The Sun.
London, England, 1831-12-26 00:00:00

Sir George. Is it so ?—(Cries of " No, no.") But
the assertion is made, though quite groundless, and
all friends of Reform must continue to contradict it
by meetings throughout the country in favour of the
Bill.—( Cheers.) The Hon. Baronet, too, after
maintaining throughout his speech that things are
very well as they are, said, " We are told we are
a contemptible faction—(Cries of " So they are
—that our voices will only be heard in a whisper,
and then the Hon. Baronet exultingly exclaims,
" Our voices will be heard in far louder terms, and
they will spread like wildfire from one end of the
country to the other." Have they thus spread ?
( Cries of " No, no.") Or has not the Hon. Baro-
net reckoned without his host ? Are they not ra-
ther dying out ? The reason is obvious. It is well
known that fire will not burn, far less spread front
one end of a country to the other, without pure air;
oxygen is the principle of combustion. But the
doctrines of the Worthy Baronet were surrounded
by an air of such rank corruption that they would
not burn.—(Cheers and laughter.) The dying
embers of them have, indeed, been since seen
mouldering in Perthshire, and in one or two other
places, but it was plain to every one who saw them
that so exhausted was the principle of combustion,
so feeble the heat, that they might have been com-
pletely extinguished by the smallest stream, even by
one as small as that by which Gulliver extinguished
the fire in the Emperor's palace of Lilliput.-
-(Cheers.) So much for the spread of reaction
like wildfire.—(Cheers.) I shall not detain you by
any lengthened comments on the Bill. We have
the measure of Reform, because we believe it will
lessen corruption—make the House of Commons a
more complete representative of the feelings, the
opinions, and wants of the people—cause the Mi-
nistry at all times to act more in unison with the
opinions of the country.—(Cheers.) Being de-
prived of their space of corrupt influence in the
House of Commons, the Ministry must trust to the
support of public opinion alone, as, unless they
carry this along with them, they cannot stand. It
is admitted even by the most strenuous advocates of
things as they are, that the voice of the country has
often been again and again thwarted on great public
measures. Professor Wilson, in his address to the
Tory meeting here the other day, said of Parliament
as it is, " What is the result in working? Why,
that every measure that can be fairly shown to be
for the advantage of the country, though defeated
once and again, is sure to be carried at last." I beg
you will mark these words "at last." It is true
many great measures have been carried by Parlia-
ment as it is ; but, after such a lapse of time, that
the consequences of the delay have been most grie-
vous to the country. At all events, it is here ad-
mitted by this most eloquent and highly-gifted of
the Tories, that measures, though fairly shown to
be advantageous, have been again and again defeated.
This is a serious evil, and has plainly arisen from
the interests of the country at large being made sub-
servient to the interests of the boroughmongers in
Parliament; whose constant endeavours have been
exerted to preserve things as they are, to prevent
all change—(Shame, shame)—knowing that in the
midst of change their abuses could not escape.
Need I remind you of instances of the voice of the
country being despised in Parliament ? Need I re-
call to your recollection that unhallowed traffic in
human beings, that outrage upon humanity, the
slave trade, which, despite of repeated attempts to
put it down, was continued for twenty years after
the voice of the country was almost unanimous
against it ?—(Cheers.) Need I remind you of the
Test and Corporation Acts, the repeal of which was
supported by all the powers of reasoning and elo-
quence of Fox, so far back as 1787, and repeatedly
afterwards, backed by the voice of the country, and
yet was only accomplished four years ago ? Had
Parliament truly represented the people, I ask,
would the American war have taken place ? No.
Had Parliament truly represented the people, I ask,
would the late war have been resumed in 1803 ?
No. The people never would have consented to
resume the war about a comparatively insignificant
island. And yet Malta was the pretext for resum-
ing hostilities. Had Parliament truly represented
the people, would not the war have been terminated
in 1806, when the French made serious overtures
for peace ? Most assuredly it would. The nation
was by that time thoroughly tired of war. Had the
people been able to enforce their desire for peace in
1803, the country would have been spared the in-
crease to our debt of 400 millions, besides an ex-
penditure of about 600 millions more, raised by
loans between 1803 and 1815, when the war termi-
nated ; a waste of capital, and a load of debt which
have paralyzed the trade and industry of the country,
and which must long continue, I fear, to act like a
drag-chain upon its energies.—(Cheers.) Peace
was thus again and again rejected, but after this
woeful waste of millions upon millions, as the learned
Professor says, of other good measures, it came at
last.—(Cheers.) The slave trade was thus again
and again rejected, but, after the wholesale murder
of thousands, its repeal came at last. Such is the
working of the old system. But such things will
not be under a reformed Parliament. The voice of
the people will be more promptly attended to. And
although a reformed Parliament cannot at once re-
medy the evils that have been accumulating for ge-
nerations, it will, at least, prevent their recurrence
for the future.—(Great cheering.) I beg now to
read the petition.
The thanks of the meeting were then voted to
the Chairman, and after three enthusiastic cheers
ror the King the meeting separated.