THE WESTMINSTER ELECTION.
[Co THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOR."] SIR,—I am glad to have seen the analysis of the votes given at the Westminster election, to which you referred in your columns of last week, as it will, I hope, remove the most unfounded impression which some have entertained, that Mr. Mill gained anything whatever from the candidature of Captain Grosvenor. I canvassed
personally some hundreds of the electors within ten days of the electioa, and had therefore peculiar opportunities of judging of the estimation in which each candidate was held. I found that Mr. Smith was popular among Conservatives and some half-hearted Liberals, but•that he did not appear to have any chance of being elected. I did not find that Captain Grosvenor was popular, but that he would in all probability be returned simply because West- minster is Liberal, that Captain Grosvenor was the first man in the field, and that after the retirement of Sir John Villiers Shelley no one venthred to incur the responsibility or discredit of dividing the Liberal interest. I found that Mr. Mill had many very warm supporters, but that a large number of Liberal electors were dissatisfied that he had not come forward and taken some interest in his own election. This was what unsettled a portion of Mr. Mill's Committee. It was soon found, however, that any fears were groundless. As soon as Mr. Mill appeared in public, the great body of Liberal electors went enthusiastically with him. At half-a- dozen meetings, all of which were crowded into the week preced- ing the election, those°who did not know Mr. Mill in his writings did not fail to appreciate his principles and his honesty. He immediately became popular with the multitude, and his popularity increased daily. Mr. Mill owes nothing to Captain Grosvenor, but the Liberals of Westminster owe much to the good impression made by Mr. Mill's presence and reported speeches. In my humble opinion, Mr. -Mill would have had an unquestionable majority over Captain Grosvenor if there had been no agreement
• between the two committees, and if Mr. Mill had been able to come forward a few days before, the Liberal triumph would have been more significant than it was.
Westminster is well disposed towards Captain Grosvenor as an untried man, but he has his popularity yet to win.
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