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

TAMWORTH.

TAM WORTH, 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. Wm.
Yates Peel, in the room 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. Bramall, three of Sir Robert Peel's sons, &c.
Wm. Platts, 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 It..ErEEL then cause forward, and was received
with loud cheers. He said—Gentlemen, in conforming
with establisherinsage on these occasit 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 aniiCipate 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-
, sus es of the uteeost 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 did 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 int( 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.
I Out of a population of 7,000 inhabitants there are from
f 400 to 500 (lectors to act upon the part of the
whole community. The law presumes that you are
, the more intelligent—more exempt from undue in-
; fluenee—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, Finsbury, 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
settlement that was, made in 1832, but I should deeply
deplore it if these agricultural boroughs, like Tamworth,
although their constituencies did not exceed 400 or'soo
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 torn by conflicts during elections. I
have seen great divisions of party. I have seen the most
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, " Scores,"
and cries of " No, no")—and while you so continue to
discharge your duty—while you set the example to
other constituences. 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:corruption. 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
me 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. Yon 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
familiar
to nemigehbofroum m
neighbourhood
earliestlh years.—(Hear.)avelived,andw Gen.hohavebee
demon, for fifty years I have had recollections of this
town. I cannot see the return of these ceremonies without
some feeling of pain and regret. I miss many old friends,
who have been githered to their fathers. I see, it
is true, their places supplied by'inew 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
lived
of e
npeeiagehebwo'ith you .in the promotion of the
his- o.de-would have been exactly
vd
thaet,
urthe same; and after the electitm- tadierminated I would
say with regard to those
swchieosiuopupsitsrlytdmiai.eeel,
r ;and those
me,
e,e
who,lt
few as they are, who conscientiously
t
e I need say little to
us forget the past conflict and upon-terms of cor-
diality.—(Hear, hear.)
you upon public subjects; you have told me in that
rity of the electors, that you have "carefully
ad-
mirable address, which has been signed by a vast majo-
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 introducd
or supported; we have rejoiced in your broad, liberal,
and enlightened views with respect to -the important fo-
reign relations of the country, as wet as its internal
and commercial interests, and we believe they
fiwti,li pthroeve:pr
dominions."
oasspertihey were intended, for the bene-
myoeu
bfyo r
nine-tenths e future i n answer to
of
tyTshaatnis
ththeeassgiuroarnyee owf
hiethhel Bri-
tishgive
el rs the
Ilca'alipmepneadliofrawlandhhe toaerve
to make apologies to any ono for the course I have pur-
ng). have
beenGentle-
sued.—(llear, hear, and continued c
men, I stand here far from feeling thaeter
faithful to any trust—with the proud consciousnesstuhnat
I have done my duty to my constituents and to the
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
y neglect t
) do
and party connexion—l have been ready to endure un-
just calumny
and reproaches—l have been raenadd
:ho
i
this rather
sthaonmlbitatnecclotn myephuabrigice.
vvhat have duty,been y
paw, 'carp ? lieve I departed from them ?
n 3
h
ass; a loyal ane .devoted subject of the Queen. I wish to
see every privilege of -t-e ' -nonarctly preserved. Have ? vii*b to see the
done tnythin,z eneroarb on them
power of the Crown upheld, and to see loyalty
affec-
tionate devotion displayed towards the Sovereign of
this
and
Country, which it would be unjustifiable indeed, if we -