The Sun.
London, England, 1841-11-24 00:00:00

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BOROUGH OF SOUTHWARK.
MEETING TO CONGRATULATE THE ICIIIEEN
ON THE, BIRTH OF AN HEIR APPARENT.
A public meeting of the inhabitants of the Borough of
Southwark was held yesterday, at the Town-hall;,to cen- ,
gratulate her Majesty on the birth of an heir apparent to
the Throne. The requisition to the High Bailiff to con-
vene the meeting was signed by upwards of 200 of the
most influential inhabitants of the borough. Amongst
the gentlemen present we observed Alderman Hum.
phery, M.P., Benjamin Wood, Esq„ np., Mr. Apsley
Pellatt, Arthur Barclay, Esq., William Wilson, Esq.,
Emanuel Cooper, Esq., J. Q. Harris, Esq., M.P., -
Perkins, Esq., - Curling, Esq., &c. The chair was
taken byJohn Holmes, Esq., the High Bailiff.
. . .

The requisition convening the meeting was then read..
The HIGH BAILIFF then addressed the meeting, and
after alluding to the unexampled height of greatness and
of glory which this country attained to under the reign of
Queen Elizabeth, and also to the distinguishing character-
istic of the reign of Queen Anne, which had been termed
the " Augustan age of England," he observed that it had
been reserved for the present times to produce a youth-
ful Sovereign who combined in her own character all the
virtues of the woman and all the excellences of the
Queen ; whose conduct, whether we regarded her as a
daughter, a wife, a mother, or the ruler of this great
empire, had shone with untarnished lustre, and orr
which the finger of envy and calumny had been unable
to fix a stain.—(Loud cheers.)
Mr. PERKINS moved the firstresolution, expressive of
thanks to Almighty God, for the safe delivery of her
Majesty.
Mr. APSLEY PELLATT seconded the motion.
It was then agreed to.
A resolution to the effect that an Address of Congra-
tulation on the birth of a Prince, heir to the Throne of
Britain, be presented to her Majesty, was also carried.
Mr. JOHN MEYNARD moved as an amendment that
the following addition to be Made to the address :—" At
the same time, we cannot but acquaint your Majesty
that thousands of virtuous and modest women, your Ma-
jesty's subjects, are passing the like natural extremities
upon beds of straw, without even a pillow whereon to
lay their heads—that starvation and misery are pervad-
ing the whole length and breadth of the land, and we
attribute this state of things to class legislation, and
therefore pray your Majesty to instruct your Ministers
tO pass a law that every male twenty-one years of age,
untainted with crime, may have a vote in the election of
representatives in the Commons House of Parliament."
There must be some great cause for all this misery, and
they had a right to approach the throne, and respectfully
represent to her Majesty the distressed state of the ma-
jority of her loyal subjects.—(Hear, hear.) To read
them even was enough to make their blood run cold in
their veins, and what must itbe to endure them?—(Hear.)
In his humble opinion the cause of all this misery was
the class legislation of the country.—(Hear, hear.) Mr.
Meynard then alluded to the conduct and enormous sala-
ries of the clergy of the Established Church.
Mr. ARTHUR BARCLAY rose to order. lie was not
insensible of the distress pervading the kingdom, nor of
the sufferings of his fellow-countrymen.—(Cries of " Sit
down," " Chair," " Order," &c.) Amidst great confusion,
Mr. W. WILSON rose to order ; the remarks of Mr..
Meynard were quite appropriate to the subject.—
(Cheers.) If they admitted the amendment they must
also listen to the reasons urged in support of it.—(Cheers.)
Mr. MEYNARD continued. Me denied that he was
heard by courtesy, and if he had been out of order the
High Bailiff would have told him so, which he had not
yet done.—(Cheers.) The statements he had made
were, no doubt, painful to the ears of Mr. Barclay wad
his friends, but how much more painful must they bf, to
him (Mr. Meynard), who saw so much more of the ex-
treme distress which his fellow-men were labouring
under ?—(Cheers.) Was there anything wrong in. mak-
ing it known to their beloved Queen ? Did Queen. Anne
or Queen Elizabeth ever object to their subjects coming
to them under such circumstances ? He felt satisfied that
Queen Victoria would also listen to their representation.
Dr. BEDFORD said that "out of the fulness of the
heart the mouth would Teak." Arthur Barclay and his
friends should be taught to feel the necessity of the
change for which they prayed in the amendment. It
was a great privilege to approach the throne, and they
could not use it better than by exhibiting to her Majesty
a true picture of the suffering and misery in which the
country was involved. He cordially seconded the amend-
ment.—(Cheers.)

Mr. liiLLocx saw no reason for the interruption of
Mr. Barclay. The working men only wanted to get a
living, which vould benefit that gentleman, for they
would then be able to drink a little more of his beer.—
(Cheers.) For twenty years he had been a rate-payer
in the borough. but now, in spite of his utmost efforts,
he was coming to the state of a pauper. He could now-
only get two day's work in the week, and he had a whole•
family of children, and had not wherewithal to get thenn*
a dinner.—(Hear, hear.) He was no Chartist, but
' Corn-law repealer ; and the reason of that was, that as
be passed along the streets he observed the tradesmen
at their doors, with their hands in their pockets, and
nothing to do. They need not go to Marylebone, or any-
where else, for scenes of destitution ; for he could take
Mr. Barclay to places only a few yards distant from his,
own brewery, and show him instances equally startling.
—(Hear, hear.) He trusted they would let the amend-
ment pass for the benefit of the working classes. Thy
poor had no objection to let them (the Tories) live ;
but it was right that they should also let others live.
Mr. BLACKMORE (a working-man) said that it was
impossible for fathers of starving families to stand by in
silence. He was astonished that the conduct of gentle-
men present should endeavour to stifle the cries of the
poor. Let them turn their eyes to the state of the
country, -and-they would at once see that the attempt
was vain.—(Loud cheers.) As a working man, he would
declare that all sustenance wte: banished from their
dwellings.—(Hear, hear.) It was time to arouse them-
selves, and they would lie dormant no longer.—(Tre-
mendous cheers.) They would insist upon their rulers
making better laws, laws which would permit the work-
ing classes to exist; and he called upon the two Honour-
able Members of the House of Commons present to state
to her Majesty what they then heard, that she might
take measures for the mitigation of their sufferings; and
their fervent prayer should be that her Majesty might
long be spared to the nation, and that future generations
might call her blessed.—(Cheers.)
The amendment was then put trom fthe chair, and. as
the show of hands being taken,
The HIGH BAILIFF said, I am of opinion that l the
amendment is carried.

This announcement was received with tremendous
cheering and waving of hats in the body of the hall.
When the applause had somewhat subsided,
Mr. DIEYNARD moved that the address be presented to
her Majesty by the High Bailiff, John Holmes, Esq.,
Benjamin Wood, Esq., M.P., Alderman Humphery, Esq„
M.P., Dr. Bedford, and William Wilson, Esq.
The resolution, being seconded, was agreed to unwni..
mously.
Alderman HUMMER; M.P., moved a vote of thr.nks
to the High Bailiff.

BENJAMIN WooD, Esq., M.P., seconded the niotion,
and, in doing so, expressed his hope that his healt'it would
be so far restored by next session that he should, be able
to attend to his duty in Parliament.—(Cheers.)
The vote of thanks was carried by acclamatir,n, and the
meeting separated.

CORN LAWS.

MEETING AT ST. MARGARET'S AND ST.

JOHN'S, WESTMINSni

erdhoboydc:vrvcaUsl;hrelodfltashet inha-
bitants,l reform, of York-street,
.
Westminster, and its 15
even-
ing at the Coach and Horses, York-street, for the pas•-
rimionildlasryofmeceontinienrgo.,ehrecbaoilaul
pose of forming a branch Anti-Corn-law Association ft br
Aprefl
the parishes
of St. Margaret and St. John, Westmins T.
Mr. But.= took the chair at nine o'clock, and briefly
stated the object of the meeting, and concluded by read-
ing the circular calling the meeting together.
Mr. HARRIS rose to propose the first resolution, that
a branch Anti-Corn-law Association be immediately
formed auxiliary to the Metropolitan Anti-Corn-law
Association, for the purpose of forwarding the cause of
free trade by petitioning Parliament, and other means
that might be deemed advisible.
Mr. Hoc° seconded the resolution.
Before it was put,
Mr. BUBB said, he thought their first object was to
obtain the Charter. The Corn-law people were trying
to put down the Chartists, by throwing obstacles in the
way, and preventing their holding public meetings.
A short conversation ensued on this subject, and the
resolution was put and carried.
:-.
Mr. HATTERSLEY proposed the following resolution
—" Pi)
That a Committee be now appointed, with
- wer to
add to their number, for the purpose of carryingotnt the
foregoing resolution • that Mr. Bung be reqn.es ad to
act as Secretary ; and that the meeting do adjourn to
Thursday week next."
This resolution was seconded by a Gentleman, whose
name we did not hear.

The resolution was then put and carried.
A short conversation then ensued between Messrs.
Wickham, of the Parent Association, Mr. Huggett, and
other gentlemen, relative to
.;he prospects a the As-
sociation.
Thanks were then voted to the Chairman, and the
meeting separated at ten o'clock.

THE CORN-LAWS AND THE DIS-

SENTER S.

The Rev. Mr. Wells, the minister of the Surrey Ta-
bernacle in the Borough-road, and the congregafcion
of the various religious denominationsto the Dissenters
which requires only to be known to be
connected with that place of worship, has set an exan4le
in this country,
•
adopted, that of making a collection after the morning
0. service of Sunday, to promote the repeal of
thead ever,nt, .
Corn-laws. The above place of worship, 'Which is
of considerable size, is capable of containing about 1,200
persons, and upon unday evening there could not have
been less than 1,000 present.
Uponit being announced that the collection was
finished, the Rev. Mr. Wells said that while the amount
"'aa
usupng
, h.e would give out a. hymn,
which
w
the hymn had terminated, the Rev. Mr.
Wells d that the amount of subscriptions was
231. Os. 9d., which, with some little deductions for the
sssh baoeitrccarllnog Shortly
madeaiunf announced
elr3 e,
printing of the bills, announcing the intended collections
would be paid over to the Anti-Corn-law Le—
...gua• and a
a notice of the collection would appear in the " Circular" sof that Association, he was anxious to ascertain whether
the congregation approved of the course which he had
adopted. He thought the best and most satisfactory
manner to arrive at that opinion would be by a show of.
hands, and therefore he would request all those who. Wer es
in favour of a repeal of the Corn-laws
, and approved of
the course which he had adopted, to hold up their ?bands.
A forest of hands responded to this appeal.
The Rev. Mr. WATTS—On the contrary, y ours.
About a dozen hands supported the appeal.
The Rev. Gentleman observed that he was glad to find
that his congregation approvedof the course which he had
adopted.