The Sun.
London, England, 1833-11-11 00:00:00

LONDONNOIONDAY EVENING, NOVEMBER 11, 1833.

(No. 12,845.)

PUBLIC DINNER TO THE EARL OF
N
DURHAM AT SUDERLAND. . •

(Abridged from the Durham Chronicle of Friday.)
The public dinner to the above distinguished and pa-
triotic Nobleman, announced in our last publication, took
place at the Bridge Inn, Bishopwearmoutb, on Wednesday
last, when his Lordship was honoured with the attendance
of a numerous and most respectable company of gentle-
men, who, cordially agreeing with him in political senti-
ment, eagerly availed themselves of the opportunity of his
sojourn in the North, to offer him this deserved tribute to
the exemplary consistency of his public life, the integrity
of his motives, and the admirable and uncompromising
spirit in which he has devoted the energies of his mind,
and the influence of his station, to the advocacy of the in-
terests and the protection of the rights of the people of
England. His Lordship, accompanied by his brother, Mr.
Hedworth Lambton, arrived at the Bridge Inn about five
o'clock, where he as received by the crowd outside and
by the party assembled to meet him within, with the most
lively indications of respect, gratitude, and affection. Abwut
'OK o'clock, nearly 140 gentlemen (by whom the room
its filled to excess) sat down to a sumptuous dinner. The
chair was taken by Addison Fenwick, Esq., supported on
his right by the Earl of Durham, J. Fawcett, Esq., R.
Fenwick, Esq., the Mayor of Durham, W. Robinson, Esq.,
and J. Simpson, Esq. ; and on his left by Mr. Lambton, the
Rev. Mr. Grant, Dr. Brown, C. Bramwell, Esq., W. Long-
ridge, Esq., and Russell Bowlby, Esq. B. Ogden, Esq.,
W. Bell, Esq., and W. Featherston, Esq., were the Vice-
Presidents. Sir Hedworth Williamson was absent from
indisposition.
When the cloth wits removed,

The CHAIRMAN proposed " The King," which was
drunk with three times three. " God save the King,"
was sung by Mr. Kirkaldy, the company standing and
joining chorus.
" The Queen," with three times three.
" The Princess Victoria, and the rest of the Royal
Family," with three times three.
The CHAIRMAN said—Although the toast I am about
to give might be considered included in the last, there is
an Illustrious Member of the Royal Family whom I think
deserving of our especial notice, as one who has ever been
the strenuous advocate of civil and religious liberty.—
(Cheers.) I therefore beg that you will drink " The
health of the Duke of Sussex."—(Cheers.)
The toast was drunk with three times three and all the
honours.
" The Navy and Army."

The CHAIRMAN then rose amidst loud cheers, and
said—lt is now become my duty to propose the toast
which is more immediately connected with the object of
our meeting. I should have felt a difficulty in the situa-
tion in which I stand, had I considered it necessary, in
introducing this toast, to preface it by many observations.
But I feel assured, that in mentioning the name of the
Noble Lord on my right—(Loud cheers)—l shall arouse
in your breasts a far stronger feeling than the most studied
and elaborate address could produce.—(Cheers.) We have
invited the Noble Lord to be our guest on this occasion,
that we might have the opportunity of congratulating him
on his return to this county, after an absence of some
years, and from a desire to testify the high estimation in
which we hold his public and private character.—(En-
thusiastic cheers.) I will not say any thing in the pre-
sence of the Noble Lord which might lay me under the
imputation of flattery—he is your neighbour, and I am
sure you duly appreciate his merits.—(Cheers.) The
political character of the Noble Lord has been too distin-
guished to render many comments, on my part, ❑ecessary.
Most of you who are now present will recollect the vic-
tory—the triumphant victory—which was achieved under
his banner in the year 1820—(Loud cheers)—by which
the independence of this county was secured, I trust, for
ever; and which event was celebrated in this room by a
meeting as numerous and respectable as this. Since that
time, it is well known the Noble Lord has been the stre-
nuous advocate of the rights of the people—(Cheers)—and
in that great achievement in favour of liberty, the passing
of the Reform Bill, it is notorious that he took an active
and distinguished part.—(Loud cheering.) Were it for
no other cause, his Lordship is entitled to our deep and
lasting gratitude.—(Cheers.) I will not trespass on your
attention further. lam sure you are anxious to drink the
toast ; and I am equally sure you will receive it with
that ardent enthusiasm which the object of it so justly de-
serves ; and I trust the Noble Lord will receive it as a
testimony of our sincere esteem for his private character,
and of our unbounded gratitude for his great and distin-
guished public services. I give you " the health of the
Earl of Durham."

The toast was drunk with five times five truly British
cheers and long continued applause. In all our experience
of public meetings we never witnessed a more animated
and heart stirring scene. The excitement having for a
moment subsided.

Lord DURHAM rose, and was received with renewed,
continued, and vehement applause. After silence had
been restored, several seconds elapsed before his Lordship
could commence his speech—so deeply did he appear to
feel the more than cordiality, the unqualified affection and
enthusiasm with which be was received by the company.
When he was enabled to proceed, he addressed the party
to the following effect :—lt is really not a mere figure of
sp-ech, or affectation, to say, that the very kind and
affectionate manner in which you have received the roast
that has been proposed to you almost deprives me of the
power of utterance—(Cheers)—for whatever may have
been the tributes of respect paid to me in other
quarters, you are my immediate neighbours, and al-
most my fellow-townsmen, connected together by the
nearest ties by which raen can be united ; and such
warm and enthusiastic marks of your approbation go
direct to the heart.—(Loud cheers.) I have, indeed,
had a gratifying compliment paid to me—your invitation
to meet you this day—the desire you have expressed to see
me once more amongst you, after so long an absence—
connected with the tribute you are willing publicly to pay
to my political character, more particularly as it has been
unfolded since I was relieved from the service I was happy
to enjoy as your representative—all these considerations
affect me beyond the power of expression, and make me
anxious to convey to you, as far as my limited powers will
admit, the deep emotions of gratitude with which I receive
it.—(Cheers.) Those feelings of gratitude are not dimi-
nished when I recollect that it has been conveyed through
the medium of my worthy and excellent friend, your
highly esteemed fellow-townsman, whom you have placed
in the chair—he whom I have known since my earliest
boyhood, and whom you have intimately known and cor-
dially respected, while you have witnessed him nobly sus-
taining, in all the situations of life, the character of an
upright English merchant, and conferring as much honour
upon his native town as he derived from it.—(Loud
cheers.) If anything could be more gratifying to me than
another, it is your selection of my Honourable Friend to
preside on the present occasion.—(Renewed plaudits.)
He has alluded, in proposing my health, to the great and
glorious victory which we achieved together thirteen years
ago. I assure you I look back with pride and pleasure to
the events of that day ; and it is no small increase of my
satisfaction to find that they have not faded from your re-
collection. Amidst the chequered life I have passed, I
have always reflected, with satisfaction, on the part I
took on that occasion, and on others whenl represented you
in Parliament. In reference to that glorious tri-
umph, and to the present state of this town, and
of the whole county of Durham, though many of you may
remember its former condition, yet, as there may be many
others, among my younger friends now present, who were
not then observers of the affairs of public life, who do not,
you will allow me to describe as briefly as I can, the posi-
tion of the county in 1813, when I first had the honour of
entering Parliament as its representative. There was then
no public feeling of any desctiption7-the gentry of the
county were chiefly Tories—the Magisterial Bench was
filled by the same party—all public meetings were held at
the gates of the Bishop's palace, and the Reverend Prelate
generally attended—instructions were given to the tenants
how they were to vote, and their lands were held up ac-
cording to the inclination, audio obedience to the. bidding,
of their landlords—and on one important occasion, which
some of you may remember, even the eloquence
of my illustrious relation, Lord Grey, and of my ho-
noured father, failed to produce any effect—they were op.
posed by the Bishop and the Tory gentry ; and :esolu-
dons similar to those that were carried with enthusiasm in
other parts of the kingdom, were, on the Colleze-green,
negatived almost by acclamation.—(Hear.) It was under
these circumstances I presented myself to the notice of the
freeholders of the county. I know that, on that occa-
sion—and I own it with pride and pleasure, for you
knew nothing of myself.-_I was elected solely on the

strength of the character and reputation of my father—
(Cheers)—and I may express to you a confident hope,
that in every subsequent action of my life, I did nothing
to disgrace his name.—(Repeated cheers.) The first point
to.
.Which turned my attention was, to endeavour to create
some public feeling in the county—some attachment to
constitutional principles—in short, to induce the people of
the county to think for themselves.—(Cheers.) It was
on that account I encouraged public meetings on every
occasion interesting to the feelings of the country—on
every question affecting not merely local rights or interests,
but the general rights and interests of the empire.--
(Cheers.) With these views I joined my friends in getting
up those meetings, which many of you will doubtless
remember. I succeeded.—(Cheers.) One after another
those meetings took place; and I at last had the happi-
ness of seeing the county of Durham take its just and
natural position amongst the enlightened and inde-
pendent counties of England.—(Loud and enthu-
siastic cheers.) I need hardly call your recollec-
tion to the first public meeting in this town. It was
convened by the late Rector, on the question of the
disturbances at Manchester. I came alone into
the room, and found a party of gentlemen,
chiefly of the neighbourhood, who said they were
representing the sentiments of Sunderland. I thought
it a strange mode of representing those senti-
ments to hold a meeting of which no public notice had
been given. I addressed them on the subject, and in half
an hour the inhabitants of the town flocked in—an ad-
journment was carried for two or three days, and then
the real and unanimous feeling of the town was clearly
ascertained.—(Cheers.) It was the occurrence of all
these circumstances which led to that glorious triumph to
which my Hon. Friend has alluded, and enabled me to
contend, against a greater power and influence than was
ever exerted against one individual.—(Cheers.) I had
against me, and against you—for we were all fighting for
one common cause—the influence of the Crown, the bishop,
the dean and chapter, the bench, and the greater propor-
tion of the gentry, who were Tories—and every resource
of that powerful combination was brought into the field
without the slightest scruple or delicacy whatever. We
fought together and triumphed—(Loud cheers) —and I
trust the result of that victory has been to place on an im-
perishable basis the independence of this great and popu-
lous county. The part I took in those transactions has
been constantly a source of the greatest gratification to me.
The recollection of them has been an incentive to great
and laborious exertion, and also, let me tell you, a consola-
tion in hours of despair and sorrow.—(Loud cheers.) It
is true that the connection between us has been, latterly,
less immediate—it is true that I have been removed to
another House of Parliament; but I appeal to many who
are around me whether, after that removal took place, I
ever relaxed in ray efforts to protect the commercial inte-
rests of the county of Durham, and of this town in parti-
cular—(Loud applause)—whether I did not devote every
hour of my time to the consideration and enforcement of
every just claim they had to the attention of that House of
Parliament.—(Renewed cheers.) I know that in this
transfer of the sphere of my duties I abandoned a stage on
which I might, perhaps, have distinguished myself more,
and where, in the present state of parties, I might have
gained more influence on my countrymen than that on
which I am now placed. But I considered that some
benefit might, perchance, be secured, by placing in that
House one who was born, bred, and educated amongst the
people—(Great and continued cheering)—one who, from
early conviction, had felt that the main object which a
Statesman ought to have in view should be the happiness
of his fellow-countrymen, not the attainment of any object
of ambition, except so far as that should be connected with
the advocacy of that grand and glorious cause, and to defend
the public interests amongst those who were not, by educa•
tion or ha! s, inclined to attach so much importance to
them as himself.--(Loud cheers.) Under these circum-
stances, unpleasant as was the task, and unpleasant as I
found it to be opposed personally to the habits and pre-
judicss of those amongst whom I was placed, the previous
education of the House of Commons enabled me, I be-
lieve, to perform more important services than I could
have rendered my country had I remained fighting its
battles with others, my friends, in the Lower House.
Thus much I do know, that the experience I gained in
the House of Commons was very often of most essential
service in the conducting of public business, and in ells
citing important information, when it devolved upon me
to defend the rights and liberties of the people, in the
discussion of measures brought before the House of Peers
--(Loud applause.) having said so much of the feelings
and motives which prompted me to exertion as your re-
presentative in the Commons' House of Parliament, you
will permit me to add, that if any link in the chain that
bound us together was loosened by my removal from that
honourable station, I feel a proud satisfaction in seeing
that connection renewed in the person of a near and dear
relation cf mine, who, if I kuow aoytliiiig of him, will
follow in those footsteps which gained me your approba-
tion and esteem, and devote himself, as I ever did, heart
and soul to your service.—(Loud cheer-) I have
not devoted myself, not only to your service, but to
the cause of liberty and freedom, without having suf-
fered something in the conflict—without having been
subjected, as all of you know trona past experience, to
most untounded and most injurious attacks.—(Cheers.)
But I have this consolation—that my own conscience ac.
quits me of being actuated by any purpose but for anxiety
for the public good—of having any other wish or motive
than an earnest desire to promote the liberties and happi.
ness of my countrymen.—(Loud cheers.) Perhaps many
of you who pay attention to the reports which appear, of
all that takes place amongst us and our neighbours, will
be aware of the sentiments I have lately expressed on po-
litical matters.—(Cheers.) It is, therefore, unnecessary
to repeat what I addressed to my countrymen at Gates-
head. I know that you must think deeply of the present
state of the country ; and to you who are now awakened,
so far as relates to the exercise of the constituent privilege,
to a new-born sense of the duties which are attached to
that sacred trust, I would recommend strict attention to
all that passes around you. I would press upon you the
paramount necessity of continuing a vigilant superintend-
ence over the conduct of all who are engaged in public
life, and especially over those who rule the destinies of the
country—in conjunction with whom I acknowledge, with
pride and exultation, the part I took, as alluded to by my
Hon. Friend, in introducing the great measure of Reform.
—(Loud cheers.) I impress upon you die necessity of
devoting your attention to the rci,onet of your repre-
sentatives in Parliament; and I trust my Hon. Relation
will not feel annoyed if I press upon you, his con-
stituents—and I believe the greater part of you are
such—the necessity of examining every vote he way
give in Parliament ; for lie assured, that second only in
importance to the conduct of their representatives is the
conduct of the constituent body.—(Loud cheers.) 01
what avail is it to confer those privileges upon you which
raise you to the rank and dignity of freemen—which
enable you, through your rept eeentatives, to defend the
commercial interests of this port, and of the country at
large—of what avail, I oak, are those privileges, if you
do not exercise them with reference to the general good
of the country ?—(Cheers.) I exhort you to impress upon
your friends and neighbours the absolute necessity of
acting upon public principle, and of increasing vigilance;
for if the rights and liberties of the country are not strictly
attended to, they may, in the hour of triumph, be suffered
to fall as much into abeyance as they were before.
We live in no ordinary times. I repeat that I fear there
is a restless spirit abroad ; and I am sure it can only be
allayed by the means to which 1 alluded on a former oc-
casion—and by wise and good men, like yourselves, who
also have property and a stake in the country, demanding
those wise and useful reforms which would lead, not to
convulsion, but to security.—(Cheers.) We have to
contend against those who desire no reformation,
and would return to the old days of corruption,
and also against those who would introduce con-
fusion and revolution amongst us.—(Loud cheers.)
I ought, perhaps, to apologize for addressing you at
so much length on this occasion ; but I have been led
into this train of reasoning by the considerations that were
suggested to the by the observations of my Hon. Friend
Cut,bwnwaynei
nwet, hneteothayfrierentigythecoae:ora
p[dlrsnastapbatroatool
state in
fai trisi
nniufaeneunlnrgvxtliyfo)
whichauihsonr glorious
devotion
ovei
necessarilytreani not
found
s of the year 1820, and
tocofuuohi
rirte, ctesyerend:ro.wvw)ii theseeein,llsf,alfnouai
trnooesdni:
Li:t
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ten.—
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townsheers.
ei t
invaluablew i o ut a nry;
it with four representatives; I now see it with
)enjolyfionugno of i
its
rgerperaetsecnoitn...-
tion ; and I have had the pleasure and happiness of seeing
this great and important town placed in the enjoyment

of the privilege which now belongs to it, and which I
trust you will ever be found to exercise according to the
principles on which it was extended.—(Cheers.) I should
be unpardonable were I now to detain you any longer. I
am conscious I have done so too long already ; but you
will allow something for the natural anxiety I felt, after
being separated from you so long, to convey to you those
sentiments which I know will find willing auditors in all
your hearts.—(Cheers.) We have been so long united—
we have fought and triumphed so often—we are so B 890•
ciated as friends and neighbours, and so connected by the
ties of property and mutual interest—that nothing can
happen for the weal or woe of Sunderland which must not
equally affect me.—(Loud cheers.) I drink all your good
health,; and may every happiness and prosperity which
this world can afford attend you and yours.
His Lordship having sat down, the whole company
spontaneously rose and greeted him with three times three
deafening rounds of applause.
Mr. OGDEN then rose and spoke to the following effect •
—ln introducing to you the toast I am about to give, I
feel confident of its being received with enthusiasm. I
have to propose to you, " Lord Grey and the cause of Re-
form."—(Loud applause.) lam well aware that it will
not be in my power to increase the estimation in which
the Noble Lord is already held ; and were I to attempt
eulogy, it might fairly be charged to me as vanity or pre-
sumption. But as I have, to a certain degree, had oppor-
tunities of ole-•rving the political progress of the Noble
Lord, for a period of forty years, I beg to say a few words
to such part of my audience as have not yet counted forty
years. I shall sum up the character of the Noble Lord in
a few words—a warm and sterling supporter of civil and
religious liberty, an opponent of all abuses, and a persever-
ing. and energetic advocate for their abatement.—(Cheers.)
Influenced by such principles, we find him, in 1792,
associated with a party comprising men of the most bril-
liant talents of the day, who were united for the
express purpose of effecting, by constitutional means,
the reform of public grievances—amongst the most
prominent of which they considered the defective
state of the representation. And here, I hope, it may
net be considered inappropriate in me to remark, that the
Chairman of this patriotic band was no other than the
father of the Noble Lord now present.—(Cheers.) Mr.
Grey's first public effort in the House of Commons was a
notice of his intention to move for leave, in the ensuing 1
Session, to bring in a Bill for the better representation of
the people in Parliament. The state of public affairs in
the interval of Mr. Grey's notice in 1792, and his intro-
ducing his motion in 1793, was such as to be peculiarly
inimical to his success. It was a period of high political ex-
citement, and embraced some of the darkest months of the
crimes of the French revolution. It was, therefore, no
surprise that his motion was negatived by a large majo-
rity. The active mind of Mr. Grey was not to be
diverted from its object. He, therefore, again and again,
continued his attempt ; but the general war that suc-
ceeded, coupled with the excesses of the French revolu-
tionists, created such alarm in this country, that even to
speak of reform was attributed to dissatisfaction. Our
glorious naval victories, which followed in quick succes-
sion, and the almost entire monopoly of the maritime
commerce of the world by this country, induced many
even well meaning people to think that we needed no
reform. It is not during the excitement of war and
victory that the still small voice of reason is heard—
( Hear, hear)—and it was not until our army, emulating
the glorious efforts of our navy, by a series of splendid
achievements, had changed the aspect of affairs in Europe
that a general peace ensued, and left us overwhelmed with
glory, and overwhelmed with debt. Recent events
are too fresh in your recollection, to need any
recapitulation—(Hear)—and it may suffice to say,
that on Lord Grey's accession to office, supported by a
patriot Monarch and an enlightened and liberal adminis-
tration, he availed himself of this opportunity of effecting
an object which had been paramount with him through
life—namely, a reform in the representation.—(Cheers.)
And here suffer me to say it would be improper in me to
omit to mention the valuable assistance he derived
from the assiduity, the perseverance, and the distinguished
talents of our Noble Guest.—(Cheers.) Numerous and
great were the obstacles thrown in the way of the Noble
Lord in his progress; hut energy and steadiness of purpose
were ultimately triumphant, and the Rsform Bill now
stands as part and parcel of the law or the land.—
(Cheers.) It is impossible to say, at this period, what
may be the extent of advantages, political and municipal,
arising from thi, measure ; but under such auspices I hope
for much good.—(Cheers.) And I trust that the page of
history will be emblazaned with the names of Lord Grey
and his coadjutors, as the true conservatives—as the rest
conservators of our laws and liberties, and of every thing
that is valuable in civil society.—(Cheers.)
The toast was then drunk with great applause.

Mr. FAWCETT, in proposing " His Majesty's Minis-
ters," after a few intro:iuctory observations which we did
not distinctly hear, said—l shall not ask you to look at
the past conduct of the Government—not that I am afraid
to call upon you to do so, because I consider that if, in
any degree, the people of this country think Ministers
have not, on some occasions, gone so far as they ought to
have done, they should give them credit for the difficulties
in which they have been placed.—(Cheering ) They
have introduced great and mighty reforms into our insti-
tutions, and have had to contend with great and powerful
opposition to them. They have had to combat the power
of the East India Comp iny, all the strength of the West
India Interest, and a powerful Bank Interest likewise,—
(Hear, hear.) But if you think they have not trusted
sufficiently to the gond sense of the people, I hope such
meetings as this will convince them that they may safely
confide in the intelligence and respectability of the people,
and have little to fear from those echo would threaten
us with anarchy and confusion.--(Loud cheers.)
trust we may look upon She present Government as
those who will be the constant and determined advocates
of political improvement—who will boldly and strenu-
ously assert souwl political principles, and with strict
justice and good sense enforce them.—(Cheers.) It is
on these grounds I now call upon you to drink " His
Majesty's Ministers."
The toast was received with three times three.

Mr. FEATHERSTON proposed " the healths of the
Members for the Northern Division ;" and i❑ doing so,
highly complimented them for their exertions in favour
of reform, and particularly alluded to the exertions of
Mr. Lasnbton, as a Member of the Commercial and
Agricultural Committee of the House of Commons.
The toast was drunk with immense applause.

Mr. lIEDWORTII LAN:I:now, on rising to return thanks,
was hailed with great enthusiasm. Ile spoke as follows:
—Need I tell you that I come here with pleasure, with
pride, and with the greatest delight? I should have
these feelings were I only a common acquaintance of the
Noble Lord whom you have met to honour, seeing and
feeling that our public opinions are one and the same.—
(Cheers.) But how much greater, how touch stronger,
how much deeper, must not I have those feelings in my
bosom, when I come here as his brother?—(Cheers.)
And numerous as are the points of view in which I look
upon the honour which you have paid him, there is one
in which I look upon it with the greatest pleasure ; for I
do say, that so lung as my Noble R,lative is surrounded
and supported by such respectability, intelligence, and
virtue as I now bee before me, his reputation has nothing
to fear from the attacks of his enemies—nothing to fear
from base and unjust calumniators.—(Cheers.) No; it
is not the wicked and unprincipled libeller—not that
system of lying which, I grieve to say, at the present
period, defiles, degrades, and disgraces a small portion of
the press—that can injure his reputation. It is not that,
but I say that, in whatever point of view we may look at
it, it 18 a system of lying that ought to be unmasked, and
cannot be too soon put an end to; for, believe me, that
the press, to perform its great work of public instruction
.—to execute and to operate all those great benefits which
its splendid capabilities qualify it to impart—to give that
great impulse to civilization which belongs to its natural
power—l say, that to do this, in the nineteenth century,
the press must not only be free, but it must be virtuous.—
(Loud cheers.) If it is not virtuous, you render it almost
powerless to do good, but you make it all-powerful to do
harm.--(Renewed cheers.) I do not think that my Noble
Relative's reputation is in danger of suffering even front
the hostility of Mr. Attwood.—(A loud burst of laughter.)
The laughter which accompanies the mention of his name
is a comment—.a sledgehammer comment—that renders
it unnecessary for me to say one word more.—(Cheers.)
I consider the comment to be so severe, that I feel sorrow
for that unfortunate individual.--.(Cheers and laughter.)
Nor is it the attacks, the combined attacks of the scattered
remnants of the Tory party—not all their wealth—not
all their talent—not all their vindictiveness (which is