The Sun.
London, England, 1807-05-15 00:00:00

SEVENTH DAY.

The Poll. was rather slack yesterday, in conse-
quence of the wetness.of the day. At its close the
numbers were—
nr Sir F. 13tiRriETT
Lord COCHRANE 1544
Mr. ELLIOT - . 1201
Mr. SHERIDAN

Mi. PA ULL

. On the declaration of the numbers, the foll Owing
questions were put by a Gentleman, after a few pre-
liminary observations to, the Can-didates :—Whether
Lord Cochrane and Colonel Elliot had not conic for-
ward as Candidates, with the promise of the support
of Government ? Whether Lord Cochrane had not
refused to present the Petition of his uncle, Colonel
Cochrane Johnstone, to Parliament ? Whether Lord
Cochrane had. not been introduced to the Duke of
Portland -at Burlington House ? And whether the
Noble Lord had not an interview with Mr. Huskis-
son, Secretary to the Treasury ?
The:board on which the numbers were inscribed
in front of the hustings having fallen from its Usual
position, it was replaced, at the, desire of Mr.. She-
ridan. .
Mr. SUERIDAN then came forward and observed,
that he was happy in having: been instrumental in •
fixing the poll=board to the ppst, because 'he saw
• that the state •,of the poll gave the people so much
pleasure ; for it Was not in his natn qui- as he had be-
fore said, to see a great number'ff people well
pleased without- partaking in their happiness. The
-Gentleman who had just addressed' them, he under-
stood to have put the questiOns not to a single Can-
didate, but to have referred to them all. He wished
he had put questions to him ; for if any one there
put questions to respe&ing his condua, he would
give a fair, frank, and sincere answer. The Gen-
tleman who had just spoken had justly observed, ;
that the meaning of the word independence Was'not
well defined, and, they could judge of the real inde,.
Peiidence of a man only from his past conduit. 'the
Constitution was a common word in the months of
all, and there were four descriptions of pet'sons who
understood it in different senses. The first ere,
those who bad a blind veneration for the Constitu-
tion, and thought that whatever abuses might creep
into it, no reforms ought to be attempted. With
these be did not agree. The second consisted of
those. who looked only at the abuses in the Consti-
tuuom, and
,thoUght it so involved in abuses that it
waS,not worth
,preservincr. With them •he did not
agree. The third were Dthose,who looked with re-
verence and attachment to the Constitution, but at
the same time observed many abuses wbich ought to
be. CorreEted:. With them he did agree. The fourth
was. that 'class' who wished things to'remain as they
were, because they. 'loved the Constitution merely
for its abuses, which contributed to their own profit
- and advantage, and them he detested. These'were
the 'men, he would venture to predict, who would
be the destrUition of the Constitution, if ever, un-
fortunately, ,the Constitution should be destroyed.
Those who erred from too gloomy a view of the
abuses of the Constitution were not by any means
so dangerous,Yor so much to be condemned, as those

.11

.1

IL,

.1

and whose attachment to it was founded upon these
;very abuses. Having 'said so much, he would only
add, that it was impossible for any man who had a
popular feeling not to be gratified at the delight
.which they felt at the state of the Poll, and he was
highly gratified—but with this explanation,' thk he
looked not to those who had polled, but to those

who had not polled. If he had been ;dismayed by
difficulties and by majorities, he would never hi %e
had so many opportunities of-standing up in defebce
_ .

of the rights and liberties of the

'Lord COCHRANE advanced, and ciclared that he
was satisfied with this day's pc'l, -as he was on every

. .
day, and he hoped the independent Eleaors of West-
minster would support those wham they thought
most fit to represent them in Parliament. He hoped
that they would ,agre9 with him, that it wac in-
dispersible to the freedom of ele&ion that each Can-

didate stand alone, and that there should .be no

Coalition: He pledged himself on his honour, as he

had, done before, that he would coalesce with no-

body. Several questions had been put to him, and
he. hoped that he would answer them to their Si-
tisfaaion. As to ministerial Support, 'he deprc-
cated all interference in his faVoUr, either by
the Ministry, or by a faiiioOs opposition.—
He' stood .forward as an independent man, and
would explain what he meant by independence.

He would not support the measures of the Mi riistrv,
except they were for the good. of the Country. He
would support the measured of Opposition, provided
they were for the gOod of the Country ;, but 'the
would rejeft them if bad, and' brought forward from
ta'aious motives. . This was what he considered as

independent conduct. He declared that he had never
requested the influence of Ministers in his 1av0ur.....
he..despised'such conduct as much as he did all those
who made any such insinuations., He was pleased
at the independent spirit among them, whirl} Lu-
&iced them to give a fair hearing to all. As to the
Duke of Portland, having heard of the Government
being favourable to• Sir S. Hood,, he had guile to
Burlington House to inquire about it, and the an-
swer was, that sir S. Hood had their good wishes.
He then. stated to the Duke, that he hoped no undue

influence would be exercised on. his account, as, he
was of opinion that Elections should be free and
unbiassed. This he had stated to the Noble Duke,

and to others wiu.f he had heard had, been aaive in
the support of Sir S. Hood. The same thing he
had repeated to the other .person adverted to (Mr.
Huskisson). He had been reproached with not hav-
ing brought forward abuses in the House before.
He stated., that his health had been such that he
had not been able to attend. He had, however, at-
tended the debates of the Catholic Question, and
would have voted on it had .it come forward. The
only vote he bad given was on the Abstr e.'t Ques-
tion, about which they had heard enough,; when it
Was intended; very'improperly, to throw blame on
his Majesty, who, -during a long reign„ had
.he:..71 the
protector of the. Constithtion and the. Peoole' rights..

His Majesty must have the power of dismtssing his
Ministers, for they would he. er di., uiss theoisc Nes,
especially:with all the a:?pendages of correptiou,
tacked to the situation. He then referred to the
accusations that had been brought against him the
day before, in his absence, wh.ch werQentitled to
no ansv.-.2:-. They who ma hle those charges ought
to come forward with , proof, for it was easy for any
man to. disturb the peace of anoth, r, by asking—
did you Murder—did yoh could not be
expeded that he should answer such questions.
Mr../NNIN.G3 said, that he latneuted that Sir
Francis'BurdeW'Was not. here, order to ans Wee
any questions that might be put tO him. He was
theadvocate and supporter of the just prerogative of
the Crown. He was the friend of the dignity of
the House of Peers ;" but he knew perfealy well
that •both would be' lost unl,ess the true and. indepen-
dent spirit of the people should be kept alive: He
earnestly hoped that they would hear'Mr.
and not allow him to escape without answering.the
questions. He hoped they would bring hini to
pledges, and ask hire whether he would support a
reform of abuseS. Heshouldlike to ask him, whe-
• titer he bad not been one old committee of brewers,
Who had endeavoured to hate the Ex.eise Laws ex.- •
tended, and to gag the pe4l,e- w:ith his own beer,
in order to prevent their tasting any Ii me-brewed.
He hoped they would not let him escape in silence.
It certainly appeared that both Mr. Elliot and-Lord
Cochrane had the 'support of -Government-, though
he believed the Noble Lord Would not ask it in the
same way as Colonel
.Elliot. He mentidned this
in order to put. then) on their guard against the
tricks and machitatiohs of Ministers ; for though
Sir Pranbis Burdett vas high on the poll, he was
not yet secure. He would not trouble them long,
as he was not a friend to long speechtes. They
had enough of long speeches from the HoUse,pf
Commons, and little good resulted from them. He
then adverted to the situation of Officers in the
Army. Many instances had occurred in which
they had been cashie%l without reason assigned,
and none'of them could vote in Parliament,lagainst•
the Minister Without the risk of being cashieted.
They could not therefore he independent members.
With regard to Naval Officers, he allowed that
J", they .did not stand eitaelly in the same situation,
for they wero not cashiered without a Court7Martial.:
Mr. ELLIOT then carne forward, and was heard
for a few minutes, though there was Considerao e
Opposition, so that it was imposible‘ to hear the
whole that he -.said. He had never heard of the
Committee of'Bretvers alluded. to, and lie thought
that the Right-Honourable Gentleman (Mr. Sh-Ti-
dan), who had been- a Member of the late Admi-
nistratioN might inform them upon that point
better than he could do. We understood him to
say,, that he had supported the three last Adult-
nistrations, because he thought 'that those ought to
be supported who possessed' the emitidence of the
King, and we think, he added of Parliament'.
• Mr. GIBBONS adverted Ito 'the conduct of L-inl
Cochrane; and Said, that he was a riblitical impoqer.
He now confessed that he Lao been at Burlingtei-
,, house, and be might fairly i'•.tt.irt'the lie upon no.
He again stated, that he had-been elected for Hopi-
. ton by bribery. He'aifirined that he was the re
'.tion of Lord Metvitte, though the Noble Lord had
denied it, for Lord Melville and a near relation- of
Lord Cochrane' bad married the ',Asters
Earl of Hopetown. Here was palf)able fraud mid
imposture, and they might jut't.;e from -toe past of
• what the conduct of this relation of "'Wha waits
me" would be iri future.