Star.
London, England, 1818-11-18 00:00:00

MEETING AT THE. CRdiVil AND ANCHa
TAVERN:

An extremely ctOlvded Meetlnk, convened by
public advertisement, and at which it was understood
that Sir FRANCIit BURDETT would take the Chair,
was held yesterday, for the purpose of so
who is a fit person to be put in nomination to supply,
the vacancy which has occurred in the repretentation
of Westminster.

At about dne O'clock Sir FRANCIS Boabert enter-'
ed the large roam of this Tavern, in which a vast
assemblage of persons were attending his an ival.—
Mr. 110BROUSE and qtr. Britica accompanied him,
and were received as well as the Honourable Baronet
himself with general acclamations. Mr. Novz had
taken his place. at the table a short time preciously,
amidst partial and ambiguous indications of the sen-
timents which prevailed respecting him.
Sir FRANCIS BURDETT having taken the chair, im-
mediately opened the business which constituted the
object of the meeting. The public advertisement
which had brought them together on this occasion
had, he observed, dearly explained that it was in
consequence of the recent loss which they bad 'sus-
tained, and the necessity of supplying it. He ham
been requested to take the chair, and now felt no
small degree of satisfaction in contemplating the nu•
merotis and respectable audience which had met is
assist in the consideration of this subject. The occa-
sion was undi;ubtedly most important, at the same
time that the circumstances which led to it, and
which could not be excluded from their minds, were
awful and distressing. Before; however, he proceed-
ed to commence the business of the day, be thought
it right to disclose the- cOnteuts of a letter which hi.
had received from a Gentleman who had .conside.
sable claims to their favotir ; and who would proba-
bly have been, in the event of his coming persouall;
forward, the object of their choice. The Gentleman
to whom he alluded was Mr. D. Kinnaird, who hat.:
withdrawn himself entirely from their consideration
as a candidate, by a statement which he.(the,Chair-,
man) was requested to communicate to them : and
in which Mr. Kinnaird regretted that engagemsnts,
which he felt to be binding on him, would prevent-
his attendance at this meeting, and deprive him of
the opportunity of paying his tribute of respect to.
the memory of their late representative, and of mix-
ing his own with the general grief. The letter went
on to say, that the writer was impressed with the
additional solemnity which so great a misfortune
must bestow on the duty that remained to be dis-
charged ; and that, as his name might probably be
mentioned, it was his earnest wish to have it made
known as early as possible, that his duties towards
the Citizens of Westminster tnust be limited, as here-
tofore, to the.character of an Elector. A-s, therefore,
resumed Sir Francis Burdett, this Gentleman had
placed himself out of the question, it was incumbent'
on them to consider what other person it might be
most advisable for them to nominate, in order to fill
up the vacancy left by the death of their late lament-
ed Representative. It would be improper for-him; in
the situation which he now held, to offer itny opinions
of his own, with regard to the personal qualifications
or merit of individuals. It was his duty to attend to
'all that might be offered by others; and to collect'
impartially the sense of the room upon every propo-
sition that should be submitted with reference to the
object of their meeting. It was not to be concealed
that they were in a state of some danger ; and of
danger arising from a circumstance somewhat sins
gular. The hrst difficulty which they had to sur-
mount was not a want, but a variety of choice. Five
,or six names had already been mentioned to him,
each of which he had reason to believe belonged to
a man of independent and unexceptionable character.
All appeared to him equally eligible ; all had \fre-
quently been before the public eye, and were, he had
not the shadow of a doubt, animated wi'li the same
spirit, prepared to answer the wishes of their consti-
tuents by faithfully discharging their ov..a duty.—
They must be cautious, therefore, lest the embarrass-
ment of-their wealth itself should turn tut to he the
source of their weakness—(loud applause,'. It might
be proper to remind them, that they incurred the
risk, amidst all this variety, of disunion amongst
themselves ; and that the probable consequlece of this
disunion would be, that some Government tool would
be forced upon them, to the lasting disgrace of West-
minster, and to the damping of that spirit, andsretard-
ing that progress of reform, for which they had so long,
and he hoped not ineffectually, contended—(applause).
With regard to their late Representative, he should
be sorry to break in upon the business of the day by
any attempt to excite or communicate those feelings
of sorrow which were already universal; and could
neither be heightened nor alleviated by his remarks ;
yet he still found it imposLible to pass over this op-
portunity of testifying atssonce his grief and his re-
spect. To them, the Electors of Westminster, as
h welas to the country at large, the loss which they
had sustained was the more unfortunate, inasmuch
as it was the loss of a man possessing the highest abi-
lities and the purest character, at the moment which
was best calculated to afford scope fur the free play
of his talents and integrity. Ile had been placed by
their suffrages in a situation which would have ena-
bled him to follow up his own enlightened schemes
for the public good,
.without yielding to the autho-
rity of inferior minds, or finding his great exertions
checked by the influence of party. Of this able and
deeply Lamented ccatiivtor he had been deprived,
under circurnstan,7e., and at a time when, although
for his own honour and credit with posterity, and
with reference to that measure of good which he had
Previously rendered to his country and to mankind,
he had lived long enough, vet, nevertheless, at a time
when, although his own glory was sufficiently esta-
blished, he had it in his power to be of more service
to the public than perhaps any other man.—(Ap-
plaure.) had died full of honours for himself,
leaving his 'countrymen filled with admiration and
regret, and a name behind him which never conld be
mentioned without a sigh.—(Akpiatue.) In disbur-
dening themselves, hewer, er, of uteir sense of this ca.
, lamity, so far as to undertake the discharge of the
duty which had devolved on thorn, it should stiil in.
duce them to regard, with a more scrutizing eye, the
claims of every one who might he proposed to fill up
so great a chasm. The public duty which bud de-
volved upon them all was of a serious nature, axs !
their honest endeavours to discharge it would afford
them the best consolation in the struggle which they

r zkl?

:e all things,‘he was

-desiritis of impressing on. neir minds what be had
touched upon at the outset of Lis address—tha: • Lei:
difficulty consisted not in the paucity of those who
were perfe.tly qualified to represent them, Ind might
probably be Submitted their choice; but in selecting
ore from many, all of whom were possessed of claims
equally satisfactory and indisputable. In the con-
duct of this selection it was that, unless they should
act with unanimity, and rally around one individual,
they would incur the hasard, if not the certainty, of
a defeat by the-influence of Government. (Applause.)
Such was his respect for the several individuals
whose name had been transmitted to him, that he
could sincerely declare his opinion to be, 'that if
those names were put in a balloting-box, the first that
might be drawn would be a very proper person to
serve as their Representative. But as some choice
must he exercised, their first care should be to pre-
serve unity amongst themselves. When one name
was adopted, he hoped they would all steadily ad-
here to it, and that the friends of liberty would not
again suffer themselves to be divided.—(Alplau4N)
Let them not enter into invidious comparisons of per•
sonar merit, or dispute about one man s supposed su•
periority over another, when all were equally good,
eligible, fit for their purpose, and attached to those
principles which it was the glory of Westminster to.
maintain. Their grand and paramount interest on
"this occaaon was to exbibit to the world a spirit of
unanimity, both with a view to the preservation of
their o n character, and in order to, prevent that
dreadful evil to which disunion would necessarily
lead—the debasement of their City, and the triumph
of a venal and cdrrupt Administration,(Loud ap-
' ".ppealing, therefore, -now to their Wu!-
. having so long trespassed on their atten-
moved that they should proceed to the Order

plauw.) Api
geocc, cor h.
tion; he moor
of the Day.
Mr. 1111110
'as. I,fta sick
he h:td only
fortunate vac
tiun through
sessed every
'and whose lo
.he present st
more able to 1
man he WAS
talent and elc
wo .Id have d
begged leave
—(Applause
they would s.
they heard th:
Mr. Turr.i