The Sun.
London, England, 1847-01-21 00:00:00

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LONDON, THURSDAY, JANUARY 21, 1847

A new writ has been ordered by the House of
Commons for the election of a representative for the
county of Middlesex, in the room of Mr. BYNG, re-
cently deceased. By this circumstance the important
and influential office of Member for the metropolitan
shire is again placed at the disposal of its enfranchised
population. We cannot doubt for a single
moment the discretion of the Middlesex electors in
awarding the majority of their rotes to the most en-
lightened and competent among the candidates who
may present themselves upon the hustings. The
cordiality which existed during so many years be-
tween the late revered and excellent Father of the
House of Commons and his eminent constituency is
a significant and sufficient proof that the latter are
animated with a due reverence for our venerable Con-
stitution, and, at the same time, with an earnest
affection for the predominant spirit of the age—the
spirit of comprehensive and sagacious reform. In the
protracted and honourable career of GEORGE BYNG
the character of the electors of the metropolitan
county is admirably testified—for the name of that
deceased Reformer is intimately associated with the
history of the British Parliament during its
most memorable and most worthy exercise of the
legislative power. Upon all our greatest political
benefactions, dating back some half century, the
name of Mr. BYNG was invariably recorded in
the most creditable position. In every question in-
volving the happiness of the people Mr. BYNG voted
on the side of liberality, and as he did so simply in
the capacity of representative for Middlesex, it is
manifest that Middlesex continued throughout the
extended career of its Member warmly and devotedly
attached to the noblest principles of moral enlighten-
ment and social advancement. Remembering the
course undeviatingly pursued by the late rather of
the House of Commons, and recognising in his con-
duct the declaration of the sentiments entertained by
the enfranchised inhabitants of Middlesex, we cannot
doubt that that constituency will return to Parlia-
ment some man qualified to succeed Mr. BYNG, both
in the capacity of his intelligence, the independence
of his disposition, the generosity of his principles,
and the incorruptible solidity of his character.
Such a candidate has already appeared in the
person of Lord R. GaosvEsion—a man every way
qualified to be the successor of Mr. BYNG as
the representative of Middlesex. In Lord ROBERT
GROSVENOR the electors have at their acceptance a
staunch and inflexible supporter of all those liberal
principles which they have themselves so cordially
maintained. The candidate who by the course of
circumstances has been induced to solicit their
suffrages is no mere fledgling politician ; his assur-
ances are not such as must be swallowed on trust ;
he is not one of those who are compelled, on appear-
ing before a constituency, to become their own pane-
gyrists by sketching out a flattering perspective of
their intentions. The past life of Lord ROBERT
GROSVENOR is a guarantee of his future conduct, and
it is such a guarantee as constitutes an assurance to
the Middlesex electors that Lord ROBERT Gaos-
VENOR is a suitable candidate. In the letter of greet-
ing written by the Noble Lord to this constituency,
and in the farewell letter also addressed by
himself to his constituency of Chester, we
perceive familiar indications of the fulness and
enthusiasm with which he is disposed to uphold the
cause of liberality and reform. On every account Lord
ROBERT GROSVENOR is about the fittest man that
could be found to send to the Commons' House of
Parliament as Member for the metropolitan shire.
Of course, at an election occurring at the moment
when the present Parliament is so rapidly approach-
ing the limit of its legal existence, the selection of
any individual candidate would be merely prelimi-
nary to the ultimate choice of a general election.
Still it would be injudicious, and more than that, it
would be a positive dereliction of duty
to abate one jot of earnestness on the score of the
dwindling life of the Parliament now sitting. Those
who possess the prerogatives and responsibilities of
the franchise should on no account regard the exer-
cise of those prerogatives and the satisfaction of those
responsibilities with indifference. The votes of elec-
tors are not units, but multiply ; they go for the
voices not merely of the enfranchised, but of the un-
enfranchised likewise. Consequently it is a
perpetual duty, cn the part of every elector,
to aid the development of those political opinions the
predominance of which he believes to be essential to
the prosperity of the country—and to aid their de-
velopment at all times and under all circumstances.
It is requisite, therefore, that the constituency of the
county of
Middlesex should afford Lord ROBERT
GROSVENOR a reception as cordial and unanimous as
though this were the commencement, instead of the
termination, of the present Parliament.

The discussion that yesterday followed the bringing
up of the report on the Address to the Crown, in the
House of Commons, though somewhat discursive, was