The Sun.
London, England, 1859-04-15 00:00:00

MEETING OF SIR S. M. PETO'S FRIENDS,

Last evening a ♦ery large meeting of the inhabitants of
the•borough of Finsbury was held at the Freemasons'-hall,
for the purpose of hearing the political opinions of the hon.
baronet

ROGER CUNLIFIT Esq., presided ; and in the course of
a brief address said he would introduce Sir S. M. Peto as a
good commercial man, an honest man, and one who was
always accessible. (Hear, hear.)
Sir S. M. PETO then rose, and was received (as on his
entrance to the hall) with most enthusiastic plaudits. After
a few preliminary remarks, he said that since the dissolu-
tion had been announced he had been honoured with three
requisitions, two from the country, but the latter he had
declined, because he felt he was previously pledged to
this borough. (Hear, hear.) He would declare himself
to be an ardent and sincere reformer; and had he been in
the House of Commons on the Reform debate he
would have voted for Lord John Russell. (Loud cheers.)
While he did not wish to see the franchise in the counties
below £lO, he did not desire to disfranchise the existing
freehold voters. (Hear.) He had been asked whether he
would vote for manhood suffiage, but he felt there must be
a gauge, because we must have something indicating intelli-
gence. He condemned the Reform Association who had
thus questioned him and told him he was found wanting, and
thought no self-constituted body ought to have the power
to dictate to the candidate or voter. Any man who was
able to pay 2s. a week, or £5 a year, was, he thought, en-
titled to a vote. (Vehement cheering.) He believed if the
Chancellors of the Exchequer were chosen from some such
men as Mr. Baring or G. C. Glyn, more confidence would
be felt in them in matters of finance than in any fashion-
able novel writers. (Hear, hear.) With regard to our
foreign policy, all must feel that the affairs of Europe were
in a very critical state, and he thought one of the powerful
causes was the enormous standing army. He believed that
the policy of this country would be that of non-intervention.
(Hear.) He much deplored the present state of Italy, but
did not think there was so much liberty in France that that
country could attempt to export it to Italy. (Cheers.)
Having drawn an affecting picture of the sufferings in the
Crimea from the late war, and deprecating war generally,
although he was not a peace-at-any-price man, he said that
all knew that war tended to exhaust the exchequer, and how-
ever necessary what had been going on in Indid might have
been still it would produce a great pressure upon our funds.
Having expressed himself as willing to answer all questions
which might be intelligibly put to him, he sat down amidst
loud cheering. _ _

Mr. J. HOWARD WILLIAMS, of Bedford-row, moved,
and Mr. W. C. HUGHNAN, churchwarden of St. George the
Martyr, seconded, the following resolution :—" That having
heard the statement and explanation now made by Sir S.
M. Peto, this meeting is of opinion that the hon. baronet is
a fit and proper person to represent the borough of Fins-
bury in the ensuing Parliament."
Mr. SANDERS, of Bagnigge-wells-road, asked whether
the hon. baronet would vote for opening the British Museum
and Crystal Palace on Sundays ?
Sir S. M. PETO replied that he should feel it his duty at all
times to do everything in his power which would prevent
the desecration of the Sabbath—(tremendous cheers)—and
in answer to another elector, said the moment he found his
business affairs interfere with his Parliamentary duties,that
moment he would return the trust into their hands. (Hear,
hear.) He was prepared to remove the toll from every
bridge in the metropolis, as also to remove every turnpike
gate within 10 miles of the metropolis, but not by imposing
a ruinous rate upon the residents of those localities ; in-
stead of which he would prefer a rate upon the entire me-
tropolitan districts, or a tax on those who kept horses and
carriages.
The resolution was then put and carried, with only three
dissentients.

The Hon. Baronet having returned thanks,
The proceedings closed with thanks to the chairman.

THE FALKIRK BURGHS.

(BY BRITISH AND IRISH MAGNETIC TELEGRAPH.

The Glasgow Daily Bulletin of this morning announces
the retirement of Captain Hamilton from the field. Mr.
Merry, the other candidate, will, in all likelihood, be re-
turned without opposition.

THE LOSS OF TEE JASEUR.

ARRIVAL OF THE OFFICERS AND CREW.

The West India steamer La Plata, which arrived at
Southampton yesterday, had on board, we are glad to state,
the officers and crew of the unfortunate gunboat Jaseur.
The Jaseur was wrecked on the night of Feb. 26. She
had left Kingston, Jamaica, only the day before, and was
on her way to Central America (Greytown). Right in her
track lay the shoal of Baxo Nuevo, to avoid which a course
was shaped far to windward. But a powerful current in-
tefered, and in it the vessel was wrecked. Aware of their
vicinity a sharp look-out was kept, and breakers were re-
ported to leeward. It was a dark night, the wind blowing
fresh from the eastward, and the vessel was under sail
alone—no steam up. An attempt was instantly made to
tack off; the vessel came up head to wind, a heavy sea
struck her, which sent her back, and she filled very shortly
afterwards• Two out of three boats were swamped. One
alone got clear of the wreck, but the crew of this managed
to right the others. In the meantime the masts were cut
away, and a raft formed from the stumps. Daylight re-
vealed to those on board a precarious position. No land
was visible—nothing but rollers near and the sea beyond.
But the sight of the boats approaching cheered their.
Some preserved meats were saved, and the wreck was
abandoned full of water and breaking up. Some fifty
souls now found themselves packed between two boats, a
dingy, and a raft, while the sea was high and the breeze
freshening. They were surrounded by sharks ; their
fresh water was turned salt, and only four oars between
them all, together with the dingy's sails. A hard struggle
was maintained to keep afloat. Discipline remained perfect
from the first moment of danger, and the sailors behaved
as British sailors have always done in the hour of trial.
Two men unfortunately were drowned by the swamping
of the dingy; another turned delirious and jumped over-
board.
Seeing that the whole party were only drifting down to
be wrecked on other shoals, it was determined on the third
day, for the general safety, to separate, abandoning the
raft. The crowded boats were thus still further filled, but
the weather fortunately improved. The commander, with
twenty men in one boat, and the second master. with the
remainder, towing the dingy, soon, however, lost sight of
each other.
On the ith of March—after nine days' privation in a
tropical sun, existing on preserved meat juice (a spoonful
daily, unable to swallow the meat)—both parties struggling
with two oars only—each reached a place of safety.
The Island of Jamaica was passed the second
master's boat was picked up 300 miles from the wreck, sff
Cuba, by a trading schooner, and taken safely back to
Jamaica on the 16th of March. The commander fetched
some 90 miles to the westward, and landed at Port Santa
Cruz, and was conveyed also back to Jamaica on March
25, by a Spanish steamer sent round from Havannah.
The crew left Southampton yesterday by the 9 a.m.,
steamer for Portsmouth, to attend the court martial which
will be held on the officers for the loss of their ship. The
commander of the Jaseur, two days after the wreck, was
mad through horror and anxiety, and was with difficulty
prevented from jumping overboard. He was lashed down
to the bottom of the boat for three days, and a midshipman
took charge of the boat. At the end of that time he reco-
vered, and again took the command of the boat.
We have since been informed by the Admiralty that a
letter has been received at that office announcing that a
Spanish war steamer, the Don Juan de Austria, had arrived
at Jamaica with the missing portion of the crew of the
Jaseur. Of the whole crew only three have been lost—
, namely, one ordinary sailor, George Thomas, a white man,
and one Krooman, Pt. Thomson, by the capsizing of a boat,
and Wm. Gillespie, a native of Port Royal, who jumped
overboard, and was drowned.

DEATH OF LADY MORGAN.—This remarkable
lady died peacefully, after a few days' illness, on Wednes-
day evening, A trine o'clock, at her residence in Lowndes-
,.
street.