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 Front Page arrow Titles (by Subject) arrow 414.: THE WESTMINSTER ELECTION [2] THE TIMES, 22 JULY, 1865, P. 2 - The Collected Works of John Stuart Mill, Volume XXV - Newspaper Writings December 1847 - July 1873 Part IV

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Subject Area: Political Theory
Collection: The Collected Works of John Stuart Mill

414.: THE WESTMINSTER ELECTION [2] THE TIMES, 22 JULY, 1865, P. 2 - John Stuart Mill, The Collected Works of John Stuart Mill, Volume XXV - Newspaper Writings December 1847 - July 1873 Part IV [1847]

Edition used:

The Collected Works of John Stuart Mill, XXV - Newspaper Writings December 1847 - July 1873 Part IV, ed. Ann P. Robson and John M. Robson, Introduction by Ann P. Robson and John M. Robson (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1986).

Part of: Collected Works of John Stuart Mill, in 33 vols.

About Liberty Fund:

Liberty Fund, Inc. is a private, educational foundation established to encourage the study of the ideal of a society of free and responsible individuals.


414.

THE WESTMINSTER ELECTION [2]

THE TIMES, 22 JULY, 1865, P. 2

For the background, see No. 412. William Henry Smith (1825-91), head of the well-known bookselling firm, a liberal-conservative, had since entered the race, and Sir John Villiers Shelley had retired; on 12 July Mill and Grosvenor were elected with votes of 4525 and 4534 respectively. Mill’s letter of thanks appeared in other papers on 22 July, including the Daily News. Headed “Westminster Election,” the letter (not listed in Mill’s bibliography) is introduced by this note: “The following letter from Mr. J.S. Mill, M.P., to the Liberal electors of Westminster, has been forwarded to us for publication:”. In the Daily News it is dated “Blackheath Park, July 21.” The text below is that of The Times, which has been collated with the Daily News, 22 July, 1865, p. 2; in the variant notes the text of the latter is signalled by “DN”.

gentlemen,—

The triumphant reassertion of the principle of purity of election in its largest sense, by the selection of a representative in Parliament on public grounds alone, against an unexampled combination of personal and pecuniary influences, is a lasting honour to Westminster and benefit to the popular cause. The victory is wholly yours, not mine, since I only appeared among you in the last stage of the contest to meet the desire expressed for a fuller explanation of my opinions. But the address just issued by the committee1 seems to demand that I should join with them in hearty and grateful acknowledgments to the Liberal electors generally, and especially to the great number who, by their strenuous and disinterested personal exertions, renewed the lesson so often forgotten, of the power of a high and generous purpose over bodies of citizens accustomed to free political action.

aElectors!a your work is done, and mine has now to be commenced. The unsought confidence which you have placed in me has laid on me an obligation which it would heavily tax powers far superior to mine adequately to fulfil. That I may not fall so far below your hopes as to make you regret your choice, will be my constant and earnest endeavour.

b I am, cgentlemen, most sincerely and respectfully yours,c

J.S. Mill

[1 ]Advertisement by Mill’s Committee (dated 17 July), The Times, 18 July, p. 8. The statement from Mill’s Committee was signed by Charles Westerton, Chairman, J.S. Storr, Treasurer, and James Beal, Honorary Secretary.

[a-a]DN [no paragraph] Electors,

[b]DN [no paragraph]

[c-c]DN etc.