The Sun.
London, England, 1832-05-25 00:00:00

GREAT REFORNI NIEETING OF THE
WEST RIDING OF YORKSHIRE.

WAKEFIELD, MAY 23.—The largest meeting eve;
'tell, even in the great county of York, celebrated as it i,
for its public meetings, and its consistent zeal in the caus,
of Parliamentary Reform, has this day been held on th,
[ngs, at Wakefield, to support Ministers and the Bill, and
to implore his Majesty so to exercise his prerogative as ti
insure the passing o` that admirable measure. The meet-
ing was one of the inhabitants of the West Riding, which
division of the county alone contains a population of on,
milli :n souls. Several motives combined to induce the
calling of a meeting of the West Riding, rather than of
the whole county, amongst which the principal was th
distance of the county town, Y‘irk, from the pope
lous parts of the Riding. The nearest of the large towns
(Leeds) is twenty-foor miles distant, and several are fro,:
forty to sixty miles distant. The division of the counts
into its three Ridings, for election purpepes, by the Reform
Bill, also su sgested the propriety of holding a meeting of
the largest of those divisions, for the purpose of petition-
ing in favour of that Bill. Wakefield, which is appointed
the‘ place of election for the West Riding, under the Re-
form Bill, is pretty centrally situate, between the great
towns of Leeds, 13radford, Halifax, Huddersfield, Shef-
field, Barnsley, Doncaster, and Pontefract, though at th,
distance of from ten to twenty in:les from must of these
places, and at this town, therefore, it was determined
that the meeting should be held. The first notice of
the meting was issued when it was believed the Duke
of Wellington had succeeded in thrusting out the Reform-
ing Administration, and thereby bringing the Bill into the
most imminent danger ; and when the joyful news of the
recall of that Administration was received, the reforming
spirit was so " sprightly up," that- although the urgent
necessity for such an assemblage had passed away, it was
found tkit the people would not be satisfied without meet-
ing to congratulate each other on their triumph, and to
confirm his Majesty in his intention to secure the passing
of the Bill. It was felt, also, that all danger was
not passed ; that a large portion of the House of Peers
still manifested the most obstinate infatuation, and that.
the people ought not, therefore, to relax in their vigilance
and activity until the Bill bad actually received the Royal
assent.

The requisition by which the meeting was called was
signed in a single day by from 400 to 500 freeholders, and
thousands of names might have been as easily obtained as
hundreds, if they had been necessary : it expressed that
the meeting was held " for the purpose of taking into
consideration the propriety of petitioning Parliament to
pass the Reform Bill in all its integrity and efficiency, and
to address the King, beseeching him to repose undeviating
confidence in Earl Grey and his colleagues, who alone en-
joy the confidence of the nation, and by no means to in-
trust the administration of public affairs to men who are
either the avowed enemies of Parliamentary Reform, or its
hollow and wavering supporters."
So much excitement was never before produced by any
public meeting in this county. Reformers of all ranks and
classes went by thousands from the nearer towns, and by
hundreds and fifties from the remoter parts of the riding.
The feeling of alarm and bitter indignation which existed
a week ago had all passed away, and in their stead the
highest joy and exultation prevailed. The parties who
flocked from every side to Wakefield were accompanied
with bands of music, and numerous banners bearing pa-
triotic inscriptions. The universal colour was orange,
the liberal erection colour in Yorkshire, and which was
worn in ribands and cards by the tnajarity of those pre-
sent. The scene, indeed, bore a strong resemblance to a
contested election, with this exception, that there was but
one colour, and but one feeling of joy and triumph. On
the cards and ribands were inscribed " Grey and Re-
form," and the same words appeared on very many of
the flags.
From Leeds many thousand persons attended the meet-
ing ; the day was a general holyday in that town ; the
merchants, the manufacturers, the shopkeepers, and the
workmen all seemed bent on being present at this, it is
hoped, the last meeting that will he required to be held in
Yorkshire before the passing of the Bill.
A vast procession of pedestrians having assembled in
and near the area of the Leeds Coloured Cloth Hall,
start. d for Wakefield at seven o'clock in the morning, ac-
companied by a splendid array of banners and several
bands of music, and led by the members of the Leeds Po-
litical Union, at whose head rode Mr. Joshua Bower, the
President, and Mr. Nicholls and Mr. Whitehead, the Vice-
Presidents. At nine o'clock a very long cavalcade of car-
riages and equestrians left the same place, which nt.n-
tiered, before it had quitted the suburbs of the town, GO
or 80 carriages of different kinds, besides a troop of horse-
men. The whole population seemed to turn out to wit-
ness the processions, and the brilliancy of the weather,
the splendour of the banners, the sound of the music, the
gay appearance of the Reformers, bedizened with colours,
and the high spirits of all patties made the scene one of
the most exhilarating and delightful nature.
At Wakefield the scene was truly astonishing. Multi-
tudes were observed advancing upon the town from every
side with the same kind of pageantry as we have noticed
in the processions. The streets were choked with passen-
gers, the shops were closed as on a high festival, and hun-
dreds of houses displayed orange and yellow flags. Pro-
cessions arrived successively from Halifax, Huddersfield,
Dewsbury, Pontefract, Cleckheaton, Morley, Mirfield,
Liversedge, Batley, Churwell, Goniersal, Marsden, Strafe
forth and Tickhill, Horiley, Woodlesford, &c. ; and as
they arrived they proceeded to the place of meeting, which
was an immense field, called the Inge, close adjoining to
the town, calculated to accommodate several hundred
thousand person, and celebrated as the scene of the great
battle in the wars of the Roses, between Margaret, the
Queen of Henry VI., and Richard, Duke of York. " Far
other scene" was the field of Wakefield now, shaded in-
deed by banners and resonant with martial music, but
covered with a countless multitude, actuated by one feel-
ing of exulting patriotism, and wearing but one colour—
that of the sun's own radiance.

Very spacious and commodious hustings, calculated to
contain SOO persons, bad been erected ; they were crowded
with respectable persons, and found insufficient to con-
tain those who were fairly entitled to he upon them.
The view from the hustings was most imposing; upwards
of 100 banners, orange, yellow, and crimson, emblazoned
with various devices and inscriptions, were ranged round
the plain, enclosing a multitude whose numbers it is
hazardous to estimate ; and beyond, the principal ap-
proaches to the Ings from the town were seen filled by
dense masses, constantly advancing and swelling the num •
bers gathered round the hustings. The terraces and open
places of the town, and the windows of the houses which
looked upon the place of meeting, were likewise fibed with
spectators, many of whom displayed their zeal by hanging
out flags, :though they did not venture into the midst of
the throng.
We have said that it is difficult to estimate the numbers
assembled, but we may safely compute them at about
150,000. Such an assemblage, indeed, has never been
seen in Yorkshire ; yet if the Duke of Wellington bad
been in power instead of Earl Grey, it is not extravagant
to say that twice or thrice that number would have mus-
tered to convince the boroughmongers that the people of
England are not to be trifled with, nor their rights with-
held from them by a selfish oligarchy.
It is impossible to give within any moderate compass
the inscriptions on the banners. We must content our-
selves with observing, that they were all expressive of the
strongest and most decided attachment to liberty, reform,
and the patriotic adtninistration of Earl Grey.
Amongst the gentlemen on the hustings we noticed—Sir
Godfrey
Francis LindleyWood, Barr., Sir William Pilkington, Bart.,
Higgins, Esq., John Marshall, jun., Esq., John
John Armitage, Esq., Ellis C. Lister, Esq.,
FGHooaiadfnirye,yb
sirci '
eE'nsq.:
Benjamin
tta r t h, j un.,E‘siq, i
1,8
otnh, 1 e 11 r.
George
Fawkes,
Wailes,J.
Esq , Michael Stocks. Esq., John Halliby, E,q , James
Holdsworth, Esq., Rev. Dr. Naylor, Rev. Dr. Hutton,
Rev. Mr. Westmoreland, Rev. B. Godwin, Rev. T.
Scales, Rev. W. Eccles, Dr. Crowther, Captain Wood,
and Messrs. James G. Marshall, T. W. Stansfield, 0. Wil-
lane, William Smith, Thomas Jaques, H. H. Stansfield,
James Holdforth, Ainsley, Pease, Baines, Bentley, John
and Joshua Bower, John and George Goodman, Bruce,
P. Williams, B. Walker, Hubbard, T. George, Charles
Harris, Milligan, James Stansfield, G. B. Browne,
W. Chadwick, John Hirst, jun., John Holland, jun., M.
Stocks, jun., Joseph Dawson, Samuel and John Hodgson,
John Haigh,
Cooke, Todd, James Booth, W. Williams,
B. Ormetod, James Lees, Joseph Stancliffe, W. and C.
Wheatley, Benjamin Sayle, Carr, Lee, Seholefield, &c.
Before the proceedings commenced "Rule Britannia"
was sung with great effect by the vast multitude.
The County members were prevented from attending by
their parliamentary duties, and F. H. Fawkes, E-q., who
had been expected to take the chair, was detained in Lon-
don
Bryan Cooke had also been expected, but from some cause
by indisposition. The attendance of Sir William
he did not make his appearance. At a little after twelve
o'clock, on the motion of E. C. LISTER, Esq., seconded
by Mr. BAINES, JAMES HOLDSWORTII, Esq., constable of
Wakefield, was called to the chair.
JOHN HARDY, Esq., in moving the first resolution, said
he need only look on the scene before him, be need only
cast his eye on the countless multitude, to be convinced
what the feelings of the people of England were upon the
subject of the Reform Bill. He thought that the conduct
of his Majesty throughout was that of a sincere and ho-
nest Reformer.--(Cries of "No, no," and murmurs of