The Sun.
London, England, 1841-07-19 00:00:00

RESULT OF THE ELECTIONS.
cFrom the Examiner.)
r.l:4be ebrinte* is sold to the highest bidders. By
briery Ott I'lol/.4'66mi strained to
the uttermost, the .t‘tlfie4 Rafe Ottiaihe'ci it majority of
seventy. The sums given for votes halt iiean
6'ddefited Magnitude. In hard contests the price has
risen t 8 6'qo!: tit'n.ds. In one place 2,0001. was the
purchase-money of three +.4.4,4_14i Avhich decided the elec-
tion. In almost every constituency ifs Fin.aland and
Wales three ,is a venal portion which is too genCrally
abTh td ttarti tied :3Cithy The nucleus of corruption is in
Most places composed of {1`11.: between whom and
menl-).
the 501. tenants-at-will the Reform hall fit'4l been fatally
vitiated, and its purposes defeated. The Chandos-Clam
voters have gone with the landlords and the fancied
agricultural interest ; the freemen have sold themselves
to the highest iliddef; Whether Whig or Tory ; but as
the Tories have no scruples Add bribetli and have the
heaviest purses, the success depending dli 'Venality has,
for the most part, been theirs. We have heard Of
stances in which the corrupt sections have professed to
have t3pitlitiitsi and in proof of it they have been willing
to sell themselves to ft emulidate for less than
than they required from a Tory, but a lifThe they would
have, and if the man Of their preference would not give
it they voted for his opponent, who was untroubled with
scruples'. The extent of the venality exhibited in
this election is indeed frightful, but on the other
hand admirable is the virtue which has resisted the pre-
valent corruption, and held its course in despite of all
threats and temptations. There are some noble exam-
ples of-this class, and one of the bravest of them in the
instance of the little borough of Wycombe, the electors
of which would not consent to change their Members be-
cause their noble landlord had changed his politics.
In Ireland, in places where neither bribery nor inti-
midation could prevail, the most nefarious contrivances
have been resorted to to defraud the voters of their fran-
chise. By introducing the word " premises " into cer-
tificates (that is, the qualification being set forth -as
for house and premises), and then turning a quibble on
it, many qualified voters have been cheated of their suf-
frage. The account of this knavish trick will be found
in another part of our paper. It is sad earnest of what
the people of Ireland have to expect from a party whose
tools work so foully for its triumph. If such frauds can
be committed with impunity, Lord Stanley's Bill for the
extinction of the franchise is a work of supererogation.
From various causes,- fair and foul, it is undeniable
-that the Liberal party have been worsted in this contest,
partly through the large defects in the Reform Bill, and
also partly by the remissness of Liberals as to the regis-
tration. The battle has been fought under the disad-
vantages of the faulty electoral system, and without a
full development of the resources belonging to the popu-
lar party. An up-hill fight has been fought with unre-
cruited ranks against an enemy having the vantage
ground of the preponderance of the landed interest, and
having, moreover, cultivated every means, fair and foul,
of success.

ATTEMPTED SUICIDE IN A
STATION-HOUSE.

A respectably-dressed man, about sixty years of age,
named Thomas Johnson, was charged before Mr. Clive,
the sitting Magistrate at Kensington Police Court, with
having attempted suicide in the station-house, Kensing-
ton. It will be in the recollection of our readers that
the accused was brought before tile Magistrate on the
10th of May last, on the charge of having deserted his
wife and family, and having left them chargeable to the
parish. It then appeared that the accused, after having
been employed for some time in attendance upon Captain
Bark, who had dislocated his shoulder, formed an impro-
per connection with the elder of Captain Bark's two
daughters. Johnson's wife, who at that time washed for
the family, discovered what was going on, and threatened
to tell Captain Bark, when Miss Bark offered to settle an
annuity of 401. a year upon her, if she would do the wash-
ing in her own house instead of at Captain Bark's as she
had been accustomed to do. Miss Bark at that time appeared
to doubt Johnson's being a married man, and when the wife
showed her the certificate, said that she (Miss Bark) was
the only Mrs. Johnson, and no one but her had any
right to him. The wife of Johnson was from that time
kept by the Misses Bark as much as possible away from
the house ; but at last, having no doubt of the proceed-
ings which were going on, she told Miss Eliza Bark,
whom she had reason_ to believe her husband had .also
seduced, that Captain Bark should be immediately in-
formed of what was going on. Upon this Miss Bark
eloped with Johnson, and they were discovered in May
last residing together at Evesham, near Worcester, Miss
Bark being enciente with her third child. Johnson was
apprehended, and at his own request he was on that oc-
casion remanded for two days in order to see if he could
not make terms with the Board of Guardians. The
Board, however, thought him a fit subject to be made an
example of, and he was accordingly sent to hard labour
as a rogue and vagabond in the House of Correction for
one calendar month.
At the completion of his term of imprisonment the
defendant's wife and family were taken to the prison,
and on his liberation they were handed over to him by
the parish officers who left them with him outside the
prison. The wife and family, however, soon afterwards
became again chargeable to Kensington, the defendant
having again deserted them, but nothing further was
heard of him until the present charge.
Sergeant Eastland, T 17, deposed that about half-past
five o'clock on Friday afternoon the defendant came into
the charge-room at the station-house, and, asking him
how he did, sat himself down in a chair. He had ap-
parently been drinking a little, and said he came to
thank witness and Inspector Smith for the kind way
in which they had treated him while in custody. After
he had sat a little time the defendant said he intended
to make away with himself. Witness took that to be
an idle threat, and laughed at it as such, but the defen-
dant repeatedly said be should do so. He also said that
while he was in prison Miss Bark had sent him a letter
which contained nothing but an intimation that she bad
sent his clothes to his mother's house in Oxfordshir.%
On his liberation from confinement, he hastened back to
Evesham, but on his arrival there he found Miss Bark
had left the neighbourhood suddenly, and had gone no-
body knew whither. He then returned to town to en-
deavour to trace her, but all his exertions had been
fruitless, and he repeated that unless he found her he
would assuredly commit suicide, adding that he had al-
ready, before he came there, taken some poison, and
had some more in his pocket. He then rose up to go
away, but witness said he should insist first on seeing if
he had any poison about him, when he resisted, and in
the struggle the defendant pulled out a small bottle from
his waistcoat pocket, which he threw into the fire, and
in an instant a large body of flame rushed up the chim-
ney, but was soon extinguished. The defendant then
walked into the yard of the station, and while doing so
witness noticed him put his hand into his pocket and pull
out a penknife, which he was in the act of opening
when witness again seized him, and in the struggle to
wrest the knife from him the defendant's fingers were
cut across. Defendant was then placed in custody, and
Mr. Wright, the union surgeon, sent for, who admi-
nistered emetics and used other means to get up the
poison (laudanum) with success. He was ultimately
conveyed to the Union irorkhouse for greater security
during the night, from whence he had been brought to
the Court that morning. He acknowledged having
taken 6d. worth of laudanum, which he had purchased at
Westminster.
The defendant, in answer to the charge, expressed his
sorrow for 'what he had done. He had had a deal o.
trouble, which made him hardly know what he did. He
had since his return to town been to his wife to see if
she would live with him again, but she gave him into
the custody of the police for annoying her He, how-
ever, would pledge himself not to repeat such conduct,
but would, if liberated, immediately set off to Oxford-
shire to his mother and friends.
Mr. Clive, upon that condition, allowed him to be dis-
charged.