The Express.
London, England, 1848-11-23 00:00:00

REPRESENTATION OF WEST YORKSHIRE-

RETIREMENT OF MR. FITZWILLIAII.

Yesterday considerable excitement prevailed in
Leeds, in fionerqsonse of a notification that the Hon. Charles
William Wentworth Fitswilliant had determined to retire
from his tandidateatip for the reprmentation of the West
Riding, in consembeace of the nature of his reception at
Leeds on Tuesday. The intimation of the fact was made by
the following letter to the ward newspaper offices in Leeds,
through T. W. Tottie, E.g., of Leeds, one of the law asents
of Earl _ _

" RASIONATION OP Mn. FITZWILLIAII.—Lteds, Nov.
22, 1848.—Dear iiir,-1 have this morning reeeived • letter
from Mr. George W. Fitzwilliazo, authorising and ',quest-
lag me to announce that after the hostility exhibited towards
his brother Charles at Leeds, yesterday, he has come to the
resolution that it is prudent for him to withdrew from a
position which is so likLy to provoke • contest, and that he
will thermion discontinue his canvass. I hasten to comae-
skate this intelligence to you, with the view that you may
make it known inneediatrly arid as extensively as poeible.—
Yours faithfully, Tun. Wit. Tome."
Tun Marne° or DALBOATAS AT NOUSANTON took
place yesterday, to consider and determine what further
steps should be taken with a view to oppose Mr. Charles
Fits willies as a candidate for the representation of the
Riding. The interest which would in ordinary reser have
' attached to the proceedings of such • =cede', so imme-
diately on the eve of the issuing of the writ, was greatly in-
' ensued by the fact which had become generally known at
Leeds during the morning, that Mr. Fitswilliam had deter-
mined to retire from the contest, in consequence of the hos-
tility displayed towards him in the Coloured Cloth Hall at
'Leeds, on Tuesday. Tee attendance of dch gates at the
nseetiog was numerous, bet for some time their deliberation
took place in private. Alderman Carbutt, of Leeds, again
presided. At a quarter to 5 o'clock it was announced that
Sir Culling Benin Rerdlay, Bart., Is to be put in Domini,
tin for the West Riding.

OUR REPRESENTATIVE SYSTEM.
sr. ALBS S'S.

Every decent man at St. Alban 's will tell you
that that borough is the most corrupt in Eng-
land ; but few will say much more. "It would
be ruin to any of us who told how it is done."
It is proposedto explain that " how it is done " in this
place in the hope to effect some pod by theexpoeum
of so corrupt and demoralising a system.
Before the Reform Act, the constituency of St. Al-
ban's consisted of the mayor, aldermen, and freemen,
and the inhabitant householders paying scot and
bearing lot. There were about 350 resident electors,
and 120 non-resident freemen ; a very considerable
constituency for so small a town. One of the seats
was occupied, re.most u if by right, by some member
(usually the eldest son) of the noble house of Vera-
lam, whose family estate of Gorhambury is adjacent
to the town ; to the other share of the representation
• candidate was fur many years nominated by the fa
mily of Spencer, who possessed property in and near
the borough, and some of whose members were fre-
quently resident.
The constituency, however, was too large to be
completely subservient to these late rests, and at most
elections a third candidate was brought forward oa
what were called independent principles. At this
period bribery, in the proper sense of the word, was
not practised to a great extent in St. Alban'.. The
system thee was head-money and treating. Each
candidate opened public-hou.es, and every voter ex-
pected a payment of 21. 2s. for a plumper or 11. Is.
for a split vote, whether the candidate was successful
or not. These payments and the cost of bringing up
the out-voters rerdered elections expensive.
The last election which took place upon this system
was that consequent upon the death of George IV.,
in 1830. Viscount Grimston, who had represented
the borough in the previous parliament, stood again
upon the Vends= interest, and Lord Althorp
brought forward and himself nominated Mr. Henry
Gaily Knight, then in the heyday of his popu-
larity as • radical. The electors, however, re-
solved as usual to have a third candidate, and
Mr. Charles Tennant, a solicitor in Gray's-inn-
square (of the highly respected firm of Tennant,
Harrison, and Tennant) was persuaded to pre-
sent himself. The race was between Tennant and
Knight, and very large expenses were incurred on
both aides. The polling lasted two days, and at the
close the numbers were: for Lord Grimston, 495 ;
Tennant, 311; and Gaily Knight, 280. In this con-
test Messrs. Tennant and Knight could not have ex-
' pended less than 2,0001. a piece. The expenses of the
first-mentioned were understood to have been peculi-
arly heavy. As the opinions of Mr. Tennant and
Mr. Knight were not dissimilar, of course nothinT
was to be gained in point of principle by the election
or rejection of either the one or the other. The object
of the electors, however, was fully answered by their
contest, for the severe battle which they fought was
solely and simply for the advantage of the corrupt.
That public feeling entered very little into the matter
is shown by the poll list, from which it appears that,
whilst the two liberals only divided 54 votes between
them, Mr. Tennant split 234 votes with Lord Grim-
ston the tory, and Mr. Gaily Knight 175. Had only
one-half of these votes been split with the other liberal
candidate, both Messrs. Tennant and Knight would
have been returned by majorities exceeding 100 !
Mr. Tennant did not come a second time to St.
Alban's. When parliament was dissolved in 1831,
the whip looked about for a candidate, and were
recommended by Sir E. B. Lytton to Sir Francis
Vincent, a young gentleman of property in Surrey
and Essex, whose father had represented the former
county in parliament, and who had himself given
good promise by a maiden effort in favour of reform
at an Essex county meeting. Sir Francis Vincent
made himself exceedingly popular in the course of
his canvass in St. Alban'e. With frank, affable,
and lively manners, he combined great independence
of principle and firm adhesion to the cause of reform.
,It was assumed that Lord Grimston, who again
offered himself, and Sir Francis Vincent, would be
returned without a contest. " A third man "
seemed less necessary when so good a second
candidate was in the field. About 10 o'clock, how
ever, on the night before the nomination, the state of
things in St. Alien's took a different tarn. A travelling
carriage came into the town and drove at once to the
principal hoteL There alighted therefrom a then un-
known gentleman, who described himself as " Mr.
Richard Godson, of the loner Temple Hall staircase,"
an uncompromising radical. He was accompanied by a
circuit friend. Whilst Mr. Godson gathered some
electors about him the other gentleman walked down
to the " Bank." There he requested cash upon Ex-
chequer Bills of the velar of 2,0001. The Bank
was quite unable to supply so unusual a demand,
whereupon he spoke of send,ng a messenger on horse-
back to London, which, it is presumed, was done, as
gold was, a few hours afterwards, plentifully mu-
vided. Mr. Godson played a different gimme from Mr.
Tennant. He aimed directly at the influence of the
house of Verulam. He knew the effect of the word
" boroughmonger," and he made it felt. The ex-
cited public opiniod of the day was with him,
and when the poll closed at that elec-
tion Sir Francis Vincent had polled 452,
, Mr. Godson 422, and " Lord Viscount Grimston"
(who got in with 495 votes only six months pre-
viously) stood at the bottom of the list, a defeated
candidate, with only 308 supporters ! Lord Grim-
ston, on the hnstingtt, shed bitter team of mortifies-
din, and stamped his foot with rage. The expenses
of this contest were heavy, but by no means so greatly
so as on other occasions. Sir Francis 1 lucent spent
1,1201. Mr. Godson is believed to have spent nearly
1,800!. Lord Grimston probably paid somewhat
less than either.
This was the last election under the old system.
I The Reform Act enlarged the boundaries of the
borough without increasing the constituency. 862
voters were on the register in 1830, the population of
the parishes entitled to vote being 4,782. Under the
, Reform Act the 120 eon-resident freemen were dis-
, franchised. The new borough comprised a popula-
tion of 6,777, but the electorate numbered only 857.
Mr. Godson having been invited to represent
the new borough of Kidderminster, a town
upon the Oxford circuit, retired from St.
Alban's. His place was taken by Mr. Henry