The Sun.
London, England, 1833-01-25 00:00:00

.

PUBLIC DINNER OF MR. HUME'S COM-

MITTEE, IN ST. LUKE'S PARISH.

On Wednes.lay the Local Committee of the P srish of
St. Luke, together with those gentlemen who during the
late contest in Middlesex took an active part in promoting
the re-election of Mr. Hume, met to celebrate his trium-
phant return by a Dinner, which waa given at the Prince
of Wales Tavern, Banner-street.
Shortly after five o'clock, the hour appointed, the party
assembled when Mr. Hume was unanimously requested to
take the Chair, which he did, and the company, consisting
of flirty gentlemen, sat down to table. After the cloth
was removed,
The CHAIRMAN rose, and gave the usual toass :
" The King," " The Queen," " The Duke of Sussex,
and the rest of the Royal Family," "Earl Grey and his
Majesty's Ministers, and may they complete the work they
eve begun."—Drank with the usual honours.
WILLIAM HANLEY, Esq., then rose, and proposed
" The Health of their Honourable Chairman and Worthy
Representative in Parliament, Joseph Hume, Esq."—
Drank with applause, accompanied with loud cheers,
which continued for a considerable time.
When the acclamation bad in some degree subsided,
Mr. HUME rose, amid renewed cheers. He returned them
his most heartfelt thanks for the kind, the enthusiastic
manner in which his name had been received. He took
i as an earnest that his humble efforts had met their ap-
probation, and these efforts he should never relax until the
last existing abuse was rooted out, or until he should be
no longer able to assist in the good work.—(Cheers.) The
Reform Bill was the means by which he trusted these
abuses would be finally destroyed ; but as it stood, that
measure was miserably defective. It had not sufficiently
extended the franchise, which should at least be open to
every man who rented a house, and contributed by taxa-
tion to the support of the Government. The extension
of the suffrage would, however, be a dangerous gift to a
poor man, unless accompanied with a boon to secure him
the unmolested exercise of that privilege, and therefore
the vote by ballot was absolutely necessary.—(Cries of
" Hear," and cheers.) The duration of Parliament ought
also forthwith to be shortened. He had always held it
as a maxim, that short reckonings were best to the keep-
ing of correct accounts ; and if he might he allowed to
apply that principle in the present case, he would sly
that the most efficient mode of making Members of Par-
liament faithful in discharging their duty, would be to
call them often to an account before their constituents ; or,
he would rather siy, to give to the constituents the power
re demanding a frequent account of their stewardships.—
(Loud cheers.) After adverting to the present corrupt
state of what were called the Courts of Justice or Law,
and pointing out the necessity of simplifying and defining
the Statutes, so as to be understood by thoseh whose oh-
sei vance they claimed, be proceeded to state that without
reforming our finances, both as regarded the collection
and distribution of taxes and the public revenue, we were
labouring in vain for Financial Reform ; i e had long con-
tended, and though during the last session of Parliament
he bad not pressed the question, as under other circum-
stances he would have felt himself in duty bound to do,
yet it was well known that his tacit acquiescence was, lest
he might put any obstacle in the way of his Majesty's Go.
vernment, when engaged in defence of the people in car-
rying the Reform Bill.—(Loud cheers.) He had no wish
to embarrass them whilst doing a great good, and there.
f iie had suffered many grants to pass without observation,
which otherwise he should have severely commented upon.
At the close of the last war in 1816, there were in the
Britsh army not less than 5,500 officers, from the rank
of lieutenant upwards, and strange to say, after seventeen
years of peace, thut number was not lessened.—(Hear.)
In 1817, out of all these, not more than eight hundred
were employed in active real service, and yet promotions
went on, and were going on to this day, as if the war was
being carried on this very hour. It was impossible to
take up a Gazette, without meeting with along list of pro-
motions in the army. And who were those that were thus
ptomoted? Were they those Gallant Officers who bail
signalized themselves in the service of their country, and
wl o were still able and willing to assist in her defence?
--(Hear, hear.) lie could assure them the contrary was
the fact.—(Shame.) The younger sons of the aristocracy
were now put in the command of troops bef re they had
passed the age of puberty, and raised from step to step,
till they were advanced over the heads of the most meri-
t. torious of our veteran officers. This, too, was going'
steadily forward, whilst we had plenty of experi need
officers, either idle, or pining away in indigence, who
would save us all this useless expense. The aristocracy
by this means contrived to quarter every brunch of their
families on the public purse, for every promotion either
led to a place or a pension.—(Shame, and loud cries tif
" Hear.") The next topic to which he would call the at-
tention of the meetine, was the freeing the country from
the onerous and rni,chievous abuses of the Church Esta-
blishment. Everywhere there was an unanimity of feeling
on this subject. From whatever quarter informatiou
reached him, the cry for a Reform in the Church was the
same. The Church might now 'singe herself; hut if
the opportunity was lest, he feared the time was not tar
distant, and he was cet taints( its approach and srrival, when
a Reform so sweeping as to wipe away every trace
of a national establishment would be the consequence.
This, the best friends of their country and their God might
lave reason to lament, from the evils with which possibly
it would be accompanied. One thing was certain, the
carrying the Reform then into effect would fall into hands
having little regard to what she called her vested rights,
In preol- of this, he would entreat them to look to Ireland,
now at open war with the Established Church. And
whi.t had oecasiontd th .t ? Why, the want of an arnica-
bie disposition on the part of the clergy themselves. In
1819, when he had brought forward his motion for Re-
form ill the Irish Ecclesiastical Establishment, the Ca:be-
lies would have been satisfied to commute the tithes, but
the clergy would listen to no accommodation. They
would listen to no terms; and the consequence, as he
then foretold, is now, that the tithes are virtually abo-
lished from one end of the island to the other; nor will
anything short of their utter extinction ever satisfy the
people.—(Hear.) From what was now pasting in ha-
lo-id, the clergy of England might learn an useful lesson:
and he hoped they would have the wisdom so to do.—
(Hear.) In short, there was no direction to which lie
could point, in which the must extensive measures of Re-
form were not required, whether in the law, the airily, or
the Church, or, indeed, any other public department.
The present Alinisters were pledged to correct several of
these abuses, and the time was at hand when their pledges
would be put to time test. He should he sorry (to use a
sea phrase) to part company with the Whigs; but unless
they took early and proper steps to afford that redress of
grievances to the country which they had so long pro-
mised, he would be under the necessity of giving them hie
most strenuous and unabated opposition, and steering a
course for himself, in whisk, he had no doubt, he should
not sail alone. Alter a long and brilliant speech, em-
bracing a great variety of other topics, some of them purely
local, or confined to ohs .rvations on the kindness of the
tCiimmittee, Mr. Hume concluded amidst deafening bursts
pf 4iiplanie by proposing " The health of the 3,238 In •
tit pendriat Electors who had placed him at the top of the
poll." Drank with three times three.
The Vtcx-CHAIRaIAN returned thanks in a very neat
speech.
Mr. HANLEY. then rose, and proposed " The health of
Mr Ke it, and tee Local Committee of Sr. Luke's."
Mr. KEAT returned thanks in a manly, clever speech.
He begged to assure the company, that any assistance it
bad been in his power to render Mr. Hume in 5, curing
his election, Was grounded on principle alone. Of Mr.
Hume, he had Litt e knowledge, and was not even soli-
irised to interest himself in his favour. But he paid too
muds attention to the conduct of Mr. Hume in Podia-
anew, out to know that he was the only roan hest fitted
to watch over the interests of the inhabitants of Middle-
sex. He; therefore, only did what he knew to be his
duty. Ater some other remarks on the expediency of
establishing a permanent Committee to be able to act with
vigour, were another contest soon to take place in the
county, Mr. Keat sat d nun amidst loud cheers.
Mr. RICHMOND proposed " A safe and speedy Reform
in the Church," which he prefaced with a speech of great
length, proving the necessity of putting the question
for ever at rest, by leaving the clergy to be supported by
the public opinion of their merits resting on their services
alone. His remarks were generally just, amid the toast was
drank with hind cheers.
Mr. WAKLRY ro-e, and proposed Civil and Religious
Liberty all over the World." Drank with applause.
The CHAIRNIAN than rose, to give them another toast,
to which he hoped every man would do honour by im-
mediately charging his glass. The toast which he was
about to give was one in which he took a deep interest—
" The L.berty of the Press"—(atedr, hear, and cheers.)
It was impossible to witness the manner in which the
circulation of knowledge was stopped or retarded in this
country, without being sensible of the necessity of burst-
ing the fetters that now prevented men from learning to
know their interests, and how they might be best pro-
moted. It was now a general complaint that life and
property were insecure, and that burning and other
crimes of that nature were prevalent throughout the
country. Could they wonder at it, when they recalled to
mind the means that were taken to prevent the spread of
knowledge by heavy taxes on every publication which the
poor could hope to purchase?—(Hear, hear, hear.)