Shortly after the close of the poll on Thursday, Messrs. Bright, Burge, and Stephen retired from the contest, the numbers of votes polled on that day being Cobbett 684, Fielden 655, Bright 168, Burge 151, Stephen 3. The total number of votes polled was 1656, and the number of electors who voted was 848. On the following day, December 14, 1832, the returning oflicer declared John Fielden and William Cobbett, Esqrs., duly elected members for Oldham, and they accordingly sat in the iirst reformed House of Commons as the representatives of the borough. .

The second election for Oldham occurred January 7, 1835, when the first members John Fielden, and William Cobbett, Esqrs., were returned without opposition. Mr. Cobbett, having died on the 18th of June, 1835, an election ensued for the purpose of supplying the vacancy. "Mr. Cobbett, the son of a small farmer, was one of the most remarkable men that ever attracted public attention, by the force of mental superiority, aided by persevering industry. In his early days he strenuously supported the government, but he afterwards changed his views, and his bold language and biting irony became so severe to the ministry, that he was arrested, fined, and imprisoned." ln 1820 he was a candidate for Coventry, but being defeated, he was invited in 1826 as a candidate for Preston, but was there also unsuccessful. In December, 1832, he was put in nomination both for Manchester and Oldham, but not succeeding at the former place, and being elected at the latter, he accepted the seat. He overcame the most extraordinary difficulties by the powerful energies of his own mind." His style of writing was like that of his speaking, always plain but vigorous. It was all bone and muscle. Every word was in its proper place, and there were no disjointed sentences. There was nothing of that energy about him as a speaker, which

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