The Sun.
London, England, 1841-06-17 00:00:00

REPRESENTATION
OF MARYLEBONE.

GREAT BALLOT MEETING OF

THE REFORMERS.

A great meeting of the Reformers of the Borough of
Marylebone was held yesterday at the Theatre of the
Colosseum, Regent's Park, for the purpose of taking a
ballot to determine which of the two Liberal Candidates,
Sir Charles Napier, or Mr. G. A. Young, should retire
from the approaching contest. The arrangements made
by the Joint Committee appointed to take the ballot,
were such as were apparently well calculated to secure a
fair estimate of the sense of the electors; but complaints
were made this morning that, through some failure of the
Post-office arrangements, many Reform electors had not
received their letters or ballot-cards. Before the time
appointed for taking the chair upwards of 800 electors
were assemhled, and the side-boxes of this spacious
theatre were filled with elegantly-dressed ladies.
The Chair was taken at two o'clock, by Mr. Protheroe,
the Member for Halifax, who was greetedwith enthusiaS-
tic cheering..
The CHAIRMA.N said that he would not detain the
meeting a moment with any reference to himself, further
than to thank them for the distinguished honour C 07.1-
ferred or( him by electing him to the Chair, and to
assure them that he had a perfect sense of the responni-
bility of the office, and he would discharge the duties
With strict impartiality.—(Cheers.) He might now than ik
them for the assistance which he had 'received from them
in his 'endeavours to obtain the papers of the
Vestry Act.—(Cheers.) Their conduct in electing him
to the chair reminded him of the practice which pres-rtiled
in the small Italian states, of choosing a podesta, or 'go-
vernor from distant provinces, in order to secure
impartiality in the government.---(Hear.) But the
electors of Mary-lebene had gone to Halifax for their
chairman of this day—(Cheers and laughter)--and he as-
sared them that they should not be disappointed in I heir
expectations of an impartial podesta.=(Laugh ter.)
He begged` simply to state that the meeting was assem-
bled to select a proper candidate to start with Sir Ben-
jamin Hall. They were to decide which of the two was
to be their candidate at the ensuing election. Be-
fore he sat down he hoped he might be per-
mitted to state, as an old Member of Parliament for his
years, to compliment them upon their conduct on the
present occasion, and to contrast it with that of the ( Sec-
tors of the suburbs of-London, before the passing o 7 the
Reform Act. The ofily electors at the time residing in
the suburbs of London were the outvoters of the (Effer-
ent boroughs, who gave their votes for the purpose of
exciting mere fun and merriment, and who Were or
opinion that the less the principle the better the pay.—
(Cheers.) Their conduct, now they were enfranchised,
contrasted post favourably with that of the outeoters.
They were now to proceed to their choice, and by their
conduct that day they were exhibiting to the electors of
the kingdom an example of dignity, firmness, and princi-
ple. They did not wish to put either of their candidates
to any useless expense, and they were carrying out their
principles without needless display. It was now for
them to determine which of the two should be the candi,
date chosen to fight the Tory candidates, and; as far as '
his humble efforts want, nothing should be wanted to
carry out the object they had in view.
Sir CHARLEg NA PIER was then introduced by the
Chairman, and was received with loud cheers. When:.
the cheering had subsided, the Gallant Commodore
spoke as follows :—Gentlemen, your Honourable Chair-
man has so clearly explained to you the objects of this
meeting, that it is quite unnecessary for Ma to say a.
word more on the subject ; I shall therefore proceed at once
to explain the reason why I come forward as a candidate
for the borough of Marylebone, to ask you for your votes
to elect me as your Member in the ensuing Parlia-
ment..—(Cries of " Hear, hear," and cheers.) I knew
full welt that Sir Benjamin Hall was your Repre-
sentative in the Liberal interest. I knew that Mr.
Young was a candidate for your suffrages.—(Cheers.)
I naiad that this was the fourth time that Mr. Young
had Come for ward.—(Cries of " No, no," and " Yes, yes.")
The first time Mr. Young came forward he did not go to,
the poll, but he published his address. In 1833 Mr. Young•
went to the poll and polled 378 votes; in 1837 he went to the
poll and polled 764 votes. In 1838 Mr. Young supported.
Colonel Thompson (Cries of " Ah, ah I " and cheers)
and polled 16$ votes, and the Tory candidate, as'
you well know, became your representative.—(Hear.)
Now, Gentlemen, it was to avoid this evil that I came
forward to offer myself to your notice,—(Cheers.) At
the public meetings I attended every effort was
made on the other side to confound and confuse them s'
but I believe there was no gentleman present who will
not admit that lasarried very large majorities throughout
all these public meetings.—(Cheers, and cries of
" Yes," °"No.") These meetings were very numerously
attended, and in some cases there were 400 or 500 electors
who could not obtain admittance. These are the rea-
sons why I come forward to ask your suffrages, and I ant '
now here because I have declared, that if I thought
Mr. Young had the smallest hope or chance of.
being returned I should instantly retire.—
(Cries of Hear, hear, and " Very honourable.") Gen-
tlemen, a few days afterwards I received a
letter from Mr. Young, proposing a public
meeting, at the same time admitting that it was
impossible to exclude non-electors. I thought it of so
much importance that I laid the letter before my
Committee. They proposed what would have
saved a great deal of expense and trouble
had it been adopted. They proposed that Mr.
Young should choose one elector, and myself an-
other, to go round the several districts, and take the sense
of the voters.—(Hear.) That was not acceded to, and
the measare which has now brought you together
was agreed upon. Gentlemen, all I ask is to be allowed to
state plainly what my opinions are ; and I do trust and
hope that my opponents not pervert those opi-
nions, or put words into my mouth which I never
used.—(Loud cheers.) They will scarce be able to do
that, because if a man speaks the truth he
is sure to be right, and if he tells falsehoods he
must have a good memory to be able to an-
swer them. I have been accused of being favourable to
the Poor-laws, but at the first meeting I attended I dis-
tinctly stated that I had been two years absent from
England, and did not know how the Poor-laws
worked, but that I would tell them how it had
worked in the district in which I was a guar-
dian.—(Cheers.) We insisted on the old and infirm
poor being relieved out of doors in their own houses—
(Loud cheers}—and that those who were compelled to
take refuge in the workhouses, should be treated
kindly, and in the same manner as they treated
the inmates of Chelsea and Greenwich Hospitals.
I have attended numbers of meetings where I have fre-
quently expressed my opinion of the operation of t hePoor-
raw, and yet am again called on to express those opinions.
Gentlemen, there is another question asked of me,
one which, as a naval-military man, I feel called
upon more immediately to answer—the aboli-
thm of corporal punishment. That question de-
pends not upon the admiral, the captain, or the officer
to effect its abolition, but more properly upon the
Government to give better pay. and thus gain
a higher class of men to serve in our army and navy.
Now, Gentlemen, I might have gained a few stray votes
if, like my opponent, I pledged myself to vote for the
abolition of corporal punishment ; but, Gentlemen, he
who offers this pledge has never seen 400 or 500 men
of various degrees of character in the operations of war-
fare—:n the storm of the battle, when the worthless will
skulk below—or perhaps he would be more chary
in the assertion that corporal punishment can
be dispensed with ; but, Sir, all other men would
be most anxious for its abolition, if it was consistent
with the efficiency of the Army and Navy.—
(Loud cheers.) But I will never run the risk, when
France and Russia have large fleets assembled, for the
sake of a few stray votes to endanger the safety of the
bulwarks of this country. I have also stated that
I full an advocate for the vote by Ballot,
and with respect to the assertion, that I said I thought
the eetension of the suffrage would rather be an evil
than otherwise, I must call attention to the
feet, that in the borough of Marylebone we
we have no less than 32,000 101. householders, and yet
from the non-payment of poor-rates, intimidation, and
various other causes, the actual number who voted
wag comparatively trifling, and would he so until
protected by the Ballot.—(Hear, hear.) There
I;aswheen another charge brought against me ; that I at
present held a commission in her Majesty's navy; and
am, therefore, unfitted to represent this borough
is Perliaa sen a
a Gentlemen, I think it would
orm nl tha
t
be rather severe conclusion
becsaise of' :being a naval officer. tI
wasf o y fit,
as Mr. Young :has expressed himself, to look after the
guns and sails a man-of-war. I have been forty years
in the service of my country, and, therefore, I
think I may lay claim to some distinction.—(Loud
cheers.) It is well known that but for the officers of the
the
navy, and its discipline, you would have been
at war with Frarce at the present moment,
and therefore it is not t'9o much for an officer of the navy
to claim your suffeages.----(Cheers.) It has been eonfi-
dently stated in the borough that I still held my command
in the Mediterranean. T.e this I answer, that on the
31st of March I was ordered to strike my pennant, and
am now as independent as any one of you.
Again, it is said that I am seeking after
command ; this again is false.. But I do say, that if
called upon to serve my country, I would at once
seek the breach, and resign my. seat in the
House.—(Hear, and cheers.) There is another topic
to which I would wish to address myself, and that is,
the impressment of men to serve it the navy—a prac-
tice disgraceful to an enlightened nation like England.
Mans, applications have Imade, for tin, last thirty years,
to Members in the House to wipe away this plague-
spot of the English statute-book, but in vain.
On the subject of the rate-paying clauses of the Reform
Bill, I have always declared my aversiov to them.—
(Cheers.) They are unjust and imneeessal y clogs upon
the frnnehise.(Cheers.) If it be right to punish a
man for not paying his taxes, some other mode should
be found without depriving him of as suffrage.—(Cheers
and great applause.) I was yesterday at the greet meeting
held in the city ofLondon by the friends of Lord J.ltussell ;
and I never saw a more respectable ',sleeting in my life.—
(Cheers.) Lord John Russell thoroutshly and clearly ex-
plained to the electors the reasons wikich led to the deter-
mination to dissolve Parliament. The nvcessities which had
arisen for an increase of the navy had caused expenses
to which the revenue was inadequate, and Government
thought it better, instead of laying on new taxes,
to reduce the duties on corn, timber, and sugar.—
(Cheers.) Lord John Russ
11also declared that
the Corn-laws imposedhle ateax upon the people
equal to the
—(fleas}----.byatittaexptici:revenue of the -country
benefited only the landlords, and
the present contest instead of the rich. With respect to
could regret more thanre, I assure
be divided, and if theyou that' nobody
do that the borough should
division of this day shall be