The Sun.
London, England, 1855-11-06 00:00:00

LEPRESENTATION OF SOUTHIVARK.

Last night another muster of the supporters of Sir C.
jaeboeu sot
atlblye staombee
Napier took place at the Literary and Scientific Institu-
tion in the Borough-road. The assemblage was as large
as the dimensions of the building admitted of, and there
proportion
at o
such
uc electorsh
g at
h e to
non-electors apparently
ings, _

The chair was occupied by Dr. EVANS, who opened
the proceedings by expressing his regret that there was
not in the borough a room sufficiently large to accommo-
date those who were desirous of being present. He then
observed upon the circumstance of there being two can-
didates in the field, and, while eschewing anything like
personalities with reference to the other candidate, he
urged in strong terms what ho conceived to be the claims
of tie gallant Admiral. He preferred the representative
of public interests to him who represented local interests
alone, and he put it to the meeting what sort of a place
the House of Commons would be if every borough in the
kingdom sent only local representatives to the great con-
gress of the nation.

- Sir C. NAPIER, who was received with the enthusiasm
of a popular favourite, said that he did no conceal from
himself the position which he was in. If they did him the
honour to return him to Parliament, it would perhaps be
one of the greatest triumphs that ever a gentleman or an
officer had achieved ; but if, on the other hand, he should
not be fortunate enough to be returned, he confessed that
it would be " a heavy blow and great discouragement."
He did hope, however, and he should say that he was
almost certain, that they would return him to Parlia-
mentw.e wwiitlhi.,)a, triumphant majority. (Cheers, and cries of
He had seen in a newspaper of that morn-
ing's date a letter, addressed to the editor, asking whether
he were not a decrepit old man ? He asked them, did he
look very decrepit ? (" No.") Five or six years ago, when
the Government thought proper to intrust him with the
command of the Channel fleet, they did not think him de-
crepit ; and again, in the year 1854, when they sent him
to command a fleet which was manned by 20,000 men, he
was not thought very decrepit. At any rate, he had been
able, in spite of storms, fogs, and tempests, to conduct that
fleet through the Baltic Sea and into the Gulf of Finland.
(Cheers.) He was not ashamed of his age—far from it.
Thank God, he had good health and strength, and he had
no doubt, if they sent him to Parliament, that he should
be able to do his duty as well as many a younger man.
(Cheers.) He understood that bis opponent (Mr. Scovell)
was about to adopt the plan which he (Sir C. Napier)
hal adopted from the first—that of holding open-air
meetings. If Mr. Scovell began holding meetings, he
trusted that none of his friends would go there to disturb
them. Such conduct was un-English and unfair. Every
man, friend or foe, was entitled to a fair hearing, and, if
they wanted to beat a man, the best way to do it was to
be open and aboveboard with him. (Cheers.) However,
if Mr. Scovell held an open-air meeting, he (Sir Chas.
Napier) would Le there to hear what had to be said ;
because it was best to, hear what every one had to say,
and then at future meetings he might be able to give to
any statements which might be made a triumphant an-
swer. (Cheers.) After going through the principal
points of his address, the gallant Admiral said, with re-
gard to what was called " Administrative Reform," that
he had been an administrative reformer before the term
had become almost a byword. So long as 1816 he had
written letters on the subject of naval reform, and he
had gone with it almost ever since. He was happy to
say that many things which he had recommended had
since been carried out ; but, as they had not been adopted
at the time, they were not allowed to appear as reforms
of his suggesting, but as emanating from the Govern-
ment of the day. (Cheers.) He declared that he was
not a factious man, that he did not wish to disturb the
Government, and that if a Tory Government were in
power to-morrow, and conducted the affairs of the coun-
try properly, he would support it as readily as any other.
He believed that on Tuesday next the Speaker's warrant
would be issued, fixing the time for the election. The
writ would be returned in three days ; it then remained
for the High Bailiff to appoint what day he pleased for
the election ; and so far as he could judge, he did not
believe that it would take place before next Monday
week. There was ample time in 14 days for a people to
do a great deal towards securing the return of a candi-
date. He trusted and believed that no friend of his
would use undue influence to insure his success ; for if
he thought that he could only be retur; e I by undue or
unfair means, he would much rather not be returned
to
Parliament at all. (Cries of " Bravo. Charley !)
Unfortunately, the country was not so far advaiTeiciiga
in
Parliamentary reform as it ought to be ; and, and as
in
the proof of this, he believed that out of 10,000 electors
Southwark not above 7,000 had ever gone to poll.
That could not be called a full and free representation
of the people. He hoped that the forthcouttiant m
g elec-
tionore would be of a different description, and
electorseveo ots, infl:dt
good
eod polled
proportiontlianbad f
thoseever beenvvho
hadbefor e
stayed A t
all
'sway before voted now, be shouldo Mr. Scovellbereturned polledh
a
triumphant majority, even thu gh
considerably more than at the last election. (Cheers.)