The Sun.
London, England, 1837-07-27 00:00:00

WESTMINSTER ELECTION._

DECLARATION OF 'TIE MEMBERS.

The hustings at Covent-garden were to-day more densely
crowded, if possible, than on the day of no—Hation. The
successful candidates (Col. Evans and Mr. Leader,) arrived
about two o'clock, accompanied by the Mtn-fibers of their
Committees, and were loud! v cheered by the as,:ctubled multi-
tude. Shortly afterwards the High came• forward
and declared- the numbers at the clo.;.: of the poll to be as
fellows .

For Colonel Evans
Mr. Leader 3,793
Sir Gee. Murray 2,620
and be accordingly declared Colonel Evans and Mr. Leader
duly elected to serve them in Parliament.—(Cheers.)
Colonel EVANS then came forward, and was received
with loud and general cheering for some minutes. He was
gratified to inform them that his majority was within a
few of 1,100 above that of his Tory opponent :
( Groans and hisses)—and his Hon. Colleague was nearly
1,200 a-head.—(Great cheering.) That was as it should
be in Westminster, and it would indeed have been a sad
reflection upon them, looking at the efforts they had made
during the progress of the Reform Bill, and on other great
occasions, that at that time of day Westminster
should have fallen back and become so degraded
as the Tories anticipated.—(Hear, hear, hear.) He
should now briefly advert to the course of the contest—for
it was not his custom to trample on a fallen foe. He would
only observe, that their tactics with regard to himself were
much more ingenious and crafty than they were honourable
or creditable to those who had resorted to them. They
had kept two or three charges against him back until within
a few days of the election, believing that there would not
be time for him to disabuse the minds of the electors from
their imputations ; but all those tric':s and finesses had failed,
and he could not help expressing his surprise that
men, who were so wise in their own conceit, should
have treated the Westminster electors as in olden
times they did those of the rotten boroughs.—(Cheers.)
The fact was, that they thought they could treat the
Westminster electors like that of Gotton, but they would
perhaps he more sagacious the next lime. lie could assure
the eketors that they had three hundred or four hundred
votes ready to come forward, if required ; and when he
stated that the registration had been altogether neglected by
the Liberals of late, and well attended to by the Tories
—(" Hear," and cheers)—he was warranted in saying
that if they had been prepared for the contest, the majority,
instead of 1,200, would have been 2,ooo.—(Loud cheers.)
He could promise them that if the Tories came forward on
the next occasion, they would be beaten by a majority of
at least 2,000. He was gratified to find that the elections
were going on pretty well throughout the country. The
metropolis had nobly done its duty by returning Members
who were calculated to promote the interests and improve
the condition of all classes of the community. He re-
gretted that his Gallant Opponent had not obtained a more
favourable hearing on the day of nomination. For his part
he had always endeavoured to obtain a hearing for his
opponents ; but on the recent occasion, contrary to all
etiquette, not only had they a body of hired per-
sons to interfere with the business of the election below,
but the lofty gentlemen—Noblemen and others on the
hustings, did all they could to prevent bins (Colonel
Evans) from speaking. However, it recoiled on themselves,
for his gallant opponent was not allowed to say much. The
little he did say was an epitome of what was stated by the
Tories throughout the country. They found that Tory
politics were a little out of fashion ; and although they had
opposed Catholic Emancipation, the admission of the Jews
to Parliament, and the Reform Bill and half a dozen, or
rather half a hundred other measures, they told them that
it was most improper and unfair for the other party to ar-
rogate to themselves the title of Liberals, for that they
were the real Liberals.—(A. band of music here struck up,
which for a short time interrupted the proceedings,)
He (Colonel Evans) was in great hopes it was the
Tory band, and that his gallant opponent was coming there
to show front at the concluding scene, but he was mistaken,
for they had no stomach for the fight to-day.—( Much
laughter.) His gallant opponent had stated that he was
al mays liberal in his sentiments, and had always voted for civil
a :d religi ius Ebert) ; but he (Col. E ) would refer them to the
Hon. Baronel.'s recorded votes, in opposition to every measure
of that Parliament. He would warn them against any

general professions from even Liberal men, but,-above all,
from Conservatives or Tories. It was easy for any one
to state that he was a friend of the people, but let them
be asked what measures they had supported, and then the
electors would know something of their real character.—
(Hear, hear.) The Tory party were endeavouring again
t' obtain ascendancy, and to turn out the present Liberal
Ministers, but their efforts would be abortive. The moment
a liberal Sovereign ascended the throne, their great oracle and
leader the Duke of Wellington (and he, Colonel Evans, as
a soldier, spoke of him with great respect), had declared
that he was for settling tithes in Ireland, Churdh-rates in
England, and in favour of other liberal measures. That
declaration was made just before the elections came
on, and it would be amusing to see how consistent
the Duke of Wellington's votes would be with those
sentiments.—(Cheers.) He had not heard Sir IL Peel's
statement in the other House, but he presumed that he
also had stated that lie had nothing at heart but the good
of the people. He (Col. E.) feared that he would do no
good except to the upper classes, to which he belonged.
—(Cries of " Hear, hear.") He had been taunted
with want of success in his military career in Spain,
but the Tories were not the persons to taunt him with it,
as they had done all in their power to oppose -his efforts.
He was glad to say that they had lately had good news
from Spain. —(Loud cheering.) His (Colonel E.'s)
great object was as much the promotion of the com-
merce of that country as anything else by a satisfactory
settlement of a Liberal representative Government—( Hear)
in that country. He was gratified to tell them, that in-
stead of the calumnies of his Tory opponents having injured
him in public estimation, 1,600 additional electors had
given him their votes upon the present occasion.—(Cheers.)
Not only was he deeply indebted to the whole body of the
constituency of ‘Vestminster, but he was particularly in-
debted to those enlightened individuals belonging to his
Committee, who had long shown a noble example to their
brother electors.—(Cheers.) He was sorry he was not
able to entertain them longer. His friend and colleague,
Mr. Leader, would do so. He was satisfied, by the con-
fidence they had placed in him, and by their restoring him
again to the high honour he had enjoyed, that he had done
nothing, to forfeit their kindness, but that he had done
more to render himself deserving of their kindness than
lie had on any former occasion.—(Loud cheers.) He now
begged to assure the .electors of Westminster, that as he
felt the additional gratification at the honour they had con-
ferred upon him, his future efforts would be redoubled to
render himself worthy of the confidence they had placed
in him.—(Loud and continued cheering.)
. .

Mr. LEADER mounted the platform amidst enthusiastic

cheers, waving of hats, and cries of"Young_Glory for ever.")
He had now the pleasing task to perform of returning to
his brother electors and fellow-citizens of Westminster his
most sincere thanks for the great honour they had con-

feried on him, and the confidence reposed in him by the
great body of the electors. He could assure them that as
his early ambition in entering public life was to pro-
mote the good of the people, so to the last hour of
his life he trusted he should never be found wanting
as far as his humble abilities went in promoting to the best
of his means the great cause in which he had embarked.—
(Cheers.) He would now say a word or two upon what
passed on the day of nomination.—(Cries of " That's right,
give it them !") He had seen by the newspapers
that Sir George Murray first of all acccused him of
having treated the people " very superciliously,"
because he had requested them to move certain parties
who created a disturbance. His only object in speaking
of those hired ruffians—(Cheers)—was to preserve peace
and order in the meeting, and that the meeting "might prove
to the world that Englishmen could meet in a pubre
assembly calmly, peaceably, and tranquilly to discuss po-
litical questions.—(Loud cheers.) The manner in which
they then heard him, and the admirable manner in which
they then conducted themselves, was a sufficient proof that
they did not think he wished to treat them superciliously.
—(Loud cheers.) His gallant opponent was also pleased
to say that his effort on that occasion was a complete
failure.—(Continued cheering.) Whether the few words
he then uttered were a failure or not, all he could say was
those few words had a good result, for not only had lie per-
suaded them to hold up their hands in his favour, but he
had also persuaded the electors to put him at the head of
the poll by a very large majority.—(Cheers and laugh-
ter.) However, Sir George Murray was really in
electioneering matters so excellent a judge of what a failure
was, that he fancied there must be some great authority in
his censure, and that really and truly he had made a failure
—(Laughter)—but it was not such a fame as Sir G. Mur-
ray's attempt in Perthshire three years ago ; and he thought
his attempt at Westminster the other day was a
greater failure still —(Renewed roars of lauglitcr)—
but the greatest failure of all was the failure of those
foul placards and those calumnious attempts made on the
character of his gallant friend, Colonel Evans.—(Loud
cheers, and laughter.) That was the most signal
failure of all, and he (Mr. Leader) rejoiced at that
failure, because it proved the people of England had sense
enough to see through and despise such base, petty, party
manoeuvring as that resorted to by some of the Tories, in
order to asperse the character and good fame of an English
soldier.—(lmmense cheering.) Some of his (Mr. Leader's)
over-zealous friends had wished to issue offensive placards,
attacking the personal character of Sir George Murray ;
but he had requested that ti.ei might ho suppressed,
and they were suppressed,._.(Cheers, and cries of "
ran away with hie housekeeper.") There was another
point to which he must allude. In the lan4 li cof lust