The Express.
London, England, 1847-07-30 00:00:00

TOWER HAYLE:I73,

The nomination OiCan didates for tbic borough took place
yesterday at Stepney-green, at 12 o'clock. The proceedings
having been opened with the usual formalities, the returning
officer, Mr. Child, addressed the electors, and bespoke a fair
hieZifor the different speakers.
Limpatin then proposed Sir W. CLAY, whose nomina-
tion MS needed by Mr. Lawrence.
Fox was proposed by Sir E. Burton, and
see=lieulMr. Mertineau.
Mr. G. TROMP/MN was proposed by Mr. S. Morley, and
seconded by Mr. Fry.
Sir W. CLAY (who was very well received), in addressing
**electors, said he appeared before them as a candidate
for the representation of the Tower Hamlets, but
not as a stranger. He had been their member in four
parliaments, and he was proud of his connexion with the
borough. He was proud that his predecessors, from whom
be had inherited that independence which gave him leisure
to serve them, had acquired it in commercial and shipping
pursuits, connected with the Tower Hamlets. lie was
grateful for the honour they had so long conferred on
him. He was proud that when this borough first received
the elective franchise they had thought him worthy of their
choice, and he was prouder still to think that he had ever
since been worthy of their undiminished confidence, and he
had endeavoured to evince his gratitude by the faithful per-
formance of his dutle4. He could not understand how Mr.
Thompson could oppose him, for there was not a sentence of

rG, JULY 30, 1847,

Ills address which he (sir W. Clay) disapproved. What he
meant by idyll sad religism 30wx, that every 'below
of civil &nifty ea newest. et should be removed.
(Cheers.) Noises siamdd be ashy taxation tesep-
Port the religion et these who alillbrel from him. (Hew.)
Mama, thassfess, oppose the isopesidemetahmed•ratsa. He
would sot consist to rime funds ikcenthe erti‘el. sips& kr the
endowment of the ministers of apart He maim not
in any vote for the endewmeatetthe Raman Catholic clergy
of Ireland. That which he would ere do directly, he would
not do indirectly. Asserting, theeedisms,theelit and duty
of the state to educate the people, he WS th t then was
no right so to manage that intervention as to interfere with
rel n. He would tell them what he would not do. He
won not destroy or impair the established thumb. (Hear,
hear.) He would no more take away the property of the
church than be would the fabric or endowment of a noncon-
formist chapel. He thought, however, that the church re-
quired considerable reform. He would not increase the
number elbislaops ; and he had voted agathet the Bishopric
of Manchester Bill. What should be done for the church
would be to increase the number of the working clergy.
With regard to civil liberty, the principal question related
to the suffrage. He would vote for the repeal of the rate-
paying clauses of the Reform Act; and he would give to
voters the protection of the ballot. He was a friend to the ,
extension of the franchise ; but he was not yet prepared to
go the length of universal suffrage. With regard to the
Health of Towns Bill, in his opinion it was most important for
the kingdom in general, and he had voted for it every
stage. He thought there ought to be two bills, one for Lon-
don and the other for the rest of the country. He ex-
pected that the government would bring in such bills, and
he would support them in every stage, taking care that they
interfered as little as possible with the great English prin-
ciple of self-government. He would eonclude by auguring
them that, if he was returned, he would do his duty
honestly and zealously, as he had always done. (Cheers.)
General Fox then proceeded, amidst much interruption,
to address the assembly, and expressed his entire concurrence
in the sentiments which had been so ably expressed by his
friend Sir W. Clay, and, although he was not so able and
eloquent an expounder laf his AFtrinciples as his bonourable
friend, he would not yield to him in honesty of purpose.
The gallant general then proceeded to state his opinions as
being favourable to free-trade, civil and religious liberty, and
to the obtaiaing of cheap food for the people. He agreed
with Sir W. Clay with regard to the extension of the
euffrage, but he professed to be no advocate for the ballot,
which he believed was not calculated to obtain the object
intended by its supporters.
Mr. 0 sortox Titomrsox then commenced hie address,
amidst a storm of applause. He disclaimed all hostility to
either of the other candidates, and said that if he was to be
the colleague of one of them io parliament, as he looked
from the one to the other, he could only say, '' how happy
could Ibe with either." (Cheers and laughter.) An
election could not really be an election, however it might be
technically, unless there was a choice, and he had come
forward in order to give the electors of the Tower Hamlets
an opportunity of making a choice. He had sees
, placards carried about by a regiment of men—he did not
know who was their general—(cheers and laughter)—
which contained the question, Who is George Thompson i
Now he would tell them what he was not. He was not a
place-holder nor a place-acceptor, nor would he be the slave
of a constituency, as had berm hinted he would. Let them
ask Sir E. Buxton who George Thompeonwas; let them ask
their late representative, Dr. Lushington ; let them ask the
liberated slave; let them ask the friends of justice in India;
let them ask the champions of commercial freedom; let
them ask Richard Cobden' who George Thompson was?
The hon. baronet, Sir W. Clay, had told them what he
would do, and what be would not do. He (Mr. Thompson)
would also tell them what he would do. He would remove
out of the path of industry every impediment, and he
would take away the duty from articles of consumption,
which were necessary to the poor. When he spoke of free
trade he meant trade free and unrestricted with all the
world, not confined to any one article ; and he would sweep
away everything that had a tendency to monopoly. He
said most distinctly that he would give the franchise to
every man. He was an advocate for vote by ballot, short
parliaments, the abolition of capital punishments and the
laceration of the form which God had made by flogging is
the army and navy. No one could be civilly free if he was
not religiously free. What he meant by religious freedom
was religious equality. lie would dispense with bishops in
the House of Lord', and leave them to the choice of those
to whom they spiritually ministered, and he would preserve
episcopacy by separating it from the state. He appealed to
the other two candidates whether the great majority of
the elcctoes of the Tower Hamlets did not hold his
opinions, and if so, were they not entitled to have
him for their representative? In all the meetings he
had attended, only seven hands had been held up against
him, while Sir W. Clay had been hooted at his own hustings
As to what had occurred at those of the gallant general, he.
could not say much, as they had not been so numerous and
rather more obscure. The former representatives of the
borough had created a dissatisfaction the universality and
intensity of which would be tested to-morrow. If to nothing
else, he was entitled to respeet for giving the electors an op-
portunity of making a choice. The hon. gentleman then
went on to complain that a placard had been placed at
General Fox's coramittesrooni, the contents of which that
gallant gentleman must have known were false. In it
he was stated to have said that he considered the
trade of • publican immoral, disgraceful, and vicious
that their houses should be shut on Sundays, and
that he would suppress all steamboat and railway
travelling on that day, and even shut up the Victoria-park.
There was not one word of truth in this, and he now asked
General Fox whether he had numbers of copies of a letter
which appeared in the Moroixg Advertiser, signed "A
Working Man," printed and • ,
General Fux mid he had seen the placard in question at
other places, though not at his conuoittee.room. It was
Issued by his friends, and he was not answerable for what
they did in his name. Personally, lie knew nothing about it.
Mr. Tuomrsox said that he accused General Fox and his
committee with having, for election purposes, circulated an
unadulterated falsehood. ___ _ _ _ _

Mr. GREEN a printer, of Hackney, and one of General
Fox's committee, came forward, and said that he tunhesita.
tingly confirmed the truth of the statement in that placard, as
Mr. Thompson denied it. Neither General Fox nor his commit-
tee were privy to the publication of that letter; but be (Mr.
Green) wee willing to take the responsibility of the publica-
tion. He declared that in answer toa question which he put
to Mr. Thompson, as to whether he was prepared to carry out
his aati-ohnrch and state principle., to the extent of not
allowing the magistrates to interfere for the observances of the
Sabbath, he said "that he was not prepared to go to that ex-
tent ;" and when he asked him if he would allow the
licensed victuallen to be open on Sunday, he said, " No; as
their trade was calculated to promote immorality among the
working-classes."—Mr. Horner, a licensed victualler, con- I
firmed what had been stated by Mr. Green.
Mr. G. Tnomrsore repeated his denial of having said what
had been stated. What he had said was that if it became •
question for legislation be would legislate on it not as a question
of free trade but of morality; but he also said that he was not
prepared to legislate on the subject. Another placard had
been cuenlated the object of which was to make him appear
as a hireling and • mercenary. He had been accused of
taking pay for his services ; but were there ncne other of
the candidate who had taken pay ? There was no &egrete
in receiving honest remuneration for toil, but there was dis-
grace in doing dirty work at all, whether for money or not ;
end some people liked it so well that they would even pay
for printing. There was no price that could buy the man
who now stood before them. No one could ever say he
struck a bargain in the cause of humanity, or ever took more
than was necessary to feed his wife and children. (Great
cheering.) The hon. gentleman then concluded by express-
ing his confidence es to his position on the poll, and retired
amidst considerable applause.
The
i returning officer then called for • show of hands for
teeach candidate succession, and then declared that the
election had fallen on Sir W. Clay and Mr. Thompeon.—A
poll was demanded on behalf of General Fox, which will open
this day, at eight o'clock.—After a rote of thanks to the
returning officer, the court was adjourned till to-morrow
morning (this day).

Soon after 5 o'clock, Viieii—k7;.i; arrived at the hus-
tings is Covent-garden, and was received with the most
uproarious yells, mingled with a few cheers. He proceeded
to ry that his anticipation of victory had proved not to have
been erroneous. (Cheers.) He had not believed itpoesible
that he could be rejected, seeing that he had always been
true to the great principles which were cherished by the elec-
tors. (Renewed cheers.) He thanked the electors for their
generous, disinterested, and untiring zeal throughout the
contest, a contest marked by circumstances which had
placed the liberal party under the greatest possible disad-
vantages. So far as he himself was concerned, they had
certainly done their duty, and he wished that they
had also done their duty with regard to the other
candidate. (Hear, hear, end cheers-) It was satisfactory to
think that, notwithstanding the confusion which had reigned
in the liberal ranks, the conservative, tory, or protectionist
party had been defeated. (Cheer.)
At this point in the gallant general's address, Mr. Coch-
rane arrived, and immediately stood up as if for the purpose
of addressing the assembled crowd, a circumstance which
elittiehd strong narks ordisapprobatioa on the part of General
Ream's friends on the 'rulings.
General Evans then referred to the triumphant termina-
tion of the contest for the City, and expressed a desire to see
Baron Rothschild, especially, in the House of Commons, be-
cause it would be some reparation for ages of persecution
which had been endured by an unoffending portion of the cora-
munity. On the next day he should again have the pleasure of
meeting the elector to hear the official declaration of the
1111-
Mr. COCURANE commented by apologising to General
Zama far having placed himself in an attitude to address the
declaring that be had been throat forward by the
e zeal of his supporters. As he (Mr. Cochrane)
was the popular candidate, it would have been extremely
unfair knowingly to interrupt General Evans in his address.
(Laughter.) They had no doubt heard a statement from
the preceding 'puler that Mr. Lushington was second on
the poll. It was alleged that Mr. iusbington had a
majority of 28 over himself. Let them not carry
their hostility beyond the termination of the con-
test. (Hoar, hear.) They bad fought their fight man-
fully and nobly ; and it was by no means certain that he
(Mr. Cochrane) was not second on the poll. (Great ap-
plause.)