The Press. — London, England, 1858-06-05 00:00:00

530 " Mr. MIALL said he thought there was but one opinion as to the result of the interview with Lord PALMERSTON, and that was, that they must not look to the present Administration to assist them in carrying a messure for the abolition of Church-rates." Here we had Lord PALNI[ERSTOX in power, at the head of a professedly Liberal Government, and his real disposition with reibrence to the Church-rate question was clearly seen. Next, of the Ballot. Very consistently, and very distinctly and decidedly, has Lord PAL MERSTON always voted and spoken against the Ballot. lie may now " turn over a new leaf," and promise to support it. But what could such a sudden conversion gain for him, but the con tempt of every honourable mind ? So, also, of Mr. Locxn KING'S motions. Lord PALmEns- Tos has opposed them again and again, and has gladly obtained the help of the Conservatives to do so. Were he now, merely to annoy the Con servatives, and to gain a momentary triumph over them, to join those whom he has for years with stood, how could any honest man defend or tolerate such conduct ? As for the last point, the assumption of power over the army by the House of Commons, on that subject Lord PALMERSTON took a loyal and Conservative line so recently as last Tuesday evening. But what, then, is the general result of this review ? Is it not that, taking a fair and impar tial view of Lord PALMERSTON'S mode of speak ing and acting for years past, the Record is not without some apparent ground for its assertion that his Lordship is at heart " as good a Con " servative as Lord DERBY." . But, then, what shall we say when we find a man, who is "as good a Conservative as Lord DERBY," summoning meetings of the " Liberal members" of the House of Commons at Cam bridge-house, and offering to put himself at their head in order to defeat and expel the Conserva tive Ministry, and to become himself the head of a new Liberal Government ? Is it not clear that he must intend to deceive and delude either one party or the other. There are those who still hope and trust, with the Record, that Lord PAL mitßgrox is a Conservative at heart. There are others who receive his present professions, and who would help him to form a Liberal Govern ment, in order to further Liberal measures. Now, one of these two parties must be deceived. FoucHr., we believe, in the Hundred Days, was ostensibly and publicly one of BUONAPARTE'S Ministers. Yet, eally, though privately, he was acting for Loris XVIII. But is there a man to be found—in England, we mean—who would seriously defend such a line of conduct ? Need we seriously urge and contend that a man should appear what he really is, and that if his convic tions be on the Conservative side, or on the Liberal, on that side he should range himself? If Lord PALMERSTON, amidst a long succession of changes, coalitions, and new combinations, has begun to lose sight of the all-important dis tinction between right and wrong—between ob liquity and uprightness—we can assure him that there is still a large proportion of Englishmen whose perceptions are not so warped, and who will respect and support no man who does not plainly declare his convictions, and firmly abide by those convictions when declared. But, to return to our main subject—what is the state, and what are the prospects of " the great Liberal party " ? Is it not clear that such a party, if it can be held to exist, is in the most painful and perilous of all positions ? It is either disorganized, and a mere mob ; or it is under the THE PRESS, JUNE 5, 1858 trusting the late Premier, as a large section of . . they do, they will yet and help tbmit to be sooner or Govern- camp ; or they have \willb6s only to place in powe. Ay rupathy with their views, nor any respect for their persons. THE OTHER. SIDE OF TILE QUESTION. WE have just been reviewing the position and circumstances of the Liberals, and remarking on the sad alternative which seems to be before them, of disorganization and weakness on the one side, or submission to an unsympathising master on the other. It would be unfair to our opponents, and unwise as regards our friends, to forget or conceal the fact, that dangers of a similar character are often found on the Conser vative side also. It is, we suppose, a necessary and inevitable thing, that Liberal leaders, especially when in office, should be, or appear to be, less earnestly Liberal than their followers. And probably the same causes tend to make Conservative leaders, especially when in office, less strongly Conserva tive than their supporters. The most promi nent cause of this doubtless is, that an indivi dual Liberal or Conservative, simply expressing his own opinions, does so without the burden or fetters of official responsibility. But a man in power, whether Liberal or Conservative, feels that in carrying certain views into practical effect, he is doing that for which he - after• wards be called to account , taut of Calcutta, filled alarm, may demand the every sepoy. But the all his subordinates, know to death even a thousand captive sepoys would be an act for which they might afterwards be called to a solemn reckoning. Allowance must be made on both sides for this great difference in circumstances between an in- dependent Liberal or Conservative, and a Liberal or Conservative in office. But, having made this allowance, there will still remain much to be ac counted for. We cannot say that there exists on the Con servative side that evident want of sympathy or common feeling which is so apparent in the oppo site camp. Lord PALMERSTON has already shown on several occasions that his views and objects are not identical with those of " the great Liberal party." Nothing of this kind can be laid to the charge of Lord DERBY. The real nature of the peril which commonly besets the Conservative party may be best understood by a glance at the history of Sir ROBERT PEEL. This great Conservative leader showed con summate skill, in the years between 1835 and shilling great ooject, as he had promised in the previous year to do, he produced and passed a short awl simple A c t, empowering the cesiastical Commissioners to borrow some money from the Commissioners of Queen ANNE'S Bounty ! Any such measure Lord JOHN Russicu. would gladly have conceded in Lord MELBOURNE'S House of Commons ; yet this was all that Sir ROBERT PEEL had to offer in a House especially elected to maintain Conservative principles ! Five years before, in his address to the electors of Tamworth, Sir ROBERT PEEL had promised a settlement of the Church-rate question. He had now got a House of Commons which was fully prepared to deal with this great question in a Conservative spirit. But not the slightest attempt of the kind did he make. He thus sacrificed an opportunity of adjusting this diffi cult matter, which can never again occur! Two years had passed, and the Church found, to her great disappointment, that from this Con servative Ministry, backed by a Conservative ma jority in the House of Commons, she had little or nothing to expect. But the Unitarians excited more interest in Sir ROBERT PEEL'S mind. They had got possession of a number of chapels, founded for the use of orthodox Dissenters. From these chapels there was danger of their being ejected by the ordinary course of law. To prevent this, and to hinder the orthodox Dis senters from regaining their own property, Sir interfered. ‘troduced, and - this own the and irreparable sur rendering . Having shat tered to pieces the noblest body of men that ever supported any Minister in a British House of Commons, he now had to cross the House and take his seat on the Opposition benches. But he was no longer what in 1837, 1838, and 1839, he had been—the admired and trusted leader of a band of three hundred honourable men. On all sides he saw alienation and dislike. The next year a general election cleared the House of nearly one hundred of hispersonal supporters, and " the Peelites " dwindled into insignificance. For two years he endured his altered and humiliating circumstances; but his health evidently suf fered, and at last, in a sudden and mysterio'J way, the grave received him. We have alluded to these painful circum stances, not because such a retrospect can be any thing but disagreeable, but because the fall o f Sir ROBERT PEEL ought to act as a practical warning, for many years to come, to all public men. Never did any statesman more clearly dig down and undermine the foundations of his own power. Nothingemore was needed to render Sir ROBERT PEEL'S Premiership coextensive with his own life than simply this—that he should ha/ been the office that he had • admirers fell quite hat they Ball and which statesman's chic) 'conciliatt the at questions are 4, Let Us try nothing iuestion, settled? , much s attempting this the Liberals plainly tell us they do, they be unable to bear their present scattered a less condition. They will once more sub] ordered into lint; they trill once more, later, be arrayed against the Conservative Went; bid it will be with the deplorable that either they will fall and be defeated because of the vision* in their own ca they will succeed, titer* to find, as tl already found, that thr victory to them barren one ; lbr that thq hive fought, Place in power one who has no sympai eervative principles, his whole drift and aim when in power seemed to be to disappoint Conser- vatives, and to flatter and conced e t o Lib erals. His lilt duty wadi to ME the pledge whi c h he had gittn only One year beibre, by supportin g Sir aduEhlr INGaslii inotinn, that the religious destitution of our uloue districts should b e supplied. This mot had nearly been carried in Ldfd tLeot; Howie of Comm ons; an d now fir ekArr PEF:f , bud got a Con servat i ve Hoff*, rea d y, with a Majority of ninety, t o a d opt 111 any realm:noble proposal. But the obligation which he had admitted on twelve months bef ore , he now evaded. Inste of devoting a single shilling of the national funds to this great object, for which he may after- 11CiEnT PEEL Interfgred. He ineroduceA it. An English inhabi- forced through both Houses, an Act for with indignation and nefarious purpose. immediate execution of This was his first great quarrel with his ~.sdpporters. in,the next year he widened Governor-General, and breach by his Maynooth Endowment Act; 3w full well that to put in 1846 he made it final and irreparable by nd captive senors would rendering the Corn Laws. Having thus sl 6 lCittll.V 04 LIM ulaLui j 11/ Ql/. 11(7111..1%1 1. r.r.i.. a party, if it can be held to exist, is in the most 110 BERT PEEL'S - Premiership coextensive win painful and perilous of all positions ?It is either This great Conservative leader showed con- his own life than simply this—that he shook disorganized, and a mere mob ; or it is under the summate skill, in the years between 1835 and have been the same man in office that he ha( guidance of a man who is professing one thing 1841 , and meaning another. The Examiner, we ob- in forming and building up a party. Ile been out of it. His followers and admirers tel then took the reins of o ffi ce with a clear majority serve, regards it in the former light, saying, in in Downing-streetbecause from its last number : of ninety in the House of Commons, and might had known him in Merchant Tailors' Hall an' oanfroytheaerr by man year, have retained power to the end of his life, and " We would have no more attacks upon this at Glasgow. mighty Government as long as it continues have made his name famous as the greatest We need not apply the lesson—it is one whicl rooted in the littlenesses of an Opposition to practical Conservative Reformer that England h w i h m at q t tu lit t % iliat whidt numbers are no more a source of strength had ever seen. Instead of which, he managed temptation nowa days is to strive more to conc at speaks for itself. Practically, .the statesman's chit than to a flock of sheep. Yet even sheep pre- • in less than five years to shatter and break up opponents than to confirm and strengthen the sent a united front to a common danger." the great party which he himself had formed, troublesome ones—the Tempter says, "Let us tr, tachment of friends. Two or three questions at But this can hardly continue. The natural ten- and was then driven from office, and died in less and settle them, and then there will be uothin lency of men in general, is to find out and enlist f our years, we strongly suspect, of a than • -inder some lender. When anarchy has prevailed thought he would " se ttle the Maynooth question broken heart. to trouble or endaner us." Sir ROBERT PEE for a time, the people will rather declare fora and get it out of the way." But was it settled tyranny , than remain ungoverned. And so it will And how was this? It was, because, raised to Is it not as much unsettled as ever; as much probably be in this case. Disbelieving and die- power to promote, nourish, and further Con- theme of contention ? Yet, in attempting th • wz , .. 71