The Sun.
London, England, 1835-01-23 00:00:00

COURT OF COMMON COUNCIL.

Yesterday a Court was held. It was the firEt since
the election of the Common Councilmen, and it was one of
unusual interest. It was fully attended.
THE REFUSAL OF THE LORD MAYOR TO
CALL A COMMON HALL.

Upon the motion for placing the name of the Lord
Mayor upon the list of the City Lands Committee,
Mr. E. WILSON rose to object to the proposition. It
was, he said, extremely painful to him to be obliged to place
himself in so invidious a position, but he could not shrink
from his duty to the public upon an occasion on which
their interests were so deeply affected. He had written
a letter to the Lord Mayor on the preceding evening, of
which the following was a copy, so that it could not be
said that he had taken his Lordship by surprise :

" Guildhall, Jan. 21, 1835.

•° My Lord Mayor—Some time ago there appeared in the
newspapers a letter signed by several respectable gentlemen,
which contained a statement of their interview with you (pre-
vious to your election as Lord Mayor), and your dechrations
on that occasion ; and as it appeared that your refusal to call
a Common Hall was not in unison with the pledges therein
contained, I made inquiry of some of the gentlemen whose
names were attached to their letter referred to, and I found
that it was authentic.

" Your Lordship has in no way publicly noticed this letter,
nor the subsequent resolutions of several Ward meetings, where,
in very stronc, language, imputations of a violation of truth
were expressed. I have this evening, therefore, thought it
my duty, in support of the dignity of the office which you
hold, to express my intention of requiring of your Lordship
to-morrow, at the meeting of the Court of Common Council,
an explanation, and I shall do so when your name is proposed
on the Committee of City Lands, and in the event of my
not considering it satisfactory, some other Alderman will be
proposed.
" I regret exceedingly to have to undertake so painful a
task, but I do think it necessar7 that such an imputation
against the Chief Magistrate should not remain unnoticed, and
it will, I assure you, give no one a greater pleasure ban my-
self, to hear from you a most triumphant ansu er."
Mr. WILSON then gave a history of the transactions
which took place previously to the election of the Lori
Mayor as Chief Magistrate—of the demand of pledges
from his Lordship to call Common Councils and Com-
mon Halls, whenever his fellow-citizens should think pro-
per, to give public expression to their opinions—of his
Lordship's prompt consent to afford as many opportuni-
ties as might be thought by them necessary for such pur-
pose, and of the subsequent refusal of his Lord Ship to
call a Common Hall, although waited upon with a requisi-
tion from a number of most respectable citizens. He then
called the attention of the Court to the resolutions which

had been passed at the Wardmotes, reprobating the con-
duct of the Lord Mayor upon the occasion of the rejection
of the application of the Livery, and designating the con-
duct of his Lordship as altogether unworthy of a gentle-
man, instead of being an example to his fellow-citizens.
There might, Mr. Wilson observed, be an objection to no-
ticing resolutions published in the newspapers ; but he
knew that the matter was common talk—that it. was ad-
mitted upon all hands, in ordinary conversation, that the
Lord Mayor had been guilty of uttering a falsehood, and
he (Mr. Wilson) felt it to be his duty to bring the ques-
tion to issue, in accordance with the oath he had taken to
protect the rights and privileges of his fellow-citizens,
.which the conduct of the Lord Mayor was calculated to
injure.---(Cheers.) Mr. Wilson concluded by moving that
the name of Alderman Scholey be substituted in the place
of that of the Lord Mayor, in the list of the City Lands
Committee.
A MEMBER asked by what body Mr. Wilson bad been
deputed to bring forward the motion ?
Mr. WILSON said that he had never consulted any indi-
vidual upon taking the step, and he deprecated all idea of
political allusion. He should feel the utmost gratification
at hearing his Lordship justify the course that had been
givenpnrs to pursue'.,
the h
ancelhae, hoped that the answer which would be
-;:e would enable him to without the motion.
The Loan MAYOU paid he was accused by the Hon.
Gentletitati of having violaters his word to the gentlemen
with whom he hail had an interv,;:w previously to his
election to the Mayoralty. Now, he was perfectly sa-
tisfied that what he had dente was perfectly unison
rriili all that he bad promised.-4A laugh.) He had
told tile gentlettien who waited upon him, that he should
not hesitate to call Courts of Common Council and Corn-
mon Halls upon every legitimate and proper subject.
Surely the Court could' not suppose that he would con-
tient to compromise his right to judge of the legitimacy
and propriety Of th't matter on which he was to sanction
a meeting of either body,----( Hisses.) Suppose the meet-
ing should think proper to discuss petty treason, or se-
dition, was he to submit to such discussion ?—(Laughter.)
He 'emtld not consent to degrade the dignity of the office
he held by Welt a eourse ; and he was determined, when-
ever the prerogative of the King was called in question,
to refuse his sanction and authority_ to the discussion of
such matter. He was ready to grant Common Councils and
Common Halls upon, as he said before, legitimate oece3ions
—upon occasions of discussions upon public measures and
the conduct of public men ; but if he were to allow the pre-
rogative, which was the great means of upholding the privi-
leges of the citizens of London, to be called in question, he
should be guilty of a gross dereliction of duty. He had
cetne to this determination from his respect for the King
and for hi§ fellow-citizens.—(A laugh.) When the gentle-
men waited upon him they did not act with becoming can-
dour, for they stated_ that they came for one purpose, when
they really came for another.—(Loud cries of " No, no.")
He would insist upon it that such was the case, and he was
disgusted to think that they should come with a pretext
not at all agreeing with their professions.—(Confusion, and
loud cries of " No, no.") He was resolved not to be dic-
tated to. As to whether the Court would think proper to
put his name on the Committee or not, he did not at all
care—(Laughter)—he was Lord Mayor still, notwithstand-
ing.—(Great laughter and confusion.)
Mr. WILLIAMS, M.P. for Coventry, rose to second the
resolution. As one of those who had signed the requisi-
tion to the Lord Mayor, be rose to repel with indignation
and contempt the insinuation that the respectable men
who were his fellow-requisitionists were capable of petty
treason.—(cheers.) He (Mr. Williams) was a citizen of
London, as loyal as the person who had brought such a
charge, and all of those who signed the requisition were as
loyal.—(Cheers.) The Lord Mayor had said that, what-
ever the Court might do, he was still Lord Mayor. How
did his Lordship become Lord Mayor ?—(Loud cheers.)
His Lordship must know that there were objections to
his election—objections founded upon his notorious at-
tachment to Tory principles. --The gentlemen who waited
upon his-Lordship knew that the Tory principles of the
former Lord Mayor induced that individual to throw im-
pediments in the way of the promulgation of liberal opi-
nions ; and he (Mr. Williams) was led to oppose the elec-
tion of the present Lord Mayor in consequence of the ef-
fect of that bad example. But he .thought it fair to pro-
pose that if his Lordship should agree to call the required
meetings of the citizens, all objection should be abandoned.
What had the Lord Mayor said in reply to the application ?

as should be required of him by his fellow-citizens.—
(Cheers.) 'What then was to be thought of 6 man who,
after having made such a promise, turned about ao,'l imper-
tinently accused the gentlemen who signed the requisition
of petty treason ?—(Hear, hear, hear.) It mighi be
very pretty in the Lord Mayor to say that he Was
Lord Mayor, but he had become Chief Magistrate
upon the pledge which he had most daringly violated. Upon
the occasion of the discussion as to the propriety of elep
ing him, it was represented that, however destitute he mighf
be of moral feeling, he could not, as Lord Mayor, possibly
violate his promise so solemnly and emphatically given.
The LORD MAYOR—I never will violate my promise.
Mr. WILLIAMS said, that depending upon the assurances
so given, those who at first questioned the propriety of
such an election, abstained from opposition, and then his
Lordship sat upon the pledge of performing that which ho
had absolutely refused to accomplish, and without which
pledge he never would have obtained that seat which he
never he filled so much to the dissatisfaction of those by
whom he had been elevated. Mr. Williams expressed his
regret that he was obliged to speak in terms of such harsh-
ness of the Chief Magistrate, but the refusal of his Lord-
ship to perform his pledge, and the monstrous and
,t-,,round-
less charge against those who waived their objections to his
election, from such candid and honourable motives, obl;Jed
him to give utterance to his feelings.---(Hear.)
The LORD MAYOR—I wish it to be distinctly understood
that I did not mean to impute to the gentlemen who waited.
upon me, or to any person whatsoever, any intention to
commit any act of petty treason. I enly put the case hy-
pothetically. I meant that in the event, under any circum-
stances, that I should be presiding when a matter of petty
treason was discussed, I would not be justified in giving my
sanction, by my presence, on such an occasion.
Mr. WILLIAM PRITCHARD animadverted upon the con-
Atct of the Lord Mayor with a good deal of severity. He
denied that his Lordship had said one word in giving his
pledge to the deputation, about the legitimacy or illegiti-
macy of the objects 'which the requisitionists might have- in
view. He remembered that his Lordship, after having re-
fu,ed consent to the application of the requisitionists, said
that he did not think they would have asked any thing im-
proper or illegitimate.
The Loan MAYon—I was disappointed in that.—

(Great laughter.)
Mr. PUITCHARD said that his Lordship might make any
assertion he pleased, after having done that of which be

was now accused. The Court would know what value to
put upon them.
Mr. FRENCH said that he fully agreed in the condemna-
tion of the Lord Mayor's conduct.
The Loan MAYOR thought that nothing could be more

manly than the conduct of the gentleman who had just
added his censure to that of other members, as that gexitle-
man had declared that he (the Lord Mayor) had given no
pledge at all.---(Laughter.)
Mr. FRENCH—I deny it most positively. I never said

any thing of the kind.--{lncreased laughter.)
Mr. JUPP said that the Lord Mayor had not made any
charge of petty treason against any gentleman, and was ex-
culpated altogether in that respect.—(Cries of " Hear,
hear.") With respect to the question of depriving an Al-
derman of his right to serve as Lord Mayor, he thought. it
one which ought not to be decided upon political grounds.
The present was a political question, and he hoped would
be decided without prejudice to the civil rights of the Me-
gistracy.—( Hear, hear.)
Mr. WIRE said be hoped the Court would not be cleared
by the ingenious reasonings of his Hon. Friend who had
just sat down. This was not a question of party or of poli-
tics—there was nothing political in it. It was a question
of truth, of public integrity, and moral honesty, and upon
such grounds, and such grounds only, would he try it.
The evidence was before them, and if they were to consider
the matter as Jurymen, to what conclusion ought they to
come ? On 'the one side there was the solitary assertion of
the Lord Mayor—on the other, that of twelve gentlemen,
each of them, by their station of life and moral character,
as fully entitled to credit as the Lord Mayor. They said
that it had been proved that the Lord Mayor, previous to
his election to that high and distinguished office, gave a
pledge, voluntarily, unsought for on their part, that he
would call Common Halls and Courts of Common Council
whenever required to do so on a proper requisition. This
pledge was not, as the Lord Mayor asserted, a qualified pledge ;
it was not guarded by the limitations which he now, for the first

time, said it was. He ( Mr. W.) asked was this pledge fulfilled
either in its letter or spirit ? In neither. A requisition
properly worded, and respectably signed, had been presented
to his Lordship, and he had refused on that to call a Common
Hal', and as if to show that the violation of his word was
not sufficient, he is guilty of the grossest inconsistency.—
( Hear, hear.) And here it would be necessary that he
should travel back to the facts as they appeared before
them. A requisition was presented to his Lordship re-
questing him to call a Court of Common Council;—he ob-
jected to it (whether justly or not did not matter) on the
ground of certain words therein used. Another requisi-
tion was presented, divested of those objectionable words,
and his Lordship, after much hesitation, called the Court.
I' the requisition for the Common Hall was precisely

similar in sul;stance and words to that on which his Lord-

ship granted the Court of Common Council. So difficult

was it for men who have once swerved from the straightfor-
ward course of duty to preserve their consistency. But what
had been his Lordship's defence—what but a defence which
aggravated the character of the offence ? He says be did
not give the pledge-12 or 13 gentlemen say he did. He
says he did not give it in such unqualified terms as had

been stated—these gentlemen say be did. What! are we
to suppose that all these gentlemen, whose character, wealth
and station are well known—have entered into a base,

a foul conspiracy, to sully the character of the Lord Mayor
—to affix disgrace on the high and distinguished,office
he holds! Every feeling is against such a supposition, and
the very defence of the Lord Mayor proves it. lie says he
did not give the pledge—they say he did. He says (and
here again is inconsistency) that he did not give in in
unqualified terms—they say he did. Which' party ii to be
believed ?—one, or twelve ; one who had a motive for giv-
ing the pledge, or twelve who had none save the interests
of their fellow-citizens ? Mit," said hie Lordshipi- " I
exercised my discretion, and I refused to call the meeting,
because I, as the representative of the Crown, would not
allow any to discuss the King's prerogative." He (Mr.
W.) would ask whether the people have not a right to dis-
cuss the mode in which that prerogative is to be exercised
when it may affect the property, the tranquillity, and the
. .

. .
happiness of the nation ? That Court had, under big
Lordship's sanction, met and discussed the subject, and ad-
dressed the Crown, and his Lordship ought to know that it

was their privilege so to do, and his Lordship might have
been just as careful of the prerogative of the Crown, and
have preserved his own moral integrity, if he had called the
Common Hall, for he knew (or ought to know), as a Ma-
gistrate, that he possessed the power instantly to dissolve the
assembly if any thing of a treasonable nature had been said or
done. As he had before stated, this was not a political brparty

queStion ; it was of high and grave importance, as it concerned
the character of public men, and it became the • Court to
take this the first opportunity, and this the earliest occasion.
to denounce the conduct of the Lord Mayor as derogatory
to the office he held, and thus to afford to public' nxen an
example that nothing but high morai integrity and'publio
worth could deserve or obtain the confidence and esteem of
the wise and good. Those were not the men to be trusted
who set the rtunal decencies of life at defiance, and paid no

deference to the voice of their fellow-citizens.

Mr. BLEADEN put it to the Court whether, while gen-
tlemen were so anxious for the dignity of the city, the pu-
nishment for the violation of the pledge was the most judi-
ciously chosen—whether an exclusion from the City Lands
Committee was the exact sort of penalty which ought to be
pronounced, or whether it would not be more prudent to
wait for that season when the disapprobation of the Court
upon the misconduct of a Chief Magistiate was usually
manifested. That period would occur at the end of the
Mayoralty, and, in his opinion, that would be the right
time—( Loud cries of " No, no," and " Yes, yes!"), The
Lord Mayor might then have proper notice, and the
proceeding would certainly carry much more dignity

with it.
Mr. LAURENCE was altogether opposed to the project of
Mr. Bleaden, and said that Mr. Wilson's motion was the
most expressive way of manifesting the opinion of the
Court that his Lordship was unfit to be associated with the
Committees.—(Loud laughter.)
Mr. RICHARD TAYLOR wished that the 16th standing
order should be read. That order was meant for the cas-
tigation of all persons guilty of fraudulent or dishonest
practice.--( Loud laughter.) .
The LOW) MAYOR appealed to the Court whether:such
language was to be sanctioned by its members ?
Mr. TAYLOR said that he was not discussing about the
Lord Mayor, but merely wished the standing .order to be
read.
The 16th standing order was then read, and a great deal
of laughter was excited by the terms with which it com-
menced, for it denounced as unworthy to sit on Committees
all persons who were convicted of using light weights and
false measures fraudulently.
Sir PETER LAURIE said he rose to oppose Mr. Wilson's
motion. Nobody, he declared, could more deeply censure,
the conduct of the Lord Mayor on the occasion alluded to
than he did.—(Cheers.) It was the Lord Mayor's duty to
grant the Common Hall, and no part of the responsibility
as to the proceedings would have attached:to him Abe had
so done. The question here, however, was, whether the
Lord Mayor for the time being was to be excluded from
the Committee ? Now, he was bound to say that the maa