The Sun.
London, England, 1842-05-28 00:00:00

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by Mr. War btu% too in his petition. On the 24th of August,
the day the
ioetitioa was ',resented, Alr. Warburton sent his
igelit, to If! Mr.C.'s) agent, asking f_r a delay of twenty-four
hciurs, in order that iiegoti itions might take plane. Ile (Air, C. )
"hoJeeted to it, but ultimately consented ; another twenty-tour
Mitchell
was then requested, and it was then said that if Mr.
Initehell did not accept the Chiltern Hundreds Mr. Warburton
n`Wuld• hat had happened? Mr. Warburton reques'ed an
ervievi'
that with him that evening Mr. Warburton then stated
behad would not take the Chiltern Hundreds, and that he
not at first known that any allegations had been made af-
eetirig his character. But, said he, " I have a character to
PPP°rt•—(Cries of " Oh, oh.") I cannot shrink
from the investigation." To that he (Mr. Cochrane) replied
that he had never sought to delay the presentation of the peti •
12.. a. A long conversation then ensued, whieh lasted about two
4r., at the end of which Mr. Warburton again said, that he
show,. not accept the Chiltern Hundreds. There was then an
explicit understanding between his (Mr. Cochrane's) agent and
Sul tei nta gzetenit; of
Mit 4, Mr. Warburton, that :he petition against Mr,
Lell should be proceeded with, so that the second seat might
afterward be &mined for Mr. Warburton. Mr. Warburton
(Ai_ s accepted the Chiltern Hundreds, and engaged him
li, r• Cochrane) to prosecute the petition against Mr. Mitchell.
fute'aid' " our object is to get Mitchell out of the way; for the
ebeerre we shall our seats one and one."—(Loud and continued
;die on the Ministerial benches.) He (,11r. Cochrane)
liedrWatda went down to Bridport, after Mr. Warburton
byb the the Chiltern Hundreds. He was then returned
Mi constituency He had stated, certainly, in Bridport
he lir, Warburton's' conduct had been most' honourable;
riot wish to retract that assertion. But at the same
e he should say it was a little ungenerous of Mr. NA ar-
,J,l,°rl to publish the letters of his (Mr. Cochrane's) agent,
bate he had suppressed a letter of his own which had contri-
ve eed much to induce him to make the statement in Mr.
received
arburthies favour. On the 4th of September his agent
a letter from Mr. Warburton to this effect The
snore
;,Points you can throw in my scale by stating that through-
eertne whole negotiations I have been actuated by honourable
fre„,,inr. and by a desire to save my friends in the borough
part wsgrace, the greater will be my influence in leading my
pn yer,."
of 4 to attend to reason," (as we understood.—Loud cries h
and laughter on the Ministerial benches. )
ras
hi 's 01r. Cochrane's) arrival in the borough,
.he found
tlen elf threatened with opposition. fie had found an opposi-
twiithreatened to him by those very gentlemen, whose neu-
arra Y bad been insured to him before he left London. An
_ cud article
whiezteinient was afterwards entered into to avoid the opposition
see, "ad been threatened in the borough to his return. The
of that arrangement was, that the petition
elrei at Alr. Mitchell's return, was to be presented on such do-
pes:int-4'Y evidence only as would not implicate any other
net, h; and if such evidence proved insufficient, that the poi-
linotnerrertrlet
be '`,;"ssld be abandoned. That last arrangement, it should
red, superseded the ether which had been
in London. It was most unjust of the
-fact: not for Liskeard, if he were aware of that
(Me. Cochrane)
to have mentioned it in his statement. He
moan 'ochrane) carried out, to the best of his power, the
t'gement into which he had entered. He had done so
itutreat personal expense ; although he remembered, at one
thiat Mr. Warburton bad slid that the question of ex-
-11.44- should be an open one. He did not know what the
sett L'entlernan had called " an open question ;" but the re-
..„.("as that he (Mr. Cochrane) had to pay the entire expense.
liiarond cries of " Hear, hear," and laughter.) In the mean
..rea,„.Pl 41r. Warburton engaged him to delay his deciston with
~,,,-eset to the Presentation of the petition. His colleague had
I,7as/seated his seat in February, as had been expected. It
144 the opinion of his Counsel, that they could not success-
, hilt PrOsecute that petition, without the evidence of Mr.l% ar-
attio as 'it :41.3 agent; and they did not rece I ive hat evidence, until
too late to make use of it. n the mean time,
rtaen: had been commenced against his (Mr. Coch.-
tried ) friends in the borough, who were to be
w at the next Somerset Assizes. He then found, while he
betti at
to carry out his arrangement with Mr. Warburton,
,„,?''old not carry on the petition against Mr. Mitchell with-
ItiVnaPlieating other parties, contrary-to the agreement. entered
Net: Bridport. Mr. Warburton himself did not wish. those
were to be implicated. If Mr. Warburton's own evidence
do.. given before a Committee he could not again have gone
)41.wsani6to the borough ; because it appeared from his own ad-
Jur 4, in the petition that he had bribed nine or ten parties.
C BULLER—He never said so.
goner* t'OCHR.ANE—At all events, if that evidence had been
ow. into Mr. Warburton could net again have gone near
- Brat-
tie would say that openly. Under the circumstances in
Vieri„: ,s4` was placed; he found it advisable to write to Mr.
Alt Tt",r tun, stating that as there was no probability of inducing
•aele; "liteliell to yield, and as his (Mr. Cochrane's) friends
and
• threatened with heavy penalties, he found it necessary to
aed thaw the petition, and thus rescue his friends from danger
0 "le borough from disgrace. That letter was dated the
seiehlit:f March. He had' stated the case as fully as he could,
Lethitit °et. euPYing the time of the House with needless details.
oe allowed to remark that he had read no letter which I
lass, }private or confidential, while everything in the petition re-
(ITO to transactions of a private and c nfidential nature.—
eithear bear.) He would now state a fact which would probably
W h the House. It had come to his knowledge that Mr.
•isuvahnron had been endeavouring to undermine him in the
the "gu ; and had stated that he himself had never wished
a li
Petitionhiseinent against Mr. Mitchell to go on, lest it might lead to
e-i,„,disfranc of the berough. In September his agent
‘4l to his astonishment, had received a very singular
teq nest from the agent of Mr. Warburton, that he would write
Igletter., stating that he had been no party to the petition
ainst Mr. Mitchell. The only object of that request must
/5 been that he might be enabled to exculpate himself at
1,(1." (Alr. Cochrane's) expense from any blame from the electors
hthe borough.. Mr. Warburton. afterwards. wrote. a letter to
is friends Bridport, which was extensively circulated among
the electors, which was to the fellowing effect He under-
Stood that the news of his retirement, and the unopposed re-
''tarn of Mr. Cochrane, had occasioned great excitement among
the Liberal party. This was gratifying to him so far, as it
-afforded evidence of the attachment to the cause in which
'-they had. been associated for so many years.—( Hear, hear. )
'lklany of his friends, he was told, were implicated in corrupt
'liroceedings in the borough • and he had not only to defend his
' 'awn case, but the case of others. For the sake of his friends,
-And for the reputation of a constituency which he had so long
.41Presented, he bad been induced to offer his seat as apropit iation
?• Bose who had the character of the constituency at their mercy.
vie borough of Bridport would stand among those which were.
&Ed down as the most notorious in the annals of borough-
. 4ering.—( Hear, hear.) Such a case might be shown as
~7.ight lead to the suspension of the writ, arid all this he had en-
i7oured to prevent by the course he had pursued. Let not
st.,z;excellent friends in the borough be among those who had
Att.:l'6d his advice ; he adjured them not to be parties to any
h4th,lit th return a Liberal Member in the present vacancy,
eepteld to the pressure of adverse circumstances, and live in
greesetticw of a more propitious. period."—(Hear, hear, and
in ten-31444147,
.with which the Hon. Gentleman was frequently
ax beheii„. ouring the reading of the letter.) Now, could
had ;.ed, (continued the Hon. Member) that the gentleman
ipetition?,-"tp.ten that letter would have put forth the present
nOthi„:lllear.) In what he had stated he believed he
' set d.-4,5 extenuated," in a single circumstance, nor had he
113-ceh—flw,h aught in malice" towards Mr. Warburton ; lie
4eVeSt6.„-Thents moreover, that if every fact should be fully
%et trp,74l it would rather strengthen than weaken the
AgogWa"ed• He was led on, day by day, in a course
d 11.. better reason condemned, and in that way he had
sanction to a statement opposed to all argument
`=baking 4" truth. He did not wish in any way to make any
';laost remarks respecting Mr. Warburton ; he had felt al-
''dig Mill in stating all that he had done, because, when he
vetL"eet on the conduct he had pursued towards him (Mr.
lard 're), the mildest term he could use with re-
-,slat.4 it was, that it was ungenerous. In making
tolitif„etbent referring to an individual just entering
m al life, every fact ought to have been fully substantiated.
could not so lightly pass over his conduct towards the
tl,!h itself, and even (he was sorry to say it) with respect
.kti,!truth
the petition. He found in the first page of the
-,ititin. that hesaid in 1826, when he became first connected
kW tne bOrOUgh, he found it an established custom to give
-tare to the electors ; that a twelvemonth after his re-
to paid to his agent 2,0001. which he had no doubt was
Ale 11°'itluidate that demand. He found that in the debate of
petit' of February, 1631, when Lord Ebrington presented
-the `,l°ll from a gentleman of Bridport, which stated that
t° theil'ittOrs were accustomed to receive 101. per vote,
Ilata-„'utr. Warburton replied, that the gentleman whose
-tha, "as attached to the petition, was a very respectable
iluacter, but that he (Mr. Warburton) had a petition from
tag ter?ox body of the constituency, praying for Parliamen-
Were Reform—(Laughter)—and that none of those persons
tie 4 tieoncerned in the matter ; that this was the second peti-
ties .e had had the honour of presenting from the same pate
en, 110 favour of the purity of election.—( Laughter. ) He •
sag that at present nothin of the kind was known—
Wastia,` 'aughter)—not even in the shape of drinking; that it
elect' : "Mora for the successful candidate, some days after his
eSist.',l°..to give one dinner ; and, he believed, if nothing worse
Wi,fm in other parts of the country than existed in
eliteurt, therewould be no great need of Reform —( Laughter. )
hew (e,intinued the Hon. Member), he could not conceive
~c'itc44l,y gentlemen who could have stated this, in the House
'1,44 f„flitins, could have ventured to present such a petition to
'eron-lese• And with regard to his conduct towards the
i4all, he felt deeply for the position in which he had placed
%eel Ina own statement, lie had been returned for the
N444g° three or !our times free of expense, and what was his
"/cry.,Qt with regard to the constituency ? Why, he was the
elerr'on to turn common informer against them—( Hear,
,0,44 the was the very man to come forward and make his
'4.4l4.e.teetia the grounds on which they were to be subjected to
v4tic.: sand punishment.—( Hear, hear.) Really he could not
`he
e• k;e ,What change could have come o'er the spirit of his
9rt-1 but a short time since he had seemed a second
Prepared to leap into the gulf to save them, and
.now
ed to think that the best course was to throw his rien
"Sr to fin it up He (Mr. Cochrane) did feel that a grea.s
east on *the constituency ; at any, time it threw a
114,1 'ilto on an electoral body, when a charge was made
.;418tee anT Particular borough, and the case was still worse
Marge was made by a gentleman who had been for
4eTiyears connected with the borough.—(Hear, hear.) If
ttlie:"l charge was monstrous ; if it were true, he knew no
atatii:P*tbet that could be applied to the conduct of Mr. War-
tie --(Hear, hear.) He could say that if an thienemy had
lead they could pardon it, but when a companion and a
i
letvet'Ld it, it was inexcusable. He must now make one ob-
• 1j3,.., on the general question ; perhaps the House might
tea% "Port to the other boroughs, and he admitted that in all
• e,e4"5 in which it had been proved that bribery had existed
'4ll' tb"Promises had taken place, it was a question that called
1)4P.5., .e consideration of the House. But who was to blame?
those who took advantaee of the imperfection of their
tette:, or those who would not provide a remedy for that nu-
t? Would the House stop at Bridport,,or would they
teem to Tiverton and Stroud.—(Loud cheers.) Hon.
er for Bath (who was not present) had talked
for tl, 13111 of Indemnity ; he should rather call it a Bill.
bekese eXterision of perjury, for they would find no lack of wit-
tht „while they were supported
stop e public expenr, and
Reeerso": extent of the evidence w y limited by their own
ii!ouse'tY and credulity. He felt that if the power. of the
,91e do as unlimited, then these was the more necessity that
out iheese should limit its exercise. They spoke of privileges,
which Y ought to to act as to preserve their great support,
ttalei.twaspublic Opinion. They might be establishing a pre-
tel,,tit winch would be perhaps of little use to men of limited
ir'aj,iri Y and influence, but which, in the hands of a corrupt
Poses ty' Might be made subservient to the basest party po
4teir,_ 0.1 tyrannies, that which should be the roost carefully
aeivit7o against, was the tyranny of a majority, and of . if
Privileges. that which ought to be the most guarded was the
)ilrnrae ge of a minority. -lle felt, in conclusion, that the pro-
a!4.4,es.of that House ought to be to it what personal honour
ieltu:_ Individuals; it ought to animate all their actions, and
sit
all their dealings, but it should not be too loosely
set do nor too slightly asserted. (The Hon. Gentleman
wn amid considerable cheerin )
1,444 r. MITCHELL said, if theb
II just sat down felt h • • in • the
'Honourable Member who
some hesitation a (messing
tour ' It was still more the case with himself.
1,4, was it a light matter for him to be brought into collision
sh, a gentleman like Mr. Warburton He was not there to
in •
fe -Mr. Warburton's public character. Although he
ciif-
rifr.°4l him in some points of polities, still he appreciated
letrba 'form tenor of his political life. Be believed that Mr.
urton entered that House an independent and unflinching
and that he had maintained his course as such. Cer-
.4oe:l in any observations he should make as to his private con-
bee,;! ..he should speak with great reluctance, arid the greater,
se peuse he Was extremely sorry that the character of a public man
spected as that gentleman should in any way be damaged.
°re noticing the allegations contained in the petition he

must refer to a statement which had been widely circulated in
the clubs of London, that he had acted with exceeding ingrati-
tude towards Mr. Warburton, because he owed his seat for the
borough to Mr. Warburton's influence. Mr. Warburton him-
self had been too prudent to put any such statement in the
petition, because lie well knew that he (Sir. !Mitchell) went
down to the b.uough without any nommunication with him,
and that he was not indebted in any way to his influence for
his election.—( Hear. ) The first statement of the petition seas
to the effect that. Mr. Warburton saw Mr. Mitchell, and told
him tnat his estimated majority was only four, and advised
him to weigh well the discretion of continuing a candidate
under such circumstances. Now, that statement was totally
incorrect. Mr. Warburton had never told hint one single word
about an estimated majority of four; on the contrary, his reason-
ing was, that he (Mr. Mitchell) had a connexion with gentle •
men in the borough, that if he quarrelled with his agent, and
did not go down as a candidate, his friends in the borough
would consider him to have been ill-treated by the agent, and
that, therefore, art other candidate going down on the Liberal
interest would stand a poor chance of being elected. Ile pledged
himself that his statement of the interview was
the correct one. He now came to the statement, that he had
resolved to carry his election by force of money. He wished
to state in the most distinct terms, as a Member of that House,
and a gentleman and man of honour, that, when he a ent
down in 1841, he had not the least intention, so help him Ged,
to give any bribe to any invididual in Is-ridport. To corrobo-
rate that, he would mention that, before he went down, he
arranged with his agent that the expenses should not exceed a
certain sum, and that that sum was less than Mr. Warburton
himself had ever spent, according to his own allegation, at any
election for the borough. Now, the next thing he would no-
tice, was the reference to Mr. Hutchinson. In his opinion.
Mr. Hutchinson's name had been most unhandsomely brought
into this petition. From reading the petition, every one
would conclude that he was some paid agent, like Mr.
Coppock, who went down with him to assist in procuring his
return.—(Cheers from the Tory benches.) This was not
correct. Mr. Hutchinson was a gentleman of very high stand-
ing as a merchant of London, a gentleman of the most unim-
peachable honour and integrity. He fully admitted that Mr.
Hutchinson was his personal and particular friend, but he went
down because he had from his earliest years been in close and
direct communication with the manufacturers of the borough ;
and because this gave him considerable influence amongst
them.—( Hear, hear.) When he heard the s atement in the
petition the other night, he had stated distinctly that Mr.
Hutchinson was not his agent. With reference to the other
sums which were alleged to have been expended, he again
pledged his honour as a gentleman that of those.sums he had
never paid one farthing ; that he had never premised to pay
them ; that he had never received an account of them ; arid
that no relation of his had paid or promised them on his behalf.
He would next refer to the general allegations of bribery prac-
tised after he had gone down to the borough. He would nut
go into those allegations further than to observe that they were
not true ; and that if they were, they must have come to Mr.
Warburton's ears through the interchange of strictly confiden-
tial communications, and that Mr. Warburton, in making them
known to the world, had been guilty of a gross breach of con-
fidence.—(Hear.) He would not accuse Mr. Warburton him-
self of bribery ; but he must say, that if he had intended to
commit bribery a more convenient course than that of leaving
his agent to do what he pleased could hardly be conceived.—
( Hear.) Mr. Warburton stated that at the last election he
spent 2,100/., whilst at every previous election he had spent
about 1,700/. The difference he stated to have arisen from sundry
breakfasts on the morning of the election. He (Mr. DI.) lied
been informed that similar breakfasts had been given at pre-
vious elections; but whether that were true or not, he had no
hesitation in saying that they could not have cost more than
501. altogether, and it remained to be explained how the re-
maining 3501. had been e-xpended.—( Hear, hear.) It was
alleged that Mr. Warburton's agent had lent his (Mr. Mit-
chell's) agent 1501. He supposed that that arwe from the
close intimacy which subsisted between the two agents ; be
that as it might, he had since been told by some of his
friends that that sum was entirely unnecessary. He now
came to what he conceived to be the most important
point of all—namely, whether or not he lead sacri-
ficed Mr. Warburton at the last election.—( Hear. )
' With regared to the question of the non-payment of the
agent :—although he had refused to pay the agents' accounts—
and he did not know that any person was obliged to pay every
sum demanded of him—yet there were other gentlemen totally
unconnected with him, who had guaranteed the payment of
that account, so that there was no excuse for the rupture.
He denied that Mr. Warburton had ever expressed his sur-
prise at the non-payment of the accounts. No such conimuni-
cation had ever taken place. He would now come to what 1, ad
taken place in the month of August. A day or taco before
the meeting of Parliament, Mr. Warburton's agent had come
to him (Mr. Mitchell) and said that a disclosure of secrets had
taken place, and that he (Mr. Mitchell) must resign his seat
at once ; and on the next day a long conversation had taken
place on the subject, in the course of which he (Mr. Mitchell)
had distinctlyadmitted that if it should become necessary for one
of them to resign his seat, it was his (Mr. Mitchell's) duty
to do so, but as no election petition could come on for trial
before the month of February or March, he had said he saw no
grounds for coming to a hasty decision on the subject, and had
asked for that time to collect materials for his defence. Shortly
afterwards he had received another communication, stating that
if he did riot give up his seat it was Mr. Warburton's determi-
nation to resign ; for that Mr. Warburton had determined that
not even a petition for bribery should be presented against him.
His (Sir. Mitchell's) reply was, " Good God ! am I to be sa-
crificed to Mr. Warburton's purism.—( Cheers and laughter. )
Why a petition might be presented against Sir Robert Peel for
bribery. "—( Item-wed laughter.) He had said that because he
knew pretty well how he could defend himself —(Laughter.)
That was a matter pretty well understood—( Laughter)—and he
considered it a folly for either of them to resign his seat six or
eight months before any necessity could arise for their so doing.
The agent said, " Mr. 'Warburton has made up his mind that
he will not have a petition presented against him accusing him
of bribery, and if you do not resign your seat, he web' He
(Mr. Mitchell) had again urged the extreme folly of this
course of proceeding, and had refused to resign. Mr. War-
burton, at the same time, had sent down to Bridport to endea-
vour to get up a requisition, calling upon him (Mr. Mitchell)
to resign his seat, and the first gentleman who had been
waited on, and who had throughout these transactions proved
himself the firmest and most judicious friend Mr. War-
burton had got, stated that he could see no necessity for
either of them resigning, and would not sign the requisition.
At the end of fourteen days Mr. Warburton had resigned,
and then his next proceeding was to endeavour to get his Hon.
Colleague (Mr. Cochrane) to turn him (Mr. Mitchell) out,
and at his (Mr. Cochrane's) expense, as the cheapest mo:.le
of regaining the seat.—(Cheers and laughter.) Mr. Warbur-
ton knew that the Liberal party in Bridport was the strongest
—that in general it could return two Members—yet he
offered to divide the borough of Bridport for the
future with a gentleman of different politics to
himself; he offered to sacrifice his party, to sacrifice the
borough of Bridport, so that he might but be permitted to keep
his seat.—(Cheers.) Not only had Mr. Warburton carried on
the petition, but he had identified himself with the actions for
bribery brought against his (Mr. Mitchell's) supporters, so that
Mr. Hutchinson and several other gentlemen were to be
ruined, in order to enable Mr. Warburton to walk into his
(Mr. Mitchell's) seat for the borough. From the statements
in Mr. Warburton's petition, it would appear that he (Sir.
Mitchell) on January 24, had been the first to refuse to sub-
mit the matter in dispute to arbitrators. Would the Home
believe that, when that arbitration had been first proposed by
certain of their mutual friends, that Mr. Warburton had been
the first to refuse to submit to it ? A fortnight
after that first proposition, finding things were likely to take
an unpleasant course, Mr. Warburton had expressed his
willingness to submit to an arbitration, but he (Mr. Mitchell)
knowing he had a good defence to the petition, had refused.
He now came to consider that part of the petition in which
Mr. Warburton called upon the House to refer it to a `elect
Committee, and he could not but consider it as rather remark-
able that the Hon. and Learned Member for Lath should be
absent cn this occasion.—( Cheers and laughter. )
An Hon. Memssea said " he has been here, but has been
obliged to leave the House from indisposition."
Mr. MITCHELL could not see how as far as he
was concerned, this petition could be properly referred to that
Committee. He had been no party to any compromise.
He had made no admissions of guilt—(Cheers)--he had stood
his ground manfully.—(Loud cheers.) True, his Hon. Col-
league had withdrawn his pet ition,but how could it be expected
that he would prosecute, at his own expense, a petition from
which he was to derive no benefit? True, he himself hail
withdrawn a petition against his Hon. Colleague, which had
been entrusted to his care, and his reason for doing so was
that he had been assured by his counsel that the petition was
mere waste paper.—(Cheers.) It alleged that bribery had
been committed at the election in June. Now as his Hon.
Colleague had been elected under a new writ in the month of
September, his counsel had told him that bribery committed at
a previous election could not vitiate the return.—( Cheers. )
If, because these petitions had been withdrawn, that was
to be considered as a case of compromise, he should like to
know where they were to stop. He could te-morrow come
down with a list of at least thirty boroughs, in which petitions
had been withdrawn, and which must therefore be referred to
the Committee. It waserue fifty-one actions had been brought
to recover penalties to the amount of 25,0001., but that was
only a part of Mr. Warburton's system to get the seat at a
cheap rate, by frightening him (Mr. Mitchell) into resigning.
He (Mr. Mitchell) was not, however, to be frightened.—
(Cheers.) The House knew that there was a great difference
between bringing an action and carrying it out. Those actions,
however, had all been given up, but they had not been
given up at the same time that the petitions had been given up.
He had gone through all the points, and there was only one
more paint to which be wished to draw the particular attention
of the House, and that was the letter of Mr. Warburtoc, to
which Isis Hon. Colleague had referred. This letter was ad-
dressed to friends with whom he had been long in the habit
of acting, and in the petition those individuals were denounced.
He (Mr. Mitchell) could only say tt,at if they were, upon alle-
gations of bribery from a party who was a disappointed can-
didate, to appoint a Committee of Inquiry, that the House
would have nothing else to do but to appoint Committees from
one year's end to the other.—(Cheers,) He had been par-
ticularly anxious to draw the attention of the House to the
point where Mr. Warburton made a demand upon him (Mr.
Mitchell). Had that demand been made in proper time it
would have been different, but it was perfectly absurd the
manner in which it had been brought forward.
Sir THOMAS WILDE said that after having heard the
speech of the two Hon. Members, he certainly should not have
thought it necessary to have addressed the House on the sub-
ject of this petition, but that the two Hon. Members them-
selves had made such statements to the House that he could
not for a moment suppose that whatever hesitation there might
be to the prayer of the petition being granted, they had confirmed
all the material allegations of the petition as far as those alle-
gations related to this borough. The parties had admitted
these allegations themselves, or he should not have thought at
necessary to trouble the House with any remarks, as Mr.
Warburton was a friend of his.—( Cheers from the Ministerial
benches.) He felt no necessity for disavowing Mr. Warburton.
—( Hear, hear.) He felt no discredit in claiming that gentle-
man's friendship,, nor was he aware that he was less entitled to
be heard because he rose for the purpose of setting that gentle-
man fairly before the House.—( Cheers and counter-cheers.)
This petition came before the House in a judicial form, and
the House was bound to exercise its judgment upon it, and refer
it to a Committee to inquire. If any eelividual should
have been in the House at the time, and stopped for a
moment to consider the House as a judicial tribunal
and called upon to exercise most important functions, how would
they be struck to observe the very loud and continued cheers
with w hich every statement reflecting upon that party appeal-
ing to the House of Justice was met on the other side of the
House?—( Cheers.) He appealed to the House whether one
single remark which reflected upon Mr. Warburton had not
been received with gladness by every Hon. Gentleman on the
opposite side of the House?—(Cheers.) Mr. Warburton stood
in a peculiar contrast with the Hon. Member whose remarks
upon Mr. Warburton had been so much cheered. That cone
trast might be presented with two aspects. First, Mr. War-
burton was not there to be heard in his own behalf.—(Cheers
and laughter.) The other two gentlemen had been heard in
their own defence, and most fully heard. In the next place,
Mr. Warburton was heard, praying for inquiry, pledging him-
self to prove the allegations before a Committee. The other
gentlemen were there making contradictions and opposing
the inquiry. Mr. Warburton said, " why make charges
against me—my character is involved—bring me to trial—
let me hear the charges"---(Loud cries of " No, No.") He
said Mr. Warburton was there because charges were made
against
Ile trusted he
eacrri,esheoafr:;NAO,nnHoo.
might
tbhe i
heard.—(Hear,
ar d —(.1:--°
'n'o)urable Gentleman
who said No, might rise in his place and say No in due order,
(uHd
and prove that it was no. He trusted they would be so good

s as to hear him in confirmation of his views, that Mr. War-
( burton ought, seeing that these charges had been made against
him, and seeing that these imputations had been cast upon hint,
to be granted an inquiry. He was certain that Mr. Warburton
would not hate been there except for that reason. Mr. War-
burton resigned his seat. He said be would resign his seat,
and he would sacrifice his interest to his friends. He gave ue
his seat, but he would not give up his character. —(Laughter and
cheers.) When a gentleman came forward and prayed for an
inquiry,.and stated his object in asking that inquiry—be-
cause'cliarges were made against him,lhe asked was it justi e to
refuse it? Was it inconsistent that a man should sacrifice his
interest in order to save those from whom he had received
kindness, and that when it became a matter of personal dis•
grace he called for an inquiry, by which, if he was guilty,
his character would be condemned, and if his motives were
otherwise than those which had been alleged, it could be
proved ? He said, "Do not take my character away without
evidence."—(Cheers.) The two Hon. Members concerned
were then in that House, but the principal party concerned
could not speak in his own behalf. The petition stated, a pledge
had been given to present a petition against one of t. e sating
Members. That pledge was withdrawn, and both lion. Mem-
bers admitted that such was the fact. Another engagement
was that no opposition should be offered to Mr. Cochrane, and
Mr. Warburton wrote that letter which had excited so much
merriment in the House, supporting Mr. Cochrane. That let-
ter was a bona fide letter, written for the purpose of preventing
opposition to the Hon. Gentleman. What was alleged as the
motives of Mr. Warburton ? It was alleged that the letter was
written for the purpose of getting the borough disfranchise a.
Upon that Mr. Warburton resigned his seat, and he agreed
that, as far as he was concerned, there should be no opposition
to the Hon. Member. He then wrote a letter, which ap-
peared to him ( Sir T. Wilde), to be perfectly unexceptionable
for the purposes for which it was intended ; in it he urged every
motive which he thought would be likely to operate in
such a manner as to prevent them from taking any part
against the Hon. Meir ber. Mr. Warburton interfered no
further than to prevent opposition. And that letter which the
Hon. Member desired to ascribe to another cause, was written
to his agent, expressing a high sense of the honourable conduct
pursued by Mr. Warburton. Mr. Cochrane, who stood in
opposition to the Hon. Member, was attending the proceed-
ings of the election ; the Hon. Member requested the agent of
Mr. Warburton, Mr. Warburton not being there, to introduce
them to the Committee of Mr. Cochrane, to state that their
words might be relied on. Mr. Nicholets, who was
not Mr. Warburton's agent, introduced them to the
Committee, not with Mr. Warburton's knowledge.
or with the slightest authority from Mr. Warburton so to do.
With him the Hon. Member entered into an engagement,
which he said was the second engagement, and superseded
that made with Mr. Warburton, and of this second engage-
ment Mr. Warburton knew not one wcotd. If Mr. Warburton
and the Hon. Member were at issue on that point, there were
written documents which might be relied on to which he could
refer. Did that arrangement, however, as it stood, supersede
the previous arrangement? The letter which was written after
the recognised previous arrangement would show—( The lion.
and Learned Member then read a letter, dated the 27th of
September, which spoke in high terms of Mr. Warburton's
conduct, and concluded with, " All I beg of you, for Mr.
Warburton's sake is, not hastily to decide on steps as to
li.'s action.") This letter was written on the 27th of Sep-
tember, ten days from the time of making the arrangement.
A most extraordinary use had been made of that letter ; the
passage, " All I beg of you, for Mr. Warburton's sake, is not
hastily to decide on steps as to H.'s action," was read
as though Mr. Warburton's agent wished to press the
action. The fact was, that the arrangement made with
the t-lon. Member opposite, was that no proceedings
should be taken against Mr. Hutchinson ; it appeared that it
was afterwards agreed that proceedings should be adopted against
Lim, because they would act as a lever against the Hon. Mem-
ber behind him. The letter was written to induce not to
bring an action, and it had been read as if it were intended to
stimulate to an action.—( Hear. ) A criminal information,
charging the Hon. Member personally with bribery, was after-
wards moved against the Hon. Gentleman behind him, and
that was nosy pending, if indeed it had not been compromised.
—(Hear, hear.) Two indictrnepts, charging him with bri-
bery, had been raised against him.—( Hear, hear.) Six actions
also had been brought against him for bribery; they stood
for trial first for the Somerset, and then for the
Dorset Assizes, but nothing had been heard of them
since.—( Hear.) There were 55 charges against him for per-
sonal bribery, and there was an action against him for 5,5001.
Air. Aberdeen, the attorney, defended that action, in which it
was pleaded that the Hon. Member's agent had bribed 74 per-
sons, and the names of those persons were given ; and that
plea was put on the record by Mr. Aberdeen. Then there were
actions against four other persons for bribery ? What had be-
come of them? The petition had buried them all. No doubt.
being suggested that they had evidence enough to maintain the
petition, the opposition prevailed. Application was made for
evidence. Mr. Warburton gave the answer which had been
read. It was stated that unless the Hon. Member behind him
furnished the evidence of bribery, the petition would be with-
drawn. On the 19th of February a letter was written which
was dated Carlton Club, requiring the evidence to he given by
the 2lst ; it was furnished by that day, and, notwithstanding
that, the petition was withdrawn. Now, hots stood Mr. War-
burton's charge against the Hon. Member opposite? His
charge against the other Honourable Member was that
when he came to the borough, he was appointed
upon an understanding that -the seat of Mr. 'Warburton
was at all events to be secured; and that his friends practised
bribery to such an extent, and so mixed themselves up with
the friends of Mr. Warburton, that, though the latter gentle-
man defied any one to pi rive that he had personally or
intentionally been guilty of bribery, yet it was impossible
that he could retain his seat. He then said, •, I shall
therefore resign, unless you do " Was he not right in
saying that if bribery could be proved, he would not
join with the Honourable Member, whom he had a right to
complain of ? The Hon. Member refused to resign, and kept
his seat, and his excuse was, " I think I could have maintained
my seat, and I have maintained it." That was the excuse, but
how did he maintain it ? By a compromise, upon •which the
petition which had been presented was withdrawn. He there-
fore thought Mr. Warburton had fair grounds for the state-
ment he made. He presented himself to the House protesting
that his return was effected by no personal bribery, directly or
indirectly, and he prayed the House would inquire into the lacts.
There was no doubt that, in 1836, he paid what was called
head-money.—(Ministerial cheers.) He was not going to de-
fend, or say one word in extenuation of that.---(Cheers ) He
only hoped that no Member on the other side was guilty of the
same.—(Laughter.) He did not turn his head, lest he should
look at any particular Member.—( Great laughter and
cheering.) "They had heard admissions made in that House, of
head-money being paid by Hon. Members. Whatever obloquy
attached to Mr. Warburton for such a proceeding, in 1836,
there it must rest, and he would not extenuate or defend it.—
(Cheers.) But an impression was made on the House unfa-
vourable to Mr. Warburton, and which he, as a friend of his,
should regret to see remain, and which, he believed was nut
well founded. It was supposed he made a speech in the House, in
1830, which was inconsistent with the allegations in the petition.
The petition stated that certain electors determined to put an
end to the payment of head-money after the introduction of
the Reform Bill, and required a pledge from him (the peti-
tioner) to abstain from paying the head-money of any future
or previous election. But that was not at all inconsistent with
the speech of Mr. Warburton in 1830. He might be willing to
surrender his seat for the purpose of not exposing certain
electors, as long as he was not subject to a charge of personal
corruption, but when the accusation was made he prayed the
House for inquiry. If there was any warrant for the charges
made, how unwise for Mr. Warburton to press for inquiry.
And if the other Hon. Gentlemen were fair and pure, it was
surprising they should resist inquiry—( Laughter) that he
who was condemned should pray for investigation, and those
who were acquitted should evade it.—(Laughter.) How could
it be said that there were no grounds for inquiry, when crimi-
nal proceedings were taken against both Members, one of
whom obtained his seat by an agreement not to present one
petition, and not to prosecute another? The means by which
the Hon. Member near him obtained his seat, afforded abun-
dant grounds to justify inquiry in his case also.—( Hear hear.)
They had, therefore, here not surmise or report, they had one
seat resigned.—( Hear, hear.) They had both Hon. Members
trying to throw obloquy on Mr. Warburton. Now, if the
charge was just against Mr. Warburton, did it not, he would
ask, furnish a strong ground for the House to act, and upon
what ground, therefore, could it be said that inquiry ought
to be refused on the present occasion ? There was one ground,
and one ground only, on which inquiry could be refused—il it
was admitted that bribery was so extensive and general, that
it could not be remedied by any measure with respect to par-
ticular boroughs, but that some general measure must be
brought forward for the purpose, that would be one ground,
hut when they had before them a case of admitted guilt, to re-
fuse inquiry would be acting in a most unjust and irtjudicious
manner. It had been said that Mr. Warburton had broken
faith ; he had dune no such thing, it was the party's own agent
that had done so. In conclusion, he would only
say, that he left the matter entirely with the House,
believing firmly that it would assent to the Committee.
Mr. MITCIIELL, in explanation, said he had neither ad-
mitted nor denied bribery.
Sir J. WALSH, after the allusions that had been made to
him by his Honourable and Learned Friend the Member for
Liskeard, could not give a silent vote on the present question.
He was not desirous of shielding bribery ; but his objection to
the proposed inquiry was, that it would necessarily be a partial
one. It might form a bad precedent hereafter ; a powerful
and corrupt Minister might avail himself of the example for
the purpose of disfranchising obnoxious boroughs, and thus
destroying the rights of constituencies.
Mr. HUME hoped the motion for a Committee would be
agreed to. No one could say, after the disclosures of that
evening, that its labours would not be necessary.

Mr. ESCOTT said that it appeared to him the case of the
borough of Bridport was very different from the case of the
other boroughsupon whose proceedings the Committee were to
decide. In the one case, the motion was made by the Hon.
Member for Bath, a man whose own character was untouched;
while, in the other case, they were requested to institute an
inquiry by one who, according to his own admission, had been
guilty of corrrpt practices. He did not think that the latter
motion should be agreed to.
Sir R. PEEL said that he should confess it appeared to him,
so far as compromises were concerned, he saw as good cause
for inquiry into the case of Bridport as into any other.—(Heat•.)
He did net think that the fact of the party soliciting the inquiry
having himself participated in the transactions complained of
was a sufficient ground for refusing it. He confessed that in
his opinion a general inquiry into bribery at the elections re-
ferred to should not be entered into, but that the case of bribery
should be investigated only for the purpose of obtaining evi-
dence as to the alleged corrupt compromises. The labours of the
Committee could not otherwise be brought to a close before the
termination of the session. He thought, too, that they ought
not to proceed with a view to criminate individuals. He did
not think that such a course would be eonsistent with jus-
tice, because it was a matter of notoriety that for more
than twenty years compromises of this kind had taken place.
It would be absurd to deny the fact, that individuals were only
concerned in defending individual rights, and the opus did not
lie on them of exposing the transactions connected with the dif-
ferent boroughs. To select five or six cases, and to hold them
up to particular exposure and vengeance, would be. he con •
sidered, inconsistent with justice, when every body who had sat
in Parliament for the last 30 years, knew that this construction
had been put on the position of Members of Parliament. It
had never been implied as a charge against them that, having
individual rights to maintain, they maintained them at the lea t
cost and trouble. He thought they ought to take effectual
security against the future possibility of these compromises, and
he considered the most effectual mode would be to institute a
searching inquiry into bribery in either of the following cases,
namely, where corruption existed in a borough, and individuals
were not inclined to petition for the pu: pose of exposing it, or
where compromises were made before an Election Committee.
in order to prevent exposure. 'I he Noble Lord opposite had
undertaken to bring in a Bill on this subject, and he had acted
wisely in not bringing it forward too hastily. The Noble Lord
knew that he (Sir H. Peel) had offered him all the co•operatien
necessary to effect his object, as soon as the principles and de-
tails of the measure should have been sufficiently matured. He
felt inclined to vote for this preliminary inquiry ; but he re-
served to himself the power of considering whether or not the
Committee moved for by the Hon. and Learned Member for
Bath, should perform its of iginal intention of inquiring
into those cases where bribery had decided the fate of the elec-
tion. If it was merely a preliminary inquiry as to whether
bribery had existed in the past election, he was satisfied that
the very first case would last the whole of the session. He
recommended that the Hon. Gentleman should take the sense
of the House on the preliminary question, and then leave it to
be considered what course should afterwards be pursued.