The Sun.
London, England, 1866-07-31 00:00:00

strongest boys" to the quarter from which the pres-
sure mainly came. Another lamented that, "
vo
what you would there was always a strata (sic) of
persons at these large I....;zetings that you could not
deal with."

The proceedings were continued by Mr. BizAD-
LAUGH, who moved the second resolution, a 3 fol-

lows :

" That a petition, signed by the chairman, on be-
half of this meeting, be presented to the House of
Commons, praying for the appointment of a com-
mittee to inquire into the conduct of Sir R. Mayne
and the police under his orders in forcibly prevent-
ing the working classes from meeting in Hyde-park
on Monday, the 22d of July inst., and likewise their
conduct in ejecting persons from the park and other-
wise maltreating them on that and the two follow-
ing days."

He denounced the Government of Lord Derby,
which he charged with illegal conduct, and declared
that the people were determined to enforce their
right of public meeting. The Tories told them that
they did not care for Reform. They were there
to show that they did. The Tories told them they
should not meet in the people's parks. The people
told the Tories that they should. (Cheers.) The
resolution called for a committee of inquiry into the
conduct of Sir R. Mayne and the police, who must
not be the masters of the people, and whose duty
was to keep order, not to destroy it.
Mr. VINCENT seconded the resolution, but the
arrival of another batch of Reformers, with the usual
flourish of trumpets, the swaying of the multitude
in front of the platform, and a second attempt on
the part of some to carry it by storm or to escape
from the crush created such confusion that for some
time his remarks passed unheeded. The chairmen
and other leading members of the League exhorted
the people to keep steady, and Mr. Bradlaugh
threatened one or two whom he had his eye on with
something unpleasant for disturbing the meeting.
When order was partially restored, Mr. Vincent
energetically denounced Lord Derby and Mr.
Disraeli, and declared, amid loud cheers, that the
Reformers would never rest until they had Mr.
Gladstone back again.
Mr. P. A. TAYLOR, M.P., was the next speaker.
He said that the enemies of Reform bad now learnt
that the people cared for Reform and would not give
up their right to meet in the people's parks:- Just
as when Joshua marched round Jericho and the
trumpets sounded the walls fell to the ground, so,
when the people assembled round Hyde-park the
railings fell, as it were, at a breath. The Tories
were much the same now in England as they were
in Jamaica last year. He would illustrate the dif-
ference, such as it was, by a sum in the Rule of
Three. As the latitude of Jamaica was to that of
Hyde-park, so was the fate of Mr. Gordon to that
of Mr. Bright. The Saturday Review, the most
truculent of the Tory organs, had said that for a
fortnight London had been in the hands of the dregs
of the people, but it would not be long so, because
steps would be taken to prevent it ; but it should be
remembered that the stopping of Reform meetings
had caused the fall of a dynasty in France, and
though that would not be the case here, yet the
nobility ought to look to it, for they had many
privileges to lose, and a measure of Radical Reform
would come even faster than they looked for.
The resolution was then put as before, and
agreed to.
Colonel DICKSON, in moving a resolution calling
on the meeting to support the League by contribu-
ting to its funds, denounced the members of the
Government, with the exception of Mr. Walpole,
whom he declared to be a good, kind man, and
almost a woman in heart, and who was, he believed,
going to leave the Ministry. lie dwelt on the
merits of their chairman, Mr. Beales, who was
ready to lay down his life for the cause, and de-
clared that he was quite,r,:ady to submit to a similar
martyrdom.

The resolution having been seconded, was
passed.
Mr. BROOKES having moved and Mr. J. R. TAY-
LOR having seconded a vote of thanks to the
Chairman, and cheers having been given for Mr.
Bright, Mr. Gladstone, and Mr. Beales, the meet-
ing was declared to be at an end, and in a few
minutes the various processions, with banners and
bands of music at their heal, were on their way to
their respective quarters.

On the part of the authorities all display of force
was avoided, and the people attending the meeting
were left entirely to themselves. Two occurrences
only were reported in connection with it. Air. G.
Hunter Mantle, in the act of marshalling the pro-
cession of the Clerkenwell branch, had his attention
directed by a pull at his watch-chain, and a youth
named Frederick Crockwell was captured as the de-
linquent. Henry Johnson, aged 17, was made
prisoner inside the hall, and charged with stealing a
silver watch, the property of Thomas Cooper. The
loss of another watch, value £5O, was reported as
having occurred immediately outside the Agricul-
tural-hall, but in this case the thief was not dis-
covered.

DEMONSTRATION IN VICTORIA PARK.
When the Council of the Reform League decided
some few days ago upon holding a reform meeting in
Hyde-park last evening, a meeting of a similar cha-
racter was then determined upon in Victoria-park.
The intended gathering in Hyde-park being based
upon a misapprehension which had arisen at an in-
terview between a deputation of the League and the
Home Secretary was abandoned as soon as the mis-
take was discovered, and at a subsequent meeting
of the Council of the League it was determined to
hold a grand demonstration at the Agricultural-hall,
and to request the chief movers in the Victoria-
park meeting to sacrifice their own particular as-
sembly for the general benefit. The Tower Ham-
lets Reformers, however, were determined to assert
their right to meeting in the park, and the League
would seem to have reconciled itself to circum-
stances, and, like the Government, if compelled to
refrain from giving actual assent to the proceedings,
to have abstained from any decided opposition.
Throughout Sunday afternoon and evening men were
busily engaged in distributing bills, informing the
public that the meeting appointed for the following
evening would be persisted in, and large bills an-
nouncing the same facts were posted throughout
the neighbourhood. The meeting was to have been
held near the orchestra in the second park at seven
o'clock, and as the afternoon passed away it became
evident that there was very little chance of the
business of the evening being interfered with. Not
a policeman was to be seen near the spot, and partly
perhaps owing to this circumstance, and partly pos-
sibly arising from the counter-attraction at the
Agricultural-hall, there was a total absence of any-
thing like excitement. Soon after seven the pro-
moters of the meeting arrived on the waggon and
asticoni
met with an uproarious and somewhat en
reception. They at once adjourned to the platform
from which the band is accustomed to
.play, and the
eedi
space immediately round was sp ly d.
The number of those present ranged perhaps from
2,500 to 4,000, and though there were, as might be
expected, many boys and youths among the crowd,
the assembly appeared to be almost exclusively
composed of the working classes. The working
men Lad been invited to come in their " thousands,"
and to show that it was possible for them to
preserve order, and it is certain that they were
better able to fulfil the latter injunction than the
former. Indeed, a powerful speaker could have
made himself heard by all present if silence hadonly
been preserved, but as there was no such powerful
speaker among those who delivered addresses the
usual result followed. Those immediately within
the range of the speaker's voice listened attentively
enough ; those in the immediate neighbourhood
cheered anything and everything indiscriminately,
and the remainder occupied themselves in laughing,
talking, pushing, and, occasionally, quarrelling.
Mr. DAVIS, who was selected by acclamation as