The Sun.
London, England, 1859-05-09 00:00:00

THE RIGHT HON. I. S. W ORTLEY.

At a meeting of his commtttee and supporters held at the
Angel Inn, Sheffield,
Mr. WORTLEY said—l should not have ventured to make
another call on your attention and patience after the full
explanation I made of my principles here on another occa-
sion if it had not been for some circumstances which have
since occurred, and which make me desirous again to meet
you, if it had not been especially for a certain unwarrant-
able, uncalled-for, and unfounded attack made on me be-
hind my back and not in my presence. (Loud cheering.)
I at once honestly say that it has proceeded from a quarter
from which I should least have expected it. I have never
injured or said one word in derogation of the character of
Mr. Roebuck, either as a politician or as a gentleman.
(Cheers.) He has been my personal friend. We have
been on the most perfect terms of mutual and social
friendship; and I never thought he would have been
the man, with his character and probity I never
thought he would have been the man unnecessarily
to step out of his way (loud cheers) when I
was absent, to malign me and attack me in a personal
way on the want of principle. (Loud cheers.) Gentlemen,
I have played a very different part towards that gentleman.
(Renewed cheers.) Some of you will remember, and some
of you may have been offended, by the terms of admiration
and friendship in which I have spoken of him in this town.
Only last winter, in addressing a large body of your fellow-
townsmen, I said that, whatever his principles and politics
might be, you might well be proud of a representative of his
large talent and abilities—the grandson, as I told the men of
Sheffield, of the illustrious Dr. Roebuck, who was the patron
and friend of James Watt. Those were the terms in which I
spoke of Mr. Roebuck in this town. If I had chosen, what
course might I have taken ? (Hear, hear.) Mr. Roebuck is
no Yorkshireman ; he is no Sheffield man ; but a stranger.
(Cheers.) I, and those to whom lam related, your neigh-
bours, have never interfered in your political struggles in
the borough, believing that we acted wisely in taking that
course. We used no sort of influence at your elections.
But I don't think that I speak with too much vanity when
I say that if we had exercised that influence, and if I had
so advised my friends in this place—not by any influence of
power or property, but by the just influences arising from
neighbourhood and kindly feeling—Mr. Roebuck would not
have had quite that quiet seat at Sheffield that he has en-
joyed. (Applause.) If I had chosen to treat him as he has
treated me, and stir up opposition to him here, he might
not have been defeated in the election, but he would not
have had the untroublesome position which he has hitherto
occupied. (Cheers.) But, gentlemen, I never purposed
doing so, and I never should have thought of it, neither
will I now condescend to retaliate upon him. (Applause.)
But I must justify and vindicate myself from his aspersions.
and with your indulgent patience I will proceed to do so. I
have often heard Mr. Roebuck maligned, both as to his
public conduct and also as to other matters ; but I have uni-

iorroly vindicated and defended him as a private friend, and
therefore I feel that this is a most ungenerous and un-
worthy return. (Cheers.) Well, now, gentlemen, what
is the accusation ? Why, that I have been guided, in my
public life, not by principle, but by mean personal motives.
(Shame.) I regret to find that my opponents in this con-
test have not repudiated but adopted this unjust and un-
generous conduct ; for I hold in myhand a placard, largely
circulated at Leeds, and by the authority of my opponents,
in which are published the speech of Mr. Roebuck, the ar-
ticle from the Times, the article from the Examiner, and a
perfectly groundless article from the Leeds Mercury- I re-
gret to say that not only is this widelycirculated, but my op-
ponents, the honourable candidates themselves have carried
it with them, and in the Bradford district at Apperley-bridge,
they made it the main topic of their speeches. (Shame.) I
have myself abstained throughout this contest from any re-
flections upon my opponents, and I have not said one word
that could be considered personal or disrespectful towards
. them ; and I will not even now be tempted—(loud
cheers)--by their ungenerous conduct to retaliate upon
them. I will not be betr 'Ted into one expres-
sion of harshness, either towards Mr. Crossley or Sir
J. W. Ramsden. There is a story, gentlemen, that once
when the great Burke was a candidate at Bristol he made
one of his brilliant orations, and at the close of it the other
candidate was so abashed at having to follow that great
man that the whole of his speech was, " I say ditto to Mr.
Burke." (A laugh.) Now, I don't think I shall be over-
stepping the limits I have set to myself when I describe the
course of my opponents in making use of this—they say
"ditto" to Mr. Roebuck. (Laughter and cheers.) As to Mr
Crossley, I don't think it necessary to add more to what I
said before. As to Sir J. W. Ramsden, he is an extremely
young man, and has a great deal to learn—(cheers)—and
among other things, he has to learn the courtesies of public
life. (Hoar, hear.) When ho is older—gentleman as he is
—he will know better than to treat his opponents as ho has
treated me. (Cheers) But I must now notice the sub-
stance of the attack which is made upon me, and I state
at once that it is pure unmitigated untruth. (Loud ap-
plause.) Mr. Roebuck is reported to have said, " I recol-
lect that bon. gentleman in my early life, not only as a Tory,
but a very fierce and furious Tory, speaking always in great
contempt of the poor. He scorned to be governed by the
hard, horny-handed men who make England what she is.
He, the very cream of society, to be debased by such a pro-
ceeding. No, indeed, he was a Tory." Now, gentlemen, I
have mixed with Mr. Roebuck in society for 25 years, and
we have been brethren in en arduous profession. He most
therefore know what my political life has been ; but I chal-
lenge him to bring forward anything at any time or place to
show the semblance of a pi etence for his saying that he
ever heard me use language of contempt for the people or the
poor. (Loud cheers.) I have undoubtedly spoken with
contempt of the flatterers and deceivers of the poor—
(applause)—for as it was once beautifully said by Sir George
Murray, "Crowds have their courtiers as well 'as kings ;
and all of them are equally contemptible." (Hear, hear.)
It is of the flatterers of the poor—the democrats and dema-
gogues who deceive the poor—that I have spoken with con-
tempt, but towards or respecting the poor I have never
used such an oppression. (Applause.) Neither have I
been " a fierce and furious Tory." I have always been a
Conservative, and I was what was called a Tory before the
name of Conservative was invented, but a fierce Tory, of
the school of Eldon and Wetherell, I never was. I was
always a moderate Conservative. (Cheers.) On my first
entrance into public life my leader and champion was the
great Mr. Canning—(cheers)—the eloquent champion
of Catholic emancipation, the illustrious antagonist of
the Holy Alliance in Europe, the fosterer and re-
generator of the liberties of Europe, the asscrter of the
independence of the Spanish American colonies, and
who, to use his own beautiful and eloquent language,

"called the new world into existence to readjust the balance '
of the old world." After Mr. Canning's death I was an
admirer and follower of that great regenerator of a free com-
mercial policy, Mr. Huskisson, who first inaugurated a
reduction of the duties upon corn and other necessaries of
life, and who initiated that course of free trade policy which
was afterwards consummated by Sir Robbut atert Pee
all eventsl. Some
it completely falsifies the statement of Mr. Roebuck that I
may perhaps object to me on this ground,
was ever a fierce Tory. But, to come down to later times
—after the fall of Huskisson on the first occasion when I
was in Parliament, on the accession of Lor d Grey as a Mini-
ster of Reform, and through the whole of his ministry, as
well as that of Lord Melbourne, I consistently and without
hesitation co-operated with you in resisting and opposing
both those Administrations. When the first Administra-
tion of Lord Derby was formed I admit that I was in a diffi-
culty as to what I should do ; for up to that tine I had fol-
lowed Sir Robert Peel, who had repealed the Co,m-laws,
and by so doing had sacrificed power, popularity vil.th his
party, and all that a statesman most values, for his con-
scientious conviction that he was right in granting a rept'al
of the Corn-laws. Having thus been an adherent of Sir R.
Peel, when Lord Derby's first Administration took office I
undoubtedly did give my opposition to that Administration,
and as a follower of Sir Robert Peel I could not honourably
have done otherwise. I thought they had treated Sir
Robert unjustly, and I gave them my opposition. I still
continued my opposition when Lord John Russell came
into power, and I then again united with the great Conser-
vative party, who were unanimous in that opposition. To
that the Administration of Lord Aberdeen succeeded. And
here Mr. Roebuck states as facts circumstances which he
had the means of knowing correctly, and when he was
about to make a personal attack upon me he ought to have
assured himself that they were correct. (Hear.) But he
states as facts things that are inconsistent with the truth.
(Hear, hear.) Though in Lord Aberdeen's Government I
had not only friends but relatives, I never applied for em-
ployment, I never asked for place, and I never accepted it.
Yet Mr. Roebuck here states that I was Judge-Advocate
under Lord Aberdeen. It is perfectly untrue. (Loud cheers
and cries of "shame"). I was, under very peculiar circum-
stances, Judge-Advocate for a few months under the Admi-
nis.ration of Sir Robert Peel. It was at the time when he
was known to be favourable to the repeal of the corn-laws,
and when his Administration had already been doomed. I
remember well the kindness with which Sir Robert Peel
spoke to me when he sent to confer with me, for I never
asked to be made Judge-Advocate, but he sent for me of
his own accord. He said that he knew I was a leader upon
the Northern Circuit, biit he perhaps did not know that I
was at the time earning, by my own abilities—(hear, hear)
—twice as much as the salary he could offer me. He said
to me that his Ministry was in a position of great difficulty
in filling up that office, which he said was perhaps not
worth my acceptance, but he told me I should greatly
serve the cause if I would make the sacrifice. (Cheers.)
Under these circumstances, I held the office of Judge-
Advocate in Sir Robert Peel's Administration for four
months. My reward was the power and dignity of that
office, with its comparatively small salary, for four months,
but accompanied with the loss of my business upon circuit.
(Cheers) During the years when Lord Aberdeen was in
power, notwithstanding what Mr. Roebuck says, I never
held office at all. (Cheers.) When Lord Aberdeen retired
from the Government he was succeeded by Lord Palmer-
ston. At that time a great many of the moderate Conser-
vatives gave a qualified support to Lord Palmerston, and
that noble lord—most unexpectedly to me, and under some-
what similar circumstances—sent for me, and told me that
he had great difficulty in filling up from his own ranks the
office of Solicitor-General, and he asked me if, after he had
taken her Majesty's pleasure upon the subject, I should be
willing to accept that office. I took 48 hours for considera-
tion. I also consulted my Conservative friends, and they
told me that as at that moment there was no public party
question under consideration, I should not be justified in re-
fusing my services to the Queen. (Cheers.) Under those
circumstances I accepted office ; but before I did so I re-
quired from Lord Palmerston an assurance upon one sub-
ject, and upon one only. I told him that all through my
life, if I had been signalised for anything, it had been for
opposing, both in and out of Parliament, anything like a
sweeping and dangerous measure of Parliamentary Reform.
(Hear, hear.) I said to Lord Palmerston, " I cannot take
office under you unless I am assured that I am not likely to
be led against toy old friends upon the question of Parlia-
mentary Reform. He answered—but perhaps lam not
at liberty to give you his answer—but he gave me his per-
fect assurance that from him there was no danger of such
a proposition. (Hear.) Under those circumstances I ac-
cepted that Office, and held it but a very short time. Mr.
Roebuck insinuates, though he does not venture to state it,
that I left that office when I saw that the Ministry was in
danger. (Shame.) So far from that being true, at the
time when I was compelled to resign that office was at the
very moment of a dissolution, and when the Conservatives,
almost as a body, supported Lord Palmerston, and when
he got that enormous majority which for a time gave him
greater power than had been possessed by any Minister
for half a century in England. (Cheers.) It was,
gentlemen, by the hand of God, and of God alone,
that I was at that time compelled to retire from the lucrative
office I held. (Cheers.) I was struck by a severe illness—
brought on by labour and anxiety in the discharge of my
duties—and for nine months I was incapacitated from taking
part in public business, and I resigned my office, although
Lord Palmerston twice pressed me to keep it and wait for my
recovery ; but I insisted upon resigning upon the ground, and
this ground alone, that as I could not perform its duties—
though it was a source of very large and lucrative profit to me
—I could not conscientiously continue to hold it. Well,
gentlemen, after those nine months—when by God's mercy
I was restored to that perfect health which enables me now to
serve your cause— (cheers)—l found things greatly changed.
The opinion of the public had ceased to support Lord Pal-
merston, and he was not only out of office, but had not
above twenty supporters in the house, because he had con-
ducted foreign negotiations in a manner which the country
disapproved. I was, I confess, much embarrassed as to what
seat—for youknow, gentlemen, that parties are dim tinguished
by seats in the House of Commons—l should occupy. I had
much sympathy with Lord Palmerston, for I could not ap-
prove of the course taken by Mr. Disraeli and his friends in
coalescing with Mr. Milner Gibson to displace Lord Palmer-
ston. I therefore felt greatly embarrassed, as I have said.
But an occurrence happened which decided the course which
I thought I ought to take. I have told you already of the
assurance I received from Lord Palmerston. I had always,
in consonance with the views of my Conservative friends,
opposed the motion of Mr. Locke King for reducing the
county franchise to £lO. On one occasion, however, Lord
Paltherston being in opposition, chose to unite with the
Whigs and Radicals, and gave his vote—contrary to all his
votes up to that time—in favour of that motion by Mr. Locke
King. That decided my course. I felt that Lord Palmer-
ston must have changed his views, and have become prepared
for a more sweeping measure of reform than I could ap-
prove, and from that moment I sat on the opposite side of
the house. There is, therefore, no ground whatever for any
one to state that I left Lord Palmerston for any mean
motives. I left him because I was compelled by sickness,
and if I gave a general support to Lord Derby rather than
him, it was because he was joining with the extreme Whigs
and Radicals, who were determined to force onus a sweeping
measure of reform. But I do not believe now that Lord Pa-
lmerston and I differ one jut. He made himself unfortunately
and unguardedly a party to the resolution of Lord J. Rus-
sell. But read his speech on the ballot, and his recent
speech at Tiverton, and tell me whether he does not agree
better with his late Solicitor-General than with his late A-
ttorne- General, who has been the subject of attack in the
House of Commons. Gentlemen, I say that my conduct has
been perfectly consistent with my original Conservative
opinions—Liberal and moderate Conservative opinions.
(Hear.) I am a general supporter of that Ministry which now
held the reins of p )wer, and which appears to me to be act-
ing on principles of moderate Conservatism. Some of their
followers may think they have gone further than they need
have done with reform ; but that shows that it cannot be
said of them that they are playing the part of fierce Tories.
I will say no more of Mr. Roebuck than this. What is Mr.
Roebuck ? (Loud cheers and laughter, and a voice—" A
wasp.") He is a very clever man—a very good speaker—an
orator. No, he is not an orator. (Laughter.) For to be an
orator, you must join sound sense and good reasoning with
brilliant eloquence. He may be eloquent in his speech, but
he is no orator, because his principles are unwise, and his
opinions are followed by no class of men. (Cheers.) When
I said his principles are not wise, I used an unguarded ex-
pression. I mean that his counsels are not wise—(hear)—
and those who have watched his career in the House of
Commons know well that ho has used his great abilities to
magnify himself, in what no doubt is a legitimate ambition.
I have been forced to this egotistical summary of my poli •
tical life. My conscience is clear. It tells me that I have
never sought office. I have never held it contrary to my
circumstances conscience. I betrayed
boundn o nobody. v
eI
Indesertedt
annocbeo dt
oy
h. e
rF re
Ma-
jesty'sm Government, in unison with men not of my party,
but of whose opinions I felt assured, for Lord Palmerston's
Administration (as Mr. Roebuck told me in a private con-
versation, when I gave him my reasons for joining that Ad-
ministration) was the only Conservative Government that
could be firmed. He stated emphatically to me, "To be
sure it was, and that wasthe reason I opposed it with all my
heart."

RIOTOUS PROCEEDINGS IN CIIELMS'.

FORD.

CHELMSFORD, FRIDAY MORNING.

Last night the inhabitants of this town were'
thrown into a state of considerable alarm by the
proceedings of a body of the free and independent
" non-electors" of this division of the county. Yes-
terday was polling day. and the earlier part of the
time passed off quietly enough. During the
afternoon, however, the excitement increased,
and when the poll closed at five o'clock it
was at its height: The two Conservative can-
didates—Messrs. Bramston and Watlington—were
well received and vociferously cheered, upon
returning thanks for being placed at the head of the
poll ; but upon Mr. Baker, the defeated Liberal
candidate, attempting to address the electors, the
yells and hisses increased. almost beyond descrip-
tion, and it was with the utmost difficulty that the
reporters could catch a sentence or two, to the
effect that, though beaten this time, he should stand
again upon the first opportunity. The excitement
so far was within ordinary bounds for election times,
and found vent for a time by the partisans of each can-
didate harnessing themselves to their carriages, and
dragging them through the town amidst vociferous
huzzas. But here the tide turned, the candidates soon
left, the election was over, but the thirst of the mob
athsef
oonpxo
hogsheads
nsei fdhtau,
spirits
naea:nnud.
nadtl s
In
ofodt
commenced
h.
of mischief,
the
iLmm excitementimststreets,
ei
borrowing"
ebefa,ck reaewasvmne
premises
me hsbiotefruapo grocer unappeased.
upon the
ere
ed
causingro l i g thema
most
st furiouslydeafhiesnanuijig Somenuphagpyer
noise, and creating great alarm to the foot passen-
gers, which was increased by the absence of gas
light, rendering it a matter of no small difficulty
to steer clear of the ponderous casks. So long
as the mob confined themselves to mere fun, the
alarm was but momentary; but when a large body
of them tried to roll one of the casks into the
gateway of the Saracen's Head Inn (the head-
quarters of the " blues"), matters assumed a differ-
ent aspect. Assisted by some of the bystanders,
the servants of the inn managed to close the
gates upon the mob ; but in the struggle
the the hogshead was broken to pieces, the staves
furnishing most formidable weapons, which
flourished menacingly by their excited possessors.
The police, however, soon arrived, and by their
firm but judicious conduct succeeded in quelling
the disturbance.