BATH ELECTION POLITICS—"BREAKING DOWN THE REFORM INTEREST."
THE Times of Monday contains an intemperate attack on Mr. HUME, feUnded on a complete misstatement of facts. The writer sets out by saying that "More than one complaint is made, that in places where the canvass of Re- formers has already been successfully completed, and where the return of Re- form candidates would, by the application of a little common sense, public spirit, and mutual forbearance, be secure, some selfish and meddling quack in- terposes, and raises the pretensions of a yet unheard-of individual; which, if partially supported, can but serve to split the strength of the Country party, to let in some Tory enemy through the rent thus foolishly or maliciously oc- - .casioned."
If such meddling quacks there be, their conduct cannot be too strongly reprobated, at a time when cordial union among Re- formers is so necessary. But who is the quack, and what is the nature of his meddling interference ? The Times tells us— "Bath seems to be a case in point. That city, meaning the self-elected Cor- poration of it, was for a considerable time represented by a Lord of a Tory tamily, as colleague to Colonel Palmer. The more expanded constituency under . the new Bill has been for three months past canvassed by Mr. Hobhouse, brother to the worthy baronet the Secretary at War. Mr. Hobhouse is'a gentle.. man resident at Bath; a thorough, steady, and enlightened Reformer. He is supported by the great bulk of the Reforming interest in that city, by the two Members for Westminster, and by Lord Grey's Government, so far as its influ- ence extends. We have said that it is three months since Mr. Hobhouse came before the Bath electors, and that he is a stanch friend of Reform and of Liberal Government. It is likewise known that a strong and inveterate Corporation or Tory. faction exists at Bath, quite ready to profit by any act of impoliey or iniquity among the professed friends of Reform. What, then, must be thought of some amongst the latter, or rather of one individual amongst them, when we state that he has just gone to Bath, for no object, inconceivable as it may appear, but the evil one of breaking down the Reform interest, of dividing the house of good government against itself, and so far helping what yet he will, we trust, be unable to effect ? This man is Mr. Joseph Hume. It may be zuother of his blunders. He may not be conscious of designing mischief, or agree that it is mischievous to play the game of the Tories ; but if the pushing and interloping gentleman had been bribed for it, he could not more directly and infallibly promote the cause of Toryism against that of the People of England, than by setting off for Bath, and making a speech, at a partisan meet- ing there, in favour of Mr. Roebuck—a gentleman of whom the city heard nothing before, and who (albeit an harmless personagein his own sphere, for any thing we know about bins) would probably, as member for Bath, be no more than a tool or faggot in the hands of the Member for Middlesex. The latter would doubtless have small objection to come forth in the Reformed Parliament, as chieftain of a convenient junta of his own,—a circumstance attaching more personal weight than has heretofore appertained to that honourable gentleman."
Such conduct on the part of Mr. HUME, had he been guilty of it, would have justified the grave imputation against his motives contained in the last sentence of 'the above passage. But what shall we think of a journal which founds such an imputation upon a statement of circumstances, every particular of which is incorrect ? We have copious, and, we believe, accurate information on the subject; and we shall tell our readers how the facts really stand. There are three parties in Bath. There is the old Corporation party, long and still under the influence of the Marquis of BATH; there is a party who profess to be Moderate Reformers, the most active members of which are united in a Reform Association; and there are the Reformers who adhere to the principles of the Bath Political Union. Some months ago, the last-mentioned party applied to Mr. HUME, requesting him to recommend a per- son of principles similar to his own, and not connected either with Whig or Tory, as a candidate for the representation of the city. After some communication with them,—in the course of which he made them aware that such a person as he should recommend would only come forward on the understanding that the chance of success was fair, and that he should be returned free of expense,—Mr. HUME recommended Mr. ROEBUCK, as a person of sound princi- ples and known capacity. Whilst these negotiations were going on, between Mr. HUME and the members of the Bath Political Union, the other party of • Reformers—the Moderate party—thinking that Mr. Homouses political explanations were by no means so clear as they ought to • have been, came to the conclusion that he was not the man for them; and they also applied to Mr. Hume to recommend another candidate, as the Political Union had done before. Mr. HUME, of 'course, recommended Mr. ROEBUCK to them. They sent Mr. ROEBUCK a requisition, numerously signed; they invited Mr. HUME to accompany Mr. ROEBUCK to Bath, to which Mr. HUME yielded only because of the pressing nature of the invitation, which was signed by a large portion of the Political Union, and because it was coupled with an assurance that his ap- pearance along with Mr. ROEBUCK would tend to unite the various Reforming interests. If the - Times had read the report of Mr. HUME'S speech at Bath, it would have found the whole of these particulars publicly stated to an assembly of not less than two thousand of the inhabitants; and it would have been able to mark also the unanimity of the Reformers, and their determination to support Mr. ROEBUCK. True, that gentleman has not per- sonally canvassed the town. The Reformers, on Mr. HUME'S .suggestion, requested him not to do so, but rather to meet the • electors at district meetings. Of the personal canvass, the requi- sitionists have themselves agreed to take the charge. Such is the plain account of this matter. Instead of Mr. Hos- HousE s canvass being "successfully completed," that gentleman is rejected by both divisions of the Reformers : in the course of his three months canvass, he has not gained above 250 promises, and ,these are chiefly from the Tories. Instdad of Mr. HUME, like a -selfish and meddling quack, interfering with Mr..HOBHOUSE, Mr. Hums did not interpose until he was specially and mosturgently requested to do so, first by one class of the Reformers, and then by the other. The first request was made to him before Mr.Hos- muss had appeared at all ; and the second, after the applicants had been satisfied that Mr. HOBHOUSE was not the man for them. Mr. ROEBUCK has thus, in consequence of Mr. HUME'S recom- mendation, been invited to stand for Bath by all the leading Re- formers of that city; and the circumstance of all those Reformers having applied to Mr. HUME on the subject, is an emphatic and well-merited tribute to his integrity, ability, and influence.
The charge against Mr. HUME, of introducing discord among the Reformers, is thoroughly put down by this plain tale. The Times talks petulantly about Mr. ROEBUCK as a person of whom the city (Bath) heard nothing before, and who may be "a harmless man in his own sphere, for any thing we know about him." Though Mr. ROEBUCK has not the distinction of being known to the Times, he is well known to Reformers, by his various writings, as a man of sound principles and great talent. Is Mr. HOBHOUSE better known ? Not half so well, we will venture to affirm. At his dinner at Bath, the other day, he confesses he is " an untried man," and that his name "is not associated with any acts of pub- lic utility." He therefore makes a profession of his principles, the perusal of which enables us to account for the previous discontent of the Bath Reformers. In order to let them know " distinctly the ground he stands upon," he says, with much emphasis, " I claim for you the adoption of the principles and consequences of the Reform Bill into the policy and institutions of the country." This may be high-sounding, but it is any thing but distinct; and, by way of explaining himself, he says that, by " the principles of the Reform Bill," he means " Peace, Retrenchment, and Reform." We have heard, usque ad nauseam, of the " principle of the Bill ;" but we find that something new can still be said on the subject. We will admit that Reform may be the principle of the Reform Bill, though nobody thought it necessary to say so before ; but to talk of peace and retrenchment being " principles" of the Reform Bill, fairly passes our comprehension. Such, how- ever, is Mr. HoBnousE's method of explaining "distinctly the ground he stands on." When he comes to details, he is not more felicitous. He says, that the repeal of the Assessed Taxes, " by relieving the farmer, may enable him to forego the protection he now derives from the Corn-laws." Mr. HOBHOUSE must go back to his studies. If he do, he will find that the Corn-laws, far from protecting the farmer, press as heavily on him as on any other class of the community. On the Currency question, he is still worse. He exclaims against the hardship of the nation paying "old debts" in the present good and lawful money; and says that we are now paying nearly double what we received,—"which is manifestly absurd and unjust." Mr. HOBHOUSE must mean, of course (though, with his usual lack of precision, he does not distinctly say so), that it will be one of his objects to put an end to the " absurd and unjust" payment of debts in the present currency : in other words, he is one of that infatuated party who would open the floodgates to an inundation of depreciated paper. In the vaper (the Bath Chronicle) which contains the account of this dinner, we find also an account of a great public meeting, for the purpose of hearing Mr. ROEBUCK declare his political sen- timents. His speech on that occasion formed a contrast to Mr. HOBHOUSE'S. It was manly and vigorous; contained a most ex- plicit declaration of sound opinions on every leading question; and must have impressed the electors with a most favourable idea of his qualifications as a legislator. Are matters, then, come to this pass, that the electors of Bath are not to choose the man they like, nor to make use of the fran- chise that the Reform Bill has bestowed un them, freely? and that Mr. HUME is not, however strongly entreated, to listen to their communications, nor Mr. ROEBUCK to attend to their requi- sitions, because, forsooth, the consequence may be the defeat of the hopes of a man whose only claim to notice is, that lie is the brother of the Secretary of War, and that Isis claim to the character of a thorough Reformer is certfied by the Times, which evidently knows nothing about either him or his cause? We have stated how matters really stand at Bath: the fact is, so far from Mr. ROEBUCK interfering with the pretensions of Mr. HOBHOUSE, that gentleman is interfering with the more legitimate pretensions of Mr. ROEBUCK. But we have something better to add—the right will go the right way. Mr. ROEBUCK had, on the 13th, 950 pledged votes, and he has gone on daily adding to the number.
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