The Sun.
London, England, 1848-01-12 00:00:00

JANUARY 121 1848.

TESTIMONIAL to WILLIAM WIL-
LIAMS, ESQ., LATE M.P. FOR COVENTRY.

(FROM OUR OWN REPORTER.)
Afte* the defeat of Mr. Williams at the late general
electioq, a subscription was set on foot by his former
constituents, for the purpose .of presenting him with
a-lastinl• testimonial of. the respect which they enter-
tain fot him; and expressivO of the way in which they
considered he had discharged Iris duties as their repre-
Sentatiee during the 13 years he had sat in Parliament
..for the city. A magnificent massive silver epergne,
candelabra, and salver, of elegant construction and
worknanship, weighing about 240 ounces, prepared
at the Silver Works, Birmingham, was purchased,
and Mlnday, at one o'clock, was fixed for the pre-
sentatipn of the testimonial, and. the ancient hall of
'St Mabee fixed upon as the scene of the ovation.
• The ball was attended . at the appointed hour
by about 1,200 persons, amongst whom there were a
vast number of females actively engaged in the ina-
nufaCtnres of the town. Amongst the Liberals'
preient were John Hands, Esq., Mr. H. Browett,
W. He Marston, Mr. D. Buckney, Mr. W. Taunton,
Mr. JOhn Warden, Mr. Arthur Atkins, Mr. John
Weston, Mr. H. Gardner, Mr. 11. Soden, Mr. C.
Bearsley, Mr. B. Kirby, Mr. S. Armstrong, and
Mr. Thomas Seavesley.
At one o'clock, Mr. Williams, accompanied by his
committee, entered the ball, and received a right
hearty welcome, which appeared to move him deeply.
Mr., We. CLARKE was called to the chair, and in
the feW prefatory reinarkeillicrWiadielsed to the
assembly, ,he said it gave him the greatest pleasure
to see so large a gathering to meet their old and much
respected friend Mr. Williams, and he hoped they
would listen to the address he was about to make with
a calmness and order which would do credit to the
inhabitants of Coventry. It must, he (the Chair-
man) Was sure, be highly gratifying to their worthy
friend.to see that so large a number had congregated
to greet him, and to behold the handsome testimonial
about to be presented to him, and which had been
purchased by the subscriptions of a large number of
his former constituents. He then called upon the
Secretary of the Committee to read an address which
had been prepared.
Mr. ILIFFE then came forward to comply with Es
request. Before doing so he said, the committee had
done everything in their power to embody the senti-
ments of those who had supported Mr. Williams,
and he believed that the sentiments therein enun-
ciated, would meet with their approbation. He then
read the address, which was signed by the Chairman
on behalf of the subscribers, and was in the follow-
ing terms :
(' ‘ Sir —After the connexion which has so long
existed between yourself and the constituency of Co-
ventry, as their representative in three Parliaments,
we feel it to be our duty to offer to you some proof
of our gratitude for your disinterested services.
"In reviewing the course you pursued while filling
the responsible office of a representative of the people
in; Parliament, we have on record, in the lists of your
vofes; which have been published at the close of each
session, ample and indisputable evidence of faithful
and zealous labours, guided by the sole desire of
benefiting all classes of your fellow-countrymen.
They are proofs of your efforts to increase the influ-
ence of the people in the Commons House of Parlia-
ment, by extending the electoral franchise, and secur-
ing to all classes its independent exercise.
'tour past endeavours, Sir, to enforce economy in
the public expenditure, with
..a view to remove the
many grievous and oppressive taxes on the necessaries
of life, with your co-operation for the repeal of the
corn-laws, are evidences that the political and physical
improvement of the people was ever predominant in
your mind and purpose.
" The support you have given to every measure for
the intellectual advancement of the people, and to
equalize and confer religious freedom upon all classes,
are sure tests of the enlightenment and liberality,
which ruled your public conduct.
" The advantages, Sir, we have derived from your
services of a local interest are such as justly entitle
you to commendation. By inducing the Government
to abolish'the payment of the one-pound stamp duty,
on the admission to the freedom of this city, a
powerful obstacle to the acquisition of the franchise
was removed, and the poor man was put in possession
of citizenship and his electoralright without obligation
or pledge to any party.
" It was to your exertions in opposition to power-
ful influences that the provisions were retained in
our City Boundary Act, which provided that the
Court of Assize for this division of the county should
be held in this city, and that the county should pay
.a just value for our gaol.
" We are indebted to you, Sir, for our School of
Design (as well as every other town in the kingdom
where one is established), an institution which we
anticipate will be highly beneficial to our staple ma.
nufacture.

'" We desire to acknowledge many other important
services you have rendered this city and neighbour-
hood, in regard to its railways, in causing a reduc-
tion of charges and facilitating the conveyance of
goods;; in opposing the County Prisons Bill, and also
in supporting every measure for the improvement of
the town and neighbourhood.
" We are fully aware, Sir, these services, and the
unceasing attention you have given to your duties
while in the House of Commons, must have been
most laborious, and have cost a great sacrifice of ease
and enjoyment; knowing, as we do, you never
sought or desired any personal advantage from your
position, but that your only ambition was to contri-
bute to your country's welfare. We do most freely
bear testimony to your public virtue and worth, and
.heartily thank you for your disinterested and pa-
triotic endeavours.

" We conclude, Sir, by expressing the deep regret
we feel for the undeserved requital you have met at
the hands of your late constituents, and beg your
acceptance of this token of our gratitude, and, as a
pledge of our undimished attachment to those prin-
ciples of civil equality and popular freedom to the
maintenance of which your public life has been de-
voted."

The following inscription was engraved on the
testimonial :—" Presented to William Williams, Esq.,
by his friends and late constituents, in acknowledg-
ment of the fidelity and zeal with which he discharged
his duties as one of the representatives of the City of
Coventry during three successive Parliaments, and in
testimony of their admiration of the principles of
civil equality and popular freedom to the main-
tenance of which his public life has been devoted.
December, 1847."
'Air. WILLIAMS then stood up to address the meet-
ing, and was received with the most enthusiastic
plaudits, which were renewed again and again. He
said—My old friends, I am truly happy to meet you
here once more, but exceedingly sorry that I have
.almost lost my voice, and shall have, I fear, great
difficulty in making myself heard owing to a severe
attack of influenza, which has confined me to my re-
sidence for several days past. I can assure you that,
although I am no longer your representative, I am
both proud and happy to meet you.—(Cheers.) The
terms in which you have been pleased to speak of my
services, whilst I had the honour of representing this
city in Parliament, are indeed, Sir, I assure you,
most gratifying to me. It is not the chaste and ele-
gant design of this flattering testimonial, or the
precious metal of which it is composed, that I value—
it is because it is the gift of honest, independent, pa-
triotic men, who have returned me as their represen-
tative •of this city to three Parliaments, and with a
purity and disinterestedness unsurpassed, if equalled,
by any constituency in the kingdom.—(Great
cheering.) I value this testimonial, Sir, as
an attestation of the opinion of those honest
and independent men of my public conduct—
(Loud cheers)--and I can assure you that I
place a higher value upon the incription it bears than
I should upon the greatest honour that the proudest
sovereign on the earth could confer upon me.—(Loud
cheers.) In the address it is truly stated that, in the
performance of my public duty whilst I represented
you, that I was solely guided by an earnest desire to
promote the happiness and the welfare and interests t,
every class of my fellow-countrymen —(liene wed
cheering)—of contributing, to the utmost of may abi-
ii,tv, to promote the interests of my country.—(Hear,
heal%) You have also truly stated that I nelthei-
gonwht nor desired any advantage for myself; and I
may say, with truth, that I have taken a very active
part in public affairs for a period exceeding five-and-
twenty years, thirteen of which I spent in
Parliament as your representative—(Hear, hear)--
and during the whole of that time I never asked for
or received a
or favour of the smallest value from an v
Government, from any person connected with tit 3
various Governments that held office during that
peri,xl.—(Applause.) But by acting upon that prin-
ciple I was enabled to take my stand as an ind,—
pend zat man, amongst those who surrounded lir,

[PRICE SD.

many of whom' were bound by ties of various kinds
to the great parties of the State, and who, therefore,
were prevented from doing their duty honestly to
their constituents. But, Sir, by taking that course I
placed myself in a position to act freely for the people,
and not tor parties; and, Sir, I know of no position
more degrading to a representative of the people than
to 1.),,,-ome a mere place•broker —(Hear, hear.)
If, Sir, we could take a retrospect—if a
picture of the past could be presented to
' the eyes of the nation—if a true account were fur-
nished to the nation of the cause of the manifold
evil e now endure' showing how much of our debt
and our difficulties' have been brought about by the
bartering of votes in the House of Commons for
places, for jobs'' 'and for contracts ;—if, Sir, such an
account could, Isay, be made out, the most venal
elector would Start aghast at discovering the bad bar-
gain 'he had. made in selling his vote ; and even the
drunkard would seek some other means of gratifying
his baneful and diseased propensity than by obtaining
it by the sale of Ms vote : he would see that he had
sold his great birthright for the paltry consideration
of being supplied with his fell desire of intoxicating
drink just for a day or two every three or four years.
For this he would find that he had sold his birth-
right, and placed power in the hands of men to snake
laws which take from him one-half of the produce of
his 'daily toil !—(Loud cheers.) Why, Sir, even
the drunkard, so many of whom are to be
be met Keith at the elections that take place periodi•
eally throughout the kingdom, bartering their votes
for intoxicating drink—if he could see an account of
all the evils he had brought upon himself by his indis-
cretion, he would exclaim to his fellows—" What
fools we have been to sell our birthright for such a
miserable consideration."—(Hear.) My humble
eefforts are referred to in the address to obtain a school
of design for Coventry: - The- very first year you-ditr
me the honour to send me to Parliament, I brought
under the consideration of the Government in the
House of Commons the great neglect that had taken
place tin this most important manufacturing country
among the nations of the earth in not establishing
such schools, whilst the Governments of every nation
in Europe which had the slightest pretence to be
called a manufacturingcountry had established schools
of design on the best possible principles. I observed
to the Government on that occasion that the supe-
riority of the French over my constituents arose not
from French men possessing superior genius, or that
they were equal to them, but because they had the
means of high education—namely, the cultivation of
taste in,their Schools of Design.—(Hear, hear.) The
consequence was that the Government of the day
admitted at once the value of such schools, and the
principal School of Design, in Somerset House, was
established, and the first year's report of the Commis-
iioners was flattering and encouraging, and gave the
utmost gratification to those who took an interest in
the establishment of such institutions ; but it did not
give greater gratification to any one more than it did
to me for being the principal cause of its origin.—
(Hear.) I then showed that the great object which
we should endeavour to promote was to make these
schools conducive to the advancement of manu-
facture; and, having all my life been engaged
in trade and manufactures, I knew how important it
was that the designer and artizan should be
thoroughly acquainted with the principles of the ma-
nufacture in which they are respectively engaged.
The Government at that time established a school of
design in Spitalfields, and the report of its proceed-
ings during the first year of its existence astonished
all at the success which had attended it. I again
brought the question forward in the House of Com-
a-ions, and earnestly called upon the Government to
establish similar schools in all the great manufactur-
ing towns, and I had several private interviews on
the subject with the President of the Board of Trade
and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, both of whom I
fell into my views most readily, and the next I
year the Chancellor of the Exchequer pro- I
posed a vote of 10,0001. for the establishment of
such schools in the manufacturing districts.—(Hear,
hear,) The Government appointed six towns in
which they were to be established, and Coventry was
placed at the head of them—(Cheers.) The task of
arranging the establishment of these schools was en-
trusted to the Council of Somerset House. Having
met pne of the members of the body accidentally one
day soon after, he said, "Why, we have had a letter
from the Mayor of Coventry, in reply to our proposition,
and what do you think he states ?' It is right that I
should mention the nature of the terms. The Go-
vernment offered to furnish the six towns with casts
and designs on a vast variety of subjects likely to
bring out and promote the taste cf the industrious
classes, and to advance 1501. to begin with, if the towns
raised a similar sum to meet them. The gentle-
man I have referred to went on to state that
the Council had received a letter from the
Mayor, stating that he had consulted some of the
leading manufacturers, and that they had informed
him that they did not think that a school of design
would be any great benefit to Coventry; and,
further, that there was no probability of raising the
required sum by subscription. This, I confess, came
upon me with great astonishment, and I told him
that there must certainly be some great mistake about
it ; to which he replied, " Well, we have have dis-
posed of Coventry, and we have received numerous
applications from other large towns for the grant,
and the Council meet on Tuesday next to determine
what other town shall have the 1501. which Coventry
has refused." And I did not leave him until I had
obtained permission to appear before the Council to
show that I was justified in saying that there must
be some great mistake in the matter. I did so, and
I showed that noltown would be so much benefited
as Coventry by thelestablishment of such a school. I
undertook to raise the sum, and offered, if it
could not be raised by subscription, to pay
it out of my own pocket.—(Loud cheers.)
One of the most distinguishing Royal Academicians
was in the chair, who before I had addressed the com-
mittee two minutes, interrupted me by saying, " You
have stated enough to convince the Council that of
all towns Coventry will be benefited the most by the
establishment of such a school ;" and the Council de-
termined at once to withdraw the exception they had
already made of Coventry, and the school was soon
after formed. Now, gentlemen, you have your
school of design, and cherish it ; its effects will not
be seen in a day, but the time will come when that
school of design, if carried on with enterprise and in-
tegrity, will place Coventry equal, in point of taste,
with any city in the world.—(Cheers.) The assist-.
ance I rendered with regard to the Boundary Bill, the
object of which was to unite this ancient city to
arwick, is also referred to in the address.
In that Bill there was a clause which provided that
the assizes for the city of Coventry and such other
parts of the county of Warwick as her Majesty in
Council should think proper, should be held C o
ventry ; and there was another clause, giving the
Lords of the Treasury the power of awarding a
just and equitable value for the gaol, the House
of Correction, and the court-house. I stood alone,
and the Bill was read a third time within half an hour
of the adjournment of the House previous to the pro-
rogation. The four Members for the county and two
of the Members for Warwick had used their
utmost exertions to get these two clauses, so
important to the town, expunged from the Bill,
and if they had succeeded, the result would have
been that Coventry would have had to send her pri-
sellers ; in fact, you would have had to carry all your
civil as well as criminal business to Warwick for ad-
judication. The question of remuneration for the
.
gaol, the House of Correction, and the court-house,
would have been left an open question for settlement
between the corporation and the county of Warwick,
anal my firm opinion is that if it had been so left, that
you would have obtained but very little for them.
Well, as I have said, I stood alone against this
powerful interest, and the Secretary of State,
who had charge of the Bill, said to me at the last
moment, ." Unless you will agree to the expulsion of
these two clauses, I must give up the Bill." This
was Nvithin three-quarters of 'an hour of the
adjournment of the House previous to prorogation.
The corporation of Coventry had sent up two of the
council of the borough to watch the progress of the
13111, and having informed the Secretary of State of
this, I said I would consult them, and I went out into
the lobby for that purpose,. and having informed
them how matters stood, they with great sorrow,
viewing the condition in which Coventry was placed
by the decision of the Judges, and considering the
painful circumstances in which the town was placed
by that decision, reluctantly consented that the
clauses should be struck out, in order that the peace
and property of the city might be preserved. I r!-
entered the House, and taking the whole responst-•
bility upon myself, I got up and told the Secretary of
State that I would not consent to the expulsion of
those clauses; and, on the part of the city of Coventry,
I gave him public notice, that a very important part
of the city should be-placed in the hands of the Go-
vernment, for, by the decision of the judges, to which
I have referred, neither the j ustices nor the magistrates
of Coventry or of the county would act under such
circumstances. With that straightforward manliness
which characterises the conduct of Sir James Graham,
he at once said, " I will not press the rejection
of the clauses; the magistrates shall have juris-
diction over their own city, and I will carry
the Bill as it stands," and he did so.—(Applause.)