The Sun.
London, England, 1837-08-05 00:00:00

had gone, spoke plainly and loudly in favour of
the reality of a re-action. But here is the case of
the metropolitan county itself, a case which comes
home to the business and bosom of Mr. Hume, who
was always one of the most forward to denounce
the notion of a re-action as the absurd and interested
cry of a party. And what does this case amount to ?
Not merely the turn-out of Mr. Hutne, but the mani-
festation of a change in the political sentiments of the
electors, who had upon two former occasions returned
him as their representative to Parliament, but upon this
have thought better of it, and dismissed him, to seek
his fortune elsewhere. It will be seen, from our report
of election proceedings, that, after the poll was closed,
Mr. Hume addressed his radical friends in the Com-
mittee-room, where he accused them, rather ungrate-
fully, of want of zeal in ' his cause. We believe there
are few persons besides Mr. Hume who are not satis-
fied that they did their best. But the fact is, that
destructive principles have had their day, organic
changes are at a discount, and let the party who deal
in such doctrines work as hard as they can, they must
hawk them in some other place, for they will not go
down with the people of England. But it seems that
though Mr. Hume has lost his seat for Middlesex, he
does not despair of getting into Parliament. Probably
he casts his imploring eye towards Ireland and Ireland's
dictator. The solicitation may succeed, but it will be
no proof that a reaction has taken place in England,
if we find Mr. Hume in the next Parliament ex-
hibiting as a joint of the tail. It appears from
the slight sketch of his speech in the Committee-
room, that he expressed great regret at the defeat,
not for his own sake, but for the sake of the
public. This is generous, but is it modest ? Doctor
Johnson has said somewhere, in better language than
we can give it, that no man ever possessed genius
without being conscious of it. But it is one thing to
feel the consciousness, and another to proclaim it.
Some people have a prejudice against self-praise, even
when it is veiled in the thin covering of implication,
and we are persuaded there are many who will think
that Mr. Hume might with perfect propriety have kept
his pity for himself, instead of bestowing it as he did
upon the public. But the public, we can assure him,
have more fortitude than he may suppose ; they can
bear his loss, and though the House of Commons,
the theatre of his performances, will miss him cer-
tainly--they will miss him as the old woman missed
her rheumatism—thanking Heaven for her deliverance.
It is not, however, upon any consideration personal
to Mr. Hume, but upon the broad ground of prin-
ciple, involved in his rejection, that we congratulate
the electors of Middlesex, and the country at large,
on the triumph which has been accomplished in this
instance. Let the same spirit actuate the remaining
Constituencies throughout the kingdom, and our ve-
nerable institutions in Church and State will be se-
cured, if not from attack, at least from successful vio-
lation, the spirit of democracy will stand reproved,
and the blessings of peace and freedom be transmitted
to succeeding generations.—Morning Herald.