The Sun.
London, England, 1871-01-25 00:00:00

MR. AYRTON AND HIS CONSTITUENTS.

Last evening the Right Hon. A. S. Ayrton, one of
the members for the Tower Hamlets, met his constituents
at the Beaumont Institution, Mile-end. The hall was
crowded in every part. Eight o'clock was the hour ap-
pointed for the commencement of the proceeding. At
that time Mr. Ayrton appeared on the platform, and from
the time of his appearance an outbreak of discord com-
menced, which lasted almost without a lull till the right
hon. gentleman withdrew. The occupant of the chair had
his position challenged, and it seemed as if an attempt was
designed to be made to dislodge him by main force ; but
that official maintained his position alike against every
argument of force and every endeavour of persuasion.
Discordant cries were heard in various quarters of the
hall, amid which placards were held up in several
directions, calling upon the meeting to support the
vote of censure against Mr. Ayrton by holding up
their hands. The Chairman essayed for some time to
address the meeting, but it was difficult to ascertain even
the drift of his observations. At length Mr. Hilton and
another gentleman addressed the meeting vehemently,
with the apparent design of securing another chair-
man in the interests of Mr. Ayrton. Presently
Mr. Binks proposed the following resolution :—" That,
in the opinion of this meeting, the great and important
interests of this large constituency have been lamentably
neglected and wilfully slighted by our senior member, Mr.
Ayrton, and that his conduct to the electors of the Tower
Hamlets has ever been unbecoming and insolent, and gene-
rally that his rude, coarse demeanour, both in and out of
Parliament, has made the borough of the Tower Hamlets
a bye-word throughout the United Kingdom. This meeting
therefore calls upon Mr. Ayrton to resign into the hands of
the electors the trust which he has so disgracefully violated,"
which was put, and declared to be carried. In this de-
claration the supporters of the sitting member refused to
coincide, and they readily responded to one of " Three
cheers for Ayrton." Ultimately Mr. Ayrton made
a strenuous effort, and partly succeeded. He was un-
derstood to say that if the assembly was disposed
to listen to him he was prepared to speak in his de-
fenee. His object in coming there was to speak to the
constituency which had returned him to Parliament.
He believed that the meeting was originally called for the
purpose of affording him such an opportunity, but since
he had entered the place he had been informed of the effort
which had been directed against him. He was ready to
meet the trade, or any other persons in fair dis-
cussion. As to the vote of censure, which had
been alleged to have been passed against him, he
would undertake to say that not fifty hands were
held up in favour of that vote. The importance of public
events which were happening at this great crisis made
him desirous to offer some observations to the electors,
and this feeling was enhanced when he considered
the importance of the position which he held
in the Government. He denounced the attempts
which were made against him as being endeavours
by physical force to prevent his being heard,
and declared that the gentleman who was designated
by his friends to be chairman of the meeting was respected
by the whole constituency, and if the question had been
properly put there would have been a majority of five-sixths
in favour of his assuming that position. As the confusion
and noise suffered little abatement, Mr.Ayrton desisted from
further attempting to speak.—Mr. Shelton, a friend of
Mr. Ayrton, moved a vote of confidence in Mr. Ayrton,
which he put to the meeting upon his own responsibility
and declared to be carried, and Mr. Ayrton then with-
drew from the platform amidst much uproar.

Lord Gwydyr, we hear, has withdrawn his claim
to the office of Lord Great Chamberlain.
We are authorised to state that the Queen will
open Parliament in person on the 9th of February, if her
Majesty's health will permit.

CRYSTAL PALACE.—One Shilling Day.—Tuesday,
January 24, 1871.—The admissions by season tickets
were 1,535; ditto on payment, 1,542; total visitors,
3,077.