The wounded feelings of party-men who are sacrificed to the
interests of their party, sometimes betray them to make disclosures which no. constituted tribunal could exact. Sir Thomas Cochrane, the Member for Ipswich, furnishes an instance. He withdraws at the dissolution of Parliament from his connexion with the borough, but not before he had good reason. It seems that when Mr. Gibson resigned, Sir Tho- mas was much pressed to stand for the vacant seat. He objected to the expense, as one which he had not the means of supporting. He was reassured on that head : "Mr. Fitzroy Kelly," he says, in a letter to some of his impracticable constituents, an account of which is published in the Ipswich Express, with extracts, "declared that if I would con- sent to make the attempt, he would guarantee that the expense on my part should not exceed a certain sum, and that he would give me a letter to the leading men of Ipswich to that effect." Sir Thomas made his ap- pearance in Ipswich, and had an interview with one of the leading Tories ; into whose hands he placed the letter of Mr. Fitzroy Kelly, containing the conditions on which he had come down. The Ipswich man observed, that he did not see how the election was to cost so much. Before the day of election arrived, Sir Thomas had paid the whole sum stipulated. Within two or three weeks after the election, however, he received a letter from Mr. Fitzroy Kelly, asking him to pay a certain further sum, of which the amount is not stated. This he paid, without comment or observation. But not long after this payment, Mr. Kelly told him, that on a recent visit to Ipswich, he found that there were still out- standing claims to the extent of 2,000l.; that he himself had agreed to pay 1,0001., and he suggested that Sir Thomas should pay the remain- der. These encroachments gave Sir Thomas pause ; and he reminded his correspondent of the original bargain, so largely extended on his part. Mr. Kelly admitted the justice of Sir Thomas's objection,. but said that "the people of Ipswich were determined to have the money paid, and that if I did not come forward, they would find some other per- son who had two or three thousand pounds to spare, and throw me over; and I closed the discussion by repeating my determination never to accede." In February 1840, however, another demand was made by his electing friends, of 5001.; and that he agreed to pay, if it really closed the bargain and secured him their future support. But he was then told that the 500/. was meant to be in addition to the 2,000/. for- merly demanded, and that nothing short of the whole sum would " meet the views of the electors of Ipswich," or secure him the support of the Conservatives. Sir Thomas declined complying with the mixed exac- tions and bullyings of his friends. They still dunned hit; however ; and hence the letter in which he has now exposed the whole affair.
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