Gentlemen,
A dissolution of Parliament is at hand, and I hear of no other
candidate for our suffrages besides our present Member. Is it
not, however, worthy of enquiry, if this gentleman, a London
Lawyer, a nominee, and personally unknown to the great majority
of you, is the man of your choice, and a proper representative
of your wants and interests in Parliament, and has he fair
claims to be re-elected by you?
To justify these claims, what have been his doings since he
held his seat for this borough? What has he done for the
country at large, or for the constituency he represents?
When the most momentous question that could be raised in a
Protestant country was agitated--the revival of Popery in the
endowment of the Papist College of Maynooth, was he at his post
to defend the strongest bulwark of our national prosperity and
glory--our reformed Christianity--or did he not skulk behind
the scenes at each division on this vital question--and, by an
ignoble silence, allow that measure which opens a broad inroad
to the triumph of Popery, to pass without his vote? Is such a
man worthy of the confidence of a Protestant constituency?--And
in what other measure of national importance, and for the
welfare of the people, has he taken any part? As to matters of
local interest, his conduct in the case of the Bill for the
Oxford, Worcester, and Wolverhampton Railway will not soon be
forgotten. To this measure, which promised the greatest benefit
to the town and district, and which was hailed and supported
by a vast majority of his constituents, he presented the most
determined, unwearied and implacable opposition, and ever
since it has passed has continued to throw every obstacle which
malice or litigation could invent in the way of its progress. I
say nothing to a number of other matters of local concernment,
which, in proportion to their importance, redound as little to
his credit.
And what has been his bearing towards those of his constituents
who have held any official intercourse with him? Strong, or
fancying himself so, in the interest of his patron, he has
looked down upon them, if not with positive contempt, with the
most supercilious indifference--riding rough-shod over them,
their opinions, and their wishes, in the pure style of an
"IRRESPONSIBLE." Too haughty to listen to their petitions, and
acknowledging no one's judgment or will but his own, his career
has been as that of a tyrant among a nation of serfs. And yet
he has the hardihood to offer himself again to the suffrages
of these insulted constituents, and, strange to say, they seem
prepared to sit down in this state of degradation.
But I shall be told that the honourable member has done great
things for our borough, and that he has made full atonement for
all his sins, in procuring from his patron--(one would think
they were his own gift, if the selfishness of his nature were
not too well known)--sites for a prison, schools, &c. And does
he, or will you, my fellow electors, rob the noble head of the
house of Dudley of these acts of justice and benevolence, or
will you ascribe to the agent the act of the principal? Had MR.
BENBOW never heard of that honourable name, I hesitate not to
aver, that the borough of Dudley had been no loser at all in
the matter.
Is he, then, I repeat, the man who ought to represent us in
Parliament? And have we no one among ourselves equally, or
better, qualified to support our interests, and to whom some
debt, _not of reproach_, but of public gratitude is due? I
think we have, and I would name THOMAS BADGER, ESQ., as one. No
man is better acquainted with the interests and wants of our
borough than he is, and no man has exerted himself so much and
successfully to promote them, or would labour more faithfully
and zealously in support of those wants and interests.
Living all his life among us, his character is well known to
be unimpeached and unimpeachable.--Strong and clear in his
judgment, firm and decided in his principles and proceedings,
and well experienced, by years and business, in the knowledge
of our commerce, and of men and things, _and with a property
sufficient to place him above temptation_, he is well-fitted to
serve the interests of his neighbours and his country. I do not
know that he would accept the trust, but I think he ought to be
invited to do so, and I throw out this hint in the hope that it
may be taken up and succeed.