The Sun.
London, England, 1865-05-20 00:00:00

ELECTION INTELLIGENCE.

WESTMINSTER.

A public meeting of the parishioners of St. Paul, Covent-
garden, and other electors of Westminster, was held last
evening in St. Martin's Hall, to take into consideration the
best means of securing the return of Mr. Mill at the forth-
coming election. There was a crowded attendance, in-
cluding the following :—Mr. Neat°, M.P., Col. Clive, M.P.,
Professor Fawcett, Professor Cairns, Professor Beasly,
and Mr. Sergeant Parry.

Mr. IL T. Enias presided, and said the present meeting
was the first of a series which were intended to be held
throughout the city,with the view of giving the inhabitants
a knowledge of the pretensions of Mr Mill and his qualifica-
tions for the representation of so influential a constituency.
He said it was unnecessary for him to enter into any ex-
planation of the political views entertained by the gentle-
man whom they sought for a representative. He was well
and favourably known as a writer and politician, and the
electors had no grounds for looking on him as one whose
speeches on the hustings would be falsified in the senate.
Letters.having been read from Mr. Stansfeld, M.P., and
Mr. Hughes (author of " Tom Brown's School Days"),

Mr. T. S. BEGGS moved the first resolution as follows :
" That it is due to the position and reputation of the city
and liberties of Westminster that it should be represented
by mon who have manifested a publicly recognised capacity
to instruct and guide opinion on political questions ; and
that Mr. John Stuart Mill, who, as a thinker and writer on
political and economical questions, has acquired a high re-
putation, . not only in this country but throughout the
world, is pre-eminently qualified to serve in the House of
Commons as a representative of this borough."
Mr. J. STOW seconded the resolution.

Mr. NEATE, M.P., supported the resolution, and urged
upon the electors the necessity of selecting men who would
take a step towards effecting an improvement in the con-
dition of the working man.
Mr. W. S. HASTINGS also supported theTesolution, which
was carried.

Mr. DURHAM, M.D., proposed the next resolution—
" That the adoption of Mr. Mill as a candidate by the libera;
committee be confirmed by this meeting."

Mr. HORTON seconded the resolution, which was sup-
ported by Mr. Sergeant Pairy and unanimously agreed to.
Mr. CHRISTIE (late British Consul at Brazil) moved the
third resolution-r" That the practice of employing hired
agents and canvassers in elections of members of Parlia-
ment is calculated to lower the character of the representa-
tion, and to give the mere money power advantage over the
highest moral and intellectual qualifications, and that the
determination to rely only upon the unpaid and voluntary
efforts of the constituents renders him still more worthy of
the suffrages of the electors of this borough." He said Eng-
lish civilisation was involved in the contest at issue, and
expressed a hope that they would not neglect the oppor-
tunity presented to them of selecting a man who was
honoured and respected throughout Europe and America.
Professor FAWCETT, in seconding the resolution, adverted
to Mr. Mill's article on the American question, and expressed
a regret that the warning given by him had not proceeded
from him in the capacity of a member of the British senate.
He said it was erroneously believed at the commencement
of the struggle that the South were resisting an attack on
their independence, when Mr. Stuart Mill, with the sagacity
and wisdom which marked his career as a political thinker,
hastened to elucidate the complications of the question, and
urged upon the people of England the advisability of refrain-
ing from offering sympathy to a people who were impelled
by no other desire than that horrible, base one of depriving
man of one of the greatest of man's blessings—liberty.
(Applause.) If they wished to have such a representative
as Mr. Mill, they should set money and its influence aside,
and return free of expense one who would not only reflect
credit on his own constituency, but on the whole of Eng-
land. (Applause.)
The resolution was agreed to, and a vote of thanks hav-
ing been passed to the chairman, the proceedings terminated.