ciples, which have proved to be the best security for the civil and religious liberty of these Kingdoms.

"They therefore approach your Honourable House, humbly but earnestly praying that the Protestant Constitution of the United Kingdom may be preserved entire and inviolable."

The phraseology of this petition, from its moderate character, excited some surprise; and it was justly said, that no Protestant could object to the matter for which it ostensibly purported to pray. The compatibility of concession to the Catholics with the entirety and inviolability of the Protestant Church, has been always maintained, not only by the Protestant, but Catholic advocates of their claims. This subdued tone of the Petition gave distinct proof that the Clubbists calculated upon a strong opposition to any more forcible interference with the legislature. The object, however, of the Clubbists was obvious, and the Petition was resisted, not so much upon the ground of its containing any thing in itself very objectionable, as that the intent of the Petitioners themselves was avowed. A Mr. Plumtree seconded Mr. Gipps. It was said that he was a Calvinist, and he certainly had the aspect which we might suppose to have been worn by the founder of his religion, when he ordered Servetus to be consumed by a slow fire. He said nothing at all worth note. When Mr. Plumtree sat down, Lord Camden addressed the Sheriff. He occupied a peculiar station. Instead, as was observed in one of the Morning Papers, of taking his place upon the right side, and bringing up his tenants in a body, he came unattended, and selected a place upon the hustings near the Sheriff. He deprecated all kind of partizanship in the course which he took in the proceedings; and certainly his deportment and look indicated that it was with no other feeling than one of duty, and without any kind of struggle for superiority, that he had mingled in the contest. I do not know whether it was his office as Lord Lieutenant of the County that procured him a patient hearing from both sides, or whether before their passions were strongly excited, they forbore from offering an indignity to a person who from his age and rank derived a title to universal respect. He was the only person who was heard with scarcely any interruption. His speech was exceedingly well delivered, in a surprisingly clear, sonorous, and audible intonation. He condemned the conduct of the Catholics in the language of vehement vituperation, but at the same time pointed out the extreme violence with which their demands were resisted. The only circumstance in his speech worth recording is, that he mentioned his belief that some measure of concession was intended by Government. This attracted great attention, and it is difficult to conceive how a person, so prudent and so calm as Lord Camden manifestly is, would have intimated any belief of his upon the subject, unless there were some foundation on which something more substantial than a mere conjecture could be raised. Towards the end of his speech the Clubbists became exceedingly impatient, and one of them called him "an old Radical;" a term of which he protested that he was at a loss to discover the applicability, as he had never done any thing to please the Radicals. This, Mr. Hunt afterwards controverted, and insisted that he had done much to gratify the Radicals by giving up his sinecure-a panegyric which was well merited, and was most happily pronounced.

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Lord Darnley followed Lord Camden, but was received with loud and vehement hooting. This nobleman is considered to be very proud, without being arrogant, and to have as full consciousness of the dignity and rights of his order, as Lord Grey could charge any Whig disciple to entertain. He must have been deeply galled when he perceived that his rank and wealth were only turned into scoff, and when in the outset of his speech, a common boor cried out, "That there fellow is an Hirishman. Tim, put a potato down his throat, and choke his dd Hirish jaw." He was not deterred from going on by the howlings which surrounded him, and with far more intrepidity than I should have been disposed to give him credit for, he proceeded with his speech. He soon, however, received a blow, which wounded him much more than the potatoe proposition; for the moment he began to talk of his estate in Ireland (where he has a very large property,) several people cried out, Why don't you live on your estate, and be d d to you, and every other d- -d absentee!" This was a thrust which it was impossible to parry. Lord Darnley endeavoured to proceed; but the uproar became so terrible, that not a word which he uttered could be heard in the tumult. Whatever faults the Clubbists may have committed, any excessive deference to rank and wealth was not on this occasion, at least, among their defects; and, indeed, with the exception of Cobbett and Sheil, no man was listened to with more angry impatience than the noble Earl. After speaking for about twenty minutes, he sat down with evident marks of disappointment and personal mortification. On his resuming his place, with a determination, I should presume, never to expose himself to such an affront again, Lord Winchilsea and Mr. Sheil rose together. The competition for precedence into which the Irish demagogue was so audacious as to enter with the chief and captain of the Brunswickers, excited the fury of the latter. Mr. Sheil insisted, that as Lord Camden had, as was I believe the case, alluded to him, he had a right to vindicate himself, and there were many who surmised that his motive for presenting himself at this early stage of the proceedings was, that he had sent his speech to London to be printed; and he was heard to say, that he did not care whether the Brunswickers listened to him, provided his arguments were read. Whatever was his object, it was certainly not a little presumptuous in a stranger thus to enter the lists with an Earl, and to demand a prior audience. "I am an Irishman," said Mr. Sheil. "I'll be sworn you are," cried Cobbett: "you are such a d- -d impudent fellow." The party on the right endeavoured to support Mr. Sheil, and for a long time both Lord Winchilsea and that gentleman continued to speak together, amidst a confusion in which neither could be heard. At length the Sheriff interposed, and declared that Lord Winchilsea had first obtained his eye. That nobleman proceeded to deliver himself of a quantity of common-place against the Catholic religion, amidst the vehement plaudits of his own faction, intermingled with strong marks of disapprobation from the right. "Mushroom Lord-upstart -go mind your rabbits, and the Papists are not poachers," were the cries of the liberal party; while the Brunswickers exclaimed, "Bravo, Winchilsea!" and waved their hats, as with the lungs of Stentor, with the gesture of a pugilist, and the frenzy of a fanatic, he proceeded. Although utterly destitute of idea, and though scarcely one distinct notion perhaps could be detected in his speech, yet Lord Winchilsea,

by the energy of his action, and the impetuosity of his manner, and the strong evidences of rude sincerity about him, made an impression upon his auditors far greater than the cold didactic manner of Lord Camden or Lord Darnley was calculated to produce. There can be no greater mistake than the supposition that the English people are not fond of ardent speaking, and of a vehement rhetorical enunciation. Lord Winchilsen is perfectly denuded of knowledge, reflection, or command of phrase; yet by dint of strong feeling he contrives to awaken a sympathy which a colder speaker, with all the graces of eloquence, could never attain. He seems to be in downright earnest; and although his personal vanity may be an ingredient in his sincerity, it is certain, whatever be the cause, that his ardour and vehemence are far more powerful auxiliaries to his cause, than the contemplative philosophy of the Whigs, who, contented with their cold integrity of purpose, adopted no efficient means to bring their tenants to the field, and encounter their opponents with the weapons which were so powerfully wielded against them. After having whirled himself round, and having beaten his breast and bellowed for about half an hour, Lord Winchilsea sat down in the midst of the constitutional acclamations of the Brunswickers; and Mr. Sheil, and Mr. Shea, an English Catholic gentleman, both presented themselves to the Sheriff. The Sheriff gave a preference to Mr. Shea, who made a bold manly speech, but was interrupted by the continued hootings of the Protestant party. The only fault committed by Mr. Shea was, that he dwelt too long on the pure blood of the English Catholics; a topic of which they are naturally, but a little tediously fond: it were to be desired that this old blood of theirs did not stagnate so much in their veins, and beat a little more rapidly in its circulation. With their immense fortunes, and a little. more exertion, what might they not accomplish in influencing the. public mind? Excellent men in private life, they are not sufficiently ardent for politicians, and should remember that their liberty may be almost bought, and that two or three thousand pounds well applied might have turned the Kent Meeting. Mr. Shea having concluded, Lord Teynham rose; and Mr. Sheil, at the Sheriff's request, gave way to him. Lord Teynham had been a Roman Catholic. His name is Roper, and, I believe, he is descended from Mrs. Roper, the daughter. of Sir Thomas More. He was assailed with reproaches for his apostasy by the Protestants; and though he made a very good speech, it was neutralized in its effect by his desertion of his former creed. So universal, however unjust, perhaps, is the antipathy to a renegade, that among the Brunswickers themselves, his having ceased to be a Catholic rendered him an object of scorn. "That fellow's a-going to shift his religion again." "Oh, my Lord, there's a man here as says that what your Lordship's saying is all a d-d Popish lie;" and other ejaculations of the same character warned my Lord Teynham that his change of creeds had not rendered him more acceptable to his audience.

Lord Teynham having sat down amidst the Brunswick groans, Mr. Sheil rose amongst them. He was vehemently applauded on the right, and as furiously howled at from the left. "Down with him, the trai❤ tor!" "Down with the rebel!" " Apologise for what you said of the Duke of York!" "Send him and O'Connell to the Tower!" "He got

his freehold last night in Maidstone !"-" Down with him!"—“ Off, Sheil, off!"-"We're not the Clare freeholders;"-" See how the viper spits!"- "How the little hanimal foams at the mouth; take care of him, he'll bite you ;"-" Off, Sheil, off!" were the greetings with which this gentleman was hailed by the Brunswickers, while his own party cried out 66 Fair Play!" "Oh, you cowards, you are afraid to hear him!" Of what Mr. Sheil actually said, it is impossible to give any account, and the miraculous power by which the Sun newspaper of that night contrived to publish his oration in three columns, must be referred to some Hohenloe's interposition in favour of that journal. I heard but one sentence, which I afterwards recognized in print, as having been spoken." See to what conclusion you must arrive, when you denounce the advocates of Emancipation as the enemies of their country. How far will your anathema reach? It will take in onehalf of Westminster Abbey; and is not the very dust, into which the tongues and hearts of Pitt and Burke and Fox have mouldered, better than the living hearts and tongues of those who have survived them? If you were to try the question by the authorities of the illustrious dead, and by those voices which may be said to issue from the grave, how would you determine? If instead of counting votes in St. Stephen's Chapel, you were to count monuments in the mausoleum beside it, how would the division of the great departed stand? Enter the aisles which contain the ashes of your greatest legislators, and ask yourselves as you pass, how they felt and spoke, when they had utterance and emotion, in that Senate where they are heard no more: write Emancipatior' upon the tomb of every advocate, and its counter epitaph on that of every opponent of the peace of Ireland, and shall we not have a majority of sepulchres in our favour?" With this exception, I do not think that the Irish demagogue uttered one word of what appeared in the shape of an elaborate essay in the newspapers. After having stamped, and fretted, and entreated, and menaced the Brunswickers for half an hour, during which he sustained a continued volley of execrations, Mr. Shiel thought it prudent to retreat, and was succeeded by Mr. Larkin, an auctioneer from Rochester, who delivered a very clever speech in favour of radicalism, but had the prudence to keep clear of emancipation. His occupation afforded a fine scope for Brunswick wit. "Knock him down-going, going, gone!" and similar reminiscences exhibited the aristocracy of the mob. Mr. Larkin was not at all disturbed, but with an almost unparallelled sang-froid, drew a flask from his pocket, and refreshed himself for the next sentence, when the uproar was at its height. When he had finished, Sir Edward Knatchbull, the Member for the county, and Cobbett, who had been railing for hours at the long speeches, got up together. The Sheriff preferred Sir Edward, upon which Cobbett got into a fit of vehement indignation. He accused the Sheriff of gross partiality, and while Sir Edward Knatchbull was going on, shook his hand repeatedly at him, and exhibited the utmost savageness of demeanour and of aspect. His face became inflamed with rage, and his mouth was contorted into a ferocious grin. He grasped a large pole, with a placard at the head of it in favour of Liberty, and standing with this apparatus of popularity, which assisted him in supporting himself at the verge of his waggon, he hurled out his denunciations against the Sheriff. The Brunswickers roared at him, and showered contumely of all kinds upon

his head, but with an undaunted spirit, he persevered. Sir Edward Knatchbull was but indistinctly heard in the tumult which his own party had got up, to put Cobbett down. He seems a proud, obstinate, dogged sort of Squire, with an infinite notion of his own importance as an English County Member, and a corresponding contempt for seven millions of his fellow-citizens. He has in his face and bearing many of the disagreeable qualities of John Bullism, without any of its frankness and plain-dealing. He is rude without being honest, and offensive without being sincere. Cobbett was almost justified in complaining that such a man should be preferred to him. When he had terminated a speech, in which it was evident that he was thinking of the next election, at which the Deerings intend to dispute the county with him, Cobbett was allowed by the Sheriff to proceed. His hilarity was restored for a little while, and holding out his petition against tithes, he set about abusing both parties. In a letter published in the Morning Herald, he takes care, in his account of the meeting, to record the opprobrious language applied by the multitude to others; but he omits all mention of what was said of himself. "Down with the old Bonegrubber!"-"Roast him on his gridiron ;”—“ D―n him and his Indian corn;" was shouted from all quarters. He was not, however, much discomposed at first, for he was confident of carrying his petition, and retorted with a good deal of force and some good humour on those who were inveighing against him. " You cry out too weakly, my bucks!" said he, snapping his fingers at them. "You cry like women in the family-way. There's a rascal there, that is squeaking at me, like a parson's tithe-pig." These sallies amused every body; but still the roar against him continued, and I was astonished to see what little influence he had with even the lower orders by whom he was surrounded. The Catholic party looked upon him as an enemy, who came to divide them, and the Brunswickers treated him with mingled execrations and scorn. At length he perceived that the day was going against him, and his eyes opened to his own want of power over the people. Though he afterwards vaunted that the great majority were with him, he appeared not to have above a dozen or two to support his proposition, and when he sat down, evident symptoms of mortification and of rage against all parties appeared in his countenance. Altogether he acquitted himself as badly as can be well imagined; and it seems to me as clear that he is a most inefficient and powerless speaker, as that he is a great and vigorous writer. Hunt got up to second him, and was received almost as badly as his predecessor, though his conduct and manner were quite opposite, and he did every thing he could by gentleness and persuasiveness to allay the fury of the Brunswick party. But after he had begun, Sir Edward Knatchbull interrupted him in a most improper and offensive manner, which induced Lord Radnor to stand up and reprobate Sir Edward's conduct as a most gross violation of decorum. Mr. Hunt went on, but, whatever may be his sway with public assemblies on other occasions, he certainly showed few evidences of omnipotence upon this. He seemed to be crest-fallen, and to have quailed under the force which was brought to bear against him. One story he told well, of Sir Edward Knatchbull having refused to pay him for four gallons of beer, when he was a brewer at Bristol, because he had sold him a less quantity than that prescribed by the law: altogether his speech, if it might