20 DECEMBER 1834, Page 4

tbr Cattntrvs The Taunton Courier contains an account of a

very numerous meet. lag of the Reformers of West Somersetshire, held on Monday last, at the County Hall in Taunton. About three thousand persons were present. Resolutions pledging the meeting to every exertion in ordsr to secure the return of the Reformed Members, Messrs. Sandford and Kemyss Tynte, were passed by acclamation. Dr. Blake was in the chair ; but Sir Thomas Lethbridge took the lead in the proceedings of s the day. He stated that Messrs. Beadon and Berkeley Portman wera again actively exerting themselves in behalf of the Reformers ; and there was every reason to believe, as the vote's of their Members had

given great satisfaction, that they would both be again returned. 4 Captain Bunter delivered assery energetic speech-

" The menwho would now rule us stand in this situation—either tl.:v have no principle at all, or they are going to turn traitors to their prineipl,:, and act the dishonourable part of doing that which they 1

_lave incessantly

denounced. Were they in earnest when they opposed Reform, GI- a,;! they in earnest when they promise it now ? Are we to believe the Duke in Opposition, or the Duke in office? Can such men be trusted? Would it 114 he an eternal disgrace to our country, if such a spectacle of moral degrolati should be exhibited in our Government ? If they are Tories, the People will oppose them ; if they come under false colours, and profess Iteform for the sake of place, the high heart of the people of Britain will spurn much dishonour. Our duty is plain, we must return tried Reformers. It will be for you to de- cide whether you will be slaves or freemen ; and you cannot better show your opinion than by reelecting your present Liberal Members. Will you have Government for the good of the few, or one that seeks the welfare oldie many? I say to Mr. Tynte—Go back to Parliament; tell the Ministry that you sent the feelings of the men of Somerset ; that it is their firm resolve that :1) Minister shall rule them on Tory principles ; and that they will not permit th moral dignity and reputation of England to be sullied by enduring political pt 0- tligaey and dishonour in the highest officers of the State. Let the House c: Commons make such a declaration ; and then let these men, if they dare, turn apostates from their former principles for the sake of place."

Mr. Sandford is not at present in England, being on the Continent with Mrs. Sandford, who is an invalid ; but, Mr. Kemyss Tynte attended the meeting, and spoke with his usual spirit and independence of character.

" Gentlemen (he said), from our first connexion, I have invariably told ye that I was perfectly independent; that I considered my country to be my part,. and that I should stand by the broad principle of independency. Gentlemen, I have done so; I have pursued but one path, the path of duty, without looter: to the right or looking to the left. I have certainly generally supported Lur: Grey's Admistration ; and when I name him, I name him with the respect, ti veneration, and gratitude, that every real Reformer must feel towards that gre.t statesman, to whom we owe the Reform Bill. But, confiding as I generally in my Lord Grey's Government, yet on some occasions when stern duty c upon me to oppose some measures of that Administration, I shrunk not ti that duty, and ray vote was given as my conscience whispered me was right. Gentlemen, there were undoubtedly some errors in Lord Grey's Administration : and I consider the greatest to have been, an attempt that I will call by 1, harsher term than an amiable motive, a vain attempt, an attempt that 11:, proved vain, to conciliate an implacable enemy. The attempt only gave a de- gree of assurance and confidence in the Anti-Reforming party; and though collision between the two Houses of Parliament was averted, yet great evils cer- tainly arose from that attempt."

He then referred to the more Liberal character of Lord Melbourne's Cabinet, its consequent overthrow, and the attempt of the Tories to get up the cry of "reaction," and of "measures, not men."

"Reaction ! do they talk of reaction? do they say the People of Englat: sleep? If so, it is the sleep of the giant who will awake refreshed. .Gentle- men, we will support the Constitution in its purity, King, Lords, and Coot- mons. We want no inroads on valuable institutions, but we want ahusts reformed. Some gentlemen have spoken of " measures, not men." I say it is necessary to have Reformers as Ministers, that we may have abuses reformed. What said Mr. Canning ?. "Away with the cant of measures, not men ; you suppose it is the harness, and not the horses, that draw the chariot along? No, gentlemen, he assured that the men who have recently been called to power- who have opposed reformation for so many years--who opposed the Reform itself—be assured that they are not the men who will work out the benefits dirtt you expect from that bee which planted by Earl Grey would have borne fu and fair fruits under the fostering care of a Melbourne.",

After the meeting broke up, Committees for Taunton district and the Western Divisions of the county were organized.

On Wednesday evening, about eight hundred Members of the Buck- inghamshire Agricultural Association dined at the County Hall in Aylesbury. The Duke of Buckingham took the chair. The company consisted principally of the neighbouring Tory gentry, and their tenant. Among them were the Marquis of Chandos, Lord Boston, Sir Thomas Fremantle, Sir Harry Verney, Sir John Dashwood King, Sir Alex- ander Croke, Sir John Chetwode, Sir Robert Gunning, Colonel Ha- mer, Mr. Rickford, Mr. T. P. Williams, Mr. G. S. Harcourt, Mr. G. Lyall, and Mr. D'Israeli "the younger." Altogether, it seems to have been the best-attended Tory meeting that has occurred since de dismissal of the Whigs. The Duke of Buckiugham declared, that the meeting was no party, but still a political one. The speeches, the toasts, and the manner in which they were received, were, however, precisely such as must be expected from High Tories. The distressed state of the Agricultural interest was enlarged upon, and the measures of the last session for the relief of the landowners were sneered at by the speakers. The Marquis of Chandos alluded to the change of Ministers..

" I am more orless acquainted with the members that are to form the present Administration. They are men more or less dependent on the soil, and I look to them with confidence ' • and I hope that, being men who when out of office did support the British farmer, they will not now, when in office, desert him. I know that many difficulties have arisen, and many differences of opinion prevail, as to the mode in which relief is to be granted to the firmer. Many have very justly thought that the only relief that could be afforded them was the taking off of those taxes that pressed most heavily upon them, and some thought that they might be relieved by taking off the taxes that fell heavily upon their fellow- countrymen in the large towns. . . . I consider it my bounden, my unflinching duty, to pursue every means that may sway England's prosperity—that may make the farmers prosper and yield to them assistance ; and one of the best means I consider, is the repeal of the Malt-tax : for by its repeal we may have the unre- stricted use of corn, which would lead the farmers to brew—enable them to drink good beer, and all by their own fireside, and save the labourer from the contami- nation of the beer-shops. I hope, therefore, that the attention of hi a Majesty's present Government will without delay be directed towards this tax—that they will repeal the whole, or at least a part, of the Malt-tax. ( Cries tf " They must repeal the whole!") If we approach the Throne in a dutifil and respect- ful manner, I trust that the Ministers who are at present in power will reeollect the support the farmers gave them in times of trouble and uncertainty ; and that they will prove that recollection by now, in their turn, supporting the farmers. I, for one, will not answer for any man ; I will place no confidence in any bosom but my own ; and I think you may place some confidence in me, since, I believe I have never swerved from the principles I first advocated, nor deceived the confidence you reposed in Inc at the outset of my political life." Mr. D'Israeli professed himself dissatisfied with the exclusion of Lord Chandos from tke Cabinet— A few days ago, he had hoped for extensive relief from the present Adminia. tration ; but his hopes were greatly abated, when he saw that a distinguished individual there present—an individual remarkable for his honour, talent, and devotion to the country—be meant their noble Representative—was not taking the place every one expected he would take in the councils of hi a Sovereign. On that account alone, he, for one, filtered in his confidence in the present Ad ministration. The noble Marquis, in his speech that evening, hail delicately avoided the subject ; but he thought that the noble Marquis should have alluded to it, especially when a gentleman respected by the agriculturists, in the same manner as the noble Marquis, was called to the King's councils—he meant, of course, Sir Edward Knatchbull. Ought it to be to be said that there was any split in their ranks as it surely would be said, when the country saw that Sir Edwatd Knatchbull was called to the councils of the Sovereign, and the Mar- quia of Chandos excluded from them? He would be more explicit, and say that he was glad to see that the Cabinet was not as yet formed ; and he hoped that the delay was in expectation of the results of this great Aylesbury meet- ing. (Loud cheers.) He looked upon that meeting with feelings of delight— he might even say of admiration ; and they all might remember, that the only time he ever raised his voice within those walls, was to tell them that the way to be defeated was not to be organized. Ile told them then, that when a government was weak, it behoved society, in its own defence, to be strong. He felt that in an age when trades unions existed, it was necessary to have the pro- tection of agricultural associations. The best mode of obtaining relief for the agriculturists was by petitioning for a repeal, of the Malt-tax : not for a re- peal of the half of it—such a request should not proceed from them, but might perhaps be left to the suggestion of Mini-tees.

The company retired after having been emphatically blessed by the Duke of Buckingham. "My brother farmers," said his Grace, "God bless you all."

The Norwich Tories celebrated the anniversary of the election of Lord Stormont and Sir James Searlett, on the 12th, by dining together.

Lord Stormont and Mr. Robert Campbell Searlett were the chief orators. Mr. Scarlett announced himself as a candidate to succeed his father upon the expected elevation of the latter to the bench. His speech contains nothing remarkable. Lord Stormont was abusive in his language, especially when speaking of Lord Durham and Mr. Edward dulwer : the first he called "a political St. John Long," the second "a vulgar though clever pamphleteer." He also gave vent to the following characteristic passages, which we select as being in the true honest old Tory vein.

" Gentlemen, it has been said that the Administration about to be formed are going to introduce great and manifold reforms into the institutions of the

country. The peraons who have said so express only their own belief, and have

no authority for what they say. I avow, and I always like publicly to avow my sentiments ; for I entertain none of which I am ashamed, neither am I ashamed to confess myself wrong when it is proved so to my judgment. Gentle- men, I avow that I always had a violent dislike to the word Iteform—tlicre is much in a name, and I have strong feelings against that name I know that the Church of England has many enemies: the Roman Catholics, the Socinian, the Atheist, will attack it. I know also that she has many friends and many suppon ten % and I feel confident that the great majority of the people feel deep interest in her safety and welfare. I would bay, detect any fault, prove any abuse, and we will correct it. With these views I ant prepared to act towards the Church. I will uphold the institution itself, for the further exten- sion of that religion which she teaches—the Protestant religion as established by law. When I say this, lain not the professor of any bigotted opinion—I look not with any malicious feeling or with any distrust towards those persons who differ from me—I admit to the fullest extent the right of all to worship their Maker according to their own ideas; but II also believe that that state must fall in which its religion and politics are not intimately blended, and conse- quently I would always maintain the connexion in this country of Church and State. If I am prepared to correct abuses in the Church, 1 am also one of those who would die in her defence!"

The West Kent Tory dinner took place yesterday, at Maidstone. The reporters of the Morning Chronicle were expressly excluded by the Commi tee of management ; nevertheless, a report occupying two columns and a half appears in the Chronicle of this morning. The principal persons present were Lord Mahon (the Chairman,) Lord Winchil- sea, Lord Bexley, Lord Brecknock, Lord Farnborough, Lord Sydney, Lord Marsham, Lord Maidstone, Sir W. Geary, the Honourable Captain King ; and a number of military and clerical gentlemen. Lord Mahon, Lord Winchilsea, the Rev. J. Moore, and Mr. Berens, were the principal orators. The speeches appear to have been ex- ceedingly dull—except that of Mr. Moore, who triumphed mightly in the exaltation of his party, and that of the Honourable Captain Kling, a Naval officer, who declared the Navy to be ready to give assistance either in "resisting a foreign enemy or a domestic foe l"

The address to the King lately sent up by the Tory party from Poole, was intended as "a clear indication of a reaction." It will soon be ascertained what that reaction is. We, who know how the address was got up, should be surprised if it could show the slightest

reaction. A large proportion of the names attached to that address was composed of women and literally children. The women were made to sign their Christian name with the initial only; because if they bad written it at length, the trick would have been detected. These are the shifts to which the party is reduced to keep up any thing like a hope in their desperate circumstances.—Globe. Loyal addresses to his Majesty, in support of the royal prerogatlie—a the choice of Ministers, have been agreed to at Birmingham, Tam- worth, Rugely, Lymington, Christchurch, Bishop'sWaltham,Worcestzr, Wells, Havering, Handsworth, Liverpool, and a few other places; but in no instance yet has a fair public meeting been called by the Tories.