The Sun.
London, England, 1806-10-25 00:00:00

ROCHESTER_- ELECTION.

The eyes of, the nation, and shortly of all the
world, will be upon this ,election. It has produced
an incident, of such charaEter, that we are almost at
a loss
,Tor , Words to describe, it. If the plains. of
Maida ; if the plains of Syria and Egypt (where Sir
SIDNEY Smmt has gained renown at ,thecannon's
mouth) have raised the honour,of the British, name;
the a(.t of a• British Gentleman, .which we are about

tO record, does in its kind and genius retie& a cork
respondent lustre upon the magnanimous liberality
of which the British character is capable when the
true chord is touched in a true BritiSh bosom.
A Meeting of the London Voters for Rochester
took place last night, when the friend of Sir SID-
. NEY SMITH, who from friendship the most pure and
perfect, is engaged in accomplishing his re-election,
disclosed the EXTRAORDINARY CI r CUMSTANUE which
will astonish and delight the whole country.
This friend of Sir SIDNEY SMITH Went to Ro-
chester on \Vednesdiy last. In his absence, sotfie
difficulties were understood to exist among other
friends of Sir SIDNEY, respeOing the expences of his
re-election. It was during the -discussion of these
difficulties that Sir THOMAS THOMPSON, conceiving
that Sir SIDNEY would be withdrawn, offered him-
self fur Rochester: - The idea of supplanting Sir
•SIDNEY never entered into the mind of that gallant
and honourable Admiral ; and we are persuaded that
no Gentleman in En land would permit himself to
be made the disgraceful instrument of doing any
thitrg to lower or degrade Sir SIDNEY SMITH in the
eyes of
.Europe,- at the very moment that he (the
life and soul of our operations kn the Mediterranean)
is exalted by the Government of our Ally, the King
of Sicily, into an authority almost paramount to
that of the Sovereign himself. A letter from a Mr.
TURNER, an Officer in the Navy, in the Mediter-
ranean, to his father, Mr. CHARLES TURNER, of the
City‘of Rochester, after a description of the Battle
Of 'Maida, arid a detail of Sir SIDNEY SMITH'S vari-
ous and well combined operations, concludes in these
.wordS This government has given him (Sir
SIDNEY) power over all its civil and military au-
thori:ties--nay, , even the prerogative of LIFE and

DEATH.."

• -" -
It is not at such `a
moment that any honest re-
speetable tnglish Gentleman, still less a brother
Offider, of kindred qualities and courage, could be
found to lend himself towards,any abasement of that
brave man, of whom his Country is soiustly proud,
and who in this crisis
:constitutes so much of EU--
rope's hope.
Full of these impressions, Sir THOMAS THOMPSON
retires from the contest. These impressiOns are
most profoundly feit among all the upright Ereernen
of Rochester'. We, wish that. the pressure of the
moment, and the inevitable scantiness of our limits,
allowed us to, give the speech of Sir SIDNEY'S friend
to our Readers ; but that part of it which states
tha following NEVER TO BE FORGOTTEN public spirit,
and uxExAmrLro GENEROSITY, we would even stop
the Press to communicate to our Country, and to
the whole world. .
Sir SIDNEY'S friend, on coming to town on Thurs,,
day evening, wrote to‘a Gentleman whom he had
often heard talk in rapture of Sir SIDNEY'S exploits,
on the subje& of the pecuniary straight, and received
in reply the fol)owing answer : •
" Nine o'clock, Thursday Evening,
" MY DEAR SIR, oa. 23, igo6.
" I have just this moment received your Letter
respe&ing Sir Sidney Smith's EleCtion.
-Your-v.:al in favour of your-absent Frienci does
you honour; and I received your application to me,
upon this subjeet, as the greatest compliment you
could pay me.
If the only difficulty to Sir Sidney's re-eleCtion
be want of money, that difficulty is removed.
". I shall send to you in the morning, it being
impossible to get the cash to-night, by Henry,
Bank•notes for' 50001. before ten o'clock, which be
sure to be in the way to receive ; and if bouol. more
be necessary, the same,shall be forthcoming.-
" I never opened my lips to That great and. glori-
ous charaCter, but Ithink him an honour to my
country."
Here, Go'ntlemen (Aid the 'Speaker), I Must
,make an observation.. One of our, greatest Poet*,
distinguishing true piety from ostentation, thus ex-
presses himself : _
" Who builds a church to God, and not to fme,
" Neyer inscribes the iparble with his name."
(If this unparalleled a 4 wanted airy thing to make
it unique, the taste, the goad sense, and modat dig-
nity of the concluding paragraph, most abundantly
snpplics that consuinniate perfalion.. It is in these
words) : . _

There is one condition which I must insist upon, most
peremptorily, under the strictest tie of good'faith, namely,
that you do, on no account, reveal my name, which I omit
signing to this letter,"
Before ten o'clock, yesterday morning, Sir SID-
NEY'S friend received die following : •

" DEAR SIR, Friday Morning.
- " I enclose you Five-Thousand Pounds, in Bank
Notes. Let me know, by a single line, that they
have safely reached your hands.
• " Ever your's, most faithfully, &c. &c."

Upon, the reading of this Letter, and the five
notes of Wool. each► being lain on the table, the
room was shaken to its base. The universal senti-
ment of all who were Fesent was, that it would be
sacrilege to trench upon a guinea of the money be-
yond the, most stria exigence. The health of Sir
SIDNEY'S UNKNOWN FRIEND was toasted with
enthusiasm. A more rapturous scene never was
exhibited in a social circle.

A lead mine has recently been .discovered in the
county of Wicklow. The ore -has' undergone the
necessary trials, and is expeeted. to prove a very
valuable discovery to the proprietor.
The following extraordinary accident happened
last week in the neighbourhood of Wotton-under-
Edzs,re :- Four men, who had assembled in.the night,
with an intention, it is supposed, of stealing timber,
went into afield adjoining that town, where several
pieces had recently been placed for the purpose of
building. Three of these fellows, in this nefarious
pursuit, had got a small tree upon their shoulders,
and were carrying it off, when the man who carried
the butt-end slipped down, and the Whole weight of
'the piece falling upon him, ht) was killed on Es
spot