ebe Metropolis.
The revision of the City of London electoral lists commenced yesterday ; but little progress was made. As regards the Liverymen, the claims of the Reformers arc GU, objections 130; claims of the Tories 100, objections :;40.
Mr. Falconer and Mr. Keene have been appointed to revise the electoral registers of Finsbury and the Tower Hamlets.
Mr. Hume has sent a letter to the Morning Chronicle, complaining that an objection has been served upon him as an elector for Maryle. bone. He has been a householder of Marylebone for thirty years, and is rated at 2751. a year ; yet, should he be out of London, and unable to attend the Registration Court, his vote may be struck off. It ap- pears that every known Liberal in the parish has been objected to by the agents of the Conservative Association ; and the reason or the excuse for this vexatious proceeding is, that the parish-officers, who are Liberals, have refused to allow the Tories an opportunity of in- specting the pull-books, though threatened with legal proceedings to compel the production of the books.
About 150 Liberals of Chelsea, Kensington,Brompton, and Fulham, dined together on Thursday, at the Stag Tavern, Fulham Road, with the intention of setting on foot a society for the Registration of voters in that district. Mr. Warburton, the chairman, enlarged on the ne- cessity of attending to the registration ; adverting to the exertions of the Tories in this work, and to what he had himself done as an indi. vidual-
Ire held in his hand a printed circular of the Conservative Middlesex Registration Association, dated December 18:36; and it contained some intelli- gences which should not be lost sight of. It would appear from it that the Assoeiation had existed then fur two years; and that the exertions of the Association had been such during that period, that they expected at the last Middlesex election to have a majority for the Tories of 1,179 votes. They never obtained any such majority ; but they had been strenuously exerting themselves in creating fictitious votes, and it was certain they obtained their majority in consequence of their exertions in the Registration Courts. The Tory chief had declared to his party that the battle was to be fought before the Registration Courts. Were the Reformers, then, to sit idle? He could tell them, that if they did not exert themselves before the Registration Courts, and if they trusted to the exertions of committees during the elections, they would find that the exertions of the committees would go for nothing under such
circumstances. The Tory circular to which he had alluded, said the Tories had a majority in Middlesex of 160 in the new claims this year, and that as they expected the Overseers' objections would tell the same way, that is to sat', the Tory way, they expected to have a in:laity of .100 in the new votes. It would appear the Reformers had to con- tend agfinst coueealed Conservatives in the Overseers. He saw nothing in the last Middlesex election to make them despair, if they would exert themselves. He bad himself put in action an office for receiving objections to Conservative claims, and for drawing them up in a regular form. Ile bad put that office under the direction of Mr. Austen, and he had given him out of his own pocket 2001. to enable that gentleman to carry it on. He established this office hint- self, at his own expense, at the time of the late election, when he saw that in the excited state of their minds an appeal could not be made to the public, and that somebody must come forward as a chief. He could say that Mr. Austen had done a great deal at the last election.
The expense of fighting the Tories throughout the county would be 5001. per annum— He had already engaged an agent for the purpose of going round the county with the Revising Barristers, and he hoped the expense of that agent would not be allowed to fall all upon himself. To this Association Mr. Bung had pro- mised to subsciihe. Mr. Whitbread had also promised. lie had sent a cir- cular to several of the friends of Reform, and amongst others to a gentleman at Brentford ; who said in his answer that he had seen the Liberals of his neigh- bourhood, and they had already subscribed 171., and that he had a confident ex- pectation of collecting the full proportion of subscriptions which Brentford should furnish.
Mr. Warburton gave the health of Messrs. Byng and Hume. Mr. Hume in reply, promised, that though he now sat for Kilkenny instead of Middlesex, there should be no abatement of his exertions in the cause of Reform. He had sometimes, with other Liberal Members, been disagreeably placed, from the necessity of yielding to circum- stances.--The Liberal Members were frequently obliged to withhold opposition, lest they should oust the Ministry and admit their deadly foes. Some Radicals, who were formerly amongst his most ardent friends, bail refused to vote for hint since ; but he bail done what was the best in practice. The course should be to take the step that was practicable, which was a step to something more, and not to force the whole of their principles to the danger of ousting the men now in power, and who had good intentions, and of seeing them replaced by the deadly foes of Reform. Now was the time for prudence, care, and firmness, when the parties in the state were so close.
Mr. Warburton proposed " her Majesty's Ministers." Dr. Beau- mont warmly declared that he could not drink that toast.
The health of Mr. Hawes and the Metropolitan Representatives was received with applause.
Mr. Hawes said, lie regretted the course taken by Ministers on some occasions—
He, however, was not insensible to what tl ey had done, and cave theta
credit for honour and integrity. He was not without Lope that the Ballot would now be conceded by Ministers; for it had been lately stated that it en- tered into the conception of the framers of the Reform Act. The framers of that act were generally supposed to be Conservative R.:formers, and yet the Ballot and Household Suffrage had been introduced into their origind bill. The People hail now a right to tie them to their original declaration: ; and would so tie them if they only exhibited throughout the country the spirit which war manifested here this day.
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