The Sun.
London, England, 1867-10-19 00:00:00

LONDON, SA7 URDAY, OCT. 19, 1867.

Mr. COLERIDGE has been addressing his con-
stituents at Exeter, and giving them an opinion on
public matters, and gave a detailed account of some
particulars in the political world. lle commenced
by speaking more plainly than politely of the Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer. "No earthly considera-
tion," be said, "could induce him to lend his voice
to join in that course of indiscriminate panegyric
which had been poured of late from both sides of
the House upon that eminent man." This is cer-
tainly an exception to the rule, for Mr. D ISRAELI has
been the theme of general approval of late, and it is
well that it should be so, for there is little profit in
renewing the scenes and struggles of a past session
in the acrimonious spirit and with the bitterness of
attack which form such prominent features of this
speech in question. For instance, what earthly end
can it answer for a member of Parliament to go
down to his constituents and tell them that he had
rather remain upon the Opposition benches all his
life than pursue the course which the Chancellor
of the Exchequer had done. It may sound very
grand at the time he says so, but what follows ?
The ignorant and inexperienced among his hearers
go away with a false impression of things in their
minds, and the wiser ones among them soon forget '
the transient impression made, or come to the con-
clusion that politics are a game of cross purposes,
and that it is all more or less clap-trap. It would
be amusing, if the subject were not too serious, to
notice the manner in which some of the members of
the Liberal party arrogate to themselves the right
of judging the motives of their opponents. We
should like to know by what powers they found out
all this ; but at any rate there is one unanswerable
reply to their argument, and that is that if they had
settled the Reform question themselves some years
ago, as they might have done, they would have
removed temptation from their opponents. If we
are to judge from the course pursued by the learned
gentleman, he did not seem to find his position on
the Opposition benches very pleasant. The resume
of affairs given in this address is skilfully done, so
far as it goes ; but it may be suggested that the
very facts just put forth by Mr. COLERIDGE show
the difficulties that were in the way of Reform, as
advocated by the Liberal party.
The election of 1865 gave Lord PAL3IERSTON a
numerical majority of sixty or seventy styled the
Liberal party, but this, immense as it looked on
paper, " contained within itself the seeds of dis-
solution and weakness." Mr. COLERIDGE says that
it would be a waste of time to inquire if
under an other leader than Mr. GLADSTONE
the party could have been kept together, but it
is certain that they could never have been so united
as the Conservatives had been ; but then, on the
other hand, they could never have consented to be
the " spectacle" which that great party had become.
So far as that goes, we think that the " great party"
led by Mr. GLADSTONE was more of a spectacle
when its plans crumbled into dust, and its schemes
were frustrated on the eve of their would-be-accom-
plishment. We find a good deal said and commented
upon in this speech concerning the deeds of the past
session, but no mention is made of the Tea-room
tragedy, which is left in the shadows of time. If
half of what is here said of the Liberal party bo
true, and very likely it does not exaggerate any-
thing, the wisest thing for them to do would be to
amend the errors of their own ways, and leave their
opponents to take care of themselves. At the same
time there are some home-truths met with that some
discontented spirits might proatably dwell upon.
For instance, we meet with this passage, "If
such a state of things as had existed among
the Liberal party of late were to continue,
it could only have a weak and intermittent effect
upon the current of public affairs; and if it were to
resume, as he trusted it would, its rightful position
of power and influence in the country, it must do
so as a united party, a party united upon the basis
of great mutual concessions."
The disorganised state of the Liberal party has
now passed into a proverb. When Lord DERBY
called it the other night the "great united Liberal
party " he provoked considerable mirth among
his audience, and we find Mr. COLERIDGE
plainly declaring that the party is weak at present
in consequence of its disorganised state, which arose
from several causes, some partly temporary in their
nature, and some inherent in the nature of the
patty itself, and " which their leaders and their
followers had better understand and frankly recog-
nise." This is no doubt true enough, and it would
be well if its mesuing was truly appreciated by those
whom it immediately concerns. Perhaps there may be
an ultimate gain both to the country and the Liberals
themselves from the mortifying position in which
they now find themselves. The country will learn
that promises without performance go a very little
way in bringing about salutary changes and in ad-
vancing the interests of the community, and the
party will find out that they must act, and
not trust to the chances of time and the
old dodge of abusing their opponents. It is
not to be wondered at that those of