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What those principles are, I must presume to be known to the electors who proposed to nominate me, and indeed to all those with whom I had the honour to co-operate during the late election. To recapitulate all the articles of my political creed, is more than you would desire or I should think requisite for the present occasion. There is one point, however, on which I conceive it to be my duty to be explicit, and I would not desire that my silence should obtain me a single vote, of which an honest declaration might deprive me. Gentlemen, I am (since your notice allows me to give myself a name), I am a Reformer; and when I use that word, I will not mince the matter: I will profess myself to allude to that Reform, which may at once strike at the root of the evil that threatens the dissolution of all our liberties. I trust, Gentlemen, that in declaring myself a candidate, I do not infringe upon those principles of election purity which have secured the freedom and the triumph of Westminster. When the Honourable Chairman was proposed by the electors, and carried by them, in 1807, without any personal interference of his own, he had already been distinguished for a long course of political virtue, which rendered all previous intercourse between him and his constituents altogether unnecessary; but the case is far different with me. I have not the inordinate vanity to believe that my name circulated in a handbill, or chalked upon a wall, will at once give a key to my character, and bespeak the cause which I aspire to defend. It is my intention, therefore, to appear upon the hustings, that the electors may there demand of me what line of conduct it is my intention to pursue, should I be placed, by their suffrages, in Parliament; that they may there say to me," Mr. Hobhouse, what do you propose to do for us, should we return you? what are your opinions on this or that of the great political questions which so nearly concern all the electors and all the people of England?" To these, and to any definite questions, I shall think myself bound to give a sincere answer; for it appears to my judgment, that the clamour raised against what is called demanding a pledge, has no foundation either in theory or in practice. Surely every elector has a right to demand the opinions of any candidate to whom he proposes to give his vote; and from the statement of an opinion to the delivery of a promise to act upon that opinion, the distance is too small to be observed, except by the eye of casuistry, and the difference is too trifling to be acted upon except by a dishonest man. As for the practice, it is resorted to even by the very persons from whom the accusation proceeds; and if every borough patron thinks himself entitled to prescribe the conduct, and come to the thorough knowledge of the nominee, who is to represent his influence, shall not the freemen of Westminster demand what services they are to expect from him who is to represent their rights?

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Gentlemen, you must do me the justice to believe, that I am not ignorant of the duties, of the difficulties, of the high office which it has been proposed to entrust to my hands: you must believe that I know how arduous it will be to fill a place before occupied by illustrious men you must believe that I feel what is required from one who presumes to be the coadjutor of such a man as your present representative of him who has attained the confidence and good will of his fellow-countrymen, to an extent to which I verily believe, and speak it from my heart and my conviction, no other individual has ever had the happiness to arrive :-of him who has shewn us that public virtue is not a mere dream, nor the patriot one of those imaginary beings, whose existence must be confined to the fancied republics of the wise and good. But his example will rather aid than discourage me; and by having before me the living lesson, I may the more easily be instructed: by seeing what he is, I may know what I ought to be. I am fully aware that amongst the motives that induce me to present myself to your notice, is to be ranked the wish to acquire the good will and even the applause of my fellow-citizens. I own it, gentlemen-nor does such a desire appear to me an infirmity to be ridiculed and decried by the world, any more than it is to be concealed by myself. Since I could form a rational hope-since my mind first began to expand itself to the limits, whatever they may be, which it is allowed to reach, my principal object, at least as far as this existence is concerned, has been to merit and to obtain the approbation of my countrymen. I speak, however, of that fame which alone an honest man would covet-which none but honest men can confer: I speak not of that-short lived noisy repute, which begins where a truly valuable name should end, but of that reputation which an Englishman more than any man in the world knows how to prize-of that reputation which originates and spreads from the social circle, and like the genuine philanthropy defined by the poet, although it may, in the end, diffuse itself over the world, begins, in the first instance, at home. If there be any circumstance which diminishes the difficulty of the proposed enterprise, it may perhaps be found in the nature of the opposition which the Court has prepared against the assertion of your rights. You see, by an advertisement in the papers of this morning, that Sir Murray Maxwell is again chosen to be the instrument of the ministerial endeavours to convert this great portion of the metropolis,-this your city of Westminster,-into a cinque, port-to reduce you to the degraded condition of an Admiralty borough. I find Sir Murray Maxwell openly confessing that his purse and his person are in no condition to admit of his own interference on this second trial. I would not be supposed to make a mockery of the sickness of any man, least of all of that of the gallant Captain: but as he has been honest enough to tell us

by an implication not to be mistaken, that his pocket received some rude shocks in the encounter with the Freemen of Westminster, I shall as candidly own, that although I shall rejoice to hear of his bodily health, it would afford me equal dissatisfaction to be told of his pecuniary convalescence. It is not uncharitable to say, that I hope his purse will never recover from a disease incurred by an imprudence, to say the least of it, which that gentleman himself appears now to deplore. We should, however, thank him for his confession, as it plainly avows what were the means resorted to by this candidate to persuade the Electors of the propriety of returning him to Parliament. Without the slightest personal disrespect for that gentleman, I must say, that it appears to me altogether unaccountable that a gallant sea officer (for they are all gallant), one of those to whom we look for the best security of our liberties, should allow himself to be made the tool of the vilest and most contemptible administration that ever engaged in the unhallowed project of subverting the institutions, breaking down the spirit, and finally changing the character of our free and glorious islanders; and of assimilating them in manners, as well as in laws, to the barrackbowed nations of the continent. His conduct does indeed appear tó me to be quite incongruous with his character; he seems to forget that the hustings is not his quarter-deck; that he cannot introduce the discipline of a man of war amongst the Freemen of Westminster; and that he wears his uniform at Covent-garden with about as much propriety as one of you, Gentlemen, might venture to make a Crown and Anchor oration from the poop of the Captain's own frigate. We have heard much and have profited much by the bravery of British seamen, but I do think, Gentlemen, that Sir M. Maxwell is the boldest of the bold, when he again exposes himself to the indiguation of all the friends of liberty in Westminster, and indeed in all England, and modestly requests you to surrender for his use, benefit, and promotion, a trust which has been for many years reposed in hands that have employed it solely for the protection of your rights and interests. I trust that his re-appearance will not be saluted by any thing harder than words, and that he will not be spoken to with sticks and stones: he must, however, be told the truth, since he exposes himself to hear it; and I must be permitted to say, that although as a gentleman and an officer he should be received with every deference, he is, as a candidate for Westminster, entitled to no respect, and, as far as language can correct his intrusion, should be treated with none. He knows as well as you do, that he is set up in opposition to the feelings of a very great majority of the Electors. He knows as well as you do, the disgraceful means used to fill his numbers at the late poll. My situation amongst you at the late Election brought me acquainted with those scandalous transac

tions, and he shall be told of them at the re-election. But I forget, it seems, that the Captain himself will not come. I suppose, then, that he will at least send his First Lieutenant to the Hustings.. Should you see any such person among you, you will, doubtless, show every attention to the cloth, but will regard the wearer with just such sentiments as the nature, and motive, and end of his enterprize may seem to deserve. Nothing, certainly, can be more striking than the contrast of the different grounds on which I am brought before you, and of those on which Sir M. Maxwell appeared at first, and again presumes to stand. He is sent by an odious and contemptible Government, to act for that Government, and against you. His opponent will be called for by you, to act for you, and against those wicked powerful men, who in fact are the only friends of Revolution to be found in this country. By them has private confidence been shaken; by their spies and informers have all the bonds of social life been loosened or destroyed; the suspicions, the fears, the hatreds, which they spread into every circle, and amongst all classes, have filled these unfortunate kingdoms with discontent, confusion, and dismay.-Yes, Gentlemen, it is now, if at any time, indispensably necessary that you should do your utmost to counteract the encroachments of despotism, and infuse a new spirit into that once healthy constitution which vicious practices have reduced to the last stages of decay. The first and best expedient is to choose a man who shall fairly represent your opinions and speak your wishes. To give effect to your first selection, you should be sure that it is founded upon that union which you have heard recommended from the Chair. If in my person you should suppose that the best chance of resisting the efforts of power shall be found, I shall contribute every exertion to justify your choice: if now, or at any time previous to the contest, I shall ascertain that the struggle should be confided to other hands, I shall withdraw, in obedience to the only voice that, as a public man, I will ever obey,-that of the people. Should I be elected, I shall be the work of your hands alone; to you alone shall all my gratitude be due; for you alone will every effort be employed. To you I shall look for support, for advice, for admonition, and for orders: for certainly, Gentlemen, if a Representative is not to represent his Constituents; if he is not to be the organ of their injunctions,-his name is misapplied, his office has been hitherto misunderstood. In your hands I leave the question, and retire from a discussion, during which I could not well be present without embarrassing you and distressing myself.

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(During this speech, the Electors repeatedly evinced their approbation by loud applause, and at the conclusion, the room resounded with continued peals as Mr. Hobhouse retired.)

Sir FRANCIS BURDETT now put the first resolution,

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"That it is the imperative duty of the Electors of Westminster, to return to Parliament a man of known integrity, that he may there, by the side of our present excellent Representative, support the just claims of the people to Parliaments of a short duration, and to a full, free, and equal share in the choice of Representatives." It was carried unanimously.

Mr. JENKINS proposed W. Cobbett, Esq. as a fit person to represent them in Parliament. (Great confusion.)

Mr. HUNT presented himself, and infinitely increased the confusion.

The Chairman observed, that they would save time, as well as conduct the business of the day to a beneficial issue, by listening with fairness to every gentleman who addressed them; there would otherwise be neither usefulness nor respectability in their public meetings.

Mr. HUNT was still received with every ungrateful noise. He hoped it would never go forth that such an assembly had refused to hear an Englishman. He thought they ought to have known his character too well (Much laughter and cries of " Yes.") to suppose that he could be put down in ten minutes. It had been justly said, that their weakness was in division. He agreed in that opinion, and his object was to prevent division. His friends had intended to propose him, but his answer was "No; if no other man comes forward to resist Sir Murray Maxwell, I am at your service; but if any other person, on whom all agree, shall come forward, in God's name let me not interfere." He should speak of Mr. Hobhouse with freedom, with liberty; but he trusted with moderation. Was he any relation of Sir Benjamin Hobhouse? (His son.) Was he the son of that Sir Benjamin Hobhouse who, at a public dinner in that room, had kissed the hand of Lord Holland from veneration to Whig principles, and soon afterwards joined the present wicked administration? Was he the son of that Sir Benjamin Hobhouse who had been for so many years chairman of Mr. Pitt's committees ? Was he the son of that Sir Benjamin Hobhouse, who had been a traitor to the cause of liberty, and gone over to the banners of slavery? Was he the son of that Sir Benjamin Hobhouse, who had 1,500l. or 2,000l. a year as Commissioner of the Nabob of Arcot's debts? He wished to ask likewise, what Mr. Hobhouse had been doing for the last ten years, and in what respect he had been of service to the people of Westminster? He was not desirous of visiting the sins of the father on his children, although this was one of the principles of the religion which he professed; but he thought it impossible that Mr. Hobhouse should unite their votes, or satisfy their expectations. A gentleman had proposed Mr. Cobbett, now an alien from his native land through the oppressive measures of the Government; and a man of greater abilities or political honesty

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