The Sun.
London, England, 1822-01-26 00:00:00

NORFOLK FOX DINNER.

The Annual Diaper to celebrate thejAtitilvtt
sary of the Birth-day of Mr. Fox, was held' Oh
Thursday, at the Assembly Roonis' 'Norwich
So great was- the anxiety of .the eutlemeti t'Cif
the County and City to :be present on this:octa--,
sion, that -applications for tickets were made `se
veral weeks .back, but as the Assembly Rooms
could dine no morelhan 250 persons, the issue
of tickets was restricted to that number : the con-
sequence- of which_ was, that upWards of one
hundred Gentlemen who. wished to be present
were excluded from the, din"n-er*. " Notwithstand-
ing the precautions taken -the Stewards and-
Gentlemen of the -Committee to prevent an over-
flow, from fifteen to twenty Gentlemen were
obliged to dine in the orchestra. Nis Royal
Highness the Duke of.SUSSEX, who is on a visit
at Holkham, being expected to attend the, din-
ner, several persons crowded forth to witness his
arrival. At a quarter past three o'clock the
ringing of the church bells announced that his
Royal Highness .had- entered the city ; he pro-
ceeded immediately- to . the 'Bishop's. Palace,
where he was to reside
.during his stay in town.
At half past-four o'clock the Duke of NORFOLK
and the EarL of ALBEMAIILE entered the dining
room, and were received with loud and repeated
cheering. Mr. COKE entered shortly after, and
was greeted in a. similar ,manner. Soon after
five o'clock, the Duke of Suss-Ex .made his, ap-
pearance, and was received with the' highest pos..,
Bible demonstrations ,a respect ; every Ge.ntie-.
man stood up and cheered ,as his Royal Highness
passed to the upper end of the room. Among the.
Noblemen and Gentlemen present, we noticed
the following :
-

His Royal Highness the Mike of Sussex, the Duke of Nor-
folk, Earl Marshal ; Viscount Bury ; Hon. W. Fitzroy, llon,
E. Kepdel ; Sir W. W. Dafling, Sir R. P. Joddrell, Sir T. B,
Beevor ; Sir W. Middleton, Sir W. J. H. B. Folkes ; Sir J.
E. Smith : T. W. Coke, Esq. M.P. Wm. Smith, Esq. M.P.
- lionywood, Esq. M.P. N. W. Ridley Colborne, Esq.
M.P. T. B. Lennard, Esq.' M.P. for Ipswich, E. R. Pratt,
S. T. Southwell, E. bombe, M. Micklethwayt, J.- Postle,
Admiral Lukin, - Greg, Joseph Grigby, J. W. Tomlin-
son, -- Collinson, W. F. Keppel, J. Keppel, J. P. Bagge,
L.
,Self, W. Allen, Hogg ; Col. -Stevenson, Col. Dixon,
Major Hussey, Major. Turrel; Capt. Worth, R.N. Capt.
Money ; Ald. Leman, Aid. Bolingbroke, Ald. Finch ; She-
riff Graves ; A. Hudson, Esq. ; Dr. Wright ; W. Dalrymple,
Esq. T. Hudson, Esq. T. B. Tooke, E4q. W. Foster, Esq.
W. Lukin, Esq. John . Parkes, jtin. Esq. of Warwick, E.
Postle, Esq. B. Guidon, Esq. -P. Guidon,, Esq. J. Bloom,
Esq. ; Rends. Archdeacon Bathurst, C. Collyer, R. Odell,
R. F. Elwin, J. B. Collyer, F. Howes, W. Collett, -- God-
dard, W. Gordon, H. Wilson, G. Preston, L. B. Foster ; T.
Steward, Esq. W. Steward; Esq. E. R. Finch, Esq. W.
Repton, Esq. G. Sandby, Esq. - Rolfe, Esq. - Havers,
Esq. J. M. Smith, Esq. G. Brown, Esq. &c. •
The Earl of ALBEMARLE having taken the Chair, sup-
ported on the right by the Duke of Sussex and on the left by
the Duke of Norfolk, the party sat down to an excellent dinner.
The cloth having been removed, " Non Nobis Domine" was

sung.
The EARL Of A.LBERMIRLE, in presenting him
self to the company in which he had the pride,
the honour, and the satisfaction of sitting as
Chairman, observed, that in reading the accounts
in the different newspapers of the various con-
vivial meetings which were held in the kingdoin,
he remarked, thak:the Chairman had
.getstraPy
a certain quantity of cut and dried sentences
with which to commence the business of Cie even-
ing ; he generally began by expatiating on the
diffidence which he felt in filling the situation of
Chairman, when he saw many around hilit so
much more capable to perform the duties of the
situation than himself.—For his own part he
meant to make no such apologies, nor to trust to
set phrases. He had the arrogance to take the
station, and he would endeavour to perform its
duties to the utmost of his ability ; not that he
was not aware of his own inadequacy, not that
he was not aware that his excellent and much
respected friend, Air. Coke, from the situation
he held in the county, ought to be placed in the
Chair he had the honour of occupying ; but when
he reflected on the obje'ct of the assembly, the
name of him whose birth they were celebrating,
and the prinCiples it was convened to support
and enforce, his pride was so gratified, the
warmest feelings of his heart were so called into
motion, as completely to get the better of his
prudence, and to make him forget his inadequacy
—indeed it made him forget all except one thing;
and that was—whatever might be his lot, what-
ever might be his station, he could never forget
the kindness and attention with which he had
ever been received by assemblies like the present
—a kindness which had never yet failed him,
and he trusted would not do so now. In pre-
senting himself for the fourth time as Chairman,
he felt that he was subject to advantages and
disadvantages ; amongst the former he would
mention, that he had not now to consider how
far the indulgence of the meeting might be ex-
tended towards him. , He knew that little de-
pended on the Chairman—it was with the meet-
ing alone that the pleasure of the evening rested.
Gentlemen came there to be 'Pleased—they had
met again, where they had sCr often met before,
on sound, liberal, and constitutional principles,
and he doubted not good fellowship would follow.
Amongst the disadvantages under which he
laboured might be numbered that, filling the
situation which he did for'the fourth time, it was
natural to consider that- nothing new could be
elicited—no new observations could fall from the
Chairman. He had, therefore, no other course
to pursue than to go on in the old beaten track.
The Noble Earl remembered a Prelate, he believed
a Right Rev. Prelate, who once wrote and pub-
lished a volume of poeMs ;—unfortunately, the
world did not think very highly of this volume :
the Right Rev. Prelate was, however, quite
of a different opinion, and so satisfied was
he with himself—so pleased with his own
performance—that he determined to indulge
the world with a second volume, which he en-
titled " Imitations of myself."—(A laugh.)—
The Noble Earl was afraid he was reduced to
' much the same situation, and should be obliged
' to give vapid imitations of himself. Ile- must
' continue in the beaten track, and he thought it
probable the meeting did not wish he should get

oat ot it. If on a former occasion he had to ex-
press his pride, satisfaction, and delight, at see-
ing an Member of the Hrmse of Brans-
wick—(Loud and contirmed applauie)--preseiit
at the meeting—one who had ever been mindful
of the principles ,which seated his family on the.
Throne of these realms—,-an illustrious citizen of
Norwich ;—if on .a former occasion he had stated
all this, he could now, do no more. His Royal
Highness had been provokingly steady_ in his
principles and conduct, and had given him no
scope for fresh observation. The Noble Earl
had the same complaint to make of the heredi-
tary Earl Marshal of England, the head of the
Nobility of the kingdom ; hut great.and highly
exalted as he was in station, he was still the, firm
friend of the rights and privileges of, the people
—(Applause)—and might he not state all this
now ? Again, what opportunity did his Honour-
able and respected Friend Mr. Coke give him
for fresh observation ?- Had he done any thing
new ? No; he had continued in the 'uniform
and steady discharge of his duty, and always
would continue so. If he (the Noble Chairman)
had before expressed the happiness he felt_ in
meeting such an assemblage of the rank; the talent,
the worth, and the consideration of the county,
what could he say now ? Ile had never seen a
meeting attended so fully and respectably ,as the
present. Again, if fie had before expressed his
satisfaction at seeing such multitudes of, en-
lightened and respectable yeomen, he must now
go a little out of the ,beaten track : he felt parn.
Ocularly gratified at seeing them all again,3ls,
lembled there, as high in spirit, though much
lower in pocket. He felt the pressure of the
times himself, and was hold to say there was no
man in the room who did not. He knew not
how others felt—but for his own part he felt the
highest indignation against the authors of the ca-
lamities of the country. We were told that
thanks were due to ". the Pilot ,that weathered
the storm." He had made a, slip ; he begged
pardon—for he should have said the pilot who
gathered the storm. It was to him, and to the
wicked and accursed wars in which the country

had been engaged through his means, we owed
all the distress and calamity under which, the
country suffered. But we were not to grum-
ble, because by these means we were. told
the liberty of Europe . had been secured, the
Constitution of the country had been preserved,
and the liberties of the people secured—but, the
Noble Chairman would ask, is Great Britain by
these wars more respected abroad?. is she more
happy at home ? is the, confidence in the Govern-
ment more securely established ? He would answer
no. The only consequence of those wars was, the
establishment of the Holy Alliance, the placing of
Louis the Eighteenth on the Throne of France—
Ferdinand on that of Spain. It was, in fact, the.
triumph of legitimacy over the rights and liber-
ties of the people. This was what the pilot who
gathered. the storm had done for us, and to him
all the distresses and calamities of the country
were to be attributed.—(Applause.)—lt was
true thiS war had cost us much blood and trea-
sure, but what then? The article was cheap at
the price which we had paidipli; it. He would
not trespass on the time of the meeting,by going
into a contrast between the results of such mea-
sures and those which Mr. Fox would have pur-
sued had.his life been spared to the country.
The system of Mr. Fox was that of. peace and
tranquillity,' and the •fesults would 'have been
to this country far different if that system had
been pursued. But it was not only to the pilot
who gathered the storm, but to the crew who
succeeded him, that the country was indebted
for its misfortunes and distresses. It was said
that they were inferior in,talent and abilities.—
He believed it might be so, for of late years
talent had not by any means been a requisite for
obtaining a situation in his Majesty's 'Councils ;
but if by talent was meant ability to do mischief,
they had it . with a vengeance. 'But when the.
situation of the country,was looked to, it appear-.
ed that the storm was now so completely gathered
by the pilot and his crew, that scarce a-plank
was left of the vessel. Still the Noble .Chairman
hoped that the
.people,would.weather the storm;
and when he looked .. at Jhe, meeting assembled,
he felt assured they, would not sla.ci<en'their ex-
ertions, but would unite and save the remnant of
their liberties. But lieniust get back into his
beaten track, and if on a former occasion he had
to express his thanks for the foreign aid which
was afforded, what could he say now, surrounded
as he was by so many gentlemen of other counties ?
He saw Mr.. Honey wood of Kent,Mr. Lerinard and
Sir Wm. Middleton from Suffolk, and others who
might not at that moment meet his eye. He
should, however, as a good Chairman, exhibit his
bill of fare, and in due time shew. Ahem all up, to
the notice of the meeting. But the object for
which they were met, , was to 'jay the trihuteor
.respect ,to the immortal and illustrious memory
of the late Mr. Fox, and to express their appro;
bation of his public a'nd private virtues. -It
would be unnecessary for hith to. take.up:the
time of
,the meetino•a 1 dilating b-'on those virthes;
every one knew them;. and, it would .Iter -eqttally
,unnecessary to contrast his principles with those
which had brought this country to its.present up-
fortunate situation. In speaking, ho\vever, of
'the late Mr; Fox, he could not ',avoid paying
just tribute of respect ,to the excellenee of his
heart—the beautiful benevolence .of his mind,
and the perfect and, upright consistency of his
conduct. If others whq,now filled the satiation
which he ought to have filled, had_: had the
slightest spark of his benevolence, that blot on
the character, of the country, the Mapehester
massacre, would never have taken place, nor
would the accursed six Acts to restrain the, liber-
ties of the country ever have been passed. If
the slightest spark of his benevolence of mind
had been felt, the abominable system of employ-
ing spies to entrap the people into the commis-
sion of offences, on which to ground the severity
which was afterwards practised upon them ; .if
his benevolence had been felt, that'oUtrageon
.public decency and decorum, the proceeding's
against the Queen, would never, haVe, taken place,
nor the military murder which was, perpetrated
; at the last outrage which was, offered to her re-
mains. I.f they.liad.felt one spark of the. bene-
; volence of Mr. Fox, ..they would have learned