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

9.: The Westminster Election of 1865 [5] 10 JULY, 1865 - John Stuart Mill, The Collected Works of John Stuart Mill, Volume XXVIII The Collected Works of John Stuart Mill, Volume XXVIII - Public and Parliamentary Speeches Part I November 1850 - November 1868 [1850]

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The Collected Works of John Stuart Mill, Volume XXVIII - Public and Parliamentary Speeches Part I November 1850 - November 1868, ed. John M. Robson and Bruce L. Kinzer (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1988).

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

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


9.

The Westminster Election of 1865 [5]

10 JULY, 1865

Morning Star, 11 July, 1865, p. 2. Headed: “Westminster.” The nomination meeting, at the hustings in front of St. Paul’s Church, Covent Garden, at midday, was also reported on the 12th in the Daily Telegraph, The Times, the Daily News, and the Standard (the last two in the third person). There was considerable excitement, for this would be “a great political contest such as Westminster had not seen for many years”; by 11:30 nearly 3000 people had assembled, and just before noon they began “to show signs of animation. The quiet which had hitherto prevailed was relaxed, and some good-humoured larking and hustling commenced.” (Morning Star.) The High Bailiff, H. Scott Turner, the returning officer, appeared, followed by the first of the candidates, Robert Wellesley Grosvenor (1834–1918), a member of the leading Whig family in Westminster and (after an initial period of uncertainty as to his political credentials) Mill’s Liberal running mate. He “was received with cheers by his supporters, and yells by the rest of the crowd.” Next came Smith, “who received a warm welcome from his supporters,” and then Mill arrived, to be “greeted with enthusiastic cheers from his supporters, mingled with yells from the friends of Mr. Smith.” Mill occupied the central position, with Smith on his right and Grosvenor on his left. The crier in vain called for silence during the reading of the writ by the high bailiff. “Indeed throughout the whole proceedings, a continuous volley of yells and howls, mingled with cheers for the respective candidates, was kept up. The speeches of neither proposers, seconders, nor candidates could be heard except by those close beside them, and in most cases the speakers wisely addressed their remarks to the reporters, and made them as brief as possible. It is right to state that the uproar came chiefly, not from the respectable portion of the electors and non-electors, but from bands of ruffianly lads, who seemed to be organised for the purpose.” (Morning Star.) Grosvenor was proposed and seconded, and then Brewer nominated Mill “amidst great uproar. He alluded to Mr. Mill’s high intellectual character and attainments, and to his Liberal and practical and statesmanlike views, and said it would be an honour to Westminster to be represented by such a man.” Malleson seconded. Smith, characterized as a man of moderate opinions, was proposed and seconded. Grosvenor was the first of the candidates to speak. Mill then stood forward to address the electors, and “was received with great enthusiasm by his friends in the assemblage. But the shouting and noise still prevailing his remarks could only be heard by those in his immediate vicinity.” (The Daily Telegraph says he “obtained a much better hearing, though great noise prevailed.”)

gentlemen,—

It would be entirely useless for me to attempt to make a speech, which it would be impossible that any of you could hear; and I will only therefore attempt to say a few words. (Noise and cheers.) I am not here by my own seeking; I am here because a numerous and distinguished body of the electors of Westminster, thinking that that numerous and important portion of this constituency who are advanced Liberals are entitled to a representative (cheers), and that my opinions, which have been fully, freely, and unreservedly expressed both in amy letters and at very crowded meetings of the electorsa , qualify me to be that representative. They thought also that in electing me you would be asserting a principle which has been honoured in Westminster—the principle of selecting your representatives for some other reason than for their money. (Cheers.) It now rests with the electors of Westminster, who have bhad the means of forming their ownb opinions on the manner in which the contest has been carried on, to judge whether I have a claim to the votes of the friends of purity of election and of advanced cLiberalism as against a Conservative opponent of all Liberalism whatever. I have nothing further to say.c (Cheers from Mr. Mill’s supporters.)

[Smith spoke, amidst continued uproar. Again silence was ordered, and the high bailiff called for a show of hands.] dFor Captain Grosvenor a considerable number were held up; for Mr. Mill the display of hands was much larger; and for Mr. Smith a great number were held up. As far as could be judged, the numbers in favour of Mr. Smith and Mr. Mill were nearly equal, and there can be no doubt that each of them was larger by three to one than the numbers in favour of Captain Grosvenor. To the surprise, however, of everybody, the high bailiff declared the show of hands to be in favour of Mr. Smith and Captain Grosvenor. We do not know whether this functionary’s organs of vision are imperfect, or whether in theexcitement he did not attend sufficiently to the show of hands for each of the candidates but that he made a mistake was manifest to every one who had a view of the assembly.dMr. Mill’s supporters demanded a poll, and the mistake will be of little importance if he and Captain Grosvenor should be placed at the top of the poll.1

[Smith moved and Grosvenor seconded a vote of thanks to the high bailiff.]

Each of the candidates, on leaving the hustings, was loudly cheered by his supporters. The assembly, which though noisy and uproarious throughout, was in no way mischievous, then gradually dispersed.

[a-a]DN private and in public meetings

[b-b]DT] MS the means of expressing their

[c-c]DT] MS Liberals as against a Conservative and an opponent of all Liberalism whatever.] DN liberal as contradistinguished from a conservative opponent, who had declared no liberal opinions whatever. He had nothing further to say.

[d-d]DT There were but very few for Captain Grosvenor, and about four to five times as many for Mr. Smith and Mr. Mill. Notwithstanding this, however, the Returning Officer declared that the show of hands was for Messrs. Grosvenor and Smith. (Hisses, laughter, and It’s a lie.)

[1 ]The Times, the Daily News, and the Standard all agree that the returning officer was mistaken.