12 NOVEMBER 1836, Page 13

TORY PROSPECTS IN MIDDLESEX.

THE persons who were behind the scenes at the last Middlesex nettled at the indifference of their candidate and his refusal to election, have been in the habit of speaking of it as exhibiting by the magic of his name. His Committee, some of them being the ne plus ultra of mismanagement on the part of the Liberals. Mr. HUME fancied that he could sit cross-legged, and be returned supply the ordinary expenses of a contest, did not pull well toge- ther. The Whigs gave the Radicals cold support ; and of course the Radicals did not help the Whigs heartily. It was only on the second day that Mr. HUME was driven to exert himself, and that the ordinary preparations were made for taking the Liberals to the poll. The Government influence, too, was strained against EYNG and Hums, but especially against "Josses' ; " who said, truly enough, "The Whigs are jealous of me, and dislike me, but the Tories hate me." Well, what, in spite of these disadvan- tages, was the result of the contest in 1835? At the close of the poll, the numbers were—

3461 For Mr. Byng 3115 Mr. flume Mr. Wood 2677 Majority for Mr. Hume 438

At the registration of 1835, large additions were made to the constituency, and the Tories boasted that the advantage was theirs. Proof of their assertions was never produced : on the contrary, where they could be checked, in several instances, they were con- victed of error ; especially we recollect, that in the Hampstead district, where they professed to have gained much, they were proved to have done little.

Now again they claim to have gained considerably by the regis- tration which has just been closed. The Standard says- " We feel ourselves to be quite below the mark, when we state the gain OR this year's registry at three hundred votes. Nor is there the slightest room to doubts Conservative majority, for two candidates, of at least 1500."

Supposing that we allow the Tories the 300 votes—how do they make out a majority of 1500? Where are the figures which jus- tify such an assumption ?—which is equal to a claim of an increase to the extent of 1938 votes since 1835; for, as we have seen, Mr. Hume, fighting under every disadvantage, had a majority of 438 in 1835. Had the Liberals been idle while the Tories worked in Middlesex, there might have been some reason to fear that the former had fallen grievously behind; but the fact is, that this year and last, Tory activity has been fully equalled by that of the Reformers.

Not pretending to speak confidently as to the result of the next

contest, we yet utterly deny that the Tories have adduced any thing like proof of their superiority. Much will depend upon the arrangements made at the time for bringing up the voters; much upon the degree of honesty and vigour with which the Govern- ment supports Mr. HUME; more, far more, upon the state of public feeling at the time of the election. Let, from any cause, the Reform spirit be thoroughly roused, and the chance of the Tories in Middlesex is not worth the trouble of calculation.