The Sun.
London, England, 1859-02-23 00:00:00

MARE

CTION.

THE NOMINATION—(THIS DAY.)
The nomination of a fit and proper person to re-
present this large and influential borough took
place this morning, at 11 o'clock, at the hustings
erected in Park-crescent, Portland-place.
Long before the hour fixed for the commence-
ment of the proceedings a large number of persons
were assembled in front of the hustings. There
was an utter absence of the usual electioneering flags

and favours, and from about half-past ten until

eleved o'clock the district committees of the two
candidates—Mr. Edwin James, Q.C., and. Colonel
Romilly—continued to arrive on foot. The gallant
colonel was the first to present himself in front of
the hustings, his appearance being marked by a
feeble cheer, but when Mr. Edwin James was espied
walking up Portland-place, arm in arm with Sir
James Duke and Mr. Nicholay, and attended by the
members of his central committee, an immense
crowd rushed to meet him, and the cheering was
kept up the whole of the remainder of the dis-
tance to the hustings. On the learned gentle-
man taking his place in front of the erection, he
was again most heartily cheered by the assemblage,
which by this time amounted to nearly 3,000 per-
sons. The registered number of electors for Mar•y-
lebone amounts to 21,000.

The writ for the election of a representative to ,
the Commons House of Parliament, for the borough
of Marylebone, having been read by Mr. Scott,
GEORGE TAMPLIN, Esq., the returning officer,
said the electors of Marylebone had assembled to -day
to exercise their valued right of electing a fit and
proper person to represent Marylebone in Parlia-
ment, and while the candidates for the honour ad-
dressed them he trusted the electors would keep
silence, because if they did not do so it would be
impossible for them to hear the observations that
might be addressed to them. Two gentlemen
wore anxious for the honour, viz., Colonel
Romilly and Mr. James ; and as a number of
gentlemen would have to address them, he trusted
a fair and quiet hearing would be given to all
parties. (Cheers.) Without further trespassing
upon them he would call upon Thomson Hankey,
Esq., to nominate his candidate, Colonel Romilly.
(Hisses, and faint cheering.)
THOMSON HANKEY, Esq., said for nearly thirty
years the borough of Marylebone had sent members
to Parliament, and during that period he would not
say how many distinguished men the electors had
chosen to represent them—(cheers)—but amongst
them all he felt they had never had one who had
more faithfully served them than the one
who had just relinquished his important posi-
tion. (Laughter, cheers, and cries of " Oh,
oh.") The excellent qualities of Lord Eb-
rington—(laughter)--entitled him to their highest
respect, and he felt sure there was not a man in
Marylebone who did not wish him a speedy and
perfect restoration to health, to enable him to
enjoy the comforts of private life at least for somo
time. (Cheers.) He felt it would be useless wasting
time to dilate on the merits of Colonel Romilly.
(Hisses, and cries of " James is our man.") He was
no untried man. He had sat in Parliament--(cries
of " We don't want him")—and he considered him
one of the best men that could be found to fill up
the vacancy in the representation of Marylebone.
He would support a Liberal Government and Liberal
measures. It was true they had two distinguished
candidates for the honour ; and without for a
moment detracting from the merits of Mr. James,
he must say of the two he (Mr. Hankey) thought
Colonel Romilly was the most qualified, and he
therefore proposed him to the electors of Maryle-
bone.

Mr. BRETTINGIIAM, of St. Pancras, said he had
great pleasure in seconding the nomination of Col.
Romilly. The electors were called upon to make
a selection between a soldier and a lawyer. For
himself, he preferred the straightforward, honest
soldier, as they knew lawyers were bought
and sold like cattle in Smithfield. (Hisses.)
Colonel Romilly would vote for the ballot,
which would make the House of Commons what it
ought to be. He would also vote for the abolition
of church-rates, and be found a firm supporter of
reform. (Cheers.)
Sir JAMES. DUKE, M.P., then came forward to
propose Mr. Edwin James, and was received in the
most enthusiastic manner. He said he had been
selected for the honour of nominating his friend,
Mr. James, to represent this great, important, and
enlightened borough of Marylebone in Parliament.
(Loud cheers.) In speaking of Mr. James,
he had not a word to say against his
gallant opponent. He was possessed of certain
qualifications, but he put it to the electors whether
he possessed the necessary ones. (No, no.) His
friend, Mr. .James, had not been first in the field
somehow or other his opponent had got the start of
him—(cries of " Never mind that")—but he trusted
that fact would not prejudice him in the opinion of
the electors. Mr. James, it was true, was not
descended from any high personage, but
he had honest blood flowing in his veins, and he
felt confident the important interests of the
borough of Marylebone could safely be entrusted
to him. It had been objected to Mr. James that
he was a non-resident in the neighbourhood, but
Mr. James would speedily remedy that. (Cheers.)
He knew him to be a firm, steady, and consistent
Liberal, and as such he proposed him as a fit and
proper person to represent the borough in Parlia-
ment. (Immense cheering.)
Mr. Ross said he seconded Mr. James because
he looked upon him as a friend of the people. He
did not wish to say one word to prejudice
Colonel Romilly, who was a highly honourable
man, but he did not think he was the pro-
per man to represent Marylebone. It was
Mr. James was a lawyer; but what of that ? He
thought that if he was elected, and even made
Solicitor-General, he would have just as good a
right to walk on the Terrace of Windsor Castle
with Queen Victoria as Sir B. Hall. (Cheers.) He
thought it would be a credit to Marylebone to have
such a representative as Mr. James. He sprung
from the people, and he believed he would not
desert the people. He knew that Colonel Romilly
had the advantage of his friend in the number of paid
canvassers, but the electors would elect him notwith-
standing. He fully trusted that to-morrow he should
look upon Mr. James as the representative of Mary-
lebone in the House of Commons, in which he would
honestly and fearlessly defend the political and
local rights of the borough. (Immense cheering.)
He, therefore, had great pleasure in seconding the
nomination of Mr. James.
Mr. TAMPLIN asked whether any elector had any
other candidate to propose, and receiving no an-
swer, called upon the respective candidates to
address the electors.
Colonel ROMILLY then came forward and said he
stood there to solicit the honour of representing
Marylebone. He thought the tribute paid to their
late representative was well deserved. It was true
the notice of the vacancy was very short, but his
opponent had had quite as much time for the contest
as he had. (No, no.) He had given many votes in
Parliament, and not one of those votes could be said
to be against the popular interests. (A voice,
"Explain how you absented yourself from the
division on the ballot.") It had been said that,
while in Parliament, out of 127 divisions, he had
only been present at 27—(hisses)—but such a
statement was entirely untrue. (Cheers.) During
the period he was in Parliament, which extended
Ito three sessions, he had • voted in no less than 336
divisions. (Cheers.) It was said he was not
explicit on the church-rate question, but
;•-,hf
,
had distinctly stated that he would vote Anf
their abolition. He was also in favour of
Mr. Locke King's £lO county franchise ; and
with respect to the charge of being absent when
the division took place in the House of Commons
on the Ballot, all he could say was that in all these
divisions, during the time he had a seat, his name
appeared in the division list twice, and once with a
pair. With regard to the question of reform, he assured
the electors that he would support any practical
extension of the suffrage. (Hisses and cheers.)
He would make allusiop. to the distinction between
a soldier and a lawyer. (A cry—" You've done
nothing.") For 10 years he had done his duty as a
soldier—(A cry--" And been well paid for it")—and
at the present moment he had nothing to do with