
of action, if they wished to prevent the representa-
tion of the city being neutralised by the return of
an equal number of Conservatives and Liberals.
(Cheers.)

Mr. CRAWFORD, who was well received, next ad-
dressed the meeting. He said his colleagues and
himself had been prosecuting an active canvass, the
general result of which was most satisfactory to them
all. Alluding to the claim put forward by their op-
ponents to a share in the representation, he said the
Government of the country was conducted on the
principle of a majority ruling a minority ; and be-
lieving that the Liberal party in the city were in a
large majority, he held it was the bounden duty of
the party to use all legitimate exertions to obtain
the whole representation. (Hear, hear.) Mr. Baring
himself said :—" There can be little hesitation in
believing that the spirit of parties in Great Britain
prevails in a more subdued form than at auy previ-
ous period during the present generation." (A laugh)
Then Mr. Baring. referred to what he called " a
prevailing lethargic indifference." So far from that
being the case, he (Mr. Crawford) thought there
was never an occasion in the memory of living men
when the Liberal party were more determined to
wrest the representation from the Tories than at
the general election on which the country was about
to enter. Apathy might exist on the side of their
opponents, but not on theirs. The statement that
" the measures advocated and the votes given by
Mr. Crawford and Mr. Goschen were in strict ac-
cordance with the doctrines and decrees of the
Registration Association " was simply an imperti-
nence, and had no foundation whatever in fact.
For himself, he had invariably declined to pledge
himself to any elector or any question whatever,
feeling that it would be degrading to a representa-
tive to be the mere advocate of crotchets. (Cheers.)
Mr. Crawford reviewed shortly some of the more
conspicuous measures carried by the Government
during the expiring Parliament, dwelling especially
on the financial policy of Mr. Gladstone, the effect
of which, he said, had been to remove fetters which
had embarrassed trade and commerce, and to de-
stroy monopolies, the Chancellor of the Exchequer
having for his object the benefit of the many
rather than of the few. lie then read, as an
electioneering curiosity, an anonymous letter
which had been addressed to him from the Junior
Carlton Club, as follows :

"July 1.
" Sir,—A meeting of the electors of London will be held
at Gower's Horse Repository, in Cripplegate, on Monday
next, at 7 o'clock, when the Conservative candidates will
attend. Should there be a repetition of the Liberal tactics
in Bishopsgate—namely, a hired, organised band of ruffians
to disturb the proceedings—we give you fair notice that we
shall consider you and the other candidates personally
responsible for such a disgraceful proceeding, and we shall
at your meeting at the London Tavern on Thursday, and
at all your meetings, be forced to retaliate in a way you
will perhaps be scarcely prepared for.—Yours, &c.,

"SEVERAL CONSERVATIVE ELECTORS.

" A copy kopt."
(A laugh.) He could not understand why such a
letter should have been addressed to him. When-
ever he and his colleagues had held meetings they
had been announced in the usual way ; they were
free to everybody, and were presided over by gentle-
men connected with the districts, while the resolu-
tions adopted at them were always carried unani-
mously. By way of contrast, Mr. Crawford read
what he called a passport to one of the Conservative
meetings, in which persons invited to a meeting at
Radley's Hotel were requested to produce the letter
of invitation in order to insure their admission. He
concluded by reading an extract from the aidress of
Sir Francis Baring to his constituents at Portsmouth
on taking leave of them, in which Sir Francis said
that at elections the worst enemy of the Liberal
party was disunion, and Mr. Crawford urged the
Liberal electors at the forthcoming contest to make
one united effort, and so return, not two or three,
but all the four Liberal candidates. (Cheers, and
" What about Westbury ?")
Mr. GOSCHEN, who was enthusiastically cheered,
said he was ready to be interrogated about Lord West-
bury, or about any other member of the Govern-
ment. He had not given any vote in the House of
Commons of which he needed to be ashamed, and
if he had to choose between respect to a Govern-
ment and respect to his constituents he should
elect to go for his constituents. As to Lord West-
bury, his colleague, Mr. Crawford, and himself,
voted for the adjournment of the debate, believing
that where the character of so exalted a personage
as the Chancellor was at stake the house was not
then in a temper to do justice. Mr. Goschen then
proceeded to refer to matters arising out of the elec-
tion, but his speech was for the most part a repeti-
tion of some he bad previously made at ward meet-
ings during the contest. He remarked on the elec-
tion turning on no party cry, but upon the know-
ledge among the people as to which of the two great
political parties in the State was the more likely to
promote the general interest of the country. He
adverted to work which yet remained for a Liberal

Government to do—ouch as the amendment of the
bankruptcy laws, of the law of partnership, and the
gradual diminution, if not eradication of pauperism.
He asked, amid some cheering, who began free trade
and who opposed it ; and whether or not the meet-
ing was willing to back Lord Palmerston against
Lord Derby, Earl Russell against Lord Malmesbury,
and Mr. Gladstone against Mr. Disraeli. In reply
to a taunt that the Liberal party was revolutionary,
he denied that any great organic change could be
suddenly brought about in this country. He cited
the questions of church-rates and the ballot to exem-
plify the slow process in Parliament by which the
change was ordinarily effected, and he said the
greater danger arose from obstructiveness. With
respect to reform, he said there could be no satis-
factory measure which did not assign a fair portion
of the representation to the working classes, and he
denied that they were democratically inclined.
The meeting was afterwards very briefly addressed
by Mr. Leopold Rothschild and by Alderman Law-
rence, and some questions having been asked by
Mr. Drake, an underwriter, and answered by Mr.
Goschen, explanatory of statements reflecting on the
Government of Lord Derby in his printed address
to the constituency, a resolution was passed, on the
motion of Mr. Hankey, seconded by Mr. Guthrie,
that the meeting was of opinion that Baron de
Rothschild, Mr. Crawford, Mr. Goschen, and Mr.
Alderman Lawrence were fit and proper persons to
represent the city of London in Parliament, and
pledging themselves to use their best efforts to secure
their election, the chairman declaring that it had
been carried unanimously.
A vote of thanks was passed to Mr. Gassiot for
presiding over the meeting, which then dispersed.