The Sun.
London, England, 1852-03-13 00:00:00

PARLIAMENTARY BUSINESS.

(From the Votes and Proceedings of the House of Commons.)
The undernamed Railway Bills were presented, read a
first, and ordered to be read a second time :
Oxford, Worcester, and Wolverhampton (No. 3).
Oxford, Worcester, and Wolverhampton (No. 4).
Somersetshire Central.

TIDE CLIQUE.
CHESHAM CLIQUE. We never doubted that the us
of adversity wouldof the Treasury to those
office has already con-
verted have not been
of the Opposition ; and our anticipations
im-
mediately be displayed in the conditionaa
of the party which
has just migrated from the benches
disappointed. A fortnight out of
who baffled Mr. Havter'a
ingenuity a few nights ago, or threatened, if they stayed, to
the most reserved and exclusive of Ministers into a
bidder for popularity. The men
vote against their friends, rally with admirable unanimity
War,
action. Whig seamanship is never so finely displayed as in
sailing on a wind, rather close hauled. T
hey advance by op-
position the absolutely
to the Council of though they deserted in the last
position ; and to put forth all their strength y .
require a handsome resistance.
days of already displayed more cordiality in twelve
the
opposi-
tion than he had expended in six years of power; and
attractions he gains by ceasing to rule the State almostmay
compensate for what he bad lost in the service of the Crown.
Lord John himself has
agree-
able contrast to the Ministerial langour which latelyeorrh-
pressed the country with ill-humour and ennui, I
But, thougji this amenity and these efforts form an
That 168
ratter of the late meeting in Chesham-place.
late Adminis-
trationwhile to inquire rather more closely what was theittpaewcha-
gentlemen immediately connected with the..
not an event calculated to excite either exultation or surprise.
of should assemble at the house of the late Premier, is
The meeting included that fraction of the House
Coin-
mona which may correctly be described as the Whig party, ,
and to this fraction were added for the nonce some 25 or
Members of more Radical opinions, who serve as an unat-
tached corps under the same general command. But, con-
sidering the extreme gravity and interest ef the occasion, and
the importance of arriving at some combined action on
the main question of the day. our astonishment is far
more excited by the small numerical strength of
this meeting and by its purely Whig character.
If our memory does not deceive
us, there have
been meetings in Downing-street, even within the last few
years, when 260 Members obeyed the eummons of the
Pre-
mier and received his commands. The value of the present
demonstration would certainly have been materially increased
if Sir James Graham had thought fit to testify by his pre-
sence that he is henceforth to be considered as
a member of
the same party and a leader of the same corps as Lord John
Russell. But, though we understand that it was intimated
by Sir James Graham that he concurred in the proposed
policy of the opposition to Lord Derby's Cabinet, he stood
aloof from a more decided junction. For the same reason,
we presume, Mr. Cardwell was absent, and, with the
exception of Mr. F. Peel, who had taken office
under the late Ministry, no
other member of Sir
R. Peel's . party is on the list. A still more striking
gap in the distribution of parts for this new drama was
caused by the absence of Lord Palmerston,
supported, no
doubt, in his retirement by the fidelity of his squires, Colonel
Freestun and Mr. Monckton Milnes. Equally significant,
and in numerical force eves more discouraging, was the ab-
sence of a large portion of the Irish s of the Liberal
cause, whose hostility to Use late Minister has been loudly
expressed, and likewise that of several independent Members,
whose adherence to Free-trade Principles is unquestionable,
that ground, an unqualified adherence to the authority as-
sumed by Lord John Russell. Yet it is the indifference or
support, the distrust or the confidence, of these independent
and variable quantities which constitutes the difference be-
but who appear to have hesitated before they gave in, on
tween a majority and a minority, end will turn the scale in
the distribution of power. .
In fact, if this meeting proves anything, it proves that Lord
John Russell can command the support of rather more than
one quarter of the present House of Commons, including in
that number Radical Members, whose alle-
giance & and dictated at this mo-
ment by their fears of a Protectionist Ministry. Probably
we should have given credit to Lord John for a somewhat
larger following, if we had speculated on it beforehand. But
e conditional,asprink liinngteor faiittin
let us allow him to count 200 adherents, though only. 168
m eiextthenatd
;innoar
is
avai
it unquestioned wled themselves of his invitation—what is that among so
is that even in comparison with the compact Protectionist
phalanx of 230 ? Yet beyond that number his influence can-
amount. iithin that
; Upon the evidence of this meeting we recognize therefore
saildVhtoat
in Lord John Russell the leader of thia section of the Liberal
party. But as long as it is a section it is a minority, and
though it may find itself in a casual majority by some com-
mon impulse of hostility er fortuitous coincidence, such a
noatnby
11°080 of 646 Members ? What
e?
section is not yet a party for political Purposes, and such a
combination contains but few of the amalgamated elements
of a broad and powerful Government. Much has been said
since the dissolution of the late Cabinet of the importance of
extending the structure of the next Government, and we are
amused to find that the sturdy remonstrances we addressed
to Lord John Russell in March, 1851, and in January, 1852,
when it was in his power to profit by them, are now adopted
by his confidential supporters as the pledge of his future
conduct, if he has another chance. But we can discover
in this meeting no evidence of any such extension at all.
That part of the process of reconstruction has yet
to,be effected. With a view to the organization of a power-
ful Opposition, capable of succeeding eventualli, to the direc-
tion of affairs, this meeting led to no practice result. Per-
haps we shall told that no such result was expected. But,
as we stated yesterday, we must be permitted to look rather
beyond mere considerations of personal ambition and party
intrigue. The interests, the tranquillity, Possibly the safety
of the country, peremptorily require that such" a party should
be formed with the greatest possible efficiency and the least
possible delay. And it is precisely because Lord John Russell
is essentially the leader of a section, identified through every
passage of his life with the dogmatism of his p__y
art creed,
that he is not the chief representative of the dominant opi-
nions of the nation, based on the extinction of those mere
tv passions and distinctipas ta once arrayed men against
ar
become, in truth,
such a lead
each
other. To
off the er of a great
le, a man must first shake Party badges which
peop ,
Lord John Russell venerates, and must then este ' rem an in-
dependence of judgment and of character eibmeanei by which Sir
accomplished Robert Peelch Lord John
Russell proscribes. Those
these were the
great legislative act that made
•
name immortal, and endeared him, be
).ond any living
l d N
his
of Eng an . or ,if his great work
the people
statesman, to
be now threatened by a party combination of landlords and
Protectionists, can it be securely
defended except by
a
Minis-
ter who shall throw
himself resolutely upon the nation,
shades and hues of opinion in the
and combine the lesser
public interest and public duty. The
Political section
broad daylight of
sections of
the
day are the ingredients of
such a
pa yet
e hseme must bee mrge ;d in
st ; but
they
for
the t
y e time the chief obstacles to its
ar
consolidation, since, even in contact, they refuse to mingle.
and pretensions afford even now the
principal chance o
Nay, their differences
t temporary
success, of which the present
Commons will, by manoeuvring skil-
fully,leader of the House of
they may even be beaten, ln detail and,
avail himself. .
Ch_sharn-place goes, it holds out no
as tar as this meeting in e
t
reinforcemen . Can there be a stronger
pledge of fusion or
that in order to bring these several
proot of our assertion, .
and discipline n , some common
parts and sections into union
`hem, tint
above
thew?
? d
t in Qua and
hew 144,1 t In sought, 119