The Sun.
London, England, 1818-06-18 00:00:00

PETERSTIELD, WrnsDAY, JUNE 17.

The Election of Members for this Borough
rornnte►rced this morning. The Candidates were
Colonel JOI,L.!FFE and his friend Mr. CANNING,
and i♦lr. tlicn-FsoN. The Mayor is the Rev'.
WILLIAM Jot.t.IFFE, the brother of the Colonel,
but it was not twill THIS Election that the Free-
holders had the honour to know personally their
-late Member, Mr. CANNING, who, on former.
Electiot!s, did rot attend. The circumst3nces
xchich gave rise to (his contest have been so tre-
q+te►ttly noticed in the Public ••Prints, that it is
not necessary
..to reate thetn; At The
,request of
ft majority of the bona fide Freeholders, Mr. Mt at-
COIN torts induced to declare -himself a Uandi-

d,Ate to represent them in Parliament ; but yes-
terday, at noun, he declined the contest, for the
reasons assigned in the 'following Address :

TO THE FREEHOLDERS Or PETERSPIELD.

0 ENTLEItIk:N,

At the request of tereral of you, who are anxious to assert
and recover nose long lost Rights, which are entrusted to
you, in the Free unbiassed Choice of Members to sit in Par-
liament, I presented myself to your notice as a Candidate for
your Representation at Oa ensuing Genetal Election. I
sought to du so on the only just and legitimate ground on
which erery man shot:Lid go into Parliament : THE FREE
SUFFRAGES OF HIS CONSTITUENTS; AND WITH A
TIllll INTENTION OF DISCHARGING UPRIGHTLY,
AND "INDEPENDENTLY, THE TRUST CONFIDED TO
HIM.'

The Nattre of your Borough, and the Means by tviitat

your Rights hare betty wrested from you, have undergone the

, fullest and most candid Discussion at the Tribunal of the
1, Public, without -disrespect to Mt. Jolliffey who himself has
.never beat opposed by'eithel-yon or me; but who notwith-
standing- pCrsists in sending whom he will as Isis Colteague to
Parliament. The Retnrning Officer, his I3roeher, has in the
first instance the Sole Discretion of allowing or rejecting the
-Votes offered to Poll, and As he May chuse to consider himself
IticOmpetent to determine on any Legal .latestion respecting
'the !lights of Voting, and 'refer it to a higher Tribunal, a
'lunch Jaeger Number'of bonhtful krOte's Would at the Poll be
• -obtained than that of thelleal Preeholders could amount to,
and your Relief can then only be in a Petition to the House
'of Comnions against an Undue Return.
Th obtain a Seat in Pat:lianicut should be to heetfte a ger—.
vant of the Public, and to discharge We S'atired Ditty of fen- •
dering the Country the utmost Bertefit. But fully aware, as
I now am, on Reference tO Melt able Counsel, of the Ditlicul-
• ties which, under tlit 'Circumstances of your iitirtiogh, must be
encountered by a Candidate opposed ttr Mr. tiollifie at the
1).11, and in a subsequent Petition to thefkuse of commons ;
and that even after suttiedittg, web is the present precarious
and lamentable State of Our Venerable Sovereign's Health, -
a ReneWal of the sate Effort may soon be required : I feel
ts:ercfore it would not be my own proper Duty to enter upon
Inch a Contest.
YOu have nobly struggled foi-YoUritights as Englishmen.
he mingled Approbation and Regret of Multitudes are with
uu, but it is to be feared your Borough, whilst the present
Circumstances exist, as to Its"Reeresentation, is only to be
ranked with those which are allowed to be the exclusive
Y, irate Property of ethers.
With every wish for your Prospetity an Happiness, .if
I remain, Gentlemen,
Your faithful humble Servant,
THOMAS ANDREWS IsfiNCHN.

Petersfield,June
An intimation of the probability of Mt-. Mtri
CHIN'S this contest having been given
to Mr. ATCHESON on ninday morning, he went
to Petersfield, and commenced an active canvass
the Borough yesterday forenobn, and he had
the satisfaction to receive the prompt and disin-
terested support of Mr. PATtudki and of several
Of the Other bona. fide I?reeholders, and under the
impression that the majority of them would avail
themselves of the opportunity offered them of re-
covering their independence, and of placing the
Representation of the Borough on a-proper foot-
ing, determined fron► the encouragement he re-
ceived to go to a poll; he accordingly published an
Address to them as soon as it was publicly known
that Mr. MINCH tN had resigned

To the WORTHY and INDEPENDENT FREEHOLDERS
of the BOROUGH of PETERSPIELD,

GENTLEMtiI,

The Dissolution of Parliament impOses on yon the
im-
portant Duty of choosing Two Members to represent pin in
the House of Commons, I am therefore induced to solicit the
Favour of font Suffrages, and should I have the honour to bt-
placed by your good opinion and kindness in the enviable
situation sf One of Yourßepresentatires in the Legislature,
I will at all times, and on all occasions, PnoTecr your ainurs
and PRIVILEGES, and to the utmost of my power Promote the
trade and Prosperity of your Ancient and Loyal Town, and
its vicinity, for which I have ever felt a warm attachment,
from the recollections of my Early Lift, which was passed at
one of your principal Schools.

In the course of the last Twenty Years I have been fre-
quently engaged 'in questions of the highest Intportance to
the Landed and Manufacturing Interests of the Country, and
during that -Period' I hate slttttied,to acquire an extensive
Knowledge of the Principles and Customs of Trade and Chen-
merce, and of the Usages, Practice, and Privileges of Par-
liament.

On occasions like the present you may natnrally expect
some Declaration of the Prinoiples of the Candidates who
offer themselves to pour notice, I therefore do not hesitate to
express, in the most unequivocal and unreserved manner, that
it i 3 my fixed and unalterable determination to adhere to,
and support the Constitution of the Country, as established
at the Gliprious Revolution in 1688, for its Fruits have been
the complete and uninterrupted Enjoyment of CIVIL and
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM—the preservation in Vigour and
Security of the Constitution in Church and State, and a de-
gree of National Prosperity and Glory unexampled in the An-
nals of this or any other Country. Throughout my life I have
invariably maintained the necessity of upholding in the Bri-
tish Empire the PROTESTANT ASCENDANCY, whilst at
the same tiase I hare been uniformly anxious to secure to my
Fellow Citizens the unrestrained enjoyment of Religious To-
leration and Freedom; and in conformity with these princi-
ples, and in opposition to those who believe that Religions
Devotion, and Political Subordination, are best sustained by
keeping the mass of Mankind •in Ignorance, I have always
promoted the General Education of the People in the several
districts with which I am connected.

On questions of general Policy I shall on all occasions
excYcise an honest, unbiassed, conscientious, and Inticpend-