The Sun.
London, England, 1857-03-28 00:00:00

TOWER HAMLETS.

Sir W. CLAY said that no language which he
could command could express the gratitude he felt
to the electors of the Tower famle.s for the confi-
dence which they had so long reposed in him. He
assured them, distinctly, that there were very few
divisions of any importance, in any session of this
Parliament, from which he bad been absent. As
far as ho knew, he had not peen absent from auy
division of importance ; there was rarely an even-
ing that he was absent from the house ; and
nothing could be more fallacious than to esti-
mate the extent of a man's Parliamentary
labour by the number of times he was present at di-
visions. foliated mere eye-service, lounging about
the lobbies, and then rushing in to the divisionwhen
the bell rang, as some gentlemen did who had the
fear of Mr. Hayter before their eyes. (Laughter.)
Such gentlemen, of course, never missed a division.
But he wished to vote as" his conscience dictated,
and as the interests of his constituents could best
be served, So oomplete a disdain kid be to get

popularity by means of mere eye service, that he
had often been in the library of the house when a
walk of ten yards itroUld have taken him to the di-
vision ; but he had declined to do so if it were a
division on some private bill, or some matter un-
important—he disdained so cheap a means of
popularity es that. The hon. baronet then ad-
verted to the China debate, and described the dis-
cuslion al t':dious and the div sionas unsatisfactory.
Consider ttions of State policy degenerated into a
mere squabble amongst the lawyers, who made a
regular field-day of it. The gentlemen of the long
robe entered into theminutedetailsof international
laws, of the Navigation Laws, and quoted Puffen-
dorff till the very air around was—(the conclusion
of the sentence was lost in the 14ughter and cheers
with which it was greeted.) • He often thought
during the dreary nights of that debate of some
verses he had read, and which, as they were very
wit.y and very short, he would read them :
Mister Leach
Made &speech
Impressive, clear, and—wrong;
Mister Hart,
• On t'othor part,
Was tedious, dull, and long.
Mr. Parker
Male that darker,
Which was thrk enough without;
Mr. Bell
Sp Ara• so well,
The Chancellor said—l doubt.
—(Loud laughter and cheers.) The effect of hear-
ieg so many lawyers was that a great many raem-
151i1S-01—the house came-to-think that they aver, in
the position of jurymen, to give a vote " aye" or
"no ;" and be stw that some eminent members of
the house had said as much to their constituents.
But the fact was that nothing could be so dissimi-
lar as the duties of jurymen and legislators. The
jurymen was on oath to say aye or no, and that ir-
respective of the ultimate results ; btst the member
of the Home of Commons ought to give no vote
without fully considering all the ultimate results
which might flow from that vote. The member of

the Hous; of Commons was not to content himself
with considering the mere words of a motion, but
he must consider what the consequences of that
motion would be. It was his opinion that the
tendency of this motion was a dangerous
that it would render more difficult the settlement
of the Chines, contest, which no one could regret
more deeply than he did. He would vote for
Palmerston and progressive reform—(oh, oh, and
cheers)—but, as the Irishman said, he would not
follow any Minister who stood still. (Loud cheers.)
He had, however, a grudge against Lord Palmerston
not as a man, but as a Minister, because he had not
given him fair play for a second reading of his bill on
the Church-rates. (A voice—" Why you didn't
want it read a second time.") Sir William dented
tills imputation indignantly, and said that he was for
the ballof-, for shortening the duration of Parlia-
_ _

ments, and for an extension of the suffrage. It would
be recollected that it was he who had carried the

largest extension of the suffrage which had taken
place since the Reform Bill. (Cheers.) He con-
cluded by appealing to the meeting as to whether
he ihad or bad not discharged his duty to the satis-
. .

'action of his constituents, and sat down amidst

[oud cheers and great uproa-r.

MARYLEBONE.

BIT BENJAMIN HALL, in returning thanks for, his
re-election yesterday, sad—Twenty years have
elapsed since I first had the honour of appearing on
these hustings to ask your suffrages in electing me
a member to serve you iu Pardainent • during that
1 ,ng period six elections have taken dace, and this
is the seventh time I appear before you to thank
you for the compliment you have paid m', and to
assure you that my services shall be always at your
disposal. My. friend Mr. Bell said, that a man
who represents a constituency, and especially a
large one like that I have the hon Our to repreLent,
must fail in pleasing everybody in his course of con-
duct. Now, lam quite sure that if I endeavoured
please everybody I should please nobody, and
lose my seat in Parliament; and, therefore, the
only course I have pursued is to consult my own
judgment, having before me always the interests of
con-
duct.

the country and the_ public at large, to guide and
direct my conduct: In giving my votes in the
House of Com,u2l,ns, I have no doubt there may be
some c1..7,12 which. At rt.. 43.-,,1, 1.1..1. ..p0,4,,,,,,....,..4,
may appe,r unpopular, but I am quite award that
a time and opportuuity will always be afforded mo
to give an explanation, and I have never shrank
fl om doing so, either' at public meetings or on these
hustings. (Hear, hear.)
A VOICE—.Whit about Roebuck's motion ? ,

Sir B. HALL continued—You ask me -that ques-
tion, and I shall not fail to answer it. I voted
against Mr. Roebuck's motion, and I would do so
to-morrow again, if brought forward, and I'll tell
you why, and show you good reasons why I did to.
At that very moment it was generally believed that,
on the very day the motion came on, Lord Palmer-
ston° was about to resume the reins of office as War
Minister, and I believe that if the noble lord had
hal the management of the various matters which
then required a bold and skilful: hand, he would
have placed thorn in a better condition than
the long deliberations of a committee. (Cries
of " No, no.") You may say, " No, no," but
I'll give you an answer. Lord Palmerston was not
at that time appointed Secretary at War, but First
Minister of the Crown. The committee was ap-
pointed to sit and delib?rate on the subject ; but
while it sat and deliberated for months and months,
and made a report from which no tangible result
ensued, Lard Palmerston set the whole army in
motion ; and from the first moment he dire3ted the
affairs of that army in the Crimea, there wa3 not a
man would dare to say—because it would be a false-
hood if he did so—that the affairs of that army were
not improved. (Cheers.)
A VOICE. —lt was all done for him.

Sir B. HALL.—WeII, then, that is an answer to

the question. I will now touch on a subjeot to
which I am very much attiched, and which I en-
deavoured to carry out to the best of my ability,
and that is, a further reform in the representation
of the people. (Hear, he +r.)
A VOICE.—What about Locke King's motion ?

Sir B. HALL.—It was said by my noble friend at
the head of the Government that, in the then state
of the session, with the. almost absolute certainly
of a dissolution, which has since taken place and
showed that he was no false prophet, that it was
impossible to pass any nteisure on such a subject.
But I did not vote against it, nor do I believe any
a !ministration can stand unless they introduce a
measure on the subject. (Cheers.) I believe it
will be necessary to bring forward such a measure,
and I think you have a guarantee given you that it
will be done. (Cries of " No, no.")
A VOlCE.—tihera is it ?

Sir B. HALL.—Have you read he address of
Lord Palmerston to the electors of Tiverton—have
you read the concluding paragraph of that address ?
A VOICE.—I cannot read. (Laughter, in which
the right hon. baronet heartily joined.)
Sir B. HALL coitinued.—l am sorry your learning
does not extend so far as that—(a laugh)—but lam
happy to find that in this extensive assembly there
is only one person placed in such a predicament.
(Laughter.) If ever there was anything plain or
intelligible to a man's understanding it is that last
paragraph of my noble friend's address and I am sorry
that gentlem in has not the capacity to understand it.
(Laughter.) Well, is there anything else you wlsh
to know ? (Cheers and laughter.) I take all these
things in good humour—(hear, hear)—for I am
used to that sort of thing. (Hear, hear.) I have
been here seven times, and three times in other
places, and the interruptions I receive only put me
into good humour. We have all met here in the
best and most friendly spirit, and as my worthy
friend, who could not understand the passage in
my noble friend's address, looks offended, I am
sorry for it, and can only say I did not intend it.
(Laughter.) I shall go back to Parliament deeply
grateful for the honour you have again conferred
on me. I was here in 1854, when, at the desire of
my noble friend, I took office, and became Presi-
dent of the Board of Health, and I ask you, who
watched my career during the awful time of cholera
which then existed in the metropolis, if I have not
done my duty, and if I shrunk for a moment from
a fear of contamination, or of being struck down
by that dreadful disease ? (Cheers.) I declare to
you that during that period I witnessed scenes
which no man will, I hope, ever see again, and few
could contemplate without a shudder. (Cheers.)
Well, in consequence of having performed my
duties to the satisfaction of the public, I
in a higher office, and I again say that while 1 have
lc was placed
done so I have carried out the principles
nistrative reform not in theofy, but in practice.
(Hear, hear.) No man can find fault with the
manner in which I exercised my duty. (Cheers')
I. thank you sincerely on my own individu,alac-
of admi-
count, and as a member of Lord Pdlnierston. Go-
vernment, for I represent 100,000 peopleb andf
22,000 electors, and that very fact, as nobf
.er
this borough, will give strength
who desires to bring forward those measures. which
0 to my e nen! ,
which will conduce to the welfare and
prosperity
are necessary for the benefit of the public, and
of the country. (Loud cheers.