The Sun.
London, England, 1831-05-13 00:00:00

GENERAL ELECTION.

D QR CHESTER, 11f4
SECOND DAY.
The polling has gone on rapidly to•day; The
Bankites have made great, bat unsuccessful, efforra
to head Mr. Calcraft on the poll. For this.purpese
hey have polled several of their leading gentry. Mr.
Bankes tendered his vote for his father, but it
was objected to, on the ground that he held the office
of Cursitor Baron of the Exchequer under the
Crown, and Ws3 therefore a Government officer.
The objection was, however, subsequently aban-
doned. With all these efforts they are still in a.
minority on ;he day's pull. As-the contest lies en-
tirely between Mr. Bankes and Mr.•Calcraft, and as
Mr. Portman is considered in every quarter secure•of
'tis return, the passions of the people divide them-
selves between Mr. Bankes and Mr. Calcraft, and
thus the name of Mr. Portman is less heard in the
streets and about the hustings than that of either of
the two other candidates. The popular enthusiasm
is decidedly in favour of Mr. Calcraft, as the organ
of Reform. As a proof of it, I may men ion that
flpyreiiplgtue to
support the cause espnos by
fifty of the power fiee' of lefts came from the neigh-
itourhood of Wareham entirely at their ownexpense.
They would not even accept from the committee any
refreshments, whilst in Dorchester, stating that they
had brought their own victuals with them, and
enough to buy for each man a pint of beer. The
same enthusiasm has been exhibited by, the free-
holders resident in the Isle of Portland. They are
nearly all sailors,
maorrildtinshout. tohreteir tilutrie'djrae:•ik(e'tfs,thaem
n 1
with flags
came here this
ed
e
their patriotic
g. their
T he yore wtefars madertlte c 3 e.o
attdietia
tes
who werey
in the Assessor's booth a decision to which it maybe
!useful to give publicity, for the sake of its consequences
.n other counties where contests are now pend-
ng. The Protestant Dissenters are well known as
friends of Reform, acd of every other liberal mea-
sure. One of their clergymen, who has been ap-
pointed to efficiate in one of their chapels IT the
trustees, in whom the property of the cl-apel is
vested, claimed a right to vote on account of his
freehold in his pulpit. He proved, by one of the
trustees, that he could not be removed from his .si-
tuation as minister of that chapel without his own
consent, and that it was worth mat.), 40s. a year to
him. Af er some argument, the assessor admitted
his right to vote, and his vote was accordingly re-
ceived. If this decision should be held valid, it
is thought that nearly 5,000 additional freeholders
will be added to the constituent body of the different
counties.

At half-past five o'clock the High Sltetiffdeclared
the state of the day's poll; after which
Mr. PORTMAN came to the front of the hustings,
and was received with the loudest cheers. He had
again, he said, the proud satisfaction of thanking the
freeholders for their kindness in still continuing him
at the head of the poll. He little thought that
when he had last year undertaken, for the amusement
of the county, an occupation then new to him, hut
an occupation of which he trusted that he should not
be ignorant next 'year—he meant the management
of a pack of fox-hounds—he little thought, lie re-
peated, that he should receive a lesQon upon .the
hustings as to the sort of hound which he ought not
to draught.—(Laughter.) He had been instructed
upon those hustings that the sort of bound he ought
to cherish was the dog which went straightforward
after the fox, and which would proceed, when he
had the fox in his burrow to dig him out.—(Cheers
and laughter.) That was the sort of hound which
they had taught him to keep. —(Cheers.) He hoped-
that they would still continue to teach him his ditty
as a fox-hunter, by keeping him as their candidate
at the head of the poll.
Mr. CALCRAVT, on coming forward, met with the
most enthusiastic reception. He was perfectly sa-
tisfied with the situation in which they had placed
him upon the day's poll. They hall made no great
effort that day ; their opponents had; and yet they
had a majority both of the day's poll and on the gross
poll.—(Cheers.)
Mr. BANKES rose amid some confusion, and cries
of " Hear him,—hear his last dying speech?' He
assured them that while so large a portion of the
county remained unpolled as did at present, he was
SO far from feeling discouragemere, that he felt justly
and confidently a most assured hope of his own
eventual and ultimate success.—( Cheers and hisses.)
Mr. RUTTER then came forward to address the
freeholders. He would appeal to the past conduct
of Mr. Batikes, and would ask the freeholders of
Dorsetshire whether his sentiments had ever coin-
cided with theirs ? or whether he had shown by his
votes any regard to the interests of either the
middling or the lower classes ?—(Cries of "Never.")
Had Mr. Bankes's opposition to the repeal of the
salt tax been for their advantage? Certainly not.
Had his opposition to the repeal of the leather tax
been for their advantage ? Certainly not. Had his
opposition to the repeal of the coal tax been for
their good ? Certainly not.—(immense cheering )
Had his conduct on the game laws been for their
good ? Mr. Bankes, as they all knew, bad sup-
ported a law by which a man who committed murder
upon a hare or pheasant was more severely punished
than the man who spilled human blood.—(Cheers.)
What bad Mr. Bankes's conduct been with regard
to the Test and Corporation Acts ? Look at edu-
cation. Mr. Bankes had opposed the diffusion of it
with all his strength ; and well he might, for now
he felt that the schoolmaster was abroad, and that
he was strong enough to defeat even his tricks.—
(Cheers and laughter.) He should not detain them
longer at present than was necessary to congratulate
them upon the majority which they had acquired on
behalf of King, William, of the Constitution, and of
their country.—(Cheers.)
The different candidates then returned home.
As Mr. Calcraft was entering the town of Dor-
chester, the carts which had brought 1.50 freeLolders
from the Isle of Portland that morning, caused a
slight interruption to his progress. The sailors who
had come in them gave Mr. Calcraft three hearty
cheers, and, resuming their places, formed a pro-
cession which led him into the town. We under-
stand that Mr. Bankes has not been able to obtain
more than 40 votes in the whole of that island.

I have just heard an anecdote which may amuse
some of your readers. The mail from Exeter, to
London passes through this town at four o'clock for
London. To give publicity to the success of the
Reforming candidates, the state of the poll, at four
o'clock, was chalked upon the mail. A Clergyman
of the came of Bobbins, who, like the rest of his
cloth in this county, is a thick-and-thin supporter of
Mr. Bankes, had the foolhardiness to go, in the pre-
sence of the multitude, and rub out the numbers.
They were of course much exasperated, and hooted
the reverend gentleman no little. They ab,tained,
however, from all personal violence, and contented
themselves with re-writing the obnoxious figui es. , It
happened that the reverend gentleman was leaving
Dorchester by the same mail. As soon as he got ii',
one of the mob declared his intention of giving " the
rook of a parson" a little parting advice. He ac-
cordingly went to the window of the mail coach,
and intruding his head, said loud enough to be heard
by all around, " Thou black Aug, let me advise thee
to practise the doctrines thou preachest. Go home,
fear God, honour the King, arid come not again to
Dorchester to thwart his wishes." Mr. Bobbins
made no reply, but waited in mute patience for the
crack of the whip which was to take him out of the
neighbourhood of such a crew of radical, seditious,
and blasphemous Reformers, for I have no doubt
that such will be the terms in which he will stig-
matize them when he recounts the adventures of
the day to a sympathizing host of his colleagues ill
orthodoxy.
The day has passed off in the utmost tranquillity.

TheW victory 1Y
beef nSsToEe
RasySHtolßthEe
R.
other countirs, that some explan Is necessary.to
vindicate this shire, and to sho the cOUntiy 'at
Reformers in
large the reason. Colonel ago I..ygon, h'clof't"ie
fifth day's poll, 'Still treads on the heel of C:iptxti
Spencer. Gigantic .iiinrster influence is almie

cause, a rare combination of circumstances enabling
t almost to stifle the public voice. Colonel I.vgou
has an unlimited command of meney; Mr. Foley
and Captain Spencer have none, except what has
been raised by subscription. Colonel Lygon has
the services of upwards of 100 attornies retained,
experienced in elections, and possessieg themselves
some considerable interest; Foley and Spencer have
not retained (for want of cash) a single attorney,
and all the canvasses, &c., have been conducted by
inexperienced, though zealous, volunteers.
The Beauchamps, the Coventrys, the Somersets,
the Plymouths, the clergy, the corporation, and,
though last not least, the extensive banking-house
of Wall, Lechmere, and Co., have thrown the whole
weight of their influence into the scale in favour of
Colonel Lygon : ejectments have been threatened,
the withdrawal of employment intimated, every
poor devil who has overdrawn his account, or is in
any way within the " tender mercy" of these aris-
tocrats and Shylocks, has been spoken to in plain
language, that unless he gave Lygon a plumper
he might look to the consequences, Bribes are
held out to the profl gate; there will be no diffi-
culty in proving that many of Lygon's plumpers,
solo had previously promised to vote for Foley and
Spencer, have exchanged with the gallant Colonel's
paid agent their pocket-handkerchiefs, or some
article of similar value, for of. and in some in-
stances for 10/. To crown all, the example of the
Marquis of Exeter has been followed: 300 ruffians
have been hired at 7s. a day to create disturbances
and waylay those who are active on the opposite
side : a Mr. James, a mo,t respectable hop-mer-
chant, and a zealous Reformer, has been attacked
and severely cut, &c. The Sheriff, very properly,
has forbid t hem to come near the hustings. As mark.,
too, of the unfair manner in which the contest is
conducted—that it is a fight against the small means
of the Reformers, it may be mentioned that every
vote for Foley and spencer is objected to, and sent
to the assessor, to cause delay; and also it being
proved that in the hundred of Halfshire there are
more freeholders than can be palled (at the rate they
are now going on) in fifteen days. The Lygonites
object to the offer of the Sheriff to erect an addi-
tional booth ! These are the men who wish to
take the sense of the county on the measure of
Reform I In conclusion, it is hoped the Reformers
will only be stimulated to increased exertions by
such unfair play.