The Sun.
London, England, 1835-08-07 00:00:00

ROCHESTER.

A meeting of the inhabitant—householders, freemen, and
eleetore Cf: Rochester, Chatham, Stroud, and their vicinities,
vy;.: held yesterday evening, at the City Repository, Roches-
ter, fortaking purpose of into consideration the propriety
or petitioning tag House of Lords in favour of the Municipal
CorporatlOi Reform a,.1.1 ; and, notwithstanding the short
notice (the meeting baying bee: called only on the previous
afternoon), and a trial on the part 017 :he enemy, who issued
placards, which were extensively eireulateo, stating that the
"
meeting wa.3 " unavoidably postponed till furthernotice , the
Repository, which is very large, was crowded to overi.'9wil%,
and among the assemblage we noticed some of the most ii:-
fluential membecs of the Corporation, and many gentlemen of
the town and neighbourhood. The meeting was called for
seven o'clock, but it was near eight before the chair was taken.
On the motion of Mr. PRENTIS,
Mr. Alderman THOMSON took the chair amidst loud cheers.
The CHAIRMAN opened the proceedings of the evening.
Mr. FISHER then rose to propose the first Resolution. He
had had au opportunity of meeting deputies from all parts of
the country, who had assembled for the purpose of consulting
upon the subject of Municipal Reform, and of aiding the Mi-
nister with their advice ; and lie could state that the Municipal
Reform Bill was generally, he might say universally, approved
by them.—(Cheers.) It was true that some little amendments
had been suggested, and these, when submitted to Lord John
Russell, were alwa‘ s courteously received, and, in some cases,
adopted.—( Hear, hear.) The deputies at that time thought
that the Bill was safe, and that little opposition would be of-
fered to it in the House of Lords—( Hear)—but it seemed
that they were deceived—( Cheers)—they did not know what
stuff Lords were made of.—( Loud cheering.) The fact was,
that Lords moved in a sphere where their minds were apt to
take a bias—(Hear, hear)—in short, they did not know what
the public opini,:n was.—( Cheers.) His ( Mr. Fisher's) opi-
nion was, that the 13;j1 was an honest, well-mentioned mea-
sure—( Hear, hear)—it Wag calculated to correct and prevent
abuses.—( Hear.) This was not e Bill of Pains and Penalties.
Hear, hear.) It deprived no mai; of his rights.— (Hear.)
He considered the Bill as second in impoklance to the Reform
Bill alone. He concluded by moving the first Resolution,
which was as follows :
" That we have hailed with delight and satisfaction the measure
recently introduced by his Majesty's Ministers for remedying the
abuses of Municipal Corporations, which has passed through the
House of Commons without a single division on its principle, and
which, in all its essential provisions, has received the sanction of a
decided majority of that House." •
Mr. EDWARD COTTON seconded the resolution, which was
then put from the Chair, and carried amidst loud acclamations.
Mr. STEVENS moved the next resolution, which was to the
following effect ;
" That we have learned with feelings of the utmost regret and
astonishment, the determination of the House of Lords to hear
evidence at their bar on behalf of the existing Corporations, deem-
ing, as we cannot but do, such determination equivalent to the in-
definite postponement, if not the entire rejection of the meanlre."
A greater or graver insult never had been offered to the people
of England, than had been offered them by the late proceed-
ings.--(Cheers.) They had allowed a man who was known
as one of the most bigotted of this or any other generation,
without restraint, and even with encouragement, to load the
supporters of this measure with every sort of contumely and
abuse.—(Cheers.) They had allowed him to call persons
who were in every respect his own superiors, Jacobins, Revo-
lutionists, Anarchists, and that not only without reprehension,
but even with applause.—(Cheers.) And who were tho
persons whom he thus abused? Who were the supporters
of the Municipal Reform Bill ? They were, in the first
place, the King--( Cries of " Hear, hear") ;—next the
Ministers of the Crown—( Cheers) ;—next a large majority
of the House of Commons—( Renewed cheers) ;—and not
only these, but last, not least, an overwhelming majority of
the people of the British empire.—( Prolonged cheers.)
And who had they on the other side? Who were the oppo-
nents of the Bill? About 300 Lords, spiritual and temporal.
—( Hear, hear, and cheers.) Which party ought, then, to
give way ? He for one would say, that at all events the people
should not.—( Hear, hear.) He hoped that they would show
that they would not allow themselves to be robbed of their
rights by a set of oligarchists, but that they were determined
in the words of the celebrated watch-word, which resounded
with such effect throughout the whole of England—that they
were determined to have " the Bill, the whole Bill, and
nothing but the Bill."—(Loud cheering.) He concluded by
reading the resolution.
Mr. DYKE seconded the resolution.
The resolution was then carried with loud acclamations.

.
Captain PUDNER proposed the next resolution; which was
that an address, founded on the above resolutions, should be
presented to the House of Lords, and that Lord Melbourne be
requested to present it.—( Loud cheering.)
Mr. RICHARD PRALL seconded the resolution, which was
unanimously agreed to.
A FREEMAN from the crowd then came forward, and stated
that he was himself a freeman, and had a son who was near
the age of twenty-one, but would willingly give up all his pri-
vileges if this Bill would pass, because he saw no reason why
his other three sons should be deprived of privileges which
were allowed to their elder brother.—( Loud cheers.)
Mr. PRENTIS then rose to propose the following resolution :
" That we feel it incumbent upon us, at the present crisis, to de-
clare our unabated and unflinching confidence in his Majesty's Mi-
nisters, and to express our anxious hope that they will not retreat
from the posts to which the voice of the country has called them,
but will steadily persevere in carrying into full effect those en-
lightened measures of Reform, which we believe to be alike essen-
tial to the good government and tranquillity of the empire."
Which was seconded by Mr. ELY, and passed amidst loud
cheering.
Thanks were then voted to the Chairman ; and after great
numbers had signed the petition, the meeting, which was a
most excellent and spirited one, quietly dispersed. The ex-
citement upon the subject wac very great. Every one speaks
in raptures of the conduct of Lord Melbourne.