The Sun.
London, England, 1859-03-19 00:00:00

A SCENE IN EXETER-HALL.

A meeting was held on Wednesday in the Lower-
room, Exeter-hall, for the purpose of considering
the dangerous tendencies of the new Roman Catholic
Oaths Bill, and to frame petitions to Parliament
against it.

-JOHN BINGHAM, Esq., having been called to the
chair, in a brief speech introduced

The Rev. Mr. SITARTHY to move the following
resolution :
" That, as a bill has been laid before Parliament and read
a second time in the House of • Commons, intended to make
an encroachment on the securities contained in the act of
1829, for the maintenance and preservation of the Protes-
tant Government and religion of the country, by altering
the oath to be taken by Roman Catholic members of the
Legislature; it is the opinion of this meeting, that a petition
should be adopted to the House of Commons, deprecating
any change whatever in the said oath."

Mr. HARPER, in seconding the resolution, dwelt
at some length upon the encroaching tendency of
the measure upon Protestant rights. He said, let
the Pope trust to Austria and other nations, who
kept him in his position by their bayonets. Let
the King of Naples be ashamed of himself, and hold
down his head when he- heard the shouts with
which the exiles had been received upon the shores
of Ireland. He concluded by reading a copy of a
petition to be sent to Parliament.
A GENTLEMAN in the body of the hall here got
up, and said he begged to propose an amendment.
Before doing so, he would announce to them that
his name was Tresham Gregg, and that he was a
beneficed clergyman. He approved of the wording
of the resolution and petition-
Mr. HARPER—Mr. Chairman, I call to order.
Mr. Gregg says he has an amendment to propose,
and yet he says he approves of the resolution and
petition. Beware, gentlemen, of what Mr. Gregg
says, for he is a traitor to our cause.
A scene of great confusion here ensued, in which,
in the midst of shouting and hooting, Mr. Gregg
called upon the chairman to hear him, and protect
him from the attacks of Mr. Harper, and Mr.
Harper, in turn, called upon the chairman to order
the police, who by this time had entered the hall, to
turn Mr. Gregg out.
CHAIRMAN—Mr. Gregg, if you are not quiet the
police must turn
_you out.
Mr. GREGG-1 dare them to touch me.
CHAIRMAN—What for ?

MR. GREGG (who by this time had, along with
several other parties, mounted over the chairs and
reporters' table on to the platform)—l will make
them answerable to the laws of their country.
(Great uproar.)
The Rev. Mr. M'CARTUY—Dont't hear him; he
is treacherous to us. (Groans, hisses, and cheers.)
Mr. GREGG—Is not this too bad, to be charged
with falsehood and treachery ?
The CHAIRMAN then called upon the police to
remove Mr. Gregg, and they not complying with
his request, he said to that individual, " If you donot
sit down forthwith I will turn you out myself."
(Great uproar.)

Mr. GREGG—Then I will put the matter in my
attorney's hands.
The scene that here ensued beggars all descrip-
tion ; an uproarious audience in a " penny gaff"
could not have been worse. All further attempts
to hear anything more were fruitless. People were
struggl•ng to get on to the platform, the occupants
of which endeavoured to keep them off, and the
cheering, hooting, and hissing were carried on to
the very echo. At last the meeting, as the chair-
man said, was dissolved, or put an end to, in some
way or other, but how we do not know, as the re-
porters fortheir own safety had quitted the scene
of confusion.