The Sun.
London, England, 1846-07-13 00:00:00

ebridutt t 4-6 Government•• (Flear,fteSEr Now no
man, perhaps, should 14 more opposed to the in--
come-tax than himself, because he had to pay such a

heavy income-tax, and 'els family was very large ;
:sir Robert Peel, bowel, ar, he now greatly esteemed,
although he did not at one time.—(Cheers and laughter.)
He had ten children, and his share of the public
burdens was very heavy ; but Sir Robert Peel and those
who had supported him had been the means of obtaining
cheap food for his family, and he had thus in a great
measure been compensated.—(Cheers.) He could now
purchase sugar at sd. instead of Bd. (Hear, hea r)—and
he, in conjunction with his children, were now the
better enabled to obtain the sweets of life.—(Laugh-
ter.) The speaker then dilated on the benefits which
the electors and the nation at large would reap from the
proposed scheme of public education, and was loudly
cheered. Col. Fox, he said, was an ardent supporter of
that measure, and therefore well entitled to their support.
Another great question was religious freedom-- there
should be perfect freedom in matters regarding reli-
gious feelings and religious principles. Whether a
man were a Mahometan, or a Jew, or a Christian, he
should be equally estimable in proportion as he was
a good citizen, and a good subject to the Queen, and a
valuable man in the state, and there should be no differ-
ence made of one kind or other. They should all stand
upon a perfect equality, and the state should respect
them all in proportion to the goodness of their minds.—( At
this moment considerable confusion was caused in conse-
quence of some portions cf the fragile and temporary erec-
tion having given way, and depositing its superincumbent
load upon the ground.) He was sorry for the little
mishap that had happened. He hoped that the time
was not far distant when they should have a good
Town-hall, where they could meet for the transaction
of the business connected with the borough, and not
be compelled to meet in the open air, though, thank
Providence, they met under favourable circum-
stances.—(A voice, "No thanks to you. It's a fine
day.") He proposed, therefore, that for the rest
of the session they should place in the hands of Colonel
Fox that trust which, in consequence of his appointment
to a high official station, he had been compelled to re-
sign, and that he, in conjunction with Sir W. Clay,
should be enabled at the next general election to come
before them and give a favourable account of their stew-
ardship, and that he would then be able to satisfy his
constituents, however they might have differed
with him upon smaller points— on the May-
nooth question, or upon subjects, which they did not
understand so well as Members of Parliament, in conse-
quence of their having fuller information on the subject
than they could possibly have. But, taking them as a
whole, and judging of them as a whole, he thought
they were entitled to their fullest confidence ; and that
they were entitled to their support, as persons who
would not deceive them, or betray that trust ; and he
challenged any man present to say that the Hon. Member
had not fulfilled all the pledges he had made when first
elected. He had faithfully attended to all the interests of
that great and important borough. He called upon the
electors to recollect that they had to use their suffrage
not only for themselves, but on behalf of those who had
no vote, but who should have. The Gallant Colonel,whom
they were called upon to re-elect, was not only to be
returned as a Member to represent the interests of the
Tower Hamlets and attend to their interests—he was
also to consider what would be conducive to the interests
of the whole kingdom. There had been no dissimula-
tion, no truckling, on the part of the Hon. Member,
in his Parliamentary career—he had always been ready
to do his best for the interests of the borough—he had
always attended to the requests of the elec-
tors.—(Hear, hear.) He did not mean that he
had obtained situations or places for every person who
might have asked him, he meant that he had always
attended to their requests upon points connected with
the good of the Tower Hamlets, and had always ma-
naged their Bills. In conclusion, he thanked them fur
the kind attention they had given him, and proposed to
nominate Colonel Charles Richard Fox as a fit and
proper person to represent the interests in Parliament
of the borough of the Tower Hamlets.
Mr. MARTINEAU, in seconding the nomination of the
Gallant Colonel, said, the great question for the electors
to consider was, whether Colonel Fox, by his general con-
duct in Parliament and his particular votes there, had
redeemed those public professions which he made on the
hustings, when he was elected in July, 1841. For his
part he thought he had; and if the electors agreed with
him in that opinion, it became their duty to re-elect him.
Among Colonel Fox's votes in Parliament there was
one to which he would particularly call their attention;
that was when the Colonel, in the spring of 1843,
nobly came forward, and left the party with which
he had been associated, to support Mr. 'Villiers when he
made his motion for the abolition of the corn-laws.
That was not very easy at that time when Mr. Villiers
had but few supporters ; for he bad not then the sup-
port of a majority of the House, as was his lot at a
subsequent period. That was much for the Colonel to
do so soon after his election. He (Mr. Martineau) gave
thanks to the Government, thanks to the Anti-Corn-law
League, and thanks to Richard Cobden, for those exer-
tions by which the question of the abolition of the corn-
laws had been successfully carried. That he thought
was the first great public question which had
been carried out of the Houses. Parliament
only came in the second rank, and carried
what the people wished and willed to have. Standing
where he did, however, he could not but lament that
the electors bad not the assistance of a worthy man, he
meant Mr. William Coates. That gentleman was ever
ready to assist on every question, but particularly for
the abolition of the corn-laws. That subject used to be
his great hobby, and the electors might well lament that
he had been taken away from amongst them but a few
months before the triumph. It was easy, he said,
to be a free- trader in these days, but
it was by no means so six years ago. He
remembered well that night in May, 1841, when Lord
John Russell was outvoted on the question of the corn-
laws; he k Mr. Martineau) was under the gangway, and
he recollected seeing Lord John rising like a lion, and
telling his opponents that he knew those who were op-
posed to him. He well knew who would vote against
him, headed by their presidents and vice-presidents,
their secretaries and under-secretaries, the landed inte-
rest, the sugar interest, the shipping interest, the
Canada interest—he told them they might be too much
for him, and turn him out, but he prophecied
that free-trade principles would be triumphant, and
the abolition of the corn laws would be gradually com-
pleted—that it must and should he carried. Lord John
in that showed he was a true prophet; but he failed to
prophecy that the leader of the protectionists (Sir R.
Peel) would within five years eat his own words, discard
his own opinions, abandon his own principles, and
come down as the Commissioner of the Queen, and say
that the abolition of the corn-laws was founded in true
policy and justice. He said the corn-laws would soon
be completely abolished, and their business now was to
carry out those free-trade principles in regard to
the articles which formed the weekly expense of the
la'iouring man, and they could not do so better than by
re electing Colonel Fox, who, as connected with the Go-
vernment, had the power equally as the will to assist
them. He cordially seconded the nomination of Col.
Fox as the representative of the borough.
The RETURNING OFFICER then requested to know
whether there was any other candidate to be nominated?
Mr. Box (a parish schoolmaster) said there was.—
(Hisses.) He had been told by the returning
officer that they had met on that day to
discharge a most important duty, and he heartily con-
curred in that observation, for its importance would not
be confined to that borough, but would extend through
out the whole country, and to every part of the world.
where the dominion of England prevailed. He should
take care not to trespass on their time at any length ;
and if the Gallant Colonel should answer the ques-
tions he was about to put to him in such a
manner as he would deem satisfactory, he would with-
hold the nomination which he had threatened.
(Laughter.) He had two questions to put ; there would
hare been a third, were it : {tot for .the settlement
of the corn question, but much yet remained to be done.
With regard to free trade, however, he considered that
the Gallant Colonel came up to his mark upon the
question of free-trade.—(Laughter.) There were two
other points which he conceived to be of vast import.
ance; and the questions lie wished to put were with
reference to them. He desired to know whether Col.
Fox was ready to use his influence, as a Member
of the
fLoergtihsleatpueroep,lein?_o(rdacerart:
hear, and confusion.) obtain a complete
suffrage
The other question he would wish to put was, whether he
was prepared to advocate and promote a total severance
hisbe desiretwee ncivtihlaatndthee question known as the Anti-Statecclesiastical affairs?—(Hear.) It was
Church question, should be agitated until it would
meet the same fate as that of the corn-laws.—(Hear,
hear.) Ile begged most respectfully to say, that a very
considerable number of ardent and fervent spirits were
ready to do their utmost that these subjects should
meet with a full and fair discussion.
Colonel Fox—l beg most distinctly to let it be under
stood that I will give no pledge whatever relative ti
these subjects.. I declared my principles in 1841, and it
is for you. to 'say ifl have swerved from
them.---(Hear, hear, and cheering.) But as to giving any
qr inc4ncluaLglecige? that I cannot do, and I
would sooner resign t of represeutiog you