The Sun.
London, England, 1834-07-03 00:00:00

FINSBURY ELECTION.

It having been announced at the close of the election that
the final state of the poll would be officially declared from the
hustings at Islington-green, yesterday, at one o'clock, by Mr.
Hollingsworth, the returning officer, an immense crowd of
persons assembled on the green, and surrounded the hustings
long before the hour appointed, and the greatest satisfaction
appeared to pervade all classes (except the immediate friends
and supporters of the defeated Tory candidate) at the result
of a contest which has relieved the borough of Finsbury from
the disgrace of having elected a representative whose political
opinions and principles, whatever might be his private worth,
were obnoxious to the great body of the electors of that im-
portant metropolitan borough.
Soon after one o'clock, Mr. Duncombe, Mr. Babbage, and
Mr. Wakley appeared upon the hustings, surrounded by their
respective friends, and Mr. Pownall arrived shortly after.
Mr. HowNoswoaTii, the returning officer, then declared
that Thomas Slingsby Duncombe, Esq., was duly elected
member of Parliament for the borongh of Finsbury. (Loud
and general applause.)
Mr. DUNCOMBE then came forward and was received with
the most enthusiastic cheering. He would not congratulate
them on the victory they had gained over Tory influence, if he
did not feel that the means by which that victory was obtained
would bear the strictest scrutiny. (Cheers.) According to
the statement made by the returning officer, he had a majority
of 599 votes above his Tory opponent ; and he had no hesita-
tion in saying that, had the poll been left open for an hour
longer, he should have polled 300 votes more. But his majo-
rity would have been greater still had it not been that, at two
o'clock, when the Tory cause was on the decline, Mr. Pownall's
committee insisted on putting the bribery oath to those electors
who came to vote in his (Mr. Duncombe's) favour. ( Cries of
" Shame, shame !") He could not see why so great an insult
should be offered to the independent electors of Finsbury.
(Great confusion, in the midst of which Mr. Pownall was un-
derstood to deny the statement.) It was useless to deny the
fact, for when he questioned the returning officer upon the
subject, and asked him why the bribery oath was administered,
he said that he was desired, on the part of Mr. Pownall's com-
mittee that the oath should be put. ( Renewed confusion, and
cries of " No, no.") The statement was contradicted, but the
returning officer, who was present, bore him out in his asser-
tion, and furnished him with the names of the parties who, on
the part of-Mr. Pownall, had thus insulted the electors of Fins-
bury. (" Name them, name them.") The hon. member then
retired, and was loudly and generally cheered.
Mr. POWNALL then came forward, amidst a storm of groans
and cries of " hear, hear," and " fair play." -.He declared that
as far as he was personally concerned, he had. nothing to com-
plain of on the present occasion, nor did he intend to have ad-
dressed the electors again, if it had not been for a statement
which the hon. gentleman, now the member for Finsbury, had
just made with regard to the bribery oath. He could assure
the electors that if any persons on his behalf had required the
administration of that oath the circumstance was not known to
his central committee, and he would further assure them, on
his honour as a man and a Christian, that the first time he had
heard such a statement was from the hon. member himself.
(Applause.) So far from his requiring that the bribery oath
should be put, he had himself written on Saturday last to the
returning officer to say that he had too good an opinion of the
electors of Finsbury to require such a test. The hon. gentle-
man, on retiring, was loudly applauded.
Mr. WAKLET then ascended the hustings, and was greeted
with deafening shouts of applause from the surrounding crowd.
The attacks he had made on Mr. Duncombe's public conduct,
and he now regretted that he should have had occasion to at-
tack such a man, for, although his political opinions did not go
quite so far as his own, he still believed that the man who
was now their member had some good stuff in him.
(Cheers.) Mr. Duncombe had promised to do his duty in
Parliament, and he believed that he was too honest to break his
word; and as long as he continued t o act for the good of the people
he should have his humble but hearty support. (" Bravo,
Wakley.") He wished now to call the attention of the elec-
tors to a subject of great importance, in which their future in-
dependence was concerned. How did it happen, he would
ask, that out of a population of 220,000 inhabitants, which the
borough of Finsbury contained, 9,200 only had a right to
vote ? (" Shame 1 shame I") He contended, that by virtue
of the qualification clause in the Reform Act 30,000 electors
would have the right of voting if they would only take the
proper means of asserting that right. The simple duty which
they had to perform was, to pay their rates and taxes between
the sth of April and the 20th of July following : and he would
further tell them, that hundreds and thousands throughout the
country could exercise the right of voting without any reference
whatever to the Reform Act at all ; for what did it say ?—that
the present occupiers of premises of the yearly value of 101.
might vote in the election for members of parliament : • so that,
a lodger who paid but 4s. a week for the apartments which he
occupied would have the right of voting. For example : sup-
pose a man paid 401. a-year for his house, and that he had
three lodgers, each of whom paid 101. a-year for the apart-
ments which they occupied under him, those four persons would
each be entitled to a vote, provided that the landlord had paid up
his rates and tales within the period which the act prescribed, for
if he had not done so, they would all be disqualified from voting.
He implored the poorer inhabitants of the borough to look to
their own interests, and by so doing they would have it in
their power to elect whom they pleased. Mr. Wakley then
referred to the Poor Law Bill, and said he was first prejudiced
against Mr. Duncombe because he saw him surrounded by
persons who were friendly to that most atrocious measure,
which, if passed into a law, would for ever destroy the middling
classes residing in the rural districts. He then took a review
of the bill. Although a radical reformer to the fullest extent,
he would never recommend the people to procure their righ's
by violence, but he advised them at the same time not to be too
patient. They should openly tell their members that they
were not satisfied with their conduct;; and of this he was con-
vinced, that there never would be a thorough reform in Par-
liament so long as the bishops were allowed to sit and vote in
the House of Lords. (" That's just it; you have hit it,
Wakley.")
Mr. BAnDAGE then came forward, and was very favourably
received. He observed, that one reason for his appearing
before the electors of Finsbury as a candidate, on the present
occasion, was, that at the last election for the borough he had
polled 2,300 votes, and before the commencement of this elec-
tion he received a requisition, signed by upwards of 600
electors, calling upon him to allow himself to be placed in
nomination. He consented ; and he confessed that, on look-
ing to the poll, he was not a little surprised to find that of the
600 friends who had thus called upon him not more than two-
thirds had polled for him. ( Shame, shame.) There might
be excuses however for their conduct under the circumstances
of the election, but had those 600 gentlemen come forward
and voted for him on the first day of the election, he might
now have occupied the station which the hon. gentleman (Mr.
Duncombe) filled. He attributed his defeat to the un-
founded rumours which had been circulated by the press that
he had resigned the contest. He did not, however, make
any charge against the press further than this, that a power
which ought to defend the cause of truth and justice had been
perverted-,in his- case. to party purposes. N6twithstanding
his declaration to abide the issue of the contest, he had been
asked by some gentlemen to resign (" Shame, shame !")
but he told them he would
.not. The only reason for his
corning forward as a candidate for the honour of represent-
ing the borough was, that he considered he possessed some
knowledge of arts and manufactures ; and he conceived that
as a member of the House of Commons, he might be enabled
to apply that knowledge for the benefit of the working classes
whose interests he had always humbly but zealously advocated.
( Cheers. )
The thanks of the press are due to Mr. Hollingsworth for
his exertions to procure accommodation for the reporters.
The conduct of the police, too, was most praiseworthy.

The Court of Directors of the East India Company
have recommended the under-mentioned gentlemen to the
Governor-General of India in Council as members of the law
commission to be instituted under the provisions of the Act of
the 3d and 4th William IV., cap. 85, sec. 53, viz. :—Wm.
Hay Macnaghten, Esq., of the Bengal Civil Service ; John
M'Pherson Macleod, Esq., of the Madras ditto ' • George Wm.
Anderson, Esq., of the Bombay ditto ; and Charles Hay
Cameron, Esq.

The Grand Shooting Match between Mr. Edge of
Manchester, arid Mr. Groom of London, for 100 sovereigns,
commenced this day, and will terminate to-morrow. The
conditions are that each party have 25 birds per day. Great
betting depends upon this event as the known abilities of the
Metropolitan gun seems to carry the.bets.

CHRISTIANIA, JUNE 19.—A lump of silver was
obtained last week in the silver mines of Koningsburg which is
perhaps the largest ever seen. It weighed 71 cwt., and is es-
timated at the value of 13,000 specie of dollars.

The Zara Gazelle announces that in Hungary
millions of beetles are devouring the crops and the foilage.
To destroy them, smoke and othr means have been resorted
to, but without success, as these experiments appear rather
to make them come out of the ground than to exterminate
them.

The Grand Jury have had a very arduous duty to
perform during: the Middlesex General Quarter Sessions,
having found no less than ninety " true bills" against various
prisoners in the calendar for Middlesex and the Old Bailey
Sessions.

EXTRAORDINARY SUICIDE OF A YOUTH.—
CORONER'S INQUEST.I---Yesterday evening an Inquest was held
at the Queen's Head, Great Titchfield-street, Marylebone,
before Thomas Stirling, Esq., to inquire touching the death
of Samuel Fitzgerald, a lad aged only twelve years. Mr.
Frederick Hatley, fishmonger, of Riding-house-lane, Maryle-
bone, deposed that the parents of the deceased resided in the
same house. On Monday last, about two o'clock, witness was
attending to his business, when his wife gave an alarm that
the deceased was hanging in a room on the second floor. Wit-
ness ran up and found the father endeavouring to cut his son
down from a peg behind the door. Witness took the knife
and severed the handkerchief which suspended him. Mr.
Elkins and another medical sentleman attended, and pro-
nounced life extinct. Jane Fitzgerald, a girl about fourteen,
stated her father and mother were very kind 'to tbem. The
jury returned a verdict " Thai. the deceased destroyed himself
_
in a fit of-temporary meMarderingement.