The Sun.
London, England, 1856-05-26 00:00:00

THE CARLTON CLUB.

(Front the Morning Herald.)

We wish to direct attention to the account given
elsewhere of the great meeting at the Carlton Club,
upon the subject of the proposed resolutions of
Lord Ranelagh, relative to the continued " active
presence" of certain individuals in that club, from
the principles of which they had so widely separated
themselves.

It is difficult for any persons whose sensibilities
as gentlemen have not been blunted by the laxity
with which aberrations from principle in political
life have unfortunately been considered of late, and
the criminal forbearance which has been shown to
the most flagrant breaches of the commo'n rules of
political honesty and honour—we say it is difficult
for such to conceive how an intimation such as was
conveyed to those gentlemen on 'Saturday could
have possibly become necessary.
It is, however, only an additional proof that the
separation which modern philosophy has endea-
voured to establish between personal and political
honour is as impracticable as it is manifestly incon-
sistent with sound ethics. It is utterly hopeless
that the man who considers himself at liberty to
break his plighted word, either to his party or his
constituents in public life, can continue to enter-
tain those Dice sentiments of personal honour which
render possible the existence of that confidence
which ought to subsist amongst all men drawn to-
gether by unity of sentiment and reliance upon pro-
fessions of similarity of objects, either in private or
public life. . . .

Forbearance was long exercised towards those
gentlemen, grounded principally on the expectation,
that, when the one question upon which a difference
was said to exist had been finally decided, their
natural leanings and the recollection of early asso-
ciation would bring them back to the party from
which they had separated upon a question which
they professed to consider one of merely fiscal
policy.
This expectation, however, was not realised, and
it now appears that even during the election of
1852, when the continuance of the party to which
these gentlemen professed to belong was at stake,
they did not scruple to make use of the very house
of the society, the principles of whose foundation
they were attempting to undermine, as a place of
meeting in which to hold discussions for a purpose
hostile to its existence.
The blunted feelings to which we have alluded
must have become very dull indeed when warrant-
ed in concocting•electioneering plans, in the carry-
ing out of which Messrs. Edmund O'Flaherty, Sad-
leir, Stoner, and others, since creditably made
known to the country, were the active agents, ab-
solutely under the roof of a Conservative club.
The subject, however, is not one on which a
writer can dwell with pleasure ; and we hope, now
that the opinion of the vast majority of the
members of the club has been unmistakeably ex-
pressed, that the object for which it was founded
was a political one, the gentlemen in question will
see the propriety of refraining from intruding them-
selves upon a society in which their presence has
long produced distrust, and in the minds of whose
members it must now, after what has passed, pro-
duce feelings of the most unmistakeable contempt.
As an instance of the inconvenience, not to say
worse, occasioned by the line of conduct which we
reprehend, we may mention an occurrence which
took place only the other day, when a private con-
versation beti,veen two members of the club was made
the subject of a very severe inculpation of the con-
duct of the members generally in the columns of a
morning contemporay. The fact that the assertion
on which this attack was founded was utterly un-
true, namely, that Lord Derby still continued a
member of Brookes'—which ho quitted in 1834—0 f
course makes no difference in the fact that a con-
versation, which ought to be considered in a cer-
tain degree confidential, was forthwith communi-
cated to a hostile journal, and made the founda-
tion of censorious commentary.
Once more we repeat that the question at issue is
more one that should be decided by the rules of
that code of honour to which all men in the posi-
tion of gentlemen are expected to conform, than by
the lax code of morality now unhappily widely
tolerated among professional politicians.

THE TYRANNY OF CAIVT.

-- _-ip. - --_

In answer to a question by Mr. Otway, Lord
Palmerston gave the following account of his rea-
sons for discontinuing the performance of bands in
the parks on Sunday evenings :

"I received last week a letter from the Archbishop of
Canterbury stating upon his own part, and upo►► the
part of his episcopal brethren, reasons why he conceived
that, in deference to the religious feelings of a large part of
the community, it would be desirable that the bands playing
on a Sunday evening should cease. To that letter I re-
plied that I had originally concurred in the arrangement
that bands should play in Kensington-gardens and Hyde

park on a Sunday; that my opinion has been and still
was—for I had heard nothing to alter my views—that
such an arrangement would afford an innocent recrea-
tion, combined with fresh air and healthy exercise, to
the inhabitants of the metropolis ; but'l said that, con-
sidering the feeling which had been expressed by himself
as the head of the church, and having also had represen-
tations made to me that that feeling was shared by'va-
rious other persons, I had to ask myself whether the
advantage which would arise from the continuance of
those bands on a Sunday would compensate for the evil
which might arise from running counter to the religious
feelings of a large portion of the community, and to that
question I was compelled t? reply that it would not. 1
therefore took immediate Ceps to discontinue the play-
ing of those bands in the parks on a Sunday, but that
prohibition does not apply to other towns,"
The reason thus assigned for the concession is in
the very teeth of the principle to be maintained,
which is that in the domain of conscience no one has
a right to dictate to another, saying, Do this because
Ido it, or do it not because Ido it not Lord Pal-
merson remains of opinion that music is an innocent
recreation which may with great advantage be ex-
tended to the working classes in lieu of coarse and
pernicious pleasures. But the Pharisees and Puri-
tans are of opinion that the working man needs no
relaxation, that he should toil for six days and pray
the seventh, and so toil and pray and toil and pray to
the end of his dreary days. They could not tolerate
the music in the parks, it troubled their peace, as
Mordecai in the king's gate poisoned the existence of
Haman; and Lord Palmerston is of opinion that no
advantage which the working people or the public
generally could derive from the recreation in
question could counterbalance the evil of
opposing the opinions and dictation of that
portion of the community which dubs
itself serious. The determination is thus not
on the merits, nor in obedience to a majority, or in
respect oenumbers, but it is a yielding to the mere
veto of asceticism. The noes have it absolutely.
Upon the same rule, if the Archbishop of Canter-
bury should disapprove of the running of railways,
or the plying of steam-boats on the Sunday, and
his feeling should be shared in by some other per-
sons, Lord Palmerston would, in consistency with
his present concession, be bound to yield. He has
allowed the claim of one part of the community to
a tyranny over the other. The Pharisees who say
they are better than others are to have their own
way with them, and the lovers of gloom aro to
make gloom the order of the day. As one man's
meat is auother's poison, so one man's pleasure is
another's pain, and the discontent of the Maw-
worms or Paulites (of the Bank of Faith) is allowed
to prevail against the health and profitable enjoy-
. mentjof their neighbours. A kip part of the
public is to be denied a good, not because it hurts
any other part, but because it does not square with
the practice and opinions of Judaic Sabbatarians.
Turn the question the other way. What if the
anti-Puritanical partof the public wore tam' it re-
pugnant tottieir feeline°zthatanymembers of the com-
munity should deny themselves
y enjoyments of a
refined nature after the discharge of the religious
duties, and' should proscribe such nonconformity as
antisocial, and also as tending to continue the ha-
bits of the grosser sensual indulgences. Drunken-
ness is the curse of thin country. It is the main
source of sin and crime. Whatever serves to detach
the people from this master vivo contributes to the
cause of religion and morality, and whatever tends
the other way has the opposite effect. Now, pre-
cisely in proportion to the austere observance of
the Sabbath is found the prevalence of inebrity.
The Scotch are more addicted to drink than
the
English, and the town in Scotland where the obser-
Vance of the Sabbath is the most rigorous is also
the foulest stye of intoxication. Time people there
wallow in drink from Saturday night to Tuesday
morning. They have nothinf, else to do. No
steam-boat moves on the Sunday, no train runs,
no omnibus plies, everythieg is at a stand except
the bottle. As Edinburgh is the caPital of the
Scottish nation, so Glasgow is that of the Sottish
people.
And the Archbishop of Canterbury and his fol-
lowers would make another Glasgow of this huge
metropolis if they had their way. No matter what
their object may be, they are in effect the allies of
the publicans and dram-shops. They stand between
the people and all attempts to wean them from their
habits of drink to innocent pleasures tending to re-
finement.. If intolerance ever could be justified it
would be intolerance oh' the religious feelings which
have taken a turn so counter to the best interests
of society ; and when Lord Palmerston had to con-
sider whether he should or should not, in deference
to a Puritanic clamour, discontinue a means of
diverting the people from the pothouse and dram-
shop, he should have asked, instead of the question
above quoted, whether any advantage arising from
such a concession would compensate the evil of
running counter to the moral improvement of a
large part of the community....Exonyiner.