The Express.
London, England, 1849-01-02 00:00:00

Zhe Orpretqi.

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&inland will be made up ea the evening of the got Jan.

11101 WATIII AT LODON •111DOIL
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LONDON, TUESDAY, JAN. 2.

A GENERATION of veteran whigs is fast disappear-
log from the stage of public life. Lord MELBOURNE
and the Earl of CARLISLE have gone within a few
weeks of etch other. And Lord AUCKLAND has
followed them. They were all amiable men, evidently
much beloved by their friends, who have sufficient
bold of the great organs of opinion to insert lengthy
panegyrics of them. The Edinintrgh Rallies, his
caw upon Lord MELBOURNE, of whom it makes
a Clem. It would have been more to the
purpose to have answered those terrible accu-
sations lately made against his memory, or rather
against his conduct, when resigning or dismissed in
the memorable interview with King WILLIAM at
Windsor. Lord MELBOURNE'S administration has,
however, its melancholy grandeur. lie was the
minister of the "decline and fall" of whiggiem. And
Lord AUCKLAND'S name is indelibly inscribed at the
head of the most fearful chapters of that decline,'
the ci•aster of CabaL Yet he went out as a civilian
ruler of that great empire, as one who was to
put an end to the all-absorbing activity cf
the sword. And, in truth, no fitter governor could
have been found to wield the olive branch and cul-
tivate the arts of peace. There appears, however, to be
some demon of the old Indian mytl ology ever at work
to counteract English schemes for Indian regenera-
tion. A hundred times have governors been sent
out with the best, the most mei& and moet economi-
cal, Mt. ntions. But, like our ministers at home, the
,runing-hook has been always, somehow, straightened
into the sword, and the old result of deficit and taxi-
non has gone on. The latter in England has hitherto
fallen upon bread and totive shoultkrs. In India it
has, unfortunately, mulcted and oppressed the hapless
cultivator of the soil.

Lord AUCKLAND, therefore, wbe'her his adm:nis-
tration in Hindustan or at the Admiralty be exemi •cd,
will be found, wood easy man, to have followed t.le
current of his time. Liberal when he could, prudif;al
when he was driven, taking care of his relatives., and
with cs much idea of the future fate or policy of his
party or his country as any of his limo-comae
and noble col'eazues, an epitaph might be written
upon him quite es high sounding as hose which rain
opal the tomb of Lord MELBOURNE—a good father, a
warm blend, with sterling sense and average wit.
Bat does all this make a statesman, we would sal, in
the one case as in the ot''er?

In estimating the merits of an artist, in deciding
whether he was truly great or not, it is asked
whether he formed a whip!, and bequeathed his
experience aed his style to the perfecting
and developing of worthy, well chosen, and well
reared disc ples. The same may be inquired and said
of statesmen. CHATHAM inspired BURKE ; PITT
formed llusiossoN and CANNING ; Fox bequeathed
the future vindication and completion of his policy to
GREY. But if a master yet survives, where is the
scholar? Where are we to look for the rising gene-
ration of whia,gism ? The cause of political sterility
lies in the worthlessness or nullity of party
principle. A party may be stronst, yet have no
political heirs. Witness I.IVERPOOL and CASTLE-
REAGH. We fear that Lord Mentonitste and Lord
J. RUSSELL are in the same predicament. The torch
has almost expired in their hands, and the youth
even of ti eir race scorn to keep it alive, or hand it on.
Lord J. Bram'. seems, indeed, to be sensible of
the political childlessness of his party, rendered more
painful as the old lordly members of that party drop.
Det pairing of that hereditary principle, so vaunted in
our time, he has tried adoption. But in this he has
been no longer guided by the old whig tradition. It
yr;zed wit and genius. It enlisted SHERIDAN, it
made a grasp at CANNING. We have seen the last
symptom_ of such predilection in the appointment of
BULLER and of SHEIL. But now it is the twin of
figures, or the man of business—the ploddirg and
heavy barrister rather thin the quick and fertile
brain. The SHERIDANS and the SIMMS, as the chil-
dren of whig adoption, have given place to the
WILSONS and the BAINESES. Be it so. Probably
Loud JonN is right. But the result is the disappear-
ance not only of the principles of whiggism, but its
very character.

RcritcocnmErev—redaction of taxation and reduc-
tion of expenditure—these are to be the topics or the
coming session. Tho whigs cannot help the mat4ves,
and their friends the tories cannot help them. The
one subject that occupies the national mind at pre-
sent is how the public expenses can be diminished
and the burthen of taxation lightened. Proofs of this
meet us at every turning : in the warm welcome
given by the provincial press to Mr. Conoco's
budget ; in the declarations of public men at public
meetings ; in the hot haste with which rival budgets
are brought forward ; above all, in the eva-ive pro-
fessions of zeal for retrenchment coupled with hints
at the difficulty of accomplishing it, and the danger of
allowing any but thorough-bred red-tapists to meddle
with the business, by which the official organs, whig
and tory, seek to parry Mr. COBDEN'S home-thrust.
Of late we have submitted to our readers so many
specimens of the manner in which the provincial
press speak of Mr. COODEN'S letter to Mr. ItOBERT-
SON GLADSTONE, that we may dispense with 'lying
anything more on that subject at present. or the
public meetings at which the subject of financial
reform has been touched upon, two will serve in the
meantime as samples of the rest—one was held at
Cockermouth and the other at Edinburgh.
A dinner was given at Cockermouth, abent a week
ago, to the two very able and efficient mem. era who
represent that town is parliament. Each of these
gentlemen has established claims upon public grati-
tude, by adopting the useful course in parliament of
making one particular question more especially his
care. Mr. AOLIONST has done good service by taking
in hand the enfranchisement of copyhold tenures, and

Mr. HORSMAN, by urginT a bettei distribution of the
revenues of the church. But it is with what they
have men saying to their constituents, on the subject
of finance, that we have to do at present, which re-
minds us of Mr. Hoasw►N's able advocacy of a more
equitable system of rating to the income tax.

4Mr. AGLIONBY, on the- occasion to which we are
referring, made it matter of honourable boast that he
" had always assisted the best political servant this
country ever had—the best, bemuse the most perti-
nacious and industrious—JOSEPH Hume." Mr.
AGLIONBY proceeded to remind his hearers that this
old and tried friend " is now supported vigorously by
one of the most extraordinary men that the age has
produced—l need scarcely say that I allude to Mr.
COBDEN (loud cheers)." "The band of reformers,"
he went on to say, "is strengthening almost every
session. I need not enumerate them—there are
VILLIERS and BRIGHT—and I might go through a
long catalogue." Mr. AGLIONI3Y'S identification of
himself with these earr,est and practical reformers,
and the applaute with which it was received, might
suffice to show the inclinations of the meeting; but
some of the gentlemen present were resolved this, in
so far as taxation was concerned, this should not be
left to vague inference. A written question was
handed to Mr. AGLIONBY while speaking, asking his
opinion on taxation and the peace question. Hie
answer was satisfactory, and the advice mingled with
it sound and important :
I Lave on all occasions advocated a repeal of the window
tax, of the duty on salt, soap, and all articles which press on
the productive and consuming ears. But with regard to how
far can go, it is impossible to answer you, incept in gene-
ral terms, that I wish for a reduction of all taxes as tar as it
can be done, without breaking the faith of the nation. In re-
pealing any tax you must either show some mcde of gaining
an advantage or of substituting another, otherwise you
would leave your Chancellor of the Exchequer without
money. I have gone with Mr. Cobden and Mr. Hume as an
advxate of retrenchment. Retrench your army ; retrencn
your navy ; lessen salaries ; and then reduced ezp, saliture
must follow as a matter of course. Unto. tunately, when we
call for a redaction of a tax we are met in this way, " Yon