The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1839-10-04 00:00:00

Nor can any man compare (or, we should rather
say, contrast) the temper of his English fellow-coun-
trymen with the events of the past Spring, and doubt
the turn which public opinion and public feeling have
taken in the country. It is as notorious as the sun at
noon-day how intense a feeling of disgust has been ex-
cited against the dominant faction of the Court from
one extremity of the empire to the other. It is clear
enough how energetic a defence will be maintained
around the Protestant Institutions of Great Britain and
the Reformed Churches established in these three king-
doms. It is abundantly evident that no courtly argu-
ments will avail, nor the whispers of a discomfited oli-
garchy be heard, when the might of England is aroused
in, earnest in behoof of those sacred principles which
gave to the ancestors of Queen Victoria the proudest
Empire in the world.
And yet the wretched Cabinet drives on ; and, judg-
ing from the tone of the Ministerial Journals and the
demeanour of the Ministers, one might infer that they
sat securely on the seats of power, and that no serious
opposition was intended. Yes ! it has come to this.
Condemned by the House of Commons—repudiated
by the House of Lords—abandoned by the British
people—the wretched placelings cling to office, " be-
cause the Queen has stood by them, and they must
stand by her." This is the plea, the only plea, of the
Prime Minister, who confessed, in his place in Parlia-
ment, that he had ceased to possess the confidence
of the only House that ever gave him even a bare ma-
jority.

Now this will do very well during the recess. There
is no doubt in the world that these principles will work
smoothly enough at Windsor. But when February
comes round, we suppose there is to he a meeting of
Parliament. We have not yet heard it surmised that
Lord Melbourne means to govern without one, and we
are very confident he cannot govern with one. The
present House of Commons will not do, and where
will he find a better ?

When a body has once been set in active motion, the
Zis inerti& will not suffer it to be stopped at once. Hence
the Liberal Faction, dominant in 1832, acquired a mo-
mentum just sufficient to bear it forward in 1835, and
almost expiring in 1837, when the death of 'William

IV. and the accession of Court favour that ensued
gave it a slight additional impulse onward. From that
date its power has diminished daily. The Conserva-
tive force meanwhile has been acquiring steadily (and
all the more surely because not too suddenly) an in-
crease of strength, ready to be called out into immedi-
ate exercise, with certain prospect of most sure suc-
cess. Accordingly it has been the policy of the Whigs
to avoid a contest—to let well alone—to exist (pace,
Lord Morpeth, be it spoken) upon sufferance—to look
no question in the face—to put off the evil•day. Like
a doomed craft in a storm that abandons her course—
that gives herself up to the winds and waves—that
cares not whither she be driven, and is content if she
can only live through the tempest,—they have long had
no port a-head—have steered by no compass—have
followed no course.

The wise and temperate leaders of the Conservative
body have on their parts permitted them to exist on
sufferance. Conscious that their own strength was
deeply rooted in the sound understandings and strong
hearts of Englishmen, they have preferred allowing the
Whig Ministers to exhibit themselves in their own
proper colours, and to make themselves clearly known
for what they are. We, in our humble sphere, have
always been the zealous advocates of this Fabian po-
licy. We do not grudge the sordid crew their place
and pay. They are ruining the Radical cause as fast
as they can. This is a good work, and deserves to be
richly paid.
But what in the meanwhile is to be done? For this,
is the question that constantly recurs, and for which
every right-minded Englishman is anxious to find the
answer : Will they dissolve the Parliament ? Again
and again we reply, no one possibly can tell. The ru-
mour is, they will not dissolve. But, driven to their
wits' end, goaded onward to extremity in the reckless-
ness of sheer despair, we dare say they will. At all
events we are quite sure that if the Conservatives
slumber at their posts, they expose their cause to fear-
ful hazard. The reports from the Registration Courts
will be carried rapidly to London, the trusty and well
beloved Mr. Parkes will report that the new Registry
is yet more hopeless than the old, and what shall en-
sure us against a Dissolution before the new Registry
can come into play ? Surely the analogies of Whig-
.
gery favour this conclusion.
The Radicals have lodged no objections at all in the

City of. London. Mr. Grote with difficulty carried his
election, when the lawyers were absent on Circuit, by
the magnificent majority of six. Do they know that
the new Registry will never be called out for an Elec-
tion ? If they do, it is time the Conservatives were

ready for an Election under the old Registry. Of one
thing we may rest assured, that the blow will be struck
(like Guy Fawkes') in the dark. The same mails that
carry down the news of a Dissolution, will carry Ra-

dical Candidates and Radical Lawyers to. every town

and county. To be fore-warned is to be fore-armed.
With an army of traitors for our enemy, errors should
be on the safe side.

The great Meeting at Manchester, of which we gave
a full report in our columns this day week, will na-
turally afford us occasions of frequent reference. The
time has now arrived when they who mean to produce
an impression must needs speak plainly. The enemies
of Truth are banded together, are resolute, open, un-
disguised. The cause of. Infidelity and sedition is ac-
tively promoted : if we slumber, the curse will be on
us and on our children.

The third resolution, moved by our gifted townsman,
Mr. M‘Neile, and seconded by Mr. Clare, pledging the
individuals who composed that vast assemblage to ex-
ert themselves in the formation of Protestant associa-
tions for the defence of our honoured institutions, is
deserving of particular attention. For when bad men
conspire, good men must needs unite ; and either we
must prepare to surrender at discretion, or to employ
with energy those natural means of self-defence with
which we are endowed.

There is abundance of good sound feeling in the
country, and it is especially requisite at the present
juncture to call it forth into active exertion. .

Besides, as the stone thrown into the lake widens
the circle that it shows, and ring after ring acknow-
ledges its influence, so minds which were rightly dis-
posed, but not keenly aroused or properly awakened,
are gradually brought within the sphere of a wholesome
agitation ; and so, from less to more, the good cause
goes on prospering and to prosper, and the increase,
though silent, is perpetual.

We are unwilling to foresee or prognosticate evil ;
but we cannot shut our eyes to the paramount impor-
tance of raising up and maintaining a strong union of
right-minded Protestants in these evil times. When
a dissolute Government is unbinding all the bonds
tsliat unite society together, it is high time for serious
men 'to organize such associations as, being formed
within (not the letter only, but) the spirit of the Law—
and having for their scope and object the preservation
of those Institutions under which our Fathers have
lived and prospered—may serve likewise to keep alive
within our hearts the inborn flatine of British Patriot-
ism, and the active love of Truth and Holiness. No
one can tell what parts these Associations yet may play
in the great Drama of our country's Destiny, or how
serviceable they may prove in keeping alive the fires of
true religion.
For ourselves, we hope the best; and we believe that
in promoting the great cause of Church Extension,
and, above all, of sound Scriptural Education, these
Protestant Societies will discharge to their country a
service of infinite importance.

Since the celebrated question of the Right of Search-
ing Neutral Vessels, which led to the outbreak of the
last American War, and rescued from the dust of li-
braries the works of those Jurists who have discussed
the principles of International Law, no subject of
greater moment to the commercial world has occurred
than that connected with the Indian opium-trade to
China. The magnitude of the British interests in-
volved in its adjustment would alone be sufficient to
rivet our attention to the strange events which have
recently taken place at Canton ; and when we consider
what influence these must have on our relations and
intercourse with the Chinese Empire, and the prospe-
rity of our Indian dominions both in matters of com-
merce and finance, we willingly devote a portion of
our columns to an examination of what is now known
by the name of the Opium Question. For this pur-