Star. — London, England, 1820-03-10 00:00:00

'CIPI - OF - 1;&DON ELECTION. sTtIIRD DAY. The polling to-day did.not proceed with much . snore alacrity or spirit than we remarked yesterday.; tht crowd, horvey;:r, was infinitely greatet than either yesterday, or the day before, attracted to the Hall. The same feelings of disapprobation continued to be manifested hy.the .great majority of them upon the appeafanCe of those Liverynien at the hustings who came to Tote for Sir WILLIAM CURTIS; Sir Wu.- Liam was on the hustings during the early part Of the day, but he was not observed there after the polling had ceased. The Poll Clerks having closed their books, the numbers were displayed as follows : ;Kr. WiLsw - - 1397 Tie Loan Mayo , . 1146 Sir WILLIAK Cuarrs 1295 Mr. Alderman Tansy 1019 Dar. Alderman Wool) 1266 Mr. Ald. Warrwarar 944. Mr. WiLsosi stepped forward, and . was received with general cheering. It was very far from his wish to detain the Gentlemen of the Livery long, knowing bow much he might delay theist, and feel ing, as he did himself, the effects of .very severe personal fatigue ; but one part of the few observa tions which he hid had the hopour to address to them yesterday had led to some misunderstanding, and he thought it necessary to offer some explana- - tion upon the s ubject—(Cheers). From .what he had' then said, it had been imputed to him that a coali- tion had taken place between himself and the worthy Alderman to whem he had alluded. This was very far did n _ from the ease ; but at the same time he not wish to retract one single expression Of cour tesy that he Might have happenel to have used with regard to the Worthy Alderman (Wood) in question as acknowledgment that be thought due to every one of these colleagues with whom he bird the lio iOur of serving:in the last Parliament. - As for any thing else, as well might he be charged with'having fanned a coalition with the Lord Mayor, because he . had had the honour of taking hini home the pre ceding day in his carriage. As well might he be necused of having coales zed with Sir William Curtis, bee:lase other business than election affairs had taken hien; in the course of the preceding evening, to Sir Williath's Committee. He trusted that, appeariag , before them as he did—a very humble indivulual every word that he uttered was not to be *Visited with this severe and erroneous sort 'of Coistsuction.' He hoped that the general tenour of his conduct' would sufficiently redeem the pledge he had in the firif instance given—of never forgetting their inte- 1 rests,. and of doing injustice to no one whatever — (Applause).—He hoped, also, that it would not be considered that he had evinced any want of gratitude for the friendly and zealous support with which he had been favoured, because he had expressed a re gret that his success had so far exceeded his de scrvings. If it was his misfortune to be very doubtful of his own abilities, it was one for which, of all' others, he should have hoped to stand excused— (Or-eat applause).—From the poll it clearly appeared, that no idea was entertained upon the part of his friends that he(Mr. Wilson) would ever manifest ally dereliction from those political principles which were so Well known to all—(Hear, hear!).—lie had no in tention whatever of influencing the Electors by any improper motives; but what he would now ask of them—what he would solicit at their hands as an humble individual, was, that they would entrust to his care the execution of those duties which he was wady at all times to undertake. The state of the poll this day was too flattering to his feelings for hint not to say, that he felt grateful beyond what his osvn thanks could express; and here he could not help saying, that it never could have been his with to undervalue the voices or estimation of his fellow citizens in anything which might have fallen from him—(Contisated cheers). --Whatever station the ter mination of the contest might place him in upon the poll, be should feel extremely grateful for it: he had a particular reason fur saying so, because, whether they returned him second, as they had done upon! the last Election, or however else they might return him, he should feel that he was sufficiently honoured . by ilia; return itself—(Lotid opplause).—But should their kindness and confidence keep him in that proud station lie was now in, so greatly beyond his merits or his expectatioo, he assured them that his lasting gratitilde could not fail to act as a powerful stimulus to urge him at all times to a faithful, strict, and con seientious discharge c.f his duty. (The Hon. Gentle man then thanked the Livery for their attentive hear lug, and retired amidst continued cheering). Mr. THOMAS Cuars then appeared, but the up roar and confusion completely drowned every syl lable that he attempted lb articulate, even to the hear iiig.of these who were upon the hustioes. It could only . be collected that he expressed his conviction' , that his father (Sir William Curtis) would be ulti mately returned !at the head of the poll. The tu mult rather iocreasitig than abating, Mr. Curtis, af ter several ineffectual, attempts to make himself' heard, retired: Mr. AldermaaWoon was received with acclama tions. He regretted exceedingly the interruption that had taken place, and would willingly and im mediately resign his place, if they wquld be kind enough to bear Mr. Curtis—(Crier qf " No, n 0 ; go ox, Wood.") It was, however , extremely unh andsome for Gentlemen who were admitted up on the bust- lugs without leave, that they should be the only per sons that attempted to interrupt him ; and the more so, because he was most willing, he repeated, to give up the place lie stood in to any one of Sir William Curtis's Committee, to his son, or any one else ap pearing for him. As for himself, he defied any one to say that he (Alderman Wood) had ever interrup ted. another Gentleman in this manner, while deli vering his sentiments ; he called the individual forth, 11 0 W, or at any other time, -who could so depose of t i i m —to We will not have hiit," said a voice from the, crowd ; ancl during the whole of the worthy Alder-. man's allusion to some occurrence upon the hinting& which had elicited these observations, there was a strong expression Of - dissatisfaction in the Hall). He was eery much gratified with the state of this day's L oll, If he could Om a moment recal their atten tion to thelast Vection, in the year 1818, that dur ing the last three day.s . polling upwards. of 2100 rums were polled for him--(Cheers)—whereas, at pre sent, the very highest result of the three days was 1197 ; making a' difference of nearly 800 votes, in . the same space of time, polled far one individual ; tstaelemen must be iota& with the fact ; what had been the cause, he could not eirpiaio. \Metairie Wag •. PitiOnalrfito.had sat upon the Cciltrottleef.r-0tr 64 ,1 ,the cause, maw - of those who Weeded to -support .that)4ll, meld had thanked , and congratiallaW-hun. him had not yet come up ; and as , there were still re-; (gr.Waitliman) upon his conchict on %hat cessation, maiming more tbark6ooo persons having the rig)it of he had:seen come up-to the poll, and, omitting his ,voting, he could not help saying that he did expect, name, ;vote for that very Caedidate oho W sap very shortly, to stand . in a clifferentaituation upon ported the measure in question. As to at in Pal the poll(Clieers). He should, indeed, he extrernety liament—for a se re m seat he would net take the happy to have the honour of being again returrie.d* trouble of walking ss that Hall ; for he-was not them ; and while he thought it hardly necessary-to desirous of one, if he could not obtain it upon the go over the professions he had always made and ob- grounds of public opinion and constitutional prin served, he might be allowed to say, that at all times ciples—(Great applause).—He then observed, that he should feel him - self eager to do every thing in his he stood before them under the peculiar circumstance ,power to serve his fellow-citizens, in the event of of labouring at that moment under a prosecution, that return, of which he could not allow himself to merely for supporting that which their Recorder, doubt. It was painful to him to be obliged to assure Mr. Serjeant Glyn, had asserted to be light, which them, that when he had the honour of canvassing was held to be right by Lord Loughborough and by among them, he found a great many who said, that, Serjeant Adair. The worthy Alderman then pro however it was distressing to their feelings, they ceeded to observe, he knew very well that his talents could not come up to the poll at all ! Now whether had been over-rated, for there was no individual this were or were not the case, or whether it had 'living so sensible of his own deficiencies as he was been caused by the influence of any Candidate or himself. But still every thing was to be judged of not, one thing was certain—that during the three by comparison ; and when they looked at those who first days of this poll 800 persons less than in the had already represented them in Parliament, he was corresponding days of the last Election had voted. of opinion -that he would suffer nothing from the He had only now to ask a continuance of their ex— comparison. No man had even charged him with .ertiens ; to say, that nothing else was want in g once indolence, or with supporting any oppressive mea more to place him at the head of the poll : and to sures, or with giving his voice in aid of any system 'declare, that if they again returned him to Parlia - of Representation which was incompatible with the ment, be would prove their true and faithful set- Principles of the British Constitution. The maj orit y vant—(lmmense applause). at that moment did not discourage him when he re-1 The LORD'AIAvon, amidst general greeting s, a p - fleeted on the ground that had been recovered on peared to express his' warmest thanks for the honour the last days of the last Election. Let his friends exert themselves in a proper way, and the victory' that day conferred upon him by the rank to which they had raised him on the poll ; an honour with would be theirs. Let them consult with their friends, 1 a which he was well satisfied. His Lordship regretted and encourage them to come forward and resist that influence which was exercised against them. He had that he had had but little time to make that s or t of I canvass which was usual upon these occasions ; but seen voters *lib had told him, that, from principle, hoped that none of the Livery would impute the they were inclined to vote for him, but they must omission of his personal respects to them to any other vote for a customer ; and if they did give him a vote cause. The accounts he ha] that day received from at all, they must give one to him, and three to his his friends were of se flattering a nature in them- , adversaries. Had they become so base, so cernipt, selves, that he had no fears that he should not be so degenerate in their minds, as not to be able to placed in- that rank upon the poll, ultimately, to stand up against such solicitations, and to reply to which they had already elevated him; and the con- such - proposals , that the y were determined not to tinuance of their kind exertions forbade him to doubt vote contrary to their conviction ? He must now con it (Cheers). He did not like to make professions ; dude by exhorting them to exert themselves. He but, if he knew himself, he was confident that he advised them, when they adjourned from that place, should discharge the duties of his station, in that to call their friends together, and not to appear in case, conscientiously and honestly (Applause). the Hall till three o'clock to-morrow. If they would Mr. Alderman THORP was most grateful for the follow this advice, they would find that they corn , support which they had afforded him this day; and mended *triumphant majority. although the number of his votes for these three The Meeting dispersed about half-past four o'clock, days had not been so large as formerly, yet, when • and the popular Candidates were received with the l i he considered the smallness of the total number who usual demonstrations of applause. I had polled, he had every reason to believe that he ' should speedily receive a strong accession. He at tributed this state of the poll partly to his friends , not being yet quite warm in the cause, but still more• to the circumstance of their friends in the City of Westminster, and in the Borough, being engaged ini asserting their own independence ; which, when they, should have done, they would have au opportunity of turning their whole and undivided attention to the present contest, and he had no doubt they would I soon see the favourable effects. He could never for-1 get the great and honourable manner in which he' had been already supported, particularly when he, looked at the efforts which had been made on all', hands to obtain an advantage over him; but he hadl no doubt that the result of the poll Would crown hisl ambition, and gratify their wishes.—This speech wail received throughout with marked approbation. ,• I Mr. Alderman WAITHWAN was received with lotrA' and continued applause. It had ever been a matter of regret to him when they did not give a patient{ hearing to every Candidate--(Cheers)—and he was sure that there was not a person now around him who would not do him the Justice to say, that upon, all occasions, where his humble efforts could at all conduce to obtain a fair heariug, they had always by him (Mr. Waithman) been used—(Cries of " Hear, sear").—His weapon was the weapon of ar gument ; and, therefore, if he was not to meet his adversaries upon fair and equal terms, he would give up the contest. He thought that it was always to their advantage, indeed, to hear what their adversa ries had to offer ; because he had a . most perfect and thorough conviction that they '(Mr. Waithman's friends) were able to triumph over them in the field of argument—(Loud applause)—and therefore it was that he wished they would extend an impartial hearing to every individual who might desire to ex press his opinions to thern—(Clieers).—He felt no thing approaching to dismay, he assured them, at the present appearance of the poll; it had been stated to him by his friends, that the reason which operated on the minds of the Electors, and which kept them back, was in fact merely the idea, that if he was really in a state of insecurity, they might come for ward and vote for him in a more effectual manner than by splitting their rotes. Now, if they looked to the state of the present poll, to which his *friend the worthy Alderman had alluded, they would find that there were less of persons having the power to vote, who had now polled, than there were during the three first days of the last Electimh by about, he believed, 800. The number of persons who polled •for him on the last days of the former Election, who gave a turn to it, and who gained en that occasion a memorable triumph, was not exceeded by that which constituted the majority of the present three days' poll--(Hear, hear).—Therefore, as he had yes •terday observed, they need not be afraid at all of theii reserve. They need not be alarmed ; but in •order to come forward effectually for him, they 'might implicitly rely upon his Committee, and rest satisfied with its exertions. " Only," continued the worthy Alderman, 44 press forward, and give your votes, and the Committee will take care that every thing which is necessary shall be done." It must be obvious to them all that he stood in a very peculiar situation ; it must be obvious that he was the indivi dual who had been particularly aimed at in this bu siness—to whom principally the opposition was new made—(Loud cheering, mingled with expressions g dissent). —What could be too reason of this, they might also pretty well tell. lie had ever stood up against public abuses of Gray description; and the greater the abuse, he had always remarked, the greater was the odium endeavoured to be cast upon I the individual who stood forward in opposition to it —(Continased adders).—The worthy Alderman then , adverted to his conduct in Parliament upon the Lon don Fire-Act Clergy Bill, and the opposition he then made to the imposing-of a Annual Tax of C 13,000. per annum on the 51 Parishes. Yet many of the WESTMINSTER ELECTION. The Election of two fit and proper persons to Re present the City of Westminster in the ensuing Par liament, commenced yesterday morning. A con siderable crowd, but not so numerous as we have observed on former occasions of the same nature, assembled at an early hour before the hustings, which were erected in the usual situation, in front of St. Paul's Church, Covent-garden. Soon after ten-o'clock, Mr. Luse, accompanied by Mr. WI#HART, Mr. EVANS", and several other friends, made his appearance on the hustings, amidst great disapprobation, and a small portion of applause.— Mr, Minnows next ascended the hustings, and was received with enthusiastic shouts, which were reite rated as soon as Sir FRAIMIS Bum:parr appeared. The Precept and Writ being read, and also the Statute against Bribery and Corruption, Mr. Biruuu administered the customary Oath to the Hien BAI LIFF, binding him to perform the functions of his office, as Returning O ffi cer, Without favouror affection. The HIGII BAIPIFF then declared, that the_Elec tors were assembled to choose two fit and proper per sons to Represent them in Parliament, and begged their attention while the different Candidates were put in nomination. Mr. Salmis immediately came forward, and in an s sive speech proposed Sir Francis Burdett. , sap a Puma seconded the nomination. Sir F SANCts BUIitDaTT then stood forward, and was received with loud cheers. He began by stating, that he had unluckily caught a severe cold, from which he feared he would - be unable to render his observations distinctly audible to the Meetiag which' he had the honour to address. After what had been said in his favour by the worthy Elector who was so good as to propose him as a proper person to Repre-, sent this great City, he really felt it difficult to de, side how Ire should conduct himself: but Ur. &urcb bad spoken from the partiality of that long-continued tpersonal regard, and the similarity of those political sentiments, which had long and invariably existed `between them. He could not help feelingit honour .able and creditable to him, to have been recom mended to the Electors by the testimony of such an enlightened and respectable individual His nomi nation by such a man, combined with the reception which it mot from the Meeting, was tnhim a source of peculiar gratification (Applause). He was, in (lived, most cordially gratified on this occasion. But he was always gratified in meeting large bodies id his countrymen; and in this instance such a Meeting was allowed, notwithstanding the recent Gagging Law, in order to afford an opportunity for the exer cise of that which was the indisputable privilege and established usage of Englishmen. This, indeed, was one of the few privileges which the People of Eng land were yet permitted to retain, brit how long even that privilege should exist, must depend upon the People themselves, While the value of its existence must depend also upon the manner in which it was exercised by those who happened to enjoy it. To expatiate upon the late infraction of the Constitution, by which that privilege was so materially limited, he thought at present needless. The corrupt, the in famous House of Commons, by which this infraction was sanctioned, was now, fortunately, no more; and - there could be no necessity to point out to that as sembly the nature or tendency of the monstrous and scandalous Acts which that House bad passed within the short time that had elapsed since the commence. ment of its last Session. But when .he said that this :House was fortunately no more, he would not be understood to hold out any flattering hope that it would be succeeded by a better ; on the contrary,, indeed, it was likely, that, with the exception of a t few, the very same men would be re-assembled; and: 'that, on their re-assemblage, they would be found ready to enact any more arbitrary measures which the Minister might think proper to propose. lie could not, therefore, offer anything so Ilillac" , :-. - as even a calculation of improvement in the conduct cf an Assembly so improperly constituted, so very cor spptly returned. Such a *calculation would, indeed, lie quite absurd ; and to express or entertain it, Jamul(' be only aiding and abetting a delusion, from • which it was high time to relieve the people of this country I.tlppiaritsel. The only advantage, indee', of the dissolution, or the only reason why he deemed it fortunate, was this, that it afforded the People an opportunity of meeting together, and released them from the interdict of that abominable Law, whicn prevented free men from that free communication which the old Constitution of the country sanctioned, and which was indispensably necessary. to produce that unity of action and efficiency of effect that were essential to the preservation of substantial freedom (Applause). Here the Honourable Baronet, referring to a pamphlet addressed to Electors, said it presented a very striking view of the manner in which the money of the People was disposed of, especially among the Members of the House of Commons. it was evident, indeed; that just in the same proportica as the pockets of the People were emptied, the pockets of those who are called their Representa tives in the House of Commons arc filled. This pamphlet shewed that this House, instead of consist ing of men solicitous for the business or interest of the Nation, contained those who were attentive to their own businesS or interest alone; that instead :f being the guardians, they were the cut-purses of the People (Applause). But so this Assembly would continue, until its old Constitutional character was restored ; and it was really extraordinary that the author of this pamphlet should have had such a film before his eyes, as not to see that which, to use a phrase he had heard on a particular occasion in the House of Commons, was ~ as obvious as the sun at noon day:" it was, indeed, singular that be did net perceive that the corrupt mode of constituting the House of Commons was the source of all the evils upon which he so impressively expatiated, and that unless a Reform in the system of the Representation were established, it was idle to look for any remedy. How could it have escaped this writer's observation, that there were actually no pure popular Electors is this country, excepting in Westminster and lu a few other places, and that the bulk of the people had comparatively no power of choosing a Member, or influencing the conduct of the House of Commons? The Members, indeed, whom the people had really the power of returning to that House, were so insig nificant in their number, that to expect any good from the exertion of their utmost influence in that assembly, would be as preposterous as to suppose that the infusion of a few drops of fresh water would serve to change the nature of the ocean (Applause,. The writer alluded to stated, that nearly a million more per annum was now paid for the collection of the revenue, than the whole interest of the public debt amounted to upon his late Majesty's accession to the throne. Surely, then, such a system could not go on without plunging the Nation in the gulf of ruin ; and the whole of this sum for the collection of the revenue was notoriously distributed among the Members of the 'House of Commons, or their relations and dependents. Was net this enough to shew, that the interest of the Members of that House was in opposition to the interests of the people?— But the writer of this pamphlet also exposed the great tendency of the patronage of the East - India Company to aggravate the corruption of the House of Commons, and this fact was enough to prejudice the people against that establishment, if they were I not so stupid and spiritless as to prefer commerce or wealth to the enjoyment of freedom. On the however, of even wealth and commerce, it appears on a correct examination of the account with the East India Company, that the balance waegenerally against the Nation, from the expense entailed upoa it by the ,maintenance of the establishment of - that Company. La speaking of the aggravated corrup tion of the country through the East India Company. he did not mean to allude to the patronage of the Crown, for the fact was, that the power arising out of the patronage of this Company, was altogether in the hands of the Members of the House of Corrw mons, or:of their relations and friends (Applause). As to the patronage or prerogative of the Crown, be was not afraid to say, that he was agility ready de cidedly to support that prerogative or patronage. — This might be called, as it otten was, quite a Tory doctrine, but yet, among the largest assembly of his countrymen which he should happen to meet, he was fully prepared to maintain it; tor it was his im pression that thesExec.utive Goverement of this court. try was vested in the Crown,; he felt the propriety of defending that prerogative.which was essential to the efficacy of its .power—(Apfieuses). —Let the Crows. he would say, have all its prerogatives, with ade quate means for the maintenance of its dignity, and for the pleasure or accommodaion of him by whom it was worn, but let the People have their rrghts-- (Applause).—Let them be protected against having their property taken from them without their con sent,.(Applause).—This was the protection and the right which the People required. and to the want of which all the evils they suffered were attributable. He was, therefore, not hostile to the power of the Crown, but to the corruption of the House of Conn' mons, through which a faction of Boroaghmon is were enabled at once to invade the People's ri ght s and to usurp the king's prerogatives, while it II out his Majesty as z mere pensioner on their bounty —(Applause).—This language might be called sedi tious, but he would ever maiatain. that the tendency of the conduct of the lkiroughmongers was to sepa rate the People from the Crown, and to destroy carat affection between the subjects and their Sovereigr, which, for the common interest of both, should be studiously preserved and promoted—(4ipplcas4.-- , There was one event related in the pamphlet to which he had alluded, which ought never to be foegottee by the People, which eel tainly never could escai,e his memoky—for this event was peculiarly illastr tive of the character of the House of Cornmons— . : - .A meant the attempt of Lord Castlereagh to make a barter or sale of his patronage at the India-house, for the purpose of purchasing a seat. in the House of Commons, for the accommodation of his friend Lord Dunlow, who was now Earl Clancarty. This most unconstitutional and corrupt proceeding,was, on a notion brought forward by Lord A. Hamilton, Fay confessed by Lord Castlereagh, in the House of Com mons, and yet the Noble Lord was acquitted by that infamous Assembly, which appeared to consider th..r aye inn this Cf evu this ing the • for -g?Pil .to e Inv gel to • Ma vain Ref it w ton Hol -ordl lent had of ••• Bur hea, ' -him 4 7 • iwh in 5 van, a c v:hc east so min expi ever for teCtl plat sire( Frai of d of II knee Con wen nay, wou - , wet the the late only to h quit forn Con total ing . - that imp ever ever One he. I But Gen !.• only kers The in tl ing part post into No effe hop Me, the] , •Me roils rno tae icon hop enc rtiv sta.; airs the she Co los dot tali ba • Tb no' pal we via nig for do to for • . of ' bii Tvi et RC tic E5ll ar H lee • sy _ so N dr be 111