The Sun.
London, England, 1866-11-29 00:00:00

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SUIT.

LONDON, THURSDAY, NOV. 29, 1866.

The Maldon Conservative Club celebrated its
anniversary dinner on Tuesday, and a large party
assembled. Mr. C. Dc CANE, MT, one of the
Junior Lords of the Admiralty presided, 'rho
Chairman, in proposing the Army, said that it had
been thought at one time that this toast was espe-
cially dear to the Conservative party, because they
were considered to favour a profuse expenditure,
and likewise that their policy was to promote wars
abroad to direct public attention " from home poli-
tics and hated reforms." In contradiction of these
absurd reports, he said that it was a very general
impression nowadays that " the principle of fo-
reign policy laid down and acted upon by Lord
STANLEY formed a better guarantee for the preser-
vation of peace than that spirit of petulant inter-

ference and of scolding, at all events upon paper,
which was the leading characteristic of the Foreign
Office reign of Lord RUSSELL." Very true were
the remarks of the chairman concerning the neces-
sity that now exists for amore efficient organisation
of the military and naval services themselves. Lord
E. CECIL, M.P., in acknowledging the compliment
paid to the Conservative members present, made
some remarks on the state of politics. The last
session was a severe one, and if the leaders had been
anxious, the " rank and file had sat through many
a long and wearisome debate far into the small hours
of the night." The noble lord spoke very much to
the point when he addressed himself to the much-
vexed question of Reform, and vindicated his party
from the charge of not being willing or able to intro-
duce Reform. The late Government certainly did
not figure very favourably in his description, for he
said that, instead of settling the question of Reform,
they "settled their own existence, and had left
nothing behind them but a reputation for gross
mismanagement, and an excuse for their more
violent partisans to disturb the country throughout
the autumn." After having heard a great deal of
" tall talk," as the Americans call it, they had ex-
pected that which Mr. DISRAELI had called the
" pilgrimages of passion" might be over, but
instead of that the agitators have gone on from
bad to worse. " All the vials of the great agita-
tor's wrath have been poured upon the devoted
heads of the Conservative party, and of every re-
spectable person in the community. The great
Birmingham prophet had, like the seer of old, been
taken to the Reform League, not from mountain to
mountain, but from town to town ;" but instead of
cursing his enemies, the noble lord said, in the
opinion of every unprejudiced person, he blessed
them.

There is a good deal worthy of notice in the re-
futations met with in this speech of the fallacies of
Mr. BRIGHT, and those who have been deluded into
believing what the hon. member for Birmingham has
declaimed about somuch had better studythem care-
fully. In the first place, he showed that Mr. BRIGHT
erred in making out that the artisans of the large
towns, however much it might be desirable to ad-
mit them to the large towns, constituted the people
of England ; and, next, he was wrong in declaring
that " everything good came from the large towns,
and everything bad and corrupt from the small
boroughs and the counties." This is very correct;
and in nothing does Mr. BRIGHT show himself so
unfit for the task he assigns himself of settling
the political destinies of the country, and of
regulating its representation. A bitter spirit
and a prejudicial judgment are not good attributes
or characteristics of a statesman or lawgiver, and
it requires very little knowledge or experience on
the part of those who read his discourses to find
out that Mr. BRIGIIT is too imbued with his own
narrow notions and peculiar views to take a correct
estimate of people or things. The noble lord quoted
some declarations which had been made about the
corruption that took place at elections, and showed
that the large boroughs were not always so con-
spicuous for merit from the smaller ones. At
Maldon, for instance, it was seen that the average
expenditure of each candidate at the last general
election was one-fourth that of each candidate at
Glasgow, and one-sixth of that incurred by each
in Westminster. There is certainly enough, and
more than enough, for the Government to do, as
was shown by the noble lord, besides the Reform
question. There is the state of Ireland, the re-
organisation of the army and navy, the administra-
tion of the poor-laws, and other matters of conse-
quence. The Chairman, in proposing prosperity
to the Maldon Conservative Club, declared that
there was nothing "in Conservative principles,
or in the past policy of the Conservative
party, to prevent them dealing with the whole
question of Reform in a comprehensive spirit,
or to prevent their bringing in a Reform Bill at once
more genuinely Liberal in its details and more in
accordance with the ancient lines of the Constitu-
tion than the bill of last session." We quite agree
with the principle of this observation, but the diffi-
culty will be how will the other side act. Unless a
very different course is pursued to that adopted in
1851 there can be no hope of a settlement of this
long-debated matter of Reform. Mr. BRIGHT
has much to answer for in persisting in his
efforts to keep up the agitation ou the subject, and
if the next Session passes away without a satisfac-
tory solution of the inquiry, we shall certainly
debtor his account with the failure. Mr. Du CANE
gave his friends some very good advice about the
Malt Tax. Ile said that circumstances were against
them just now, and if they persisted to seek for the
repeal they might injure the cause in the long
run, besides losing their object. Mr. EARLE,
in a short speech he made, very pro-
perly denounced the absurd notion of
Mr. MILL on the subject ; he argued on the
ground of the probable exhaustion of the coal
fields that the malt tax ought to be maintained in
in order to pay off the national debt. This is a
very false species of reasoning, and we should
always suspect that such a proposition was likely to
be made when he who suggested the arrangement
did not care for the charge proposed. On the
whole, this affair at Maldon, seemed to go on very
satisfactorily, and the general views expressed by
the speakers were of an elevated tone and patriotic
spirit.

The Edinburgh, from New York on the 17th,
brings us the welcome, though somewhat unexpected,
intelligence
that " political affairs are quiet." Pos-
sibly both parties are becoming weary of the
struggle, and are inclined to rest upon their oars
and relax their exertions. The counsels of mode-
rate men may have influenced the more turbulent
spirits, and the impression may have gained ground
that the extremities to which the ultra-Radicals
were pushing the political differences of the day
were most prejudicial to those peaceable and com-
mercial interests upon which often the progress
and prosperity of the mass of the people depend.
It is true that the temporary suspension of hostili-
ties may be due to another cause. The motto on
both sides may be "Reculer pour mieux sauter,"
and the leaders may be profiting by the lull before
the storm to perfect their plans, to concentrate their
forces, and organise their party before the opening
of the Congressional campaign. The task on both
sides is no eacy one. The Democrats have un-
doubtedly been worsted in the late elections, and
instead of facing their enemies with considerably
increased power they will show diminished forces,
and have therefore to decide how far they may safely
yield to their opponents upon what points they
should make a resolute, if ineffectual, resistance, and
by what course they are most likely to gain sup-
port out of doors. The Radicals, on the other hand,
have to think how far they may turn their newly-
acquired strength to account, how far they may
push their advantage without raising a domestic
storm, and renewing that open conflict of parties
which no rational American can wish to bring upon
his country. There is still, as there was even iu the
height of the war, a strong party in the North who
were opposed to harsh treatment of the South.
Again, the unsettled condition in which it is appa-
rently the desire. and intention of the Radicals to
keep the rich and fertile States of th South