The Sun.
London, England, 1831-05-24 00:00:00

ANTRIM.

On Wednesday a very numerous and respectable
meeting of the friends of Lord Belfast was held in
the Exchange Rooms, W. Terment, Esq., in the
chair, to alopt measures for securing the return of
Lord Belfast and General O'Neill. There was the
utmost unanimity as to the duty of giving the most
active assistance in promoting the return of the two
late Members, whose support of the Reform Bill
had entitled them to the confidence of the county.
The only difference of opinion was respecting the
precise nature of the resolutions to be adopted. On
Saturday the election for this county will take place.
Till within the last ten days, a contest, though inci-
dentally whispered, was not seriously expected, but
latterly all sorts of rumours were abroad. Mr.
Moore, in the event of his defeat in Dublin, was to
be invited down to oppose the two Reform candi-
dates; but whether ths intention really existed in
any quarter, we cannot say. On Tuesday Edward
M'Donnel, Esq., and the Countess of Antrim arrived
in town, and the intention of that gentleman again
to contest the county was then verbally stated, and
was yesterday formally announced in printed pla-
cards. He professes himself a " moderate" Re-
former, and starts in avowed opposition to the Mi-
nisterial Bill.—Belfast News Letter.

0' G ORMAN MAH ON AND MAJOR MAC.
NA.NARA.
(From the Limerick Herald of Thursday.)

EXTRAORDINARY ENCOUNTER.— O'Gorman Ma-
hon met Major Macnamara in Jail-street, Ennis, be-
tween one and two o'clock in the afternoon of yes-
terday. He accosted the Major with his usual
warmth of manner, and said that he, the Major, had
grossly deceived him, and had violated his word;
that he had promised to observe a strict neutrality.
and that, contrary to such promise, he had formed a
coalition with Mr. M. O'Connell. This Major
Macnamara indignantly denied, and by his gestures
seemed highly exasperated at a charge thus involving
his character and honour. O'Gorman Mahon here-
upon gave Major Maenamara " the lie ;" which the
Major in his turn retorted vehemently upon O'Gor-
man, adding, " Sir, you are an infamous liar, and
every way unworthy the notice of a gentleman ;
from a gentleman you have nothing to fear, and no-
thing to hope from him but his scorn." Major Mac-
namara then declared he had been long aware of
O'Gorman Mahon's treachery in the House of Com-
mons. He reminded him, that on the night of the
division on the Civil List, he (O'Gorman Mahon)
had told him (Major Macnamara) he would vote
with Mr. Peel, notwithstanding his efforts on the
first day of the election, as on other occasions, to
make it appear that be had been shut out by acci-
dent, and that if lie had been present he would have
voted against Ministers.
O'Gorman Mahon did not attempt to deny this
statement, every word of which was uttered in a
tone which bespoke the strongest and most excited
feelings. 'When the words "infamous liar" were
spoken, O'Gorman Mahon took off his bat and made
Major Macnamara a low bow. As the parties sepa-
rated, the latter gentleman exclaimed, that he now
avowed his determination to oppose him ; that he
would never suffer O'Gorman Mahon to be the re-
presentative of Clare;—that he should not now
succeed, nor should he at any other time. " You
have ceased," said the Major with indescribable
energy and indignation, " to have a connexion with
the county for ever."

CLARE.
(From the Clare Journal.)

The following is an authorised statement (authen-
ticated by a gentleman who was present) of what
occurred on Wednesday, when O'Gorman Mahon
and Major Macnamara met in Jail-street :
O'Gorman Mahon, speaking in the mildest tone
of voice, remonstrated with Major Macnamara on
the extraordinary part he had acted; that the prin-
ciple of strict neutrality which had been guaranteed
by the candidates had been faithfully observed by
himself, only Major Macnamara declared that any
violation that had taken place was on the part of
his friends, and that he did not think it fair to be
held accountable for their conduct. To this.j
O'Gorman Mahon assented as a general principle,
and acknowledged that lie had for some time attri-
buted the line of conduct that had been pursued to
them alone, arid, having received assurance to that
effect, he had, even publicly, up to a certain period,
exempted him from implication, but since then it
had become quite evident that Major Macnamara
was himself a direct participator, for when lie
(O'Gorman Mahon) had, on the second day of
polling, overcome the majority that Mr. Mau-
rice O'Connell had acquired through the secret
combination, and had absolutely obtained a ma-
jority over him, then Major Macnamara's tenant-,
over whom be boasted of possessing unlimited
controul, were immediately brought up to
poll, arid although they had openly expressed their
desire to support O'Gorman Mahon, yet they were
enjoined to vote against him. Major Macnamara
having alleged that this was done without his know-
ledge, was reminded that he had been subsequently
called on to make reparation for the injury done, and
required as many voters in favour of O'Gorman
Mahon as had violated the neutrality. None could
deny that he was bound in honour to perform this
stipulation; but in place of doing so, he had that
very day again brought up his tenants, with positive
directions that they should vote for Mr. O'Connell,
and against him, O'Gorman Mahon. Of this
O'Gorman Mahon said he complained, as being in
direct opposition to the sentiments of friendship
always avowed towards him by Major Macnamara;
and what was worse, it being a gross violation of the
good faith, honourable engagement, and positive
promises, pledged by Major Macnamara, and on
which he (O'Gorman Mahon) regretted he had ever
placed reliance for a single moment.
Major MACNAMARA denied any premeditated in-
tention of acting in an unfriendly mariner.
O'GORMAN MAHON then said—l peremptorily
declined all offers to coalesce, feeling myself bound
in honour to the parties, and in justice to the county,
so to do; but you did the reverse, arid, pretending
to be my friend, you treacherously turned on me in
theevidrnenotmyeonut ;:vfesreecaulrlittyh,roaougdh betrayed
secretly
me .y
mostlt is nmoaw.
lignAlernNe
imaYc•NamAstis—
It was not my intention to
hasN-eirb.eeoG
been so,
RA bltN MAIION—You have now the
meanness to add falsehood to treachery. I regret

being compelled to say you re. You prove your-
self to be a deliberate liar.

Major MACNAMARA—I say, you lie.
Mr. O'GORMAN MAIION—Oh, Major, you resort
to the poltroon's resource; but you are not less on
that account the base liar. Your conduct all through
was ungentlemanlike and dishonourable, and your
last reply forces me to believe you are a contemptible
coward ; none but a coward would act so basely. I
leave, Sir, less in pity than scorn. Good day, Sir;
at the same time taking off his hat, and bowing.
Mr. O'Gorman Mahon retired.

TotheEDIT ORoftheM ORNING RE GISTER.
" Ennis, Thursday Evening, May 19.

" SIR,-Having this day read an article in the Clare
.Thurnal, purporting to be a statement of a conversation
which took place yesterday between me and Mr. O'Gor_
man Mahon, and said to be authenticated by one of Mr.
O'Gorman Mahon's friends, I consider it a duty to my.
self to state that the article in question is a tissue of
falsehoods.

" I, of course, feel no surprise in finding untruth in
any article connected with the name of Mr. Mahon ; but.
after the statement of Mr. Steele's friends recently pub.
lished (including a reference to Mr. O'Gorman Mahoh's
conduct in England to Major Dickson), it must be quite
evident that I can treat 'Nit-. O'Gorman Mahon with con-
tenapt alone.
" I have the honour to be, Sir, your most obedient
humble servant,
" WM. NUGENT MACNAMARA."

THE GLOUCESTERSHIRE ELECTIONS.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

Sig,—The liberali~y with which you have given
circulation to election news, induces me to give you
an outline of the proceedings of the Reformers in
Gloucestershire.

They have returned five Reformers to three Anti-
Reformers. The Reform Members are, Sir B. W.
Guise, the Hon. H. Moreton, Captain F. Berkeley,
Mr. John Martin, Sze. The opposite parties are,
Lord Apsley, Mr. Dowdeswell, and Mr. Ci ipps,
who is at best doubtful.

Mr. Cripps is believed to be, at least, an Anti-
Reformer, and a confirmed Tory at heart. He
voted for the Bill on the second reading, and against
it on General Gascoyne's motion. He ascribed his
last vote to some irritating expressions of Mr. Gor-
don of Cricklade in the House. The Cirencester
Quakers waited on him, to know what he meant to
do ? He declared himself friendly to Reform, but
would not pledge himself to all the clauses of the
Bill. They should have opposed him upon this re-
ply, instead of barking without biting. But unless
he takes care how he acts, he is sure of going out
next time. The Whigs have not managed matters
well. Reform candidates would have stood capital
chances at Cirencester and Hereford.

Tewkesbury has turned out the greatest disap-
pointment of the whole. The Tewkesburians are
trunk-makers in politics. There is more noise
among them than work. They held a meeting some
time before the dissolution to support Reform can-
didates for the county, and their own town, which
ended in smoke. • They suffered themselves to be
bullied into inactivity by the representations of the
Anti-Reformers that the Bill would pass without a
dissolution. When the writ came down they
started Mr. Tracy, and coming into the field too late
failed. They permitted Mr. Begin, of Cirencester,
who is an agent of Lord Bathurst, to be appointed
assessor by Mr. Dowdeswell's friends, and imputed
partiality to him afterwards, but, as it appears,
without good grounds. The whole result was
owing to their own mismanagement. Mr. Dowdes-
well got in by the out-voters in this manner. For-
merly Sir William Codrington was returned for the
borough under the Dowdeswell interest, and pos.
sessed at that time a preserve of freeholds in the'
town to strengthen his interests. Since this time
the Codringtons have not interfered in the elections,
but Sir Bethel, who is an Anti-Reformer, upon this
occasion sent up about three-and-twenty of his de-
pendenta, in one lot, some of whom produced con-
veyances of twelve years' date, and made out that
they bad received the rents. Mr. Tracy's agents
suffered them to poll without appeal to the assessor.
Sir Bethel has proposed his son as candidate for the
county, after the passing of the Bill, but his con-
duct at Tewkesbury has damned all hopes of his
success. In Tewkesbury, as in other places, where
burgage tenures exist, freeholders, made twenty-
four hours before the issuing of the writ, are ad-
mitted to vote as" occasionalities." Parties make
these votes thus :—They ask a friend to accept a
conveyance, and give a cheque for 601. in return.—
After polling the new made freeholder gives
.back
the conveyance, and receives his cheque again.—_
Several new made votes were presented by Mr.
Tracy's friends, whose conveyances were blunder-
ingly enough dated more than twenty-four hours
after the issuing of the writ, of which the Hons
Grantley Berkeley's was one. These were rejected.
Had such "occasionalities" been admitted, it was
easy to see that it would have been only to poll these
votes and turn over the same freeholders to another
batch. Some of these manufactured electors,
report says, brought up parchments, on which the ink
was scarcely dry, and admitted that they had never
seen their freeholds in their lives, and scarcely
knew where they were ! Several honorary freemen
in Mr. Tracy's interest produced their freedoms on
unstamped paper, and were rejected, but Mr. Dow-
deswell's friends had provided against this omis-
sion on their side, by getting them stamped just be-
fore the election. Deducting the Codrington
votes, Mr. D. would still have had a majority,
though the out-voters for the borough were against
him. He is, therefore, the Member, but not the
representative for Tewkesbury. He stands no
chance upon the next occasion. The fact that
strangers unconnected with a place, its property,
and interests, can come in and out-vote the resi-
dents, shows what a farce the present system of
representation is. Under the 101. qualification
clauses, supposing the resident freemen all dead,
Tewkesbury will have about 300 electors. Mr.
Tracy's party have raised about 1,0001. by sub-
scriptions to defray the election expenses, a noble
set-off for their blunders. They managed these
things better in the country. The middle classes
took the business of choosing Members upon them-
selves, and stirred in time. They formed local
committees, and sent in a requisition to the Reform
candidates, signed by 2,100 freeholders, of whom
the names were published. They were afterwards
increased to 2,700 more. The country gentlemen
and Whig Club objected to this proceeding, as a
deviation from the old routine, and some anti-elec-
tioneering lawyers found out many plausible evils
resulting from publication ; but all these were as
nothing, in comparison with the decided impres,ion
produced wherever this eloquent multitude of sig-
natures was conveyed. It carried the election with-
out contest or cost. Had the Reformers done the
same elsewhere, in the neighbouring county of Wor-
cester, for instance, instead of listening to men of
no strength of character, or decision of conduct,
many a doubtful, long, and expensive struggle
might have been prevented.
Lord Edward Somerset, whose private and mili-
tary character is very much respected, gave great
satisfaction by sparing a vexatious contest, and his
return, without opposition, after the Bill has passed,
is thought probable. Much depends on the con-
duct of his party. His address has somewhat
weakened the favourable effect of his timely resigna-
tion by reflecting on the Reformers, whose feelings
lie ascribes to " delusion," whilst, on his own side,
he" sees only" the independent support of so many
persons of high station, fortune, and character," and
" of a very large body of freeholders, whose minds
are unbiassed by passion or prejudice, and who have
not permitted their judgment to be influenced by
popular clamour."
The Beaufort family have since instituted pro-
ceedings against the Spectator, for some of the ab-
surd and extravagant statements of election squibs,
imputing to them large receipts of public money.
If they carry these prosecutions against the press
into the country, they will render themselves ex-
tremely unpopular, and raise a feeling which will

lose them every chance of returning any of the family
again. Sir James Scarlett, whose panegyric has
lately been pronounced so strongly by Sir James
Graham, and prosecutions of the press for this sort
of thing, are by no means so well relished now-a-days,
in the face of a Reformed Parliament, and a country
filled with the spirit -of Reform. People regard
things written and spoken in the heat and excite-
ment of elections as very different from matters of a
similar nature advanced at seasons when cool reason
and judgment bear the sway. Hence the old saying,
" All's fair at an election." " Give and take on
both sides." Prosecutions will be long endless re-
taliations in every possible form, and irritated feelings
against the beginners, which can never be appeased.
In all these cases those who advise such steps are
infatuated fools, who look more to present revenge
than to its ultimate consequences. The Berkeleys,
it must be said, have always overlooked those things
very magnanimously, and with silent contempt,
though in former elections they have been assaulted
by the coursest libels and personalities. A letter,
signed " Cato," and another fictious attack, were
pretty specimens of this sort, about 20 years ago.
Look at the Hon. Craven Berkeley again, who re-
butted the recent outrageous calumny upon his
private character without recourse to law or a duel.
Almost every individual connected with the Govern-
ment has been charged with being a receiver of
public money. At one time or another the Red
Book, Old Black Book, the Peep at the Peers, and
the Newspapers, abound with these common-place
exaggerations, which are little regarded, unless con-
firmed by official documents, because they are so
easily contradicted, Did the Marquis of Bute prose-
cute, six months ago, when he was charged with
receiving 60,0001., because that sum passed through
his hands as Lord Lieutenant of Glamorganshire ?
Did the Bishop of London prosecute the papers
which stated that he received 100,0001. per annum
in tythes ? The story about " the Will," in the
Beaufort case, is a new version of an old electioneer-
ing bill, which was circulated by the Rev. Mr. Hem-
ming, an ardent electioneerer, about 20 years ago.
But can it be said, after all, that the Somersets have
not had their share of patronage ? What have not
the Times and Edinburgh Review said ? Is the
Duke of Beaufort, or is he not, Lord Lieutenant of
only three counties ? Can Lord Charles's salary
for the rule, or rather misrule, of the Cape be con-
sidered payment for services rendered to the country ?
Was Lord Edward Somerset, or was he not, ap-
, pointed Lieutenant-General of the Ordnance, after a
Committee of the House of Commons had declared
that the services were performed by the Master-
General, and recommended it to be abolished, which
was moved and lost by Sir James Graham, March
29, 1830. Was this receiving money for actual ser-
vices ? Has no other member of the family held
situations of profit ? Is it true or not that the Beau-
fort family applied to fill up almost every situation
that fell vacant during the Liverpool and Wellington
Administrations ? In the late election, a bill was
issued by Lord Edward's party, urging the following
reason to vote for him :—" Because, possessing the
power and ability, as well as the desire and wish to
serve his constituents, and from his high station and
connections having 'certain patronage at his dis-
posal, he has anxiously distributed the same with
impartiality arid judgment, with the laudable inten-
tion of benefitting the freeholders of this county ?"
It was found expedient to suppress this bill.
Yours, &c. J. K.
Gloucester, May 22.