The Sun.
London, England, 1857-03-31 00:00:00

rHE-

auspices of the Ex-Member for the West Riding—
the Factious Combination—no, we must talk

politely and not by any means call things by their
right names—the " Fortuitous Concurrence."
That's the correct phrase, we believe—Well, the
" Fortuitous Concurrence" hcis drawn down upon
itself a rather summary vengeance, it must be
allowed. Fifty-three of its " atoms" being al-
ready scattered to the winds !
Among those fifty-three, we would especially
direct attention to eight expelled Liberals whose
names are here immediately suijoined

Mr. RICHARD COBDEN.
Mr. W. J. Fox.
Mr. MILNER GIBSON.
Mr. AUSTIN LAYARD.
Mr. EDWARD MIALL.
Mr. J. P. MUR,IOUGH.
Mr. J. G. PHILLIMORE.

Captrin SCOBELL.
Rejected Liberals, perverse and crotchetty Re-
formers, who have so often of late shown them-
selves to be so entirely unworthy of reliance, that
they have at length provoked, by their fitful and
flagrant inconsistency, the stern and deliberate
condemnation of eight Liberal Constituencies.
The Constituencies who have thus nobly vindi-
cated themselves from any participation in the
blame of these same monstrous inconsistencies
being no other than the following :

Aylesbury, Leominster.
Bath. Manchester.
Bridport. Oldham.
Huddersfield. Rochdale.
Honour say we to those true-hearted and tho-
roughly English Constituencies ! They have de-
served well of their brother electors throughout
the country. They have " Put Down" some
half-dozen at least of the more conspicuous of
those self-sufficient crotchet-mongers who have
been the Marplots during the last few sessions of
the great national cause of progressive improve-
ment.

Does any one recollect, by the way, Punch's
whimsical sketch some time ago of the Ex-Member
for the West Riding the Rejected of Hud-
dersfield—clapping an extinguisher upon his
head that strange descending headpiece being
inscribed, after the title of Mr. COBDEN'S
own pamphlet—" What next—and next ?" That
Next, Mr. COBDEN ! The actual realisation of the
fancy of the cruel caricaturist ! It fits well—
that Extinguisher ! To a hair—to admiration !
As naturally and inevitably in its way as the
Crown of CHARLEMAGNE fitted the head of NAPO-
LEON the Great. And now that Mr. COBDEN is so
well suited in that way—let us recall to mind, for
a moment, what he said among other equally
sagacious things in his Address to the Electors of
Huddersfield. He boasted to them that he had
among the supporters of his Motion—Fox, and
MIALL, and LAYARD, and PELLATT, and THOMAS
BARING ! Well—Fox, and MIALL, and LAYARD,
and PELLATT, and THOMAS BARING, and Mr.
COBDEN himself, and his Seconder, and forty-six
others besides, have all of them in rapid succes-
sion fallen into the shade in consequence ! Clever
—isn't it ? Wonderfully sagacious ! A DANIEL
—yea, a DANIEL come to judgment !

Lord PALMERSTON will no longer have any
excuse for not bringing forward—not six or seven,
or a dozen, measures—but such measures, be-
ginning with one or two of great importance, as
shall show that Ministers are truly Reformers, and
that nothing but the too finely-balanced state of
parties has hitherto cooled their ardour. So says
ford J. RUSSELL, and be is unquestionably a high
authority on such a point. With charming
naivete, he acknowledges that ho has availed him-
self of that excuse; and that Lord PAMERSTON
has been equally willing to follow the valuable
precedent thus established. It certainly does not
speak very highly for the enthusiasm, or even
the sincerity of either of these Noble Lords. Bat
it forcibly illustrates the system. Nothing will
be granted that can be rejected or even postponed.
The " policy of abstention," as it has been eupho-
niously termed, or the "do-nothing dodge," as it
has been styled in more homely, but no less ex-
pressive terms, is that which every Minister keeps
in view. It is of comparatively trivial importance
who may be placed at the head of affairs, unless
he be stimulated onwards in the path of Reform.
The Tadpoles and Tapers—the collective red-
tapery—would be astounded at any voluntary
offering. To give only what is imperatively re-
quired—and as little of that as practicable—
is the golden rule by which every official regu•
lates his proceeding% It is the guiding principle
of the "Ins." The " Outs" are differently cir-
cumstanced. They must offer something really bene-
ficial to the country if they desire to change their
positions; but their rule is to " buy in the cheapest
market," to make the smallest possible bidding
that may suffice to achieve their object.

It is thus that the most extensive ReForms
have been the fruits of a protracted absence from
office by the Whig party. It tmk a series of
years to bring them up to th© mark so far as the
modern Magna Charta was concerned, and " Lord
JOHN" occupied the Opposition benches, more
than four years before he could discover the im-
policy and injustice of the iniquitous bread t s.
Now again, we may hope for his aid, in-
asmuch as he has discovered that something
must be done to regain his forfeited popu-
larity : "Sweet are the uses of adversity:,
The Noble Lord has received a salutary
although painful lewon, which will, we trust, re-
main permanently fixed in his mind. He has still
a locus pcnitentia?, and we shall not despair of
seeing him once more shaking off his cautious
doubts and becoming a leader amongst Reformers.
We have elsewhere given him a useful hint on
the subject of " the Ballot," by which he may
profit. Let him take it to heart, and if he offers
something worthy of the glorious cause, and of
his quondam reputation, his backslidings may be
forgiven, and ho may once more be received with
open arms by those whom he so long abandoned.
We trust, however, that the Noble Lord
may carry the general principles, so boldly
enunciated in the hour of triumph, into
practical operation. We cannot, however,
forget that no man utterei "prayer 'ords"
during the late war, while but few were prepared
to make such extensive concessions to Germanism !
Ha now declares that " he trusts to see the edifice
of religious liberty perfected." Will he press for-
ward the Jews Enfranchisement Bill and the
Marriages Affinity Bill in such a manner as to
permit no excuse for their rejection? If any
decided collision takes place, the Lords must
yield. There are constitutional modes of en-
forcing their assent. But no attempt has
hitherto been made to turn the screw, and
obtain the benefit of a little gentle coercion. He
also hopes
" to see free trade completed by the
abolition of some obnoxious duties." But surely
DO man knows better than himself that the great
desideratum, cannot be achieved save by the adop-
tion of a judicious and well-regulated system of
direct taxation, or, in other words, by the equit-
able adjustment of the Income Tax. In the begin-
ning of 1853 he indicated in his capacity as Ministe-

rial Leader of the representative branch of the Legis-
lature a speedy solution of the important problem.