The Sun.
London, England, 1854-06-15 00:00:00

CITY OF LONDON ELECTION.

NAVAL APPOINTMENTS.
Commodore—Christopher Wyvill (1832), formerly in
command of the Cape of Good Hope station, and at
present Captain-Superintendent of Sheerness Dockyard,
to be Commodore-Superintendent of Chatham Dockyard,
vice Captain Peter Richards, C. 8., appointed one of the
Lords of the Admiralty.S
Lieutenants—Henry E. Crozier, recently promoted
from mate of the Tribune, 30, screw steam-frigate, to
the Termagant, screw steam-frigate, at Portsmouth ;
John W. Webb (1849), to the -Victory, flag-ship, at
Portsmouth.
Paymasters—Herbert Johnston (1852), to the Terma-
gant; John M. Sweatman, promoted from clerk in charge
of the Rhadamanthus, paddle-wheel steam store-ship, to
the Star, 8, sloop, at Chatham.
Clerk—George A. S. Ley (1849), to be clerk in charge
of the Rhadamanthus, vice Sweatman.
Clerk's Assistant Seymour J. Yates, to the Terma-
gant.

Yesterday the electors of the city of London were
convened in their ancient Guildhall, for the purp see of
choosing a member to fill up the vacancy occasio; red in
the City representation by Lord John Russell's a erept-
ance of the office of Lord President of her Maj ,esty's
Privy Council. Two o'clock was fixed upon for com-
mencing the proceedings, but the hall doors were t' ',sown
open an hour before, when an instantaneous rush took
place on the part of the crowd, who had previous! y col-
lected outside the building, to obtain the best positions
for hearing the speakers. The hall was speedily L led,
with the exception of that part of it which is fat Chest
from the platform, and from which oftenest procee ci the
vain and hopeless cries of " Speak out !" Sharp z pon
two o'clock, Lord John Russell, the candidate whc • ap-
peared to solicit re-election, appeared upon the platf o rm,
accompanied by the Lord Mayor, the Sheriffs, and ; > .her
corporate dignitaries, in their civic robes and offici a 1 in-
signia, and his lordship was received with a burst c Vioud
and general cheering. In a moment or two after wards
the presence of Mr. Urquhart, the rival candid r te, if
such he could seriously be-considered, became kno in to
a portion of the occupants of the platform ; but e hon.
gentleman's appearance did not elicit any =tide, eta tion
cif feeling whatever--favourable or otherwise—frs an the
body of the meeting, probably because the great hulk
of the auditory were unable to distinguish hir a from
the gentlemen in his immediate vicinity. The h or tour-
able gentleman—who came armed with copies o f the
Bluebooks—Seemed to stand in the same solita r and
unbefriended condition which ho occupied on .
Ylon-
day last, when he first presented himself to ha ra ague
the livery. Among the leading persons present w e no-
ticed Mr. Thomson Hankey, M.P. ; Mr. J.,A. with,
M.P.; Mr. Wilkinson, M.P.; Mr. Oliveira, M.P '. ; Mr.
J. Dillon, Mr. Crawford, Mr. Alderman Salomor 114• Mr.
Alderman Humphery, Mr. H. J, Prescott, Mr. W. F.
A. Dela.ne, &c. The small galleries were occus rie dby
ladies of distinction.
The business of the day was opened by
Mr. Alderman and Sheriff WIRE advancing to the
rostrum and announcing that the electors were as sem-
' bled there that day, in obedience to the writ of h er
Ma-
jesty, to choose a fit and proper person to represet it that
great City in Parliament, in the room of the Righ : Hon.
Lord John Russell, who had accepted the office of Lord
President of her Majesty's Privy Council. H e (the
Sheriff) had no doubt that the citizens of Loudon si could
on that occasion exercise the right vested in them i n their
usual discreet manner ; and all that the Sheriffs ha d to
require of them was that they should patient' ly hear
every person who might be entitled to address the
The Town Crier then read the Queen's writ, at id also
the act against bribery—the conclusion of the It Ater,
somewhat lengthy, formality being hailed with c heers
and hearty hurrahs.
Mr. HENRY JAMES PRESCOTT then stood fore 'at d to
nominate Lord John Russell. He said—The acs cept-
ance of office under' the Crown by the nobl .e lord
having created a vacancy in the representation o.f the
City, his lordship now offered himself to they. a as a
candidate for re-election. The duty of proposi at; the
noble lord had been entrusted to him, and in the
performance of that duty he should occupy but a very
small portion of their time. It would indeed be id le in
him to dwell upon the past career of Lord John I Lur ;sell.
There now existed no public man in this countrs e--and
he ventured to say there had existed no public malt
during the last quarter of a century--whose nan is was
more completely identified with the history ref his
country than that of the noble lord. (Cheers.) 'They
had seen him in opposition and in office—they ha d. seen
him the highest in the councils of his Sovereign t--and•
in all these characters he had been conspicuous as the
advocate and promoter of civil and religious lib: rty, of
education, of commercial freedom, and of a vat ioty of
other measures, calculated to extend civilizatior t, or to
raise his country in the scale of nations. (Hear, hear.)
That, in the multiplicity of his public acts, the ; noble
lord might not have sometimes been wrong, he s vas not
prepared to maintain—on the contrary, it had oc session-
ally been his lot to differ from the noble lord in. opi-
nion; and there was one important subject on w'hich he
essentially differed with him, and that was with regard
to the ballot. (Cheers.) He, however, would not; dwell
on that question ; and he was prepared to assent that
they owed a deep debt of gratitude to his lordslij ) for
what he had done, and what he had laboured to dc • for
his country and for mankind. (Hear, hear.) Th e 'Office
to which the noble lord had just been appointed w ould
afford a special field for his talents and his patriotism.
It would be his particular duty and province to att sr id to
the educational wants of the people—(hear)—a task
which, while it was one of the loftiest and most imp, ertant,
was at the same time one of the most difficult and shelicate
that could fall to a statesman in this country at t he pre-
sent day. All admitted the importance of edu cation,
and all right minded men desired to see its blessings
extended to every class of society ; but,ninfortu rudely,
as to the particular mode of supplying its advetritagea
there did not exist the same concurrence of opinion.
Let them hope, however, that the noble lord, in his' new
office, might be able to reconcile conflicting vies vs on
this question, and to devise some means by which, with-
out offending the conscientious scruples of any old ss or
sect; he might effect the general diffusion of a sound
and sufficient system of national education. (Rear,
hear.) But whilst they might hope that such subjects
as that of popular education might continue to attract
the attention of her Majesty's Government, there was
unhappily another question which must at the present
moment engross not only their attention, or at least a
large portion of it, but that of the public. He alluded
to the war in which they were at present engaged.
—(hear, hear)—a war commenced by the Russian Go-
vernment seemingly upon the most frivolous pretext,
but in reality from motives of the most greedy and
selfish ambition. (Cheers.) That the aggressioias of the
Emperor of Russia would result only in his own discom-
fiture, and in the misery and distress of his own unhappy
subjects, he thought the Czar himself must, by this time,
be nearly convinced. The promptness and energy dis-
played by the allied powers, and the vigorous measures
they had taken—. (Loud cries of "oh ! oh !" and inter-
ruption, which drowned the remainder of the speaker's
sentence.)•:lt had been truly observed by the noble lord,
in his address to the electors of London, that we all
desired a solid, a durable, and an honourable peace
—(hear, hear)—and by union, firmness, and energy
on the part of the allied Governments, and by these
qualities alone he (Mr. Prescott) felt sure that we should
be able to obtain so desirable a result. If her Majesty's
Government continued to display those qualities, he was
satisfied that they would receive the cordial support of
the people of this country, and on that ground he asked
them to re-elect Lord John Russell to the post of one of
their representatives. (Cheers.)
Mr. Joins DILLON said he appeared before them to
second the nomination of Lord John Russell, whose ad-
dress to the constituency he held in his hand. Many
measure of great importance had been deferred and post-
poned for the consideration of the all-absorbing and pa-
ramount question of the war in which we were involved,
and of the best means to bring that war to a successful,
an honourable, and a permanent termination. (Hear.)
There were many different opinions even on the subject
of the war. There were parties who disputed and dif-
fered as to the means of carrying it on—as toh the allies
with whom we should be connected—(hear, ear)—and
as to the character and the intentions of the statesmen
collectively in the Cabinet, and their previous conduct
with respect to the Eastern question. Yet there was but
one opinion among thinking men as to the honourable,
the bold, and manly conduct of Lord John Russell.
(Loud cheers, accompanied by the waving of hats.) He
appealed to the noble lord's language, not used within
these few days past, but used at a very early stage in
the discussion of this question—ay, he could appeal
even to yet earlier language, adopted by him in the
brief but honourable correspondence which he sent to
Sir Hamilton Seymour, and in which he maintained
the character of au English gentlemen as well as of an
English statesman. (Hear.) In his published address to
the constituency, the noble lord had very justly stated
that we were engaged in a war which would be carried
on until we obtain a solid, a durable, and an honourable
peace. Well, let them mark the noble lord's words—let
them bind him to that declaration—sfor it was the decla-
ration which an English statesman ought to make, and
which the people of this country ought to applaud and
reward. (Hear, hear.) They were told, and would be
told again, it might be at some length, that the war in
which we were engaged was but a s' sham" war. (A cry
of " hear, hear.") Now, he feared that the noble lord
would find, from the strenuous efforts that he would have
to make, and to support others in making, that it was a
very real war. (Hear, and a laugh.) They were told, and
very truly as he thought, that the fate of the present Ad-
ministration depended upon that election, and that the
Cabinet would fall to pieces if the noble lord was not re-
elected. Well, let them remember that,
But an vote for
ly. (Hear.) d there was
Lord John Russell accordingly
another question that might have occurred to them, and
it was, " Who were to succeed the present Administra-
tion ?—(laughter)—who would the Queen have to send
fur ?" He wished to speak with all respect of gentlemen,
present or absent, but he put it to them seriously, whe•
ther they were prepared for the wisdom and the
power of an Urquhart Administration. (Cheering,
laughter, and hisses.) And now a word, before con-
cluding, as to that great Power Russia, with which we
were at war, and to which, in more respects than a
martial point of view,we stood opposed. The noble lord
in his address spoke of Russia as a mighty military
power, and so no doubt it was, and perhaps (it might
be as the consequence of the other) it was a mighty
despotic power as well. It was opposed to all improve-
ment at home, and lont its aid and support abroad to
check the advance of any other country which medi-
tated its own improvement and reform. It was a bar-
barous power as well as a despotic power, threatening
the civilization of mankind as well as the liberties of
nations. (A. Voice—What about Austria ?) The best
way of destroying all that was bad in Austria was to de-
feat Russia—(cheers)—which had always been a repres-
sive and inert power, ready at -all times to support
oppression and despotism ; and the best and most effec-
tual course, and ultimately also the course most merciful
and beneficial as regarded herself and the inhabitants of
her country, for us to adopt, would be to punish them
and educating them, and thus to introduce civilization
among a people who would then no longer stand as Huns
and Goths, menacing modern civilization. (Cheers.)
He would only now ask them to replace in the House (4