The Sun.
London, England, 1842-07-25 00:00:00

42 18 11

BumpbaT,

which formed the subject of the second reference.
The peculiar-Ciicumstances attending this inquiry- hare
compelletty,:ur Committee to pursue a course ditferen
from that which they have. adopted in all the cases sub.
mitted in the first order of reference.

Your Committee, as soon as they commenced their
task, with respect to the late elections at Br dport, and
the compromises alleged to have taken place to avoid in-
vestigation into the proceedings of those elections, dis-
covered that two very distinct subjects of inquiry were
by all the witnesses forced upon the attention of your
Committee ; viz. one, the question of public import,
which was deemed common to this and all the preceding
cases ; the other, private differences between the various
parties concerned in the elections which had taken place.
Your Committee determined to confine themselves en-
tirely to the public question, and refused to inquire into,
or to express, any opinion upon the matter of private
difference ; and every witness called before them was
carefully desired to restrict his evidence to the point
which your Committee sought to investigate, and to
abstain from any mention of matters of mere personal
and private consideration. It was, nevertheless, found
impossible so to restrict witnesses, whose chief object
appeared to be, by means of a public inquiry, to justify
the part which each had taken in a private dispute ; and
in sp.te of the continued and strenuous efforts of your
Committee, the evidence submitted to them assumed a
character so decidedly personal, the public and the pri-
vate questions became so mixed and blended together,
and private feeling so prevailed in every part of the tes-
timony, that your Committee felt themselves ob iged to
decline o.e respOnsibility of reporting it to the House ;
and to assure the House, that, in their opinion, nu good
object could be obtained by circulating a mass of evidence
of the nature described.

In the progress of this investigation your Committee
obtained evidence sufficient to enable the m to fulfil the
Orders of the House, and to report upon the inquiry
submitted to them. From the evidence as it now stands,
your Committee have unanimously drawn the conclusions
which they are now about to lay before the House. For
public purposes, the investigation has been sufficiently
accurate and extensive. It would, however, he inipwsi-
ble to determine how much further time would be Ilw•
cessary fully to inquire into the subjects of private dif-
ferences connected with these transactions. • As the
Committee d.d not consider it a part of their duty to
prosecute such inquiry; they have, without hesitation,
stopped short the moment they found the public object
attained, thus of necessity leaving the evidenee aitegether
incomplete as respects the questions of mere private and
personal consideration ; and from this circumstance
alone, if no other objection existed, your Committee
would have considered it expedient as well as just,
to let the evidence remain unpubli,hed. They hope
that when the House has duly weighe I the reasons
which they now offer for the course which they have
deemed themselves obliged to adopt, that their determi-
nation will receive its sanction and approbation. •
Your Committee have been enabled in the case of
Bridport to come to the following coeclusion,, which
they now lay before the house :
They found that at the last general election, Mr. War-
but ton and Mr. Mitchell were returned as duly elected,
the opposing candidate being sir. Alexander Cochrane.
The poll was as follows :
Mr. Warburton 304
Mr. Mitchell
Mr. Cochrane
That soon after the election, Mr. Warburton, hearing
that a petition was about to be presented against his re-
turn, as well as that of Mr. Mitchell, on the ground of
bribery and corruption, made an offer to :Mr. Cochrane,
which eventually was accepted, and reduced to writing,
in the following terms :