The Sun.
London, England, 1849-04-07 00:00:00

V iltilillit ;7)Atilt

LONDON, SATURDAY, APRIL 7, 1849.

Every sincere Reformer will rejoice at the pro
spective return of Mr. ROEBUCK to Parliament. His
exclusion from the House of Commons has been a
disgrace to that constituency which he served so
faithfully, and to which his great abilities had im-
parted distinction. His absence from the Legislature
has afforded a painful evidence of the ungrateful
treatment received from the principal electors of
Somersetshire. his brilliant qualities as a debater,
pay, the very flaws and blemishes of his temperament,
have been missed from the discussions of the
popular Assembly. We have looked in vain
for that constitutional petulance which had
so often evoked animation from the most torpid,
as the glance of the steel draws the flash from
the pebble. We have sighed fur that acidity of sar-
casm which was corrective of all crudities of debate,
for that asperity of manner which provoked the most
ambiguous to an explanation, and for that perpetual
sparkle of indignation which agitated the proceedings
of our representatives into a kind of intellectual effer-
vescence. All these bitter but beneficial qualities
were the characteristics of Mr. ROEBUCK, and with
his temporary withdrawal from the scene of conten-
tion their peculiar advantage became conspicuous.
Everybody felt that the very bitterness of these qua-
lities constituted as it were the tonic of the House of
Commons.
_ _ _

The absence of such a man from the Legislature I
could not fail to do otherwise than leave a percep-
tible hiatus in the list of its chief ornaments. His
return to that arena, in which his taunts had fired
new passion, and infused new rigour into the
struggles of the oratorical gladiators, could not but
he most eagerly anticipated. The population at large
desired to witness again the movements of one who,
for seventeen years, had never proved himself averse
to exertion. The Radical Reformers, in particular,
were distressed at the continued and compulsory
quiescence of one who had ever evinced his assi•
duity in the advancement of their most cherished
principles. And yet borough after borough became
vacant and Member after Member was elected, and
still Mr. ROEBUCK was not recognised among the
distinguished men sitting in the Lower House at
Westminster. At length, when the Session of 1849
has progressed as far as the Easter recess, a consti-
tuency demands the honour of declaring JOHN
ARTHUR ROEBUCK. to be its representative. That
constituency is Sheffield. We would contrast the
name of Sheffield with the names of Bath and of
Edinburgh—as we would contrast a consistent and
intelligent borough with boroughs vacillating in
opinion and ungrateful in character. In answer to
the requisition spontaneously forwarded to London
by some of the principal inhabitants of Sheffield, Mr.
ROEBUCK has fully unfolded the sentiments with
which he regards till present epoch in our career as
an empire. " The present," says he, " I cannot help
thinking a very critical period, and that much will
depend on the guidance of our political affairs of the
coming few months, for the future well-being of our
industrious people. If a really free trade be esta-
blished—if an honest reform in our expenditure be
adopted—if our financial system be put upon a ra-
tional basis—then I think we may be sanguine of
success. If all these things be delayed or de-
ferred, very serious evils will inevitably follow."
Those are the decisive views with which this emi-
nent Reformer will re-enter the House of Commons
—views indicative of no diminution of his energies,
and of no decrease in his enthusiasm. Whatever the
Rev. S. D. WADDY may say to the contrary, the
respect entertained during so many years towards the
ex-Member for Bath has in no respect evaporated.
The good opinion of the multitude for the integrity of
Mr. Roznycx has not that exquisite volatility which