The Sun.
London, England, 1838-09-25 00:00:00

aws by which we are to be governed.—(Cheers.) Nothing
:5 mere reasonable than this demand, and if you conduct your-
selves as you have hitherto done, and persevere in the same
just and manly course which you have always pursued, there
cannot exist the slightest doubt but that you will inevitably
prevail in recovering your rights.—(Cheers.) But, Gentle-
emen, the Press of the two factions have both united to oppose
your obtainment of the elective franchise—they say you ate
cot fit to choose your Representatives—that you do not pos.
seas sufficient intelligence for the exercise of the privilege of
'voting. That the people are poor, I believe you will admit;
but that they are ignorant I utterly deny. The working men
are not only wise in their own generation, but there are
amongst them some of the cleverest, and, generally speaking,
they are the cleverest men in Great Britain. The Editor of
the Morning Chronicle tells you " that property alcne oughtto
be represented," and that of course until you are in the pos-
session of property, you will not be entitled to vote for a re-
presentative. Thus, while you are deprived of the right to
vote, on account of want of property, this disqualification is
aggravated, and you are made the slaves of those who have
-votes. lam one of those who think that life, liberty, and
happiness..ought tg be chiefly studied by the representatives of
the people, and 'that the comfort and safety of the people
ought to be consulted in preference to accumulated property.
--(Cheers.) ' I aid not the only person in England who enter-
tains such opinions; nor am I singular in those sentiments
with reference to the statesmen and politicians of other coun-
tries. The Wisest men that as a body ever existed—the
founders of the American Republic—stated the very same
opinic;ns, and in. all of their essays and speeches promulgated
precisely similar doctrines. Poverty, I contend, ought not to
he a- barrier against the exercise of the elective fran-
chise ; 'and, at to the ignorance of the people, which
it is alleged should prevail against their right of
voting, I should like. to compare the working men "of
England with the representatives in the House of Com-
mons. If the Parliament was composed of working men,
they would not; have suspended the laws and the constitution
sA the country, and have passed a Coercion Bill for
Ireland.—(Loud cheers.) If the Parliament was composed
of poeenvuenotey .weuld not have passed the new Poor eaaw
Amendinent
.Act ; but they would have first secured to the
wen classes fair remunerative wages.—(Cheers )If we
had a House pf Commens composed of working men, they
would. `rot hive .voted ~0,0001. for the maintenince of the
London ,police,„ and then send them to annoy and disturb the
inhabitents of , the . remotest district in the kingdom.—
(Cia era ) If we bad a House of Commons of working men
thev would, not repeal the malt tax one day, and on the next
day,„ret the bidding of the Chancellor of the Exchequer,
tr ibilraw that repeal. They would not be long until a repeal
of the Corn-laws should be effected by them ; but to enume-
rate all the doings, or _rather misdoings, of the reformed
Parliament ,would ,take more time than would be worth con-
stoning uPori sea a subject, and I am sure the recital would be
more disgusting th.en interesting to any of those who hear me.
You ail- know that there was a war waged in France for a
number of years That war was waged with the ostensille
reetite of reforming the Government—but in reality to put
down the liberty Of France. The money expended in the
prosecution ofehat war etas a frightful addition to the national
debt of thie 'Cc:untie-. which pro lec.'d additional burdens in tl-e
shepe,Pf teXtniert. Thee burdens were not felt while the war
arat.i..neeirogr?is n but ashen its termination took piece, then
follo‘ked alrieletfol'eataleene Of •seffering affliction on the part
of clesSes, Who had, in reality, mainly con-
tributedXY taxation to the 'support of that war. If the
people had then had a proper control over the revenue
of the country, the national debt would not now have
teen what. it is.— ( flear, beer.) What did the represen-
tative; of the people do at the close of the war? Why, in
1815, they enacted the Corn Bill to make b-eed dear, and
took assay the property tax, becauee it was paid by the rich.
These,-two evil measures were passed in one year.—( Hear,
hear. )' The war was carried on f r the protection of pro-
perty—the national debt was incurred in the sup;:ort of eeta-
ldi Interns for the protection of property, and yet the Re-
pr sentativea of the people, to pay off the debt so incurred.
enaet iteieiquitoua Corn Bill, which give; to the poor man
a ICS's loaf in England than in any other country in the world.
—( fleet; hear.) There are people,howevcr, who would
nrw ,ask you to agitate for the repeal of the Corn- laws,
inatead of troubling yourselves by dernandine Universal S.uf-
frege. The object of such parties can only be to draw your
attcn•iore from that which you c...7.,ht now to clnsi...kr.—( Hear.
hear.) Let the House of Commons enact a property tax, and
repeal the Corn-laws at the same time. Let them take off the
malt tax. the seep tax, and other equally grievous imposts.
trelese tire House of Cen- mons will immediately do all these
Peinge, let those who wish to divert your attention from the
oojects of this nicotine, be disregarded. Go (as the Ameri-
cans Lave it) go a-bead for Univers:l Suffrage—( Hear.) The
Sutfeeee.,e is the great cure for all y our political ille, and with-
cut -the Suffrage I will not prom'se you any cure.—(
hear.) Go on with me in a peaceable and orderly menuer—
( LOud c'res of " We wiil, we wili")—and the Suffrage must
eventually be yielded to you. You are indebted—largely in-
.
eiebted—l might say almost wholly indebted, to the Birming-
liani mcn, for this movement —( Hear, hear.) There are
here `from that town two Mem, ers who have, with me,
beer deie'e everything they posaii.dv could for the lest six
Sessions of Parliament to enforce ye:er deices ueon the Go-
vernment, and call their attenden to your wants, without
seeing daring that time, 61/4. which I n)w see be-
fore mr.-;:-(Hear, hear.) Tilt ....4overoment, however, have
now taken the right course, for they have kept back your
righti until they are at length forced to yield to your fair de-
mands.-(Hear, hear ) Nothing, to my mind. could be
ibettL;r than the reply given by Mr. Attwood to Lord Mel-
bourne in November last, when be presented the peoples'
petition frem Birmingham. Lord Melbourne said, " Bir-
mingham is not all Engl and—the El ruse of Commons is against
vou." The reply of Mr. Attwood was, 66 We will mend the
House of Commons for you." IF, therefore, you are deter-
enined on mending the House of Commons you must be
uniteleitsd persevering—you must be true to each other, and
to yalfieives. You must not be deluded by the promises of
those who would sow dissension amongst you. Such people
'sous fain -draw your attention from the question before this
meetin, by promising to assist you in carryirg the Factory
question—in forwarding the Short Time Bill—in repealing
the Poor-laws—in repealing the Corn-laws—and in fixing a
minimum of wages for hand-loom weaver!. You must demand
only the Suffrage—you must concentrate your whole power
.upon one particular subject—that subject must be Universal
Suffrage,- and I promiao you that in the end you will gain
your point. It may take several sessions of Parliament to
effect your object. I would not promise you the attainment in
one or two, or perhaps three sessions ; but if true to. your-
selves you must succeed, infinitely sooner than if you permit-
ted. yourselves to be divided.—( Hear, hear ) Keep then, I
exhort
,you once more, to your demand of Universal Suffrage,
and So sure' as you do so the Suffrage, and the Suffrage only,
shall satisfy the people of England. When the Report on the
Poor-law' was' brought before a Committee of the [louse of
Commons (and I was appointed a member of that Commit-
tee). after the matter had been discussed, I told the House
of Commons, " Tnis will not do ; if you persevere in your
present course, the next move the people will make will be to
demand Universal Suffrage, and in that demand I will back
them."' • You will, I am sure, excuse me if I decline saying
more at the present moment, for I have suffered much in my
health since I was made a Member of Parliament. Ever since
the constituency of Oldham have thought fit to send me to
Parliament as their representative, I have assiduously endea-
voured to lessen the burdens of the people—to afford them
redress mall their grievances, to make labour equal to pro
perry; and for these objects, fellow-conntrymen, are you as-
sembled here this day. It is said that the working men, if in
power, would' be reckless of the preservation of property. This
f deny ; the working man has a direct interest in the preserva-
tion of good order, and he is not so ignorant as to act con-
trary to his own interest, by doing that which might be calcu-
lated to endanger property, life, or limb.—(Hoar.) These,
then, are the considerations which induce me to advocate the
- system of Annual Parliaments, Universal Suffrage, Vote by
,Ballot, and No. Property Qualification for Members of Parlia-
sment.-2-( Loud cheering. )
The Hon.
,Gentleman then retired from the front of the
hustings -amid the loud and enthusiastic plaudits of the as-
sembled thousands.
Mr. HODGETTS came forward for the purpose of moving
the first resolution. The working men of Manchester, of Old-
ham, of Stockport, of Staley Bridge, of Ashton, and of Roch-
dale, had all assembled there—had come forth in the largest
musses that had ever before met together in England, to de-
rnand Universal Suffrage. The last petition they ever met
to sige—the last time they ever met together in numbers in
South Lancashire—was on the blood-stained field of Peter-
locale when they were butchered and sabred by the military,
And driven from the field.—(Great sensation was observed in
the crowded multitude for some time.) They had met that
edgy to adopt the Birmingham petition ; and the words of that
petition he would observe began thus :—" We demand."—
( Loud cheers.) Haley selected by Ballot 658 representa-
tives from the present body of the people, such representatives
could not by possibility be more deficient in knowledge than
the present so-called representatives of the people.—(Hear,
bear ) It was said that the working people, if admitted to power
would destroy property. What, he would ask, was pro-
pertq ? Was there an atom of property which they did not
themselvee create ? Were they, then, going to destroy the
;asork of their own hands? Would they toil from morning till
mia htin
they plough, weaving
and cloth,
hand then
dte.air it
land prop
pieces?hduc Would
they
labou `;gold ouses, an
sow, len row tem to the
e crops,
ground? them under foot ? They were told
and aftertOrds.traFnple
ection existed to their obtaining the privileges
that another' ebl
se Constitution would be in danger of being
they sought—` 'lid not the working men of England tit
What -
destroyed.e that Constitution? The enemies of the
foe hts support 0- -
girl; afraid lest the Constitution should
working people were (oligarchy, and reatered once
of the
he wrested from the handsi
people. —( [fear, and cheers.)
More to the rightful o wners the principles of the
Be moved " That this meet-rig . the Working Men's As.
adopts the
nblished by
People's Charter,' as p-
siciation of London." then presented him.
o' Ashton,
Ti:3Rev. Mr. _ STENIENSON,
• passes away in cheering, he
silt, awl( after several minutes had pest
'lows : —The principles
'addressed the assembled thousands as out
l • d to abide be.
IT rest) V e
of the People's Charter, which they we
man tress constrained
Were simply the principles whii!i every
em that day,
to admit indispensable. The ceteetien beforeth
re
knife
and
ever, respect to the People's Charter, Wn3 a me•
mere lova,: and
I'4le -queetien—ceeld be resolved into -
..si.ed what
eitceee question.—(!leer, and (dicers ) If he tv is " •
'
was' meant by Universal Suffroge. he would soy that the
hat
working man should have a good ecat to his bad:, a good
IP MS bead, and a goo l roof to hie house,—( Cheers- ) The
labouring Iran should have such ante of wages as would ebabic
Yoko .to F-oeure all the necessary crjrn mews—ail ti.eblee,lngs
turf.i;fe which a reasonable man could wish fear.—( Loud cheer-
ing,) Universal Suffrage would be parsed before these things ,

could;come to pass. In advocating the principles of Universal
Suffrage he was not singular—hundreds of thousands of people
also entertained similar opinions on the subject.—( Hear, hear,
and cheering.) To obtain that Suffrage sass the grand object
of their meeting there that day, and be would implore them
not to permit their movements to be checked by promises of a
repeal of the Poor-laws, or any other obnoxious acts.—( Hear,
hear.) He was confident that the people of Lancashire—the
people of Yorkshire—nay, the people of England, would
not allow their movements in favour of the suffrage to be im-
peded by promises of a repeal of the Poor-laws, but they would
persevere to the end, never ceasing in their exertions until they
had reached the goal. With regard however, to the New Poor-
law, as it affected the people in his own neighbourhood, it was
virtually repealed, the people of England had already,without the
assistance of Parliament, repealed the law de facto, they would
give the Parliament an opportunity of repeating it dejure, which
if they did not do the people themselves would shortly accom-
plish it.—( A voice in the crowd here called out, "We have
never had it in Oldham.") The Rev. Gentleman contended
it had never been in operation in Ashton, and ten times ten
thousand would not be able to enforce it. He would contend
that they had it in their power to prevent the operation of the
Poor-laws.—( Hear, hear.) He stood before them as a man
who had well considered the matter, and he hesitated not to
say that they, the working people, had it in their power not
only to prevent the operation of that odious law, but also to
enforce their other rights. There were many thousands of
persons then before him, and every third man of them, he
might say, had fire-arms of their own. Why, then, had they
left their fire-arms at home? He barely alluded to this for
the purpose of informing them that the boraughreeve and
constables of Manchester had declared to the stewards of this
national movement in Manchester that they placed entire con-
fidence in the proper conduct of the working classes of that
town and those of its vicinity.—( Loud cheers.) The bo-
rougd.reeve and constables of Manchester had declared,
that when the men of Manchester came together they
needed no troops—every man was strong within himself—
every man was armed—every man was a host of himself. If
the boroughteeve and constables had not made the declaration
which they had made, and if these parties had not given the
command of the police to be vested in the hands of the mar-
shals of the day of that meeting. he would have come upon
the ground armed, and would have brought 10,000 armed
men with him to the meeting, and he would have moved an
adjournment. He would have moved an adjournment of the
meeting of the people of South Lancashire fur one month,
and he would have advised every one in the mean time to
use all their influence over their friends and fellow-workmen
to flock towards the standard of the National Charter. If
they supposed, from what he now expressed, that he was
fond of war, they mistook his disposition—neither he nor
one of his friends were fond of war—he was a man of peace ;
and he endeavoured, by every means in his power, to pro-
mulgate the doctrines of peace—the doctrines of peace,
good feeling, and good will among men ; but he would main-
tain that men, women, and children should be enabled to live.
The people of England were not naturally a dissatisfied
people. They had not come there to ask for any wayward
dream; they had not come there to speculate; their cause
and their case were already defined. They had nit come
there to sprak, nor to hear others speak—this was the South
Lancashire Demonstretion, and every man was, a speech—
every name was virtually a harangue. And when such was
the case, and the people had the feeling in their hearts that
they ought to be free—they were in point of fact free. He
bad much pleasure in seconding the resolution.
Mr. FEARGUS O'CONNOR, who was much cheered, com-
menced with addressing them—Mr. Chairrnon, and Brother
Radicals. He said—the man who could stand on that spot,
with so splendid a spectacle before him, without feeling some
degree of excitement, ought not to be an Irishman. Ha stood
there as the representative of the town where Rayelty
ucualy
resided. It was not forty-eight hours since he had been ad-
-4lressiog the people of 13.iehton, undor the very nose of the
Queen ilea-, hear.) When he looked roond him and
Taw so tr. my thousands, he was satisfied that be hal not toiled
in vein—that he h.,d not toiled for nothing. Those who had
been scribbling against them had never dreamed of a morning
Ike this. It was not because they were men of Wool that
they had thus assembled, it was because they considered
Universal Sufir.,ge as being the only means which could stop
the flossing of blood. The whole discontent was occasioned
by the oppression of the working class When on former
occasions he had tell them they had not tried the extent of
tl.eir moral power, he had meant to convey to the people the
areessi:y of their perseverance ; but now, in the meeting of
that day, he did see moral power with a new glance—not
physical ffece. But he knew they could cot -be easily
turned, because they had suffered too long. There was, in
feet, no Howe of Commons. The present Parliament Lad
been returned in a commotion, in a kind of spit it of knight-
errantry. It was made a question between the Queen and
the Duke of Cumberland. Now what would the labouring
class do if they had a Parliament? Would they not make the
taxation commensurate to the state of' the expenditure? It
was no WOnd:.!T, in the present state of Pirliammt, that they
had increased taxation 4,000 000/., and at thnt he would not
have erumbled if the Aristocracy had taxed themselves, in-
stead of taxing the lab- uring class. If they h3d a Parliament
of their own would they not be much better edified with hear-
irer Mr. Sesenson on his principles, than hearing the Bishop
of E'xet,r, with his income of 15 0001. a year?—( Hear, hear )
There had been a great deal said about what bad been done,
and what was to be done for his (Mr. O'Connor's) country,
but nevertheless his country was still a beggar at the door o
England—a drag upon them with the support of all their
churchmen.—(l-I".ar.) lie thanked them for the number of
churehinen.—( Laughter.) They wanted now some of those
brave men that had fought for and contended for their rights,
though it were up to their knees in blood, for their religion
mid for their God. Those men who stood forward to serve
them were not free from peril, and it was the duty of the
meeting to sec them out of the lion's den.—(Cries of " We
will.") In order to accomplish their aims they must and
would have the Irish people with them to a man ; and it was
only because he dreaded that the honest endeavours of the
English Radicals would circumvent him in his objects, that
Mr. O'Connell had declared they were opposed to the demands
or the reople of Ireland.—( Hear.) The people of Ireland,
however, notwithstanding this, would be with them to a man.
—( Loud cheers.) They were at present curbed by the same
absolute and basely-used power which curbed the people of
England—the Press—( Hear, hear)—and if there was any
power more dangerous, and which more deserved condemna-
tion for urging forward the agitation which was now going on
throughout the country, it was the Press, which withheld the
voice of the people from their Sovereign's car. He had come
280 miles to attend this tweeting ; and as he had constituted
the great meeting at Birmingham a tribunal—a Jury to
try the Whigs—he would do the same with the
asembly now before him—let then all present, who be-
lieved that during the last seven years the Whigs had been
guilty of treason, hold up their hands.—( An unanimous show
of hands was exhibited.) He came to this meeting also as the
representative of the Democratic Association of the City of
London—he was the representative, too, of the South of
England, which was determined t. give its aid to the North,
where they were to a man unanimous.—(Cheers ) Yes, and
there was no one who had heard the speeches which had been
made to them who did not know that success was within their
reach.—( Loud cheers.) He proudly rejoiced in being present
at a meeting like this, composed of hundreds of thousands; and
if he left this life to. morrow he would do so content, fur the
loss of one man was now nothing, in a cause to promote which
there was.now so general a determination.—( Hear, hear, and
loud cheers.) He thought that they should not be diverted
from their great object by the agitation of the question of the
Corn-laws, or by any question of detail ; they should strenu-
ously exert themselves to achieve their great objeCt, and as be
had commenced the battle with them, be would fight it to the
death, if it were necessary.—(Loud cheering.)
The resolution was then put, and carried unanimously.
Mr. FITTON (the delegate from Brighton) came forward to
propose the next resolution. Had the Whigs carried into
effect the professions they bad made before the Reform
Bill became a subject of agitation, and when it was before
the country and the Parliament, the necessity of this meet-
ing would not have occurred.—(Hear, hear, hear.) These
Whigs had been now tried for these six years, and the
result of all this was, that the very principle on which they
had last come into office had been abandoned by them,
and thus had destroyed even the hope against hope that the
Administration would do that which the country wished and
desired, what it expected, and that which it was understood
they would do when they obtained office.—( Hear and cheers.)
He said this much more in sorrow than in anger.—( Hear.)
He had given every aid to the passing of the Reform Bill to
the extent of his means and to the best of his power, and it
was not without sincere regret that he had given up his confi-
dence in the present Administration. But he and they could
not shut their eyes to the facts—and it was plain from these
facts that the Government had not the power—or if they had
the power, they had not the will—to give that relief to the coun-
try which alone could prevent the issue of those consequences
which they would all deplore if they took place.—(Loud
cheers.) Such, he was sure, were the opinions of those as-
sembled, and they had proved it to be so by the immense num-
bers which composed the mass congregated about
wouldhim.—
(heHweaoru.l)d,thileerefore p rnbocte
edde 'astionntcheet.
omeetingatb tnan tyblee
resolution
length,
agreedandti
on
tiwoulds
In eatsien
gthaedho
potnsotubre
Nationalwhich lie ato
Petition,t
to propose to them. It was
—" That
to at Birmingham, and that the persons present at this
meeting,Ai r .opledgeLLoDAtyh
(e ma sde,liveegs
delegate
signfrom theol same."dhaurnu
i said that
him great pleasure indeed to second the resolution
pt b P
oategdabvye
his friend Mr. Fitton. It was not necessary
for
Uni-
versal al
their
Suffrage;
attention
bu
but he
ewyth.oaut
would
esyt.,
te liedin lost bytv
wnoort having d
great
en to
'Nils he considered the want of the Suffrage entaileds %
otantthem.
In the first place they had an enormous debt of eight
hun-
dredwaai!
inai 1 lbi
ah rarla to
pay,
t and
derit
rnel setss a
o f ie h
satisfactorythey
poninsionthethaitt'4l;
made as to this immense mass of pro-rert the working
classes of Great Britain could never know y'r" comfort or peace.
In the next place, they had an overgrown and luxurious Aria
tocracy exercising their talents, their influence, their wealth,
and their intelligence in opposition to the people and whilst
things remained in their present state
they would oppose
to the utmost the interest and the happiness
.
hen*.) addition to this array
a
cy bed an overgrown Church Establishment
I posed to
them. —( Chce,s.) And in arldi,ion that a standing.
.tr,ny, and a rely in pewit. vshi.di was endeavonr;e
ener .
,eidate the people by building prison workhouses._(A
in the crowd, " Bastiles.") Yes, B.istiles throughout the
country, with the int, neon of intimidating the ni rising &Ass
or of rncu!di;,g their opinions to 0,0 i, -h
b pe the y wished ; end
ler this pu pose they e ere establishing a Bourbon police all
tiL_o,,,gh tee empire, so dirt every. put tion of, seirit existing
a.ong the people should be cetingtesh
a ed.—(Hoer, hear.) In
fact, whilst Whigs also were Fl caching economy, they

were at the same time filling the country with Commissioners,
to whom they paid great salaries, the amount of which was
drawn from the impoverished purses of the working classes.—
( Hear, and cheers.) The working classes then never would
prosper until they acquired political power, and it was for that
purpose he now claimed the assistance of this meeting in the
great work, to which be trusted they were all devoted._(
cheers.) Cheers.) Let them show that they were not asleep, but that
their energies and their determination had been aroused for
the purpose of obtaining their rights.—(Lond cheers.)
Mr. DOWOLAS (of Birmingham) supported the resolution.
There were three things which the present meeting indicated,
and which he considered it to be his duty to touch upon.
first of these indications was, that there was some ground
and some real grounds for the complaints which were made
as to the condition of the people.—( Hear, and cheers.) He,
and those who acted with him, bad been accused of travelling
up and down through the country agitating the people. There
never had been a more false accusation than this—it was the
country which was agitating them, instead of they agitating
the country. He had been one of a deputation to Lord
Melbourne in the autumn of last year, and when that Noble
Lord had spoken of the agitation which existed in the coun-
try, he Mr. Douglas) told his Lordship of the position in
which they were placed. He had told him that if he be-
lieved that they who were at the head of the column of the
people were those who drew the people on, this was a very
false notion of the energy which actuated the column
__(Hear, hear)—for that the fact was, that they who
were at the head of the column were pushed on by
the column itself—( Hear, hear)—and if they stood still
they would be knocked down and trampled on by those who
followed them.—( Hear, hear.) He had told them that they
who beaded the colutnn had no alternative left them, and he
begged of the meeting to recollect this—for he had re-
quested the attention of his Lordship to it—that it was easy
to get rid of a handful agitators, but that he could never get
rid
.of an agitating people.---(Loud cheers.) One lesson,
then, and it was a great one taught by this meeting, wag, that
there were grounds for their complaints --(Hear.) The next
was that the people themselves were convinced that such
grounds of complaint existed, and th-1 they willingly, stre-
nuously, and honestly went along together with the determi-
nation to redress them. The next point was, and it was that
which pointed itself out most strongly, and to be the most
striking of the reasons which he had alleged—it was that not
only was their evidence in the present meeting that grounds
for complaint existed, and that the people believed they
existed, but they also believed they have sufficient power
to get rid of them.—( Loud continued cheering.) They
must all, however, be assured thrt they had a great
deal of uphill work before them, and that the conflict in
which they were engaged demanded no feather-bed soldier-
ship.—( Hear, hear.) They had enemies to fight who had,
and who would long and earnestly maintain the combat, and
for the very best reasons in the world, because they fought
for good substantial things. —(Hear, heir.) Thus it was,
then, that all the Aristocracy was against them—(for if
there were any few exceptions, they but served to prove the
general rule)—more than this, there was a great deal of truth
in the observation which had been made, that a great portion
of the middle classes was also against them ; for he feared that
the 101 franchise had given to parties power, but had not
established that feeling of generosity which it should in the
bas en of its recipients.—( Loud cheers.) Again, all the clergy
were again,t t'aem, whether in England, Ireland, or Scotland,
and for the very best reasons, for they saw plainly that in the
establishment of power in the hands of the people, something
would be done to deprive them of their tithes.—( Hear.) The
Whigs also were agairst them, and, therefore, the people to-
day had held up their hands in condemnation of them as their
oppreesora for six years ; but they hal held .up their hands,
aced would hold them up against the Tories as their oppres-
sors for seventy years. In fact, whether Whig or Tory, they
were both bid—" A plague on both their houses."—( Loud
cherri g ) Tnese were the opponents of the people; and
no wc.uld ask what were the mater:als of the opposition
against their opponents?—( Hear.) There was greater unity
of pa puee—( Hear) —they had thorough confidence in their
leaders.—( Loud cheering.) They had greater determination
and simplicity of purpcse.—( Loud cheers.) They were all
ready to lay aside the worship of the idols to which they had
been le ng attached. His excellent friend Thomas Attwood,
for iestence., who had been admirably conjoined with his co-
p,triot Fielden—had a hobby which he rode with very con-
siderable feroeity—the currency; and added it was one
which seas ridden by all the men of Birmingham; brat Mr.
Attwood had descended from it, or the people bad made
him descend from it, and he must now ride another one.
Even our excellent Chairman, I Fay, must also come down
from his hobby—tire Poor-law—and he had done so. Nay,
there was a greater victory which had been achievel. Toe
people themselves had come down from tilde hobby—
the Corn-law.—( Loud cheets.) They had come down
from this, and were row determined to devote them-
selves to one great object—the object of the present
mett'ng. He k new well the attempts made to drae the
people away from their objects by Whig anti-Corn-law agita-
tion, and he had practical knowledge of it when he was last
in Scotland—for there, in the town of Hamilton, it had been
urged upon him and those that were with him, in order to
promote the great objects of the people, that they must, in
addressing the meeting which they attended, speak against the
Corn-laws if they wished to gain the ear of the people.—
( Hear, hear.) But let the i.resent assemblage attend to the
resolution recently passed at a meeting in Glasgow. That
resolution was, that no steps should be taken egainst uny laws
in detail, until the people obtained that Suffrage which would '
give them the power to amend the laws.—( Loud cheers.)
their unity of design, then, in their simplicity of purpose—
relying upon these—they had greater hopes of success than
ever they bad before.—( Loud cheers.) He was not anxious
to recal to the minds of those assembled the peculiar wrongs
they had suffered ; but when he looked at the little farmer then
opposite to him—one who had been cut by the swords of the
yeomanry cavalry in 1819—it called to his
.remembrance a
black and direful day in their local history.—(Hear, hear.)
He would be ashamed to commune with any man present who
could forget that day—(Cheers)—he could not applaud them
as Christians if they did not forgive the awful transaction which
marked it out ; but they were not men if they did not hold it
in their remembrance.—(Loud cheers.) It had been said by
a friend of his to-day that they had made some little progress
since the Reform Bill had passed ; but he (Mr. D. ) would
say that whateverprogress had been made, was not the result
of the Reform Bill, but of the cause which forced the Reform
Bill upon those who made it a page in the history of the
country.—( Hear, hear.) He (Mr. Douglas) remembered
well when he, who he feared he might term their late friend,
Mr. O'Connell, had seid that the Reform Bill had been
carried by the people of Birmingham. This had been said by
him in the House of Commons, and a laugh had been set up
against the declaration by the Tories; but Mr. O'Connell said
the people of Birmingham had gained the Bill—that they and
the people of England conjoined had gained it.—( Cheers. )
Now, in reference to Mr. O'Connell, his (Mr. Douglas)
friend, O'Connor, had stated to them that the Irish would be
with them to a man—that in fact they would have all the Irish
people acting with them but O'Connell. Now he ( Mr. Dou-
glas) could not think that the Irish people would be with them
at present—he was sure their hearts were with them, and if
the Whigs were out ofoffice, that Mr. O'Connell himself would
be with them, and the time would come when he would—
( Hear)—and if it did, he was sure they would have more joy
over one who repented, than over ninety-nine who had not
swerved from the direct course.--( Loud cheering.) Let him
then join them, for the purpose of procuring a redress of the
grievances of the people, and for the pukose of
giving a le-
gitimate power to the people, and they would receive him as a
friend and a brother. --(Loud cheers.) He thought it neces-
sary that the meeting should now hear a little in reference to
the deputation which was e:out to be sent to London. He felt
sure they would appoint for that purpose good men and true
—but those men must be supported, and obeyed too.
Those forty-nine delegates must be placed in such
a position that to their dictates there shall be no grumbling.
They shall not, and should not—they must not travel
out of the record of your petition, or you should cashier them
—if they go for that which is not in the petition, you should
do so—and if they fail to go for that which is in it, you
should take the same course.—( Hear, hear, and cheers.) But
they should and must obey them in all their decrees which
are legal, and he felt assured that there would be nonb which
would be illegal. Let not their motto be forgotten, " Peace,
law, and order."—(Cheers.)
Mr, COLLINS, of Birmingham, would say that the strongest
argument as to the bad policy of the present Government
was the fact that it kept the country in such a state of agita-
tion, as campelled tens of thousands and hundreds of thousands
to assemble as they had to express their indignation, and their
feelings that the present Government should be removed
mi l
the
reoßea been lso—nggtrhseetayt
te head suffering
people.give
n
t
from office.—(Loud cheers.) A fair trial had been given
them—the people of Birmingham had assembled in their
tfavour,eamn ah eaf
fair
d to
trial,
e;epromote
before
tohre result the
r elsvlltlentr
hadsrsm ed b
—( Hear, hear.) Thousands of people in Birmingham were
to be found existing upon a very small pittance indeed. He
had seen mothers with infants at their breasts who had been
for 44 hours stithout food.—(Loud cries of " Shame.") He
had visited 50 families in a day in Birmingham who had
neither bed nor bedding, and whose heads in many instances
wanted the means of procuring food for their families and
themselves. This it was which bad induced the people of
Birmingham again to come forward in favour of an extension
of the suffrage, in order to enable the people themselves to
redress the wrongs which they were suffering.—(Cheers.)
The resolution was carried unanimously.
*Mr. WHEELER, of Manchester, rose to propose the third
resolution. The resolution which he had to submit, was to
propose the names of those individuals with whom they would
entrust thei:• petition of the Convention of the country. The
names which he had to take the sense of the meeting upon
were the Rev. Dr. Fletcher, of Bury ; the R,v. j. S.
Stevens, of Ashton- under- Lyne ; Mr. Taylor, of R mhdale ;
Mr. B. O'Brien, for the town of Manchester; the two
Marshals of the day, Mr. Nightingale, Mr. Richards, Mr.
Cobbett, and Mr, Wroe.—[The speaker put each name in
succession, all of whom were responded to satisfactorily.] He
trusted they had approved of the names, that they would sup-
port the delegates through all their precarious duty, and to
protect them ; arel if the rascally Whigs dared to lay a hand
on them, and the people submitted to the interference,
they woeld deserve to live only what they were—fit objects
to be Oavee. They most stand by and see their deleget‘ s
safe out of the lion'a mouth. Fur his own part he would
sul port the In and their cause as long as he had breath to

Mr. \VnITTLE then came forward, and said be had addressee.
them in worse times than they now enjoyed, on the suljeet.Q
of Pa,limnentaty Reform and Universal Suffrage, and other
matters cf a political nature. He had heard one name men-
4ioned that day, a name which had become degraded among
his countrymen. lie alluded to Daniel O'Conn:11; but al-