The Press.
London, England, 1854-06-17 00:00:00

CITY OF LONDON ELECTION.

LORD JOHN RUSSELL was re-elected member for the
city of London on Wednesday last. The proceed-
ings took place in the Guildhall, and, as there was
no opposition, were duly transacted in a brief space
of time and occasioned very little excitement. Mr.
David Urquhart, once member for Stafford, had
issued announcements cf his candidateship and had
commenced a canvass, but the attempt was aban-
doned as altogether hopeless, and, though present
on the platform during the election, Mr. Urquhart
did not put himself forward for nomination.

At ftwo o'clock Lord J. Russell appeared upon the
platform, accompanied by the Lord Mayor, Sheriffs,
and other civic dignitaries, in their robes of office.
The formal preliminaries were duly executed by Mr.
Sheriff Wire and the town-crier. Mr. Prescott after-
wards nominated the noLle lord as a fit and proper
representative for the City in Parliament. In his
brief address he eulogised the personal qualities and
political career of the noble lord, and dilated upon
the importance of new ministerial functions which
he had just undertaken, and which " rendered it his
peculiar duty and province to attend to the educe•
tional wants of the people," In alluding to the war,
Mr. Prescott commenced a panegyrical sentence
upon the " energy displayed by the allied powers and
the vigorous measures taken," but was stopped half
way by shouts of " Oh, oh !" from the audience in
the hall. The nomination having been duly se-
conded by Mr. Dillon, and no rival candidate
appearing, Mr. Sheriff Wire, after a brief pause, put
the question to the electors and took a show of hands,
after which he declared Lord John Russell duly elected.
The noble member then stood forth to address his
constituents. He began by inviting and answering a
question from an elector named Potter touching the
Metropolitan Burial Act; and then proceeded:—

SATURDAY,

your suffrages as on the
aii`th' I
thatmvee,
afterhhaonvomurg toreeestanivead before you now f
years past at l i
ytymrdeousur
;rtesipmoretehaaethntatatiwt
ithlveshr;aevganearhaddd
tol
thattmhea y say
honour also
a provision enacting annual Parliaments would have
given
east,
-
me rather fewer elections than I have really
undergone.
(Laughter.) I have appealed to you at this election, having
-
g
been without office during the greater part of the existence
teee
sotwos within
nat
these
is
seet)
t.i4 w
::
of the present Administration, but having again
accepted
an office which connects me more closely than before with
that Administration. I do not mean to detain you wth
any reference to measures of a domestic character to which
I have had frequently to recur on former occasions
have. stated to you before now that, having been long in
public life—having, during that public life, had occasion
to form and mature my opinions-1 could only vote ac-
cording to those opinions; that they might be wrong in
some instances and right in others, but that I trusted to
your generous confidence to appreciate the motives with
which I have acted. (Hear, hear.) And now, gentlemen,
I shall proceed to that which Is the absorbing question of
the present day, so absorbing that measures which I had
hoped to forward for increasing and promoting the civil
and religious rights of large portions of oar countryman
have been rather neglected than considered—have been
withdrawn in deference to public opinion, rather than op-
posed by parliamentary resistance. But that great ques-
tion to which 1 wish to refer is the war in which we are
engaged. (Heart hear.) I will not now refer to that
which has been discussed iu debates with which you are
all, no doubt, familiar—namely, the origin of that war.
The present Government endeavoured as long as they
could to seek for terms of pacific arrangement; and I be-
lieve that. in so doing we were acting iu accordance with
the opinions of the people of this country. (Hear, hear.)
The blessings of peace, which we had enjoyed fur nearly
forty years, were not of such trifling value that they were
to be lightly thrown away or precipitately abandoned.
(Cheers.) It was not, therefore, until we found that the
ambition of the Emperor of Russia was not to be satisfied
with any moderate concessions which the Sultan of Turkey
was prepared to make—that the Czar was determined, in
opposition to remonstrance, in opposition to proposals of
every kind, to retain and keep in his power the territory of
his neighbour—that we advised the Queen to declare that
she was obliged to take up arms in defence of the ally
thus unjustly attacked. (Cheers.) In that declaration we
had the co-operation and concert of her Majesty's ally, thd
Emperor of the French. (Cheers.) And I trust that this
concert upon a great question will lead to a permanen
alliance with that great people, crdr neighbours, who, with%
ourselves, form the most civilised and the most enlightened
nations of Europe. Gentlemen, we know by experience
the courage and the skill of the French nation, and they
know ours ; and, as brethren in arms, I trust we shall
display those qualities which we have hitherto displayed
in conflict with each other. (Cheers.) But there were
others who were as much interested as England and France
in preserving the independence of Europe against an am-
bitious power—l mean the great States of Germany. I
believe that while the success of Russia—that while her
conquest of Turkey and her occupation of Constantinople
—would have been dangerous to England and to France, it
would have been absolute oppression to the people of tier
many ; and accordingly the people of Germany have felt
that this is a question which would not be indifferent to
them. The principal Sovereigns of Europe, the Emperor
of Austria and the King of Prussia, have sympathised
with our people; and I trust that the war that we are about
to carry on will be a war, not of two powers but of five
powers of Europe, against the Emperor of Russia. (Cheers.)•
know there were those who said, ' Do not give assist-
ance to the Turks.' They said so on various reasons and
various pretences. Some said the Turks were a people so
barbarous and their Government so bad that we ought not
to aid them. I have heard such an argument used in former
times, and I believe that the intention of that argument
was, not to blame the Turks, not to amend their Govern-
ment, bat to abet the designs of the Emperor of Russia.
It is easy to say, and it is not for me to deny, the faults—
nay, the maladministration—and, in many instances, the
cruelties which exist under the Turkish rule. But this
was not a time to discuss any improvement in those mat-
ters. The question was to resist the aggression of Russia,
and I have no doubt, if that aggression is successfully re-
sisted, that the improvement of Turkish institutions and
the happiness of the Christian people living under the
Sultan of Turkey will follow from that resistance, and that
success. (Cheers.) On the other hand, if the Emperor of
Russia were to succeed in his attack, we must recollectthat
it would be the success of a Government which endeavours
to suppress all freedom of thought—(cheers)—to which
neither political, nor religious, nor any kind of liberty an
look for encouragement, and that there would he a deadly
power hanging over Europe, and at length attacking even
our own institutions as incompatible with the existence of
the monstrous tyranny which at present prevails in that
country. (Cheers.) It has been said that if the Turks
had been left alone it would have been better for them.
This is the very argument used by the Emperor of Russia;
he has constantly said, This is no business of yours ;do
not you interfere ; only let the Sultan settle his own affairs
with me ; let us have a friendly conference together,..and
we shall no doubt come to a very amicable determination.'_
(Laughter and cheers.) But we thought—the Emperor of
Russia being much the stronger of the two—that that
amicable determination could not but be injurious to the
Turks ; and we now find that the Turkish Government has
most willingly accepted our aid, and that, in instances
which I could quote, that aid has been most efficient for
that purpose. Gentlemen, I now proceed to the mode
in
which this war is to be carried on. And let me remark, in
the first place, that it was observed by a member of the
House of Commons, and most truly, when we were embark'
ing on this war, that it was not a war from which we nut
expect those advantages which had attended other was,