The Sun.
London, England, 1849-08-14 00:00:00

GREAT MEETING AT BIRMINGHAM.
(FROM OUR OWN REPORTER.)
A large and influential meeting of the inhabitants of
Birmingham, in compliance with a requisition to the
mayor, was held yesterday at the Corn Exchanee in that
town, to consider the propriety of adopting a memorial
to the Queen urging the recognition by the British
Government of the national independence of the Hun-
garian nation. At one o'clock the chair was taken by
Saaluel Thornton, Esq., the Mayor of Birmingham.
On the platform we noticed the Members of the
borough, Mr. Muntz and Mr. Scholefield; Dr. Raphall,
Mr. G. Dawson Mr. Gill, and other influential gentle-
men. Above the Chairman's head floated the national
banner of Hungary, of red, white, and green, supported
on each side by the English flag; and around the room
were suspended placards on which were inscribed
" Bathyany and Freedom;" " Georgey the Brave;"
" Kossuth and Independence;" " Dembinski and Free-
dom," and other like mottoes; while on one appeared
the name of Jellachich reversed, with a broad stroke
drawn through, indicating the shame and dishonour
which have fallen on the 'scutcheon of that leader.
The MAYOR, in opening the proceedings. said it was
with very great pleasure that he had acceded to the re-
quisition which had called upon him to hold a meeting
to discuss this most important question. He trusted
that the meeting would see the propriety of pla ing
itself in the hands of the speakers as to the resolutions
to be proposed.
Mr. SCUOLEFIELD, M.P., in rising to propose the
first resolution, said that this was the third great meet-
ing which he had attended on this most important
question, bat he attended this meeting with greater
pleasure than any other, because it intimated the deter-
mination of his fellow-townsmen not to be behind the
rest of the country in expressing their sympathy with a
brave nation struggling for freedom against oppression
and tyranny. The line of definition between right and
wrong had never been more clearly marked than in this
case. Here was a country struggling to maintain rights
and privileges, which it had possessed for many years,
against the attacks of a tyrant who strove to
deprive her of them. For many years Hun-
gary had had her own constitution, her own as-
semblies and her own king; the Emperor of Austria
was not the Emperor of Hungary there
was a great distinction between the two characters and
this war—the distinction which the Au-drian Government
now strove to abolish; and this was the reason why the
Hungarians most properly and most patriotically had
determined to depose the house of Hapsburg from the
throne of Hungary. There were many, he was sorry to
say, in this country who pretended to take offence at the
Hungarian form of government, but he did not think, for
his part, that there were many in the country who knew
exactly what was the form of government. All infor-
mation on. that head had to come through Austrian
channels, and of course was very much defiled in it: pas-
sage. He did not know what the form was, n.,r did he
care for that matter, but this he did know, that the Hun-
garians had risen as one man, and had declared for a
constitution, and what the sovereign will of the people
decreed that he thought was the true constitution, be it
what it might.—(Cheers) There were two important
points in this question which would justify any interven-
tion—the cruelty of Austria and the intervention of
Russia. No man who had read the atrocious proclama-
tion of Haynau, threatening instant death to every
person, without distinction of sex or ago, found
ee,..e-re• tee what might.. be called a revolution-
ary act, but Woulu ';:.;:sely denounce such a
monster and the Government that employed him. No
one who had the least regard for the law of nations could
for a moment doubt that it was high time for this coun-
try to interfere, and to speak out boldly by the mouth
of ber public Ministers, that she would not permit such
doings. The news which they had that morning re-
ceived of the great victory gained by the Hungarians,
and of the conquest of Haab, would, he hoped, soon put
an end to this war. Therefore, England, withont a.ty
loss of time, ought to take her proper place among the
nations, and issue a strung and independent protest
against the proceedings of Russia and Austria. He was
happy to tell them that a memorial from the Members o!
both Houses of Parliament to her Majesty was in the
course of being signed, and he only wished that he had
fifty hands to sign it with. He hoped that Lord Pal-
merston would be prepared to act upon that memorial
without loss of time. There was another argument for
the interference of this country in the contest
between Hungary and the two tyrannies of Aus-
tria and Russia ; one, however, on which he should be
inclined to lay but little stress, as it was liable to
the charge of selfishness, and that was the great com•
mercial advantages which would accrue to this country
from a treaty with Hungary. It was almost impossible
to overrate the benefits which a treaty with Hungary,
a country possessing twenty or thirty millions of inha-
bitants, with a soil as fertile as any in the globe, and
so few facilities for manufactures, would open to the
commercial aspects of this country. The only manufac-
tures which at present reached them went under a Rus-
sian tariff, and he need scarcely tell them that that al-
most amounted to a prohibition. Funen was the only
port through which imports could be made, and would it
be believed that the number of English vessels which
had entered that port during the last year was two, with
a tonnage of 220 tons, and that too for a population of
such immense extent? It was not, however, upon such
low ground as this that he called upon them to support
the Hungarian cause, and to sanction this protest, but in
the name of humanity and of justice, in the name of the
suff,ring but undying c luso of freedom, he called upon
them to express their sympathy on this occasion. The Hon.
Gentleman concluded by moving the following resolu-
tion : " That, as Englishmen, as lovers of freedom, civil
and religious, as true conservatives, and as friends of
progress, this meeting feel it a sacred duty to express
their earnest, entire, and unreserved approbation of the
Hungarian struggle for independence.'
Dr. RAPHALL rose to second the resolution. He said,
that during his connexion with Birmingham he had
never made it his practice to
this attendha,i anypublic
been
tmeeting of
meeting
of a political nature; and if
that character they would not have seen him. But the
object of this meeting was far different—all shades of
feeling were merged in the desire of exprt ssing
party
sympathy with a brave nation struggling for freedom.
That, too, was not all; not merely the liberty of Hun-
gary, but the liberty of central Europe, the welfare of
thousands of human beings depended upon this question.
He could tell themconfidently that justice was on the side
of Hungary in this struggle. For many years that great
and fertile country had at all times been as completely
free and independent as England or France, and it was
only after a long resistance, and the base assassination
by Austrian agents of the Regent Martinu7.zi, that Hun-
gary, on the death of her last native monarch on the
battle field, oonsentedk to allow his brother-
in-law, the Archduke Ferdinand, to mount
his throne. That was the beginning of the
connexion between Austria and Hungary, and in
the same spirit had that connexion been continued.
Austria and Bohemia had lost their freedom to the
House of Hapsburg; Lombardy had never been al-
lowed any, and now they were making mighty efforts to
crush the liberties of Hungary. Everything had been
done by Austria to annoy the interests of Hungary, and
even while she had been obliged to acknowledge the
independence of Hungary, every occasion had been
taken to turn that acknowledgment to her disadvantage.
Hitherto the quarrel had always been a family affair,
until now, when Austria called in Russia to aid her in
the extinction of libel ty, when it became a contest be-
tween
the principles of good and evil—between tyranny
fitting
and despotism ; and in such a struggle was notnemust
that England should remain an idle sP
remind them that Russia was the
a t r.
of despo-
tism and of ambition. She kept
eonee)
on Constantinople, and the other
156
years been one of
on our Indian pos-
sessions ; her career had for
aggression, and every power that she had come in con-
tact with had
obliged to yield to her rapacity.
U 'xceli: t
in a
b giant's Her conduct hadibavneeecrisitist;dretghteh, axiomhut
vtihllarttno" itS was
to t
use
lent to have
, a g
spirit.„
He rejoiced to be one of such a
as this ; the public voice loudly expressed could
not
have an effect upon the councils of Russia and
meetingua
Austria, and would strengthen the hands of our Govern-
ment in any course which they might pursue to stop
these despots in their crusade against freedom. He
begged to second the resolution which had just been read
to them.

Mr, GILL, in rising to support this resolution, said
that i❑ questions of this nature they were often puzzled
how large a share of disapprobation to bestow on one
party, and how large a slice of admiration on the other,
but in this case the Austrians had been so delightfully
stupid and gloriously unsuccessful, wbile,the Hungarians
had been so magnificently skilful and pre-eminently
fortunate; that there could not be much hesitation about
the matter. Ike Austrians rare striving to crush the