The Sun.
London, England, 1825-03-25 00:00:00

WESTMINSTER. MEETING.

Yesterday, at a quarter past One, Sir F. Bua-
DETT, 3011 X CAM 110/3IIOLISE, Esq. Mr. HUNT, &C. toge-
ther with the Committee, ascended the, temporary Hustings
erected opposite the Covent Garden Chambers, for the patßose
of adopting Resolutions and a Petition to huliamenksytayinp,
for a repeal-orthe House and Window Tat. 44
Mr. MORRIS, the High Bailiff', having read the Requisition,

Mr. GARDINER, the-Secretary of the Committee, was pro-
ceeding to read a copy of the Petition intended to be presented ;
but at the suggestion of Mr. Hobliouse, the Resolutions were
first read, and carried by acclamation.
Mr. Hu NT then addressed the Meeting. He said, it was so
long since he had had the pleasure of appearing before them
that he scarcely believed that it was his own voice that was
addressing them. Those to whom he had the honour to address
himself bad not heard the Resolution read, owing to the uproar,
but they had carried them because they knew they, related to a
repeal of the Assessed Taxes. Of all the taxes with which the
country was burdened, there was none so obnoxious as the Win-
dow Tax, for it was, of all things, unfair to tax the Light of
heaven, and the air we breathe. He (Mr. H.) did not belong to
the elect, and therefore he had no hand in framing the resolu-
tions, or he would have made some addition. It was a matter of
surprise to him, that 9 years should have elapsed since the ter-
mination of the war, and the Electors of Westminster had not
been called upon before to petition Parliament upon this subject.
If the Chancellor of the Exchequer wanted money in lieu of this
tax, he would recommend a reduction in the Pay and Pension
List. On a former occasion, he (Mr. H.) had inveighed as lie
always would do, against titled pensioners, and he began the list
with his Grace of rockingham, and then followed the Marquis
Camden. Since that period, one of these Noblemen had had
the modesty to give up his pension, and the other had been de-
prived of it by an Act of Parliament. He trusted that, on the
present occasion, all political animosity would be forgotten, and
that all present would be unanimous in petitioning for a repeal
of the House and Window Tax. He thought the money could
well be spared if a reduction were made of money paid to
Pensioners and Placernen. No man ought to be paid out of
the earnings of the people, but one who served them. It had
been said that charity ought to begin at home, and, in his opi-
Rion, Reform ought to begin there also.—(Hear ! and a laugh.)
—He would like to.know why the father of one of their Re-
presentatives (Mr. Hoblionse) enjoyed a pension of 2,0001. a
year for doing nothing. He did not wish to make any distinc-
tion, but to do away with: sinecure places altogether. The Mi-
nisters were about to burden the people with another tax of a
most odious nature. He understood a proposition had been
made to allow the Roman Catholic Priests of Ireland the sum
of 230,0001. a year, to bribe them to sit quietly by and see
their countrymen deprived of their liberties. No man wished
for the Emancipation of the Roman Catholics more than he
did, and ho trusted that they were, ere long, to obtain the free-
dom they had so long waited for. He considered them entitled
to the same rights and privileges as the rest of the community.
He was sorry to find that the Resolution so ably brought for-
ward by their Representative (Sir Francis Burdett) in the House
of Commons, a few nights since, had been seconded by Mr.
Croker. He was confident such a union could be for no good
purpose ; something would be added, he was convinced, by the
Ministerial Party. which Sir F. Burdett never intended intro-
ducing ; and so he afterwards found, in the abominable propo-
sition, since made by the Ministers, to give 230,000/. a year to
the Roman Catholic Priests. After some further observations,
lie concluded by proposing the following Resolution :
" That this Meeting had heard with surprise and indignation
of a proposition to bring a Bill into Parliament to impose a new
tax of 230,000/. a year, to be collected from the Protestants of
England, to pay the Roman Catholic Priests of Ireland, as a
bribe to induce them, tamely and shamefully, to submit to the
treasonable disfranchisement of half a million of their country-
men, the 40s. freeholders, who have al ways,up to this time, en-
joyed and exercised, as the dearest birth right of freemen, the
right of voting for Members of Parliament."
Mr. BISH seconded the above Resolution.
.The HIGH Hamm. put the Resolution, which was carried
by a triflingmajority. -
A Petition to Parliament, praying for a repeal of the House
and Window Taxes, was then read by the Secretary, which the
Chairman proposed should he adopted by the Meeting.
Mr. Ilusor objected to the Petition, WI no notice had been
taken in it of the resolution he had proposed, and which had
been carried. It was a sort of trick, to which he hoped the
Meeting would not submit. He then proposed, that the substance
of the resolution be inserted in the Petition.
Mr. TRESLAN opposed its insertion, and said it had nothing
to do with the object for which they had met.
The thou BaiLissr then put the question, whether Mr.
Hunt's Resolution should form part of the Petition; and, on a
show of hands, declared the Question to be decided in the
negative.
auNT said, that the Meeting had not understc•A the
Qtteition;.and wished it to be put again, which the High
Bailiff refused. He (Mr. Hunt) then said, thateas the resolu-
tion he had carried had not been inserted in the Petition, he
hoped the Meeting would reject it altogether.

On the Marti BAILIFF putting the Question, That the Pe-
tition be adopted by the. Meeting, several hands were held up
in favour of it; but, on the contrary being put, Mr. Hunt held
up his hand, wavin his hat, &c. ; and his example was fol-
lowed by the majority of the Meting, so that the High Bailiff
declared the petition rejected.
Considerable confusion was- occasioned by this announce-
ment ; and when the uproar had, in some degree, subsided,
Mr. PIT MAN moved. a Vote of Thanks to Sir F. Burdett,
and J. C. Hobhouse, Esq. which was put 'and carried un-
animously.

Sir F. BURnETT then came forward, and stated that he felt
highly honoured by the vote just passed. lie considered it his
duty to say a few words on the proceedings of the Meeting. He
regretted they did not concur•with the Petition which had been
proposed to them by the Gentlemen who had convened the meet-
ing. He thought it a very unhandsome proceeding, on the part of
Mr. Hunt, not to acquaint the Gentlemen who bad taken- the
pains to frame the Resolutions, of his intention to oppose them.
His conduct had tended to destroy the concord and unanimity
of the Meeting ; and he would call it, in the words of Mr. Hunt
himself, " a trick which, he trusted, the Meeting would never
submit to." Some men were better as enemies than friends,
and so he thought of Mr. Hunt; he felt prodder of his censure
than his praise. An allusion had been made to the state of Ire-
land. If justice and freedom were extended to that unhappy coun-
try, a saving, not of thousands but of millions of inoney, might be
effected. Millions that were spent in tyrannizing over the People,
and subduing the Religious Liberty of the country. As to the pro-
position that had been talked about, of paying the Catholic Priests
230,000/. a-year ; he coulctonly say, they must either pay the
priests, or pay soldiers ; either pay that money to the priests, or
I►ay four millions a-year to support an army to keep down the
people. Those, however, were not the points they had .met to
discuss. The Petition, he was sorry to find, had been rejected,
through a trick of Mr. Hunt. He concluded, by assuring
them that he would never desert them, nor the cause of the
public ; and if he did not always concur with them in opinion,
he hoped they would give him the credit of acting from con-
scientious motives.

Mr. HOBIIOUSE felt proud of the mark of approbation the
Meeting had bestowed upon him, and equally proud of the
censure of Mr. Hunt. Mr. Hunt had thought proper to call
him a young man ; but young as I am (continued Mr. Hob-
house), I am old enough to know the difference between im-
pudence and courage, and to distinguish a true from a false
friend. Mr. Hunt nas stated, that my father receives a pension
of two thousand pounds, a year from the pockets of the Pub-
lic. I tell him that that assertion is as false as he himself
is false—false as his conduct this day has been infamous
and abominable. Mr. Hobhouse then explained, that his
father received his salary from the' East India Company, as
one or the Commissioners appointed to examine certain accounts
due to diem. After that specimen of Mr. Hunt's conduct, did
the Meeting want any more?-,-(Cries of No, no I)—He hoped
he should hear no more of the sinecure.
Mr. II trx-:—Yes you will.
Mr. HOBHOUSE—YeR ; having told an untruth, you, I dare
say, will have the impudence enough to repeat it. After some
further observations, which were inaudible from the confusion
that prevailed, Mr. Hobhouse concluded by stating, that he
would always do his duty to his constituents firmly and faith-
fully.
Thanks were then voted to the High-Bailiff (A. Morris, Esq.)
and the Meeting was dissolved.
Several persons collected round Mr. Hunt and his friend Mr.
Birt, when they were about descending from the hastings, and
lavished all manlier of opprobrious epithets upon them.--
" You pair of skulking scoundrels" was more than oncehreei;
peated ; and more than one pair of fists were shaken in their
toe
faces. 'When they got upon the ground they were not
respectfully treated. The mob collected about them,
ing groans and other disagreeable sounds, and severaln
con-
stables were obliged to surround them, to protect thas from
more serious marks of popular disapprobatton.
In
they heir
ceeded by the peace-officers and the crowd,
et,
in their
ceeded to Mr. Birt's house, in Little Russell-stsTme
un plea-
progress to which, their ears were greeted with the
luals near Mr.
cant sounds, although once or twice a few indivuoy trnitter-
Hunt's person attempted to cheer him. Afterrthsome
time ; but
had entered
Mr. Birt's house, the mob-remained outside o_
mr for some
finding their expectations of again seeing•
they gradually dispersed.

PARLIAMENTARY PROCEEDINGS.

110 USE OF COMMONS.
Jovis, 24° die Maitii, 1825.

STAXDING ORDERS COMMITTEE—ReSOIUtiMp reported :
That, in -the case of the I:4merick and Waterford Railway
Petitirkthe Standing Orders Nht noNlikslispnred
Postpanft. ..Nr` - -
That, in the case of the Leeds anbillalifax Road Petition,
the parties be permitted to proceed with their Bill, except so
far as regards the branch Road from School-house Green to
Stubden 'Foot' and that leave be granted that the Lists of
Owners and Occupiers deposited in the Private Bill Office may
be forthwith amended, by inserting therein the Answers of
such Owners and Occupiers as have been given since the de-
positing of the said Lists.—Agreed to.
That, in the case of the Gosport Chapel Petition, the parties
be permitted to proceed with their Bill, and that leave be
granted that Notices may be inserted three times in some one
one newspaper of the County of Southampton, and affixed to
the door of the Sessions-house at the next Easter Quarter-ses-
sionsiof the Peace for the said County ;—and that the Commit-
tees on the two last-mentioned Bills do respectively examine,lin
the first vlace, how far the said Orders shall have been com-
plied wan and do report the satne.to the House on the Reports
of the Bills.—Agreed to.

Mn. SPEAKER reported the Royal Assent—to Annual Duties

Bill, and Branicote Oddhouse and Whiteburne and Dunse
Reads Bills.
MESSAGE from the LORDS—That they have agreed to--
Wigan Road Bill, without amendment.
ROADS—Brighton and Cucktield—Bill read a third time, and
passed. Manchester and Austerlands—Petition from Rech-
dale Canal Company, against—referred to the Committee on
the Bill, Counsel ordered. 'Rochdale and Oldham—Petition

of the Rochdale Canal Company, against—referred to the
Committee on the Bill,:Counsel ordered.
ComPasrEs—Equitable Loan Bank (Petition, in favour, from
St. Pancras—to lie on the table)—Bill read a third time, and
passed. Western Ship Canal—Petition from Langport East-
over, against—to lie on the table. Provincial Banks (Ire-
land)—Petitions from Cork and Newry, in favour—to lie
on the table. Joint Stock Bank (Ireland)—Petition from
Newry, in favour—to lie on the table.
ATTORNIES Tax—Petitions from Dumbartonshire, against
—to lie on the table.
PAVlNG—Macclesfield—Bill read a second time and com-

mitted.
COUNTY COURTS BlLL—Petitions of Commissioners of Court
of Requests, Southwark, against, and for compensation—
referred to the Committee on the Bill.
WATERWORKS—AImond—BiII ordered.'

INcLostruEs—Hockering and Morton (Norfolk)—Bill read a
seeondltime, and committed. Pewsey (Wilts)—Bill report-
ed, to be ingrossed.
DOCKS—IsIe of Dogs—Petition from persons engaged In !the
Coal Trade of London, against—to lie on the table. St. Ka-
tharine's—Petition from London Dock Company, against-
-to lie on the table ; Bill reported, Report to lie on the
table. South London—Petition from Southwark, against--
referred to the Committee on:the Bill, Counsel ordered.
NAVIGATION—CaIder and Ilebble—Bill read a third time.

GAOL—Cambridge—Petition for leave to present a Petition for

Bill referred t(i'a Committee.
HOUSE AND WINDOW TAX—Petitions for the repeal thereof,
from Stockton and Cheltenham—to lie on the table.

STA 3a. DUTlES—Petition for the repeal of the Duties on Fire

Insurances, from Dublin—to lie or; the table.
ROMAN CATHOLIC CLAlMS—Petitions against, from Glou-
cester, and Chippenham ; and from Newry, in favour—to
lie on the table.

CUTLERY TRADE
POLICE MAGISTRATES
THREATENING LETTERS PUNISHMENT Bali read a first
time.
FELONIES PARDON
COUNTY TRANSFER or LAND

NAVY—BiII to make further provision for the payment of the
Crews of his Majesty's Ships ordered.

ORDERS OF THE DAY FOR THIS DAY.
I. Canada Trade Act—Committee thereupon.
2. Dissenters's Marriages Bill—Second reading.
3. Land Tax Assessments Bill—Committee.

4. Prison Laws (Ireland) Bill—Second reading.
5. Sheriff Courts Fees Bill—Committee.

6. Supply—Committee.
7. Ways and Means—Committee.
8. Calder and Hebble Navigation Bill—Further proceeding

on Third Reading.
9. Customs, and Stamps Consolidation, &.c. Acts--Committee
thereupon.
10. Game Laws Bill—Committee.

11. Caledonian Canal Bill—Third reading.
12. County Treasurers (Ireland) Bill—Third reading.
13. Arrests for Debt Bill—Committee.

14. Wine Duties Bill—Third reading.
15. Consolidated Fund Bill—Third reading.
NOTICES OF MOTIONS FOR THIS DAY.

1. Mr. Herries--Remaining Miscellaneous Estimates. (In
Committee of Supply.)
2. Mr. Courtenay—Bill to amend the Bankrupt Laws :—.and
Bill to regulate Lunatic Trusts.
3. Mr. Hume—Papers relating to the Burmese War.

NOTICE GIVEN YESTERDAY.
Thursday, April 21.
Mr. Maberly—Repeal of the Duties on Beer.
PRIVATE BILLS. _

Second Readings for This Day.
Winterbourn, Wilton, and Northall Inclosures ; Hasling-
don, Cockermouth and Maryport, .Greenhill Moor, Upton-
on-Severn, Mahon and Pickering, Birmingham and Pershore,
Cirencester, York, and Tewkesbury and Cheltenham Roads ;
Edinburgh, York Minster, and Cirencester Improvements ;
Tiverton Markets ; Sudbury,and Southwark Paving ; Henley-
upon-Thames Poor ; Rochester Gas ; Rochdale Lightning ;
Llanllyfin and Carnarvon Railway ; Poole Church ; and Great
Bow Bridge.