The Sun.
London, England, 1833-04-10 00:00:00

BOROUGH OF STAFFORD.

(From the Staffordshire Advertiser.)
PUBLIC MEETING.
Last week two gentlemen arrived in Stafford
from London, apparently the agents of some party,
in the matter of the proceedings in the House of
Commons relative to thelate election for the borough. •
Considerable curiosity was excited respecting them,
and many rumours were in circulation, the principal
one being to the effect that they were the agents of
Government, and had come to collect evidence " to
disfranchise the borough." They proved, however,
to be Sir Robert Sydney (a Parliamentary agent,
we believe), and Mr. Thomas, of Swansea, and
they had come in the interest of Captain Gronow,
as will be seen from their own statements, made at
a meeting of which we are about to give an account.
A printed notice was distributed on Saturday
morning last, inviting " those burgesses and electors
who were desirous of preventing the disfranchise-
ment of the borough," to a meeting at the George
Inn, in the evening.
Shortly after the appointed hour (six o'clock), a
good number of the burgesses assembled. Mr. C.
Flint, with two or three of the principal supporters
of Captain Gronow at the late election, entered the
room, and
Mr. FLINT stated that there were two gentlemen
in an adjoining room, Sir R. Sydney, and Mr.
Thomas, of Swansea, who were anxious to attend
the meeting, if the burgesses and electors present
desired them to do so, in order to give their
opinions, and to advise them what course they
ought to pursue, with the view of securing to
themselves the continued possession of their rights
and privileges. If it was the wish of the meeting,
he would introduce those gentlemen to them.—
(" Shouts of "Yes, yes.") Mr. Flint then left the
room, and immediately returned with Sir Robert
and his companion. Mr. F. moved that Mr. Thomas
should take the chair; and in that motion the
meeting unanimously concurred.
Mr. THOMAS very briefly explained the object of
the meeting, by reading the notice by which it had
been convened. The object was to prevent the dis-
ranchisement of the borough.—(Applause.)
f Mr. FLINT believed Sir Robert Sydney had
something to communicate to the meeting; he
therefore would, with the permission of the chair-
man, call upon that gentleman to address them.
Sir ROBERT SYDNEY immediately responded to
the call. He said it was but two or three days
ago that he and Mr. Thomas entered the town en-
tire strangers to every one, excepting a casual ac-
quaintance he (Sir Robert) had with Mr. Flint;
they had consequently been beset with difficulty in
the execution of tlrir mission. He regretted that
his Learned Friend (Mr. Thomas) had been called
to the chair; otherwise he would have entered
into many particulars which would have interested
them, respecting Captain Gronow, whom he
had known from his boyhood upwards. He
would have informed them of the habits of
life of the Hon. Member, of the respectability of
his family and connexions, and of his high and ho-
nourable sentiments. Sir Robert Sydney then ob-
served, that after he and his friend had been in
town a short time, they had ascertained that the
petition which had been presented to the House of
Commons against the return of Captain Gronow,
appeared to be little understood by the burgesses
who had signed it. They had been induced to
make strict inquiries respecting the circumstances
under which the signatures had been obtained; and
the further they went, the more fully satisfied were
they that the prayer of the petition had not met
with the approbation of the petitioners, and that
their names had been obtained by misrepresentation.
Several had stated that the instrument which they
had signed was confined to the point of the qualifi-
cation of Captain Gronow. One of the prayers of
the petition was, that the elective franchise should
in future be limited to the la householders—a
prayer which it was so inconsistent in the free-
men of the borough to unite in, that he felt
convinced unfair means had been used with
them to obtain their signatures, many of which, he
understood, had been obtained, whilst the deluded
men were in a state of intoxication. This would,
no doubt, be a serious subject for investigation by
the House of Commons; and no doubt all persons
who had been concerned in practising the fraud
would be called to the bar of the House, and from
thence committed to Newgate.—(Laughter and
cheers.) Sir Robert then said, the best course
they could adopt, he thought, would be to come to a
resolution to this effect. Ile then read the first reso-
lution, which was seconded by Mr. Robert Jones,
and carried unanimously. The second resolutioo
was then proposed by Sir R. Sydney, and seconded
by Mr. Kingstone. Carried unanimously, with
cheers. Sir Robert then added, that he had no
been able at present to give the subject a long con.
sideration, and he had not arrived at present at all
the facts. He had been surprised beyond measure
to learn, that one of the poll books at the late elec-
tion had been lost. He bed not yet discovered
whether Captain Gronow had been made acquainted
with that extraordinary fact, but he supposed nut.
He had been equally surprised to find, on reading
This res“lution, it will be observed, contains the
names of several gentlemen, who are requested to act as a
committee of investigation. Neither Mr. Keen, Mr. Seek-
erscri, nor Mr. Webb, attended the meeting, and their
names were used without their authority.

the petition against the return, that the petitioners
complained that they themselves had been bribed.
They could scarcely have been aware of the existence
of the Act of Parliament of the 2d Geo. 11., wherein,
in the 24th chapter, it was enacted, that any person
lawfully convicted of bribery, should be for ever
disqualified for voting for Members of Parliament--
no matter whether for this or any other borough, or
for any county.
Mr. C. FLINT then addressed the meeting. He
said, a great deal of misrepresentation had gone
forth respecting the proceedings which were the
subject of that night's consideration. It had been
stated that their Hon. Member, Captain Gronow,
had given evidence, or had proposed to do so, for
the purpose of visiting the burgesses of this bo.
rough with penal consequences. He could, on Cap-
tain Gronow's behalf, give that statement an un-
qualified contradiction.—(Applause.) If they would
only, as reflective men, consider for a moment the
absurdity of such a line of conduct, they would be
convinced of the falsehood of the statement. Many
other false reports and statements had passed cur-
rent, from the beginning of these proceedings to the
present time; and he must say of their opponents,
that they had the peculiar tact, when they originated
measures of an offensive nature, to endeavour to
show that they emanated from the other side, and
to throw the odium upon them.—(Hear, hear.) He
should like to ask a few plain questions.. Who was
it that had been attempting to defend the ancient
rights and privileges of the borough—who was it
that had incurred any expense for that purpose be-
sides Captain Gronow ?—(Applause.) He (Mr.
Flint) had been in London, at his request, in sup-
port of their cause, and one of their own body had
likewise, at his request, been to town for the same
purpose of attempting to obtain a remedy for the
grievances of which the burgesses of Stafford had
so much reason to complain. He must say that
there had not been a town in England so unconsti-
tutionally and so illegally dealt with as Stafford.—
(Applause.) One of the first principles of the
British Constitution was, that every individual,
much more every body of men, when their right to
retain an important privilege was in question, should
be considered innocent until proved guilty.—
(Cheers.) But in the case of this borough, a Bill
had been brought into the House of Commons, and
had been read a third time, and it was therefore their
duty to acquiesce in it; but the preamble of that
Bill, he must say, was most unjust and unfair : it
stated that which had never been proved, that of
which the burgesses of Stafford had never been
found guilty.—(Hear, hear.) And why had that
Bill been brought into Parliament ? Why, to prop
up a petition, one of the prayers of which was, that
the return of Rees Howell Gronow, Esq., should be
declared null and void, and that William Blount,
Esq., should be declared duly elected.—(Hisses and
groans.) At whose request was this Bill of In-
demnity introduced to enable another to sneak into
Capt. Gronow's place ? And who caused the second
petition to be signed ? He must say that that man
was a despicable man, who came amongst a body of
mechanics, to misrepresent facts, and to state what
was false, in order to induce them to do a thing im-
properly and in the dark, for the purpose, ultimately,
of destroying their own rights and privileges.—
(Applause.) This was no party question. It was
not whether they approved of this person or the
other as their representative , it was a question vi-
tally affecting their privileges ; it was whether they
should continue to enjoy their birth-right, or whe-
ther, cajoled by fraud and misled by falsehood, they
should be unwittingly the instruments of cutting off
themselves and their posterity from their ancient
privileges.—(Applause.)
The petition, praying that the one they had be-
fore signed might be withdrawn, was then read by
Mr. Flint, and afterwards received the voluntary
signatures of several who were present.
Mr. FLINT then observed, that another petition,
one to the House of Lords, against the Indemnity
Bill, had also been prepared, and it would lie for
the signatures of the burgesses, and the electors at
large.
Thanks were afterwards voted to the CHAIRMAN,
who complimented the burgesses on their good
order. After several rounds of hearty cheers, the
meeting separated.

SURREY SESSIONS.

RYE GATE, APRIL 9.

The General Qiarter Sessions for Surrey were
held yesterday, at Ryegate, before Sir W. JOLIFFE,
Bart., chairman, and a crowded bench of magis-
trates.