The Press.
London, England, 1856-10-04 00:00:00

No. 179.—V0L.1V.

(1.,)'12t Vrtss.

LONDON, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 4,

THE perils to which Party Government
posed are neither accidental nor tra.)
They are rooted in the nature of men ; tl

insidious in their approaches ; and the;
disguise themselves under the high-soi

names of purity and independence. If I
lot zealously watched they will sap th,

tution they attack, and, as worms ravage

her, eat away the substance, while leav,

outside still fair to view.

It is obvious that there must always
siderable difficulty in keeping a Party in
sition together while the Administratioi
day is possessed of enormous and inc,

patronage. The danger from this soul
comes greater as the influence of the GI

ment spreads wider, and as the political
nection to which it is attached seems '

a firmer hold of power. In such case,
sons who take up with politics with a
their personal advancement, are attracted

the winning side ; and if profeSsions of inde-
pendence be in fashion, or if constituencies are
so credulous as to accept them, adventurers,
by pretending to perfect freedom of action,
have all the better opportunity of making a
good bargain for themselves. This practice is
likely to gain ground as a commercial spirit
prevails more largely in the Legislature.
That spirit has commonly shown itself adverse
to Party combinations, partly through not un-
derstanding the principles on which they are
founded, partly through the want of that
standing in the State and those traditional in-
fluences which are essential to the solidity of
political connection, but principally through the
dislike of commercial men to any fetter being
imposed on that liberty of action which they have
been accustomed to exercise, and which they
foresee may turn to their profit. Adding this
class of independent men to the class directly
affected by the enjoyment, or expectation. of
Government favours, and it will be under-
stood, that when skilful dealers in human
frailty have enormous means of influence at
their disposal, there will always be some
danger lest the Party in Opposition should
sink into insignificance, and the vigorous,
healthful play of the representative principle
be impaired.
But another, and perhaps greater, danger
resides in the tenacity with which politicians,
free from all official engagements, and from
all prospect of personal advantage, arc accus-
tomed to insist on those questions to which
they have become especially attached. Their
obstinacy may arise from that narrowness of
mind which is unable to perceive how many
things must be taken into account in con-
structing a scheme of policy, or from
that absolute devotion to one subject
Which prevents the mind from estimating at
their due value the projects of others.
Another peril to Party Association arises
from the difficulty of dealing with the special

are
They would make the whole science of Govern-
ment consist in carrying their particular sen-.
timents irto effect.
It is when a Party is in Opposition also that
the baser instincts of its lowest members
have opportunity for development. The
allegiance rendered by a Party to its leaders
at such times must be disinterested and loyal ;
and of this kind of loyalty there are some minds
incapable. They cannot be content with the
subordinate station assigned to them, and they
conceive that any change which can be brought
about must operate to their advantage. Ac-
cording to their capacity and their power they
are instruments of mischief, and their malig-
nancy of intention is usually in proportion to
their sordidness of character, and the low esti-
mation in which they are held.
History is full of the political disasters re-
sulting from these elements of dissension.
At critical periods of a nation's existence,
they have baffled the wisest counsels, they have
defeated the most patriotic efforts ; and, as
often as they have been successful, they have
sacrificed great public interests, and secured
the ascendancy of corruption or tyranny.
If Party is still to subsist among us as an
active agency for elevating the aims of public
men, and for purifying the struggles of public
life, we must resolve to discard all those
influences which tend to impair its efficiency.
We must never lose sight of the fact that there
can be no political honour without faithful
adherence to a political standard, and that
" independence " in politics is usually but a
term to disguise brigandage. The Conserva.
tive connection, if united, would be the most
powerful connection in the State. Ts it not a
scandal that its strength should be frittered
away through sectional feeling ? If the Con-
servatives. as a body, have not the wisdom to
insist on the consolidation of their strength,
and on unity of political action, they are in
danger of losing much more than the power
which is duo to them in the State ; they are in

it was supposed that the commercial classes
of the community far exceeded the other orders
of English society in intelligence and patriot-
ism. That delusion has passed away. The
commercial scandals of our age have cast into
shade aught that can be cited from the annals
of political jobbery. Two commercial M.P.'s,
—Messrs. BROWN, of Tewkesbury, and MAC-
GREGOR, of Glasgow—are now before the
bar of public opinion in relation to certain
banking transactions ; and a variety of causes
have combined to dissipate much of the
confidence and respect which was formerly
given to the commercial class, and its special
representatives. We are, of course, far from
identifying all commercial M.P.'s with the
peculiar notions of meum and tuum entertained
by Mr. JOHN SADLEIR, or Mr. HUMPHREY
BROWN, or even the notable Mr. JOHN Mac-
GREGOR himself.
But it is really singular that while the corn•
mercial classes have receded in moral prestige,
the aristocratic " Liberals" have been sterile
in producing men of practical ability to fill the
public offices. Where are the clever young
Whigs upon whom the public eye is turned
hopefully? Or where, amongst the Liberal
connection, are those men, produced by the
Liberal party, who show practical talent for
public measures ? His parasitepl:sB2.lo4
point to the Premier. in repl . •
r
Noble Viscount was reared un I-r et.
TLEREAGH and Mr. PsacsvaL.
ability of Lord JOHN RUSSELL ale ,711 I 43* a
may be tested by the fact that yite-tftifi
though a pseudo-Liberal party ":"7 ,
ROBERT LOWE must confess • :
have not hitherto been suited r A ttl
, -; • •
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LONDON, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 4, 1856'
STAMPED ....SIXPENCE
UNSTAMPED-FIVEPENC
- - -- - -
opinions, and reconciling the conflicting sen- danger of seating the Liberal connection—
timents
of men, who, having long dwelt on one whatever chiefs it may choose to select—so
particular question, and made it in a manner firmly in office, as to establish their permanent . ~
,-- ',
their own, conceive an exaggerated notion of ascendancy in the country, and thus deal a
its importance, and, with great good faith but mortal blow to the whole system of Party ..,
, 1856. great short-sightedness, insist that it shall be Government. •.,
.•
elevated into a scheme of policy. Such men, •. t,
however estimable, do not understand what a PRACTICAL POLITICS.
•,.
scheme of policy implies. They do not see
tis ex- that it must necessarily be of a national, and SOME time since a paragraph went the round
tinsient. not a sectarian, character ; that it must corn- of the journals stating that the Premier had
they are prehend many interests and many sentiments; issued orders that the heads of the various
and that by reason of its comprehensiveness,
y often it must embrace elements, which, anart from departments should, in the month of Nevem-
minding Party ties, are antagonistic to each other. To ber, forward to the Treasury an abstract of the
they be insist on the predominance of any one of those measures intended to be brought before Par-
ie insti• elements which naturally enter into the compo- liament during the next session. By many
sition of a great Party, is to insist that the Party
ge tim- persons the paragraph was read as a verity,
shall be dissolved. Party does not require a sacri-
ring
ring the five of individual opinion; it does not attempt but there were not a few who accepted it as
to coerce the consciences of men, but it does one of those sly jeux desprit which occasionally
Ibe con- require very great toleration of opinion upon pass into circulation. It certainly savoured
a oppo_ all those subjects respecting which difference strongly of retrospective censure, and satirical
of opinion may and does prevail among the
In of the depreciation of the existing heads of depart-
members of a political connection. Without
creasing this toleration, men are unfit for the really ment, and bore sharply on the way in which
irce be- great and noble uses of Party Association. the public business has been mismanaged.
Govern- Devoted to their one idea, they cannot look during the last three years. But, joke or no
beyond it. Loom, in one of his rare flashes
cal con- joke, we, must; recollect that, in point of fact,
of wit, speaks of a musical enthusiast, who
to have accommodated the seven days of the week to there is a prodigies* sweat of business ta be
all per- the notes of music, as if from thence had been brought up in the next session of Parliament,
,view to taken the measure and method of creation. and the performances of the present Ministry
• %,
acted to There are political enthusiasts just ao emAy. do not inspire us with any confidence in their
They would make the whole science of Govern- ..;capaciuy. _
Govern-
of inde- for dealing with the practical ques-
ment consist in carrying their particular sen-:
dons of the time.
ides are timents into effect.
,uturers, It is when a Party is in Opposition also that When we look, also, at the character and.
r action, the baser instincts of its lowest members habits of those members who are designated
aking a have opportunity for development. The as " the commercial interest," our hopes do i I":
actice is allegiance rendered by a Party to
-its its leaders not much brighten. There was a time when
, . , :..... ~,,....,„..,1 tho 2 thch .•nminercial classes ••