The Press.
London, England, 1857-04-11 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

bers are wholly insensible to Govern-
ment persuasion. The large majority of
Lord PALMERSTON in the new Parliament,
long and frequent opportunities of advance-
ment—assistant barristerships, commissioner-
ships in prospect, it was thought might cor-
rupt the integrity of that profession. And
what was the result? Mr. LAwsoN, with every
effort, with all his advantages, was unable to
poll more than 272 votes, and ou the second
day ignominiously retired from the contest ;
while Mr. HAMILTON, although the retirement
of Mr. LAwsos (which no doubt was notified
for the purpose) prevented a large number of
the electors from coming to record their votes,
polled nearly 800 votes, and his colleague, Mr.
NAPIER, nearly s5O, being a larger number
than had ever polled on any former occasion.
So much for the University and its repre-
sentatives, Messrs. NAPIER and HAMILTON,
who had been members of Lord DERBY'S
O overnment.

Now let us turn to the gentleman who was
and is a member of Lord PALMERSTON'S Go-
vernment:possessing gi eat patronage as Under-
Secr•etary to the Colonies, with the recom-
mendation of being a Roman Catholic, and,
as might be supposed, acceptable to any
popular constituency in Ireland. Mr. BALL
had been member in the last Parliament for
Carlow County. He was hooted out of that
county by every class and denomination of the
electors. After trying his fortune, or rather
feeling his way, in several other constituencies,
he fixed upon Sligo Borough. Sligo Borough
is a peculiar• place ; for• many years it had the
honour of being represented by Mr. P. SOMERS,
who knew how to take care of his friends
through the good offices of Mr. HAYTER.
Subsequently it had the additional honour of
enumerating Mr. JOHN SADLEIR. then Lord of
the Treasury, as its member. Mr. WYNNE, also
one of those who had been in Lord DERBY'S
Government, rescued it from its ignominy in
the last Parliament. But Somerism and
Sadleirism, it was thought, might have pre-
pared it for the Under-Secretary of the
Colonies ; and Mr. JOHN BALL accordingly
fixed his affections upon the borough of Sligo.
Finding he had no chance of success, though
Lord PALMERSTON himself possesses a largo
property in and about the town, without re-
sorting to discreditable and dangerous outrages,
Mr. BALL (we say it to his honour) retired from
Sligo, leaving it to Mr. SOMERS to gain a tem-
porary return by intimidation, fraud, and vio-
lence. The Under-Secretary of the Colonies
then fell back upon the county of Sligo, where
Lord PALMERSTON possesses a large property,
and as an excellent landlord has influence and
popularity. What has been the result ?

Booth, a Conservative, and supporter of
Lord Derby
Cooper, the same
Ball, the Un,ler•Seeretary
So the Irish Under-Secretary of Lord PAL-
MERSTON, an Irish Roman Catholic, after try-
ing all expedients, is unable to find a seat in
his native country.
The Government efforts were unsuccessful
in llnblin City. The Conservatives have
already wined Louth County, Waterford
Borough, Carlow County, Mayo County, Lis-
burn Borough, Sligo County; their losses in Sligo
Borough and Athlone are, only temporary.
Londonderry County can scarcely be con-
sidered a loss, Mr. FREER, though an advo-
cate of tenant-right, being a stout Presby-
terian Conservative. In our next we hope we
shall be able to announce that the attack
which the Government has made upon the
metropolitan county has been as vigorously
repelled as that upon the University and the
City.

LORD JOHN RUSSELL AND " FINALITY."
THE position occupied by Lord Jo►tv RESSEIL
at the present time is without a precedent in
the annals of his party. The Noble Member
for London offers the singular spectacle of a
leader of tho House of Commons set aside
by a Ministerial connection, to whose political
principles he is favourable, and of whose
general interests he has been the consistent
champion for forty years. The Noble Lord is
unbroken in health, and the vigour with
which he defended himself against his com-
bined adversaries in the City proves that his

351

energy and his appetite for political power
are by no means diminished. What will be
the conduct of so distinguished a Whig in the
coming session ? That is a question which
naturally possesses considerable interest.
It is now twenty-three years since Lord
.roux ItussEr.r. was first chosen as the leader
of the Liberals in the House of Commons, and
the Noble Lord retained that post until the
fall of the Aberdeen Cabinet. The question is
now whether Lord JOHN RUSSELL will be con-
tent with being superseded in the chiefship of
the Reform party?
The Lrlinburyh Review once said that " the
" spirit of self-assertion was the predominant
" characteristic of English statesmen ;" and a
more self-asserting politician than Lord JOHN
RUSSELL does not exist. If Government bring
in a Reform Bill, wo cannot suppose that
Lord JOHN RUSSELL will allow a measure of
importance to be easily passed without his
opinion having been consulted on such a
scheme ; if, on the other hand, the Ministry
postpones its Reform measures, then Lord
JOHN RUSSELL, true to his antecedents, will
endeavour again to attract towards himself the
gale of popular favour. The old firm of " Rus-
" sell and Co." will again issue their circulars,
requesting the support of their friends. " Our
" Sir James Graham" will, possibly, be intro-
duced as a partner, and the credit of the " Tiver-
ton Company" will be adroitly disparaged.

. .
But if the Premier will have bis difficulties
in avoiding a Reform Bill, it cannot be denied
that Lord JOHN RUSSELL will also have some
obstacles to encounter. Foremost amongst
these is the memory of the vacillation that he
has shown upon the whole question. He was
for a long time called " Finality Jack," and
the manner in which the Noble Lord earned
that appellation contrasts with his anxiety
during the "Coalition" to pass a Reform
scheme, at the withdrawal of which he wept
in the House of Commons. The changes of
tone of Lord JOHN RUSSELL with respect to
" finality" cannot be overlooked. We have
been at some trouble in finding out when
Lord JOHN RUSSELL first made use of the
phrase. We believe that it was so far back
as the time of the passing of the Reform Bill.
On the sth of June, 1832, Lord JOHN RUSSELL
moved that the House should agree to certain
amendments of the Lords, when, as the re-
port states, " a long and animated debate
" ensued, in which the political unions were
" strongly deprecated by both sides of the
" House." Amongst other speakers, the late
Mr. HOME (then M.P. for Middlesex, at the
height of his vogue) " declared that he would
" not give a pin for the Bill if it stopped at
" its present point, without paving the way for
" further changes, whereupon (continues the
Report) Lord JOHN RUSSELL rose, and said
" that he trusted that th. Bill would be received
"by the country as a final measure; he could
" consent to nothing which went beyond it. If it
" were so received, the public would soon cease
" to waste their time on political unions."
These are strong and significant words. In
1839 the " Letter to the Electors of Stroud "
uttered the same tone. On the 21st of June,
1848, the Noble Lord (then Prime Minister)
defended the Reform Act against the on-
slaught of the Radical Reformers, led by Niro
HUME ; and on the 4th of June, 1849, the
Noble Lord made so moderate and Con-
servative a speech, that the pres.mt Secretary
to the Admiralty called it " a melancholy ex-
" hibition." Injustice, however, to the Noble
Member for London, we must admit that on
one of those last occasions he said that " he
" had always been of opinion that the Reform
" Bill would admit of improvement from time
" to time"—a phrase which may mean any-
thing or nothing, as " improvement" and
" time " are equally vague ; and in politics, as
in other things, " words are but wind—actions
" speak the mind."
Between " the bill, the whole bill, and no-
" thing but the bill," "a,final measure," " pro-
" gressive reform," and " improvement from
" time to time," it would be difficult to ascer-
tain the permanent convictions of the Noble
Member for London But his inconsistencies
are as nothing, when compared with those of
the present Prime Minister ; and in the
coming session both those Noble Lords will
I be compelled to speak out.