The Sun.
London, England, 1824-01-31 00:00:00

ing the case of the unfortunate man Hatfield, in whirls he
so consistently upheld his own principles of liberty, while he
did homage to the Monarchy—recollecting all this, and the
honour and purity of Lord Erskine's character, it is to be
doubted if there is one (excepting Mr. Fox:. himself) to whom
the country has' been more indebted. To vuch a man, it is
• fitting that a monument be erected;; though none can be erect-
ed which will survive his fame. We..had in this country a man
descended from the same noble stock, and gifted with the same
nobility of mind. He also is gone! That is a subject not to
be entered upon. But Lord Erskine's deeds belong to the
country and the world ; and the pages which record them will
be the brightest in our annals.
Toast—" The Memory of Lord Erskine." Air—' Here's to
him that's awe.'
By the CHAIRMAN—" The British Navy—the natural de-
fence of the Country." Air—' Rule Britannia.' " The Bri-
tish Army." Air—' British Grenadiers'
Mr. FERouSSON, the Croupier—Gentlemen, fill a bumper.
I have the honour of proposing for a toast—" Our Noble and
distinguished Chairman"—(Loud cheering.)—The natural and
enthusiastic feeling now expressed makes it almost unnecessary
for me to say one word more. Our Chairman, Gentlemen, is
one whose public virtue assures us of his inveterate enmity to
corruption and abuse. His persevering exertions are well
known. He has struck at the root of much evil ; and, by up-
rooting the Close Borough system and its machinery, he will do
incalculable good. I am unwilling
.to speak individually of
141agistrates with disrespect, since, as individuals, scone of them
may be respectable; but we all know that the most respectable
individuals get into a Close Ccrporation, and they are sure to
form a Holy A llian ce—( Laugh ter)—an el a large portion of des-
potism will mark their public character. Had I the power,
might expatiate upon the merits of our Noble Chairman as a
man and a patriot ; but I know it would only offend the manly,
simplicity of his character.-a(The, toast was drank with im-
mense cheering.)
The CHAIRMAN rose to reply. For the flattering manner
in which his health had been drank, he could not sufficiently
express his acknowledgments; hut, at the end of twenty years'
exertions in Parliament, in meeting with such a company in j
this city, be found a sufficient compensation fox his labours, and
a greater litform than he ever expected. When he called to
his recollection the state of the public mind in this country, he
Was almost tempted to believe that his exertions had not been
altogether useless. For what hp knew of the public spirit of
this city at one time, the number who might have assembled
upon an occasion like the present would not have exceeded
the paltry number actually composing the Town Council.—
(Cheers.)—When he used the word paltry, he applied it to
numbers, and must say, the number is paltry. It was his good-
fortune to be placed in a rank of life that protected him against
the imputations which had been cast upon his fellow-labourers
in the cause of Reform. It could not be said of him that he
wished to subvert existing institutions, to raise -hitirself upon
the ruins of others. His station, and the support which he re-
ceived from his family, neutralized every such caluniny.• Re-
marking, as,he had done, the contrast which subsisted between
the temper of the times now and formerlye 'he did not in the
least doubt that the cause of Reform in Scotland must,' sooner
or later, triumph. He could not but remark, that in Scotland
the defect of representation is in the law, while in England
it is in the abuse of the law ; therefore, the exertions of Scot-
land ought to be compared to a change in the law of Eng-
land to tti correction of. abuses. When lie considered the intel-
lectual character and number of the Scottish population, a
population improving in both—their moral propriety, and ab-
sence from among them of every thing like a mob—their claim
to a participatton in the privileges possessed by their neigh-
bours in the South appeared irresistible. He must not be
supposed as wishing to introduce rashly, and at once, into
Scotland, the whole system of the English; but he proposed,
that Scotland should have a Representation in some measure
proportioned to its wealth and intelligence. Is it possible,
that a country such as this is, is to sit down contentedly,
with scarcely 'a Representation at all, alongside of Eng-
land, with her comparatively free representation ? Any thing
more irksome to an independent man he could hot conceive
than that the Representative of this City should - feel himself
obliged to obey the instructions of the few who . compose the
Town Council, in opposition to the wishes of its 130,000 inha-
bitants.—(Great cheering.)a-In acting in conformity to the
will of his few constituents, he may expect to have- his conduct
reprobated by the whole commmunity besides. The thing is
so bad, that the voice .of the nation, universally raised, must
force the House of Commons to give attention to their claims.
In the sister kingdom it is often remarked, that the Borough
system is corrected. by that of the Counties. Is that the case
here? No such thing. The voters of a Scottish County are
often more limited than those of a Close Borough in England.
—At the close of his labours for a Refocus
,of the Scottish
Boroughs, a Bill was introduced by Government, which he then
considered, and must ever do, futile and friVolous. Only a few
days ago, it was tried in the Court of Exchequer, and found
wanting.—(Great cheering.)—He would only observe, that the
bill was brought in by the Administration and the Lord Advo- •
cate, to correct abuses which they had uniformly denied to exist.
(Laughter.)—That the Bill has failed did not surprise him.
NWhen ill, would any one trust to a physician who tells him,
that his complaint is altogether imaginary ? The measure of •
the Bill was adopted by—or rather, it was forced upon the
Ministry, to correct evils which, in their eyes, had no exist-
ence; butit has been found wholly inadequate to answer any
one object. The public of Edinbuigh, and elsewhere, must
exert themselves to produce some anxiety in the cause—some
strong importunity to Parliament._(Cheers.)
Mr. GIBSON' CRAIG, of lticcarton, rose—(great cheering)—
to propcse—" The health of the Duke of Hamilton and the
Whigs of. Scotland, which he did, after a speech of great
original power and talent.
The Duke of HAMILTON (amidst tremendous cheering)
returned thanks with that peculiar modesty of manner which
is so distinguishing a characteristic of his Grace. After a few
words, in which the embarrassment of delicate feeling shun-
ning the public gaze was but too conspicuous, lie concluded by
giving—" Earl Grey and the Whigs •of England."—(Three
times three, and great cheering.)
Lord A. HAMILTON rose and said—The next toast he held
in his hand he could by no means agree to. It contained al-
most mockery within itself—it was, " The Duke .of Leinster,
and the speedy restoration of the British Constitution in Ire-
land." Now, in his Lordship's opinion, the miserable Irish
never participated in any benefits of the sritish Constitution.;
or, if they did, it was a matter for the antiquarian's search ra-
ther than for the politician's recollection.—(Cheers.)—Had the
principles of the immortal man whoin they were met to cele-
brate been acted upon, Ireland would not have been what it is
—the most miserable portion of the globe. All the 'British be-
nefits it had yet received were Pitt's policy and Castlereagh's
heartiness.—(Laughter and cheers.)-alle concluded by pro-
posing—" The Duke of Leinster." Three thist; three.
Mr. MACFARLANE, Advocate, rose, and after a well-detail-
ed history of the patriotism and sufferings of Archibald, the
great Earl of Argyle, concluded, by proposing-a" The health
of the present ,Duke of Argyle."—Three times three, and great
cheering.
Mr. JEFFREY rose.—(Tremendous and continued cheering.)
—After a speech which we will not attempt to abridge, and
. which our limits will not allow us to give entire, comprehend-
ing-the most masterly eloquence, and the most philosophical
principles of national policy; wherein he shewed that America
wash proof of what a nation might 'do without an established
Priesthood and an expensive Court, and with universal suffrage
and a free press, concluded by giving-a" The health of the
President of the United States."—Three times three, with im-
mense cheering.
Mr. COCKBURN rose.—(Excessive applause.)—lt was impos-
sible not to recollect the enthusiasm with which, at the last
Meeting, the friends of Mr. Fox drank success to the cause of
Spaniah liberty ; they then believed that the effbrts of the ty-
rants of Europe to controul and keep down the principles of
liberty in the -Peninsula would be auccessiess, and that they
were not sufficiently -powerful to prevent the people of Spain
from arranging their own internal rights anti political Govern-
ment ; such was the increase of, liberal principles, that we then
believed these tyrants had met with an enemy fit and capable
to oppose them, and that Freedom 'had selected the soil of
Spain as the spot where she would shew .her noblest powers,
and be; brightest glories. In these hopes they had been dig,-
appointed. The cause of freedom had been sadly unsuccess.:
fag; and -the warmest and sweetest anticipation had been
blighted and blasted.—(Cheers.)—They had failed, not bea
cause their energies were unequal to the task, but because they
had no material to work upon. The Patriots of Spain—great
in their patriotism, and glorious in their mental conceptions—
found nothing but an ignorant population swayed by a
bigoted priesthood, actuated by the basest motives.—(Loud
cheers.)—The immediate result had been, that the progress
of liberty and almost the progress of thought had been stayed
and destroyed in the Peninsula; and that Spain is now
nothing but the relic and the monument of a gallant few
who endeavoured to achieve and obtain freedom, not
fitted for her base and miserable population. We know that
many brave and illustrious patriots had not been able to escape
the fangs of the tyrant. They had perished! and among theni
the gallant, the glorious, the spotless, the murdered Riego
(Immense cheering.)—But happy were they who had so perish-
ed—happy were they who could no longer brood over their
country's desolation ! Yet, alas ! there were hundreds and
thousands who were obliged to witness, not only the destruc-
tion of their own country's liberties, but the ruin of their own
fortunes, and the extinction of their families—Heaven bless
them !—Heaven bless thesis in their political misery—Heaven
bless titein in their political despair—in their dungeons—in
their cells—in their miseries—in their sufferings—may they
now feel that they have become members of the great commu-
nity of the friends of freedom in every part of the globe—(Loud
cheers.)—ln the glowing pages of history, every incident of