The Sun.
London, England, 1868-12-03 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS

The great topic of the day is the course taren by the
Government in anticipating the verdict of Parliament ;
and we give an epitome of the opinions of the daily papers
on the subject. The Times says: The cards are thrown
down. The Ministry have resolved, for the first time
since the days of Mr. Frederick Robinson—the late Lord
Ripon—not to meet Parliament ; and, indeed, their case
is more extraordinary than that of the sole precedent
which can be cited to excuse them, for the Parliament
which Mr. Disraeli has declined to face is one chosen
under the advice given by himself to the Crown.
There has never been anything like this volun-
tary surrender of the high function of advising
the Crown. Lord Ripon was afraid to face
Parliament ; but then Lord Ripon was called to the post
of Prime Minister after Parliament had been prorogued,
and his conduct has always been considered pusillanimous.
No one will accuse Mr. Disraeli of such fear as is said to
have influenced Lord Ripon. Ire has resigned simply
because he deemed it prudent to resign. The present
resignation must be regarded merely as a strategic move.
ment. When Mr. Disraeli and his collea,gaes had con-
vinced themselves that to be in Opposition was their
inevitable fate, they discovered that to be in Opposition
as soon as possible was fur their clear advantage. It is
much more easy t) fight as a guerrilla chief than as
the leader of a disciplined host. The Times
acknowledges the advantages of Mr. Disraeli's new posi-
tion, but after all it is a mietake and a feeble supplement
of a gallant career. There are difficulties about the

business of Parliament. There is no precedent to govern
the advisers of the Crown in the present emergency ; and
it is clearly not essential that Parliament should be at once
called together; hat the Times believes it will be found that
the balance of convenience inclines strongly to a session
before Christmas. There is no necessity for the Queen's
Speech to do more than indicate the constitutional satis-
faction of the Crown on recurring once more to the advice
of the two Houses, and recommend to the Lords and Com-
mons the policy of ecclesiastical equality in Ireland, after
which Parliament might be.prorogued, not adjourned, till
February, when a more detailed policy could be properly
expounded in a second speech.
The Post remarks that the course Mr. Disraeli has
adopted in view of the opinion which the country has
expressed in the elections on the question of the Irish
Church is convenient and dignified. It is manifestly con-
venient that whatever body of statesmen may have the
conduct of the national affairs, they should be able to take
them up with free hands at this time, when the business
of the governmental year is beginning, rather than at a
period when they would find themselves committed upon
various subjects by the preliminary arrangements of
their predecessors. If the course taken by Mr. Disraeli
is convenient for all sides, it is no less dignified as
regards the attitude it takes up for his own party.
He has generally been accused of an undue desire
to retain office, but it has certainly not been
shewn upon this occasion, for he might have retained
power for some time, perhaps for a considerable time, after
the meeting of Parliament, instead of which he has pre-
ferred rather to anticipate than to lag behind the actual
effect of the late elections. One thing worthy of remark
and of commendation in the conduct of the Ministry is,
that they have retired without that division of the last
spoils of office which bas come to be considered almost the
legitimate concluding act of any Government. The
peerage conferred on Mrs. Disraeli was the gracious and
spontaneous act of her Majesty.
The Herald thinks that, apart from the personal feelings
of the Administration, there are obvious reasons why two
addresses from the Throne, breathing exactly opposite
sentiments, should not follow each other in the course of a
few days or weeks. And hardly less clear is it that a pro-
mulgation of measures intended to be passed by a Conser-
vative Administration during the session of 1869, in the
teeth of a hostile majority headed by Mr. Gladstone,
would be a somewhat meaningless proceeding. Under the
circumstances the Ministry have taken the only prudent
course. There may be some ardent spirits who would have
preferred to sec the Ministry remain in office and fight it
out. But a compact minority of 280 in opposition is a
great power in the State, and a weak Government can
give but little effect to its principles.
The Daily News is lenient with the Premier. Mr.
Disraeli cannot be severely blamed for acting upon cer-
tainties as if they were certain ; and it is sufficient to note,
without insisting as a matter of reproach, that the course
which he has adopted somewhat strains the forms, if not
the spirit, of the Constitution. It might be urged that
the House of Commons is the only authorised exponent of
its own views. The declarations of politicians on the hust-
ings, the classification of partisans, and the computations
and analyses of newspapers, howsoever accurate, are not
known to the law. The adverse opinion to which Mr.
Disraeli bows is that of a Parliament which does not yet exist.
Though to constitutional prccisians the course which Mr.
Disraeli and his colleagues have taken may seem of doubt-
ful propriety, public convenience may be pleaded in its
behalf. In the avoidance of any explicit declaration of
policy other than that of saying " "to Mr. Gladstone,
the retiring Ministers gain something. They get rid of all
complicity in that monument of wasted labour, the Report
of the Irish Church Commission. A.s on the question
of Free Trade and Parliamentary Reform, so on
that of the Irish Church, the Conservative party
has displayed its utter
.inability to understand
the mind of the nation. Mr. Disraeli renews the
old prophecies of disaster which have preceded
every great national boon, and the threats of uncompro-
mising Conservative resistance which are the pledge of a
great Liberal victory. If men did not hear this familiar
language, they might begin to doubt of the justice and
approaching triumph of Mr. Gladstone's policy. It is
probable, therefore, that the present month will be
devoted to the Ministerial arrangements and re-elections,
and to the steps necessary for formally constituting the
House of Commons. When these preliminaries are over,
Parliament will be most likely adjourned until the usual
period in February ; then to meet for the despatch of
public business.

The Standard is quite prepared to see Mr. Disraeli
assailed with invective and imputation for doing the exact
reverse of that which he was reviled for intending to do.
He will be told that be has treated Parliament with dis-
respect; that he had no right to anticipate its judgment on
issues not yet fairly before it, or to assume the absolute subser-
vience of the majority to the will of their leader ; and possibly
even that he shrank from the ordeal of a debate on the general
merits of his Administration. There are Liberals, we verily
believe, silly enough to impute parliamentary cowardice to
the most daring, resolute, and skilful of parliamentary
combatants. But it matters little what such men may
say. If Mr. Disraeli has departed from formal rule and
precedent in anticipating the judgment of the new House
of Commons, he has had sufficient reason for his course.
There was, then, no reason why the Ministry should have
awaited the formality of a parliamentary vote of want of
confidence ; and there were grave resons why they should
not. The most important motive for a voluntary and im-
mediate resignation was the consideration due to the Queen.
It was understood that Mr. Gladstone's impatience would
brook not a day's delay, and that an amendment on the
Address would at once have challenged the policy and the
position of the Ministry. It was desirable, therefore, that
that policy should not he propounded by the lips of the
sovereign. It is more in accordance, at least, with the
dignity and neutrality of the sovereign, and with the
authority still, though in reserve, belonging to the Crown,
that the Queen should not present herself before a new
Parliament as the mistress, and in form the patroness, of
servants whom the constituencies have condemned, and
whom Parliament is about to ask her to dismiss.

The Telegraph says Mr. Disraeli has again taken the
country by surprise. He has done the right thing in a
new style. If we travel back to ascertain why English
Ministries have resigned, we find that the causes have, in
almost every case, been such circumstances as hostile votes
in Parliament, internal dissension, the death of a Prime
Minister, the removal of a distinguished leader from the
Lower House, or the loss of the King's favour. Mr.
Disraeli would have followed the routine course had he
continued to fulfil the functions of his office as if nothing
had occurred ; to await in his place in the House the issue
of some great debate and division ; to take train the next
day for Windsor or Osborne ; to return, and make a long
speech announcing what everybody would know before-
hand, and to declare that he held office only until his suc-
cessor should be appointed. But he has taken a short cut
to the right end, lie has committed the exceedingly unoffi-
cial offence of discovering in the newspapers the fate of his
Cabinet ; he has " accepted service " in the most uncere-
monious way.

The Star commends the action of the Premier. Mr.
Disraeli has not followed precedents, either in resigning
between a general election and the meeting of the new
Parliament, or in explaining the motives of his resignation
to his supporters in the hearing of the public on the very
first day of a Ministerial crisis. But on reflection it will
probably appear highly convenient that the resignation of
the Government should take place without the delay and
turmoil of any angry and iterative party debate ;
and the unusual suddenness and informality of his commu-
nication to the country, though a departure from usage,
has the merit of gentlemanly frankness, and will raise the
Premier in the estimation of the public. Whatever hereto-
fore has been admired in him, his character did not stand
high for directness. The course he has now taken is
nothing if not straightfcrward. The Star has reason to be-
lieve that the Ministry could hardly have been kept together
till the great party division, if even it could have been
brought undivided as far as the meeting of Parliament. It
was essential, therefore, that something very startling
should be done to veil from the world the dissensions which
could hardly fail to be developed as the time of crisis