The electors of Finsbury met on Tuesday evening, at the
White Conduit House Tavern, Pentonville. Mr. W. Nicholson was ap- 'Tinted chairman ; and in his opening speech ridiculed " the Ellen- boroughs, Aiaryboroughs, and all the other scions of old Rottenbarough." A letter was read from Sergeant Spankie, declining an invitation which had been sent him to attend the meeting. The learned gentle- man transmitted a copy of his letter to the electors, published in the Times, by way of a "general answer" to the invitation ; and added, that he had received, not only from every part of the borough, but se.nerally, expressions of approbation of the sentiments contained in the letter. He concluded as follows-
" ts it possible that you and the promoters of this meeting can so far deceive your- selves as to imagine that the public can be inditred to accept any resolutions of a ine..ting at %V lute Conduit lionise, at six o'clock in the evening of the 2d of December, s2te sense or !lie borough of Finsbury, containing a population of 2.30.0tO inhabitants. aa I comprehending so much property. resit:et:Odin y. and intelligence? It is my duty tt, my constituents to rescue them, by every exertion in my power, from the suspicion It ii parties to proceetlines oboist to b taken in their name."
Much hissing and groaning attended the reading of this letter : some proposed that it should be burnt, but it was more wisely resolved to keep it for use at the next election.
Letters from Mr. Hume and Mr. Duneombe were read, promising attendance. Mr. Duneombe was present at the beginning of the pro- ceedings ; Mr. Hume, who was obliged to attend another meeting, same in later in the evening. Mr. Duncombe, being loudly called for, dslivered the first speech : he was, as usual, spirited and straightforward. He commenced by saying- " As I have always been one of those who think too close a communion cannot he maintained between a representative and his constituents, it was with no common pleasure that I received an invitation to meet you here this day ; more particularly as I feet convinced that since the People of England honoured the Brunswick family by calling it to the throne of these realms, there never has )r.en a period when they were so imperatively called upon to express to the Monarch, plainly and openly, firmly and strongly, their opinions and their send seats, as at the present crisis. There has been a new doctrine promulgated within these few days, that the People of this country, in expressing their sentiments, are interfering with the prerogative of the Crown: at least so says the Lord Mayor; and so says Mr. Sergeant Spankie, in his address to the electors of Fins- leay ; in which address, by the way, the learned gentleman spares neither friend sor foe, colleague nor constituent, SO sweeping and so general is his censure. It it well known to you, that in a certain honourable profession you hear nothing but conflicting opinions, when a multitude of counsellors are gathered together. flow much easier is it, however, to have an unanimityof opinion, when the same counsel draws tip the case and gives the opinion, that counsel being retained for the Crown, and, as a matter of course, adverse to the People."
He alluded to the strange state the country was in for want of a re- Vonsible Government.
"The law says, that on the demise of the Crown — which God forbid — Oho's, pooh P and laughter)— Parliament shall assemble; bat I want to know, if Parliament did assemble, how could the Commons go en without one responsible adviser of the Crown being present ? The Pcople nitlit wat.t
mation respecting the colonies— who w:ts to give it ? shout foreign matters -- they must send to the Lords, or to Apeley Howie; about the state of the finances — who would furnish it ? and about many important matters, on not one of which could they obtain any thing to satisfy a lust and becoming anxiety. If . ever a l'rime Minister of this country deserved Impeachment, It Is the Duke of Wellington ; and this I shall declare in my place In Parliament. And what, forsooth, is the excuse for this state of things? They were told to wait, because the Queen had sent after a stray Tory Baronet, who was at that very moment, perhaps, feasting with the Pope at Rome; and so, to gratify Court caprice, the mighty interests of this great empire are thus to be kept in abeyance. I say, the People ?tight not for one instant to endure it. But when Sir Robert arrives, will tine Court be gratified by his consenting to accept office? I doubt it; I doubt it very much ; I doubt if they can form a Tory Ad- . ministration at all. Ile is not the tnan to be the mete puppet of another ; for I be he puppet Peel, or puppet any one else of the red taped gentry, he of the }fosse Guards—the Duke of Wellington—will pull the strings that work the Administration. And all this to gratify the Duke? It must not be—it shall
not be. No, gentlemen ; if the Reform Act is not to be a that best charter of our new-born liberties is not to be crushed under the iron heel of the Duke, or frittered away by the false play of the wily Sir Robert,—if we are to have an effectual change in the municipal institutione of the country,—if the Dissenters are to be released from the most galling and most degrading of all op- pressions, oppression of conscience,—if the restrictive and vexatious clauses of the Reform Bill are to be repealed,—if the Pension-list is to be pitrified,—if flogging in the Army is to be done away with,—if impressment in the Navy is no longer to degrade us as a nation,—if the duration of Parliaments is to be shortened,—if the vote by Ballot is to be conceded,—if these things are to be— and you deserve them not if you will not struggle for them—but, if they are to be, then I call upon you, in one voice, and as one man, to declare with me eternal warfare, uncompromising hostility, with the banded leaguers—the Tore free- booters of England. I have watched their conduct closely, in and out of Parlia- ment. I know their vote', and so do you ; and of this he assured, that, though for a time they may cast their skin, their prowling propensities will still break out. They are unchanged, and they are unchangeable. When the human form shall become hideotts—a type of the grovelling animal, and not the emblem of 3 dignified and intellectual being--when Nature's face shall have changed—when summer's heat and winter's cold shall cease to affect—when the crocodile shall become the teablem of sincerity—then, and not till then, may you trust the Tories of England, or expect sound and honest Reform front a Cabinet formed of the Duke of Wellington or of any of those who pride, or affect to pride, themselves in being his friends and coadjutors."
Mr. Duncombe was enthusiastically cheered throughout this harangue.
Mr. Wakley told the meeting the best thing they could do would be to return him as Mr. Dunconibe's colleague. The People were desirous of peace and order, and were averse to the use of forcible means.
"I say (he continued) we do not wish these thinge; we hope they will not he forced on us. But it is said that the use of the arsenals has been threatened ; it is whispered that the Duke would not hesitate to plant cannon in our streets. I hope such things will not be; but if they must, why they most be, and wo on them that bring it about ; ffir let but one musket be fired in the quiet thorough- fares of this peaceful kingdom, mid in its pealing echo will be heard the funeral knell of every Tory in England." ( Great cheering.) Mr. Hume also addressed time meeting. The resolutions were to the same effect as those which were agreed to at the Westminster meeting. The subjoined is one of them- - That an extension of the Suffrage, Vote by Ballot. and a shortening of the (titration of Parliament, are ;tbsolutely necessary to secure to the People that voice in choosing their Representatives, and that infltience ot er their conduct wile(' chosen, which are the jest rights of Englishmen."
An address to the King, to be presented by Mr. Duncombe, was carried ; and the meeting quietly broke up.
Previous page
