The Press. — London, England, 1857-08-29 00:00:00

"'400,t-str;2llor-006.419WW1 MarrhObegilltiperittlibillaillei 4411114104 ' , , ~ ~ - .... i . X, .."- A• . ,I i ... I • k. , ../1/1/F , • • - , ib 10rt4601. ft No. 226.—V0L.V. LONDON, SATURDAY, AUGUST 29, 1857. STAMPED . . SIXPENCE. UNSTAMPE.D...FIVEPENCE. that he disapproves of ecclesiastical institu tions. On the other hand, if we turn to his foreign policy, we find complete and cordial alliance with Austria and a sincere alliance with France, a disposition to renew negotia tions with the Court of Naples, a conciliatory policy towards America, Spain, and the Italian States, and the utter negation of all those principles of Liberal propagandism which promoted revolutionary ideas and kept the Continent in perpetual disquietude. This may be a policy somewhat repugnant to cer tain uolitical propagandists, but it is extremely gratifying to find the Liberal party uniting in the support of such principles. At the same time we should like some explanation of the ground upon which the Liberal party support the Government of Lord. PALMERSTON. Do they see in the composition of the Cabinet an assurance of the sound application of those Liberal principles they so conscientiously consider essential to the ad vancement of their own interests ? Is it because their eminent leader, Tory by senti ment, though Liberal by connection, above three :uc sufficient to vindicate our claim for vitality, and something more, for her Majesty's Opposition. It has not slumbered at its post, but, vigilant, energetic, and fear less, has acted up to its high calling and its important duties. But it is said, on the other hand, that the Conservative party is disorganised because the individual opinions of its members are not unanimous upon measures which have been carried and cannot be reversed, or upon open questions which in all probability will never be discussed. Such a charge bears absurdity upon its face. We are not aware that the precise extent to which members of a great political party should act together in strict concert has ever yet been rigidly defined ; but we apprehend that it would not only be impolitic, but impossible, to attempt to restrain the individual opinions of members of a party upon the thousand questions which, in a complicated state of society, must arise, and to provide for which no settlement or arrangement on definite principles can by any possibility be pro posed. The question is rather, not whether a great party agree upon every legislative question brought before Parliament, but whether they differ upon important practical questions of foreign, finan cial, or domestic policy? Whether, in point of fact, they are unanimous in the defence and 'application of those principles and the prose cution of those measures which they hold to be essential to the well-being of the coun try, or whether they change their principles with their position, and frame their policy, not upon their traditions, but upon the effect of oppor tunities or necessities operating under parti cular circumstances? In judging of the vitality or conduct of a political party these are the points we main tain which must be kept in view ; and, as the Liberals are not very sparing of their assertions to show that the Conservative party is politi cally defunct, it may be as well, perhaps, if we push the investigation a little further, and endeavour to ascertain what is the position of the great Liberal party. By whom are Liberal opinions repre sented in the House ? Not by the Govern ment. To understand the principles guiding a Government, we must look to the individual placed at its head. The policy of Lord PAL MERSTON (from the day of his accession to power), both in its foreign and dome stic phases, has been eminently Cons ervative. The principles of domestic policy which the Noble Lord has generally professed are the reformation of abuses, and the preservation of august and venerable institutions. He is not opposed to the influence of property upon the exercise of the franchise, nor to the influence of land u pon the representative system. As an Englishman, he glori es in the " traditions" of his country ; and it is not to he supposed itte brass. LONDON, SATURDAY, AUGUST 29, 1837. THE absence of organisation in the Conserva tive party is a favourite topic of the Liberal journals. The assertion in general is too trifling to be confuted. It is a mere assertion, for that in truth is felt to be the shortest way to dispose of a very awkward question A state ment of facts might be contradicted, but the Liberal journals are not given to facts ; reasons might he refuted, but they do not reason. They assert, and by the repetition of such cant as " a disorganised opposition,' " an ineffective opposition," or " a feeble opposition, without principle or policy," remind us of the Marquis in the Critique de r Ecole des Femmes, who excelled in that species of argumentative dexterity—"Tarte a la creme—morbleu tarte a la crème ! " " He Bien que veux to dire, tarts la creme?" " Parbleu, tarte a la creme, Chevalier ! " "Mais encore." " Tarte a la creme." " Dites nous un peu tes raisons." " Tarte a la creme." " Mais it faut expliquer to pensee, ce me semble." " Tarte it la creme." " Que trouvez-vous la a redire ? " " Hien— torte a la creme! " In a very similar strain do the professional slanderers of the Conserva tive party indulge in their fay° urite phrases. Occasionally, however, a more able and re spectable opponent will endeavour to give a distinct and substantive shapo to these allega tions ; and on Monday last a morning con temporary, usually conducted with consi derable ability, in summing up the deficien cies of Lord PALMERSTON'S Government, attri. buted the legislative omissions of the session to the " absence of party cohesion or unity " in the Opposition." Well, let us take the three principal measures of the session—the Divorce Bill, the Ballot, and the Civil Ser'rice Superannuation. No one, we presume, will deny that the influence of the Opposition was such with respect to the Divorce Bill as to modify, expunge, and improve several of its most important clauses. Upon the question of the Bal lot the effective control of the Conser vative Opposition was surely sufficiently felt by the democratic section of the Liberal party; while in the defeat of the Go vernment upon Lord NAAS'S Superannuation Bill the organisation of th at Opposition which could propose, sustain, and carry such a measure in the very teeth of the Minis ters can neither be doubted nor denied. We might revert to minor occasions, when the force of the Opposition has been felt in the questions before Parliament ; but the At whose soft notl the streams of honour flow, Whose smiles all place and patronage bestow, avows principles and is favourable to measures utterly dissonant from their own, that their support is so freely accorded him? If this fact prove nothing more, it incontesta bly shows, not, surely, that the Conservative parts, or Conservative influence, or Conserva tive principle is defunct, but rather that the traditions of the once great Liberal party are kept in abe:.:nee, while not a trace of dis tinctive principle is to he found among its supporters. Let our contemporary take heart : the Conservative Opposition is neither dis organised nor extinct; it is in the enjoyment of a vigorous vitality, and it is because that vitality is patent that ultra-Liberal measures are neither initiated nor supported, but always opposed, by Lord PALMERSTON. • - - It may be the creed of the Liberal party to regulate their conduct by that of the Cabinet. If that be so —we envy the plastic and accommodating nature of that party which in its unqualified submission to a species of political slavery acknowledges the in fluence, not of conviction, but of example, and, consenting to divest itself of all recollection of its principles, has tl e. boldness to believe that it is acting honestly, that it is pursuing a course at once manly, creditable, and con sistent, a course entitled to the admiration of its supporters, and to the respect and praise of the country. We hold little in common with Liberal principles, but we confess to a laudable anxiety to see the character of party-men and of the great parties in the House worthily upheld. We frankly confess that we have no wish to see a Liberal party in power; yet we regret to see their character as a party lowered and disgraced, their principles tarnished, and their conduct so ill-suited to that " round and fair dealing" and manly spirit in which this country delights. It is not for us to say which party is extinct ; we leave that confi dently to the country to determine. THE INDIAN CRISIS FORETOLD BY " THE PRESS." TILE Indian telegraphic despatch received since our last issue has brought with it a fresh \;;..