The Press.
London, England, 1855-06-09 00:00:00

" GENERAL CLAMOUR."

Tax feats performed by " General Routine"
in the Crimea have been signalised, according
to Mr. Hitasznes admission, by the loss of
thirteen thousand men, and since the war
commenced the exploits that were to have
been achieved by "General Rumour" kept
attention on the rack. A new officer has this
week been added to the staff by the Member
for the West Riding. In his speech on
Tuesday, Mr. COBDEN charges our losses,
disappointments, and embarrassment upon
"General Clamour." This invective against
this "popular" officer was perfectly safe, as it
wounded no susceptibilities of near kinsfolk.
He wa►s only pulling the whiskers of the
British Lion, whose teeth have been filed
down by its official keepers, who fondly
calculate that it may yet be advertised to
"go safely in harness." It was " General
Clamour" got up the Russo-phobia, precipi-
tated the war suddenly, vanquished all parties
successively, ordered Peelite platoons to take
up ground at Brookes's, and, in compliment
to " antiquated imbecility," insisted upon the
Whigs defiling one by one under the Caudine
Forks of Coalition. Mr. COBDEN assumes the
office of a biographer to this wonderful
General, at whose orders, according to the
Honourable Gentleman, so many English
statesmen have sacrificed their sell respect.
" There seemed to be an utter want of con-
" fidence in public men, arising from their
" having yielded up their better judgment
" to the momentary expectations of others."
Things are certainly come to a strange pass,
when a platform politician like Mr. COBDEN
acknowledges the necessity of becoming a
censor on the folly of yielding to popular
cries. Unfortunately, with facts before us,
there is no use in denying that the want of
political firmness in the late and present
Ministers is directly traceable to weak de-
pendance on popular impulses. That plan of
Government must of necessity be funda-
mentally vicious which precipitately changes
its mind according to every apparent alteration
of public feeling. To concede to " a cry"
is a grievous fault in statesmanship. It is

SATURDAY,

practically abrogating the British Constitution,
kb and trantgerring the Ex .entive into the hands
of organised iriblithillt lig ruling, not by the
Queen's Oabinet, blii . stipendiary dema-
goguo it is acting tiji t licy of a " leap
ain tag dittilt." It 3 'bulb up dice in hopes
i that es May turn tif, t It putting out to
*ea w t otit chaFt or Otnpliii. It is the very
quintillseddli of Peck dill ditiregard of conse-
quence*.
The eenfession of Lord JOHN RessELL that
the expedition to Sebastopol was undertaken
in order to satisfy public sentiment, gives the
point of truth to the accusation of Mr. COBDEN.
Fleeting popular applause—exciting, though
ephemeral—is the extent of Lord JOHN Res-
SELL'S imagination. He forgets that the
Whigs of other days gloried in being in a
small minority, and appealed, not to popular
passions, but.principles. Twenty years since,
deferring to " a cry," Lord JOHN wanted to
confiscate the Irish Church ; he deferred to
platform prejudices on the subject, while Lord
DERBY made a memorable and successful
stand on the ground of Protestant principles.
No thanks to Lord JOHN that 'e cry" wits not
vielded to by the Legislature, mil the United
-Church Establishment has been preserved.
Yet when the public feelings boiled at the
aggression of Cardinal WISEMAN, Lord JOHN
was the first to run after the cry, and having
chalked up " No Popery" on the wall, he ran
away from it, on the new cry of the Whigs
being in danger without the Irish votes. Yet
this vacillating toadeater of " General Cla-
mour" is the chief of an enthralled oligarchy,
what the Radical morning journal on Thursday
designated as " the half-hearted clique whom
" Brookes's and Stafford-house have sent up
" to govern England."
Our Premier also is ono of the greatest
offenders in this dangerous system of con•
ceding to the last clamour upon a subject.
But he is an old and important sinner in that
respect, and the notoriety of his constant.
affection for " General Claptrap " kept him
out of the highest office for many years.
While listening on Thursday night to the
merciless castigation inflicted by an ex-
tribune of the people on the two chiefs, and the
rival intriguers of the present Cabinet, we
could not but think of the humiliation of the
Whigs, while receiving lessons on the neces-
sity of moderation from the lips of Mr BitioHT.
Nor will it serve their purposes to demur to
the propriety of Mr. COBDEN or Mr. BRIGHT
performing the duties of censors and lictors.
Tu 'pimple is a pitiful mode of rebutting a
charge. A certain conventional license is
given to men who affect 0 representpopular
opinions. They speak as the nominees of
" General Clamour," the biggest borough-
monger of the day. But another line of con-
duct is expected from the statesmen who
aspire to the Cabinet of the Sovereign, and
who walk in the great procession of Ministers
which reaches back to the times of ELIZABETH,
and WALSINGHAM, and CECIL.

The vacillations of the Ministers prove that
they belong to the " whirligig school" and are the
mere puppets of "General Clamour." Tergi-
versation is a great offence against the dignity
of public life. Its worst evil is to rob the
pursuit of politics of its ennobling character.
It diffuses a dreadful spirit of scepticism,
under which faith in public virtue withers.
The public mind soon ceases to be manly and
loyally courageous, and attached to great ideas,
when those who ought to be the models of
noble conduct exhibit themselves womanishly
fond of idle admiration, and just as fickle in
their regard. When Mr. DRUMMOND on Thurs-
day said that "the generation which reeol-
" lected Sir ROBERT PEEL would never place
" faith in public men," there were some signi-
ficant cheers from various parts of the House.
It is too true that there is a disposition to
believe that public life in England cannot be
raised to a higher standard in our time than
that at which it was left by Sir Roamer Pest.,
and at which it was kept by statesmen who
make inflammatory speeches at the Reform
Club, and then swallow up their fiery invec•
tires with a,marvellous voracity, which shows
that though the existence of the great sea
serpent is fabulous, its swallow is not beyond
human experience.

JUNE 9, 1855.

We do not, however, despond of the public
mind of England. We recollect that all great
evils provoke a reaction. Whirligigs are getting
out of fashion. The creatures of " General
Clamour," listening to his whispers, and
slavish to his words, are covering themselves
with merited contempt, and from all quarters
a demand is begining to arise for firm govern
ment and steady administrators. It is our
belief that Ministerial power to be stable can
be based only on Conservative influence. The
tribunitian interest has split the " Liberal"
party, and its unity is at end. The opinion
that England can be best ruled by a Conserva-
tive Ministry is spreading as a general convic
tiou, and persons not friendly hitherto to the
chiefs of the Conservative Party are now
,anxious that the telegraph should convey the
news that Lord DERBY has been ordered to
" Head-Quarters" iu place of " General Cla-
" mour," cashiered.