The Sun.
London, England, 1863-02-05 00:00:00

THE NOMINATION.

The nomination of candidates for the honour of repre-
senting Reigate in Parliament, in the place of the Hon. J.
W. Monson, now Lord Monson, took place yesterday in the
new public hell, an elegant building, capable of holding
about 530 people.
Originally three candidates presented th.rnselves—the
Hon. J. Stuart Wortley, on Conservative principles ; and
Mr. W. A. Wilkinson and Mr. W. L. Gower, as exponents
of Liberal views. Mr. Wortley, however, very soon with-
drew his pretensions, and since then Messrs. Wilkinson and
Gower have been the only candidates. Mr. Wilkinson is
well known in Reigate as an advanced Liberal, havingcon-
tested the borough in 1858, when he was defeated by Mr.
Monson by 15 upon a poll of 435. He is also known as hav-
ing represented Lambeth in Parliament until ousted by
Mr. Roupell. Mr. Gower is new to political life, but he is
lord of the manor of Thsey, near Godstone, and possesses
large property in the county. He is the only son of Wm.
.eveson Gower, who married the daughter and heiress of
the late Sir Thomas Gresham, from whom he inherits
Titsey-park. His Liberalism is of a rather more moderate
character than his opponent's.

Since the election of 1858 the register has been increased
by 210 voters, the exact number at present upon it being
737. The borough is divided into " Reigate proper" and
" Reigate foreign," the former comprising the ancient bo-
rough and the la:ter comprehending all the new localities
in the neighbourhood of Redhill, Wray-park, and Mead-
vale, and a district of about a mile 9nd a half in every di-
rection from the old town of Reigate. Reigate foreign has
568 voters, and Reigate proper 169. The increase which
has taken place in the register since 1858 is thus appor-
tioned-198 to Reigate foreign and 16 to Reigate proper.
Mr. Gower was the first to arrive in the hall, being ac-
companied by Mr. W. Phillips, Mr. Hanbury, Mr. G. F.
Young, Mr. Clutton, Rev. A. Cazenove, Mr. Woolaston,
Mr. Relf, Mr. Webb, Rev. R. Parkinson, and others, the
majority wearing purple favours.
Mr. Wilkinson was accompanied by Mr. Norman Wil-
kinson, Mr. Searle, Mr. T, Dann, Mr. North, Mr. Campion,
Mr. Burt, Mr. Boult, Mr. Wesley, Mr, Eiger, Mr. Toplis,
Mr. James Deane, Mr. James Deane, jun., Mr. W. H.
Deane, Mr. E. Lambert, sen. and jun., Mr. Blackestone,
Mr. Quinton, Mr. Austin, Mr. Balfour, and other promi-
nent members of his committee, wearing blue and buff
favours.

Shortly before eleven o'clock the " great public" was ad•
milted. and immediately the hall was filled with a large
and eager audience.

Mr. PETER MARTIN, the Deputy Returning-officer, pre-
sided.

The usual preliminaries having been complied with,
Mr. SEARLE came forward to nominate Mr. William
Arthur Wilkinson. He had always, he said, taken a pro-
minent part in elections for the borough of Reigate, and
had invariably identified himself with the Liberal party. It
had been his pleasing duty to second the nomination of their
late respected member, Mr. Monson. That hon. gentle-
man had faithfully performed every pledge that he had
given, and by his courtesy and sauvity had won the esteem.
and respect of every person in the borough—high and low.
(Cheers.) He was sure that those feelings would be heartily
sympathised in by every one in the borough. (Cheers.)
On the present occasion it was his pleasing duty to propose
another staunch Liberal in the person of his friend Mr.
William Arthur Wilkinson. When the present vacancy
arose he hoped that the opportunity might be taken of
uniting in one compact mass the great Liberal party of the
borough, which had hitherto been divided upon class and
personal questions rather than upon political principles.
(Cheers.) Many of Mr. Monson's leading supporters con-
curred with him in that view, and, therefore, he was sur-
prised to find that he was opposed upon this occasion. (A.
Veice—" He never ought to have been.") And he was the
more surprised when he remembered that his political prin-
ciples were identical in every particular with those of their
late member. Mr. Searle then went through Mr. Wilkin-
son's political career since he had entered upon public life,
summing up all in the comprehensive phrase that every
measure having for its object the raising of the condition of
the labouring classes and of the people generally of this
country had invariably received the support of that gentle-
man. (Loud cheers.) He then commented upon the ap-
pearance of the names of many Conservatives upon Mr.
Gower's committee, attributing that circumstance to their
detestation of Liberal principles,:and their consequent desire
to overthrow the man who had been the consistent sup-
porter of those principles all his life. (Cheers.) He was
satisfied that they would return Mr. Wilkinson by a tri-
umphant majority, and that they would have in him a re-
presentative of unimpeachable integrity and unswerving
honour. (Cheers.)

Mr. NORTH seconded the nomination. He described Mr.
Wilkinson as representing the commercial and Mr. Gower
the landed interest ; but, in his opinion, the landed interest
was sufficiently represented in the House of Commons
already, and for this reason, among others, he supported
Mr, Wilkinson.

Mr. PHILLIPS proposed the nomination of Mr. Gower.
He concurred in the just encomia which had been passed
upon their late member, and described the candidate whom
he proposed as esteemed in his neighbourhood, a good
master, and devoted to the interests of all around him. Mr.
Gower had been correctly described as a member of the
landed interest, and he had a great stake in the country ;
but he denied that Mr. Wilkinson represented the commer-
cial, although he might, perhaps, the monied interests of
the country. A good cause required no stimulus, and he
was satisfied that in a brief period Mr. Gower would be re
turned as their representative to Parliament. (Cheers.)
Mr. PHILIP HANBURY seconded the nomination amid
considerable interruption, enhanced by the exhibition of a
number of uild rabbits tied to poles, and waved in a jeering
manner in the face of the speaker. With the exception
of this episode (which, however, effectually prevented Mr.
Hanbury being heard) the proceedings were conducted with
a tolerable amount of order and undoubted good humour.
No other candidate being proposed,
Mr. WitaiNsort rose to address the electors and was en•
thusiastically received, about two-thirds of the hall being
apparently filled with his supporters. He said that he pre-
sented himself with the less hesitation upon this occasion
because he declared that he should not have appeared before
them at all had it not been represented to him that an op-
portunity now presented itself of uniting the great Liberal
party in this borough. (Hear, hear.) Mr. Gower had
stated that it was not his intention to divide the Liberal
interest, but he asked whether the Liberal interest had been
divided or net. If it had not been divided, then he was con-
fident that he must have it all ; and, if so, what, he asked,
had his opponent got f (A voice, "The Tories.") He had
avoided personalities throughout this contest, and bad conns.
pleined of nothing but the youth and inexperience of his
opponent, and he should not say a single syllable in bis dis-
paragement now, except that he could not for the litelof
him understand on what pretence he came forward. That
which should have been a struggle between Liberals and
Tories had degenerated into a personal struggle between two
individuals. (Hear, hear.) He asked them to return him
to Parliament because he believed in his conscience that his
age and experience were more likely to be turned to the ad-
vantage of the borough than the youth and inexperience of
his opponent could possibly be. (Cheers.) He had held
five public meetings in the public halls of Reigate and Red-
hill, and had addressed about 30 meetings in other parts of
the borough. He had had plenty of opportunities there-
fore, of explaining his political views, and would not detain
them longer than by expressing a hope that when the elec-
tion was concluded all would be good friends again, because
it was his intention to represent the whale borough and not
a section of a party. (Cheers.)
Mr. GOWER, on presenting himself, was received with
mingled cheers and hisses. He declared that he had no wish
to make this a personal contest, but when he was accused
of coming forward to divide the Liberal interest he was
bound to answer that accusation. It was impossible that at
Conservative could ever be returned for Reigate ;
anberds.l"sthhae
were so, and the contest must be between twooodLia
right to
asked whether one gentleman had
Wilkinsonnog
might have
stand as another. (Cheers.) .
man in Parliament;
earned their gi atitude.
He knew also he had been a useful
been
clidAinr 0 slay that he had not.
and because he had stood before,
but if upon that acco
freedom of election witheers.)
nobody else was everntno4offwerashiimnsteelrffeforerdßei.ghate,
(Cthen the
whole
The chief accusation brought against him (Mr. Gower) was
that he was too young. It was true that he was a young
man, but he never knew that a man was the worse for
being young or that age was a qualification for Parliament.
Besides, every man must have a start in life. (Cheers.) A.
great deal had been said about his belonging to the landed
interest. He contended that all interests ought to be re-
presented in Parliament, and he had yet to learn that the
landed interest was opposed to the general interests of the
country. He was opposed to the ballot because he believed
that secret voting could never be carried out in this coun-
try, but as respected Church-rates he was prepared to vote
for their total abolition. He had now frequently explained
to them fully and frankly his political opinions, and he de-
fied any ene to say that he had ever uttered a word that
was not truly and thoroughly liberal. (Cheers.)
A show of hands was then taken, which resulted in about
two to one being held up in favour of Mr. Wilkinson.
The RETURNING-OFFICER declared the show to be in
favour of Mr. Wilkinson accordingly, and, a poll being
demanded on behalf of Mr. Gower, the proceedings were
brought to a quiet termination.

THE ROYAL INSTITUTION OF GREAT BRITAIN.—
'
meeting on Tuesday--Mr.
At the general monthly
William Pole, M.A., F.R. S., treasurer and vice-president,
in the chair—the Earl of Clanwilhare, Mr. Edward W
Cox, Sir Wiliam' Augustus Fraser, Bart., General Charles
H. Hamilton, C. 8., and Mr. Peter Vanderbyl, were elected
members of the Royal Institution. The secretary reported
that the executors of the late James Walker, F.R.S., M.R.I.
had bequeathed to the institution a marble bust of Processor
Faraday, by Mr. Matthew Noble, M.R.I, The thanks of
the members were returned to Professor Tyndall and to his
Eminence Cardiz.,al Wiseman, for their discourses on the
evening meetings on Fridays, Jan. 23 and 30. The presents
received since the last meeting were laid on the table, arla
the thanks of the meeting returned for the gime.