MR. THORNELY—MERCANTILE CANDIDATES.
lv will be recollected that the requisition to Mr. THORNELY to ..k.tand for Liverpool was signed by upwards of 1,700 electors; and we have just received inforniation, which leads us to believe that his chance of being returned is nearly as good as Mr. EWART'S, and considerably better than that of Lord SANDON. We rejoice to learn this; fur Mr. THORNELY is a man of the right sort—honest, inde- fatigable, Sagacious, experienced in the real business of life, and independent in mind and fortune. He has no private interests.to promote, no political grudges to gratify, no needy .relations to quarter on the public. He was born-and bred among the constitu- ency who. now call upon him to -.represent them in Parliament. Ile is not summoned from the metropolis to be forced upon them by the tools of a demineering Peer; nor does he dash into Liver- pool at the "hea-d of a troop of parsons and dragoons, greeted with curses siuStead of cheers, and trampling under foot the helpless and nu resisting'. His adress- to the, electors is comprehensiVe, consistent, and perspicuous. The colours which he hoists are of no doubtful or changing hue. There is .nci bush-fighting—no Winding. about to secure a neutral pusition—no insidious attempts to entrap friend er flue. Mr. THORNELY disdains to blink his opinions on import- alit'queStimis ; bust avows-hints& friendly to Triennia Parliaments and the Vote by Ballotto a revision and reduction of the Corn- duties and Free Trade in generalte a repeal of the Takes on. Knowledge, and' an early emancipation of the Negroes, coupled With a measure of compensation to their owners for any loss Which they may sustain thereby. Ina most Manly passage of his address, he declares himself a Dissenter, and' the steadfast adVo- chte of the tight of private judginent in matters of religion. From the 'first line to the last, there is not a phrase from which human ingenuity could extract a double meaning: All is fair and above board. Therefore, we repeat, he is the right man.
We know that Mr. THORNELY Wray—we trust that he will be triumphantly returned. But we must take leave to remind his friendS, thal while the employment of all undue influence should be scrupulously shunned, as being potent to infect and wither the Most righteous cause under- heaven, still that organization and activity are absolutely necessary to insure success. Every petty jealousy---personal, mercantile, or civic—should be at once dis- °carded. The combination of the Tories for evil, should be met by the association of the. Liberals for good. Past experience clearly proves, that the High Church and King party in Liverpool will make up in discipline what their troops want in number—that their voters will be made to march regularly, though reluctantly, ~to the poll. 'It may seem superfluous to address such remarks as these to the experienced electioneefers of Liverpool. We wish that they were uncalled for, and impertinent. But the mode in which Mr. Titokismey's interests were mismanaged at the last contest, proves 'the reverse. To speak plainly, we never in our lives beheld such a scandalous, childish, and contemptible want of spirit and organ- ization in any political party, as was displayed on that occasion by sthe Liverpool Reformers. They appeared to think, that to stand talking with their hands in their pockets, was all that was neces- sary to gain a contested election ; and that the services of active agents and committeemen, to stimulate the lazy and confirm the wavering, might be very well dispensed with. What was the consequence of this deplorable conduct ? Why, Lord SANDON ob- tained a majority of 800 votes on the first day's poll, and rode rough-shod over the Liverpool Liberals. Then, indeed, there was a plenteous outpouring of complaints and mortification. Mean- 'while, the victors sneered at the imbecility' of the Whigs, whom they 'had duped, and chaired the noble Waverer through Whigs, town with Church and King banners and every emblem of Tory inso- lence and triumph. Let the Liverpool Reformers call to mind that display, 'and tho toasts and speeches at the dinner which fol- lowed it, and be roused or shamed into such active co-operation as shall prevent their repetition at the approaching struggle. While we have no doubt that NIL THORNELY will exert himself to the utmost in the performanc ; of every honourable duty which devolves upon the member of a wealthy, populous, and important town—distinguished for the energy, public spirit, intellectual ac- quirements, and commercial enterprise of its inhabitants—still there as a certain description of business which, we suspect, he will shrink from undertaking. There is no use in mincing this matter : we allude to applications at the Treasury and other offices for the re- lease of vessels detained for a breach of the Customhouse regula- tions, and various other little services, the nature of which is per- fectly understood by the Liverpool merchants. We know that it is considered by many to be of the utmost consequence to secure a 1 'Npresentative who possesses influence at head-quarters,—who, in re. `urn for a steadfast and unblushing support of every Ministerial job, is favoured with great facilities in arranging the private affairs of s more wealthy constituents with the Excise and Custom- house . lepartments. Poor Mr. Husxissosr is gone to his long biome ; L'Iut perhaps General GASCOIGNE, or the indefatigable HART DA Vi% can inform the incredulous reader as to the nature of those sei-vices to commercial men, which for so long a period secured to tt.,em their respective seats for Liverpool and Bristol. It will be rect.-sheeted that both these gentlemen were turned out when their influence with Government was cut up by the accession of the Whigs to i lower. We can, howeve r, assure our commercial friends in every part of the island, that tide days of secret influence are fast fading away ; and that a ref, 'erm in the interior of Government offices is in progress, which will put a stop to all such underhand proceed- ings. The Duke of WE LLINGTON did something in this way, and .do a great deal more ; so that, perhaps, Lord GREY is expected to the honest and independent Mr. THORNELY may after all .be as useful a friend in Downing ,eltreet, or at Somerset House, as the most timeserving, fawning, t..snd unscrupulou.s Tory tool of the olden time.
We observe that Mr. TimusECY, if elected, pledges .himself to retire from business. He is perfe etly right in making this rests: lution. Indeed, in almost every instance of a mercantile candi- date, we should consider such a step as indispensable. It may be laid down as a general rule, which .admits of very rare excep- tiOns indeed, that one of the chief qualili cations which a candidate for a seat in the House of Commons ot.'ght to possess, is entire leisure, or the power of devoting himself wh,11.1y, if necessary, to the performance of his Parliamentary duties. The reasons for this are obvious. In the first place, however industrious, well-informed, or strong-nerved a man may be, he will find his titles as a. roam- her of Parliamentquite as onerous and incessant as his energies physical and moral can stand under. If to these. De added the cares of an extensive private business,-e-if a great portion of every day is consumed in bustling about Lombard Street or tli6* EX.- change,—it'will inevitably follow, that the concerns of his consti- tuents will be grossly neglected, while probably his own private affairs are but imperfectly attended to after all. Secondly, there: are so many paths which lead a public man out of the direct line: of duty—so many temptations to a merchant especially, to convert his seat in Parliament into a means of private gain—to regulate his vote according:to the state of his bill-book instead of the state of the country—that the people are really not justified in committing their dearest interests into the keeping of the most honourable man who is constantly liable to be swayed by these considerations. We should therefore address any mercantile canvasser for our votes in such words as these—" Are you engaged, Sir, in the hemp, wool, or tallow trades? Do you manufacture or export Leeds, Manchester, or Glasgow goods, in return for cotton, sugar, rice, or tobacco? Are you a builder of ships or a breeder of slaves? Are you an underwriter or an insurance-broker? If you are engaged in any such speculations, you must pledge yourself to get out of them as speedily as possible, or you shall have no vote of ours. Your thoughts will be with your argosies in the Pacific or the Atlantic, not in the dry details of Poor or Common Law Reports in the Committee-rooms of the House.' 'Where your trea- sure is, there will your heart be also." Our limits will not permit us to discuss this important subject as fully as it deserves; but we have one other remark to make in conclusion, which bears more upon the duties of electors perhaps than upon those of their representatives. We refer to the absur- dity and injustice of requiring members, as a part of their especial and local duties, to advocate the exclusive and peculiar interests of certain of their trading constituents, and thereby not unfre- quently place in jeopardy measures of great national importance. The discussions and divisions on the Glove, Timber, and Sugar questions, may serve to exemplify the evil effects of this short- sighted policy.
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