The Sun.
London, England, 1835-01-09 00:00:00

FINSBURY.

It is utterly impossible to describe the degree of interest
that existed on Islington-green for some hours before the poll
was closed. The crowd was most immense. Great numbers
of banners were flying from windows and various places
throughout the neighbourhood, and bands of music playing.
As the electors went to the poll for the two favourite
candidates, more especially for Mr. Wakley, the cheers were
deafening. The multitude continued rapidly to increase till
four o'clock, when it was one of the greatest, probably much
the greatest, that has yet assembled at any of the elections.
At four o'clock the returning officer declared the poll to be
closed.

Mr. DUNCOMISE then came forward, and was received
with great cheering. He said,—Gentlemen electors of
Finsbury, the poll has now finally closed; the contest
is over, and I appear before you, even at this late hour
of the evening, to offer you my sincere thanks, and congra-
tulate you, the Reformers of Finsbury, 0::, tea great and noble
triumph that you have this day 4We-1-reds —( Loud cheering.)
I am proud, gentlemen, to say, and I am satisfied you will be
rejoiced to hear, that I have polled more votes upon this
occasion than ever have been polled before—by any
candidate—since the elective franchise was conferred
upon the borough of Finsbury—( Cheers)-and yet, Gen-
tlemen, we were told, previous to the contest, that this was
the borough that was to disgrace itaelf by returning a Tory
to Parliament.—( Laughter and cheers.) I hear, gentlemen,
that as far as the returns 'go from the country—and you all
know what has occurred in the metropolis—that the Tories
are perfectly satisfied with the returns.—( Great laughter.)
Now, gentlemen, by the returns that I have seen, about 150
members arc already returned, and in that number there is a
majority of twenty in favour of the people.—( Loud cheers.)
If the Tories are satisfied with the returns, I am sure
the people are--(Laughter)—and I am quite sure I am—
( Continued laughter)-and it only rests now with myself to prove
to you, that I am worthy of that distinguished honour that
you have conferred upon me.—( Cheers.) To-morrow, gen-
tlemen, the state of the poll will be officially announced to you
at twelve o'clock, by the Returning Officer. Until then, I
shall take my leave of you, and only thank you once more—
at the same time, repeating most grateful and sincere
acknowledgement for the zeal, the enthusiasm, and the good
humour with which this contest had been conducted.--( Hear,
hear, hear.) I say the zeal, because I know from my
Committees that when it was proposed to the independent elec-
tors of this borough to carry them yesterday and to-day to thp
poll by coaches, their answer was, we want no conveyance • the
cause is our's more than Mr. Duncombe's, and we will walk to
the poll.--( Loud cheers.) I say the zeal and enthusiasm is
great, because I know you all feel as honest men. An elector
said to me just nobv,—" Mr. Duncombe, my heart is ready.
to break with joy that the Tories have been defeated."—
(Loud cheers.) Gentlemen, I again thank you for the
distinguished honour you have done me ; but if I were
to stand here till midnight in attempting to return you
Shanks adequate to my feelings, I should fail.--( Hear.) I
will come here to-morrow, and renew and repeat those thanks
I now offer ' • and I beg you to believe that I can never, and
shall never forget this, which I consider the proudest hour of
my life."—( Tremendous cheers.)
Mr. WAKLEY now ascended time steps in front of the hust-
ings, amidst many rounds of the most enthusiastic cheerings.
Mr. Hobhouse stood at his side. Electors of Finsbury, said
the hon. member, behold my first act after my triumph. ( Here
Mr. W. stooped and seized Mr. Hobhouse's hand,which he shook
most cordially, which seemed to delight not only the defeated
candidate, but the meeting, in the most extraordinary manner. )
Observe, gentlemen, that is the emblem of peace and good
wilt—(Loud cries of " Bravo, bravo")—and follow ye the
_example. The contest is at an end—the cause of the people
has triumphed, and now let us for ever bury every angry feeling
which the proceedings have originated—( Cheers, and cries of
" Bravo.") I have been opposed zealously and earnestly,
opposed by gentlemen whom, I believe, considered it was
their duty to act in opposition on this occasion. I for-
give them ; and I believe that, within a very short period,
they themselves will be satisfied that instead of being
entitled to their opposition I merit their best con-
fidence.—( Cheers.) Gentlemen, you have returned to Par-
liament one of yourselves.—( Hear.) You have returned
a man who has mixed, and who has laboured with you, in the
humble walks of society.---( Hear, hear.) Gentlemen, as lam
so hoarse, Mr. Rogers, my kind friend, has requested me to beg
that I may be excused addressing you. because I shall have to
do so to-morrow, and I should be glad if you would excuse me,
as I am much exhausted.—( Cries of " Yes, yes," and a few
" Noes.") I will only say now, then, that as I am your Re-
presentative—l shall be your Representative--and that if ever
I forget, or fail to redeem one pledge that I nave made
en these hustings, execrate n e to the last hour of your lives.
—( Hear, hear, and cheering.) I lufve 10-nr, fought your bat-
tle, but I have never yet had an efficient field for fighting it
in until now. You at last have furnished the ground; and
accuse me of being a traitor and a coward, if I do not take
advantage of the position which I occupy. —( Deafening cheers. )
Mr. HOMOUSE next stood forward to address the meeting
amidst cheers and some disapprobation Gentlemen, he said,
I have very nearly lost my voice, and I have altogether lost
my election.—( Much laughter and cheering.) Gentlemen,
although I should have been better pleased to have congratu-
lated you on the triumph of reform in my own person—
( Loud laughter and jeering) I am perfectly well
pleased that the Learned Sergeant has been beaten—(great
cheers)—and that the cause of Reform has been at last trium-
phant in Finsbury. Gentlemen, I came before the electors of
Finsbury on the assurance that your present Hon. Member
(Mr. Wakley) could not command sufficient votes to beat the
Learned Sergeant.—( Cries of " But now you have got another
assurance." Gentlemen, you have certainly falsified those as-
surances, and that is enough for me.---( Cries of " Bravo,
bravo.) The moment I found that I might be defeating the
liberal interest in Finsbury this morning—(Cries of no, no)—
I mean to say the moment I saw the possibility of that,
that moment I resigned the contest—(Loud cheers).—
although I think I had, at least lam assured I had a great
number of votes unpolled, that might by some possibility, I do
not know that they would have gained me my election.—
( Cries of " No, no.") Nevertheless, as I said before, I
congratulate you that Reform has triumphed here. I congra-
tulate you upon the great good humour with which this
election has been conducted—l hope I have not disple;.,,ea
any of you—l had no interest myself but the cause 0„1. the peo-
ple at heart—l never shall have any inter but their's—l
shall always in my public conduct ie'ectify myself with them
on any future occasion on which I may present myself, and
wishing you all a very good night, as it is now time for me t
go home, I beg to take my leave of you.—( Great chring,) o
Mr. ROGERS 'lien presented himself, and was received with
loud cheers. The electors of Finsbury had accomplished the
triumph ieat he had promised them, and he now knew that
they would not only enjoy their triumph, but that they would
enjoy it like free citizens.—( Hear.) They would now be
peaceful, relying upon their strength, and he knew they
would be, as it had always been said that the people of
England were powerful in action, quiet and peaceable when
their conquest was closed. At last they had put Mr. Wakley
into the House of Commons. There had been repeated
struggles, but this was a great victory—and a victory of the
people, too, without the assistance of any part of the press.
—( Cheers) This (said Mr. R.) has been done by the peo-
ple alone. And now, Gentlemen, I am going to tell you a
piece of news that will be almost as gratifying to you as Mr.
Wakley's triumph, and that is, that WilliamCobbett is elected
for Oldham.--( Loud cheers.)
Mr. PAINE now came forward, and stated his accurate name,
which, he said, had yesterday been mistaken for Bain. He
said—l am called upon by a gentleman of Mr. Hobhouse's
Committee to retract an expression which he says I made use
of yesterday, but which I deny having used. I have ap-
pealed to the gentlemen of the press who were present, and
they say I did not make use of it—namely, that
Mr. Hobhouse had come here as a sheep in wolf's clothing.
—( Hear, hear.) I deny that I did make use of that expres-
sion ; but I say that even if I had done so--( Cries of " It
would have been right")—l could have justified it. But gen-
tlemen, we do not meet to-day to exult over the fallen
—we meet to triumph over the great cause—over the great
victory that has been achieved.--( Cheers.) Mr. Hobhouse
very nobly and very prudently resigned the contest this morn..
ing—not that his standing would have at all prevented Mr.
Wakley being returned, but it has considerably augmented
the majority which has been obtained over the Tories—
( Cheers)—and I hope that the victory which has just
been achieved in Finsbury will be a warning to the Finsbury
Mock Reform Club—(Loud cheers)—and a lesson to them,
by which those who composed that Mock Reform Club have
not the power of nominating a candidate for Finsbury—
( Cheers.) A gentleman behind me says lam not to the ques-
tion.—( Cries of " you are, you are.") I was challenged here
by one of the members of the Finsbury Reform Club, and I will
meet him here now, or at any other time to repeat what I stated
yesterday, or on any other occasion.—( Cheers.) I said no-
thing yesterday, I believe, but what was straight-forward and
manly—nothing but hat was the sincere conviction
of an honest heart, and having done so, I think it was ex-
tremely impolitic in Mr. Hobhouse's Committee to tax me
with having made use of an expression which I never thought
of.—( Cheers.) Gentlemen, I shall not detain you longer,
but will merely propose three cheers for the successful candi-
dates, the friends of the people.
Three cheers were given with great enthusiasm. Three
groans were then called for for Spankie, and which were given
in a truly hideous style. Three groans were next called for,