The Sun.
London, England, 1831-02-14 00:00:00

PARLIAMENTARY REFORM.

LEEDS MEETING.

(Abtidged from the Leeds Mercury of Saturday list.)

On Thursday last a numerous and highly re-
spectable meeting of the inhabitants of this borough
was held in the Court-house, at twelve at noon,
convened by the Mayor, on a requisition from sixty
respectable inhabitants, "to consider of the pro-
priety of petitioning Parliament in favour of Par-
liamentary and economical Reform, and particularly
for the grant of the elective franchise to Leeds, and
other populous places." The attendance was such
as has never before been seen in this town, at a
Reform meeting, in point of respectability, wealth,
and intelligence ; and it afforded the gratifying spec.
tacle of a complete union between all classes of Re-
formers.
On the motion of Mr. CLAPHAM,

JOHN MARSHALL, Esq. was called to the Chair.
The Court-house being quite full, and there being
persons without who could not obtain admittance,
Mr. JOHN HEAPS moved, and Mr. G. NEWTON
seconded, that the meeting should adjourn to the
Cloth Hall Yard, which was carried unanimously,
and the meeting adjourned accordingly. About five
or six thousand persons were present in the area.
The CHAlltsrAN—Gentlemen, the time has now
arrived when the people are alive to their own in-
terests, and the nation has risen up as one man to
demand Reform—to demand a Reform of those
abuses from which we have been long suffering—to
demand a Reform of what has been the occasion
and cause of all those abuses of •GoVernment—of
the House of Commons—to demand a real repre-
sentation of the'People. A corrupt House of Com-
mons has itself acknowledged that it is corrupt.—
(Laughter.)—lt has .confessed sins, and promised
repentance and amendment.--(Laughter, and hear.)
Gentlemen, if we persevere, we cannot doubt of
success. We' have seen one set of Ministers driven
from their places by their determination to refuse
all Reform.—(Hear, hear.)—We have seen the
formation of another Administration, which has
professed to advocate those principles of Reform
and retrenchment which we think so necessary to
the State, and they have pledged themselves to
bring those measures forward in Parliament at no
distant date. Gentlemen, if they redeem their
:pledges—if they bring forward such a Reform as
the state of the country requires they will deserve
the gratitude of their country, and will have the
support of !every honest and independent man.—
(Hear' hear.)—Gentlemen, you will recollect that
in the last Session of Parliament Lord John Russell
brought forward a measure for giving to three large
towns, of which Leeds was one, representatives for
the House of Commons. That was negatived by
the late Ministers; but the leader of the House of
Commons (Lord Althorp) has given notice that
Lord John Russell will again bring forward those
plans of Reform which the present Ministers have
decided to adopt, and we cannot doubt that one of
those measures will be the same as Lord John Rus-
sell brought forward before---that Leeds will be one
of those populous towns that will have represen-
tatives in Parliament. As the plan will be pro-
duced on the Ist of March next, it behoves us to
prepare ourselves for receiving it, to watch over the
measure, and to see that those regulations which
we consider proper and necessary to the peace and
well-being of the town are made—in short, that
the poll should be taken by ballot.—(Applause.)
Mr. RAwsoN, in moving the first resolution, said,
the circumstances under which we are assembled
this day are truly animating. We have a Govern-
ment pledged to the great work of Parliamentary
Reform, and it is alike our duty and our interest to
encourage their efforts and to strengthen their hands
in this noble but arduous undertaking. We are al-
ready in the posture of most anxious expectation
for their disclosure of their plans on the Ist of
March. If in their discretion they should only give
us a part of what we deem essential to our inde-
tairlyp,inaesssa'n earnest of what we may
have sill to claim as the security of our rights.
let us in prudence take
that
tdence and
part
gatef'And, Gentlemen, whatever steps we have to take
for the future, let us all resolve, first, to be united
ait. l
in all our movements ; secondly, decisive . and per-
severing in our labours; and, thirdly, temperate in
all our measures. These are, indeed, eventful times,
when true patriotism requires every man to be
faithful in the discharge of his duty.
Mr. Luccocx seconded the motion.

Mr. BAINES then came forward and said, I beg
leave to submit to the meeting a resolution, which
I will in the first place read to you. (Mr. B. here
road the second re<olution, and proceeded.) Gentle-
men, upon this resolution I will submit a tew obser-
vations. In the first place, I beg to say, that it is
the undoubted right of the people of England to be
represented by a Parliament fairly chosen by the
people--(Hear, hear.)—ln the second place, to say
that the Parliament, I mean the House of Com-
mons, as at present constituted, dues not fairly and
equally represent the people of England.—(" No,
not at all.")—And in the third place, I would observe
that the rights of the people of England are usurped by
a body of men, calling themselves, or perhaps more
properly called, borough proprietors. The object of
this and similar meetings is, I believe, to regain that
right,and I am sure you will be of opinion, that if it can
be accomplished, we shall obtain one of the highest
privileges that it is possible for Englishmen to pos-
sess.—(l-Tear, hear.)—l will say, gentlemen, that
the occasio❑ chosen is perhaps one of the most
happy periods that ever was chosen to urge forward
such an application. The occasion is, when the
King of England has declared himself a reformer—
he has also dismissed from his councils many of those
persons who were inimical to Befoun, and he has
dismissed them on that spec:fic ground, that they
were not sufficiently favourable to the rights and
privileges of the people.—( Hear, hear.)—But, Gen-
tlemen, though both the King and his Ministers are
favourable to Reform, you will find, I believe, that
it is highly desirable that the people of England
should also express themselves in its favour ; be-
cause the King and his Ministers will be met in
Parliament by a body of men who have an interest
in supporting the abuses that at present exist, and,
except the great preponderating weight of the people

thrown into the scale against them, you may
rely upon it that the King and his Ministers will be
Beaten. It is by the expression of the public
opinion, and that only, that you can ever hope for
a Reform in the Parliament: Gentlemen, I have
said that the House of Commons, as at present con-
stituted, will be more than a match for the King
te id his Ministers, except you throw your weight
into the scale; and the reason why I have said this
is, that a very large number of Members of Parlia-
ment are interested in supporting those abuses which
,r is your business to Reform. Ido not hesitate to
-ay that this is a sacrifice which requires the quick-
ening influence of the public voice to strengthen its
operation in Parliament. There is another consi-
deration which I should wish you rot to lose
sight of. You may remember that in former
times it was said that there was a power be-
hind the throne greater than the throne itself.
At present there is a power before the throne
greater than the throne; and unless you control and
direct that power—of course by constitutional
teems, for I recommend none other—you never
will have a due share in the representaCon.—(Hear.)
Then, gentlemen, as to the- difficulty of obtaining
what is called an economical Reform, it is almost
equal to that of obtaining Parliamentary Reform ;
b,cause it so happens, that a great many of those
gentlemen, who are returned by the boroughs, are
putting into their pockets the produce of that pro-
fuse expenditure which it is our business and our
duty to correct.—(Hear, hear.)—lt is a well-ascer-
tained fact, that out of 169 Privy Councillors, 113
of them receive annually 650,164/., making an ave-
rage of 5,750/. a year to each.—(Shame, shame.)—
And yet these are the men, as Parliament is at pre-
, sent consituted, who must in a considerable degree
determine whether there shall or shall not be an
economical Reform. I will not be so great a hypo-
crite as to pretend that I am a friend to the vote by
ballot ; but I am frank and free to confess, under
the circumstances in which we meet to-day, I do
think the unanimity of this meeting ought not to be
disturbed by an opposition on that question.—
(Hear, hear, hear.)—l recollect the time when the
high party used to call us poor reformers by the
name of tag-rag and bob-tail, the scum of the earth,
the swinish multitude, Jacobins, levellers, and, in
fact, by every term of opprobrium they could in-
vent—(Cheers and laughter)—and, not content
with the terms they could find in the English lan-
guage, they went to Italy for names of reproach,
and the leaders of Reform were called Carbonari,
and those who followed diem Lazaroni.—( A laugh.)
—But the high party is defunct—they have sunk,
never more to rise. Ido not wish to say this, and
I do not wish to apply it personally ; I apply it to
them merely as a party, in Leeds and in England.
The persons who used to domineer over the people
of England—the persons who hallooed Mr. Pitt
into war, and brought upon die nation the income
tax and all the other mischiefs of that system—the
persons who were the cause of a thousand millions
of the public money being spent in an unnecessary
war, and of all the distress and misery which the
country has since suffered—that same party has
sunk never mere to rise. Peace be to their manes,
Mr. T. B. PEASE seconded the resolution.

Mr. J. MARSHALL, jun. proposed the third reso-
lution, and said men of all parties are to be found
in the ranks of the reformers. Our brethren in the
agricultural districts have also now become con-
vinced that the Government of the country was not
all it might be, and are petitioning for an alteration
in the constitution of the House of Commons. If
we, in this island, have imagined that our grievances
have been great, what must have been t.heiteelings of
our fellow-countrymen in Ireland ? . A pirlikin that
country is now calling for a repeal of th*Jnion.
Whatever may be our opinion as to the conduct of
those who have been foremost in advocating that ,
question, we must be certain that it is supported by
the feeling that the evils and the misgovernment in
Ireland are beyond the reach of the British Parlia-
ment to amend.—( Hear, hear.)—They look, for in-
stance, at the tithes, at the enormous Protestant
Church Establishment of Ireland, for the support of
a religion which only counts among its members a
small minority of the population, and they ask
themselves whether they have any chance of ob-
taining redress from our Legislature? In utter
hopelessness of relief, they demand the right of
legislating exclusively for themselves.—(A voce,
" They ought to have it.")—I most devoutly trust
such a consummation never will be arrived at. The
separation of the two countries at this period of our
history would be proving that as all the arts of
civilization were advancing, the art of good go-
vernment was retrograding. Steam navigation
has, as it were, laid Ireland alongside of Eng-
land, and made the Irish channel a broad highway
of communication between the two countries.
Thus the state of Ireland, as it appears to me, is one
of the most powerful arguments for an instant and
thorough Reform in the House of Commons.—
(Cheers.) If the flame of liberty burns bright in
other countries in Europe, has it lit up no feeling
of sympathy in England ? We also have our mis-
governments to correct. We do not ask, and we
no longer wish that the Upper House should appoint
any of our representatives to the Lower House.—
(Hear, hear, and a laugh.) The field for their
exertions in the Upper House is wide enough. It
is not the number of boroughs in his possession,
nor his splendid fortune, that either entitles or will
secure to a Peer of England the lasting respect and
regard of his countrymen. It is not by his brilliant
success in the fashionable world, or by his unremit-
ting attention to his stud, that the performance of
his duty as a hereditary legislator will be satisfac-
torily proved. His untainted honour, the privilege
of his exalted station, is not to be best shown and
proved by his obtaining every office within his
reach for a relation or dependent, and by getting
grants of as many pensions upon the country as he
has poor relations.—(Hear, bear.) We have now
a Ministry pledged to bring forward a measure of
Reform; and though it cannot possibly be such as
will give universal satisfaction, I trust it will con-
tain some real improvements in our political system.
Mr. J. CLAPHAM seconded the motion with great
pleasure.
The CHAIRMAN put the resolution, which was
carried unanimously.

Mr. JAMES RICHARDSON; solicitor, said—lt is
my province to move the fourth resolution. Let
us give the Ministers our unanimous support.
Never let it he said we are this day divided upon
any minor question; but let us declare to Parlia-
ment our unanimous conviction, that all the great
interests of the State should possess the qualifica-
tion of voting—(Hear, hear.)—The next question,
which is calculated to bind the whole together, is
the ballot. It may be said, I am rather travelling
from my resolution in speaking upon this subject ;
and I would not have done so, if it had not been
that my resolution would be incomplete without
another, including this branch of Reform. Is there
any objection to the ballot that any upright man has
ever heard ? I have not heard one.—( A voice,
" And you never will.") The ballot will overturn
bribery ; for, as Mr. Sykes said, no man will buy
the pig in the poke, or rather, no man will buy the
poke, it being a matter of doubt whether there is a
pig in it or not.—(A laugh and cheers.)
Mr. JOHN HEAPS seconded the resolution.
G. WHILE'S, Esq. said—l am happy to find that
tile resolution which has been assigned to me, is a
resolution about the ballot.—(Hear, hear.)—With
respect to the elective franchise, I will say this—in

my opinion, no man should be prevented from exer-
a
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oegat he it-es-s-, 'o u(tll een
promiseasersv,
teehori et
shavureo.:):p—efro:fintol
ret conclude.]
ynin:cat;loaluofrtititie.:l
uld
Mr. FOSTER, in seconding the motion, said, ti c
amendment he had the honour to submit on a for-
mer occasion consisted of triennial Parliaments, uni-
versal suffrage, and vole by ballot. So far as his
own opinion was considered, he would tell them that
he did not anticipate much from the present Min:,-
ters, though he would not condemn !hem till lie had
fairly seen their plan developed on the Ist of Aiwa.
But when he looked at what they had already
brought forward in the form of a civil list, he must
say that his good feeliog towards them was rood)
diminished. And again, when be saw the Noble
Lord who had been selected to bring forward the
question, he would again say his feeling was very
much diminished, because he hai the honour,
last Session of Parliament, to hear that Noble Loot
bring forward his motion as a side-.ring) to c. ush
Mr. Daniel O'Connell's, which Went no fort her I ban
what that meeting had agreed to per i:ioo fon'. Lord
Brougham said, from the steps upon which he was
then standing, that he voted for Lord John Russell's
motion, though it was a stnin,g or ecnun.irmns
which neither they nor any man could loolosssand.
He (Mr. F.) hoped :he Ministers of England, if
trey wished to serve and to satisfy the people,
would see from the proceedings of that dad' that
Lord John Russell roust not bring any more colitis-
:lron-is before the House of Commaris.—(Applause.)
It had been argued that the vote by ballot was un-
English. He cont.nded it was 110 such th;ng; that
the ballot was recognised at the Leeds Infirmary at
elections of its officers—at the election of registrar at.
Wakefield—in the House of Commons in selecting
committees, and throughout the kingdom generally
for the militia. He would just show them, how-
ever, what was an " English" practice; and as
ire was one of the people, and it was his pride
ro belong to the people, be wceill neither
show favour nor affection to NV big- or Tory.
lie selected the boroughs of Newark and Stamford,
in the Tory interest, where tenantry had been (is--
charged fur riot voting- in accordance with their
landlord's request ; and Mahon and Koaresborough,
in the Whig interest ; and by way of illustrating the
corruption practised at elections, at the hit ter phei.., he
stated that a person, who had gone to KyareshorotW)
for the purpose of giving a vote, in right of a bar-
gage tenure in that place, on being cross-examine:l
by Mr. Blanchard, Counsel (or Mr. Entwisle, of
Foxholes, near Rochdale, said his name was john
Wilson—that he came from Londesbrough, near
Market-Weighton, a distance of thirty-eight miles, to
give a vote in right of a burgage tenure, the deed of
which he had in his hand—that he did not know in
what street his burgage tenure was situate—that he
did not know what sort of a house it was—that lie
did not know the rent, for he had never received
sny—that he had never read the deed—that he had
received it that morning from the Duke of Devoo-
shire's agent, arid that he expected to give it op
again immediately after the election.—(Laughter,
and cries of " Shame, shame.")—He would appeal
t s them, when the ballot was contrasted with such a
state of rerresentation as that, if it was not tar pre-
ferable?—" Ballot, ballot.") He congratulated him-
self on seeing so many, who formerly opposed him
on the measure of vote by ballot, then ut&ed heart
and hand with him in it, and he trusted that great
benefit would be derived from it to the nation at.
lunge. Mr. Foster concluded by thanking them for
the patient hearing which they had given hints,
Mr. SmyrllsoN considered meetings Ilse the ore-
sent marts for public instruction. A good deal had
been sand about the rights of the people, but be men-
tioning their wrongs he should the better teach them
how to call for their rights.—(Cheers.)
Mr. S. CLAPHAM then moved the sixth resolution.
Mr. JOSHUA BOWER seconded the !notion.
Mr. J.P.CLAPHAM moved the seventh resolution.
Mr. CHRISTOPHER HEAPS seconded the motion
most cordially.

Mr. EDWARD BAINES, jun., said—Mr. Chairman
and gentlemen, it is my duty to move the petitions.
by which the sentiments you have unanimously ex-
pressed may be conveyed to both Houses of Parlia-
ment. I should not have undertaken this duty, if
I did not entirely concur in all the opinions which
the petitions and resolutions set forth.--(Hear,
hear.) I fear Ministers dare not and cannot, if they
would, give us at once all we desire; but let us take
what we can get; let us advance by steps; and if
our demands are founded in reason, as I believe
they are, we are sure ultimately to obtain what we
ask.—(Hear, hear.) Mr. E. Baines then moved the
eighth resolution, and the petition to bath 'Houses
of Parliament.

Mr. J. A. BUTTREY seconded the resolution,
which was put by the Chairman, and carried una-
nimously!,

Mr. WATTS moved as an amendment that Mr.
Hunt be requested to support the petition.—(Gene_
ral hissing and disapprobation.)
Mr. SMIITHSON thought that any one who enter-
tained a good opinion of Mr. Hunt would believe him
to be ready to support the petition without any such
motion.—(Cheers.)
Mr. WATTS, seeing that his amendment was uni-
versally disapproved of, withdrew it.
Mr. TITLEY moved the ninth resolution, and was
highly pleased to find the meeting so unanimously
approve of the preceding resolutions. He doubted
not that this would be equally well received by them.
Mr. BATESON, in seconding the motion, also con-
gratulated the meeting on its unanimity.
The meeting then separated.

It is somewhat extraordinary that the character
of NAPOLEON BUONAPARTE, should not long since have
been appropriated by the novelists as well as the historian.
'ne Emperor of the French is however at length intro-
doced in propria persona into the new romance of 7/i
Tuileries; as well as almost all the remarkable personages
figuring at his Court,—from LANN.ES to the Prince of
BENEVENTO.

SHOCKING DEPRAVITY.—GEORGE CLOSE,
a lad not yet sixteen years of age, was brought up to INlary-
lehone police office, charged under these circumstances
The prisoner, who resided with his toot her, an industrious
widow in Sotner's-town, on Friday week last broke open
her boxes, and carried off every portable article, which he

disposed of with the assistance of a lad named FOUNTAIN.
TO him, he disclosed his intention of. murdering his mother
and an uncle (in independent circumstances), who
had chiefly supported him, and then robbing their
houses. FOUNTAIN communicated this to his mother,
the prisoner was tak,.n into custody, and, on the clearest
evidence, committed for trial. He was perfectly callous.
ATROCITIES OF THE SUSSEX COUNTY
COURT.—Tho. Brighton Herald of Saturday contains a
statement made by a parr man to the Magistrates at that
place of some most disgraceful proceedings which occurred
at the County Court. The applicant, who resides at
Shoreham, owed a bla. ksmitli 155.; he paid Gs. 4d. on.
account, and was then summoned for I Os. 8,1., being 2,
more than he owed, arid cost. Is. Bd. On attending to
explain the mistake, he was desired to sign just hill,
paid 165., at Is. per week, and then thought he had paid
which
pay the
was a paper to
girisnl)s.te(y,,t):taei,ryniihee,di
c:sliocetaia):sirvesotii,siiitntn:girtaesosrera.:tdlSii
all off. Ten days after he was attached for 41. Gs. 63.,
ife and
sold fin•
t
r 51., and
e
man t+i
:36,Ilvoetirviirdetsnuh.,a:neal:Isdiliiitidiliuoilhregprit;:rei,etilthauaeti.tlugliid1)1'011nolic(troa, nrft:,,ewrens afterwards
coals. He met HunliF.s, an officer, who said he had a.
nd cart,
e street.
The cart and horse were worth l V., but HuGnEs sold.
them for 31. 10s. On Monday last HUGHES said he had
an attachment against him, on account of the same busi-
u.ss, for I/. 7s. 10d. The poor man said, " they hail
already taken all he had, and could lint take shirt from a
naked man ; and he received this answer from the tender-
hearted II LI 01l :—" I shall one day, perlirps, yens.
little expect it." Mr. FAITIIFULL was sent for by
D. SCOTT after he had heard this stet went, and he 5..1,1,
that if one shilling of the instalments rrmsini d
.atorneys attached them again. The M.agistrltitzisail.,v,
such cases were a disgrace to the country,
get the u...uties Lt.
ing the expences to gniti'inoeva,sdstowai ds defray..
SCOTT promised to suliscrilie,loo