The Sun.
London, England, 1868-10-03 00:00:00

MR. DISRAELrS MANIFESTO.

The Prime Minister has issued the following address:—

" TO THE ELECTORS OF THE COUNTY OF BUCKINGHAM.

" Gentlemen, —Since I last addressed you, her Majesty
has been graciously pleased, upon the retirement of at
illustrious statesman, to entrust to me the chief cc n lucl
of public affairs.

"Having enjoyed the entire and unbroken confidence of
the Earl of Derby for twenty years, during which we
worked together in a harmony never interrupted, I was
thoroughly acquainted with his policy, and I have pur•
sued that policy without deviation. I may, therefore, in
asking a renewal of your political support, take a general
view of the conduct of affairs since the accession of the
Conservative Government to office in 186 G.
" The question of Parliamentary Reform had then
for a long series of years disquieted the country, and em-
barrassed and enfeebled successive Administrations, which
had failed to lead it to any happy conclusion. We
were of opinion that this state of affairs should terminate,
and by a series of measures, in the course of two years,
we brought about a settlement of the question—broad in
its principles, large and various in its provisions, but, as
we believe, in unison with the character of the country,
and calculated to animate the spirit of the community
and add strength and stability to the State.
"The conduct of foreign affairs has obtained the sym-
pathy and confidence of the various Courts and Powers ;
the just influence of England has been established, and it
has been used for the maintenance of peace and the
interests of civilisation.

" The legacy of insult and difficulty which had been left
us in Abyssinia could only be successfully encountered by
a responsibility from which we did not shrink. The result
of the expedition to that country vindicated the honour
of the Crown and the cause of humanity and justice, and
it obtained for her Majesty's forces the admiring respect of
Europe.

"\Vhen we acceded to office the state of the navy was
one which occasioned serious anxiety. The fortresses on
which the late Ministry had expended millions were with.
out artillery, the British soldier was armed with inferior
weapons, and the military service of the country so
unpopular, that if no change had been devised we might
have been driven to the principle of a conscription. At
present, it cannot be denied that the strength of the navy
is materially increased, the defences of the country much
advanced, the soldier admirably armed, and enlistment
become so popular that not only is the voted number of
our forces no longer in arrear, but many thousand
'veterans, who were about to claim their discharge, have
remained in the army. Such great results have, of
course, not been obtained without an increase of our
expenditure, but the expenditure has been on objects of
the first necessity ; and while it has been defrayed without
adding to our taxation, it has entitled no burden on
posterity.

" Economy does not consist in the reckless reduction of
estimates. On the contrary, such a course almost
necessarily tends to increase expenditure. There can be
no economy where there is no efficiency, and to secure
efficiency you must be vigilant in administrative improve-
neut. Influenced by these views, her Majesty's Govern-
ment, by placing in the hands of a single individual a
control over the expenditure of the War Office, com-
menced a considerable reform during the late session in
the administration of the army, which will conduce to
greater economy and efficiency, both in peace and war.
" Great public advantage may be anticipated from this
measure, and the different departments of the State will
be revised in the same spirit. This revision will assist
that retrenchment which the pressing exigencies of the
public service have alone prevented.
"In the government of Ireland we had to encounter a
dark conspiracy of foreign military adventurers, acting on
the morbid imagination of a limited portion of our Irish
fellow•subjects, and whose active combinations, had they
been successful, would have led to general disorganisation
and plunder ; that conspiracy has been baffled in every
instance and in every quarter, by vigilance and firmness,
which, being the consequence of conscious power and not
of panic, have led to no unnecessary severity ; so that
even the discomfited have admitted that their treatment
has not been marked by vengeance or cruelty.
"Notwithstanding this untoward state of affairs, we
have pursued towards Ireland that wise policy of sympathy
and conciliation which has been followed by all parties in
the State for the last thirty years. Justice has never in
that country been administered with more impartiality ;
and whether with respect to the tenure of land or the
facilities for education, we will continue to give our earnest
consideration to every suggestion which is consistent with
the rights of property and with the maintenance of our
Protestant institutions.

" In this state of affairs we had reason to hope, and it
was generally contemplated by the country, that we
might have tranquilly wound up the business of the late
session, and then asked, according to the provisions of the
great statute which we had just passed, the public verdict
on our conduct. Had it been propitious, we might, by the
favour of the sovereign, have continued to serve her
Majesty, and enjoyed an opportunity of effecting those
legal and social improvements which are so much required,
and to the necessity of which we had proved we were not
insensible. Had the verdict been adverse we should have
retired from office without a murmer, conscious that, when
we had the opportunity, we had endeavoured to do our
duty, and still prepared, as representing one of the great
parties of the State, to co-operate with our rivals in public
life for the public good.

" This, the natual current of events, was to be inter-
rupted. The leader of the Opposition in the House of
Commons seized the occasion of an expiring Parliament,
which had proclaimed its inadequate representation of
the country, to recommend a change of the fundamental
laws of the realm, and to propose a dissolution of the
union between Church and State.

" Her Majesty's Government offered, and will offer, to
this policy an uncompromising resistance. The connection
of religion with the exercise of political authority is one
of the main safeguards of the civilisation of man. It
instils some sense of responsibility even into the deposi-
tories of absolute power. But, under any circumstances,
the absence or severance of such a tie will lower the
character and duties of Government, and tend to the
degradation of society.

" But it is urged that, in the present instance, the appli-
cation of the new policy is only to be partial, and that only
one portion of her Majesty's dominions—lreland—is for
the present to be submitted to the revolution ; and on this
plea--that in Ireland the members of the Established
Church form only a minority of the population.

" If this numerical test is to be accepted, its application
cannot be limited to Ireland ; and if, in a country of entire
toleration, a local instead of an imperial gauge be adopted,
the religious integrity of the community will be soon
frittered away.

" Instead of Ireland being made an exception to the
fundamental condition of our Constitution. there are many
secondary reasons why the Established Church should be
maintained in that country.

"Its subversion would aggravate religious hostility and
party rancour; would suppress a resident class of men
whose social virtues are conducive, as all agree, to the
welfare of the country; and would further diminish the
security of property in a land where its tenure and enjoy.
ment are not as unquestioned as they hitherto have been
in other parts of her Majesty's dominions.
" But even in Great Britain the spoliation of the Church
in Ireland would not be without its effect. Confiscation
is contagious ; and when once a community has been
seduced into plunder its predatory acts have seldom been
single.

" There are, however, even weighter reasons why this
new policy should be resisted.

" The religious liberty which all her Majesty's subjects
now happily enjoy is owing to the Christian Church in this
country having accepted the principles of the Reforma-
tion, and recognised the supremacy of the sovereign as the
representative of the State, not only in matters temporal,
but in matters ecclesiastical. This is the stronghold of
our spiritual freedom. So long as there is in this country
the connection, through the medium of a Protestan sove-
reign, between the State and the National Church,
religious liberty is secure.

" That security is now assailed by various means and on
different pleas ; but amidst the discordant activity of
many factions there moves the supreme purpose of one
power. The philosopher may flatter himself he is
advancing the cause of enlightened progress ; the secta-
rian may be roused to exertion by anticipations of the
downfall of ecclesiastical systems. These are transient
efforts ; vain and passing aspirations. The ultimate
triumph, were our Church to fall, would be to that power
which would substitute for the authority of our sovereign
the supremacy of a foreign prince ; to that power with
whose tradition, learning, discipline, and organisation
our Church alone has hitherto been able to cope, and that,
too, only when supported by a determined and devoted
people.--I have the honour to remain, gentlemen, your
obliged and faithful servant,
" Downing-street, Oct. 1."

"B. Dlsrunr.

EARTHQUAKE 1N MALTA.— 011 the 24th of
September, at a quarter before ten in the morning, a
somewhat sharp shock of earthquake was felt at Malta,
but it was of very short duration, and has caused no
damage.

THE Ru AEON COLLIERY ACCIDENT. —The inquest
on the killed in this accident has been opened and adjourned
for a fortnight, after taking some formal evidence. The
number of wounded is fourteen, mostly lads. The
greater number of the dead are men who leave wives
and families. Two of the wounded are in a precarious
condition,