If the Pretensions of an old Soldier, who has been more than Twenty Years in the Army-Twelve of which he served in different parts of the West Indies, can influence your Votes and Patronage in his Favour, it will be an Excuse for urging them; at the same Time, I must freely confess, that every Reliance for Success is on your Services, and not on my own. I therefore most humbly solicit your Votes and Influence on the present Occasion, and should I be the Object of your Choice, you may depend upon a faithful Discharge of the Duties intrusted to my Care; and if I am not successful I shall be ever grateful to my Friends for the Support I experience. I am well aware that it will not be in my power to wait personally upon every Voter in this extensive Riding, but I hope any unintentional Omission will not be construed into any want of Deference and Respect, from My Lords and Gentlemen, Your most obedient humble Servant, THOMAS LAWSON HALL. Late Major in his Majesty's 87th Regiment. North Stainley, near Ripon, March 30, 1917. To the Noblemen, Gentlemen, and Clergymen, Freeholders of the West-Riding of the County of York. MY LORDS AND GENTLEMEN, The lamented Death of Mr. Busfeild, baving caused a Vacancy in the Office of Registrar for the West-Riding, I am induced at the Suggestion of my Friends, to solicit your Interest at the approaching Election. Under the Persuasion that the unavoidable lateness of this Applica tion will not prejudice me in your Favour, I shall lose no Opportunity of paying my Respects to you in Person; and should I be thought worthy of your Support, I hope I shall not deceive your good Opinion, by proving myself either inattentive to the Interests, or inadequate to the Duties of so important a Trust. I have the Honour to be, my Lords and Gentlemen, Wakefield, 31st March, 1817. The following Address appeared in the public papers from C. A.. Busfeild, Esq. To the Freeholders of the West Riding. GENTLEMEN, I shall ever gratefully remember your unparalleled Exertions, to confer the Office of Registrar on my revered and much-lamented Father; and I cannot allow another week to elapse, without expressing to you how much I feel obliged by your generous wish and spontaneous efforts to place me in the same distinguished Situation. Had I not been paralyzed by the severe pressure of domestic Calamity, I had indeed ample Encouragement, by the Activity, Zeal, and Number of my Friends, to offer myself to your Notice, and proudly to calculate upon ultimate Success. It is therefore with mingled Sentiments of the most profound Gratitude and Regret, that I thus take my Leave of you. But, be assured, Gentlemen, that neither Time nor Circumstances shall ever blot from my Memory the unsolicited Offers of Ser vice, conveyed to me io so flattering a Manner, by the Freeholders of the West Riding of the County of York. I have the honour to be, Gentlemen, Your faithful and most obedient Servant, Cottingley Bridge, 4th April, 1817. C. F. BUSFEILD. * In the progress of their canvass, the different Candidates published the following: To the Nobility, Gentry, Clergy, and Freeholders of the County of York. MY LORDS and GENTLEMEN, Since I last had the Honour of addressing you I have been actively, and I am happy to say, most successfully employed in soliciting the Favor of your Votes and Interest at the approaching Election of a Register for the West Riding.-To those who have already kindly promised me their Support I beg Leave to return my most grateful Acknowledgments; and to those I have not yet had an Opportunity of waiting upon I have to apologize, and to request their Indulgence on the Ground of the Difficulty which arises in ascertaining all the Electors, and of calling upon them within the short Period that has elapsed since the Vacancy happened. When the Day of Election is fixed, I will take the Liberty of addressing you again; and in the mean Time, I have the Honour to remain, my Lords and Gentlemen, The Hotel, Leeds, April 3d, 1817 P. S. I shall be glad to receive any Communications you will do me the Favour to make, addressed to me here, from whence they will be forwarded. To the Noblemen, Gentlemen, Clergy, and Freeholders, of the WestRiding of the County of York. MY LORDS AND GENTLEMEN, Being well aware from Experience of the Trouble and Anxiety incident both to the Elector and the Candidate in the Case of all contested Elections, I should not consider myself justified in this public Declaration of my Determination to abide the Event of a Poll, if the result of the Canvass (kindly undertaken for me by my Friends) had not flattered me with the most sanguine hopes of Success. That Anxiety has been expressed to me in a Manner so gratifying, that it would be unpardonable in me to throw a Damp upon its Energy by any Thing like Uncertainty in my Mode of Procedure. On a former Occasion, Gentlemen, you did for me more than sufficient to raise Feelings of the deepest Gratitude for your Kindness, and I am happy to say, that my present Canvass suggests to me, that I have not since that Time suffered in your Estimation Assuring you that I am resolved to give you an Opportunity of carrying your kind Wishes into Effect at the Day of Election. I have the Honour to be, my Lords and Gentiemen, Mickleton, April 5th, 1817. L On the 11th of April, the subjoined address from Mr. Cartwright appeared :— To the Nobility, Clergy, Gentry, Freeholders, of the West Riding of the County of York. MY LORDS AND GENTLEMEN, In the unsolicited and decided opinion of friends, whose judgement I hold in the highest respect, the duty which I was called upon to discharge, when a dangerous conspiracy against the freedom of trade, and the security of property, distracted the West Riding in 1812, acquits a humble and retired individual like myself of presumption, in offering myself as a candidate for the vacant office of Registrar. I come forward entirely on the public grounds now stated; if these are insufficient, I have no influence to use; the state of my health, my commercial engagements, and the claims of my family, preclude all canvass on my part. Those Freeholders who are disposed to support me on this ground, will, I hope, do me the favour to attend at Wakefield, ou the day of Election, when fixed, and honour me with their votes; in person I will then thank them; for, having thus obeyed the call of my friends, I pledge myself to abide the Poll. I am well aware of the disadvantages under which I come forward, thus late in the contest; but I have great reason to believe, that a majority of the Freeholders entitled to vote on this occasion, are not engaged to any Candidate. My success, or my failure, is in your hands. If placed, by your kind and unsolicited suffrages in the office to which I aspire, I will discharge my duty. I am, my Lords and Gentlemen, Your obedient humble servant, Rawfold Mill. April 11th, 1817. WILLIAM CARTWRIGHT. N. B. A Committee of my friends will meet at the George Inn, Huddersfield, and I shall be grateful for any communications addressed to them. To the Noblemen, Gentlemen, Clergy, and Freeholders, of the WestRiuing of the County of York. MY LORDS AND GENTLEMEN, I take the first opportunity in my power of presenting my grateful thanks to my friends for the kind promise of support, and of informing them. that Monday the 12th day of May, is appointed for the Election of the Registrar of the West Riding, at the Court House, Wakefield, when I earnestly solicit their early attendance in my favour at the Poll. I have the honour to be, my Lords and Gentlemen, Your obedient and obliged servant, F. HAWKSWORTH: Hickleton, April 16, 1817. To the Noblemen, Gentlemen, Clergy, and Freeholders of the WestRiding of Yorkshire. MY LORDS and GENTLEMEN, Not having determined to become a candidate for the office of Register, much less having laid down any plan for doing so with Advantage, and being absent from home, I did not hear of Mr. Busfeild's death till a very active, systematically arranged, and successful can vass had been carried on during two days, in every part of the Riding, in favour of two other candidates. I have found it impossible to counteract the effects of this circumstance, and have at length ascertained that either of these gentlemen is more powerfully supported by you than I am, it therefore becomes my duty to retire from the contest. This office of emolument having been given, in the last instance, as the reward of public service, I ventured to place myself on that ground, determined to give way to a superior claim, should such be made; it is, however, incumbent on me, under any circumstances, to submit at onee to your apparent will. But my Lords and Gentlemen, I have this everlasting consolation, unaided by Power or by Interest, I have received the promise of my every vote, in return for my endeavours to serve the public; and wherever I have canvassed, numerous independent individuals have countenanced my claim on that ground; above all, the almost unanimous support of my immediate neighbourhood, has been offered me with a warmth and zeal, which I can only cease to remember with life itself. Such have been my pretensions--so have they been received by those who perhaps are best able to appreciate their merit.I have the honour to be, my Lords and Gentiemen, Your most obedient humble servant, THOMAS HORTON. Howroyde, April 16th, 1817. To the Nobility, Gentry, Clergy and Freeholders of the West-Riding, of the County of York. MY LORDS AND GENTLEMEN, The day of Election of a Register for the West Riding of the County of York, being now fixed for Monday the 12th of May next, at the Court House, in Wakefield, permit me to return you my sincere and grateful thanks for the powerful interest you have already manifested in my favour; and to solicit a continuance of it, by your early attendance at the Poll. I have the honour to remain, my Lords and Gentlemen, Hotel, Leeds, April 19, 1817. To the Noblemen, Gentlemen, and Clergymen, Freeholders, of the West Riding of the County of York. MY LORDS AND GENTLEMEN, The unavoidable lateness of my canvass, and the consequent Ea. gagement of many of my friends, to support the interests of earlier competitors for the vacant Office of Registrar, have induced me thus pab. licly to announce my intention of retiring from the contest. The zeal which has been manifested in my behalf, leaves me little cause to regret that I have stood forward among the Candidates for pub lic favour. To those who have honoured me with their support, I beg leave to make my most grateful acknowledgments, and to assure them, that the disinterested motives that must have led to it, will rank among the most pleasing recollections of my future life. I have the honour to be, my Lords and Gentlemen, Wakefield, 19th April, 1817. To the Noblemen, Gentlemen, Clergy, and Freeholders of the West Riding of the County of York. MY LORDS and GENTLEMEN, The continued Success which I have met with in every Part of my. Canvass, has confirmed me in my Determination to stand the Event of a Poll. I beg to express my very grateful Thanks for your Promise of Support, and to assure you, if the kind Partiality of my Friends should place me in the honourable Situation of REGISTRAR, that it is and al. ways was my Wish and Intention to superintend. IN PERSON, the important Duties of it with all the Care and Diligence in my Power. I have the Honour to be, my Lords and Gentlemen, Your obliged and obedient Servant, F. HAWKSWORTH. Hickleton, April 20th, 1817. N. B. The Day of Election is fixed for Monday next, the 12th Inst. To the Noblemen, Gentlemen, and Clergymen, of the West Riding of the County of York. MY LORDS AND GENTLEMEN, If Mr. Cartwright, (whose superior claims I most readily admit) or any other gentleman with great public services to recommend him, had offered himself as a candidate for the Register Office, at the commencement of the present vacancy, it was always my intention to have withdrawn my humble pretensions-but as no person of this description came forward until the whole of the West Riding had been diligently canvassed, and the kind support of the electors had been gene. rally promised to their different friends, I hope, when the great trouble and expense of this contest, added to that of another unfortunate elec tion, are taken into consideration, that I shall not be deemed 'presumptuous, or unmindful of the acknowledged gallantry and good conduct of Mr. Cartwright, if, under such circumstances, I now take the liberty of urging my numerous friends to appear in my favor, at the Poll. I have the honour to be, my Lords and Gentlemen, Hickleton, April 30th, 1817. Mr. Cartwright withdrew from the contest with the following notice : To the Nobility, Clergy, and Gentry, Freeholders of the West Riding of the County of York. MY LORDS and GENTLEMEN, I have explicitly stated the motives which induced me to come forward, in compliance with the wishes of my friends, on occasion of the death of the Registrar of the West Riding. I have received many actual promises, and a general, I had almost said an universal assurance of support, had I come forward earlier in the contest. I still feel assured that a majority of freeholders, entitled to vote on this occasion, have not promised their votes to any one; but my friends feel it impossible effectually to meet the the generally diffused idea, that I am too late. I find also that many of my warmest and most zealous friends, are pre engaged or neutralized; this is a cruel situation, both for them and for me, and it becomes my duty to release them from it. With |