Mr. Gibson left - Cambridge on Friday evening, having issued this farewell
address to the electors- Mr. Gibson left-Cambridge on Friday evening, having issued this farewell address to the electors- " Gentlemen—I cannot take leave of yon, after our late unsuccessful contest, without expressing may thanks to those electors who fearlessly recorded their suffrages in my favour, and my deep sense of the generous confidence with which, though almost a stranger, I have been honoured by the great hotly of the Liberal electors of Cambridge. "Though defeated by a considerable majority, the numbers on either side will not be considere.1 by the country as measuring the relative strength of the two contending parties ; nor will the result of the election be takers by reason- able men as any test of public sentiment in this borough. It will but unite and strengthen the Liberal party ; who, long accustomed to easy victory ob- tained by fair and honest 'swans, and relying on the justice of their cause, have scarcely been aware of the slow and insidious proceedings by which their inde- pendence has been gradually undermined. 'Ibis defeat is, however, but tem- porary: vigilance, union, and exertion, will recover the position which they have lost, only in appearance. The majority against us is certainly large ; but this we could have materially reduced, though not sufficiently to carry the election. We were therefore not only tinsvieing, to press voters, but we even requested many to refrain from voting, because we knew their dependent situa- tion, and the threatening intimations which they had received from certain Col6e authorities. The bribing by the Tol.v party on this occasion has been profuse and systematic ; winch assertion I woilld not venture to make, did I not tined confident that its truth will be established before a judicial tribunal, es well as a Committee of the House of Commons. I do not exaggerate when I state that I have the strongest hopes of being able to unseat your recently- elected Representative ; and youmay rest assured that no efforts will be want- ing on mypart to assist in the important public duty of exposing the corrupt
practices of many of his supporters—practices calculated to demoralize vear constituency, and to compromise the high character which it had Mamie "tai utained.
" Whatever be the result of the petition against the return of Me Sutton, let us not forget that a general election is probably not far distant ; and on that occasion I feel assured that the borough of Cambridge will reassert its in- dependence, mid will neither allow the University to return four Members in- stead of two, nor its representation to be at the disposal of the highest bidder."
Of the bribery and intimidation employed to defeat Mr. Gibson, the Cambridge Independent Press thus speaks- " Were we to say that three dozen poor voters were bribed, and twice that number were intimidated, within forty•eight hours before the palling com- menced, to say nothing of all those who had been bribed and intimidated pre- viously, we should not be tir beside the mark. Besides this fast, which will he proved at the proper time and in the proper place, there were about fifty sincere but timid Reformers, who were not polled, although they were in readi- ness all day on Thursday to record their votes in a body, if by id-dog so it should be proved to them that Mr. Gibson worth b.; its no majority. Those servants and dependents of the University invariably said, ' DJ rent p01 us until the last, and not then unless we can two the scale.'" It appears also that Mr. Gibson was not supported by some influential Whigs. A correspondent of the Hominy Chronkle, writing from Cam- bridge, says- " 1 am sorry to be obliged to remark, that the hikewarmness of a few of the principal 'lien amongst the Whig party tended, in addition to the causes already stated, to lose the election. Like the Teem-Council of Kirkwall, men- tioned m Sir Walter Scott's Pirate, many of the potent, grave, and reverend seigniors of the Cambridge Corporation, had many occupations, and many ex- cuses to keep them away when they were most wanted. The honest bur- gesses who returned thesis could have snuck better spared them for the Feet of the year; and the town itself would not have been much injured by their ab- sence, had they but put themselves to the small inconvenience of being in Cambridge on Thursday last. One sturdy Alderman, who is a peculiar fa- vourite with the commonalty of Cambridge, fronts his sturdy, Joisti Bull bear- ing and deportment to all persons and on all occasions, is now enjoying the luxuries of Very's and the Trois Freres, or studying the humanities of the Louvre, or revelling in the glories of the Opera Comique. Another of the civic fathers is trying to rub skirts with the elite of the European nobility et Baden Baden ; a thud, less ambitious but snore inert, is satisfied with Har- rogate and English air, fare, and society. Some of the lukewarm right- worshipfuls, however, staid at home, and neither used their influence nor their votes. The principal auctioneer of the town, the wealthiest Whig in Cam- bridge, would not vote for Mr. Gibson, because, forsooth, he advocated, with respect to the Corn-laws, a moderate fixed duty. The late Mayor recorded a single cold vote, but never once appeared in Mr. Gibson's Committee' because the latter was in favour of the Ballot; and the present Mayor of Cambridge, Liberal of long standing, a most respectable and hilluential nem who was elected to his present office of honour and dignity on account of his Liberal principles, refused, for no assigned reason as yet, but with a silent delicacy, which be wishes, it is understood, to wear the guise of impartiality as the Returning-officer, to vote at all.
" Believe me, also, when I fearlessly assert that the Liberal furces were badly marshalled on the eve and on the morning of the contest. Barnwell and its voters were in the power of the Tories on Wednesday night. It was literally taken (in military phrase) without a blow, when I% combined effort on the part of fifty or a hundred Liberal and influential men of the town would have frowned down the hired bullies and other professionals, who were guarding, or escorting away, or bribing the poor voters of the village."
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