The Sun.
London, England, 1816-11-30 00:00:00

COMMON BALL.

Yesterdnv R Common Hall was held, to take
consideration the distressed state of the
Cootttry, and consider of the remedy proper to be
and'of the expediency of Petitioning fur a
Retorut in Parliament.
The Loan MAYOR took the Chair at one o'clock,
and the holiness of the clay having been opened
by the reading of the Requisitions, &c.
Mr. Mt TCIIELL came forward to address the
Meeting. He stated it to be his opinion that a
IterSaari itt Parliament could alone supply an ade-
tiii,lie temetiv co the evils of which tic: country
hsti to cOmidaiii. Those really friendly to the
c tu-e were those' who cautioned the people to ab-
stain front acts of Violence, and he lamented that
tits errors of some individuals should have sub-
jseied some worthy men who were among its sin-
. cvrrs,.., friends„ to censure and suspicion. He
enlarged on tire natural advantages of the
country, autl on the superiority of Euglishmen in
at anti nutoulacteres. The present ge-
'' t-eratirm, he was conviectil, wOuld not be found
" ioterior to the last and those that hail preceded it:
If all the great Men in the country were to expire
in the course of the next tett mitmtes, Lc hail no
doubt that another sad men might be inonedi-
at ely found competent to supply their places, and
likely to do as much good for the nation as ever
they had done, and to hand do'.vn as fair act ex-
simple to posterity. Ile set forth the importance
of abstaining from all acts of violence, and denied
that any feeling hostile to the Crown existed
is
the hresits of those N% ho were really the friends
of IlefSkras. They were willing to 'render to
Cresar' the things thus were Caesar's, tliough
they would nut render him those ""tines" that
did not belong to into. • He then attacked the
conduct of the public plebs, and also that of the
Sineetirists, whom lie described, .froM the cirenm-
stance of their holding offices which brought them
in (ruin 20 t 0,30,0001. per annum at a time like
the present, to he dead in tresp.iSses awl sins. lie
concluded by moving a series if ResolittiOns de-
claratory of the distress of the Nation, of the ne-
e; %sit y of a Reform of Parliament, anti of the pro-
priety of again petitioning the Prince Regent on
this sniiiect.
Mr: Howe presented himself amidst the hisses
of After the villifyiog calumnies with
which the press had teemed against bins fur the
Lest fortnight, not to feel affected at presenting
himself on this occasion, before 163 fellot9
crtt
would indicate a want of feeling. He, hots.
e,er,.was ready not only to conic forward to sup-
port principles like those laid clown in the 'Reso-
lutions just submitted to them, but to die' for
• them if it were necessary.—(Applanse.)—All the
exsrtions of the Whole hireling. press could not
change his sentiments on these matters, nor effaCe
that whieh was engraves) on his heast.---,(Ap-
. planse.)--Ale wished for that reform which Wtiobl
bring the nation back to the Constitution. But
ssoine tidked of a moderate retorts. What would
be thotiglit of a Man Who was said to be mode-
- rattly bosie,t He must be ao•lioness man or
it
• rogue, and it he was not the former, it follotfed
of course that he'nuist be the latter. What would
ssonssiof thoseyeung Gentlemen now present, acid
whomere courting, think, it told that his sweets
lion was minlerately hottest ?—(Applause.)--
He saw by their rubbing their hands, that they
Woad lie ready to knock any one clown who
should, tell them this. %Vitra they felt with re•
'fleet to their swectharts, he felt when the
character of the Constitution was in question,
'and could be satisfied with no Reform, which
would not restore to the people that Cons
stitution which had been framed fur them by the
wisdom of their ancestors. A reform was neces-
sary to relieve the nation from the overwhelming
taxation which now pressed heavy ott its indus-
try. At present every thing was lased, and the
poorest persons in the community were forced to
pay to, the taxes. Been those -who wet ein the
Inns[ destitute situation, and compelled to feed on
the refuse of the dunghill, might, be said to con-
tribute to titbit, as less was thrOwn out for their
stotenance than would be, cast away noder other
circumstances. Notwithstanding the present state
of thiogii, he did not hesitate to say, he was of
tipinion ao refsrm would take. place if Iklinistels
could preveu! it. He was satisfied they, like the
former Government of France, would drive the
people to desperation, and subject the country to
the horrors of, ti bloody revolution, rather than
consent in titne to that reform which was renttir-
sol,.--(Applanse).—To-morrow the poldie would
be told Ow a. furious rnalan had stepped forward
to uirge the populace to biontkingl,,, slaughter,
and murder. Bat who, `he would' asts, lett! 'done
this to.day ? Ile had nut, nor did be ever.—(Ap-
plause).-11e was not afraid of standing to what he
said, ifswltat,fell from him were 'sot misrepresented.
—(Applause.)—ilis conduct at the last Common
II nil had given offence to some persons. He had
submitted •certain resautions to his lellow-eiti-
isns, to be approved ur rejected, as they thought
proper, and they were rejected. It was therefore
soplosed that he was put down., and one of the
men, as he %vent. out of the Flail with arr.
Gentleman snider his artn, had likien heard
14) tale. thins), D—ri him, we've
no,:e to'r liiset; he'll not come here egaiti." The
'tat., et of theltesnintions had heard this, and Ice
had ncen principally induced to take up his livery
in consequence of it, that be might have an op-
pOrtenity of coming . forward to state_ his semi.
'Neut.; so his fellow-citizens. He ridiculed the
cmoloct of certain political: opponents who had
been disposed to go out to fisticuffs. 'tie had
never thought f supporting his opinions by en.
g4iiiK in a fuming-thatch. He would tell those
who, were ppposcd.to him how. they might write
toiici dc)ww-,-14t
,tiletn_prnYe that be had ever ering.
ed to a great tnttu, or, oppressed OTOCK one, and
they would put him +twit at. once. ; Subscriptions
set afloat be,contended was a deceptive expedient,
pqd it adespiate.tothe existing evil, And noticed
the'sol..givcst by a worthy Alderman for, the re-
livfof the Spitallields district, as being,inticti less
thin might ivaye: been expected from him, after
tni profitai'Ae contracts which he had during the

tvar.
Mr. t/opTviN opolieJo tie general tii4tress
the emintry, hi)!J p,ropriety of seLliing for
114 VittJlMU Il[.
MI. , MAN mid aeret‘een a 1141.1 sa tbinly

attended no so important an occasion, and thottOt ,
had there not been some mismanagement on the
part of those who had called it, that it would at 1
such a time have 'been quite full. He and his
friends were disposed to exult when new men
came forward in the cause of Reform, and no
feelings' of envy or jealousy would' lead hint to
detract from the merit ot their exertions. It was,
however, worthy. of remark, that one of the pre-
ceding speaker* had, lately. at a public M'eeting in-
dulged in remarks on the conduct of certuia City
Orators, who dared not show IheintielVeS.bOt be-
fore their own myrinidoes. lie thought ti rather
singular, that the person who had recently cast
these base and infamous aspeseious on those who
attended Common Hells, should this day come
there to address them as his fellow citizens. yr-
midons meant, according to Johnson " rude
ruffians." Yet the person who had tilltlay af-
fected to espouse their cause, while resenting the,
application of the term " rabble" to the populace
out of doors, had had the unparalleled andaciiy so
call the Livery of the City of Loudon a btsnd of
" rude ruffilies."—(Applaese and hisses.)—lle
(Mr., Hunt) had decried all who had been most
active in the cause of the people. According to
him,`lte (Mr. Waitlonau) was solii,.the Hamp-
den Club was sold, and besides one individual
(Mr. Hum) there were but three persons really
favonrable to a Parliameetary Reform in all the
King's dominions. This was the sort of language
he had used, and that too at the very moment
when he was complaining of the abuse of the vile
press. He then explained his own ideas on the
subject of Retolll, and asserted that whatever
ridicule Mr.: limit might throw on " moderate
reform," the phrase had heel, used, and not in
deriiiuo, a hundred timea by Major Cartwright,
from whom he (Mr. lime) professed never to
dater. The person he bad meationed took upon
himself to attack all who did not agree exactly
with bins. lie (Mr. Waitheme) had been teemed
for not having addressed a Westminster Abet-
' ing. He had not gone to Pelaeesyard,
cause he thought they had talent enough there.
its his absence, and wanted pot the aid of his
loireble abilities. At the Middlesex Meeting lic
had been treated in the saute way, and at A thae
when he lay on a sick bed—" Where's Mr. Wait li-
mn ?" had tauntingly been asked ; and censured
tor absence, when he was unable to attend, was
the solace he hail Lreceived tram this friend to Re-
form. lie (Mr. W ) proceeded hi explain his rea-
sons for not going about like au itinerant pedler
with his wares to every meeting that might be
held. (Ju the sulject of the Resolutions before
the Court, he had to say be could not disagree
with the principle of them generally, but one of
the Resolutions lie contended involved an aban-
donment of the right to petition the Sovereign on
the throne.. Did they Wilth to give tip this right
which they had at the lae COltlinoll Hall declared
they week! never abandon (Cries of no, no !)
Then, lie would Milleteie, the petition they were
now called upon to vote would be a dead letter,
and that one er two Commou Hells would be
celled only to register a repetition of their former
declarat ism. lie concluded by proposieg that tile.
'Common Hall should go hand in hand with the
Common Council, and by this means their seeti-
melon might fluid their way to the Throne. lie
then moved a set of itesolutions, setting forth the
general distress, and the necessity of a Parlia-
ineutary Reform, which he described as doing all
that the others could do, and as being in various
respects more comprehensive, and better calculate
Jed to accomplish the object in view.
Mr. Ot.DHAst seconded the amendment.
Mr. atteverea, in proof of the extent of Cor-
ruption in Parliament, instanced the edmissiou of
Lord Castlereagh of a seat, having been sold, and
the House refusing to go into a Committee on the
fact. Was a man who could make such an avow-
al a fit person to have a seat in that House ? He
ought to have been taken by the collar and turned
Out of it. He would say, aflame Oh such men.
It. was time to have, a long pull, a strung pull,
acid s pull altogether. Alluding to the interfer-
ence ot Mr. limit, lie expressed Isis disapproval of
interlOpers. Too many cooks would spoil the
broth.—(Laughter.)
Mr. MITCUULL attempted to reply, but his voice
was drowned in hisses and clattiour. He repro-.
heeded Mr'. iVaithmen for professing to be glad
of new Comers, and then running them down.—
Ws to the amendment, it was like tiny thing but
the first Reaolntions, and attributed 01611 merely
to an effort of the Movel• to make 'two( the little
popularity he possessede--(Lond criei of Off, off !)
lie worth{ admit, however, that there was nothing
in the Amendment that he would not lend his
feeble eiforta to support, but he disliked such ger-
sonsities'vas they had been 'accompanied with,
which only tended•to create mitehief, schism, and
division, where all should be unetiiinity.—(liisses.)
Ilusercasee forward to explain, amidst a
mixture of laughter and applattaes. ' Heluid more
respect for the tune of-the Liverymen than to 'en-
ter into a defence of the persmin attack that had
been nettle upon him. He had been represented
to say what, he never littered, and the vilifying
triesallad.been the first columniat ors.,(Lond cries
ot false, false, yen did say so !)--eile never, Po
occasiva in hia life, sited t 1 single expression that
could be'construed into disrespect for the Lively
of,London. When he proposed to meet the Li-
very before, lie 'had been advised to recollect
'thee he could not come there to lead theM
by the nose ;:abey were a different sort of beast.--s
(Laughter.)—He never wished to take on himself
to way their judgment. What sort of consist-
ency was' it, for Cietitlemen to complain that the,
Hall was so thinly attended, and in the same
breath to regret that the doors had been bursted
open by people who had no right to attend
The 14entlemen who had called that Meeting had
no means of making their intentions public by
spending the money of the City. For his pert,
be hail never been a member of any of their CUM-
ilittces, and never wished to be. `the fact was,
there was a history of inquity in city politics
which he should some day or other have to ex-
kose.—(Lood bursts of laughter and clamours for
the question.)
Mr. HARVEY SRIO, the worst return that people
could make to those who interested themselves out
their behalf, was to attribute to them impure mu-
tires. if they did so, they,could not expect, au,,.
.
ought they tu'have auvocates. He' reerct-

ted that so few persons bad. assembled, but the
fact was, that as great pains had been taken to
prevent 'the Hail being numerous, as there had
been to bring it together. It was absurd for peo7
ple of the country or the city to urge complaints
against the Government, when they afforded the
tiovernment such evident proofs of their own in-
ternal dissensions. It was the bounden duty of
all who were possessed of the means, to appro-
priate some portion of what they had to relieve
the "general distress which was bearing down
all classes,- the poor to the grave, and the
middle orders to the state of the poor. He
severely reproached Mr. Hunt for calling on the
Worthy Alderman, whom he accused of haviitg
made two or three hundred 'thousand pfinntis by
the plunder of the public, to disgorge his ill-gotten
wealth. Such bold illiberality might be justly re-
torted by the Worthy Person attacked, by reply-
ing, " if you wish me to be robbed of my fortune,
I will not part with any of it, but will try to keep
it as lung as I can."—(Applause.)—lle repre-
hended the personalities throiwn out against Mr.
Waittiman, who had been the warm advocate, of
the public cause for the long period of twenty
years. He was sorry that this Gentleman should
have felt it necessary to come forward to defend
himself, as nothieg could tarnish his high re-
putation so much as his thinking that what
had been said deserved any reply on his part.'
He thought it incumbent on 3lr. Hunt, who
assumed a - public pant, to present something
like a practical and feasible system. Be' (Mr. FL)
ranked himself as a sincere advocate for Patlia-
mentary Reform ; but it was necessary to have a
general and unanimous co-operation; in order to
bring it about. Every, man in the Hall' had an
opportunity to lend his efforts to produce this ef-
fect, as a General Election was not far distant.—
When that event took place, they shotild Come to
the resolution to abjure all bribes that corrupt
candidates could offer them. He was inclined to
approve of the first Resolutions rather than the
Amendment, as being more tangible than the last,
and should ther:fore support them.
The Amended Resolutions were then put and
carried, and ordered to be publithed in the usual
Papers. . .
Thanks were voted to the. Lord 11,1ayoron
which his Lordship Cattle forward, and declared
,hisjendiness on all occasions to attend to the re
quisitions of the Livery for calling a Cowman
particularly when the object I,f the Meeting
was 'proposed to be to ingoire into the-causes of
public distress and the means of affording a re-
medy. He was received with much applause, and
.tbe Meeting then broke up;