The National Register.
London, England, 1818-07-27 00:00:00

,Al-4itse /it

7.7
z,66,

PRICE 924

WARD OF FARRINGDON WITHOUT.

Friday a Wardmote was held by the Lord Mayor, ir.
St. Bride's Church, for the election of an Alderman ir,
t 1 room of Sir Charles I'rice, Bart. deceased.

The Wardmote was opened in the usual way by pat-
clwmation, and tl;e reading of the precept.
Mr. Deputy llerring then rose and observed, er.)
as the gentlemen of the ward had been that day sta.,.
moved for the electionihnn Alderman in the man o
their late worthy magistrate Sir Charles Price, he aa.
about to take the libertyb of nominating a gentleman
supply the vacancy. The gentleman he should preps
was Mr. Waithman, one of the members foe this city,
whose character and qualifications were well known to
ale present.
Mr. Reeve rose to second the motion, and said he cm' •f
SWUM the gentlemen of the ward that no circumatancat
of his life hued ever given him greater pleasure than thy:
perfhrmance of that duty.
The question was then put by the Lord Mayor, awl
Mr. Waithman was, amid loud cheers, declared unania
moualy elected to time office of Alderman of the ward.
Mr. Waithman then came forward. He had sp•
peared before his fellow-citizens on many occasions ;
. but on no occasion did he ever experience so great a
want of confidence in himself, awl such an inability to
express to them his feelings. The present insult:ea of
their favour brought to his recollection so loam, past
circumstances that he could net help labouring under
a more than ordinary embarrassment. It was in that
Church, and doubtless in the presence of many who
;hen heard him, that he ventured to make his first ef-
fortt iwthe cause of the public. His friends were then
tartia4enough to think' welliff hisAtertions, and to
elneeive that their continuareren:Wit be usefulo-:-
It was, therefore, a high gratification to him to ' **a
recollect, that though he first came forward in poli-
tical life at a time when much violence and acri-
mony prevailed, he had lived to see the prejudices
against him dissipated, • and lino now in that church,
where he first addressed them, the inhabitants of the
ward had met to place him in the highest situation
they could bestow on any man. Another eiretinenanee
which afibrded him great satisfaction was, that he
should be proposed by the worthy deputy who had
moved Ids nomination, and who had known him before
lie entered into business, or made his appearance in
public life. Though proud of the honour, he knew it
was not a gift intended for the gratification of individual
vanity, but an office of grave and important responsi-
bility; and when he considered the duties he had to
perform, and recollected all that he owed to the public
and to his own family, he could not avoid being im-
pressed with more diffidence on this than on any other
occasion on which he had to acknowledge the kindness
of his fellow citizens. It would have been a great in-
trusion on the part of any individual, and much more
of so humble an individual as he was, to have put him-
self forward on the present occasion. But the honour
they had now proposed, certainly was not of his seek-
ing, any more than that which had recently been con-
ferred on him by the livery ; on both occasions valued
and much indulgent friends had proposed him. When,
however, he considered that in all the efliwts he had
made in the public cause he had always been supported
by a majority of that ward ; when he considered also
the weight that ward possessed in the City of London :
and that through his representing it in the Common
Council he was indebted for the honour of a seat in
Parliament, he certainly felt that he could not decline
this important office, if his fellow citizens should think
him fit to fill it. On entering en the duties of so la-
borious an office, he was aware that it was scarcely
possible for a man so to conduct himself as not to ea-
pose himself on some occasion or another to censure.—
He would only say, that whatever errors he rniuht
commit, they would be errors of jtolament only, and all
he claimed of them was, what he latew he should hate,
a kind and liberal construction of his actions. It would
be the constant o' jest of his life to maintain that con-
duct which had willed their good opinion, and con-
ferred an honour which was worthy to be the highest
object of his ambition. He could say no more, but he
sincerely and gratefully thanked them.
on the motion of Mr. Thompson, a resolotien, ex-
prenive of the estimation in which the late Sir C. Price
was held by the ward, was ordered to be recorded.
Thanks were then voted to the Lord Mayor. and the
thrrncr Deputies were, on she recommendatl, n of Mr.
Waitlamus, re•sch.ctcd. The Chart was the: disselved.