declining the distinguished honour proposed to me, must, I am confident, have received, upon due consideration, the sanction of every unbiassed and reflecting mind.-The present general expectation of an immediate dissolution of parliament, opens to me the course which every motive of duty, gratitude, and fair ambition, calls on me to pursue ; I earnestly solicit from each of you the honour of your support, and vote, if necessary, at the approaching Election. I make no professions; I am confident you do not expect any from me. What I have been, I shall continue to be the maintenance of the principles of Mr. Fox is now, more than ever, a sacred duty. It is a solemn trust, bequeathed especially to those who shared his confidence, gloried in his friendship, and followed in his steps while living. My efforts to execute my humble share in that trust, will, in my estimation, at all times be overpaid by the continuance of your protection and approbation. I have the honour to be, Gentlemen, with the sincerest respect and devotion, Somerset-Place, Oct. 20, 1806. Your obliged servant, R. B. SHERIDAN. To the worthy Electors of Westminster. I trust I shall not be deemed presumptuous in offering my services to the City of Westminster upon the present occasion.-If I should be so fortunate as to be distinguished by your favour, I shall be anxious on every occasion to evince my grati tude to you by an upright and independent conduct in parliament, and by continuing to devote my best faculties to the service of my country.-My health is not yet sufficiently re-established to admit of my soliciting your support by a personal canvass, but I am confident this involuntary omission will not be permitted to operate to my prejudice. I have no doubt of being able to make my appearance on the hustings on the day of election, and there to assure you in person of my attachment to your service. I have the honour to remain, gentlemen, with the greatest truth, Your most obedient, and most faithful Wimpole-Street, Oct. 27, 1806. Humble servant, SAMUEL HOOD. To the free and independent Electors of the City. and Liberty of Westminster. GENTLEMEN; of The unexpected dissolution of parliament having removed the only objection to my standing forward upon a recent occasion, as a candidate for the honour of your suffrages, and for the purpose rescuing you from the disgrace of being transferred from one great man to another, like the debased inhabitants of a vassal borough; this objection having been removed by a measure which has deprived me of that seat, which, for the sake of the great cause in which I was engaged, I was so anxious to retain, I have lost no time in applying to. you, the free and independent Electors of West B 2 minster, Proceedings at a Meeting of the Friends of Mr. PAULL, at the Crown-and-Anchor Tavern, on Thursday, October 29. This day a meeting was held at the Crown-andAnchor tavern, in the Strand, pursuant to advertisement, of the electors of the city and liberty of Westminster, professedly in the interest of Mr. Paull. Sir Francis Burdett was in the chair. number present appeared to be about 300. dinner (which was a good one), and the cloth having been removed, the first toast was The After "THE KING;"-which was drunk with great applause: "The Independent Electors of Westminster:" "Sir Francis Burdett." Sir FRANCIS BURDETT rose, and spoke as follows:-Gentlemen, I never rose more cheerfully in my life than I do now, to perform a duty, for I think it is a duty, to support a public mau, who comes forward as a candidate for Westminster, and who comes forward upon independent principles. I never rose, I say, more cheerfully or more satisfactorily, to perform a duty to the public, than I do upon the present occasion, in recommending to you a gentleman who sits near me, Mr. Paull, to represent the Independent Electors of this great City.I will not detain you long in observations preparatory to drinking his health; but shall briefly state to you one or two observations, which, I trust, will induce you to concur with me in thinking that Mr. Paull is the only person who can be supported, upon this occasion, on honourable and public grounds by the independent part of the Electors of this City.-Gentlemen, the advertisement of your late representative (Lord Gardner), who now declines coming forward as a candidate for your future suffrages, carries in itself strong, and, indeed, sufficient reason why he ought never to have been a candidate at all, and why a person, who stands under the same circumstances, and in the same predicament, cannot, any more than himself, fulfil that duty, which ought to be the first, if not the only object of those whom you deign to favour with your support. In his advertisement, Lord Gardner states, "that "he cannot come forward as a candidate to re present you in parliament, on account of his pro"fessional duty, which compels him to be absent "from the House of Commons." I do not mean to insinuate, for I do not feel, that either of these gallant officers is not a very fit object of any honour or professional reward or emolument, which their country could bestow upon them; but this is the only situation,-I mean, that of being candidate for your suffrages to represent you in parliament;-I say, the only situation, wherein an English naval officer can appear to any disadvantage.Gentlemen, upon reflection, I say, it is the only possible situation in which an English naval officer can be made an instrument to oppose the liberty, the independence, and, I must say, the the interests of his country.Gentlemen, if air Samuel Hood, of whose gallantry and meritorious conduct there can be entertained but one opinion, was asking only some mark of honour or respect from his countrymen, no man in England would oppose him; nor would any be more ready to shew him respect than the Electors of the City of Westminster; but, on the present occasion, wherein your choice confers no sinecure office, but a laborious duty, and not less important even than his professional duty, requiring, as it does, so much attendance and exertion, and admitting of no absence, I think that, under all such circumstances, you will concur with me in thinking that the gallant officer cannot be fit to fill it. Therefore Lord Gardner has left behind him a legacy which has not only excluded himself, but every other naval officer, from claiming your suffrages to represent you in parliament. Then, gentlemen, conceiving that the professions of sir Samuel Hood, and the duties which attend it, are inconsistent with a faithful discharge of those of a member of parliament, which is no more than saying that no man can act in two places, and act in two capacities at one time, it cannot be any affront to him, to refuse him support in an application made on his behalf, in which he has no claim; because it is impossible for him to serve you as a member of parliament without neglecting his duty as a naval officer, for which reason he is an unfit candidate to represent you in parliament.- --After having disposed of that part of the question before you, I come |