The Sun.
London, England, 1834-11-24 00:00:00

GRANI; DINNER
LEIGI-T, t:0 L7°.,

~~-.-__

: which the stewards arc
By an admirable arrangement, yty
entitled to great praise, by placing five taties..::ngthway-s down
the room, one cross-table at the head, and othertable: in the

gallery and orchestra, accommodation was afforded to 520 per-
sons. The dinner was intended to have been a cold one, but
venison poured in in such quantities from the higher class of
Liberals, that it was determined to have hot soup and hot
venison, with cold provender of every description. Although
so many persons were present, all took their seats without the
slightest confusion, and at four o'clock the chairman, W. H.
flyett, Esq., M. P. for Stroud, entered the room, accompanied
by the following gentlemen, who were severally greeted with
the loudest plaudits :—Lord Segrave, the Hon. Craven
Berkeley, M. P., the Hon. H. Moreton, M. P., the Hon. A.
Moreton, M. P., J. Martin, Esq., M. P., J. Phillpotts, Esq. , M. P.
'G. P. Scrope, Esq , M.P., C. H. Tracey, Esq., M. P., M..
Wood, Esq., M.P., C. H. T. Leigh, Esq., D. Ricardo, Esq.,
Captain Harward, R.N., Major Snow Paul, Captain Gray,
Captain Jenner, Captain Prohvn, J. A. G. Clark, W. S.
Evans, E. Holland, C. Hanford, T. Kingscote, D. Maclean,
E. Sheppard, E. Sheppard, jun., J. Watts, H. Wyatt,
Esqrs-• Rev. Messrs. Capel, Hayward, Hawkins, Smith,
Wilks, Thomas, &c., &sc. W. H. Stanton, Esq., officiated as
Vice-President. Besides the above, the Mayor and several
members of the Corporation of Gloccster were present.
On the cloth being removed,
The CHAIRMAN rose and addressed the company. Gen-
tlemen, I give you " The King, his Majesty William IV."
—( Hisses and cheers.) Gentlemen, " The King."—( Cries
of " No, no ;" ultimately, however, the toast was drank with
four time four. )
The ClisseatarA—l now give you " The Queen."—(Cries
of " No, no," 'and hisses and uproar completely drowning the
very few cheers.)
The CHAlRMAN—Gentlemen, I have now to propose ano-
ther member of the Royal Family, " The Duke of Sussex"—
( Tremendous cheering)—an illustrious individual, who has
been at all times, in public life, as much the strong advocate
of the rights and liberties of the people, as in his private life
he has been the indefatigable patron of science and literature
in this country. Gentlemen, " The Duke of Sussex, and the
rest of the Royal family."—(On the latter part of the toast
being added, the cheering very much diminished.)
The CHAIRMAN, in proposing the next toast, said—Gentle-
men, I now rise to propose the toast of the evening, " The
health of Mr. Leigh."—( This was received with tremendous
shouts, and cries of " Again, again.") The Chairman having
pronounced an eulogium on Mr. Leigh, the health was drunk
with immense applause.
Mr. LEIGH, in returning thanks, said, " Gentlemen, though
I was not to represent you, I did hope the Melbourne Admi-
nistration would have existed, and that we should have en-
joyed the very important consequences which we anticipated
from the Reform Bill. Those hopes are at an end for a time,
but I cannot believe for a permanency—(Loud cheers)—for I
never can forget that the rod is in your hands since the passing
of that great measure, and that this is merely an exhibition of
what I believe to be real weakness ; and, however, the elec-
tions may turn up in the event of a dissolution, I have no doubt
the strength of the Reformers, as established by the Reform
Bill, will eventually ensure the triumph of those principles for
which alone the Reform Bill was enacted."—( Cheers.)
The CHAIRMAN again rose. Gentlemen, the next toast
which stood on my list a few days ago was the " Ministers of
his Majesty." The toast which I am about to give is " His
Majesty's late Ministers"--( Loud cheers)—and I confess that
I shall not give the latter With less confidence than the former.
I believe those Ministers to have been men who were anxious
to carry into practice every sound, rational, and practicable
measure of reform which lay in their power, but that they
were surrounded by difficulties—difficulties which no previous
Administration ever had to contend with—difficulties which, I
firmly believe, have not yet been fully appreciated by the coun-
try. Opposed in the House of Lords by a large majority—
(" Hear, hear," from Lord Seagrave)--who were at any time
able to defeat any measure introduced, and put an end not only
to every measure, but to the Administration—opposed in the
House of Commons by two parties with equal violence, but
agreeing together in no one point, except in opposition to that
Administration—wide as the Poles were asunder--exposed to
to the double suspicion of leaning to one and the other, I be-
lieve their only intention was to steer a sound, a practicable, and
a middle course. Such, however, gentlemen, is never a very
easy task. Mr. Moreton said this day, that all did not know
the difficulty of steering between Scylla and Charybdis ; there
were rocks on one side, and whirlpools on the other, and it
required a steady hand to hold the helm ; but when, in addi-
tion to this danger, persons rushed on the pilot, and over-
whelmed him, one crying, " Now you are on the rocks," and
the " are in the whirlprsol " ;t rnAtter of
wonder that the vessel became a wreck ? It is true our pro-
gress in correcting abuses is for a time postponed, but I think
the ultimate success no less inevitable ; I trust I see brighter
days beyond. It is very true another Administration is formed
on very different principles—principles so different as to make
it totally impossible for that Administration to meet the pre-
sent House of Commons—(Cheers)---a dissolution then must
ensue—( Cheers)---and upon the selection the people then make
of representatives will depend the destiny of this country—
( Cheers)—and if the constituency of England have the courage
(which I sincerely believe they have) to resist the temptation
and intimidation to which I know they will be exposed, all
may yet be well.—( Loud cheers.) It was probable that many
might think the old Ministers could have done more ; but let
them in common honesty review the actions of those Ministers.
He maintained that the calm and deliberate actions of the last,
compared with any previous Administration, entitled them to
the thanks of the country.—( Cheers.) He then proposed
" The late Ministers of his Majesty."—( Loud cheering. )
Mr. 'beano° begged to give " Lord Grey, the Father of
Reform."--( Cheering.)
The CHAIRMAN rose with the greatest pleasure to propose
the three Liberal Peers of the county—Lord Ducie, Lord
Sherborne, and Lord Seagrave—( Cheers)—with a sincere
wish that the House of Lords was composed of more members
of the same stamp, for under those circumstances the Re-
formers would have advanced considerably further in their
progress, and not have been in their present difficulty.—
( Cheers.) With respect to Lord Ducie, he was extremely
sorry to say that lie was at that moment in bed, with a fit of
the gout; with regard to Lord Sherborne, he had received a
letter from him, stating that this was the third year that he
had promised Mr. Coke, of Holkham, to spend the Ist of No-
. vember with him, and that he was bound to be there at this
period; and Lord Sherborne added, " Tell our Whig friends
I am staying in a county wherein in early youth I was sojourn-
ing with Charles Fox, and was one of his greatest admirers."
He (the Chairman) was sure Mr. Moreton would speak for
his father, Lord Ducie ' • and with respect to Lord Seagrave,
he was certain he would speak for himself.—" The three Li-
beral Peers of the county."--( Loud cheering.)
Lord SEAGRAVE then said, it had been said at some Tory
dinners, and had been dwelt upon, that the present reformed
House of Commons was not better formed, nor better calcu-
lated to confer benefits on the people, than the old House was;
this had been a subject on which they had dwelt. That Par-
liament had not done its duty he would admit, but he contended
the fault lay with the Peers, and not with the lower House.
There were some omissions of which the present House were
guilty, but still lie hoped to see the error retrieved ' • but he
doubted whether, if the present House of Commons had been a
little more active (though he doubted whether it would have
suited his taste), that would have recommended it to the Tories ;
for instance, and he said it with great deference, because he knew
some persons were disposed to think differently, but still he
had his own strong opinion on the subject, that the reformed
House of Commons ought not to have rejected an inquiry
into the state of the pension list.—(Loud cheers.) He had
been a long time in public life, and had experienced some
annoyances, and had felt some great gratifications, but among
all, he had never felt any gratification so great as to see the
name of his two brothers in that honourable minority. There
was one other observation he must make on the present state
of the House of Commons, because he would contend that,
with all its imperfections on its head, it was a blessing to the
people, such as had never yet been conferred upon them, and
for this small reason—that if the present House of Commons
had not progressed in the path of reform so much as had been
expected, or had not been very active in the removal of abuses
—at all events, they had not so acted as to prevent a recur-
rence of them. No more jobs, no more sinecures, no more
unmerited pensions, would take place under the present House
of Commons. It had been said at some of the late dinners,
and praise had been claimed for the Tory Administration on
that ground, that the Test and Corporation Acts were repealed
during the
Administration of the Duke of Wellington. That
was perfectly true ; but to say these were the acts of the Duke
of Wellington, would be just as wise as to say it was the act
of the ass to have the paniers put upon him, which were thrust
upon his back.—( Cheers and laughter.) He was obliged to
grant it in spite of himself, and not of his own wish. It was
in consequence of the enlightened spirit of the age, of the
rights which Christians of all denominations felt they had,
that the Duke was obliged to give way, perhaps assisted also
by a tone of intimidation adopted by O'Connell; but intimi-
dation was the last thing that should be had recourse to ; that
which could be obtained by good sound argument should
never be effected by threats. But the taking credit for passing
these measures, was the most comical thing that ever was.
Let them look at what happened to Sir Robert Peel, who had
for years represented that nursery for half-grown Tories, the
University of Oxford ; his talents were splendid, his attain-
ments were great, and his private character was unblemished ;
but in spite of his talents, in spite of his attainments, and in
spite of his private character, the University of Oxford had
tried him, and found him guilty of le_ening towards the Catho-
lic Relief Bill, -and the bond 1-
oetween him and alma mate,.
had been dissolved for ever.—( Cheers.) They had been
told that one of their f:
sults was a want of orgaeization in their
eetiv trtae 1
movements, and part',
culariy at the last election. It had been
said on the other :and that organization would not create a
force, but could not diseet one—that was esse
but
suppose one party, Eargstniaeci, asol the other did not', what
would he tile onsequence ? Why, that the :;:t-
-y,
lectinss re.t,t fail. They should be up and doing ; it wax
Ine

possible to say what might happen, and what the consequences
of the formation of the present Administration might be—whe-
ther it would stand, or what it might do, depended in a great
measure on them. He would recommend them unanimity, to
resist their enemies, and to beware of false friends.—(Con-
tinued cheering. )
The CHAIRMAN proposed the health of " Mr. Henry More-
'en, the disinterested and highly-spirited representative of the
easfern !division of the county."--( Loud cheers.)
. .
_Motr7oN thanked them for the way in which
The Hon. at.
name at this crisis; it was a crisis,
they had received hh.
z..^ous one, but it was one he had
though he trusted not a dang
',.:2lared, that unless there
long foreseen, for he had openly u
use of Peers, no
was an infusion of liberal blood into the Li.?
liberal administretion could stand. It had beei: said he had
broached unconstitutional principles, but whether so o: not, it
was his opinion, and it had proved to be a correct one. 1...'d
his Grace the Duke of Wellington, whom he might call his
Highness, this triple secretary, this multiplied Cerberus—
did he suppose they were such a foolish body, that after the
struggle they had made to obtain the Reform Bill, they were
going to stultify themselves, as he (the Duke) bad made the
House of Lords stultify itself, on the Reform Bill ? Did he
suppose he would suppress agitation in Ireland by continuing
the same church system? Did he suppose that he would in-
duce them to look with more favour on him by paying them
with miserable portions of potatoes? It was impossible it could
last, more especially when they saw that they made use of the
very measure which had been suggested to them, and seeing
that the very_men who opposed that measure were making use
of the precise means which had been offered as a security to
the clergy; or were they to suppose that this tripartite man,
this triple being, would propose the measure of Church Reform
in the House of Lords ? If he did, they would he much obliged
to him—if he carried it through, they would thank bins for the
manner in which he had done it, and for the inconsistency.—
( Cheers.) They had heard much about keeping up the inte-
grity of the House of Lords—he had driven all the Tories out
of the house on the Reform Bill, to keep the country quiet—
he wondered whether he would drive them out again ? He
(Mr. Moreton) wondered whether the Noble Duke thought
the Protestant Dissenters were going to sit still with their
hands in their pockets?—(" No, no."), Did he think they
would place confidence in him—that they would expect from
him those measures of relief that were still due to them ? If
he did, he would be much mistaken. He would conclude at
once by saying he trusted, and he would say to them as con-
stituents, let them do their duty throughout England, and they
were sure of obtaining the necessary reforms, and the Dissenters
were sure of having that relief more sure and more certain
than ever. If there had been a mistake made by men, it had
been made by the Tories; they had magnified their strength,
they saw substance in shadows, these shadows were grown
larger, but the reflecting observer knew that the Tories sun
had nearly set, and that that which they thought to be a sub-
stance would prove to be a shadow.—( Loud cheering.)
Mr. H. TRACY proposed " the health of Captain Gray."—
( Cheers. )
Captain GRAY said, if they desired to continue the advant-
ages which Reform bad brought into existence, they had only
one line of conduct to pursue, that of waging open war with-
out end against the evil - genius of Toryism, which had been
rocked in the same cradle and nurtured in the same bosom
with bigotry and intolerance. Let them then hope, after
many a long year of despotic misrule, it was destined to breath
its last, and with them to be interred, unwept and unhonoured,
in the same unhallowed grave. This might be deemed by
some an extravagant and useless hope, at the very moment
when the Conservative party had succeeded in taking by storm
the Government of the country ; but he for one was nothing
daunted or dismayed by that event ; as good often arose out of
evil, so he ventured to predict that the progress of Reform will
resuscitate and promote it; the seals of office might be trans-
ferred at the will of the Sovereign from one set of men to
another, from Whigs and Liberals to Tories and Conservatives;
but they could not transfer from them the power of working a
miraculous conversion of public opinion. Let then the Re-
formers remain true to themselves—let them pull cordially
together, and they might still bid defiance to that gigantic
adversary; with the present House of Commons, if the
slightest degree of faith might be reposed in the honesty and
consistency of public men, it would be impossible for a Tory,
Administration to carry on the affairs of the state. They must
from such necessity be driven to dissolve the Parliament, and
appeal to the sense of the nation. On the result of such an
appeal he would not speculate, but the question which was to
be asked he apprehended was this, whether they would be go-
verned
by men of liberal principles, who considered the well-
being of those whom they governed and represented as an
object of their personal concern, or by men educated in the
Tory school, who endeavoured as much as possible to circum-
scribe the liberties of the people. Let our situation be what it
might, or whatever parties remain in power, the Tory princi-
Tle could not long be 13eedominant in the councils of this na-
tion. If the Tories retained oniee,Ar-Intrst b. through ..i.,..n.
donment of principle. In their measures they must stoop to
become Whigs—they must condescend to wear the livery and
do the work of reform. There were certain questions which
it was impossible they could shuffie—lreland must be paci-
fied, not by harsh measures, but by those of justice, and
a liberal constitution of the church establishinent in that
country ; and in this, also, it must be reformed—(Loud
cheers)—tithes must be commuted, the Dissenters must be
relieved; law reform, municipal reform, and ecclesiastical re-
form, must proceed, in despite of their reluctance to permit
them. To endeavour to compel the people to return, or stop
and end all that had been done within the last four years,would
be morally impossible. It was equally impossible that the
people should stand still exactly where they now were, when
so many grand improvements were still pending—the machine
must move onward. Happen what would, let them be pre-
pared for the worst alternative, seeing that the most certain
control they possessed over the actions of one Ministry was
that exercised through the representative body.—( Continued
cheers.)
Mr. E. Siteprosan proposed as a tpast, " The Members of
the Western Division of the County."—( Loud cheering.)
The Hon. AUGUSTUS MORETON said—lt bad latterly been
the custom of the Tories, when canvassed, to ask what good
the Reform Bill had done for them—had it taken off their
taxes? and tha general answer was, that the party knew of no
benefit he had derived. But he would tell what the Reform
Bill bad done ; and whether this Ministry was in one year, one
Month, or one day--( Cheers)—they must under that. Bill,
and adopt liberal and reform measures.--( Cheers. )
The Hon. H. MORETON gave " the health of those Mem-
bers who had done equal honour to themselves and to those
who had sent them there, Mr. Hyett and Mr. Scrope."—(lm-
mense applause.)
The CHAIRMAN returned thanks.
Mr. SCROPE rose amidst the most deafening cheers. The
question at this important crisis was, what in the name of hea-
ven was to be done ? He had come amongst them, hoping to
meet a large body of his constituents, to ascertain their opi-
nions, not to trouble them with his own, but to accept his in-
structions from them, as to the course of conduct be should
pursue—( Loud cheers)—not to declare that he was predeter-
mined on any; but at the same time it gave him great plea-
sure to hear a most universal concurrence of opinions with
those he sanctioned most. It was now or never ; it was the
time,for Reformers to make a struggle, which they had thought
was over, but which they were now called upon to renew, to
obtain a reform in the abuses of the Government, the redress
of every grievance, and the amelioration of every one of their
institutions. Let them not be deceived by promises held out
to them, but trust to themselves, and give not up that which
they now possessed. Let them recollect that a Parliament of
seven years had a power of reforming the Reform Bill itself—
(Cheers)—and that, too, while they looked upon it as the bul-
wark of their liberties.—( Cheers.) Mr. Scrope then proposed
" The health of Mr. Ricardo, and aieo the gentlemen to whom
they were deeply indebted for acting as stewards on this occa-
sion."—( Cheers. )
Mr. RICARDO returned thanks.
The CHAIRMAN then proposed " The heeltb of that veteran
in the cause of Reform, Colonel Kingscote"--(Cheers)—who
was in his 85th year, and too unwell to attend.
Mr. THOMAS KINGSCOTE returned thanks oat behalf of his
uncle, and hoped he should follow in his steps.
The Rev. C. CAFE', proposed " The health of Mr. Phill-
potts, the liberal and inJependent member for the City of
Gloucester."—( Cheers. )
Mr. PHILLPOTTS said they stood at that moment in an un-
precedented situation—they stood at that moment: a country
without an Administration—they stood in the powee of one
man, a dictator, who was appointed by the King to rule over
them, and who bad all the powers vested in him. Was that
a situation with which they ought to feel satisfied ?—(No, no. )
Were the rights and liberties of the people of this vast empire
to be committed to one individual—( No, no)—were all the
seals of office to be used at his discretion--( No, no)—were
they to be subject to military law ?—( No, no, and vast cheer-
ing.) Our ancestors at Runnymede had wrested from the
tyrant then on the throne Magna Charta ; he trusted that the
march of intellect had not dimished the force of their feelings ;
he trusted that Britons would be Britons stql, and then by
their exertions they were certain to succeed. Their present
unexpected situation had spread an alarm through the country,
from which they had hardly yet recovered. It grad almost pa-
ralyzed their immediate exertions ; but they w ere beginning
to awake, and to feel that it was their bounden duty to be up
and stirring. The city of London, and various places near
the metropolis, had already given notice of meetings for the
purpose of addressing the throne ; he trusted Gloucester-
shire would not be behindhand in these meetings.--( Cheers. )
He trusted that there would be a meeting in the (7c unty-hall
within a few days, to convince the King that there set s no re-
action in the minds of his people. and to convince tistese who
had taken upon themselves the helm that their situation was
held against the wishes of the people. When at Westminster
Hall, on the news being first promulgated, an old Conserva-
tive told him it had been determined on some days (" It came
from Germany 1") and he must say he firmly believed it ,had
been a previously concerted measure, and that it had not beon
determined upon so suddenly es was generally imagined.
This might afford a clue to many of the acts of the late Ad-
ministration e they had been crippled in their actions. Re-
dcoreumseeqmubenecre Is
givem ay yrr-
T.:ism
caution
(said
setrhi
oe a
si iloyn:
rgeemn
et line mb
earn ,what)an

suit if any manoeuvres of theirs should produce that effect.
—(" It will not.") The first measure which they will pro-
pose will not be a repeal of the Reform Act, because that
would be too monstrous a proposition for even a Tory to at-
tempt ; but you may rely upon it one of the first measures will
be by some means or other to fritter away the power of that
act, to render it inoperative, and place you in the situation you
were in before the Reform Act took place—in the power of
the aristocracy of this country. Mr. Phillpotts then alluded
to the several commissions which had been issued for inqniry
into abuses, and then said—These are the causes which have
led to the dismissal of the late Administration. Let us all
exert our own strength to regain that which had cost us so
bird a struggle to obtain.—( Loud cheers. )
The CHAIRMAN then proposed the health of " The Vice
President, Mr. William Stanton," who having briefly returned
thanks, the meeting broke up.