The Sun.
London, England, 1865-07-15 00:00:00

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tbitl2l): Nit SUM

LONDON, SATURDAY, JULY 15, 1865.

There are some cases in which a happy audacity
attains a success which never could have been
reached by common prudence and caution. The
attempt of a young and untried politician to dis-
place a gentleman of character and position, who
has for years represented one of the most important
of our manufacturingtowns, can hardly be regarded
as otherwise than presumptuous. Lord AMBERLEY
has, it is true, his father's reputation to fall back
upon, but, unluckily, between his " rest and be
thankful" Reform doctrine, and his " meddling and
muddling" foreign policy, Lord RUSSELL is not just
now a very Popular hero. What especial claim
Lord AMBERLEY considered that he had upon the
electors of Leeds it is not very easy to determine,
and Yorkshiremen are not always the most easy to
deal with. They are particularly amenable to
smooth words and fair promises, if the youthful
scion of the Whigs relied upon such aid. He cer-
tainly endeavoured to adapt himself to his company
in his preliminary visit a month or two ago, but the
effort to swim with the tide was too transparent.
A young gentleman so very open to conviction
might, it was felt, be equally susceptible to argu-
ments on the other side, when a fresh turn in
politics sent Radicalism out of fashion. The heir
of the House of RUS:.;ELL proved himself an adept
in the traditional policy of his race, and the courage
which induced him to attack such a constituency as
Leech was no less representative of a true Whig of
the present day than the zeal for reform and for
civil and religious liberty which he professed was
typical of the older school. The audacity of the
present race equals their ingratitude ; perhaps, in-
deed, the shortness of their political memory increases
their valour, for they seem to think that the public
will forget their pledges as rapidly as they do them-
selves. No one can bring the charge of broken
promises against Lord AMBERLET at the outset of a ,
political career which, we hope, may prove honour-

able to himself and useful to his country ; and there
are no old grievances to avenge in his defeat, but,
nevertheless, in spite of his candid profession of the
more advanced principles of his party, in spite of
the friendly advocacy of Mr. BAINES, in spite of
the fact that he is nearly connected with one of the
acknowledged leaders of the Whigs, Lord AMBER-
LEY'S name was third on the list of candidates. All
that he was to accomplish in the new Parliament,
therefore, must be deferred to a more auspicious
occasion ; and if he and his father have not profited
by the lesson taught them at Leeds, is is to be
hoped that the other members of the party
will take the hint. Lord AMBERLEY must
learn to rely on himself, and not to boast
of the triumphs of the past triumphs
in which he had no share, and which the accident of
birth gives him no right to profit by. The were
advocacy of extreme doctrines gives him no right to
demand the suffrages of an important con-
stituency, and a less arrogant and confident
tone would better become the new re-
cruit in his next campaign. The canvas of
Mr. GLADSTONE, junior, for Chester, has been more
successful, perhaps, beause the CHANCELLOR of the
EXCHEQUER is a more popular man than the
Fcreign Secretary—perhaps because the young
aspirant for admission to the Parliamentary arena
was less of a doctrinaire.

Turning from the unsuccessful candidate of
Leeds to the unopposed candidate for Droitwich,
WC find Sir JOHN PAKINGTON addressing his old
constituents with his usual straightforwardness,
moderation, and good sense. With regard to the
great question of Reform, which, unlike some of his
friends and rivals, he did not shrink from discussing,
he frankly declined to pledge himself to any parti-
cular measure or to any particular course. It was,
he said, a very difficult and important question, and
so far from its being a party measure the right hon.
baronet observed that he shoul'l like to see it calmly
deliberated on by a committee of the privy Council,
drawn from both sides. Lord GREY, in his recent
work, remarks that it would be difficult, if not
impossible, for either of the great parties to settle
the question, and the proposal which Sir JOHN
PAKINGTON supported was originated by the noble
lord. Sir JOHN calls him one of the most able as
well as one of the most honest statesmen of the day,
and certainly if any one possesses an hereditary
right to discuss the subject, it is the son of
the great Reformer who presided over the measure
of 1832. While the lapse of years has rendered
some changes and additions necessary since the
passing of the Reform Bill, experience has also
shown in what it was deficient. It would be of
course impossible to render any measure absolutely
perfect, and the test of practical working
must always be applied before it can create general
confidence. More especially is this the case when a
great change has to be carried out in the midst of a
great political tumult, when every step of the way
has to be fought inch by inch, and all the vehemence
of party feeling is carried into a matter requiring
grave and earnest deliberation. It is only wonder-
ful that the statesmen and reformers of 1832 ac-
complished so much as they did. If their bill did
not go far enough to need no additions, at least
they kept on the safe and prudent side, and
have had to take no retrogressive steps.
Sir Jolly PAKINGTON, whom we may, it
is to be hoped, look upon as the organ
of his party, confesses his conviction that the
time is not distant when the public voice will require
some revision of the Act of 1832 ; and he also
expresses his hope that, though no measure of the
sort can be absolutely final, the new Reform Bill
may be framed in so wise and enlightened a
manner that it shall place the representation of
England on a satisfactory footing for a long period
to come. In this hope all true Reformers mus
cordially join.

General PEEL'S speech at Huntingdon is well
worthy of attention. It was the twelfth time that
he had had to return thanks to the electors for re-
turning him as their representative in the House of
Commons. The gallant General remarked that
there was something unusual in.the present dissolu-
tion, for, on ordinary occasions, such an event
followed upon an adverse vote to the Ministerial
policy, or in consequence of some great question of
the day being unsettled. This Parliament has nearly
reached its legitimate end, and the chief plea on
which many rest their appeals to the constituencies
is the plea that they are supporters of Lord PAL-
MERSTON. Upon this notion General PEEL very
wisely determined .to inquire into the merits of the
Government. In fulfilling this rather invidious task
he proinised to guard against personalities, and he
kept his pledge. There was great truth in his
primary assertion that if ever a Government were
pledged to anything, the present Government was
pledged to bring in a more extensive measure of
Reform than their predecessors. Yet they showed
great distaste and indifference in performing the task,
"and the very men who turned out their predeces-
sorsbecause they would not go far enough were them-
selves content to go no further than the Treasury
bench, and there to " rest and be thankful." When
the episode of Reform was over this acute Govern-
ment discovered a new claim that they had on the
gratitude of. the country, and began to extol their
foreign policy. General PEEL took a very good
illustration of the. merits of this part of the official
programme .by referring to the debate which took
place on the subject last year. Every member who
took part in the discussion condemned the foreign
policy which the Government had deemed it right
to pursue. There is a sad truth in this opinion of
the General's regarding that epoch—" The time
would-come, however we might now attempt to
forget-it, when the events of 1863-4 would be
writtenl in the paicii- of history, and those pages
would bring.a blush to the cheek of every English-
man who should read the record." The naval and
military establishments of the country do not re-
dound much more• to the credit of Ministers than
other matters, for during the six years that the pre-
sent Government have been in office more has been
spent on these two services than in any period of
peace in our history. Such is not a very creditable
exposition of facts, and the members of the Govern-
ment have not much to plume themselves upon in
regard to it.' • General PEEL was able to refer to
some valuable services that the late Administration
rendered the country in. introducing improvements
that the necessities of the time required, and that
the rapid development of the resources of other
Conspicuous
nations rendered it necessary for us to inaugurate.
anaoitg these were the building of
armour-plated shim the introduction of rifled
guns, and the acceptance of the services of Volun-
teers. These are indeed lasting and important
works, and reflect great credit on the skill and dis-
cernment of those who approved of them. Now
that these are recognised things, it is very inge-
nious for all present Ministers to appropriate to
themselves the merit of them, but people who take
the trouble to look into the records of the past in-
stead of taking everything on trust from the powers
that be, will find that much praise is claimed for
what is not really their doings, or at all events that
they did not originate but follow in the tract
indicated by their predecessors.
As regards the demi-god of the Administration,

the far-famed Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gen
PEEL was venturesome enough to criticise him, and
to remark that though he gave him credit for being
an excellent financier, and admitted his budgets to
be good, he considered that more money was
now taken from the pockets of the people
than when this Govermnent took office. The
chief reduction in expenditure has been in
that " extra expenditure" that the Chan-
cellor and his colleagues incurred with one thing
and another. There is sound sense in the criticism
of the General respecting the manner in which the
other offices of the Administration were filled. lie
said there was nothing which raised the Govern-
ment above mediocrity, and, " from the Lord Chan-
cellor downward, he did not think that there was
anything to raise them above the ordinary charac-
ter of English administrators." It is a great dis-
credit to a government when a political opponent
is able to declare, as General PEEL did, that he
defied any of the supporters of the Ministers to de-
fine the fixture policy of the Government, or to pre-
dict anything that they would be lilkely to do,
except to follow any course which for the moment
was in the ascendant. They have, in truth, nothing
definite or decided in view, but trade or the acci-
dents and occurrences of the hour, and then defy
any one to outdo them in wit or wisdom.

General PEEL observed, with great accuracy,
that " there were some questions on which the
country so unequivocally expressed its opinion that,
no matter who might be the Ministers of the day,
it would be impossible to oppose that decision."
After expressing a conviction that the old do-
nothing policy would not do in the next Parliament,
the gallant General went on to consider the pro-
bable changes that might be made. Concerning
the extreme alterations which some proposed, he
assured his hearers that there was as much danger
in having the advanced guard too much in front of
the main body as in having the rear guard too
much behind. This warning may be of service to
some sapient individuals who have neither method
nor moderation in their mad desire for change at
any cost. The General is in favour of an extension
of the franchise, and, in giving his opinion, he de-
clared that he spoke as a member of a Government
that had brought in a Reform Bill. He trusted
that the more dignified term of " lateral franchises'
would bring more favour than the old one of fancy,
franchises." He amusingly illustrated the notion
of the new members for Westminster that every one
who could work a sum in arithmetic should be ad-
mitted to the franchise. " Now," said Gene-
ral PEEL, " I imagine all of them with
slates and pencils prepared to answer some such
questions as this : "If the value of the 15,000 th
part of the right to return a metropolitan member
is so much, what would be the value of a similar
right to return all the metropolitan members." On
the whole this was a very successful speech, and
General PEEL showed the advantage possessed by
the Conservative candidates over their opponents of
being able to critise the past without reproach, and
look to the future without fear. Broken promises
and wasted opportunities rise up in judgment
against those who endeavour to prop up a Ministry
that has failed to secure public confidence, and has
not rendered any service to the country at all com-
mensurate with its professions when it forced itsel f
into power.