The Sun.
London, England, 1859-02-26 00:00:00

The following is a more extended report of the speech de-
livered by Mr. James at the official announcement of the
poll than appeared in The Sun of yesterday :
Mr. JAMES said—Electors of the borough of Mary-
lerone—When a great general rises on the morrow of
a great battle and surveys the field upon which the fate of
his country has been decided, whatever his feelings of
triumph may be, they must be embittered by the sight of
the wounded and the dying—(cheers and laughter)—who
have shed their blood in their country's cause. (Cheers.)
Our constitutional triumph will be attended by no such re-
grets, because, if there have been any animosities, any
jealousies, any strifes in this contest, knowing as we now
do the result, let us bury all remembrance of them.
(Cheers.) lam not here to exult over a beaten opponent.
(Cheers.) I have fought the battle, I trust, fairly; but, at
the same time, we defy any clique, any cabal, or any coterie
to dictate—aye, or even dare to suggest—the choice of a re-
presentative to a free and independent constituency.
(Cheers.) I am not vain enough to think that the vast
enthusiasm which has animated the people during this con-
test is due to any merit of my own. No, you have been
aroused into one common action with a view to rescue the
borough from any attempt at 'dictation. (Cheers.) It is
your triumph, independent of any merits of the candidate,
a triumph which will show that the people of England
will exercise their own free choice in the elec-
tion of their representative, uninfluenced and unde-
terred by any species of dictation, however much it
may be attempted by the remnant of a cold Whig cabal,
which is ever trading upon a traditional policy, rather than
relying on and appealing to the sympathies of the country—
a cold exclusive class, who are democrats when out of power,
and an aristocratic and exclusive body when in. (Cheers.)
Let me tell you that the result of this contest has shattered
that party for ever. (Loud cheers.) If they think they can
live upon that exclusive policy, and dispense with appealing
to the sympathies and the genius of the English people; I
tell them that they are much mistaken, and this c4ontest,
will teach them that they are wrong. (Cheers.) Now,
gentlemen, you are aware that by some arrangement or
other this contest was hurried on in a most extraordinary
way. Some correspondence has been published, and I un-
derstand that after I left the hustings the other day Mr.
FOrtescue made refet enco to me. Had I been aware that
'he was going to mention my name I should have remained;
but I understand from what I have read in the journals
that that gentleman said I had been guilty of uttering an
unqualified falsehood. (Cries of "No, no I") Then the
journals are wrong. If the statement had been true, in
all probability I should have written to that gentleman;
and as duelling is out of fashion, and I happen not to
be particularly fond of it, you might depend upon it
I should not have fought a duel till the long vaca-
tion. (Cheers and laughter.) However, that gentleman
stated that there had, at all events, been some errone-
ous construction put upon his letter. Now, the para-
graph in that letter to which I referred was to this
effect :—" Shortly after this I waited upon Sir Ben-
jamin Hall, and communicated to him my brother's in-
tention, together with his address." It is not very good
English, but let that pass. (Laughter.) It immediately
struck me that that correspondence left some other gentle-
man in a considerable mess, and I am perfectly certain that
Sir Benjamin Hall will and must take the earliest opportu-
nity of explaining the part he has acted in the matter.
(Cheers.) Sir Benjamin Hall last night addressed to me a
letter, which he desired me to read to you. I have great
pleasure in doing so, and I am perfectly certain he will
some day or other appoint a time to meet you, and give that
explanation which will be satisfactory to you, as his consti-
tuents, on this subject. Inasmuch, moreover, as he ex-
presses his intention to take that course, I shall read his
letter without making any remark upon it. It is in these
terms :
" Great Stanhope-street, Feb. 24.
" My dear Mr. James,—Much misunderstanding appears to
exist in the borough as to a part which it is supposed that I
have taken in regard to the retirement of Lord Ebrington,
and the selection of Colonel Romilly as a candidate.
" I have refrained from taking part in the election, and for
that reason, and that reason only, I shall abstain from ap-
pearing upon the hustings to-morrow. but I shall take the
first opportunity that one of the ensuing public meetings on
the Reform Bill will allow to make a statement to the elec-
tors who may be present, which will prove to them that I have
not abused their confidence, and which will, I am sure, re-
move any impressions to the contrary. As regards yourself;
I have not attempted to influence a single vote either one
way or the other, and it will afford me the very greatest plea-
sure to co-operate with you in promoting those interests
which are now placed jointly in our hands.
" I shall be glad if you will read this note to-morrow at the
declaration of the poll, because I should be extremely sorry to
be for one moment misunderstood by you who are now my
colleague, or by those with whom I have been so long asso-
ciated as regards the representation of the borough.—l am,
dear Mr. James. yours truly,
" E. James, Esq." "B. HALL.
I think it but fair and just to him to suspend your judg-
ment until he has had the opportunity of addressing you.
(Cheers.) But no person can doubt that whoever may have
done it, and whatever part Sir Benjamin Hall may have
taken in the transaction, it was an extremely short space of
time into which the- contest was pressed—only five days.
(Cries of " Shame') There must have been a mutual
arrangement somewhere. (Cheers.) But you have de-
feated it ; you have triumphed over it, and I believe your
success will read a lesson that will not soon be forgotten.
(Cheers.) The result of this conte it cannot be exaggerated
when it tells the country that the people are to be them-
selves the judges of these things, and that Whig cliques,
Whig coteries, and Whig cabals are not to barter away
their rights. (Cheers.) You have determined to be the
judges on these matters, and your triumphant return of me
—not for any individual merit I possess, but as the vindi-
cator of your rights—will, I repeat, tell the country that an
English constitte‘ hey will maintain and act upon their own
opinions, and that no one shall dictate to them. (Cheers.)
I have no doubt that my return will create a considerable
deal of discussion. I say nothing against my hon. oppo-
nent, but I can imagine that in the drawing-rooms—and I
say so, because mention is made, in the cerrespondence, of
Eaton and Grosvenor squares--considerable consternation
will be excited, and that there will be all kinds of exclama-
tions. "Dear me I—what a dreadful thing has happened."
"Do you know what has happened ?" (aughter.) And
then Lady Constantia Disconcerta will exclaim, " Our dear
amiable friend the Whig colonel is defeated I" (Cheers and
laughter.) And then great will be the ejaculations against
that horrid Edwin James and those vulgar electors of
Marylebone. There will be such a flutter among the Whigs
about the event that it would be extremely amusing to wit-
ness it. (Cheers and laughter. They will say, " Our most
amiable colonel has failed." Well, he is an amiable man,
but I venture with great deference to say that the interests
of a great constituency like this are too important to be en-
trusted to his management. (Cheers.) What is it they
say ? Last night I was told, " Why, of course, you have
got your return ; we could not withstand it ; the Tories
supported you, and the Conservatives supported you." Sup-
pose they did; why, then, lam very much obliged to them ;
but I beg to tell you that they did it upon a principle
more just and honourable than any that ever actuated the
cold and miserable Whig cabal, that never feel any gratitude
towards their supporters, and who care nothing for the
people. (Cheers.) With them it is a mere question how th e
Government is to be bandied from one to the other, and they
are in all respects a hundred years behind the genius and
sympathies of the people. (Cheers.) Well, the Tories, it
is said have supported me—and why should they not ? I
daresay they say to themselves as Horne Tooke said when
he had to choose a jury from a list prepared by the Crown.
" I must select my jury, I suppose, but it is very like
selecting 12 oranges out of a ch.est of rotten ones." So,
I dare say, the Tories say of their Choice between my hon.
and gallant opponent and myself—" These men are like two
rotten oranges from which we have to choose, but at all
events we like• to see fair play in the contest, and that no
undue advantage shall be gained by the issuing of the writ;
therefore, for the love of fair play, we will support Mr.
James, and tell his opponents that they shall not dictate to
a constituency like that of Marylebone." (Cheers,) But
there is another reason for my receiving this support.
Imagine a respectable old Conservative, whom you may
sometimes seerliving upon a Tory pension and port wine—
(laughter)—and walking through, the streets of Maryle-
bone ; and that he suddenly sees a placard with large capi-
tals, bearing the name of the. Right Honourable Sir Wm.
Goodenough Hayter, Bart., as at the bead of Colonel
Romilly's committee. What does this old. Conservative
say ? "What! is this your little game ? (Cheers and
laughter.) Dr this to be made a pocket Whig borough ? Is
the late Secretary of the Treasury of the Whigs and of
Lord Palmerston to come to the committee and canvass and
tell you to say, as Alderman Salomons said to a friend of
mine, ' I would have willingly voted for Mr. James but Sir
William Hayter booked me."' (Cheers and laughter.)
Why, the Tory and Conservative would naturally and very
properly say, "This is a thing I cannot put up with. This
is playing the little game, and I won't stand it. Let us
have fair play in the borough ; don't let Whig cliques,
coteries, or cabals dictate to us." Yes, it is the fact, that
finding at the head of Col. Romilly's committee the name
of Sir William Hayter, the honest Conservative, like a
gentleman came forward and said—" James shall not be
defeated by such tricks." (Cheers.) It was said to me
last night, " You owe your election to the voice of the
people, and not 'to the votes of the electors." Now the
Whigs don't understand that. They hate the real voice of
the people. They think, as I said the other day, that the
people are born to be governed by them, and that they are
born to govern the people. But not only do they say that
the Tories have carried my election, but they further affirm
that the publicans have done it also. (Cheers.) Now, as
to the publicans, that remark comes with very ill grace
from my opponent's friends, when the very man who
seconded the nomination of Colonel Romilly is a publican.
(Cheers and laughter.) Yes, and that gentleman told you
that lawyers were to be bought and sold, and that elo-
quence was a dangerous thing. If that be so, then I may
venture to say that he will be a very harmless gentle-
man in society. (CheerS and laughter.) But my friend
and opponent, Colonel Romilly, had been introduced to
you as one of the last • specimens of the Whig faction.
(Cheers.) That faction is just dying out, and if any
specimen of the Whig faction is to be preserved they
must go further ;up from here and put it into the
Zoological Gardens. (Cheers.) Anxious as you may all
be, as a natural curiosity, to see the last specimen of a
Whig of the year 1859, I don't think you will embalm it in
your constituency. (Cheers.) But, amyl friends, I beg
you not to suppose that I am insensible to the important
trust- I undertake in becoming your representative in the
House of Conunons. (Cheers.) It is not as a mere object
of ambition that I have taken upon myself that responsi-
bility. I shall enter upon the discharge of my duties deeply
impressed with the importance of the sacred trust now de-
volved upon me. (Cheers.) Islaiow of no prouder position
that a citizen of a free country can occupy than that of
being entrusted by their own free voice with the public
interests of a vast constituency like this. (Cheer's.) Em-
bracing as it does every class of men, distinguished by their
wealth, by their skill in art, by their attainments in science,
and by their industry, the borough of Marylebone contains
within it a constituency the representation of which con-
fers upon him who is the object of their choice the highest
honour. (Cheers.) But while representing the electors
whose names are on the poll, I feel that I am not the less
the representative of those who have no votes to give.
(Cheers.) I consider all alike to be my constituents, and
that I represent all from the richest to the poorest—from
the man who is struggling to live on his 10, 15, or 20 shil-
lings a week to the proudest and wealthiest of the occu-
pants of the houses we see around us. (Cheers.) lam
aware
of the important duties I have undertaken to dis-
charge, and I shall devote my best energies to the perform-
ance of them. If I fail, then reproach me when I meet
you again as a traitor to your cause. (Cheers.) But, gentle-