The Sun.
London, England, 1834-12-12 00:00:00

TOWER HAMLETS MEETING.

Mr. PRIEST'S Speech concluded frpm our First Edition
yesterday. and which we gave in a Second Edition last night—
Some time ago the King had declared himself friendly to Re-
form, but he was afraid he was not so now.--( Hisses.) Who
was the party by whom the King was surrounded when the
City Address was received by him ? Why the Tories ! There
was not a single liberal minded man around the Throne.
Who was it that carried the Corn Bill ? Who forced the Six
Acts down the throats of the people ? Who was it that per-
secuted Queen Caroline ? Who was it that carried on the
Government when Horne Tooke was prosecuted, or who was
it who refused to the Dissenters their rights and liberties ?
Wh3 the Tories, of whom the Duke of Wellington was the
greatest.—( Cheers.) It was true the Duke of Wellington had
passed the Catholic Relief Bill, but he did so more
on a point of policy than upon any other ground. Who had
supported the lavish expenditure of the public money ? Who
had carried on ruinous wars ? Who had created a debt of
800 millions ? Why the Tories.—( Great cheering.) What
had the Whigs done ? Why they had assisted the Duke of
Wellington in carrying the Catholic Relief Bill—they had
opposed every abuse—they had encouraged civil and religious
liberty—they had endeavoured to reform the Church—they
had carried reform into the hearts of corporations—they had
supported the liberty of the press, and they had done thou-
sands of other good deeds which he need not mention.—
( Great cheering.) Yet these were the men whom his Ma-
jesty had thought proper to dismiss so unceremoniously from
office.—( Great cheers.) He congratulated the meeting on
its numbers ; he was glad to find such a spirit of unanimity
among the electors of the Tower Hamlets ; it argued well
for the good cause. He would conclude by. personally re-
turning his thanks to the two members of the Borough, Dr.
Lushington and Mr. Clay, who had acted like men in their
places in Parliament. With such men, and in such a cause,
it was impossible that the Tories, by any efforts, could gain
the confidence of the people.—( Great cheers.) The resolu-
tion was then put to the meeting, and declared to be carried
unanimously.
Mr. OWEN then came forward to propose the second re-
solution. The present meeting represented the opinion
of the electors of the Borough at large. It was true that
one or two persons had spoken against the former govern-
ment of the country, but he understood that they were in-
spired by a pension.—( Great laughter.) The course that had
been pursued by his Majesty and the Duke of Wellington
since the dissolution of Lord Melbourne's Administration was
a gross outrage upon the fundamental principles of the Con-
stitution. The country had actually been without a govern-
ment for the last three weeks. He admitted, as every one
must do, the King's prerogative to dismiss his Ministers, and
to make choice of what Ministers he pleased. The King had
chosen the Duke of Wellington, and that noble personage was
now endeavouring to form an. Administration which never
could, with the present House of Commons, carry on the govern-
ment. The King was bound to exercise the splendid prerogatives
he possessed for the good of his country, he was the commander
of her armies and her navy—he was the fountain of honour,
and he was bound as such to consider his country's good.' As
he had said before, the country had been without a government
foi three weeks—he made that assertion in the presence of
several Members of Parliament, and he trusted to God that
when the House of Commons met, there would be gentlemen
in that House sufficiently manly to declare that the
Constitution had been outraged by the course which the King
had adopted.—( Great cheering.) Why, he would ask, was a
great country like England to be kept in such a state while
messengers were sent some miles after a fugitive Tory.—
It was impossible for any person to say the extent of mischief
that might take place in consequence of the Government being
left in the hands of a Military Commander--a Commander
who had committed acts which the country could not but regret.
—( Great cheering.) Was this the time that the coantry was
to be governed by a garrison, or controuled by a Bucking-
ham ?—( Great cheering.) He trusted that the meeting by
its proceedings would show the Duke of Wellington
that his military despotism would not go down in the present
day.—( Great cheering.) That a new election was at hand
he had no doubt. Who the next representatives of the Tower
Hamlets might be he would not say—but this he hoped, that
the borough would send such men into Parliament as would fight
the Tories to their teeth. If the meeting carried such resol.u-
lions as the present, the Duke of Wellington and his party
would soon be laid prostrate in the dust. If the people were watch-
ful no Tory Administration could exist for a moment in this
country. The address which Mr. Sergeant Spankie had put for-
ward was a disgrace to himself, and to the Borough of Fins-
bury for having selected such a man ; he however would meet
his deserts at the next election, by seeing the names of the two
triumphant candidates, Duncombe and Wakley. He concluded
by trusting that the people would ever bear in mind those beau-
tiful lines—

" Lay the proud Usurper low !
" Tyrants fall in every foe !
" Liberty- 's in ever blow !
" Let us do or die ! '—(Great cheering).
Mr. COATES seconded the resolution which was carried una-
nimously.
Mr. LEMAN proposed the third resolution ; he could see by
the countenances of the meeting that they were determined to
have their rights protected, and would not be governed by a
set of men who during their whole lives had been inimical to
the public interest.—( Laid cheering.) The Tories had ever
abetted the constraint of liberty abroad, and had done all in
their power to strangle it at home.—( Cheers). The Tories