The Press. — London, England, 1857-05-23 00:00:00

'", !=.4 1 .11 1 .1111WOMM. )*3 - /40 z_ ) rtls No. 2 2.—Vor.. V. ljt)rtss. LONDON, SATURDAY, MAY 23, 1857. IT is now some five or six years since the results of the Reform Dill of 183•? were first audibly challenged, and the neces sity for further changes openly canvassed. The dissatisfaction then manifested was, however, but feeble and uncertain, and its permanence, no less than its sincerity, was generally called in question. War intervened, preceded by a year of excitement, and followed by a year of apathy. Reform was shelved ; and it was perhaps anticipated that a movement, not at any time popular, would have been effectually extinguished by four years of oblivion. The result, however, has been different. Reform was not dead, but sleeping. It has grown considerably in its sleep ; and a popular Minister, with a large majority, has pledged himself to introduce the subject in the succeeding session of Par liament. There is too much reason to believe that many of the Minister's supporters look forward to an extension rather than to an abridgment of that injustice to which an important class of the community is subjected by cur present electoral arrangements. Fortunately, how ever, the Conservatives are alive to the danger. We have for some time past been endeavouring to dispel the misconceptions which prevail so widely on the subject of Electoral Reform. We have asserted that if the principles of equity and the stability of the Constitution shall be found to regulate the construction of the new Reform Bill, none will welcome it more readily than the Con servatives, for that none have suffered so severely as the landed interest from the in justice of the old one. The Liberals boast, on the contrary, that this interest is to suffer still more —that its cup is not yet full; and while the proportion of borough representatives is nearly double that allotted to county constituencies, endeavour to persuade the world that them selves are the aggrieved party, and that the influence of the counties is excesF ive ! This clamour for protection against adversaries so inferior in number is, at all events, as com plimentary to the character of our county re presentatives, as discreditable to the capacity of their assailants. The speech delivered by Mr DISRAELI to his constituents on Wednesday last was preg nant with grave reflections both upon this and other weighty topics likely ere long to arrest the popular attention The Right Hon. Gen tleman stated frankly that it was not his own wish to disturb our reprefentative system; LATEST EDITION. LONDON, SATURDAY, MAY 23, 1857. that perpetual political changes interfered with national progress; but that if changes were introduced it was incumbent on the landed interest, in the broadest acceptation of the term, to take care that the injury inflicted upon it in 1832 was now redressed. Whether we take the population or whether we take the constituencies as the basis of our calculation, the anomaly is almost equally glaring. As Parliamentary Reformers adopt the first test, it is but fair, us Mr. DISRAELI implied, to meet them on their own ground ; and then we shall find that the proportion of representatives in the rural districts is less than half that awarded to our more fortunate municipalities. While, on the other hand, if we are guided by the number of electors, the inequality is but little reduced The proportion of county members t. electors throughout Great Britain is, in round numbers, one to two hundred and fifty, of borough members one to one hundred and twenty-nine, or very little short of double. And yet these, forsooth, are the injured classes who arc oppressed by the predominance of the land ! In proportion to the patience with which the owners and occupiers of land have so longendured this injustice will, we trust, be the energy and perseverance displayed by them in procuring its removal, now that its magnitude is fully brought home to their understandings. Till this iniquity be re dressed they will fight in vain for the ascen dancy of Conservative principles, and may look on helplessly while the ancient institu tions of the realm are tampered with by political quacks who know nothing of the art of government, or corrupted by experienced placemen who know it only too well. It was probably under the influence of some such conviction as this that the Leader of the Opposition, in his address of Wednesday last, proceeded so naturally from the subject of Electoral Reform to the position and prospects of the Church of England, and the general advantages resulting from the maintenance of national institutions. On the subject of church rates the Right Hon. Gentleman well observed that we can hardly suppose that there is any really national antipathy to a system which only 600 out of t 2,000 parishes have been found to repudiate and the ejection from Parliament of its great adversary, Sir W. CLAY, speaks volumes for the popular feeling. But, then, the malcon tents are by the very nature of their position louder and more pertinacious than their ad versaries. And it is thoroughly necessary that all the friends of the Church should be on their guard against a sudden surprise ; should acquaint themselves with the question in all its bearings, and be ready to show such a front to their opponents, that, whatever arrangement may be come to, the integrity of the National Church shall be insured. _ There is a tendency in the present day to magnify the importance of individuals, and to imagine that a case has been made out against our most valued institutions, when it can be shown that some minute fraction of the com munity is dissatisfied with their working. This mode of arguing is childish and effemi nate, and should be met by a bold avowal that the State cannot take cognisance of such coin plaints. Otherwise, in Mr. DISRAELI'S own Tords, " we are at a loss to understand how " any of our national institutions can be up " held." We entreat the attention of those persons who are, in the main, lovers of the English Constitution, but whu are apt to be STAMPED ....SIXPENCE. UNSTAMPED..FIVEPENCE. led away by the unreal professions of Liberalism, to this more practical view of the question In the eyes of some enlightened persons, institutions are encumbrances to civilisation. In our opinion, they might just as well assert that its fruit is an encumbrance to the tree. We consider the maturity of civilisation to be then attained when the institutions of a people have arrived at that state of perfection in which it is relieved from the necessity of depending on the services of individuals. When men of rare genius arise, they impart a stimulus to all around them, and enable their country to make great and sudden strides. But in the intervals of their appearance we must have some thing more permanent to rely upon—a system so excellent in itself that it can be successfully administered by statesmen of average abilities. And such a system as this is most likely to be the result of institutions which have stood the test of centuries. and been subjected to every variety of criticism and contrast. Those persons who concur in Mr. DISRAELI'S remarks on the character of our institutions may, if they choose, sneer at the party by whom those institutions have been preserved —Here est ctrugo mera—but to opponents who have no choice between inconsistency such as this and a tardy acknowledgment that their previous abuses of Toryism have been wrong, much may certainly be forgiven. The dilemma is tantalising. They cannot, however, expect that any but their own little cliques should imitate their perversity. The world at large forms a truer estimate of men and actions. It is undeniable that during the last twenty years the Tory party has openly resisted and defeated more than one serious attempt to change the character of our institutions. We need go no further back than the last two sessions of Parliament, which witnessed the rejection of life peerages, and of the periodical efforts at abolishing church rates and primo geniture. These are patent facts, and it is scarcely too much to believe that the pre sence of a powerful Tory party within the walls of Parliament has prevented the intro duction of other measures of an equally per nicious character. An army is as useful to deter as to repel aggression, and that it is able to be inactive is often the best proof of its efficiency. We look forward to the contest—which on one of the points above glanced at we know to be approaching, and which cannot be far dis tant upon all—if not without anxiety, yet with out diffidence. The battle, indeed, is not so unequal as at first sight it may appear. The one party is flushed with recent suc cesses. The other relies on the intrinsic justice of its cause and the calm sagacity of Englishmen. The English public, when taken by surprise or heated by preju dice, has often done foolish things. But when allowed time for reflection it has seldom mistaken the interests of a class for the in terests of the country, and has never delibe rately become the tool of personal passion or the d f democratic . :11 t 4• No. the dupe of democratic plausibility. THE JOBBERY OF LIB IT has often been remarked, wire. does not rely upon strong par , impw ?" l ' e r ":„. a r6 that there is a tendency to incr.—. m.. . 4 . 1 C .. . 7, and to swell the public expendi Ffr rather than political support, 6 1 (OC•Ar id I 00