Some change has come over the prospects of Southampton elec-
tion. Mr. Edwin James has retired, apparently leaving the field to Mr. Weguelin ; but the friends of the two candidates had al- ready caused such a " split " among the Liberal party,—Mr. James, in particular, had so irritated the Liberals by an appear- ance of slighting them,—that the affronted folks have fallen back upon a local favourite, and Mr. Richard Andrews, the perpetual Mayor, is invited to be Member. A man who has for nine years commanded the municipal constituency is very likely to command the Parliamentary suffrage, as in the case of Sir Samuel Bignold, Mayor and Member for the good city of Norwich. There is no question, however, that for imperial purposes and real assistance in the debates of Parliament, Mr. Weguelin would be a far more valuable accession than his competitor.
Admiral Deans Dundas has been asked to take the place of Mr. Peter Bolt as Member for Greenwich ; and his reply is interesting. He has formerly sat for Greenwich, and for no other constituency : but, he says, the borough is increased in population and import- ance, it needs a vigilant Member, and he is unable to do the work. The excellent spirit in which the Admiral declines to un- dertake duties that he cannot perform—the sincerity with which he treats the place of Member as one of responsibility for work to be done—is a timely rebuke to some constituencies, who consent to be represented in Parliament by a nautical figure-head, useful only as an article of curiosity, because it has seen work in times past and has been placed in odd positions.
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