The Press. — London, England, 1857-05-02 00:00:00

- .T' -Irm-I,l":7l4,....MOWElPTlErgErWillfiwsmynor— . 7 ' il rt 13 1 + No. 209.—V0L.V. tie Vress. LONDON, SATURDAY, MAY 2, 1557. THE recuperative energy of the Conservative party in rapidly gaining fresh vigour after every apparent defeat is a truth that no modern statesman can overlook. Three years after the Reform Bill of 1832, the two great parties in the country met on nearly equal terms, and the Whigs were only able to retain office at the price of the Lichfield-house com pact. Even in later years, when circumstances becam( favourabl to th, the Whig party became favourable to them, the Whig party while Lord PALMERSTON was unchecked by tile THE DISSATISFIED LIBERALS. .. broke down in 1839 and 1841, and failed in eminent personages just named . • public estimation upon the financial manage- In presence of these internal and recurrent OLIVER GOLDSMITH once observed that "it was differences could any Liberal Cabinet seek for " the characteristic of the Whigs to bear no ment of the country. They (lid not recover favour only on the grounds of a foreign Policy ? " party in power but thsmselves," which is as strength in Opposition, and they would not The question must be answered in the nee's, '"- true now as when the remark was made. .have gained office but for the schism of '46 ; tive by any practical politician. . f The Cabinet must, th ere f o re all back on a What is more extraordinary is that in office and even then, when again trusted with power, f - • domestic policy. "Founding their actions the• Whigs are as discontented as-if they.weq : y" s they broke down in '5l and 52, perishing from „ • upon the principle of progressive •reform. "c or i ng f ro* a perpetual proscr i pt i on gibe . ' • sheer ethaestioac am.)110 InoUthuhlistration b" they (the Ministers) would seek to introduce sweets • of power. In the last few days (Thief •, i. of mediocrities in offiee. On their vicissi- ' " all practical amelioration in our domestic tudes in the last five years we need say no- " institutions, said the CHANCELLOR of the Justice COCKBURN virtually whined at his ex- , ~ EXCHEQUER at Hereford. The same thing was elusion from parliamentary delights. li i ie thing, except to express our satisfaction that. , . said ad nauseant by the imbecile Melbourne seemed to think that it was a sad thing . parties once more stand clearly arrayed whies. "Progressive Reform " was t h e i r he should have sunk into a Chief Justice, a nd . .- against each other. wateliword while the empire was drifting into he enlarged on what he had given .up in •1' ' ' ' Now, again, the problem for the Liberals in financial embarrassments. They also talked .. 'edit- _...2. office is to prove their ability in affairs. They of " amelioration " while the national credit descending to accept his present station. We cannot for ever hope to retain power by the was declining, and the Money Market nara- suppose that the learned personage is not yet arts of political intrigue, by profuse expendi- lysed by the uncertainty of wavering finan- satisfied. A peerage, probably, will be required ture of patronage, and by an unscrupulous ciers. Official aptitude is not the strong before the Chief Justice can be contented. use of the public press. Against such courses feature of the present Ministry, and its best there is always a reaction in England, and ex• energies (whatever may be their strength) But there must be two words to that. Is it peetations cannot be awakened without en- will be required for dealing with law reform, usual to make peers of Chief Justices of the countering the difficulty of satisfying the finance, and general administration, not to Common Pleas, and what has Sir ALEXANDER extravagant or disappointing the credulous. count the huge difficulty lying in their path of COCKBURN done for the public that a coronet Let us reconnoitre the circumstances under a new Reform Bill, which their supporters should be placed on his brow ? That there which the two great parties commence a fresh demand, and which Lord JOHN RUSSELL will have been far too many law - titles conferred campaign. not cease to urge. within the last quarter of a century is the , . 4. - Government in a free country can conduct Under such circumstances, complicated and general opinion, and people do not forget affairs successfully only when in harmony with embarrassing, we believe that the final issue that "Law Reform' still remains to be the character of the age. It has been said and the palm of victory will rest with the achieved. They recollect, also, that Sir that we are living in a period of material or- party which experience will prove to be most ALEXANDER COCKBURN was not fertile in prat- • ganisation, with no political passions, but with truly English and most effectively practical. tical measures, and that his mental constitu- a strong dash of " Nationality." We cannot We have recalled attention how, even in " the tion (essentially rhetorical) is not well suited , accept such a characterisation of the Victorian age of Reform," the pure Liberal party has for a legislator. The lavish gifts of an earl- Era, but it suggests the cue by which a Cabinet repeatedly broken down in office. The Cun- dom and a barony to Lord COTTENHAM, of two t ( without a policy may attempt to govern. The servatives have always rallied triumphantly peerages to Lord CAMPBELL, and of a title to importance of " Foreign Policy " will by such a even after adverse dispensations. Their torte Mr. BICKERSTETH (Lord Langdale) are often Ministry be unduly exalted, and the claims now is calm, cheerful, and prepared for erner- commented upon, and such things cannot be of domestic legislation will be proportionately gencies. The Ministerialists count tin flying done again. It would be ridiculous to rank disparaged and depressed. squadrons of faltering allies, hovering alter- Sir ALEXANDER COCKBURN as a lawyer with an Now, " Foreign Policy "is the fatal rock on nately on their front, flank, and rear—morning ELDON or an ERSKINE, a BROUGHAM or a which the Liberals have always split. There friends and evening foes, according to the LYNDFI uns - r, or a SEODEN. In debate he sig- have always been divisions in their connee- chances of the day. The Conservatives have nalised himself prominently once on the tion on the propriety of a merely insular or a a serried phalanx of tried and trusty sup- Pacifico question, but in 1851, when his party / . positively propagandist Liberalism. The point porters. While sources of discord must mul- wanted his aid against Sir JAMES G , Mr. to which " Nationality " should be carried has tiply in the Liberal connection, the course of GLADSTONE. and others on " bit :, 1 ..Li'.! .. been perpetually prolific of discord amongst public events is obviously bringing the Conser- Titles Act," the Attorney-G . 4 , . '''''',-"."- iTs the Whigs. It was so in 1783, at the Pea ce votive force into unity of will. Since the Reform singularly inefficient, and .;...;,t 4 . - - ` l "' Itn of Paris, terminating the American War, when Bill and the changes of 18-?9 the Conservative preached the House of Com amff ' r ' .il r the Shelburne (or Chatham) Whigs went one party had been shackled by the Irish difficulty, FOLLET. He must reconcil: 'qL,.."'ik '- .'-% -"'.... . f/'•: way, and the Foxite (or Rockingh am ) vo t e d w hi c h h as now happily passed away. it has ajChief Justice. Let him try '', • . ' . -76 " 07, in another; and again, in 179:m, when, on the no body of malcontents out of doors resent- of an illustrious predecess. - ".; '%;* ...- propriety of intervention in French affairs. the bling the Radical chiefs excluded from the TINDAL. ire AkiiiC4? o Duke of PORTLAND, Lords CARLISLE and FITz- present Parliament, who are able and willing Mr. HORSMAN is another ofttli.%s./;_ , A .,. 4 ,..": WILLIAM, and Mr. BURKE, left the " New to undermine the present Ministry, and who Liberals ; but the Right Hon. e l'i :, 4 ..,: . :7" i - Whigs," a schism which lasted all through the have received an amount of provocation sufli- better grounfi for discontent, as le 7-1 is. A LONDON, SATURDAY, MAY 2, 1857. long war, and was more particularly mani fest in 1808 and 1815. The discords of the Liberal chiefs on Foreign Policy have always represented real differences between their followers in the country. There is a large body of English Liberals who are prac tically favourable to a Conservative Foreign Policy, averse from intermeddling, and wishing to steer a via media between the delusions of " peace-at-any-price" fanaticism, and the dangers inseparable from a boisterous and arrogant Foreign Policy, provocative of quarrel, and productive of no real glory. One party of English Liberals wishes for the policy of Earl GREY in 1830-34 (while the Duke of RICHMOND, the Earl of DERBY—then Mr. Stanley—the Earl of RIPON, and Sir ,LAMES GRAHAM, were members of the Cabinet). Another section, more noisy though less numerous, has always clamoured for the system followed since 1835, vhile Lord PALMERSTON was unchecked by the STAMPED ....SIXPENCE. UNSTAMPED..FIVEPENCE. cient to rouse them into the display of self assertion. Though now sitting to the left of the Speaker's chair, the Conservative party has a most important mission to fulfil in the coming times. Circumstances will require its con centrated energy in order to preserve England from the jobbery and domineering pride of an official Liberalism, inspired by no noble sen timents, and intent only on monopolising the spoils of power. The alternate ascendancy of two parties England approves, but from the ab solutism of either England would recoil. The rule of Lord PALMERSTON, with a numerical majority, a personal policy, and a feeble Cabinet, tends to an autocracy that challenges opposition from the country, which sees no guarantee for " order " in the ascendancy of ONE.