The Sun.
London, England, 1852-03-05 00:00:00

MR. ROEBUCK and MEt. COPPOCK.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
8111).--May I beg your insertion of the enclosed
correspondence and statement. The publicity which
M. Roebuck's statement in the House of Commons
nita obtained, must plead my excuse for trespassing on
your columns.

I aim, Sir, your very obedient servant,
JLMES COPPOCK.
3, Cleveland-row, March 5, 1852.

TO THE LDITOR OF THE SUN.
Siki—ln the Times of Tuesday, the 17th of
February, I find the following report of the pro-
• eeedings in the House of Commons, on the previous
evening :
" Mr. Roebuck begged to inform the Noble Lord
(Lord Claude Hamilton), that he for one, had 11A no-
Mill to do with Mr. Coppock, in any of hi. ebctiorts;
Rua-that Mr. Coppock would never have dared to come
Where he was a candidate, pretending to be on his side.
Re had stood alwa)s on his own ground; and as to his
expenses, which, in relation to his eb-ctione, had never
gene a farthing beyond the bond fide legitimate cx-
•". Penies, he had in each case been distinctly told by those
!"11c, elected bim, that ho was iu no degree to consider
himself called upon to meet them.
" Lord C. Hamilton—' Is not the Honourable
and Learned Gentleman a member of the Iklorm Club?'
Mr. Roebuck—* Yes. I am, but I never go there.'"
I was greatly astonished when I saw the foregoing
report--the general accuracy of the Parliamentary
reporters, and the distinctness of the averments made
by Bilr. Roebuck, were asurances against misrepre-
. Bentation ; but before I gave implicit credence to what
had read, I inquired from several Members of Par-
. 'lament if they had heard the words uttered by Mr.
Roebuck. One and all confirmed the report.
It has therefore been asserted by Mr. Roebuck,
in his capacity of a Member of Parliament,—lst, that
he had never had anything to do with me i❑ any of
his elections; 2dly, that I should never have dared to

come where he was a candidate, pretending to be
cil his side ; and, idly, that, in effect, in all
his elections, he had been returned free of expense,
and had been under no pecuniary obligations to others
for those expenses, or for providing funds to meet
!there. These three assertions are false. I regret that
am compelled to prove them so. Mr. Roebuck's
atatement as to never going to the Reform Club can
he proved false also, at least a hundred times within
the last twelve months, but I confine myself to the
assertions which I can disprove under Mr. Roebuck's
oWn hand.
In May, 1841, Mr. Roebuck was not in Parliament,
'tit being anxious to get returned at the then coming
election, he sought constant communication with me
neon the subject. Great difficulties existf-d, as to his
again contesting Bath—where, although he had
many political friends, he had numerous personal op-
r
hvneete• One section of the Liberal party remained
t‘attachedt to him; a considerable body wished to ex-
de him. Before he could stand for Bath, therefore,
with SOY prospect of success, it was necessary to
.e
yeciliate and re-combine the entire Liberal ccn-
.tituenc_.
It was at one time proposed that he
ashould abandon Bath and go elsewhere ; but this
could not be managed.
M. Roebuck came almost daily to my house in
„
dieveltad•row, until the 17th May. On that day
ue arranged with me that he would go down to Bath,
feel his way with his old constituency, and report to
t
e how matters stood.
04 the 20th May he thus wrote to me :
" Bath, May, 1 hursday 20, 1841.
"My dear Sir,—l am now in a condition to tell
3';1°11 the state of this town as to the supposed coming
please
You may apply to any one here you
`seeee and I feel confident that what I am about to
tlgett will be confirmed, not disputed.
"If I were to retire to-morrow you would to a
certainty have in the two Tories-7CO voters at least
Would plump for me to-morrow, and if I were to re-
-7° a large portion of these would at once go over to
he Tories.
`` Though thus strongly feeling in my favour, they
I ern also confident would be sincere supporters of any
Liberal candidate who would fairly join with me,
" if such can be found, we are sure of a victory.
„ "Captain Seobell does not stand ; his health will
not permit him. This has been ascertained by appli-
cation to himself, and he has distinctly -declined ,o
come forward.
"Mr. Ellis, whom you mentioned, is too ill, and
in fact too much afflicted by his late loss, to wish to
• beer the noise of an election ; he also declines. The
held is thus completely open for a good man.
"Some of the Whigs (so called) here, profess such
isreng hatred to me, as to prefer a Tory to voting for
„,
-le. But if the Government desire a Whig of any
t to come in, if they wish to keep the Tories out,
f they must not hesitate to declare this obstinacy,
olly,
These headstrong people, if they had their
: ilk if I were at once to retire to please them, would
Lid themselves and their candidates in a miserable
telcority.
,
e propose to have a public meeting to let the
"rest body of the Liberals who call themselves Whigs
et? Avbat are our views, and what we desire of
• .you
Iv: Ist. To send us a good name to be proposed as a
ulg--Gisborne has been mentioned as a person ac-
ePtible to the Dissenting bodies here, many of whom
professi themselves Whigs. My strength is above
dl°oo ; if to these you can add two or three bun-
i,l
ed of those who hold off from us, our victory
Would' not simply be certain, but overwhelming.
Thin the Government may do if they please, by send-
Iti
us such a man as the one I have named, either
himself or one like him. The expense will be trifling,
a rare thing, and the game sure. Now, if you can
seed me the name of a good man by Monday, when
We
ere to have our meeting, I could propose and se-
care him.
~ll 2. We wish you would intimate to your friends
eras
~_ I mean your leading Whigs, the wishes of your
,_44ttY. If an appeal is to be made to the Country, you
must do it wisely. Your existence will depend on
Your numbers, and your numbers will depend upon a
. toper management of your own friends. They are
no condition to be supercilious They cannot have
it all their own Way, and must be content when in a
Minoritthe members.Y in
a c7ll;csuency to put up with one-half
ueo
(incog, mind),could come down yourself
much good might be done. The I°l-
- Persons ought to
be spoken to, they are wilful,
vain fools, who dread to be
conquered by their Radi.
°eel neighbours :—Mr. eeeeee, Dr. eseese***e Mr.
**sees., Dr. ******, Mr. ***-4:**.
"If the Whig Government really desire to have
two Liberals in and keep out two Tories—if they do
4°4 hate me touch as to desire to have four votes
• against them, rather than let me in—they may easily,
e4ea,PlY win the victory against the Tories. If you
Will
come down I will make this apparent to you in
m4lt an-hour.—Yours, &c.,
o if. A. ROEI3UCK.
"dames Coppock, Esq.
"Direct to me White Hart, Bath."
To this letter I immediately attended. I wrote to
,the parties named by Mr. Roebuck, and to him I
tented as follows :
"3, Cleveland-row, 21st May, 1841.
"43' dear Sir,—Your retirement from Bath,
tinder the circumstances, is out of the question. It
is therefore necessary to pair you with a man who
cant bring to you, and receive from you, the whole
si?Port of the party. There is the most sincere (le-
-11 here to effect this, and I have no doubt we shall
able to manage it. Gisborne cannot be had for
eth, he is wanted elsewhere ; but I hope that to-
lbl,it3te'iv or Monday we shall -get a proper man. It
eti,4" be better that the Whig party in Bath should
AziPerently nominate their candidate than that you
lee °llld do it ; but if you or your friends will, regard-
of town's rumour, leave the matter to us here, I
certain that an acceptable man will come forward.
3,04 Ilverything shall be done to win over the parties
1.1,11 name to sensible views of the present crisis.
kiere Must be general conciliation, and no obstinate
„etrence to old prejudices.
over 4 cannot stir from this place until the fight is
yot but I shall be ready to act upon any advice
Res,,.elaY give, and to avail myself fully of any sug-
%lon
ii„„_ which may tend to secure the two seats for
am, my dear Sir, yours faithfully,
" JAMES COPPOCK.