The Sun.
London, England, 1841-10-08 00:00:00

NEW WRIT.

On the motion of Sir T. FREEMANTLE, a new writ
was ordered to be issued for the county of Linlithgow, in
the room of the Hon. Chas. Hope, who, since his election,
had accepted the office of Commissioner of Greenwich
Hospital.

Mr. T. DUNCOMBE presented a petition from the
Cobbett Club, in which the petitioners stated that they
had frequently petitioned that House for Universal Suf-
frage, Annual Parliaments, and the Vote by Ballot, but
their petitions had been unheeded ; that the time of the
Mouse had been wasted in party squabbles to turn out
'one party and get in another, but in such a manner that
'they were unable to say whether the present
Government . were the Ministers, of the Queen,
or , of the House of Commons ; they complained
of the Parliament delegating the power of inakine-
,s
• laws to three men as an outrage, of so gross
a kind that it was enough to cause their forefathers to
turn in
,their graves. The consequence of all this
was
that the people were in the utmost distress, which would
never be properly remedied until that was in reality the-
people's' House. The Hon. Member had also one to
present frotn eight electors of Chippenham,.complaining
of a breach of the privileges of that House, and a viola-
ti,:n of the freedom of election. The petitioners stated
that they wereleillints-at-iVill to Mr. Neeld, one of the
Members • for the town ; that at the last election they
gave one vote to
_their landlord and the other to the

Liberal candidate, but such conduct was displeasing to
Mr. Neeld and the Tory„Committee-; the consequence
was, that each of them had been served with a notice to
quit. He (Mr. Duncombe) would only state, that.this
was not a Solitary instance of such. intimidationotor was
Neeld—(Order. order)—he was merely going to
Say, that • Mr. Necld was not worse than. every other
landlord in England.
The SPEAKER said that was not such a petition as
would, by the rules of the House, entitle the Hon. Member
to make any observations.
Mr. DUNCOMBE would merely state the prayer of
the petitioners. They prayed the House to adopt some
measures to secure the freedom of election, and if the
franchise could not ha exercised in an independent mut-
ner they prayed that it might be taken away in such
small towns. They further prayed that upon the proof
of their case the • House-would afford them -such :-protec-
tion
tion in the exercise of their franchise as in: its wisdom
iti
might think fit. He moved that the petition be printed.
Lord STANLEY—You must give notice.
Mr. T. DUNCOMBE' said he could not give notice
of a motion to that 'effect, for Parliament, he knew,
would he prorogued before he could make the motion.
Moreover, he did not think it was necessary to do so.
The public complained of the conduct of a Member of
that House in violating the privileges of Parliament by
interrupting the freedom of election. He -should cer-
tainly feel it to be his duty in the.next Session of Par-
liament to call the attention of the House to the subject.
The. Right Hon. Baronet (Sir R. Peel), though he ad-
mitted last night the extensive bribery and coer-
cion employed itt the last election, had stated that he did
not intend to bring in a Bill next Session to prevent such
practice, but he threw the whole weight of the bUSiness
on the Noble 'Lord (Lord J. Russell) who last Session
had brought in on the subject. He (Mr. Du it
combo) thought such a measure ou,eht to come fro
tnit
-Mittigfer., of tiiii"t rtlWl:-.--r-th-e-----n 4,44 Honottrable
Baronet threw upon the Noble Lord all the
duties which • he had officially performed some
months ago, he could not see why the Noble
Lord should act still occupy the office he then held—
he could not see why the Noble Lord should per-
form the duties while Gentlemen opposite were receiving
the lees.—(Laughter.)
Sir R. INGLIS rose to order However amusing it
might be to listen to the Hon. Gentlemen, and he did
think that they could be better amused, while waiting
to hear the Usher of the Black Rod—(Cries of " Order,
order.")
Mr. T. DUNCOMBE said it was singular that so old
a Member of the House as the Hon. Baronet should call
him to order, and he himself be so very disorderly.—(Hear,
and laughter.) He was merely arguing that the petition
ought to be printed.

I Sir IL PEEL said he did not say that he would not
bring in a Bill on that subject, but being deter-
mined not to make promises unless he was sure
he could fulfil them, he had asked the Hon. Gentleman
not to press him to state decisively whether he would, or
would not, bring forward a measure on the subject. It
had attracted, as it deserved, the attention of the Noble
Lord, and the Honourable Gentleman should be aware
that there were certain delicacies in professional prac-
tice which made a practitioner unwilling to interfere
until the patient had been formally given up.—<Laughter.)
The Noble Lord had paid great attention to the subject,
and if the Noble Lord signified his wish to discharge his
duty on the subject, as he did when on that (the Minis-
terial) side of the House, he (Sir R. Peel) should con-
sider it improper to interfere--the Noble Lord being a
very high authority, and perfectly competent to under-
take it ; and he was sure that the Honourable Gentle-
man would feel that it would be very improper in
him (Sir Robert Peel) to take it out of his hands.
He (Sir R. Peel) would promise to give every attention
to the subject, but without further considering it he was
unwilling to give a positive promise.
Mr. T. DUNCOMBE said he did not see why the
Right Hon. Baronet should not take this subject out of
the Noble Lord's hands as well as any other, and bring
it forward as a Government measure next Session. The
Honourable Gentleman then presented a petition from
the proprietor of the Norfolk and Norwich Monitor,
complaining of the amount of surety required of the
proprietors of newspapers by the Stamp-office.
Mr. H. BRIDGEMAN presented a petition from
Carlow prayin; for the abolition of Church-rates.
Sir H. PEEL presented a petition from Banff, praying
the House to enact further laws to ensure the necessary
freedom of election, and for the protection of the electors.
TAMWORTH PETITION.
Me. WARD gave notice, that early next Session, he
should move for a copy of all correspondence on the
subject of the petition to her Majesty from the borough
of Tamworth.

TAXES ON LANDED PROPERTY.
The I-lox. MEMBER • aiici gave notice, that early next
SessiOn, he would move that a Select ommittee be ap-
pointed to.inquire into the existence and extent of the
burdens and taxes' supposed to press heavily in the
lauded intereit of the cou,ntr • .
BO W-11:ING'iidfit- he- madir
of whichthe had yesterday 'given notice. '
TAMWORTH J,'ETITION. •
Mr. YORKE said, with reference to the notice j'ast
given by his Hon. rriend .(111r.,,Wnrd), he wished to
ask whether the Right lion. Baronet had any objection
to lay before the House the -whole information relative
to the validity of the Tamworth Petition, on which he
had acted, and to state the sources from which he had
obtained it?

Sir J. GRAHAM said, that, under any circumstances,
ho should decline to produce his information ; but, as
the Hon. Gentleman had given notice of a motion for
next Session, he should postpone any further explana-
tion he had to offer on the subject until the motion
was made.

PROROGATION.
The Usher of the Black Rod then entered the House,
and, advancing to the table, summoned the House to
attend the Lords Commissioners in the HoUse of Lords.
On their return from the House of Lords,
The SPEAKER took his place at the table, around
which the Members congregated. He then proceeded to
read the Speech, after which the Members separated.

WILTON ELECTION,
The election for a Member of Parliament to represent
this borough was announced to take place onWednesday;
and if ever there was an exhibition of mockery and hum-
bug, the town of Wilton displayed both. A Bill was set
forth, announcing that the electors would meet at the
Town Hall, at eleven o'clock, to form a procession, to
escort Viscount Somerton into the borough, for which
he was to be chosen a nominee.
The number of electors for the borough of Wilton
is about 210, but when the said hour of meeting
expired no 210, nor 200, nor fifty, nor forty elec-
tors were present. Truly, the civic authorities
were arrayed in their robes of Majestic greatness, and
were in attendance at an early hour for the purpose, if
we judge rightly, of witnessing the assembly of haggard
and half-starved mechanics, labourers, and ragged boys,
in front of the Guildhall, whose poverty and want ap-
peared to be sufficiently great to induce them to cheer
any one for a mouthful of bread, or a cup of beer. At
11 o'clock, the Stewards of the Clubs of the town, with
their banners, led the van ; next followed the
ba-id, and their cavalcade of some .thirty horse
men followed, attended by the unemployed. These
thirty horsemen consisted Chiefly of servants,
lawyers' clerks, an Inspector of Police, and' common
carriers, and not electors. This splendid (?) procession
proceeded about a mile and half from the town, on the
Salisbury. road, when, after waiting some time, his Lord-
ship and groom on horseback came up, and the prs,ces-
sion. then returned to the town in the same order as at
first. The Minister and ,Churchwardens being of the
same colour cloth, no obstacle, of course, was thrown out
to prevent the poor ringers from having a blow out on
this occasion.

The preliminary business having been gone through,
RICHARD HETLEY, Esq., a banker at Salisbury, came
forward and proposed the Noble Lord as a fit and proper
person to represent them in Parliament.
EDWARD HINXMAN, jun., Esq,, of Durnford House,
seconded the nomination.
His WORSHIP then formerly inquired if there was
any other candidate, and having received a negative re-
ply, he declared that Viscount Somerton wits duly elected.
Lord SOMERTON, in addressing the meeting, said—For
the first time I feel considerable embarrassment ;
in
fact, I do not know how to effectually thank you for the
honour you have conferred on me, and for the trust
you have now reposed in my hands. I am fully
aware of the deep responsibility of this trust, and that
if a person be sent to the House of Commons he
must give his firm and uncompromising support
to every measure that is calculated to promote the
benefit ~of his constituents ; nor must any pleasures
or amusements divert his mind from those duties he has
to perform.—(Cheers.) You will allow me to say that
were I now addressing you as a candidate instead of
being your representative, I might employ this language,
but, unexperienced as I am in political matters,
and wholly unknown to you, all I have to
say is, that, though you
may not find in ine a very ef-
ficient person, yet, on the other hand, you will never
find me wanting in the discharge of those duties I have
to perform.(Cheering)—and I heartily trust, when I
next meet you, whether that occasion be for me to resign
the trust now reposed in me, or to again solicit your
suffrages, I shall be able to give a good account of my
stewardship.—(Cheers.) Gentlemen, there is "an old
Saying, " Better late than never ;" but I much regret I
had not had a seat in the !louse of Commons before,
for, in the year 1832, the victory, so termed, was
ltSt
gained by the• passing of the Reform
.Be il_
i. But,
Gentlemen, how was that measure obtained ;Les
it not attained by agitation, and by
to be, and,
false and delusive that measure has proved
forany
person to
representation ?—and we have all lived to see how
therefore, I say it must be a pride
Conservatives mustered 300 in n
have belonged to the representation 5;
which has
taken place in the Duke of
I(BC3.lsieenrhs)e—n atnhde
have we not witnessedsince,
.the reformation
rn
—an have we not
)ond,dLord Stanley, and
Sir James Graham—(Cheers)—and Richmond,
seen them, I say,
leaving the ranks of our
and joining the other side?—(Cheers.)
I should. Did not her Majesty's
Bopuptonietnists
ius eless for me to dwell on those by-gone sub-
jects, yet it s right
Li
r,chief features of which were the Corn-
e
the
titlg et, t:i
—inisters bring forward what they were pleased. to Call
law question and the duties on Sugar and Timber, and
n hang been, at length defeated, they fell,—and having