The Sun.
London, England, 1834-12-30 00:00:00

BOROUGH OF SOUTHWARK.

Pursuant to public notice, a meeting of parishioners of St.
George's-in-the-Fields, favourable to the return of Mr. D.
W. Harvey as one of the representatives of this borough in
Parliament, was held last evening in Jones's Riding-room,
Blackfriar's-road. This building, which is very spacious, was
filled by 7 o'clock. There were, we should suppose, nearly
1,000 persons present. Mr. Harvey, on his entrance, was
greeted with loud cheers.
Mr. ANDERSON, having been called to the chair, opened
the business of the evening in a brief speech. Mr. Harvey,
he observed, was present, and would speak for himself. It
was that gentleman whom they were called on to select, and
not him. He assured the meeting that so far as the business
of Chairman went, and he was honoured by being called to
the situation, he would, to the utmost of his ability, perform
his duty. He trusted that they would all preserve that order
which tho importance of the business required; he trusted
that they would conduct themselves in a gentlemanly manner,
that they would do honour to the borough of Southwark, and
repel the assertion of those who stigmatised meetings of this
nature, as being composed of rabble.—( Much applause.) The
Chairman then stated, that a letter had been received from
Mr. Joseph Hume, apologising for his non-appearance at this
meeting. Mr. Hume's services were too well known not to
insure an attentive auditory whilst his letter was read.
The SECRETARY, pro. tern., then read the letter. After
apologizing for his absence, in consequence of his being
obliged to attend the county meeting, Mr. Hume declared
that he was most anxious to see Mr. D. W. Harvey a member
of the new Parliament, because he was perfectly aware of the
eminent services which he had. performed in the present. In
allusion to the charges which had been brought against Mr.
Harvey, he observed that a Committee of the House of Com-
mons had been appointed to inquire into them, and after.an in-
vestigation which laSted thirty days, that committee declared
their opinion to be, that Mr. Harvey was a most calumniated
and persecuted man. This letter was received with much ap-
plause byy the meeting.
Mr. Davis rose to move the first resolution. He said that
on Ibis occasion a very high honour was conferred on the bo-
rough of Southwark, when a gentleman whose integrity had
been so long tried in Parliament as that of Mr. Harvey had
been, stood forward to represent them.—( Applause.) Mr.
Harvey had in six successive Parliaments represented the bo-
rough of Colchester, and-why, it would be asked, did he leave
that borough note? The reason was, because he was anxious
to reform crying abuses.--( Applause.) He recollected that
Mr. George Tierney left Colchester to represent the borough
of Southwark. He was elected, as he was sure that Mr. Har-
vey would be, and thus the constituency of Southwark would
prove that they were better judges of talent and integrity than the
constituency of Colchester were—( Applause). Mr. Harveylhad
constantly appeared as the friend of civil and religious liberty ;
he had opposed the continuance of sinecure places and
pensions ; in short, he had stood forward on every occasion,
showing an anxious desire that the people should fully enjoy
the fruits of that new Magna Charta, the Reform Bill.—
( Cheers.) Hitherto they had enjoyed but few of those fruits,
and the new Ministry would strive to blast the harvest altoge-
ther. He would however predict that it would be but a short-
lived Ministry ; and if the people were true to themselves, and
would send to Parliament men like Mr. Harvey, they would,
in a very short time reap the fruits which they had a right to
expect from the great measure to which he had alluded. As
a proof of the high estimation in which Mr. Harvey was held,
Mr. Davis referred to the letter of Mr. Hume, and to the pre-
sence of Colonel Evans, and of Mr. H. L. Bulwer, who had
stood forward on this occasion to testify their sense of the va-
rious merits of Mr. Harvey, and concluded by moving a resolu-
tion, §etting forth the paramount importance of selecting Par-
liamentary candidates of' known talent, consistency, and inte-
grity as this momentous period, detailing the various impor-
tant popular questions which Mr. Harvey had brought forward
in the House of Commons, dwelling very particularly on his
!lotion for a revision of the pension list, and pledging the
meeting to use their best efforts to secure that gentleman's re-
turn to Parliament for the brough of Southwark.
Mr. Gamma seconded the resolution.
Colonel EVANS (who was vociferously cheered) apologised
for presenting himself thus early to the meeting ; but the fact
was, that business connected with his own election required
his presence elsewhere. He could truly state, that he had
never accepted an invitation to attend a public meeting with
greater pleasure than he had accepted the invitation which
brought him amongst them on this occasion. Mr. Hume, in
his letter, had alluded to certain charges which had been
made against Mr. Harvey; the truth of which charges had
been investigated by a Committee of the House of Commons.
He ( Colonel Evans) was a member of that committee, and he
would say that he never knew charges pushed with greater
acrimony, with greater perseverance, with greater pertinacity,
in his life; but he must go further, and also say that he never
knew a greater failure than was exhibited in! the attempt to
prove those charges--( Cheers.) He declared that he should
feel himself lost and degraded, with reference to his fellow-
feeling as a man, and to his fellow-feeling as a brother member
of the legislature, if he did not, without hesitation, give his most
warm and ardent support to Mr. Harvey, as a man every way
worthy of representing the borough of Southwark—( Cheers.)
After having eulogised the conduct which Mr. Harvey had
pursued in Parliament during the four years that he ( Co-
lonel Evans) had sat there, he expressed his regret and
his astonishment that the electors of Colchester, after that
gentleman's long and honourable services, had deserted him,
—had left him to come before the constituency of Southwark
on this occasion. Mr. Harvey, however, and the electors of
Southwark, would, he was convinced, have no reason to regret
this circumstance.—( Cheers.) Nay, he would assert that the
country at large would have no reason to regret it—( Cheers),
for Mr. Harvey, returned by a numerous constituency, might
with more effect than heretofore plead the cause of the great
body of the people of England.—( Cheers.) It was probable
that whilst he was speaking the Parliament no longer existed.
It was understood that at two o'clock this day, at Brighton,
the fiat was sent forth for its dissolution. What, then, was
the duty of the electors of Southwark, or rather (and he
believed there were but few exceptions) of every Reformer
amongst them ? It was, to go forward and to support the ex-
cellent candidate who had that night presented himself before
them.—( Cheers.)
Mr. H. L. BULWER, in a short speech, supported the re-
solution. He also had had an opportunity of considering the
charges which had been brought against Mr. Harvey by his
enemies, and he considered them to be nothing more than the
aspersions of that gentleman's enemies. In conclusion, he
expressed the most ardent wishes for the success of the new
candidate.

Mr. MEEK next addressed the assembly, but his speech—
which, so far as we heard, was favourable to the resolution—
was cut short by loud cries for the great lion of the evening,
Mr. Harvey.
The resolution was, however, regularly put and unanimously
carried.
Mr. HARVEY then stood forward amidst loud and general
cheering. After these noisy gratulations had subsided, the
new candidatehaving thanked the meeting for the proud
distinction, which their resolution had conferred on him—
proceeded to observe, that adversity had been said to be the
source, as well as the trial, of friendship. If his political
friends at Colchester had deserted him, if they had ill-requited
his services— . _ _

Here some person in the body of the crowd interrupted Mr.
Harvey by an observation which did not reach us.
The CHAIRMAN—If there is any individual endeavouring to
excite a disturbance, let him be pointed out to me, and he
shall be removed. Silence should be kept whilst a gentleman
is speaking.
Mr. HARVEY continueddle was observing, that ithis poli-
tical friends at Colchester had ill requited the services he had
done—if they had forgotten the sacrifices which for twenty
years he had made for them, looking to no interest but their's,
not caring for himself—it was some consolation, it was a great
consolation, for him to find that in this British land there
stiu -existed an unconquerable feeling of right—a feeling that
forward to redeem oppressed men from unmerited
would steii
Loud cheers.) Having observed that
obloquy, and would be active in the support of ho-
nesty and. integrity
hetid not, mean to express an unqualified feeling against the
whole constituency
of Colchester, Mr. Hary,
ve in a few words,
stated the circumstances which prffented his success in that
borough. He went on to say, that thoggh he never would
,
condescend to give any explanation, with reference to the ,
thrice-refuted calumnies which had been urged against him,
yet thus much he might observe with reference to the origin
of thoie insinuations of malignity with which he had been as-
sailed, that, when he was a student in the Middle Temple,
where the smiles 'of those who presided npttnPd the door to a
man's profesSional career, he brought forward (he was then
for the first time in Parliament) a motion which exposed the
monstrous plunder committed by the lawyers, and the mon-
strous oppression to which the subject was exposed, by in-
formations in the Court of Exehequer,-,,(Applapse.) He
showed that in a case where there was a tang pettalq,
mixing treacle with liquor, that five briefs were delivered,
five lawyers were employed, and fees were paid by the
public, although only two lawyers usually appeared.—
(" Shame.") He had also showed the mode of packing ju-
ries. Two guineas each were awarded if a verdict ware found
for the Crown, but' censure and indignity were the reward
of those who found the other way.—(" Shame.") Hence
the malignity exercised against him. So he began in
1818, and he was not one of those .114 retraced his steps.
The Ministry had now been changed. He did not rcgfet
Ho looked, on the contrary, to that change as an advance of
many years of the people's cause.—( Cheers.) They had been
told, that when he adtivoised them, the Parliament had ceased
to exist—he was no longer a Membor. ao it so. The late
Parliament was dead ; but he would say, that the death of
that Parliament was, the resurrection, of patriotism.—( Cheers. )
In the whole period of 0666'4 history there never was a period
when honest confidence on the part fir t!'! rpg more
necessary, and when shrinking timidity' was morn he
avoided.—((i'heerc ) p9l the people run away, as in past
times, with the idea that thetiektirts would Le a rc, avail,
Let them but come forward, as they ought to do, and their
enemies would be swamped in their own corruption. When
abotit to introduce his motion relative to the Pension
-14 it would endanger the continuance of the
List, he wa,g-to,‘,„ - h' •• • • -
• P carnao-es towinng-street
Ministers in office. He opening-Street,
which had conveyed thither Members of Pari.—"P—•
Oared that if Harvey's motion relative to the Pension tas-t-
-were carried, they must withdraw their support from the
Government.--that such an attack upon the privilege of the

Crown must lead to a subversion of the Cabinet. But what
was that to him? It was nothing to him whether by that mo-
tion he slew a Tory Government, or overwhelmed a Whig
Administration.—( Cheers.) He stuck to his post, he did his
duty, and he hoped that the result met with the approbation
of the people.—( Cheers.) The Whig Government, like Mr.
William Brougham, had retired.—( A laugh.) If a Whig
Government had still existed, he would have reviewed their
measures with candour, but certainly he would not have spared
censure where it was necessary. That Government had, how-
ever, gone ; and under them the Reform Bill had been carried,
which had rescued the country from the oligarchy by which it
had been so long misruled. That measure was not so perfect
as it might have been, or as one day or the other it would be ;
but it had given a voice and a power to the people, and to us&
it wisely and usefully now depended entirely on themselves._
(Cheers.) Mr. Harvey then proceeded to say, that it might
be proper for him to give a summary of his opinions on one
or two points to which the public mind had been more or less
directed. By one man he was told, "you are too violent,"
by another, '• you are scarcely radical enough."—(Laughter.)
Then he was told, " you must not touch upon the
subject of free trade ;" and again, "take care of what you
do with reference to commerce ; you know that we are a trad-
ing community." Theh he was warned against, "noticing
any abuses in the Church," lest he might hurt the feelings of
some very pious persons--(Laughter)—and he was next told
not to touch on the subject of tithes—(Laughter)—because
they were just as sacred as any other property.—( Laughter. )
Now, on these and other topics he was ready to state his opi-
nion. With regard to the extension of the constituency, he
was anxious to give to every man of sane- mind; of a certain
age, who had been located in a place for six months, and
who paid any taxes whatever, the right to vote.—( Cheers.)
They would see that this fell short of universal suffrage. To
universal suffrage he was not an enemy ; but in a large con-
stituency he did not think that it was necessary. The borough
of Southwark had a constituency of 5,000, and he did not
think that if it were increased to 10,000, it would be more
pure. The principle might be applied to places where the
number of voters was very much limited, like Colchester, but
where there were already 5,000 electors he conceived it to be
unnecessary. The next point he would touch was the shorter
duration of Parliaments. This was a point of greater import-
ance than the former. He wished the duration of Parliaments
not to be too long, as he thought it now was, so that
the representative might not forget what he had promisep,
to the constituent; nor yet so short as to keep
country in state .of constant agitation _ new electiol
He therefore was an advocate for triennial Parliaments: .$
(Cheers.) He next came to the question of the ballot—a
principle much cherished by many intelligent people ; arid he
must say that what had occurred at Colchester had made him
a reluctant convert to that mode of election.—( Cheers, and
an inquiry from an individual—" Why did you not find that
out before ?") Mr. Harvey said, in answer, that he always
liked to decide, not upon impulse, but after sober reflection.
—( Cheers.) He had never opposed the ballot on the grounds
that the Tories did ; he had never opposed it, as they had
done, because it might still further increase the power of the
people : no, he had opposed it, because he wished to uphold
and maintain the real dignity of human nature—that dignity
which taught men, at all perils, to act openly.—( Cheers.)
Here, again, he would draw the line of distinction between
small constituencies and great ones. In a small town, like
that of Colchester, this principle might, perhaps, be ad-
vantageously acted on—but was it required in so large a
constituency as that of Southwark ? His own feeling
was, that every man should vote according to the dictates
of his own conscience.—( Cheers.) This question formed a
matter of opinion, on both sides of which much might be
said ; but this he would observe, that if any constituency to which
he might belong intrusted him with a petition in favour of the prin-
ciple, he should feel that he was acting a very unworthy part if he
expressed any sentiment against its prayer. These, however, were
speculative points, and he now came to a matter of much more im-
portance—he alluded to the public burdens, 'and the unequal man-
ner in which they were borne. When, in the last session, Mr. Ro-
binson moved for a committee to inquire into the nature of the pub-
lic burdens, and to see how far they could be prevented from press-
ing improperly on the industrious classes, by the introduction of a
well-graduated property-tax, he had spoken on, and voted for, that
motion. By a well-graduated property-tax, he meant a tax in pro-
portion to the amount of property which was protected out of the
proceeds of those public burdens, and he would thus illustrate ,his
position :—Supposing, on an average, that working men through-
out the country earned 20s. a week, it would be found that -9s. of
that money, looking to the necessaries which each individual was
obliged to purchase, was swallowed up by taxation, being within a
trifle of cent. per cent. Now, let them look at the overgrown capi-
talists (some of whom were in the present Administration), having
40,0001. or 50,000/, a-year ; how they came by it might be matter of
inquiry at a future day.—(Laughter.) One of these men, if he
chose, might spend only 5001. a year—paying in the way of tax-
ation 2501. and saving 49,500/. ; yes, contributing to the state
2501. a year for the protection of that immense income. Why
should not that man pay 25,000/. a year, in the same proportion as
the industrious artisan paid ?—(Cheers. ) This principle, he sup-
posed, would be described as an illustration of the word " destruc-
tive," as it had lately been applied. An artful attempt bad been
recently made by the press—(Cries of " The Tintes")—to induce
the belief that large bodies of men who were merely seeking that
which they had a right to demand, who were engaged in a great
struggle for the preservation of their liberties, were anxious, by
physical force, to overturn all the institutions of the State. There
never was a more vile slander.—( Cheers.) Those who were called
" Destructives" were in reality " Conservatives." What had the
people now for a Ministry ? The sublimated essence of Toryism—
it was Toryism unseethed.—(Cheers.) Such a Ministry called for
all the energy of the people to resist the inroads which they would
attempt to make on their freedom. Who, then, were the Conser-
vatives—who the Destructives?—( Cheers.) There was, however,
a spirit of intelligence abroad, which the Tories felt severely. He
alluded to that spirit of intelligence which impelled the people to
express their opinions in Parliament by the agency of those who
felt as they did.—(Cheers.) Only let the people exercise their
power—let them return to Parliament tried and, consistent
men—men with decent capacity to state their opinions--men
who would stand up night after night to expose abuses,
and they would shake the system of corruption to its very
centre.—( Cheers.) Let them bring the cannonade of honesty to
bear on the ranks of placemen and pensioners, and assuredly they
would sink them in their own filthy sea of corruption.—( Great
cheering.) " Oh," said Mr. Harvey, " how I long to get amongst
them !—( Immense laughter and cheering.) If lam placed in the
House, 24 hours shall not pass before I shall give notice of a mo-
tion for the revision of the scandalous Pension List. ''—(Cheers.
Mr. Harvey next touched on the abuses connected with the Crown
lands. He alluded to the immense labour which he had undergone
to make himself master of the subject before he brought forward
his motion in the House of Commons, and declared that the reve-
nues of those lands, if properly applied, since the accession of Geo.
111., in 1760, would have now afforded a sufficient surplus to meet 1
the repeal of the entire malt tax.—( Cheers.) But then, forsooth,
they were asked, " Oh, if you remove these Ministers, how is an
Administration to be formed?" Why, he would say that there was
scarcely a club, or an union, or an Odd-Fellow's lodge, that could
not pour forth minds as richly endowed by nature, and nearly as
well cultivated by study, as those whom they now saw aspiring ex-
clusively to the character of Statesmen.—( Cheering.) He should
now say one word on the Church. That man would of course be
denominated a spoliator, who proposed that the revenues of the
Church should be applied to relieve the burdens of the State.
Now that property, he must observe, was subject to the law
from the time of Henry VIII. Still, he would admit that the
piety of their ancestors left it for sacred purposes. Then, let it be
devoted to sacred purposes. Let unassuming temples raise their
heads—let pious preachers teach the divine word ; but let us not be
insulted by the display of pride, and pomp, and splendour.--
-( Cheers.) Let us not find those who should be the teachers of
I religion raising their heads in discussions and debates solely, con-
nected with matters of a temporal nature.—(Cheers.) Feeling
thus, he had voted for Mr. Rippon's motion to relieve the bishops
from their onerous duties in the House of Lords.—(Laughter.)
Mr. Harvey here expressed a strong desire that neither clergymen
nor lawyers should be eligible for seats in the House of Lords. In
cases where the interests of the church were concerned the bishops
might be consulted, and where the law was doubtful the aid of the
judges might be required. But to political bishops or political
judges he expressed his aversion. He then adverted to the abuse
of charities, and stated that he had laboured much and risked much
to restore to the poor that of which they had been unjustly de-
prived, and had been the means of recovering much which fraud
had too long kept from them. He then stated that lie was ready
to devote his whole time to the service of his constituents. lie
combated the idea that a member of Parliament ought to
be an individual living in the immediate neighbourhood of
those who voted for him. If that principle wore a true eue;then
they ought to have a member in every parish. It was enoegle if
he were easy of access ; and, he would ask, how should he heave
remained so long an efficient member for Colchester (so at least
lie was considered) if his position were not true ? If the eleeteri
of Southwark now brought him in, they would do so entirely on
the ground of his being an independent man, He had no interest
floating on the water, he had no interest stalking on the land. If,
therefore, they elected him, it was solely because he wes a in4il in
whose zealous attention to his duties they might confide.,,-(Ap:,
plause. ) ( Here a gentleman asked, " What is your feelingas tp
the Dissenters ?") Mr, Harvey declared thatle wee decidedly
friendly to their claims, in the most extensive sense. The Dis-
senters had many friends in Parliament, but not a more sincere ad-
vocate than he was. His feller
Wail an honest DiP3enter,
~and
character remained where he had passed his life, 51i* Robert
his
Peel, in his letter, talked of toleration for the Dissenters.
Whet did q toientipe mean ? Why, it Wks " You
may have your being and life with Ay consent. Cheers. )
Why should a man, with the sacred oracles of God in his
hand, by following the doctrines of which he hoped for
salvation—why was he to be told that he would be to-
lereted?.-ir hePre• ) mapeEretil was te he tolerated, be-
cause he slid not follow a creed ITit was creaccd 114vtr.e..theersi)
For his own part, he would have no such thing as " a Dissenter"
known, because he would have no privileged sect.—(Cheers.)
Where, he would ask, was true piety to be found? Assuredly
#.ettne§t the evangelical classes. They were not to seek for it, or,
if they ;14, tiaey Weidd pock vainly: in 01 dpapeelee anti richer
I
lishoprres. n his Ppilll94 rekfill 0
5110..111d lie allewed to go forth in
all her own native and Unassisted heaq' ty ; se ought to be glorified
by nothing but her own transcendent power' r, Harvey again
said that he threw himself on the electors ; he challenged inquiry ;
end if the day should ever come when they disapproved of his con-
tlllPta.,_ll4 044 tolii4 that 01!.eh 5 dlAy §h_91314 el'eMrrivf—he would
at once resign his trust into tee hwit4 from which he received it.
(Mr. Harvey sat down amidst loud cheering. )
A resolution was then proposed and carried for the appointment
4 a&itapt tionftnit.teß to forward the interest of Mr. Hervey in
the 'borough, ami one or 1,*:! speO,clies delivered by
gentlemen, whg would het, their say, thoggh there was nothing in
them, the meeting broke up:

GRAVESEND.—A very handsome beacon or light-:*
united i tend ages tthe
house is being erected at the pier-head, which, both for its
utility and its ornament, will be a great addition to this fa-
irijlgits ~,•pmenade. When completed it will rise forty feet
7. :.:Jl,-,
troT its 4ae:
taonwdinl:ollliceGKl6heir:livhTiiy:
amount to 654 years; namely, William Leach aged 83, and
Mary his wife 83, married 63 years ; William Shaekletm a 2,
.8-1
four;T marriedhe r
marriede ar:: ( nowles ,
whose residing
TP:II4, 901 t.hq 14tter lady
still, weArs! gown Ny‘liell was tuit4e•CO'years arikerior to her,
marriage, and li'theiefqre rioli'(s, yeai§'Old i ThOmas Teak'
i-lA:te whterman) 82,.and &lien his vv,O I.Vife Eih married 44 years ;
Cleorg6 *-14stiFtt 8,4 yte4r, 1914 0117 P 4,0 aged ai, married
53 yams,—Aeeds Titioliiruca,
•