The Sun.
London, England, 1841-12-08 00:00:00

view to the immediate relief of your Majesty's suffering
people, to instruct your Majesty's Ministers immediately
to convoke the Parliament, and to convey to it your Ma-
jesty's gracious wish that the corn and provision laws
should be at once taken into consideration, with a view
to their repeal.
" We also humbly pray your Majesty at the same time
to instruct your Majesty's Ministers to introduce into
the Commons House of Parliament a bill for the enact-
ment of the principles contained in the People's Charter."
Dr. BEDFORD said he was glad to say that meeting
had given the lie to its opponents, for it was proved that
no aid from the police was necessary.—(Cheers.) It was
a peaceable and quiet meeting, creditable to the working
men. He for one was not, disposed to shake a rod at the
Government, but he would ask what would become of
the army and navy if all the working men with hungry
bellies were to declare that they would have justice ?
(Loud cheers.) If it had• not been for the press, what
would they have known of the disgraceful conduct of
the Duke of Wellington in reference to the Paisley
deputation ?—(Groans and hisses.) The same press
would now diffuse to the whole country that South-
wark had had a large meeting, and a quiet meeting—a
meeting that needed no aid nor overlooking from the
police.—(Hear, hear.) He confessed he could not go
the entire length to which some present were disposed
to go, and he had had some difficulty, especially with the
last clause of the address, but he had waived his scruples.
After deprecating all disunion and differences of opinion
among Reformers, Dr. Bedford proceeded to say that
distress was unquestionably attributable to class legisla-
tion.—(Hear, hear.) While that existed, there would
be no remedy for the evils. With respect to Universal
Suffrage, he believed that property would always have a
certain weight in society, and if Universal Suffrage were
adopted to-morrow, property would have the sway.—
(No, no.) Let him not be misunderstood ; by that he
meant to say that property would have a sufficient pre-
ponderance to counter-balance any evils that might arise
from Universal Suffrage.--(Cheers.)
Mr. Pa RKElqa working man) said the gratitude of the
meeting was particularly due to their revered and vene-
rated High Bailiff, who presided over them that day. Much
had been said about the extravagance that had been ex-
hibited by the Chartists at various public meetings, but he
would take occasion to say, that that extravagance, if
such it was to be called, was exactly similar to that
which was exhibited by the middle classes at the time
the Reform Bill was in progress. They had met there
with the view of bettering their condition.—(Hear, hear,
hear.) He, for one, stood before them an evidence of
the evil effect of the want of political power, for he was
a journeyman tailor, who in vain had sought for employ-
ment. There were 15,000 journeymen tailors, of
whom there were 9,000 out of employ, and 6,000 in par-
tial employ ; and the result was, that the 9,000 were
continually knocking at the doors of the 6,000, and en-
deavouring to gain the work. They (the working men)
did not want the property already acquired by others,
but they wanted a fair protection for their own labour.
He, as a working man, indignantly repelled the insinua-
tion that they wished to grasp the property of others—
(Cheers)—it was true they wished to acquire property
of their own to maintain, educate, and clothe their chil-
dren, but they had no design- of spoliation.—(Hear,
hear.) All they desired was equal privileges with other
classes.—(Cheers.)
Mr. WILSON was glad to see that differences of opinion
had been merged. He was convinced that all the points
of the Charter were good and necessary ' • but, as they
never could get half a.dozen men to think exactly alike
on all the details of,;any one subject, those minor points
ought not to be absolutely insisted upon.
Mr. RIDLEY proceeded to say'that he agreed with the
address as.far as it went, and gave an account of the
distress- existing among the people as it had fallen under
his own eye while' traversing the counties of Essex and
Sussex. It had been said, and propagated widely too,
that the country was over-populated. No such thing.
There was enough of landt,to maintain five times the
population. The speaker then proceeded to condemn
the system of large farms, and contended, as we un-
derstood, that if the land were divided in allotments of
five or six acres, the occupiers would be far happier. If
the Charter were the law of the land, these things would
be remedied. If that were the case the workingmen would
not seek to become aristocrats or non-producers, but laws
would be passed that would give a man a living from his
labour, and then capitalists would find it to their interest to
goiland in hand with their men. All the miseries and suf-
ferings endured by working men were produced by class
legislation. The legislators were aristocrats, and was it
to be supposed they would make laws to injure them-
selves ?—(Hear, hear.) Look at the increase of gaols and
poor-houses I In 1792 there were but forty-three pri-
sons in the country, and now there were from 140 to 150.
—(hear, hear.) There was no hope for the people until
the Charter should become the law of the land.

The HIGII BAILIFF then put the Address, which he
declared to be carried unanimously.
It was proposed by Mr. SPURR, that as the Address
contained a request that the Queen would be pleased to
summon Parliament immediately, it would be necessary
to forward the Address immediately through the Secre-
tary of State, and a resolution was carried that the High
Bailiff do present the Address to the Secretary of State
to be placed in the hands of her Majesty. "
Mr. MAYNARD (a Chartist) then rose to move the
adoption of " the national petition," which he read at
length. (The formidable extent of this document precludes
its admission into our columns.) After reading the peti-
tion Mr. Maynard begged to move its adoption, and that
the Members for the borough be requested to present the
same to the House of Commons.
Mr. JEANS seconded the motion.
Mr. HEARNE was announced to speak amid much up-
roar and cries of " No secretary to the Corn-law League."
When silence was obtained, he said he rose to submit a
petition somewhat different from that proposed, in many
of the points of which he could not agree. It was as-
serted in that petition that Prince Albert had an allowance
of 1041. per diem, when the fact was that it was only
721—(Great uproar.) Again he asked why it was they
had not mentioned the salary of the Queen Dowager,
who received upwards of 2731. every day. Was there
an alliance between the Chartists and the Tories, that
the salary of this lady had not been mentioned in the
petition ? After stating the several points which he ob-
jected to in the national petition, he, amid much confu-
sion, proposed a petition, which stated that the distress
was to be ascribed to the Corn and other restrictive laws,
and praying that the Charter might become the law of
the land.

The adoption of the amended petition was then put to
the meeting, bnt only four hands were held up in its
favour.

The National Petition was then put and carried by a
great majority.
On the motion that the Members for the borough be
requested to support the prayer of the National Petition,
Alderman HUMPHERY said that he could not agree to
such a motion, for though he approved of some parts of
the petition, there were other parts of it which he could
not approve of.—(Groans and interruption.) He had
waited until every person had spoken, and they ought to
hear what he had got to say. He said that there were
allegations in the petition which were not true—(Great
uproar)—one of which was that certain men had been
tried by packed juries. He did not believe they had
been so tried.—(Oh, oh.) The juries in this country
were pure.—(Renewed groans.) He would like to ask
any working man whether he would not rather be tried
by a jury chosen from the aristocracy than one chosen
from his own class.—(" No, no.") The petition prayed
for the repeal of the Union with Ireland—(Hear. hear)
—to that he could not consent.—(Uproar continued.)
He had lived long enough to remember the anarchy
which had been caused in the time of the French Revo-
lution—

A Voice in the Meeting—By what?
Alderman HumpuEny—By the same system which
the Chartists of the present day sought to establish.—
(Groans and hisses.)
Mr. SPURn begged the meeting to be quiet. " Be,"
said he, " still as death."
Alderman HulltriiEnY—Tf they had the Charter it
would not be long before they were as still as death.—
(Uproar.) Much confusion here ensued ; the Chartists
persisted in drowning the Hon. Gentleman's voice by
screechings and howlings of the most varied description.
Amidst the din we understood him to contend against
the principle of the division of land into small allot-
ments. Suppose, said he, the land were divided as you
require into small portions of five or six acres to each
person. Well, each man marries, begets children, say
five or six, or seven ; these children have an equal right,
each and every one of them, to an allotment as well as
the sire. Suppose, then, it were admitted that five or
six acres would support a family in comfort, how would
the subsequent subdivision among the children answer
the same purpose ? What would then be the condition
of the children, and of their children ?---(Hear, hear,
and Chartist yells.) Among other absurdities it had
been objected that eight millions of waste land had,
during the reigns of the Georges, been taken into cul-
tivation for the benefit of the people.—(Great uproar,
and cries of " No, no 1" during which Mr. Spurr denied
that that had been his argument. The greatest part, he
said, remained uncultivated, and much of that which was
in cultivation was compulsorily worked by the paupers
in the union workhouses, at the command of gentlemen
and noble lords.) But he (Mr. Alderman Ilumphery)
wanted to know how much of that land had actually
crNovfihirti:usmtsiii(C:lnognsl:iienaruheidnbgha
offlhoectis-s.
been thrown into profitable cultivation. Why, eight
millions of acres had been cultivated for the benefit
of discord, and effec-
tually of the people.--(" Prove it, prove it.") If the small al-
lotment system were carried into effect, nut three months
would elapse before large farms would again exist.-
-(Tremendous uproar.) He would exhort them to go
MAYNARD withdrew his re-
solutionhome and reflect, and would recommend those who could
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pre-eminenceoxensme..
execrations,
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remarks ; he therefore retired.)
that the members " be requested to
Ira
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iopcodrrnrsieettpe:ttnedihnodentet
prevented
confusion,
toethirl
sprayer of the petition," and substituted a motion
t t
that
e
Mr. B. Wood only be requested to give it his u ort.
The din that prevailed at the conclusions tl"
meet-
ting prevented us from vouching for of the
bthe accuracy of
anything that transpired.
The business concluded at about a quarter past five.

We understand that Government have deter-
mined upon offering a reward for the discovery of the
persons who set fire to the premises at Chitton, Berk-
shire, on the 22d of November last.