The Sun.
London, England, 1834-12-20 00:00:00

BOROUGH OF LAMBETH.

A meeting of the electors of this borough was held at the
Horns Tavern, Kennington, last evening, to take into consi-
deration the dismissal of the Melbourne Minitrv, and to pro-
pose resolutions relative to the present members. Mr.
Tennyson, Mr. Hawes, Major Beauclerk, and a great number
of electors attended on the occasion.

Arr. PALMER was in the Chair, and, after reading the reso-
lution for calling a meeting of the electors, proceeded to state
shortly the object of the meeting, and the course which they
ought to pursue in the present circumstances of the country.
He began, by saying that within the last twenty-four hours
they had been favoured with the public declaration of Sir
Robert Peel, with regard to the intention of his Majesty's
Ministers, and, as far as he could judge of it, he must say that
he had never seen a more complete specimen of Jesuitcy. He
had never seen such pure and perfect special pleading, and he
called on them, as independent electors, to come forward in
the great cause of Reform, to bury all shades of differences,
and return men to parliament who would represent their inte-
rests faithfully and manfully.

Mr. T. Haney then came forward and proposed the first
resolution. He said that he had no doubt that his Majesty
had been grossly deceived. They had been called on by the
" leading journal" to forego all party principles, and surrender
to the dominion of the Duke of Wellington. He had made
it his object since the change of the Ministry to watch the feel-
ings and expressions of those with whom he mixed, and he
would say that he had not met with one who wished to trust
the present Ministry who was not an enemy to the liberties of
the country.—( Applause.) A belief had gone abroad, and
was generally entertained, that the Whigs were in power for
ever, and many had, in consequence of such belief, began to
veer to the other side, but no sooner did the change take
place than they joined the party who called out to wait and
see what the Peel Administration would do. Much had been
said about the phrase " measures and not men," but Can-
ning put an end to that delusive phrase, when he said it
was the horse and not the harness that made the vehicle
move.—( Applause.) He was glad that such a Ministry had
been formed, for they were all of the same kind, they were
all tarred with the same stick—(Laughter)—and he was
quite sure that the people of England were not so stultified
as to desert those men who had conducted the affairs of
the country for four years to be led by the nose by a set of
mountebanks. The time had gone by when such things could
be done. Sir Robert Peel had alluded to what he had done
in the cause of reform. And what had he done ? He would
give an instance. When it was proposed to difranchise East
Retford for bribery and corruption, how did fir R. Peel
vote? He voted for the transfer of the franchise to the hun-
dred of Bassetlaw ; in other words, he gave the power of
election to the Duke of Newcastle. He lamented that Earl
Grey had not been so true to his promises as the people had a
right to expect.—( Cheers.) Yet still lie would ask, who
would prefer the men now in power to Earl Grey's party ?
(" None.") He then alluded to the edict which had been
lately published in the Hanover Gazette, forbidding all stu-
dents to discuss, or belong to societies which discussed, the
laws or Constitution of the country, on pain of expulsion ;
and, for the purpose of showing how the affairs of the Church
of England were conducted at present, lie read some adver-
tisements for the sale of advowsons' in which it was stated as
a recommendation that the parishes were small ; that there
was little duty ; and that there was a good pack of fox-houndi
in the neighbourhood. He concluded by saying that the
Royal mind had been abused, and that the Melbourne Ministry
had been turned out because they were resolved to do away
with abuses in the Church.

The following resolution was then read:—
" lst—That at a period when his Majesty has been grossly de-
ceived with regard to the real wishes and true interests of his sub-
jects, we, the electors of Lambeth, feel it our bounden duty to
make a determined effort to rescue our King and country from the
renewed domination of that party in the State whose political prin-
ciples have involved this great commercial country in an enormous
national debt, and all the destructive and baneful consequences of a
corrupt, tyrannical, and profligate system of government, and who
themselves have ever been the bigotted opponents of those reforma-
tions in Church and State, which the people of England have long
regarded as essential to the permanent happiness and prosperity of
the nation, and which they have lately been led to anticipate, front
the measure of Parliamentary Reform."
Mr. M'LEou seconded the resolution, and, after a few ob.
servations from another elector,
Mr. PEWTRESS proposed the second resolution, and went
over at some length the Address made by Sir Robert Peel to
the Electors of Tamworth, which he condemned in strong lan-
guage. If ,Sir Robert Peel were sincere in his declaration
relative to reform, why not try the present Parliament ? That
Parliament had shown a strong desire to carry the Reform Bill
into effect, and if he advised his Majesty to dissolve it, he
would say that he was doing what he could to destroy the peace
and harmony which existed in the country, to delude the
people, and not to reform but uphold abuses.
Mr. CHEESEMAN seconded the resolution, which was to the
following effect :
" 2nd—That this meeting, as an influential portion of the elec.
toral body of the kingdom, do hereby solemnly pledge themselves,
collectively and individually to rally round the true standard of re.
form and good government, and cordially, to unite in using every
effort to return to the Commons House of Parliament such honest
and patriotic Representatives as will fully and effectually ensure the
promotion of civil and religious liberty—the constitutional reforma-
tion of every corruption and abuse—the alleviation of the public
burdens—and the protection and extension of the rights and privi-
leges of the people."
Mr. GRADY, after a few observations, moved that there be
added to the resolution that, in order to preserve the rights and
privileges of the people, they ought to have household suf-
frage, triennial Parliaments, and vote by ballot.
A long discussiou then took place on the point whether the
proposition of Mr. Grady could be put consistently with the
requisition for the meeting, and it was finally carried by a great
majority, that Mr. Grady's motion was regular, and that the
words ought to be added to the resolution.
Mr. F. HARDY then moved a vote of thanks to Mr. Tenny-
son for his political principles, and the able manner in which
he had represented in the reformed Parliament the interests of
the electors of Lambeth.
The CHAIRMAN then said, that if any elector had any clues..
tions to put to Mr. Tennyson, relative to his votes in the House
of Commons, now was the time to propose them.
An ELECTOR then put some questions, when
Mr. TENNYSON, on being called for, came forward, and was
received with loud cheers. He expressed great satisfaction at
the reception which he had met with from so numerous and
respectable an assembly, and was delighted that the day had
arrived when he could give an account of his stewardship.
He had, at the election for the Reformed Parliament, made
profession of his principles, and he was proud to say that in no
one instance had he, in the slightest degree, deviated from
them.—( Applause.) He was too old to make professions, and
not to make up his mind to follow them to the full extent.
While in Parliament he had, to the best of his ability, dune
his duty. He had paid due regard to the dignity and authority
of the Crown, but while he did so, he did not forget the civil
and religious rights of the people.—( Cheers.) He had been
blamed for strong expressions used, but that he trusted they
would attribute to his character—he might say to the character
of an Englishman. People had charged him with an inten-
tion of throwing everything into confusion—of pursuing mea-
sures which would bring about a Revolution. But he was
quite sure that. if he had made any such an attempt the re-
spectable electors whom he saw before him would at once have
hurled him from the pinnacle to which they had elevated him.