The Sun.
London, England, 1867-01-17 00:00:00

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41;
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LONDON, THURSDAY, JAN. 17, 1867.

The Conservatives seem to have made a strong
point of the meeting at Durham, and the speeches
delivered on the occasion were far above the average

in point of excellence. The Duke of MARLBOROUGH,
in acknowledging the toast of her MAJESTY'S
Ministers, showed up in its true colours the course

pursued by the Liberal party during the last few
years, and, indeed, for some time past. The noble
duke commenced•by considering the state of things
which had led to the assumption of power by the
Conservative party, and declared that they

had on no occasion sought office, or become

possessed of it through party manoeuvres or tactics.
As to the great Liberal party its course has been
a downward one since it rejoiced in the fulness of

power, and boasted of its success when Sir R. PEEL

seceded from his party, and the Corn Laws were

repealed. As the Duke emphatically observed, we
have seen the popular sympathy ranged on its side,
and seen it enjoy great advantages from its position,
the benefits, power, and patronage of office,

and yet what has been its condition despite

all these felicitous combinations ? " Why we
have seen it so split up into fragments, so
divided in opinion, so inherently weak in itself,
its conduct has been founded upon such a total
absence of principles, that when the time of trial
came, it has been utterly subverted—not by the
action of a strong body acting against that party
in an endeavour to get into power, but because
of the inherent weakness of that party. This is,
upon the whole, a very correct account of the
matter, for the disunion that reigned among the
members of the Liberal party was no secret, and
the effects of it have been only too plainly visible
and too bitterly felt by themselves. After refer-
ring to the unworthy course pursued by the op-
position when Lord DERBY was in power in 1859,
the Duke quoted these expressive lines to illus-
trate the sad change that took place -when certain

politicians came into office :
To place and power all public virtues tend;
In place and power all public virtues end.
He then passed on to reflect upon the position
of her MAJESTY'S present Ministers, and said that
their task was indeed most difficult and respon-
sible. Every one is talking of the blessings of
peace, but the nations of the world are preparing
mighty armaments, instead of turning their swords
into ploughshares. As for home matters there are
many to cause disquietude, and the state of Ireland
is critical. As the noble Duke truly said, an
idea has gone forth that no Conservative
Government can possibly undertake any Libe-
ral measures ; but 44 I believe," said he,
that 44 it will be the purpose of the noble
Earl and his Administration to show that a Con-
servative Government can propound measures
which are not only liberal in their tendency, and
so satisfy all the just demands of the country, but
at the same time will retain all the salient points
of the Constitution which has descended to us."
The question of Reform, of course, occupied some
portion of this discourse, and after vindicating his
party from the charges brought against it, his
Grace observed that the question of Reform
had never been honestly dealt with by
the Liberal party, but had been used as a
" stalking horse when their popularity was waning,
or whenever they wanted to give a stimulus to
public feeling ; it has been raised as the means of
enlisting public sympathies and rekindling public
fervour in their favour, but it has never been really
dealt with." We quite agree with the Duke that
the matter of Reform cannot be settled in a hurry,
but must be calmly and carefully considered; and
all the more so, because, in consequence
of undue interference, the question has as •
sumed a graver aspect, and goes far beyond the
mere extension of the suffrage, until its advocates
demand manhood suffrage, or seem about to mix up
Reform and revolution in their minds. The noble
Duke concluded his interesting speech by expressing
a hope that we might shortly see the spread of
education over the land, and thus remove the stigma
that rested upon us of having so many in this
country who cannot read or write their own names.
Sir M. RIDLEY, in proposing the " House of Lords,"
took occasion to descant upon its merits,
and declared that, notwithstanding the " malig-
nant declamation" that abounds in these
times, it would be an evil thing for the nation if this
great safeguard and check of our Constitution were
extinguished. " Those amongst us who shall live
to see the dawn of that day may live to see the sun-
set of England's greatness." No doubt there are
many and great advantages accruing to us from our
finely-balanced system of power, and the very
steadiness and sometimes impracticability of the
House of Lords is often a great gain, because it
prevents us from rushing into extremes, which are
often fatal, and at the best should never be suddenly
entered upon. Lord RAVENSWORTH also made some
observations on this topic, and declared that if the
House of Lords had suffered disparaging remarks
it had been in good company, for all our institutions
have been abused and vilified in certain quarters.
Proceeding to other matters, the noble lord said if
they did not know what the Government would do
they knew pretty well what they would not do.
"They would not be prepared to surrender the Bri-
tish Constitution to the demands of Messrs. BRIGHT,
BEALES, and Co., and would not be disposed to
allow the Legislature to be overawed by the
demonstration of numbers and of physical force."
Respecting the extension of the franchise the noble
lord spoke very fairly when he said that he should
rather seek to elevate the character of the working
classes up to a level with the franchise than to
lower the franchise to a level which may admit
mere numbers without reference to the worthiness
or unworthiness of those admitted.
Mr. MOWBRAY, in the conclusion of his speech, to
which we referred yesterday, made some striking
observations upon the necessity of unity among
those who really desired the same thing, and sought
Reform but not revolution. He did not, he said,
address himself to those who " hankered after other
forms of Government; who were enamoured of the
simplicity of an American Republic, and desired to
see a President whom they might impeach every
other year, and who preferred an Imperial des-
potism based on universal suffrage, such as they
saw on the other side of the Channel, and who had
faith in some bran new constitution to he impro-
vised by a BISMARCK ;" but he asked for the as-
sistance of the great mass of sober Englishmen, of
independent and reflecting citizens, of skilled ar-
tisans, whose untiring and intelligent industry con-
tributed so largely to the national wealth, to men
who had read history, and understood the blessings
which they had enjoyed, to them he would
say
" join us in maintaining that ancient monarchy
which for centuries has given us order and stability
—that hereditary senate or assembly remarkable
for sagacity, moderation, and wisdom—and that
CoLtIMOW3 Ltotso of Pluliatilont, refurmed, Weed,