The Sun.
London, England, 1832-05-04 00:00:00

measure—peace and happiness. This country had always
prided itself upon her general character, and knowing this;
he was much astonished to see that the Reform Bill had
met with such opposition, having received the acquiescence
of a moral and religious people, therefore upon what prin-
ciples any man could oppose so healing and so just a mea-
sure he could not tell, for it was his decided opinion that
every good man ttust be a Reformer.—(Cheers.) There
was no choice left for him, the very nature of his prinri-
pies, if consistent with moral purity, must constitute him
a supporter of the present Reform Bill in every instance,
and to its utmost extent.—(Cheers.) Ile would
not say that When the Bill passed that they had
procured their wishes altogether; for Reform must not stop
there, as the Bill went merely to the extending of the elee-
tire franchie to those wbn had been deprived of it, and
which it was theit national right to receive ; that was
simply the object of the Bill, which every good man most
approve of, and a good man wa; one of universal benevo-
lence, who wished ethers to be happy as well as himself;
and' such a roan could not value privileges enjoyed by him-
self alone, but would wish for his fellow-creature's partici-
pation in those privileges. The character of a good man,
as all who had any control over the affairs of others should
be, was mast ably defined in the lines;
" Friend, parent, neighbour, first he gill embratr. ;
His country next, and next alt hunian race;
Wide, and more wide, the oe'rflowings of the mind,
ro ',Se '6l;e spot—to no one sect confined.
earth smiles around, with boundless bounty blest,
And heaven beholds its image in his breast."
Such a man, so ably described by the talented poet, was
a good man, and such must be favourable to the Reform
Bill, because Fte would endeavour to connect his brethren
in the bonds of peace and happiness, and as all good men
are ri formers, they well knew how to class the Anti-
Reformers ; but be (Mr. Knowles) never doubted the
motive which caused the opposition—selfishnesss. By
their opposition they were not only obedient to an earthly
King, but were erring its the sight of the Heavenly King.
He thought that every rational being who had risen to
the age of maturity, had a right to the elective
reane:hise ; that the poor should not be excluded from
it any less than the middle class or the rich, and Lord
Grey had a right, in support cf the Bill, to expect that
every good subject in his Majesty's dominions should co-
operate to rapport the measure. The favourite maxim

t'ith the Tories was, that Christianity was the law of the
land; that had been responded from one end of the country
to the other; then, if there be one thing clearer than
another, which teaches us universal benevolence, it is re•
ligion, " to do unto others as we would be done by," not
to legislate for the profit of ourselves, but for the profit of
others ; and if the Tories were consistent with the princi-
ple, of religion, wherein they profess, they would co-
operate with the people in gaining the Bill, the objects
of which were perfectly in unison with the law of
Christianity and the lam of the land.—(Cheers.) But
e greatest matter of astonishment was the conduct of the
Anti-Reform Bishops. Did they believe the religion
which they taught was founded in truth, and still be op-
posed to its principles, which were embodied in the Bill ?
If they did, they were making Christianity into a mere

farce ; as in opposing the - Bill, they were opposing
every principle of Christianity.—(Cheers.) He would say
that it as incumbent upon those Bishops to support the
. .

Ministers in the present measure of Reform ; if they did
nlt do so, they proclaimed their own hypocrisy, not only
to this country, but to others, from generation to gene-
ration.—(Cheers.) He wondered that any man should
he afraid of supporting this important measure from the
insinuation that it went too far. He did not think that

Legislation could be carried on on a too liber il scale, espe-
cially when he saw that for the last half century the Tories
have been legislating for themselves and their dependents.
In fact, by their actions, the people might not have been
been in existence.—(Cheers.) A liberal representation,
he was confident, would go far to banish all moral evil
and moral misery. He congratulated the meeting upon the
number and respectability of the per,ons attending to meet

the worthy representative, who had returned as a faithful
servant, and was now receiving a good servant's past re-
wards, and he was sure that Mr. Thicknesse would not ex-
change his present feelings of delight from this token of
respect being shown to him, far all the trusts of honour
which selfish ambition could contemplate.—(Cheers.)
The Rev. Gentleman vent on at considerable length, se-
verely commenting upon the conduct and character of the
Opposition, which our limits will not allow us to follow

him in, and concluded amidst the plaudits of the assem-
bly. Toast—" Earl of Derby, the Lord Lieutenant of the
County"—( Cheers. )
The MAYOR proposed the health of Mr. Ralph Thick-
nesse, jun.
Mr. THICKNESSE acknowledged the compliment in a
neat speech.
The VICE-CHAIRMAN (Mr. Greenhalgh, the Mayor
elect) propo.ed, " The Members of the House of Com-
mons, and the House of Lords, who have advocated the
measure of Reform." After which he spoke to the fol-
lowing effect :—I now have to express publicly my entire
approbation of the Parliamentary conduct of one individual
MeMber of the House of Commons in particular—l re-
gret on this occasion it is not in my power to say two—l
mean our truly worthy, upright, and independent repre-
sentative, R. Thicknesse, E-q. For me to attempt to
de►ail to you the many valuable services which he has ren•
dered to his country, and to this, his native town, in par-
ticular, would, I am well aware, trespass too much on your
valuable time. I will therefore content myself with merely
stating to you that lie has done his duty in the great cause
of Reform—he has fought hard in the great and good
fight—that he hos struggled with other patriots of his
country, and assisted, to the utmost of his power and abi-
lity, to carry that most desirable and all-healing measure
in that House in which he has, and I hope and trust will
lung continue to have, the honour of a seat. Gentlemen,
with Houses of Parliament composed of Nlembers like
Mr. Thicknesse, we may rest assured we shall have, not
only the interest of our long-neglected and much-abused
borough, bet the interests and welfare of the country at
large carefully watched and properly attended to. There
is an honour, there is a pleasure, and—l assert it with-
out fear of contradiction—there is an interest in having
such Members in Parliament. These are considerations,
gentlemen, which, I trust, not only the electors of Wigan
but those of the whole nation, will bear strictly in mind,
when they are again called upon to elect their Members to
serve them in Parliament.—(Cheers.)
The MAyoa proposed the health of Mr. Pennington,
one of the principal merchants in the neighbourhood, to-
gether with the commercial men of the county.
Mr. PENNINGTON returned thanks.
Toast—" The Committee."

Mr. BANKS, solicitor, one of the Committee, returned
thanks for the compliment, and congratulated the meet-
ing on finding them congregated so numerously. It was
quite a novel sight in the town of Wigan, to see a Reform
meeting with the man of their choice at their heal. Some
short time rgo the three contending parties, Radicals,
Whigs, and Tories, displayed the utmost acrimony and
pirty.feeling ; but it was a glorious contemplation, whPn be
saw nearly the whole of the respectable population of the
town and neighbourhood together, all now unanimous in
cause of Reform. In fdct, the events of Wigan, for the

list few years, were not unworthy of the consideration of
the first Statesman in the kingdom.—(Cheers.) It would
be recollected that the tradesmen of Wigan had subscribed
1,0001. for the purpose of emancipating themselvte, by
opening the borough, the franchise of which was confined
to sixty Burgesses, and they had so far succeeded, that the
franchise was now in the hands of 260 Burgesses ; and un.
der a new repre-entation, he hoped that every man in
Wigan would he made a Burgess.—(Cbeers.)
Toasts.--.‘ The Lancashire Witches."
" Prosperity to the town and trade of Wigan."
' " The Member of the county."
Mr. BANKS rose to propose as a toast, " The Liberty
of the Press," and having paid a handsome compliment to
the conductors of newspapers, for their public spirit, and
the reporters for their ability, begged to include the indi-
vidual member of the press invent.
Mr. L. T. GASKILL, on behalf of himself and brother
reporters, made a suitable acknowledgment for the honour
conferred upon them, and at the same time said that, how-
ever the compliment paid to the reporters present might be
deserved, he thought, by toasting the liberty of the press,
it was not an undeserved one conferred upon the press pe-
nerally, as the people were much indebted to that mighty
engine for its advocacy of the cause, of which all pre-
sent were supporters, and he hoped that the worthy
Member for Wigan, Mr. Thicknesse, wouldjnot be un-
mindful of the interests of the press in his place in
Parliament, but would support any motion which might
be brought forward for the reduction of taxes on know-
ledge—the newspaper duties. Mr. Gaskill then adverted
to the activity and enterprise displayed by the Press in
transmitting intelligence with such amazing rapidity into
all parts of his Majesty's dominions, and instanced the
recent astonishing feats of The Sun newspaper on the
second reading of the Reform Bill, which paper, he stated,
on the morning of tke division, contained twenty-one
columns of that debate, which were, together with the di-
vision, diffused in most parts of England on the same day
and evening, the expresses travelling at the astonishing
speed of fifteen miles an hour. [Several gentlemen pre-
sent confirmed this, by stating that they received on Sa-
turday night, in Wigan, a Sun, from a courier on his
way to Carlisle.]
Many other talented speeches were delivered, which we
regret not having space fur; and the company separ-ted I
about 12 o'clock.