The Press. — London, England, 1858-12-18 00:00:00

• • f No. 294.—V0L. VI. Cit Vrt LONDON, SATURDAY, DRCR2IIBRR 18, 1858. DEMOCRATIC STRATEGY. THAT the dexterous management of a retreat affords proof of good generalship no less conclusive than the most successful combinations for attack is an axiom of military science, since the former must almost necessarily be conducted under discouragement, and probably in the face of difficulties, which less frequently beset the latter. The difficulties of a retreat of course depend in great measure upon the amount of previous preparation for such a contingency, but still more upon the promptitude and perseverance of the adversary. These thoughts are suggested by the tone and substance of Mr. BRIGHT'S speech of Wednesday, the full report of which did not appear in the London newspapers till yesterday. We take this speech to be, if not the conclusion, at all events the climax of the foray which he and his allies have been pleased to make upon certain elements of the Constitution in anticipation of a forthcoming Reform Bill. Mr. BRIGHT appears to have got as far north as Edinburgh, and has got a cold. Should his hoarseness continue, the motley Junta, of whom he is the mouthpiece, will have some difficulty in replacing him by a speaker as competent ; perhaps they will determine to discontinue their platform practice ; they have not at cominawl much ordnance of Mr. llitunrc's calibre, and will probably resort to other means; for they are not likely to rest contented with the ►resent result of their exertions, or with having risked the popularity of their principal organ apparently so little to the furtherance of their well-known objects. It is not always easy to discriminate between an attack and " reconnaissance en force ;" they are so easily convertible the one into the other, that it is often very difficult to decide, whether the whole movement has not resulted in the failure of an intended attack, or whether it was not a feint from the first, made merely in order to ascertain the position of the defenders of the intrenchments, and with the further view, per• haps, of inducing them to waste their ammuni tion. No doubt Mr. BRIGHT (we take him as the type of his backers) has to a certain extent aroused those elements of popular discontent, which are ever slumbering beneath the surface of the happiest communities; and to a certain extent has also evoked a spirit of opposition between the several classes of the country, and has thus been enabled to extend the elements of future organi zation for the accomplishment of his purposes and those of his partizans. Such things as pilot bal loons are not unknown in the political atmosphere ; and perhaps Mr. BRIGHT, who is nowise deficient in personal courage, has just made an ascent in one of them ; the descent of these extemporized conveyances is not unfrequently marked by some damage to the bones of their freight, and some times leaves them happy to have been landed in situations, commended rather for their softness than their savour. What is called Bulling tt6s. LONDON, SATURDAY, DECEMBER is, 1858. STAMPED ....SIXPENCE. UNSTAM PED FIVEPENCE. the market is not more uncommon in politics than on 'Change. We think it very probable that the enunciation of the intention and the pre tence of the ability of Mr. Brucwr and his friends permanently to subjugate both Houses of Parlia ment to their control may have been put forth in order to reconcile some persons of fastidious independence to a larger measure in the direction of the Member for Birmingham, by way of compromise, than they might other wise have been disposed to countenance. It may be useful to have thus far speculated upon the motives, which have prompted Mr. BRIGHT'S reappearance as a political agitator ; suffice it, that his position and that of his abettors is plain enough. Thanks to those public writers, whom he portrayed before the excited imagina tions of his Manchester admirers, as mere crea tures of the aristocracy, not in buckram, but in plush, and to the good. sense and extending in telligence of Englishmen, this public agitation has not hitherto met with anything like a cordial or general resFonse. Thane, whom it was in tended to overawe, have been warned, but need not be terrified. lision between the two branches of the Legisla ture, with the avowed object of further sub duing the independence of the Upper House, seemed to afford them such unmixed gratifica tion, that, generally avoiding discussion by a forced silence on their own part, they continually packed themselves for this purpose, and, when taxed with it, avowed their intention either by their silence or in terms. On the Property Qualification Bill, on Mr. LocKE KING'S Bill for the reduction of the county franchise to a 101. rental, on the Ballot, in the discussions on the idea of seating Baron RoTtisouLD by resolution of the House of Com mons alone and in defiance of law, and on the Church-rates Abolition Bill, their tactics were the same ; various as are these topics, their purpose was identical. Their organ during the recess re joices to speak of the power of the Crown as reduced to a cypher, and spares no hardihood of assertion to enlist the masses in his crusade against the hereditary character, which is the real source of the independence, of the House of Lords. We can scarcely believe it possible that con duct so consistent with the avowed opinions and more than implied wishes of their organ can commend the advice of Mr. BRIGHT, Mr. MIALL, and their Junta to the friends of Monarchy, of an Established Church, and of an hereditary Peer age, as joint elements of the constitutional free dom of England. But we well know, that coarse, though implied intimidation are not the only, certainly not the most dangerous means, that will be used to accomplish the ends of discontent and of ambi tion. The Crown will be incited to slight and to coerce the Church; within the Church attempts are making to propagate differences, and to incite the laity to jealousy of the clergy, and vice versa ; while Jesuitic flattery and insinuation will not be wanting to foment the inevitable distinctions of class into secret ran cour, if not open collision. The Peer will be taught to distrust and to despise the Commoner. The Commoner will be urged to resent this dis trust. Commerce will be painted as all fraud, and the possession of land the sure source of arro gance among equals, and as temptation to oppress the poor, who are copartners in the soil, which no natural benevolence can resist. Attachment to the Church of England will be pointed at as Romanism in disguise, while Pro testantism will be secretly denounced as rebel lion against the ALMIGHTY, and those universal distinctions in human society, which He has ordained. The result up to this point is altogether satis factory, as proving the more general diffusion of intelligence and of general contentment through out England ; still the Manchester reception of Mr. BRIGHT'S compassionate allusion to the venerable Monarchy of England, redolent as it was with that kind of pity, which the Emperor Niettor.As expressed towards the sick man at Constantino ple, and his plain avowal, that in his opinion the days of the constitutional independence of the House of Lords are numbered, and that the termi nation of its hereditary character should precede the conclusion of its legislative functions, should not he forgotten; while the admission of such inferences and the acceptance of such dictation by applauding audiences, however packed, are facts not to be overlooked, but suggest the necessity of provision on the part of those, who value the elements of English social order and freedom for their defence. We do not undervalue the vi.s inertia, but the present appears to us an occasion for action rather than for apathy. Mr. Burma evidently nauseates the facts which are illustrated by the figures, adduced by Mr. NEWDEGATF: in proof of the disproportion, which exists between the property, popula tion, and representation of the counties of Eng land and Wales, as compared with those at pre sent existing within and allotted to the boroughs. An attempt at argument more inconsequential, or advice less trustworthy than that which Mr. BRIGHT tendered to the House of Peers and their friends, when compelled to notice these facts, have seldom come within our cognizance as emanating front a man of mark. In order to estimate duly the treacherous nature of the advice tendered by this candid friend of the aristocracy, it is necessary to recall the tactics of' the party, which he led during the last session of Parliament. The motley assemblage of many creeds, but with a predomi nance of the Roman, which sits below the gangway on the Opposition side of the House, far from con tent with their anticipated, or even their realized, victory over the avowedly conscientious scruples of the House of Lords, and over the Christian character of Parliament, eagerly sought every oc casion which offered a prospect of their being able to bring the decisions of the House of Commons into conflict with the known opinions of the House of Lords. The prospect of creating a col- There is nothing new in all this. The crop of human errors is perennial, however varied in minor details may be its reappearance ; but there are periods when owing to some feeling of the instability of the institutions, which at once cha racterize and guard the order of things in this country, whether social or discontent, which is inherenl gains unwonted power. tions of the approach of such present wanting. We are inclined to the pending question of Reform not in haste, to he ere long sure, which should possess permanence; and the first If not totally to overlook ings of population as L localities in the distribution which must be wad, is to political, the virus of ent in human nature, The ordinary indlisa-y. - .- uch a period are not at • e belief tit •'lhe 104 rm ought in pyvdetiAC g solved V some a the chaN • t of these look the generikl.l4.os"\% - ; incident 10' pattleisraei,N . r. Lion of represent o incur the denomina. 10 . ~. •~- 4.•.