The Sun.
London, England, 1868-11-18 00:00:00

LOIVDON, WEDNESDAY, NOV. 18, 1868.

Perhaps yesterday miy have taken just a trifle
of his enormous self-conceit out of Mr. J. S. MILL,
lute M.P. for Westminster. It is hardly probable, but
there is a bare chance of it. Never was there such an
anti-climax. Here is the man who was busying him-
self so very officiously with other people's elections
—vouchsafing a testimonial of character to this one
—dictating who ought to be or who ought not to be
the representative of such or such a constituency—
writing impertinent letters to one candidate—making
oracular speeches in favour of another—hurrying
in person now to Greenwich t 3 talk in favour of Mr•
GLADSTONE, now to Brighton to say a word of good
for Professor FAWCETT (as if Professor FAWCETT
needed it, or Mr. GLADSTONE either, for that matter !)
—here is this man, " a DANIEL, yea, a very
DANIEL, come to judgment r —when his own election
is brought upon the tapis—ignominiously kicked out
as a candidate utterly abhorrent to the constituency
of Westminster ! To speak plainly—it just serves Mr.
Mr LL right. He has brought the result entirely
upon himself. By his insufferable dictation he has
alienated a very large fiutnb3r of those who would
otherwise have continued to be enrolled among his sup-
porters. By his passionate intolerance in regard to
ex-Governor EYRE, he first of all cooled the ardour
of those who were originally disposed to congratulate
themselves upon his being their representative in
Parliament—but who wondered to see so

mach petty malignity in so great a philo-
sopher. Then followed his electioneering escapades
—his sickening and even silly panegyric upon Mr.
EDWIN CHADWICK—his nonsensical suggestion to Mr.
BOUVERIE that he should step aside in order to make
way for that Paragon Nightman—his inconsequential
ten pound note towards the electioneering expenses
of another cm:Ai:late, at the very time when, upon
principle (forsooth 1) he was declining to contribute
one farthing towards the payment of his own—and, last
not least of all, his indecorous cockering up, as a sort
of model prize working man's candidate, the notorious
unbeliever and blasphemer Mr. BRADLAUGH. No
wonder the rational electors of Westminster kicked
against all this. More especially when, charged with
atheism, all the reply Mr. MILL condescends to give
is to direct such as are curious to know whether he is
or not, to those very books of his which proclaim,
with the utmost possible clearness both of thought
and language, that he believes in nothing—
but Himself. Hundreds of the Liberal elec-
tors in Westminster, though longing to advance
the cause of Liberalism by their votes, shrank from
the notion of sending an infidel Philosopher (save the
mark !) into Parliament as their deliberately chosen
representative. We say this from our knowledge of
the fact. And, for one, we can assert it as a fact,
very distinctly, indeed, for ourselves. The overween-
ing vanity of the man's intellect in his entire
conviction of his own absolute infallibility,
and of the necessary " stupidity " of those
who presumed to think otherwise, was of itself
an outrage to public opinion. He reminded one, this
oracular Believer (as wej'have said) in Nothing but
tlimself—he, naturally enough, reminded one of
JERROLD'S intentional Bull, his famous mot in regard
to the now almost forgotten infidel dialogue between
Miss MARTINEAU and Mr. ATKlNSON—through which
mot the lady's unbelief was thus dogmatically
expressed—" There is No GOD, and ATKINSON is
His Prophet." So now, it has been, and
still is, of course, with this most self-com-
placent of philosophers, late M.P. for the
City of Westminster—" Thera is No GOD, and
MILL is His Prophet." We have had enough of him.
And we are heartily glad to see this wooden fetish
toppled down from the high pedestal on which it has
been perched during the last three years, in the sight
of all men, here in Westminster. We are well rid of it.
Not that Parliament is rid of Mr. MILL, but that, at
any rate, Westminster is. For there is a talk already
about finding a place for this wonderful power among
politicians, down at Green with —supposing, that is, of
course, Mr. GLADSTONE should not require Greenwich
for himself, by reasan of his having been duly return©d
for the far more important and conspicuous constitu-
ency of South-West Lancashire. That he will be re-
turned for South-west Lancashire we cannot but per-
sist in believing ; and then, in that case, Greenwich
can be handed over (that is to- say if its own assent,
to be sure, can be previously secured for the trans-
action) to Mr. J. S. MILL, the rejected of Westminster.
But even then Greenwich won't ba Westminster.
A wholesome lesson will thus have been given to
this living and breathing incarnation of Infallibility.
The Great Political Dogmatist of the age will have
been taken down a peg. Hardly—we fear—fn his
own estimation. That is past praying for. But at