The Press. — London, England, 1858-02-06 00:00:00

THE PRESS, FEBItUARY 6, 1858. have it from his own lips—directed them to raise another 5,0001., of which they could only spare him 3001. This last stroke seems to have awakened him. He insisted on an account. At last he got one, showing the firm to be his debtors for 22,800/. The debit side of this account was correct enough ; on the cre:lit side a few trifling items, one of 12,0001., had been " overlooked." The sum really due is now admitted to have been 83,4001. ! In the presence of folly such as this, com ment becomes unskilful. What can be said of a man of ripe age, recently engaged in trade, who from sheer indolence and credulity lets himself be robbed under his very nose after this fashion ! As the Commissioner well said, it is indiscretion, which amounts to a tempta tion to do wrong. Of course, this makes the bankrupts' case none the better. But pity would be misplaced where misfortune has been courted. Sir CHARLES, between the brothers HALL, must have looked like King Lear be tween Goneril and Began. He has " pared " his wit o' both sides, and left nothing in the " middle," and his two attorney-bankers, like the King's daughters, represent the parings. Dupes of this stamp are sent to us for warnings. The next client is of another order. Mrs. ALEXANDER DALOLEISH is the wife of a gentle man who is insane. Almost her sole support was a sum of 2,0001. Consols, settled to her separate use, and standing in the name of her trustee, Mr. Jowl TRAIN. Recommended to the bankrupts, those gentlemen express the utmost sympathy for her unhappy situation. " Poor ALEX,' says CHESLYN, who is the actor in this last brilliant drama, " I will do any " thing for his poor wife." Five per cent. is dangled judiciously before her eyes. The trustee is induced to send up a power of attorney. Mrs. DALOLEISH is taken to the Bank ; she signs the bank-book. The broker says that everything has been arranged by Mr. HALL; he would not be justified in telling her anything. CHESLYN just steps with her into the cab, as he wants to tell her what has been done. "He then immediately began to " talk about other matters ; and when they " arrived at Temple-bar, he suddenly stopped " the carriage, and got out, as he had just "recollected a pressing engagement; but he " would call upon her next morning to explain Othe whole thing." The farce was played out. ur readers can imagine for themselves the frequent importunities of the victim, the shuffling lies of the spoilers, the hope against hope, the protracted misery, the sickening delay. Of course she never saw a sixpence of her money. The decree even which she ob tained against the firm is defeated by their bankruptcy, and she is saddled with the costs of the suits against them to add a sort of com pleteness to her ruin. Yet even this case, cruel, heartless as it is, has yet its ridiculous aspect. Mrs. DALOLEISH is described as " evidently a lady of superior " mind," and as giving " her evidence with " remarkable clearness and propriety." She knew that, there was something wrong the moment after she was deserted at Temple• bar; nor did she ever cease to follow up the bankrupts till at last she brought them to bay before Mr. Commissioner FANE. She was clearly no clay to be moulded in an attorney's hands. She was no Sir Charles Rushout. Nor had any precaution been omitted to save her from herself. There was both settlement and trustee. What, then, was tho potent spell, the fatal charm, which lured her to her ruin ? Let her answer for herself :—" I was led to em " ploy the bankrupts, and take the course I " did, on being informed that they were per " sons in good position, riding in their car " riaYe." It is the old story—" that nameless " touch of vulgarity"—that shopkeeper wor ship of wealth and gig-respectability, with which we are so often reproached, and which is the most fruitful source of folly, crime, and misery in English civilisation. Only let a man wear the externals of wealth, and he received in higher than ordinary circles, and there is nothing which we have the courage to deny him, no prudent rule that we will not break at Iris bidding, and no unreasonable confidence that we will not offer at his shrine. For the bankrupts it is difficult to speak With patience, but, so far as they have offended against the bankrupt laws, they aro still sub jwlice. We gladly leave them to the authorised tribunal. But as they admit the truth of the facts we have detailed, we may at least con gratulate them on the good fortune or the prudence which closed their operations before the passing of the Act " for the punishment "of frauds committed by trustees, bankers, " and other persons intrusted with property." "DRIFTING" REFORM DANGERS. Is politics, as in war, there can be no greater fault than neglecting to anticipate the con junctures which are possible, and which may be set down as probable, on the occurrence of certain contingencies. It is absolutely neces sary to think beforehand, to view rising cases with circumspective scrutiny, and to be pre pared against difficulties. The Russian war was mainly brought about because, by a strange mixture of vacillation and duplicity, Europe was allowed to " drift " into a military struggle. The word " drifting " exactly de scribes the temper of a large portion of society upon the question of " Reform." The coun try at large is confessedly apathetic on the subject; all the galvanic attempts to get up agitation have ended in spasms of mere con• tortion, and the chief persons who take an habi tual and constant interest in it are the profes sional electioneerers of the Liberal connection. A great leading organ does its best to damp all discussion of the subject. It assumes a retrospective tone, and indulges in historical parallels between the old and present Houses of Commons, and amuses itself with literary illustrations of a kind more interesting than useful, and in rhetorical manoeuvres, which leave the reader's mind at the end of a long article exactly as at the beginning ; in short, such " drifting" composition only indicates the absence of profound views and solid con victions. But, unquestionably, such a mode of dealing with the discussion of " Reform " is tolerably calculated to represent the wavering, crude, and cloudy conceptions of a large class of the Liberals " out of doors," and even of a con siderable number of Parliamentary Whigs and " something more." We are told that " Reform is to be brought on the stage, and, "if possible, settled." Here we have the " possibility" of any " settlement" questioned at the outset. And then we are told that even if time should fail, " some understanding may " be come to as to the principles on which the " Reform is to be based." As if that was not plain enough to reveal the doubts and diffi culties in a certain quarter, we aro advised that it is " just as well to have some oppor " tunity of hearing definite opinions and " learning the views of its chief politicians." In other words, the House of Commons should be turned: into a mere debating society, and her Majesty's Ministers are to bring forward measures for the opportunity of hearing a con stitutional argument from Lord JoHN RUSSELL, a brilliant display of eloquence from Mr DisRAELI, and a well prepared digest of facts from Sir JAMES GRAHAM. Now, we must caution our readers against being deceived by that sort of political writing. In a period not long gone by the public mind was completely cajoled by affected moderation of a similar kind. The Pal►nerston measure of Reform will, beyond a doubt, be menacing, dangerous, and reckless. It will include destruction of boroughs on a large scale, it will vastly reduce the franchise in counties, it will vitally affect the balance of party, and it will most seriously assail those great territorial interests which even Mr. HALLAM has recog nised as original and vital parts of the social elements of the British Constitution. Whatever may be the belief of the Premier as to the feasibility of his measure, or as to the number of chances of its ever becoming law, it is positively certain that tho scheme to be offered to Parliament will be of a distinctively sweeping character. Lord PALMERSTON, pos sibly, thinks on the question, not as a legislator, but as a diplomatist. Time, and the experience of so many political vicissitudes, has made him insensible to the value of fixed principles ; he calculates that by tossing a reckless measure to Parliament, the chances of its becoming law will be lost in the strife of factions, and the discords of contentious reformers disputing amongst themselves. Whether such a system of policy be worthy of a Prime Minister is a point on which the versatile Viscount never troubles himself. Such a plan will serve his turn ; it will help him to sail around Lord Joni( RUSSELL, and to breast the rising opposition of Mr. BRIGHT, and other distinguished performers on the democratic platform. Against this policy of the Primo Minister it is our duty to warn the Conservatives throughout the country. Let them be assured that there is real danger in the " drifting character of the Liberals. Let the contin gency bo studied and closely marked. The Premier will propose a Bill of a bold and dan gerous nature, and after a short time (as was the case in 1831-2), the scheme may be snatched out of the parental hands, to be dis figured and defaced by the violent action of popular opinion. A great pretext for " agita tion" will be afforded, and much excitement may be caused. For some time past the Liberals want "a cry," and the Palmerston scheme will help to give them one. A plat form will be established, and a race of new agitators may come before the public. It was so twenty years, and later. The country was excited from end to end by a whole race of men whose names were not even known in the month of March, 1831. The same thing to a considerable extent might occur again. Although the novelty of " Reform " has worn out, and although the passions of the populace cannot be so inflamed to such a pitch as twenty-five years ago, still in the most im portant question of " the balance of party," there is a field for " the jobbery of Liberalism " to work upon ; and the history of the last general election has proved, beyond a doubt, that there is a great organised machinery throughout the country, which on occasions can be artfully employed for the furtherance of Liberal ascendancy. Even since we last addressed the public on this great subject circumstantial proofs have been given that the intelligence communicated by us was sound. One of the best informed of the leading provincial journals of the empire has stated that " twenty-six English " seats (exclusively of Irish and Scotch ones) " will be affected in the disfranchising direo " tion." And let our readers observe the exact way in which these " disfranchising " intentions may be carried out. There are, firstly, fifty boroughs in England and Wales, whose constituencies are under 400 electors, and they return between them seventy-three members. There are, secondly, twenty-three boroughs, whose constituencies are over 400 and under 600 electors, and they return twenty-three members of Parliament. There are, thirdly, twenty-two boroughs, whose con stituencies are over 600 and under 800 electors, and these return forty-one members. It is upon those classes of the present borough representation of the country that the dis franchising operations will be most vigorously executed. Some boroughs will he completely extinguished, and the representation of them will be distributed amongst the great centres of Radicalism and democratic energy ; and, on the other hand, a great number of impor tant towns, now returning two members, will be clipped of a member, whose seat will be transferred to overgrown constituencies, where, without a Radical popularity, it will be impossible for any independent gentleman to look for the representation. By this means, and by deteriorating the county franchise, a complete ascendancy for Official Liberalism will be established. In order to achieve that consummation, no means will be left untried by those who have the resources for popular agitation at their command, and who have a subterranean connection with a portion of the Cabinet. And let us beg of our readers to observe that whatever were the mistakes of the Grey Cabinet in 1831, that Ministry included several statesmen who were not hostile to the institu tions of the country or to the fair working of the balance of party. The Conservative party , . • _ . . THE PRESS, FEBRUARY 6 , 1858. 123 have it from his own lips—directed thorn to against the bankrupt laws, they aro still s'tb has made him insensible to the value of fixed ra ise another 5,0001., of which they could only jadice. We gladly leave them to the authorised principles ;he calculates that by tossing a spare him 3001. This last stroke seems to tribunal. But as they admit the truth of the reckless measure to Parliament, the chances of have awakened him. He insisted on au facts we have detailed, we may at least con- its becoming law will be lost in the strife of account. At last he got one, showing the firm gettulate them on the good fortu ne or t h e f act i ons, and the discords of contentious to be his debtors for 22,8001. The debit side prudence which closed their operations before reformers disputing amongst themselves. of this account was correct enough ; on the the passing of the Act " for the punishment Whether such a system of policy be worthy of credit side a few trifling it ems , one of 12,0001., "of frauds committed by trustees, bankers, a Prime Minister is a point on which the had been " overlooked." The sum really due " and other persons intrusted with property." versatile Viscount never troubles himself. is now admitted to have been 63,4001. ! Such a plan will serve his turn ; it will help In the presence of folly such as this, com- "DRIFTING" REFORM DANGERS. him to sail around Lord Jour; Rosszee, and to ment becomes unskilful. What can be said of breast the rising opposition of Mr. BRIGHT, a man of ripe age, recently engaged in trade, IN politics, as in war, there can be no greater and other distinguished performers on the who from sheer indolence and credulity lets fault than neglecting to anticipate the con- democratic platform. himself be robbed under his very nose after Against this policy of the Primo Minister junctures which are possible, and which mey this fashion ! As the Commissioner well said, it is our duty to warn the Conservatives it is indiscretion, which amounts to a tempta- be sot down as probable, on the occurrence of throughout the country. Let them be assured tion to do wrong. Of course, this makes the certain contingencies. It is absolutely neces- that there is real danger in the " drifting bankrupts' case none the better. But pity nary to think beforehand, to view rising cases character of the Liberals. Let the coritin would be misplaced where misfortune has been with circumspective scrutiny, and to be pre- gency bo studied and closely mar k e d . Th e co urted. Sir CHARLES, between the brothers Premier will propose a Bill of a bold and pared against difficulties. The Russian war dan- HALL, must have looked like King Lear be- gerous nature, and after a short time (as was tween Goneril and Began. He has " pared was mainly brought about because, by a the case in 1831-2), the scheme may be " his wit o' both sides, and left nothing in the strange mixture of vacillation and duplicity, snatched out of the parental hands, to be dis- " middle," and his two attorney-bankers, like Europe was allowed to " drift " into a military figured and defaced by the viol en t ac ti on o f the King's daughters, represent the parings. " popular opinion. A great p re t ex t f or " ag it a - struggle. The word " drifting exactly de. tion" will be afforded; and m uc h exc it emen t Dupes of this stamp are sent to us for warnings. scribes the temper of a large portion of society may be caused. For some time past the The next client is of another order. Mrs. upon the question of " Reform." The coon- Liberals want "a cry," and the Palmerston ALEXANDER DALOLEISH is the wife of a gentle- try at large is confessedly apathetic on the scheme will help to give them one. A plat- man who is insane. Almost her sole support . form will be established, and a race of new subject; all the galvanic attempts to get up was a sum of 2,0001. Consols, settled to her agitators may come before the public. It was separate use, and standing in the name of agitation have ended in spasms of mere con- so twenty years, and later. The country was h er trustee, Mr. JOHN TRAIN. Recommended tortion, and the chief persons who take an habi- excited from end to end by a whole race of to the bankrupts, those gentlemen express the tual and constant interest in it are the profea- men whose names were not even known in the utmost sympathy for her unhappy situation. sional electioneerers of the Liberal connection. month of March, 1831. The same thing to a " Poor ALEX,' says CHESLYN, who is the actor A great leading organ does its best to damp considerable extent might occur again. in this last brilliant drama, " I will do any- all discussion of the subject. It assumes a Although the novelty of " Reform " has worn " thing for his poor wife." Five per cent. is retrospective tone, and indulges in historical out, and although the passions of the populace dangled judiciously before her eyes. The parallels between the old and present Houses cannot be so inflamed to such a pitch as trustee is induced to send up a power of of Commons, and amuses itself with literary twenty-five years ago, still in the most im- attorney. Mrs. DALOLEISH is taken to the illustrations of a kind more interesting than portant question of " the balance of party," Bank ; she signs the bank-book. The broker useful, and in rhetorical manoeuvres, which there is a field for " the jobbery of Liberalism " says that everything has been arranged by leave the reader's mind at the end of a long to work upon ; and the history of the last Mr. HALL; he would not be justified in telling article exactly as at the beginning ;in short, general election has proved, beyond a doubt, her anything. CHEaLYN just steps with her such " drifting" composition only indicates that there is a great organised machinery into the cab, as he wants to tell her what has the absence of profound views and solid con- throughout the country, which on occasions been done. "Ho then immediately began to victions. can be artfully employed for the furtherance " talk about other matters ; and when they But, unquestionably, such a mode of dealing of Liberal ascendancy. " arrived at Temple-bar, he suddenly stopped with the discussion of " Reform "is tolerably Even since we last addressed the public on " the carriage, and got out, as he had just calculated to represent the wavering, crude, this great subject circumstantial proofs have " recollected a pressing engagement ; but he and cloudy conceptions of a large class of the been given that the intelligence communicated " would call upon her next morning to explain Liberals out of doors," and even of a con- by us was sound. One of the best informed " the whole thing." The farce was played out. siderable number of Parliamentary Whigs of the leading provincial journals of the Our readers can imagine for themselves the and " something more." We are told that empire has stated that " twenty-six English frequent importunities of the victim, the " Reform is to be brought on the stage, and, " seats (exclusively of Irish and Scotch ones) shuffling lies of the spoilers, the hope against "if possible, settled." Here we have the " will be affected in the disfranchising direo- hope, the protracted misery, the sickening " possibility" of any " settlement" questioned " tion." And let our readers observe the delay. Of course she never saw a sixpence of at the outset. And then we are told that even exact way in which these " disfranchising " her money. The decree even which she ob- if time should fail, " some understanding may intentions may be carried out. There are, tamed against the firm is defeated by their "be come to as to the principles on which the firstly, fifty boroughs in England and Wales, bankruptcy, and she is saddled with the costs " Reform is to be based." As if that was not whose constituencies are under 400 electors, of the suits against them to add a sort of corn- plain enough to reveal the doubts and diffi- and they return between them seventy-three pleteness to her ruin. culties in a certain quarter, we aro advised members. There are, secondly, twenty-three Yet even this case, cruel, heartless as it is, that it is " just as well to have some .oppor- boroughs, whose constituencies are over 400 has yet its ridiculous aspect. Mrs. DALOLEISH. " tunity of hearing definite opinions and and under 600 electors, and they return is described as "evidently a lady of superior " learning the views of its chief politicians." twenty-three members of Parliament. There " mind," and as giving " her evidence with In other words. the House of Commons should are, thirdly, twenty-two boroughs, whose con- " remarkable clearness and propriety." She be turned: into a mere debating society, and stituencies are over 600 and under Boo electors, knew that, there was something wrong the her Majesty's Ministers are to bring forward and these return forty-one members. It is moment after she was deserted at Temple• measures for the opportunity of hearing a con- upon those classes of the present borough bar; nor did she ever cease to follow up the stitutional argument from Lord JOHN RUSSELL, representation of the country that the dis- bankrupts till at last she brought them to bay a brilliant display of eloquence from Mr franchising operations will be most vigorously before Mr. Commissioner FANE. She was DISRAELI, and a well.prepared digest of facts executed. Some boroughs will he completely clearly no clay to be moulded in an attorney's from Sir JAMES GRAHAM. extinguished, and the representation of them hands. She was no Sir Charles Rushout. Nor Now, we must caution our readers against will be distributed amongst the great centres had any precaution been omitted to save her being deceived by that sort of political writing. of Radicalism and democratic energy ; and, from herself. There was both settlement and In a period not long gone by the public mind on the other hand, a great number of impor- trustee. What, then, was tho potent spell, the was completely cajoled by affected moderation tent towns, now returning two members, will fatal charm, which lured her to her ruin ? Let of a similar kind. The Palmerston measure be clipped of a member, whose seat will be her answer for herself :—" I was led to em- of Reform will, beyond a doubt, be menacing, transferred to overgrown constituencies, " ploy the bankrupts, and take the course I dangerons, and reckless. It will include where, without a Radical popularity, it will be " did, on being informed that they were per- destruction of boroughs on a large scale, it impossible for any independent gentleman to " sons in good position, riding in their car- will vastly reduce the franchise in counties, it look for the representation. By this means, " ridge." It is the old story—" that nameless will vitally affect the balance of party, and it and by deteriorating the county franchise, a " touch of vulgarity"—that shopkeeper war- will most seriously assail those great territorial complete ascendancy for Official Liberalism ship of wealth and gig-respectability, with interests which even Mr. HALLAA has recog- will be established. In order to achieve that which we are so often reproached, and which nised as original and vital parts of the social consummation, no means will be left untried is the most fruitful source of folly, crime, and elementsof the British Constitution. Whatever by those who have the resources for popular misery in English civilisation. Only let a man may be the belief of the Premier as to the agitation at their command, and who have a Wear the externals of wealth, and he received feasibility of his measure, or as to the number subterranean connection with a portion of the in higher than ordinary circles, and there is of chances of its ever becoming law, it is Cabinet. nothing which we have the courage to deny positively certain that tho scheme to be And let us beg of our readers to observe him, no prudent rule that we will not break at offered to Parliament will be of a distinctively that whatever were the mistakes of the Grey his bidding, and no unreasonable confidence s weeping character. Lord PALMERSTON, pos- Cabinet in 1831, that Ministry included several that we will not offer at his shrine. sibly, thinks on the question, not as a statesmen who were not hostile to the institu- , For the bankrupts it is difficult to speak legislator, but as a diplomatist. Time, and tions of the country or to the fair working of with patience, but, so far as they have offended the experience of so many political vicissitudes, , the balance of party. The Conservative party •, lb