The Press. — London, England, 1857-05-09 00:00:00

- - fi t rt No. 210.—VoL.V. e~css. LONDON, SATURDAY, MAY 9, 1857. " PRESS " OFFICE, Friday Night. THE GRAND DUKE CONSTANTINE is posi tively to pay a Visit, in the middle of the month, to the Court of St. James. His Imperial Highness will be received at Osborne. THE Minister has made an evasive attempt to speak out on the subject of " Reform ;" but the studied ambiguity of his language renders his declaration of little value. An adroit use of words, and an ambidextrous attitude towards the two great party connections, with the " chapter of accidents" for a reserve, still consti tute the policy of Lord PALMERSTON. His tone cannot even yet be distinctly identified with Conservative or Whig. His brief speech on Thursday wants the firmness and precision that mark strong convictions and matured ideas. The only thing positive in his words was his apparent committal of the Cabinet to raising the question of " Reform " in the next session. His language on this important question must be cautiously weighed. We think it evident from the manner in which the Minister spoke that even at the present moment the Cabinet does not possess the crudest notions of what sort of new " Reform Bill" might be proposed. We were told that it would be inexpedient at the present time to engage in " the large and "sweeping question" of a change in the Par liamentary representation ; and the Noble Viscount proceeded to observe that such a discussion could not by any possibility lead to any conclusive result" in the present session. Is it so certain that the entire subject can be settled in the next session ? These procrastinating words sounded in our ears like the uld Parliamentary formula " Besides, " air, this is not the time, &c." During the Revolutionary War, WINDHAM opposed. Reform on the common-sense principle (as he put it once)—.' Would you unroof your house " during a hurricane ?" After the war some of Lord CASTLEREAGH'S subordinates (as Lord PALMERSTON remembers) took the line of say ing—" Now that the revolutionary storm had " ceased, we should recruit our energies, and " rest upon our labour." These things were brought to our recollection while Lord PAL MERSTON was elaborately saying as little as he could on Thursday. The manner in which the Minister alluded to the evil of " unsettling the minds of men " was extremely peculiar.. The Conservative party has had just grounds in recent years for blaming the policy of the Whig party in bran dishing a Reform Bill before the constituen ! cies, when it is not so certain that any serious LONDON, SATURDAY, MAY 9, 1857. change was really contemplated. A monarchy with ancient instit►ttions, and a people devoted to commercial pursuits, cannot atrird to have " the minds of men unsettled." A sub ject like "Reform" should not be left to the personal convenience of Lord PALMERSTON It seriously raked, the question should he deci sively settled ; if not meant to be settled, it never should be raised. It is worthy of note, also, that Lord PAL MERSTON declared an anxiety not to embarrass " those who, on a future occasion, might have to " propose measures." Does this refer to the possibility that other Liberal statesmen, not now in the Cabinet, are to be called in ? Lord JOHN RUSSELL was not a member of Earl GREY'S Cabinet when the Bill of '3l was in troduced into Parliament, and a distinction has recently been made between " the Whigs " and " the Ministers." It is known that for some months past Lord JOHN RUSSELL has been engaged Os some special work, occupy ing much of his attention. Is it meant to in vite the co-operation of the Noble Member for London, or will Lord PALMERSTON have nerve enough to underte.ke a Reform Bill of his own ? Nothing, indeed, can he more shifting, vague, and pointless than the language of the Premier. Whether he means fencing or fight ing is not clear, and we must not be too con fident on his foil having a button. His ver biage requires translation into plain English. He professed his hope of proposing to Parliament " some measure calculated to " satisfy the just expectations of any parties, " and to collect any defects which may exist " in the present Reform Act, as well as to admit " to the franchise those classes of persons who are "at present excluded from it." What is the meaning of this verbose obscurity ? Does it signify that the Minister is vacillating between East Retfordism, or Chartism—between a little Red Lion, or a large Red Lion? It simply means that the Prime Minister will rciy upon—contingency. His mind is not yet made up. He drifts along from session to session, and it is quite possible that he will have excuses of another kind at the opening of the next. Conservatives, however, must recollect that the Premier himself is only a contingency, and the Liberal party stands committed to another measure ou Reform. In the struggles of 1831.2 the Conservative connection suffered from want of preparation for the violent struggle into which the country was precipi tated. It will be of the last importance to take care that the great social interest which represents the ideas of national perma nance and constitutional stability, be not damaged by a measure, dictated by partisan ship, and inspired by reckless innovation. servative CO! STAMPED ....SIXPTNer. UNSTAMPED-FIVEPENCE. amusing. He seems proudly conscious tl.at 1w represents not Wells, but a great social truth—that the working of Parliamentary Liberalism invests the dispenser of patronage with the political power formerly accorded only to important statesmen. • Under such circumstances, no one can be surprised at the active criticism which is beginning to be heard from all sides on so factitiously im portant a personage as Mr. W. G. HArren. That none of Mr. HAYTER'S predecessors exercised so much direct influence is ad mitted, although by many of them Mr. HATTER was far surpassed, not only in general abilities, but in personal deportment, and the fitness required for his post. So far from being "unrivalled," as his toadies proclaim him to be, whispers are heard, not loud •but deep, not few but many, intimating that the vaunted " Whip " is not by any means so clever a person as he is supposed to be. He fawns on a mere novice more skilfully than he can parry the demands of an old stager. Over unpractised politicians he has influence. and cajoles those whom a simpleton might de ceive; but he does not sway bold and high natures in the manner of some of his prede cessors. He does not canvass them with subtlety, nor can he manage a proud Whig who meets him with a supercilious rebuff. He has triumphed-over no great difficulty ; and it is to the increasing servility and degeneracy of Parlia mentary Liberalism, and not to any inventive adroitness in applying the arts of influence, that the overgrowth of Hayterian power must be ascribed. Some have even asserted boldly that his career henceforward will be that of a" decline and fall," and they suggest that the same writer who sought to vilify Lord Jo i ns RussElL in the pages of the Edinburgh Review migl.t find appropriate work in biographical• com memoration of a spirit congenial with his own. Be that as it may, Mr. HArren (except . wh, n he is . acting his part) has by no means that jubilant air which distinguished him .sorre time since. His gaiety is too overdone to be natural. Has he recently experienced some sharp rebuffs ? Have sonic of the new Members spurned his too familiar advances? Is the schism in certain quarters becoming only too apparent? Time %via answer these questions in detail. The fact, however, that Mr. HATTER can become so important a personage is a crushing proof of the insatiable love of jobbery which exists in the great body of the Liberal M P.'s. It proves, ipso facto, that those Liberals with large views and loose consciences are not really independent men. They are not followers of Lord PALM ERSTON, or of any par ticular statesman, or any creed. They look to " office," and seek to win favour from the regards of the dispensers Of places. In the pre-Reform Bill periods a gentleman like Mr. HATTER could never have acquired such power. M.P.'s on the Liberal side were then _ of a higher -- respect than local leaders specially re' all in the soe' posed, the PP gone. an ex, The change the Whigs a. of " narrown, Whigs, not the rank, and had a , prouder self- , are to be seen amongst the small of manufacturing . • ~.,... It is ?markable thOD 1. 4 1 " . 5 9- * li .drir )nnection has i --, - - . locial material • +- ' - ' - ''.- ...,,, I 'arliamentary F l . _,...5- - - ek xtraordinary ,„/ x ; r a ...,f ..-, 1 41••• , in this latter r . : ' - "" ws .• bil l e r • TI , Ls a plea in b. .' . li t • l ". -. Hess "—" exclaim < • : •••••tLi it,-.$ l'I• the Conservative :• . - • , ..4 c - % .19" • THE WHIP OF THE WHIGS NEXT to the Prime Minister, the Secretary for the Treasury (as the office is now filled) is the most important personage in the Liberal connection ; and in reply to the question, " What great man, after all, has been pro. " duced by the Reform Bill ?" a chorus of Radical voices (the Member for Nell.. likes " choristers") would answer " Hayter." Mr. GOODENOUGH HATTER himself is satisfied of its being the right answer. His swelling self importance, disguised occasionally under an exuberant condescension, is really vastly V