The Sun.
London, England, 1867-02-19 00:00:00

TEE SUN, LiOra ON, TUESDAY EV ENING, FEBRUARY 19, 1867.

a little more in the same strain Mr. BRIGHT
concludes by declaring the Government to be abdi-
cating its functions, and ready to betray both
QUEEN and people, that they may remain in office
another session." Mr. BRIGHT, in spite of other
failings, is at least consistent. He practises what
he preaches. He has set up the American Consti-
tution as our model, and he does his small part
towards producing a national copy. His political
language is no unsuccessful imitation of gentlemen
who exchange the epithets of" liar" or " traitor" on
the floor of the Representative Assembly, even as his
political conduct bears strong affiuity to the tolera-
tion and lore of free thought and speech manifested
by the majority of the American Lower House. Mr.
BRIGHT is not fortunate enough to have a President
to abuse, or a South to trample under foot, but
within a more circumscribed area than Fate has
allotted to Messrs. THADDEUS STEVENS and
SUMNER he does his best to excel.

We are glad to meet again with our able corre-
spondent who signs himself " A Lover of Historical
Dates and Facts," aLd his remarks will be found

generally interesting to all who would realise the
true state of parties and politics in the country, and
not jump at hasty conclusions in order to suit the
particular views of the moment. It is really surpris-
ing, when one dwells on the matter, to notice how
little the Whig party has done for the country,
and how much it has professed to do. The fact is,
that the popular sympathies have been so long on the

side of that party that it has taken a mean
advantage of circumstances, and the consequence of
all this has been that the general interests of the
country have suffered. It is time now, however, to

awake and dispassionately to consider a little whi-
ther we have been tending of late years, and what

have been the principles of those who have so long
monopolised the high places of the land and reserved

to themselves the gains and glories of office. Vox
et preterea nihil has been the motto of all those who

have ranged themselves under the banners o

Whiggery, and sad has been the result to

the real interests of the community. Of more

consequence than the mere delay in the passing o:

this and that measure, no matter how important

such might be, has been the want of faith intro

duced into the tone of public matters. People have

grave suspicions, and no wonder, at the immense
parade that they have witnessed when a new Ad-

ministration came into office, and the recollection of
how littlo can be seen when retrospect takes the

place of prospect. Hence it has become the fashion

when Ministers talk of doing great things, for wise
men to shake their heads and look incredulous.
"Fait till the end of the Session" has been their

rejoinder to the Utopian schemes held out to them,
and how often has their fatal prophecy been ful-
filled to the letter in the do-nothing policy that has

prevailed.

How true is this definition met with in the letter
referred to just now. " The Whigs, it is true,
for the last half-century, have made a cat's-paw of
several liberal measures, in order to obtain the
sweets of office, but no sooner had the mooting of
such measures proved a good and safe bridge to
carry them into their harbour of refuge than they
were only too glad to send it to the winds." Let us
look, for instance, at the manner in which Reform
has been shelved during the last seven years ; and
although it has been the fashion to put the blame
on Lord PALMERSTON, that has been a very
convenient excuse, the late noble Premier not
being so much to blame as many of his colleagues.
Mr. DISRAELI showed pretty plainly in his remark-
able speech of the other evening that when Lord
DERBY last assumed the responsibility of office
he was assured by Lord PALMERSTON of his

willingness to assist him in any attempt

he deemed necessary to make in the matter o.
Reform. With the exception of the first Reform
Bill, the Whigs have passed no truly great or im -
portant measure at all. For many years in opposi-
tion they were in favour of the repeal of the Test
Act and Catholic Emancipation, but it was not a
Whig Government which carried them at
last. The course pursued by the Whigs
to the Roman Catholics is aptly described by
the lover of historical dates and facts as something
" like that of the devil in one of his journeys to the
earth, to kick away the stool from your friend as
soon as ever you have made your fortune by him."
After a long course of trickery Lord RUSSELL gave
the crowning blow to the union between the Whigs
and Catholics when he penned his famous Durham
letter in 1850. Let us also reflect upon the very
different conduct of the Conservatives. Catholic
Emancipation was introduced by WILLIAM PITT,
as well as carried by a Tory Ministry. The endow-
m progress einnt soh f lr
have
,aa yvt neh oe
bo
etghe
rnewa
cta sea
sr Str
eri
du Re
abosynuErTße
soT r
yPo PE'
GE
reformm neannd
Governments
alone. The law reforms on which Lord GREY'S
Government of 1855 prided itself were in con-
sequence
by
thef the h
late o f thatvE WELLINGTON
beens
a n d ap-
pointeds
commissions
Duke
ir
R. PEEL. In 1857, Lord DERBY'S first Administra-
tion, there were more law reforms placed on the
Statute Book than had been done for years before.
This zealous searcher into the historical scrolls of
the past has also expressed a fear of the finesse
tricks of Lord RUSSELL, and it would seem as if it
was the last thing he arrived at to be straightfor-
ward. In 1835, he turned out the Government of
Sir R. PEEL upon the first tithe question, and
three years afterwards he carried the very same
measure himself. This is all of a piece with the
course pursued in 1859, when the Conservatives
were turned out on the policy afterwards held by
the new Ministers. In 1798-9 the Whigs were
against the introduction of an Income-tax by
the Tories ; seven years later, when in office them-
selves, they doubled it. Again, in 1842, they op-
posed Sir R. PEEL'S proposition, and in 1848, when
in office, they wished to double it. The conclusion
arrived at in this summary of the doings of
Wit is a very just one, namely, that
it V
should be long before the affairs of
the country are entrusted to their manage-
ment, or rather to their mismanagement.
Allowing, for the sake of argument, that the pre-
sent Government was against all reform—which no
one has yet found it to be—an open enemy is better
than a false friend. For the Whigs the cold shade
of the Opposition will be by far the most salubrious
atmosphere for some time to come, and as it is
complacently said in this illustration of parties—
" The country is in duty bound to give the present
Government a fair trial." If it refuse to do so, we
feel convinced that the lo.s to the Conservative
cause will be nothing to that inflicted ou the in-
terests of the nation, and it will be long before the
injuries thus produced will be forgotten or forgiven
by .ill true patriots.

We are glad to find that the affairs of Hungary
are progressing much more satisfactorily than we
had any reason to expect a short time ago. Yes-
terday an Imperial rescript was read in both houses
of the Hungarian Diet. In this it is announcer
that the EMPEROR agrees to the demands that Nv
embodied in the Diet's address of the 19th January
last, respecting the re-organisation of thearmy ; and
he has ordered that the question be left for Parlia-
mentary treatment, Expr(ssion is used, however, of