The Sun.
London, England, 1847-07-29 00:00:00

TAMWORTH.

TAMWORTH. WEDNESDAY.—The election for this an-
cient borough took place at eleven o'clock to-day. The
candidates were the right Hon Sir Robert Peel, one of
the late Members, and his brother, the Right Hon. Win.
Yates in the rot.m of Captain A'Court. There was
no excitement whatever in the town, and at no time dur-
ing the proceedings did the crowd in front of the hust-
ings, which were constructed in front of the Town Hall,
exceed 1,000 persons. A few ladies were in the win-
dows in the immediate vicinity of the hustings. Shortly
before 11 o'clock Sir Robert Peel, attended by a number
of his supporters, proceeded from the King's Arms
Hotel to the place of election. He was warmly cheered
upon taking his place on the temporary building already
mentioned. Mr. Wm. Yates Peel shortly afterwards
presented himself to the electors.
Amongst the gentlemen we noticed Sir P. Clarke,
General A'Court, and Major Bamford, Major Bamford,
jun., Mr. Braman, three of Sir Robert Peel's sons, &c.
Wm. Platte, Esq., the Mayor presided, and the usual
forms having been gone through,
Mr. BRAMALL proposed Sir R. Peel.
Mr. RoBINSoN seconded the nomination.

Major BAMFORD proposed Wm. Yates Peel, Esq., who
had on former occasions faithfully served them in Par-
liament. and whose public and private conduct had re-
ceived the respect and esteem of all who knew him.

Mr. EDWARD FARMER seconded the nomination.

Sir R. PEEL then cane forward, and was received
with loud cheers. tie said—Gentlemen, in conforming
with established usage on these occesii ns, I shall pro-
ceed—having been proposed and seconded as a candi-
date to represent you in Parliament—to make a few
observations to this assembly. But, gentlemen, I have
left myself little to say on this occasion, because I have
felt it to be my duty to anticipate my speech on the day
of nomination, and in a letter which I ha•.e addressed to
all the electors I have explained the course which I have
pursued during the last Parliament, and the course
I intend to pursue if you do me the honour to repose in
me again your confidence. Gentlemen, I felt it to be
my duty to address the letter to you, because it has
been my lot to propose, during .he last Parliament, mea-
sut es of the utreost importance to the interests of this
country. These measures have been the subject of se-
vere attack and condemnation—motives have been im-
puted to me for having proposed them, and as I (lid not
wish to possess your confidence excepting upon public
ground, I did not wish to get your votes by surprise—l
did not wish to leave it until this day that I should ex-
plain my conduct. I wished that you should have the
opportunity of maturely deliberating on that which I
have done, and on that which I intt nd to do; and if it
did not meet with your approbation I did not wish to
retain your confidence.—(Hear.) Gentlemen, I attach
the utmost importance to the trust committed to you—
you in this borough—you electors are a privileged class.
Out of a population of 7,000 inhabitants there are from
400 to 500 ( lectors to act upon the part of the
whole community. The law presumes that von are
the more intelligent—more exempt from undue in-
fluence—that you are able to form a judgment upon
the motives and conduct of public men, and I did not
wish that you should give your votes out of private
friendship, or from the influence of property; but if you
disapprove of the course I pursued, I wished you to ex
ercise your honest judgment, and not give me your
votes.—(Hear, hear.) Gentlemen, I attach the utmost
importance to the maintenance of the privilege of the
smaller boroughs of this country. You have seen new
boroughs entrusted with these privileges—Manchester,
Birmingham, Marylebone, Fin-bury, and the other great
metropolitan districts have been called into existence to
enjoy these political privileges. We grudge them not
these rights. lam one of the last to disturb the great
- ettlement that was made in 1832, but I should deeply
deplore it it these agricultural boroughs, like Tamworth,
although their constituencies did not exceed 400 or 500
electors—l think it would be a fatal blow to the Consti-
tutional liberties of this country if these ancient and
more limited constituencies ceased to exercise their pro-
per influence. You are exempt from many of the in-
fluences which large manufacturing towns are subject to.
You are enabled to give your confidence to your repre
sentatives without tying them down with specific
pledges. You are not mushrooms, called into existence
yesterday ; you date your privileges from the reign of
Queen Elizabeth. For three hundred years you have
ever used the important right of sending Members to
Parliament. I must say that you have never abused it.
I have seen this town tarn by conflicts during elections. I
have seen great divisions of party. I have seen the mo-t
strenuous exertions made in favour of this or that can
didate, but can any man say that a voter of Tamworth
has ever been influenced by a bribe—(A voice, or
and cries of " No, no")—and while you so continue to
discharge your duty—while you set the example to
other cunstituences. those ancient limited boroughs will
be preserved; but I tell other boroughs, that if they
disgrace the power which they possess, by making their
votes defend corruption and bribery, then those privi-
leges will not be continued, and like Sudbury and other
places, their franchise will be justly taken from them.
But, as I have said before, you have uniformly exercised
your privileges independently, and free from,corruntion. I
am, therefore, the more disposed to lay before you the
motives by which I have been guided. I then appealed
to your deliberate judgment. I asked you to return
nee without reference to private considerations—to forget
the relation in which we stand towards each other as
friends and neighbours; but you do not suppose that I
am insensible to the value of your private esteem and
frienship. You do not suppose, because I wish to be re-
turned on public grounds, that I have no satisfaction in
retaining the cordial goodwill and attachment of those
in whose neighbourhood I have lived, and who have been
familiar to me from my earliest years.—(Hear.) Gen-
t l e
town.me n
i,
cannotfo r fi f fifty yys e e
etahresrletuhranveof had
thesereeecroel
ell e cethi
ioenss
without
some feeling of pain and regret. I miss many old friends,
who have been gathered to their fathers. I see, it
is true, their places supplied by,new and equally attached
friends; but new friendships are not altogether a com-
plete consolation for those which have been terminated
by death. Gentlemen, I live among you, my lot is cast
among you, and I can say so with truth, that if your
confidence was conferred on public grounds to another,
my wish to have cultivated friendly relations with you,
to have lived at peace with you in the promotion of the
interests of the neighbourhood, would have been exactly
the same; and after the election had terminated I would
say with regard to those who supported,i and those who,
few as they are, who conscientiously
ncieantr
liveusl
upon termsyfferfrom e f e
m ee,lre.t
us forget the past conflict
;
cor-
diality.—(Hear, hear.) Gentlemen, I need sany
that ad-
mirable address, which has been signed by a vast little to
you upon public
majo-
rity of the electors, that you have "carefully watched
your measures as the chief- Minister of her Majesty's
Government, and your votes as a private Member of the
British Senate; we have looked closely and anxiously at-
the effect of those measures which you have intreducd
or supperted; we have 1.-joie( din your broad, liberal,
and enlightened views with respt ct to the important fo-
reign relations of the country, as well as its internal
and commercial interests, and we believe they
w will prove,
im
ve,a,ss they were intended, for the bene-
fit,p.e"rityT,haatn
isd ththeeassgulroarnyee ofw hicthhel
give
you donsinionsyou for the future in answer to thet
me by nine-tenths of the electors.
cameappal down madeh to
Then, if I have
satisfied you, don't you suppose
stouemd.(la—keaipeoalr, hear,
ogiest
and
o any
ocnoentifnoruetd cheerheri
e
eere
course
Gentle-
men I stand here far from feeling that I have .
p u r-
un-
faithful been to any trust—with the proud consciousness
I have done my duty to my constituents
shg I) hove
end
te t hthe
people of this country—(Cheers)—that I have had no
objects of a personal nature in any of the measures I
have proposed. I have been ready to sacrifice power
and party connexion—l have been ready to endure un-
just calumny and reproaches—l have been ready to do
ratherrst
s
than abandon
committed
t imy h
-mycpuabrg. what have beenlice duty, and neglect
the interests intee
my public p,--. poses ? Have I departed from them ? I
d subject of the Queen. I wish to
am a loyal and devote
privilege of the monarchy preserved. Have /
.
see every
I wish to see the
done anything to encroach on them . %
power of . the Crown upheld, and to see loyalty and atfec-
-
tienata devotion displayed towards the Sovereign of this
indeed if we .
country, which it would be unjustifiable ,