The Sun.
London, England, 1832-06-18 00:00:00

LEEDS.

On Thursday the passing of the Reform Bill was cele-
brated at Leeds by the constitutional means of a substan-
tial dinner, on which occasion the new liberal candidates
for the borough, Mr. Macauley and Mr. John Marshall,
were formally introduced to the electors. The •Leeds
Mercury (besides a full report of the speeches delivered at
the dinner, but for which we have not room) gives the fol-
lowing account of the entertainment :
" For this entertainment all the available space in that
vast pile of building, the Coloured Cloth-hall, was set
apart, having been liberally granted for that purpose by
the trustees, who, as well as their constituents, are zealous
reformers. The upper room of that building, calculated
to dine, in one street, many hundred persons, was laid with
tables through its whole extent ; and, in,order that a much
greater number of the inhabitants might join in the patri-
otic festivity, it was determined to lay tables in the whole
of the area of the Cloth-hall, so as to accommodate up-
wards of 2,000 persons. The dinner consisted of true
old English fare, such, perhaps, (with the exception of
the plum-pudding and the wheaten bread) as was common
in the days of King John, six centuries ago—namely, roast
beef, plum-pudding, and good ale or porter. The dinner
was exactly the same in the upper room as in the area,
though the price in the former was 3s. and in the latter
only 2s. The unsettled state of the weather suggested the
propriety of covering the tables in the area with a canvass
awning, which was accordingly done. Several public-
spirited individuals furnished the materials for the tables
and canopy. Mr. Robert Pease, the raft• merchant, lent
the whole of the wood requisite for these large construc-
tions; Messrs. Marshall and Co. lent the canvass for the
awning; Messrs. Harrison and Singleton lent the poles to
sustain the awing; and several gentlemen, chiefly mem-
bers of the Leeds Association and Leeds Political Union,
devoted themselves, with the utmost zeal and assiduity, to
the management of this arduous awl magnificent under-
taking.

" The inhabitants, eager to partake in so joyous a ce-
lebration, bought up the tickets with avidity. About 700
tickets were taken for the upper room of the Hall, and
2,100 for the area ; a considerably larger number of thr
latter kind might have been sold, but the sale was neces-
sarily limited to what the space would accommodate
The principal manufacturers, machine-makers, and d)erb
of the town, finding that their men were earnestly desirous

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partaking in the celebration, most liberally presented
them with tickets.

" As it was impossible that the innkeepers who pro-
vided the dinner should find the requisite number of knives
,nd forks, plates, kc. for so great a multitude, each steward
provided these things for his own party, consisting of 12
persons. In order to obtain an entrance to the upper
room of the Hall, a window was taken out on the north-
,ide of the building, through which the company passed :
the admission to the area was, of course, through the gates.
On Friday morning, the whole of the preparations were
completed ; and so vast an array of tables, both in the
are s and the Hall, so abundantly loaded with excellent,
though plain, provisions, afforded an extremely interesting
spectacle, beyond comparison the finest of the kind ever
seen in this town.

" The morning of Friday was ushered in with the fir'ng
of cannon, and the ringing of the parish-church bells ;
and orange flags floated from many a house-top, from the
high chimneys of factories, and on the vessels in the river.
At twelve o'clock the shops in the town were closed, as
had previously been announced by the shopkeepers, in or-
der that the young men might enjoy the holydsy and fes-
tivity. The whole town, in fact, wore the air of a great
public rejoicing, in which all hearts sympathized."