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

Reform Meeting in Southwark.

A meeting was held last night at the Bridge-
house Hotel, for the purpose of hearing addresses
from Mr. Locke, M.P., and Mr. Lay ard, M.P., on
Reform. The room was crowded, and the hon.
members were warmly cheered on making their ap-
pearance. Mr. A. Pocock presided, and first called
upon--

Mr. LOCKE, who expressed his disappointment at
the fate of the late Reform Bill, and condemned as
insidious and unmanly the vexatious and harass-
ing motions which at length necessitated the aban-
donment of the measure. He regretted also the re-
tirement of Lord Clarendon and of his excellent
colleague Mr. Layard from the Foreign-office in the
present critical state of Europe. He did not see
how the Tories could be ousted from their places
till next session, unless they signally committed
themselves, for possession was nine points of the
law; but men who had arrived at their time of life
were not likely to have improved since their former
tenure of office, and he believed they would be
turned out as soon as they were obliged to bring in
measures of any
importance. After eulogising the
late Government for their Irish policy, and espe-
cially for their Land Tenure Bill, Mr. Locke con-
cluded by advising Reformers to insist henceforth
on household suffrage, and thus to avoid all squab-
bling about rating and rental and niceties of that
description.

LAYARD, after premising that during the
eMr.
ofLord Palmerston a Reform Bill could
not, for various reasons into which it was unne-
cessary to enter, be brought forward with any pros-
pect of success, contended that Lord Russell would
have been unworthy of the confidence of the Liberal
party had he not, on assuming the headship of the
Government, attempted a settlement of the ques-
tion. He commended the introduction by the late
Premier of the Radical element into the Adminis-
tration, and denounced the " persecution " by
which he had been driven from office as unfair
and un-English. The attacks on that dis-
tinguished statesman had been most persistent and
malignant, for the very day he took office a great
leading journal misrepresented his whole career, and
endeavoured to hold him up to the contempt of the
country, the only reason being that he had intro-
duced friends of the working classes into his Go-
vernment and was about to bring forward a mea-
sure of Reform. After animadverting on the Adul-
lamites as likely to figure prominently in the annals
of political renegadism, he remarked that many of
them had recently sneaked out of the " cave," and
had stated that they would not have voted as they
had done had they thought the Government would
have gone out. The Conservatives were treating
Mr. Gladstone as they treated Canning, Sir R.
Peel, and every other great man who had espoused
the cause of the working classes, and the feeling
that prevailed against him in the House of Com-
mons could hardly be conceived. A gentleman of
some distinction on the Conservative side had re-
marked to him, " You don't know how we hate
Gladstone. We feel ready to cross over the floor
of the house and tear him to pieces." (A person in
the meeting here cried, " Name," but was obliged
by shouts of disapprobation to desist.) While cau-
tioning his auditors not to believe the exaggerated
statements of a hostile press as to Mr. Gladstone's
want of temper and pettishness, Mr. Layard admit-
ted that the right hon. gentleman had shown anger
and indignation at the tm-Engli4h manner in which