The Press.
London, England, 1858-01-16 00:00:00

Public opinion has been turned aside from
wild and speculative projects, and directed to
useful and feasible ends. Popular education
has been ably discussed and vigorously pro-
moted ; the health of towns has been judi-
ciously improved by statutory acts; and the
action of the Church upon the masses has
been called forth with 'euersy. AtailNlys have
largely promoted internal intercourse; amuse•
ments for the million, like the Crzstal Palace
and other great' undertakingi, nave given
common enjoyments to opposite classes of
society ; Art has been encouraged, and the
public press has been cheapened, extended,
and improved. Any one who remembers what
has been done iu the last twenty years must
acknowledge that, without any regard to
" party" or political considerations, there have
been vast changes and several great improve-
ments in England and its society at large.
In a progressive country like England such
a series of changes, safe, practical, and whole-
some, are only in accordance with the instincts
of its inhabitants, and the traditions of their
race. The history of England is a history of
social growth and national expansion ; but,
strangely enough, mere political reform is not
one of the grand means by which England has
advanced in civilisation. The rise of our
mighty empire, the acquisitions of Canada and
the West Indies, the gradual erection of our
'stupendous power in the East Indies, our
influence on the Continent, the progress of our
mercantile marine, the discipline of our famous
navy, the manufacturing developments of the
north—all these, and similar social growths,
were entirely unconnected with political re-
form. Yet it is to these, and to kinded develop-
ments, and not to political changes, that
England owes its vast opulence, its wide•
spread power, its great resources, and its
civilising empire.
Such growths would not satisfy the longings
of the credulous masses, nor the purposes of
ambitious political connections, bent on mono•
polising all the advantages which may arise
from the advocacy of " Reform." The popular
imagination in all countries has an ignorant
credulity in there being some short road to an
El Dorado for the working classes. In 1848,
the popular imagination through Europe, with
its enthusiastic delusions and unsatisfied
desires, made Thrones and Dynasties topple
to the dust. The masses believed that they
could achieve much, and their ignorance made
them overrate the force of intrigue and cor- '
ruption amongst the Governments which they
overthrew. In England, " the Charter," with
its five points, was the grand fallacy in which
large portions of the working classes believed.
The Whigs were in office in 1848, and they
denounced the " mob " and " demagogues."
At another time the Whigs would have called
the populace by the name of " the people," and
hailed even FERGUS O'CONNOR as a patriot.
After the close of 1848, and the total collapse
of Chartism, the Liberal party appeared to
acquiesce in what seemed to be the general
feeling of the country, that Social Reform
should be actively fostered, and mere Poli-
tical Reform laid aside. Such a course of
action might have worked well for the country,
if there had been able administrators in office.
But " the families " could only exhibit the
second-rate men of a past and more brilliant
age. Lord Jorix RUSSELL was an excellent
debater and a vigorous administrator in matters
of pure politics, but his cast of 'mind, or his
special acquirements, were not suitable for• the
settlement of social questions. His colleagues
were inferior to himself, and his Cabinet sunk
from sheer exhaustion ; and then when the
Conservative party came into power, and after
certain economical questions had been de-
cided, it was found necessary by the Liberals
to get up a new cry, and Political Reform was
again adopted by the Whigs as their means
for acquiring and retaining power.
Conservatives, therefore. are left no option
about the discussion of a Political Reform.
The question has been forced on the Legisla-
ture and the public, and it will be necessary
to watch the conduct of the Cabinet, and of
the Liberal party, with unceasing vigilance,
and thoroughly to comprehend the whole
eventualities of the case. Parliamentary in-
Silences have brougibt the subject on, although
A large portion even of the Liberal public can-