The Sun.
London, England, 1865-07-08 00:00:00

SANDWICH.

A deputation left Sandwich this morning with a
requisition signed by a majority of the electors re-
questing Rear-Admiral Sir Sidney C. Dacres,
K.C.8., Commander-in-Chief of the Channel Fleet,
to become a candidate in conjunction with Mr.
Capper. Should Admiral Dacres decline, Mr. A.
C. Bruce, of 43, Queen's-gardens, barrister-at-law,
a nephew of the Lord Justice Knight Bruce, and of
the Right Hon. H. A. Bruce, Vice-President of the
Council, will be brought forward by the Liberal
Conservatives and ultra-Protestants, in conjunction
with Mr. Capper.

SHEFFIELD.

The rumour in the town yesterday morning was
that the Conservative-Liberal party were going to
bring out the Hon. James Francis Stuart Worcley,
private secretary to Mr. Gladstone, and brother of
Lord Wharncliffe, and in that case Mr. Hadfield's
seat will be considerably endangered. The opposi-
tion to Mr: Roebuck goes on, and there have been
two of the largest and most disorderly meetings
ever held in Sheffield—one in Paradise-square, to
hear Mr. Foster, and the other in the Temperance-
hall, to hear Messrs. Roebuck and Hadfield. At the
former meeting, Mr. Foster taunted the friends of
Mr. Roebuck with his absence ; but he was an-
swered by the appearance of that gentleman in a
carriage with Mr. Hadfield. Mr. Foster accused
Mr. Roebuck of corruption in regard to the Galway
contract, he openly imputedthat he had been bribed
to support the bill of the Water Company. Mr.
Foster made a very effective speech; but he spoke
so long, and the crowd (there were 20,000 present)
got so excited, that Mr. Roebuck could not obtain
a hearing, and there are conflicting statements as to
the division, one party claiming the victory for Mr.
Foster and the others for Mr. Roebuck. When the
confusion caused in the immense crowd had abated,
Mr. Foster proceeded with his address. He said—
Mr. Roebuck chooses to state to you that I have
the meanness, the sneaking sort of conduct, to come
before you for the simple object of getting a job at
sessions. (" Shame," and hisses.) I tell Mr. Roe-
buck to his face—as I told you just now, when as
far as I could find that he had not chosen to come
—that he belonged to those Sessions the same as I
did. He went the West Riding Sessions as I have
done for 20 years. (" Come to the question.") If
Mr. Roebuck says that I can do these things for the
purpose of getting a job at Sessions, I tell Mr. Roe-
buck—he sits there—he never found the man at the
West Riding Sessions who wanted him to do his
job. (Cheers and hisses.) Mr. Roebuck went to
the Northern Circuit. He wears a silk gown. (The
Chairman—Who gave it to him ?) Now, in thegreat
Northern Circuit I have found in many towns clients
who have trusted me ; but during the whole course
of my experience never on one occasion did I
see Mr. Roebuck in any case whatever.
(Laughter.) He got his silk gown, but was that
reward given to him because of his merits on
the circuit ? No ;it was given to him because
you gave to him that position without which he was
nothing, and which got his silk gown. (Cheers.)
He accuses me of being capable of descending to
jobs. Was I the first to cast the stone ? When I
spoke last night I did not utter one syllable offen-
sive to either of the members.; on the contrary, I
expressed the hope that this contest would be con-
ducted as gentlemen ought to conduct it and with-
out personal allusions. (Cheers.) But when I
found that the style of language which has dis-
tinguished him ever since he was a public man, and
which is simply personality,—for except to be per-
sonally offensive he can be nothing. (Cheers and
prolonged disorder.) If he chooses to attack me,
I say to him, let him come on. He talks about jobs,
does he ? Has he never been guilty of a job ?
(Cheers and interruption.) We will see presently.
For what object did you send Mr. Roebuck to Par-
liament on the last occasion ? (" We'll send him
again.") Let us see what he did, to show you the
purity of his motives, as soon as he was returned.
I don't venture into this ; he has chosen to drag me
into this sort of thing. I don't shrink from it.
(" What made thee come,?") You returned him as
a Liberal, and you believed him to be one. The
Derby Government was then in office, and Mr.
Disraeli proposed a Reform Bill, which contained a
great many fancy franchises. The Liberal party
rejected that bill, and Mr. Roebuck said in the
house that the Liberal party did not want the bill ;
that it was a deceptive measure, and pretended to
give the poor men something, while in reality it
gave them naught. (" No, no.") He told Parlia-
ment, and he told them justly, "This measure
which you propose is a sham ; it is intended to de-
ceive ; its object is to do away with the 40s. free-
holders ; it will take away the benefits which the
Reform Bill gave you in 1832." A majority was
Obtained against the measure, and in the list of
that majority you will find the name of Mr. Roe-
buck. The Derby Government appealed to the coun-
try, and Mr. Roebuck came down here to solicit your
suffrages again. He repeated before you the decla-
ration as to the bill which he had made in the
house, and you sent him to Parliament to vote
against the bill. You sent him to do more—to try
to oust Lord Derby from office on the first oppor-
tunity. What did he do? I find in the Indepen-
dent of April 9, 1859, Mr. Roebuck boasting that he
was one of the majority which had driven Lord
Derby to appeal to the country. When the bill was
before the house Mr. Roebuck said it was a sham and
a retrograde measure. He was returned, and in his
speech of thanks—as I hope to be able to thank you
before long—(cheers)—he said he should go to Par-
liament to oppose Lord Derby's Government. When
the new Parliament met the Marquis of Hartington
gave notice of an amendment upon the Address. Mr.
Hadfield was true to his colours—(hear, hear)—and
he supported Lord Hartington's motion of no confi-
dence in the Derby Government ; but only a month i
after Mr. Roebuck had given you his pledge a num-
ber of respectable old Tories found, greatly to their
astonishment, I have no doubt, that he was in the
lobby with them. (Cheers.) When he was asked why
he supported the Government which he was pledged to
oppose, he said he opposed the amendment in the be-
lief that if he had supported it he shouldlhave been
an accessory to the defeat of the Ministry, and he
would not assist in bringing in a Government that had
lost his confidence. (Applause, and cries of " Per-
fectly right.") He voted for keeping in Lord Derby's
Government, and people naturally began to cast about
for the reason. Now, you know men belong to clubs
in London, and they talk a great deal about each
other's affairs, and it was not long before they found
Mr. Roebuck out. He became a director of the Gal-
way Steam Packet Company. (Laughter.) That
did not come out just then ; it took some time to
ascertain the real fact. But what happened? I
hope I am not misrepresenting Mr. Roebuck, because
at a meeting held here a month ago, and about which
he has taken to himself no small laudation, he was
asked point blank the question which I will read.
He was asked whether the Galway contract was not

signed or agreed upon the night before that vote
was given upon the Reform Bill. Did Mr. Roebuck
indignantly repudiate the imputation ? Not a bit
of it ; he was silent. (Hear, hear.) I take it there-
fore that his silence was an admission that the con-
tract was signed on the night before that vote was
given. What did that vote do ? The Galway Com-
pany asked for aid out of the public purse to enable
them to do that which other companies do out of
their profits. Mr. Roebuck was a director of that
company, and if it succeeded he was entitled to cer-
tain dividends on shares which would put money
into his pocket. (Hear, hear.) The subsidy was
£17,000 a year, and it enabled the company to com-
pete with others which carried the mails at their own
cost, and thereby it interfered with that freedom of
trade under which other companies have worked.
%Vas that subsidy a direct advantage to Mr. Roebuck
as a director? (" No, no.") If the company had
succeeded, if it had not been a rotten thing from the
first, it would have put money in his pocket. That
contract was signed on the night before the great
division which decided the fate of the Derby Minis-
try. (" You've said that 20 times.") Mr. Roebuck
voted for that Ministry when they had given him
a share of £17,000 a year. (Applause and hisses.)
He says he never got a farthing, and I believe it ;
but it was no fault of his. (Loud cheers.) He did
not succeed, because he allied himself to a rotten,
protection-wanting company. He thought he was
all right, but he found himself all wrong. Am I
right ? (Hear, hear.) I don't flinch from saying
to Mr. Roebuck, when he imputes to me that my
only object is to win business, that I scorn the im-
putation. (Cheers, and a voice, " Speak summat
like truth."—Laughter.) He talks about jobs; let
him look at home. Mr. Foster then referred very
fully to the part taken in the Bill passed to regulate
the affairs of the Sheffield Water Company, after
the inundation caused by the bursting of the reser-
voir. He asserted that Mr. Roebuck had increased
the water rates of the city 25 per cent, for the next
25 years. At this point of his address the cries for
" Roebuck" increased in vehemence, until it became
impossible to hear what Mr. Foster was saying, and
the chairman interposed, and stated that when Mr.
Foster had finished he should be glad to hear Mr.
Roebuck or Mr. Hadfield. Mr. Foster then resumed
amid increasing disorder. He spoke of the import:
ance of the trades' unions in this town, and referred
to the state of the law affecting the relations between
master and servant, and declared that he would do
his best to abolish the power which the master- alone
possessed of proeeeding critreinally against his ser-
vant, and put both parties to their civil remedy in
the County Court. He taunted Mr. Roebuck for
never having taken any steps to remove that
anomaly in the law, although he was a great advo-
cate of the rights of the poor man. Mr. Foster then
said that one of the local journals had asserted that
he came there simply as the tool of the Permissive
Bill men. He was told that there was in Sheffield a
section of people who were called Teetotalers. He
was not a Teetotaler ; on the contrary, like Mr.
Roebuck, he could not do without his wine.
(Laughter.) But the Teetotalers were sincere
in their belief that their plan would avert
many mischiefs. They had seen respectable work-
men in the town wasting their money and their
energies in tippling in dram-shops and publichouses.
They thought that teetotalism was the way to remedy
that mischief. He did not agree with them. (Hear,
hear.) But when he saw a body of men who held
that belief he respected them ; he was always glad
to hear what they had got to say ; and he never was
capable of, or guilty of, the dirty proceeding of say-
ing, " I spit on your bill." (Cheers and laughter.)
He did not think that to use intemperate language
was the way to succeed. If he found a gentleman
using intemperate language upon one occasion, he
was apt to look and see in what company he found
him. If he found that a man who spoke of matters
of domestic policy in such terms as he had men-
tioned ventured, at a time of absolute disunion, a
time of war, when men ought to weigh carefully
their language, and even refrain from expressing
their honest opinion if it was offensive, in order that
peace might be kept—if he found that man using
language which was calculated to provoke a sensi-
tive nation, he said that that man was not fit to re-
present either their domestic or their foreign in-

terests. (Cheers and hooting.) Amid increasing
disorder Mr. Foster went on to allude to the
speeches of Mr. Roebuck in reference to the Em-
peror of the French, and concluded by saying, " if
they approved his views, they would not think it an
impertinent interference on his part if he asked them
to give him their support."

Mr. ROEBUCK rose to address the meeting from
the carriage in which he had been sitting, and was
received with cheers. A cry was raised of " The
steps." Mr. Roebuck said to those about him, " I
cannot get there ; they must hear me here." Un-
fortunately, Mr. Roebuck could not be seen from
many parts of the square, and as noon as it became
known that he was on his feet to speak there was a
great crush from the centre of the square towards
his carriage. He stood for some time motioning
the crowd to be quiet, but they swayed fiercely to
and fro. Though there was not a persistent attempt
to shout Mr. Roebuck down, there was so much
tumult that it was quite impossible to hear him, and
after a short time he resumed his seat until order
should be rostored. The crowd shortly afterwards
became more quiet, and Mr. Roebuck again rose to
speak. He said :—I want you to hear what I have
got to say. Give me fair play ; that is all I ask.
You have heard the accusations against me; hear
my reply. I know that in this assembly there are
ten to one in my favour, but the one can make a
noise, and the ten cannot keep him quiet. These

ew sentences were uttered amid great confusion

['from the swaying about of the crowd in
.their at-
tempts to get within sight of the hon. gentleman,
and the " manifestations" of a few noisy opponents,
and after waiting for some time Mr. Roebuck gave
up as hopeless the attempt to get a hearing. After
the uproar had somewhat abated,
Mr. HADFIELD rose to address the meeting, and
he also was received with cheers. He said—Gentle-
men, give me a hearing. A few weeks ago a vote
was taken of a meeting in this square—. The con-
clusion of the sentence was inaudible even to those
around Mr. Hadfield from the uproar in the meet-
ing, caused by the swaying of the crowd and the
discordant cries of opponents, and after waiting for
some time Mr. Hadfield also was compelled to give
up the attempt to address the meeting.
A resolution declaring
.Mr. Foster a fit and
proper person to represent the borough of Sheffield
was then moved, with an amendment, proposed by
the party of Mr. Roebuck and Mr. Hadfield, thank-
. _ _

ing Mr. Foster for his attendance and his offer to be

come a candidate, but pledging the electors to sup-
port their old members. The confusion was so great
that it could not be decided which proposition was
carried. Both sides claimed the majority, and the
proceedings terminated.

Mr. Roebuck and Mr. Hadfield afterwards briefly
addressed their friends from the windows of the

George Hotel.

Mr. ROEBUCK said.—Gentlemen, will you now
allow me to say one word to you? Although they
would not hear us we heard them. Now, I have only

to say to you that I am exceedingly obliged for the
kind manner in which you have expressed your opi-

none concerning me. I have served you faithfully

for 16 years. (Hear, hear.) I have received no
earthly benefit from that representation. I have not

received one farthing benefit by representing you.
(Hear, hear.) And I have my character before the
world. That is not to be destroyed by any foul-

mouthed lawyer in this town. (Cheers.) A certain

mail without a shadow of truth has stated that which

when stating he knew to be a falsehood, and I say
it is a shame to him, but not disgraceful to me.
(Cheers.) I have nothing to explain--nothing to
retract. (Hear, hear.) I have acted fairly and
honestly on your behalf. (Hear, hear.) If you re-
elect me I will do the same--the same as I have

hitherto done. There will be no change in my con-
duct—(hear, hear)—none in my opinions. I have
advocated faithfully Liberal ideas, and to them I
mean to adhere as long as my memory and mind
remain to me. (Prolonged cheering.) Well, then,
gentlemen, I bid you farewell. We shall know how
to answer them at the poll—(cheers)—and the man
whose mind is gone mad upon water. (A voice—
" Stop that.") (Laughter.) (" It is only a teetotal-